Princess Sunburst

From the second Apollonia disappeared, Harry knew something was very wrong with his sister; the second she heard something from Andromeda, she took off. Harry started to go after his twin, but found that a hand grabbed hold of him. It took all of two seconds for Harry to realize that it was Ron at his side, trying to keep him here at the funeral. “Where do you think you’re going?” Ron asked. “You should be over there comforting Andromeda and Teddy.”

Harry yanked his arm out of his best friend’s reach. “You really don’t get it, do you?” the hero asked. “This day isn’t only about Andromeda and Teddy; Apollonia and I were affected just as much as them, which you don’t seem to care about. Remus was the last Marauder and Tonks had a bond with Apollonia, one that I was never privy to the details of. And, we’re Teddy’s godparents. As much as you would wish it to be false, Apollonia is just as important as Andromeda and Teddy; maybe even more because she’s my sister.”

No matter how many times Harry tried to explain all of this to his best friend, Ron would never truly understand just how important Apollonia was to him. She was the last link that he had to the mother neither of them ever knew. Actually, sad as it was, Harry knew Mum better than Apollonia did. That was the saddest part of the whole situation; it was the fact that he – the boy who became an orphan at fifteen months – knew more about Lily Potter than Apollonia did. And, Harry wished that he could do something to fix that, so that both he and Apollonia could get to know their mother. Throughout their childhoods, the two half-siblings got to know their fathers; for Harry, he got to know James Potter through the stories he heard from Sirius and Remus; for Apollonia, she got to spend time with her father.

However, there was nothing about their mother that was ever mentioned. Harry lived with Petunia Dursley for years, never hearing a word about his mother; nothing true at least. As for Apollonia, she was never told her mother’s name and had no way of knowing that her parents grew up as friends. And, the little Harry did know about his mother—learned from Snape’s memories—was not enough, nor would it ever be. No, there had to be a way for Harry and Apollonia to know their mother. He just didn’t know what it was.

A part of him wished that he still had the Resurrection Stone with him. It would have been perfect for what Harry wanted to do. But, the Hallow was buried somewhere in the Forbidden Forest and he had no desire to go searching for it, not when Hogwarts was in the state that it was. Unless it was to rebuild Hogwarts, then Harry did not want to go back there; it was much too painful right now to go anywhere near the place. It ultimately meant that Harry could not follow through with his plan, not when he couldn’t go retrieve the item he needed.

“Why so glum, Harry?”

Knowing that voice all too well – he heard it far too many times during sixth year, as well as the last few weeks – Harry turned around and saw that his sister had returned from wherever it was that she disappeared to. It was odd though; he didn’t even hear the POP of her return. Harry went over to hug his twin. “Why did you leave?” he wondered. He had to know the reason for her sudden departure. “What was it that had you so riled up that you had to leave?”

Apollonia pulled something from her pocket; a smooth black stone with the indent of a line and circle inside a triangle. Harry knew the stone all too well and was ready to say something before his sister held up a hand. “I know, Harry. I found it the day of Dad’s funeral, when I ran into the Forbidden Forest. I’ve had it with me ever since,” she admitted.

“You had the Resurrection Stone?” Harry asked.

His twin nodded. “Since Dad was laid to rest.”

Then maybe my idea will work, he thought. There was something he was wondering though. “Have you been using the stone?” It occurred to Harry that his sister’s possession of the stone might be a bad thing, especially seeing as how Dumbledore nearly used it.

“Only to speak with those who are dead,” Apollonia assured him. “I always recall them into the stone. Mostly it’s to yell at Dad since I can’t access his portrait at the moment, but I did use it today to ask Tonks about something; something no one ever thought to mention to me.”

“What was that?” Harry asked.

“It doesn’t matter right now,” Apollonia said.

“I think it does,” Harry argued.

“Don’t worry about it,” she insisted.

