I've been wanting to do a gritty retelling of Harry Potter for a long time. At its heart, it's a young children's novel. I wanted to do a slightly more realistic retelling that challenges some of the assumptions laid out in canon.

Let me get this out of the way before the angry reviews come: this is AU. Clearly. Obviously. How can there even be a doubt? Harry will become a Dark Lord in this story. If that is not sufficient to convince you of this story's AU-ness, I don't know what else I can say. There are no time turners either. More differences will become obvious as the story progresses.

Prologue: Dissension Amongst the Ranks

Snape's stomach seized up; his lungs seemed to contract into an infinitesimal point, and his heart was being squeezed out of his throat. When breath didn't come, he managed to stagger four paces before emptying his latest meal onto the side of the street. Stomach acid still on his tongue and spittle staining his new robes, Severus Snape collapsed onto the side of the street, tears now readily falling.

The Dark Lord had decided the prophecy meant Lilly. Lilly Evans. Why not the Longbottoms? Why not any number of others? Why Lilly? Why his Lilly? He would never know these answers. But one thing was certain: Lord Voldemort was not someone who changed his mind.

Ever.

Dumbledore. The thought dimly swayed into the outskirts of the young Death Eater's awareness, and try as he might to swat it away, it seemed to take hold. "The only wizard the Dark Lord had ever feared," he spat grimly.

Dumbledore and his army of self-righteous, repugnant hypocrites who somehow always claimed a moral high ground. And yet, was there any choice? If this meant saving Lilly, he would wade through an army of inferi and eat nothing but hippogriff shit for the rest of his life. If it meant saving Lilly, he would lay himself at the feet of that Potter with nothing but the greatest meekness and kiss his boots. If it meant saving Lilly... would he die?

His heart quivered.

And in that moment, Severus Snape hated his selfishness. Even now, he was afraid – so afraid of death.

"Get up, Snape." A gruff, familiar voice seemed to boom.

Snape didn't bother to raise his gaze. "Black. If you're here for your usual banter, I'm not in the mood today."

"Do I look like I'm here for bloody banter?"

Snape looked up. The normally neatly combed, jet black hair was disheveled. It was the first time he noticed the few grays that seemed to have crept up. Perhaps it was the stress. Bags that could hold oceans had taken residence on Regulus' face almost permanently these past few weeks, and the man's eyes became permanently bloodshot. "It's time we had a talk."

Before Snape had time to respond, he felt his hand being grabbed and the familiar twist of side-long apparition had taken hold.

"Good, you've come." A third voice now.

Severus looked around. He knew this place. The Black family manor. Supposedly the most impregnable place ever created, possibly next to Azkaban and Nurmengard. The Blacks were a paranoid and talented bunch, and they took their security seriously. Snape seriously doubted the Dark Lord had ever set foot upon this mansion. Good. Safety. He was close enough to recognize the man now.

"Rosier?" Whoever he'd expected, it hadn't been Evan Rosier.

Rosier flashed him that trademark smirk. "Let's begin. We don't have time to waste."

Looking around, Snape couldn't find any others. So it was just the three of them. "What's this about?" Snape growled. With curiosity sated, irritation crept in to fill the void. His patience had worn thin.

Regulus' voice was soft and quiet, yet it possessed a new firmness that the young man didn't have before. "This has gone far enough. He needs to be stopped." A simple statement said boldly and with that soft firmness that drove the youngest Black heir.

A pin drop silence, and Snape didn't bother to use Occlumency. He doubted he could've cleared his mind at that moment even if he used all his magical capacity.

"Well?"

Snape blinked. He hadn't realized they were waiting for a response. "Usually, in this sort of scenario, one prepares a speech to convince a new initiate."

Rosier snorted. "Not if the initiate is already convinced."

Snape finally nodded. He was convinced. It had gone on long enough. They had all been in the same shoes, once upon a time. Bullied and friendless. Talented. And waiting for a good cause. Freeing the magical world from the oppression and confines of the Muggles. Freeing themselves to their full potential. Where had it all gone wrong? Snape didn't care anymore.

Lilly was what mattered.

"From this moment on, we serve as double agents. We do what we can to prevent the Dark Lord's goals, and ultimately, kill the Dark Lord himself." Again, Black – the youngest of the three – taking the lead. Considering they were in the Black manor, there was no doubt who had organized this.

Snape nodded. "What's the plan?"

"The Dark Lord, for now, is truly immortal." Again, a simple and unreal statement said with such ferocity that Snape could only accept it as simple truth. "He has made a Horcrux. Perhaps more than one, but I've found one of them." Black didn't bother explaining further. "I will be destroying them. I have a good idea how. Your job is to take over Rosier's responsibilities and expand upon them. You will contact Dumbledore and serve as a spy."

Snape's breath caught.

"You are a decent Occlumens, which makes you the best choice. That, and given that should you fail, the Dark Lord will kill the one you love."

"And what of you? Why should we trust you? How will you not be turned?"

Black snorted. "Everyone I love is dead, Severus. There is nothing more for me than to seek redemption."

What that meant, Snape didn't bother to try and learn. "And what of you, Rosier? If this is such a noble goal, why are you abdicating your responsibilities?"

"Things have... changed for me." The man's eyes shone.

And there was no mistaking it. Love. "You have a wife?"

Rosier smiled. No smirk this time. "And soon a daughter. My duties to them now precede my own salvation. I'm afraid that the task of our redemption must fall to you, Severus."

It all made sense now. "You're going into hiding."

"Partially, yes. But also seeking help. I will take them to Eastern Europe, away from the Dark Lord's sphere, and start amassing support for our cause. In time, we should have a sizable number of wizards to end this."

It was an enormous risk. It didn't make any sense – surely the most obvious way to keep them safe was to remain on the Dark Lord's good side. And a savage thought bit at him from the back of his mind. Like you helped Lilly remain safe? Like you didn't deliver her to the Dark Lord on a silver platter? Yes, well done Severus.

Perhaps Rosier mistook Snape's own guilty musings for doubt or hesitation. Whatever the reason, he felt the reason to add "Understand, Severus. I will do what must be done to protect my family. If that means I duel Aurors and die to help them escape, then so be it... And if that means I must kill a friend, I will do that, too. Do not betray us, Severus."

"You do not fear death," Snape's jealous whisper stained his conscience.

Surprisingly, Rosier barked a laugh. "Of course I fear it. But I would happily die to ensure my family's survival. And would you. Someday, perhaps, Lilly Evans will understand that, too."

He nodded. He would do what it took. For Lilly.

"Take today to prepare your assets and belongings in case you die." Black's soft firmness took over the room once more. "Tomorrow, you will go to Dumbledore and do what you must."

What he must. Yes.

There's the Prologue.

I'm playing with a new chapter length that's slightly shorter than my usual stories.