Though nothing like that happened again, every full moon without fail, there would be a knock on her door after she'd bade Remus goodnight and wished him luck. Every full moon, Sev would fall asleep on the other side of the bed, and every full moon, they would wake up nearly holding hands. Neither of them said a word about it, but instead went about their days like normal. They would sit next to each other at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and noticed every time one of them took their meal in their offices because they were working. Hazel would stop by the dungeons with a plate of leftovers if she knew Sev was absorbed in a potion he couldn't leave unattended. He would forget to eat sometimes, but she'd force him to take a break to eat while she took over. She was, after all, the only person he trusted with his potions.

They would sit together at staff meetings, say hello in the halls, and sometimes keep each other company in the library. No one said anything about it, but Dumbledore and McGonagall had made bets on how long it would take them to realize that they were slowly falling back into the pattern they had fallen into in the fall of their seventh year. A couple of the other staff members were in on it too, the professors they had in school secretly placing their bets. The newer professors were more skeptical, but they all seemed to believe Dumbledore enough to sign onto his betting pool. As for Sev and Hazel, they took little notice of how comfortable they had grown with each other. It all seemed normal.

At least until Dumbledore summoned Hazel to his office one June evening. She had already been worried when Sev hadn't shown up. There was a full moon, after all. She'd just assumed he was working and had gotten so absorbed in brewing a complex potion that he hadn't noticed the sunset. But when she saw Dumbledore, she was even more concerned. She met him in the hallway, the headmaster immediately telling her that she should go down to the Hospital Wing. "Severus has gotten himself into a little trouble."

"Oh Merlin, what happened? What kind of trouble? Is he hurt?"

"He'd gone through a major shock. He tracked down Sirius Black in the Shrieking Shack, and -"

"He's alright, though?" Hazel pressed, wanting to race down the stairs but knowing that Dumbledore wouldn't have delayed her for this long if he knew Sev was seriously injured. "Professor, please tell me he's alright."

Dumbledore looked unbothered. "He will be fine, once he gets over the loss of his Order of Merlin. It is a long story, which I do not doubt he will tell you, but Sirius Black is a completely innocent, and by now a completely free, man." She gaped, but Dumbledore continued to explain. "The Potters switched Secret-Keepers at the last minute. Peter Pettigrew was a far less obvious choice, so they decided on him."

"Peter Pettigrew is dead."

"He ought to be. Sirius tracked him down, and it was Pettigrew, not Sirius, who caused that explosion. He faked his own death, and has been hiding under our very noses for twelve years. However, things are beginning to be set right, though it is at the expense of Severus' Order of Merlin. He hasn't taken it well, and after such a massive shock and the great amount of cranial trauma he took this evening, Madam Pomfrey is keeping watch over him. However, I think he would enjoy your company." He paused, adding, "I am glad you have been consistently there for him over the course of the last year. Give it some thought, but if you would like to continue to teach here in the fall, you will find that no one would oppose it."

"Thank you, sir. I should be going."

She disappeared down the stairs before Dumbledore could say more. Taking the steps two at a time until she reached the Hospital Wing, Hazel unlocked the door to find Madam Pomfrey writing out a note, an owl patiently perched on top of one of the bedside curtains. "Ah, there you are. I was about to summon you, though I assume the headmaster sent you down here."

"Yes, is he -"

"He will be fine," she said matter-of-factly, casting a glance towards one of several curtained-off beds. "He's just had an incredible shock. Ranting about Sirius Black and a werewolf and an Order of Merlin and… The students who were with him say he took a nasty hit to the head, so it may not all be perfectly accurate, but I've given him a Calming Draught and -"

"She's forcing me to stay here," came a disgruntled voice.

Madam Pomfrey frowned. "If you keep that racket up, you're going to be in a lot more trouble, young man." She turned back to Hazel, thinking Snape would explain everything better than she could. "Bed two, if you couldn't tell."

Hazel stepped through the curtains, waving her wand to pull up a chair. She took his hand as she sat down, Sev smiling at her weakly. "Dumbledore filled me in on a lot of it. I can only assume what happened… I went to find Remus earlier, and he wasn't in his office. He didn't take that potion, did he?" She lowered her voice, leaning in a bit. "Dumbledore told me about Sirius, about how he discovered he's innocent. But you still saved three kids from a full-grown werewolf, and in the building where you almost got killed by one years ago. Order of Merlin or not, you're still a hero, Sev."

Under the effects of the powerful potion, he was far less angry about losing the Order of Merlin because of Sirius Black's escape. Instead he focused on the moonlight shining off of her concerned face, the smile she still gave him despite everything that happened that night. "I'm not a hero," he mumbled, distracted by the comforting warmth the Calming Draught afforded him. "Not even close."

"Yes you are," she assured him, reaching out to brush the hair out of his face. "Of course you are. Get some rest, Sev. There's going to be a lot of nonsense to deal with in the morning."

"Hazel?"

"Hmm?"

Sleep was overtaking him, but he still had the strength to ask, "What are you doing over summer?"

She laughed a bit, wondering why this was what was on his mind, of all things. "I'm going to see my aunt and uncle in the Sussex Downs. Now that Nicolas Flamel and the Philosopher's Stone are out of commission, well, they only have enough Elixir of Life to last until August. So I'm going to help them get their affairs in order. They've decided it's time. They're content with it. But I'll be back here early, to set up for… for what the school has planned for next year." Even then, even there, she couldn't be too careful. "You're welcome to come and visit. They both adore you. But for now, you need to rest."

"That would be nice," he smiled, closing his eyes and falling asleep seconds later.

It was already late at night, but Hazel didn't sleep. She sat up with him, holding his hand and saying hello to Madam Pomfrey whenever she checked in. He'd had a long night already. Dumbledore stopped to look in on them and Harry, Ron, and Hermione at daybreak. They had another visitor before breakfast, a very tired Remus who looked rather worse for wear. "I didn't hurt him, did I?" he whispered. "Dumbledore told me everything, and I -"

"No. He'll be fine." Hazel let go of Sev's hand, walking Remus into the hall so Madam Pomfrey wouldn't tell him off for being too loud in the Hospital Wing. "Everything worked out."

"Not everything. You know he hates me, and this will only make it worse. He's going to let it slip -"

"I won't let him."

"He will regardless. I've already taken the liberty of resigning." She would have protested, but he'd made up his mind. "If I can neglect to take the Wolfsbane Potion once, I can do it again. It's only a matter of time before someone actually gets hurt. It's a miracle it didn't happen already. So I'm hoping to go quietly."

Hazel sighed, telling him to write her when he could. There was no convincing him to stay, but, "You can't just disappear. I have some friends working near Yorkshire, or I can write to Charlie and see if he needs a hand out in Romania. Just… don't vanish again, okay?"

"Of course. You're welcome to have all of my books on dark creatures, if you want them. I'm going to start packing up my classroom before breakfast, but I'll stop by to say a proper goodbye before I go. I thought I owed you a warning, though."

With a glance back at the Hospital Wing door, she promised to help him pack after breakfast. For now, though, she had to check on Sev. Remus knew. He'd walked in on one of Dumbledore and McGonagall's discussions about the two of them. He was genuinely happy for them, and even though he and Snape never got along, he was glad to see they'd drifted back to each other after all of this time.