Princess Sunburst

For the next few days, Apollonia found herself traveling to Ravencrest Manor. It had taken most of the day, but she and Christophe had finally settled on how Ravencrest Manor needed to be renovated for the new owner to move in. Ultimately, it was decided that the Pensieve and the portrait should be moved to the study, the one that Apollonia had no intention of changing. It was the discovery of Apollonia’s recently changed plans for her future helped determine how the house should be changed. Christophe’s exact words were: “If you plan on honoring your father by becoming a Potions Mistress, then you might as well have a decent place to work.” And, Apollonia whole-heartedly agreed with that assessment, starting plans for expanding the Potions lab in the basement.

While she and Christophe were making plans for Ravencrest, Apollonia asked that Pumpkin clean up the guest bedroom – the first floor bedroom – for her use. That was the room that Apollonia had claimed for herself. She wanted to be near the potions lab, as it would remind her of her father. As for the other bedrooms, it was agreed that Christophe and Tabitha’s; Morgan’s; Delaney’s; and the second floor guest bedroom would all become guest rooms for the moment. After all, there was no plan to use them. She simply had no need for the other bedrooms at the moment. The other rooms; the library, parlor, and ballroom, Apollonia decided – with a little help from Christophe and the elves – would stay as they were. Every other room in the house would be redecorated, rooms in which Apollonia had yet to decide on a design for. It would allow for enough of a change to make it a whole new house, one that wasn’t filled with painful memories.

As Apollonia was trying to decide what to do with some of the room, she happened upon a portrait that she was really hoping to avoid: Edwin Prince, her great-uncle. Edwin Prince was the older brother of Eileen Prince, whom chose not stand by his sister as she opted out of an arranged marriage with some snobbish Pureblood – of whom Apollonia did not recall the name of, nor did she really care. Apollonia glared at her great-uncle as he started yelling at her. “You have no right being in this house!” Edwin yelled. “I know who you are and you are not permitted to enter the Prince ancestral home.”

“Even when I’m a Prince myself?” she asked evenly.

“You are no Prince!” Edwin warned.

“Oh, yes I am,” Apollonia said, allowing the glamour to fade so that her great-uncle could see the signet ring on her finger. He would not believe it otherwise. “Your youngest granddaughter realized who I was and asked Christophe to readmit me into the family. I am all that remains of the once-noble Prince family. Until I have a child, I am the only one left.”

“You’re not a Pureblood!” Edwin yelled.

The glamour on the ring was replaced and Apollonia glared at her uncle angrily; she was pissed off that he would turn his back on his sister, simply for the sake of preserving the purity of their blood. “I am the last remaining person with Prince blood in their veins. I am the only person even remotely capable of holding the title. Just because your sister married a muggle doesn’t mean that you should have turned your back on her. You could have helped your sister move on with her life, because my grandfather was an abuser, and she was unable to escape. She died shortly before Dad turned seventeen; not long before you died, I believe. In any case, I am Lady Prince and nothing you say is ever going to change that fact. No one can take that away from me, as much as you think you can.”

“You are not a Prince!” Edwin insisted.

“Keep thinking that,” Apollonia muttered. “It won’t change.”

Fortune was on her side as that was the only time in which Apollonia had come across a portion of Ravencrest Manor in which she didn’t want to be near. After her unfortunate meeting with her great-uncle, Apollonia made a conscious effort to stay away from that portion of the manor. Edwin Prince did not care that Apollonia was the Lady Prince, nor would he ever. So, never again would Apollonia go near that corner of the house.

Apollonia was grateful for the fact that she did not have time to visit Ravencrest today. She was not in the mood to deal with Edwin Prince and his attitude towards the fact that his grand-niece was a quarter-blood; even if she didn’t have somewhere to be. But, since she did, there was no need for Apollonia to worry about her great-uncle’s tendency to insult her. No, instead, Apollonia was set to spend the day with people she had rarely spent time with over the last two years. And, she could not be more thrilled, for this was the first time since the war ended that the Lady Prince had the chance to discuss it. Several weeks ago, Apollonia came to a certain realization; however, she was unable to confront that person, seeing as she had very little contact with him anyway. Today was different though. Today, both Apollonia and the person she needed to speak with had a reason for being around. It was the one chance that the young Snape had figuring out what was going on. “Should have questioned him sooner,” she realized.

No one knew that she was coming. It was never discussed when Apollonia last met with him. For all she knew, it was suspected that this day would be forgotten; that Apollonia was much too busy to worry about remembering what day this was. He probably thinks that I’m too busy spending time with Harry to even remember what day this is. Yeah, right. Like I would ever forget. I wouldn’t. It’s not even possible for me to forget.
“Snape,” a voice said.

Apollonia nodded. “Zabini.”

