Secrets of a Slytherin Princess

Worry. That was the only emotion Apollonia Snape felt anymore. Since agreeing to Professor Dumbledore’s request to protect the Dursleys after the blood protection elapsed, Apollonia found herself concerned for their safety, even if Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon hated her magic. Apollonia had become the protector for all those she cared about: the Dursley, her father, brother, and Draco; not wanting anything to happen to them, Apollonia swore to protect them from this. These were dark times that the population of the Wizarding World was living in and anyone could be targeted. The fact that the people she cared about most in the world were directly targeted incensed the young Snape. And, that fueled her even more to protect the people she cared about from the darkest wizard known to man.

Already had Apollonia promised to protect her mother’s family, to place them under the Fidelius Charm when she and Harry turned seventeen. She gave the Headmaster her word to protect the only family Harry had left. Come July 31st, Apollonia—in her first act of magic as a newly-minted of-age witch—would cast the Fidelius Charm, with Dudley Dursley’s help, over Number 4 Privet Drive. Dudley’s compliance was the only thing that would save them from being targeted by Voldemort. After she complained about spending Christmas with her mother’s family, it turned out that Apollonia had to thank her father and Draco for insisting that she go to Surrey. If not for that suggestion, there would have been no way for Apollonia to protect the Dursley during the war. Professor Dumbledore told her that the Fidelius Charm would only work if she had the acquiescence of house’s occupants. Because of her father and Draco, she did.

When it came to her father, protecting him was a far more difficult task. Unfortunately, there was no way for her to know when Severus Snape might get driven out of the school. Trying to protect him would be difficult when she did not yet know of the fate that awaited him. All the younger Snape could really do was wait for the day to come when the curse on the Dark Arts post would drive her father out of Hogwarts for good. And, by then; well, by then it would be too late and Apollonia would have suffer the consequences of her father’s actions.

Harry was a completely different story altogether. When it came to her brother, a protection detail simply was not an option. After everything that happened over the years, Apollonia knew perfectly well that her brother could take care of himself. He was the Chosen One, after all. Thanks to what happened at the Ministry six months ago, everyone knew that Harry Potter was the one destined to kill Voldemort. And, it put her brother’s life in danger, a fact she would just have to live with. There was really nothing that Apollonia could do to protect her brother without putting herself in danger and risk exposing her secret. So, all Apollonia could do was wait for her half-brother to do as he was always meant to and fulfill the prophecy that Sybil Trelawney made some fifteen years ago.

Then there was Draco. As Apollonia so learned when the new tern began, her best friend wanted nothing to do with her. He made certain that she was nowhere around him. It bothered her immensely that Draco would do something that, after the four and half years of friendship. Apollonia could only wonder why her best friend would do something like this; why he would chose to turn his back on her. For years, Draco Malfoy was always the one to watch over her, in a way that her father never could due to the obligations he had. Now Apollonia lost even that. She lost her only true support system. Even if she was friends with Harry and Hermione, they couldn’t exactly do anything to help her through what was going on around her. No, that job always belonged to Draco. But, now? Now that Draco acted like she didn’t exist—like she was truly invisible—the Snape daughter didn’t know what was going to happen, or how she was going to protect her best friend.

The fact remained that Apollonia needed to protect Draco; he was in the service of the darkest wizard known to man. She feared losing him as a result of what Voldemort had done. Apollonia wanted to do something about it, but found herself unable to since Draco refused to allow her to come anywhere near him. How was she supposed to protect him from what was going to happen? No one—not Harry; not Hermione; not her father—would be willing to help her with this. And, since she could do nothing about it, Apollonia could only sit and watch while her best friend plummeted into a downward spiral, to a fate worse than death.

By the end of January, Apollonia found that focusing on her studies was extremely difficult. The order Professor Dumbledore gave her weighed on the back of her mind. On the final Friday in January—a day that, according to her father, would have been Lily Potter’s birthday had she lived—Apollonia trudged up to the Headmaster’s office; she wished to speak with the man about how she was progressing through the term while under the stress of worrying about the people she cared about. Only the Headmaster might understand just how stressed Apollonia was by what was going on. The semi-omniscient Headmaster would understand why Apollonia was so stressed since Christmas.

