Thanks for the reviews! They make my day when I read them and it's nice to know the portions that readers like best. Please, please continue to share your opinions.

Also, visit my profile to see a pic of one of the fictional characters in this story – Estella. I figured this chapter was as good as any to uncover what I pictured she would look like. I'm working on a pic of the kyklos proctais and maybe even a depiction of the other Swansons, Marcus McDavol and other hands of terror just for fun.

Also, THANKS SO MUCH to my beta Scarlet Summer for checking on my typos, changing wording as needed and suggestions on plot and additions

Revelations

Ron leaned on Hermione in shock. Harry had just let out the most painful scream when he saw his father get hit by a curse that none of them had ever heard before. They expected professor Snape to be dead, but he laid on the ground, still breathing, with his hand holding his stomach where the curse had hit him.

Lily ran to her husband with tears flowing freely. "No, no, why?" she said with clear anguish on her face, her voice desolate.

"It's alright darling, it takes time for the curse to take on its full effect, it really doesn't hurt. We have to help Estella. I don't know what happened, but she would never scream like that unless it was serious. Please help me stand," he said. Lily followed his request and soon he was up.

"Dad?" murmured Harry with anxiety and in between sobs. Severus moved closer and hugged him.

"It's alright son. You are safe and healthy and I love you."

"I love you too dad" said Harry holding on to his father.

"Severus" called professor Dumbledore. The Snapes, followed by Ron and Hermione, walked towards Dumbledore who was examining Estella.

"Headmaster" said Severus.

"She needs to be transported to St. Mungo's and we need your help with her healing. She was hit with the iniuria constante curse."

Severus eyes grew in shock and deep concern. "How long had she been cursed?" he asked.

"I don't know!" George sobbed. "That bastard sent that curse in my direction after he killed Ely and Melinda! She got in the way, she took the curse for me," said George, holding on to Estella who had regained consciousness and moaned loudly from the pain.

"It's... alright... George," said Estella slowly in between sobs.

"We shouldn't go to St. Mungo's. Anyone can get in there and after this, I don't know who to trust anymore," said Lily, still shaken up.

"Headquarters," said the Headmaster, "we have set numerous protection charms and wards around headquarters, it is safest place."

"We can't move her using magic, we have to go the muggle way," said Severus.

"Could... I die... from portkey travel?" asked Estella with a weak voice.

"No, but the pull of the portkey will make the pain excruciating, even worse than it is now," answered Severus.

"It comes and..." She couldn't finish instead she cried and screamed from the appalling ache.

"Don't talk, I know, the pain comes and goes and the injuries open and close constantly. It's a torture curse," said Severus. Silence followed. George kissed her forehead and was overtaken by guilt. Draco moved closer and held one of her hands.

"Do it... move me by portkey... I'll deal... please," she managed to say before twisting and crying in pain yet again.

"What about Ron?" asked Hermione filled with worry, "He's hurt too." Lily approached them and examined the burns on Ron's back and shoulder.

"We can treat these at headquarters. Ron portkey travel will be very painful on the area with the burns, we can wait for muggle transport if you..."

"No, Mrs. Snape. If Estella can travel the way she is, I reckon I could too," said Ron.

Lily Snape looked into Ron's eyes and felt inspired by his empathy and bravery. "Alright everyone, pay attention! George, stay with Estella, Hermione watch over Ron, and Harry please make sure your father sits and doesn't move. Anyone else who is not seriously injured, find pieces of the wreckage and bring those to me so I can make portkeys. When you are back each of you will talk with the Headmaster or me individually to get details on your next steps. Only the Weasleys, Draco, and my family will go to headquarters, that includes you Hermione, and Estella. The Headmaster will inform you on the location of headquarters and how to get through the charms protecting it."

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It had been five days since their arrival at the Order of the Phoenix headquarters. Ron still vividly remembered the torturous pain he felt when he used the portkey to get to Dumbledore's old house in Godric's Hollow. He took comfort in the fact that his burns were healing quickly and his family and two best friends were fine. He also tried to stay cheerful, but hearing Estella's wails of pain reverberating through the walls every time the silencing charm wore off, made him feel overwhelmed and exhausted. Ginny and their brothers visited and made him feel better even after their parents' arrival. Mum was going spare! She constantly howled at all her children for putting themselves in danger and pestered them about their injuries, especially Ron since his were the worse. It was sweet, but aggravating all at once.

George stopped by a couple of times, but as soon as he realized Ron was in no grave danger, he decided to spend all his time in Estella's room trying to comfort her. Apparently Malfoy was also in there often. Harry came by sporadically, but mostly stayed around his parents working on potions and trying to understand the curses that had been used by the Black Hand. When Harry did settle in their room, he seemed desperate and enraged and only brought dreadful news. The worst so far had been hearing more details on the Magica Mortis curse.

