The Half-Blood Princess

Unbreakable Vows

Severus was used to sleepless nights, but this was worse than usual. He kept picturing Lily scolding him for what he had just allowed to happen. Their daughter, a Death Eater! He hated himself more than he ever had before. People thought he was so cold, but in reality he felt too much for one heart to handle.

It was nights like these that he really wished he was as cold as people said he was. He recalled his failed Occlumency lessons with Potter, and his repeated command of "control your emotions". It had been his mantra since Lily had died, and sometimes the emotions he hid from everyone including himself came flooding back to him, making him wish he could Obliviate himself.

To top it off, adding insult to injury, Harley had left Fred, the Mark coming between them just as it had come between him and Lily. He refused to let his daughter ruin her life like he had. She was happy, and Fred loved her. He would not let them lose what he and Lily had lost. Especially not because of the bloody Dark Mark.

The next afternoon, he Apparated to Diagon Alley, where it was easy to spot the bright colours of the twins' shop. He had never been fond of joke shops, as he had had too many Zonko's products used on him when he was a child.

Entering the loud shop, some of the patrons looked at him as if he did not belong, and they were right: he didn't. But Harley did, and he was determined to let her be where she could be happy and live the life he had been unable to.

He saw one of the twins tending the register and he said, "Weasley!" The boy looked up, shocked.

"Professor! Can I help you?"

"Which one are you?" He asked. "I can't tell you apart when one of you is not snogging Harley."

"I'm George," he said. "Do you need me or Fred?"

"Fred. Now."

George scurried away, calling for his brother. Today, Snape could tell the twins apart, because Fred was the one with red eyes from crying and bags from a sleepless night.

"Is everything okay with the Order?" Fred asked. The Weasley parents had inducted both twins into it when they left Hogwarts.

"Yes. Is there somewhere we can talk privately?" Snape asked.

"Yeah-uh, yes, sir. Follow me." Fred led him to a small back room that stored supplies. "What can I do for you?"

"Harley was here yesterday, telling you she needed to break up because of her job in the Order, correct?" Severus asked.

Fred nodded, looking at the ground.

"Normally I would not care for former students' love lives, but this is a special case since I am still working with Harley. Tell me, do you...love her?" the professor asked.

Fred's eyes widened. "Yes. I have loved her since I met her."

"Then take my advice: do not let her go. She is being noble, a martyr. Do not let her get away. She is only ever happy with you, and she deserves happiness."

Fred nodded. "But what do I do? She's a hard girl to argue with. Kind of scary, you know? I mean...I was planning on asking her to marry me. I even bought a ring."

Snape's eyes widened this time, unable to hide the shock from his face. "Really, Weasley? Well. I think that is an excellent idea." At face value, he was not sure he wanted his daughter to be a Weasley, but Fred made her happy, and that was what counted. "The next Order meeting is tomorrow at six PM at the Hog's Head. The ring had better be worthy of a girl like her," he warned.

"The ring will be. I'm just not sure I am," Fred admitted. "I mean...I know Harley doesn't have parents, but she always looked up to you. Do you...if you say you're okay with this, I'll feel better about asking her. Am I worthy to be her husband? Do you approve?"