Title: Do Not Go Gentle

Rating: M

Fandom: Harry Potter

Summary: Harry Potter's capture ends the war, but it doesn't end the battle; Muggle-borns are rounded up and used as slaves for the ruling Death Eater party, while the rest of the Wizarding World is left in shambles. Hermione Granger turns to some old enemies in order to cope.

Time Line: AU. The following story discounts all aspects of Deathly Hollows, because it's fun that way.

Pairing: Hermione Granger/Severus Snape

Warnings: Language, sexual situations, rape, character death, drug use, general unpleasantness.

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Author's Notes: This story is a joint project between the amazingly talented Opal Lynn and myself; for as long as I can remember she has been a prolific writer, a skilled artist, and a best friend. She came up with the backbone of the plot, and I'm doing my best to flesh it out; if I fail, you can always look at the pretty pictures!

A lifetime of thanks go out to my beta, SlytherinPsyche, for all of her amazing work in whipping this story into something I can actually be proud of.

If you read, please be courteous and leave a constructive review telling me what you liked and what could be improved upon. Thank you for reading.

Do Not Go Gentle

Prologue

"War is simply a reversal of civilized life." George Orwell

1997

It ended with a flash of light.

There was not a sound. A storm had been building for days; the night air, heavy with precipitation, filled their lungs and choked out their breath. All eyes were trained on the empty air at the edge of the tower. No one dared to inch forward and peer over the edge.

Another moment of silence passed, and they knew. The game had changed. It was a strange feeling.

Fenrir Greyback's blood-smeared grin faded a fraction as the impact of what had just taken place hit him. Draco Malfoy's face was sallow, hands clenched in quivering fists at his sides, and he jumped when Severus Snape whispered, "Out of here, quickly." Snape made a grab for Draco's robe collar to pull at the boy rooted to the ground, but a new voice made him jerk back as if burned.

"You went through with it then? Dumbledore's dead?" Bellatrix Lestrange was illuminated sharply by the green haze of the Dark Mark hanging in the sky, wand at her side and a grin spread across her face that was unmistakably filled with pleasure. "Not that I doubted you for a minute, darling Draco."

"Of course, Bellatrix," Snape said, the distaste in his voice undisguised."This is just a pleasant late night stroll on the Hogwarts towers, I take it?" No one dared laugh. "I killed him, and we're running out of ti-"

"Fine, fine." She pushed past Amycus Carrow and his sister Alecto to walk up to the tower's edge and look down through the darkness;nothing could hide her happiness at what she saw far below. "Look at him down there, limp and lifeless like a rag doll! Oh, the Dark Lord would love to see this!"

"He'd love nothing more than to see Dumbledore on the out, I'm sure." Snape said.

Fenrir threw his head back and laughed, the high tones sounding more like a howl than anything else; Draco edged away from the werewolf carefully. "Let's go now."

"This is no proper celebration, Severus! For the Dark Lord!"

She raised her wand to the sky and shot a stream of emerald green light in the direction of the shadowy Forbidden Forest to the east; it took a life of its own as it spewed from the wand, turning into a shimmery snake similar to the Dark Mark already hanging in the air. It slithered in a lazy fashion, and curled up on itself, flickering verdant sparks.

"For the greatest wizard of our time!"

The jet emitted now from the wand's tip was a deep, bloody red. It hurtled down towards Dumbledore's body in slashing motions, then swooped back up through the night sky only to plummet once more, slicing viciously at the air. "Old man got what he deserved, anyway." Bellatrix spat over the edge. The spells both suddenly shifted from their decorative dances to a frantic buzzing in the sky, vibrating violently.

The Death Eaters looked on as the beams shot from their locations towards each other, entwined where they met, then hurtled back towards the top of the tower; no one made a move except for Alecto, who ducked as the light exploded over the door to the tower, illuminating the entrance of another guest.

Harry Potter stood with his wand outstretched and fury burning in his eyes.

A startled cry escaped Amycus's mouth, and a flurry of motion erupted as the Death Eaters moved to pull out their wands. Harry was poised to strike and unflinching, never looking away from Snape. His knuckles were white as bone clasped around his wand.

"Heartless bastard, he trusted you! He trusted you and you-"

"You foolish, foolish boy." Snape met Harry's eyes but almost immediately looked away.

Harry never got the chance to curse Snape as Bellatrix shouted, "Petrificus Totalus!" All breath left Harry's lungs as his body went rigid. He fell backwards to the floor, eyes frozen open in shock and wand still clutched tightly in his fist. Bellatrix clapped her hands together in amusement at the sight of him.

"Little Harry Potter has come to join us," Fenrir snarled, licking his lips. "How delicious!"

Bellatrix shot him an impatient look from across the room, though her eyes glowed with devilish delight.

"He just stood there! Little twit didn't do a damn thing to stop us," Amycus said with a wheezy laugh. His sister barked in laughter as well, but the rest of the group was silent, watching Harry's unmoving body warily, expecting a twitch of life that never came. "So much for their great hero, eh?"

"How'd he get up here so fast?" Fenrir asked. "There's no way he could have known to look for us here unless he'd been told about our little … party beforehand." He looked straight at Draco, who made a small noise in shock as he tried to back into the shadows and out of sight. "Who'd you tell, Malfoy?"

Snape shook his head and interjected, "He was probably with Dumbledore up here, hiding like a coward; I'm sure we'll find an invisibility cloak around here somewhere."

Fenrir scoffed, but stopped watching Draco's nervous twitching.

A smile blossomed on Bellatrix's face, eyes turning back to Harry's stony form. "Boy, what were you trying to accomplish here? Did you want to try to bring him back?" She stepped slowly towards Harry. "Aren't you tired of everyone around you dying? Do you remember Sirius dying? How about that Diggory boy? And your parents! And now…" She giggled, sending a shiver down the Death Eaters' spines, and then she was standing over Harry, looking like a cat ready to pounce on its prey. "Dumbledore. Dead. D - E - A - D."

Bellatrix stooped and pulled Harry's wand from his grip, twirling it between her fingers as she put a foot on his ribcage. "Too bad he's not more … lively. Let us bring him around, shall we? Bring him around and let him celebrate a new era in the wizarding world." With a snap, Harry's body went limp again; every Death Eater's wand was trained on him. He weakly lifted his head to look up at Bellatrix, who said, "Welcome back, Harry Potter."

Bellatrix laughed, and it ended with a flash of light.