It was a seemingly normal summer evening, the last few classes stretching out before them. Her seventh-years were busy preparing for their N.E.W.T.s, her fifth-years were studying for their O.W.L.s, and everyone else was studying for final exams. Hazel had just left her office when she heard a commotion in Ravenclaw Tower. She ran in to find the door open, the Carrows stunned on the ground. As she revived them, she asked if it had been one of the Ravenclaws, but Alecto just spat, "Potter. He's here."
This is it. They've brought the war to Hogwarts. "Are you alright?" She repressed everything else, trying to keep her cover.
"I'll be fine." Amycus brushed himself off, drawing his wand. Potter was in the castle. They had to alert everyone. "Alecto, head down to the Slytherin common room and let them know. It's time."
"Time? Time for what?" Hazel asked, looking between the two Carrows.
"Time to call in some friends and go Potter hunting," Alecto grinned. "You stay here and look after the Ravenclaws. See to it that they stay out of the way."
They had already started attracting attention, students emerging from their dormitories to see what all of the fuss was about. The Carrows left her alone, Hazel sealing the door behind them. "Go wake up anyone who's sleeping. Meet me down here in five minutes," she instructed the students who were trickling out of their rooms. "I want everyone dressed and either ready to fight or ready to go."
Hazel started evacuating people early. When everyone had gathered in the common room, she addressed them all. "It's time I tell you all the truth. I think many of you know which side of this I lie on. If any of the seventh-years who are of age," she stressed, "want to stay to fight with me, your help would be much appreciated. But everyone, and I mean everyone, who is not of age will be leaving the castle. The professors have been working on a procedure to evacuate students in the case of an attack this year. Unfortunately, the time has come to realize that plan. Seventh-years, I'm going to give you a few moments to think. Everyone else, go up to your dormitories and grab a bag of essentials. Your wands, something to keep you warm, anything of great sentimental value, your pets, whatever you need. In fifteen minutes, those of you who will be evacuating are going to come with me to the Great Hall."
Leaving the students to scramble upstairs, Hazel went to the window, surveying the part of the Hogwarts lawn that she had a good view of. There was someone, a small figure from that height, being driven from the castle. McGonagall's shadow chased after it, at least until it vanished. One of the Carrows, she hoped. But no, the more she looked, the more familiar the fleeing shape looked. Sev. No. Where are you going? Before her eyes, he seemed to take flight like a great black bat, disappearing into the night.
There was no time to dwell on it. As much as she wanted to find out what was happening, her first duty was to the school, to her students. She had to keep them safe. If everything was going according to plan, Flitwick would be enchanting the fireplace in the Great Hall, keeping the Floo Network open for a safe evacuation of the school. With one last glance out of the window, she noticed the slight flash of light as people - Death Eaters or reinforcements from Hogsmeade, she couldn't tell - began apparating right outside of the school's boundaries. They weren't able to cross the boundary line, at least for now. Death Eaters for sure. It was only a matter of time before they breached the charms and the siege began.
Just as Hazel stepped back in front of the common room to address her students, a booming voice resonated throughout the castle, magically projected so everyone could hear no matter where they were. It was a voice that sent a chill down her spine. She had heard it a handful of times before, its owner fleeing before she and Moody, or she and Kingsley, had burst into the room. Every time she heard that voice, it was followed by death. Or worse. She had only heard it once where no one died, and even then, she counted it as a miracle.
"I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood. Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight."
"That's He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, isn't it?" one of the third-years asked as she came down the stairs with her satchel in hand. "That's his voice. I've never heard him before." There was obvious fear in her question, though she tried her best not to show it.
Hazel nodded, surveying the group. "That's him. We're going to wait a few more moments, and then can I have our Prefects check the dorms before we go? Good." She sighed, trying to keep herself calm. She had faced them before. With Moody and Kingsley, she had arrested dozens of Death Eaters. Tonight felt different, though. Harry had never been there. Whatever he was up to, she hoped beyond hope that he was whittling down the number of horcruxes that tenuously tied Voldemort to his mortal form. Sev had told her everything, how Voldemort had split his soul and how Harry, Ron, and Hermione were hunting down and destroying the fragments. And how they had very few of them left, if he was counting right.
When the Prefects had returned, she sent the Head Boy and Head Girl to the back of the group, telling them to keep watch. Both of them would be staying, they had decided. She took the lead, her wand drawn as they made their way to the Great Hall. "Keep your wands out, everyone."
They made it there without incident, finding McGonagall already starting to evacuate the Gryffindors. "You're joining us?" she asked, an undercurrent of bitterness in her voice. "Severus fled a little while ago."
