Secrets of a Slytherin Princess

Over the next few weeks, Apollonia found that it was getting harder and harder for students to make it through the day unharmed by one of the Carrows. Students were defiant, earning them several detentions or a Crucio from one of the Carrows. By Halloween, every student in the school that opposed Voldemort—herself included; she needed to fake the injuries since the snake pendant protected her from the harm that Amycus and Alecto might inflict upon her—received a detention about her outrage against the darkness. And, to her immense displeasure, she was the only Slytherin to receive such a treatment. Though she knew that there were other non-Pureblooded Slytherins, Apollonia was the only one to be treated in such a way, thanks in part to her vocal attitude regarding what was being done to the school. And, it wasn’t like Draco could help her every time he was in trouble; it turned out that Draco had his own issues to deal with.

As Apollonia soon came to learn, Draco was in a bit of trouble over what happened last June regarding his mission for the Dark Lord. Because it was her father—and not Draco—who killed Dumbledore, You-Know-Who was not too pleased with the Malfoy family. Draco, Narcissa, and Lucius—of course not that Apollonia really cared all that much about what happened to the Malfoy patriarch, even if he was Draco’s father—were getting tortured in their own home. Upon hearing about that, Apollonia was surprised that Draco was even able to protect her from the Carrows. It appeared as if Draco called in every possible favor, simply in order to protect Apollonia. The snake pendant came in handy as well since Draco had to deal with the repercussions of his actions.

Alternatively, the snake pendant caused some commotion, particularly when it was discovered that Apollonia was being spied upon. When Neville, Luna, and Ginny learned of the necklace—an artifact that barely anyone ever paid attention to—and its ability, well…all Apollonia could say about it was that it did not go too well. Though the snake was encased in a small black sphere during the times Apollonia met with the Resistance leaders, there was still a chance that Draco might learn what she was doing. And, that was what the trio feared, that Draco might find out and use the information to destroy the Resistance they were building. It was a conversation that Apollonia had been replaying over and over since it occurred.

September was drawing to a close and Apollonia was busy preparing to meet with Neville, Ginny, and Luna about the Resistance. They agreed to do so each weekend, to make sure that their goals were met. After doing that for the first few weeks, the quartet would recruit anyone willing to help, teachers included. Apollonia drifted into a quiet corner of the library where they were meeting—in fact, it was the same area that Apollonia usually met with Hermione in—and took a seat, encasing the snake pendant in its black sphere.

Neville walked in just as the spell was being cast. Apollonia silently cursed herself for not doing this earlier. With every other meeting, the Head Girl was able to hide the pendant beforehand. This time though, she was caught. And, Neville would surely ask her about what was going on, which he eventually did. “What was that?” the once-shy Gryffindor asked. “I thought I saw a snake being encased in that black sphere. Tell me that’s not what I saw.”

“I can’t do that,” Apollonia said sadly.

“What is that necklace anyway?” he asked.

“It was a Christmas gift,” she replied, hoping that it would go no further. She was not willing to deal with this; she didn’t want anyone to know that Draco was spying on her in such a way. If her secret was discovered, they might lose trust in her the way much of the Order did when Draco pulled her away from the battlefield to speak with her father.

“From who?” Ginny asked, coming over.

Emerald eyes rolled. “I knew you’d ask.” Telling them was not something that Apollonia wished to do; she hoped to keep her secret. But, as Ginny, Neville, and Luna—who only recently joined them—were intently staring at the Head Girl in interest, she really had no choice. “Draco; he said it would protect me.” The trio of friends nodded until they heard Apollonia continue. “There’s secondary effect though, one I didn’t realize until a few months ago.”

“What effect?” they wondered.

“Hecanspyonme,” she said in a hurry.

“Repeat that,” Ginny requested. “Slower this time.”

