Princess Sunburst

For whatever reason, Andromeda chose to hold Remus’s and Tonks’s funeral last; there were three of them: Remus; Dora; and Ted. Out of the seventy-five people who died in the last year—fifty of which came from just the Battle of Hogwarts; Death Eaters and everyone else alike—only this funeral remained: Andromeda’s family. Harry knew this would be a difficult day for the woman. It had been three weeks since the Battle of Hogwarts and the deaths still seemed to be fresh in Andromeda’s mind. Harry and Apollonia popped in whenever they could—usually Apollonia more so than him—to check on her and Teddy and it always seemed as if the disowned Black was taking the deaths rather hard.

The grief that Andromeda was going through was the reason that Harry and Apollonia were going to do this today, the day before the funerals. Harry did not mean to let this be forgotten, but the last few weeks were used to do a lot of recovering. Kingsley’s request for Harry, Ron, and Neville to go out and catch the Death Eaters who escaped kept them busy and the weeks since the battle were spent either going over the necessary information to catch those Death Eaters; going to Hogwarts to help rebuild; or attending funerals. There was just never a good enough time to head out to Gringotts with Apollonia and Bill about the vaults.

But, now that the last of the funerals—the Tonks and Remus—was approaching, there wasn’t really much of a choice. Apollonia informed him of what her own cousin did for her: reinstating her and her father into the Prince family. It was mentioned so that Harry could do the same for Andromeda, before the funeral occurred; for which a trip to Gringotts was needed. However, making a trip to Gringotts simply was not on his list of things to do. It did not appear there until Apollonia insisted that the trip be made, to which Harry begrudgingly agreed.

Throughout breakfast, Harry carefully avoided the subject of what he was doing during the day. Though Ron accepted that Apollonia was Harry’s sister, it did not mean that he liked the situation; Apollonia was still not permitted in the Burrow, at least while Ron was around. Harry sometimes was able to get Apollonia inside, though it was a rare occurrence. So, only Hermione and George were told that he was meeting Apollonia and Bill at Gringotts today; it was for the best that only they knew. They were the two that Apollonia trusted the most.

A quick goodbye to the Weasleys and Hermione was said before Harry apparated to Gringotts. He quickly headed inside to find Apollonia, Bill, and even Fleur waiting for him. He nodded in Bill’s direction. “You still have the genealogy reports, I suspect?” he asked.

“Your sister made sure of it,” he said.

“Of course she did,” Harry mused. Apollonia was quite intent on dealing with this, for reasons that Harry was not entirely sure of. Something was mentioned about a vault; however, it was not important enough for Harry to remember at the moment. “You know, this really could have waited until the Wizarding World settled down, once the funerals were over and whatnot.” It wasn’t that he didn’t want to do this, just that catching the Death Eaters who escaped detection was more important. He wasn’t about to let what happened seventeen years ago occur again. Any one of them could become the next Dark Lord and Harry was not about to let something like that happen. Therefore, coming to Gringotts was not a part of the plan.

“It’s better if this is done now,” his sister said with a shrug. “The Evans vault must be collapsed. And, you might be interested to know that Mum and James have portraits in there.”

Emerald eyes lit up once that was said. The prospect of seeing his parents—even in the form of portraits—was something that Harry wanted desperately. “Why didn’t you say something about it earlier? I would have come far earlier had I known that,” Harry informed his sister.

“It’s not the only portrait there,” Apollonia whispered to him as Bill spoke to Ragnok about this visit. “Dad’s portrait is there as well. I wasn’t sure if you’d still be upset with Dad over everything he did.” She laughed. “Dad and James spent my last visit arguing. I can only imagine that they would do so again when the both of us go down there to see them.”

Snape. It was rather touchy subject, even if it was Apollonia’s father. After everything that Snape did to torture him over the years, it was hard to see the man as the dark hero that he was. Harry might not have given it much thought if not for the fact that Apollonia was his daughter; Harry had a connection to the man, whether he liked it or not. Harry had a begrudging respect for the man and was glad of at least one decision the man made; the choice to keep Apollonia out of the war. She was one of the few people not to suffer terribly after the war. While she had emotional pain, it simply came from losing her father and not from anything that resulted in fighting one of the battles. Yes, that was the one decision that Harry wholeheartedly agreed with. It was the one thing he did that affected Harry so dramatically, simply because it was regarding his twin sister. Apollonia had been protected throughout the war and Harry was extremely grateful for that fact.

Harry sighed and looked at his sister. “I’m still upset about him doing a lot of things during the war.” Apollonia nodded gravely. “Save one thing. Keeping you away from the war.”

She nodded. “It was the one thing Dad was the most persistent about, and I didn’t argue with him all that much because I knew what Voldemort could do. It was only after learning you were my brother – and against Dad’s wishes – that I got involved in the war as much as I did, which was minimalistic at best. I only helped build the Resistance and help Poppy heal the students.”

