Day 10. R. v. Riddle

"Prosecution's witness?"

"We call Dr. Severus Snape, Your Honour."

In her peripheral vision, Hermione saw Tom tense beside her. She placed a hand on his upper arm, relieved to feel his muscles relax underneath her touch. While she knew he was nervous about Snape's testimony, he had also been confident about their friendship.

If he was right... they had nothing to worry about.

If he was wrong... well.

Dr. Snape was a tall man, entering the courtroom with a foreboding presence. That was good in case Tom was wrong, Hermione registered. An unlikeable witness was always far easier to discredit than a likeable one.

"Please state your name," Moody began after Snape had taken his vow.

"Dr. Severus Snape." His voice matched his outward appearance; deep and cold. Distant.

That was good.

"You are a professor, under the employ of Hogwarts University?"

"Yes, I am one of three professors in the discipline of chemistry."

"You have received numerous awards in your time in your position?"

"Yes."

Moody nodded, taking the chance to glance toward Tom. "How long have you known the accused, Mr. Riddle?"

"Since two-thousand and one."

"Seventeen years?"

"Yes."

"How did you meet Mr. Riddle?"

"Through a mutual friend of ours, Lucius Malfoy."

"Of Malfoy Enterprises?"

"Yes."

"How did you come to meet him? Mr. Malfoy, that is?"

"I attended school with his wife, Narcissa." Snape's face was straight, though he seemed visibly irritated with the manner of questions. "We ran in the same circles. She introduced us."

"Right," Moody glanced in Tom's direction again before facing Snape. "How would you describe your relationship with Mr. Riddle?"

"Tumultuous."

Moody cracked a smirk. "Would you have called yourselves friends?"

"Yes," Snape said, and Hermione noticed that he intentionally wasn't looking in Tom's direction as he spoke. "For a time, I believe that I may have been Tom's closest friend."

"How would you describe Mr. Riddle?"

"Ambitious. Determined. Independent... a bit of a loner. We had this in common."

"Would you say that Mr. Riddle is a man who has violent tendencies?"

Snape paused.

It was a long pause.

"Not that I witnessed."

"Not that you witnessed?" Moody probed. "Would you care to elaborate?"

"Multiple... acquaintances had commented on their... fear of Tom, I suppose. He could be a bit... intimidating. But I never saw violence."

"I see. And when did your friendship come to an end?"

"The first day of November, last year."

"The day after Lily and James Potter were found?"

"Yes."

Moody's eyes grazed over the jury members. "Why did your friendship come to an end?"

"Because I believed him responsible for their deaths."

Hermione watched Tom who had clenched his eyes closed, and noticed his leg bouncing under the table nervously. While they'd known this was coming, and they'd known that someone had accused him, she couldn't help but take on a bit of Tom's upset. He hadn't known it had been Snape. He'd been sure it wasn't Snape.

"To clarify; you believed that he ended their lives, with intent to do so?"

"Yes."

"Why would you come to believe such a thing?"

For the first time since he had taken his place on the stand, Snape's dark eyes glanced in Tom's direction.

"He told me."

Hermione shifted through her notes on Dr. Severus Snape calmly, though it took every ounce of her self-restraint to maintain her calm.

That was not the answer she had been expecting.

"He told you?"

"Yes."

"He told you that he had ended the lives of Lily and James Potter?"

Snape hesitated for a fraction of a second, and Hermione noticed. The pause, the one the jury would have missed, might've been just what she needed.

"He apologised."

There it was.

"He apologised," Moody repeated for effect. "If we could back track just for a moment, Dr. Snape, could you please tell us when it was that you spoke with Mr. Riddle?"

"The day after- the first of November, last year."

"Did you meet Mr. Riddle that day?"

"Yes. Well – no. He came by. To my home."

"And what time was this?"

"It was the late afternoon."

"What happened when he came to your home?"

"I didn't answer the door. I'd heard what happened by this point, and I didn't want to see anyone," Snape explained, his brows gradually moving closer together as he spoke. "Tom let himself in, as he often did; he knew the trick to getting the door open."

"That was a usual occurrence? Mr. Riddle letting himself into your home?"

"Yes. I didn't make it to the university that day, so I assumed he was coming to check on me," Snape explained. "I was in the bedroom, I think. He came in and, I remember it clearly; he looked... disappointed, and the first thing he said was, 'I take it you've heard, then'."

"And then what happened?"

"I don't think I said anything. He came closer and tried to speak to me, but I wasn't in any state," Snape's voice was close to breaking. "I remember Tom being in front of me, I think he was kneeling, holding me up. And then he... apologised."

