As arguably the most-qualified person in the castle, Hazel took over some of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. She balanced them with Ghoul Studies, but she still taught the fifth years on up, and a class of first years on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons. Flitwick, a dueling champion in his day, took over the rest. McGonagall wanted to find an adequate replacement, but with so many Aurors going into retirement or being killed in the war, it had been beyond difficult.
Her first class had gone well. It was all of the seventh-year N.E.W.T. students, so she expected no less. But when a group of first-year Slytherins and Gryffindors began to trickle in, gawking at the dragon skeleton that hung in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, she knew they would be a lot more difficult to manage. Some of them walked up to her desk, walking in circles underneath the giant skeleton to get a better view before returning to their seats. The chatter died down somewhat as she took her place at the front of the room.
"Good afternoon, everyone," Hazel smiled, pointing her wand at the blackboard and spelling out her name. The first years were still in awe of what magic could do, especially those from Muggle families. "I hope you're all enjoying your time at Hogwarts so far. I think you had Potions and Transfiguration this morning, right?"
A few of them mumbled "yes" or nodded along. Hazel easily recalled what it had felt like walking into that room for the first time. It was one of her first classes. She'd been in awe of the dragon skeleton and was staring at it when Remus sat down beside her.
"Well, Defense Against the Dark Arts somewhat overlaps with a lot of the classes you will be taking," she said. "I will be teaching you about all of the things that lurk in our world and how to defend yourself against them. We will be covering charms that you will not learn from Professor Flitwick even in your seventh year. We will discuss creatures far darker than Hagrid will ever show you. We will even cover some of the darker effects of potions - what can become of someone who drinks an improperly prepared Wolfsbane Potion, for example. We're going to start with a few simple defensive spells. Today I'm going to teach you how to disarm someone, so Syltherins, I'm going to assign you a Gryffindor and we will take turns disarming, and disarming only. Does anyone have any questions?"
One of the Gryffindors raised his hand. "Professor Ashmore, I'm sorry if this is too personal, but who's the man in all of the pictures on your desk? I swear I saw him on the cover of a book in Flourish and Blotts but someone said he was a Death -"
"Stop it!" the girl next to him hissed. "Your parents have never heard of him, but -"
Hazel sighed, but ultimately indulged them. "Are you a Muggleborn, Mr. Sheridan?"
"Yes ma'am. I'm sorry if… I just saw him on the cover of a book and…"
"It's alright," she smiled. "I don't expect the Muggleborns in the room to know about Professor Snape. I'm sure you've all heard of Lord Voldemort, though." That sent a flurry of whispers through the class. Everyone, even the Muggleborns who had entered the wizarding world right after Voldemort's defeat, remained afraid of the name. The entire class was on edge whenever they heard it. Many of their parents and older siblings had been killed by Voldemort and his army. "I guess we should start there. Acknowledge what happened in the spring. But before I give you a bit of magical history, I will give you a bit of my own."
She picked up one of the picture frames, staring longingly at a photo Dumbledore had taken. It was one of the ones she'd salvaged from Sev's office. It was only a copy, though - apparently Dumbledore had snapped a couple, but the one he'd written a note on was missing. It still made her smile. Frozen in a couple of seconds' time, she and Sev were dancing at the Yule Ball, or at least sort of. It was one of the slowest songs of the night, and they were so close that their noses were nearly touching. She no longer remembered what they had been talking about, but she knew it had been a wonderful night.
"Professor Snape was the previous headmaster, before Professor McGonagall. Before that he taught Defense Against the Dark Arts, and even earlier he was the Potions Master," Hazel recounted. The Slytherins knew a little about him, even the few who had been insulated from the war. The Gryffindors, though, knew far less. Some of them were Muggleborns, and some only heard a couple of things from their older siblings. "He was also a Death Eater, one of Voldemort's most trusted supporters, a spy, a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and the man who… until very recently… I thought I was going to marry one day."
By then the entire class was spellbound, even the Slytherins. "We met in our first year at Hogwarts. Professor Slughorn randomly assigned us to work together. We were friends for a while, and we got fairly close after our fifth year and we'd started… we'd started falling for each other in our seventh year, even though we knew we couldn't. I was going to be an Auror, and no matter what I said or did, he was going to be a Death Eater. Every one of them had their reasons. Family, friends, acceptance, power… He defected, became a spy. He came to teach here, and eventually, so did I. When Voldemort came back to power, Sev - Professor Snape went back to him, under the guise of being a faithful servant. The entire time he was spying for Albus Dumbledore. The two of them orchestrated his death - Dumbledore's - and he became headmaster in Dumbeldore's place. Lord Voldemort killed him because the Elder Wand, the most powerful wand in existence, seemed to be under Professor Snape's control, and Voldemort wanted it. It had never been Snape's, but Voldemort didn't know that."
Everyone held their breath as she continued to talk. Hazel still stared at the photo in her hands, trying her hardest not to cry. It stung, even now. It had only been a few months, after all. "When I first came back to the school, I didn't think… too much had happened since we last spoke. Slowly but surely, though, things went back to how they were when we were kids, but this time I didn't have to worry about him being a Death Eater. I had to worry about him working as a spy, which was a whole new set of worries, but… All of you are very young. And I hope, if you want, one day you find someone like Sev and I found each other. When he died… it felt like part of me died with him. It still feels like part of me died with him. If I can teach you one thing this year, it's not countercurses, or jinxes or how to hex dark creatures out of your way. It's that some things aren't what they seem. To ask questions - to be prepared for the answers you find, even if you don't like them. But most importantly that things aren't always what they seem and Houses aren't just their stereotypes." She set the silver picture frame down, looking back to them with tears in her eyes. "So! Slytherins, line up on the left. Gryffindors, on the right. Let's go reverse alphabetically with the Slytherins and normal alphabetical order with the Gryffindors. That means Mr. Shafiq, you're with Mr. Ames. As you're paired up, find an open space on the floor. Ms. Rowe with Mr. Burke."
