Princess Sunburst

The Slytherin was left speechless with that tidbit of information. It was not the sort of information she was expecting, not in the very least. Here she was standing next to the one person that might understand the pain she was in, someone who probably felt the same way. This was her cousin’s best friend. Of all people that Apollonia had to come in contact with while coming to find out about her cousin’s fiancée, it was another cousin’s best friend. There’s no way that this could have been planned. Apollonia swallowed. Knowing that she was standing in front of her cousin’s best friend freaked her out a little bit. “It makes perfect sense, I think,” Apollonia muttered to herself. “Out of everyone in the hospital that I could have come across, it had to be Zara’s best friend.”

Healer Rook stared at her. “Who are you?”

Well, of course she was going to ask me about that, Apollonia thought. Of course the woman wants to know why I reacted in such a way. Might as well tell her. It’s not like I can really hide it. “Me? I’m the only person in the world who will ever understand the pain you’re in, the pain of losing your best friend to a war simply because her aunt and uncle were not willing to accept a Muggleborn into the family,” Apollonia muttered angrily. She was pissed that any of this had occurred. Her life was destroyed because of Voldemort’s obsession with pure blood. “That’s the reason your best friend is dead, because of the Pureblood mania that caused the war. Her uncle was Death Eater and it would not have looked well on him to have his niece marry a muggleborn. Selwyn was not willing to accept something like that. And, as for who I am; Apollonia Lily Evans Snape. Harry Potter’s half-sister and your best friend’s cousin.”

“You’re…you’re…but,” she sputtered.

“A Snape; a Prince; an Evans,” Apollonia supplied.

“That explains so much,” the woman said. “I never understood why Zara was so insistent about any of that. The start of third year, she was sure that you were a relative. She was right then?”

“My grandmother was her great-aunt,” she said.

“That explains everything,” Healer Rook said. “She spent those next five years completely obsessing over all of this. I helped her with it, but I never understood it, as much as I tried.”

“You’re lucky,” Apollonia scoffed. “At least you knew her.”

“You never knew her?” Rook asked.

Apollonia shook her head sadly. “No. She died before I realized she was my cousin. Harry’s the only family I have left; well, unless you count my cousin on my mother’s side, but that doesn’t really matter at the moment since he’s a Muggle. Dad died in the final battle, meaning I’m the last Prince. I’m the last of a once noble family.” At first, Apollonia had no intention of using the last Prince card, but this was her cousin’s best friend. She might already have some idea of what was going on, as much as Apollonia wanted to keep this secret. The fact that she was Lady Prince, this was the one person that Apollonia felt she could tell without worrying about if it would be leaked to the Prophet. It was her cousin’s best friend, the one person that might be able to tell Apollonia about her.

“Why are you really here?” Rook asked.

Apollonia sighed. “You and Carmichael; you’re the last connection I have to the cousin who returned me and my father back to the family. Zara convinced her father to do that.”

“But, that would make you…”

She nodded. “Not many people even know about this. There’s myself; my brother; four others; and now you. Consider yourself lucky. I had every intention of telling only those I trusted. Being Zara’s friend just gave you that privilege of knowing my true identity.” Seven people. Seven people knew that she was Lady Prince. She had given Healer Rook a gift, for she was never one of the original six who were allowed to know.

“After all that Zara did for you, I think I understand,” Healer Rook said. “She did everything for you, ever since she was thirteen and realized who you were. Few people ever really understood. I was her best friend and I never really understood it. She trusted few with this. I think that there were only four others involved in it, though I don’t know who.”

“I wish I could thank them,” Apollonia said. And, if she knew, maybe one of them could tell her about Zara. Her mother and Zara; they were the two people Apollonia wanted to know, but never could. That knowledge was destroying her, the knowledge that the two women who cared the most about her were casualties of the war. While Andromeda and Narcissa both cared, it was not the same as what Lily Potter and Zara Prince were willing to do for the young girl they barely knew, for a family member. Maybe one day. Maybe there would come a day in which Apollonia would be permitted to know who it was that Zara trusted enough to help her with what she was doing.

“If you’re really her cousin…”

“What?” Apollonia asked.