"Could you please explain to the jury the manner by which he apologised?"

"He... said that he did what had to be done. That he knew how much she meant to me and he hadn't meant to hurt h-her, but she was there, and she'd seen-"

Hermione swore internally. The way his voice broke in all of the right places... either Severus Snape was a brilliant actor, or he was telling the truth.

She glanced at Tom.

Or... maybe he simply thought he was telling the truth.

"The 'she' you refer to being Lily Potter?"

"Yes."

"How did you respond to Mr. Riddle's apology?"

"I... was upset. I couldn't understand why he would say those things... I didn't realise what he meant, not until he said that it had been for the best. That I wouldn't be distracted anymore. That I was better off without her."

Moody let the courtroom fall back into silence as he slowly moved on the floor.

"What happened next?"

"I acted on impulse. I thought it was all I could do to agree with him, to go along with what he said until he left."

"You thought you were in danger?"

"Yes. I felt his lack of patience with me. I could see him becoming angry."

Moody nodded slowly, glancing over the jury and scanning their faces one by one.

"Thank you, Dr. Snape. No further questions, Your Honour."

Hermione swore internally. She wasn't ready, and her time to put together a solid defence was over much too quickly as Fudge - for once - leaned forward swiftly. "Ms. Granger," he invited, "does the defence care to cross-examine?"

"Yes, Your Honour," she said, taking her time to rise. Still far more uncertain than she'd care to be, Hermione decided on her course of action quickly. She cleared her throat and gave Tom another lingering glance before she took the floor.

"Dr. Snape," she began, contemplating her words carefully. "How did you know Mrs. Lily Potter?"

"We were childhood friends. I met her when I was ten years old."

"You attended school together?"

"Yes."

"Both high school and university?"

"Yes."

"You both majored in chemistry together?"

"That's correct."

"Would it be sufficient to say that you were good friends with Lily Potter?"

"Yes."

"Best friends, perhaps?"

"Once, yes."

"How did you feel when you heard of her death?"

His brows furrowed. "I..."

"Were you... sad? Distressed? Distraught, even?"

"I... I cannot describe to you how I felt," he eventually said.

"You... cannot?"

"No."

"Why is that?"

"I... there aren't words."

"One of the earliest stages of grief is anger, Dr. Snape. Did you feel angry when you learned of her death?"

Moody stood, confidently, lazily. "I object, Your Honour. There is no relevance here."

"Overruled, Mr. Moody," Fudge said at once, though he glanced downward through his glasses at Hermione. "Get to the point, Ms. Granger."

"Were you angry, Dr. Snape?" She asked, ignoring Moody's rather firm scowl.

Snape swallowed. "Absolutely."

Hermione made a sound of acknowledgement. "Was your friend at the time, Mr. Riddle, aware of your close friendship with Lily Potter?"

"Yes."

"So, upon hearing of her death, he, your friend at the time, who you said yourself might've wished to check up on you, might have wished to give you his sympathy in such a time of distress?"

"I... no. There was no sympathy. I-I'm not sure what you're asking."

"Dr. Snape, would it have been possible, that in your heavy state of grief - your state of anger - you may have mistaken what Mr. Riddle may or may not have said? That is, could it have been possible that you mistook a sympathetic apology for one entailing a confession?"

Snape scowled. "No. Not at all. I know what he said. He was clear. I know what he meant."

"As you gave your earlier testimony to Mr. Moody, you specifically said that there were events you thought happened. You weren't sure about what you yourself had said, so, what makes you so sure about what Mr. Riddle had said?"

"I know what he said."

She hummed, making her doubt clear. Hermione slowly passed her eyes over each of the jury members.

Her next question wasn't necessary. He'd made the answer clear enough already. But she needed to be sure the jurors had caught on as she had.

"Were you in love with Lily Potter?"

"Objection, Your Honour."

"I withdraw," Hermione conceded quickly. "No further questions, Your Honour."

It took a great deal of effort to keep her mouth shut. She had been bursting at the seams the moment the court was called to a close, but she managed to hold onto it.

Until they were alone, of course.

"I can't believe you!"

"But you can believe him?"

"That's not what I mean!" She squawked as she dumped her bag on the kitchen counter. "I mean, didn't you think that a conversation with Snape about the murder victims - the day after the event -was something you should have mentioned?!"

"I didn't think it was important."

Her eyes widened like saucers. "He was in love with her!" She said, unleashing every ounce of her incredulousness. "You saw him up there! I spoke to him for barely two minutes and I could see it! Surely you could too?!"

