Dead Man Walking

by purpleygirl

...or The Life Debt Revisited. My theory, in story form, of why Dumbledore trusted Snape so completely. Features: Harry, Snape, Dumbledore, James, a portrait, and a trip through a Pensieve. Set postVoldemort and HBP compliant. *Now utterly AU.*

Disclaimer: All characters and settings in the below story are wholly owned by JK Rowling, Warner Bros, and any associated companies. No money has been made from the publishing of the below story, here or elsewhere.

A/N: Here's my theory, in story form, behind why Dumbledore trusted Snape so completely. Just for the sake of giving it a name, I call it the 'Dead Man Walking' theory (which starts about a quarter of the way through).

This is based on one of my theories for Book 7, so knowledge of HBP is assumed. Also, die-hard Lily/Severus shippers may want to give this one a miss ;)

I've also chucked in my reasoning behind Dumbledore's death at the beginning for good measure, so if you're not interested in that, skip to about a quarter of the way through.

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Dead Man Walking or The Life-Debt Revisited

by 'purpleygirl'

˜

'To the good health of Harry Potter,' said Remus Lupin, and raised his glass.

Harry felt his cheeks flush as the rest of the small group smiled at Harry in turn. He had hoped that, now Voldemort was gone forever, people would finally stop treating him as the 'Chosen One'.

Ginny seemed to realise this. '… who can now have a normal, ordinary, everyday life at last,' she added.

Harry grinned at her in appreciation. He really didn't feel in the mood for any more regaling and how great everyone thought he had been to defeat Voldemort.

Molly Weasley went to prepare lunch in the kitchen, and Ginny, Ron and Hermione went to help out, leaving Harry sat quietly by the fire with Lupin in the sitting room. Number twelve, Grimmauld Place had become Harry's temporary home until he either managed to unstick Mrs Black, or find somewhere more quiet.

Harry had wanted to share the news of Voldemort's demise with Dumbledore, and so he had already decided that he would be the first to tell his portrait hanging in his old office.

Harry flooed over to Hogwarts, his old school, the next day and landed in the headmistress's office. Professor McGonagall was still the headmistress there; she had kindly allowed Harry to visit while she was away.

Harry looked over at where Dumbledore's gilt-framed portrait was. Dumbledore was asleep in his chair and Harry sat facing it, patiently waiting for him to wake. Thankfully, all the other framed headmasters and headmistresses also seemed to be asleep. Or perhaps, thought Harry, they knew why he was here and were just pretending out of politeness.

At last, the old wizard began to wake. Harry waited for the painting to notice him.

Dumbledore stretched in his painted chair and blinked, adjusting his half-moon glasses as he did so. He saw Harry and smiled. 'So, is it over?' were the first words Dumbledore said.

'It's over,' said Harry.

Dumbledore nodded solemnly. After a short silence, he said, 'And you have come to tell me all about it, I suppose? And yet, I believe I have more things of interest to tell you, Harry,' said Dumbledore, with what seemed like a sad twinkle in his eyes. 'Ah – but – you first, I think.'

And so Harry told his story, with Dumbledore occasionally nodding in approval.

When Harry had finished, Dumbledore smiled to himself in silence for several moments, apparently contemplating everything Harry had just told him.

Finally, he turned his attention back to Harry. 'What of the Death Eaters?' he asked.

'Most were killed, some were captured.'

'And Severus Snape?'

Harry felt unprepared at hearing the hated name uttered by the headmaster. 'He was there,' said Harry, feeling the familiar anger well up inside him again. 'He was right beside Voldemort with the others that were killed, I saw him – I knew it was him.'

Dumbledore looked down at Harry, who was staring fixedly at the desk in front of him, the anger plain on his face. 'Well, I am glad he was spared Azkaban at least,' Dumbledore said at last. 'That was no place for Severus.'

Harry felt the blood drain from his face, and he stared up at Dumbledore's portrait in disbelief. 'You … how can you SAY that? He KILLED you! He MURDERED you! HOW CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HIM LIKE THAT?'

'Harry, there is little point in getting irate at a picture,' said Dumbledore, looking down at Harry from his ornate frame.

