It took them a day or so to pack up, getting all of their things ready to leave Cokeworth and head back to the school. The morning they were to Apparate back, Sev stopped her in the hallway. "Hazel," he told her gently, taking her hands. "You shouldn't be going back to Hogwarts."

"Sev, I have to. I have to teach, I have to be there for the kids, and if you're going back, I'm going back."

"You have to get out. Flee the country if you have to," he implored as Hazel raised an eyebrow. "This year is going to get worse. Everything - the Dark Lord is back, and things are moving behind the scenes. Things will happen this year that you are not going to like. For your sake - you won't be safe at Hogwarts after all is done."

"No. Sev, I don't care if this is going to be difficult. When have things ever been easy for us?" she pressed. "We've been through one war and learned a lot about ourselves. We can do things better this time. We can -"

Snape shook his head. "It won't just be the Death Eaters this time. I've made a promise - a Vow - to do something, to help carry out a plan that Dumbledore has been working on for some time now. And after that is through, if the entire world doesn't have my head for it, they're going to... I don't know what they're going to do, but you won't want them associating you with me."

Whatever he was playing at, she wasn't going to let it happen. "Sev, I'm coming back with you. I want to fight. I can't sit on the sidelines for this. And I'm not leaving you. I can't." She paused, pulling him into her arms. "I'm absolutely, utterly in love with you, and I'm going to stay with you, especially if it's going to be a hard year."

"And I'm truly, madly, deeply in love with you. Which is why you have to go. Even if you're not in danger all the time, you're going to be miserable."

"Well I'm truly, madly, deeply in love with you, which is exactly why I can't go." She was resolved. No matter what happened, if he had to see something awful through, she was going to be there to support him.

The note clutched in one trembling hand and her wand in the other, Hazel made her way down the stairs, past the gargoyle that lay broken in front of the Headmaster's office. All she could do was keep moving. If she didn't, she would collapse.

Minerva was the first one that she came across, heading down a corridor to help coordinate the effort to move the injured survivors into the Great Hall. They exchanged a look as they passed, Minerva still convinced that Sev had been working for the Death Eaters all along. In time, Harry would clear his name with Hazel's help. But for now they just passed each other by, Hazel finding herself in the entrance hall.

"Professor!" She turned to find Harry jogging towards her, having broken off from his group. He came to a stop in front of her, saying, "The Shrieking Shack, I couldn't -"

Hazel's heart fell. She knew what he meant before he said it. "Thank you, Potter. Go celebrate with your friends."

"Professor Ashmore, I'm sorry."

All she could do was nod, turning away before she started to cry. She set out across the lawn, waving her wand to pick up a stick and press the knot on the Whomping Willow, immobilizing the tree. It wasn't a long trip to the Shrieking Shack, but she was terrified of what she would find there. Part of her didn't want to see, but her feet carried her there nonetheless. There was no way she couldn't go.

Halfway down the tunnel, she realized that he had been alone, alone in one of the few places he was afraid of. Alone in the place he had nearly died when they were kids. And he didn't know if she was okay, he didn't get a chance to say goodbye, he didn't know who had won the war. Even if Harry had been there, he would have been alone. Looking into the face of the man he had hated and the woman he had once loved was little comfort.

She stepped into the Shrieking Shack, holding her breath. But there was nothing there. She could tell that someone had gotten into a fight there, closely inspecting a trail of blood that ran down one of the walls. Fresh, or nearly so. "Lumos," she mumbled, lighting up the room so she could see more. There were no footprints anywhere, no signs that anyone had been there except for the blood.

Part of her wanted to believe that he was alive. But Harry had seen him, had watched him die. If Voldemort had known he was a spy, she would've bet anything that he told the Death Eaters to collect his body and destroy it. If not, they could have taken it anyway, to be given an honorable burial when they inevitably won. Or so it seemed in the moment.

She took a deep breath, sitting down near the trail of blood. Her eyes grew cloudy as she looked at his letter again. With shaking hands, she read it over again.

All my love,

Severus

"Sev..." she mumbled, conscious of the tears now streaming down her cheeks, "I..." She sighed, trying to tell him what she would've wanted him to hear. "Sev, I love you. I'm sorry I wasn't here with you. I'm sorry... I'm sorry about so many things. I wish I we could've had the kind of life you deserve. I wish... I know you're happy - were happy - at times, but I wish we could've... had some time where we didn't have to worry about the war. oh Merlin, I love you. I love you, Sev. Why... Come back. If by some miracle you're not dead... please come back."

She didn't know how long she was in the Shrieking Shack, but she when she dragged herself back to the castle, things were already being fixed and put back in place. People would look at her as she passed, but no one stopped her. She drifted back to their chambers, behind the Headmaster's office, where she somehow managed to shower and drop into bed. All of the charms they'd put up had kept the rooms together, even though the office outside had been trashed.

Hazel collapsed into bed, immediately regretting it. She was overcome with exhaustion, but the other side of the bed was empty. They'd slept there the night before, not suspecting what was to come. But now the bed was too empty, so she got up, grabbing one of Sev's cloaks from where they were hung by the door. She fell into a restless sleep on the sofa, wrapped in one of his cloaks and still clutching the letter he had left her.

Sunlight streamed into the room, waking both of them up. They hadn't gotten used to the sunshine on the coast yet, so they were usually up early. Sev opened his eyes first, smiling at Hazel, who was curled up next to him. She was wearing one of his shirts, which she'd stolen the night before. "Good morning." He kissed the top of her head as Hazel began to stir.

"G'morning," she yawned.

"Can I ask you something?"

Still tired, she ran a hand through her hair, combing strands of red out of her face. "Only if I can ask you something too." He was clearly more awake than she was.

"Why are you wearing my shirt?"

That made her smile. "Because I got cold."

"I wasn't keeping you warm enough?"

"Okay, I just wanted to," Hazel laughed. "My turn." Raising an eyebrow, he waited. "Are you happy?"

He was a little taken aback. "Am I happy?" he repeated with a frown. "What - why -"

"You had moments of being happy, but there was always so much to worry about, even when we were kids, always looking over our shoulders for James and Sirius. And then we graduated into the war and... You deserve even one day of just being happy, Sev."

"I am," he promised, leaning in to give her a kiss. "You make me happier than I've ever been. You know I'd snap my wand in half and throw it into the ocean right now if it meant I could spend the rest of my life with you. My turn."

"Sev -"

"That wasn't a question, and you only get one. It's still my turn." He held his breath, preparing for a question he'd been thinking about for a while now. He'd mulled over how to ask for a couple of weeks now. But he woke up that morning to see her dozing in the sunlight and knew he didn't need to put together an elaborate plan. They weren't elaborate people. It was a simple question in a simple place, just as it should be. "Will you marry me?"

Hazel sat up in bed, staring at him in shock. A slow smile spread over her face as she realized that she had heard him right. "Severus Snape, say that again."

"Hazel Amelia Ashmore, the most wonderful, brilliant, kind, forgiving, absolutely lovely witch I've ever met, will you marry me?"

She dropped back down so she could kiss him, unable to contain how much she was smiling as they broke apart. "Yes. I - Sev - yes." He reached over to the table beside their bed, pulling something out of the drawer. He'd hidden it long enough. Hazel marveled at the glittering ring, holding her hand up to the light. "It's beautiful." She reached out for him, holding her hand to his cheek as she leaned in to kiss him again. "I love you, Sev."

"I love you too."