Dawn had barely broken when Hazel extracted herself from the blankets she'd been hiding under in the Ravenclaw common room. She took off for Dumbledore's office, finding the door already open for her. McGonagall, Slughorn, and Flitwick were already assembled there. "I've been expecting you," he smiled, telling her to take a seat. But she remained standing, crossing her arms. "Well then. Where is he now?"
"Still asleep in front of the fire in Ravenclaw Tower. He's got an hour or so before the sleeping draught wears off. You can't punish him, Professor. It was Potter and Black -"
"Miss Ashmore, as I'm sure Mr. Snape told you last night, he will not be punished. He's a curious boy, and it only makes sense that he wanted to know where Mr. Lupin and his friends were sneaking off to."
"That's what I came to see you about, Professor. You mustn't punish Remus either. He had no idea about any of this," she insisted, looking between Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall, the head of his house. "He - he didn't know his friends were going to use him as a weapon. He couldn't have known. There was no way he would've supported it if - Sirius was trying to kill Sev, Professor. He knew that down that tunnel there was going to be a full transformed werewolf, and he knew that a werewolf will attack any human it sees if it doesn't have any other source of blood - that's why I stay away from there no matter how much I want to be there for him - and Potter only pulled him back because he knew they'd have real blood on their hands if he got all the way to the Shrieking Shack and -"
Dumbledore interrupted her fury, if only to get her to take a breath. "Miss Ashmore, that is exactly what we are all here to discuss. As Head of Gryffindor House, Professor McGonagall will have the final say about what happens to Mr. Black and Mr. Potter."
"It's not a good-natured prank or however they're trying to spin it," she insisted. "They were going to let him die. Remus never feeds on anything as a wolf, so he wouldn't have just bitten to bite. He would've killed Sev, and that would have been on... on all three of them. Remus wouldn't have been able to help it, but just taking points away or giving them detentions -"
"Professor Slughorn, as Head of Slytherin House, is here to discuss what will become of Black and Potter as well. He should have a say, as it was one of his students at the center of this," Dumbledore continued calmly. None of the others spoke, but he continued in the same placid tone. "And Professor Flitwick is here because right now there is a traumatized young man sleeping on the sofa in the Ravenclaw common room. You know, Madam Pomfrey insisted that she keep him overnight, but," he exchanged a quick glance with Flitwick, "I knew he would be better off in your care. Now Filius, I need to speak to Horace and Minerva a little more, but if you would kindly escort Miss Ashmore back to Ravenclaw Tower..."
They were interrupted again, this time by a frightened Remus racing in, his robes dirty and torn. "Professor, James just told me - I swear I didn't - did I?" He seized Hazel by the shoulders, knowing she was there for a reason. "Please tell me he's alive. Oh Merlin, did I -"
"Mr. Lupin," Dumbledore said kindly, "Mr. Snape is perfectly fine. A little shaken, I am sure, but resting up in Ravenclaw Tower. Please take a seat."
Flitwick led Hazel out of Dumbledore's office, the two of them setting out for Ravenclaw Tower. "Professor, he can't just let them get away with - detention won't teach them anything," she implored. "They've gotten more detentions than anyone else in this school and they haven't learned anything -"
"Miss Ashmore," Flitwick stopped her as they reached Ravenclaw Tower. He looked up at her, parsing the concern out of her anger. "While I cannot myself punish them... let's see, how's fifty points from Gryffindor for that act of complete idiocy on Mr. Black's part, yes... and forty points from Gryffindor for Mr. Potter's veiled attempt at freeing himself from a manslaughter charge, and thirty points from Gryffindor for Mr. Pettigrew's acquiescence to the whole situation when he should have valued speaking up over agreeing with his friends? That ought to start offsetting the points that the Headmaster granted Mr. Potter for his act of bravery." He surveyed her once more, still thinking aloud. "Let's see, then... fifty points to Slytherin for Mr. Snape's tenacity, curiosity, and relentless pursuit of the truth - you know, I do think he would have made a good Ravenclaw. And.. ah yes! Thirty points to Ravenclaw for your bravery in speaking to Professor Dumbledore and your kindness to that poor boy. Now," he checked his watch, "I am going to get down to breakfast. I suggest you get back in there before he wakes up."
Doing as she was told, Hazel snuck back to her spot just as Sev began to stir. "Werewolves..." he mumbled, thrashing about in the blankets she'd layered on him. Hazel shook his shoulder and he sat up with a start.
"Hey," she smiled, coming over to give him a hug. Neither of them said a word to each other. They knew.
For the next two years, Hazel would occasionally wake up in the middle of the night to an owl tapping at her window. She didn't have to read the note tied to its leg to know. He'd had another dream about that night. So she would get up and write back, telling him that she was fine, that he'd be fine, and that they were safe in the castle.
The werewolf incident was just one of the things that plagued his nightmares as he got older, but it remained one of the worst. It plagued him whenever he went on Death Eater missions with the werewolves. It was a near constant dream when Lupin came back to teach, even though the Wolfsbane Potion kept him calm. Even though Lupin had his wits about him, Snape still wished that Dumbledore would force him into the Shrieking Shack. But instead Snape was the one who would lock himself away every full moon. He trusted the Wolfsbane Potions he brewed - he'd helped invent them, after all - but he could never bring himself to fully trust Lupin.
