Disclaimer: I own nothing but my story and plot

A/N: LAlalala.. Gwen-You rock! lol. random ramblings...The cow jumped over the moon.

Chapter 4: Conversations, Complaints, Cliches

As expected, Snape had more work for me when I returned to his room. He handed me a pile of folders and told me, in a hasty way, to sort through them and throw away any papers older than two years. Such a painstaking job!

The silence consumed us like a vacuum, making it almost impossible to breathe. I would have never imagined a day working with Snape could be this quiet, uncommunative, and almost indifferent. He should be screaming, lecturing, ordering me about. Was it humanly possible that I missed being a student in his class?

Was it?

I came upon some old test papers, one that were aging with a sallow appearance and moldy malador.

"S'cuse me, Professor," I swallowed a lump in my throat, "What do you want with these disgusting papers? I think they've had enough time existing in your room."

He glanced at the papers then at me. "Toss them in the trash. I've no idea why they've been salvaged, although I haven't gone in some of these folders for ages."

Throwing the vile papers away, I blurted quietly, "It shows."

I sifted in another folder and found our final from last year. This was quite funny and ironic. Too bad I hadn't been requested to see these folders last year. I would've taken a copy of the test to study from. This is also known as cheating, but I'd rather not admit it. I'd probably chicken out if the chance to cheat was there.

"If you haven't gone through these for so long, why why is our test from last year in here?"

Snape took my question into consideration and spoke knowingly, "I kept adding tests and such into new folders, as you see, but never had the time nor patience to clean out the unimportant ones from previous years."

"Oh." The spark of a conversation ignited, waiting for one of us to add fuel to really start it up. But should I talk with the man who just today picked a fight with me?

A cough erupted from the Snake as he blew away some dust off a book. I sincerely asked if he was alright, hoping to maybe mend our broken ties by showing I cared.

He sniffled, "..I'm pretty sure my body is in tact and I am alive. Sorry if any dust floats your way-"

As Snape said this, I sneezed, which sounded like I was squeeking.

"Bless you."

"Thanks," I decided to talk after all. "Funny how life is. When you least expect it, something wonderful happens. The element of surprise reaches out and grabs our soul."

"This has something to do with sneezing?" Snape put his book aside, awaiting my answer.

"No."

He asked another question, "Then why are you digressing?"

I responded honestly, "It was only small talk."

"Small talk," Snape edged me on, "includes the wonders of life?"

Instantly, I broke out in a fit of giggles. Snape now stared at me with a distinguishing curiosity. His sollicitous gaze made me laugh harder, enough to snort once or twice. I was unstoppable, but didn't know why. My chuckling and giggling probably stemmed from stress. There is such thing as laughing for stress relief. When I stopped my foolish laughter, Snape sustained his wonderous look.

"You were laughing quite hard. Do you have a reason?" His puzzled look caused me to giggle once more.

"Your sarcasm...It's amusing."

"My amusing sarcasm," Snape repeated, "made you die of hilarity?"

"I'm dead? I didn't think I was that bad..." My cheeks burned red.

Showing a half-smile, Snape said sharply, "Oh you were bad.. Awfully bad. Worse than ever.I thought I would go deaf at the sound of your laughter."

"Hey," I whined, "... It was the snorting that killed it, wasn't it?"

He nodded. I took a good look at him, realizing who he was. Severus Snape, Slithering Snake of Slytherin. We were talking like humans for once, which scared me.. Seriously, no joking, gravely, terribly frightened me. But I listened to him with an open mind, taking into thought that maybe he wanted to put the past behind us once and for all. Hakuna Matata.

Starting to snicker, Snape hid his smile so that I could not see. He spoke over his apparent sniggering, "No, it wasn't the snorting." His face suddenly went blank, no emotion showing. "Erm.." He looked down at his papers, "It's getting late. Supper is going to be served by the house-elves this evening, so maybe you should find Miss Granger and keep her company. I have to clean this mess up and start preparing for the new school year."

"Hold on a second," I couldn't believe Snape. He was getting rid of me. I continued my argument, "I thought you needed my help. Are you kicking me out?"

"Miss Maguire," Snape reminded me of my inferiority in the way he spoke to me, "I am allowed to kick you out if I want to. Everyone needs their personal space. I am aware that I asked you to help, but I no longer need any assistance right now."

