Disclaimer: Alas, I do not own Harry Potter. Or V for Vendetta. They are owned by J.K. Rowling and DC Comics (respectively) I'm just playing with the characters. Not making any money from this. And now, on with the show...
Summary: A parody of V for Vendetta: Severus is saved from a fate worse than death by a charismatic man in a mask who's personality bears a remarkable resemblance the deceased (?) Lord Voldemort . Soon, Severus and many others are swept up in the man's urge to unite the people, magical and muggle alike, against the tyranny that plagues Britain.
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(The story opens with Severus laying the foundation for our little tale)
"Remember, remember,
The Fifth of November
The Gunpowder Treason and plot.
I know of no reason
Why the gun powder treason
Should ever be forgot.
But what of the man? I know his name was Guy Fawkes and I know in 1605 he attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament. But who was he really? What was he like? We are told to remember the idea, not the man. Because a man can fail. He can be caught. He can be killed and forgotten. But four hundred years later an idea can still change the world. I've witnessed first hand the power of ideas. I've seen people kill in the name of them…and die defending them. But you cannot kiss an idea. Cannot touch it or hold it. Ideas do not bleed, they do not feel pain. They do not love. And it is not an idea that I miss. It is a man. A man that taught me to remember the fifth of November. A man that I will never forget…"
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Somewhere, deep beneath the streets of London, in a shadowy room covered in old film posters, an equally shadowy character sat before a mirror. Clothed all in black from head to toe and a black wig hiding his face from view, a tall man absentmindedly flicked on a television next to him. The screen immediately produced the pudgy image of one of England's most successful citizens- Cornelius Fudge- former Minister of Magic and now the much revered Voice of London. "I say," began Fudge, "I read today the formerly 'United' States of America are so desperate for medical supplies that they have allegedly sent us several containers filled with wheat and tobacco. A gesture, they said, of goodwill…"Fudge paused for affect before asking in mellow-dramatic voice, "Would you like to know what I think?" The figure before the mirror shook his head slightly, and reached for the highlight of his outfit, a bone white Guy Fawkes mask with a smile forever fixed upon its lips. As he fastened the mask to his face, Fudge continued with his speech.
V
He also spoke to another person in a room in a dingy apartment building on the other side of the city. Severus Snape sat before his own mirror in his own room trying desperately to do something half decent with his hair. "You're watching my show, so I'll assume you do. I think it's high time we let the colonies know what we really think of them. I think it's time we paid them back for a little 'tea party' they threw for us a few hundred years ago."Fudge paused once more for affect and Severus rolled his eyes as the sounds of previously recorded applause poured from the TV. Giving up on his hair for the moment, Severus rose to put on the few nice clothes he owned. After buttoning a black dress shirt, ho looked at himself in the mirror. 'Not bad.' he thought. What did looks matter anyway? He was only meeting up Lucius Malfoy. An estranged friend from years before everything in the country went to shit. Good old Lucius. The fates never did seem to be able to keep him down. After the Side of the Light won the second wizarding war, and Voldemort had disappeared into the 'judicial' hands of the government, Lucius had managed to rise again, reputation (and funds) intact. If there was any show on air that could give Fudge's bit a run for its money, it was Lucius' late night comedy show. They all worked in the same building, Lucius flashing his handsome mugg for the cameras and Severus being the community gopher for all the important employees there. It was really no different from teaching. People in the television business could be just as arrogant and dim witted as the most idiotic of students past.
Despite being co-workers, he'd been rather surprised when Lucius had contacted him and asked if Severus would like to join him for a drink. Why not? Severus also wasn't so stupid as to pass up not only the prospect of companionship, but Lucius was a powerful man; if he played his cards right, Severus thought, he might get access to more food ration coupons, even a little more that the one meal a day his current government supplied ration gave him would be worth going through the trouble of meeting with Lucius at such a late hour. Shaking himself from his thoughts, Severus turned his attention back to the mirror and waited for Fudge to work himself into a political fury as was usual. "What I say is that we go down the docks tonight and dump the colonial crap everything from the Ulcered Sphincter of Asserica belongs! Who's with me? Who's bloody with me?" Finished dressing, Severus sat back down and started combing his hair. He glanced at the TV and caught the smug look on Fudge's face as looked into the camera. "Did you like? USA? The Ulcred Sphincter of Asserica? I mean honestly what else can you say? Here was a country that everything and twenty years later is now what? The world's biggest leper colony. Why?" Fudge leaned back in his seat and took on the voice of the highest paid demagogue. "Godlessness. Let me say that again. Godlessness. It wasn't the war they started, it wasn't the plague they created. It was Judgment!" Severus tried pulling his hair back. Useless, it didn't look any better up, than it did down…
V
The dark figure down in the shadowy room buckled a belt laden with steel knives around his waist. "No one escapes their past," Fudge continued, "No one escapes Judgment. You think He's not up there? You think He's not watching over this country? How else can you explain it? He tested us, but we came through!" The man whipped out a black cloak and fastened it around his neck. He turned his back to Fudge's image and settled a wide brimmed hat on top of his wig. "We did what we had to do!" Fudge yelled into the camera. "Islington, Enfield…I was there. I saw it all. Immigrants, Muslims, homosexuals! Terrorists, disease ridden degenerates. They had to go!" The masked man looked down his artificial nose as Fudge's face turned a startling shade of red.
V
Across town, Severus had also noticed the color of Fudge's face and felt bile rise in his throat as he knew what the next words out of Fudge would be: "Strength through unity! Unity through faith! I'm a God-fearing Englishman and I'm goddamn proud of it!" "And that's quite enough of that, thank you very much." Severus growled as he turned off the TV. He sighed and looked at the few photos he had of family and friends. Many dead. Either from before the war, like Evan Rosier and Charles Wilkes. Taken down by Aurors after Voldemort's first fall. Or from the violence that had upturned the country during the Reclamation that followed the outbreak of America's civil war...Like his parents. Severus swallowed and looked away. No point in dwelling on memories of Spinners End and what might have been. He turned to look at a clock and started when he saw that it was one minute to eleven. "Oh shit!" Severus exclaimed and grabbing a piece of paper with an address scribbled on it, hurried for the door.
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I should get the next chapter up soon. Reviews are appreciated. ;)