'But you trusted him. He was the one who tipped Voldemort off about the prophecy, who got my mum and dad killed, and you TRUSTED him! He MUR—'

'Harry, Harry,' said Dumbledore, holding up a hand to silence him. 'First of all, yes – I trusted Severus Snape completely – and,' he held up his hand again, for Harry had opened his mouth to interrupt him, '– and Severus did what he had to do on the Tower at my request – my insistence, in fact.'

'Had to do? You mean that stupid Vow he took? I wish he'd broken it and dropped dead instead!'

'Ah, Harry. Do you really think that I would allow Draco Malfoy to go ahead and commit a murder?'

'So why didn't you stop him when you could, then?'

'As I told Draco on the Tower, I did not dare talk to him in case Voldemort used Legilimency against him. I assigned to Severus the task of trying to ascertain Draco's plans. But Draco refused to tell him anything. I had no intention of allowing Draco to kill me – I offered him a chance out. But then the Death Eaters arrived, as you know. When Severus arrived, I used Legilimency to order him to do it in Draco's place. I was dying anyway from the potion I had ingested, and yet … I thought he would not do it, and I resorted to pleading out loud.'

'But he killed you – he did it, he went through with it!'

'I made him do it, Harry.'

Harry shook his head at Dumbledore's portrait. 'But that doesn't excuse … how could it? He must have still hated you to go through with it!'

'Harry,' said Dumbledore sternly. 'Before that day, can you remember seeing an Avada Kedavra being successfully cast?'

Harry knew he was referring to Cedric Diggory. He nodded.

'So, you will recall that the unfortunate victim is killed instantly.'

Harry remembered seeing Cedric crumple to the ground before his eyes. But Dumbledore had been thrown back over the wall of the Astronomy Tower by Snape's curse. 'The force that Snape used was stronger,' Harry said, 'it pushed you over the wall.'

'To kill is not as easy as the innocent believe, Harry. It is not as simple as uttering the correct words. The intention must be there also. If not, then it will not kill, merely provide a different kind of force.'

Harry thought of when he had tried casting the Cruciatus Curse on Bellatrix Lestrange. She had not writhed in agony on the spot as he had expected her to; she had only been thrust backwards instead. She had taunted him and told him he had to 'mean it' for an Unforgivable to work.

'It was the fall from the Tower that killed me – that alone,' Dumbledore continued. 'I was already dying anyway from the effects of the potion the locket was hidden in – the potion that you forced me to drink on my orders, knowing the dangers of doing so; that it would most likely kill me if I did not find an antidote in time, or if one even existed.'

Harry looked at Dumbledore in disbelief. 'How can you COMPARE me with HIM? With WHAT HE DID?'

'How, exactly, were the two situations different?' asked Dumbledore calmly.

Harry remained silent, stunned, staring at the portrait, and a turmoil of emotions, from anger, to grief, to guilt, rushed through his head.

'Oh, Harry, I am so sorry you were there and had to witness it. You cannot imagine how sorry I am,' said Dumbledore, and Harry thought he couldn't remember ever seeing Dumbledore look so sad.

'How do you know?' Harry asked at last. 'How could you trust him so much that you really think he didn't want you dead all along? I saw his face! He hated you!'

Dumbledore looked down at Harry. 'It was not me he hated, Harry. Can you honestly say that you did not feel repulsed when you did what I had asked you to do in the cave?'

Harry knew he could not.

'I believe,' said Dumbledore, 'he also thought he had been foolish to take the Unbreakable Vow with Draco's mother, Narcissa, when he did not know precisely what Draco's plans were. Narcissa had been afraid for Draco's life when she had gone to him with her sister, Bellatrix. He believed he could find out from Draco, but his aunt Bellatrix, who distrusted Severus, taught Draco Occlumency in order to keep it from him.'

'Are you saying he felt sorry for Draco's mother and that's why he took the Vow with her?' asked Harry incredulously.

'Not exactly, no. But you see, he had to take the Vow because he was afraid that perhaps Draco's task involved you, and—' Dumbledore stopped, and he seemed to be contemplating something as he gazed down at Harry.

After a moment, he said, with a sigh, 'However much I would like to tell you, I had intended for you to see it for yourself. I thought you were entitled to that at least.' Dumbledore paused, thinking.

