(And the last time he would ever be called innocent.)
The Wizengamot chamber was colder than usual.
Severus sat shackled to the chair in the centre of the courtroom, deep under the Ministry of Magic. He was no longer the sallow-faced boy who brewed quietly in the corner of Slughorn's dungeon. No longer the quiet Beta nobody noticed. Not after what had happened.
Not after the testimony.
He didn't twitch. Didn't flinch. But his dark eyes flicked once—only once—to where Lillian Prince stood.
Omega. Half-blood. Gryffindor's darling.
The one who had whispered promises into the darkness of the Astronomy Tower.
The one who had kissed him in the Forbidden Forest when no one was looking.
The one who was now staring at him like he was something to be put down.
"Repeat your statement, Mr. Prince," came the voice of Madam Bones, sharp and unsympathetic.
Lillian stood straighter. His voice was as calm as summer rain.
"I was manipulated. He said he cared for me, but it was obsession. Severus followed me. Tracked me. Used potions on me to dull my instincts."
Murmurs rippled through the court like venom through veins.
Snape didn't speak.
He only stared at him.
At Lillian—with his perfect collar, his gold-ringed House badge, the trace of Amortentia still clinging to his robes like a ghost.
"He told me I belonged to him," Lillian continued, lips trembling. "And when I tried to leave, he… he turned dark."
There was no tear.
But his eyes shimmered like there might be.
"He hexed James. He hexed Lucius. He hexed me."
Gasps. Accusing parchment rustled. Wands gripped tighter.
"Liar."
Snape didn't say it aloud.
But Lillian heard it.
Flashback – Days Earlier – The Dungeons
Lucius Malfoy had him cornered. Pale fingers bruising his jaw, the echo of a spell still stinging down his spine.
"You think he loves you, Severus?" Lucius sneered, lips ghosting his ear. "Omegas don't love Betas. They use them. Like toys."
A kiss. Violent. Cruel.
Severus didn't scream. He didn't move.
He just shut down.
Present
"Do you deny these accusations, Mr. Snape?" asked a faceless voice in the gallery.
Severus said nothing.
His hands trembled beneath the restraints, but his voice came out low. Controlled.
"I brewed a protection draught. For him. Not a poison."
"And the hexes I cast were in self-defence."
"I never touched him against his will."
His gaze didn't leave Lillian's.
"Until he said no. And then I stopped."
Silence fell like a shroud.
Lillian's face remained perfectly still. But Severus knew that stillness.
It was rehearsed.
In the Wizengamot gallery
Lucius Malfoy watched with a lazy smile, arms folded across his chest.
He leaned over to whisper to James Potter.
"And just like that… Severus Snape disappears."
James didn't smile.
He wasn't amused.
His jaw was tight.
His fists were clenched.
Because for all his hatred, all his ego…
Part of him had believed in Lillian too.
And now, he saw it.
"You're not crying," he muttered.
Lillian turned to him, eyes cold. "I don't cry for liars."
And Then
"Order! ORDER!" thundered Madam Bones as green light flickered over the chained Beta in the centre.
Severus was being taken.
Back to the holding cells.
To await sentence.
To await Obliviation.
But that night, as the torches dimmed across the Ministry corridors,a single hand slipped a vial through the bars.
A vial with shimmering black potion.
Labeled:
"Ouroboros"
🖤 Final Line:
In the shadows of the Ministry, with the echo of betrayal still ringing in his ears,Severus Snape drank.
Not to forget.
But to remember everything.
And burn them all.