They all became fast friends. Hazel, Remus, Pandora, and Xeno often found themselves studying under trees outside or holed up in the library. Sev - as only she and Lily Evans were allowed to call him - would join them sometimes, but he absolutely hated some of Remus' friends. For good reason. James and Sirius had taken a liking to picking on him specifically. They would leave him alone if he was in a large enough group, but Sev was always wary even if he was in the protection of a crowd. So he and Hazel would study together separately, working on potions in Astronomy Tower or practicing spells in one of the unused classrooms.
She and Remus would break off from the others sometimes too, taking up their usual spot in the Defense Against the Dark Arts section of the library. Madam Pince eventually started to leave them alone when it was time for the library to close. They were good kids, and they always made sure to lock the door behind them when they finally left, so there was no harm in leaving them there, even when she'd kicked everyone else out for the night.
By their fourth year they had sorted their study schedules out. Some nights Hazel would hunt Sev down wherever he was hiding so they could study. On others she and Remus would be in their usual spot. If he wasn't feeling well, as he often did, she would spend time up in Ravenclaw Tower studying with Pandora and Xeno, sometimes joined by Marlene McKinnon and Emmeline Vance, a couple of Gryffindors they'd befriended in first-year Charms.
Winter soon turned into spring, everything blooming at once right as they all returned from Easter holidays. Hazel, Sev, Pandora, and Xeno were crammed into a compartment on the Hogwarts Express, Sev deftly avoiding the compartment that contained the Marauders, as they'd labeled themselves early on. Remus waved as he passed by, stopping to say hello for a moment before James called him back.
They'd just barely managed to catch up the first day back when she had to run to Potions. Hazel found him again on her way out, saying goodbye to Sev and trying to catch Remus before he caught up with Peter, a couple of yards in front of him. "Remus, can I talk to you about something?"
"Yeah, I actually had something I wanted to ask you too." He lit up as she jogged over, Sev trying his best to disappear behind a suit of armor. He'd split off for a moment to say hello to a couple of the older Slytherins who had just left the Charms classroom, turning back to see Hazel and Lupin talking.
The two stopped to talk in the hall, their conversation being drowned out by other students. "Can you please tell James to knock it off?"
"Knock what off?" Remus frowned.
Hazel adjusted her pile of books, saying, "He's been beating people up again. Not just first years either. It's not nice, to say the least. If he's got that much pent-up anger, he needs to switch to being a Beater or something."
"I'll talk to him," Remus assured her as Professor McGonagall hurried by, levitating a cage of white rats in front of her. The first years were learning to turn them into teacups.
"What was it you wanted to ask me?" She raised an eyebrow, Sev smiling to himself at the gesture she'd picked up from him.
"Oh, er," he took a breath, shifting his satchel to the other shoulder. He'd been thinking it over for ages, but he knew he had to do something about how much he wanted to reach for her hand while they were studying, how she made his stomach do backflips when she'd run across the Great Hall to find him, how happy he always felt when they were studying together in the Gryffindor common room. At first he'd tried to wave the thought away, but he soon found himself staring at her in class, wondering what it would be like to kiss her. The feeling was overwhelming. "There's a Hogsmeade trip this weekend. Would you want to grab a butterbeer or something? Just us? I know you hate the tea shop, so..."
Hazel smiled, Sev holding his breath from his position in the shadows, listening intently as she answered. "Sure. Sounds like fun. Did -"
"Hazel, Remus, we've got to go!" Pandora had turned the corner, speeding towards the Charms classroom. "Sorry, I got trapped by Peeves and then nearly crashed into Professor McGonagall and now we're going to be late if I run into anyone else," she panted, having run up the stairs at full speed. "What's going on? What are we talking about?"
"C'mon, we'd better get to class before Flitwick does," Hazel laughed, Pandora and Remus flanking her as they made their way into the Charms classroom.
Snape stayed hidden until the rest of the Marauders had burst into the Charms room a couple of minutes later. He had to sprint to get to Defense Against the Dark Arts on time, but he was nevertheless thankful that Hazel hadn't dropped his name. He didn't need any more trouble with James Potter.
"So," Hazel said, looking over her bottle of butterbeer. Remus was fiddling with his sleeve, his eyes meeting hers as she smiled at him, "If I can ask... When did you decide to ask me... here? Out, I mean?" They'd been sitting and talking for a little while, but the question had been on her mind since he'd asked her if she wanted to grab a drink earlier in the week.
