Footsteps running through the corridors were the first sign that anything was wrong. And then the curses began to fly. Hazel was heading back from her office, thinking she would change and go to find Sev. She needed a relaxing evening after teaching the fourth-years how to banish banshees, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen.

"We're being invaded. Death Eaters. Tell Filius to get the students back to Ravenclaw Tower. No, just get everyone into a common room, it hardly matters which," McGonagall instructed, racing past with surprising speed.

Hazel turned around, heading to search the way she came. "Get back to your houses! Now!" she called, a group of Gryffindors breaking into a sprint. If she was yelling at them, there had to be something wrong.

She was crossing one of the bridges to another wing of the castle when she saw it. Glittering green, a striking sight against the night sky. The Dark Mark hung over Astronomy Tower, either a warning sign or an invitation. Someone grabbed her arm, Hazel about to curse them before she realized it was Sev. "Sev, we're -"

"I know. I need you to listen to me. We don't have long now. I need you to look after the Slytherins, get them back to the dungeons. The password is 'Baron'." There was an unmistakable edge to his voice. Whether it was fear or something else she couldn't tell.

"Why can't you do it?" Pain. It was definitely pain that lined his face. It's time. The Unbreakable Vow. No. They want him to kill. "Where are you going?"

He froze, debating whether or not to tell her. She deserved to know. But they would question her. The less she knew, the better. "Just… do this for me. And remember -"

"I believe you," she promised, holding on to him tightly as someone started to scream down the hall. "Stay safe, be careful."

Time stopped for a second as he pulled her into a kiss, sincerely hoping it wasn't going to be the last one they ever shared. As he pulled away, he told her to, "Hit the glass."

"What?"

"The glass. Take out the glass over the courtyard, it'll blind some of them. There are no students down there. Give me a five second head start, and then take out the glass." Always the calculating mind.

Hazel held onto him for a second longer before looking him in the eye. This was it. Whatever the Death Eaters were up to, he had a plan to work against it. And they had to move. "Sev, just… come back to me in one piece. I love you." She hated to see him go, but the mark on his arm burned even more, Sev running off down the hall.

Watching him go felt like she was taking a Stunning Spell to the chest. No, don't think about it. Don't think about it. Five. Four. Three. Two. She leaned over the edge of the stone bridge, aiming her wand at the windows on the first floor. "Finestra." There was no time to watch the Death Eaters below as they suddenly found themselves covered in a hailstorm of glass. She ducked down to avoid any retaliatory spells, running for the library.

The library was already empty, everyone clearing out and heading to their dormitories at Madam Pince's urging. Good. She thought of checking a few other places, but it was more important that she got to the Slytherins. Taking the stairs down to the first floor, she stopped, glancing up at Astronomy Tower again. The Dark Mark still hung menacingly in the sky. "What are you doing here, little birdie?" She hadn't heard that voice in years. The last time it had been on a trip to Azkaban. It still chilled her. Bellatrix Lestrange stepped out of the shadows, twirling her wand in her hand. "Relax, dearie, I won't hurt you."

"I helped put you in Azkaban. You think I could trust that?" Hazel asked, silently casting a protective charm around herself. "I know you wouldn't."

"Well," Bellatrix stopped right in front of her, looking her over in contempt. "Lucky for you, the Dark Lord himself has told all of us not to touch a hair on your pretty little Pureblood head." She twirled a lock of Hazel's hair around her finger, Hazel doing everything she could to resist the impulse to curse her. "Much better than the last ginger Severus was so taken with. That filthy little Mudblood, I'm sure you knew her. The Dark Lord thinks much more highly of you, dearie. Told us not to hurt you because he knew Severus would kill us all if we did." Bellatrix laughed, adding, "He loves you, doesn't he? The kind of thing that would make him burn this whole place down if you asked..."

"What do you want, Bellatrix?"