Healer Rook reached into her robe and pulled out a card, pressing it into the younger woman’s hand. “Zara was a very private person. Few people were even capable of getting close to her; me; the four who helped with the plan regarding you; her family; and one of the healers here. Actually, it was the same man that trained me—and Morgan—when I was training to become a healer. Out of everyone she was ever close to, I’ve been able to talk with none of them about Zara; her family died; Thaddeus is in a coma; those who helped with you were involved with the war – deeply involved; and the healer who trained me and Morgan; he disappeared some time last year, went into hiding I think. But, you’re the first one I’ve found that I could even remotely grieve with over what happened. Hell, you didn’t even know her. I don’t think I have much of a choice.”

Apollonia slipped the card into a pocket. “It’s insane knowing she’s gone. I never got to know her. Even knowing that her murderer is to be sent away will never help.”

“Zara’s murderer was found?” Healer Rook asked.

“Just today. I made sure of that,” Apollonia said. And so, the Slytherin launched into the story of the day’s events, revealing to the young healer the reason she was here; her discovery of how Zara was killed and why. “It was her uncle. He was the one to lead the attack on the wedding. And then he later tried to use me as leverage so he could kill Harry.”

“Bastard!” the woman exclaimed.

“Now you understand how I feel,” Apollonia said.

“I must really be lucky then,” the healer said, “that you were kidnapped. I wasn’t working this morning. I got in late.” Apollonia eyed the woman, wondering exactly what she had to do that would cause her to be late. Seeing the perplexed look on Apollonia’s face, she explained. “I’ve been trying to find the guy who taught me; he only left because of the war, shortly after some wedding he had to attend, and no one’s seen him since. I was trying to find a way to get in touch with him. Now that I know of you, I think that I just need to dig a little deeper; it’s that much more important that I find him.”

“Probably a good idea,” Apollonia muttered.

“Yeah; I’ll try to look into finding him,” Healer Rook said. “But, in the meantime; if you ever want to speak with me about Zara, I’ll tell you all I know about her.”

“Thank you, Healer Rook,” she said.

“Call me Mirabelle,” the healer said.

Apollonia nodded. Upon giving the young healer a quick goodbye, she flooed back over to the Ministry to see what was happening with the many Death Eaters who were captured. When she arrived, the Ministry was a madhouse, or at least the Auror department was. It was discovered that this was the most Death Eaters that were captured since the Final Battle, so Harry was busy rushing around to get all of them transferred out to Azkaban. Percy was doing the same, so that Harry did not become overworked in dealing with this. Hermione was speaking with Kingsley and Fleur had gone to the Burrow, so Apollonia sat around for awhile, waiting until everyone finished with what they were doing.

It wasn’t until about ten minutes later in which Hermione came over; Harry was still busy; and so was Percy. Hermione was the only one not doing anything, a rare thing from her. “Did you get what you needed done?” the muggleborn asked, coming over.

“I ran into my cousin’s best friend,” Apollonia whispered.

“You don’t seem like you were expecting it,” Hermione said.

“No. No, I definitely wasn’t. The only thing I expected to find was Morgan’s fiancée; not Zara’s best friend,” Apollonia explained. “There’s a lot more to this than I ever expected. One survivor in the Prince wedding massacre; the healer attached to the case is Zara’s best friend; and somewhere out there is some retired healer who thought it best if he went into hiding rather than telling me about my family.” Nothing that had happened in the last month had turned out as Apollonia expected it would, not in the very least.

“Isn’t that good though?” Hermione asked.

“In a way, I guess,” Apollonia said quietly. “But, I was supposed to know of this before the war ended. Before it started really. There were five years in which Zara and I were in the same school, and not once was it ever revealed that she knew who I was; that she knew I was her cousin. She knew! I spent five years being invisible and now I discover that Zara knew who I was, knew of something that no one else did. There were four others who knew as well. I wasn’t as invisible as I thought and I never even realized it.”

“Maybe they had their reason for not saying anything,” Hermione reasoned with the Slytherin. “Maybe it was never revealed to keep you safe, like something would happen to you if you were connected to the Prince family. Look what happen to Eileen Prince for marrying a Muggle.”

“Oh, I know,” Apollonia muttered. It was a sore spot for Apollonia. Her grandfather was so much like Vernon Dursley. Her paternal grandfather; her aunt; and uncle; all three of them despised magic more than anything. Dudley was the only living Muggle relative to care about magic. “I deserved to know her though. I spent the majority of my life believing that I only had my father to rely on; that he was the only family I had. Did you know that it was Christmas Eve of our first year in which I was returned to the family?”

“No. No I didn’t,” Hermione said.