"Ok.." I was defeated, so, as any loser, I picked myself up, and headed towards the exit. "Goodnight, Professor." My words were soggy, showing the upset he caused in me. I left the room and went in my own, ready to write in my journal for the first time.

Dear Journal, I began, The first entry just had to show sadness, didn't it? Snape...He's confusing lately.. It seems that sometimes he'll want to talk to me like any human being, but other times he treats me as though I had just arrived from the orphanage. What is going on?

I went on, babbling about the day and how it ended horribly with my loser-ness. Thinking about Snape, I noticed something.. My hatred was slowly fading away. I dislike how he treated me, but deep down inside, I knew he was just keeping his intimidating self at bay, in case anyone tried to hurt him. But I wouldn't hurt him..

Wow, Maranda's actually feeling quite emotional. It must be her time of the month. Hopefully it is so I don't wonder why my mind isn't yearning to murder Snape.

The house-elves delivered soup to everyone for supper. It was chicken noodle, my favorite besides Beef Stew. I sat on my bed, doodling in my journal as I ate the hot soup. What an uneventful night! I would've visited Hermione, but I felt like being alone for a bit. I hung up my robes, making them nice and neat, ready for next week. The closer the new school year approached, the more anxious I became. I would soon be considered a student teacher, or teacher's assistant, whichever Snape prefers to call me. Teaching little eleven and twelve year olds was going to be tough, probably as tough as putting up with the little orphanage kids.

Eight o'clock came, bringing nothing to do. I didn't want to sleep, for it was too early. I figured maybe it was too late to visit anyone, so I decided to take a shower. I actually almost forgot that I chose nights to do it. Thank Merlin because if I took showers in the morning, I would have all this lonely time at night with nothing to do.

After my ten minute shower in the Slytherin girl's lavatory, I changed into my pink pajamas and headed back to my room. My cold and lonely room. Yeah, yeah, I know I could visit Mione, but I don't want to bother her. It's already half past eight p.m.

"Hello?" I heard a knock on my door, so I asked who was there.

Draco opened the door and looked downright pissed off, "Can I visit?"

"Sure," I motioned him to come in, "What's wrong?"

He sat on my bed and sighed, "I can't take it anymore. Lockhart is a stinkin' fruit basket! He's royally pissing me off! Everywhere I go he's there waiting for me, telling me what to do!"

I held back a giggle, "That's what he's supposed to do, Draco. His job and yours is to work together and clean everything out before the school year starts. He's going to push you around somewhat."

"I know," He frowned, "but it's so annoying. I hate Lockhart, so him ordering me around just makes me want to kill him even more. You know how I feel. I know you've felt that way about Snape. The way you two always fought and ...Damn, you had a fun two years, huh?"

Rolling my eyes, I stated, "I wouldn't say that. It was more of a challenge than you think. Not only did I have to put up with Snapey, but I had to deal with my first heartbreak..."

"Umm..Yeah..That too."

"Don't worry," I forced a smile, "I'm alright now. Besides, the past is the past and it belongs in the past. So, you came down here to escape Gilderoy. I just wish I had a head start and escaped from Snape first. You're the smarter one."

"How is he?" Draco's concerned tone caught me off guard, "You two aren't fighting every second, right?"

"I try not to..We had a conversation going tonight, but he stopped suddenly and sent me out of his room before supper. Whatever. I can't win 'em all."

"No one can. Oh well, Maguire, you know what they say, can't win 'em, join 'em." He yawned, stretched, and turned his head to face mine.

Thinking about it for a moment, I replied, "I can't join him. Snape wouldn't let me stay in there for supper, so there will never be a way of becoming his friend, or anything close to it."

"Never," Draco proved to be the king of cliche, "say never."

I laughed at his sudden quotes, "Get outta' here! King of Cliche!"

"Thanks," He stood up, "I will leave, but only because I am deathly tired, not because you asked. Goodnight Maguire."

"Goodnight Ferret...I mean, Goodnight Malfoy." My evil grin caused Draco to chuckle as he left my room.

I got up, shut my door, and decided it was time for bed. My day was done, finished, finito, ended, haulted, stopped...Ok, I begin to annoy myself, so it's time to shut the little voices in my head up. At last, the fluffy covers of my bed kept me warm and cozy. I looked forward to waking up smelling the aroma of insense. Snape's taste wasn't as bad as I imagined it could be. At least the pretty fragrances would let me prepare for school, and get up on the right side of the bed.

But which side of the bed was the wrong one?