It had been twenty minutes since he'd flipped a page in the book he'd previously been devouring. Hazel had noticed about five minutes in, absorbed in her own work, but she hadn't said anything. She still wasn't sure what it was, if it was him zoning out or starting to doze off with his eyes open, but it was starting to worry her. She finally set her own book down, the motion not breaking his intense focus on the page. "Sev?"

"Huh?"

"Are you alright?" She slid across the sofa, coming to sit next to him.

He set his book down, Hazel immediately able to read the stress and despair in his eyes, but more than that, she could hear every thought at once. It wasn't just his voice that she heard, though. One of them was James, one was Sirius, back when they were kids. But there was another she could only assume was his father.

They know. They're waiting until you don't suspect it. They'll go after her first. Do you know how lucky you are? You ungrateful brat. Just like your mother you are. Do you think she's actually interested in you, Snivellus? You're saving her Potions grade, that's it. They're right, how could she possibly like me? Wash your hair, Snape. Keep your abnormally large nose out of other people's business. I wish I could tear off this Dark Mark. Why didn't I listen to her? She hates me. She hates me. They all do. I should've left you and your mother when I had the chance. You're the reason I drink, boy, I hope you know that. She's only here out of pity. You would give up everything for her and she's only staying out of pity. You ARE pitiful. Even Lupin, even a werewolf for Merlin's sake, would be better for her than you.

"Sev?" She reached for his hand, his focus suddenly breaking. "I love you."

She knows. "You heard. You saw? How?"

Hazel shook her head. "I wasn't trying to. I read somewhere - Lachlan's Legilimency for the Modern World, I think - that if two people are close enough, that can just sometimes happen. But that doesn't matter right now. Sev, I love you." She put a hand to his face, telling him that, "Your father was an ignorant, insecure drunk long before you were born. You had nothing to do with that. James Potter and Sirius Black were idiots too. All the times they teased you about your hair, they never realized that's what standing over cauldrons all day does to people. Maybe if they spent more time paying attention and less time setting off Filibuster's Fireworks when Slughorn wasn't looking, they'd have had the same problem." That got him to smile a little. "As for your nose, it's distinct. It's a strong nose. Princely. I like it, and I'm glad you decided to keep it. It's one of the many, many things I love about you." She leaned in to give him a kiss, gently rolling up his left sleeve.

"Hazel -"

"I know you're not proud of this, of what it means. But I think it shows how brave you are to turn away from all of that. You're brave, and you're strong, and I love you. You make me smile more than Remus ever did. He's good people, Sev, but you're a good person, and no matter how awful things get, you're here. I love you." She pulled him into a hug, telling him that, "If you want me to prove it, I've got some memories for you. That might help."

He sat back to look at her, still clutching her hand. "Are you sure?"

"Go ahead," she nodded.

"Legilimens," he mumbled, dropping into her memory of a class some years before. The two of them stared into a golden cauldron, spirals of steam rising from it as they bickered.

"Move over, Sev. I think you're in the way," she was saying as Slughorn came by. "I can't smell anything." He watched his younger self step aside as Slughorn told him to check on another group.

Hazel's eyes widened and she raced out of the room, Slughorn chuckling to himself. As he remembered it, he'd packed up their things and found Hazel in the hall. But now he followed her to the Potions storeroom, where she frantically sorted through jars and vials and bunches of dried ingredients. She finally paused on a jar of powdered bat wings, leaning on the ladder as soon as she closed it. "Merlin, no," she mumbled as the bell rang. "It can't be."

Running back into the classroom, she handed Slughorn the keys she had borrowed, apologizing profusely. "Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked as he pocketed the keys and gave her a knowing smile.

"Yes."

"And?"

She looked over her shoulder, double-checking that no one else was in the room. "It can't be," she protested, as if her protests would change anything. "I… he's one of my best friends."

Slughorn smiled, telling her that she had better get going or she would be late for her next class. Hazel grabbed her bag and her books and took off for the Charms corridor, running right into Sev. "Where did you go?" he asked. He knew as soon as she had turned pale and ran from the room that something was wrong. Whatever her Amortentia smelled like, it was something shocking. He would spend all afternoon thinking about it, wondering if his theory was right. He'd never noticed how he'd turned a shade more pink the instant he realized she smelled like lavender.

"Sorry, I had to check something. I've got to get to Charms but I… I'll see you later, okay?"

As soon as she sat down in Charms, Pandora was asking questions. "What did your Amortentia smell like? Mine was lemons and grass and that fresh smell of summer."

Hazel stared into her textbook, whispering her answer so Remus, who had taken the seat to her left, wouldn't overhear as he was talking to a couple of the other Gryffindors. "Ink, rosemary, and… bat wings."

