Ok I worked through this one quickly than the others because I WANTED TO FINALLY BEGIN OFICIALLY WITH PART 2! And now we have!

Welcome a song on the pond and ReadingFairy1202! Thanks for the follow and favorite!

Special shout out to the wonderful reviewers vampirela69, SPARKELS77, and Clisaaaa (I'm so happy this is still your favorite HP fanfic and also glad you're back because your reviews give me life to be honest). You guys rock so hard!


Part II


We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love's light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free

...

Maya Angelou


I

Unforeseen


Molly was on the verge of a breakdown. She had been peacefully trying to cook dinner as she usually did at this time of the evening when her youngest son Ron entered the kitchen and sat in the chair closest to her─ all without saying a word apart from his greeting.

She had greeted him back warmly, but soon realized that something was off. She had asked him about it, of course, but he had only shrugged his shoulders before she eyed him suspiciously and continued working.

And then the sighs began.

Molly hadn't counted all of them because at first she hadn't realized they were on purpose, but she estimated that before she had begun to count, he'd already sighed at least five times. And after that, he'd sighed eleven times.

By then she'd already realized what was happening, which was the exact reason why she hadn't bothered to ask him again what was wrong again.

Ron wanted to know. He wanted her to finally give him─ and by extension his siblings and Hermione─ the answer to the question they'd been asking the past few days.

Why can't you say anything about what's going to happen?

By the time the seventeenth sigh rolled around, Molly carefully placed the knife on the counter and turned around.

"Yes?" She asked her son simply─ there was no need to ask him what he wanted because she already knew, and Ron knew she did.

"It's been days and you still haven't given us an answer. Why can't you tell us anything? This will involve us, you told us that much. We can't understand why you're avoiding it. Why did you even tell us if you couldn't say anything about it afterwards?" He said with crossed arms, looking at his mother suspiciously. His parents had told them that in less than a week they were going to be told about some very important Order business, and that it was going to be something big.

Immediately after they were told this new piece of information they were filled with dozens of questions, but Molly and Arthur answered none. The only thing they said was "we can't tell you anything about it. And we mean it." Which was usually fine, all in all, because the children knew that the things the members of the Order dealt with everyday were often things they couldn't talk about with them; but the thing now was that they refused to tell them the reason behind this particular silence. In other cases they accepted the excuse that because it was Order business they couldn't know about it─ but this time they'd been specifically told that this matter concerned them. They were going to find out eventually what it was─ that was the whole point─ so why not give them the reason why they couldn't know anything about this secret matter so they weren't caught off guard?

"Ronald…" Molly began but her son stopped her with a scoff.

"Don't do that, mum. Just answer. Why can't you say anything? Maybe if you told us we could be better prepared for what's coming." He pleaded with an almost dejected expression. Molly gave him a small smile and he recognized the expression in her face immediately.

Why in the world did she look like she felt sorry for him?

"Honey…" She said softly, "you can't be prepared for this. Believe me that." Ron looked surprised for a second before he noticed that once again she'd evaded answering the damned question.

"Mom…" He said with slumped shoulders and stood up, ready to leave.

"We made an Unbreakable Vow." His mother blurted suddenly, and Ron was frozen in the spot.

"You did what?" He asked, horrified. He remained silent for a few moments until he finally collected himself. "No wonder you didn't tell us, you would've died. Oh, hell." He slumped down in the chair and grabbed his head with both of his hands. "What could possibly be big enough to warrant a bloody Unbreakable Vow?" He inquired looking up again, meeting Molly's regretful stare.

"You'll know why we did it when you see it, Ron. But this is all I can tell you, and I hope now you can finally understand why we didn't tell you the reason. We didn't want you to worry. I am sorry, dear." Ron shook his head and stood up, enveloping his mother in his arms.

"I'm sorry for pushing you so hard, mum. Thank you for telling me. If something like this ever happens again, we'll trust you. I promise." Molly smiled at her son and caressed his cheek, feeling like a little bit of weight was finally lifted from her shoulders.

...

