Hagrid was one of the most well-meaning people Hazel had ever met. The entire staff liked him. Even Sev, who wasn't too fond of anyone. Hagrid would accompany him on his forays into the Forbidden Forest, where Hagrid would recommend the best methods of collecting potions ingredients, methods to keep him from harming any of the creatures while he collected fairy wings or Acromantula venom. Umbridge hated him. Whether it was his fierce loyalty to Dumbledore or her hatred of giants, no one knew, but she drove Hagrid from the castle's grounds in the middle of O.W.L. season. Hazel was directing her students back to their dormitory after the Astronomy O.W.L. when she saw the commotion outside. McGonagall had risen to his defense, her shadow gliding across the grounds to Hagrid's hut. She turned the students away from the windows as spells began to fly, hoping none of them would have to see the fight below.

It was late when Sev showed up in the Slytherin common room, where Hazel had set herself up to work. "May I speak with you in the corridor?" His face was set. Something was wrong.

"What's wrong?" Hazel followed him out immediately, drawing the attention of the students who were still up studying.

"Minerva has been taken to St. Mungo's," he told her as soon as the door closed behind them. "She's expected to make a full recovery, but it really is up to us now. Umbridge," he paused, looking around to be sure they were really alone, "Umbridge is going to drive us out one by one, until only the barely competent are left to defend Hogwarts. Please don't let her get you too."

With McGonagall gone, the school was in more danger than ever. "I won't give her any reason to. Just… you be careful too," she urged. "Are you staying here?"

Shaking his head, Snape told her that he had to inform the Slytherins and then get back to his office. There was work to be done. He had to dust off his old spell books and start practicing in case it came to an all-out war. Besides, he had a new spell in the works, one he didn't want anyone near when he was practicing in case it backfired. "Tomorrow, though. We should visit Minerva, but afterwards, perhaps I could keep you company. Or you could follow me to the Room of Requirement. I have a new spell to show you, and that would be the best place to practice."

They kept their visit short, thinking it was best to let her rest. Hazel never liked going to St. Mungo's. It reminded her of all of her Auror friends who had ended up there, some of them horrifically injured and others who would never leave. Witches and wizards in bright green robes strode up and down the maze-like halls, popping into rooms and apparating to emergency signals. As they reached the fourth floor, Sev took her hand, sensing Hazel's unease. Several of her coworkers were permanent residents there, their minds addled to the point of no return after fighting in the First Wizarding War. The ward was a gruesome reminder of what magic could do to a person.

A motherly-looking Healer welcomed them in, saying, "You're the two from Hogwarts, isn't that right? Minerva McGonagall - she was one of my professors ages ago. Four Stunning Spells to the chest, and yet she's already sitting up and talking. She's a fighter, that one." She left them at McGonagall's door, floating away to check the latest gift deliveries.

They only spent a little while with McGonagall, who advised them to take care of the school, "and of each other. You're good for each other. Especially now, you need it. You really think I didn't notice how much you two stared at each other in your seventh year?"

Taken aback, Sev let Hazel answer. "Thank you. It's taken a while, but," she reached for his hand for emphasis, "here we are."

When they left her, Hazel asked if they could stay on the ward for a little while longer. "I'm going to say hi to Frank and Alice. I doubt they'll remember me, but I should stop by." Sev stood outside of the room, leaning against the wall as she went inside. He didn't recognize any of the other names on the doors nearby, at least those he could see. He assumed there were plenty of former Death Eaters in here too, but he wasn't about to hunt them down.

Hazel's face was drawn when she came back, Sev reflexively taking her hand as they walked out. "How are they?"

"Somewhat lucid today. They thought I was some cousin of Alice's," she sighed as they took the elevator down to the ground floor. "I got lucky, Sev. They were good, really good. They were powerful. They knew what they were doing. They were good people, too. And they still ended up here. There are a ton of Aurors here. I easily could have ended up here plenty of times." She shook her head, waving to the Welcome Witch as they left. Before they disapparated, Sev stopped her, the two of them the only ones in the old shopping mall that led to St. Mungo's.

"I'm sorry." He pulled her into his arms, the gesture saying everything that he couldn't. I'm sorry your friends are here. I'm sorry you saw things like that happen to them. I'm sorry people I once considered my friends were the ones who did it. I'm sorry I may have helped. I'm sorry I chose the side I did. I'm sorry I wasn't there. I'm sorry we're slowly falling into another war, where all of this is likely to happen again. I'm sorry we're going to be drawn into that war too. I'm sorry I can't protect you.

With McGonagall out of commission, Umbridge's reign only got worse. Hazel would sit in the Ravenclaw common room every night, waiting to see if anyone came in from detention so she could heal their wounds and offer them a cup of tea. It was torture, but she was powerless to stop it. Sev would join her, either reading, leafing through essays, or brewing something in the fireplace. The Slytherins almost never had detention with Umbridge, and if they did, they usually escaped with a warning and a biscuit.