"I'm staying. Minerva, you watched him get swept up in this when he was a boy," she told her as the students started milling about, finding their Gryffindor friends and waving down the Hufflepuffs as Professor Sprout led them in. "I've always been on your side. I don't know what else I can do to convince you of that."
"Very well. But if you decide to turn on us, I will come after you myself," McGonagall warned. Turning back to the students, she waved her wand, amplifying her voice. "Alright, everyone, in order to have a safe and orderly evacuation, you will be going in small groups through the Floo Network. We have everything set up for your arrival outside of the castle. We have already secured the Great Hall, and there will be a few professors staying here with Mr. Filch to ensure nothing goes wrong." She sighed, the weight of the night on her shoulders. Speaking honestly to her students, she admitted that, "This may be the last time some of us see you. You will be completely safe, but we are heading into unspeakable danger. I hope to see you next year. Take care of yourselves. Take care of each other."
As the students began evacuating, Hazel walked through the crowd, checking to be sure they weren't missing anyone. Madam Pomfrey arrived with the students who had been in the Hospital Wing. They cleared the way for all of them to leave first. As a group of Hufflepuffs was preparing to leave, the clock struck midnight. The entire Great Hall froze, students looking to their professors and the professors turning to the windows. Everyone got a glimpse of the Death Eaters beginning to assault the castle's barriers before the professors collectively blacked out the view, telling them to stay calm.
As McGonagall collected a group of seventh-year Gryffindors to work on defenses, Hazel slipped away, heading first to the dungeons. It didn't take her long to find what she was looking for, though she knew exactly where she was going. Pocketing her find, she ran back out into the castle. She was in the courtyard when the defenses around the school fell, Death Eaters rushing in from all sides. Hopefully they would recognize her as the woman Pettigrew and Snape had told them about, the woman some of them had met once or twice. It was an identity that would keep her safe, at least for a little while. The longer she spent shoring up the school's defenses, the longer she would be left alone. They could understand wanting to protect the students, especially since many of their own children were there. But the moment she lashed out at a Death Eater, she too would have a target on her back.
Running for Hagrid's hut, she dodged a group of Death Eaters, hiding in the garden as they passed. Wrenching the door open, she found that Hagrid had already left, probably to alert the Acromantulas and the centaurs, if they hadn't been roused by the Death Eaters apparating into the Forbidden Forest. For good measure, she enchanted his hut, keeping it from burning down. Bellatrix had burnt it to ashes the previous year, but now it would, at least theoretically, be impervious to flame.
As she darted into the forest for a moment of cover, a dark shape grabbed her arm. Instinctively she lashed out, swinging an elbow that was deftly caught. "Ssh, it's me." Sev's voice drained the rage from her, Hazel's breath catching in her throat. "It's alright."
"Sev," she exhaled, pulling him into a hug. "Did Minerva hurt you? Are you okay?" She looked him over, Sev smiling at the sight of her. "You're covered in glass. Here." She waved her wand over him, everything healing at once.
"Thank you. I'm fine. For now." His voice was as level as ever, showing no sign of fear.
"I feel like this is it," she murmured as he pulled her back into his arms. Even there, on the sidelines of the battlefield, she felt slightly safer with him. "One way or another, this all ends tonight. Please be careful."
"You do the same," he commanded as she fished something out of her robes.
A tiny vial, filled with a golden liquid that seemed to move of its own accord. Felix Felicis, the last of Slughorn's stores. She still had all of the old keys to the Potions rooms. Occasionally they came in handy. "Take this," she urged, telling him to drink. "There are two teaspoons left. I've already taken mine."
Sev obliged, throwing the vial into the forest when he was done. The Dark Mark burned on his arm, but he stopped to kiss her. "I'm being summoned to the Shrieking Shack. That's where he's hiding out. I want you to - if he wants to see you again, I can't trust him not to kill you. I can't trust him not to order me to kill you. So get out there, get into the castle and make sure the students are safe. Stay as far away from the Shrieking Shack as you can. Make sure... Make sure I can't find you until all of this is over. I'll see you in a little while, alright? I love you. Be careful."
"I love you too, Sev."
It hurt to watch him go, but if he didn't report to Voldemort immediately, he would be facing the Dark Lord's wrath. So Sev left, Hazel rushing back into battle. Dodging a Killing Curse, she fought her way forward, intent on getting to the center of the chaos. Her students should have all been gone by now, save for the seventh-years who decided to stay and fight, but she wanted to check.
He's going to be okay. Two teaspoons for a perfectly lucky day. Felix Felicis can cover something like this, right? Throwing a Shield Charm over a group of Hogsmeade residents who had come to fight, she raced towards the castle. There was no time to think anymore. It was time to tap into her Auror training and just react, saving as many people as possible. Anything more would get in the way and cost lives.