“Yeah; any reason for that?”

“For what?” she wondered.

“How you were able to remain unscathed from the Carrows, even though all the light-supporting students were?” Harry asked. Seeing how Neville looked after the war made Harry wonder just how affected his sister was during the year. But, in hearing that Apollonia was not harmed in any way, Harry had to wonder how something like that might have come about.

“My lack of injuries?” Apollonia questioned. Her hand instinctively went up to her throat where Harry saw a snake pendant around her neck. “Oh yeah; I guess there’s something I forgot to mention.” Her hand was removed from the snake pendant and two pairs of emerald eyes met. “During Christmas of our sixth year, I was given this pendant as a way of protecting me. It was never explained, but there was a charm placed on the necklace so that I would not be harmed by anything that occurred in the castle. Also, only the person who placed it around my neck could remove it. The protection was deactivated for the summer – including Bill’s wedding I’m sad to say, but that’s beside the point. Anyway, the protection this necklace afforded me was not reinstated until halfway through the first day of seventh year.

“Transfiguration was the first class of the day, so I had no problem there. However, Dark Arts with Amycus immediately followed.” Harry gasped at that revelation, not realizing just how hard Apollonia and the others had it. Apollonia nodded sadly. “I’m sure you can imagine what happened there, but I’ll tell you anyway. Harry, I wasn’t being entirely truthful about not being physically injured. There was only one instance where I was and it happened to be the Dark Arts class. Even though I was Head Girl, Amycus decided that I would be the perfect person to demonstrate what we’d be learning.” Again Harry gasped, suspecting only one thing. “Yes, Harry; I was subjected to Cruciatus.

“As I am to understand, same person who gave me the necklace also happened to be the one to get me out of the class and down to the Hospital Wing. Sometime between then and when I woke up; that was when the spell was reactivated, too late to save me from experiencing the effects of the spell.” Harry looked at his sister, wondering who it was that was so careless as to forget to place the spell to protect her. The request was not voiced; however, Apollonia still knew that the question was coming. “You want to know who did this, the name of the person who’s been protecting me so diligently.” She grinned. “It was Draco. Since the middle of sixth year he’s been protecting me from the dangers that lurked around the corner. He’s the reason that I was able to make it through the war.”

Harry knew that Draco Malfoy had a hand in protecting Apollonia throughout the war; he proved that during his trial. But, the fact that this necklace was used as a way of actively protecting her without actually being at her side was something that Harry hadn’t even thought about. Years were spent hating Draco Malfoy and it turned out that he been protecting Apollonia for the last seventeen months. “I suppose I overdid it with the Unbreakable Vow then? He would protect you no matter what, even his own master,” Harry muttered.

“Just a little,” she laughed.

That was going to take a long time to get used to; the fact that Draco Malfoy was willing to protect someone important to Harry. And, to think: years spent hating him could have been avoided if only Harry knew that Apollonia was his sister and that Malfoy was willing to protect her. “You know, it still is a little unbelievable that he would help.”

“Just learn to accept it, Harry,” Apollonia insisted.

“I’ll try,” Harry promised.

Bill and Fleur came up to them along with two goblins. One was Griphook, whom Harry was acquainted with all too well; he was the one who first led Harry to his vault and the same goblin who was captured and brought to Malfoy Manor. The other was the Director of the bank—Ragnok he thought it was—who was holding a rather thick file in his hands. For a brief moment, Harry wondered if this meeting had anything to do with when he, Ron, and Hermione broke into the bank at the beginning of the month to steal Hufflepuff’s cup. Only Griphook knew the identities of the culprits. Was Griphook forced to squeal on them? Harry hoped not, because it would a shame for Gringotts to lose both Bill and Griphook; both of whom had knowledge of the break-in, including those who committed the deed.

“Mr. Potter, I expected to see you sooner,” Ragnok said.

“A lot has been going on in the last few weeks,” Harry explained. “It did not seem like the right time to come deal with my accounts. My sister is the only reason I am here now.”

Ragnok nodded. “Yes; the Lady Prince.”

“Yes, she did tell me about that one,” Harry mused. “And also that there were a few vaults I need to go through: my mother’s; the Black vaults; and the Slytherin vaults, I think.”

“You are correct, Mr. Potter,” Ragnok said. “There is also a matter concerning the Potter fortune which you must take into account." Harry looked at the goblin in confusion. “The Potter lordship was never claimed, Mr. Potter. It should have been done some time in the last few years, seeing as you are the last of your line. However, seeing as you are here now…” A small box materialized in front of Harry and an invisible hand opened the box so that Harry could see inside. Sitting inside the box were two rings and a small stone, which Ragnok quickly explained. “These are the Potter and Black signet rings. The stone must be attached to the base of your wand to grant you access to the Slytherin vaults.”