“He can spy on me,” Apollonia informed them in a quiet voice, hoping that they would not hear anything that she had to say; it was too dangerous. The trust that these three students had in her was tenuous at best. If they learned about the spying tactic Draco was using on her—one that Apollonia wished she thought of last year, so she could spy on him without worrying about the possibility of him finding out—there was really no telling of what their reaction might be. Of course, Apollonia assumed the worst of them.

Three sets of eyes narrowed. “Apollonia Snape! Do you realize what that means?” Neville yelled. “We’re in the middle of a war. You can’t be associated with Death Eaters!”

“You do realize how hypocritical that sounds, don’t you?” Apollonia hissed, attempting to keep her voice low and prevent them from getting kicked out of the library by Madam Pince. “My father is a Death Eater. Or, have you forgotten? Despite the fact that he’s a Death Eater, he’s still my father; he always will be. Should I cut him out my life as well and lose the only parent I have left, simply because he’s a Death Eater; I don’t have a mother, you know. She died a long time ago.” She glared at Neville. “By the way, my father gave him an order, an order he’s followed, even going to far as to defy You-Know-Who’s order. The fact that Draco can spy on me makes no difference since I block all spying capabilities.” Apollonia then left the library, not even bothering to hold the Resistance meeting.

It was Apollonia’s stubbornness—and the trio’s unwillingness to believe that she had things under control—that caused the two week silence. Apollonia’s ties to the Death Eaters were inconsequential; her father was not something she could help. When it came to Draco, that was one that could probably have been controlled at one point; however, even that choice was taken out of her control. The second her father stepped in and ordered Draco to watch over her, Apollonia lost the opportunity to decide for herself if she was to keep someone around. Of course, there was also the fact that she was in danger of being forced to serve a maniac also forced the decision out of her hands. Not that Apollonia ever planned on informing them of such; it was unnecessary for them to learn that someone they trusted—at least to a certain degree—was in danger of becoming a Death Eater.

It wasn’t even as if Apollonia ever told them what was going on. The danger she was in never seemed important enough for the young Snape to discuss with the Resistance leaders. And, how was she supposed to explain it to them anyway? They were on the light side of the war and had no reason to deal with such a possibility. Apollonia was in a rather unique situation; her father was a Death Eater, yet she chose to side with Harry, much like her mother. Most Death Eater kids sided with their parents, giving the Slytherin Head Girl a rather unique perspective on everything that was occurring around her.

The events of two weeks ago was what allowed her to prove to Luna, Ginny, and Neville that she was not putting their plans in jeopardy. Despite the fact that it certainly appeared that way, Apollonia made certain that there was no way for Draco to find out what she was doing. Seeing as she was not in the same house as the people she was avoiding, Apollonia had an easier time in staying away from them. Additionally, she only ever saw Neville during Dark Arts and Muggle Studies. Since Amycus and Alecto were oft to use Apollonia as a subject, the Head Girl had no opportunity to ever deal with him. Nor had any of them approached her about the fact that Apollonia was always targeted despite her Death Eater ties.

The fact that Draco would always try to help her did not help things. Due to her father’s order, Draco was at her side no matter what. But, Apollonia really didn’t want that to be the case. In this situation, Apollonia did not want him around, not when she was trying to help the Resistance. Draco picked the wrong year for him to be glued at her side. Last year was when Apollonia wanted him to be nearby; she wanted him around while she was trying to save her father, not while she was busy trying to save the school. There was a chance that the Carrows might catch on to her plans and make an attempt to stop it.

For this particular evening, Apollonia had no choice but to sit through a Carrow-filled detention. Prior to receiving a Crucio in class from Alecto, Apollonia decided to mouth off to the witch for trying to ruin everyone’s view of Muggles. They weren’t bad the way Death Eaters thought; in fact, it could be construed as Muggles being misunderstood. Unfortunately, Apollonia got a detention because of it, a detention that neither her father nor Draco could reverse. It was also the one time that Draco would not be around to help Apollonia fool the Carrows into believing that she was truly affected by their attacks. Since she was the only Slytherin to get a detention, there was no reason for Draco to be around.