Even now, when he was supposedly the most qualified person to deal with the Dark Arts and dangerous creatures, he still had the same dreams he'd been having since he was fifteen. But this time he wasn't dealing with them on his own.
Particularly late one evening he dropped into bed, not noticing the full moon outside. What he noticed first was Hazel sleeping peacefully, bathed in the moonlight. She reached out for him as he lay down, mumbling something that sounded like, "G'night Sev." He kissed her cheek and pulled her into his arms like he did every night. They'd long since stopped caring about what the students would say if they saw both of them heading to breakfast from the dungeons every morning. As the Head of House, it made more sense for him to stay there and her to move down from Ravenclaw Tower, though she still found herself there grading papers on occasion. Even Snape had to admit that he liked the Ravenclaw common room better than his own.
As soon as he closed his eyes, the sense of peace was gone. He was running through the Forbidden Forest, his cloak catching on the trees. His heartbeat rang in his ears as he fell, a pair of claws sinking into his back. The beast howled shrilly, flipping him over with a growl. Its razor-sharp teeth were already dripping with blood. there was no reasoning with the creature. He reached for his wand, but it was gone, lost somewhere in the darkness. No wandless magic was going to save him now. The wolf growled, raising its head and lunging. The last thing he saw was the matted fur of its snout, the teeth dripping with blood as they dig into him.
"Sev. Sev, wake up." Hazel was shaking him awake, hardly awake herself.
He practically jumped at her touch, but took a deep breath when he realized where he was, who she was, and that nothing was wrong. "I... sorry."
"It's alright." She held onto him tightly, running a hand through his hair and asking, "Which one was it this time?"
"Werewolves," he mumbled, trying to steady his breathing.
Hazel frowned, knowing the werewolf dreams were some of the worst. "Well you're perfectly safe here. We both are. It's just a dream. A horrible dream, but it's just a dream." She was silent for a moment, both of them just sitting there in the moonlight. Slowly he was losing the fear he'd woken up with, listening to her breathing calmly. "I love you, Sev."
"Hazel, I..." He looked up at her for a second, trying to bring himself to say it back. "I..."
It wasn't like he didn't feel it. He'd known for a while now. The feeling that stirred in his chest when she walked into a room, how she always made him feel better, even when he thought nothing could. How, even when nothing really could make him feel better, she would still be there, gently reminding him to eat something and drink water and sleep when he needed to. He'd catch a smile playing at his lips when he watched her working. He wanted her to be happy, and no matter how many times he doubted himself, he sought her out. Good day or bad day, he wanted to find her. She was the first person he thought of when he got news, good or bad, and the only person he wanted to see when he would come back completely drained from Death Eater meetings. And yet it felt odd putting words to it. Part of him was afraid that if he said it, he'd be opening himself up to a whole new weakness, but really, he didn't have to name it to know it already existed. Part of him didn't want to say it because he'd never said it to anyone before and he didn't know if that was what this feeling was. It had to be, right? He cared about Lily deeply, he must have loved her, but this, this felt different. And everyone who knew had said he'd loved Lily, and this felt different, so which one was it? He didn't understand it, and it made him afraid. So he waited. Even when Hazel started saying it on occasion, he waited. He didn't want to get it wrong.
But he knew. He knew this had to be what love was, not how he'd felt about Lily. He knew it when he felt the blood rushing to his face when she'd smile at him in the hall. He knew it when his heart sped up a bit when she would reach for his hand, even though it also felt like settling into the most natural thing in the world. He'd asked Minerva about it once, an offhanded remark, really, but she had given him a knowing smile and a, "Severus, I've watched many, many students fell for each other in my time here. And I watched my husband and I fall in love. I think it's safe to say I've been watching the two of you fall for each other since fifth year Transfiguration."
Yet still he couldn't bring himself to say it. He'd never said it to anyone. It felt unnatural, but as he mulled it over, he realized he really did love her and was afraid to say it to himself, let alone to her.
"You don't have to say it," she told him, still twirling his hair between her fingers. "You don't have to say it until you're ready. Don't worry, I can see it. I see it in every good morning and goodnight kiss. I see it in the flowers I find on my desk every Friday morning. I see it in the way you reach for my hand in the library, in staff meetings, whenever Dumbledore is making a worrisome announcement... I see it in the way we instinctively find each other, in the way we can curl up next to each other like it's the most natural thing in the world. I can see it every time you bring me a book you think I'd like, or point out a particularly bright star for me to look at in the middle of the night, or shove your way through the crowd at the Three Broomsticks so we can have our old table. I see it every time you wake me up from a nightmare about my Auror days and sit up with me even though you know you'll be exhausted in the morning. I see it all the time, Sev, so even if you don't want to say it for a long time, I know."
"Thank you," he managed, still holding onto her tightly. "I don't know what I'd do without you. I don't know what I ever did without you. You... you have made every day immeasurably better, and for that I can never thank you enough."
"That's the magical thing. You don't have to. Just keep being you, Sev."
It took them a while to fall asleep again, as it usually did when one or both of them woke up from a nightmare. But they fell asleep holding onto each other, as always, and it was some comfort. Despite all of the horrors that plagued their dreams, they would always wake to find the other one there, and that was enough.