"Bat wings? That's a weird - oh." It had just dawned on her. Realization flooded Pandora's face as she asked, "You don't think it's him, do you?"

"It has to be," Hazel shot back as Flitwick walked in. "I… neither of us could smell anything at first. Slughorn made us smell it separately, and that's not how Amortentia is supposed to work unless you're right there with the person who… Pan, what if it is him?"

Pandora opened her textbook, lazily flipping to the chapter they were working from. "It's supposed to smell like what you're attracted to, right? It's just a couple of things. That could be a ton of people. I mean mine - Grass? Half of the school probably smells like grass, everyone studies out on the grounds. And lemons, I bet half of the desserts the elves make have lemons in them."

"But Slughorn had this weird look on his face, like this wasn't something that normally happened in class," Hazel objected. "And I think Sev knows that I know and - wait, what if it's not me that he -"

"Just don't mention it," Pandora offered as Flitwick stepped up to begin his lecture. "Focus on the ball. We've got weeks, but it's something fun to think about instead of classes and exams and all that."

"Mhm." Hazel was quiet, trying to take notes as Flitwick talked. But as he watched, the much older version of Sev knew what was on her mind.

They flashed forward to a couple of tiny rooms above one of the many apothecaries in Diagon Alley. For a few months, he'd managed to delude her into thinking he'd repented. For a few months, he'd managed to delude himself into thinking he actually could, just after the next meeting, after he learned more, after... after... after...

Hazel was laying in bed, Sev fast asleep beside her. She was smiling, running her hand through his hair as he slept peacefully - something so rare even back then. "I love you," she whispered, barely audible over the crackling of the fire. "Merlin, Sev, I love you. I don't know when I'm going to actually tell you... How do I actually tell you?" She shook her head, still smiling to herself. It was something they never actually said, not back then. They both knew, but it went unsaid, at least until she'd left him a letter saying goodbye, when she found out he'd been sneaking off to Death Eater meetings. "I love you, Sev. You're absolutely wonderful, and... this could be the rest of our lives. I'd be happy."

"What are you saying?" he yawned, rolling over to look at her. "Sorry, what?"

"Nothing," she smiled, giving him a kiss. "I'm just really... you make me so happy, Sev."

He pulled her into his arms, Hazel laughing as he peppered her in kisses. "You make me incredibly happy," he whispered. "I'd be even happier if we slept in a little longer. Five more minutes?"

"Ten," she insisted as she closed her eyes. "Maybe twenty..."

The scene shifted, several years going by in a flash.

Hazel sat next to Flitwick, her Head of House and one of her favorite professors from her time as a student. As Dumbledore welcomed everyone back to what would shape up to be an exciting year, she found herself glancing down the table. The man she was looking at had gotten much older, the stress of the First Wizarding War lining his face. But he was still the same Sev she knew from long ago. He stared quietly forward as Dumbledore talked, occasionally leaning over to say a word to McGonagall. But as Dumbledore introduced her and Hazel smiled at the students, she could undeniably feel his eyes on her. As they settled in to eat, she would glance over every so often, catching him doing the same once or twice. "Good to be back?" Flitwick asked, Hazel nodding fervently.

"The view from here certainly is different, but it's good to be at Hogwarts again. It's like coming home after a very long time away."

Flitwick nodded, catching her eye. "Oh, dear me. I almost forgot about you two."

"Sorry?" Hazel passed Professor Sprout a tureen of gravy, wondering what he was getting at.

"You and Severus," Flitwick smiled enthusiastically. "The two of you were inseparable back in the day. Pity you went your separate ways, but Dumbledore assures me all will be well." All would be well? What could that have possibly meant?

Sev suddenly found himself in another memory, watching as Hazel was unpacking. All of the Ravenclaws were getting to know the new first-years, everyone welcoming each other back and starting to catch up after the summer holiday. The noise from the common room was audible, but Hazel didn't seem to mind. He followed her as she left for breakfast, watching as he - his past self - took a seat at the staff table much closer to her.

Both of them kept exchanging glances at the breakfast table, only broken by the delivery of the morning post. Hazel buried herself in a newspaper, but when breakfast was over and she was headed to her new office, she stopped in the corridor. Students were milling about getting their new schedules and trying to fix any issues they had. As a fifth-year Ravenclaw sought out Professor Flitwick to swap his Charms class - he'd been put in a fourth-year class by mistake - Hazel broke off from him. She stopped, though, turning back to see a figure in dark robes being swarmed by a couple of Slytherins. So she waited. He'd never realized that she'd been watching him the whole time as he went through schedules and directed students to classrooms.

