Disclaimer: I own nothing, the usual blarney...actually, I DO own the plot...sort of. It kind of follows the storyline of Disney's Beauty and the Beast (I watched it earlier, so I'm sort of all Disney-fied), 'cept there's no guarantee of a happy ending. And I sort of own Blaise Zabini's character, because it's never even been defined in the books whether Blaise is male of female, let alone giving her a personality (my Blaise is female, which will become obvious once you start reading...).

Author's Notes: This is set five years after Hogwarts, so everyone from Blaise's year is either 22 or 23. It will be a Blaise/Snape fic, so if you're dead set against that pairing then LEAVE NOW!!!

Just a ickle short chapter this one, it's the prologue, just so you know what's what. It will be a help, I think...

***

"Please, Severus. I've asked you nicely and now I'm begging you. She's my only daughter, I'd give anything to keep her safe."

"What makes you think she'll be safe at the manor?"

"Voldemort's followers all think you dead. Nobody will disturb the manor; it's thought to be empty. And anyway, Voldemort would never dream that I'd be consorting with you – not just because he thinks you're dead, but because you betrayed him. Voldemort believes me to be loyal to him."

David Zabini leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh.

"Blaise is not just my only daughter, she's the only family I've got left. If it comes out that I'm a spy, she's the first one that the Death Eaters will try and hunt down. You've seen firsthand what they do to traitors' wives and daughters – I don't want that happening to Blaise. That girl's had enough suffering in her life already."

Severus Snape let out a sigh, too. He rolled up the left sleeve of his robes, stared at the Mark on his pale white arm, and his black eyes hardened. He looked back up at David.

"I agree with you that you have to keep Blaise safe, but I doubt that the manor is the safest place for her – especially if she were to be alone there. I have to go back to Hogwarts in September – she would be fine at the manor whilst I was there, but not when I'm gone."

"But if Voldemort's followers believe you dead, how can you return to Hogwarts? The information would surely leak –"

"I'm not teaching, David. I'm simply using the facilities at Hogwarts to brew Potions for Dumbledore. I'll work by night, sleep by day, and have my meals brought to me in my private chambers by the house-elves."

"It'll be lonely."

"Too right it will, but as Dumbledore said, it's better for me to live and carry on helping him secretly than to carry on teaching and be hunted down and killed."

"He's right, of course..." David stared at the tabletop for a moment before looking back at Severus, heavy sadness in his eyes. "Is there nothing you can do for Blaise?"

"There is something..."

"What's the chance that she'd be safe?"

"Ninety-five to a hundred percent."

"What's your plan?"

"Blaise could come back to Hogwarts with me – she could work as my assistant. Her Potions work was always excellent – she was as good as Hermione Granger, and look what became of her."

"She's dead."

"No, but what happened before her death? She invented the Liquid Life Potion. Ironic, really, that she invented the one thing that could have saved her, but it wasn't declared safe to use until after her death. Typical Ministry, turning everything into a farce as usual..." Severus stopped talking and stared at David for a moment. "If Blaise agrees, I will talk to Dumbledore. I'll convince him that Blaise will be a help and not a hindrance; I'll tell him that she'll make my workload a lot easier. Which she will, of course."

"Thank you, Severus. I won't forget this – and I'm sure that Blaise will agree to it. I'll owl you as soon as I've spoken to her."

Severus nodded, and his friend smiled and left. He sighed. He hadn't been entirely truthful when describing Blaise's Potions work – in fact, she'd always been a bit more towards the Neville Longbottom end of the spectrum, rather than equalling Hermione Granger's skill.

Still, he owed David Zabini – and his friend was right, he had seen firsthand what happened to the wives and daughters of people who betrayed Voldemort. Blaise Zabini had only been one of his students, but he wouldn't wish that fate on anyone.