Princess Sunburst

A jolt of pain coursed through Apollonia’s body and she shot straight up. It was like she was hit with a bolt of lightning. George was still in the room, sitting in the same spot the Slytherin remembered him to be in before she fell asleep not long ago. What the hell happened? Why did I wake up? And, what the hell was that jolt of pain about? Nothing seemed to make any sense, especially why she awoke so suddenly. Apollonia looked over George. “Something happened,” she said weakly. “Something happened to Harry.”

Dark blue eyes widened at that admission. He quickly rushed over to the window. “Well, you’re definitely right. Something did happen. There’s smoke billowing from the farmhouse you were being held in. It’s impossible to know what happened though. I’m pretty sure that Harry, Bill, Fleur, Angelina, Lee, and Alicia are still over there. None of them have returned yet, so I don’t know what’s going on there,” George muttered.

Pulling herself up from the bed, Apollonia tried to stand up. However, she overestimated her will-power and soon found that she was still much too weak to even think of doing something like that. Being Crucioed was never a very fun experience, especially seeing as she spent eighteen months under the protection of a charm so that she could avoid this. But, the pendant that protected her for that length of time was gone and Apollonia was currently in the worst condition of her life. “Damn it!” she yelled. “I thought I’d be okay by now.” She was sure that she had been resting long enough to have not been affected so much by what happened. “Not like I can do anything anyway. I have no idea where my wand is anyway.” The last time she saw her wand was just before Selwyn kidnapped her. For all she knew, it was still back at Malfoy Manor.

George rushed to her side. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to get up,” Apollonia said.

“Trying being the operative word,” George agreed.

“I’m sure you know why I want to though,” Apollonia reminded him. It was a sad fact that George knew better than anyone what it was like to lose a close family member. After all, that was the reason that Fred asked Apollonia to watch over George, because of how he’d react. Surely then, he would understand why she was intent on finding out what happened to her brother. “You’re the one person who could even begin to understand.”

“I do understand,” George said quietly as he helped her back on the bed. “Better than anyone really. However, I truly doubt that Harry would appreciate that you would be willing to injure yourself even further just to find out what happened to him. You’re not going anywhere outside of the Burrow. Even if I have to lock you in here and go after them myself, I am not about to let you do as you plan. In fact, I think I’ll ask Mum to make sure that you don’t leave the Burrow. Might actually be the only way you’ll listen to me.”

Apollonia slumped back onto the bed and glared at George. “You wouldn’t!” In the last year, whenever Apollonia and Ginny came to stay at the Burrow for the holidays, Molly went all out in trying to make sure that her daughter and Apollonia were okay. Apollonia mostly avoided it thanks to the snake pendant, but it would not happen today. This might be the one time in which Apollonia had no choice but to suffer through Molly’s overbearing nature, simply because the Death Eaters wanted revenge.

“So that Harry doesn’t lose the last of his family, I would!” George retorted. “You mean too much to him and I don’t want to see him acting like me. He’s already done that too much.”

“I guess that’s true,” Apollonia mused.

“And that’s the exact reason I’m going back over there, leaving you here under the care of my mother,” George said. “So that you and Harry can have what Fred and I used to.”

With that, Apollonia was left on her own. From here, she could now see the billowing smoke, which worried her. She could do nothing to help her brother. All she could do was sit here and wait until everyone came back. Even worse than that, she was stuck in a house where she was hated. It simply was not the best situation for her to be in.

***

Upon leaving Apollonia’s care in the capable hands of his mother, George hurried out to the farmhouse, wondering what might have happened. Things were okay when he left, and he doubted that it could have gotten so bad in his absence. As George approached the farmhouse, he could see that the smoke was turning dark gray, not exactly the best sight to behold while family and friends were inside the place. George had no idea as to who was still in the area, for he left before anyone else. Anything could have happened since then, which is what George was afraid of. Apollonia didn’t deserve to go through what he was.