'After you came to me that night,' he said, 'and told me you had discovered Severus was the one who had overheard the first part of the prophecy, I almost told you then. But I made a promise to a friend …. But now that he is gone, I can finally let you know everything.'

Harry blinked up at the portrait.

'That night,' continued Dumbledore, 'when I sent you to get your Invisibility Cloak, I decided that, if anything should happen to me at the cave, I would ensure that you could know through the appropriate memories. And so, while you went for your Cloak, I retrieved them and placed them in a bottle, ready for you when the time came.'

Harry saw Dumbledore indicate the cabinet by the door. He went over to it, to the place where he already knew the Pensieve would be. Sure enough, tucked behind it, there was a small crystal bottle labelled 'FOR HARRY'.

Harry took the bottle and Pensieve back over to the desk. He looked up at the portrait.

'Whenever you are ready, Harry,' Dumbledore smiled.

Harry uncorked the bottle and poured the silvery contents into the stone basin. The liquid-like gas swirled and shimmered in front of him.

He gazed at it for several moments in apprehension, mesmerised by the swirling mass.

At last, Harry breathed in and thrust his face into the silvery material. He felt the familiar sensation of his feet leaving the ground and his body falling through spinning darkness.

He found himself standing by the door inside Dumbledore's office, which was just as it had been as he had left it. But here there was no portrait of Dumbledore on the wall alongside the other dead headmasters and headmistresses.

Just then, Dumbledore entered the room, causing Harry to jump. The slightly younger-looking headmaster began to pace behind his desk, shaking his head.

Harry realised there was a dark-haired boy quietly sitting in front of the desk. Harry recognised the boy at once from the time when he had looked into the Pensieve and seen his father and Sirius bullying the teenager. Snape looked a little older than in that memory.

'Have you any idea of the seriousness of what you have done, Severus?' Dumbledore asked the boy, who did not answer.

'Where did you learn that spell?' Dumbledore asked.

Harry thought he saw Snape smirk triumphantly. 'I invented it, sir.'

Dumbledore stopped pacing. 'I see,' he said, looking at Snape closely. 'And what do you call it?'

'Sectumsempra,' Snape replied, and Harry thought he could detect a slight note of pride in his voice.

'This should warrant expulsion of course,' said Dumbledore. 'Particularly because you do not seem to show any remorse.'

Snape looked at Dumbledore. 'Why should I? You didn't expel Black when he tried to kill me. He and his friends have been hexing me ever since first year. They've never stopped, not even when one of their little games nearly killed me. I thought it was time they got a taste of their own medicine. I had intended Black to get it first, but when Potter was about to attack me …'

So, Harry thought, Snape had used the same spell on Harry's dad that Harry had once used on Draco?

Harry felt sick as he imagined his dad lying in a pool of his own blood just as Draco had. Unlike Harry, though, Snape did not seem fazed by what he had done.

'You are very lucky, Severus,' said Dumbledore, '– more lucky than you can imagine – that James will survive. You must never attempt something similar again, do you understand?'

'I'm not going to be expelled?' Snape asked.

'No. Thankfully, the damage will not be permanent – and I take it that this was the first time you had tried this spell out?'

Snape nodded.

'So,' said Dumbledore, 'you will never use this spell on anyone within Hogwarts again – do I make myself clear?'

Snape nodded again. 'I just wanted to teach him a lesson.'

'An extremely dangerous and foolish one, Severus,' said Dumbledore sternly. 'I had hoped that the incident at the Whomping Willow would have knocked some sense into the three of you.' He shook his head, and began pacing slowly behind his desk again.

'But it seems not,' he said. 'You have less than one more year here before you both leave, but I cannot afford to take any more chances.' Dumbledore stopped pacing and looked at Snape. 'You must understand the consequences that resulted from the time James saved your life at great risk to his own.'

'I know all that, sir – but he only did it because he knew he'd get expelled if—'

'James was not involved. It was Sirius and Sirius alone who told you how to get past the Willow. Sirius told James what he had done later. We have been through this. But it is essential that you understand that James put his own life in danger to save yours.'

'So I am supposed to feel guilty now, because I defended myself today?'

'Guilt?' Dumbledore shook his head slowly. 'A feeling of guilt is nothing compared to what could have happened. You say you understand the meaning behind what James did for you?'

'A Life Debt, sure,' Snape shrugged.

