Chapter Five: Snape Exposed

"Protect him," Harry yelled at Ari, "Why in the bloody hell would you want to do that?"

"Well, he is being hunted by the ministry," she said as though Harry should have known that Snape needed protection and it was a stupid question to ask.

Everyone in the room was looking at Ari differently. Some, like Harry, were wearing looks of complete outrage. Others, like Lupin, seemed confused. And still others, Kingsley included, looked at her with pity, as though they thought she were touched in the head.

"You do realize that he killed your grandfather," Kingsley said, his brow wrinkled with worry.

"Yes, I realize that," Ari said in a calm voice that reminded Harry of is old headmaster.

"So then, why do you want to protect the man who murdered your grandfather," Harry asked, his voice rising with each syllable.

"Severus Snape killed my grandfather," she said, "He did not murder him."

"What's the difference," Harry hollered.

"There is a big difference, Harry. Severus never wanted to kill my grandfather."

"You weren't there," he said, "You didn't see his face. I saw him. He wanted to kill Dumbledore. If he hadn't wanted to see him die he never would have been able to perform the killing curse."

"Harry," she said in a reasonable voice, "Severus could not control his actions on the night my grandfather died. He was under a spell."

"A spell," Harry asked, "What, like Imperius?"

"Worse," she said darkly, "he made the Unbreakable Vow."

"Oh, no," Lupin breathed, looking scared.

"What," Harry asked, "he made a vow to Voldemort that he would kill Dumbledore?"

"No, Harry," Ari said, "it's not that simple."

"Who did he make the vow with," Lupin asked in a hushed voice.

"Narcissa Malfoy."

"But, why," Lupin asked, "why would Narcissa want Dumbledore killed that badly?"

"She didn't," Ari said in a strained voice, "she was only trying to protect her son, Draco."

The all continued to look confused. She sighed and said, "It was Draco who was ordered to kill Dumbledore. But he was afraid. He didn't want to kill my grandfather, this I know for a fact…"

"How do you know," Harry asked, "you couldn't have been there."

"I have been in contact with Draco through correspondence for a year," she explained, "I wrote him when I found out about the plan. I told him that I was at an American school and that we were supposed to do a report on British pureblood families. Eventually, I won his trust and we began to communicate by other means so that our post owls would not be intercepted."

"How did you communicate," Remus asked.

"M&M's," she said simply.

"The candy?"

"No," she smiled at Remus, "Mouthpiece Microphones. You just put them in your mouth and talk and the other person can hear you as though you were speaking into their ear. I sent him one and that's how we stayed in touch."

"Where did you get those," George asked curiously while Fred looked equally intrigued.

"I invented them," she said, "I'll give you the rights to them if you want to sell them in your joke shop."

They nodded vigorously and Harry cleared his throat loudly. "Back to Snape," he said, "Keep explaining about the vow."

"Narcissa went to his house with her sister, Bellatrix," Ari said while Harry fumed, "she begged Severus to protect her son. She asked him to make the Unbreakable Vow."

"Why did he agree," Harry asked.

"Bellatrix already didn't trust him," she said, "If he didn't do it, Voldemort would have found out. It would have blown Severus's cover."

"What exactly was the vow," Remus asked.

"He vowed to watch over Draco while he attempted to fulfill Voldemort's wishes," Ari said, "and he vowed to protect Draco from harm if it were at all possible and, last of all…he vowed… to do the task Draco had been set if it so happened that he would be unable."

Harry looked away from her. He didn't want to accept that it wasn't Snape's fault that Dumbledore died. He wanted to have someone to blame.

"But the fact still remains that he killed Dumbledore," Harry yelled at her now, not caring that she was a queen, "He killed the only person who had always been there for me…"

"I should think," Arianna said, her temper rising, "that I have more right to be upset than you do. You don't understand! Only the most powerful wizards would be able to break an Unbreakable Vow. It's like a battle. It's like trying to push through a brick wall with your bare hands. And if you succeed, the only thing waiting for you on the other side is an early grave."

"Then he should have fought," Harry flared back at her, "better that he had died than Dumbledore!"

"Don't you see, Harry," Ari said in a pleading voice, "that is why he got so angry when you called him a coward! He thinks that it's true!"

"Well maybe it is," Harry yelled.

"Don't you dare say that Severus Snape is a coward," Ari yelled back, "He has been risking his neck since day one. He simply wasn't strong enough to fight the curse! But my grandfather trusted him and I trust him."

