Title: Romance of the Age
Author: [temporarily disillusioned]
Beta Reader(s): [temporarily disillusioned]
Word Count: approximately 23K
Pairing(s): one-sided Regulus/Snape, one-sided everyone/Lily, Lucius/Narcissa
Rating: R
(Highlight to View) Warning(s): Canonical character deaths. This has a very high body count. Also, racism and references to abortion..
Prompt Author: o_mayari
Prompt: 113: Sirius describes Voldemort’s rise as “Terror everywhere… panic… confusion...” Write a Snape who is not at all terrified, and who in fact thoroughly enjoys these interesting times.
Summary: The rise of Severus Snape, who was born miserable and low, and had nowhere to go, really, but up.
Notes: This owes themes, motifs, and entire lines to Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies. The "hostage" line is straight from Nancy Mitford's Love in a Cold Climate. "The male" is taken from the real-life Mitfords, as is the notion of all the Blacks having ridiculous nicknames. Granfalloon is from Vonnegut.

Single-post version on DW:

(Romance of the Age)

Chaptered version on LJ:

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three