Princess Sunburst

Upon hearing about the week that Minister Shacklebolt had planned, it greatly disturbed Apollonia. To be precise, it was the day of remembrance that was planned. As much as Kingsley thought it would do some good, the young Lady knew that it would only cause more trouble. Kingsley knew nothing of the promise she made to Fred, the promise that ensured that she was watching out for George. That promise was going to make her own grieving nigh impossible, seeing as she was able to spend very little time helping George get over the pain of losing his twin. It seemed as if his pain multiplied during the last month; though, Apollonia was unsure of why that might be. In any case, the chances of her being able to properly grieve for the people she lost were slim to none; almost nonexistent, in fact.

Other than that however, Apollonia found that the rest of the week was something she was looking forward to. Especially Tuesday. The young Snape had a plan for Tuesday.

***

Seeing as it was where Voldemort’s final destruction was brought about, Hogwarts was thought to be the best place for the fallen souls to be remembered by the Ministry. Of course, after the turmoil of the past year, a good chunk of the students who were present for the torture that was inflicted upon them were vehemently opposed to that suggestion. Despite the objections of several students – especially the younger ones – about returning to the school, the day of remembrance was set to be held on Monday, June 22nd, 1998 at eleven AM. The reason for that, apparently, was that students would be going back to school in September and it would not do well to have them afraid to go back to Hogwarts.

The only reason that Apollonia objected to the location was because she knew what coming back here would do to both her, but a one-eared redhead as well. She was sure that George would react badly to being near where his twin died. And, since Apollonia was not quite sure of what was happening with him – though the young Lady did suspect that had he become even more depressed since she last saw him – she had no way of knowing what would be the best way to deal with the pain he was suffering in.

Apollonia and so many others began apparating into Hogsmeade. And, as she went to join Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys, she could see that there was an air of gloom surrounding George. She glared at Ron, who snarled at her appearance. Too bad, Ron. I’m not going anywhere, she thought. “I don’t know if this is a good idea,” Apollonia whispered to her brother as they walked up to the castle. “Does Kingsley really think that this is going to work; that all the suffering that was wrought upon the students will be forgotten?”

Harry shrugged. “Out of everyone in the world, Kingsley would have to be the person who would understand the most. He knows perfectly well about what was going on, thanks to their spy in the castle: you.” Apollonia nodded, knowing it was true. Thanks to all the help she gave to the Order – of which was mostly information – the best person to help with this was Kingsley Shacklebolt; he knew all that the students suffered through over the years and had the highest chance of helping the students. “Going back to the castle to hold this day of remembrance might be the only way. You’re coming back to school, aren’t you?” Apollonia nodded. “Then you need to be able to grieve properly for your father. Even if you’re the only one who will, you deserve at least that.”

The Slytherin nodded. In truth, she was still angry with her father for all the secrets he concealed from her over the years. And that affected Apollonia in how she dealt with her grief. It was not since her father’s funeral six weeks ago in which Apollonia came to Hogwarts; she had not been able to come back since then. “What’s going on with the Weasleys?”

“I think George will be the only problem,” Harry said.

“Meaning it’s my problem,” Apollonia realized with a sigh. Thanks, Fred. With Fred’s magic binding her to the promise she made almost two months ago, there was no way that she could ignore anything that happened with George. She looked at her brother. “Any way that you can keep Ron from learning that I have to keep watch over George?”

“Could be difficult,” Harry reminded her, “but, I’ll see what I can do.”

Apollonia nodded in agreement. She knew all too well that it was going to be extremely difficult to pull this off. Even with his two best friends – both of whom sided with Apollonia in this argument of theirs – playing interference so that she could go help George – the young Lady doubted that Ron wasn’t going to notice what she was doing. And that could be a problem. She might not be able to get very much done in the way of helping George if Ron was around to start insulting her. “This is going to be a problem, isn’t it?”

“More than likely, yes,” Harry said.

“I was afraid of that,” Apollonia muttered.

“Yeah, but you do have several people helping you,” Harry reminded her. “Me, Hermione, Bill, Fleur, and even Percy has agreed to see what we can do to help you watch over George.”

“Percy?” the Slytherin questioned.

Harry nodded. “I was rather surprised by it as well. But, Fred’s death made him realize that his family was far more important than anything that was going on at the Ministry. Following the Ministry the way that he did came at a price; it cost him his younger brother.”

“I’m just glad that Fred didn’t ask me to watch over Percy as well,” Apollonia told her brother. “There’s no way that I could have watched over the both of them. That would have been torture.”

