A/N: So I read somewhere that you're not supposed to respond to reviews in the story... but I don't see the harm for it so I won't stop. After all people don't have to read my comments. :) But I won't reply in this chapter... Though thank you all for reading and reviewing. Yes, the Slytherins and Gryffindors certainly will be interesting to write...

I will say this though, Rhennan you were my 50th review! Thanks. Such a nice milestone... :)

Oh as for continuity problems... right, really sorry about that. It IS 300 yards. But to begin with it was 500, but I decided to lessen it to make it a bit more interesting... just looks like I forgot to change it once... Sorry about the confusion. But also thank you for pointing the problem out to me. I truly DO appreciate it.

This chapter might be the last for a few days. Busy at work and such... But a week at most. Anything more then a week and I shall never be forgiven, by myself most of all. Really though... nothing too long. And here we have it.. another chapter. And as always please Read and Review :) I'll give you a REALLY large cookie.

Chapter 22

Lunchtime upon us, we walked back to the Great Hall. I was just pleased that this time I didn't have to follow anyone,
quite sure in this one place at least, that I knew where I was going. Of all the places I had seen I had made sure to definitely remember where the Great Hall was. After all that was where I had to go to get food. And that was an all important factor for me.

"Feuds are really silly you know." I pushed open the large wooden doors, and was rather happy that at least this time I wasn't the last one to get to the food. In fact Snape and McGonagall were the only ones there yet.

"Feuds can be good." Sirius huffed, his eyes firing up at even the mere sight of the Slytherin.

I ignored him and without a second thought I headed up to the dais and plopped down in the chair next to Snape, whose lips twisted unpleasantly at me. Perhaps that was what he called a smile. I doubted it was what he intended, but I chose to assume it was a pleasant expression.

"Severus, what do you think about feuds?"

Apparently the formality of breakfast this morning was gone with lunch, since the moment I sat down, food appeared on the plate in front of me. I grabbed a piece of bread, twisting it and stuffing it into my mouth. Chewing, waiting for the hawk nosed man to answer the question.

"Why are you talking to me?"

"I'm just curious what you think." I shrugged my shoulders. I smiled brightly at Sirius, who was eyeing me with distaste. Not that I was trying to cause trouble or anything... but teasing Sirius was fun.

Sirius had dropped into a chair in front of me, displeased at my choice of seating. The idea of eating near the Slytherin certainly wasn't doing much for the canine's appetite, since he barely poked at the food that had appeared in front of him. Instead he was putting all his effort into glaring at me, and probably more specifically my choice of questions.

"Why are you asking about feuds?" Next to me Severus was watching me carefully, judging. His eyes flicked to Sirius, and I'd be blind if I didn't see the smirk that tugged at the thin lips. Displeasure at answering my question, obviously didn't beat the pleasure at seeing Sirius's discomfort.

"It's just a little argument that Sirius and I are having."

"Feuds can be interesting, intriguing."

"How exactly do you think a feud can be interesting?" My eyes were wide, and I tried to look innocent, but it was a far reach for me. I was trying to goad the two men, there was no innocence at all about my line of questioning.

"Between the people on both sides of the feud, a bond can form, against something they all perceive as evil, wrong, unjustified." Black eyes glittered, regarding me thoughtfully. There was that shiver again... but I ignored it.

"That's funny. It's amazing to hear you and Sirius agree on something." It was quite hard to keep the amusement out of my own voice. Of course I was teasing the two of them, but perhaps if I showed they had something in common the feud would cool.

Deep lines appeared between Severus's brows, he glared at me hard, black eyes practically glowing. "MacKinnion, just eat your lunch and stop meddling."

I chuckled softly, doing as I was told, bringing a silver spoon to my mouth, sipping the hot soup carefully. Staying quiet not because of his statement, but because I was just amused he had noticed what I was doing. Not to mention the few lines of communication he had with me, rather pleasantly, before he realized, or the fact he had dropped me to the level of just using my last name. It was a bit of an improvement over muggle.

