a/n: do leave reviews or otherwise I won't update this story here anymore; only will do it on AO3
Francesca Zabini returned to Hogwarts with numerous thoughts in her head; barely minding as the gamekeeper, Rubeus Hagrid opened the gates for her. Upon entering the Slytherin dungeons, she went to the common room, blinking when she saw there was no one before realizing it was almost midnight and the students had gone to sleep already.
Her gaze fell onto the silver statue of Severus Snape at the corner of the room and she sat beside it, staring at the glass bracelet around her wrist with tears welled up in her eyes.
How could Severus just tell and show such… terrible things to her; that he was technically dead for almost a year? That the Fiendfyre permanently disfigured his soul? That his own father killed him over a misunderstanding? How could she not notice the changes in his face? His previously large hooked nose had looked smaller now; his visage was almost as angular as the Dark Lord Voldemort, and the black contact lenses...
Francesca was ashamed to admit that she almost ran away in utter fright when seeing his wounded spirit, but those orange-red eyes… the light in them died out almost instantly when they looked at each other and she... she reflexively didn't want to be like Lily Evans. She only had heard talks that the redhead left Severus for being called a Mudblood in her school years, and she decided to not being the subject of the young man's explosive wrath as rumored by other people.
Her fingers brushed against the stone locket around her neck and she pressed the spider button, which opened up to show a moving portrait of Severus in his seventh year, it continued to smile and wave at her. Her own quotes of associating him with spiders rang in her mind and she sighed in deep sorrow. Why would things be so literal? Why was Fate being so cruel?
Caressing the glass bracelet, Francesca then went to her room and kept the item in a charmed safe. If Severus Snape really entrusted part of his soul to her, she wanted to do it properly. He had protected her in the past; it was now time to repay the debt.
Even if it meant she would end up dying in the future.
Lord Voldemort had his red eyes narrowed as he looked at the family tree in Prince Manor; his gaze was fixed onto Francesca Zabini's name next to his heir's. His own name however, had elevated slightly so it was par on Eileen Prince's, while her husband's, Tobias Snape was shoved aside and almost faded from his sight.
"What does this mean?" he asked the ghost beside him curiously.
Septimus Prince smiled, "It just means he thinks you as his actual father."
The Dark Lord blinked, half-surprised, half-astounded by the statement. "But Zabini…"
"You know him better than everyone else. Even if Severus trusts her now, I doubt he will let her in here, especially with the basilisk roaming around. You also essentially become one of us Princes."
"What if they were to be married?"
"He may just make a new home for his family. This place is one of his many treasured possessions and I don't think he is willing to share them all."
Indeed, Severus Prince showing Lord Voldemort all of his Horcruxes was perhaps the greatest indication that the young man truly trusted him with all his life. And so did the Dark Lord, in which a slight surge of pride and triumph swelled in his chest.
He traced the light blue line connecting their names lightly, "…I guess I was a bit jealous over him getting a new partner."
Septimus gave him a weak smile, "We too are worried if… if the same thing with Lily Evans may happen again. C- Can you look after him for us?"
The Dark Lord turned to the ancient spirit, whose dark eyes were full of concern and hope. He knew enough what the ghost actually meant by now. That Septimus didn't want the same fate he had befalling Severus too. The young man had enough heartbreak for a lifetime already.
"…I will try my best," he said.
It was early March, and Severus accompanied Marvolo to a secluded cliff overseeing the sea. The cold wind that blew by stung his visage slightly, and he huddled into the warmth of his winter cloak and robes. In his hand was an enchanted suitcase that kept the Water of Despair's cauldrons from being spilt and a shrunken modified stone casket.
"We'll need to fly a bit, unless you don't mind getting wet to swim into that fissure over there," Marvolo spoke, pointing ahead of them after walking down a few jagged boulders. "Are you ready?"
Severus gulped; he had tried to learn flying according to the man's teachings but the memory of him hung upside down often frightened him and made him lose his control. "I- …No," he lowered his head, slightly ashamed. Looking at the rough waves below him, he doubted he could swim well. He decided to shrink the suitcase for safety measures.