“The war would have affected Percy differently, I suppose. Especially given what he’s gone through; working with Voldemort’s Ministry,” Harry said. “Besides, didn’t Fred reveal that he knew your identity and request the favor of you before it was known that Percy came to reconcile with his family?”

“I think so,” Apollonia said.

“Well, in any case, Hermione, Bill, Fleur, Percy, and I are going to make sure that you’re able to watch over George,” Harry assured her. “It’s going to be needed especially now that we’re back at Hogwarts.” He pointed to show his sister that they were standing right in front of the castle that they both found to be a home away from home, of sorts.

“Here goes,” Apollonia muttered.

***

As the Minister watched the witches and wizards going into the castle, he wondered belatedly if their opposition to holding the event at Hogwarts was justified. Many of them were rather somber as they entered the Great Hall, preparing themselves for the day’s upcoming festivities. Even the man-who-conquered and his sister seemed rather melancholy as they approached the Great Hall. Just the sight of their faces almost made the Minister second-guess the decision to bring them back to the school. Could I have made a mistake? It was difficult to say how this was going to affect what was supposed to be a day of remembrance, especially when even the man-who-conquered had been affected by what happened.

The more the former students piled into the Great Hall, the more it became apparent that coming back to Hogwarts was sucking all the happiness out of them. An aura of gloom hung about the students’ heads, which immediately activated once they set foot on the castle grounds. Yes, it was becoming apparent that it might have been a mistake to hold the Day of Remembrance at the castle, as healing as it might be for those who fought in the Battle of Hogwarts; as well as the younger students who were tortured by the Carrows for speaking out against the pureblood propaganda that had been spouted for the nine months in which Voldemort had been in control of the Ministry, using Pius Thicknesse as his puppet. However, there was a voice in the back out his head that disagreed with the assessment that was made. If you don’t do this, how will the students come back to Hogwarts? It was this reason that kept Kingsley from moving the location; they needed to be here, as painful as the memories might be for all those involved.

***

Blasted Day of Remembrance, a pale blond-haired wizard thought. Thanks to his involvement in Death Eater activities, he had no choice but to come to Hogwarts for this tedious – and pointless – event. Precisely what was the point of coming to this thing when the only person he ever really cared about during the war wasn’t dead? Apollonia made it through the war. Perhaps a bit shaken, but she made it through mostly unscathed.

Had Apollonia died at some point during the last two years, or lost her innocence as Father and the Dark Lord hoped she would, then Draco surely would have mourned the loss of something so pure. However, since this was most certainly not the case, there was no point for Draco to be back at Hogwarts. “Mother, what’s the point of even coming?” Draco complained. “It’s not as if our presence here is needed, or even wanted.”

“Of course it’s necessary,” Mother argued. “Even if we had a choice in the matter, we would have to go, if only to support Apollonia in her loss. She has been a part of our lives ever since you were twelve years-old. If you were the one to lose someone, wouldn’t you want Apollonia to stand by you and help you through what happened?”

Draco shrugged. “I guess.”

“And that is why we are here,” Mother reminded him.

As he set foot in the Great Hall, Draco wished that Selwyn and Rookwood had not forced him to remove the snake pendant from Apollonia’s person. He would be able to find her so much easier if it was still active. The pendant not only protected her, but allowed Draco to watch over Apollonia in a way that others could only dream of. It protected her from harm, yes; but that was not the only thing that it did. It was thanks to that pendant that Draco had been able to keep watch over the girl he loved; the girl who was also Potter’s sister. Now that it was gone, there was no way for Draco to make sure that what happened earlier this month never happened again. The promise he made to Potter after his trial was over was meaningless if he had no way to ensure that history did not repeat itself.

Draco searched the crowd for any sign of his friend. It was likely that she would be found within a sea of redheads, just as her brother would. To the Slytherin’s surprise, it did not take long to find where Apollonia was standing. As expected, she was standing within a sea of redheads associated with Saint Potter. And as for Potter, he was there as well, not that Draco really cared. It was Apollonia that mattered. She was standing beside the Weasley with one ear, the one who lost his twin. The reason for that, however, was unknown to the young Lord. At the moment, it really didn’t matter to him; he just wanted to get the chance to spend some time with her. It had been about six weeks since he confessed his feelings for her and it appeared as if she seemed to shy away from him, like it was unexpected. She was spending more time with Potter since the revelation that he loved her.

