It was completely dark for a split moment before I could make out little lights in the distance.

Another moment later, and those lights were distinguishably the ones of Hogwarts. I'd never seen it from up here before. From somewhere on a mountain cliff, it looked serene.

Though, a voice quickly caught my attention, having it divert off of the castle in the distance. I didn't startle at the sudden sound but simply turned around to find whoever caused it.

I wasn't caught off guard when I saw Dumbledore stand right before me, either; it was his memory, after all.

"The prophecy did not refer to a woman. It spoke of a child born at the end of July."

He was looking straight ahead, and my gaze followed his, falling right onto Snape several feet away. Even though it was dark, he looked distressed, his face distorted in pain. I couldn't see any obvious wounds on his body, though.

I took a few steps towards them, my brows furrowed as I looked back and forth between the two men in hopes I'd soon find out what all of this was about.

"Yes, but he thinks it's her child," He breathed heavily. "He intends to hunt them down-to kill them." And then, he begged, "Hide her. Hide them all. I beg you."

All of this had too little context to be making any sense to me yet, and with the world around me turning into heavy smoke, I was swiftly brought to the next memory.

Voices around me were incoherent for a long moment before a new scene was unleashed before my eyes and everything blurry became clear as day.

I knew it was Dumbledore's office I stood in now, though I wasn't quite sure how I knew. Maybe it was part of being in his memory that I knew where this was taking place.

"You said you were to keep her safe!" Snape, again. This time a lot more distressed than the last time I saw him. His words were close to being desperate cries already.

Keep who safe?

I felt myself walking around the telescope, brows tightly knitted together as I scanned Snape's face. He was looking right through me, his eyes desperately searching for the headmaster's one.

Though, Dumbledore had his back turned, looking out of one of the windows, when he spoke.

"Lily and James put their faith in the wrong person, Severus. Rather like you."

Those were the words I was waiting for. The words that would put everything into perspective. And the realisation made my heart drop into my stomach.

I felt sick, almost; knowing they were talking about my parents. About our parents.

My head snapped back towards Snape, his face contorted in worse pain than in the last memory. I realised, now; it wasn't a physical injury that pained him.

He was hurting from within, deep within like I had all those years. Every time I thought back to my parent's early death, I felt the same way Severus Snape looked as he stood before me right now.

"They both survived. The girl without ever having faced the Dark Lord. But they both-"

This seemed to irritate Snape as he picked up his head, and threw his arms up in dismay, obviously knowing where Dumbledore's words were leading the conversation.

"-They don't need protection. The dark lord is gone!"

"The dark lord will return. And when he does, they both will be in terrible danger."

Turning his head, Snape shook it, seeming like he didn't want to listen to the man's words any further.

"He has her eyes. And she- she'll grow up looking just like her mother."

At that, he picked his head up. He looked right at Dumbledore, desperation in his eyes. It wasn't a pretty sight. And then, he turned his gaze away from him, let it aimlessly wander the room before it seemed like it landed right on me.

I knew he couldn't see me. I knew there wasn't even the slightest possibility for it to be the case. And yet, the hairs on my neck stood up, and my breath hitched.

I never would've imagined I'd see Severus Snape cry. But there he was, a single tear escaping his eyes as he looked right at me- through me.

"If you truly loved her-" His head snapped back over to Dumbledore.

"-No one can know. Swear it!" A short pause followed his words.

"I shall never reveal the best of you."

But he broke that promise. He took it to his grave and then decided to reveal it to me, of all people.

The office dissolved, a whirl of black's and grey's before the next scene became clear before my eyes.

Snape and Dumbledore standing in the entrance hall, keeping a reasonable distance between each other as students in dress-robes and gowns stumbled past them on their way out.

This must've been the night of the Yule ball.

I swiftly remembered how my night went all those years ago, and the way it all went to shit because of my brother but was quickly pulled out of my own memory to witness Dumbledores.

"Well?" The old man murmured, an inquisitorial expression on his face that would seem like they were having a conversation about nothing but the weather from an outsider's perspective.

"Karkaroff's Mark is becoming darker too. He is panicking. He fears retribution; you know how much help he gave the Ministry after the Dark Lord fell."