"That bloody curse was meant for me, Ron. McDavol wanted to kill me and he was evil enough to use that nasty curse instead of a simple Avada Kedavra. It's horrible! The curse will slowly kill my dad's magic and make him more and more ill until he dies in exhaustion and pain. That evil son of a bitch! I hate him! I hate him and I hate this! Mum keeps working on counter spells and potions, but they have nothing! Nothing! He will suffer and die slowly... That bastard didn't even have pity on his sister! I can't bear to hear her anymore and seeing her is awful, she keeps bleeding and crying... It's all fucking wrong!" he had told Ron filled with pain and resentment. Ron felt scared. He had never seen anyone so sad and angry all at once. Harry may have sulked about the bloody secret, but it was never like this, he was truly furious and helpless this time. He looked like an animal in a cage ready to rip apart anything in his way, preferably Marcus McDavol. Ron felt desperate, everything around him was a mess and his best mate was devastated.

His saving grace was always Hermione. She constantly came to his room bringing food and trying to smile and cheer him up. She snuck in some chocolate frogs and sugar quills for him and had been brilliant enough to use a disillusionment charm on the Kyklos Proctais before they left the forest so no one else discovered they had them. He wondered how in the world she got sweets, but she was brilliant after all. Even when sharing sad news about the professor's symptoms and how they had not yet found a way to end the curse on Estella, she always did manage to take it easy on him. They even engaged in a row and poked fun at each other a bit. Her visits were always the best part of his days.

Today would be different though. He was finally going to get out of bed, get around the house on his own and see everyone out of this room. The burns were better and bandaged nicely, so he put on his Chudley Cannon's shirt and was ready to try to help Harry and the others.

The Order was having a meeting and miraculously his mum had agreed to let him attend. He knew it wasn't really a miracle since he heard Fred and George fight with mum about how they were of age and that if Harry was allowed to be at the meeting they should also attend. Then Hermione out of all people had fought with the adults about her right to be in the meeting and told them they might as well let Ron in since she and Harry would tell Ron everything. It was brilliant! They would all go, but were not allowed to speak or ask questions since they were not Order members. The one unhappy person was Ginny, she was livid since there was no way of convincing mum to let her know more about the Order. Instead she would be the one left out and in charge of watching over Estella.

Ron had a big, but quick breakfast and soon several witches and wizards marched into the house and sat in the large dining room. Ron remembered some of them from the last holiday, Kingsley, Diggle, and Moody. There were a few others as well. He noticed Harry and Hermione close to the centre of the room by an empty chair that he assumed they had reserved for him. He joined them and waited. Once George had arrived, the meeting began.

"It is now time to call this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix and Young Phoenix Society to order," said Dumbledore loudly. Soon everyone in the room was seated and looked at the headmaster expectantly.

"I have called you all today to clear doubts on the recent attack on the Hogwarts' Express and to give updates on the current situation at the Ministry and the tactics of the Black Hand. Please let's begin with any questions you may have. State your name, rank and then your question," said Dumbledore.

"Remus Lupin, head of branch five of the Order, is the dead and injured count that the Prophet reported correct and what is our plan to challenge the falsities that are currently being reported to the wizarding community?"

"The count is correct. Twelve dead and over thirty injured," answered Moody.

"Does that include Mr. Swanson and Miss Cooper?" asked Dedalus Diggle.

"Yes, eight students and four aurors that we had placed in the train. Here is the list of the fallen," said Moody as he gave a piece of parchment with the names to Diggle who proceeded to pass it on to the others at the meeting.

"The situation with the Prophet reports has been difficult. We are doing all that is possible to give an accurate and truthful account of the attack. But Lucius Malfoy has many people in the Ministry and Prophet in his pocket and the operations of the Department of Law Enforcement and the Wizengamot are being trampled by Pertricus McDavol. Investigations of the attack are happening, but at extremely slow pace and McDavol plants false evidence continually making the task of reporting the truth even more difficult. The Wizengamot is still reviewing the evidence on the Christmas Holiday attacks and I've constantly had to give testimony and show more and more evidence to defend the Swansons from that. I've also tried talking to Cornelius about the situation, but he's convinced that McDavol's opinion that this attack was sent by some deranged wizards trying to copy the holiday attacks from the Swansons is true," said Dumbledore.

"Sir,"

"Yes Mr. Malfoy?"