Remus swallowed hard, admitting, "Astronomy, in like January."
"Rem, it's nearly the middle of May," Hazel laughed.
This made him smile a little, relaxing in his chair. "I know. But we had a round of exams and all, and Quidditch practices got in the way -"
"You're not on the Quidditch team!"
"You are," he reasoned. "And the guys have me and Peter practice with them all the time, so... Well, when they found out, they wouldn't shut up about it. James nearly sent you an anonymous letter asking you to go out with me on Valentine's Day."
"But?" she raised an eyebrow as Remus took another sip of his drink.
"I burnt it and swore them to secrecy," he grinned. His face fell as he realized who was walking in the door. As soon as the group of three walked into the Three Broomsticks, the entire place got louder. "Oh Merlin. Do you want to, er -"
"Disappear?"
He nodded, Hazel standing and tucking her chair in quickly. As James, Sirius, and Peter wove their way through the crowd and shouted their orders to Madam Rosmerta over the noise, she and Remus slipped out of the pub unnoticed. She took his hand as they walked, Remus turning pink but adamantly refusing to address it. "Thanks. They knew where we were going, it was only a matter of time, really... Where should we go from here?"
"Honeydukes?" Hazel suggested as they walked. "You haven't gotten your chocolate fix yet, and I heard there are new chocolate frog cards out."
"Well, how was it?" Pandora was already sitting on one of the sofas in Ravenclaw Tower when Hazel got back. "Xeno and I spotted you in Honeyduke's. We were across the street, but still, you two looked really nice together."
"Did you kiss him?" Marlene asked from where she sat upside-down on the couch. Righting herself, she flipped the question. "Ooh, did you kiss him?"
Emmeline set down the magazine she'd been flipping through, the latest edition of Witch Weekly. "Relax, they've only gone on one date."
"So? Are you going out with him again?"
Hazel smiled, dropping into an armchair. "He's sweet. He's always been really nice... I get why Mary had a crush on him in second year."
"Okay but you're not answering the question," Marlene pointed out.
"No, there was no kissing involved. But I might go out with him again. Like I said, he's sweet."
There wasn't much time until exams, so they only had one more Hogsmeade trip together, but Remus let himself relax a little more this time. Soon enough they would be spending hours in the library together. Neither of them was exactly surprised when he reached for her hand as she flipped through an ancient History of Magic textbook late one night.
After that, they ended up studying together even more often. It wasn't like they didn't sit next to each other in every class the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws shared, but it was a lot easier to talk when no one else was around. And when Professor McGonagall wasn't looming over them, coming to see if they'd managed to turn beetles into buttons or porcupines into pincushions.
It was also nice having someone there who got similarly stressed about exams. James and Sirius would study up in Gryffindor Tower, but half of their time was spent goofing off, distracting themselves and other people. Peter would hide in a corner with his textbooks, but he never seemed to get much done before he would put his book down with a huff and take a walk around the common room to try to get rid of some of his nerves. Hazel and Remus slowly and steadily worked through the seemingly endless pile of notes and review sheets, holding hands in the library.
Neither of them acknowledged where this all was heading until Madam Pince had passed by one day and given them an uncharacteristic smile and an encouraging, "Glad to see that's finally happened." Remus moved to let go of Hazel's hand, but Madam Pince stopped him. "There are no rules against hand-holding in the library, Mr. Lupin. Anything else, however -"
"Nothing else," Remus nodded, turning a shade more pink.
One row behind them, a Slytherin boy glowered into his textbook. Madam Pince paid him no mind as she passed by, but Severus Snape wasn't too happy. Not at all.
Remus caught her elbow just before they got off of the train. A whole summer stretched out before them, a summer filled with more uncertainty than ever as the threat of Voldemort and his followers was on the rise. "Hazel, wait."
She stopped, her trunk in hand. "What's up, Rem?"
"I know we've been hanging out and everything for like a month now, but do you... want to actually - like actually be together?" He'd been thinking about it for the entire trip to London, even when his friends had taken over the compartment.
Her smile told him everything he needed to know. "Yeah. That would be nice. It's an awful time to ask, though," she sighed. "We're literally not going to see each other for months... You'd better write, Mr Lupin."
"Of course." He pulled her into a hug, helping her pull her trunk into the narrow walkway. "And I promise you a dozen chocolate frogs when we get back."