Halloween at Hogwarts was one of Hazel's favorite occasions. Everyone delighted in seeing all of the bats and pumpkins decorating the hall, and the Halloween feast was not to be missed. She had let her fourth years out of class a little early that afternoon so she could get everything cleaned up and head for the Great Hall on time. It was a lot of fun and things were going well until everyone left dinner and heard screaming in the halls, echoing down from Gryffindor Tower.
It didn't take long for word to reach the Ravenclaws. Sirius Black had broken into the castle and slashed the Fat Lady's portrait that guarded Gryffindor Tower. Hazel found herself shepherding the Ravenclaws into the Great Hall once again. It was no longer lively and full of joy. No one was gorging themselves on sweets from Honeyduke's. The bats had been Vanished from the ceiling and cast back out into the Forbidden Forest, and the pumpkins provided a haunting glow instead of the spirited air of Halloween that they had all enjoyed at dinner.
Dumbledore called the staff together as the Prefects, Head Boy, and Head Girl got their students situated. They would be searching the castle, a few of them staying behind to guard the Great Hall. The dementors would encroach further onto the grounds so they could search for him as well. With solemn nods to Dumbledore, the professors all split off, wands at the ready. Hazel headed for the east towers first, searching her own classroom and passing by Aurora Sinistra, who was headed for Astronomy Tower.
As she was headed to check one of the adjoining corridors, Remus stepped out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and magically locked the door behind him. "I checked that one on my way in," he told her, sounding more tired than usual.
"Do you really think he's back in the castle? The Fat Lady was always prone to hysterics, even when we were in school. You remember how she got when Marlene said she didn't like her new dress," Hazel said, the two of them headed up the silver ladder to the Divination classroom so they could warn Professor Trelawney, who almost never left the tower and probably hadn't heard the news yet.
Remus sighed, admitting that it was very possible Sirius was back at Hogwarts. "He would know how to break in. We explored every inch of this school as kids. We knew more secret passages than most students ever forgot about. If anyone could break in, it would be him."
They split up after they'd warned Professor Trelawney, who had nearly gone into hysterics, first saying that she knew this was going to happen (but, of course, couldn't warn them) and that she'd been seeing a lot more death omens than usual. Remus went to check some of the secret passageways that led out of the school, and Hazel went to check the passageway that Amara the Wise guarded. Amara was nowhere to be found, having run off to check on her friends and hear what had happened across the castle.
"Lumos," Hazel whispered, lighting her wand and taking care not to fall down the old stone steps. If she tripped, she would've tumbled all the way down to the dungeons. Finding the passage completely empty, she took a quick look down the dungeon hallway that the passage let her out into.
A faint glowing light met her as she rounded the corner. "Sev, hi." She had to admit she was relieved it was him and not Sirius Black.
Without a word, he pulled her into the Potions storeroom, closing the door behind them. "Do you think he did it?" he asked earnestly.
"Broke into the castle? Yes. I was talking to Remus, and he says Sirius knew every way in and out of the castle. I'm sure some of the passages have changed since then, but I'd bet he was here tonight. I just hope he isn't still here."
Something in his eyes made her think that he wanted to check on her, to make sure she wasn't as afraid as he was - not afraid, he would never admit to being afraid - but certainly worried that his old bully-turned-murderer had escaped an inescapable prison and was now rumored to have gotten past all the dementors and broken into the castle. "And do you think he got the Potters killed, and then killed all of those people?"
Even just by wandlight, she could see how worried he was. "He must have. He was their Secret-Keeper, according to Mad-Eye, anyway, and he got that from Dumbledore, so I trust it. No one else would have been able to sell them out. After that… I think he snapped. He must have. Anyone would have."
Sev was silent for a second, clearly deciding whether or not to tell her. He trusted her, trusted her with a lot more than he trusted most people. She'd heard a lot of what he'd done as a Death Eater, but this... "I didn't. I was the one who heard the prophecy that pointed towards the Potter boy. The one who told the Dark Lord about it before I knew… When I found out they were in danger, I begged Dumbledore to hide them. I'm nearly as guilty as Black is."
"You're not." The answer was automatic. "You didn't -" She faltered, about to tell him that he didn't kill thirteen people in broad daylight, but she didn't know everything he had done as a Death Eater. Probably much worse, if she was going to be honest with herself. So she settled on something else. "You did bad things, but you did everything you could to fix them. And since then you've done a lot of good things too. We can't bring people back, but we can try to be good and try to make up for some of it. I did a lot of bad things too. Plenty of people are dead because of me."
"It's different if you're an Auror. It's different if you're on the… the side of good. The winning side."
