By the first Friday of the term, everyone agreed on two things: First, they hated the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, a toad of a woman who had been appointed by the Ministry of Magic to keep an eye on things at Hogwarts. Second, there was a great need for a return-to-school celebration. So the Slytherins got to work planning a party. Sev generally ignored their parties as long as they didn't get too out of hand. But this year was different.

No one had expected to see their Head of House at the party, but there he was, leaning against the wall, sipping a glass of firewhiskey and scanning the crowd. Everyone assumed he was keeping a watchful eye on them, but he was really looking for someone else. He knew it was her as soon as the door opened. Dressed in Muggle clothes, she fit into the party much more than he did. She always had. A couple of students said hello to her as she got a drink, a few more stopping her as she passed by the dance floor and came to stand next to him. They collectively acknowledged that if Professor Ashmore was there, Snape wasn't there to shut the party down at all, so the music got louder. "Hey Sev."

"Hey," he smiled, waving his wand and refilling his glass as she popped open a bottle of Butterbeer. "They think they're going to be shut down any minute. I never come to their parties. Most of the time I just muffle the sound and go to sleep."

"Yeah, well, the staff parties aren't nearly as fun," Hazel shrugged, taking a sip of her drink. She smiled at the sight of him bathed in the low green light, the occasional flicker of silver ghosting across his face as the Quidditch team kept trying and failing to set up actual party lights. "Not sure about the music, though. I seem to remember much better music at the parties we threw, but then again I'm a little biased."

"I'm sure there will be something you recognize," he said knowingly, trying to talk over the music. She stepped closer so she could hear him. "Can I tell you something?"

"Of course," she smiled, knowing it was going to be something she already knew. He had that look in his eye, the look he got whenever he had something to confess that she'd known was on his mind for a while.

"That very last party of our seventh year - I only showed up because I knew you would be there. I thought… maybe I'd at least be able to say goodbye," he confessed. "I got an anonymous owl earlier in the day telling me to go." Hazel laughed. She was right. She did already know. Pandora had been the one to send the owl.

"Well I had no idea you would be there. I was convinced you'd skip it, since you were never a party person. I'm glad you didn't," she beamed, vanishing the empty bottle she held and summoning another Butterbeer through the crowd of students.

"Me too."

The song blended into another one, one they both recognized. It had been Sev's only request, one the students had been more than willing to honor even though they all had their questions. "Aerosmith?" Hazel asked as he drew her closer.

"'Dream On'," he nodded with a mischievous smile. "Do you remember -"

"Of course I remember. There's no way I'd ever forget."

Neither of them hesitated. As the party raged on, Sev pulled her to him, Hazel immediately winding a hand into his hair. "Mmm." The warm, caramel taste of Butterbeer mixed with the slight cinnamon of firewhiskey as he leaned in to kiss her. "I've missed this. I've missed you. I've missed seeing you for more than twenty minutes in Order meetings," he mumbled as she pressed into him. "I've missed being able to do this without someone in the way."

It didn't take long for the closest of his students to notice. "Professor!"

"Oh Merlin, are they…"

Of course word quickly spread through the common room, even over the music. "Get it, Professor Snape!"

They were nearly impervious to whatever the students were saying. All cutting remarks and snappy retorts were lost. All he could think of was her, how lucky he was that she was back, that they were together again, that he could kiss her in the middle of a party, and that this time, they wouldn't be leaving Hogwarts and going into a war in the morning. For a few minutes everything was forgotten but each other, just as it had been back in their seventh year.

This time they wouldn't be going their separate ways, wondering if they would ever see each other alive again. This time, after the song ended and another began, he took her hand, pulling her into the short corridor off of the common room that led to their own rooms. As the music from the party still blared in the background, he leaned in to kiss her again, buttons and clasps and zippers and layers falling away until there was nothing at all between them. As he gently laid her down on the bed, they tuned out the noise of the party, nothing but the warm, slow, deliberate motion occupying their minds.

"Sev - oh…"

As he buried his face in her hair, a fleeting thought hit him before the sharpness of her nails digging into his shoulders threw it from his mind. Butterbeer, lavender perfume, and fresh linen. Amortentia. Her, it's always been her. It's always been her and you knew it. Oh Merlin…

Some while later, with the party still raging outside, the two of them lay together, Sev gently tracing circles on her back. "Do you know how lucky I am?"

"Very," Hazel laughed, giving him a sleepy kiss. "Almost as lucky as I am."

"WHAT IS THIS RACKET?! WHERE IS PROFESSOR SNAPE?" The music cut out as Professor Umbridge began to yell. Somehow she'd managed to get into the common room. Probably with Filch's help.

Sev bolted up, throwing on a dressing gown and racing out to take care of things. "Professor Umbridge, thank you," he breathed. "I have had the nastiest headache all day, and there was no way -"

"If you cannot maintain order in your own house, perhaps I should speak to the Headmaster about finding someone else to take on the responsibility," Umbridge proposed with a scowl. "Really, this is out of hand. I went for a late-night walk only to discover a raging party and a Head of House who refuses to address it! What has this school come to?"

"I will handle this," Snape answered, Umbridge frowning but ultimately acquiescing. She left the common room and Snape turned back to the party. Everyone had frozen, staring at him in the low green light. He took a deep breath, looked back to the door, and took out his wand. "Muffliato." The students had started to whisper, but he cut them all off. "I know this is not… in my nature," he began, remaining stern but trying to be fair. "However, I do not want to deal with this. I was once your age and I have fond memories of the parties we threw here. I do not have to remind you that Slytherins are fiercely loyal to each other. I will keep this a secret, and you will not breathe a word to anyone - Professor Umbridge especially - about it. You may carry on."

He turned and left, heading back for his rooms and locking the doors behind him as the music started up again. As he lay back down next to Hazel, she raised an eyebrow. "She's going to be a piece of work, isn't she?"

"Mmm, unfortunately. Something tells me she doesn't like me," he smiled as he wrapped his arms around her.

Hazel turned so she could face him, giving him a kiss and reminding him that, "It only matters that I like you."

"How right you are," he laughed, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes.

As they settled in for the night, they weren't worried about what Umbridge's arrival meant for the school or what lay on the horizon. Instead they fell asleep to the muffled drone of music from the common room, smiles gracing both of their faces.