Chapter 4: The enigma of Blaise Zabini    

Chapter Text

Blaise sighed, re-reading the letter from his mother with a bored expression on his face. Thankfully she didn’t care to much about his life about Hogwarts nor his life after Hogwarts, not as long as he maintained the family name on some level. No, she hadn’t written to enquire about him or his daily activities, besides the cursory ‘how are you’ he got nothing. Instead he got a four page letter on her latest husband, one Duke William of Kennsington, a pureblood wizard who happened to be a Duke. Not that he cared, he doubted he’d be home in time to meet the Duke, especially since the moron planned to marry his mother of all people. Lady Zabini had an interesting reputation in the wizarding world. She had had eight extremely wealthy husbands, all of them dying rather interesting deaths after leaving their entire fortune to her. Law enforcement could never prove she had anything to do with the accidental deaths, and she’d mourn for a time, which was proper and then marry again. It probably helped that his mother was gorgeous, but having seven step-fathers was bad for a teenage boys psyche, and he really detested dealing with any of them. Honestly he didn’t even bother to remember names anymore, and secretly referred to them by their number, Duke William would be known as Idiot Number Nine to Blaise and anyone he bothered to share that information with.

He glanced around the empty common room, it was Christmas eve and the only Slytherin remaining at Hogwarts besides himself was Pansy. He hadn’t seen her yet, but figured she was off reading or doing something feminine and boring, not that Blaise minded being alone, just today he was feeling a bit saddened, and wanted some company.  Standing up, he tossed the letter in the fire, he’d send his mother a congratulations note tomorrow or something along with a Happy Christmas. It wasn’t as if his mother didn’t love him, Blaise knew she cared, but she just got so caught up in the moment that her son didn’t really register on her internal radar when he was away at school. He knew he’d get showered with Christmas presents, that was normal, and when he went home for the summer she’d be happy to see him, but sometimes he wished she noticed him while he was away. Most kids parents wrote them weekly, asking about grades and other stuff, showing interest in their lives, his mother wrote maybe once a month and only filled him in on need-to-know information, rarely asking him about his own life.

He sighed, debating on where to head, he didn’t want to sit in the Common Room all day, nor did he really feel like going to the Hall or anything. Standing, he went into his room, digging out his scarf, gloves and warm winter coat before he braved the snow covered grounds for a walk.
Leaving the warm Common Room, he made his way out of the dungeon, heading past the great hall towards the main doors.
“Where are you off to Mr. Zabini?” A voice sounded behind him, and Blaise turned to find Professor Snape standing at the foot of the stairway, Silver sitting in his arms watching him.
“Just for a walk, need some fresh air” Blaise replied, smiling at his head of house. Silver perked at this and mewed softly, looking from Severus to Blaise with pleading green eyes.
“It seems my familiar wishes to join you Mr. Zabini, is that acceptable?” Sev asked, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at Silver’s actions. Silly kitten.
“No, I don’t mind at all” Blaise said, grinning. He loved spending time with the imp of a kitten, and playing with him in the snow might be fun.
“Alright then, bring him to my quarters when you’re ready, I’ll expect you before supper” Severus said, pulling out a tiny green sweater and putting it on the kitten. Silver’s species was used designed for the warm weather of South America and the kitten’s coat was not thick enough to handle the frigid winter of Scotland. Blaise accepted the squirming kitten from his head, resisting the urge to chuckle at the poor creature who looked miserable at being wrapped up in the sweater.
“See that he keeps that on, he hates them, but no one wants to deal with a cat with a head cold” Severus said, his black eyes dancing with amusement.
“Sure thing, I’ll make sure he stays warm” Blaise said with a grin, carrying the kitten out the door and towards the lake.

The lake was covered in a thick ice, though a few places were broken near the shallows by either the giant squid or students tossing rocks at it. Blaise loved coming down here, the scenery was gorgeous and generally the Gryffindors avoided this place, preferring to have snowball fights over on the Quidditch Pitch.
“Here you go” Blaise murmured, setting the kitten down on the snowy path and watching in amusement as Silver began to bounce about, playing in the deep snow beside the path. Blaise found a nearby rock, casting a drying charm and heating charm on the small boulder, he sat down, keeping a close watch on the tiny kitten.