Harry removed the stone from its box—which transformed into a glimmering ruby the second he touched it—and attached it to his wand. The rings were collected and examined before being placed in his pocket; there was never an instance in which Harry had the opportunity to learn what the Potter crest looked like. And, if he recalled correctly, the Black ring would be the same as the crest on the tapestry: two greyhounds, one on each side of a sword pointing up. The Potter crest was that of a stag jumping over a fence. “I really want to get this over with,” Harry muttered as he shoved both rings into his pocket. “I hate being the last of my family. Mum, Dad, and Sirius should be here with us.”

“You’re not the only one,” Apollonia reminded him.

Each one the last of our lines: Potter and Prince, Harry thought sadly. Though, it could also be said that Apollonia was the last Snape as well. Truly, the two of them were so much alike, if not for the fact that they had different fathers and followed those fathers into their current houses. It was really thanks to Apollonia that Harry had any contact with his rival house. And, it was notable to say that she was the only Slytherin to help him – out in the open – with the war effort. Harry would have to find a way for the siblings to connect, to ensure that anything Ron said about Apollonia was not taken into consideration. And, Harry could think of only one thing that might help him with such a task, something he would need from one of his newly acquired vaults. As annoying as a visit to Gringotts was, especially after breaking in at the beginning of the month, it would help him in the long run.

With the rings hidden away in a pocket for the moment and the ruby stone at the base of his wand, Harry, Apollonia, Bill, Fleur, and Griphook headed down to the vaults. If the information he heard was correct—and he was sure that it was—a visit to the Evans vault (Vault 123); the Black vaults (Vault 711); and the Slytherin vault (Vault 995) would be needed. And, a visit to the Potter vaults—his trust fund vault: 687 and the family vaults—might be needed as well. Regarding the Black fortune, Harry really wasn’t sure of anything; Dumbledore assumed that Sirius was the last of his line. But, as the genealogy report—which couldn’t be faked—proved, Harry was indeed a distant relation of Sirius’s. So, there was really no telling of what might be in Sirius’s vault. Although, with Griphook taking him and the others down to Sirius’s old vault, something must have been down there; he was sure of that.

A hand was placed on his shoulder. Harry looked up to see Fleur. “You look stressed,” the French woman said. What is going on, ‘Arry. Zere must be a reason for zis.”

“Just trying to figure something out,” Harry said.

“You know you can rely on us, yes?” Fleur asked.

Harry nodded. “I do know that, Fleur. However, this is just something that I need to deal with myself. As grateful as I am to you and Bill for housing my sister these last few weeks, this is something I need to take care of myself.” While he knew perfectly well that Bill and Fleur were both on Apollonia’s short list of people she could trust, Harry wanted to do this himself. More like needed to do this himself, but that was beside the point.

It wasn’t long before the group reached Vault 123; the Evans vault. For this vault, only Harry and Apollonia went inside. Apollonia mentioned that his parents’ portraits were in here and Harry would have to do this – confront his parents – on his own. Well, not on his own, per se; Apollonia would be right there with him for moral support, like when Hermione was at Godric’s Hollow with him. The second the two of them stepped into the vault, a pair of emerald eyes that Harry knew all too well, for he had seen them every time he looked in the mirror, were on them. The owner of those eyes was easily discernable, for he heard it a thousand times over the last seven years; you have your mother’s eyes. “Mum,” he whispered.

“You’re both finally here,” Mum said.

“Apollonia insisted that I come,” Harry replied.

Mum nodded to his sister. “It’s good that you forced him to come here, Apollonia. James and I have seen very little of Harry. And, the two of you must go through the vault.”

“I know, Mum,” Apollonia said from beside him. “Harry’s possessions on the left, mine on the right. All money is split between the two of us. Though, you, Dad, and James have yet to explain anything about why the portraits are here. It’s the one thing you never quite gave an explanation to.”

“You both needed to be here for this,” an unfamiliar voice said.

While Apollonia was not surprised to hear this voice, Harry was; it was the first time hearing it that wasn’t in his memories – which were barely discernable – or in his dreams; and he couldn’t forget the two times in which this person’s spirit spoke with him. His subconscious recognized the voice right away for what it was; his father. Harry could count on one hand the number of times he heard his father’s voice, but he knew it well. And, there was no doubt in Harry’s mind as to its owner, which he was able to identify without looking at the portrait.

It did not take long for the last of the three portraits to spring to life; that of Apollonia’s father: Severus Snape. After everything that the man did over the years, the hero of the Wizarding World was unsure if he could ever truly live with the man’s actions. “So Potter; finally decided to show up, have you?” Snape sneered. “What? Too busy reaping the benefits of becoming the Wizarding World’s little darling again; their savior?”

