Secrets of a Slytherin Princess

While Harry, Luna, and the teachers celebrated over the fact that Severus Snape was no longer Headmaster of Hogwarts, Apollonia refused to join in the celebration. It was her father. Could she really celebrate when there would never again be an instance in which she could sneak off to her father’s office and talk to him? The Head Girl doubted that such a thing would ever be possible and disappeared from the group, lifting the disillusionment as she headed up to the upper echelon of the castle, to a place where no Death Eaters could find her as she grieved over the fact that her father was gone from the castle. Or at least that was what she intended until someone grabbed her and pulled her aside.

The Head Girl was about to scream, fearing it was a Death Eater, but soon caught sight of a shock of red hair. She knew of no Death Eaters with Weasley red hair, so she quickly spun around to see Fred Weasley grinning at her. Apollonia waved it off. “Not now, Fred. I’m not really in the mood to hear any of your antics, not when my father’s disappeared and there is a battle getting ready to be fought here in the castle,” she reminded him.

“You owe me a favor,” Fred announced suddenly.

“Favor?” Apollonia questioned. “And how might that be?” There was only one way that the Slytherin ever had to owe a favor to the Weasley twins, and that seemed extremely unlikely since only she was allowed to speak her mother’s name. Unless the Slytherin told them, of which she knew she hadn’t, there was no way that Fred or George Weasley would ever realize that she was actually Harry’s sister. It just wasn’t possible for them to discover. In fact, it was the reason that she issued the challenge, because she was sure they would never figure it out.

Fred conjured something and held up a single white lily for Apollonia to see. The teenager stared at the lily, completely dumbfounded by this discovery. “I know your secret.”

“How?” she asked. “How did you learn it?”

The Weasley twin grinned. “It does help that I know the whole school, including where all school records are kept. Lee and I used such knowledge to help with Potterwatch. You’ve done well in hiding your little secret; I can’t even say the word to explain what I know.”

Apollonia nodded, proud of herself for coming up with a foolproof method of hiding her secret; it was the only reason that people who Apollonia did not trust did not have knowledge of her true identity. “I tweaked the spell a little, so that even those with knowledge of such information couldn’t say the word. I’ve been careful, especially with a maniac after Harry.”

“Clever,” Fred acknowledged.

“Like my mother,” she said proudly and then laughed.

“Now, about that favor…” Fred began.

Apollonia huffed and shook her head, unable to believe that someone had actually been able to uncover her secret without her saying anything to them about it. “I was so sure that I’d never have to worry about you or George discovering the truth when I made that stupid deal,” she said, mostly to herself. “What the hell was I thinking?” She looked up at the Weasley twin. “Okay, Fred, what’s the deal? What’s the favor that you wish of me?”

“Simple,” he shrugged. “If anything happens to me, watch out for George.”

Apollonia looked at Fred in shock. Did she just hear him right? Did Fred Weasley really just ask this favor of her in regards to his twin brother? She expected it to be something related to their shop, possibly asking that she become the test subject to some of their new products. But, now; it was something selfless. And, it was a request she couldn’t refuse. “I…uh…yes. Of course I’ll watch over George for you.” She hoped that such a request would never be needed, however; Fred shouldn’t ever have to deal with the possibility that he could be ripped away from his twin brother, especially not because of the war.

Fred nodded. “Thanks Snape.”

“No problem,” she forced out. “Does George know?”

“Your secret?” Fred asked. “Not quite.”

The Slytherin stared at Fred. She had not suspected that one. If one of the Weasleys twins knew who she was, then it would stand to reason that the other would know as well. “You figured something out without George by your side?” she asked. “I thought you two did everything together.”

“Not Potterwatch,” Fred returned.

“I suppose that’s true,” Apollonia conceded.

“You know,” Fred said, “if you plan on doing any fighting, you might want to be disillusioned. Based on Harry’s treatment of you since what happened with your father, it seems like he doesn’t know the truth. And, if you want to tell him—and not get killed—stay that way.”

“That might be best,” Apollonia nodded, recasting the spell.

Almost immediately after she disillusioned herself—during the entire battle, she would probably be like this: hidden away—George and Ginny appeared around corner, ambling over towards Fred and the invisible Apollonia. “Come on, let’s go find the others,” George was saying to his twin. “I think something was said about the Room of Requirement.”

