Princess Sunburst

The next three days passed by quietly for Apollonia. At that point, it was time for some of the funerals to be held, including that of her father. It was thanks to her brother that her father was even to have a public funeral. Otherwise, Apollonia might have been the only one to said goodbye to her father. Not many people ever thought to care about all that her father had done during the war. Even Apollonia could not say that she knew all that he had done. While she knew that her father was helping Harry, as evidenced by the silver doe that led Harry and Hermione to the Sword of Gryffindor, that was not all the help that Harry got from him; she was sure of that. She just wished that there was some way for her to find out.

In the past three days, Harry was the one to help her with the funeral arrangements for her father. Between the two of them—the only ones who knew for sure that Severus Snape was not loyal to Voldemort—everything was set for the funeral to be held on May 7th 1998, precisely five days after his death. And, at Apollonia’s request, he was to be buried under an oak tree on the Hogwarts grounds. As the Slytherin would always maintain: Hogwarts was nothing without Severus Snape. Harry felt the same about Dumbledore, who was buried at the base of the school, so why not give her father the same treatment.

Admittedly, there were a few objections to the plan that Harry and Apollonia were suggesting, most notably with Ronald Bilius Weasley. And, the only reason that the Board of Governors cared to listen to Ron’s complaint was because of all that he had done to help Harry defend the school. Otherwise, there might not have been any issues. But, Harry stood up for Apollonia, defending her request. “Severus Snape did all he could to protect the school, leaving most of that duty up to his daughter. If you would permit Dumbledore’s final resting place to be here at the school, why not do the same for Severus Snape after what he did to hold Hogwarts together?” Those were her brother’s words, the ones that eventually convinced the Board of Governors to bury her father at Hogwarts, thus keeping the man in the one place that Apollonia considered to be nothing without him.

Once it was discovered that another funeral was to be held at Hogwarts—this one for Severus Snape, a man whose loyalty was questioned at every moment over the past twenty years—those whom completely despised the Potions Master refused to come. The Weasleys were split in regards to this decision; Bill, Charlie, and George all agreed to come pay their respects; Mr. and Weasley and Ginny were currently undecided at the moment; Ron flat out refused to come, citing his hatred of the man as his reason for not coming to the funeral; and Percy had work to attend to. Apollonia was at least pleased that some of them agreed to come; they were the ones that were willing to trust her, and it was despite the fact that Charlie was definitely still upset with her about the Mottled Dye prank.

For Apollonia, it was extremely telling as to whom liked her father. She was able to figure it out quite easily by the people who attended the funeral. It was mostly Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs that were there, as many of the Slytherins were Death Eaters and the Gryffindors were still smarting from her father’s penchant for picking on them after how he was treated by the Marauders. Aside from Bill, Charlie, George, and Harry, those from Gryffindor who were attending the funeral included Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell, Lee Jordan, and Oliver Wood, all of which held a connection to Harry. In fact, if Fred were still alive, it would have been the Quidditch team that her brother played with during his first three years. There were a few other Gryffindors that Apollonia did not recognize apparating in to Hogsmeade and walking over to the grounds, which gave the Slytherin hope that the whole of Gryffindor did not hate the man, as might be suspected.

“I’m surprised by the amount of Gryffindors here,” Harry said to his sister as the guests were filing in. “There at least two dozen people here who were once Gryffindors in their day.”

“Kind of surprising, I know,” Apollonia said.

“Well, Hermione and Neville should be here shortly,” Harry informed her. “I don’t know about Ginny, Molly, and Arthur though. There’s a chance that Arthur might be helping Kingsley at the Ministry; Molly is trying to get things ready for Fred’s funeral tomorrow; and Ginny…well, I really don’t know. I can’t really be certain if she’s even going to come.”

“You’ve yet to get back together with her, I assume,” she noted.

“I want to wait a few weeks,” Harry explained to his twin sister. “I’d like to try and get my life back in order before I start dating her again. Seemed the smart thing to do.”

Apollonia nodded in understanding. “Fred’s funeral is tomorrow. They’re all still grieving over what happened to Fred. It would probably be best if you waited.” Given her own loss, Apollonia knew better than anyone—and would be the best person to advise her brother on the topic—that it was better to grieve than jump headfirst into something. “How are they all doing anyway? I’ve only seen Bill over the past few days,” she reminded him.

“It’s worse for Molly, Percy, and George; Molly lost a son; George lost his twin; and Percy just reconciled with his family – and fought alongside Fred – before he was killed,” Harry explained. “It’s tough for everyone else, but they are handing the news better than the aforementioned three.”