Eventually Silver seemed to run himself down and crawled over, curling up in a ball on Blaise’s lap, enjoying the warmth.
“Worn out huh?” Blaise teased, the kitten had been goofing around for about an hour and it made sense that he was finally tired. Silver nudged Blaise’s hand lightly, his tiny pink tongue flicking out to lick Blaise’s finger for a second before he curled up even tighter and went to sleep. Blaise smiled, rubbing Silver’s head softly as he continued to stare out at the lake.

“Well what do we have here?” A voice sounded behind Blaise, making him turn and bit back a groan.
“Afternoon Weasley” The tall Italian murmured, picking up Silver and standing up. The movement must have woken the kitten because a sleepy head rose, looking around questioningly.
“What are you doing here Zabini?” Ron asked, glowering at the Slytherin.
“Enjoying the view, why?” Blaise said, rolling his eyes. Ronald Weasley truly was an idiot.
“Snakes don’t enjoy views, you’re probably plotting something” Ron said, his tone accusatory.
“Not every Slytherin is out to get you and your bloody house Weasley. I just came out here to enjoy the view and play with Silver. Not that that’s any of your business” Blaise said, fingering his wand lightly.
“Bullshit, you’re all evil and liars Zabini, no one good ever came out of your house. Everyone knows Slytherin breeds dark wizards” Ron scoffed, “Why would you want to play with that anyway? It’s a diseased little rat”
Blaise’s normally hard to rouse temper took offense at the remark on the kitten, more so then the slander against his house. Attacking Slytherin was normal for Gryffindors, but to accuse a defenseless kitten was low.
“Leave him alone Weasley, he’s never done anything to you”
“He should be drowned, probably spies for your house and feeds everything he learns to his master. That giant dungeon bat you call the head of your house” Ron taunted. 
“Enough Weasley” Blaise hissed, resisting the urge to hex the little worm. No wonder Draco was so mean to the Weasley family, the red head had a gift for getting under peoples’ skin.
“Can’t handle the truth Zabini? Hate admitting that I’m right?” Ron taunted, ignoring the warning signs of Blaise’s anger. The big Italian boy took a deep breath, counting to ten first in english and then italian, doing his best not to lose his cool.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about Weasley, leave us be” Blaise finally said, his tone as calm as he could get it. Stepping away from the lake, he pushed past Ron, holding tightly to Silver who was shaking slightly from fear.
“Don’t you dare turn your back on me snake!” Ron shouted, temper getting the best of him. Grabbing his wand, he shouted a spell, causing Blaise to whirl around, ducking just in time as the red jet of light shot over his head. In his haste he dropped Silver, pulling his own wand and casting a shield charm around himself.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Blaise yelled, staring at the pissed off red head with narrowed blue eyes.
“I said don’t turn your back on me” Ron hissed, sending another hex at the brunette, growling in frustration as it bounced off of Blaise’s shield.

Meanwhile, Silver had frantically been trying to get away, his fear of shouting and Ron’s anger was giving him miniature flashbacks of his time at the Dursleys and every instinct in his body screamed run. Struggling through the snow, the scared kitten paid no mind to where he was going, only his desperate attempts to get away when he slammed into something. Dazed, he glanced up, cowering in fear as Ron’s large hand reached down, grabbing him harshly by the collar around his neck. 
“Lose something Zabini?” Ron teased, holding Silver up for the Italian boy to see.
“Drop him Weasley” Blaise hissed, eyes wide as he took in the terrified kitten.
“Fine then” Ron said, tightening his grip for a moment before flinging Silver as hard as he could towards the lake. Blaise’s shout of denial and anger ripped through the air and a stunning spell was sent at Ronald. The red head crumpled as Blaise took off towards the lake, watching in horror as Silver’s tiny body struck the ice, skittering across it before slipping in to a hole created by the squid.
“Shit” Blaise cursed as he neared the water’s edge, desperately trying to figure out how to reach the kitten. He knew a summoning spell, but he wasn’t sure if it would work on the little creature.
“Try it Blaise, damn it” He ordered himself.
“Accio Silver” He said, pointing his wand at the lake and praying this worked, otherwise he’d have to go into the lake and rescue the small kitten. Seconds passed agonizingly slow before Blaise was rewarded by the sight of a sopping wet kitten flying limply through the air. Catching Silver with ease, Blaise immediately cast a heating charm on the kitten, drying him off as best he could. He could feel sticky blood under the kitten’s sweater and his right front paw was bent at a horrible angle, broken from the impact of hitting the ice.