Harry wasn’t so sure that his sister was okay. She was leaving something out, though it wasn’t clear as to what that might be. It didn’t seem as if it was the Resurrection Stone; she only used it sparingly, just when she was in great need of advice. Before she disappeared, Apollonia mentioned something about knowing Andromeda from when she was a little girl. Perhaps that had something to do with it. Perhaps that was the cause of it all.

Before Harry was able to go speak with his sister, Ron once again grabbed hold of his friend. “Mate, what do you think you’re doing? You can’t be going after a Slytherin,” Ron proclaimed.

“She’s my sister,” Harry argued.

“So what? She’s still a slimy snake!”

Emerald eyes narrowed upon his best friend. He was getting sick and tired of this attitude. Harry hoped that the Malfoy trial would fully convince Ron that Apollonia could be trusted. But, Ron proved too stubborn; he refused to accept that her for what she was; Harry’s twin sister and a Slytherin. All he ever wanted was a family; a real family. Now that he had it however, his surrogate family—well, just Ron; everyone else was perfectly okay with it, though Charlie was a little wary of her and had been since first meeting her, but at least he accepted her for who she was—refused to accept Apollonia as a part of Harry’s life.

It was true that the Weasleys had been family for him for a long time. And, they always would be. But, Apollonia was also a part of his life. Now that he found his twin, Harry didn’t want to let her slip away. If she disappeared from his life, there was really no telling as to what might happen. Harry was not about to let Ron dictate his life. Too many times already did Harry listen to his best friend’s advice. And, it cost him almost everything; he nearly lost the chance to know his sister because Harry placed his trust in Ron’s judgment. Combine that with the hatred he had for Snape at the time and it had been a miracle that Apollonia still stuck by him, despite all that he did to her since Dumbledore’s death by her father’s hand. Harry glared at Ron angrily. “So what if she’s a Slytherin? I’m the last heir of Slytherin and you don’t appear to have issue with me,” Harry reminded his best friend.

Ron growled. “You’re not the heir of Slytherin!”

“Of course I am,” Harry argued.

“No, you’re not,” Ron said.

Might as well test Apollonia’s theory about a specific ability of mine; this might come in handy, he thought. “Why don’t I prove it to you?” Harry suggested. He called out to his sister. “Hey, Apollonia, could you come over here and help me with something?”

It took a few minutes for Apollonia to come to his side, but when she did, there was a scowl on her face; the facial expression appearing there shortly after realizing that Ron was with him as well. “What is it, Harry?”

“We need a snake,” he replied.

“A snake?” she asked. “Are you…?”

In the same way that Fred and George had a bond between twins, so did Harry and Apollonia. Harry held up a hand, already knowing what his sister wanted to ask. “Yes, we’re testing the theory. As well as trying to prove to Ron that I’m the last remaining heir of Slytherin.”

Apollonia laughed. “You’re making it really hard to say no. If we’re testing my theory about you and proving your best friend wrong, then I’m in. This is one thing that I have to help you with.” She pulled out her wand and cast the desired spell: “Serpensortia.”

Just as he wanted, a snake emerged from his sister’s wand and landed just in front of Harry. The young hero stared at the snake, concentrating on the ability Voldemort transferred to him that Halloween night when his parents died. He didn’t know if it was still there, but he had to try. It might be the only way to prove to both Ron and himself that any of this was real. Emerald eyes were focused on the snake, hoping that this would work. “Can you understand me?”

The snake nodded. “Yesss.”

Harry turned to Ron and Apollonia. “Still have it.”

Apollonia hugged her brother tightly after hearing that news. “I knew it. I was sure that you were still a Parselmouth.” She pulled out of the hug to look at her brother. “Harry, do you even realize what this means? Now that Voldemort has been destroyed, you are the last remaining Parselmouth in the world. I know you don’t like being famous, but that could be worth something.”

“To do what?” Harry asked. “It’s not as if I know how to use the ability. I expected it to be gone, actually, after the horcrux in me was destroyed.” Still being able to speak parseltongue was not expected; it was the last thing he ever expected. “How do I still have it anyway?”

