Secrets of a Slytherin Princess

After carefully avoiding her brother and Ron for two weeks, Apollonia was ready to return to Hogwarts. Seeing Harry renewed her spirits and gave her the courage to go back and face the Carrows. It didn’t matter what the Carrows or any other Death Eater tried to do to her, because Harry was going to win the war in the end. Voldemort was not about to get away with all that he was doing to the world; she would do anything in her power to stop it. She was getting ready to leave when Bill pulled her aside. “You might want to be careful,” the oldest Weasley suggested. “I spoke with Harry and he mentioned that things are getting dangerous. He is going after something that will make him invincible, unbeatable.”

“Like that’s a surprise,” Apollonia muttered.

“Still, you and the others might want to be careful,” he said again. “There’s no way to know for certain what might happen. Harry and the others are trying to finish things, but it’s going to take time. You should probably keep your head down until then, until this is all over.”

“Right,” Apollonia nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind, Bill. But, in exchange, can you do me one favor? Keep me informed of what’s happening. I need to know what’s happening.”

“I suppose,” Bill replied.

“Right,” Apollonia said, grabbing her trunk and apparating away. She arrived at King’s Cross and grabbed a compartment, watching for Draco to show up. As she was waiting, Neville showed up first, so she called him in. “Neville, can you come here a minute?”

“Can it wait?” he asked. “I’m trying to find Ginny.”

The Head Girl bit her lip. “See, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” At hearing that, Neville entered the compartment, waiting to know more. “There was an incident at Malfoy Manor around the beginning of break; Harry, Ron, and Hermione were captured and it was discovered that Ron wasn’t home sick. The Weasleys, including Ginny, went into hiding.”

“But, what about the Resistance?” Neville asked.

“I plan on helping you,” Apollonia answered.

“You? What about your father?” the Gryffindor asked.

“My father?” Yeah, what am I going to do about Dad? In taking up the mantle of co-leadership of the Resistance from Ginny, Apollonia placed herself directly in the middle of the war, which her father ordered her not to do. How was she supposed to hide—or explain—this, why she was doing it to him? She doubted he would ever understand her reasons for doing this. Thus far, she wasn’t placing herself in extreme danger, only doing what she could to help everyone else. It was done in a way that could not exactly be traced to her, so that her father wouldn’t learn that she was doing this. Before the Easter holidays, Apollonia played but a minor role in helping the Resistance prepare to fight back. After the incident at Malfoy Manor, and Ginny’s subsequent disappearance, Apollonia was forced to become an integral part of the fight against the Carrows. “I really don’t know, Neville. I don’t exactly know what Dad is up to; it’s possible that I can do this without him ever having knowledge of it,” Apollonia said softly.

“So, it’s just us then?” the Gryffindor asked.

“It looks that way,” the Slytherin answered. “We have maybe three months left until our Hogwarts careers are over and I really don’t want to leave this place in the hands of a tyrant. My father has been a part of this place since I was a year-old; that was when he started working here. Actually, I’ve been a part of this place since I was five, to a degree.”

“Since you were five; how?” Neville asked.

“There was a rather interesting detention that I was a part of,” Apollonia explained, giving Neville a watered-down version of the origin of her Mottled Dye potion. “Afterwards, I accidentally made those students—Bill and Charlie Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks—aware of something Dad never wanted them to know: Dungeon Bat and Greasy Git.”

“You came up with those names?” Neville asked.

“Sort of,” she laughed.

“But, those are legend here!” Neville exclaimed. “Are you saying that I’m standing next to the creator of Snape’s legend?” She nodded. “I was always afraid of your father; he freaked me out. But, those nicknames made him less scary, especially outside of the classroom.”

“So glad I could help,” Apollonia grinned.

At the moment, the door to the compartment was flung open where a pale blond young man stood. “Longbottom, what are you doing in here? Why are sitting in a compartment with Apolla?”

Neville shrugged. “Oh, just chatting,” he replied with a smile. Draco slipped into the seat across from her as Neville headed for the door. “Apollonia, we’ll go over everything back at the castle.”

For a time, all was silent in the compartment. To Apollonia’s own surprise, not even she was speaking. After all that she learned during the holiday, Apollonia should have been asking about what happened at Malfoy Manor. Draco, she knew, held the answers she desired; answers she desperately needed to know about. She was sure that Draco was hiding something from her, though it seemed to have no bearing on that fact that he was a Death Eater. After a five minute silence, Draco looked up at her. “What was Longbottom in here for, anyway?”

“It doesn’t really matter, Draco. Nothing you need to worry about,” she assured him. She was not too thrilled with having to lie, especially to Draco, who always seemed to help her since the end of their first year; however, it was for the best. And this was the one thing that he couldn’t know about. On her father’s orders, Draco was watching over her; and, he was sure to stop her from trying to help Neville. She was quite sure that things would play out that way.