As Marvolo's hands entwined with his, Severus couldn't help sighing in relief; he always fared better when the powerful man was around. And so, the two men flew into the fissure until they reached the entrance of a cave and began walking, wands lit up. If he assumed right, Severus was sure they were under the rocky cliff.
"You ever wonder how my life was many years ago?" the other man spoke after muttering some ancient-sounding incantations and Severus blinked in surprise.
"…I suppose I do." Yes, Severus only knew that Marvolo was a half-blood wizard who was 'lauded' for having Rubeus Hagrid expelled in his fifth year for the basilisk incident, and now was trying his best to make the wizarding world prosper again.
"I was a handsome lad born in an orphanage in London. My mother died after giving birth to me there. Ever since I knew I was named after my father, I hated looking at myself in the mirror. That everything about me was not actually of my own. I inherited my Muggle father's looks and name, according to my uncle and the orphanage caretaker. 'Marvolo' was my grandfather's name."
Severus blinked in slight shock, "Your uncle?"
"Yes," Marvolo almost hissed, "His visage was terrible. All the Gaunts, including my mother weren't total beauts. Anyway, surely you knew how the Muggle children look like, don't you? They aren't exactly lively, right? Especially when it's just after the First World War."
Severus only shrugged, briefly frowning when the man took out a dagger and slashed the palm of his hand, letting his blood drip onto a flat stone face, to which an opening appeared moments later and they came face-to-face with a huge dark lake. Marvolo silently healed his wounded hand and stared ahead in reminiscence.
"And so, young Tom Marvolo Riddle stayed in the orphanage for years to come, even as he graduated from Hogwarts. Many had expressed their confusion why such a handsome boy was left in a dreary place and wished to adopt him but they also ran away upon knowing he was a bully. Tell me, was it really bullying that they too, were jealous of the boy for his looks? That Tom Riddle was an outlier for being different and wanting to defend himself from their cruelty? That Tom Riddle was not a mad man or possessed by demons?"
"No," Severus answered almost too quickly, knowing well what Marvolo meant. He too, had experienced such horrible things in his childhood years. "I'm sorry those things happened to you."
Marvolo sniffed, "Doesn't matter; they had passed anyway."
"Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop, they were a few years older than me," the man went on as they walked along the sides of the lake, "An elderly couple wanted to adopt someone in a surprise and all the children assumed it was me. And as the usual trip to the beach before bidding goodbye to whoever got chosen came by, they invited me here. I knew I should be careful but alas… I too was once young and curious. They intend to leave me afterward, already knowing the upcoming high tide will fill this very cave."
"This place for me… is the same as you with the oak tree. This was where magic first helped me, and I wish to honor it with keeping one of my Horcruxes even before you told me to make the fake ones. But no matter, we can still bait Dumbledore with those replicas." Marvolo then held his wand up high and Severus saw a thick metal chain getting reeled in and a small boat emerged from the water.
"You first, Severus," he said. "Don't touch the water."
Severus looked back at the boat. It seemed like it would fit two children well, but two adults… Though he assumed Marvolo had enchanted the boat prior to their visit and so, he gingerly stepped into it with Marvolo followed suit just as quick and they sailed to the center of the lake, his orange-red eyes narrowed at the rotten human bodies submerged in the deep waters however he made no comment about them.
When they reached a small island, they climbed up and Marvolo beckoned for him to take out the items from his suitcase. They then set up the casket in the middle of the island, to which the casket had two layers; the first layer was filled with the potion laced with his Animagus form's venom and after putting the duplicate of Salazar Slytherin's locket into the casket, pouring the regular Water of Despair into the second layer.
"We will need to make sure they couldn't get the antidote for the injected potion in time, seeing that they also have to see how deep the potion was before drinking," Marvolo said when Severus asked about the purpose of the thin needles pointing inward of the casket, hidden from sight due to the bright green glow from the potion.
"Double trouble," he smirked to which Marvolo grinned. Soon they finished up and left for their next destinations; the rundown Gaunt shack in Little Hangleton where they hid the copy of the Resurrection Stone and its golden ring, Malfoy Manor and Lestrange Manor.