Ignoring the stunned Weasley, Blaise bolted for the castle, carrying the whimpering kitten carefully in his arms as he crooned apologies to the little creature. Silver nestled against him, clearly not blaming Blaise for whatever had happened. Instead the kitten seemed to be as close as humanly possible, whimpering and whining softly which broke Blaise’s heart.

Heading for Snape’s quarters, Blaise thundered down the hallway, ignoring the paintings that shouted out for him to stop running. Nothing short of You-Know-Who himself would get Blaise to stop running though, he was to worried about the now still kitten in his arms.

“Professor” He cried, pounding on Snape’s door since he didn’t know the password.
After what felt like hours, the door was ripped open and an irritated Professor Snape stood in the entrance way, glowering at his student. 
“What?” He hissed before he noticed Blaise’s disheveled appearance and heard the whimpering. Glancing down he noticed the wet, still lump in Blaise’s arms and cursed. 
“Get inside” He said, no longer angry though worry laced his tone. 
“What happened?” He demanded, relieving Blaise of the bundle and listening intently to the young man as he carefully stripped the wet sweater off of Silver.
“I’ll see to it that the boy is punished Mr. Zabini, thank you for rescuing my familiar” Sev said in a shaking voice. He was so bloody angry at the youngest male Weasley that he could barely see straight. He sucked in a breath as he observed the damaged little kitten, Silver’s leg was most definitely broken, and he was positive a few ribs were as well. He had cuts from the sharp ice and was probably suffering from hypothermia as well. Summoning a pain potion, he coaxed the kitten into drinking a eyedropper full, before he carefully cleaned and dressed his wounds. Healing spells wouldn’t work on the kitten, and he couldn’t let Silver turn back while injured. Cursing mentally, he carefully splint Silver’s leg, wrapping it as tightly as he could, though was careful not to prevent circulation. He then carefully wrapped the kitten in a spell-heated blanket, making sure to keep him tightly bundled before pointing his wand at the fire place and lighting a large fire.

Blaise watched Severus work in awe, he stood uselessly by, watching his Professor carefully fix up the kitten, bandaging and tending to his wounds before starting a fire and gesturing for Blaise to sit in front of it.
“I need to go change Mr. Zabini, you need to keep him wrapped in this blanket and close to the fire, he’s hypothermic and we need to warm up his core temperature” Severus explained, waiting for Blaise to remove his snow things before settling down. Blaise stroked Silver’s head, mentally kicking himself for allowing something like this to happen, thought it seemed neither the kitten nor the Professor blamed him.
“I just flooed Professor Dumbledore from the other room, he’s sent out Minerva to collect Mr. Weasley” Severus said as he came back into the room wearing a clean shirt. Carefully taking the kitten, he sat down opposite Blaise and sighed.
“Thank you again Mr. Zabini, you probably saved his life” Sev said, trying to ignore the emotion clogging his throat.
“You’re welcome Professor, I’d hate to see anything happen to him, he’s sorta grown on me” Blaise admitted, blushing lightly.
“I think, under the circumstances you’ve earned the right to call me Severus, in private” Severus murmured, “After all, you saved my familiars life, and kept your head in a difficult situation” Sev murmured.
“Then you must call me Blaise” The Italian said with a smile, he knew Draco called Severus by his first name when in private, but he had never expected to be granted the privilege. The two talked for what seemed like another hour or so before Blaise slipped out of the room, heading for the Common Room after a long, exhausting day. Severus said that Dumbledore would most likely call upon him to give his account of what had occurred that afternoon, and he was not looking forward to another encounter with the red head.