"Oh, yeah," Harry said, "because Snape felt bad for killing my dad, right? That's why Dumbledore trusted him…"

"Don't be a fool," Ari yelled, "of course Snape didn't feel badly for your father's death. He hated your father. He felt badly for killing your mother!"

"What are you talking about," Harry asked.

"He was in love with her, you great idiot" Arianna screamed, "He turned away from Voldemort because his service to him cost him the only woman that he had ever loved!"

Harry's mind reeled. He couldn't believe it. Snape was in love with his mother, Lily! Arianna was panting now as she was out of breath from their screaming match. She looked at him with pleading eyes as though trying to will the honesty of her words into him.

"Harry," she said quietly, "there are some things you should know about Severus before you go ahead and judge him. In fact, I think that you should all know."

Harry nodded and the others looked shaken but willing to listen.

"Can I borrow a bowl," Ari asked Mrs.Weasley.

"Sure," she said pulling one down from its shelf.

Arianna laid the bowl in front of her and pulled out her wand. She held the wand over the bowl and mumbled an incantation. She then closed her eyes and held the tip of the wand to her temple. Harry watched as she extracted a memory from her mind and laid it in the bowl. She did this several more times and began to swirl the contents around with her wand.

"Alright," she said, "this is just like using a pensieve. Every one has to go in. come one, single file."

Harry went in first and was quickly followed by Hermione, the Weasleys, the Order members and finally Arianna. He looked around and discovered that he was in a very cozy living room with a fire burning in the fireplace and a cat curled up on the hearth. Ari was sitting in a chair in front of the fire, reading Othello. After only a few moments, the fire turned green and Sirius Black popped out of the flames.

The Ari in the memory smiled a disarmingly beautiful smile and bounded at him from the chair. She hugged Harry's godfather tightly and said, "Hi, uncle Sirius!"

"Was he your uncle," Harry asked in shock.

"No," the real Ari told him, "I just called him that cuz he was like family."

"Where's your grandfather," Sirius asked the other Ari.

"He isn't here right now," Ari said, "But if you want you can stay until he comes home."

"No no, child," he said to Arianna, "You just tell him I stopped by."

He kissed her in the top of the head and said goodbye. Arianna was just about to sit back down and read her tragedy, when the fire turned green again.

This time it wasn't Sirius who popped out of the flames, but Snape. Harry tightened his hands into fists and could tell that his knuckles were white. But Harry noticed that there was something different about the Snape who came out of the fire. He was smiling a real smile.

Arianna turned around and greeted 'uncle Severus' the same way she had greeted Sirius.

"Is your grandfather here," he asked.

"No," Arianna said, "and in fact, Sirius was just here looking for him too. Is there something important you need to ask him about?"

Snape's smile disappeared. He sighed and said, "Yes."

"Well," Ari said slowly, "maybe I can help you. Come and sit in the other chair and talk to me."

Snape sat down obediently. He rested his elbows on his knees and sighed again. "You know that I don't like to question your grandfathers judgment…" he started.

"Not you as well," Ari sighed exasperatingly.

"What do you mean," he asked.

"Sirius and Mundungus have both been in here several times complaining about Harry's situation." Ari said shaking her head. Harry looked at Snape in astonishment. Why was he talking about Harry's situation?

"I just don't think it's a good idea is all," Snape argued, "He shouldn't be cooped up this way."

"He is safe with his aunt and uncle," she told him, "They won't let anything bad happen to him."

"Bah," Snape spat rolling his eyes, "those people are the worst sort of muggles I have ever seen. Do you know that they used to make him sleep in a cupboard under their stairs?"

"I am aware of that, Severus," she said, "but he is at least safe."

"Safe," he exclaimed, "if he's made to stay with them for too long, he'll run off. What if he's attacked?"

"He's fifteen," Ari said reasonably, "and by all the bragging you and my grandfather do about him, he is quite capable of taking care of himself."

Snape was pacing the floor now. He ran his hand through his long black hair before rounding on her again.

"He shouldn't have to take care of himself," Severus snapped, "I think that it would be best if he spent the remainder of the summer at headquarters. He needs to get out of that god awful place before he does something reckless."

"Severus," she said, "I know that he's your favorite student…"

"I don't pick favorites," Snape said quickly.

"Oh yeah," Ari said, smirking at him, "then I suppose you know all about how your other students spend their holidays as well."

"I—well—you…" Snape fumbled, "you know very well that he is a special case!"

"Uh huh," she said smiling disbelievingly.