A little stunned by the fact my old headmaster had the mark, I swallowed thickly. Though, remembered quite quickly the kind of person he was, and that it only made sense for him to be one of them.

I kept on listening intently.

Snape turned his head to look at Dumbledore. "He intends to flee if the Mark burns."

"Does he?" He inquired softly, two students running past them, giggling to themselves as they held hands. "And are you tempted to join him?"

"No." Snape's response was immediate and definite. "I am not such a coward."

And Dumbledore agreed with him. "No, you are a braver man by far than Igor Karkaroff." He stated. "You know, I sometimes think we sort too soon..."

My surroundings changed once more. And I found myself wondering why Dumbledore chose to show me memories that made the very same man who murdered him look better than he ever had before.

I found myself in the Headmaster's office once more, spinning around my own axis to take my surroundings in.

My gaze, flying through the room, got stuck on Dumbledore and Snape once more. The older of the two slumped in his chair as Snape tended to him, muttering incantations before pouring a strange potion down his throat.

"It will contain the curse to your hand, for the time being," Snape explained, his attention now on Dumbledore's hand. It was dark, and burned, no doubt a nasty curse spreading through it.

"How long do you think I have?" He asked casually, his own gaze fluttering through his office.

"Maybe a year." In contrary to Dumbledore's calm, almost bored voice, Snape sounded truly concerned.

And I shook my head in utter disbelieve when I recognised a smile forming on Dumbledore's face. The news that he ought to live no longer than a year seeming irrelevant to him.

"Well, really, this makes matters much more straightforward."

Snape tilted his head slightly, brows furrowed as he tried to figure out what he was talking about.

Dumbledore recognised his perplexity and continued with a smile on his face. "I refer to the plan Lord Voldemort is revolving around me. His plan to have the poor Malfoy boy murder me."

My breath hitched, growing audibly heavier at the mention of Draco.

Dumbledore knew? He knew all along? Of course he knew. He seemed to know everything, somehow.

And then, there was another one of those eye-opening moments; the ones that made everything so much clearer, almost obvious. Because Snape started talking about Voldemort, and his plans, and everything else revolving around it.

"The Dark Lord does not expect Draco to succeed. This is merely punishment for Lucius's recent failures. Slow torture for Draco's parents, while they watch him fail and pay the price."

Snape wasn't merely an undercover Hogwarts professor, aiding Voldemort with inside-information. It was the other way around, through-and-through.

How could I not have seen it before?

It was obvious, so very obvious; the truth was staring right at me for years now, yet I never even thought about grasping it.

The way he let me go that night I ran into him in the potions classroom, the way he warned me in the manor. The way he tried to help Draco.

"In short; the boy has had a death sentence pronounced upon him as surely as I have," He said, nodding to himself as he thought about what he just said. "Now, I should have thought the natural successor to the job, once Draco fails, is yourself?" He asked, and Snape agreed.

"And If Hogwarts is to fall into the hands of Lord Voldemort, I have your word that you will do all in your power to protect the students?"

Seeing this now, there was no if, anymore. It was merely a when, or a now that. It was in his grasps, and I wasn't quite sure how well of a job Snape was doing when it came to protecting the students.

Yet, at the time of the memory, Snape nodded stiffly.

"Good. Now then. Your first priority will be to discover what Draco is up to. A frightened teenage boy is a danger to others as well as to himself. Offer him help and guidance; he ought to accept, he has no one-"

This was the first time during the conversation that Snape interrupted him. "He has her, now."

"Ah," Dumbledore nodded. "You are referring to Y/n, I assume, Severus?" He didn't have to wait for an answer to continue talking. "She's truly magnificent, isn't she? An interesting girl; so very different from her own twin."

I swallowed thickly, wanting to know now more than ever what they were about to say next.

"I presume he will push her away; the boy. We shall hope she can see right through it. She is good for him-"

"-He is good for her."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow in surprise at the sudden outburst. "I apologise-"

"-Tell me, Severus." Dumbledore simply said, effectively shutting the man up. "Do you see yourself in him? Do you feel a sense of pride when you see them together, knowing that Lily's only daughter didn't fall victim to the same fate she, herself, did all those years ago?" His head was slightly tilted, eyes intently focusing on the man opposite of him as he tried to read his answer. "She is in your house, after all. With someone standing for everything James Potter did not."

