Dressed in black mourning robes, Hazel stood next to Remus at Grimmauld Place. The others had filled in spaces around the table, people cramming themselves into the room until there was almost no space left to breathe. The entire Weasley family had assembled, Ron sitting next to Harry and Hermione. Neville and Luna sat beside them, having made the trip down to London together. A group of Aurors, some of the same ones who had tried to arrest Dumbledore, took up one end of the table. Mad-Eye Moody passed a bottle around, the Aurors circulating it to the rest of the table. Tonks was on Remus' other side, her hand on his shoulder as he stared off into space. Kingsley Shacklebolt edged his way into the room, moving through the crowd to join the other Aurors. Hazel gave him a brief nod as he walked in, not wanting to interrupt the solemn silence.

There were a few notable absences. Hagrid sent his regards, but he couldn't travel to London to be there while he was busy trying to recruit the giants, let alone stand up comfortably in the house. Dumbledore was off hunting down "something powerful", having told no one what it was or where he was going. Hazel wished Sev could have been there, but she understood why he wasn't. Sirius Black had tormented him enough in his childhood. He had almost killed him when they were fifteen. Though they had grown up and become somewhat civil, that was all they ever would be. There had been no chance of them being friends, and both of them were more than fine with it.

"Number one, a toast to Sirius Black," Moody waved his wand, a glass appearing in front of everyone who was there. They made their toast before he continued. "Two, we have a lot of work to get done. We take our time to mourn and regroup today, but some of us," he looked to Hazel, "will be needed to protect Hogwarts. Others will need to do what they can for the Ministry." He turned to the group of Aurors, many of whom had been there during the First Wizarding War. They all knew that if the Ministry fell, they would be fighting in skirmishes across the country, not as a somewhat-united front that could maneuver itself against Voldemort and his supporters. "We need working intelligence, groups ready to be dispatched even when the Aurors don't have the permission or the ability. Start thinking on it." He rose, limping towards the door. "I'll be back in the morning." They heard the door close, Moody disapparating before he hit the street.

The others splintered into groups, some of them staying in the dining room to talk, others drifting into the rest of the house. No one seemed ready to regroup and work on strategy. Hazel, Tonks, and Remus were discussing their plans for the summer holiday when the front door creaked open. Sev stepped in, joining the mourning party extremely late. He appeared at Hazel's side and she offered a brief smile. They said little to each other, knowing that it was a complicated day for both of them.

They would drift apart for a little while as Hazel went to help Molly with dinner, getting everything set up so people could filter into the kitchen to eat whenever they got hungry. Not feeling hungry herself, she took to the stairs, heading back to the room she was staying in. Grimmauld Place would be her home for a few days, and then she would be back to a little place in Hogsmeade. When she wasn't at the Ministry, which would be fairly often. Eventually she would cave and move back to Grimmauld Place to be closer to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She had retired, but she could never truly leave. Not when they needed all the help they could get. It was more than an all-hands-on-deck situation, new crises popping up across the country every day.

There was a soft knock on her door. Sev stood in the hall, grateful that he had found her on his first try. "Mind if I come in?" She stepped aside, allowing him to cross the threshold. "I can hardly say that I'm in mourning, but I'm sorry. I know you two weren't that close, but you did spend a while working together."

"I'm more in mourning for… I don't even know, Sev." He reached out, pulling her into his arms. They stood there for a moment, holding onto each other in the dusty room, both of them knowing what was weighing on their souls. They had lost so much in the First Wizarding War, and now here they were, at the dawn of the Second. "We lost so many good people. We're never going to be alright. And now it's starting to happen again. You remember the terror, the not knowing who we could trust, the fear of our neighbors and the fear for our neighbors… I don't want to do that again. If we lost someone as good as Sirius - as well trained as he was, I mean - none of us are safe. I don't want to watch half of my friends die again."

"Neither do I."

"I'm glad we have each other." This time. It went unsaid, but he knew. He knew how much she had missed him, how betrayed she had felt when she finally found out he was a Death Eater. Looking back on it, she had been right.

Kissing the top of her head, he gently guided her over to the bed. "As am I." They sat down together, Hazel grateful that she could collapse in his arms. She felt like she'd been hit by a train. It was how she'd felt right after the end of their sixth year, when her hometown had been ransacked by Death Eaters. No one had gotten out alive. The only reason she had been spared was because she was visiting her aunt and uncle out in the Sussex Downs. The village had been razed entirely. He wasn't there to run to. She'd ended up staying with her aunt and uncle or Pandora for every holiday, until Pandora had gotten married and had a family of her own. She spent so much time wondering if Sev was alive, catching glimpses of him here and there, at least until his trial.

"Stay here tonight. Please," she requested, Sev agreeing immediately. The two of them would fall asleep in their clothes, holding on to each other as a warm summer rain drummed on the roof.

The entire breakfast table exchanged glances when they came downstairs together in the morning. Most of them thought Snape had left without saying goodbye, slipping out of the house unnoticed. No one said anything about it, Molly offering them plates and wondering if there was any pumpkin juice left. The talk started up again as Hazel sat down, beckoning for Sev to sit next to her. Arthur handed them a copy of the Daily Prophet, Snape gladly burying himself in the paper to avoid talking to his students, who began filing into the room soon after.

"There are two stories. Can't you see it? He loved someone once, and he lost them. I don't know who, but it helped turn him into who he is. I'd bet it's one of the reasons he's so bitter. That's a story about love. But this, the two of them, that's a love story," Luna sighed, looking to Neville. She quieted down as the others gathered in the attic, but the dreamy smile on her face remained. "I hope it works out."

"Are you talking about Ashmore and Snape?" Ginny asked, sitting on top of an old trunk full of outdated Slytherin Quidditch gear. "I don't know what she sees in him, but good for her, I guess. At least he gets nicer when she's around."

"She was friends with all of our parents," Neville reminded them. "Except yours, Hermione. Actually, you never know, she may have run into them. She's lived all over. She... she's told me some stories about my parents. She's got photos of all of them, from the Order," he explained, looking between the others. Professor Ashmore was one of his favorite teachers, and he still had no idea how she'd ended up with someone like Snape.

Hermione shrugged, taking a seat on the floor. "I'm sure they would have gotten along well if my parents went to Hogwarts. We do need to figure out what we're going to do now, though. Dumbledore's coming back to the school, but with the Death Eaters out in the open, we're not safe anymore, not anywhere outside of Hogwarts. Not even in Hogsmeade."

As the planning meeting for the continuance of Dumbledore's Army happened in the attic, the Order was meeting in the dining room. Moody had returned, bringing more bad news with him. Death Eaters were already starting to raid wizarding villages. One near Manchester had been almost burned to the ground in celebration of his return.

As Moody talked, Sev could feel the stares of those in the room who still didn't trust him. He was around because Dumbledore and Hazel had faith in him. That was it. The others all at least harbored some suspicion that he wasn't who he said he was, that he had never changed. It was one of the reasons he tried to avoid Order meetings. The only reason he was there now was because Moody had arrived in the middle of breakfast. He'd had no time to make his escape.

Hazel took his hand under the table, giving it a squeeze as if to tell him he shouldn't worry about everyone who didn't believe him.

He would leave that afternoon, headed back to the castle. That summer would be split between the castle, Cokeworth, and Malfoy Manor, where Voldemort had set up his headquarters. Hazel mainly stayed in London, helping the Order as much as possible. It was a busy summer, but things were still looking dark as the new term approached.

A.N.: So saddened to hear of Helen McCrory's passing. I hope you all are doing well & wishing her family all the best.