"Besides," Snape said rationally, "his friend, Miss. Granger is much smarter. And Mr. Weasley is less defiant."

"Ah," Ari said, "Granger only seems so much smarter because you give Harry such a hard time. And you always liked that Harry was defiant. Lily was like that too."

"I'm not that hard on him," Severus insisted causing Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Ron and both Ari's to snort with laughter.

"Yes you are."

"Well," he said, "Lily wouldn't have wanted me to go easy on him just because he's famous. She would have wanted to know that someone expected him to try."

"He isn't Lily, Severus," Ari said now, "He doesn't have the same ability in potions that she had. There is some of James in him too, you know."

"I know that," Snape said, "But he should be pushed."

"Push him too hard and he just might break."

"That wouldn't happen," Severus insisted, "He is Lily's son after all. Everyone seems to think that he's just James Potter all over again. But he's got more than just her eyes. He has the same will and the same stubbornness that she had. I know that he can do better."

"Than let him," Ari said, "Stop giving him so much crap. Just let him work for one day and see what happens."

Snape grunted and continued pacing. Ari used his silence as an advantage.

"You shouldn't worry about him so much," she said, "My grandfather would never allow him to be hurt."

Snape grunted again and didn't stop pacing.

"And anyway," Ari said now, "it wouldn't do any good to talk to my grandfather about this. You know he won't listen."

"I know that," Snape sighed, finally ceasing to pace on the rug, "but I still think that Harry should be brought to headquarters."

"Look," Ari said, "I know you feel like you have to protect him because he's Lily's son. But there are some things that you simply have no control over. Harry will be safe at Privet Drive. Don't worry. If it makes you feel better, I'll go and check on him personally before the guard goes to pick him up. He'll be fine. You'll have plenty of opportunities to terrorize him during his fifth year at school."

Snape sneered playfully at her. She laughed and stood up to face him. "Do you promise to check on him," Snape asked her.

"If Grandpa lets me," she answered truthfully, "Who's guarding him tonight?"

"Mundungus," Snape said distastefully before throwing some floo powder into the fireplace and going to headquarters.

The ground shook beneath them and the memory started to swirl around them. Harry looked over at his friends. They all seemed shocked by the things they had just heard. Was Harry really Snape's favorite student?

Soon the memories stopped swirling and they were all standing in the same living room. This time, however, Dumbledore was sitting in the chair that Ari had occupied the time before, while Ari sat on the hearth rug, playing with the black and silver cat that had been there when Sirius and Severus had visited.

"Grandpa," Ari said quietly, rolling a butterbeer cork around for the cat to play with.

"Hmm," he asked sleepily.

"Did uncle Severus ever tell you why he and Lily broke up?"

Dumbledore removed his glasses and cleaned them with his shirt. He placed them back onto his face before answering.

"Yes he did," he said slowly, "a very long time ago."

"Was it something he did," Ari asked her grandfather, "Did he do something that made her angry?"

"It was more the things he didn't do," Albus explained to his granddaughter.

"What do you mean?"

"He was distant," he said, "He didn't…er…behave like other people."

"What did he behave like," she asked, abandoning her cat.

"He was…somewhat…judgmental. It was like he thought the whole world was judging him."

"I'm not sure I understand," Ari confessed, "What do you mean 'the whole world was judging him'?"

"Severus was always a very complicated individual," Albus said, "He never had any friends besides your father and Lily. It always seemed as though he thought he didn't need them because he was…I don't know…superior to them. And he thought that everyone was against him."

"Were they," she asked.

"Not at first," Dumbledore replied, "but every time someone spoke to him, he insulted them and pushed them away. And then, when he got on James and Sirius's bad side, no one liked him anymore."

"How did he ever manage to ask Lily out," Ari asked wrinkling her brow.

"She was the only one who ever saw through all is defenses," Albus said logically, "She never responded to his insults or rudeness."

"Do you know exactly why Lily left Severus, Grandpa," Ari asked sweetly.

"He wasn't willing to change for her, I suppose," came Dumbledore's answer, "And there was also the fact that Lily had fallen in love with James."

"But I thought she loved Severus," Ari said somewhat angrily.

"She did," her grandfather assured her, "but we hardly ever end up with our first loves."

"How exactly do you just fall out of love with a person," Ari asked shaking her head.

"Quite easily," Dumbledore smiled at her, "as you of all people ought to know. Don't you remember that girl, Ellie? The one you swore up and down that you were in love with?"