'I should have explained everything to you fully at the time,' said Dumbledore. 'But I truly believed that the incident would mark a change in yours and James's behaviour toward each other.' Dumbledore paused for a moment. 'Have you ever heard of the Unbreakable Vow, Severus?'

'Yes, sir.'

'And you know what happens if it is broken?'

'You die.'

'Succinctly put – quite correct. Now, a Life Debt works similarly. Both involve magic that is deep and impenetrable. If a person owing a Life Debt breaks the sole term of that debt, then … it is the same as with the Unbreakable Vow.'

'I didn't ask him to come to the Willow after me!'

'It does not matter, Severus,' said Dumbledore.

'A Life Debt may be repaid, of course,' he continued. 'If, for instance, you put your life in danger and saved James's in return, then the debt would be void – but repayment is not a requirement. Ordinarily then, a person in such debt need not allow it to trouble him too much.' Dumbledore looked down gravely at Snape. 'But today you have proved that you and James are still enemies – what you did could easily have had dire results.

'You owe your life to James, Severus. He risked his own life to save yours, thereby creating a wizards' bond similar to the Unbreakable Vow. The one condition of this particular bond, the Life Debt, is very simple – that you must respect his life as if it is your own. Thus, if you bring about his death in any way, then you renege on your debt to him.'

'What do you mean, Professor?' asked Snape.

'If you renege on your debt, the consequences are the same as if you had broken the Unbreakable Vow.'

'You mean I – I'd die as well?' asked Snape.

'Yes, you would,' replied Dumbledore. 'You can, of course, look it up in A History of Magic if you doubt what I say. But as I said, it is deep and very old magic and any references to it do tend to be rather obscure.'

'Are you saying I can't defend myself if he attacks me again?' asked Snape incredulously.

'Of course not. But there is a great deal of difference between a harmless jinx and a – Sectumsempra, was it? I am sure you must realise that.'

Snape looked livid.

'So you understand?' Dumbledore asked him.

'I understand,' said Snape through gritted teeth. 'I understand that he can do whatever he likes to me and get away with it.'

'There should be no reason for him to do that – he does not know any of this, and I will not tell him – unless you ever give me cause to.

'So,' he continued, 'you will visit James in the hospital wing and apologise for what you did today – yes' (for Snape had opened his mouth to interrupt) '– you will. We cannot afford to let this feud get any further out of hand. You will also have detention for the rest of this term – I hope that will deter him from trying to gain some kind of retribution.'

Harry watched as the office grew hazy and faded from view just as Snape rose from his chair to leave.

Harry now found himself standing next to Dumbledore, who was gazing out of his office window across the school grounds; the sky was a beautiful shade of blue and the trees were at their greenest.

Harry became aware of the sound of someone pacing up and down the floor behind him and Dumbledore, and he turned to see who it was. As the pacing man turned to reveal his face, Harry breathed in sharply; he had only seen his father a few times before. Here, Harry could see that James looked tired, in spite of his constant pacing, and careworn.

'Please, James,' said Dumbledore, still gazing out of the window. 'You are making an old man tired with all this wasteful activity.'

'I don't like being away from Lily and Harry,' said James, as he took a seat in front of Dumbledore's desk and looked anxiously at the clock on the wall. 'He's late.'

'He will be here; it is only a few minutes past. Sirius is with Lily and Harry, James. Do not worry – they are quite safe.'

'What if he knows I'm here and decided not to come?'

'Speculation will not achieve anything, James,' said Dumbledore, remaining calm.

James shifted restlessly in his chair, anxiety etched on his face. 'Sirius knows nothing of this – he'd say it was crazy – that this was the sure-fire way to get us all killed.' James forced a strained laugh. 'Maybe he's right. I mean, Snape's always hated me – what if he won't agree to this?'

'Oh, I believe he will,' said Dumbledore. He turned to face James. 'Whatever happens, remember to remain calm, James.'

A moment later, there was a sharp knock on the door; James looked anxiously at Dumbledore, who went to open it.

Harry looked on in shock as Dumbledore let Snape enter; Snape appeared bedraggled and seemed to look nearly as tired as James.