As she headed to the Carrows, there was only one thought in her head. “How the hell is this supposed to happen? How am I supposed to deal with this?” she wondered quietly. Draco wasn’t around to help her conceal the truth from the Carrows and she wasn’t speaking to the Resistance leaders. How exactly was she supposed to get out of this when there was no way for her to make it to the Hospital Wing? Now that the Carrows were able to separate Apollonia from Draco’s side—and she wasn’t on speaking terms with anyone else in the school—and pray on her without any distractions. Ever since her father became Headmaster, there were times when he would disappear from the school, for reasons that she and Draco could never discover; McGonagall didn’t even know and she was his Deputy Headmistress. And that gave the Carrows free reign of the school since they refused to listen to McGonagall, despite the fact that she was in charge while the Headmaster was gone. It was also the reason that Apollonia’s detention was scheduled while her father was away, so he wouldn’t find out what the Carrows were doing and try to help her.

Upon arriving at the Carrows office, Apollonia found that she was not the only person there for a detention. Apollonia wasn’t even sure how, but she was lucky enough to have a companion during this detention, someone who could get her to the Hospital Wing to rest for a few hours and make sure that the Carrows never found out what Draco did to protect her from them. Circumstances being what they were—the detention from the Carrows—it wasn’t good, but at least her secret would be safe for the time being. Of course, consider the fact that someone else was harmed in the process…well, that wasn’t so good. Because of the Carrows’ insanity, she and Neville were in trouble. Neville nodded at her. “Hey, Apollonia.”

She glared at the Longbottom heir angrily. “If my ties to the Death Eaters were really worth something important, would I really be here for a detention?” she asked him.

“I guess not,” he shrugged.

“And that’s exactly my point,” Apollonia hissed to Neville upon making sure that neither of the Carrows would hear what she had to say. “It’s what I tried to tell you two weeks ago. My friendship with Draco, the fact that my father is the man who killed Dumbledore; none of it matters because of one thing: my mother. Draco’s order means nothing in dealing with this; he’ll never find out because I encase the snake in a solid black sphere. Worrying that something might happen is completely redundant. I’ve been careful enough to keep him in the dark so far; I’m sure things will remain that way.” Or, at least she hoped so. Could she say for certain if Draco would never find out? Uh, no! The same went for her father or the Carrows; there was no surefire way for her to know if this could stay quiet.

Before Neville could stay anything in response the Carrows gleefully spun around. “You two,” Amycus said happily, “are going to be the first to experience our torture regiment. It’s going to leave your incapacitated for weeks. Then you’ll see just how wrong you were.”

Neville and Apollonia shared a nervous glance before their gaze returned to Amycus. Apollonia was far more worried; she was in no danger of being harmed thanks to the protective shield that surrounded her. But, Neville was. And, there was no telling as to what might happen because of what the Carrows were about to do to them. Her father was gone; there was nothing he could do to stop any of this, neither for her nor Neville.

Two hours passed before the Head Girl and Neville were released from their detention, each one leaning on each other, Neville more so on Apollonia. “How are you still walking?” he wondered.

“Hospital Wing first,” the Slytherin insisted.

“Er…uh, okay,” the Gryffindor nodded.

The pair made it to the Hospital Wing and Apollonia helped Neville into a bed before she seated herself on the bed next to him. Madam Pomfrey saw them enter and immediately went to collect supplies while Apollonia regaled him with a story. “Remember that necklace you were complaining about?” Neville nodded curiously. “Yeah well, that’s the key to all of this. Draco gave it to me at Christmas, forced me to wear it at all times. I never understood why until the beginning of this term. See, the necklace has a protection spell over it, one that will keep me safe from harm. And, that includes the Carrows’ attacks on me.” Neville stared at her in shock. “That’s why I offered to help, because I’m the one person in the school that can’t be harmed by the Carrows. I stay here in the Hospital wing to help Pomfrey. Now, I don’t care if you hate Draco—it really doesn’t matter to me—but I trust him; he’s help put me in the perfect position to help injured students.”