“Dad!”

“Severus!”

“Snivellus!”

That was the one thing that Harry truly hated about Severus Snape; he always believed that Harry was a carbon copy of James Potter. But, Snape never bothered to get to know Harry as a person, choosing to judge on those misconceptions. “Snape! I was kind of busy trying to help with the rebuilding process. Though, I doubt you’d ever take the time to understand of that. From the second you met me, you held the belief that I was spoiled by Petunia and Vernon Dursley, the same way Dudley was. I know what was in those memories, Snape; I saw how Petunia treated you and Mum. Knowing that, how could you ever suspect for one minute that I was like my father? I grew up very differently to him.

“In fact, Snape, I grew up a lot like you. In Petunia and Vernon Dursley’s eyes, I was just the unwanted burden; a freak. For the first few years that I lived there, I was kept in the cupboard under the stairs—which was how my Hogwarts letter was first addressed, so it should have given you a clue that your judgment was wrong—so that I wouldn’t be in the way; I was only allowed out to use the bathroom and eat, though meals were only about three times a week. Shortly before I was four, Petunia started piling chores on me; small ones like helping her with the laundry or in the kitchen, even doing the weeding. At age seven, I was doing everything in the house, while my lard of a cousin did nothing to help me, nor did Petunia ever think to ask him; Dudley was the one treated as Dad was, not me.

“And, while you at least had Mum to rely on when things got tough, I had no one. The second primary school started, Dudley turned everyone against me; I was believed to be a liar and a cheat. Teachers never believed me either, which explains why I did a lot of things myself over the years, not because I wanted to sneak out and have fun. I never look for trouble; it just finds me. Snape, your first friend was my mother. My first friend was Hagrid. Now, maybe if you actually talked to me about everything, you would have seen that I was not as much like Dad as you thought. As much as you may believe otherwise, there isn’t very much of my father in me: my physical appearance, save the eyes; my penchant for trouble, which really isn’t my fault; oh and maybe there’s a slight hero complex as well; that’s all that was ever like my father, which isn’t very much as I said before.”

Snape was seething by time Harry finished. Before he could say anything, however, Apollonia spoke up. “I’m taking care of it, Dad. Some part of you knew what was going on; you just refused to accept it. I assume telling me about Petunia was to see if I could help. And, I will. It’s just going to take some time to figure out a way to deal with this.”

Harry turned to Apollonia. “He told you?”

She nodded. “Even I’m not sure about any of this, Harry. Dad knew what Petunia was like, chose to ignore that any of it was happening. I think it might have been easier to protect you from afar that way; and, he might have wanted Voldemort to think he hated you. I really couldn’t say what was going through his mind at the time, and I’m not sure if he would tell you. After I found out that you were my brother, it was between Dad and Hermione that I was able to discover the type of people the Dursleys were towards you. And, while Dudley has been nice to me—for the same amount of time that Draco was protecting me through use of the pendant—Petunia and Vernon were not. So, I’m going to deal with this, to make sure that they suffer for everything they put you through as a kid.”

“You two might want to get a move on,” Dad suggested before Harry could say anything in response to his sister’s explanation. “Wouldn’t want to keep anyone waiting, would you?”

“Right,” Apollonia nodded. “Mum, how much money is in here?”

“Somewhere under two hundred galleons, I think,” she said.

Apollonia knelt down beside the pile of gold sitting in the room, pulling out a small pouch as she did. “Harry, come over here. We need to do this now. Just pull out your money pouch and we’ll separate our money into two equal shares.” Harry did as he was told and pulled out his own money pouch, which he grabbed from his trunk before breakfast, to help his sister. Five minutes passed before the two pouches were filled with eighty-seven galleons each and the siblings turned to the boxes. “Okay Harry, the boxes on the left belong to you.”

“Good to know,” he said as Apollonia went to the right.

While his sister went through the three boxes on the right, Harry headed to the left to look through his own boxes. What was contained in these boxes was anything that Mum and Dad wanted him to have. And, while he had his father’s invisibility cloak and the Marauder’s Map, that was all he had of his parents, aside from pictures; there was nothing of his mother’s at all. It wasn’t clear as to what was in these boxes, but Harry guessed that it was important, important enough for them to come into Harry’s possession. He pulled the first box – labeled Lily – over and pulled it open. A quick search through the box and Harry realized that a lot of what was in here was from his childhood; a few stuffed animals: a stag, a dog, and a wolf; some old books; and a thick letter. Just below that were some of his mother’s old belongings, including a photo album.