'I apologise for being la—' Snape stopped short upon seeing James rise from his chair. 'What is he doing here?' he shouted, staring at James. 'I have obviously been under the misguided impression this was a job interview!' he said, and turned to leave.

Dumbledore blocked his way. 'Severus, I think you know why James is here. I have told James everything. Now, as we are all together, we may as well talk about this.'

'Talk?' bellowed Snape. 'I have nothing to say. Move aside if you have no intention of giving me the teaching post.'

'Severus, please sit down,' said Dumbledore, who had not moved an inch from the door.

Snape glared at Dumbledore for a moment, then moved to a chair. He did not sit down, but stood by it instead, his arms folded. 'Get on with it, then,' he said to James without looking at him. 'The sooner you've had your say, the sooner you can get back to your filthy mudblood wife and son.'

James made a move towards him, but Dumbledore shot him a brief glance, warning him to remain calm.

'Do you remember what I explained to you in your seventh year here?' Dumbledore asked Snape.

Evidently Snape did, because he made a derisive snort.

'Then you know the seriousness of what you did – relaying what you overheard to your master?'

'I did not know – how could I know – that they' (Snape moved his head in James's direction) 'would be one of them?'

'But now you know – when James's son was born, you knew.'

'And what was I supposed to do? Ask the Dark Lord not to go after the Potter boy because I owe his big-headed father a Life Debt? He wants the boy dead and no one can change his mind – he believes that stupid prophecy.' Snape turned to James. 'Make it easier on yourself, Potter. He only wants the boy – hand him over and you and your wife can live happily ever after. You can always have other children.'

James seemed to be fighting an inner battle to refrain himself from drawing out his wand. 'I don't expect you could ever understand! Lily and I would rather die than leave Harry to him.'

'Well, that's no concern of mine, then,' said Snape coldly.

'Oh, but it is, Severus,' said Dumbledore. 'It was you who informed Lord Voldemort of the prophecy.'

Snape winced at hearing his master's name.

'If you had not done so,' continued Dumbledore, 'James's life would not be in danger now. You know that Lord Voldemort will stop at nothing to prevent the possibility of anyone challenging him. What you told him led him to believe that one of two children would grow to be his challenger – one being James's son. And if anything should happen to James because of what you told him …'

Snape scowled.

Harry remembered what Dumbledore had told Snape in the previous memory he had visited: if Snape reneged on his debt to Harry's father by bringing about his death, then Snape would die too. But Snape clearly had not died when James had – so had Dumbledore been wrong? Or perhaps he had lied to Snape about it?

'I'll release you from the Life Debt,' said James.

Snape turned to him. 'I have told you,' he said slowly. 'Haven't you been listening, Potter? I can do nothing – he is adamant that the boy is a threat.'

'We all know that his mind cannot be changed,' said Dumbledore, 'that is not what brings us here today. What is of more importance now is the safety of those concerned. If you agree to try and protect them, then James has consented to release you from the debt you owe him.'

'I assume by that,' Snape scowled, 'you mean exchange the debt for the Unbreakable Vow?'

'I do,' said Dumbledore.

Snape continued scowling in silence for a while, glaring at Dumbledore.

'How much?' James asked him suddenly. 'Just tell me how much you want, I can go to Gringotts and—'

'How the mighty Marauder has fallen!' spat Snape. 'You're pathetic, Potter. You can keep your gold – much good may it do you.'

James seemed to be desperately trying to think of something else to say.

Snape smirked in triumph. 'What's the matter?' he sneered. 'Need your friends around you before you can show off?'

James's face fell. 'What do you want me to say – "I'm sorry"?' he said, and his voice had now lost its calm edge. 'I'm not proud of what I did to you when we were kids. It was stupid and wrong, and I know it.' James paused to compose himself; he looked Snape directly in the eye. 'And I'm sorry.'

Snape's eyes narrowed. 'Yes,' he said slowly, 'I dare say you will be. Perhaps you will have time to think about just how sorry you really are while you watch your wife and son die.'

Harry watched in horror as Snape turned and strode to the door; Harry's father collapsed into his chair, his head in his hands.

'Severus,' came the sudden, firm voice of Dumbledore. Snape had stopped with his hand upon the door handle.

'Is your master really worth dying for?' Dumbledore asked him. 'But I'm sure you were well … rewarded for revealing the prophecy to him.'