"I know I'm not supposed to speak, but it might help to know that I took Ely, Mel and Estella's wands from the battle. You can have them." Dumbledore nodded in approval. "Also... professor... I know this can't be a priority right now, but... is there any news of my mother?" asked Draco sadly.

"Not yet, as you remember it is extremely difficult to find out about anyone inside Malfoy Manor, but we're doing everything in our power to get news and also get her to safety. It is actually one of our top priorities for your service and hers," assured Dumbledore.

"Thank you sir," said Draco and sat again.

"Kingsley Shacklebolt, head of branch one of the Order, I overheard about new curses that the Black Hand is using and I'm wondering if we know what they are and how to fight them?"

"Severus" called the headmaster. Professor Snape stood slowly with Lily quickly at his side.

"First, I need to apologize for this since it is my fault. I have feared that my mistakes would someday come back to haunt me, and that is now the way of things," Severus stated mournfully as Lily grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently. "Most of you know that I was a Death Eater and fought alongside the Dark Lord as one of his top combatants through the first portion of the last war. After that well... things changed...," he said looking at Lily, "... and I was able to find out about his secret horcruxes from Regulus Black before the Dark Lord murdered him. Once I knew what needed to be done to destroy him, Lily, the Swansons, professor Dumbledore, and Kreacher helped me do just that. The part about my life that very few know about is my other work under Voldemort. I... I was one of his top tactical aides, in charge of research and development of new dark curses, potions and spells. I headed a team of twelve wizards... they were very talented in spells, potions, herbology, transfiguration and their uses in the Dark Arts. Two of them had also been healers and gave input on how to create curses that no one would know how to mend. Together we developed new dark magic, ranging from simple slashing and burning spells to combinations on the imperius, cruciatus, and killing curses."

"That's what she's under! One of YOUR curses!" screamed George in a rage, lunging toward the professor. Fred stood and held his brother back.

Draco also stood up and looked at Snape with anger clearly etched on his face. Harry felt like he had been slapped in the face. His father! The man that had taught him most of what he knew about magic, family, and who he wanted to be in the world. The man he emulated and loved. He had been evil and created all this horrible magic. And mum! How can she be with him? How could she have fallen in love with him? He was...he was... a monster! Harry began to stand as well, but felt Hermione's small hand on his shoulder as she gave him a pleading look. He stayed silent and in place.

"Mr. Weasley! You are here as a courtesy and you will listen to the rest of what Severus has to say. Sit! You too Mr. Malfoy," ordered Dumbledore.

"Who is under your curses?" asked Lupin trying to remain calm.

"Miss Swanson and myself," answered Severus. The room went quiet and clearly many order members had anger, disappointment and annoyance written over their faces. Severus began to speak again, but put his head down and looked to the floor in shame while Lily continued to hold his hand.

"After my change of heart about the war, I halted a lot of the research and began working on antidotes for the dark magic we had created. That has been my life's work since. I accepted the potions master post as a way to continue researching for antidotes and have been fairly successful with most of them."

"Hestia Jones, Head of branch seven of the Order, what exactly are the curses the Black Hand used during the attack on the Hogwarts Express?"

"Marcus McDavol used two extremely powerful curses Iniuria Constante and Magica Mortis. Iniuria Constante combines the Sectumsemptra curse which creates cuts to the skin, the Cruciatus curse to induce pain, and a Constantia charm to maintain the cutting and pain as a repetitive process. It's a torture curse that was designed to only be ended by the caster. He used that curse on Miss Swanson and then the Magica Mortis curse hit me. Magica Mortis was the most advanced piece of dark magic that was formulated during the war. We never dared to test it, much less use it, but McDavol has changed that. In theory Magica Mortis weakens its target by attacking his magical cells eventually leaving him a squib. Only after that process is completed the effects of the Cruciatus curse are felt and eventually the killing curse will overtake its victim. We'll see what the true effects are soon enough," answered Severus.

"Do you have a cure for Estella?" asked George.

"Yes. I have been able to formulate, test and record the positive effects of a potion to end Iniuria Constante. Unfortunately, we are unable to get the last ingredient," Severus replied.

"WHAT IS THE LAST INGREDIENT?" screamed George.

"Mr. Weasley!" said Dumbledore in disapproval.

"George!" cried his mum while Fred stood by his twin quickly and gave him a supportive look.

"Maybe George and I can get the ingredient. We are good at getting odd things" said Fred trying to help his brother's case.

"It's not that easy Mr. Weasley... the last ingredient of Sanenteur Latente is... blood of a virgin"

-x-x- Flashback -x-x-

George walked in the changing rooms and found a note in his trousers pocket.