Apollonia shrugged. “I really couldn’t say. It might have something to do with genetics. The Peverell brothers are descendent from Salazar Slytherin; could it be possible that only Cadmus inherited the ability and that it was a latent gene for Antioch and Ignotus? I doubt you would have had the ability if not for Voldemort; when the horcrux was transferred to you along with some of his power; it could have brought that latent ability to the surface so that you could still use it after the horcrux was removed. Though, that’s just a theory. I can’t say for sure if any of this is right; no one would ever be able to say for sure.”

It was not clear as to what might be the cause of this; however, Apollonia’s guess was as good as any. Maybe he would ask Hermione to look into it, see if she could come up with anything. Where was Hermione anyway? They hadn’t spoken since the funeral began, which was odd since she was usually around. Though, she did know that Apollonia was my sister. Maybe she’s trying to force us to connect. Although, it was slightly bothersome; given Ron’s attitude about Apollonia, Hermione was a better person to have around, for she was at least friends with his sister and could help them as she did before.

Harry turned to Ron. “If I can still speak parseltongue, then that could only mean that I have Slytherin blood in my veins. So, if you insult my sister because she’s a Slytherin, then you insult me as well. Oh, and by the way; she’s also the heir of Ravenclaw.”

“What?” Ron yelled.

“You thought she’d be heir of Slytherin?”

Ron nodded. “Well, yeah.”

“How wrong you were,” Harry huffed. “Apollonia may be a Slytherin; that’s true, but in no way does she act like one.” He learned that one from experience, from realizing just how much Apollonia helped Neville, Ginny, and Luna throughout the year. “She’s more like a Gryffindor or Ravenclaw at heart; but definitely not a true Slytherin.” Harry turned to his sister. “Mistakes were made. I listened to the wrong person’s advice, as I always do —” he glared menacingly at Ron “— and it almost cost me the chance to know you. I’m not about to do it again, simply because you’re a Slytherin. That excuse doesn’t work for me now.”

“Got that right,” Apollonia nodded.

For the remainder of the day – even after the funeral ended and Remus, Tonks, and Ted were buried – Harry and Apollonia stuck close by for both Teddy’s and Andromeda’s sake, even after Hermione and the Weasleys headed back to the Burrow; neither one of them could. That was actually the most peaceful time that Harry had in a long time, for it was also the first time that Ron was nowhere around; not in the last three weeks. And it was also the first time since Voldemort was destroyed that Harry had the chance to spend time alone with Apollonia. “Why am I staying with the Weasleys?” Harry wondered.

“What do you mean?” his sister asked.

“Staying at the Burrow is keeping me from becoming closer to you,” Harry reminded his sister. “Ron won’t let me go anywhere near you, even though he knows that you’re my sister. I want to be close by for the Weasleys after Fred’s passing, but Ron’s attitude towards you is really bugging me. It’s like he doesn’t even care about what’s important in my life.”

“And you’re surprised by this?” Apollonia asked.

He shrugged. “Not as much as I should be,” Harry admitted. “I always knew that Ron had his issues with Slytherins. I just didn’t think that it would go so far as to him not even accepting my own sister. All I ever wanted was a family, which Ron knew all too well. So, why couldn’t he accept that you’re a part of my life, the only real family I have left?” He glared pointedly at his sister for the next item on his agenda. “And don’t you dare start about the Dursleys! Even if Dudley is starting to become a good person, he still spent much of his life beating up on me. The Dursleys will never be a real family for me.”

“I know how you feel about all of that, Harry,” she said quietly. “But, the only reason I even mentioned Dudley to you is so that the two of you can reconnect. I don’t want the two of you to go your entire lives not speaking to each other because of what happened in the past. Why do you think I made sure that Dudley made an attempt to extend an olive branch? I needed to make sure that, if anything did happen to me, you would still have Dudley’s – let’s call it friendship – to rely on. If anything happened to me during the war, you would still have a small piece of your family left after what happened.”