The group headed to the Room of Requirement where they were soon met with Harry. A few uninteresting arguments ensued: one about Ginny participating in the upcoming battle, the other about Percy, the one Weasley brother that Apollonia had never met, returning to the family. Both were conversations she ignored. And, it would not do well for Apollonia to participate in said conversations; only Fred knew that she was even around.

Another fifteen minutes went by and Apollonia eventually found herself sitting in the Great Hall. Evacuation plans were being made for the younger students while those of age i.e. seventh-years and a handful of sixth-years—that did not include Ginny—could stay and fight if they wanted to. There was even one girl from Slytherin—a fifth-year girl that Apollonia only vaguely recognized as Daphne Greengrass’s younger sister Astoria—who decided to ask where Professor Snape was; that comment made the still-disillusioned Apollonia want to break out into tears. Before McGonagall could finish her speech, a booming voice echoed throughout the hall. “I know that you are preparing to fight,” Voldemort’s voice boomed. “Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood.”

Yeah, right. Then, why do you want to murder Harry, Apollonia thought. If you have no intention of spilling magical blood, then there should be no reason for you to go after him. That’s a damn oxymoron.

“Give me Harry Potter and none shall be harmed,” Voldemort said. Yeah, except me! “Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you shall be rewarded.” Yeah, I wonder how; by killing perhaps. “You have until midnight.”

Apollonia looked up at the clock. It was eleven-thirty. Half an hour, she realized. Half an hour until Harry can deal with that monster and I can tell Harry that I’m his sister.

The Great Hall was silent for a few moments, until a pug-faced Slytherin rose from the Slytherin table and pointed at Harry. “But he’s there!” Pansy yelled. “Potter’s there! Someone grab him!”

Only one thought came to mind upon hearing that Pansy was willing to sacrifice Harry in exchange for the safety of the school, which was slightly stupid of her to say when considering that her seventh year was almost over. Every Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff rose from their seat and turned to face Pansy, glaring at the shrinking girl that seemed so willing to destroy the last chance of freedom that she had. Before anyone could say anything in response to what Pansy had done, McGonagall cut in. “Thank you, Ms. Parkinson,” she said in a clipped voice. “You will leave the Hall first with Mr. Filch. If the rest of your house could follow.” Apollonia watched as her entire house, even Draco, left the Great Hall; she was the only one. She was the only one willing to do anything about this. Although, the fact that she was currently disillusioned kept everyone from realizing that fact.

From Ravenclaw, only a few older students stayed; from Hufflepuff, there were a few more. However, it was from Gryffindor that Apollonia felt a swell of pride. Half the students—even the younger years—were willing to stand by Harry’s side and fight. Eventually, McGonagall hurried those who were not of age off to join their classmates while plans were made in regards to the fight. When considering the fact that she was disillusioned, and only Fred knew that she was, Apollonia paid very little attention to what was going on. Her plan was to roam about the grounds tending to the fighters, whenever she spotted one.

With that, Apollonia slipped out of the Great Hall and went to see if she could find her brother. There eventually came a point in which she found herself back at the Room of Requirement, eventually coming across Draco, Goyle, and Crabbe, the latter of which seemed rather eager to have found Harry. And, it was then in which Apollonia came to realize something that she hadn’t noticed before. “That’s my wand you’re holding, Potter,” Draco reminded him.

And so it was. The wand Harry held was the hawthorn wand that Draco had used since first year. Apollonia, however, had not noticed that fact thanks to the fact that she rarely saw Draco over the past month. Draco, now that Apollonia had the chance to examine the wand that he had been using for the past month, had his mother’s wand grasped firmly in his hand. He did not seem to be very pleased about that fact; that he was using Narcissa’s wand, a wand that would not work as well as his own. His beloved hawthorn wand was currently resting in Harry’s hand. Apollonia, as she stood in the Room of Requirement, couldn’t help but wonder what happened with his own wand, the holly and phoenix feather wand.

“So, how come you three aren’t with Voldemort?” Harry asked.

It was Crabbe, the idiot, who answered. “We’re gonna be rewarded,” he said in a deadly soft voice. “We ‘ung back, Potter. We decided not to go. Decided to bring you to ‘im.”

“Good plan,” Harry praised mockingly. “So how did you get in here?”