“Yeah, but…”

“But nothing,” Apollonia interjected. “And make sure that Ginny and Luna understand that as well. “The snake pendant may allow Draco to spy on me, but it all keeps me from getting injured by something the Carrows or any other Death Eater might do.”

Upon holding that conversation with Neville, things seemed to return to normal. Neville was still wary of the snake pendant, but that was the best Apollonia could do at the moment since they were still fearful about what might be overheard. Trust restored—at least tenuously—Apollonia began making sure that the students who came into the Hospital Wing seeking treatment were released as soon as possible; they could not afford to miss as much school as some of them were. The way things were going, students were not going to getting much learning done this year, even in classes that weren’t Dark Arts or Muggle Studies; when Harry finished this, students might have to retake a few classes. Apollonia grunted when she saw Dennis Creevey wander into the Hospital Wing looking for treatment for what was the fifth time in two weeks. “What happened, Dennis?” she asked as she began helping the fourth-year Gryffindor into a bed. “What was it this time?”

“An…other les…son in…in…my pla…ce,” he choked.

“Muggleborn?” she asked. He nodded. “Right.” The muggleborns had the roughest time in dealing with the changes in the school; they were always targeted, especially since there were so few here: Colin and Dennis Creevey, Justin Finch-Fletchley; they were the ones Apollonia usually saw wandering towards her. “Poppy!” she called, for the matronly nurse had allowed the Head Girl to use her given name when she was around; Apollonia was also the only person she didn’t pull the mother hen routine on, and the only person to offer their assistance to the overworked healer. “We’ve got another one.”

“I swear,” the healer huffed, coming into the room with her supplies, “if I didn’t swear not to harm another living creature, I would murder the Carrows myself. Do they have any idea what they’re doing to these kids? Do they have any idea as to how much work I have?”

“You know they do,” Apollonia mumbled in response. “And you know they don’t care. All they’ve ever cared about is proving their master’s point; like they’ve made any progress.” She had the beginnings of the Resistance to thank for that one. If it wasn’t for the Resistance, the school would have already crumbled at the Carrows—and subsequently Voldemort’s—feet. Neville and the others had already recruited some of the younger students—through word of mouth coming from Apollonia—making sure that they knew how to defend themselves. Some of the seventh years came willingly, having suspected that it might be restarted. Slytherins—Apollonia herself excluded—were not privy to such information; they were all in the Carrows’ pocket, a sad thing indeed. Save for herself, house prejudices were proven to be completely true. “And they’re never going to care.”

As far as Apollonia could tell, the only way that the Slytherins might ever care about what happened was if her father was the one to mention it. Slughorn was much too nice to affect students the way her father did. How am I supposed to do that? Apollonia wondered. Dad seems preoccupied with something else, who knows what though? In any case, it’s distracting him, keeping him from keeping the peace. Dad is supposed to protecting the school; instead, he’s off doing Merlin knows what. And, it’s destroying this school. It was her father’s lack of action as Headmaster that forced Apollonia and the others to do things their way. Her father’s neglect caused this entire ordeal to occur. There was that and the fact that it was the right thing to do. I have to try talking to him about this.

So, instead of returning to the common room after spending her afternoon in the Hospital Wing, Apollonia planned on heading up to her father’s office, talking—well, more like yelling really—to him about what he was supposed to be doing. All she needed to do was make sure that no one figured out what she was up to; she doubted that it would end well, especially if it was the Carrows who found out. At least, that was the plan; a plan that went out the window when she saw Draco waiting for her. She grimaced slightly; this was going to delay her plan a few hours, until she could sneak away from the common room. “Apolla, come on,” he said. “You shouldn’t be anywhere near here. The Carrows are on their way over here and you know they can’t catch you. Remember what happened last time?”