“According the goblins, it was first year – Zara’s third – in which she realized that I was a Prince. That means there was a three month period in which she had to figure it out and then four and a half years after that in which she watched over me, never saying that she knew. I want to know why she never approached me. I want to know who she trusted this with and why they never said anything about it to me,” Apollonia said. As she was saying this, the Slytherin could see that her friend was shifting slightly. It made Apollonia wonder if she knew what was going on; if she was a part of it. Healer Rook – Mirabelle – said that she didn’t know who Zara was working with. That probably meant that she was not in the same house as those people whom were asked to help Zara. Zara was a Ravenclaw; that, she knew. So, Apollonia could only assume that Mirabelle was probably a Ravenclaw as well. Which knocked out the Ravenclaws as the people Zara could have asked; Mirabelle would have known who they were.

There was so much more to her cousin than she would have thought. Never once did Apollonia expect any of this. Apollonia tapped her wand to her ring finger and allowed the glamour she had over the Prince signet ring to fade. The enchantment had been there since the day she went to Gringotts about her vaults. She barely ever removed it, as her secret was contained to seven people, Ragnok, and Griphook. Besides, looking at the ring was a reminder of the fact that she was the last one, of the fact that Selwyn had them murdered.

Eventually, Apollonia could not stand looking at it anymore and the glamour was replaced. “I need to go. I don’t think I can stay here anymore,” Apollonia decided suddenly. With that, she apparated away before Hermione could make any objections to her choice.

***

Instead of processing the Death Eaters for transfer to Azkaban like he was supposed to be doing, Harry had been watching his sister and Hermione talk from under a disillusionment charm – he left his Invisibility Cloak at the Burrow. There was something she mentioned about Zara, something that seemed to coincide with what he heard earlier. As far as Harry could tell, there was a team of people acting as guardian angels for Apollonia. He suspected the identity of one of them, but was not sure of the others. Once he was done here, Harry decided something; he needed to have a nice long chat with that person about what was going on here, why any of this was even happening.

***

Gringotts was Apollonia’s next stop after the Ministry. She did not want to go back to the Burrow or Shell Cottage. And besides, she wanted to condense the vaults in her possession. Proceeding with that task now would probably be for the best. Her father’s vault. It would probably be best to deal with her father’s vault today, especially seeing as it was the one vault of hers that she had yet to visit. Her best bet was probably sending everything to the Prince vault, with the obvious exception of the man’s portrait. If she was being completely honest with herself, Apollonia had no idea what she wanted to do about the two portraits in her possession. However, it would come to her eventually.

Upon entering the bank, Apollonia went to see Griphook about going down to that vault. While she was waiting for the goblin, it occurred to the Slytherin that both she and Harry often had their affairs tended to by Griphook, as if there was no other goblin that could help them. Apollonia couldn’t help but wonder why that was…well, not so much for herself – only Ragnok and Griphook were aware that she was Lady Prince, meaning only one of them was allowed to handle her affairs – but rather why the same goblin dealt with Harry’s affairs as well. It was worth asking about one day. However, right now, it was imperative that the young Slytherin deal with the vaults that were in her possession.

There were very few times in which Apollonia ever visited her father’s vault. Most of those visits occurred prior to entering Hogwarts, so she was not sure of what to expect. A lot could have changed in the last seven years. Finally, after five minutes of waiting, Griphook appeared. “Lady Prince, what can Gringotts do for you today?” the goblin asked.

“I need to visit Vault 138,” she said.

Ten minutes later, Apollonia found herself in a vault she had not entered since she was eleven. As expected, there was a portrait in the far corner of the vault; however, she ignored it for the time being. She was still pissed of that her father would try to make so many decisions about her life, without even consulting her. Not once did Severus Snape ever plan on telling his daughter who her mother was; she found out because of a fluke, because her father’s Occulemency shields slipped and she found the one memory that revealed the real reason her father never expected Apollonia to become a Slytherin.

Standing in her father’s vault, Apollonia looked around at the contents, trying to gain an understanding of why it was still here. Aside from the portrait, which she already knew about, there were stacks of books; potions ingredients; and a large pile of gold. “All of this could easily be moved to the Prince vault,” she decided. There was no need for any of this to sit here when it could have easily moved to another vault. As for the portrait, something had to be done about that. Keeping it in a vault was probably not the best thing in the world. But, the fact of the matter was that this vault was pointless. None of it really had to be here. When she was probably going to use the Prince vault for all of her needs, it was completely pointless to have this vault. “That’s it. I have to get rid of the vault.”