Harry looked at his sister incredulously. “What in the world did you do this past year?” The young hero had a hard time believing that his sister could have pull off so much without getting severely injured. It was nigh impossible. So, how the hell did she accomplish it?

“Let’s see,” Apollonia began ticking the items off. “There was the mission Dumbledore wanted me in contact with the Order for—and how I was able to reconnect with Tonks—that one was protecting the Dursleys; helping Poppy in the Hospital Wing; protecting Dad and Draco from succumbing to the war, though I failed in keeping Dad away from it in that respect; keeping you out of trouble, as foolish as it was for me to even try; and helping Neville, Ginny, and Luna with the Resistance version of Dumbledore’s Army. All of that came in addition to my normal duties of schoolwork and the Head Girl duties, though there wasn’t much to that this year other than helping the school through such a rough time. I really don’t know how the Carrows didn’t realize what was happening around them; it seemed so obvious that I wasn’t getting hurt every time they tried to use the Cruciatus on me and that Draco was helping me cover up what happened.”

The young hero shook his head sadly upon hearing his sister’s explanation. “I don’t know how you were able to do all that, especially not getting injured during all of that. The Carrows must be insanely stupid if you could fake the effects of Cruciatus and get away with it.”

“More than you think,” Apollonia muttered.

There was something that was still bugging Harry; the item shoved in his sister’s pocket. “Apollonia, the Resurrection Stone; do you really intend on keeping it?” Harry asked.

“It’s best that I hold on to it,” Apollonia said.

“That might be true,” Harry conceded, “but, how do you plan on protecting the stone? If anyone should realize that the stone is one of the Hallows, they’ll come after it. The same goes for the Elder Wand or Invisibility Cloak.” Harry was concerned that something would happen, especially given how many people searched for the Hallows over the years. He didn’t doubt that Apollonia would not use it for personal gain the way some people – Voldemort – might.

His sister shrugged. “I have no idea. Keeping it on my person might be the only way to keep it safe. But, I don’t know where the best place for me to put it is. Shoved in a pocket definitely isn’t the right place for it. Maybe a ring or something could work,” she mused.

“Not a ring,” Harry insisted.

“Why not?” she asked.

“Because a ring was how Dumbledore died,” Harry explained to his sister. It would be hard to relive this, but it was important for Apollonia to know in deciding how to protect the stone. She was the new safe-keeper of the stone and Harry wanted to make sure that it was protected to fullest extent of her ability. “In his search for the horcruxes, he came upon a ring in a hovel in Little Hangleton. Realizing that it was the Resurrection Stone, he put on the ring and his hand was cursed. Snape helped him stop the curse from going any further than his hand, which as you might have seen was blackened by sixth year. Dumbledore was going to die by the end of the year if Malfoy or Snape didn’t try to kill him. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise that your father killed Dumbledore. Otherwise, he might have suffered. And, if not for Malfoy, I might not have won the war.”

As much as he never cared to admit it, the way things happened during sixth year turned out to be a good thing. Harry was able to defeat Voldemort because of the events of sixth year, followed by the encounter at Malfoy Manor. He didn’t like it, but all of it turned out to be a very good thing. Although, Malfoy would never hear a thank you coming from Harry, especially after all the torment he was put through by the Slytherin’s own hand. The only thing that Harry ever intended on thanking him for was the protection of his sister. Whether he knew it or not, that was the nicest thing that Malfoy had ever done for Harry. And it was probably the only thing that Malfoy might have done to help Harry if not for the Unbreakable Vow that he was made to swear. It was only because of that act that Apollonia was protected from any dangers that might befall her; however, Harry wanted to be sure that nothing could happen to his sister. Extra precautions would be made.

“Okay, so no ring,” Apollonia nodded. “But, what then? There’s only one thing I can think of; however, doing that is currently impossible thanks to this.” She tapped the necklace she was wearing. “This still hasn’t been taken off and only Draco can remove it.”

