Secrets of a Slytherin Princess

Upon getting Apollonia to the Hospital Wing, Draco made certain that the Headmaster knew what happened. Severus Snape flooed into the room, in a furious rage. “He used the CRUCIATUS curse on my daughter! I warned Amycus about that; Alecto too. Seems I must remind them of that fact. Thank you, Mr. Malfoy, for informing me of such. Ten points to Slytherin.” The Headmaster then strode over to sit beside his daughter as she recovered from a bout of the Cruciatus Curse while Draco was shuttled out of the room and forced to return to class.

Draco solemnly returned to class, taking as long as possible. After what happened to Apollonia, he had no desire to go back there today. But, since his effects were still sitting in the classroom, he had no choice. Thank Merlin lunch is next. I can go and sit in the Hospital Wing to watch over her. He groaned. What kind of protector am I that I allowed that to happen? Last year when it became known that the Dark Lord intended on recruiting Apollonia into the Death Eaters, Draco informed Professor Snape of what was going on. That was the day Draco informed his Head of House that he was in love with Apollonia; that he would do whatever he could in order to protect the younger Snape. Yet, he failed her today.

Because of his mistake, Apollonia suffered through a bout of the Cruciatus Curse and was now lying in the Hospital Wing. Draco arrived at the classroom in a rather glum mood. His thoughts were on the Head Girl and what Amycus did to her. As he slid into his seat, Blaise leaned over and questioned the Head Boy about what happened. “Is she okay?”

Draco shook his head. “She’s unconscious.”

“That’s too bad,” Blaise said.

“It was never supposed to happen,” Draco muttered. “Apolla was never supposed to become a part of this. She was supposed to remain invisible throughout the year and avoid the Carrows like the plague. But, no; Amycus decides to target her the first day, like it’s no big thing.”

“What’s going on back home?” Blaise asked.

“Home,” Draco scoffed. “It’s more like a prison right now; my parents and I are prisoners in our own home. Mother and Snape made certain that Apolla was nowhere near the Manor since last year. After all the things I’ve seen-” Charity Burbage came to mind “-I’m glad that she was spending time with relatives.” Even if they do happen to be Muggles.

“And, isn’t Apollonia the most important person in your life?”

“Aside from my mother, yes,” Draco said quietly.

“Well, there’s your answer, Draco,” Blaise informed his friend. “This is yet another way for the Dark Lord to torture you and your family. And, the fact that it just so happens to clash with the order Snape gave to not target his daughter will bug the Headmaster as well. Clearly, the Carrows would rather obey HIM than the Professor Snape.”

Blaise’s explanation made sense. Of course, despite the logical explanation he was given, Draco didn’t want that to be the case. After his mother, Apollonia was the most important person in his life. Targeting her was an attack on Draco himself. When the class ended for the day, Draco gathered his things and headed off to the Hospital Wing. Rather than eating in the Great Hall with all the other students, Draco decided that spending his lunch hour making sure that Apollonia was okay was more important; he could eat there. “Is she okay?” Draco asked upon reaching the Hospital Wing and dropping his things.

“Ms. Snape should be resting,” Madam Pomfrey said.

The Head Boy nodded and went to sit opposite the Headmaster. “This wasn’t supposed to happen, sir. I tried to stop Amycus, but he refused to listen to me. He was insistent upon using Apolla as a test subject. I really don’t know why though; there were several Gryffindors—including Longbottom—that he could have targeted, yet he chose your daughter.” When he saw that Longbottom was in the class, Draco was sure of the fact that Amycus would target him, particularly after Longbottom’s parents lost their minds in the same fashion, due in part to Draco’s aunt, Bellatrix. Apollonia being targeted boggled his mind though. He simply couldn’t understand why Amycus would do this.

“I will make them see reason,” the girl’s father declared.

The elder Snape strode out of the Hospital Wing, leaving Draco on his own at Apollonia’s side. He looked sadly at the unconscious Head Girl and sighed, taking her hand in his. “I’m sorry, Apolla, for what happened back there. Somehow, despite your father’s explicit orders that you were not to be harmed at any point during the year, Amycus decided to target you. And, if that encounter was any indication, Alecto will do the same in Muggle Studies.” The fact that Apollonia had Muggle relatives—of which Draco only recently discovered within the past three months—made her a target. So, the fact that the seventh-year Slytherins didn’t have Muggle Studies until Friday was an immense relief; he didn’t have to worry about dealing with Alecto until the end of the week.

When Madam Pomfrey disappeared for lunch, it gave Draco the chance he needed to search through Apollonia’s mind. Surely, her shields would be down now that she was unconscious. So, it was worth a try. “Legilimens!” Draco entered Apollonia’s mind finding some of Apollonia’s more recent memories. A conversation with his cousin…the prank on Pansy…the aftermath of Dumbledore’s death. The Slytherin delved further into Apollonia’s mind until finding a lightning storm blocking his path; it seemed weak, but still active. Somehow, Apollonia’s blockade was so strong that could withstand even unconsciousness; it was weak, yes, but the barrier was still there, a feat Draco had never seen. Draco pushed his way forward, getting struck every so often by the lightning. “Clever, Apolla; if you weren’t unconscious, it would be impossible to get past this,” Draco conceded.

Upon making it past the lightning storm, Draco felt a flood of memories rush at him. This, he knew, was what he was looking for. Apollonia locked these memories away for a reason; they held a secret, one she felt she had to protect no matter what. As he examined the memories the Head Girl had locked away, the Head Boy came to a realization; there was one image in here that truly mattered: a woman with bright emerald eyes holding what appeared to be a baby boy with matching green eyes. It was the vibrancy of those emerald eyes that made Draco realize exactly what was going on; only two people had such brilliant green eyes. One was Apollonia; he stared into those emerald green eyes far too many times to ever forget them. And therein lay the problem, for those eyes had also plagued him from the time he was eleven years-old. Draco emerged from Apollonia’s head rather enlightened; he knew what Apollonia was hiding from him. And, in retrospect, she made the right decision to do so; Draco was livid. “Guess that explains why supports Potter in the way that she does; she has an obligation to do so.” The fact that that bothered him to such a degree was that he had unwittingly fallen in love with Potter’s sister.