Upsetting the Dust

"Harry this is weird. What on earth do you think is going on with Bitters and Snape?"

"I dunno, Ron. It's spooky though."

Hermione interrupted the boys' musings. "So because Bitters is happy for once, you have to complain and wish she was her old mean self?" Hermione frowned. "I don't understand you two. You find fault with everything."

Ron, feeling slighted, spoke up. "It's not as if we don't like her being nice. It's just that it's really strange."

"Yeah, we're not used to it. And Snape…" Harry shuddered thinking of the report.

Hermione ignored them and pulled out parchment and quill.

Watching her, Harry asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm starting my report and if you two had any sense in you, you'd do the same." Hermione, however, wasn't really concentrating on her report. She hadn't admitted it, but she was just as intrigued by Snape and Bitters as her friends were. She wondered if they had gotten together, if they had become friends and were acting different because of it. Hm… I wonder…

…..

When Bitters stepped inside Snape's office, she noticed it was empty. With a slight feeling of glee, she decided to see what kind of trouble she could cause. Walking over to his shelves, she immediately spotted a small bottle of crushed ladybug wings. Well, that was no fun.

Moving her gaze over the shelf, she could only find various ingredients. Just before she was about to give up and sit down in a chair to wait, she spotted a tiny metal box in the shape of a heart. Being so small, she had nearly overlooked it. A small lock was attached to the front of it. Slowly, Bitters picked it up and took her wand out.

"Alohomora."

The box creaked open as if it hadn't been used for many years. Inside, a single lock of auburn hair rested on some cotton wool. Completely confused, Bitters closed the lid and turned the box upside down. On the bottom, in Snape's handwriting, were the words "Rest in Peace, Lily."

For a moment, Bitters didn't know what to think. The first thing she thought was that Snape was such a sweetheart, keeping that for so many years. But her kind thoughts soon turned to annoyance.

But he loves me now. Lily is a thing of the past and she never truly loved him anyway. Why has he kept this?

Convinced Snape should have gotten rid of it once he fell in love with her, Bitters threw the box down and stormed out of the room, blinking back tears.

….

Finally, I'm free to have lunch… What a day. Snape was heading to his office after supervising Neville as he cleaned up his mess. He stifled a yawn. First days back were always tiresome.

The first thing Snape noticed when he opened the door was the heart box lying on its side on the stone floor. As he picked the box up, Snape wondered what it could possibly be doing there. The box had sat on that shelf for years, even the dust had decided to take up permanent residence on it. He quickly opened it to see if the lock of hair was still there.

When his fingers gently closed around it, he sighed in relief. Holding it against his cheek, he reminisced about when he was a teenage and thought the world was his. Suddenly, the memory of Lily running of with James flashed in his mind before he settled on his last memory of her: when she had died and he stood over her grave realizing there was nothing more he could do.

With his heart heavy, Snape walked over to his armchair and sat down. "Lily, my dearest Lily. I'm so sorry."

….

Between classes, Bitters headed to the library to get a book for the next day's lessons. At the same time, Snape was coming from the other direction. He saw right through her and since Bitters wasn't paying attention either, they collided into each other.

"Watch where you're going!"

"Watch it!"

"Oh, Snape." Bitters calmed down and greeted him in a professional tone.

"Rebecca!" Snape was relieved to see a friendly face.

"How are you?" Bitters asked as if she really didn't care whether he was fine or not.

"Oh, not too good. How are you?" Snape asked with more kindness than Bitters had mustered.

"Fine, thank you for asking." And with that she lifted her chin and continued on her way.

With a frown, Snape thought she must have been acting so odd in order to keep their relationship a secret. He walked on back to his office, trying to keep his mind away from depressing thoughts.

….

But as the days and weeks passed, Bitters remained cold towards Snape. The two had planned on spending weekends together but lately whenever Snape wanted to see her, Bitters told him she was too busy. She couldn't have been any busier than he was and he was at least making an effort.

As the weeks rolled on, the intensity of Snape's worrying increased. Bitters' acting was going to far; he missed his Becky.

One Thursday at lunchtime, Snape decided it was about time he found out what was going on. He skipped his lunch to find Bitters.

She was in her office, eating a sandwich at her desk. When Snape entered, she looked up but soon returned her attention to her sandwich. "Hello Snape. What do you want?"

"I wanted to talk to you about-"

"Make it snappy. I have things to do."

Frowning, Snape continued. "What is-" Before he could finish, Bitters abruptly stood up.

"Oops, sorry. Time's up. I must be off." Without a second glance, she walked definitely out of her own office, leaving Snape standing bewildered. He wondered what could possibly make her act so cold towards him.