"I just wanted to see the little beauty for myself," she crooned. "Pity you're a Ravenclaw, though some things can be forgiven. Even being an Auror. I heard you used to be good at the Cruciatus Curse. Would've loved to have seen that."

Half of her wanted to keep Bellatrix talking. The longer she talked, the longer she wasn't posing a danger to anyone else. But she had to get to the dungeons, if not to protect the Slytherins (since none of the Death Eaters would lay a hand on them), then to keep them from sneaking out. From the curious to those who actually wanted to fight, she had to keep them contained. Slughorn could handle them, but Sev had asked her to be there. "I'd love to talk, Bella, but I'm sure you didn't pop into Hogwarts for a chat."

Bellatrix regarded her coolly. "And where are you going?"

"Sev asked me to stay in the dungeons with his students, since he can't be there."

"Protective little dragon, how cute," she frowned. "Well, go on." Bellatrix watched her take the stairs down to the dungeon, only satisfied when she saw that Hazel was in fact headed to the Slytherin common room.

The common room itself was full of students, the Prefects trying in vain to maintain order. Well, one of them. "Thank goodness," Pansy breathed, glad that an actual adult had finally arrived. "Draco's gone, and Professor Slughorn told me to keep everyone here while he went to fight. I need your help."

Pansy Parkinson had always been respectful, immediately seeing the value Professor Snape had placed on Hazel. She was one of the first few to start the rumor that something was going on between the two, and she had been right, though almost none of the other Slytherins had known. But she had never been this thankful to see her. "Alright everyone, listen up." Hazel projected her voice, getting everyone's attention instantly. "The castle is under attack. We are safest here. I don't care if you want to see what's going on. I would as well, especially when I was your age. And I don't care if you want to join the fight. The Death Eaters will likely avoid attacking the Slytherin common room, but they're not taking the time to check what house you're in if you're caught outside. Many of them are operating on a curse-on-sight rule. Some of them will kill on sight. Professor Snape has charged me with making sure all of you stay here, and if I have to stand in front of the door to do it, then so be it. I would prefer not to, but I will. If I catch any of you trying to sneak out, it'll be fifty points from Slytherin. If i find out anyone has actually made it out of this room, I'll make it a hundred, if you're lucky enough not to be expelled."

There was some murmuring in the crowd as Hazel continued. "I would send you all to bed or tell you to work, but there's no point in that. Some of our friends and families are out there, people we care for deeply. So it's your choice. Go up to your dormitories to talk or stay here, but anyone causing any problems will be punished severely."

Hazel turned back to Pansy, telling her that she was going to need her help, but that she would be there the entire night. Leaving Pansy in charge for a moment, she stepped into Sev's rooms to grab a book, the door enchanted to only let him or her inside. As she picked up the book she had been reading the night before, she spotted something on his desk. Behind a stack of books, there was a photo sitting in a silver frame. A tiny version of the two of them, frozen eternally in the couple of seconds that a magical photo would record. It was the two of them in the winter of their seventh year, before she had learned about the Dark Mark on his arm. They were bundled up, snow drifting peacefully around them as they stood in Hogsmeade, smiling at each other instead of at the camera. She'd forced Pandora to take the picture, and she'd given it to him, slipping it into one of the books he had bought that day. Unbeknownst to them, it would be the last Hogsmeade trip anyone at Hogwarts would take until the end of the First Wizarding War.

That was what they were fighting for, the hope that one day they could go back to having lives like that, and the next generation of Hogwarts students would know nothing different. Smiling to herself, she returned to the common room. As the students sat up, talking in their small groups, she took an armchair, sending a shower of sparks towards the fireplace. It roared to life, keeping everyone warm as the battle raged outside. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't concentrate. The words all pooled together, replaced by the desperate need to know what was going on outside.

It was only when the door opened, Hazel jumping to her feet, that she knew something was wrong. She had bristled to curse whoever came through the door, but the sight of McGonagall made her pause. "Hazel," she said, her voice tinged with equal measures of rage and sadness, "we need to talk. Come with me."