“Well, it doesn’t help that Percy is throwing himself into helping Kingsley reorganize the Ministry,” Apollonia grunted. “It needs to be done, yes; but why not have someone that was not affected by someone’s death during the final battle do it? Percy could grieve then.”

“Like Umbridge?” Harry suggested.

“Hell no!” Apollonia said empathetically.

“It might as well be Percy then,” he reminded her.

“I guess,” the Slytherin shrugged. She ran her fingers over the snake pendant that still hung around her neck, a reminder of the fact that the war even happened. “You know what’s sad?”

“Hmm?” Harry asked.

“The amount of Gryffindors attending the funeral outnumbers the Slytherins. Most of them are on the run for being Death Eaters. And, the discovery of Dad’s loyalty has caused the Voldemort sympathizers to boycott the funeral,” Apollonia grumbled. Andromeda; Narcissa; Draco; Blaise Zabini; the Greengrass sisters: Daphne and Astoria; and Terence Higgs; they were the only Slytherins willing to come to her father’s funeral…well, not including herself. “Do you realize just how disheartening that really is; that every other Slytherin is annoyed because of what Dad did just to help you win the war?”

Harry grunted. “Just means more people for me, Neville, and Ron to go find. I’m just glad that I don’t have to deal with the possibility of going after the Malfoys. I have you to thank for that one.”

“You’re welcome,” Apollonia smirked.

“Don’t do that!” Harry groaned.

“Do what?” she asked.

“Smirk like him,” he grimaced.

The Slytherin shrugged. “Fine. But, you do realize that you’ll have to see that smirk for a long time. You accepted the fact that I’m your sister. Draco comes next. And I’m sure you realize that.”

“I do,” Harry said. “I just choose to ignore it.”

All the Slytherin could do was roll her eyes. She knew how much her brother hated Draco. She had for a long time. It became apparent since the first day of classes during their first year. And, there might not ever be an opportunity for them to fix that relationship, which was only going to cause problems for her in the long run, especially when considering the fact that Draco loved her. Draco’s admission put her in quite the predicament. How the hell was she supposed to go through life when her brother’s enemy also happened to be in love with her? My life just had to get more complicated, didn’t it? Right as Voldemort was destroyed, another wrench had to be thrown into my life, just as I was getting ready to reveal to my brother that I was his twin sister. What perfect timing there?

Just as the funeral began, Apollonia watched as her brother went over to speak with those of his friends who came to the funeral: Hermione, Neville, and Luna; apparently, neither Ron nor Ginny chose to come. Apollonia stood alone, choosing solitary for the moment. No one—not one of the eighty people in attendance of this funeral—understood the reason that Apollonia was so upset by this. Her father’s choice in career left her in the care of a nanny, only spending time with her father on the weekends, and holidays. That went on until she was eleven when she lost the holidays. Apollonia spent very little time with her father before his death. And it hurt to admit that fact.

She was not standing there long before a shadowed figure stepped up behind her. “You know, you really shouldn’t be this upset over your father’s death,” a familiar voice drawled.

“You wouldn’t understand, Draco,” she hissed.

“And why is that?” he asked.

“Because you know very little about the relationship I had with my father,” she informed him petulantly. “While you may love me, I know for a fact that you’ve never cared to pay attention to how I acted around Dad.” Draco was about to say something when Apollonia stopped him from saying anything. “No, Draco; I can assure you that you’ve never learned this one. In fact, no one has. Not really. See, it might seem like Dad and I were close, but we never really were. It only appeared that way. I grew up with a nanny, Draco; only ever seeing my father during the weekends and holidays. I’m like my mother because I spent very little time around my father when I was little, instead being raised by the nanny my father hired when I was one. And, after my first year at Hogwarts…well, you know the rest of the story; you were there for the rest of it, after all.”

Draco stared at her. “You barely spent time with him.”

“Now you’re getting it, Draco,” Apollonia muttered.

Apollonia felt Draco pull her close. She was stiff for a moment, before allowing herself to collapse in his arms. Her father’s death affected her more than she would ever want. And, it was done for reasons that she had difficulty explaining. “I can’t believe that Voldemort would kill him simply because he thought that Dad was the Master of the Elder Wand.”

“I suppose you could say that it was Voldemort ordering me to kill Dumbledore that helped Potter win the war,” Draco suggested. “It was that order that cost him everything.”