“Really, Apolla?” he asked. “I don’t believe you.”

“And what about you?” Apollonia asked.

A pair of silver eyes widened. “What does that mean?”

Since it appeared as if Draco wasn’t going to mention it first, Apollonia would have to. Upon making sure that the compartment was looked, so no one would discover what Apollonia had to say, the Head Girl informed her best friend of what she knew. “Look, Draco, I know what happened at Malfoy Manor a few weeks ago; I’ve been aware of what happened almost since it occurred.”

“You know!” Draco nearly screamed. “How?”

That question was coming; she knew it was. Of course he wanted to know how Apollonia was aware of something like this; after all, she wasn’t exactly supposed to know anything about this. She stayed away from Malfoy Manor for this very reason: because there were things going on there, namely Death Eater activities. This was one of the big ones; she was never supposed to know about any of this and she knew it. “I know because of what happened while you were there,” she shrugged. “It affected things going on where I was staying. That’s how I figured it out; everything that happened is connected.” She neglected to mention that she ran into her brother and his friends during the break; he couldn’t find out about that.

“So, you know…”

“Everything,” she interrupted.

“That’s what I thought,” Draco said.

“What happened there?” Apollonia asked.

“I thought you knew,” her friend stated.

“I do. I just want to hear your side,” she insisted. Apollonia needed to understand what was going through Draco’s head while he was there in Malfoy Manor. There was one other thing that she needed to know, something that Draco was hiding unnecessarily. “Oh, one other thing; I know that he’s trying to persuade you to turn me into a Death Eater.”

“That too?” he asked.

“That too,” she confirmed.

“What don’t you know?” Draco asked.

“How about the answers to those questions?” Apollonia suggested as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She wanted—no needed—to know what was going on around her. Her brother was on the run from a monster; she was at risk of becoming a Death Eater; and her father was doing nothing about any of it. For the longest time, her father and Draco made sure that she was never a part of the war. That didn’t mean that they could keep everything from her. Like this; just because only a handful of people knew who she really was didn’t mean that they could compartmentalize everything about the war.

“You can’t know, Apolla,” he insisted. “It’s too dangerous.”

“Spare me the lecture, Draco,” she huffed. “Ever since your asshole master returned, everything in my life has turned to crap. And the fact is that I’m a part of this whether Dad likes it or not; I have been since the day I was born. It’s something that Dad never seemed to account for.”

“You still shouldn’t know,” Draco argued.

“Actually I should!” she yelled. “Now spill.”

“Not a chance!” With that, he stormed out.

Apollonia spent the remainder of the trip alone in the compartment, which was rather unusual; Draco was usually at her side. When she arrived at the castle, Slughorn pulled her aside for a moment. “Ms. Snape, Professor McGonagall would like a meeting with you after the feast.”

“Of course, Professor,” she replied.

As she entered the Great Hall, she found Draco waiting for her. “What the hell was that about?” he asked. “What did Slughorn deem so important that he had to talk to you?”

“You answer my question and I’ll answer yours,” she returned. If Draco wanted answers, then it was only fair that she got the same in return. And since he stormed off the last time he asked, Apollonia was pretty sure that she had no worries about Draco trying to figure out what he wasn’t allowed to know about. “You made it very clear that you aren’t going to share your side of the story with me, so I won’t tell you what Slughorn wants.”

“Fine, keep it to yourself,” Draco exclaimed.

The fact was that even she didn’t know what this was about. All Slughorn said was that McGonagall wanted to speak with her, not what it was about. But, she would find out soon. It wouldn’t be that long before the Head Girl was able to figure out why McGonagall wanted to talk to her, though she suspected that it had to do with the war effort.

After dinner was over, Apollonia headed to McGonagall’s office, still wondering what was going on. Everything was getting so complicated; her life was complicated. How much more could she take? Everyone she cared about, everyone who ever mattered to her was in danger of losing their lives to this war. What was McGonagall so intent on speaking with her about? The Head Girl entered the Gryffindor matriarch’s office, only to find that McGonagall was not the only one there; Slughorn, Flitwick, and Sprout were there as well. “Professors,” Apollonia asked, “what’s going on here today? Why am I here?”

The four professors—the four Heads of House, she noted—turned around to look at the young Head Girl. “Ah, Ms. Snape – Apollonia – please come in. We need to have a talk.”

She looked at the professors. “What about?”

The group of four shared a glance before McGonagall returned her gaze to Apollonia. “I’m afraid we have a situation at the moment. One that directly involves you. The situation has grown more complicated as time has gone by; meaning drastic action must be taken.”

“Huh?” she asked.

“Your father,” she elaborated.