Draco glared at Harry. “I virtually lived in the Room of Hidden Things all last year,” Draco said pointedly, almost as if he was reminding Harry of that. “I know how to get in.”

It was faintly, but yes Apollonia remembered this room. It was cluttered with junk and Apollonia had been slumped against the wall, with the Invisibility Cloak draped over her. Yes, this was definitely the same room.

“We was hiding in the corridor outside,” Goyle grunted. Really, I didn’t see you out there, Apollonia thought. “We can do Diss-lusion Charms now!” And that actually worked! Apollonia thought incredulously. It was shocking that Crabbe and Goyle could actually do spells now. “And then you turned up right in front of us and said you were looking for a die-dum. What’s a die-dum?”

Die-dum? Oh, you have got to be kidding me! Apollonia groaned. They’re so stupid they can’t even say diadem. This was part of the reason she hated Crabbe and Goyle so much; they were too stupid, possibly too inbred, to perform even the simplest of magic. It was unbearable to even watch. And so, Apollonia had ignored them, often wondering why the two idiots were allowed to attend any classes, as well as why Draco was friends with them.

“Harry,” she heard Ron ask, “are you talking to someone?”

That simple question, for which Apollonia blamed the young Weasley for, caused Crabbe to start attacking. He pointed his wand and shouted a rather destructive spell. “Descendo!”

In the moment that followed, the walls began shaking and Harry called out for his best friend before eventually ending the destruction. Draco then turned to Crabbe, holding him back before he could cause any more damage. “No!” he shouted. “If you wreck the room, you might bury this diadem thing.” Well, at least Draco can say it properly, she thought.

“What’s the matter?” Crabbe asked. “It’s Potter the Dark Lord wants, who care about a die-dum?” And there’s another idiot who can’t pronounce big words such as diadem.

“Potter came in here to get it,” Draco persisted, “so that must mean —“

“’Must mean’?” Crabbe asked, turning to face Draco. It was as if the lumbering idiot actually seemed to have grown a backbone over the year; he actually took part in torturing misbehaving students—a fact that Apollonia hated—and took pleasure in it. “Who cares what you think? I don’t take orders from you no more, Draco. You an’ your dad are finished.”

“Harry!” Ron shouted. “What’s going on?”

Once again, Apollonia watched as a Weasley blunder cost Harry precious time to do what was needed. Draco seemed to be trying to cause a distraction for Harry, albeit unintentionally, so that he could find the horcrux, the diadem, and destroy it. However, Crabbe seemed to have caught Harry in the act, just as he was moving towards a bust to collect the tiara from its resting place. “Harry!” Crabbe mocked. “What’s going—no, Potter! Crucio!”

It was rather fortunate, Apollonia realized, that Harry lunged when he did. Otherwise, Crabbe’s spell might have hit him. Though, when Harry picked himself back up, there was no sign of the tiara; nothing to show for what happened. Again Crabbe went after Harry, and again Draco stopped him. “STOP!” he shouted. “The Dark Lord wants him alive —”

“So? I’m not going to kill him, am I?” Crabbe yelled, tossing Draco away. You were, Apollonia thought. “But, if I can, I will…” See? “…the Dark Lord wants him dead anyway, what’s the diff —” A jet of red light came barreling towards Crabbe; it only missed when Draco pulled him out of the way. Crabbe righted himself and turned to see who cast the spell at him. Apollonia followed his gaze and saw Hermione. “It’s that Mudblood! Avada Kedavra!”

Hermione dove out of the way, narrowly avoiding the spell. A stunner was sent towards Crabbe by Harry; yet another dodged spell. Draco stopped anything more from happening. “Don’t kill him! DON’T KILL HIM!” His gaze traveled over to where Apollonia was standing, almost as if he knew she was there. Though, that didn’t make any sense.

“Expelliarmus!”

Upon hearing her brother utter that infamous spell, Apollonia watched as Goyle lost his wand and promptly tried to get it back. Meanwhile, a stunner was cast towards Draco, which he thankfully avoided as Ron tried in vain to attack Crabbe. Crabbe then attempted to cast another Killing Curse; Draco was safely ensconced by a large wooden cabinet and Goyle was Stunned. As Hermione came into view, Harry yelled at her. “It’s somewhere here,” he told her, pointing to a pike of junk just beyond him. “Look for it while I go help R —”

“HARRY!” she yelled.