“But, that cost Dad his life,” Apollonia reminded him.

“It still destroyed the Dark Lord,” Draco countered.

“And that’s the only reason I’ve continued to stand up for you these past few days,” Apollonia cautioned. “While Dad might have died, the choice you made to follow Voldemort’s orders ultimately allowed my brother to win the war. You and Narcissa, whether you know it or not, helped Harry destroy his greatest enemy. Admit it whether you want, but your actions during sixth year is what allowed my twin to accomplish the one thing that I’ve wanted more than anything; Voldemort’s destruction. You’ve given me the opportunity to spend time with my brother. That’s another thing; as much as I know you hate him, Harry is my brother; so, you’re going to have to be nice to Harry. I refuse to stand around and watch as the two most important people in my life—who are among the living—argue over me.”

“Me? Nice to Potter?” Draco exclaimed.

“You lose me if it doesn’t happen,” she replied.

“Apolla, don’t threaten me,” Draco objected.

“Then don’t even think about arguing with me about this,” Apollonia warned him. “You’re not going to win this one.” She silently cast the Patronus Charm and allowed a silver Chinese Fireball to float around them as she explained her reasoning to Draco. “During February of our sixth year, I asked Harry to teach me this, so I could keep in contact with your cousin. My Patronus is a dragon, Draco, a Chinese Fireball – a liondragon as it’s often known – to be precise. As Harry once told me, my patronus is very revealing; the form reflects you, seeing as Draco is the Latin form of dragon; and, the breed reflects my brother.

“My father was only ever important to me because he was the only parent I ever knew; Voldemort killed my mother. But, you and Harry would always have a special place in my heart; that’s why my patronus is reflective of two people who hate each other with such an intensity that it could rival that of my father and step-father. Perhaps even like Sirius and my father; that might be a better comparison. So, I need you to do this, Draco; I need you to learn to get along with my twin brother, no matter how much you may have hated him in the past.” If there was any possible way for Apollonia to convince Harry and Draco to act civil around one another, she had to take it. Otherwise, her life might fall apart even more than it already had. With all that happened as a result of Voldemort, Apollonia was not about to allow the prejudices to continue; she refused to let it happen.

“You can’t really control that, Apolla,” Draco told her.

“And you’re in trouble for serving Voldemort,” she countered. “Remember Draco; I am the only reason you are not currently sitting in an Azkaban jail cell right now, awaiting trial. You’re the one who asked Kingsley to stay out of Azkaban, using me as leverage. So, you might want to remember that one, Draco. I’m not one for bribery, but you staying out of Azkaban has a lot to do with how you treat Harry; especially considering your love for me.”

“Do you realize how antagonistic I’ve been towards him though over the years?” the young Malfoy asked her. “There’s no way that Potter would ever accept that I was doing anything nice for him. The Elder Wand thing was a fluke, and you know it, Apolla.”

“You were nice to me,” she reminded him.

“Because I spent my teenage years around you,” he insisted.

Apollonia grimaced. He clearly didn’t see the one thing that he did right over the years: befriending her. “Draco, you learned that my mother was Lily Potter at the beginning of our seventh year. Not once since learning that fact did you ever abandon me for being the enemy; Harry’s twin sister. The fact that you didn’t bodes well for your case.”

“Lucky me,” Draco muttered.

“Just wait a few more days,” Apollonia assured him. “Everything will be settled at your trial. I don’t doubt that you and Narcissa will be able to escape unscathed. I can’t say the same for Lucius though.” Given all that Lucius Abraxas Malfoy had done over the past quarter of a century—including trying to recruit her into the folds of the Death Eaters—there was no chance for the Malfoy patriarch to escape Azkaban. It just wasn’t going to happen.

“I’m sure your plan will work,” Draco said.

Shortly after that conversation ended, Apollonia slipped away from the funeral procession and went into the forest, hoping to avoid the crowds. The only thing that Apollonia wanted at the moment was peace and quiet, of which she would only get while she was hidden away in the Forbidden Forest. No one would ever think to look for her in the Forbidden Forest…well, except perhaps Harry and maybe Hagrid. They were the only ones to ever ignore the forbidden aspect of the place on a regular basis; and, she expected it to remain that way.

Eventually, the young Slytherin came to the area of the forest where her brother was struck down by the killing curse and miraculously came back to life. And, it was here in which Apollonia plopped herself down to try and understand why her father would do something like this to her. Much of her life was spent nowhere near her father. During her almost-eighteen year-old life, only about a third of that time was spent around her father. The remainder of the time she was elsewhere; whether that was the nanny, Malfoy Manor, the Dursleys, or the Weasleys. Her father was too busy at Hogwarts to ever pay attention to her.