Not wanting to see another person go through what he had for the last month was the reason George was doing this. Apollonia deserved to have her brother around, deserved to have what was left of her family around. George would give her what he no longer had. He knew what it was like to see his loved ones die; Apollonia came close before, so there was a greater chance of her losing Harry. And that would surely destroy her – he heard that it almost did when Voldemort struck him down – the way it did to him when he lost Fred.

George arrived at the farmhouse to find that someone was able to escape the now crumbling building. Covered in debris, Angelina came stumbling out. “I thought I’d never get out of there.”

“What happened in there?” George asked.

“I don’t know,” Angelina replied. “Harry disappeared some time during our search. A lot happened while we were in there, after you left with Apollonia; Alicia was attacked and sent to St. Mungo’s; Fleur sent the Death Eaters we captured out to the Ministry; and Lee disappeared once the Malfoys were found. Harry, Bill, and I were the only ones left after that. And then, Harry disappeared once it was discovered that there were still Death Eaters in the cellar, leaving myself and Bill to scour the place in search of any remaining Death Eaters. We were able to find one more before there was an explosion. Harry was down there when it occurred. I don’t know what happened, but he was there.”

And there it was, the chance that Apollonia might lose her brother. That’s not going to happen, George thought. She doesn’t deserve that. She doesn’t deserve to lose the last of her family. There had been so much pain in the last few years; no one should have to go through that. “Is there any way that you can help me look for Harry?” he asked.

“I’m not going back in there,” Angelina warned.

“Even to help Apollonia keep her brother around?” he asked.

“Not this time,” Angelina replied, shaking her head sadly. “I almost didn’t make it out and have no intention of taking that chance again. I’m going to go see how Alicia’s doing.”

As Angelina disapparated, George quickly went over what was said; Alicia was injured and currently being treated at St. Mungo’s; Lee rescued the Malfoys; and Fleur was transporting all captured Death Eaters out to the Ministry. Now that Angelina had gone, all that was left inside the farmhouse were Bill and Harry. It was better than having to rescue six people and make sure that the captured Death Eaters were in custody. However, it still wasn’t right. This shouldn’t even have been happening. Not ever.

The young Weasley cautiously approached the farmhouse, unsure of what he might find. One group had yet to show up. Bill and Harry were still inside, trapped within the now-crumbling building. It was not the most ideal situation; George and his family already lost so much. And then there was Harry, who only recently discovered that he had a sister at all. Harry’s knowledge of the fact that he had a sister spanned a very short period of time – only a month; that the one Slytherin he seemed to trust during his sixth year turned out to be his half-sister. And, after that, Harry made the mistake of turning his back on his sister. Now that he knew that Apollonia was his sister, he did not deserve to have something happen to him, and especially so soon after the war ended as well. It was not going to end this way, not if George had anything to say about it.

Besides, George owed it to someone he knew a long time ago that nothing like this would happen. It had been a long time coming, but George was under orders that nothing like this would ever happen. But, here it was several years later and George was at loss of how to rectify the situation, so as to make sure that the deal he made was fulfilled. What was he supposed to do to help this situation along though? With a groan, George pushed his way into the building and started looking for his older brother and Harry.

***

George certainly was not kidding. True to his word, Molly Weasley came up to check on Apollonia. The first time the mother hen woman came up; she shoved several potions into the girl’s hand and insisted that she take the potions to lessen the effects of the Cruciatus. The potions did seem to lessen the pain she was in, but she was still not strong enough to go anywhere. Every subsequent visit that Molly made upstairs; it was to make certain that she didn’t try to sneak out. As much as Apollonia wanted to go find out what happened to Harry, Molly Weasley had no intention of letting the weakened witch outside of the Burrow. It was really annoying because she wanted to know what was happening to her brother; however it also happened to be a blessing since she knew what would happen if Ron were to discover what happened while Harry was trying to rescue her.

After the fourth time she came up in a twenty minute period, Apollonia decided that she was not about to let it happen again. She didn’t care that no one wanted her to go over there; it was a necessity. Her brother was there, and Apollonia needed to help him. Not caring that Ron might see her; Apollonia rushed into the youngest Weasley son’s bedroom and went to grab Harry’s Invisibility Cloak. Tossing it over her, Apollonia went to collect one final item, something she would need if she planned on going out to help George look for Harry. It was also a difficult item for her to obtain, especially given its location.

