Sorry about the relative lateness of this chapter. I haven't spent much time at home the past few days and when I have been home I've been either totally sick or writing essays. Come on though, you guys know I'm good for it. Anyway, enjoy the chapter and I'll almost definitely have the next one up tomorrow.

This chapter is one of my favourites because he's just beginning to liiiiiike her X)

Chapter Seventeen: Surprising and Rude

"You what?"

Okay. I had misheard. I had to have misheard. There was no way he had just apologized to me, he would never do that. He was a horrible, mean, excuse for a human being, and if there was one thing that he does not do, it was apologize. And yet he had, if I'd heard correctly. Which I'm pretty sure I hadn't. He must have said something else, like, 'I poll on pies'. That didn't make any sense, but it made more sense than him apologizing. Actually, thinking about pies made me hungry. A blueberry pie would be amazing at that moment, as I was still vaguely hung-over and the only thing I'd had to eat all Saturday was the big breakfast at that café down Hogsmeade.

"Don't make me say it again, Raphaela."

"Okay… but I think I misheard. Did you apologize, or were you stating that you polled on pies?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said, looking bewildered. "But I did… apologize."

"I knew it!" I said, squealing and bouncing over to land on the bed. "I've grown on you! Like a fungus, as you put it! You've grown accustomed to my face and you care about my feelings!" I made a mental note that I really should buy him a thank-you scarf for all those times he'd saved my life, but my thoughts were broken by Severus beginning to speak once more.

"Don't get too excited," he said, looking mildly uncomfortable. "So what did you want to talk about, regarding Saturday?"

"I wanted to know what I said to you," I said, and his uncomfortable look grew somewhat. "I know I talked to you, but I don't remember what about."

"I see," he said, and peered down at his bedsheets for a few moments before answering. "Well, you started by accusing me of secretly giving you a lobotomy. Then it came out that your… friend… was a man you had only just met and who you didn't know the name of. Then there was some shouting, and you accused me of being jealous."

"Jealous?" I echoed, nonplussed. "That's odd."

"Jealous of you, I mean," he rectified. "I believe your exact words were that I couldn't find a man as 'pretty' as your friend."

"Sweet Merlin, is he ever pretty," I said, drifting off into a daydream about him. "Those eyes! So pretty. And such lovely cheekbones."

"Fascinating," Severus said, moving back into a reclining position. "Was there anything else, or do you want to continue to gush?"

"Um… I guess I just wanted to make sure I didn't make a complete fool of myself in front of you," I said, playing with the zipper on my jacket. Severus leant forwards and rested his elbows on his knees, taking a few moments to answer me.

"Well, rest assured that you did," he said, causing me to crack up with laughter. "Why do you care what I think anyway? I thought you hated me."

"Whatever gave you that impression?" I said, nonplussed. "And I care what you think because you are my co-worker and I don't want you to think I'm totally inadequate."

"Well, maybe because you said you hated me approximately two minutes ago, Raphaela," he said, as though explaining a very simple concept to a small child.

"Oh," I said, remembering suddenly and feeling a hot blush creep onto my cheeks. It seemed so childish now that he'd apologized. Damn Severus and his mind games. "That."

"Yes. That," he echoed, raising one eyebrow. I wondered momentarily if he was making fun of me, before he began to speak again. "And no matter what you do, I'll think you're totally inadequate. So don't worry too much about it."

Ahh, that was the Severus I knew. The Severus who could conceal a horrible, soul-crushing remark into a mini-pep talk. Well, at least he was acting like normal again. Well, I supposed I had only known him for a few days, but still. I jumped on any semblance of normal I could with him. If I didn't I'd probably go mental trying to figure him out. Good thing I wasn't trying for that, I just separated the things he did into 'normal' and '…what?' I realized, far too late, that I had been staring at him while going off on my tangent, and he was looking mildly bemused at my vacant expression.

"Was there anything else, Raphaela?" he asked, leaning back against the stone wall at the head of his bed. The stone must have been cold enough to freeze hell, but he showed no signs of discomfort. Perhaps he was some kind of demon, and cold didn't affect him? Oh wait, it was heat that demons were impervious to, not cold. They were extremely cold-sensitive, by my recollection. So there goes 'demon' from the list of 'things that Severus might possibly be'. Not that I had a list. I was pretty sure that he was human. Well, human enough anyway. Passes for human. He may have been a human once, but all shreds of his humanity had been torn away, probably. Maybe he'd killed someone. Maybe worse. I wondered momentarily why I was thinking such dark things, before he opened his mouth and began to talk again.

"Raphaela? Are you going to answer me?"

Oh Merlin. What was the question? Quick, have to pretend you were listening. Say something. Anything to stop him staring like that, all confused and mildly annoyed. Then again, I should technically be used to it by now. He'd given me that look so many times in the past few days that he was in danger of his face staying like that permanently. No! No tangents! Remember what he asked! Oh, it's no use. I had to make something up.

"Er… yes?" I said, trying to look like I knew what I was talking about.

"Then what is it?"

"It's… it's…" Bloody hell. Think. Think. Think. "It's exactly what it says it is."

Severus stared at me. For a very, very long time. He looked as though he were trying to work out exactly how my mind worked, which he should have known was a futile effort. My mind was an impenetrable fortress, the likes of which none can enter. Or escape, for that matter! None can escape the fortitude of my mind, with all its intricacies and booby traps. Heheh. Booby.

"You know, sometimes I think that perhaps you're not as incompetent as I thought you were," he said finally, and my heart leapt. A compliment! He was complimenting me! Okay, so it was one of those things he did that could be sorted into the '…what?' category, but still! It was a compliment and I was going to enjoy it. "Then you go and do something like that, and I'm reminded of all the reasons why you should never be allowed to teach a subject with fire and boiling poisons."

Oh. He was just using a compliment set-up to be a jerk. What a great big surprise. You could set your watch to this man, though now that I thought about it, that was a really weird phrase. Who sets watches to things anyway? Who even sets watches anymore? Did people ever even do that? I mean, I was no antique watch expert (but I guess, like with most things, I could bluff my way through as long as nobody asked me any direct questions) but I'd never heard of anyone setting a watch to anything.

"So, is there any reason you're still sitting on my bed? I do have things to do today."

I stood up, probably too quickly to be considered entirely casual, and gave him a polite nod. "You're entirely right. I should definitely be going."

"Indeed you should. I have a lot of papers to mark."

"Oh, you lucky bastard," I said bitterly, causing his eyebrows to rise exponentially. "I don't have anything to do today. I'm going to be so bored today, I'll be bored as a rake."

It looked as though he was going to say something, indeed, he opened his mouth and took in some air, like people do right before they say something. But it never came. He just stared at me for a long time, then closed his mouth again and turned towards his clock. Without warning, he turned back around and opened his mouth again, hesitating somewhat before finally saying something. "Well, you could… what I mean to say is, if you would… Raphaela, I have a lot of work to do. You should go. Now."

I raised my eyebrows. That was rude. I turned on my heel and stormed out, slamming the door behind me. I heard a colossal, angry roar from behind the closed door once it had shut, and jumped in surprise. Well, how about that. I guess I did enrage him beyond words. I didn't think I'd been that annoying, though.