Snape did not move.

'I read Muggle newspapers, Severus,' Dumbledore continued in a softer voice.

Harry thought he saw Snape's head bow a little so that his gaze came to rest on the door handle he was still clasping, a curtain of thick black hair obscuring his face.

'You were always a talented Occlumens,' Dumbledore went on, 'and I am sure you have improved much since then. You must have found it easy to convince them all of your shame for your Muggle father and blood-traitor mother, and be fully accepted as one of them.

'But I know better. I know your parents could not provide much for you, Severus, but the love they had for you made up for what they could not give you materially. Are you really so willing to die for the man who murdered your parents, Severus?' asked Dumbledore softly.

Snape, still unmoving, said nothing.

'I will give him what you came here for,' said Dumbledore in a determined tone. 'I will allow him his spy at Hogwarts, if that is what he desires so badly.'

Several moments passed in silence, and Harry's gaze passed from one figure to the next; Dumbledore watching patiently; his father, slumped forward in his chair, now carefully lifting his head from his hands; and Snape, still immobile by the door.

Harry began to move closer to Snape. He felt like he was intruding somehow, but he had to be sure – he had to know if what Dumbledore's portrait had said was true.

He stood next to Snape. In truth, he did not know what he had expected to see in Snape's face: he had hardly ever seen an emotion in his professor's features that had not resembled hate in some way.

Harry thought he caught a brief glimpse of something that it did not seem could possibly exist alongside such harsh features, before it was quickly replaced by the blank expression that Harry had seen him display so often.

It was then that Snape turned around to face Dumbledore.

'What do I have to do?' Snape asked him, his cold, black eyes glistening strangely.

Dumbledore moved to stand in the centre of the room, beside James. 'Take one another's right hand,' he replied, drawing out his wand.

'You will never tell anyone about this, not even the others in the Order,' instructed Snape.

'If that is what you wish,' said Dumbledore, and both he and James nodded their assent.

As Snape moved towards them, James immediately rose from his chair. Snape took James's proffered hand with a scowl. Dumbledore placed the tip of his wand over their clasped hands and indicated for James to speak.

'Will you, to the best of your ability, protect my family and the Longbottoms from harm?' said Harry's father.

'I will,' said Snape.

Harry watched in awe as a bright streak of flame streamed out of Dumbledore's wand, and snaked around their hands.

'Do you release me from the Life Debt I owe you?' Snape asked.

'I do,' replied James.

A second thin flame issued from the wand and linked with the first.

As Dumbledore withdrew his wand, the flames faded, as if they had embedded themselves into the men's flesh. Snape snatched back his hand from James and made for the door at once.

'I will expect you here ten o'clock Monday to inform you of the requirements of Potions master,' Dumbledore called after him.

Snape stopped dead in his tracks and wheeled around. 'Potions?' he roared. 'I applied for the Defence Against the Dark Arts position!'

'Ah – yes,' replied Dumbledore calmly, as if he had just remembered. 'But there happens to be a vacancy for Potions master for the next school year and, as I recall, you were always highly talented in your Potions classes.'

Dumbledore ignored Snape's silent fuming. Harry thought he could see a vein throbbing dangerously in Snape's temple.

'You are quite welcome to reapply when the post becomes available again, of course,' said Dumbledore jovially, and Harry thought he saw a twinkle in his eyes.

'You can be sure I shall!' Snape growled, and turned back to leave.

As Snape opened the door, Harry heard his father's voice. 'Thank you, Severus.'

Snape paused only very briefly on the threshold before slamming the door behind him.

'I shall have to work on that temper of his,' said Dumbledore. 'I cannot have him blowing up in front of the students. Not too much anyway,' he added, with a slight smile, 'it is essential that some believe he remains loyal to Lord Voldemort.'

'I didn't know Snape had a Muggle father,' said James after a moment. 'I just assumed he was pure-blood like the rest of them. But then, I didn't know that much about him at all, really. Perhaps if Sirius and I hadn't always … maybe we'd have known him better, and maybe he wouldn't have fallen in with that lot. Then Voldemort wouldn't have found out about the prophecy.'

'Make no mistake, James,' said Dumbledore, 'if it hadn't been Severus Snape who had overheard the prophecy, it would have been someone else Voldemort had sent in his place. And then we would not now be in the enviable position of having a deputy of Lord Voldemort protecting your family from harm.