Fun Man,

Meet me in the prefects' bathroom once you win the game. Cheers for that! Password is lemongrass. ~E

George knew he would have to make one hell of an excuse for taking the map and not showing up for the Gryffindor party after beating Hufflepuff, but he had not seen her in two days, not since getting caught by Ronniekins and his friends in the potions classroom. He felt like the run to the prefects' bathroom took forever as his anticipation was getting the best of him. 'Fred is going to really get on my case one of these days. He's already suspicious about my disappearances, except I do get more products finished. Maybe she can help me with a product and Fred will be so impressed he won't even care where I've been. Why do I run at her every whim?' he pondered. He finally arrived, gave the password, entered and saw Estella. She wore simple black jeans and a dark green tank top; his heart began to race in his chest. He quickly closed the space between them and their lips met.

"No, no Fun Man that is not what I had in mind."

"Come on" he said pleadingly.

"Maybe later. By the way your little brother and his friends won't say a thing. And, I saw that bludger hit your back, so I brought some potions. Now let me see."

"Yeah, Ronniekins told me that they'll keep their mouth shut, and I like that you have a great excuse for getting me out of my shirt," said George with a big grin on his face.

"This is purely an assessment of your wellbeing since I would like to be a healer someday," she said primly as she applied potions to his back. "You weren't planning on going to Pomfrey, you were just going to go to the party and live with it until it got better on its own, weren't you?"

"Until I got your note, thought snogging might be more fun than the party," answered George.

"I went to the tent and put the note in your pocket because I saw that bludger hit you, healer instincts, that's all."

"Right," he said with a grin, letting her know that he clearly didn't believe her. "What is that anyway? The pain is practically gone."

"My own formula, well mine and professor Snape's. He's been teaching me some extra material on potion development and how to heal extremely strong curses. I guess YOU get to be a test subject for MY creations for a change and since it works, it might get me an O in my OWLs, well at least in potions."

"You'll get all the OWLs you need," he said turning around and kissing her deeply while his hands made their way under her top. Soon the green top along with her blue bra were gone. He trailed kisses down her neck until finally reaching her breasts and letting his mouth and hands work on her hard nipples.

"Take a bath with me," he murmured.

"George…"

"You can keep your knickers and I'll keep my pants on, nothing we haven't done before. It'll be good for my back," he pleaded while smiling mischievously.

"Alright" she said giving him a grin before they peeled off their clothing until only knickers and pants were left.

George started the tub and soon they were submerged. He sat with his back to the tub and Estella in between his legs as he trailed kisses on her shoulders and neck and his hands worked wonders on her breasts. He felt her shiver and whimper and changed positions so she was sitting against the tub wall and he was between her legs kissing her passionately. The heat of their bodies was almost unbearable and they began grinding their hips against each other vigorously while moaning into each other's mouths.

"Let's get out," she said, moving out of the tub and drying herself. He sighed and started to get out with a cheerless face until she shocked him by placing two towels on the marble floor, taking her knickers off and laying down on the fluffy white towels. His heart was beating extremely fast, filled with anticipation. But he didn't move, the sight of her completely exposed, with a few bubbles still clinging to her black hair and her skin fresh from the bath, had him completely stunned.

"I want to George," she said, finally breaking him from his trance.

He was lying next to her within seconds, began snogging her with all the passion he could muster and soon his pants were gone as well.

'You have done this with enough witches before, you know what to do, don't get all nervous now. She's just a witch, a bloody gorgeous, smart, mischievous and mysterious one, but still just a witch like any other' he told himself.

He moved down and kissed her neck, then the spot between her breasts then her stomach and finally he parted her thighs and began to get her ready with his practised tongue. This was the first time she had let him touch her without her knickers. Her taste and loud groans made him painfully hard. Her hands ran through his hair and he loved the slight pull she gave his red locks as she got thoroughly wet. She grabbed his shoulders, guided his face to hers and kissed him tenderly while he aligned himself to enter her.

"Wait gorgeous," he said as he found his wand nearby, pointed it at her and muttered a contraceptive charm.

She looked at his brown eyes, nodded and smiled, encouraging him to move forward. He entered her slowly trying to tease her, until he ran into a barrier. His eyes went wide with realization.

"You are a..." He couldn't finish his words as she wrapped her legs and arms around him and pushed her hips to get him fully inside her. They were still for a couple of minutes and then he began to thrust at a slow pace and her moans of mixed pain and pleasure drove him to the brink of madness.

"Are you alright?" he managed to ask in the midst of their passion.

"Yes..." she murmured.

