Disclaimer: I own nothing but my plot and characters.
Chapter 16: Peeves, Phobias, & Paints
Fear of being touched. Fear of messing up. Fear of intimidation. Fear of snakes. My list of phobias was growing, larger and larger with every new experience I had. Oh, and cannot forget the brand new phobia: Fear of dances. I can't even explain this one to myself very well, but I wrote about it in my journal. Basically, because the student teachers are not permitted to do anything but chaperone at a dance, I have grown afraid of the upcoming Halloween dance. Hermione and I will stand against a wall, making sure no students begin trouble. Ron, Draco, and Gwen will be on food and drink patrol. Other student teachers will be standing against the wall as well, and some are not even attending. Halloween Ball, next Saturday after a Quiddich game.
Fear of ghosts. Almost forgot this one. Peeves the ghost is on a rampage because Snape found out he had gone through his private study and taken three flasks of potion. When Gilderoy put them back in the cabinet, Peeves took them and dumped them down the sink. This brings my fear of snakes..I do not ever again in my life want to screw up a potion. Peeves threw the potions down the sink causing an explosion, and a real, breathing snake was created by the mixture. It was indeed, a rattlesnake. Snape had tried to stop it in his room, but the snake found its way under a crack in my door. Luckily, I ran out of my room screaming bloody mercy and Snape saved the day by using a spell to incinerate the slimy thing. Of course I thanked ol' Snakey after he saved me from having a heart attack or being bitten by a pest.
Now I sit in my room, on a Wednesday morning, writing all these events in my journal, wishing it were Halloween so I could get the night over with.
"Come in..." I heard a knock on my door.
Snape entered my room to see me sprawled out on my bed. I swiftly sat up, putting my journal under my pillow.
"I have some advice.." He began supportingly, "..If you see Peeves, tell him I would like a few words with him. Dumbledore told me he is floating somewhere in the dungeons."
Laughing, I responded, "If I see that little bugger I'm going to flush him down a toilet!"
"That would work too, I suppose." He hid a chuckle, which proved he wasn't in a great mood.
Before he seemed to want to leave my room, I asked, "Can I paint this room?"
"Pardon me?"
"Can I paint this room?" I added, "I really need some new colors around me. I love green, but it's sort of annoying now. No offense to you or any Slytherin."
The Snake half smiled, "If you paint this room, be sure to clean up after yourself. Not that you would make a mess, but I warn you I will laugh if you turn up paint-covered and a wreck."
"Can I take that as a yes then?"
"Yes."
My stupid, hyper self raised both hands in the air and shouted, "Woohoo!" I dropped my arms and my face went blank.
Snape fired back, "Sometimes I wonder about you, Maguire.."
"I always wonder about me.." My grin reappeared, hiding the phobia of Snape's short temper. I was afraid of annoying him.
Getting off of my bed, I waited until Snape left my room to leave it myself. My plan was to go to the teachers' lounge for awhile.
Entering the lounge, I see the only one of my friends inside is Ron. We've never had any time alone together, so naturally I was weary. However, I sat down next to him and knew this was a great chance to settle problems between us.
"Hey, Red-Head," I begin unenthusiastically.
Ron answers, "Hi." A moment passes before he speaks up again, "I'm sorry for teasing you all the time. We never really spoke to each other after that day at Hogsmeade. Hermione was so mad at me for not appologizing sincerely."
"I know," My upset voice chimed, "but it upsets me because the only time you talk to me is when you mention Snape. Two and then some years of knowing each other and I don't even know you. You're my best friend's boyfriend. That's all I know. I don't even know what your favorite color is or your middle name."
With quick movement, Ron turns to face me and smiles idiotically. "Hi, I'm Ron."
My giggling erupted, and soon Red-Head and I were holding a complete conversation. He did not once mention Snake The Oxymoron, which made me wonder if the world was ending. As minutes turned into an hour, Mione came into the room. She was ecstatic to see Ron and I bonding and communicating. Who could blame her? What would wonderful Wednesday wield into my day next?
Staying in the lounge all day was neither boring nor exciting. It was pleasant, for I read three hours straight; Yet it was painful, for there was nothing else to do. I would have talked some more, but Hermione, Ron, and I ran out of conversational topics.
Before two p.m. came, McGonagal entered the lounge and looked infuriated. She explained that Peeves had written vulgar language on her board for all her class to see. He flew away before she could grasp the chance to hex the ghost. Ron stated that Dumbledore should've banned Peeves from Hogwarts. McGonagal only replied that Dumbledore wanted to threaten Peeves and give him one more chance. One more chance for what, destroying the school?
At four p.m. I left the lounge with intentions of finding the ghost and turning him into a burnt piece of toast. Either that or a coctail weenie so someone could feed him to a dog. That would get rid of the pest. Misfortune came about when I stepped into the dungeon halls. There, in the space on the floor between Snape's room and my room, was a spilled bucket of yellow paint.