When the pair returned to the main floor of the bank, Apollonia turned to address the goblin regarding her plans for the vaults in her possession. “The contents of Vault 138. I would like all of it transferred over to Vault 731. Vault 138 is to be closed out.”

There would eventually come a time in which Apollonia would move what she needed out of the Prince vault – especially the portraits – but now was not the time for such thinking. For right now, the best course of action was to leave things as they were; only coming to Gringotts when she needed something from her vaults, at least until the Wizarding World was more stable. Even with Voldemort gone, the Death Eaters were still running rampant. It would be some time before the magical world was truly in a state of peace.

Once confirmation was given that Vault 138 was closed out – and all contents were transferred to the Prince vault – Apollonia bid goodbye to the goblins and headed out to Diagon Alley before apparating to Shell Cottage. It was probably not for the best that she was avoiding the Burrow—Molly was sure to start yelling at her for disappearing to help Harry—but there were much more important things for Apollonia to do, the first of which was fulfilling a promise she made to Harry a short time ago. In addition to that, there was something she had put off over the last few weeks; something she was unable to bring herself to do no matter how hard she tried, especially considering what it involved. She had avoided it these last few weeks; but, no longer. She had no choice but to go through that box, the box of her mother’s memories.

Going into the Evans vault had been hard enough for the young Slytherin, just knowing that she had never gotten the chance to know her mother or step-father because of Voldemort and that damn prophecy. Looking through her mother’s things would have been that much more difficult. So, she didn’t. The only box she even looked through was the one belonging to her father; the box that led to the discovery that Severus Snape had been in the vault between Halloween 1981 and May 2nd, 1998, never once informing Apollonia or Harry of its existence. Not even her step-father’s box had been opened. She just couldn’t do it. But, it could wait no longer. She no longer had a choice in the matter.

Pulling the boxes she recovered from the Evans vault out from under the bed, she sat her father’s box—which held several books on various Hogwarts subjects: from history to potions—on the floor and turned to the other two boxes. The box labeled James was pulled towards her and she ripped the seal. Apollonia was curious about this box; the contents of this box were that of her step-father, a man who probably felt slighted over the fact that his wife cheated on him and had a daughter with another man, who also happened to be his rival for her affections. She had no idea of what to expect from him.

Sitting at the very top of the pile of her step-father’s belongings was an envelope. It was just glaring at her; and, with her name printed on it, the envelope was like a beacon, blaring at her as if it was a warning. Apollonia plucked the contents from the envelope and glossed over the letter rather quickly. It was definitely not what she expected:

Dear Mini-Snape,

The discovery that Snivellus fathered a child was shocking to say the least. The knowledge that you were also Lily’s daughter was even more shocking. At first, I was pissed. Knowing that the woman I loved since I was twelve had an affair with that Death Eater pissed me off. I was about ready to go after the man when an old classmate of mine showed me something. The truth of the matter is that this was supposed to happen. I never heard it, but there was a prophecy made that foretold this; foretold your birth:

“Two emerald souls…one of royal blood, the other of crafter. Joined by the bonds of the son of the Young Warrior, the two have the power to bring peace to the world. Enemies must put aside their differences to help the One marked with natural wonders.

From the House of the Brave and the House of Cunning Ambition, they must unite; their aid required in the fight that is to come. Animal spirits will prove their worth to help the two emerald souls achieve their destiny.”

I heard of this prophecy in the weeks following the discovery of you and Harry. At the time, I never understood it; but, now I do. The both of you were born with emerald eyes, or the emerald souls of the prophecy I was told. One of royal blood; Snape was a Prince and so are you. One of crafter blood; that one was me and Harry. As for the rest, I’m sure you can figure it out. It hasn’t happened yet, and a part of me suspects that it was too late.

The realization that you were destined to exist seemed to cool my rage. Your existence in Harry’s life was necessary for things to work out. And, though you’re Snape’s daughter, I’ve come to accept that you will be a part of Harry’s life. That damn prophecy that hangs over his head; even while we’re in hiding, it might not help. If the aforementioned prophecy is any indication, you have a role in the things that are to come.

