Disclaimer: If you take the name of the town I live in and send it through a spell check, it asks if you meant "Bowel". And, I guess, when I think about it, that really is what I meant.... I wonder what you'd get if you put, "Fancy Mansion in Scotland" through the spell check... Hmmm... It stays the same....

AN: I got a part in the play we're putting on! It's M*A*S*H, and I'm Lt. Nancy Phillips, who cries a lot... ^_^ That's part of the reason why it took so long. Another is because my sister had an essay to do, and she needed the computer... And it took me a long time to write this one. I went over it many times, to make sure I got the details right... ^_^

AN2: Reecnt stduies say taht poeple can raed senetcnes wehn the letrtes in a wodr are miexd. Thsi is beacues peeplo don't read uisng evrey indaividul lettre, but intsaed they read the wrod as a whloe. That's prtety naet, rhigt?

~*~*~**~*~*~

Shaylee was laying on her fuzzy rug, throwing a ball up in the air and catching it. She was not wearing her school outfit, but was instead in normal jeans and a T-shirt.

She caught the ball and looked at her watch, which read, "7:42". She cursed as she sat up quickly and grabbed her robes, running out of the room.

Her robes were halfway on when she stopped in front of the teacher and composed herself, before opening the door and striding confidently in.

None of the students noticed her late arrival, but the other professors were another story. She blushed as she sat down on her seat, perfectly aware of the mocking look on Severus' face.

"Dinner begins at seven, I believe," he commented offhandedly. Shaylee glared at him. "I was grading," she fibbed.

"And you lost track of time? I'm sure..." Severus said, nodding knowingly.

"Hey! I was! For the first half hour,,,"

"And then it took fifteen minutes to walk down here? If you were going to take that long to get here, why didn't you change back into your school outfit before you came down?"

Shaylee glared at him silently for a few moments, then said begrudgingly, "OK, meanie, you win."

Severus sat back in his chair, satisfied. "Good."

"Yeah, yeah. Leave me alone; I'm not talking to you!" Shaylee turned away and busied herself with her plate.

Severus studied her for a few moments, and when she showed no sign of going back on her word, he decided to retaliate.

Shaylee jumped as a hand suddenly appeared on her leg. She turned to glare at Severus, but stopped at the serious look on his face.

Her face was turning redder every second she stayed in this position. She abruptly stood up. "You know what? I just remembered that I needed to check something with a student."

And with that, Shaylee spun around and walked down to the Gryffindor table and sat down beside Scott, Draco, and Hermione determinedly.

"Er... Hi?" Draco said, looking at her strangely.

"What? Can't a person talk to her friends? Is that against the law?" Shaylee demanded.

"Well, it isn't against the law, but there is an old rule shown in Hogwarts; A History that says that teachers aren't allowed to sit at the house tables," Hermione said nonchalantly.

"Yeah, and there's also one saying that a student can't sit at another house's table, but one certain professor isn't going to kick one certain Slytherin out if she's able to remain in a good mood," Shaylee returned, with a vile look at Draco.

"Woah... Hold on. What's wrong, Shay?" Scott asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Shaylee paused, then said, "Nothing." She glanced quickly back at the High Table. "You know, guys, I'd better be going. I'll see you in class tomorrow." With that said, she stood up and got ready to leave.

"Professor?" Hermione asked suddenly. "Is everything alright with--?" She nodded towards the High Table, not wanting to say anything in front of Scott or Draco.

Shaylee smiled. "Oh, don't worry. Our deal is still on."

Hermione nodded and Shaylee turned and left the Great Hall.

~*~*~**~*~*~

Later that night, Shaylee was in her office, laying upside-down on her chair. Severus hadn't come over; he was probably mad at her, she figured.

She was running out of things to do. Her ball had gone under her desk and she was too lazy to get up and get it. She'd gotten all her papers graded, and she'd already counted the bricks on her wall two times. The Phantom of the Opera was sitting on her desk, but she didn't feel like reading, especially that. Plus, she really shouldn't read ahead.

The fire suddenly turned green, interrupting her thoughts. She jumped up, waiting for Severus to come through the flames, but instead, she heard a voice say, "Professor Weasley, will you come to my office please?"

Needless to say, Shaylee was disappointed, but she shrugged her school robes over her pajamas and walked through the fire to land in Dumbledore's office.

"Good evening, Shaylee," Dumbledore said from the chair behind his desk.

"You needed to see me?" Shaylee sat down across from him.

Dumbledore sighed. "Ahh, yes. I did need to discuss something with you."

"..And?..."

"Would you like a lemon drop?" Albus suddenly asked, extending a tin container towards her.

"Er... Sure..." Shaylee took one and popped it into her mouth.

"So, how are things with Severus?"

Shaylee almost choked on her lemon drop. "Er... Why do you ask?" she asked cautiously.

Dumbledore studied her and Shaylee shifted uncomfortably.

"OK. I know what you're getting at. You want to know about today's dinner incident..."

Dumbledore just kept looking at her expectantly, so she continued.