Her only salvation was that she was covered by the Invisibility Cloak, so Molly might not even suspect her as the culprit. Apollonia sneaked downstairs and went into the living room. Sitting just above the fireplace was the item she was in need of; she saw it being placed there a few weeks ago. Carefully opening the box sitting on the mantle, Apollonia gingerly removed the item from the cushion it sat on for the last three weeks and pocketed it on her way out the door. It was not the best thing to do considering what it was, but trying this was her only option. This was definitely the best option she had.

Upon making it outside of the Burrow’s wards, Apollonia apparated out to the farmhouse. She reached the farmhouse she was being held in and, after tucking her brother’s Invisibility Cloak where no one could find it, carefully entered the building. Not knowing what to expect, especially seeing as her protection was no longer in effect, Apollonia put up a shield; she was not about risk getting hurt again. “Okay,” she muttered once she was ready. “Where are you, Harry? What happened that would cause this?”

She was only there for a few minutes before Apollonia heard a noise coming from another room. Apollonia headed over there and found a wand pointed at her throat. “Stup…Apollonia?”

The Slytherin grinned at the sight of George. “Like I was really going to let you do this on your own. He’s my brother. I’m not about to sit around and do nothing. As long as I know that there’s something I can do to help him, I have no intention of sitting around.”

“What about defending yourself?” he asked.

Apollonia bit her lip. “Ah, well…”

“What did you do?” George wondered.

The item she removed from the Weasleys’ living room was pulled out and shown to George, though it might not be the best idea considering what she did. “Got it covered,” Apollonia said softly.

“Fred’s wand!” George gasped.

Apollonia nodded. Out of everyone in the world, she was sure that George might be the one to object to her using this particular item. It was Fred’s wand, after all. “It was the only thing I could think of,” Apollonia told the Weasley, hoping that it would be a sufficient explanation as to why she was doing this. There was one other thing that the young Snape wanted to try, but she did not yet want to make George aware of that. Using Fred’s wand seemed a good idea, especially considering the circumstances.

“I don’t know,” George muttered.

“Do you really want to do this on your own?” she asked.

“But, using another’s wand will lessen the power of your spells,” George countered. “You won’t be at full power if we happen to run into any random Death Eaters.”

And that’s exactly what I want to try, Apollonia thought. Fred bound me to my promise using his own magic. I want to see how this will affect that philosophy. No one in the world ever attempted something like this, so she might as well try it. Fred’s magic is a part of me and has been for the last month. Why shouldn’t I try this? Emerald eyes met dark blue. “If you want some help, I’m all you’ve got,” Apollonia informed him. “Telling Ron was never an option, given how much he’s always hated me; Charlie is still a little wary of me; and I have no idea why Ginny is so bothered when I’m around. You want help; I’m the best option you’ve got. Besides, it is my brother.”

“Mum is going to kill me,” George muttered. “Come on.”

That was way too easy, Apollonia thought as she followed George through the farmhouse. I thought that’d be more of a challenge. Apollonia was still a little shaky after the torture Selwyn inflicted on her, but she was well enough to go after her brother. Not like any injury would have kept the teenager from going after Harry, though; she wanted to help her brother with this. But, Apollonia was sure that George would object to what she was trying to do. As far as the young Snape was concerned, George was about as protective of her as Harry and Draco were. That had become evident in the last month.

With Fred’s wand clenched firmly in her hand, Apollonia cautiously continued making her way through the farmhouse. All was quiet, which greatly unsettled her. If it was this quiet, then there was a possibility of something happening to Harry. “Where are they?” Apollonia wondered.

“Don’t know,” George shrugged. “Let’s just keep moving.”

Since she wanted to know what happened to her brother, Apollonia wasted no time in continuing the search. However, upon searching the place, they came to a realization. “No one’s here.”

“They have to be here though,” George argued. “They have to be here. Angelina said that Bill and Harry didn’t make it out before the explosion. I don’t think they would have made it out without anyone seeing anything. No, Bill and Harry are still here.”

