By now I am sure that we are all aware of the love that Severus Snape held for Lily Potter formally know as Lily evans, the mother of Harry Potter who had defeated the Dark Lord. The memories of Severus Snape which had been obtained by Mr Potter before Snape had died bebame the object of public curiosity and it was used in the infamous Riddle trials.

The Riddle Trials were held by the Ministry of Magic as a result of the victory at the battle of Hogwarts. It was the aim of the court "to persecute all those who had contributed to the reign of absolute terror on the Magical community. Those who had committed such horrendous and inhumane crimes that they can not be allowed to walk freely" spoke Kingsley Shacklebolt the Minister of Magic in November 1998 a week before the trials were due to begin.

The most prominent of all these cases was the appeal sought by Mr. Harry Potter to clear the name of Mr.Severus Snape. The appeal had created a great stir of public attention and the Ministry of Magic was flooded with thousands of complaints regarding the situation. The public were in general outraged by this action feeling a sense of betrayal towards "The Boy who Lived" a name by which Mr Potter was Known. In June 1998 a public petition signed by over one million witches and wizards called for the appeal to be dismissed. The petition declared that Mr Potter was "justifying and insulting the deaths of the many innocents who dies at the hands of death eaters". However, shacklebolt decided to continue with the appeal against the advice of his fellow ministers and associates, later it was revealed that Shacklebolt had inside knowledge that the on the actions of Mr. Potter as he was a close ally of Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter and Prominent member within "The Order of the Phoenix" (a secret society founded by Albus Dumbledore to oppose the work of Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters).

At the trial Mr. Potter presented the memories of Severus Snape to the court room, however due to the intimacy of some of these memories the Ministry had conceeded to make the appeal a closed court whereby the Minister who be bound in oath to keep the evidence confidential. However,this served to only infuriate the general public as they were shut off from the proceedings. All this would change on the 4th day of the trial when Miss. Rita Skeeter a journalist who had worked with Mr. Potter previously managed to make her way into the court room disguised as the note maker. Miss. Skeeters report detailed the memories of Severus Snape in vivid detail, revealing that Snape was infact in love with Lily Potter and the protector of Harry Potter during his time in Hogwarts.The revelation that his loyalty which was derived from his guilt and heartache over the death of his childhood love had lead to his own painful demise at the hands of the dark lord was the turning point in public opinion and from that moment he became a martyr.

Rita Skeeter's "The Unrequited Love" which had detailed the court proceeding was followed by investigations by many journalists. sources who has went to School with both Lily Evans and Severus Snape revealed that they were always exceedingly close. One Source point out that "in our first few years lily would run after Snape after class and they would walk together", another source points out, "i had never seen him [severus snape] smile for any one else other than Evans". additionally, other sources have detailed the turning point in their relationship after Severus had allegedly become one among the many death eaters in Slytherin at this time, "they just stopped talking one day and lily had become close with [james] Potter, but you could always see her looking at him and he would always look at her" the second source at this point interrupts stating "but they looked at each other differently you know... i mean... she looked at him with pity and he look at her as if-",this time source one cuts in "he look at her as if he loved her". 

It was due to this that Severus Snape was cleared of his crimes and public opinion once again warmly received Harry Potter.