A.N.: I wish I had something fluffier to post for today, but I've got so much written up that I'm just glad it's not anything super sad. I can't believe it's been five years since AR passed... Anyway, thank you all for the love! I'm gonna go listen to the Sweeney Todd soundtrack and keep writing.
A frosty wind swirled around the castle grounds, bringing with it the first inkling of a quickly-approaching winter. Hazel closed her book, looking across the sofa at her companion. "Sev, what happened after we graduated?"
"You want to talk about this now?" He set his book aside, his eyes sweeping across the common room to be sure they were alone. Most of the students were holed up in the library, studying for winter exams, or already asleep. Good. With a sigh, he assented. "We hardly talked later in the spring. When we graduated, I left for home. I had yet to clean out the house after my parents died. Lucius Malfoy wrote while I was there, telling me it was time. I spent the next few months as a spy, until I overheard the prophecy that led the Dark Lord to Potter. As he waited, I was promoted. The Death Eater raids, the campaigns against the Ministry, I helped to organize them all. Nothing I quite want to remember. You, though, I kept up with your career. There was no way I could tell where you would be, but I hoped you never faced the best of the Death Eaters."
"I did," she smiled, "but I always won." She had seen her share of horrors in the Auror Office. The aftermath of the battles, erasing the memories of every Muggle nearby, trying to sort things out with the Muggle government. The endless cups of coffee and potions designed to pep them up, camping out to watch Death Eater hideouts, the battles they were never sure to win. It had been another lifetime, a great adventure that Hazel missed but was glad to have left behind. "I was on Alastor Moody's team. They sent us after the worst of the worst. We were the squad that… inspired the Ministry to allow Aurors to use the Unforgivable Curses when they hunted Death Eaters."
Snape smiled a bit. "Thank you for that." When they'd run into each other, she immediately recognized him. There was no way she was going to start wildly throwing out Unforgivable Curses if he was there. She did her best to protect him that night. Lucky for her, he didn't want to use any Unforgivable Curses if there was a chance that one of them might hit her. No matter what they did, who they were, they still weren't going to kill each other. Moody was furious that one of the Death Eaters had gotten away. But Hazel assured him they would have another chance. Besides, they brought in four of them, a big catch for any Auror.
"I never used them unless I was about to die," Hazel assured him. "Unless they were literally about to kill me, anyone I killed was because I reflected their own curses back at them. I preferred the ones you invented. I Sectumsempra'd Dolohov pretty well the night we arrested him."
Moody and Hazel hid in the bushes, finally leaving their campsite after being on a constant watch for nearly a week. It was time. The group of Death Eaters were asleep, even their watchman. He had hardly been effective when he was awake. The two of them crept up to the normally-abandoned shack, holding their breath as they approached. This Death Eater squad was using it as a base to terrorize the nearby Muggles. Moody motioned for her to go through the window as he broke the door down. He nodded, giving her the signal to start counting down. Thirty seconds. Twenty seconds. Ten seconds. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Go.
As Moody broke the door in, immediately blasting curses, Hazel crashed through the window. A shower of glass fell onto Rosier, who flailed about, trying to find his wand. She froze him in his tracks, thinking they would arrest him later. For now he could remain frozen on the floor.
Cursed flew everywhere, the four Death Eaters sending multicolored sparks flying. It was one of them who cast the first Killing Curse, narrowly missing Moody, who dove out of the way just in time. Hazel stupefied him before he could attack Moody again.
Diving over a chair, she rolled out of the way of one of Dolohov's curses. Since the Death Eaters had begun using Unforgivable Curses first, they were able to send them back. That was Moody's policy. The Minister of Magic had approved of using them against Death Eaters whenever they wanted, but Moody only let his Aurors use them if the Death Eaters used them first. Making peaceful arrests was always the first option. Hazel tried her best not to use them either way.
Dolohov was slowly backing her into a corner. Busy with two other Death Eaters, Moody would be of no help. "We went to school together, didn't we? That annoying little Ravenclaw brat. Lucky you're a Pureblood or we would've gotten you earlier. Avada Kedavra!" he spat.
Too fast for him, she threw up a protection spell. The two of them sent flashes of green and blue light across the room, bouncing off of each other as they wrestled for control. Moody had taken down one of the Death Eaters, but Rosier had escaped his bonds, bent on attacking the man who had led the effort to hunt him down. There was no one to help her. Not that she needed it quite yet.
"They let you become an Auror?" Dolohov got closer, training another Killing Curse on her. She deflected it, but she was running out of room.
It was either Dolohov or the fireplace. There was going to be no escape. One final idea popped into her head, a way to keep from using a Killing Curse. "Sectumsempra!" A bolt of white light flew from her wand, deep wounds opening up all over his body. Dolohov howled in pain, Hazel disarming him and leaving him to bleed on the ground. She pocketed his wand and jogged over to help Moody, stunning one of the Death Eaters he was fighting from behind and allowing him to take down the other with ease.
The night ended with one dead, one - Rosier - making a miraculous escape, and the two others, including a severely-bleeding Dolohov, in custody. The Aurors apparated to Azkaban's holding cells, turning them over to the Dementors before going back for the body they had left behind.
"Well done," Moody breathed, trying to dissipate the adrenaline coursing through his veins as they finally made it back to the Ministry. "That cutting curse, what is it? I've seen something similar, but not nearly as effective."
Snape was proud of her for sure, but it was unsettling to hear how she'd used his own spells against his friends. Although he couldn't be sure of how he felt about it, they'd both made bad decisions in the past. To say the least. "You said you didn't usually defend people in front of the Wizengamot. How did you end up there? Aurors hardly just step down."
"I spent more time in the office. Most of it I spent hunting down people within the Ministry and undoing the Imperius Curses they'd been placed under and interrogating them. The Wizengamot was looking for new blood, so they reached out to Barty Crouch," she explained, staring into the fireplace. "The Department of Magical Law Enforcement was the perfect recruiting grounds for fresh new prosecutors. They knew I was good at interrogating people. I never used the Cruciatus Curse, and I'm proud of it. I brewed vats of Veritaserum, and I spent days at a time talking to Death Eaters, but it worked. I spent a while interrogating Death Eaters in front of the Wizengamot and presenting the evidence against them. When we started running out of Death Eaters to prosecute, they started offering deals to the ones in Azkaban if they talked. I built a career on asking questions."
Snape was quiet for a moment. It was his turn to stare into the flickering flames as Hazel trained her eyes on him. "Thank you for not using the Cruciatus Curse on anyone. It's not pleasant." Hazel held her tongue, letting him fill the silence. "It was rare, but the Dark Lord used it on me a few times, when he thought I'd taken a course of action… contrary to his ideas. I was the only one he allowed to act without instruction or any limits. I soon learned what his limits were, where he demanded that we use more power and spare no one."
"I'm sorry." Instinctively, she reached out for his hand. "I regret using the Unforgiveables against anyone. It was them or me, but… I still feel bad. I sometimes still see the stunned looks in their eyes when I go to sleep. I don't want to have to do that again, but we might need to."
She had expected him to pull his hand away, to draw back as she talked about something this heavy. But he didn't. Still staring into the flames, he sighed. "I never did thank you for everything you did to convince the Wizengamot to keep me out of Azkaban. And to keep me alive. Dumbledore's testimony was most of it, but you did much of the behind-the-scenes work. Thank you."
"You're welcome. I couldn't abandon you."