Why did Snape take the UV in the first place?

[Tonks]

No: HPFGUIDX 134515

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "allies426" <AllieS426 at a...> 
wrote:
> > **Why did Snape take the unbreakable vow for Narcissa in the 
first place?**  He didn't have to.  He could have said, "Don't be 
> ridiculous, I won't risk my life for your precious son's" or 
> something similarly nasty.  It doesn't matter that Bellatrix 
didn't believe his loyalty to Voldemort, because VOLDEMORT believes 
it, 

Tonks:
As to why Snape took the vow, I think that there are many reasons. 
And a big one has to do with Narcissa.  Snape, IMO, is not the cold 
heartless b-----d that he would like us to think he is.  I think 
that he cares for Narcissa and maybe he *really* is a friend of 
Lucius and does care for what happens to Draco. But mostly I think 
that he responded to the pain that Narcissa was showing.  And once 
he was in the position, which I don't think he realized was coming, 
he could not back down.  At that point he had to appear to be a DE 
to the end.  Mostly I think that he did it for Narcissa and a little 
bit for Draco. I don't think that he saw the third part of the vow 
coming.  We see that by the fact that his hand quivered just a 
slight bit, but he did what he had to do to keep from blowing his 
cover.  And yes I think that it matters what Bella thought at that 
point.  What do you think LV would have done if Snape would not have 
finished the vow?  I am sure that Bella would have gone running to 
LV to tell him.  Snape was in a rather awkward position.  And I for 
one think that it was because he let his heart get in his way.  He 
cared.  He didn't want to, he tried not to show it, but he cared.  
He could not bear to see Narcissa so distraught. I know that others 
don't agree with this, but I think that he cares for Narcissa more 
than we know.

I think that after the fact he went to DD and told him what he had 
done.  Also it appears that LV expected Snape to kill DD if Draco 
didn't.  At least that is what Snape implies when he is talking to 
the sisters.  We don't know if he is bluffing about that or if he 
really did have a conversation with LV about what Draco was expected 
to do.  One would think that LV would be like other terrorist and 
have different instructions for different people without one knowing 
what any of the others were doing.  But that may not be the case.

Tonks_op