Examination of the second box – labeled James – found a stack of notebooks. He picked up one of them and began paging through it. It turned out to be some sort of Marauder file, as was every succeeding notebook; save the last. The last of the twelve notebooks sitting in the box held a detailed account of the process they—Dad, Sirius, and Pettigrew—used to achieve the animagus transformation. And, there was one final note made: teach Prongslet and Mini-Snape. Harry ignored it for the moment and checked the box for anything else that was in there. Aside from the Marauder file, there were a few knick-knacks: a practice snitch that belonged to his father, some Zonko’s products—of which Harry could only assume his father wanted to help him use—and a small wooden box that Harry was unable to open.

The final box – labeled Severus – was one that Harry was curious about. For as long as Harry had known Severus Snape, the man was not fond of the emerald-eyed boy. If Snape at least had some tolerance for Harry, then how was it that the ex-Potions Master seemed to hate him so much? And, what would he find sitting here in this box? He pulled the box open and found something he was not expecting. Since first making it known that he wanted to be an Auror, Harry knew that there were people who thought he wouldn’t be able to do it; Umbridge was one of them, and he always thought that Snape was as well. But, the contents of this box proved that what he suspected wasn’t true; inside was everything that Harry would ever need in the coming years to pursue his chosen field: to become an Auror.

“Dad!” Apollonia yelled angrily.

Harry looked up as the man answered. “What?”

“You were here!” she yelled. “You were here some time within the last year and you never told me about this place!” Apollonia turned to her brother. “I’m not sure how it’s even possible, but the items sitting in my father’s box suited me way too perfectly, like he knew exactly what my life is like as of right now. There’s way he could have known that when we were so young. Which leads me to the conclusion that Dad has been here recently.”

Harry looked over at the box Snape left for him. Her suspicion was the only plausible reason for any of this. “I think you might be right. Snape couldn’t have known any of this.”

Apollonia turned back to her father. “Well?”

“I have my reasons for what I did,” Snape said. “And I stand by my decision to keep the knowledge about your mother from you. I still don’t know how you discovered this vault in the first place.”

“Mum told me,” Apollonia hissed.

Before this could get out of hand, as Apollonia seemed to have a problem with some of the things that her father did over the years, Harry cut in. “Could someone please explain the reason these portraits are in here? The three of these portraits wouldn’t be here without a reason for it.” As happy as Harry was to see his parents, he wanted to understand why the portraits were around, perhaps even why they existed in the first place.

“In case something happened, your mother and I wanted to be around in some form to help you go through life,” Dad explained. “Snape wanted to do the same for your sister.”

“Why do they have to stay here?” Apollonia wondered.

“Padfoot and Moony are gone,” Dad answered.

“What does that have to do with anything?” she asked.

“Ten portraits exist, two of each of the five of us; me, James, Severus, Sirius, and Remus,” Mum explained to the siblings, mostly speaking to Apollonia though since she was the one to ask the question. “One set was to go with Harry, the other to you, Apollonia. Between the five of us, we can help the both of you become the people you were meant to be. It won’t be the same without any of us around, but at least we'll be in your lives.”

“Where are the other seven portraits then; the other of you three and the two of Sirius and Remus?” Harry asked. If he could see Remus and Sirius again, it would make grieving for them so much easier; they were the only family that Harry had known for most of his life.

“In the other vaults,” Dad said.

“And which vaults might they be?” Harry asked while Apollonia shrank the boxes left for her and placed them in a pocket. If he and Apollonia planned on closing this vault, the portraits would eventually have to be moved out of here; the siblings would need to have knowledge of the locations of the rest of the portraits in order to do anything.

“Mine and your mother are in the back of the Potter vault; Snape’s is in his vault; the two of Padfoot are in his vault; and Moony’s portraits are in the Lupin vault,” Dad informed him.

Meaning I can speak with Sirius when I go down there, Harry thought. “Apollonia, do you think we should go retrieve the other portraits?” Harry really wanted to speak with his dead godfather and Remus. It would make the aftermath of the war go by so much easier.

“I don’t know if we should,” Apollonia admitted.

“Why not?” Harry asked.

“Well, think about it; you’re living at the Burrow at the moment, and I’m living at Shell Cottage. Do we really want these portraits to sit around the Weasley homes? I know I don’t. Actually, the only place I could think of at the moment to store the portraits is George’s flat, but he isn’t even living there right now. No, I think we need to keep the portraits here for now. Once we figure out where to go with them, that’s when we’ll official close this account. Now, you might want to shrink the boxes so we can get going.”

The boxes were quickly shrunk and placed in his pocket. Goodbyes were said to his parents’ and Snape’s portraits and the two siblings then emerged from the vault, rejoining Bill, Fleur, and Griphook. “We can go now,” Harry informed the goblin as the siblings climbed in the cart. As the cart traversed down to the deepest bowels of the bank, down to Sirius’s vault, Harry leaned over towards where his sister was sitting. “That took far too long for my tastes. If it took that long in Mum’s vault, how long will it take in Sirius’s and Slytherin’s vaults?”