"I thought you wanted piss-yellow for your room!" Peeves' voice echoed through my ears. I was afraid to even peek at my room.
Cautiously opening the door, I spotted nothing abnormal except for a sign hanging on my wall which read, 'Ha! Fooled You, Evil Female!'
"Argh!" I grunted in frustration and stormed towards the hall. Peeves was near.
Taking my wand out from my pocket, I screamed, "Come out now or I will turn you into a marshmallow and feed you to Hagrid's dog!"
Obviously Snape had heard, for he burst through his door in shock.
Peeves finally flew in front of me and asked, "What do you want, leech?"
I attempted to sound as nice as possible, "I just wanted to tell you that there's something for you in the bathroom, but you have to follow me to obtain it."
"That ain't gonna' work," The ugly ghost declared, "I'm not that dumb. You're the one who threatened to flush me down the toilet. Well, I will not let you, maggot."
The voice within me suddenly decided to raise, "Then stop this shit or I will light you on fire. Better yet, I'll have Snape chase you!" Only after I stated this did I remember Snape was right next to me.
Peeves stuck his tongue out at me and floated away. An incantation was muttered by Snape, which cleaned up the floor.
I faked a laugh, "Heh. Hello, sir."
Leaning against the wall, Snape stared blankly at me. With a short sigh, I walked into my room and shut the door. Apparently, Snape had put up with enough worried today. I didn't even want to question what was bothering him. His eyes had held an intense fire, ready to ignite and catch onto anyone that passed. At least he wasn't the one with a gazillion phobias and yucky yellow paint embedded in his mind.
Supper was nearby, and I could hear my stomach rumbling. Tonight I would eat in the Great Hall. Usually I sat by myself and had a house elf bring me some food. This time was different, for I had the urge to be social. I stepped into the Great Hall happily, glad to see Hermione sitting at the teachers' table as well. When I sat down, Snape side-glanced at me. He must've wondered why I said nothing to him after the Peeves incident.
Mione wasn't in a large talking mood, so I stayed mute for awhile. Eventually Snape glanced my way as he took a bite of supper. My eyes wandered and fell into the dark pools of his eyes. Silence. I swallowed a lump in my throat and felt my stomach churn. Phobia of silence between the Snake and I.
"Quiddich game soon." I spat out.
A short breath was released, followed by his words, "Yes, it is soon. You do know that your friends are no longer allowed to stand in the student section. You all must find seats in the professors' sector. The seats are higher above, but we get a better view."
My mouth moved slightly, but no words came out. I turned to Mione and said, "I need to talk to you later." I had to tell her about my phobias. They were eating me alive and not letting me breathe right.
"Dumbledore has insisted the teacher aids sit with whomever they are working for." Snape added, making me turn to face him.
Hermione mumbled in my ear, "It's true." Why was I always the last one to know things?
The remainder of supper passed like this: Eat...Eat.. Side-glance at Mione..Eat..Eat...Side-glance at Snape..Eat..Sigh. Quite boring, but tolerable. My mood suddenly changed from alright to flustered. All of the phobias I gained were unexplainable. How the hell could I randomly obtain a fear one day? How?
Hermione listened to every word I said as she walked me to my room in the chilly dungeons.
"...And it's not even funny because I really am getting these horrible phobias that make no sense at all. It's like I'm becoming this new person without any warning. It's all happening at once and I cannot stop it no matter how I try. I'm afraid of ruining what friendship Snape and I have by breathing the wrong way. I'm scared all of a sudden of people touching me. Although, not my friends like you or Gwen or anyone. Just...other people."
With a baffled look, Mione asked, "When did the touching phobia start?"
"It was," I opened my door and entered the room with Mione, "when the Snake helped me up from being upside-down. I felt this horrible and odd feeling in my stomach. Felt like I was going to be sick."
We sat on my bed and Mione giggled, "Are you sure you felt sick?"
I nodded.
"Alright, well, what other phobias do you have?"
"A lot," I named off a few more, "fear of intimidation, fear of snakes-but I explained that one to you when it happened, and fear of being a klutz or just terribly wrong."
She shook her head at me, "Maranda," Her eyes seemed sincere and honest, "I think you need to figure this one on your own. Sometimes things aren't as they seem. Why don't you think by yourself for awhile? Use your journal or something to write your thoguhts out, and then re-read to put the puzzle pieces together."
"Sure. Why not? Thanks for helping me, Mione." I knew her advice would help somehow, it always had. So why not follow it completely for once?
After saying goodnight, Mione left the room and shut the door. I was alone. Alone to drown desperately in my strange and mysterious brain.
So what was so wrong about having a queezy feeling stomach all the time? Or the physical and mental weakness I got when dealing with intimidation? What was causing my anxiety whenever working? My journal's cold pages awaited for me to heat them up with writing, and so I wrote.. and wrote.. and wrote. By the time I was done explaining everything to my inanimate object, I was too tired to re-read it. I would do it the next free chance I got..
Besides, I'm not going to figure out why my body and mind are so complex.
