Disclaimer: Blah blah blah. Insert words here. I do not own J.K Rowling's work. Nor will I ever.

A/N: Oh freakin A that chap took a lot out of me. It was so intense to write and had so much work and thought put into it. I needed to read it all over again just to believe what I wrote. So it's finally out in the open. I couldn't drag it along anymore. Nothing's going to happen though...or will it? hahahaha. im evil.

Chapter 19: Biting

"Ugh.." I awoke to the new day. Sunday.

Was it possible to have a hangover from a night of realizing you liked someone? Or maybe this pain originated from me falling twice on my butt last night.

A knock on my door made me jump out of my bed. I shook my head so my hair wasn't terrible, for I certainly had no desire for more teasing about my messy morning self. Now that my hair was fallen in place, I felt it alright to open the door. Sure as rain, Snape towered in my doorway.

"Good morning, Sir." I tried to act innocent, for his facial expression showed discontent.

Snape pointed at me for a second, "You, Miss Maguire, I have a request for you today."

"Erm... Okay? Go on." A strand of hair fell in my face, but I left it there. It was insignificant and not bothersome at all.

"Well," He folded his arms and scowled, "I am in need of your help today. Would you mind coming in my room for the day to help me clean up? It seems Peeves has trashed my cupboards, my desk, and my private study. I would like a hand, that's all."

Stomach in knots, I knew I could not deny him. "Sure..As long as I can have a lunch break."

"Well, if you must." He smirked and added, "I was under the impression that you wanted to starve yourself."

Heh. He was funny when he wanted to be. Oh, I hate this. Catching me in thought processes of liking him. This is freakishly odd. What could I do? How about stop considering him as someone to have a crush on?

Snape caught my attention, "Alright then, come into my room around ten."

He left the room and I fell on my bed. The sheets were comforting, but I knew I had to get dressed. I looked in my clothing trunk for something old to wear. At least old clothing woudn't matter if it became dirty or worn out. At last, towards the bottom of the trunk, I found an old blue t-shirt and some rugged jeans. The shirt was a little short on me, showing maybe an inch of midriff. The jeans were baggy, but who cared what I looked like? I just wanted to feel comfortable.

The time was nine-thirty. I made my bed and sat down for a few minutes writing in my journal. My plan was to start fighting whenever Snape left a loophole in his speech or actions. Reverse Snape-ology had to work, or else I would be stuck with my heart's curse. The misfortune of the plan, however, was that I might have to return to the way I was when I first entered the school. Quiet and stubborn.

Only ten more minutes until I became Snape's cleaning slave.

"Enter." Snape's voice called after I knocked on the Potion's door.

Inside the class, I gasped at the mess. There were papers everywhere, books on the floor, and Snape kneeling behind his desk. My guess was that he wanted to clean. Somehting I had definitely not looked forward to, but didn't mind.

Popping up from behind the desk, Snape mumbled and forcefully threw some crumpled papers in the trash. He noticed me standing near the front of the class and said, "This is why I hate ghosts. Especially that prat, Peeves!"

"Peeves is a pest," I agreed, "but don't let him bring you down." I thought maybe Snape would take this the wrong way. I started my method already.

"I do not let him bring me down!" Snape's volume raised, "If you had a room trashed and distorted, you would be distraught too!"

Hehe. Time to be evil, "Sheesh. I think maybe you should calm down. I know what it feels like to have a crapped-out room. Don't forget lil me lived in a torturous orphanage before I came here. They always picked on me, the quiet one, and practically murdered my room sometimes. But here, in this room, there is nothing a little magic and hard work won't do. This world has advantages like that, unlike mine." I sounded optimistic, not malevolent.

Folding his arms and pursing his lips, Snape strode over to me. He stared blankly, but held intense annoyance or frustration. Perhaps neither of those, but I expected him to, at any second, pull out his wand and hex me.

"So," He broke the silence, "Let's clean."

He hadn't yelled, hadn't faught, and had not hexed me at all. My plan was clearly not working. I wasn't mad at myself, just disappointed. It seems as if this 'new me' is preventing any accomplishments at all. I should admit myself to an insane asylum, pardon me, correctional institution for people who like their former professors. Oh! how rotten of me not to realize that before...He was my professor, and now I like him? Oh, fates have spited me with daggers of truth and unbelievably discomforting facts!

My hand formed a fist and I bit my index finger's knuckle. Snapping back to some reality, I ran over to Snape's desk after putting my hand back down.

"Where do we begin?" My motivation to clean was very fake, but Snape wouldn't notice.

Taking out his wand, Snake the Oxymoron blurted, "The floor. You don't have to pretend to care though." Ok so he noticed.

"Are you going to hex me?" What the bloody hell was wrong with my mouth? I swear my body parts have plotted against me! The only place I could hide was my brain, and Merlin knows that isn't safe at all!

"Yes Maguire," He replied with sarcasm, "I'm going to clean you to death."