The Slytherin nodded slightly. “Mum’s vault always did take the longest,” she explained. “And, that was only because of the conversation that ensues between me, Mum, Dad, and James. My visits to the Prince and Ravenclaw vaults were not nearly as long, and that’s even after talking to Ravenclaw.”

“You talked to Rowena Ravenclaw?” Harry asked.

“There was a portrait of her down there,” Apollonia replied. “And, I think a revamp of History of Magic is needed. It’s never mentioned, not even in Hogwarts, A History—and yes, I checked—but Rowena Ravenclaw was a princess. If my ancestor was a princess, who knows what the other three were really like? Everything we know about the founders could be a lie.”

“Princess?” Harry asked.

“Her descendants must have taken the name Prince from the fact that they had royal blood. I’d have to look into it,” Apollonia informed him. “For right now though, I think it might be best if we focus on the Black vault. After all, the reason we’re even doing this is so that we can help a disowned Black. It needs to be done by the funeral tomorrow.”

“I know that; all too well actually,” he said.

“Let’s hope it sinks in,” Apollonia muttered.

Harry really couldn’t blame her for believing that this wasn’t going to sink in. A year was spent hating his sister, never trusting that she was trying to support him. But, he vowed never to do that again, to turn his sister away. “I’m not going to do any of that again. And besides, Andromeda and Teddy mean as much to me as they do to you. If there was anything that I could do for the two of them you know that I would. Only you mean more to me than them.”

“You have a funny way of showing it,” his sister laughed.

“Ron won’t influence me about this ever again,” he said.

When they arrived down where the Black vaults were located, everyone headed inside: Harry, Apollonia, Bill, and Fleur. Though the vault in question belonged to Sirius Black, it was possible that there was dark magic somewhere in the vault, items that Sirius didn’t even know about. He nodded to Bill and Fleur. “Can you detect anything?” he asked.

“It looks clean,” Bill said. “A further search is necessary.”

Upon being given the okay, Harry walked into the vault. In doing so, he realized that what Dumbledore told him about the vault simply wasn’t true. For reasons he could not explain, Dumbledore thought it prudent to lie to him about what would happen to the contents of this vault. Though, I don’t suppose he knew that my grandmother was Dorea Black. I only discovered it a few weeks ago. He passed through the vault, walking by mountains of gold before finding what he was looking for; two covered portraits. One of the portraits was uncovered and Harry was met with the sight of his godfather. “Harry!” he exclaimed.

“I thought I wasn’t going to see you,” Harry admitted.

“I’ve been down here awhile,” Sirius informed his godson. “Actually, I’m not even sure how long I’ve been down here. You could have come down here at any point since I died. Why didn’t you? I’ve been all by my lonesome down here and I hate being alone.”

Harry shrugged. “Sorry, Sirius. I had a lot on my mind for the last two years. There was a prophecy hanging over my head, horcruxes to find, and my sister to connect with.”

“A sister?” Sirius asked.

“You didn’t know?” Harry asked. Harry was rather surprised to note that Sirius had no knowledge of Apollonia’s existence. He would have thought that this might have come up in some way or another. While her father might not have been mentioned, her existence still should have been mentioned because it was a part of Dad’s life. “Oh well, Apollonia here —” he jerked his thumb over in Apollonia’s direction “— is my half-sister.”

“Half-sister?” Sirius questioned.

“Through Mum. Though, you’re not going to like who her father is.” It seemed rather obvious that Sirius would have a fit about what Harry was getting ready to reveal to him. “Snape is her father.”

“Snivellus!” his godfather grumbled.

Before Harry could say anything in defense of his sister’s father, of the man who secretly tried to help him destroy Voldemort ever since he first came to Hogwarts, Apollonia stepped up beside her brother so as to defend herself from any accusations made against her. “I really wouldn’t say that, Sirius. Especially seeing as I’m standing right here. Talking about my father in such a way, whether what you say is true or not, would not be very wise right now, not in front of his daughter. And I’m sorry we never met. Though I do happen to be a Snape, I’m more like my mother than you think I am. Both Harry and I inherited more of her personality than anything that came from our fathers.”

“We’ll see about that,” Sirius muttered.

“She’s still my sister,” Harry reminded Sirius. “And you know how much I’ve wanted a family, Sirius. For a time, you and Moony were that family, but I rarely ever got the chance to spend time with either of you. The only family I really have left is Apollonia. Dad and Moony were your family and Apollonia is mine; I’m not about to give up on her.”

“Even if she’s the daughter of a snake?” Sirius questioned.

