"I select the location this time," Severus warned Hermione as they neared the hotel apparition point. Hermione nodded and a thrill went thru her as she realized she had no idea what he had in mind. He picked up on her nervousness and told her, "I changed my mind about the dhansak, I like my new plan better." He offered his arm and they side-along apparated to the seaside near a gazebo. The gazebo was located on the other end of a craggy beach inlet with no other signs of human interaction. If Severus Snape was going to the seaside, this was his kind of place. Hermione went thru her encyclopaedic knowledge of England and made her guess.

"Cornwall?"

"Twenty points to Gryffindor. Lizard Point to be more precise."

"Why?" Hermione inquired.

He pulled a small item out of his robes and flicked his wand to enlarge it to a basket. Hermione shook her head in astonishment. "You made a picnic?"

"I wanted proper fish and chips." He reached in the basket and pulled out two rolled up newspapers starting the unmistakable scent of fish wafting thru the air. "I got these right before class ended from a chip van." He offered Hermione one of the newspapers and she peered inside. There was an inner lining of white paper and visible granules of sea salt sprinkled over the fish portions and the chips. She inhaled deeply and sighed.

"Surely you didn't come all the way here to have pollock instead of cod."

"No, I did not."

Hermione waited for him to continue as he led her down the shoreline toward the gazebo. The silence was companionable and they heard only the occasional rustle of newspaper and the roar of the ocean.

As they reached the gazebo, Severus closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. He then looked over to Hermione and asked, "What are your plans for the rest of the summer?"

Hermione tilted her head and responded. "I am spending two weeks with my parents, maybe a stopover at the Burrow to see Molly and the boys, nothing particularly interesting. What are yours?" she asked, waving a chip in the air.

"Harvesting ingredients, revising syllabi, inventory and ordering," he casually remarked. "I have no serious plans but I wondered if you had some free time to pencil me in, as I have not seen you in four years and I am feeling this to be an egregious oversight on my part." He flicked his wand and he transfigured a conch shell into a bench. He motioned Hermione to sit and seated himself next to her but he looked to the sea as he spoke. "You start Durmstrang again in September." It wasn't a question so she didn't respond. "I want to see you this summer before you leave," he added.

"Of course. My parents have a temporary connection to the floo for my forwarding address."

"That's not what I meant. How can I say this more lucidly?"

"Severus, I've been told I'm fairly intelligent. You brought me to a very secluded seaside cove. With fish and chips. How can a girl resist that?" she giggled. Hermione moved the picnic basket and slid down the bench closer to him. She looked into his eyes and feeling the time growing shorter, she laid her head on his chest. Severus breathed in the scent of her hair and sighed. He nuzzled the top of her head and she looked up. When he finally kissed her, everything else went away. There was no Hogwarts or Durmstrang, no September looming, no miscreant students in his future. He only knew a beautiful beach with a beautiful swotty girl. As he kissed her again, he also knew something would work out for them.

a/n I don't do epilogues. Besides, Severus fought me for the ending. Never play rock paper scissors with a legilimens. Git.