After weighing a vial of ground nettle and pouring it into the cauldron that bubbled over the fireplace, Sev stretched himself out across the sofa. Since there were no students up and about, Hazel climbed onto the sofa with him, Sev pulling her close as he leafed through his well-worn copy of the publisher's edition of Advanced Potion Making. "This is how things should be," Hazel mumbled. "If only the outside world were normal, and Umbridge wasn't plaguing the castle like an overgrown toad."

Kissing the top of her head, Sev agreed. This was closer to normal than he had ever gotten, closer to having some sort of stability. The years before Potter was at Hogwarts were still fraught with uncertainty, the Ministry still hunting Death Eaters. No one trusted him then. No one much trusted him now, but Dumbledore had worked wonders and seen to it that he wasn't chased out of Hogwarts and thrown into Azkaban. More than anything, Sev didn't want to move. If he could freeze time, keep them in that one moment forever, he would. Even though they both constantly worried about the fate of the school and what the Dark Lord was planning, in that second, they were perfectly content lying there in the warmth of the fireplace, the faint smell of vanilla rising from the cauldron he had set to boil.

Of course it had to be ruined. Luna Lovegood seemed to materialize in front of them, the pair bolting up in their seats. "Professor Snape, I've heard Professor Umbridge is looking for you. I thought you'd like to know before she discovered you were nowhere near the dungeons. Good evening, Professor Ashmore."

"How did you - I - nevermind." He stood, handing Hazel his book and brushing himself off.

"I'll watch this for you, don't worry. You're on the ninth step, right?"

"Yes. Stir three times, clockwise, then add the lacewing fly wings. You'll need to grind them up first," he told her, warily looking at Luna. "I'll be back."

As he took off for Umbridge's office, Luna turned to Hazel, telling her not to worry. "He should be just in time to meet her in front of the Great Hall, if I'm thinking about it properly... He's gotten much nicer lately, you know. Well, much nicer for him, of course. We really do think the two of you are very sweet."

"Oh, uh, thank you. Your father did as well, back when we were in school. He and your mum tried to set us up."

"I have to get going, but whatever you're brewing smells lovely." Hazel was still too surprised to question her. If Luna hadn't just walked in on the two of them there, she would've asked where she was going, since it was well after hours.

It didn't take long for Sev to return. "The Order is in danger, or so Potter says."

Hazel looked at him from where she sat on the hearth, carefully stirring shredded wormwood into the potion they were working on. "Where are we going?"

"Nowhere. Well, I should go to the dungeons. It feels… wrong to be here when so many of them are about to - I don't quite know what they're doing, but I have already alerted everyone I can think of," he assured her as he stood over the cauldron, peering at her handiwork. "Very good. The sheen is perfect. Twelve minutes off the heat should be enough to take it back to the dungeons with me." With a flick of his wand, the cauldron levitated, floating out of the flames. "Would you like to come with?"

His quarters were as dimly lit as the rest of the dungeon. They were laid out much like hers, but everything was done in black and silver instead of blue and bronze. There was hardly even a hint of green. Books were stacked on every available surface, left open and annotated as he worked. Enchanted candles burned everywhere, designed to never burn out and never accidentally start a fire. He set the cauldron in his fireplace, lighting it before he started to pace once more.

Settling in on the sofa, Hazel watched him stop at the window. Unconsciously reaching for his left arm, he winced as he stared into the fake image, one he had designed to reflect what the windows aboveground would show. The dormitories had them too, so everyone could watch the snow fall or know if it was raining before they left for class. "He's summoning them, isn't he?"

"Yes." He kept his eyes trained on the night sky.

"Do you have to go?"

"No."

She came to join him, reaching for his left hand and interrupting his thought process. "I know you're going to stay up until you hear something, good or bad. Do you want me to stay up with you?"

"Please. I'd rather not be here alone."

Hazel led him back to the sofa, the two of them curling up together to watch the fire. There was nothing to be done to the potion for a little while, so there they sat, watching and waiting. By the time they had to add more valerian root, Hazel had fallen asleep on Sev's shoulder. As carefully as he could, he reached for his wand, suspending her where she was so she wouldn't fall over as he kept working.

It felt like she had only been asleep for a couple of seconds. Hazel yawned, sitting up and taking in the dark bed sheets, the greenish light that streamed into the room. Hadn't she fallen asleep on the sofa? "Sev?" She stretched, hopping out of bed and coming to find him pacing in front of the fire, like he'd been there forever. "What time is it?"

"Nearly five in the morning," he answered, pulling her into a hug. He held onto her as he confessed, "I was about to wake you. There's been an incident at the Ministry. They haven't released any of the details yet, but the war is truly beginning. The Dark Lord has made himself known. This is it."