'"If only" are the words of the foolish, James,' he said. 'Hindsight can not only be a gift, but also a great burden if we do not consciously choose to set it down.'

As before, Dumbledore's office dissolved around Harry; he was reluctant to leave his father behind – he looked so troubled and drawn.

But before he knew it, Harry was back in the office, standing next to Dumbledore, who was sat behind his desk; Snape was opposite him.

'James and Lily are going ahead with the Fidelius Charm,' said Dumbledore. 'I offered to be their Secret-Keeper for them.'

'And?' asked Snape.

The Fidelius Charm, remembered Harry – that was done only a week before his parents were killed by Voldemort; Harry's mum and dad had just one week to live.

'James insisted on using Sirius,' replied Dumbledore.

'Black?' Snape bellowed, jumping out of his chair. 'But Black does not trust me – he will never tell me where they are – even if he knew of the Vow I took.'

'James was most insistent on it being Sirius – he thinks I distrust him. It is true I believe there is someone within the Order passing information to Lord Voldemort,' (Snape winced at the name) 'but as yet, I do not know whom it could be.'

'I have seen no one new,' said Snape. 'But then, whoever it is will need to keep a low profile to prevent themselves from being suspected of anything.'

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully.

Harry wanted to shout out, 'It's Wormtail! And my dad's going to get Wormtail to be their Secret-Keeper, not Sirius – and he's going to tell Voldemort where they are!' But he knew it was futile, that they couldn't hear him, and he suddenly felt utterly helpless.

'If I do not know where the Potters are hiding,' Snape continued, 'how am I to be expected to protect them? If you were their Secret-Keeper, you could tell me, but Black …'

'Sirius and James have always been very close friends,' (Snape scowled at this) 'I am confident that Sirius will not divulge their whereabouts to anyone. However, I agree that it is unfortunate that you must remain uninformed. But the Charm alone should keep them safe enough.'

'I hope you are right about Black's trustworthiness, because it would seem that they will be on their own while this charm is active …'

Snape's voice grew fainter and the office once again became hazy and dissolved into blackness. Harry felt himself rise into the air and come to rest in the office again, the shimmering stone basin in front of him.

Harry looked around at Dumbledore's painting; it was apparently beginning to snooze again.

Harry cleared his throat as he resumed his seat.

Dumbledore stirred in his frame. 'I'm afraid I started to drop off, there, Harry,' he said, readjusting his glasses. 'So – you saw everything?'

Harry nodded; he could think of nothing to say.

Snape's Unbreakable Vow to protect Harry seemed to explain some things he'd always wondered about in the face of Snape's otherwise vindictiveness – why Snape had protected him from Quirrell in his first year; why he'd kept an eye on Remus when he'd thought Remus was at Hogwarts to hurt Harry in third year; why he'd taken his anger out on a jar of cockroaches instead of him when Harry had looked into his Pensieve without permission in fifth year; why he hadn't duelled properly with Harry and had stopped the Death Eater's Cruciatus Curse at the end of sixth year; why he hadn't tried to take Harry along with him then for Voldemort to kill; and of course, Snape's role in the events of the last few months.

After a moment's silence, he frowned. 'But you said in my first year that he'd helped me from Quirrell because of his debt to my dad for saving his life.'

There was a suspicious-looking twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes as his portrait looked down at Harry. 'I think I said I believed Professor Snape helped you then because it may have made him feel that he was even with your father.' He smiled. 'But of course, one deed does not eradicate the Vow when it requires the ongoing protection of a person. I mentioned the debt because it was that which led to Professor Snape making the Vow with your father – and of course, I had promised Severus that I would never tell you about his Vow to protect you.'

'But why did he always treat me like that?' The unkind way Snape had treated Harry to his face had always made it so easy for him to blame Snape for everything that had ever gone wrong at Hogwarts, and he felt a strange sensation now at seemingly being cheated out of all the hatred he'd harboured for the Potions master. 'I suppose he must have resented being forced to look after me. But why did he hate me so much?'