Why Apolla? Why have you been ignoring me? He wanted to understand why she was doing this, after spending the majority of her Hogwarts years in his company. Well, sort of. He was neglecting to account for the fact that Apollonia never exactly spent any time with him during the year, at least prior to the O.W.L. results were released. But, either way, she was ignoring him. Whether it was to spend time with her brother or not, Draco wasn’t fond of it. Now that his feelings were out in the open, he wanted to act on them. He wanted to be able to show everyone in the world just how much Apollonia meant to him, how much he loved her. It was proven during his trial; however, it was doubtful that anyone truly believed that he turned against the Dark Lord for Apollonia’s sake.

Silver eyes remained glued to the young Snape for the entire length of the event. In fact, Draco was so focused on watching her that he barely noticed what the Minister had to say about the events of May 2nd, 1998. He simply watched from the back of the room, trying to figure out why Apollonia was standing with the Weasleys in the first place. Throughout this Day of Remembrance, Draco had come to notice that Apollonia had not left the side of the one-eared Weasel twin. For what reason, the Slytherin did not know, but it was definitely bothering him. Why would she want to spend time with them after spending so many summers with Draco? It had been forever since she and Draco really spent time with one another. During the last six weeks, she seemed content to spend time with Potter, which he could understand, and the Weasel family. It was the latter of the two that Draco could not understand. Why would she willing spend time with them?

He was about to go speak with Apolla when he noticed something odd; Apolla wasn’t just spending time with the Weasleys; she was comforting them. It made Draco’s blood boil to see the girl he loved spend time with the Weasleys when she should be spending time with him. Draco became a Death Eater to save her the heartache of having to serve the Dark Lord. He protected Apollonia in a way no one expected him to. And yet, here she was spending the bulk of her time with the Weasel family.

There were at least seven redheads in the vicinity of Apollonia. Only two of the Weasel brood was not there; the Weasel twin who died and the Weasel that abandoned his family in their time of need. How could she even want to spend time with them? Draco thought.

***

She knew that spending time with the Weasleys was going to be difficult. Ron’s annoyance…well, hatred of her…made it extremely difficult for Apollonia to help George get through this Day of Remembrance. Even worse, no one seemed to be helping her watch out for George, despite Harry’s assurance that he, Hermione, Bill, Fleur, and Percy would indeed help her.

To the young Snape’s annoyance, Ron and Ginny monopolized Hermione’s and Harry’s time respectively, leaving them no time to help Apollonia with George. Bill and Fleur would have helped, if not for being sidetracked by some of Bill’s old school friends. This left her with only Percy as an option, only he was nowhere to be found. He wasn’t in the Great Hall.

“George, will you be okay?” she asked.

He nodded. “I’ll be fine.”

Though Apollonia was not so sure, she left the one-eared wizard’s side and went off in search of Percy. If she was going to get any help with George, then Percy – the Weasley she never got to know all that well – was the only one who could help her with this. “Percy!” she called.

At the realization that Percy was nowhere to be found, Apollonia continued wandering the castle in search of him. He had to be somewhere on the Hogwarts grounds; there was no way that he wasn’t in the area. She called his name several times, each attempt met with no sign of the Weasley. It was only when she reached the third-floor that she found what she was looking for. “Percy!” she called for what had to be the tenth time.

When there was no immediate answer, Apollonia was preparing to move to another portion of the castle to look for him. However, before she could, a redheaded figure appeared. Percy. “You called?” he asked, his face red from hurrying over to meet her.

“George remember?” she stated.

He sighed. “I thought that was the reason.”

“Then why were you on the third-floor?” Apollonia asked him. Out of all the places in the school, this was the one place that she never expected to find Percy. The seventh-floor wall where Fred died only a few weeks ago. Yes. The fifth-floor corridor where the twins’ swamp was for much of her fifth year. Absolutely. But, for what reason would Percy decide that he would spend his time on the third-floor rather than helping her with George?

“I was just thinking,” Percy replied.

“About what?” she asked.

“What else? Fred of course,” he stated.

Apollonia wished that he hadn’t said that. She knew exactly what it meant for Percy to admit that to her. He was starting to lose himself in his grief over what happened to Fred. It worried the Slytherin, mostly because Percy spent several years away from his family. She was helping George through his grief. Would she have to do the same for Percy? It was something she wondered over the last few weeks; was Percy strong enough to get through this on his own, or was it necessary for her to help him as well? “For how long?” she asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” Percy assured her. “What matters is helping George.”

As he accompanied her back to the Great Hall, Apollonia could not help but catch the glimmer of sadness in Percy’s eyes. He was pushing aside his own pain in order to help his brother. That was not a good idea. Percy could not mask his own grief like this. It would only hurt him. “Percy, are you sure that it’s wise for you to be doing that?” she asked him.

