Bellatrix Black-Lestrange sneered as she looked down at her latest victim; one Benjy Fenwick who was now blindfolded, gagged and immobilized by her husband and her brother in-law, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange.

"Make sure he's all tied up," she said, "The Dark Lord will be pleased by our work." She wanted to laugh at Albus Dumbledore's pathetic attempt to fight against the Death Eaters that gained number by each day. The faction led by the great Lord Voldemort had changed its stances ever since they found out some of the distant relatives from their Squib family members had suffered under the hands of the Muggles, and had taken in the young children to be integrated into the wizarding world as early as possible. However, the old pureblooded families only let those who were neutral or Dark-aligned to do the job, not wanting to smear their regal status.

After checking the bound man for any hidden weapons or wands, the Lestranges Apparated to their manor where the Dark Lord awaited. Bellatrix led the men into the basement, narrowing her eyes upon seeing a figure in black next to the powerful leader of the Death Eaters, who was tending to two cauldrons filled with a strange glowing green liquid.

Severus Snape.

As much as Bellatrix detested the poor half-blood wizard, she could see why the Dark Lord greatly prized Snape whose skills in potion-making and dueling surpassed her own. His silent aura and quick spell-casting had made him the unofficial duelist amongst the Death Eaters and they were convinced Snape could take down the entire Order of the Phoenix on his own, but Lord Voldemort had deemed Snape was better to be utilized in other aspects such as healing and they could only heed his words.

"Bellatrix," the Dark Lord greeted them with a smile. "Rodolphus and Rabastan. Who do you bring here tonight?"

"Benjy Fenwick, my Lord," her husband answered after they all bowed down to their Lord and kissed the hem of his robes. "We found him lurking in Knockturn Alley for information. If we are to be honest, we believe Dumbledore was so desperate to win if he was willing to send his followers there."

Lord Voldemort huffed in amusement. "I trust you have wiped his memory?"

Rabastan nodded.

"Severus here has a new potion for our hostage; would you like to stay and see?"

Bellatrix exchanged glances with the other two men. "If you wish so, my Lord," she answered for all of them, which seemed the right thing to say when the Dark Lord's red eyes gleamed. They then watched as Snape scooped the green potion from each cauldron into two goblets and two syringes, his dark eyes squinted before removing the gag and poured the potion down Fenwick's throat.

Suffice to say, Bellatrix was both delighted and disturbed over the man's shrieks for help and sorrowful cries, to which Snape simply ignored the noises and injected the potion into Fenwick.

The man writhed against his restraints until the effects reduced, gasping for breath as he pleaded, "I- I'm sorry- I won't do it again! Let me go! Let me-"

"We're not done yet," Snape hissed and forced the second goblet of potion into him. Meanwhile, Lord Voldemort's smile grew wider especially as Fenwick wetted himself on the floor, wordlessly casting Scourgify to clean the mess. When Snape injected the other potion, Fenwick turned hysterical.

"I'm sorry… b- but I don't do it! Please listen to me!" the man hollered mindlessly in pain, and Bellatrix knew enough the potion will induce great despair onto the victim, making them reliving their worst memories. Turning to Snape, she noticed he clenched his fists and his lips were pursed tight, briefly wondering what made the normally stoic man tick.

By the time Fenwick regained some of his senses again, the Dark Lord told them to do whatever they pleased since the potion testing was done.

As Rodolphus and Rabastan reinforced the ropes onto Fenwick and about to haul the weakened man into the deep dungeons, the Dark Lord stopped them. "If you aren't occupied after this, may I ask a favor from the three of you?" he asked. Beside him, Snape was cleaning his workstation without a word.

"Of course, my Lord," Bellatrix smiled as she curtsied to the powerful wizard, "Anything within our power."

"I want you to watch over the Longbottoms."

At that, she blinked. "My Lord?"

"You heard me well, Bellatrix." His red eyes narrowed and Bellatrix inwardly grimaced to herself. "Keep a close eye on them. Ask Lucius for any invisibility cloaks that you need and inform me as soon as possible if there is important information about them."

She was curious on Lord Voldemort's sudden interest on the Longbottoms but then mentally shook her head; it wouldn't do to cast any doubts on her great Lord's orders. And so, she only nodded her consent and went to join the Lestrange brothers.

It was early February, and Francesca Zabini sighed as she stopped marking the Ravenclaw second-years' essays, taking her green scarf before going to patrol along the halls of Hogwarts in the middle of the night. Her presence in the ancient castle was a mixed-bag; Horace Slughorn had made her teach the younger students while he focused on the O.W.L and N.E.W.T ones, with the students didn't mind her much.

It's just she was still paranoid over her near-death incident, wondering if the other teachers who might be members of the Order of the Phoenix had suspected her as a Death Eater spy already. If only her boyfriend was here in Hogwarts with her too… he could intimidate them with his dark gaze alone.

She was walking along the second-floor when she heard muffled noises and frowning to herself, she went to investigate only to click her tongue upon seeing two students were sharing a deep kiss in the dark. It was just a few more days before St. Valentine's Day, after all.

Still, she was a teacher and clearing her throat caused the two figures to jump. "Get back to your rooms, or I'll have to dock points," she said sharply. "Would you rather have me follow you, or else?" When they grumbled, she quirked her eyebrow in disinterest but then they left her alone, to which she massaged her forehead and glanced at the glass bracelet Severus Snape had given her.

The faint marks of carved protective runes soothed her heart as Francesca traced her fingers over them, and she channeled her magical senses deeply to make sure the protection charm was still activated when she suddenly felt a thrum within the item.

Her eyes flew open in fright and she almost batted the bracelet away from her wrist.