Ari nodded, rolling her eyes. "Well, are you still in love with her?"

"No," she ground out.

Harry looked over to see Arianna looking at the scene before her. She seemed completely oblivious to the fact that everyone was staring at her.

"Are you a lesbian," Charlie asked loudly, causing his mother to slap him on the back of the head and say, "Charlie!" in and angry whisper.

Arianna laughed good-naturedly and said, "No, I'm bi. Now shhhh."

Harry tuned back around, but he was faintly aware of some of the Weasley men gawping at Ari.

"Grandpa," the memory Ari asked now, "do you think that Severus is still in love with Lily?"

Albus nodded gravely and said, "I don't think he ever stopped loving her."

The scene swirled again. This time, when it stopped, they landed in a kitchen. Ari was wearing a set of headphones attached to a CD player in her pocket and singing along to the music as she danced around in her pajamas. Harry and the others sniggered and Arianna's face reddened as she smiled embarrassedly.

Then, the memory Arianna jumped as a dark figure stepped through the kitchen door. She looked suspicious at fist, but then simply put her hand to her chest when Severus Snape was revealed.

"Oh," she said, "it's only you."

"Ari," Severus said in a strangled voice as he walked swiftly towards her, "I need your help."

Snape grabbed both of her hands in his and knelt before her on the floor. Harry could tell that there were tears in his black eyes.

Arianna knelt down in front of him as well. "What is it, Severus," she asked with immense concern.

"I—I did something," he said thickly, "something terrible." Snape lowered his face from her, as though he didn't deserve to look on her.

"Shhh," Ari shushed him as she pulled her right hand from his grasp and used it to push his dark hair behind his face, "Look at me."

He looked up into her twinkling blue eyes, so identical to her grandfather's, with tears streaming down his face.

"What is it that you've done," Ari asked gently.

"I m-m-made a huge mistake," Snape said, "I made a vow…"

"What kind of vow," Ari asked, looking a little scared now.

"The unbreakable kind," he said.

"With whom did you make this vow," Arianna asked, closing her eyes as though she both expected and dreaded the answer.

"Narcissa,"

"Severus," she whined, "you know that you can't just go and make vows to the mother of my grandfather's would-be murderer."

He lowered his head again in shame, but she pulled his face back up with her free hand. "I know," he said, "but Bellatrix was there. If I hadn't made the vow, I might have blown my cover."

"What did you vow to do, Severus," Ari asked dangerously.

"I promised to protect and assist Draco," he said, " and I promised…that if it seemed he would fail in his task…that I…that I would do it for him."

Arianna dropped his hand and stood shakily. She began to pace back and forth, ignoring the tea that was now screaming from the stove. Severus stood and removed the tea from the stove. He seemed to be afraid of the girl who was now running her fingers through her hair as she paced. Harry had to admit that she was a little scary. Severus sat down in a chair at the kitchen table, waiting for her to speak.

"How could you do this," she yelled after ceasing to pace.

He opened his mouth as if to speak but Arianna cut him of.

"You do realize that if you don't do this you'll die, don't you?"

"I realize that, Ari," Severus said, "But I had no choice."

"I know that," she yelled at the ceiling, "I know that it wasn't your fault. I'm just mad. Before the vow, we had a shot of getting Draco to join us. But now, I don't think we'll be able to protect my grandfather. That is, unless you or Narcissa were to die but…"

"I have already lost your trust," Snape said tearfully, "If it would help, I would gladly die to keep Dumbledore safe."

Arianna looked at him with fierce eyes before walking determinedly in his direction. Using her right hand she grabbed his jaw and forced him to look into her blazing eyes.

"There is nothing," she growled, "that you, or anyone, could ever do or say to make me or my grandfather lose trust in you. Do you understand that?"

More tears leaked from Snape's eyes as he shook his head from her grip. He stood up and scooped her into a fierce hug, which she returned fully. They were both crying in earnest now and Harry could feel the back of his eyes tingling as he looked at them.

"What are we going to do," Snape asked, pulling himself away from her.

"We are not going to do anything," Ari said, "I am going to speak to my grandfather and come up with a plan. For now, you just do exactly what the vow tells you to do. Do you understand?"

Snape nodded, wiping the tears viciously from his eyes.

"You need to go home and rest," she told him, "I'll call on you tomorrow to let you know the details."

Snape nodded again, a little more curtly this time, and turned towards the living room. Harry could feel someone tugging at his arm and before he knew it, he was standing back in the Weasley's kitchen.