Before she could reach the Headmaster’s office, however, Apollonia came upon a young woman with bright pink hair. She seemed impatient, trying to come up with the password to the Headmaster’s office. Apollonia approached her. “Cockroach Clusters,” the Slytherin said to the gargoyle. She then turned to the pink-haired woman. “Why not Floo?”

“Might be monitored,” the woman replied.

“Ah,” Apollonia realized. They both headed up to the Headmaster’s office where they stood in wait for Professor Dumbledore to let either of them in to deal with their business. This gave Apollonia a chance to question this odd pink-haired woman about why he was there. “I’m sorry to ask this, but is there any particular reason for you to be here?”

“Order business,” she intoned.

“Understood,” Apollonia noted. It was a widely known fact that the Order of the Phoenix was the resistance group that fought against Voldemort and the Death Eaters, both fifteen years ago and now. Because her father worked as a part of the Order, Apollonia was aware—at least to a certain extent—of its existence and held some concept of what was going on.

“And why are you here?” she asked.

The Slytherin shrugged. “In a way, I guess you could call it Order business. But, the way I like to think it is that my stress level has increased. The Headmaster may be the only person who can understand what’s going on. There’s no way that I can’t go another five months like this.”

The door swung open to reveal the Headmaster. “Ms. Tonks, Ms. Snape, how interesting to see that you are both here,” he said pleasantly, almost knowingly. “Please do come in.”

Apollonia gasped, clasping a hand over her mouth. That name. I know that name; all too well. It occurred a long time ago—when she was but a five year-old girl—but Apollonia still remembered. She removed her hand from her mouth and began muttering something to herself. “Dual-tone hair and blotchy skin.” Apollonia only hoped that Tonks would hear her; surely she remembered this as well. “I’m sure you remember, Tonks. You were only twelve at the time, but I’m sure you remember that infamous detention. Dad was pretty pissed when he found out exactly what I did, what I did to Charlie that day.”

“Well, then there’s always dungeon bat,” Tonks laughed.

“Ah, so you do remember,” Apollonia noted.

“Remember?” Tonks asked. “Dungeon bat became a legendary nickname for your father. And, from what I’ve heard, it surpassed even Charlie’s and my time at Hogwarts. There’s no way that Charlie, Bill, or I could ever forget that his five year-old daughter was the one to give him such a name. So, Ms. Apollonia Snape, why are you really here?”

The Headmaster stepped up. “Dora, your reasons for being here are the same. I called you here to speak of Ms. Snape’s part in protecting Harry.” Tonks raised an eyebrow, unclear of what was said. Dumbledore looked to Apollonia. “I’m afraid I cannot give the reason for all of this, not really. Only Ms. Snape is capable of doing so. You know her father from your days in school, but this deals with something else, something only she can say.”

“You knew I would come?” Apollonia asked.

“I did indeed. And, you must tell Dora what only you can say,” the Headmaster declared. “Someone within the Order—outside of the Hogwarts staff—must know of your secret. Since you are already familiar with Tonks, I thought it might be better for you to tell her than one of the others.” The Headmaster directed his attention to Tonks. “Her secret is protected under the Fidelius Charm, with Ms. Snape as Secret-Keeper. Only she can ever reveal the secret.”

“And, what is the secret?” Tonks asked.

Before revealing said secret, Apollonia turned to the Headmaster. “Is your office soundproof?” He nodded. “Good.” She turned back to face Tonks and explain the situation to her. “Dora, my mother’s identity is a closely-guarded secret. Until a few months ago, even I was unaware of that fact. Less than a dozen people are aware of said fact, even though I was named for my mother. See, Tonks, my full name is Apollonia Lily Evans Snape; I’m Lily Potter’s daughter.” Apollonia, upon revealing this fact, wondered why Professor Dumbledore wished for Apollonia to reveal this secret to Tonks. Why did one of the Order members need to know about her true parentage, of her connection to Harry?

“You’re kidding!” Tonks insisted.

“If I was kidding, why would this secret be protected by the Fidelius Charm?” Apollonia inquired, making a very good point. If she was lying about this, there would have been no reason to enact the Fidelius Charm for her protection as Voldemort would have no reason to ever go after her. Clearly, Dora wasn’t thinking when she gave her response. “Dora, I am Harry’s sister; a blood test will prove it. But, it will have wait until all of this is over. For right now, you need to trust me when I say that the Dursley aren’t the only family Harry has; not really.”

