The Snake and the Eagle

Chapter 23 - The Trial

Three days passed, before Snape received any news about the date of his public hearing. He was locked alone in a small, low roofed cell with only a wooden bench in it, and a dim ray of light came in from a small, round window with iron bars, looking over the sea. They had put him into isolation, not only because he was the key witness in the coming trial but, moreover, because he had too many enemies locked on that same island. He was not allowed to receive or send mail, and could not even have something to read. A thing he was finding more frustrating than detention itself. He had always loved reading, and books had been his only companions for so many years. He was spending those days eating little, and sleeping less, forcing himself to remember as many things as he could. It was so painful for him. He had been trying to forget those days with all his strengths, and now he was obliged to recall them, without the slightest certainty that his words would have saved him. One evening, the door of his cell opened and Shacklebolt came in.

"Good evening, Snape, how are you?" Shacklebolt kindly said.

"Evening, I'm fine. This is not the Grand Hotel, but I'm trying to get used to the place," Snape sneered with his usual sarcasm.

"The hearing is set for tomorrow at nine o'clock in the morning. You'll be led to the Ministry of Magic," the Auror informed him in a detached tone. He knew Snape enough to know he could not stand words of comfort. "Do you have any request to make, before they take you away?" he said trying to be at least useful.

"Yes, just one thing. May I have a shower and a shave before we go?" Snape calmly asked. "They may think I'm a criminal, but I've still some dignity left," he bitterly thought. Shacklebolt nodded, and left.

The morning after, two Aurors came to take Snape away. They walked down the wing where the Death Eaters were imprisoned. At the sight of Snape, many of them moved closer to the bars, shouting every sort of insults, and throwing stuff at him. The Aurors yelled to restore calm, but Snape looked unimpressed by all the commotion. He kept walking, staring stonily ahead. Suddenly his attention was attracted by a cold, drawling voice coming from one of the last cells.

"Well, well, well. Look who we have here! Saint Snape, the great redeemed!" Lucius Malfoy sneered. Snape slowly turned to look at him.

"Enjoying your stay, Lucius?" Snape smirked back. "You'd better get used to your new home. I doubt you'll have another one for a very long time," he coldly whispered. Then the Aurors pushed him on. They had almost reached the exit door, when Malfoy called Snape again.

"Severus! If I don't get off and you do, promise me you'll take care of my son," Malfoy gravely said, staring at him with his grey eyes.

Malfoy had probably realized Snape was right and, in spite of everything happened between them, he was now asking him for his word of honour. Snape stared at him with his cold, black eyes and nodded. It did not mattered if Lucius was a true bastard. Snape still cared for Draco, and he was willing to accept to become his guardian.

Once at the Ministry, he was led down to the ninth floor and, this time, there were handcuffs around his wrists. They entered a large dungeon, the walls of which were made of dark stone, dimly lit by torches. Many rows of benches rose on either sides of him and ahead. There sat the whole Wizengamot, and he could recognize many Order of the Phoenix members as well, scattered all around the room. To his great relief, Dumbledore was there. He was standing at the feet of the benches, giving him an encouraging smile. Snape had never been so happy to see him in all his life. He was there to defend him, to be sure that justice would be done, to prevent anyone to take advantage of Snape's past, and condemn him straight away. An ominous silence fell, as the two Aurors led him to a chair in the middle of the room, whose arms were covered in chains. Once there, they finally released him from the handcuffs.

"Take seat," ordered a cold voice.

The chains around the chair clinked threateningly, but did not bound him. That was definitely a good sign his examiners could not fail to notice, and therefore take into consideration. As a matter of fact, those chains were charmed to bind any person unwilling to cooperate. But Snape was there to tell them the truth, all the truth. He did not care how things would end, as long as everything was quickly over, and once for all. He could not get rid of the Dark Mark, but at least he could try to clean a little his conscience, and finally find some peace of mind. Unfortunately, the hearing went on for hours. Snape readily answered to the many questions the Wizengamot asked him, trying to give them as many details as he could. He succeeded in keeping his self-control, and faced them with his customary mask of coldness, but inside he felt like dying.

"What can you tell us about Igor Karkaroff?" the inquisitor asked.

"Karkaroff has never rejoined Voldemort, after he came back to power two years ago. I told him to flee and covered for him. I suggested him to go into hiding, and use the Fidelius Charm to be sure nobody could find him. I am his Secret Keeper," Snape explained.

"It's rather risky to be one. Do you know he gave us your name during his hearing of sixteen years ago?" a cold voice asked, clearly disbelieving the sincerity of Snape's words.

"Yes, I know," Snape casually said.

"And in spite of this, you helped him?" the same voice inquired, each word dripping with sarcasm.

"Yes. Karkaroff is my friend and, apart from that, he has a wife and a son to look after. On the contrary, I had nothing to loose," Snape hissed, unnerved by his inquisitor's irritating attitude.