As she was thinking about this, Apollonia picked up a nearby stone and absently began turning it in her palm. It was after the third turn in which a figure emerged from the stone; her father. “Dad?” she asked questionably before realizing what she had done. Damn it, Harry! Why would you leave the Resurrection Stone sitting out in the Forbidden Forest? Who knows what might have happened if I didn’t find it? Well, might as well use it for a purpose. She stared at the figure that was her father and did the one thing that she had been waiting to do. “How dare you, Dad? You left Hogwarts to suffer at the hands of the Carrows and now look what happened! Voldemort killed you because you were the one to kill Dumbledore. The Unbreakable Vow that you made with Narcissa, the one involving you to watch out for Draco, cost you your life. Either way, I was going to lose you!”

“Are you quite done?” Dad asked.

“For the moment…” she trailed off.

“Good. Now, if you cared for an explanation, I did what I thought was best. By the time Narcissa and Bellatrix approached me about ensuring that the young Mr. Malfoy succeeded in his quest, I was already aware of a certain secret of his; perhaps you know the one?” Apollonia nodded mutely. “If I were to have declined, you would have lost your best friend, princess; someone who loved you. The Dark Lord wished for Draco to fail, so that he could eliminate the Malfoy family as punishment. I thought it prudent to prevent that and agreed. That’s the reason I died, because I was protecting you and Draco.”

“You could have told me!” she yelled.

“That you were going to lose me; not a chance!”

Apollonia jumped to her feet, so that she was at the eye-level of her father’s spirit. “Don’t you dare start spouting that protection crap!” she yelled. “I’ve heard that for most of my life. Seventeen years, nine months, two days; that’s how old I was when you died. Subtract the ten months that I stayed at Malfoy Manor. That’s sixteen years, eleven months and two days. Now, subtract the time in which I was with the nanny. Excluding the time I spent with you during that time, it was about six years. We’re down to ten years eleven months and two days. Seventh year, you were busy trying to help Harry, so we’ll subtract the past eleven months. Ten years, two days. Now, in regards to the last ten years, only about twenty days were spent in your presence over my first six years here at Hogwarts. So, subtract the eight months over the course of six years in which I was elsewhere in the castle. And now we’re down to five years, eleven months. Totaled together, that’s how long I was able to spend with you over the years, far less than the usual eleven years that a child would have with one’s parents before going off to Hogwarts, which is extremely pathetic when you consider that fact that you actually worked at Hogwarts.

“During the almost thirteen year period, you were either teaching—which I was always able to understand—or spying for Dumbledore; that’s the part I’ve been pissed about, the fact that you would forgo letting me spend time with you during the summer of my teenaged years. Or, even raising me at Hogwarts rather than using a nanny. My happiest memory – the one I use to cast the Patronus Charm – is that the detention you asked me to help you with; the one for Bill and Charlie Weasley and Tonks. It was the one week that I was here at Hogwarts, around my father, rather than spending time with a nanny. I hated it!”

“You might not want to say that,” Dad warned.

“Why not, Dad?” Apollonia yelled. The Slytherin was livid that all of this was occurring. The majority of her life was spent elsewhere. In fact, Apollonia spent more time with her nanny than anywhere else. And, she was pissed off about that, the fact that her father would do something like this to his daughter. Severus Snape was a bit too immersed in his work; whether it was teaching or spying for Dumbledore, there was never any time for father and daughter to spend time with each other. The only place in which Apollonia was ever allowed to be during her childhood was with a nanny, of which she hated her father was doing to her over the years. “For what reason shouldn’t I be saying that?”

“You’ll find out soon,” he said vaguely.

“Oh, yay; cryptic,” she muttered.

“You might want to go back,” Dad suggested.

Apollonia nodded and allowed her father’s spirit to disappear, shoving the Resurrection Stone into her bag. She needed to keep this safe, make sure that the stone did not fall into enemy hands. The Elder Wand was buried with Dumbledore; Harry had his Invisibility Cloak; and now Apollonia had possession of the Resurrection Stone. It was best if it stayed this way, with the two siblings holding onto two of the three Death Hallows. Apollonia slipped back to the funeral, completely unseen – thus living up to her Invisible Slytherin title – and went up to sit beside her brother. “I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” she groaned.

“What’s got you so upset?” her brother asked.