HP/SS

Silver work slowly, his body felt sore, but really, compared to some of the injuries he had endured in the past, it was tolerable. He shifted, poking his head free from the rather thick blanket that was surrounding him and mewed softly. In an instant, Severus was at his side, gently extracting him from the thick material. His mind was to fuddled to actually comprehend what the man was saying, but the tone of his voice was soothing, and Silver was easily lulled back to a sort of zoned out, sleepy state.

Severus heaved a sigh of relief as Silver finally woke up, he’d been asleep for quite some time, and Sev had been beginning to worry.
Sighing, the dark-haired man began to attempt to coax another pain numbing draught down Silver’s throat, it was rather difficult, since the kitten was still sleepy and was reluctant to really wake up. After finally succeeding, Sev checked the wrapped leg, making sure the bone was healing properly, he didn’t want Silver to suffer a deformity, nor did he want the injury to effect Harry.

HP/SS

“Silly kitten” Sev muttered, ignoring the put out expression on the sleepy face. The kitten twitched his tail and struggled free of the blanket. It had been about half an hour since Severus had finally managed to get him to take the numbing potion and the kitten was much more active now.
“I have to go speak to the Headmaster brat, you must stay here for now” Severus murmured, looking at the kitten with a bit of a worried expression. He didn’t want to leave Silver, especially not while injured, but he also didn’t want to bring the kitten close to Weasley, who the meeting was about and Severus assumed the boy would be present. Silver shuddered, making a pitiful mewing noise, he didn’t want to be alone, especially not while injured.
Sev sighed, looking down at the kitten who painted a picture of abject misery and rubbed his brow.
“I’ll see if I can find someone to take care of you” He said softly, “Miss Parkinson should be in the Common Room, I’ll take you over there when I go to collect Mr. Zabini” He said, checking the time and bundling the kitten up again.
“Come on brat” He said, though Severus was secretly pleased to see how much Silver, aka Harry needed him and relied on him.

Severus walked slowly down the stone corridor that lead to Slytherin Common Rooms. He had no desire to jostle the kitten who was purring contently in his warm, fleece blanket.
Whispering the password, lest someone be listening in, though the hallway was deserted, Severus stepped inside, immediately spotting his two snakes sitting on a large couch near the fire.
“Hello” He said, catching their attention as he walked silently into the room.
“Professor” Pansy murmured as Blaise rose.
“Are you ready Mr. Zabini? The Headmaster will probably require your memories of the event” Severus murmured, Blaise nodded, paling slightly but still prepared.
“Miss Parkinson, will you please keep an eye on Silver until I return?” Severus asked, turning to the dark haired girl. 
“Of course sir, Blaise filled me in” She said, gently accepting the bundled up kitten from the Potion’s Master.
“Thank you, hopefully this won’t take to long. He just had some pain potion, so he shouldn’t need anymore, if he begins to fuss or anything, please contact me in the Headmaster’s office” He added, handing Pansy Silver’s toys, though he doubted the kitten could play with them, and a small food and water dish.
“Will do Professor” Pansy said, stroking the furred head that had emerged from the blanket and was looking around the room before looking at Severus.
“I’ll be back soon” Sev said again, looking directly at the green-eyed kitten. Silver yawned, nodding his head before burrowing back down inside the warm blanket.

HP/SS

Albus Dumbledore sat in his large office sucking on a small, tart candy better known as a lemon drop. He was staring down at his desk unseeingly, ignoring the large stacks of paper that littered the surface. He glanced up as Minerva came in, closely followed by a red-faced Ronald Weasley. Albus sighed, now all they needed was for Severus and Mr. Zabini to arrive and then this charade  could begin.
“Minerva, Ronald, please take a seat” He said, indicating the squishy, oddly coloured chairs he had conjured specifically for this meeting. Minerva sniffed disdainfully at the chairs, though she settled herself down, jerking her head at Ronald with a clearly displeased expression. The boy settled himself slowly, looking around anxiously.
“Lemon drop?” Albus offered, holding the yellow coloured tin out to the pair.
“No thank you” Minerva said stiffly, she wasn’t fond of the sour sweet, though Albus continued to offer them to her, if just for the sake of having something to say.
Ronald also declined by a shake of his head, clearly an indication of how dire the situation was, the boy was always hungry.
“Tea then?” Albus murmured, trying to ignore the suffocating silence.
“Please” Minerva said with a smile, she wasn’t one to refuse tea. Albus sighed, relieved to have something to do as he summoned Minerva’s favorite black tea and glanced at Ronald, who once again declined with a shake of his head.