When they had all been sorted out and begun practicing their Disarming Spells, Hazel circled the room. Occasionally she would catch snippets of them talking as their wands went flying across the room. Some of them were getting to know each other. Some had been friends before and were sorted into different houses. About half of them were whispering and looking over their shoulders. "Was Snape really one of You-Know-Who's supporters?"
"Yeah, you didn't know?"
"My mum and dad work at the British Museum, what do you think? They looked at me like I'd grown a third arm when I made the cat levitate."
"I bet the other professors treated him awfully…"
"Have you read Rita Skeeter's book? I've heard she's working on another one. She just rushed that one to the printer, but this one… It sounds awful."
"You've got to feel bad for her, I can't imagine losing someone like that."
Hazel stopped at her desk, looking out over the room before glancing down at the photos that she'd collected. The Yule Ball, of course. Her and Sev sitting under a tree, holding hands with no regard for the camera. Hagrid had taken that one from far away, testing out his camera without realizing what he'd captured until the photo was printed. One of them when they were sixteen, on vacation in Sussex. Well, Sev was on vacation, if you could call it that. He'd come to see that she was settled in with her aunt and uncle after her mum's funeral. Her aunt had taken a picture of the two of them by the cliffs, sitting and talking and staring out at the ocean. That was all she had left now. Just the photos and the unblinking painting that was nestled next to Dumbledore's portrait in McGonagall's office. And the mirror.
The Mirror of Erised had not moved from where Harry had left it back in his first year. Fluffy was long gone, as were the winged keys. The chess set lay broken in pieces, and the Devil's Snare had long since dried up. The last remaining enchantment was the eternal fire that led to the mirror, but Hazel found that she was able to walk through it just fine. Probably just there for show now, she had reasoned.
It was a couple nights earlier, the second night she was in the castle, when she went exploring. With no students there until the next evening, Filch wasn't prowling the hallways. While all the other professors were resting up for the coming term, Hazel went on an exploration mission. First she asked the Grey Lady and Nearly-Headless Nick if there were any new ghosts in the castle. There were: Plenty of former students, staff members, and others remained behind. But none of them had seen Sev floating around anywhere. Even the Bloody Baron, who Hazel assumed would know, said that Sev was nowhere to be seen.
That night she found the third floor corridor that led to the mirror. She'd heard about it before. She and Sev found it early in their seventh year, but they'd never discussed what they'd seen. Hazel had seen her Mum and Dad, both of them alive and smiling at her. But now, as she walked closer to the mirror, she saw something different.
At first she saw only herself, but then the dark figure began to materialize next to her. Even though she knew she was alone, he looked so real that she glanced to her side to double-check. Sev smiled a bit, taking her hand. That was when she noticed the thin silver band on his left hand. Looking to her own, she noticed that her reflection had a matching ring, silver and covered in diamonds. She raised a hand to her mouth, stifling her tears. The tightness in her chest didn't give way as she took a deep breath. Just as Sev smiled at her, mouthing the words, "I love you", she felt herself start to cry.
Hazel sank to the ground, reaching out for the man in the mirror. All she felt was the cold embrace of the glass. "Come back. Please, Sev. Come back." He couldn't say anything, but he sat down beside her, wrapping his arms around her reflection. "It's not fair. You did everything you could for our cause… They sent me your Order of Merlin over summer, all green and gold and… I'd throw it in the lake right now if I could have you back. Sybill said... but I guess even prophecies can be wrong. Sev, please..."
She finally dared to look at him. Sev still smiled at her, but a sad smile, the kind he would use to soften bad news with an apology. "I didn't… I didn't get to say goodbye. And the Shrieking Shack… It was the worst place, especially for you… I'm sorry. I love you, Sev. I always will. Just...come back. Please."
The man in the mirror seemed to be able to mouth a couple of words at a time. "It's okay. I love you."
Hazel didn't know how long she sat there. She was nearly asleep by the time she forced herself to get up, promising him she would be back the next night. Soon enough she tried to visit a couple of times a week. She knew she shouldn't. It only made things worse. But she got to see him again, in more than just pictures. The deep ache of longing settled in every time she laid eyes on the mirror, but she just had to see him. One more time. And then once more after that. And once more, until she started talking to the mirror, telling it about the things her students did and relaying the new gossip amongst the professors to him. It was the furthest thing from healthy, but seeing him made her feel a little better, even if it hurt to leave him every night.
It wasn't until one night in early January that she realized she had to stop visiting the mirror so often. She'd sat down beside it, telling Sev everything he'd missed in the castle, even though most people had been away for the holiday and only just come back. But it wasn't until she'd whispered a "happy birthday" and leaned in to kiss him on instinct, colliding with the cold glass, that she first thought that this had to stop.
She would have given anything to be able to see him, even if it was like this, even if he had to stay on the other side of the glass for the rest of her life. But this, this wasn't helping. She could hope all she wanted, but the odds were stacked against him ever coming back. So she apologized, promising to visit on occasion, but she could tell that Sev - the ghostly figure in the mirror, anyway - understood. It was for the best.