Everything he had learned from his previous experiences seemed to vanish from his mind. All he could focus on were the amazing sensations his body was going through and the passionate blue eyes of the witch beneath him. He was able to hold himself back for a while, but it was all too much. She felt perfect; warm, tight, moulded by him and she pushed him over the edge. His entire body was shivering from pleasure and once his release was over, he fell on her and her arms cradled him. He kissed her softly before moving off. She grabbed her wand and conjured a vial.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I wasn't planning on this, but since it happened I should get a sample," she said placing the vial by the area between her thighs, gathering the little bit of blood that dripped there before safely closing it and setting it aside.

"Shit, are you alright?" he said seeing the blood and afraid he had hurt her.

"Yes... more than alright... you are brilliant," she said with a big smile as she moved to kiss him.

"What do you want that for?" he asked after they separated to get some air.

"There are a few healing potions in Snape's books that I'm reading about that call for virgin's blood. I don't plan on using it anytime soon, but since this happened unexpectedly I figured I should gather some, it's not like I'm going to have another opportunity. Let me clean us now," she said grabbing her wand and uttering the spell for that purpose with a smile.

"Right," he answered grinning as well and then held her against his chest to rest peacefully. As much as he showed nothing but serenity while holding her, he was terrified about what had just happened and what it meant for them.

'We're not even a real couple, are we? I never asked or promised anything. She just smiled while we pranked Percy at the Snape bash and quietly asked about our WWW inventions, so I met her in secret to discuss them. Then I snogged her senseless the second time we met in secret, too bloody fast! But I never knew a girl open to testing things like Fred and I do and who would even give suggestions. Shit! It has barely been over a month since that snog and now this... does she love me? No way! She just probably wanted to get her first time over with. That's it. And what about the blood? She knows about so many things! Relax! This is nothing major, she won't act like a lost puppy with me, she's too good for that. No crazy commitment needed! Not that I could be serious about this even if I wanted to. Would I want to be serious if I wasn't engaged? I don't even care she's a Slytherin. Enough! I just had the most fantastic shag, just enjoy it and relax," he told himself inwardly. After a while he finally managed to calm down and fall asleep, but too soon felt someone shaking him and had to open his eyes.

"Wake up silly fun man," said Estella beaming.

"Umhh, how long have I been out?" he asked.

"About an hour, you seemed so peaceful I didn't want to wake you. But, we really need to go, it's almost time for curfew. I know you have the map, but we shouldn't press our luck."

"Yeah."

They stood and got dressed. Estella packed her potions and her new sample in the satchel that she always carried everywhere. They kissed for a few minutes and then departed to their respective houses.

-x-x- End flashback -x-x-

"She has some! Estella!" he exclaimed.

"What?" uttered Lily and Severus in unison.

"Virgin's blood, in her potions kit, the one she always shrinks inside her satchel. I took the satchel from her before taking the portkey to come here," he said filled with excitement at the idea of a cure, but feeling embarrassed nonetheless.

"How did she get virgin's blood?" asked Severus with concern. George's face went incredibly red as he looked down to the floor and rubbed his neck, even for a Weasley this had to be a blushing record, and George was not one of the Weasleys that blushed often. Realization downed on all the people in the room, although Fred seemed unsurprised. An uncomfortable silence along with the furious face of Mrs. Wesley followed.

"Well... Mr. Weasley please get the satchel and bring the blood to our room so we can begin working on that potion" ordered Lily. He nodded and went to Estella's room to get her personal items.

After George's departure a brief discussion on strategies to spread the truth about the attacks ensued. The order also decided that they needed to find new people to act as spies in the Black Hand now that the Malfoys had been exposed. Before the meeting ended, they revealed the plans for the funerals of Ely Swanson and Mel Cooper who had left a will and had been cremated according to their instructions. Their ashes were to be scattered by Estella in a pond near Swanson Mansion. Mrs. Weasley also found out that the Burrow was a safe location and even though their family was not a target their home had been warded extensively by Dumbledore himself, so they could return anytime.

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I want to share with everyone that one of the many drivers behind this story (besides my favourite cannon couple Ron/Hermione) is my love for both Snape and George.

Snape is one of my favourite characters and I am thrilled about the idea of giving him a life with Lily and making Harry his son. But, I still had to get his past to haunt him; if I hadn't it wouldn't be Snape. Also, ever since his brilliance was revealed in Half Blood Prince I have imagined him creating all sorts of spells, potions and antidotes, so I couldn't pass the chance to write about those ideas!

I also love the Weasley twins and always found George to be the softer, gentler of the two and I hated when I read JKRs site saying he ends up married with his brother's ex-date for the Yule Ball/ex-girlfriend. So, I wanted to give him a special part in this story and get him to develop relationships of his own.