"I know he has feelings for me, and I for him, but--"

"Severus is not one to play 'Hard-to-get' with. He's had a lot of pain in his past."

"I know! That's why I'm keeping my distance!" Shaylee snapped. She ran her fingers through her hair and took a deep breath, frustrated.

"I don't want to hurt him," she finally stated simply. "I've been fickle in the past, and I don't want to make him fall in love with me just to break his heart."

Dumbledore didn't say anything, but just kept looking at her. "I understand your reasoning," he finally said. "But you're hurting Severus by trying to be considerate."

Shaylee looked into his eyes seriously. "I'm saving him from a world of hurt. And I'm going to continue acting this way until I'm totally sure of my feelings."

"So you don't know if you love him of not?" Dumbledore asked her, leaning forward.

"A fickle heart often lies." Shaylee responded simply, though it hurt her to say it.

Dumbledore smiled. "Your worry about his heart tells you the truth."

Shaylee smiled softly, but sadly. "Thank you for your concern, headmaster. I'm going to take everything into consideration. However, right now, I just need to sleep on it."

Dumbledore smiled understandingly and watched as Shaylee walked back through the fire.

~*~*~**~*~*~

K, I've got a plan for this, so don't worry. No one's gonna get depressed and commit suicide... Hey, wait... Hehe... No, I'm just kidding. ^_^
READ THIS FIRST: A'ight, I promised that there would be a "party type thing" at the end of this chapter for the 500th reviewer. However, I had some trouble with my reviews. Some places might say I have 500 reviews, while the other places say I have 498 reviews... So, what I did was count up the reviews on my review page by showing them by chapter and adding them. I did this twice to be sure, and it turned out that I had 504 reviews.... ^_^ Hehe, and that made it really easy for me to figure out which was the 500th after that... I know that there were a couple of people whose computers said that they were the 500th, so sorry to those peeps. Ff.net's review scales are really weird.... ^_^ Anywho, here it is, in italics. CONGRATS HEATHER MALFOY!! (Hehe, this party is based on the impression I got from her in her reviews and the emails I got.... No offense to her... ^_^)

Severus and Shaylee walked into the room. It was decorated with balloons and a banner that said, 'Heather Malfoy is the 500th Reviewer!' "Wow... I'm surprised that we got that many... And Ashiri's not even done writing yet..." Severus commented dryly. "Ouch!" Shaylee replied. "Are you saying that I'm not funny?" Severus rolled his eyes. "Of course not..."
The door opened and Draco and Hermione rushed in. "What's the hurry?" Shaylee asked. "Well, there's this freak out there. She's Ashiri's sister and she's really mad because she was the 499th reviewer..." "Ouch, that's gotta hurt..." Shaylee said with a smug look on her face. "Yeah, she tried to steal my wand and curse me... Even though she's a Muggle..." Hermione said, shooting a nervous look at the door.
"Well, we'd better get in our hiding spots if we want to surprise the reviewer..." "Hey, who's the 500th reviewer anyway?" Draco asked. "Can't you read?" Shaylee teased. Both Draco and Hermione looked up at the banner. "Heather Malfoy?" Hermione asked blankly.
"Er... She's my... sister?" "Yeah... right!" "Hey, what can I say? All women adore me!" Draco shrugged, grinning. Hermione glared at him. "Shut up, or I'll show you how much my wand adores you..." she threatened. Draco whimpered and went to hide. The rest of them followed him, and just in time, as the door opened again.
"Hello?" Heather Malfoy walked into the room and looked around. She had no idea where she was, or why she was there. All she knew was that she was being written into something. "SURPRISE!!!" The main characters of Troubled Waters jumped out at her. "..." Heather just stared at them, then started shrieking. "Um.... Is that good?" Severus asked cautiously. "Yes, you twit! Those are good shrieks, not 'Oh-my-God-I'm-gonna-die-shrieks'!" Shaylee flicked his arm teasingly.
Heather burst out laughing. "Oh, I love you guys! You're so funny!" "Erm... Oh dear... Well, you can have a balloon... I suppose..." Draco cautiously handed her a red balloon, which resulted in Heather giving him a big hug. "Um.... OK..."
Shaylee burst out laughing. "You know... I think I like her... Come on, Heather. Let's go wreak some havoc together..." "Yay!" Heather Malfoy cried and followed Shaylee out of the room.