Eventually she got closer, pretending that she'd left something in the Great Hall. "Severus?" Hazel smiled, coming to a stop by his side. He'd never noticed how pink she'd grown as he said good morning to her. For his part, he'd never noticed how he'd grown a couple shades redder as well. "I was going to try to catch you earlier, but Minerva dumped a bunch of procedural rules on me at the last moment, and Filius caught me as soon as I got to breakfast." She paused, trying to find the right words. "It's been a while."

"That it has," he answered, still distracted by his students. "History of Magic is that way, Mr. Wellborn. Better take Mr. Campbell with you before he gets lost." Turning back to Hazel, he apologized, saying he had to get to the dungeons before any of the first-years started a fire in the Potions classroom. "Perhaps we can catch up later."

"For sure," she nodded. "I've got to be up in my classroom soon too, or the Slytherins will tear the Hufflepuffs apart. No offense, of course," Hazel smiled. "It's good to see you again, Sev. Catch you at lunch."

'Sev'? He remembered trying not to smile, trying to keep up the intimidating mask he wore in front of his students. No one had called him 'Sev' in ages. She was the only one he allowed to call him anything other than 'Severus', and it had instantly brought back a flood of memories, a flood of emotion that he'd been trying to get rid of for years. The rest of that morning he found his thoughts straying back to her, wondering how her first day of classes was going. He hadn't looked forward to lunch that much in ages.

The image shifted again, Sev finding himself in the cramped Potions storeroom. There was hardly enough space for two people, so he walked through his past self to perch on the ladder and watch as Hazel stepped inside and started talking to him. It was clearly later in the term. They got along much better. Had they been spending much time together yet? Hazel reached out to close the door, turning back around to find herself inches from his face. "Sev, I -"

"Wait. Muffliato." He enchanted the door, preventing anyone else from hearing them. "I know you're worried about them. Dumbledore hated calling the dementors here. After what happened to Potter… he wants them gone by the end of the month, but I doubt they will leave until Black is back in Azkaban."

"I know. But that's not what I wanted to ask you. Sev, is there something going on?"

"You will need to be more specific. Something is almost always going on at Hogwarts. I would be suspicious if something wasn't amiss."

She took his hand, imploring, "There's always more happening than you let on. You're more afraid - Remus isn't going to help him get into the castle. They were friends, sure, but he knows Sirius killed thirteen people and got his friends killed too. He's not going to help him, Sev. And if he gets back into the castle, he's not going to come after you. If he does… you can take him. He doesn't even have a wand. Just… be careful and don't do anything dumb."

He remembered wanting to lean in and kiss her in that moment, but for the first time, he was seeing it through her eyes. And he could tell that she wanted to lean in and kiss him too. Had they really spent so much of their lives hesitating? "Why -"

"Because I care about you, Sev. It makes sense to be worried about it. Dumbledore's never been fair with them. He's not going to stand it if Sirius gets into the school now, but it makes sense to be afraid. You're allowed. Just... be careful. I don't want anything to happen to you. Don't go after Sirius Black." She leaned in and kissed his cheek. Immediately Hazel dropped his hand, turning nearly Gryffindor scarlet. "I... I should go. Be careful, Sev." He tried to stop her, but she was already halfway out the door.

He remembered leaning back and putting a hand to his cheek, staring into the void of the storage room and trying to process what that meant. But he was in her memories now, so he had to follow her down the hall and back up to Ravenclaw Tower. He watched as she locked herself in her room, not bothering to say hello to the few students studying in the common room. She sank to the floor, leaning against the wall. Still incredibly red in the face, she took a deep breath, whispering, "Oh Merlin. What have you done?"

The scene changed again, and Sev now found himself in his own rooms, Hazel laying in bed beside an earlier version of him. He was still asleep, Hazel letting him continue to doze. He needed the rest. She smiled, running a hand through his hair. From the look of the jet-black Dark Mark on his left arm, it had to have been sometime after the Dark Lord came back. "I love you, Sev," she whispered. He mumbled something incomprehensible in his sleep. Somehow she seemed to know what he had said. "One day we're not going to have to worry about all of this. One day we're going to be somewhere nice and safe and happy, where we don't have to think about Voldemort or Dumbledore or anything."

"That's enough," the real Hazel said, pulling him back out of her memories and into the present moment.

Sev just stared at her. He'd watched snippets of the two of them falling for each other again and again, everything coming together in her mind as it came together in his. He numbly wrapped his arms around her, mumbling an, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ever doubt it."

"It's okay. It's all okay now. Sev, I love you. And I promise I'll keep reminding you every chance I get."

"I love you too," he finally managed. "Thank you."