The next few days saw Snape busy brewing a potion. In fact he was too busy to spend much time with Bitters. Day and night he was locked in his office mixing, stirring, and reading the potion recipe over and over to make sure eh didn't miss anything. That particular potion was the most complicated and exhausting one he had ever attempted to make. Anytime Snape did have a free moment he would spend it sleeping, usually in his leather chair with the potion book resting on his chest. That was how Bitters found him one afternoon.

She had knocked on his door but there was no answer so she walked in and found him knocked out. The cauldron was steaming in the corner.

"Severus." She gently called to him. No answer. "Severus, are you alright?" Worry began mounting inside her. She gently shook him.

"What? Huh?" He jumped up with a start. "Oh, it's you…"

"Severus, is there anything wrong? Are you feeling okay?"

"Oh yes. I'm just tired, that's all. No matter." He smiled reassuringly at her.

"Are you positive? You haven't come to see me lately and you're never around."

"Yes. I know. I've just been very busy."

"Busy? But it's holidays. What are you doing? And what's in the cauldron?" Curiosity began to replace her concern.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Severus slowly moved to block the cauldron from her sight.

"Nothing? What's going on?" She gave him a quizzical stare.

"Oh, just, you know, preparing for next semester's classes."

Rebecca stared at him, presuming it was something for her. "Alright then," She conceded, "As long as you're fine." She gave him a peck on the cheek. "When will you be done? I'm dying to see you again."

"Soon. I'll come visit you when I'm done, okay?"

"Okay." She backed out of the room, the quizzical stare back in place.

Severus sighed heavily and turned to check on the potion which is bubbling and spurting all over the place. He picked up the book that fell on the floor and slid, thankfully, out of sight under the bed.

"Hmm… one more day left. I must let it sit and cool down." He took the cauldron off the fire and placed it on the bench then yawned as he put the fire out with his wand.

Sitting back in his chair, he closed his eyes and thought about Rebecca. Even those few days away from her had been hard to bear. Soon, however, he fell asleep again. His whole body was aching from the effort of making the potion. Quickly he drifted into a deep sleep and didn't wake up until extremely late the next day.

………….

Knock. Knock.

Rebecca jumped up, startled. No one had come to her door since the end of the year. Severus? She ran to the door and flung it open like an overexcited school child.

"Severus!" She ran into his arms. "I'm so glad you're back. I missed you!"

"I've only been gone four days." He chuckled at her enthusiasm.

"I know…but it seemed longer."

"So, now that I'm here what do you want to do?"

"Let's go for a walk." Rebecca grabbed her cloak from the hook by the door and lead Severus down the corridor.

"Where are we going?" Severus asked, curious at her determined walk.

"Somewhere." She replied mysteriously.

They walked silently down the darkened corridors and descended the stairs to the Entrance Hall. It was 11 o clock so they didn't come across anyone on there way. Rebecca lead Severus out the front door into the grounds. She then headed towards the Forbidden Forest.

"Rebecca, why are we going into the forest?" Severus asked.

"We're not." She said no more and left him pleasantly baffled.

Rebecca walked around the edge of the forest until the trees opened up to a small, secret spot where the bushes were decorated with fluttering fairies. A bench sat in the middle of the clearing. Severus noticed that two brooms were resting on the bench and behind it was a fountain that seemed to be spurting champagne.

"Merlin…" Severus breathed. "Did you do this?" He looked around, taking in the beauty of it all.

"Yes. It's been waiting for you." She watched his face as he looked from one spot to another.

"I love it." He smiled at Rebecca who grabbed his hand eagerly and pulled him over to the bench.

"Sit down." She whipped out her wand and summoned two champagne flutes. Walking to the fountain, she filled them up and handed one to Severus. "I thought we could go for a little fly." Rebecca explained as she noticed Severus looking in the direction of the brooms.

"Brilliant idea." They sipped their champagne in silence, staring up at the full moon. Then suddenly Severus jumped up and pulled Rebecca over to the brooms. "Come on, let's go." He was eager to feel the wind in his face and get away from the school grounds. So they mounted and soared up into the night, side by side. "Where to?" He asked as they cleared the trees.

"No where in particular." Rebecca answered, though she subtley lead him over trees, lakes, valleys, and even the ocean. They flew together for hours until dawn began to break. Rebecca then indicated for Severus to follow her down to the land. They dismounted on a quiet hill. Arm in arm they watched the sun rise until the sun began to blind their eyes and their stomachs grumbled with hunger.

"Don't worry. There's a sea side café just over the hill." Rebecca assured her companion. They remounted and flew to the café. After ordering coffee and croissants, Severus turned to Rebecca.

"Becky, that was the most spectacular night I have ever had." He told her in all seriousness.

"You really enjoyed it?"

"Of course." He smiled at her.

"Me too." She smiled back, glad she had made him happy.

After enjoying a peaceful breakfast, they flew back to Hogwarts. On the way, Severus showed off his flying skills. He looped, circled, and flew upside down all around Rebecca. She laughed heartily at his clever stunts.

"I never knew you were such a good flyer, Severus!"

"I have hidden talents, Ms. Bitters!" He teasingly replied. Rebecca chuckled in reply, her heart and mind as light as a feather.

Severus laughed himself, the first time for a long time. Laughter certainly is contagious… He thought as he looked at Rebecca and found that his heart leapt just as a tree had to leap out of his way when he nearly flew into it. Rebecca laughed some more as she noticed he was not paying attention. Severus had been too busy watching Rebecca laugh, her eyes lighting up while the wind gently blew her hair around her face.

Soon, they arrived back at Hogwarts, having taken a shorter route back.

"Thank you for the lovely night, Rebecca." Severus said as he dismounted on the Hogwarts lawn.

"My pleasure, Severus. But you have to top that now!" She teased.

"I most certainly do. Tomorrow night, be ready." He replied. The two then smiled at each other and parted ways to catch some much needed sleep.

………….

A/N: Gosh, I can't believe how simply written this is… Though, it is 2 years old. Lol. I really do hope you are enjoying it though. Sorry if some things seem oddly written, as I type this up from a notebook I'm changing it from present to past tense. The present bugged me too much. J

Please check out the story my friend and I are writing, Where You Least Expect It, under peanutilover. It'll be a very long story but a nice light humorous one, which is written considerably better than this story. Please review both stories. I thrive on reviews! Drop me a line! Thanks for reading!