Lillian had always known.
Not with words. Not with facts.
But with feeling.
There was something in the way Severus stopped sitting beside him in the Great Hall. In the way his hands trembled when he stirred potions—not from fear, but from restraint. From trying not to spill over.
And he never smiled anymore.
Not even in the quiet moments, not even when Lillian touched his arm the way only Omegas touch their closest friend.
It hurt.
It ached, in the part of him that pulsed every time Severus smelled like storm and ash, like safety and cold ink.
"You're lying to me," Lillian said one night in the Astronomy classroom, just before curfew.
Severus didn't look up from his parchment. "Don't be ridiculous."
Lillian stepped forward. "You smell like him, Sev."
Severus flinched.
Lillian's voice broke. "You reek of Lucius Malfoy."
There was silence.
Outside, wind rattled the towers. Stars blinked behind gathering clouds.
And inside, Severus breathed once.
Twice.
Then said: "It's none of your business."
Lillian's whole body stiffened.
"None of my—Severus, I—" His voice cracked. "I was going to bond with you. I chose you."
"I never asked you to," Severus snapped, too fast, too bitter.
"But you never said no," Lillian whispered.
Severus couldn't meet his eyes. He couldn't. Because if he did, he'd shatter.
"I was afraid," he said quietly. "You're an Omega. I'm—nothing. A Beta. Half-formed and undesirable."
"You're everything to me," Lillian said.
And Severus—
Gods help him—he wanted to believe it.
But he could still feel Lucius's hands. Still hear the voice in his throat that turned every word into a spell. Still smell the ghost of silver and smoke.
"You don't understand," Severus whispered. "He sees something in me."
Lillian stepped back like he'd been slapped.
"I see you," Lillian said. "And I don't want to ruin you. He will."
Maybe that was what Severus wanted.
To burn.
To fall.
To stop pretending he was worth saving.
"I'm sorry," Severus said finally.
Lillian's eyes filled, scent twisting—sour with heartbreak, thick with grief.
"You'll come crawling back when he's finished with you," Lillian said, voice shaking. "And I won't be here."
He walked out.
The door slammed.
Severus sat down on the cold stone floor, arms wrapped around himself, Lucius's bite mark pulsing under his collar.
He didn't cry.
Not yet.
But he would.