The night before the students were going to leave for the winter holiday brought a slow but steady drift of snow. Hazel had spent the evening helping her students track down things that they had misplaced, reminding everyone to be ready to go by nine the next morning, and making sure no post-exam parties broke out in the common room. The Ravenclaws were a calm bunch, but she'd caught a few of them sneaking abc from the Gryffindor party. She let them go with a warning and a wink, telling them to be more careful next time they snuck out after hours.

Finally ushering the last of her students upstairs to go to bed, Hazel dropped onto the sofa. It wasn't long before the old oak door swung open, Snape stepping inside. He sat down beside her, rubbing his hands together. The hallways were freezing, all of the stone growing cold as winter took over the castle. "How are you?" she asked, pointing her wand at the fireplace. The flames grew brighter, starting to warm up the room.

"Greengrass managed to spill pumpkin juice all over Zabini and his things, but there were no nightmares to sort out. Even the first-years seem to have gotten themselves in order," he was glad to report. "I've left the older students to their party. No use in breaking it up unless they get overly rowdy, but the Prefects seem to handle things like that exceedingly well. The few students staying here for the holiday are situated. Tomorrow should be a fairly routine send-off."

"Are you staying here over the holiday?" Hazel asked, conjuring a cup of tea. She passed it over as she conjured one of her own. "I hope there's enough sugar in there. I could never get that part of the spell quite right."

He took a sip, still trying to fully warm himself up. "Thank you. I think I'll go back to Spinner's End for a while. I still have that house, though there's not much there anymore. A break from the castle - a break from Umbridge - is certainly welcome after the term we've had."

Umbridge seemed to be everywhere in the castle, popping up in new regulations, new Inquisitorial Squad annoyances, and physically appearing anywhere and everywhere to make sure order was being maintained. Her constant presence was getting on everyone's nerves. "I couldn't agree more."

"Are you going anywhere, or are you going to be staying in Hogsmeade?"

"An old friend is letting me borrow their cottage by the sea in Cornwall. It's a beautiful area, even in the winter. No matter where you go, you can hear the crashing waves and it all smells like sea lavender. It's a charming little place, really." She hadn't been to the cottage in years, not since the summer before their seventh year, when she had gone on a trip across England to visit some friends. She paused, taking a sip of her drink. "If you want company for the holidays, you're welcome to come by. I'm sure it's prettier than Spinner's End, and the holidays are always better with people."

"I'd like that." He set his drink down, turning to look at her. The slightest glint of trepidation shone in his eyes. "Hazel?"

"Hmm?" He paused, watching the firelight flicker over her face, shining off of her hair like he'd seen it dozens of times.

Leaning forward, he closed the short gap between them. She had seen it coming, but was a little surprised nonetheless. He drew back for a second, fear catching in his breath, but she pulled him in again, not giving him enough time to truly hesitate. A delicate hand on her waist pulled her closer steadily, but gently enough that it seemed like he was afraid she would dissolve into thin air. Just as she wound her hand onto his hair, he let go, standing up abruptly as if he'd been hit by a bolt of lightning. "No. I can't - I shouldn't - goodnight, Hazel."

He turned on his heel, vanishing almost instantly. "Sev -" She was cut off by the oak door slamming behind him.

"Ouch! No need for that," the door knocker grumbled.

Hazel sat back in her seat, lifting a hand to her lips as she replayed the last sixty seconds in her mind. Luna Lovegood stood at the top of the steps leading to the girls' dormitory in shock. She had been planning on taking one last late-night walk for the term, but she crept back into her room instead.

Several years before, two students sat up late in Astronomy Tower. It was the last night of the term. Exams had been done for a few days. Everyone was packed and ready to head home in the morning. The Gryffindors were busy throwing their traditional end-of-term party, and the Slytherins were busy hosting their rival celebration. The professors were in their quarters, turning a blind eye to students out of bed, like they always did on the last night of the term. Too much of a fuss to discipline anyone out that night, unless they were really wreaking havoc.

Hazel had been at the Gryffindor party for a while, but she ducked out early. Sirius and James had loudly expressed their displeasure, since it was going to be their last winter party ever. Five minutes after she left, though, they had already gone back to the party.

It had been an eventful end of the term. Exams were difficult, like always, but there had been the promise of the annual winter ball, a tradition that, unbeknownst to them, would end that year, after several unruly Hufflepuffs wound up in the Hospital Wing from too much spiked punch. They weren't alone for long. A group of Gryffindors and Slytherins got into a fight over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and the recent Pureblood feuds, many of them marching down to the Hospital Wing sporting injuries. Hazel had her share of disagreements at the ball, but nothing as bad as Evan Rosier's broken nose, Corban Yaxley's shattered fist, or the concerning amount of blood Sirius had dripping down his arm and staining his dress robes.