“Where would they be then?” Apollonia asked.

“Maybe the cellar,” George suggested. “I know Harry’s down there, but I’m not sure about Bill. He was with Angelina; at least that’s what she said. I think we might have to go down there – down to where the explosion occurred – if we want to know what happened.”

Apollonia huffed. “Makes perfect sense.” The Slytherin had a really bad feeling, like whatever they would find in the cellar would not be very good. But, since she wanted to know what happened to Harry, she didn’t really have much of a choice. She recalled the message she asked George to relay to her brother. There was something in that message, something that would have to be told. “Rookwood,” she whispered, remembering what happened during the Final Battle. It has to, Apollonia realized. It has to.

George eyed her. “What about him?”

How? How did George not realize the similarities between his twin’s murder and what happened while Harry was chasing that particular Death Eater? Apollonia sighed. It seemed as if she would have to remind George of what happened last month. “There was an explosion, George, shortly after my brother realized that Rookwood was here. I don’t know how I know, but I’m sure that Rookwood had a role in this.” The explosion. That was made Apollonia suspicious about the man’s involvement. If it were any other method used to attack her brother, the Slytherin would not have connected the dots.

Apollonia could see the ferocity in George’s eyes. Rookwood’s involvement seemed to intensify George’s resolve to help Harry. That knowledge might destroy him, especially since he knew that Rookwood was the man who caused Fred’s death. “Hurry up, Apollonia!” George called as he hurried down to the cellar. “I’m not letting this guy get away.”

Damn it! Apollonia thought. Why didn’t I remember that George would be the most intent about putting Rookwood away? She was under orders from Fred to watch over George. And that included making sure that George Weasley did not trying to get revenge for his brother’s murder. The Slytherin chased after him; she needed to make sure that George didn’t try anything stupid. “What the hell was I thinking?” She could blame it on the fact that her brother was nowhere to be found, but that didn’t seem as if it would affect her concentration all that much. “Guess I better be more careful next time,” she muttered as she went after George. She had no idea what to expect when she got down there. Hell, for all she knew, her brother was dead and Rookwood could have escaped.

She doubted that Harry was dead though. From a deep sleep Apollonia was able to wake, from a simple jolt of pain. It would have been so much worse if Harry was dead. Actually, now that she thought about it, Apollonia never had that happen during the final battle. It was as if something tethered Harry to this world, making it so that he couldn’t be killed. Admittedly, Apollonia never entertained this train of thought, for she was far too upset to even consider it as a possibility. At least I know he’s alive, the teenager thought.

Catching up to George, Apollonia grabbed hold of his arm. “Don’t do anything stupid, George. Do you really want to kill Rookwood for what happened to Fred?” The rage he felt for Fred’s death was starting to seep through. And, Apollonia needed to keep him from acting on that rage, before the Weasley family was ripped apart even further.

“He deserves it!” George growled.

“And how would Fred feel if you sought revenge for what happened to him during the Final Battle?” she asked. “You and Percy were affected by his death more so than anyone in your family; Percy out of guilt for leaving the family; you because it was your twin. I doubt that Fred would appreciate it very much if anyone – you or Percy especially – sought revenge for what happened. That’s the reason that this is being left to the Aurors. Let Harry do his job and capture Rookwood. You need to move on with your life.” No one—not the Weasleys; not Harry; not Apollonia; and not George’s friends—would ever permit George to seek revenge on Rookwood. And, to keep her promise to Fred, Apollonia would have to stop this from happening; she couldn’t let George take out his revenge on Augustus Rookwood. Otherwise, the Weasley family would be dragged through a very messy trial. No, it was best if Apollonia could nip this in the bud.

“He killed Fred!” George exclaimed.

“Yes, I know that,” Apollonia nodded. “I watched him die, you know.” It was not exactly the best information for her to be giving out at the moment; however, she was trying to keep George from doing something stupid. This was definitely for the best. With Harry buried somewhere in this rubble, there was no time to waste in locating him. “George, could we please just get on with this and find my brother? He could be anywhere.”