A knock on his office door announced the arrival of Severus and Mr. Zabini. Albus watched with hooded eyes as his Potions’s Master swept into the room, his normal black robes billowing out behind him, his student following closely on his heels. Albus was always amazed with the stoic face that those of Slytherin house managed to hold outside their own house.
“Severus, Mr. Zabini” Albus said, offering the same things he had offered the Gryffindors with even less luck. Severus glanced at the chairs Albus had summoned and draw his own wand, transfiguring the chairs into basic black, leather ones. Albus rolled his eyes, but accepted the change good naturally, Severus often changed his transfigured objects.

Blaise seated himself next to his house head, looking around the Headmaster’s office with bored interest. He hadn’t spent much time inside the grand room, not having any reason to be called to see the Headmaster. He glanced at Weasley next, noting with interest the red shading of his skin, and wondered if he was embarrassed or worried or even angry. He bit his lip, the only sign of his own nervousness. Severus was sitting stiff backed, staring with black eyes at Dumbledore, clearly indicating he wanted to get this over with. Blaise agreed, he had no wish to spend much more of his christmas eve around Gryffindors.

“Well then” Albus murmured, looking dejected at the hostility between the two groups.
“Earlier this afternoon, an altercation resulted between Mr. Weasley and Mr. Zabini, unfortunately it seems that Professor Snape’s familiar, Silver was involved” Albus said, looking at the two house heads.

Minerva looked unnerved, she glanced at Ron, her eyes narrowing for a moment.
“Care to explain to me, Mr. Weasley, how Professor Snape’s familiar was involved in what you called, ‘a little argument between me and that Zabini prat?” She said, arching an eyebrow.
“Well, err, you see...” Ron trailed off, his ears beginning to redden in anger.
“It wasn’t my FAULT” He bellowed suddenly, “Zabini was being an arse and that stupid cat got in my way” Ron seethed, his eyes flashing.
“Thats a lie” Blaise snapped, “I was outside by the lake with Silver when Weasley came up and started harassing me” Blaise said, struggling to keep his voice calm.
“He was extremely ill mannered, and then when I tried to leave he stopped me. I shouted at him and I can only assume that our loud voices frightened Silver. I thought he was standing next to me, but next thing I knew, Weasley had grabbed the kitten and was throwing him at the lake” Blaise’s voice had gone soft, his heart thumping unevenly as he remembered the fear he had felt seeing the kitten shooting through the air.
“Silver hit a weak patch of ice, and after bouncing a few times broke through, I managed to use a summoning charm to get him back, and then took him to Professor Snape’s to be treated”
“How did Mr. Weasley end up stunned?” Albus asked, looking at Blaise who flushed lightly.
“I stunned him after he threw Silver, I didn’t want him to run off and get away with what he’d done” Blaise admitted.
“Ah, well, now we have two very different versions of the same incident” Albus said, “Would you boys consent to allowing myself, and your House Heads to examine your memories?”
Blaise nodded, “Of course Headmaster” The Italian boy said, sitting up a bit straighter in his chair. Weasley flushed an ugly red colour, looking torn for a moment.
“Bu-” He caught the dangerous expression on Professor McGonagall’s face and sighed, “Fine” He huffed, looking put out. Severus smirked, before putting his wand to Blaise’s temple and extracting the aforementioned memory. Blaise shuddered, rubbing the spot where the wand had been as Sev placed the memory in Dumbledore’s Pensive which was sitting on the desk in front of the Headmaster.
“First we examine Mr. Zabini’s, then Mr. Weasley’s” Albus said as Minerva collected Ron’s memory, placing it in a crystal glass bottle which she placed on the desk. The three Professor’s rose as one and one after the other entered the memory.

Silence reigned in the office as Ron and Blaise waited for their Professor’s to return. Blaise seemed comfortable, though a slight chewing on his lip gave way his nervousness. Neither boy spoke, the silence was preferred as they watched the large silver bowl with the swirling mass of silver smoke inside. Finally what seemed like decades later, the Professors emerged, “Now Mr. Weasley’s” Professor Dumbledore murmured, not speaking about Blaise’s memory until Ron’s was viewed.