Dumbledore nodded. “Which brings me to the reason you’re here, Dora. Ms. Snape is under orders to protect the Dursleys. As not only an Auror, but an Order member as well, you will be her contact into the Order. Ms. Snape will not be inducted into the Order for safety reasons; Severus does not wish for his daughter to be a part of this…because of her mother.” Dumbledore gave a very pointed glance to Apollonia. “Still, her task for the Order is to protect what’s left of hers and Mr. Potter’s family for the duration of the war. They must be protected while the war is going on; else Harry will lose the only family he has left.”

“By my birthday,” Apollonia nodded. “I know, sir.”

Dumbledore nodded. “If they are not in protective custody by then, Voldemort can come after them. For six more months can the blood protection last. After that, they must go into hiding.”

“All thanks to their connection to Harry,” Apollonia mumbled. It was the reason her father did not wish for Apollonia to become a part of the war; he knew that Apollonia had a connection to Harry—albeit one unknown to her until a few months ago—and wished to protect his daughter. But, it turned out that she was the only one who could protect the Dursleys; the only person completely willing to do so after learning of what they did to Harry. She was in danger herself anyway, so why not throw herself into the fray in order to protect the Dursleys? This plan of hers would be accomplished in a way that would protect herself from the effects of the war without completely placing herself in danger, something her father would never forgive her for. He didn’t want her to be a part of this and Apollonia would comply with the man’s request, only going so far that she would not be fighting in a more traditional sense as her brother would; she was but the protector.

“Miss Snape,” the Headmaster stated, “might I suggest that you hold a chat with Tonks about what must occur in six months time. The Order must be made aware of said plans.”

Apollonia shrugged and went to follow Tonks. It seemed as if the Headmaster would not give her the opportunity to relay her fears to him. The Headmaster wished for her to speak with Tonks about the plan to protect the Dursleys. If anything came out of this, Apollonia could catch up with the woman who once played baby-sitter to her eleven year ago. “After what you pulled on Charlie all those years ago, might I assume that you’re a Slytherin.”

“Like my father,” she grinned.

“It’s so weird seeing you like this,” Tonks noted. “Honestly, I still remember that little girl who decided to prank Charlie in an attempt to make an easy detention miserable. You know, you should probably introduce that prank to Fred and George; they’d love it. And, the fact that you tested said prank on their older brother would probably be of interest to them.”

“If I ever get the chance to meet them,” Apollonia stated, “I’ll think about it. Though I doubt it would ever happen. As well as I got along with Bill and Charlie—though it was the result of a baby-sitting adventure—I don’t exactly get along with the Weasley around my own age, the Weasley I learned about when I was five and then promptly forgot about.”

“How can you be friends with Harry without befriending Ron?” Tonks asked the Slytherin. “The two are extremely close, like brothers. There’s no way that you can ever truly be a part of Harry’s life without befriending Ron. Why aren’t you friends with him anyway?”

“House rivalries and my friendship with one Draco Malfoy,” Apollonia shrugged. “The combination of the two factors prevented me from ever getting along with Ronald Weasley.”

“That would do it,” Tonks noted. A few moments passed with Apollonia and Tonks walking through the corridors in companionable silence before the pink-haired metamorphagus continued speaking. “You’re friends with the Malfoy boy?” Apollonia only nodded, not really wanting to think about it. “He’s my cousin, you know. Our mothers were sisters.”

Apollonia’s ears perked up at that. It was something that, in five years of knowing Draco, she never heard from him. Narcissa certainly never mentioned it. “I never heard that,” the Slytherin declared.

“You wouldn’t,” Tonks shrugged.

“Why not?” Apollonia asked.

“My mother was disowned for marrying a muggleborn,” Tonks explained. “I doubt Draco even knows who I am; Aunt Narcissa and Aunt Bellatrix might, but not Draco. Even I didn’t know until Sirius Black showed me the Black family tapestry sometime last year and confronted my mum about it. It’s true, it seems; I am his cousin. And, that makes this whole thing even weirder; the fact that my contact within the school—a student in which Dumbledore informed me would be helping the Order with the Dursley matter—happens to be my former baby-sitting charge and a friend to my cousin. It’s strange.”