'For a few reasons, Harry,' answered Dumbledore. 'Professor Snape never could get past seeing your father in you. I would have hoped that could change with time, but that, I am afraid, was not to be. Another is that, if Legilimency were ever performed upon you by a Death Eater or Lord Voldemort himself, I feared, as did Severus, that Severus's true intentions would be discovered. Severus Snape was an extraordinary Occlumens – to the point of seeming to dislike you more than I'm sure was the reality.'

At the sound of the term, Harry was reminded of his lessons with Snape in his fifth year.

'If I'd learnt Occlumency properly, that would have helped, wouldn't it?' he said, gazing at the floor.

'Severus and I encountered a Boggart once in his office,' Dumbledore said after a moment. 'I think you were in your first or second year. It was Severus who found it. Do you know what it took the form of?'

Harry frowned; he couldn't think of anything Snape would be afraid of, let alone what his greatest fear might have been.

'You, Harry,' said Dumbledore.

Harry gaped at the portrait above him.

'To be more specific,' Dumbledore continued, 'you knowing about the Vow he took regarding you. Quite simply, he feared you knowing about it. I am sure his Boggart would not have changed since – although of course, you would have aged accordingly. You see, I believe he could not bear to think of you knowing you had such a … hold over him as that. I suppose it was a natural consequence of the hate Professor Snape still retained for your father – the resentment, as you said.'

Harry was dumbstruck. Surely Snape's Boggart would have changed since Harry's first year into something other than Harry being aware of the Vow? Snape was always so cruel to him – it just didn't seem to him to be the way someone would react to a person who reminded you of your greatest fear. But then, he thought, Snape's resentment of being forced to protect him must have been deep enough to overcome that.

Had Snape really believed that Harry would have ever tried to use the Vow against Snape in some way if he'd found out about it? But if Snape had really thought that Harry would have been anything like Harry's father had acted towards Snape, then he supposed it hadn't been difficult for Snape to have believed that Harry would have taken delight in exploiting such a powerful advantage over him.

Harry went over in his mind what he'd just seen in Dumbledore's memories. 'But what I saw in Snape's memories during Occlumency lessons—'

'Professor Snape, Harry,' cut in Dumbledore.

'—in Professor Snape's memories – I thought his parents didn't get along. I saw them arguing when he was young.'

'Our most emotional memories are forced to the surface by Legilimency,' said Dumbledore, 'for they are the ones we try to suppress the hardest.' Dumbledore paused; apparently pondering this for a moment. 'Perhaps,' he said, 'he was recalling the time when his father discovered he was married to a witch and had a wizard for a son.

'It is not unheard of for a Muggle to marry a wizard or witch unknowingly,' he explained, at Harry's look of bewilderment. 'Their partner may be afraid of their reaction if they told them. One can understand why Severus's father was upset. But he and Severus's mother stayed together until their deaths, so undoubtedly he eventually accepted his family for what they were.'

After contemplating all of this in silence for several minutes, Harry shifted in his chair and gazed at the floor. 'He's not dead,' he whispered.

'Pardon?' asked Dumbledore.

'Sn— Professor Snape's not dead,' he said a little louder, 'at least, not that I know of. There was no body found, and he wasn't captured. Only a few Death Eaters managed to get away. I suppose they'll be easy to round up and put in Azkaban, once they realise their Lord really isn't coming back this time.'

Harry frowned. 'I think he saved my life – again. I suppose he'll be pretty miffed to find out I'm not dead after all, and that he's still bound by that Vow.'

Dumbledore smiled. 'If he is found, Harry, and I believe he will be if he is alive – he will not run and pretend to be a Death Eater when he is not – please tell them what I have told you. You will be a witness at his trial, after all. They seemed to distrust me in life, so I am sure they will not believe my word as a painting,' he said, chuckling slightly. 'And for Merlin's sake, please don't tell Severus you know of the Vow he made with your father. He would surely throw me on a bonfire,' he added, laughing outright this time.

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A/N: I would have included my off-the-wall (or maybe not?) theory of what really happened at the Potters' house the day they died, but I don't really fancy writing it up into story form (and it's nothing to do with my other story, The Tortured Soul, which is just a crazy AU story!). Same goes for my theory of how Harry finally gets rid of Voldemort. (Neither involve Snape, and I'm only really prepared to put any time and effort into writing him :) ) Plus this would have gotten too long!