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On Friday evening, after her classes, Emily found herself in Dumbledore’s office, sitting across from him, saying ‘yes’. Dumbledore was delighted, and now all she had left to do was tell George. She and the Headmaster decided it’d be best to tell him and the others right before she went. On the next Monday, Dumbledore told Emily to meet him in his office for the details of her mission.

“Sir, exactly what will I be doing?” she asked after a few minutes of silence.

“For one, you will be helping those in need. For another, you will be like an assistant,” he replied calmly, studying her from the opposite side of his desk.

“What do you mean by ‘assistant’?” she asked suspiciously.

There was a knock on the door, and the guest continued through without waiting for an answer. Severus Snape glanced at Dumbledore and then Emily, only to look back at Dumbledore.

“Perfect timing, Severus, please have a seat,” Dumbledore said with a small smile.

“Headmaster, do you need me to leave?” Emily asked quietly as she started to stand.

“No, Mrs. Weasley, I need both of you here,” Dumbledore replied. Emily’s brows knitted in confusion.

“You’re joking,” Snape said skeptically after a minute. Emily side glanced at him in confusion.

“Do I look like I’m joking, Severus?” Dumbledore asked calmly.

“She’s a child! What could she do?” Snape said with a hint of disbelief.

“Are you talking about me?” Emily asked quietly. Snape grimaced at her and she took it as a yes. “I’m not a child, professor. But I’m with you on the last bit. What exactly could I do that someone more experienced cannot?” Emily asked as she stared at the Headmaster.

“I’ve already told you that you are the only one for the job,” Dumbledore said patiently. “Now, you two can keep throwing glares at each other or you can put your pasts behind you and realize that you need each other.” Emily glanced cautiously at Snape as he glared at Dumbledore.

“Fine, I’ll behave if he does,” Emily sighed. Snape huffed in frustration, but said nothing further. Dumbledore nodded in thought for a moment.

“Tell her everything, Severus,” Dumbledore decided.

“Excuse me?” Snape nearly choked.

“You heard me, Severus, tell her everything,” Dumbledore repeated. Snape glared at Dumbledore for a moment before turning to glare at Emily. She raised an eyebrow at him, daring him to say something rude in front of the Headmaster. He sighed in surrender and looked at a place on the floor.

“You know I’m a former Death Eater,” Snape began. “Well, fifteen years ago, I overheard a prophecy; a prophecy about the Dark Lord. So, naturally, I told the Dark Lord. At once, he assumed it to be Potter and decided he had to kill her.” Snape paused as a certain redhead ran through his mind. “As soon as I realized what I’d done, that he was going to go after her, I went to Dumbledore. From that moment on, I was on Dumbledore’s side, and I pretended to still be on the dark side. I was a spy for Dumbledore, pretending to be a spy for the Dark Lord.”

“So, what you’re saying is, you’re still in contact with him, with all of them?” Emily asked warily, her thoughts on Bellatrix Lestrange. Snape nodded curtly. “I don’t really understand, professor, exactly what am I going to do?” she asked, her eyes cutting between Snape and Dumbledore.

“First, you must hear all of the story,” Dumbledore said quietly, studying Snape.

Snape huffed in frustration and grimaced. “Severus,” Dumbledore said quietly. Without saying a word, Snape went to a cabinet and pulled out the stone Pensieve. Snape raised his wand to his temple and pulled it away from his head as if he were pulling a rope. A white-blue wisp came from his head. He guided it to the Pensieve and then sat back down. Dumbledore gave Emily a look that said “Go ahead” and she stood up. She wasn’t exactly familiar with Pensieves, but she had read about them. She bent over until her nose touched the substance and she fell headlong into the bright sun.

When she stood up and dusted off her bottom, she stared around her. She was standing in the middle of a deserted playground, where two girls were swinging and a boy was watching them from behind the bush.

Emily wasn’t sure what she was doing here, but she listened to the two girls talking and watched the skinny, shabby dressed boy. She was in Snape’s memories. She watched for a long while as Lily Evans was told by Severus Snape that she was a witch, and then she watched as Snape told Lily about the magical world. The scene re-formed again and she landed on Platform nine and three-quarters. Emily went through all of Snape’s memories, from him meeting her father and godfather, to him taking his O.W.L.s, to his and Dumbledore’s meeting on top of the hill. She was speechless as she watched Snape beg him to help Lily Potter and agree to help her son.

Emily wasn’t sure what was happening when Dumbledore was telling Snape that he must kill him, instead of Draco. Emily was furious when she watched the conversation about a part of Voldemort living inside of Harry. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Harry couldn’t die! He was her brother, her family. The scene dissolved and Emily found herself leaving Snape’s memories and back in Dumbledore’s office. Instead of sitting back down, she stared at the carpet, fuming.

“You can’t be serious!” she finally exclaimed. “How can you let him die? I thought he meant something to you!” Emily yelled at Dumbledore.

“He does, Mrs. Weasley.”

“Then how can you just sit here, when you knew all along that he was just going to have to die? He trusts you! I trusted you!”

“Sit down, Mrs. Weasley,” he said quietly. Emily hesitated but finally sat down.

“I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but she has a point,” Snape said quietly. Emily side glanced at him in shock. There was no way that they could agree on something.

“Severus,” Dumbledore said quietly, obviously telling him to shut it, but in nicer terms. “It has to happen. It is the only way to destroy Voldemort.” Emily stared at him, speechless. She didn’t want to know any of this stuff. She had no idea what she had gotten herself into. She wanted out of this. She glanced at the door and Dumbledore followed her gaze.

“There’s no getting out anymore,” Dumbledore whispered. Emily’s eyes snapped around at him.

“I think you have the wrong person,” Emily whispered.

“I don’t,” he said simply. Emily and Dumbledore stared at each other for a long time.

“So, what now?” Emily asked quietly.

“You will not be able to return to school next term,” Dumbledore started. She gaped at him.

“What? Why not?” she asked in irritation. She didn’t like being told what she could or could not do.

“Because I will not be here. It will be too dangerous for you.”

“Why won’t you be here?” she whispered.

“I’m sure you saw the memory. I’m dying slowly as it is. Severus is going to shorten the process when the time is right.” Emily turned to stare at Snape, giving him the “I can’t believe you agreed to this” look. He returned the same look.

“I will explain more to you in time, but for now, we’ll just go over the basics. This is how you will communicate,” Dumbledore said as he pushed part of a mirror toward Snape.

“Hey, I have one of those. Where did you get that from?” Emily asked curiously.

“It’s a copy of the one Sirius had,” he said quietly. “Severus will most likely still be at school and will be able to warn you, on the outside, of anything. Even if he’s not at the school, he still might need your help when orders are made from Voldemort.” Emily listened carefully; she still wasn’t sure why he had chosen her for this.

“Severus, I believe you have a class you need to attend to,” Dumbledore said suddenly. With one wary glance at the Headmaster, Snape grabbed the mirror and set off for the dungeons.

“Is there anything else?” Emily asked as she readied herself to leave.

“Not for now, but in time,” Dumbledore said as Emily stood up to leave.

“You mustn’t tell anyone,” he stressed. Emily nodded as she made her way to the door.

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