Lucius Malfoy had his brows raised upon receiving the notebook and Bellatrix Lestrange frowned with a sniff at Severus as she took the fake goblet. The replica of Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem was left behind in Prince Manor, seeing that hiding it in Hogwarts might cause more trouble than intended.
After all was done, there was only the waiting game for the upcoming end of July.
"What if there will be another prophesied kid born this year?" Severus asked after they had supper, curious with the other man's decisions.
Marvolo narrowed his red eyes, "I doubt so, but that's where Peter Pettigrew will come along for more information."
"You want to have him in the Death Eaters now?"
"He has been a good spy for us, hadn't he? Already expressing his wishes to be part of us who will change the wizarding world; it's only fair for us to reward him well. Even a tiny mouse gets to scare the mighty elephant."
Severus smiled weakly. True, the cowardly young man had been an important asset for the Death Eaters to topple the Order of the Phoenix but he thought it was still too early to have him inducted. "Let's wait until July passes," he said, "Dumbledore might suspect some of his goons already by now."
He needed to check on the crystal ball connecting to James Potter's wedding ring and see if the incantations placed there were still intact.
After Marvolo took his leave, Severus looked at his family tree, tracing the light blue line symbolizing the loyalty bond connecting to Francesca Zabini's name before sighing morosely. He could only hope that in spite of anything regarding the glass bracelet's history, she would wear it again for her own safety.
Petunia Evans-Dursley smiled as she made lunch for her and her guest, Severus Snape who helped her to babysit her son. Her husband, Vernon had gone to work just as Severus arrived and despite being legal to show his magic to her family, Severus strictly played with the boy without any spells that made the toys float or changing one item into another object; unlike Lily who had done so in their childhood years.
"Having fun?" she said and placed the tray of sandwiches and orange juice onto the coffee table.
Severus snorted in amusement. "He bounds to be a strongman like his dad, someday," he commented when Dudley took two toy trains and held them as if they were airplanes, to which Petunia rolled her eyes with a smile.
"Vernon said that too."
"So am I a fortune teller or what?"
"Oh, you!" she lightly shoved the young man with a grin. Then she blinked and gasped, "…Do you think those people are the real deal?"
Severus only raised his eyebrow. "You tell me; but as far as I'm concerned, not many got their predictions correct. Even in the wizarding world."
"Is that so…" Petunia muttered and she looked down to his fingers, which had no accessories or anything and she felt her curiosity rose. She just couldn't help indulging into gossips.
"Got anyone yet?"
At that, Severus almost let go of the glass he was holding. "Pardon?" he asked in great incredulity.
"You know what I mean."
"Yes, but…"
"So you do have one?" Now she really was interested. Who could have caught the dark brooding heart of the ever-quiet and mysterious Severus Snape? No one else had gotten Severus all flustered like he was in front of her right now; this was great news on its own!
"I…" he started after taking a gulp of his drink, his normally pale face was currently beet red. "I- I'm not sure. I mean… I do think we like each other, but… she just needed some time now."
"Well convince her that you're the man," Petunia said and had her drink as well, "that's what I did with Vernon. And make it quick, lest you'll be so sorry."
Severus frowned as he shirked slightly into his seat.
"…It just feels too good to be true, really," he uttered after a long silence, "that there are people who want me in their life."
Petunia held out a quiet breath. Despite being married to Vernon for almost four years now, she was still in slight disbelief that the stocky-built man had wanted her as his lifelong wife. And she remembered her first meeting with the young man beside her, who looked so scruffy and strange as if he got abandoned or was a delinquent in the monotonous neighborhood of Spinner's End, Cokeworth.
Had it really been over a decade since they met?
"…I hope she's the one for you," she whispered.
Severus huffed under his breath, "I hope your family lives well."
"Going to invite us to your wedding?"
"It's still too early for that, Petunia!" he scoffed but it was not without a nervous grin. "Not even proposing or anything along that line just yet…!" His visage went all red again.
"Ooh, a traditionalist! That party's bound to be a blast!" Her smirk grew wider when he groaned loudly.
"You're terrible." He snorted and took his leave, to which she only said, "Come again soon!" with Dudley babbling his goodbyes before the front door closed.
But if she were to be honest, Petunia really hoped Severus' girlfriend would treat him well.