Everything happened in a blur. Hazel hardly remembered saying goodbye to Sev and Remus as she left King's Cross. Her aunt and uncle apparated back to their house in Sussex with her. After all, there was nothing left of the home she had grown up in. The Death Eaters had killed her mum and burnt the place to the ground for good measure. None of the Muggleborns had survived. Absolutely everything and everyone was gone. Aunt Violet tried to ply her with food, but Hazel wasn't hungry. Instead she numbly drank half of a cup of tea, somehow finding her way upstairs to the guest bedroom that would become her room for the next two years.

Uncle Sherlock had taken the liberty of putting some things away, waving his wand over her trunk so all of the clothes would neatly fold themselves or hang themselves up in the wardrobe, her books would stack themselves on the shelves, and everything else would find its place. Hazel fell into bed with her clothes on, wrapping her arms around the stuffed wolf that found its place sitting on her pillows. When her aunt and uncle came upstairs to check on her a little while later, she was still crying.

Despite how much she'd cried leading up to it, she was perfectly stoic during the funeral. Dozens of relatives and people she didn't know sat through the service with her, saying hello and telling stories about her as a baby, things she would never remember. The only small comfort she had was Sev, who had taken the train down form Cokeworth to be with her. Remus would have been there too, but the full moon was approaching. He'd written that morning, apologizing profusely and promising that he would be free to talk when the full moon was over. Hazel understood. He would be going through enough that night.

Sev sat beside her at the funeral, silently reaching for her hand just as she started to cry. "I'm sorry," he mouthed, Hazel nodding her thanks.

While everyone else went home, Sev stayed by her side. To be fair, she didn't let go of him for very long. Aunt Violet and Uncle Sherlock handled the guests, saying goodbye to everyone but their dearest friend, the Muggle man that they'd begun sharing the Elixir of Life with long ago. It paid to be friends with Nicolas Flamel, and it paid to be friends with Dr. Watson. Hazel had grown up calling him Uncle John.

Uncle John and Sev accompanied them back to their house, where Sev offered to bring Hazel upstairs so she could get some rest. He would sit next to her at the dinner table later, keeping her company while she picked at her food. But for now he patiently walked her upstairs, Hazel dropping into bed without bothering to change out of her black dress robes. "Do you want me to stay up here with you?" Sev asked, standing in the doorway a bit awkwardly as he waited.

"Please?" Hazel looked up at him, her eyes still red. She'd cried so much that she thought she'd run out of tears, but she would prove herself wrong later.

So Sev settled in beside her, letting her curl into his side and putting his arm around her as she sniffled. He smiled a bit at the sight of the stuffed wolf that sat on one of the pillows. "Do you want him too?" he asked, thinking it was one of the last remnants of her childhood. He would have left it alone had he known where it really came from. He handed her the wolf, which Hazel tucked in between them.

"Thank you, Sev. For coming all the way down here, for staying, for everything," she said as she closed her eyes. She'd have to sneak a couple of Galleons into his coat pockets before he left. She knew he'd spent a bunch of money on last-minute train tickets, and she also knew that he didn't have much saved up.

"Of course. You've done so much for me," he whispered. "Besides, you're one of my best friends." He'd thought it, but he'd never said the words before. Since he lost Lily, Hazel had been the one person who was constantly there, the one person aside from the Slytherins who would look out for him. She kept him company in the library and in Astronomy Tower. She would tell off James and Sirius if she saw them bothering him. And as the year wound down, they got even closer. They were friends, good friends, no matter how much some of the Gryffindors would bother her about the "greasy little Slytherin kid" she hung around with.

When Aunt Violet went to find them for dinner, she walked in to find Sev silently reading the closest book he could reach, Hazel having dozed off curled up next to him. She gave him a knowing smile, saying, "This is the first time she's slept decently well in days. Give her a few more minutes and then wake her for dinner, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am," he nodded quietly, setting the book aside. He waited a moment before gently shaking her shoulder. "Hazel? Hey. It's time for dinner. C'mon, you have to get up."

"I don't want any dinner," she mumbled, her eyes still closed. "Let me sleep."

"You have to try to eat something," he insisted. "I'm going to get up even if you don't."

"Sev, no," she frowned. He made too nice of a pillow. "Please?"

"No." His voice was patient but firm as he stood, helping her sit up. "You've hardly eaten since… since we got off the Hogwarts Express, I assume. I'm not going to let you starve all summer. Neither is Lupin. I'll write to him, and then you'll have both of us telling you to eat."

Hazel groaned but grudgingly got to her feet. "Alright, I'll try. But you need to eat too."

Sev left late that night, well after Hazel was asleep again. He left her a note saying goodbye, even though he'd said goodbye earlier. Uncle Sherlock ferried him to the train station. She and Sev would end up writing all summer. He didn't have the money to visit again, but they kept up fairly well thanks to the hard work and dedication of Hazel's owl.

Remus also wrote her all summer. The first letter was to tell her he was alright after the full moon and to ask how she was holding up. But then they started writing as regularly as they had the previous summer. His parents eventually invited her to visit. Hazel put it off for a while, still not back to her normal self. She thought she never would be. But with time she managed to sleep a little better, to eat a little more, and to come to vow that she would become an Auror no matter what it took. She had always wanted to go into the Auror Office like her dad, but now she had a mission. She was going to hunt down the Death Eaters that had destroyed her life.

It was August before Hazel went to visit the Lupins, picking a few days around the full moon on purpose. Remus tried his best to dissuade her, but she wanted to be there. She wanted to see him. She wanted to know.