I love ths fic: Hehe... I figured out that much from your name... ^_^
Heather Malfoy: LOL.... Wow.... Thanks for taking the time to review all those chapters... And, thanks for laughing too! It makes me feel funny! ^_~ Oh, and btw, congrats. Did you read your little party up there? ^_^
Squish: Squish, have I ever told you how much of a freak you are? LOL, jk! Anywho, thanks I suppose... ^_^ At least you took the time to read it... ^_^
Genevieve Jones: I read it and it's awesome!
Crazy Courtney: Heehee. Thanks!
Malfoyeress: OK, are you psychic? Or just extremely intuitive? Geesh! Anywho, I'm going to stop before anyone understands what I'm getting at... ^_^ Oh, and thanks!!
Kaleigh aka Narwa: Heehee! Thanks a bunch! And, don't worry, there are a lot of people who just let loose with their reviews and it's really hard to read them... But, with yours I could understand it perfectly! And, thanks! The Sh/Sev thing is progressing. But they've gotta have a little dispute now and then! ^_^
Tickled Purple Monkey: Hehe, thanks! And, you'll find out really soon!
Debatingqueen: LOL. About the cheerleaders thing, I just really meant what I said.... There were a bunch of cheerleaders calling us band geeks.... ^_^ But, some of them are all right. Anywho, thanks!
Sheyla Potter: LOL. That sorta rhymed... ^_^ Don't worry, we'll get there!
skyleia: LOL, that's very true. It's actually a tradition, though for my sisters and I, that we talk about what we're gonna be next year right when we get home from Trick-or-Treating... We usually change our minds though. For instance, I just decided that instead of Princess Leia, I'm going to be a Hogwarts student for the 4th year in a row... Hehe....
foodiholic: Heehee! Thanks a bunch! Those were examples of ones that I had a lot of caffeine before writing... Maybe I should drink a lot more Mountain Dew... ^_^
em*: Hehe. Very true. Thanks!
magical ferret: LOL. Wow... Oops! Sorry bout that!
Sparkle Eyed Dreamer: Hehe, thanks! I guess sitting there until U think of something is better than just writing a bunch of nothing... ^_^
ShadowRogue: LOL... Oh, I know what that means... I used to be called that too. Now, everyone calls another friend of mine that because she's much worse than me.... Hehe... ^_^
Water Demon: Yep I really play the flute! Hopefully I get piccolo next year, if I'm good enough. ^_^
Silbara: LOL! I actually do that! Usually, if I have time, then I go back to read it after I read the chapter, but there are actually times I forget to read it altogether, and it turns out there was something important in it... ^_^ Well, thanks a bunch for your review!
Dying Angel1: LOL. Sorry. Oh, well, I'm not exactly sure how many chapters I have left, but I'm trying to figure out if I should have alternate endings or not.... Pretty much, both would have a Phantom part, but one would be much bigger than the other... Well, I'll think of it later... ^_^
pkchihuahuas: Hehe... Not very soon, but I did update... ^_^
UndomielEvenstar: Heehee!! ^_~ Thanks!
Genevieve Jones: Yeah. I know. I've been on "humor drain". School does that to a person, you know? ^_^ I'm trying to make some more filler chappies, cuz those are the funniest ones, but sometimes it doesn't pan out. Well, I'll try!
Melinda: Woohooo! Yay for band geeks! ^_^ What instrument do you play? Anywho, I think a lot of people who are reading this love Draco Malfoy... ^_^ Thanks for reading!
Tendra: LOL. Thanks a bunch! Heehee, I feel special now! ^_^
KEL-71E: Oh! Lucky! Hehe... Nope, you didn't miss anything, really! ^_^ Yeah, I took a long time with this chapter... But, thanks!
dracosgurl_chrissy: Heehee. Sorry it took a long time. Anyway, I'll try to write as much as possible at play practice, so maybe I can get the next one done quickly....
Dracos-Mistress06: LOL. Was that supposed to scare me? Cuz it did! ^_^ Hehe, thanks and you'll figure that out soon!
AlabamaBabe: Heehee! Band geeks DO rock! ^_^ Our school is really small. We don't even have a marching band. We just have 2 Jr High bands and then a Sr. High band, which is technically the Pep Band. There used to be a Marching Band, but it got washed out. And there was a Jazz Band last year... I dunno what happened to it... ^_^ But, thanks for reading!
Meg: Heehee. That's OK. Well, one of the other reviewers mentioned imagining yourself in a party. Hehe... Then there wouldn't be any guidelines and you wouldn't be written in by someone else... ^_^
Kat Davi: Well, U confused me too, so hehe... ^_^ But, thanks!
BelleThePhilosopher'sCookie: Hehe. No problem. Here, you can have a cookie as a consolation prize... ^_^ And, just use your imagination to come up with your own little party! Heehee... I've actually had dreams where I've met my characters before... Freaky!
Cute-Kitty: LOL. I stay up late to read sometimes too. My mom thinks I'm crazy... ^_^ I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Mystic Snow: Thanks a bunch. You'll hafta wait and see. I think that's going to be in the next chapter.
Pyrefly: Heehee! That's very true!
Fantasy Is My Life 1: LOL. Patience! ^_~
HPFanNikkie: Heehee! That's next chapter, I'm pretty sure! You'll have to wait a little while!
Static Wolf: LOL. I do that in Algebra. It's quite amusing, because I keep my sheet of homework right over my notebook so that I can slide it over my fanfic if the teacher walks by... ^_^
Lady Coia: LOL. I try. I've noticed that things seem a lot longer on paper than they do on the computer screen... And I write at school whenever I find time, so it's hard to see how long it will be...