"Let her alone Snivellus. I don't know why she would want to talk to slimy git like you but if she does, you can damn well let her." Sirius glared at Severus, before turning his eyes on me. My brown ones met his grey. "And you, don't talk to him."

My mouth twitched with a hidden smile. It was rather amusing that Sirius could get angry at Snape for not talking to me, and then with me for talking to Snape. He really couldn't figure out what he wanted to say or not.

"Black cover your mouth before something flies in and takes nest." Snape had pushed back his chair, scraping the stone as he did so. "My speaking habits are not yours to analyze." With a flourish of well timed robes, a sneer and long strides, Severus stalked out of the hall.

"I really do wish you two would act like teachers." McGonagall sighed into her coffee, sipping it as she shook her head. "I feel like I'm 30 years back dealing with you two."

"The boys certainly like their feud."

"You're not helping either Miss Mackinnion." Her gaze was certainly displeased, and I flushed slightly at the deep look. So maybe I would cut down on my goading of the two men. Though I was only trying to improve their relations through the subtle and devastating use of inciting arguments. If they could just air their issues... well either they would deal with them or just kill each other. Maybe I shouldn't be trying it, death was perhaps more likely with those two.

"I'm really sorry about that Headmistress." My eyes drifted down, trying to at least appear apologetic. Bespectacled eyes regarded me and I should have known she wouldn't believe the innocence inflected in my voice.

"I sent the old teacher's lesson plans to your room. I suggest you spend some time in your room, alone, going over them." Well that was as subtle as a giant working at a 9 to 5 job in a cubicle. I smiled and nodded though, as she got up and left.

"Why do you feel the need to actually speak to him?" I blinked to find Sirius's face inches from my own, leaning forward, steel piercing into me. He looked curious, but sure enough beneath the surface was that fire that always roared when Severus Snape entered the conversation.

"Sirius we might be connected in a rather annoying physical sort of way, but until I discover that we're also mentally connected, you will not be hearing all my dark secrets."

"Is there a reason you think talking to that snake is a dark secret?"

"Well I'm sure you would consider it a dark secret if I liked him." I knew quite well the reaction this statement was going to cause. Grey eyes turned stormy, widening in his face. His face grew somewhat ashen, before promptly going bright red in anger.

"That... That's just wrong! He's a Slytherin! He's all sallow, cold and unpleasant. No one would like him. It'd be like making love to a corpse!"

"Sirius what are you thinking?" I sighed, drumming my fingers on the table, trying to keep my voice down even though Sirius wasn't following suit. More teachers had started to appear for lunch, and I certainly didn't want to start any rumours at my new job. Just what I needed. The muggle is playing two teachers at once, fooling around behind each of their backs. Once again I found myself growing increasingly annoyed with the raven haired wizard. "I meant that I liked him. Not that I wanted to rip off his clothes and back him into a wall in the privacy of his office, and then see if he's cold and unpleasant all the time." Not going to do it. It was an interesting thought though.

"I thought you liked me." Sirius's voice practically whigned, his eyes looking up at me like a little child's. My fingers were starting to dance hurried over the surface of the table. It was either tap them, or curl them into a fist and punch the man for annoying me so much.

"Sirius... I may occasionally want to rip your clothes off as well." Hopefully the compliment would distract him from my use of 'as well'. "But I'm not going to." My tone was firm while saying this. "And when I was referring to Severus, I meant I like him as a person. And if you must know I speak to him because I can understand him."

I glanced down the table and was happy to note that the other teachers seemed at least to be oblivious to what we were saying. The argument we were having wasn't exactly one I wanted other people to hear. Who I wanted to rip the clothes off was preferably a topic best left unknown to most people. I was fully capable of letting those that needed to know, know when it was necessary. Like when I was in the process of ripping their clothes off...

"Understand slime?" Sirius snorted. He didn't look too pleased, but his eyes had softened from their earlier steel. He likely felt gratified hearing that I at times wanted to see him naked. The man couldn't go on living if women didn't find him attractive.