“Surprised you would even show up,” he said.

“Says the person who concealed Draco’s feelings from me, probably since he realized it,” Apollonia muttered. “You tried to tell me once, just before Slughorn’s party. Why?”

“You deserved to know,” Zabini said. “The chances of Draco telling you, especially when he was trying to keep you from becoming a Death Eater, were slim to none. So, I tried dropping hints, hoping you’d come to understand what was happening. Sadly, you never did.”

“Not until the day my father died,” she said.

“Yeah. That was rather unfortunate,” Zabini replied. “Who knew that the Dark Lord would kill your father over nothing more than a wand, a wand that did not rightfully belong to him anyway? How have you been coping with his death? After all, it was your father.”

Apollonia scowled. “I’m pissed. The second my father died was when all of his secrets began to unravel. He kept a lot from me, including things that were not even pertaining to the war. And, what do you care, Zabini?” Apollonia wondered, recalling a snippet of a conversation between him and Draco a few years ago. It was something she wondered about, but never got an answer to; mostly because she was never close to Zabini. “You’re one of those people with the Pureblood prejudice that never chose sides in the war. So, why the hell are you even nice to me, when I know for a fact that you’re one of the traditionalists?”

“Because Draco would kill me if I acted like that toward you,” he said. “I was the one he confided in about how much he loved you. To insult you in any way is to invoke Draco’s wrath. And, no one wants to suffer Draco’s wrath, not when it comes to you.”

Meaning Pansy is so dead, Apollonia realized, remembering what happened at the Malfoy trial. And even before that; Pansy refused to accept that Draco would never be hers. Hmm? I wonder if Draco was able to get that restraining order. I’ll have to ask Harry about that. Apollonia looked over at Zabini. “You can’t just treat me one way, thanks to something Draco said, and treat everyone else a different way. Might want to remember that.”

“I’ll think about it,” Zabini said.

“So, where is Draco hiding?” the young Slytherin questioned. If Apollonia apparated to Malfoy Manor only to find that Blaise Zabini waiting for her, she had to wonder what Draco was up to at this moment. Because, while Apollonia needed to speak with Zabini about why he only hinted at Draco’s feelings for her – and never said anything – she actually came here for a more important reason. Apollonia had to wonder then; how was he being preoccupied so that he didn’t realize that Apollonia had stopped by?

“Narcissa is talking with Draco about something,” Zabini said.

“Giving Draco control of the Malfoy family?” she guessed.

“That’s as good a guess as any,” he said.

Yeah, that’s because Lucius is in prison and someone needs to take control of the family, she thought. It was really the only thing that made any sense. I was there when Lucius was convicted and sent off to Azkaban. That means Draco is the only person capable of taking over as the Head of the Malfoy family. It would make sense that Narcissa would do this on Draco’s birthday. Although, Apollonia had to wonder why she waited twenty-five days in order to hand control of the family over to her son. It wasn’t as if he was underage at the time; this was his eighteenth birthday, not his seventeenth.

Apollonia leaned against the wall for a few minutes, waiting for Draco and Narcissa to arrive when an owl came flying in. It was an owl that Apollonia recognized, one that the Slytherin had not expected to see. “Willow, what are you doing here?” she asked, as the bluish-gray owl came swooping in; only to land on her shoulder. The only time that Apollonia ever needed Willow was when she was contacting Dudley; and even then, it had had been sparse. Sending Willow to the Dursley safe house was suicide; it would give away the location. Nor could she send her to Malfoy Manor; that was stupid in and of itself. Willow rubbed her head against Apollonia’s hair. “I get it. So, what do you have for me?”

“You know that owl?” Zabini asked.

“Of course,” Apollonia snapped. “She’s mine.”

“I didn’t know you had an owl,” the dark-skinned boy said.

“Yeah, well that’s because I rarely used her during the last year,” Apollonia informed Zabini. “It wasn’t as if I could anyway.” The Carrows, if they knew about Willow – which she was glad they didn’t – belonging to Apollonia, would use the owl to track her; she was sure it would happen. But, Apollonia was not about to let that happen; she refused to let it. So, Willow stayed at the castle; it was rare that the young Snape had her playing messenger.

“Why keep an owl if you’re not going to use her?” Zabini asked.

“Not really your concern, is it?” Apollonia asked. She pulled the note from Willow’s claw and unfurled it, wondering what this was about. Apollonia grinned upon seeing the letter.

Apollonia,

I thought you might want to know what I’ve been doing lately. Aside from the obvious – trying to catch all the remaining Death Eaters; destroying all dark magic so that no one else can use it; and fixing up Grimmauld Place – I was able to put out a restraining order that Malfoy requested from a few weeks ago. It was put into effect a few hours ago; oddly enough, on Malfoy’s birthday. The parameters are as follows: Pansy Bernadette Parkinson must stay 30.48 meters away from you and 152.4 meters away from Malfoy; her harassment of Malfoy was much more severe than what she did to you. As a result, I was unable to put a longer distance on your half of the restraining order.