"Hi," she breathed, carefully popping open a bottle of Butterbeer and handing it over. "I snuck a couple out. The Gryffindors won't notice."

Snape smiled his thanks, telling her to step into the bubble of warm air he had cast around himself. "You'll freeze to death if you stand out here for too long." She stepped closer, the two of them staring up into the cloudless sky. "How was the party?"

"Fun. Somehow James got his hands on a couple of records that came out last week. Not sure how he did it, but I'm not complaining. And the amount of black market Butterbeer they managed to haul back from Hogsmeade... I don't know how they do all of that, but it sure is something. I'm kind of thankful Ravenclaw parties are a lot more calm than that. I feel bad for whoever's trying to go to bed early in Gryffindor Tower tonight."

He nodded thoughtfully. The Slytherins were the same way. Their parties by design had to rival the Gryffindor parties, so no one would get a good night's sleep in the dungeons either. "Excited for break?"

"Yeah, I'm hopping from the Hogwarts Express to another train. We're visiting family down in Dartmoor, and then my Mum's cousins in Romania," she answered, glad to be able to warm up. "What about you?"

He sighed, not looking forward to the holiday nearly as much as she was. "Back to Cokeworth. At least my dad's gone."

"Is your Mum doing any better?"

"She's still sick. Honestly, this is probably going to be her last Christmas."

"I'm sorry, Sev." She laid her head on his shoulder, her eyes trained on the bottle in her hands. "I wish… I wish a lot of things had been different. I wish things were different."

Frowning, he pointedly told her that, "It sounds like you're talking about a whole lot more than my Mum."

"Maybe I am."

"You're a Pureblood, and one from one of the best wizarding families there is. You don't have to join us, but you could be… protected. I could make sure you're not swept up in any of this. You can avoid it. But you're already committed to the Aurors' Office, aren't you?" he realized. "And the Order. Have you joined up yet?"

Hazel didn't answer his question, instead going back to something he'd said, a quick slip of the tongue that let her know once and for all where his loyalties lay. "'Us'?"

Snape frowned, the discussion clearly paining him. It had all been weighing on him for a few days, ever since she'd asked him at the ball and he'd flat-out refused to tell her. He handed her his bottle of Butterbeer, slowly rolling up his left sleeve. "I should have told you earlier."

Taking a half-step back, it finally hit her that he'd chosen his side. She had harbored a bit of hope for a while. He'd drifted from some of those she knew were going to become Death Eaters soon. They'd gone to the ball together, and they'd had a nice time, at least until they had fought, and then the actual fighting had broken out and they'd fled into the depths of the castle to get away from it.

Rolling his sleeve back down, he met her eye, the look of shock, horror, and thinly-masked revulsion setting in. "This is - you know you picked a side I can never be on. Sev, I… I don't know what to tell you. You could've gone a different way. I would've helped you. I would've done anything." She fought back tears as she saw years of friendship crumbling before her eyes. "You said it yourself. We have to pick sides. But damn it, Sev, you know what this means."

"I'm sorry." Part of it was genuine. She was going to be one of the things he missed the most about the world he had been living in for so long, the world of good, and then of plausible deniability. "Could you indulge me one more thing before you decide to hate me forever?"

"Sev -" He stepped forward, kissing her impulsively before taking off for the stairs.

Hazel was left to stand there in utter shock and confusion, bottles of Butterbeer in each hand. He was gone. This was it. He'd chosen a side, and it was the wrong one. Even though she wanted to think the best of him, she knew deep down that he had already begun working for Voldemort. Not all of his followers were branded with the Dark Mark. Only the closest, those who had proved themselves extremely useful, had the symbol snaking up their left arms. Sinking to the floor, she spent the next hour leaning on the cold stone wall, trying to get herself together.

A frozen, teary-eyed girl dropped into a seat in front of the fire. Pandora and Xeno sat on either side of her, trying to decipher what had happened to their friend. All of them were up late that night. Even when she crawled into bed, finally defrosted, Hazel couldn't sleep. It was going to be a long train ride home.

Luna couldn't sleep either. It wasn't the Nargles that had stolen her favorite pair of trainers, or the thought of the Dirigible Plum pudding she was looking forward to making with her father when she got home. Instead, she kept playing that evening on loop. When she dropped into a seat next to Ginny the next morning, she looked around the packed train compartment. Everyone fell silent as she cleared her throat, ready for the uproar she was about to cause. "Professor Ashmore's been snogging Professor Snape."

As the train pulled out of Hogsmeade Station, cries of "What?" "When did that happen?" and "No way!" rang into the hall, echoes of the chaos filling the entire train car.