The Shrieking Shack – November Storm
The walls howled.
Not from ghosts.
From the magic pulsing like a living thing in the splinters of rotting wood.
Severus was alone. Or so he thought.
He had come to hide.
To breathe.
To bleed, quietly, where no one could hear.
He pulled the letter out of his robes. Folded. Elegant. Pale green wax with the Malfoy seal.
The handwriting inside?
You were never more than a weapon, Severus. Beautiful. Sharp. Replaceable.- L.M.
His hands trembled.
Then curled into fists.
The wind outside howled again. A door creaked. And in stepped—
Lillian.
Inside the Shack
Lillian's eyes locked on him. He looked wild. Rain-soaked, robes twisted, something dark glowing behind his irises.
"Lucius wrote to you, didn't he?" he said, low.
Severus said nothing.
Lillian took one step forward.
"I warned you. I begged you."
"I thought—" Severus's voice cracked. "I thought he cared."
Lillian laughed, bitter and raw. "Lucius Malfoy doesn't care. He collects."
"You don't know him."
"I know exactly what he is." Lillian's voice was shaking now. "Because I see what he did to you. You look at him like he's salvation. He looks at you like you're an experiment."
Severus looked up sharply. "And you don't?"
That hit like a hex.
Lillian took a step back, chest rising with a storm barely held in.
"I never wanted to hurt you."
"But you did."
"And I'll do it again," Lillian whispered, "if it means saving you from becoming him."
The silence that followed was thick as poison.
Then—softly—Severus asked:
"Did you ever… love me?"
Lillian didn't speak.
Didn't move.
Didn't breathe.
And that silence?It was the real heartbreak.
Gryffindor Tower – Same Night
James Potter was scribbling runes on a map no one else could see.
He had built it—The Wolf's Eye—a cursed tracking parchment. One that glowed red when Severus Snape was in Lillian's proximity.
It pulsed now.
Hot and furious.
He bit his lip till it bled.
"You're not going to love him," he whispered. "Not after I'm done."
The Forbidden Forest – At Dawn
Lucius stood in the clearing. Black robes. Clean gloves. Serpent-headed cane tapping rhythm into the roots.
"You called me," he said to the shadow between the trees.
Severus stepped out.
No wand.
No robes.
No expression.
"Why?" Lucius asked, tilting his head.
Severus didn't answer.
He reached into his cloak—and threw the letter to the ground.
"You thought I'd never know," Severus said, quietly. "You thought I'd never find out."
Lucius's smile faltered. "Ah. So he told you."
"No," Severus said, voice sharp now. "I remembered. Everything. Every time you put your hands on me and made it feel like mercy. Every kiss laced with power."
"You wanted it."
"I wanted someone. Not a lie."
Lucius stepped forward. "You don't walk away from me."
Severus raised his wand, calm. "Watch me."
Final Scene – Astronomy Tower
Lillian stood alone, wind howling past his robes.
He watched the horizon, where the first flicker of the Dark Mark burned in the clouds.
Somewhere below, James was hunting.Somewhere in the dungeons, Lucius was bleeding.And somewhere between fear and fury—
Severus was being reborn.
"Let them come," Lillian whispered. "I'm not the one who's going to break."