"He was... infatuated with her. But she married another man, he knew-"

"Are you thick?! That was not a man who has moved on!"

Tom exhaled through his nose. "I didn't think... how was I meant to know he'd interpret me that way?"

Her glare was frosty and a weaker man would've crumbled.

"I had nothing. Nothing. You left me completely unprepared;I had to go for his jugular, Tom. Do you know what that feels like, to do that to a person?!"

Tom made an odd sound as he approached her. "I'm sorry. But... you handled it well."

"Like hell-"

"No, listen to me." His hands cradled her face between his hands, the tenderness of the touch disarming. "You're a better lawyer than Moody. They're eating out of your hand, not his. You have the whole courtroom in your control."

"That's not true-"

"It is," he said, as his fingers laced their way through her hair. "They are. I've been sitting in there just as long as you have. I see the jury just as you do. They're far more receptive to you than they are to him."

Hermione knew she was a good lawyer. It was her life's work. She had to be a good lawyer, trained by Alastor Moody himself. But better than him? She thought she could be, one day. She aspired to be. But she surely wasn't there yet; she'd opposed him before, but she'd never beaten him.

"You just need to... acknowledge it," he said, his voice dropping seductively. "If you use it, take advantage of it... well... you're good already. Just another push, and you'll be... incredible."

His words almost made her forget she was mad.

"You'll bounce back," he said as his tone dropped lower, moving in such that his lips brushed hers as he spoke. "Severus is... just an obstacle."

"Tom..."

"Hmm?" Though his sound was a receptive one, he took her ability to speak from her as he caught her lips with his.

And as he hitched her skirt up, she forgot what she was going to say.

Day 19. R. v. Riddle

Hermione was nervous. It was an infrequent and unwelcome feeling for her in the courtroom in recent years, but there it was, sinking into the pit of her stomach.

This was the witness. The witness. If Snape had been an obstacle, than he would be a solid barrier. The source of Moody's confidence, the one who would either make or break her case.

And he was a fucking teenager.

The jury would love him.

"Could you please describe to the court the events of the night of October thirty-first?"

Young Harry Potter all but radiated uncertainty.

"When I arrived home that night, the lights were off," he answered nervously. "I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but, Mum knew I was coming. They were expecting me, and it wasn't like them to forget. But it wasn't until I found the door unlocked, that I really started to worry."

"What did you do then?" Moody prompted. "Did you enter the house?"

"Yes. I did. The inside lights were on, but I don't remember hearing anything, and thinking that it was strange. So, I went through to the living r-room, and..."

Even on the side of the defence, Hermione couldn't help the nausea she felt in her stomach at his words. She didn't need to hear him say it. She knew what he found, what he saw... surely he wouldn't make him say it...

"What did you find?" Moody asked, gently yet encouraging, in a way that was out of character.

"My p-parents," Harry managed, and Hermione, who had had years to prepare herself for these moments felt the hardened walls she'd put in place threatening to slip away. "I didn't realise at first, what I was seeing. I was i-in shock, I think. But I remember the smell. The bleach. When I close my eyes, I can still smell it."

The courtroom was coldly silent, only the sounds of the woman at the front typing out the transcript filled the space.

"I went to leave, I knew I needed to call someone, but I needed to get out first. I remember having trouble breathing. But... but then..."

"Take your time, Mr. Potter."

"There was a man. In the hallway. He was dressed in all black, except for his gloves. They were blue, under all of the blood. He didn't say anything, he just... looked at me. As if he were... I dunno, curious," Harry's face contorted as he fiddled with the papers in front of him anxiously. "I don't remember what I said, exactly. I think I yelled at him. I think I asked... why... what they'd done... he didn't answer though. He just... looked at me. And then he moved. Really, really fast, and there was a bang, and... I remember waking up in the hospital. The doctor - she told me I'd been shot. That I was lucky to be alive."

Moody allowed the silence to linger.

"Could you please refer back to evidence log number sixteen, Mr. Potter?"

As Harry found the sheet of paper, the one she knew had the drawing on it, Hermione's feeling of dread grew.

"The man you saw in your parents' house... was his face covered at all?"

"No. I saw him clearly."

Moody lifted his own copy of evidence log sixteen. "Is this the man you saw in your house that evening, Mr. Potter?"

"Yes." Harry was resolute, no longer radiating uncertainty.

"Are you certain?"

"Yes."

And then he looked at Tom.

The whole courtroom did.

And in that instant, for the first time throughout the whole case, Hermione felt the first true glimmer of doubt in her defendant.