Harry waved that off. “She’s still family, no matter who her father is. And, I’ve already done something stupid in regards to her, something I’ve regretted since realizing that she was family.” To a degree, Sirius and Ron were a lot alike; the best friend of a Potter and both wary of Slytherins. If Harry was able to convince Sirius that Apollonia was not like her father as Ron believed, then it would mean that it was not a fruitless attempt trying to convince Ron.

“I suppose,” Sirius admitted. “I never had anyone in my family that I could rely on. The only one that might have was Andromeda, and she was blasted from the family tapestry when I was twelve. My parents didn’t care; they were too busy fawning over Regulus. And well, you’ve seen Bellatrix and Narcissa. The Marauders were the only family I had.”

Somewhere within Sirius’s confession about family, Harry got an idea. Maybe if his godfather heard about what Regulus – a Slytherin – did to turn against his master, Sirius might be willing to accept that Apollonia was not a bad person. “Sirius, this might be hard for you to take, but Regulus was not completely terrible. He’s the reason that I was able to defeat Voldemort, because he left one of the horcruxes in Kreacher’s care. Your brother wasn’t a bad person; he just made the wrong choice. He did the right thing in the end, though.”

Apollonia nudged him. “Reminds me of Draco.”

Harry froze at that remark. The thought hadn’t even entered his mind that Malfoy might be like Regulus, forced into serving a monster and desperately trying to find a way out. He didn’t like thinking about Malfoy, even if Apollonia was close to him. For a long time, he was a plague on Harry’s life. It would take a miracle for the two to come to any sort of truce. “Yeah well, that’s a whole different story and you know it, Apollonia. He’s antagonized me since we were eleven and I doubt it will change all that much. Just be lucky that I’ve accepted him as a part of your life. Me being on good terms with him probably won’t happen.”

“So you say,” Apollonia muttered.

Harry turned back to his godfather’s portrait. “Sirius, if Regulus could turn against Voldemort, doesn’t that mean that not all Slytherins are bad? Would that mean that Snape and my sister—hell, even Malfoy—aren’t really all that bad; and that what you’ve believed all your life is actually wrong.”

Sirius nodded. “I never believed that Andromeda was bad.”

“Oh, yeah,” Harry remembered. “Your favorite cousin.”

“Right,” Sirius reminded him. “A certain amount of hypocrisy exists if I were ever to say that all Slytherins were bad. I was the only one in my family to ever land myself in a house other than Slytherin. I was predisposed to the Slytherin tendencies that I was not fond of. With the exception of Andromeda, all of them were obsessed with blood purity; I couldn’t stand seeing that.”

“Narcissa isn’t completely like that,” Apollonia argued. “She doesn’t seem to care that I’m a quarter-blood. It just never really seemed to matter to her—or Draco—that I was not of pure blood, even though they were still serving that monster while they protected me.”

“Quarter-blood?” Sirius asked. “But, that would mean…”

“My father was a half-blood,” Apollonia said. “Not a Pureblood.”

“Then why was he so fascinated with the Dark Arts when we were in school, like any normal Pureblood—including the majority of my family—was?” Sirius wondered. “It makes no sense.”

Apollonia glared at Sirius. “Did you ever think to ask Dad anything about his home life? Mum was the only one to know about that, and she stopped being friends with my father after the Marauders —” again Harry saw his sister glare at his godfather for what was done in the past “— decided to attack him. It was only after losing Mum's friendship and Mum chose to give in to James that Dad devoted himself to Voldemort. And, even that ended once the discovery of my conception was made. Like I was saying though, Dad was abused at home. Then you and the other Marauders decided to target him.”

Sirius’s eyes widened. “He was like Harry?”

“From what I’ve heard about my brother’s home life, yes,” Apollonia informed the portrait. “Neither Dad nor Harry ever really had a spectacular childhood. It was rife with abuse, which you might have seen if only you looked past the house rivalries. And, if you had only done that, I might have had the opportunity to get to know my brother before my sixteenth birthday went by. I wanted to make you aware of that; of the fact that it was your inability to think before you acted that cost me the chance to get to know my brother.”

“Which family?” Sirius asked.

“Prince,” she replied.

“Snape is a Prince?” he questioned.

“Was,” Apollonia corrected. “He died in the war.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Sirius said.

Apollonia shrugged. “I’m not sure of the sincerity behind that statement, especially considering how much you hated the man, but thank you, Sirius,” she said quietly.

From a simple observational standpoint, Harry saw a begrudging respect for Apollonia coming from his godfather. The fact that she was the only family Harry had following the war seemed to keep Sirius from saying anything bad about her. But, Harry chose to make one other comment to his godfather, something Harry found in the notebooks from his father; it might help in convincing Sirius to truly accept her. “Sirius, I was just in Mum’s vault a little earlier and it mentioned that Dad wanted the both of us to be taught to become animagi. Dad wanted the two of us to become the new generation of Marauders.”

