After her breakdown on Saturday night I decided to confiscate all of Susan's wedding planning materials. Just for a little while. I was able to convince her that she had left them out and the house elves probably cleaned them up and put them somewhere and that we would find them eventually. She was angry but seemed to accept the cover up.

I sat with her as she completed some assignments. I pretended to work with her to make sure the wedding planning withdrawals weren't too bad.

After lunch, Mark joined Susan and I in the library and asked why Susan didn't have any magazines with her which sent her off on an angry rant about the house elves. I felt horrible and hoped that none of the elves were able to hear her.

Dinner came and went. Susan spent the remainder of the night looking around the common room for her magazines which resulted in me deciding that maybe I should keep the magazines for a few more days.

Monday morning came quickly sending me back to classes. All through charms Susan wondered out loud where the elves could have put her magazines. I had to pretend like I didn't know they were buried deep in my trunk and give her other ideas.

"Have you looked in the boys bathrooms?" I asked trying to think of one place I was sure she hadn't.

Her eyes lit up. "No, I haven't. Do you think Rob Penderghast would look for me? He's usually nice and doesn't ask too many questions."

"You should ask him." I told her.

Susan and I said our goodbyes after class before she took off chasing Rob who had passed us in the halls.

Potions was spent with Severus going over more theoretical knowledge that would come up on the N.E.W.T.'s. Far too many times I caught myself neglecting to take notes because I was staring at him absentmindedly. I hoped that he would be willing to share with me later some of the points I had missed. It reminded me of the first potions class I'd had with him and a smile spread across my face. It seemed so long ago and like I had been so young and naïve.

I finished my Monday with Herbology which passed exceptionally quickly and was soon in the library working on homework.

I was able to finish charms and read near half of the assigned reading for potions before it was finally dinnertime. I packed my bag and walked down to the Great Hall where I joined Susan.

"Did you find the magazines yet?" I asked.

"No." She sighed. "Do you think they might have put them in a different house commons? I should start asking around, which means if they found their way to Slytherin they are lost for forever."

"I'm sure they'll turn up." I assured.

She took in a gasp of realization. "You are close with a Slytherin. Could you ask him to see if the magazines are around?"

"Because it wouldn't be odd for him to look around for and question his students about seeing bridal magazines at all." I added.

"Could you please just ask?" She questioned.

"Alright." I said with no intention of doing so. "For you I'll ask. But can't you admit it's nice to not be obsessing about the wedding every moment?"

"I still obsess I'm just not able to look at ideas." She said.

I shrugged my shoulders and finished my food.

"Are you going to see him?" Susan asked when I stood up.

"Yeah." I said. "I just do homework and watch him experiment during the week."

Susan nodded as she took in the information.

I picked up my bag and made my way to the potions room. I entered the classroom and walked towards the door that led to his office.

There was the sound of bottles moving coming from the ingredients cupboard.

"Professor?" I said unsure if there was someone else in the vicinity.

"Ruby?" I heard before the clinking of more bottles and Severus peeked around the door frame. "You're here?"

"It's Monday evening after dinner." I said nervously, did he not want me here? "I normally visit…I'm sorry, should I leave?"

"No!" He blurted and stepped out of the cupboard. "It's just that I hadn't heard from you since Saturday and I thought Susan had convinced you to reconsider me."

I smiled. "Not at all, though, you should be happy to know that I may have convinced Susan to reconsider her dislike of you."

"Is that so?" He asked. "I have something to say that might make you happy as well."

"And what is that?" I questioned.

"I am out of several ingredients in my cupboard which calls for a trip into the forest." He said. "I was planning on going alone but since you're here…would you like to go with?"

I thought about how the past few trips into the forest included getting a kiss or two from Severus and I smiled even wider.

"Absolutely." I said and placed my bag on a chair.

"Actually," He said grabbing the strap of my bag and lifting it. "Can I use this if you don't mind?"

I shrugged and followed him as he walked into his office. He then unloaded my books onto the table I usually work at and left them there. I watched him cross the room to the shelves that held his bottles, vials, and jars of ingredients where he began to place empty or nearly empty containers inside of my bag. He placed the bag strap into my own hand when he had it filled, intentionally lingering with his hand upon mine. A small smirk plucked at one corner of his mouth before he led me back into the ingredient cupboard. He lifted his wand to the wall intending to open the passage.

