Next afternoon in class, Snape sent his students outside again. This time, though, he really wasn't planning on spending all his time thinking about Meg. Instead, he was going to do something actually productive with his time: he was making something for himself.

It was this potion he knew about, a Calming Drought, very similar to a Sleeping Potion, actually making you more composed and relaxed when you ate a spoonful. Snape thought he would eat some of it whenever he was going to see Meg, and before his wedding. He was shoving ingredients together out of his storage closet and making sure he had everything necessary.

He was halfway through, however, when who should come into his office but Meg Smith herself. Snape did a double take and spilled his half-done potion all over himself. Meg laughed a laugh that was extremely princess-y and took out her wand. She waved it, and said, "See, Severus, I can simply just use the Scourgify Charm on it, and…see! It's gone!"

Snape said nothing.

"What's the matter, sweetheart?" said Meg, coming over to Snape and sharing his chair. She kissed him on the cheek. He didn't respond. "You okay, Sev?"

"No," said Snape softly. "You see, I was halfway through this and I spilled it."

"Severus, you're worrying me," said Meg, and Snape was surprised to see tears leaking out of her brown eyes. "You haven't been talking, you know, and every time I try to talk to you you're always busy, and whenever I try to hug you, you pull away. Are we…over?"

"I'm sorry that I haven't been paying enough attention to you, I really am," said Snape, his voice cracking as he spoke the words he knew were true. Meg did still have feelings besides love, when she was under the influence of a Romance Charm, and Snape had totally forgotten this about her. "There's no use crying over spilled potion, Meg, literally this time."

"I know there's not," said Meg sadly. "We just need to spend more time together."

"We will, we will," said Snape, knowing that this time, Meg shouldn't have kissed him, but he should have kissed her. So he touched her shoulders and knew that more sparks were coming out of his wand as he did. He didn't really know what to do, he discovered, so he just sort of put his hands down and squirmed uncomfortably in the chair he was sharing with Meg.

"I really love you, Sev, I really do," Meg said softly.

Snape was tempted to say, No, you DON'T love me at all, I just put you under a Romance Charm and you THINK you love me, but you don't. He knew it would be no use, though, so he just nodded and looked at his shoes. He felt Meg on his shoulder. She was crying.

"You don't like me anymore," she sobbed. "I still love you, but if that's how you want it, I'm not going to bother you with my presence any longer." She left the room.

Snape ran out of his room after her. He wanted to call after her, to tell her that he didn't hate her, he was just being a jerk and he would stop it. Meg's figure had disappeared down the corridor by then, though, so Snape went down the corridor to Dumbledore's office. He didn't know if their wedding was still on, but he thought Dumbledore might know what to do right now.

"Lemon Drop," said Snape to the gargoyle outside Dumbledore's office. When the gargoyle moved, he ran as fast as he could up the stairs and remembered to knock.

"Come in," came Dumbledore's voice from inside.

"Headmaster…Albus…" Snape discovered he was out of breath. "I think my wedding's off."

"Why is it off, Severus?" said Dumbledore calmly. Snape could see, as he shut the door behind him, that Dumbledore had been reading some kind of parchment.

"Because…well…" Snape tried to describe it. "She came into my office…and, I don't know, I don't even know what I did that was so wrong, but soon enough she was saying that I hated her and she still loved me, and she left my office." Snape felt his voice break.

"You have no idea what you did wrong whatsoever, Severus?" said Dumbledore gently. "What exactly did you say to her? She has to have left for a reason."

"I didn't really say much at all," said Snape. "I said, 'no use crying over spilled potion,' because I was making something…and I spilled it…and she cleaned it up. And so she said we needed to spend more time together, and I said we would…and…and…then I…"

"Go on," said Dumbledore, his tone difficult to decipher.

"And I almost kissed her," said Snape abruptly. "I didn't, though…I-I couldn't…and then she just said she loved me a whole lot, and I nodded, and she started crying…" He made his tone sharper. "You hear me, she just left my office without barely another word."

"Difficult," said Dumbledore. "See, you have to talk constantly. She's been more emotional lately, you know, Meg has, you just have to be nice to her. All the time."

"I am nice to her," said Snape, rather indignantly.

"I mean extra-nice," said Dumbledore. "She's been to my office a lot. Severus, you're not the only one who's getting stress because you're getting married. She's been setting up most of the wedding for you, she's almost slaving for you…It's amazing how strong her love is."

"Just tell me how to get her back," said Snape desperately.

"Go and talk to her," said Dumbledore wisely. "It's not your fault, she's just having as much stress as you are on this whole wedding thing, I know she'll appreciate…"

Snape interrupted him. "I still can't kiss right, I mean, I'm not physically able…"

Now it was Dumbledore's turn to interrupt Snape. "You don't need to kiss her, Severus. If you just tell her how much you love her, she'll probably kiss you."

"Okay, Albus," said Snape, once again overwhelmingly grateful. "Thanks a million."

Dumbledore nodded and smiled good-naturedly before he went back to the papers he had been reading before Snape had come into his office. "Don't mention it."