The Slytherin nodded. “Yeah. Small world.”

“I need to get going in a few minutes,” Tonks said. “When I see Bill and Charlie, do you want me to mention that I saw you? I’m sure they’d get a kick out of this; especially Charlie.”

“No, don’t tell them,” Apollonia intoned. “If Bill or Charlie ever get roped into meeting with what should always be referred to as the Quarter-Blood Princess—so no one knows that it’s me; not even my father, though the nickname is similar—I want them to be surprised.” A few days into her first year at Hogwarts—at the end of her first week, the young Slytherin remembered—her father took it upon himself to show Apollonia an old Potions book naming someone called the Half-Blood Prince as the book’s owner. The little first-year wondered why her father would show her this book, only to have her Potions Master father tell her about an ancestry she knew little about. Now that she knew of her own true ancestry—her mother in particular—Apollonia decided to stylize herself—at least within the Order—as the Quarter-Blood Princess—as well as create her own inside-joke about her father—so as to hide her identity; in case any communiqués between her and Tonks were intercepted.

“I’ll see if I can make that happen sometime,” Tonks laughed. “Regarding communication methods; since no one can know that you’re helping the Order protect the Dursleys—the Dungeon Bat especially—communication will be sparing at best. Every three weeks I think. Apollonia, tell me; do you happen to know how to cast the Patronus Charm?”

“No, why?” Apollonia asked.

“That is one of the methods the Order uses to communicate; you might want to learn that. My patronus, incidentally, is a werewolf. You’ll need to know that for later on.”

Apollonia quirked an eyebrow at that. It was rather odd that Tonks’s patronus would be a werewolf. Why would her personality associate with the werewolf? “Okay, Dora, let’s hear the reason for that? Surely, there’s a story that must go with your odd patronus.”

“I fell in love with one,” she said. “Simple as that.”

There was only one werewolf that Apollonia could think of, only she wasn’t quite sure if her suspicions were accurate. All the young Snape could do was guess as to whom Tonks spoke of. “Someone I know?” she asked. Just before the end of her third year, it was revealed—by her father, no less—that the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher for the year, Professor Remus Lupin, happened to be a werewolf. If Tonks confirmed that it was someone Apollonia knew, she’d confirm that it was Remus Lupin that Tonks spoke of.

“I would think so,” Tonks said.

The Slytherin snapped her fingers in recognition. “The once-Professor Lupin. I really do hate that my father did that to him. Completely unfair if you ask me. Tell him that, would you? And, you might want to tell him who my father is; Professor Lupin was not exactly on the list of staff who knew that I was the professor’s daughter. So, give him this message for me: Apollonia Snape—a student you once knew as Apollonia Evans a mere three years ago—says she’s sorry for the way her father treated you. Just get that message to him.”

“I will,” Tonks said. “Now I’d best be going.”

Once Tonks left, Apollonia found herself being confronted by someone she wanted nothing to do with. For whatever reason, Ron Weasley chose to approach her. “For what reason was an Order member talking to a Slytherin?” Ron snarled. “There’s only one Slytherin in the Order—that greasy git Snape—who should even be a part of this, the Death Eater.”

As much as Apollonia wanted to inform Ronald Weasley—the Weasley around her own age—of the fact that he was insulting her father, she held her tongue for the moment. She couldn’t simply blurt something like that out. Her only chance at Ron believing that she was on Harry’s side was if Bill or Charlie could explain the events from eleven years ago. It was the only way. The Slytherin scoffed. “If you really want to know why I was speaking with someone from the Order, why don’t you go have a chat with that person and your two oldest brothers? Perhaps they can elaborate on the situation.” Apollonia despised the fact that this was the only way Ron might ever believe any of this; Ron hated Slytherins and, not only was she one, but the daughter of his least favorite professor.

“I’ll do that,” Ron scoffed.

“What the hell?” the Slytherin wondered once she was alone. There would have to come a day when the youngest Weasley boy needed to trust her. Apollonia was Harry’s sister, which meant that, once the Slytherin informed her brother of the fact that they were siblings, Ron would have to be nice to her. Only problem was that she didn’t know when that would occur. Though it may foster house-unity within the school, I can’t be sure of when it will occur. She only hoped that it would be soon; otherwise, things might never be right.