D- Did she feel it right? Focusing her magical aura onto the item, she concentrated her mental might until waves of Dark Magic hit her, they circulating around the mysterious thing which emitted a steady hum akin to a heartbeat. Her visage went pale, and she immediately took the bracelet off. What had Severus put in the glass bracelet? Had the… thing been in her spider bracelet too? What exactly had saved her from Lily Evans' Killing Curse back in last October?

Had Severus set her up so that she would be eternally grateful to him? To think he would do such thing…

Francesca quickly shook her head in denial. Surely there must be a reason for him to do so, and she had to know about it.

Severus had expected Francesca Zabini to know about his hidden Horcrux in the glass bracelet. He just hadn't thought it would be so soon; on St. Valentine's Day, to be exact.

He and Marvolo (who was in his owl form) were in the Three Broomsticks, with Francesca sitting opposite him, her dark eyes looked steely. The bracelet – his secret – was on the table, glinting under the warm lights. Severus could only blink, not knowing what action was the best to do. He could lie, of course. But would he?

His throat was dry when he uttered, "…This isn't the place to talk." Indeed, he initially thought it was only another excursion for him and Francesca to spend the day together. Even after putting up his muffling charm, he was sure eyes were watching them all from any corner and one of them might be Dumbledore's spy, especially after the incident with Lily Evans-Potter.

However, an idea suddenly crossed his worrying mind; one that talked of a new partner. It only made sense, hadn't it? He had known her for almost five years now, surely it was time to find a… wife? But… would he dare to make Francesca as his enemy if she rejected him?

Shoving the depressing thoughts aside, Severus built up his Occlumency shields and held his hand out to take the glass bracelet when Francesca beat him to it, her eyes were both frightened and conflicted. Gulping silently, he then stood up and she followed suit until they reached the edges of Hogsmeade Village to which he offered his arm, thinking it might be the last time he got to do it.

When they appeared at the gloomy neighborhood of Spinner's End, Cokeworth, Severus took a deep breath as he stared at the dilapidated grey house. He supposed it was fitting for him to be here; despite all his efforts to be Severus Prince, he was still Severus Snape to the core.

Unlocking the front door with a flick of his wand, he let Francesca to enter first. "Sorry, the house's a bit of a mess," he spoke offhandedly in attempt to defuse the tense situation, much to no avail.

She sat on the armchair facing the fireplace while he took one of the dining table's chairs after igniting the firewood, noting from the corner of his disguised eyes that Marvolo had flew to the top of the bookshelf, orange eyes blinking at him. The tiny gesture calmed him down; he was utmost grateful when the man didn't turn away the time he needed him the most.

"…W- What was in there?" Severus heard Francesca start timidly, "Your bracelet."

He gulped but then steeled himself. He would be honest and if she ran away from him…

"A part of my soul," he mumbled.

There was a beat of silence, aside from the crackling of the flames nearby.

"You know about the Fiendfyre that almost took my life because of my connection with my pet raven's feather," he went on, "and I thought to myself, I might be hunted down again. I need a better way to make sure I will live well and safe from any harm in the future. So I looked for all sorts of protection spells and…" He stopped to gauge Francesca's reactions.

She looked… neutral. Not as frightened, but still cautious. "And you found it."

"…Yes."

"Does it work?"

At that, Severus both wanted to laugh and cry. He groaned instead, running his fingers along his scalp. How was he supposed to tell her that the Horcruxes worked but he was just as dead? Looking at his gloved left hand, he suppressed his doubtful self and sniffed. "I… I want to show you something."

He removed all controls over his body and let his damaged, burnt soul drifted out from the (puppet) body.

"…It's almost a year since I technically died," Severus continued, staring down to the floor. His ghostly fingers were flexed and unclenched. "My father… h- he thought I killed my mother, and…"

"But I'm still here! I lived again! I-" He made the mistake of looking at Francesca.

He should have known that even wizards and witches have standards, that they; especially purebloods only tolerated the half-bloods at best, not outright accepting them as one of them. The ones born from the Muggle families were explicitly so. And the one in front of him...

He felt his heart close shut and let his Occlumency shields build up stronger in his mind until nothing ever mattered anymore.

No one would want the man who got disfigured by among the darkest Magic ever existed, no matter how kind and clever he was. Beauty was the most sought feature both in the Muggle world and the wizarding world, and he was not one of the blessed. He should be grateful that Tom Marvolo Riddle – Lord Voldemort – was willing to be bounded by the Princes' loyalty bond even after all his sufferings… but not Francesca Zabini.

Severus was so deep in his tumultuous thoughts that he didn't register Francesca had gotten up from her seat and wore the glass bracelet around her wrist until he felt a soft sensation on his lips and blinked in utter surprise.

Francesca Zabini was kissing him.

She was kissing his marred soul, not the unblemished body slumped on the chair. Her dark eyes looked up to his orange-red ones warmly, and he felt his phantom heart stirred awake again as his eyes briefly dropped to the glass bracelet.

When she withdrew away, there was a sharp pang in his chest for having high hopes so quickly. Had he always been this vulnerable?

"You gave me a piece of your soul, even after knowing I may be attacked again," Francesca said, still not breaking eye contact with him.

"…Yes."

"Do you intend for it to be a sacrifice, if someone were to kill me again?"

"I… I don't mind," was all Severus could say. Because what was exactly Francesca Zabini to him? A friend? A lover? He himself didn't know; all he knew was he just wanted to be with her the same way he was with Marvolo. Someone who treated him kindly and asked nothing in return for said gesture… that was more than enough for him.

"You deserve someone better," escaped his mouth. "Someone… perfect for you."

Francesca still looked at him, dark brown eyes shining under the dim lights. "Yes."

"But I have already found him."