It took a few minutes before Apollonia was able to convince George to do nothing about Rookwood and they continued on. As they were entering the maze of corridors, Apollonia groaned. She had forgotten that these corridors were down here. And, that would make things more difficult; there was no telling as to where Harry might be. “Crap! Forgot about the corridor maze.” She turned to her companion. “Any ideas, George?”

“Trial and error, I suppose,” he suggested.

Apollonia shrugged. It wasn’t really as if there was much of a choice in the matter. Harry, and even Bill, was somewhere down here in this maze of corridors. Neither one knew where—George because he stopped after finding her, and Apollonia because she was held prisoner here, unable to gain an understanding of the corridors by exploring them. The only time that Apollonia was in those corridors – at least consciously – was when Selwyn decided he wanted to have a chat with her. She had no basic understanding of the area, which could only cause problems for when they were trying to find Harry and Bill.

They came to a fork. “Which way?” Apollonia mused.

“Left,” George said almost immediately.

As they veered to the left, a groan could be heard. Unsure of whom it was that they were about to come upon, the unsuspecting pair continued moving forward; each one holding tightly onto a wand. The wand in Apollonia’s hand – she could tell that it was not her own; even so, there was still something about it. Fred’s wand seemed to react to her like it was her own. Apollonia wondered why that was, but doubted that it would ever be revealed to her. Only one person could ever explain it to her and he was dead.

George seemed like he was possessed. It was like he wasn’t even watching where he was going, but rather followed his feet. Considering what it did for her, Apollonia did not object and went after the sullen young man. Besides, he did not want to lose another family member. Apollonia understood that better than anyone what that was like; her mother, who she never knew; cousins that she only learned of after their deaths; her father, who was too busy spying on Voldemort to care; and, very nearly, her brother. Knowing of these losses, and seeing how utterly broken George was by the loss of his twin, and the possibility of losing yet another one of his brothers, Apollonia took pity on him. The best thing to do was use the alder wand that was in her hand as a way of locating Bill and Harry. Besides, she was the only one who had some semblance of recognition of the corridors they were traversing. She had been locked up and knew nothing about the area; she was utterly clueless as to what might be found lurking in these darkened halls.

Following the groan they heard before, it occurred to Apollonia that this might not be what George expected. Who was to say if this was truly Bill or Harry calling out for help, or whether it was a Death Eater trying to capture them while they let their guard down? Sadly, she did not know, nor did she have the luxury of finding out. “George, are you sure we should be doing this?” Apollonia queried, her conscience getting the better of her.

“We don’t really have much of a choice, do we?” he snarled.

Apollonia's thoughts flickered to Fred. The promise she made to him seemed to do nothing to calm George’s nerves. He was clearly not willing to loss another family member, not when this one was so fresh in his mind. Why? Apollonia thought angrily. Why did you have to give me such a challenge? Surely you knew that this would be a possibility.

Fred could not answer; however, there was a slight wavering of the wand she held, of which was not done under her power. Fred! she thought angrily. Don't go giving me vague hints. Just say it outright what you're trying to tell me. Stop trying to sugarcoat it.

Despite her pleas, the Slytherin did not receive an answer from the deceased twin. She knew she wouldn't. After all, it was not as if she had the Resurrection Stone with her. No, that was currently tucked away in her trunk, awaiting the day in which she would be able to hide it somewhere on her person. In fact, now that she thought about, a place had just opened up. At the time she and Harry spoke of the Hallow, the snake pendant Draco gave her hung round her neck. But, now that Draco was forced to remove her only salvation, there was a way for her to hide the Resurrection Stone in plain sight. Without a doubt, the best place for that stone was around her neck, where no one would think to look.

And, in order to make certain that no one thought to look on her, it might be best if she and Harry were the only ones to know that it hung from her neck. Hmm? Apollonia thought as she and George moved closer to the groan. I should probably bring that up with Harry. I wouldn’t doubt that he'd agree with me. Harry was busy trying to protect the Hallow from those who would use it for wicked purposes; it was why he left it in the Forbidden Forest before Apollonia located it. Surely he would want to know of Apollonia’s idea, of the one true resting spot of the Hallow. Everyone thought it was out in the Forbidden Forest. The idea of looking with Apollonia would not cross anyone’s mind; of that she was sure.

