"I wonder why he's running late. He's almost never late."
"I bet he went to get her."
"Ooh, I bet they are going to the ball together then!"
"I wonder how he asked her."
"Maybe she got fed up and asked him."
The Slytherins had gathered in their common room, from the fourth years on up. Professor Snape had told them to be there right after dinner, but many of them had left a little early. They'd heard from friends in other houses that they were going to be taught to dance properly for the Yule Ball. With only a few days left to go, and only those in fourth year and above being invited, this had to be it. All of them were buzzing about the ball, but the talk of the talk of the common room was Professor Snape and his inevitable Yule Ball date. "If he didn't ask her, we're going to have to force him to."
The door swung open, Snape stepping inside and clearing his throat. Immediately all talk died down, everyone's eyes glued not to him but to their Ghoul Studies professor, who had followed him in. "As all of you are aware, I will not have Slytherin House embarrassing the school at the Yule Ball. That means being on your best behavior, dressing properly, and learning to dance without trampling your partner. I will demonstrate, and then you will split into pairs to practice. Are we all ready?" Everyone nodded, watching closely. "Good. Professor Ashmore has agreed to help me." Stepping closer to Hazel, he held out his hand. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah," she smiled, taking his hand and allowing him to lead her out onto the makeshift dance floor.
"Notice how we both avoid stepping on each other. One of you will lead, and the other will follow. You both must be conscious of the couples around you," he instructed. It was cold, mechanical almost. But as soon as the students had paired up, he pulled her to the side of the room, ostensibly to watch. He held onto her hand as they leaned against the wall. "Thank you," he smiled, tenderly kissing her cheek. None of the Slytherins seemed to notice as their Head of House laid his head on their Ghoul Studies professor's, utterly exhausted. They were all too busy trying not to trip over their robes or crash into the furniture.
"Of course. It's exciting, isn't it? I remember Dumbledore teaching us all how to dance in the Great Hall."
"And McGonagall insisting we practice," he smiled, watching his students. "Specifically you and I."
"And look where that got us."
A few days later, Hazel stood in front of her mirror, trying to pick out a pair of earrings when a sharp knock on the door startled her. "Filius, you're right on time," she said, double-checking that she had everything. "I can't wait to see how you've decorated the Great Hall."
"Oh, Minerva and I went for a simple theme. Hagrid's bringing in the last of the trees now. He's built us a veritable forest already."
She found the Great Hall covered in icicles, with snowflakes gently falling from the enchanted ceiling. Flitwick split off to finish the last of the decorations on a nearby Christmas tree, which McGonagall was already working on. The students were already beginning to filter in just as Sprout was getting the band set up. Soon enough the champions would be pulled aside to get ready to open the ball.
The hall filled up quickly. Hazel was busy levitating a table into place and filling it with crystal glasses when she heard footsteps right behind her. It was the last of her work - the House Elves would take care of the rest. "You look... incredible."
"Sev!" She beamed, whirling around to hug him hello. All of the residual anger from his earlier argument with Karkaroff evaporated as soon as he saw her. "I'm very nearly done. Give me just a second and we can find a good spot to watch the champions. Minerva's gone to get them all ready, so I assume the ball will be starting soon." She turned back to the table, waving her wand over it once more. Now the tablecloth was impervious to spilled drinks, and the table itself wouldn't wobble even if Hagrid stumbled into it.
He watched her work, finally letting himself admire the woman he'd been admiring for a year now. Finally admitting it to himself, anyway. He'd realized it the first time he'd woken up next to her, after the first full moon with a werewolf in the castle. He'd realized it when Sirius Black had broken into Hogwarts and they'd dozed off holding hands in the Great Hall. And he'd realized it when they'd sat up late in Ravenclaw Tower, reading or grading papers or just talking, just barely holding hands because if they actually did, they would have had to address it. He assumed she was letting him go on like this so as not to frighten himself with the realization that they really were falling back into what they had fallen into in their seventh year, the nameless dependence on each other that didn't have a name and didn't have a definition. Even when they'd talked about it, about how things were slowly changing between them, he hadn't really believed it was true. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized it was. Everything had just changed so gradually that he hadn't noticed it much until it was absolutely undeniable.