James Potter
September 14th, 1981

Apollonia simply stared at the letter in her hand; it was too shocking for words. There was another prophecy. One that Dumbledore and Voldemort were not aware of. But, her step-father did. Her step-father seemed to know that she had a part in the war. Out of everyone in the world, it had to be her step-father with this knowledge, the man she never expected to gift her with such information. Though, it did do one thing; it confirmed that her father was wrong to deny her the opportunity to know her brother. This prophecy was proof that Harry and Apollonia needed to grow up with one another; lives could have been saved if only Apollonia was allowed to know that she had a brother, as well as growing up with him. “Never thought I’d say this,” Apollonia muttered, “but; James, you’re a genius!”

Setting the letter aside on the table, Apollonia continued going through the box of her step-father’s things. A leather-bound journal was found underneath the letter. The young Snape pulled it out and started paging through it, wondering why this was in here. It was a rather thin volume, handwritten by her step-father. Looking through it, Apollonia knew exactly why this was sitting here; as far as the young Snape could tell, it was not the type of thing that Harry would care about. “And, despite all Dad has ever said about the man’s arrogance and immaturity, its proven wrong,” Apollonia mumbled. The journal held the mention of an experiment that was tried shortly after Hogwarts, one that Apollonia would find most interesting. “I’ll have to try this some time.”

Her step-father’s journal was set aside and Apollonia turned to the next item; a small wooden box. She would have opened it if not for the fact that she was incapable of opening it. There was something strange about the box, like James enchanted it with a magic that made it impossible for her to open it. “Okay, what the hell is that about?” she wondered.

There was very little hidden underneath the mystery box, just a few knick-knacks that Apollonia didn’t care about. Everything was placed back inside the box and she set the box labeled James next to the one from her father. It was time to look through her mother’s box. She pulled the final box – her mother’s – in front of her and broke the seal on the box. Apollonia was nearly in tears as she did so. These were her mother’s belongings, items that were once in possession of a woman Apollonia never knew. This had to be one of the most difficult things that the young Slytherin ever attempted. Lily Potter and Zara Prince; they were the only ones that could make the young Snape act in such a way.

Her mother’s box contained at least two dozen books. Only one of them truly caught her eye, however. It was a wooden book with a skull embossed on the cover. Apollonia opened the book to find a letter from her mother sitting there. She pulled it out and read over it.

My dearest daughter,
This book is very special. It once belonged to your grandmother, one of the only items she was allowed to keep after she was disowned from the family for marrying your grandfather. Take care of it. This is one of the only Prince artifacts that you may ever see; it’s a part of your family.

Mum

A Prince artifact. Not only did this book belong to her mother, but it also belonged to her grandmother. That fact made this book even more special, for it was a combination of the two families; Prince and Evans. This book was probably the one item that Apollonia now owned that once belonged to both sides of her family. However, despite her mother’s belief, it would never be the only Prince item she owned. Sadly, there was a whole vault full of Prince possessions. Knowing that this book represented both sides of her family, Apollonia set it aside along with the letter from her step-father. She would look through it later.

Aside from the other books – some of which were from childhood, others from school – Apollonia found that there was a square box sitting beneath all her mother’s books. Unlike with the box from her step-father, this one she could open. Inside was something that she had not expected; her mother’s jewelry. Rings; necklaces; bracelets; and a brooch; all of this once belonged to her mother, items she wished for her to have. One of the gold chains was removed from the box. If this belonged to her mother, then it would be perfect for her plan; Apollonia would use one of them to hide the Resurrection Stone.

Since the stone had to be attached to whatever pendant hung from the chain, Apollonia did a little bit of transfiguration on a gold button, turning it into a setting for the Resurrection Stone. Once that was done, she produced the Hallow and pressed it into the setting, making certain that the Hallow would not become detached. The pendant was attached to the chain and she put the necklace on, so that the Resurrection Stone was at the hollow of her neck. “It’s done,” she said with a sigh of relief. “All that’s left is telling Harry.”

The Slytherin was about to go tell Harry that she found a way to hide the stone when she spotted one final item in her mother’s box. It was a glass lily encased in a dome. Apollonia had to wonder why this was here, what it represented. Whatever the case was, it was now hers; one of only a few remnants of her mother. There wasn’t very much in which Apollonia had of her mother, but it was all she had. And, there was no way in hell that the young Snape would ever destroy what was here. She couldn’t. Her mother’s things were repacked into the box and all three were shoved back under the bed. “I guess it’s time. Might as well go face the music,” she muttered. With that, the girl apparated away.