“You should keep that on,” Harry suggested. If the necklace was still protecting her from danger, then keeping it on would only keep her out of harm’s way. There were Death Eaters still out on the loose—Harry, Ron, and Neville had only captured a few since the war ended—and they could try to go after Apollonia; the whole world knew that the two were siblings, so it was possible that someone would try kidnapping her. Harry was not about to let that happen though, not after so little time was spent bonding with one another.

“Keep it on?” Apollonia asked. “It’s been on for the last eighteen months. And, I only agreed to keep it on until now, until Voldemort was destroyed. Why would I continue to wear it even after it’s no longer needed? Now that the war is over, I don’t need it.”

“Death Eaters are still on the loose,” Harry argued.

“But, what are the chances of them coming after me?” she asked.

“Considering that everyone knows you’re my sister, I’d say that the chances are pretty good,” Harry informed her. “That’s why we’ve been keeping you away from Malfoy Manor at the moment, in case any Death Eaters try to go back there.” That had been part of the arrangement that the Ministry made in keeping the Malfoy family out of Azkaban; they agreed to offer up their home as a trap. Should any Death Eaters try to come back to the former base of operations, they would be captured immediately. Harry didn’t want to risk his sister getting caught up in any of that. So, she was staying at Shell Cottage with Bill and Fleur until the majority of the Death Eaters were captured and tried for their crimes.

“What if we try just that?” Apollonia suggested.

“What?” Harry shouted.

“No, think about it, Harry,” Apollonia insisted. “If any Death Eaters come after me, they’d get put away for life. You’d never stand for anything happening to me because Dad didn’t want me to know that we were siblings, so you only just realized that you have a sister. And, if we place another charm on the pendant—maybe a trace this time—then I could be used as bait to catch the Death Eaters; they find me, you find them. It’s as simple as that.”

“Too risky. I’m not losing anymore family,” Harry said. For longest time, the Dursleys were the only family Harry ever had; his parents died when he was only fifteen months, causing the young orphan to be sent to Number 4 Privet Drive. And they hated him, hated him more than anything. In third year, Sirius and Remus become a part of his family, though neither one was around very much; Sirius died at the Department of Mysteries and Remus died in the final battle. Everyone who was considered family for him either never cared or died. He was not about to let that happen again, not to Apollonia. “You mean too much to me, Apollonia. Even if you can’t get hurt, and Malfoy’s the only one who can negate that effect, this still isn’t a good idea. Something could still happen, like perhaps wherever the Death Eaters are hiding, it could be an Unplottable location and I’m unable to find you. You do realize that’s a possibility, right?”

“But, what are the chances of that?” Apollonia asked.

“The only way that’s going to happen,” Harry warned, “is if Neville, Ron, and I are unable to find any other Death Eaters. Your idea will be the back-up plan, for if ours fail.”

“If you insist,” Apollonia said.

“And, could you figure out a way to hide the Resurrection Stone?” Harry asked. If the stone would stay with his sister, then it would have to be protected, with her life. “It should be in a place where no one would ever think to look. Tell no one but myself where it is.”

“I’ll find a way,” she replied.

Shortly after that conversation, Apollonia said goodbye to him and Andromeda, heading back to Shell Cottage. Harry stayed awhile longer, but he eventually left as well for the Burrow; Kingsley wanted Harry, Ron, and Neville to start actively looking for the Death Eaters now that the funerals were over and the Ministry was starting to recover from Voldemort’s regime. Harry was all too willing to go out and search for the Death Eaters that escaped custody; the sooner they were in Ministry custody, the safer his sister—and the rest of the world—was.

Family meant more to Harry than anything in the world and he was willing to do whatever it took to protect all that was left of his family. Voldemort and the Death Eaters destroyed his family and he wasn’t about to let it progress any further than it already had. Apollonia was not about to get involved in any of this, not if Harry could help it. He had his reason for not letting Apollonia go through with her plan and that was it; she wanted to purposely place herself in danger, and Harry refused to let her go through with it; he refused to lose her.