Damn it! How did I forget? Ever since the detention two weeks ago, Draco always made sure that that he was with her: in classes, in the common room; he was glued at her side. The only time he wasn’t around was when Apollonia was helping in the Hospital Wing. Somehow, that fact must have slipped her mind. Why did I forget? Why did I forget that Draco refused to leave my side after that detention? With Draco at her side, there was no way that Apollonia could start yelling at her father; she didn’t want anyone else to know what she was doing.

Apollonia nodded. “I remember.”

“Then you know that I’m not about to let you out of me sight until we’re in the common room,” Draco informed her. “I’ve spent too long helping you just to throw it all away for this mark on my arm.”

Wow, Apollonia realized as she and Draco headed back towards their common room, back towards the area where her father could be found. The idiot is completely serious about protecting me. Does he realize how much he’s putting himself in danger by doing this? Seeing as Draco’s greatest enemy was Harry Potter, did the Malfoy heir really want to do this? He might eventually regret protecting her once he discovered who her mother was. “So, how does the maniac feel about the unwavering loyalty you have to me, rather than him?” she asked.

“He’d kill me on sight,” Draco hissed.

“Of course he would,” Apollonia nodded as they arrived at the corridor their common room was in. She pulled her wand out and tapped the corridor, given that she had no choice but to do so. “You might want to be a little more careful about that. Perhaps trying to be a little more subtle about watching me? Otherwise, the Carrows might find out.” If there was anyway for the Head Girl to convince Draco to give her some space, she would take it. She would give herself the opportunity to speak with her father.

“I suppose,” Draco shrugged.

“So, you’ll be more subtle about it?” she asked.

“I can’t do that,” Draco argued. “I gave my word to your father that I would be at your side no matter what. Now, I gave you the time to do what you needed to in the Hospital Wing, helping Pomfrey or whatever, but I’m not about to give you any more leeway; it’s too risky.”

“Yeah, but…”

Draco shook his head and led her into the common room. “No! I promised your father that I would watch over you and a Malfoy never breaks a promise. I’m not about to let anything happen to you. I care about you far too much to let prejudices get in the way; you and I have been through too much together for me to ever throw it all away out of hatred.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked in confusion.

“Oh, uh…pay no attention to that,” Draco insisted, waving it off dismissively. “I’m just rambling. It means absolutely nothing.” Though his words were saying one thing, Draco’s eyes were saying another. His eyes betrayed him, to the point where Apollonia knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was lying. About what though? What was he aware of that Apollonia wasn’t? “Apolla, you might want to head into your room. In fact, I’m locking you in there. It’s not a good idea for you to be anywhere, but your room.”

Apollonia was pushed into her bedroom, the door locked behind her. When she heard the click of the lock and that her wand was nowhere in sight, the Head Girl soon came to realize what lay in store for her until morning; she was stuck in here until Draco unlocked the door. The fact that he also pulled her wand didn’t help either; it was as if he expected her to make an escape attempt. “Maybe if I could do wandless magic,” she mused. “That could work.”

Choosing to try that a little later, Apollonia went to the bookshelf sitting in her room. Scanning the titles for a book that might keep her busy, Apollonia spotted one that forced her to start laughing hysterically. “Creating Your Own Potions,” she laughed. “I’ve got to read that; maybe I can come up with a few more prank potions for the twins.” Though, as she pulled the book from its shelf, a passageway appeared. A long stairway lay before her. “Where does that lead?” At the moment, the Slytherin really didn’t care. So long as she could get out of here without Draco knowing, she would be okay. Then she would be free to yell at her father.