Let Malfoy know that Parkinson is no longer a problem.

Harry

P.S. I used Willow to deliver this. Hope you don’t mind.

Apollonia smirked as she looked down at her brother’s letter. His timing was impeccable. “Of all the days that Harry could have put this into motion, it had to be today.” Upon seeing Zabini’s confused expression, Apollonia elaborated. “A request was made during the Malfoy trial for the Aurors—namely my brother—to do something about Pansy’s treatment of me, as well as her obsession with Draco. Harry had a restraining order set up; she must stay 30.48 meters away from me; and 152.4 meters away from Draco.”

“You’re kidding!” Zabini exclaimed.

“No, I’m not,” she said. “It went into effect just today.”

“What a nice birthday present,” Zabini laughed.

“From his worst enemy,” Apollonia chuckled.

“True. True,” Blaise conceded.

The fact that Pansy was not allowed within 500 feet of the boy she was obsessed with made up for Harry being the one to set the restraining order. He just wanted Pansy away from him, which was exactly what he got. And, Apollonia wished that Pansy was forced to stay more than 100 feet away from her; however, it was better than nothing. At least Pansy would never be allowed to harass her ever again. That was all that really mattered. “I’m just glad that Pansy is no longer a part of my life. I couldn’t stand her. And then later I discovered that her older sister was my dark arts obsessed cousin’s best friend.”

“That’s twisted,” Blaise acknowledged.

“You’re telling me,” she muttered.

Apollonia and Blaise only had to wait a few more minutes before Draco and Narcissa appeared. The scowl that Lady Prince saw on his face immediately vanished when he spotted Apollonia. She could see a spark in his silver eyes. How did I never see it before? Now that she knew how much he loved her, it was extremely easy to spot. Three and a half years and I never noticed. But then, half of that time was spent invisible. As a result, it was not as obvious to the young Snape that Draco loved her. But, now it was.

“You know, I thought you might forget,” Draco said to her.

Apollonia chuckled. “Just because Harry’s my brother doesn’t mean that I’m going to forget about you,” she said. “Besides, even Harry knew when your birthday is.” She showed Draco the letter from Harry. “Think of it as a birthday gift from my brother.”

“No more Pansy?” he asked.

“No more Pansy,” she affirmed.

“I never thought I would hear myself saying this again, considering how much I hate him, but thank Potter for me,” Draco told her. “Thanks to him, I never have to worry about that pug-faced little witch.” He scoffed. “I never should have invited her to the Yule Ball.”

“You made that clear, mate!” Blaise called.

“Well, it’s true,” Draco reminded him. “It was after the ball that I realized how obsessed she was with me. Biggest mistake of my life.” He turned to Apollonia. “I should have just asked you and been done with it. I’ll regret not doing that for the rest of my life.”

Who the hell was it that I went with? Apollonia wondered, trying to recall the Durmstrang boy that she went to the Yule Ball with. It was more than three years ago and, although she had a good time, it was not memorable enough that Apollonia could clearly remember who she went with. I’d need to look at the Pensieve memory to figure it out. But, it made Apollonia wonder; what would have happened if things were different, if the young Snape had gone with Draco instead? I’ll never know. She looked at Draco and Blaise, specifically Draco. “I wonder what might have happened as well. However, for all we know, things could have turned out a lot worse. We might not still be friends,” she reminded him. “Perhaps it’s better this way; that it was only revealed after Dad died.”

“Maybe,” Draco shrugged.

As much as Apollonia probably would have liked to go back in time and change something like that, she knew that there was no way that it would work out as she expected. The butterfly effect; one simple change – such as Draco and Apollonia going to the Yule Ball together – could affect everything. And, Apollonia was not sure she would want to take that chance for something so insignificant. It’s better if we just keep things as they occurred. It’s not worth it. Apollonia rolled her eyes. Time-travel was not something that she wanted to mess with. It was much too complicated to even think about.

There was an overbearing silence that surrounded them. It was possibly the quietest that it had ever been in Malfoy Manor, at least as far as Apollonia knew. Finally, it was Blaise Zabini who broke the silence. “What was your mother talking to you about?”

“Just responsibilities and whatnot,” Draco muttered.

“Let me guess; Lord Malfoy?” Apollonia wondered.

Draco nodded. “With Father in Azkaban – probably for the rest of his life for all that he did, especially to you —” he nodded to Apollonia, “— Mother thought it would be best to hand me control of the family. I’ll be spending the next few months trying to go over that.”