There was a roaring noise that surrounded the group of seven—one unseen, another stunned—and Apollonia saw an unlikely pair run by: Ron and Crabbe. “Like it hot, scum?” Crabbe asked as they passed.

Flames appeared about the room, catching Apollonia unaware as they nearly singed her robes. She ran for the door along with the others while Harry desperately tried in vain to put out the flames. “Aguamenti!” he yelled, though the water did nothing to stop the roaring of the flames.

That was the last Apollonia saw of her twin brother as she ran as fast as she possibly could towards the door. She was just a few steps behind Draco and his goons, keeping close so that she could make sure that Draco was safe. Rather than going to the door as she should have, Apollonia stayed nearby, at least until Harry and the others appeared. The trio came charging towards Draco, Apollonia, and Goyle on brooms; Harry on one, Ron and Hermione on the other. Knowing that there was no way that she would ever go near Ron, Apollonia surreptitiously slid onto Harry’s broom, hoping he didn’t notice. As this occurred, Harry let go of Draco and Goyle, causing Goyle to be shifted to Ron and Hermione while Draco joined the two siblings; Apollonia smirked at the sight of this and was glad she was disillusioned for the moment, so that Ron wouldn’t see her glee. “The door, get to the door, the door!” Apollonia heard Draco yell in Harry’s ear.

Some swerving occurred as Harry followed his friends, though Draco eventually yelled at Harry again. “What are you doing, what are you doing, the door’s that way?” he screamed. Though, in Apollonia’s eyes, it appeared as if he was going after the diadem. If he didn’t have the diadem, then this whole trip would have been for nothing, at least that’s the way Apollonia understood it.

There eventually came a point where Harry headed for the door, so the Head Girl could only assume that Harry found the diadem and they could leave. Harry flew out the door and they crashed into a wall, Draco and Apollonia landing right near each other. As Draco caught his breath from what happened in the Room of Requirement, Apollonia picked herself up and quietly watched the scene play out for a few moment. “Crabbe,” Draco choked. “C-Crabbe…”

“He’s dead,” Ron said harshly.

Smooth move, Weasley, Apollonia thought as she helped Draco up and helped him away. Even if she was in her disillusioned state, she still needed to help Draco. “Apolla,” he whimpered.

“Shh! I’m right here,” Apollonia assured him. “I was right with you.”

“You shouldn’t have been there,” Draco coughed.

“Doesn’t matter right now, does it?” Apollonia asked. “You’ve protected me for as long as I can remember. After what I just saw happen in there, and you know perfectly well that I saw everything; I’m staying at your side. I don’t know what you were thinking when you decided that it was best for you to keep your distance from me. Your master is bound to discover that you haven’t done as asked. Now, I don’t know why you’ve been protecting me so earnestly, but it will have to stop. Harry’s going to end this. By morning’s light, your master will be dead.”

“You still shouldn’t be here,” Draco objected.

“Don’t care,” Apollonia told him.

“If you want to get branded, then be my guest, Apolla,” Draco muttered. “You know what will happen if that ever comes to pass. Think of your brother; do you want to do that to him?”

Apollonia stopped in her tracks. Harry. She almost forgot about him when she went to deal with Draco. If Harry ever discovered who she was, perhaps if Fred ever told him, how would he react if Apollonia was ever turned into a Death Eater? “I don’t know, Draco. But, I’ll deal with it in time.”

“Right,” Draco mused.

The pair continued on, traveling only a short distance before Apollonia spotted a wall collapsing. It was far enough, so that neither of them were affected. However, Apollonia’s disillusionment fell as she approached the site. The Slytherin wanted to scream when she got close enough to see what happened; Fred Weasley was dead, killed by the blast.

***

He was weak, slightly faint from the incident in the Room of Requirement. Apollonia, it seemed, had his back. She was able to help him through what happened, even after he spent the last month distancing himself from the girl he loved. His best friend; his confidant; the girl he loved; she stuck by him after all that he did. Truly, Apollonia was a better person than he; she proved that today when she came to help him. As they were walking along, Draco leaned on Apollonia for support. But, when the blast resounded throughout the school, forcing her disillusionment to drop to the point where he could see her, Apollonia had to lean on Draco for support, like she was affected by what happened to the Weasley that died.