The wait was much shorter this time, and in moments the Professor’s had returned, Severus with an ugly sneer on his face.
“Mr. Weasley’s memory is tampered with” He growled, “What are you trying to hide from us?” He snarled at the red haired boy.
“I’m afraid Ronald, that by attempting to hide the truth, you paint yourself as the guilty party in this incident” Professor Dumbledore said softly, looking at Ron over his half-moon spectacles with a small frown.
Ron sighed, though the boy didn’t say anything, just looked away was the Professor’s talked in hushed tones.
“You are free to go Mr. Zabini, though I do have to take ten points from Slytherin house for stunning another student” Dumbledore finally said. Blaise sighed gratefully and slipped out of the office, immediately heading for the Common Room to talk to Pansy and check on Silver.

Back in the office, six pairs of eyes had turned to look at one Ronald Weasley.
“Your animosity towards Professor Snape’s familiar is troubling Ronald” Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling softly, though he looked sad.
“I regret that I must suspend you for two weeks, once your suspension is up, you will be required to serve a month’s detention with Professor Snape” He glanced at Minerva.
“Also, you are banned from the Quidditch team, I know you have just made Keeper” He said, holding up his hand as Ron opened his mouth to protest, “But you have to realize that attacking a helpless animal is a very unethical thing to do Mr. Weasley” He sighed, “I shall floo your mother, she’ll be here to collect you immediately. Minerva can you collect Ronald’s things from the tower?” He asked, the witch nodded, rising and using the floo in Albus’ office to head to the Tower.

“If you don’t need me Headmaster, I must go check on my familiar” Severus said, sneering at Weasley again. The threat of his mother had seemed to shut the boy up.
“Go ahead Severus, let me know how Silver is doing” Albus said, watching Snape leave as Minerva reappeared, closely followed by a house elf with Ron’s things.
Moments later the floo flared to life again and the Weasley Matriarch busted through, already ranting at her son.

HP/SS

Severus made his way towards the Slytherin Common Room hoping sincerely that Weasley had learned his lesson. Opening the hidden doorway, he had to resist the urge to smile at the sight before him. Pansy had left it seemed, but Blaise was dozing lightly on the leather couch nearest the fire a blanket nestled in his lap with Silver, lying on his back, sprawled out on top of it, dozing as well. He stepped into the room, clearing his throat quietly in order to rouse the two sleepers, he made his way over to the couch.
“What happened to Weasley?” Blaise asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes and looking anxiously at Severus.
“Two week suspension, month long detention served with me and a ban on Quidditch, though I’m sure his mother will come up with much more” Severus replied, reaching over to stroke Silver’s head.
“How was he?” He asked, nodding at the kitten who was just waking up as well.
“He seems fine, Pansy said he slept most of the time he was with her. He was playing a bit when I came down” Blaise said, stretching lightly, “He favours his leg quite a bit, but I figure that’s normal, and he won’t jump up or off anything”
Severus nodded, “His leg’s fractured, so he won’t be jumping about for awhile” He explained, “But I’m glad he was up and about” He added as Blaise looked distressed, as if he should have kept the kitten calm.  Silver stretched, making a soft, distressed noise as he looked from Severus to Blaise, his emerald green eyes looking pained as he looked at his mentor. Sev sighed, “Time for some more pain potion little one” He said, gently scooping up the distressed kitten and picking up his things before nodding his thanks to Blaise.
“Thank you again Blaise, I don’t know what would have happened to Silver if you hadn’t rescued him” He shuddered, showing seldom seen emotion to the teen.
“No problem Severus, the little brat’s growing on me” Blaise responded, watching the two leave with mixed emotions. It couldn’t be normal to be this attached to your Professor’s familiar, but he felt drawn to the odd little kitten with green eyes that reminded him of Harry Potter’s eyes. Unlike Draco and many in Slytherin House, Blaise held no real contempt for the Gryffindor golden boy, instead he ignored the other teen, content to focus on his own problems rather then get drawn into the inter-house drama between the snakes and lions.