She followed the stairwell until finding herself at a dead end. Apollonia made a few attempts to push it open, attempts that failed quite miserably, and was about to head back when she tripped on one of the steps. Catching a hand on a torch that lit the stairway to avoid falling flat on her face, the young Snape heard a soft whirring coming from behind her. Turning around, she soon found that the passage was no longer blocked, allowing Apollonia to see that she was in a room filled with portraits, portraits she recognized from the Headmaster’s—well, now her father’s—office. “I couldn’t be there, could I?” When she was last in this office, it was the day Dumbledore died, the day McGonagall had to take over the school for a few days. And, with everything that was going on, Apollonia had not the time to really examine the room. She quickly found Dumbledore’s portrait and walked over to it. “Hello, Professor,” she said to him in a quiet voice.

“Ah, Ms. Snape, so nice to see you,” Dumbledore replied, a slight twinkle in his eye, which Apollonia found to be rather odd; apparently, even in painting form was the former Headmaster able to have the twinkle that was forever in his eye. “How have you been faring?”

Seeing as she was staring at one of the few people who knew the complete truth about her, Apollonia glared at the man. “I doubt you care, sir. After all, it was your death that caused all my troubles. The second you fell off the Astronomy Tower, my life shot to hell. When Dad murdered you, Harry lost all faith in me. He refuses to believe that I have nothing to do with what happened. My father’s Death Eater ties cost me my brother’s trust.”

“I am sorry for that,” the portrait said.

“That’s not even the worst part, Professor,” Apollonia said in a quiet voice. “Harry never came back to school. He’s off who knows where, searching for the horcruxes I know you told him about.” Dumbledore was the first person to have knowledge of Apollonia’s discovery; she told no one else. Given the urgency in which Slughorn spoke, she doubted it was something that should ever be mentioned to anyone in the school; so, it was never mentioned to anyone. Not even her father was aware of his daughter’s knowledge of the horcruxes’s existence. Actually, she had Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore to thank for this knowledge; it was at his funeral that Apollonia was able to first hear the term. If Dumbledore survived, Apollonia never would have heard anything about horcruxes

“How do you know about that?” the dead man asked.

The girl shrugged. “I overheard my brother talking about with Ron and Hermione at your funeral. He thought he was talking quietly, but I still heard him. Slughorn told me the rest. But, Harry took it upon himself to finish what you started; he’s left the castle completely defenseless because he and his friends felt the need to run off without giving the school a proper defense.” And, thus began her rant about the school. “The Carrows are taking over the school, destroying the great institution that Hogwarts has always been. And, the worst part is that Dad doesn’t care. He merely sits up in this office doing I have no idea what. I’m sick of it. My father is not doing what a Headmaster should!” the Head Girl yelled.

“Maybe he has more important things to do,” he suggested.

“Like what?” If Dumbledore could provide Apollonia with a decent explanation, then maybe she would change her tune about what her father was doing. But, in all honesty, she doubted that there would be a good enough reason to explain everything that was happening.

Before she could get an answer from the dead Headmaster, a silkily familiar voice interrupted the conversation. “Albus, I really hope you aren’t about to tell her what’s been going on these past few months. I don’t care if she is my daughter; I am not about to provide her with any knowledge of what is planned.” He turned to his daughter and addressed her. “And you, Apollonia; I honestly thought that you would find that passage much sooner than you did. There was a reason you were placed in that particular room for the year.”

“You wanted me to come here?” she asked.

“Your mother’s curiosity was infamous during our childhood,” her father stated. “She wanted to understand as much as she possibly could about the Wizarding World and that was before receiving her Hogwarts letter. Since your brother’s curiosity often got the best of him, I suspected that yours would be the same. And, I was right. You did want to know where the passage led.”

“That only happened because Draco locked me in my room, to make sure that I didn’t try to sneak off or something,” Apollonia scoffed. “Reading was the only thing I could do. And, the first book I pulled the one that led me here. I can only wonder why that was.” It appeared as if her father was plotting to bring her up here; why else would she and Draco be placed in an area that normally wasn’t used? Her father even said outright that a Head common room wasn’t done. So, if that was truly the case, she and Draco would both be down in the dungeons, Apollonia forced to deal with Pansy’s wrath for taking the Head Girl position from her. “Dad, what are you planning? What’s going on here at the school?”