"Is it? They're all still dead. Even if they were bad people, or doing bad things, they're all still dead because of me. Every life has value, and just because I took them for the Ministry and you took them for Voldemort doesn't make one better or more right than the other. Look," she sighed, "you're doing everything you can. So am I. We're trying to do good things for these kids, and it can't fix everything, but all we can do is try to make things a little more... right. Sev, how old were you the first time you killed someone? Because I was seventeen. They'd just allowed Aurors to use the Unforgiveables, and they insisted we use them if there was even the slightest chance we would need to. I tried not to use them, but… that rarely worked out."
"So was I," he confided. "Seventeen. None of the others seemed to mind doing it anymore. Two words, it was surprisingly easy. But I tried not to. It never felt right, aside from killing the Death Eater who was about to kill you. I… I didn't regret that one."
She smiled a bit, thanking him again for saving her life. He would have been in even more danger if any of the other Death Eaters had seen. Even if they were on opposite sides of the war, they couldn't kill each other. They would never have been able to bring themselves to do it. "We should get back to searching," she offered. "But Sev, really, you're doing everything you can."
"Promise me something. If you think anything seems off - tell me. Black shouldn't have been able to get into the castle. There are a lot of odd things going on at Hogwarts, but this… Tell me if you sense anything out of the ordinary. You have a knack for noticing things. Someone or something must have helped Black get into the castle, and I intend to find out who."
"There's always something out of the ordinary at Hogwarts. Besides, I was an Auror. I should be able to handle whatever jumps out at me." She agreed nonetheless. "I'll let you know, though. But if you do go investigating, take me with you. And no, I don't think it was Remus. They were friends, but he's not about to help a convicted murderer get into the castle to kill one of his best friends' children."
"I should be able to handle whatever jumps out at me." He was serious for half of a second, but broke into a smile. "Of course. I could use the help. As for Lupin… we shall see."
No one found any trace of Sirius Black in the castle, aside from the slashed painting of the Fat Lady and Peeves' uncharacteristically somber testimony. Normally no one would have believed the poltergeist, but he seemed spooked enough to actually be telling the truth for once. The professors took turns standing guard in the Great Hall. Some of them slept on the floor next to their students, wands in their hands in case Black decided to show up again. Most of them couldn't sleep and opted for pacing around the Great Hall or the corridor outside.
After she'd reported to Dumbledore, Hazel took a spot along the wall near where the Ravenclaws and Slytherins were huddled. Flitwick came by to check in, but couldn't calm down enough to sit for long. So he lit his wand and walked in circles around the Great Hall. He would occasionally stop to tell some of the students to go to sleep - or remind them to whisper, since other people were trying to sleep. There was no use trying to completely stop them from talking. Remus came by to say hello a little while later before settling in near the Gryffindors. He'd gone out with Hagrid and Dumbledore to check on the perimeter line of dementors and soon found himself dozing off in his spot on the wall.
Hazel couldn't sleep, so she sat there listening in as professors and Prefects reported to Dumbledore. Staring up at the high table, she was startled by the swish of a cloak as Sev sat down next to her. "Hey," she whispered, turning to say hello. "How are the grounds?"
"Empty, thankfully. No sign of him. Do you mind if I stay here?"
"'Course not. That row's all Slytherins, after all. They've been pretty well-behaved. Not that I'm going to force any of them to sleep if they're sitting up talking," she said pointedly, Malfoy's group quieting down. Hazel lowered her voice and added, "You haven't missed anything. Pomona found a dog outside the greenhouses, but that's been the most interesting bit."
They sat there for a while, watching the glowing stars on the ceiling. It was nearly two in the morning when Hazel leaned her head on his shoulder, partly from exhaustion and partly because it was some small comfort in the middle of the fear that ran through the castle. He didn't react at first, but eventually reached out for her, cold fingertips just barely grazing her own. She took his hand, both of them watching the artificial sky of the Great Hall. Neither of them would badger the other about what it meant. Not tonight. Everyone under that star-speckled ceiling was just as afraid, and no one paid any attention to the two of them.
Dumbledore swept by a little while later, talking with McGonagall in a rapid series of hushed whispers. His gaze fell on two of his professors, curled up next to each other while watching over their students. He offered them a half-smile, going back to his conversation before either could react. "Sev?"
A bolt of fear hit him. Was she going to tell him to move? Was she going to let go of him in disgust and leave to patrol up and down the rows of students? "Hmm?"
"Do you mind if I fall asleep like this?" she mumbled. "I can hardly keep my eyes open."
He leaned his head on hers, both of them cementing their place there for the night. "Not at all."
He expected things to be strange between them in the morning. But both of them woke before dawn, all of the students still asleep. No one had found Sirius Black, and it looked like the castle was safe. They stretched, saying good morning and getting up to join Dumbledore and a couple of the other professors who were sitting up at the high table having coffee. No one said a word about the two of them, though a few had passed by in the middle of the night. They were all far more worried about what Sirius Black's appearance meant for the school and for security. When their students started to stir, there would be a lot of fires to put out. For now, though, they took the time to enjoy the relative peace and quiet. It wouldn't last long.