Now, I have no idea where my sense of humor originates from, so I wouldn't be surprised if Snapey gave me odd stares for the rest of my life. I began to giggle, which gradually led me into a doubled-over laughing fit. I had experienced the Humor Domino Effect.

While my fit stayed continuous, I saw Snape use some spells to pick papers up from the floor and magically place them on his desk. He cracked a smile. Now I could tell he was holding back a few laughs of his own.

My breath was quick, short, but heavy. Calming a little, my fit ended and I bit my knuckle. I think this is my knew twiddling of thumbs, but worse.

"You finished?"

I answered, "Yes."

My eyes wandered, seeing half the mess was already clean. I stepped up to his desk and he handed me a pile of papers.

"Any tests, place in my top drawer. Any homework goes on top of desk so I can separate them into classes." Snape waited for me to start sorting before he went on with his organization.

The papers were easy to sift through, for not one was missing a name or date. A bunch of them made their way into the top drawer, and the rest went on the desk. When I finished the job, Snape motioned for me to sit.

"I still have that brown book you gave me at the end of last year." I blurted sheepishly.

Snape looked down at me, "Oh. Have you finished reading it?"

Truth was, I hadn't remembered I had it until just then. "No."

"Alright."

"Why," I adjusted my seating position, "do you want it back?"

He put the pile of papers down on his desk, glaring at me afterwards, "Not unless you aren't going to use it. I gave it to you for educational purposes."

Meh, Snape was apparently becoming angered for some reason. I wanted to feed off of it, "I know, but truth is, I haven't been able to read it yet. Sure I glanced at it, but haven't read it thouroughly yet."

I bit my knuckle, but this time Snape noticed...

"Are you hungry," He questioned, "or cannibalistic?"

I took my hand away and blushed, "Neither. It's a bad habit I just acquired."

"Like your twiddling thumbs?" He teased me, making my blush of red darken.

Perfect loophole, I must say, but my mouth would not move for a moment.

I shot back at last, "Leave my damned twiddling thumbs alone! I don't appreciate you teasing me about my flaws and idiotic habits. You don't see me picking on you!"

"There is nothing to pick on.." I could say so much to this statement by Snape, but didn't want him to attack me for it.

"Yeah right!" I snapped, "You are more complex than a Rubix Cube! I'm never able to tell if you are teasing me or starting to fight. I can't read you...You're impossible.." I stood up and wanted so badly to punch him in the stomach for being so right without saying anything.

His voice dropped into a hurt tone, "I'm impossible? How long has it been since we haven't fought? You are the one starting now, Miss Maguire. Why don't you take the rest of the day off? I can certainly handle this classroom on my own. I have for long enough now, so your departure will not affect this room or myself."

"Fine!" I slammed my fist on his desk, "I'll leave! I don't need you either! I've managed my life on my own! Besides, maybe I don't want to clean this filthy room. It won't matter anyways. You know Peeves will be back for you! I hope he screws up your entire week."

As I turned around and walked away, Snape yelled, "Don't come back until tomorrow!"

My plan worked, but I felt guilty. I know I wanted to fight with him to make me not like him, but it hadn't worked. I ran to the library and raided the romance section, throwing a shelf of books on the floor, sitting down, and flipping through each one of them angrily. How absurd could one subject be? Gallant knights, princesses, poor girls finding real love.. All a hoax! Liking someone did not go this way! It was impalement just skimming these books. No one ever wrote about liking someone they never expected to and finding out what to do to stop it. No one wrote for those who hated the mention of love. These books were once my favorite, now just a sham and impasse to everyone who finds out that love does not exist. We like people, but they only let us down. And to think, I used to read these everyday...

I used to secretly believe in them, didn't I? And because of lack of any good emotions, I decided not to believe in love, just replace it with fantasy novels and romance from stories.

Sad how long it took for me to finally begin knowing myself. Better late than never.

I walked to the teachers' lounge and sure enough found my group of friends talking with one another. I planted myself on the seat next to Hermione as everyone greeted me. It was time to be true to myself and stop denying my feelings, no matter how preposterous they were.

"Mione," I whispered in her ear as everyone continued talking, "I'm going to tell them. I can't hold it in. And plus, if I let them know, then I'm basically admitting it to myself all over again, which will help me accept it."

She nodded and squeezed my hand for a second. I waited for Draco's conversation to end in order to intitiate my confession.

"Ahem.." I began after biting my knuckle again, "I'd like to talk to you guys for a few."

"What about?" Gwen asked, placing Ringo on the table.

Draco cut in for a moment, "Before you go on, why are you here? I thought you were cleaning with Snape today."

"Yeah, but it's all done." I lied through my teeth so I could get out the truth before I changed my mind.

Ron raised his eyebrows, "Go on.."

This would definitely be harder with Ron next to me... "I ... uhh... Have a confession."

"Yes?" Hermione flashed a faint smile towards me.

I inhaled deeply, realizing this would be extremely hard to say...