“That is not your concern, young lady,” her father reproved.

“Of course it is Dad!” the Head Girl yelled. “You’re the one who had me made Head Girl. With Hermione off exploring the countryside-” she wasn’t sure if her father knew of the horcruxes and wasn’t going to take the chance that he didn’t “-I’m the best person for the job. You do realize, Dad, that Hermione is exactly like Mum was: a very bright Muggleborn. Honestly, I’m not even sure how you could hate her when she would remind you of Mum.” Her father’s issue with Hermione never seemed to make any sense to the younger Snape; she was a lot like Lily Potter. Maybe she reminded him of his mistakes and took it out on her.

“Again, that’s not your concern. I have my reasons for everything I’ve done over the years: my treatment of your brother and his friends, especially Ms. Granger; spying for Dumbledore; killing Dumbledore; keeping you out of the war; it’s all for a good reason. You’ll soon come to understand that all I’ve done is for the best,” her father warned.

“I’d like to know how,” Apollonia grumbled.

“Well, that’s my secret,” her father informed her. “In the same way that you have your secrets—I know that you’re keeping something from me, just not what that might be; it doesn’t take a spy to know that you’re hiding something—so must I keep what I feel is necessary to myself. The only thing that you need to worry about is your education; that’s it.”

Apollonia wanted to respond to her father’s comment, but there was no way that she could; she was too in shock by what he said about her. Was it obvious that she was hiding something from him? And, if that was the case, how did he know about anything that was going on lately? She finally found her words and started yelling at her father, trying to make him understand how wrong he was. “Dad, how can I focus on my education when the Carrows are destroying this school? Muggles Studies and Dark Arts are joke classes these days; it’s worse that History of Magic, which is really saying something. And the fact that they target me in every class doesn’t do anything but complicate matters. Because of that, I spend half my time in the Hospital Wing, doing what I can to help Pomfrey; I’m missing classes because the Carrows are busy attacking me, whether it’s because of Mum or the fact that your master tried to recruit me to the Death Eaters.” Knowing about that seemed to be a blessing in disguise; she knew what to expect thanks to Draco’s warning.

“So, he told you?” her father asked.

“And good thing, too!” Apollonia yelled. “It’s only because of that warning that I was able to get through the past few months. You’ve done NOTHING to stop all this from happening, so who else am I supposed to turn to?” Apollonia opted not to mention that she was working with the Resistance; it really wasn’t a good idea for her father to know about that. “I don’t know what you’re doing up here, but I do know one thing; you’ve done nothing to protect the school, to protect the students—me especially—from getting hurt. The Carrows are destroying the school and you’re just allowing it to happen, which can only mean that you’re just as culpable as they are for what’s been happening to the school.”

“Apollonia, you don’t what you’re talking about,” he insisted.

“Of course I do!” she yelled at her father. “For the past two months, I’ve been watching over the school, something you obviously haven’t. I know exactly what’s been going on since the Ministry was taken over. And, if you’re not going to do something about it, I will!” Apollonia headed back through the passage, returning to her bedroom to do whatever she could to keep the school safe. The conversation with her father proved that he was not about to do anything to keep Hogwarts safe from Voldemort and the Carrows. With her father’s inactivity regarding the well-being of the school, it was up to her and the Resistance to do so. McGonagall, she decided. I need to talk with McGonagall about helping us. It’s the only way that we can be sure that the Resistance does what it’s supposed to; we need the help of teachers. The Resistance definitely needed the help of teachers; Apollonia had already recruited Slughorn and Pomfrey to help in some respect, but they needed a little more help to give Harry, Hermione, and Ron more time to find the horcruxes. And, the Deputy Headmistress was their only option.