They hardly strayed from each other's sides as the night wore on. Dumbledore borrowed her for a dance, but returned Hazel to Snape's side with a wink. As they watched the others whirl around the room, Hazel took his hand. No one was watching them now. For a long time, they had hesitated to display any sort of affection in public. Not that Dumbledore cared. He had been rooting for them even when they were back in school. But Sev still hesitated, not wanting rumors to swirl around the castle. He had a reputation to maintain, after all. But when he'd overheard some of his students still talking about them in that afternoon's Potions class, he'd decided it was time. Hazel was letting him take things as slowly as he wanted to. This wasn't merely the natural progression of things, he'd come to understand. This was her knowing how embracing any emotion alarmed him, how he was terrified of messing up, terrified of losing her, and still haunted by things that had happened years ago.
No one's eyes were on them now, even though they were in such a crowded room. Half of the professors had had too much mead, and most of the students were either busy staring at their dates or grazing over the table of snacks. So he leaned in and whispered something. It came out more as a "doyouwanttodance" than an actual question, but all the same, Hazel smiled and pulled him out onto the dance floor as a slow song started.
Neither of them cared as the nearby students began to notice. Malfoy was cheering somewhere in the background after Pansy pointed them out to him. Dumbledore leaned over to McGonagall, whispering something about them before pulling her onto the dance floor. Soon enough they were joined by a bunch of the professors and students alike. Hazel leaned her head on his shoulder as he buried his face in her hair. Despite all of the chaos in the wizarding world, in that moment, both of them were at peace. "Sev?"
"Hmm?" He raised an eyebrow in his trademark gesture.
"I've missed this. I didn't know how much I missed this until now."
"This is how it should've been," he whispered, their noses nearly touching. "I wish this was how things were, back in our seventh year."
"This is how it is now."
"Go professor!" Goyle's voice snapped them out of their trance as the music changed, Sev turning to rather viciously tell him to swap his gillywater for actual water or he'd be facing a week of detentions once term resumed.
Leading her outside, the two of them found themselves on the same bench they'd shared one of their final conversations on in seventh year. But this time things were different. Sev handed her his cloak, Hazel gratefully wrapping it around her shoulders. "Thank you," she told him as he sat down beside her. "For all of this."
"I had to make it up to you. Last time - last time was nothing like this. You deserved better."
"Don't worry about it, Sev. Tonight's different. We've figured all of that out. We're not the same people we were back then."
"Thank goodness." The slightest glint of trepidation shone in his eyes as he looked around, double-checking that they were alone. "Hazel?"
"Hmm?" He paused, watching the moonlight flicker over her face, shining off of her hair like he'd seen it dozens of times.
Leaning forward, he closed the short gap between them. She had seen it coming, but was a little surprised nonetheless. He drew back for a second, fear catching in his breath, but she pulled him in again, not giving him enough time to truly hesitate. A hand on her waist pulled her closer steadily, but gently enough that it seemed like he was afraid she would dissolve into thin air. He'd longed to do this for a while now. Even back in their seventh year, in this very spot, he'd wanted to. But he'd held himself back, knowing that an awful secret lay between them. What had happened at the final party of their seventh year was nearly an act of desperation, both of them not wanting to admit that they had to leave each other. Now there was nothing hidden from her. Not anymore, not now that she knew how he'd felt for so long.
With a careful earnestness, he moved closer, the two of them pressing closer until she practically laid down on the cool stone bench. A delicate hand danced over the low neckline of her dress as Hazel wound her hand into his hair. She'd wanted to reach out like this so many times, to break the final bit of distance between them, but she'd waited. She knew she couldn't force him to confess anything, to express anything, if he wasn't ready for it. And if she tried, he would back away and it would all be over. Now he'd finally broken that barrier that they'd both been aching to break for a while, and she didn't want him to stop.
He could feel the rise and fall of her chest beneath him, and he desperately didn't want to let go of her, but he pulled back all the same. "Sev -"
"I can't, I shouldn't." He sat up, trying to collect himself. "Not now. Not here." He stood, Hazel getting up and taking his hand cautiously.
"Okay." She wrapped her arms around him, his cloak still draped around her shoulders. "Maybe we should wait a little while... for anything else," she said into his shoulder. "It's a lot, I know."
He smiled, his face buried in her hair. "How long have you… wanted to do that?"
"A while. I just… was going to wait for you."
"Thank you," he managed. "What you were saying… about waiting… perhaps we could, if you'd like, maybe pick this up somewhere… more private. Not tonight. We can't - the students…"
"Yeah, we do need to make sure everyone makes it back to their common rooms," Hazel sighed, finally looking up at him. "Do you have plans for New Year's?"
"No," he murmured, leaning in to give her one final kiss. "I suppose I do now, though."