“Yippee for you,” Apollonia muttered sarcastically, glaring at Draco pointedly. With her confession a few days ago, he knew that she was going through the same thing as Lady Prince; whether she was announcing it now or a year from now. She understood what he was going through. So did Harry in a sense, though he would probably never admit it; although his situation was much more complicated as the Lord of two families.

“The war altered everything,” Blaise said.

“No kidding,” Apollonia scowled. An eyebrow rose as Apollonia looked over at Draco. Only he knew what Apollonia meant by that statement. Zabini had no idea just how much the war changed everything. He wasn’t aware of what Apollonia had gone through during the last month, nor would he ever. But, the statement was true. The war changed everything.

“You have no idea just how much,” Draco added.

“I suppose not,” Blaise conceded. “I didn’t lose anything during the war. My family was neutral during the war. However, both of you did. Snape here lost her father and Draco lost his belief system.”

I lost more than just my father, Apollonia thought darkly. I lost my cousins as well. No one is ever going to realize that though. I have a year to go before anyone will ever realize just how great my loss truly was. There was a list of people who knew that Christophe Prince passed the title on to her. However, that list only had around ten people. It was a sliver of a percentage; a very small sliver. Her father’s death was last on Apollonia’s mind, for at least she was able to know him. But, with her cousins; she never knew them. Even with the Resurrection Stone hanging around her neck, she would never really know them.

Oddly enough, Harry had yet to notice that Apollonia was wearing the Resurrection Stone. She had been wearing it since the beginning of the month, wondering if Harry would realize what she had done. So far however, her brother had yet to realize it. With Death Eaters still on the loose; dark magic still hidden in homes across the country; and the plan to fix up Grimmauld Place; Harry had been much too busy to notice that Apollonia had taken his advice to heart. It could take awhile, she knew.

It was strange spending time at Malfoy Manor. She had been here twice in the last week, which was the longest amount of time that Apollonia had set foot in this house during the last two years. A lot had changed in the last two years, with the most glaringly obvious being Apollonia’s close relationship with Harry. In the last few years, she was not as close to Draco as she had been; however, she planned on altering that. Harry and Draco were a part of her life; they always would be. Now all she had to do was put that in motion.

The thing about that was that Apollonia had no idea how she could go about her plan. As it turned out, she seemed to be the only thing they would ever agree on. She was positive that there was nothing else. As much as the young Snape wished it to be so, there was no way in hell that Harry and Draco would ever find something in common other than her. Well, there was Quidditch, as they both played on their house team as Seeker; however, there was too much of a rivalry on the Pitch for anything to pan out. It simply wouldn’t work.

No, there was nothing that Apollonia could think of that would convince Harry James Potter and Draco Lucius Malfoy to get along. It was made very clear that neither one would accept the other, despite their acceptance of her. She was easy to get along with. However, Harry and Draco becoming friends, after years of enmity; well, it was just never going to happen. And, the young Snape would have to live with the fact that they would never get along.

***

It was completely unintentional, but Harry James Potter did something nice for his enemy. The restraining order that Malfoy wanted was to go into effect on his birthday, which was a complete accident. He had not meant for that to happen that way. But, it did. Which, he supposed, would make it all the more crushing for Pansy. While she would probably like to go speak with Malfoy, such a thing would be impossible thanks to the restraining order that Harry just had filed. I just hope that Ron doesn’t realize what I’m doing today and get any ideas.

If Ronald Bilius Weasley were to discover that Harry was the one to set up the restraining order – one that Malfoy requested – against Pansy, he had no doubt that his supposed best friend would ask for a restraining order against Apollonia for the entire Weasley family. He would try to keep Apollonia away from the family, which would ultimately backfire on him. Few people were aware of the fact that Harry was preparing to move out; in fact, it was only Apollonia who knew, and that was only because he happened to run into her while going to Grimmauld Place; otherwise, he wouldn’t have said anything. No one else, not even Hermione, knew that Harry planned on leaving the Burrow. Apollonia was not welcome there, so why should he be? Why should he stay there?

Even if Hermione accepted Apollonia as his sister, Ron didn’t. His best friend, his first friend, was too bigoted – too narrow-minded – to accept that Apollonia was a part of his life. How could he truly be around Ron if he was willing to insult Apollonia, for the simple fact that she happened to be a Slytherin? At least Malfoy was open about his prejudice of anyone without pure blood. But, Ron was a completely different story; Ron concealed his absolute hatred of all Slytherins, hiding behind the fact that Voldemort and the majority of his followers came from the house of the snake. If Ron finds out that I just spent time filing a restraining order, I have no doubt that he will try to use that to keep Apollonia out of my life. There was no way that Harry would let something like that happen; he refused to let Ron get any ideas. Grimmauld Place was his only option. It was the only way that Harry could avoid Ron’s intolerance of all things Slytherin.