"Ruby?" I heard a voice call in the classroom.

I peeked my head around the doorway to see Susan looking around the corner into Severus' office.

"Susan?" I said surprised that she was there. "I thought you were going to spend time with Mark and talk about wedding things."

"Well there isn't much I can do without those magazines." She said with a shrug. "I thought maybe it would be a better use of my time if I gave Snape a second chance."

"Oh," I said stepping out of the cupboard. "Er, we were just heading to the forest."

"The forest?" She questioned. "The forbidden forest? I thought all you did was study."

"Well," I said. "Normally I do work on assignments but Severus is out of some ingredients and it's easier and more economical I suppose if he finds whatever ingredients are available in there. There are quite a lot, actually."

"Oh." Said Susan keeping her eyes upon me filled with a sort of expectation.

I looked at her in silence. I knew what she wanted and either I had to give it to her or risk her being cross with me.

I breathed a sigh at my lost alone time and possible kissing with Severus. "Would you like to come with?"

"If I wouldn't be imposing." She said out of politeness even though she was already walking quite quickly to the cupboard.

I shook my head and we walked into the cupboard together where Severus had already opened the passage and was standing in wait. I noticed Susan stiffen a bit.

"Hello." She said falsely calm.

Severus nodded at her and turned to lead us up the stairs. Susan looked back at me and I nodded her forward.

"Is he always this quiet?" She whispered to me.

I shrugged. "I think he's just surprised that you're so quick to try and make amends. I can't say I'm not shocked."

Severus led us through the opening to the outside and Susan and I followed him into the forest. Once behind the line of trees, Severus took my hand in his. Susan looked a bit taken aback. Severus pulled out his wand and the tip illuminated.

"As I've told Ruby before," Severus said addressing Susan. "There is an area of this forest which is populated with Acromantulas. If you are going to accompany us any further it is very important that you stay with us and not go wandering off by yourself. Understood?"

Susan nodded.

"Good." He said and gave my hand a squeeze. "Follow me."

We had barely begun to walk when Severus bent down at the base of a tree and looked over a small cluster of mushrooms.

"Ruby, would you give me the jar in your bag labeled 'death-cap'?" He asked and held out his hand waiting to receive the container.

I illuminated my own wand and shined it inside of my bag searching for the right label. I pulled out a jar with a small amount of dirt on the bottom and handed it to Severus.

"So he treats you like a slave?" Susan asked not trying to be quiet about her accusation.

"Of course he doesn't!" I said defensively. "Normally, he lets me help with harvesting or shows me how to identify certain ingredients."

"And you carry the heavy bag of jars." She said.

"Stop it." I said. "Normally he carries the vials but we are filling a few different ingredients. He knows I'm happy to help."

Severus stood up replacing the cover on the jar and slipping it into my bag. He flipped the flap over the top and ran his hands from the bag to my waist. He pulled me closer to him.

"I also don't mind the company." He said before he placed his lips gently upon mine in a kiss.

Severus pulled away and I turned to see Susan looking like a child who had just had a large plate of broccoli placed in front of her. Severus and I both laughed. He took my hand in his and led me on. I quickly grabbed one of Susan's sleeves to drag her along.

"You're gross." She said. "Just so you're aware."

I giggled. "I'm alright with that.

I leaned my head on Severus' shoulder as we walked. I thought about how afraid I had been the first time I entered the forest with him. Now I was completely certain that he would not let anything hurt me. I was certain that he wouldn't let anything hurt Susan either. She, however, looked nervous and jumped at every sound we heard.

Severus came to a stop again in front of a large tree.

"Can you hand me the Snakeweed jar?" He asked and began scraping at small vines that were climbing up the side of the tree.

I handed him the jar and he dumped a handful inside and resumed scraping and pulling.

"How do you find this entertaining?" Susan asked.

"I like potion-making." I said. "The ingredients are interesting and it's great to see that so many can be found if you know where to look."

I turned and watched Severus working. A lock of hair fell into his face and rather than move it he left it. A portion of me wanted to brush it away and kiss him softly.