This argument was on it's tail end, and I wasn't about to restart the ignition on it by going on and defending Severus not being slime. That would just get Sirius going again. And I couldn't even really come up with much to defend the Potions master anyway. After all he really had been practically slime to me since I had got here yesterday. The only reason I didn't think he was slime was based on the well tuned female instinct. And the facts were that he had saved Harry in that seventh book, and Draco had vouched for him.

"I am going to go to the library. Do you think you can stay within 300 yards of it?" I stood up as I asked the question. Not that I was even really asking, more like telling the man. The argument had lit a new fire in me for cutting this little side effect of the ritual. Once school started I would have more to do, so now was the best time. McGonagall couldn't be displeased with what I was doing. I might not be staying in my room reading nonsensical explanations for why people knitted. But there couldn't be much of a problem with staying alone in the library trying to solve a problem. She herself had told me to deal with it.

Quiet, thoughtful eyes regarded at me, before Sirius stood up as well.

"That's fine. I'll spend some time in my office. There should be less then 300 yards between the fourth and second floor."

We both left the Great Hall together. Sirius had his hands deep into his pockets, and was trying very hard to not ask something. His brows were knit together and his bottom lip was between his teeth. The man was really quite easy to read sometimes.

"Out with it." I sighed, ready for something thoroughly annoying.

"If you want to rip my clothes off, does that mean that you like me?"

I wasn't about to tell him that in fact I did like him. That if the man of my dreams was made into flesh that he would likely look like Sirius Black. Personality might be a different issue though. I certainly wasn't going to tell him that he needed to stop biting his lower lip since it was drawing my attention to how absolutely kissable the lips were. It would all just make his ego grow some more. And there was of course the fact that I wasn't going to do anything on my little infatuation. The after effects would be too annoying to warrant the pleasurable beginnings. Sirius post coitus would be too thrilled with himself.

"I like you Black. But believe me when I say I plan on never sleeping with you." I patted his arm fondly as we reached the second floor. I didn't want him to pout after all. "Being friends with a girl I'm sure will be a new experience for you."

His expression had traveled far from joyous to amused to sullen. Apparently being friends with me hadn't been the first idea he had. I waved at him though and moved up the stairs to the fourth floor and the library. I had left the man behind, but that didn't stop my mind thinking about him as I walked on.

He had a point about my conversing with Snape. There really was no reason to keep pushing the man into speaking to me when he didn't really want to. I quite instinctively though knew that Professor Snape was not evil, or affiliated with Lord Voldemort anymore. Draco might have been a stuck up little obnoxious snob, but I happened to trust the git. He trusted his former head of house. And had charged me with the job of watching over the slimy twit.

The man wasn't even slightly nice to me. And I was watching out for him, and defending him to Sirius. The former Gryffindor might have been a pain in my ass, but he was still more of a friend to me then Snape. And I defended him to my friend. How the world works...

So the reason battling forth in my brain was the answer to the question, why?

I had told Sirius the truth before. I happened to like the man. Though the reasons for that were even more complicated, and quite possibly based off fiction. My ideas on liking the man had come from reading those now cursed Harry Potter books. Professor Snape had always been an enigma in them. And I had felt an affinity for the man. He had been seduced by the dark arts, even as I had been seduced by similar things. We had been more curious perhaps then either should have been in our situations. And sometimes we regretted the results afterwards.

He was also an intelligent, dark, sarcastic individual who spared no thought to other people's feelings. Though if the books had been correct, he had risked his own life for his students. So there was a bit of courage thrown in there. Hell there had to be courage if you were planning on double crossing the most dangerous and dark wizard of all times.

So my brain had come to a conclusion.

While Sirius Black might have been my ideal man in the flesh... Severus Snape had the personality of my perfect man. I had always been a bit twisted in the type of guys I liked. This was certainly an interesting development. Interesting and potentially very dangerous for me.