"Severus?"

"In my office." Severus glanced at his clock. "You're early."

"Yes, I was able to get everyone out of Hogwarts without ten thousand questions or delays." Harry stepped around whatever Severus had covered by one of the chairs. "New?" Harry was the new Headmaster of Hogwarts. He had started last year.

"No, finished. It's the painting that Willis wanted done. I finished it." Severus retired from Hogwarts five years ago but found himself bored, so he opened a shop for making potions, but one customer came in with a painting that his grandson had spilled oil paint onto. Severus and the owner worked on fixing the painting for a few weeks and Severus found himself enjoying the work. His name soon spread and now he worked from home on refurbishing old paintings.

"Good, so perfect timing. I have a surprise for you."

"Harry, your last surprise is lying over there." Severus pointed to the dog and cat that were sleeping in a shared bed. The cat was a male Russian Blue, and the dog was a Greyhound/Golden Retriever mix. They had been rescued from an abusive home and Harry had seen the paper announcing they needed a new home. Two days later, Severus came back from his Potion Master's retreat to find the fuzzies had eaten his slippers.

"This is one you will love." Harry held up an International Port-Key. "We are going away for the holidays."

"Harry, I hate the beach."

"Not to the beach." Harry wiggled his eyebrows.

"You know I don't want to go skiing or anything like that." Severus stood up. "I want to relax when I go away, not exercise."

"I know."

Severus was now curious. "No beach, no exercise, but foreign."

"Something you have wanted to do." Harry was bouncing on his feet. "Something you have been asking me to do with you."

"It better not be visiting that nudist colony in Florida that I made a joke about one time."

"No, it's not, though that might be fun." At Severus horrified face, Harry laughed. "Joking. I promise no nudist colony."

"No potion gathering?" While he still had the potion making store, Draco was the one who ran it and made most of the mass quantity of items they sold. Severus only did the special orders.

"No, not unless you want to, I promise. I'm not sure if there would be a place around to gather them. You might be able to purchase some in the magical markets."

"Not Egypt. You know how I feel about sand."

"No, not Egypt." Harry learned that lesson when they went for the weekend to visit Bill. Severus wore his normal black, got heat stroke, and had sand everywhere. It made for a miserable Severus, even worse than his Hogwarts days.

"Food?"

"You love the food."

Severus beamed. "We're going to Rome. We are going to all the museums!"

"Yes, for the whole month. I got us a suite as close to the museums as I could. I reserved our favorite table at Gino's."

"I'll start packing."

"Kiss?"

"Oh, you are going to get more than a kiss." Severus looked at the pets. "Who is taking care of Mutt and Jeff?"

"Already arranged, Draco is taking them to his house. His kids will be doing the babysitting." Harry felt his arm yanked.

"Come on, we have to pack."

"Severus, it's for tomorrow."

"So? Let's get going." Severus pulled Harry out of his office.