“I know what I’m doing,” he answered.

“I don’t know that you do,” Apollonia said in a quiet voice. She had Fred’s magic to thank for that, for knowing that both George and Percy were affected by what happened. It was not as if Apollonia could blame him for how he was reacting to his younger brother’s death. Percy was there when Fred died; he felt guilty for not being able to protect Fred from the explosion. It was yet another reason that Apollonia needed to help Harry track down Augustus Rookwood and make sure that he went to Azkaban for the rest of his life; to help Percy as well as George, the latter of whom lost his twin, his other half, because of what the Death Eater had done. “You don’t know what this is doing to you.”

“And how would you know?” Percy asked.

There were times when she wondered if Percy knew about her connection to Fred. And, in a way, he did. Otherwise, he would not have helped her as much as he did these last few weeks. But, it appeared as if Percy did not know about Fred’s magic flowing through her. Although, she suspected that he did at times. “You don’t know, do you?” she asked, looking at Percy sadly. “You don’t know that I have a piece of Fred’s magic in me.”

“What?” he asked.

Apollonia nodded. “Before you reconciled with your family, Fred made me promise that I would watch over George. I made you guys aware of that not long after Fred’s death, even though Ron still hasn’t accepted that as the truth. He refuses to believe that I am not what he thinks I am.” That bothered her quite a bit; knowing that she had such a difficult time doing what was needed, continuing to do as Fred asked. “That causes a problem. You see, I never told anyone that Fred put a piece of his magic in me, to make sure that I abided by his request.” It was something she still did not understand, something Apollonia had not yet gotten an explanation for. Not only that, but she never expected to have to explain this to Percy. He was one of a handful of people that she thought knew what was going on. Apparently not, Apollonia thought. “One brother made me promise to watch out for George while another brother is keeping me from fulfilling that promise.”

“That’s messed up,” Percy said.

“You have no idea,” she muttered.

***

Being back here at Hogwarts was difficult for George. Thoughts of his twin consumed him, tormenting him every moment that he was here at Hogwarts. There wasn’t a memory he had of Hogwarts that didn’t contain his twin. They did everything together. The Day of Remembrance was meant to be a chance for everyone to reflect on the lives of those who were lost. George, however, couldn’t do it. He couldn’t think of Fred. It was too painful.

Not only that, but he could see what his presence was doing to his family. With the exception of the missing ear, George was an exact replica of Fred. Every time he was looked upon, George could see that there was a glimmer of sadness in each of his family member’s eyes. The same went for Harry and Hermione. They all seemed to give him some morose look. It was almost impossible for George to be around his family.

Out of everyone who knew him, there was only one person that didn’t treat him like he was some delicate piece of glass. That was Apollonia. She attempted to help him, something no one – not even his parents – thought to do. And that destroyed George even more. Apollonia was the only one who cared about him enough to try and help him. How could his own family want to ignore him, leaving Apollonia as the only person willing to help him?

George stood in the Great Hall, trying to hold himself together. It was up to him to avoid losing himself in his grief. He was on his own for the moment. Mum and Dad were busy speaking with some of the surviving Order members; Bill and Fleur were catching up with some of his old school friends; Charlie was speaking with Andromeda; and Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were catching up with some friends. Percy and Apollonia were nowhere to be found, a fact that bothered him immensely.

Really, the only thing that George wanted to do was leave Hogwarts. He hadn’t been here since early May – Professor Snape’s funeral, an event he only attended out of respect for Apollonia. Otherwise, he never would have gone. He didn’t like being around places that reminded him of Fred. Hogwarts; the Burrow; Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes; they were all places that held memories of his dead twin. Actually, the last one was something he had been considering since Fred’s death. Could he bring himself to go back there? Could he bring himself to reopen the shop without his twin, his partner-in-crime?

It was following his twin’s death that the possibility of closing the shop entered his mind. How could he even begin to go back there when the whole thing was a joint venture between him and his brother? Going back to 93 Diagon Alley – the location of Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes – was near impossible. Hell, he hadn’t even been back since before the war. It was doubtful that he’d ever be able to go back there. Not without thinking of Fred. As a result, it was probably best if the place was simply closed for good.

“Percy! Come on!” he heard a familiar voice call.

Dark blue eyes swiveled over to where the voice was coming from. Apollonia and Percy came strolling into the Great Hall. Where were they? George wondered. Percy disappeared almost immediately after the event began. No one knew where he went; only that he was nowhere to be found, at least the Great Hall. Then Apollonia disappeared just a little while ago. Now here they both were, appearing out nowhere. What was going on?