They performed the Prior Incantatem Spell on his wand, asking him to give an explanation for each unusual spell or curse he had performed in about the last twenty years. One would have thought that was too much to ask from anyone, but that was his only hope to avoid life imprisonment. Therefore, he strained himself to give his full collaboration, helping them to go as deep as possible in the matter. He had to prove to the court he was really redeemed. Dumbledore called some key witnesses for Snape's defence. Even Harry Potter was heard, and he told them how Snape had been doing his best to protect him, since he began Hogwarts. But the most astonishing, and probably fundamental, witness was that of a young woman. She had come to tell the court about how a young Death Eater had saved her life.

"My family has always opposed You-Know-Who and his followers," the woman began her tale, trying hard to control the emotions those painful memories were bringing back. "I was six the night a group of Death Eaters attacked our house," she said, her voice shaking slightly. "I heard my parents scream when they killed them, then I heard two pairs of footsteps coming up the stairs leading to my room. I was terrified," she said with forming tears in her eyes.

"Two hooded, masked men came into my room. I was in my bed, panic-stricken, unable to move or scream," she said as a silent tear crossed her left cheek. "One of the two men told the other to go away, that he could deal with me by himself. Then, he closed the door and waited for the man to be downstairs," she said finding some control back over her emotions, as she was about to tell the most important part of her story.

"This man told me to be quiet, that he wanted to save me. He unmasked himself and told me his name was Severus. I saw he was very young, about eighteen or nineteen years old. He had long black hair, sallow skin, black eyes, a long hooked nose, and his voice was smooth and low. I don't know why, but something in that man told me I could trust him." She glanced at Snape, who stared back at her with recognition in his eyes.

"He gave me a potion to drink. The Draught of the Living Death, I think he called it. He explained me it would just make me sleep, but look like dead. He told me that, once I woke up, I had to ask someone to take me as far as possible from there, and to help me be given a new identity. I don't remember anything else because, as soon as I drank, I fell asleep at once," she concluded her speech.

"Very well, Miss Fairfax. You can go," said the cold voice again. She stood up, and left the room passing by Snape's chair.

"Thank you, sir," she warmly whispered to him.

"It's me that should thank you, young lady," Snape gratefully whispered back.

Giving to the importance of that witness, the Wizengamot asked for a Pensieve to verify it, by confronting it with Snape's memory of the event. They actually saw a young Severus Snape talking to a little girl, and then fake her death by performing the killing curse on a mosquito resting on a wall. They saw him go back downstairs, and succeed in convincing the other Death Eaters he had killed her. Then, they quickly left the house leaving the poor girl orphan, but unharmed.

Snape was really exhausted, when the hearing finally ended. He was now tensely waiting for the final verdict, for those few words that were going to decide of the rest of his life.

"Those in favour of clearing the witness of all charges, lift their hand!" Madam Bones's booming voice said. There were hands in the air, many of them ... more than half. Snape's eyes darted around the room in an attempt to count them, but he was not quick enough. Before he could finish, Madam Bones went on, "Now those in favour of conviction!"

Snape's heart was beating painfully in his chest, as he saw Fudge raise his hand, followed by half a dozen others. Fudge gave a look around himself, then lowered his own hand. After his previous favouritism for Mr Malfoy, he was not in the position to say anything against Snape. But being the Minister of Magic, he felt obliged to raise his hand against a former Death Eater.

"This court declares the prisoner, Severus Snape, cleared of all charges," he announced the verdict.

Eventually, the good things Snape had done by Dumbledore's side greatly outnumbered the bad ones. He was a free man again.

"Well done, my son," Dumbledore said beaming, and opened his arms to hold Snape in a fatherly embrace. Snape was beyond himself with joy. It was over, it was finally over! Later, Harry Potter joined them in front of the lift.

"Thank you, Potter," Snape said to the boy.

"It was a pleasure, sir. I think we're even now," Harry said grinning.

"I suppose, I wont have to bother saving your neck any more," Snape smirked.

"Maybe every now and then. You know, just out of habit," Harry said, causing Dumbledore and Snape to burst in a hearty laughter.

They made their way back to Hogwarts together, travelling on one of the school carriages Dumbledore had used to get to the hearing. Snape was so exhausted that he fell asleep along the way, and Dumbledore made sign to Harry to keep quiet. When they arrived to the castle, they found a crowd of teachers and students waiting for them.

"Albus, what was the verdict?" a very anxious Professor McGonagall asked, as soon as she saw him descending the first from the carriage.

"Cleared of all charges!" Dumbledore happily announced.

Alexandra, now fully recovered, made her way through the crowd and run towards Snape. At the sight of her, a broad smile formed on his pale, gaunt, exhausted face. He took her in a tight, warm embrace and, for the first time in his life, he could not care less if the whole school was watching them. He was holding her like his very life depended on that. He had missed her so much.

"Let's go inside and properly celebrate this happy event!" Dumbledore said, looking at the hugging couple through twinkling eyes.