"An Unbreakable Vow? Merlin..." George muttered in shock as he ran a hand through his short hair. "This is massive. I can't believe it."

"Do you think this is the first Unbreakable Vow they make?" Hermione added while biting her lip deep in thought. "They might be protecting someone very important; it would make sense because if you break the Vow, you die."

"Can you not be so bloody cold about it? We're talking about my parents and possibly brothers dying here!" Ron cried out and Hermione dismissed him with a roll of her eyes.

"They are not going to die, Ron. They are not irrational─ one does not make an Unbreakable Vow knowing they could break it easily." Ginny said, easing her brother's nerves. Ron just sighed and rested his head on the mattress behind him.

"We are going to know today anyway. That's what mum said yesterday, isn't it?" Fred asked as he entered the room after trying─ unsuccessfully─ to listen if any of the adults said anything new about the subject. Ron nodded. "Well, people have been arriving for the past hour and as far as I could see, everyone that was supposed to be here is here already. So, this has to be it, right?"

"Maybe we should—" Hermione's suggestion was cut short by Molly calling from the bottom of the stairs for them to come down.

They stared at each other in silence for a moment before walking out the room to make their way down. Truth be told, even if the past few days they'd been relentlessly drilling Molly and Arthur for answers they couldn't give them─ now that the time finally came for them to face the mystery that had requiredUnbreakable Vows, they weren't sure they were ready for it.

Sirius, Molly, Arthur, Remus, Tonks, and Dumbledore were the only people in the room. They had expected a couple more people, but in the end it made sense that they were the only ones here. Maybe there were more people that knew about this secret but their presence wasn't necessary.

"Uh... well, I should begin. Umm… what we are about to─" Molly stammered but Albus raised his hand to stop her, which earned him a grateful and relieved smile from her.

"It's okay Molly, let me explain. Would you please take a seat?" He asked calmly, clearly trying to soothe their nerves. It wasn't too helpful because the adults looked more worried than the kids, and that was definitely not a good sign.

Albus sat on an armchair so he could face them all directly. "What we are about to confide you, we do it because more than once you have proved to be worthy of the trust of the Order. However, on this particular matter it's not only about trust─ it's also about the danger in which we could put very important people, if the situation is not assessed with the upmost care." He stopped for a moment, letting his first words sink in. "What I'm saying is that you will be told an important secret, and if you are willing to keep it, you─ like everyone else in this room─ will have to make an Unbreakable Vow. If you are not willing, your memory of the moment will have to be erased. Are you okay with this?"

No one dared to say a word. The kids looked at each other for several moments─ Hermione was the first one to nod in agreement, and the others followed suit. It was then when the sound of the front door opening made them turn their heads towards the entrance of the room.

Three people walked in. Two were unknown to them, but the third one had them wondering what on Earth was really happening at the moment.

Severus Snape stood to the side of the room accompanied by two women; one that looked younger than him but not by much, and another one that had to be at least seventeen.

"I'm sure you all know who Professor Snape is." Albus said with a twinkle in his eyes. They stared at Severus frowning unabashedly. It was almost possible to see him fighting the urge to roll his eyes at them.

"I'm Juliana." The older of the two women said with an accent that sounded very American─ but also had something else they couldn't quite identify. "And this is my daughter Cassandra." She nodded at the girl standing next to her, who gave a little wave and smiled awkwardly.

"Cassie, if you want to. I like it better anyway." Five pair of eyes then turned to look at her, giving her their undivided attention for the first time.

It didn't take more than a few seconds─ even if it felt like the world had suddenly slowed down─ for them to realize that this girl had jet black hair that was way too familiar and definitely didn't match with the color the woman standing next to her, who had introduced herself as her mother. This girl─ Cassie─ did have her nose, mouth and her body shape, but not her hair and what was also different were… her eyes. They all knew those eyes. How could they not recognize them? Those black eyes plagued the nightmares of more than just a handful of Hogwarts students.

Those were, without a doubt, Severus Snape's eyes.


This is the chapter I am talking about in the summary! I can't believe we're finally here.

Review if you want to and tell me what you think! I'd really appreciate it! :)