If there was anything that might appeal to Sirius and convince him to accept Apollonia as a part of his life, it was the fact that Dad wanted to teach the both of them how to become animagi; to become Marauders themselves. And, Harry had not gotten the chance to tell his sister. So, this seemed to be the best way for him to do both, tell Apollonia about that and convince Sirius to accept Apollonia in a way that Ron never could.

“How do you know that?” his sister asked.

“Dad’s box,” Harry said. “It had a full Marauder file.”

“For the both of you to pursue?” Sirius asked.

Harry nodded. “It was mentioned in the notebook.”

“If that’s what James intended, then you’ll need two other pieces of Marauder history to help you with that process,” Sirius informed the siblings. “James may have possessed the Marauder file, but there’s also a Marauder history and guide to Hogwarts; both of which you would need in order to do this. While the Marauder file is more of a how-to guide on how to pull off some of our pranks, the two other books that exist are ones that you might want in your possession, for they are sure to help you with this venture: Marauder History, which is a complete history of our seven years at Hogwarts and The Marauder’s Guide to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which has a detailed description of all areas found in Hogwarts. If you and Ms. Snape plan on continuing the Marauder tradition, you’ll need both books and the Marauder file in order to do it.”

“Where are the books?” Harry asked.

“Somewhere in Grimmauld Place,” Sirius said.

Meaning that I need to go back to one of the worst Black houses ever to look for those manuals, Harry grumbled. That should be fun. “Okay, one more thing; are there any items in here filled with dark magic? Is there anything in here that might need to be destroyed by Gringotts?”

“Very little,” Sirius said.

“But, there is some,” Harry assumed.

“Only the surprises that my mother might have left me before she died,” Sirius warned them. “Even I couldn’t tell you if she did. You’d need to have people checking the vault.”

“We already do,” Harry informed his godfather’s portrait, motioning over to where Bill and Fleur were searching the vault. “Apollonia thought to bring them along in case of anything that might be cursed. She wanted to make sure that there was no chance of losing me.”

Another half-hour was spent in the vault before a goodbye was said to Sirius and the group headed down to Slytherin’s vault. Based on what his sister mentioned about Ravenclaw’s vault, Harry suspected much of the same with the Slytherin vault, for it to only hold artifacts and books. The possibility of it being Slytherin’s personal vault made sense, and Harry had a few ideas of how to use it. From Slytherin’s interests, Harry knew how the contents of Slytherin’s personal vault should be used; it was definitely the best idea.

Since it was Slytherin’s vault, Bill and Fleur accompanied the two siblings into the vault. It was currently unclear as to how much of Slytherin’s vault was cursed, especially considering this particular founder’s tendencies to lean towards the Dark Arts. It was to Harry’s surprise that very little of what was in here got cursed and the two siblings were soon left alone to explore the vault. A few piles of books—Potions and Dark Arts both represented—Slytherin’s wand, several other assorted artifacts from the founder, and what appeared to be quite the collection of rare potions ingredients. It was the latter of the items in which Harry was currently interested in; he had a plan for them, something that no one would suspect.

“Harry!” his sister called. “There’s a portrait here.”

“A portrait?” he asked.

“I think it’s of Slytherin himself,” she said.

“You don’t think…”

“Of course I do,” she replied.

Harry darted over to his sister’s side as she pulled the sheet off of the portrait. And there, just as his sister suspected, was the visage of Salazar Slytherin. The legendary founder sat there in silence, choosing to ignore both siblings. However, Harry refused to accept that. “Lord Slytherin,” Harry greeted, “my name is Harry Potter and this —” he motioned to Apollonia “— is my half-sister, Apollonia Snape. We were hoping to ask you a few questions.”

“I’d rather not,” the founder grumbled.

“Lord Slytherin,” his sister tried, “for the last thousand years, Slytherins have been vilified. In particular, it has occurred in the last fifty years, due to the influence of a relative of yours: Tom Marvolo Riddle, otherwise known as Lord Voldemort, and suspected to be the last heir of Slytherin.”

“Suspected?” Slytherin asked.

“My brother is the last one,” Apollonia explained. “For the last seven years, those two heirs have battled it out over a prophecy; one for the destruction of mankind, the other trying to save the world. Now that he was successful in such a venture, my brother and I were hoping that you could help us—help the world—reconnect with Slytherin. I myself am a Slytherin; and though my brother is a Gryffindor, he is your last descendant. You have to help.”

“I’m sure you could do it on your own,” Slytherin sneered.

“We could, but it would be easier with your help,” she said.

No matter how much he and Apollonia tried, there was no way to convince Slytherin to help them. So, they were left with no choice but to cover the portrait back up and head to the surface. It was time to do what they initially came here to do: bring Andromeda back into the family.