Snape diverted his eyes, almost in shame, and it seemed to answer enough for Dumbledore. "No matter," He quickly tutted. "I do ask you to keep an eye on her nonetheless. She does not seem as fond of me as her brother is... Has the Dark Lord mentioned her?"

Snape took a deep breath before turning his head back to look at him. "A few times, never in great detail." He said. "Now, I do fear he has plans that differ greatly from what he intends to do with the Potter-boy."

With a gesture of his hand, he urged Snape to go on. "It seems he wants to use her against him. The Dark Lord wants her on his own side. She-"

"-would never do such a thing." Dumbledore seemed to be deep in thought, merely mumbling the words to himself rather than saying them to Snape. Though, his head snapped back up to him now. "Which is precisely why she is in just as much danger as Harry himself."

"What-"

"He wants her because he suspects we need her. But he does not know for what, yet," He speculated. "She's powerful, yes?"

"In everything but potion-making." There was a hint of mockery in Snape's voice, but Dumbledore just nodded, before he suddenly got up from his chair.

His steps were still weakened as he began pacing around the room. My eyes followed him.

"She's the missing piece. Now, this is merely a speculation, Severus. Do remember this, but if what I'm thinking to be true really is, you cannot let her out of your sight. Warn her, if you must. But do not be obvious about it to any outsider. Should she ever be in close proximity to Lord Voldemort, I want you to be there, too."

Once more, Snape only managed to get out a single word. "What-"

"Now, the boy; he would not have managed to cruciate Bellatrix that night in the ministry. But she- she did. She's what Harry is not. She was sorted into Slytherin house for a reason-"

"-She's the boy's darker counter piece," Snape mumbled, lips slightly agape.

"Indeed, Severus. It will not be Harry Potter alone who can defeat the Dark Lord, should he manage to get to said point," He began, something in his eyes telling me he wasn't saying everything about the matter in this conversation. "It must be them. Both of them, together, if the circumstances allow it. Dark and light magic in unity for one and the same cause."

"Why did the prophecy not speak of this?"

And, perhaps for the first time ever, I saw Dumbledore shrug out of genuine lack of knowledge. He didn't know why the prophecy never mentioned it, just like Snape didn't, and just like I didn't.

"Perhaps because it is not true, after all. As I said, Severus, it is merely a speculation. I can be wrong, too."

But he never was.

"I ask just two things of you," He then began, and Snape nodded, concern written over his face. "I want you to make sure He does not find out about this. She may be more important than anyone would've expected, and Voldemort would simply kill her if he were to find out. As best as the situation allows, lead them off of her trail." He took a small break to think about his words. "The Malfoy boy, too. Do not let anything happen to him, for we do not know what she would do if she were to lose him."

"So you're intending to let him kill you?"

Dumbledore smiled at that. Smiled so carelessly about the matter of his own death it almost irritated me, too.

"Certainly not. You must kill me."

Suddenly, the meaning of Dumbledore's last words changed so drastically. It wasn't a cry for help, not one out of desperation to cling onto his own life. He was dying already, anyway.

No, it was a plea. A beg for Snape to do it; he needed it to be Severus Snape who killed him.

And then, the memory washed out one last time, faded into a different one, though, still in Dumbledore's office.

It was him, sitting at his desk, hands folded with a serious expression on his face. Somebody sat opposite him, though the memory was blurry, and I couldn't make out who it was.

Dumbledore said exactly six words in this one. And they led me to believe the words coming out of his mouth were meant for no one but me.

"You ought to tell no one."

A/N: THOUGHTS THOUGHTS THOUGHTS?

Also, can we acknowledge the fact Dumbledore didn't show her any of the memories that made himself look bad (lol mood) and HOW HE LEFT OUT THE KEY FACTOR THAT HARRY HAS TO DIE?? bitch never trust dumblewhore he knew she wouldn't play along if she knew harry would have to die

Anyway, what do you think happens now?

I'm very happy and proud with how this chapter turned out and I hope you like it as well!!