The pair walked over to him, each one looking at him sadly. It was disheartening for George to see that look in Apollonia’s emerald eyes, but it was not as if he could do much to change it. He was powerless for him to ever do such a thing. Apollonia came to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder. “How have you been holding up?” she asked him.

“I don’t know if I can be here,” George told her.

She sighed. “I was afraid of this.”

“Afraid of what?” George asked.

“I was sure that you would be affected by this day,” Apollonia murmured; almost to the point where he could barely hear what she was saying. In fact, Apollonia seemed almost as bothered by this as he was. “This is why I was hoping that I would have more help than just Percy.” She looked over at his elder brother. “I don’t know if we can do this on our own. If Ron wasn’t so against me being a part of Harry’s life, then this could have been done a lot sooner. George could be on his way to recovery if everything went my way. But, no; Ron’s hatred of me has forced this to be put until now.”

“That’s not much of a surprise,” Percy noted. “Ron doesn’t accept change that well. And, his hatred of Slytherins was always much more profound than the others. It’s something that we were never quite able to break him of. The war did nothing to help the situation.”

“Why am I not surprised by that?” Apollonia asked.

“You understand Ron better than you think then,” Percy said.

“I just wish it wasn’t happening,” Apollonia said.

So do I, George thought. So do I.

***

It was nearly impossible for Draco to not be jealous over how much time Apolla spent with the Weasley family. He never understood why she would spend time with them. It made no sense. The two of them spent very little time with one another over the last two years, while he was attempting to keep her out of danger’s path; away from the Dark Lord. Didn’t Apolla realize that her life could have turned out so much worse than it did right now?

“What’s with you?” Blaise asked.

Draco scoffed. Of all the people who could come over, it had to be the one person who knew how he felt about Apollonia. Only two people ever knew; Professor Snape and Blaise, one of which was dead. Although, sometimes Draco felt as if his mother knew that he loved Apollonia. It was never made clear that she was aware of such a thing, but she did help Draco keep Apollonia away from Malfoy Manor while the Dark Lord was there. It felt as if Mother knew exactly what was going on, though he was not sure how. “Isn’t it obvious?” Draco asked his friend. “I’ve been watching Apollonia.”

“You need to stop doing that,” Blaise said.

“I can’t help it,” Draco answered. “I’ve done it since we were twelve.”

“Have you even spoken to her properly since your birthday?” he asked.

“Not really,” Draco admitted.

“That would be a good idea,” Blaise suggested. “You can’t really pursue a relationship with her without talking to her about the concerns you have.” Draco was about to protect when Blaise held a hand up, stopping him from saying anything. “Oh no. You’re not getting out of this one so easily. There is a problem, at least in your eyes. Now, what is it? What’s the problem?”

“The Weasels,” Draco muttered.

Blaise looked at him strangely. “You have a problem with the Weasel clan and yet you easily accept Potter as a part of Apollonia’s life. You know how strange that sounds, right?”

“That is very different,” Draco countered.

“Oh, and how so?” Blaise asked.

“Potter is Apollonia’s brother,” Draco reminded his closest friend. “The Weasel family has absolutely nothing to do with any of this. I have no idea why she would ever want to spend so much time with them when that’s not a part of her life. Potter’s maybe, but not hers.”

“Someone’s jealous!” Blaise said in a sing-song voice.

“Me? Jealous? No way!” Draco scoffed.

“You’re jealous,” Blaise affirmed.

“Why would I be jealous?” he asked.

“Because she’s obviously been spending more time with the Weasleys than you,” Blaise said. “In the last two years, you’ve spent very little time with her. Of course you would have an issue with them being a part of her life. You might not see it, but you’re jealous.”

Jealous, he scoffed. The very idea was absurd.

“You’re jealous,” Blaise insisted.

“Keep thinking that, Blaise,” Draco said. “I’m not jealous. I just don’t like that she’s spending so much time with her brother’s friends. She’s knows that I hate Potter and his friends.”

“Then why are you complaining?” he asked.

“I’m just complaining for the sake of complaining,” Draco muttered to his friend. Unfortunately for him, it was all he could do. “As usual. It’s not as if I have anything better to do.” It wasn’t as if Apollonia was spending any time with him. He was just angry, angry that she spent so much time with Potter and his friends rather than him.

With that, Draco began ignoring Blaise’s commentary and turned back to what he was doing, watching Apollonia as she spoke with two of the other Weasleys. This whole thing was insane. What was going through Apollonia’s head when she decided that she was going to spend time with any of them? He was going to find out. By the end of this week, Draco was going to find out why she would choose to spend time with them.