Suddenly, Apollonia came to a stop, as did George just in front of her. “What is it?” Apollonia wondered. She was curious as to what might have made the young man stop in his tracks.

“It’s Bill,” George whispered.

Maneuvering herself to a place where George was not blocking her path, Apollonia soon realized what he was talking about. It was not the best thing for George to see right now, not so soon after Fred’s death. For, there stuck under a pile of rubble was Bill Weasley. Apollonia gasped at the sight of the eldest Weasley caught under the rock. “Holy...”

George nodded. “Yeah, I think we get it,” George shushed her. His wand was pointed at the rubble, trying to help his brother escape. “Help me move the rocks. I can’t do it on my own.”

Apollonia mutely nodded and began casting the same spell over and over to remove the rock. “Wingardium Leviosa. Wingardium Leviosa.” The rocks slowly but surely lifted to reveal a rather bruised Weasley. Tucking Fred’s wand up her sleeve, Apollonia knelt down and started pulling him up to his feet. As Bill was being supported by Apollonia’s slight frame, George began moving forward. “George!” she exclaimed. “Shouldn’t you be worrying about your brother?” Bill was only faintly conscious and even that was fleeting.

“Do you want to find your brother?” George asked.

“Of course I do!” Apollonia shouted. “But, you do realize that your brother needs reassuring as well, don’t you? He was injured down here, by who knows what.” As far as Apollonia could tell, George was like a possessed man, focused on a singular goal; he was focused on finding Harry, even going so far as to ignoring his brother’s plight for the time being. And, it was really annoying her. She turned to Bill. “Are you okay?”

“For the most part,” Bill responded. “Is Harry still down here?”

Apollonia nodded. “We haven’t found him yet.”

“Make sense, I suppose. After Angelina escaped, I went to see if I could find Harry,” Bill said weakly. “I didn’t find him either. He chased after the Death Eaters that were down here, the ones that Lee said were stunned; and, he had a little more time than I did.” He shrugged and looked over at Apollonia. “I don't know if he got there over there in time. The explosion just happened so fast. He could be stuck down here forever.”

“I hope not,” Apollonia responded as they headed after George.

Seeing as she was supporting Bill's weight on top of her own, it took Apollonia awhile to catch up with George. When she was finally able to locate him, Apollonia realized that he was standing in front of a large dome-like structure, simply staring at it as she and Bill arrived. It seemed as if he was waiting for her. “What took you so long?” he wondered.

“I do have Bill here with me, in case you had forgotten,” Apollonia scoffed. “You could have been helping me get him down here, you know? It wouldn't have taken as long.”

“And, I thought you wanted your brother safe,” George sneered.

“I do,” Apollonia said quietly. “But, not at the sake of your brother's safety. That's pushing it.” Bill’s safety should have been just as important to George – a top priority – as it was to her. But, it wasn’t. George seemed to be a lot more focused on helping Harry.

“So, you’d sacrifice your own brother’s life to help mine?”

“That’s not exactly what I’m saying,” Apollonia objected. “I’m simply reminding you that Bill was injured while trying to go help my brother. And, George; you should realize that the same thing could happen to you; to either of you, really.” George needed to remember that, even though the war was over, the Death Eaters were still active, having evaded capture. Today’s kidnapping was indicative of that, of the fact that the remaining Death Eaters were trying to ruin Harry’s life. Caution still had to be taken, which he was not.

He shrugged. “Just come over here and help me.”

Setting Bill down against the wall, Apollonia allowed Fred's wand to slip into her hand and started casting the same spell at the rock dome. However, this time, the spell would not work. While Fred’s wand had worked before while trying to rescue Bill, it did not seem to work while she was trying to rescue her brother. “What the...” It did not make much sense that the deceased wizard's wand would work during one rescue attempt and not another. Fred! she yelled in her mind. What the HELL is going on here?