My thoughts were interrupted by Susan's screams. I turned around quickly and Severus looked over as well.

"Devil's Snare!" She shrieked. "It's got me."

I looked all around and saw a small plant near her leg with long, moving tentacle-like vines.

"Don't be ridiculous." Severus said. "Calm down. It's only Flitterbloom."

He put the cap back on the jar of Snakeweed and handed it back to me.

"Oh." Susan said, even in the dark I could see her blushing in embarrassment.

Severus began digging through the bag of containers himself and pulled one out. "There it is."

He walked over to the plant and pulled a small silver knife from a pocket of his robes. He cut a few small pieces from the plant and let them fall into a small bottle. He stood up and walked back to me. We began walking through the forest again.

Severus stopped again.

"Seriously?" Susan asked annoyed. "We're stopping again? When are we going to leave?"

"If you didn't want to come you shouldn't have." He said reaching his wand into the knot of a nearby tree.

Susan let out an annoyed grunt and walked a bit away from him but not very far while lighting her own wand.

"I think she was hoping it would be more fun." I said.

"This is fun." He argued.

"I know that." I agreed. "But she's going to be an Auror and clearly one who is less concerned with potions. Maybe we should have stayed at the castle."

"Maybe she shouldn't have just shown up." He said glancing in Susan's direction. "Go check on her."

Before I could get to her Susan shouted. "Ruby, come here!"

I took another step towards Susan.

"Don't touch those." He said with a warning tone.

I turned to see him not even looking in our direction but was instead pulling small black orbs from the knot hole and dropping them into a vial.

"What?" Susan asked. "I just wanted to show Ruby these flowers that would be perfect for my…"

I saw that Susan was a few steps from a bush with large deep purple flowers.

"I said not to touch them." He said again. "That's a Spinning Wheel Rosebush. If you prick you finger on one of those thorns you'll fall into eternal sleep."

"There isn't an antidote?" Susan asked.

"Why?" He asked becoming slightly concerned and turned away from what he was doing. "Did you already prick yourself?"

"No." She said. "I just seems odd that there wouldn't be an antidote."

"Of course there is one." He said. "Though it's hard to come by and neither I nor Madam Pomfrey is in possession of such a thing. Your closest salvation would likely be St. Mungo's and how am I supposed to explain how I was in the forest with a student who did not have detention and is now in immediate need of medical attention? Not to mention that once pricked you have a short amount of time to receive the antidote before the rose's effects become permanent. So I say again, don't touch those."

Susan let out an annoyed sigh. "Fine."

Severus stood staring at Susan for a few seconds. "We should go. It's getting late."

He turned without waiting for confirmation from Susan or I. I grabbed Susan by the arm and raced after Severus.

I pulled up next to him and intertwined my fingers with his. As soon as I did so I saw his shoulders relax.

"You're doing well." I whispered in encouragement.

"Your friend is testing my patience." He whispered in my ear.

"Can you not nibble my friend's ear in front of me?" Susan asked.

Severus squeezed my hand.

"Sorry." He said through clenched teeth.

Soon we arrived at the castle wall which led to the potions cupboard and we were again in Severus' classroom.

He let go of my hand and pulled my bag from my shoulder before he walked into his office. I could hear him unloading the containers before he brought it back out to me. I looked inside and saw my class materials were back inside.

"It was nice to have company, Ruby." He forced a smile. "And Susan."

She stiffly nodded her head before she grabbed my hand and began tugging me from the room.

"It was fun." She said. "And I learned so much."

She pushed me through the door and shut it behind us.

"It's infuriating." She said as we began to climb the stairs.

"What is?" I asked. "I thought you both did very well."

"It's infuriating how smart he is." She clarified.

"You think he's smart?" I asked surprised at the compliment.

"I don't think I can ever hope to be that smart about anything as he is with plant identification." She said. "It makes me more upset to know that he must be just as good or better at making potions."

"He is quite good at defense against the dark arts too." I added.

"I can't say I absolutely hate him anymore." She said as she opened to door exiting the staircase. "But he is still sort of rude."

"Of course." I said happy that Susan was seemingly starting to warm up to the idea of Severus.