“I’ll tell you later,” she whispered.

The funeral ended a short time later and Apollonia was forced to sit through everyone giving their condolences on her loss. It was not something that she ever wanted to deal with. From the Hufflepuffs and the Ravenclaws, with the exception of a few Ravenclaws in her year, they all offered their condolences on her loss. The Greengrass sisters and Terence Higgs did as well. To Apollonia’s surprise though, none of the Gryffindors made any attempt to offer condolences to her on the loss of her father, as if they were warned against it. Thank you, Harry, she thought. It appeared as if her brother was trying to help her, keeping those whom he was close to—which was all of the Gryffindors that came to the funeral—aware of the fact that his sister did not which to hear of any condolences; it pained her to do so. And, for that, Apollonia was extremely grateful.

Before Apollonia had the chance to join Bill and Fleur back at Shell Cottage for the evening, the young Slytherin headed up to the castle for awhile. She wanted to go inside and talk to Helena about everything that she just lost—everything that Apollonia went through over the last few years—as a result of the war; in fact, it was quite possible that Helena Ravenclaw understood precisely how affected Apollonia was by this loss. Then, once everyone left the grounds, she planned on going to sit at her father’s grave and say goodbye to the man properly.

As all of the teachers attended her father’s funeral, Apollonia passed a few of them on her way by. Flitwick was the most recent one, and the short professor gave a quick nod to the Slytherin before heading off to where Ravenclaw Tower was; she suspected that Helena would be nearby her house. And, that was exactly where Apollonia found her ancestor. “Helena?”

“What…oh, it is you,” the ghost said brightly.

The Slytherin stared at her ancestor for a moment, trying to find the best way for her to go about asking this. It was only five days since she, Harry, and Hermione discovered that Helena Ravenclaw was an ancestor of Apollonia’s. Helena was a part of her family; a part that she never knew existed. After all, how was she supposed to know that a part of her family was in the castle for the greater portion of her life? “Helena,” Apollonia said quietly, “did you ever regret not having the chance to say goodbye to your mother?”

“A little; why?” she asked.

“I never got the chance to say goodbye my own father,” the young Snape explained. “Dad died during the final battle, and I was only ever able to watch him take his final breath while he was down at the Shrieking Shack. And, the fact that I also watched him get bitten doesn’t help either. I was just wondering how you handled it, not getting the chance to tell her goodbye.” Even with the Resurrection Stone currently in her possession, Apollonia had not yet gotten the opportunity to say goodbye to her father; she was too busy yelling at him to even think of saying goodbye to the man that was supposed to be her father. And, Apollonia wasn’t sure if she wanted to. Saying goodbye to him would make things so final.

“Sometimes it’s better not to say goodbye,” Helena mused.

“Why would you say that?” the Slytherin asked.

“I have my reasons,” she replied.

Apollonia nodded, deciding not to pry into Helena’s reasoning behind the choice she made. Even if it was her ancestor, that did not mean that Apollonia could pry into the woman’s life. It was only possible for her to do so if Helena were the one to provide the information. She said goodbye to Helena and headed back out to her father’s grave, where only Harry, Hermione, and George were still waiting. Everyone else had returned to their homes while the three people that Apollonia was able to trust with her current secret remained. In fact, she actually had yet to tell Hermione and George about any of this. “What are you three still doing here?” she asked, wondering why they would wait for her.

“We wanted to know how you were doing,” Hermione answered. “It was your father that died and we know what he meant to you. We may not have appreciated the man for what he did —” she glared pointedly at Harry, “— but that doesn’t mean that we don’t care.”

“That explains you and Harry. Not George,” she reminded them.

“He’s trying to avoid everyone,” Harry whispered.

Apollonia nodded, understanding the reasoning behind all of this. There was a reason that Ron wasn’t here; because this was a funeral for a Slytherin, a known Death Eater. The youngest Weasley refused to see past the Death Eater façade, despite the fact that he turned out to be a good guy; he was upset because Apollonia was around the Burrow, trying to keep George out of a depression. “How has George been these last few days?” Apollonia asked her brother. “I haven’t been around to check on him. Can you tell me anything?”

“Quiet. Very quiet,” Harry replied.

“In what way?” she asked.

“He hasn’t spoken to anyone during the past few days,” Harry informed her. “Well, that’s not exactly true. There are instances when he will speak, but that’s only to stop Ron from insulting you. In fact, the only time that George has ever said a word to anyone other than you is when the conversation is about you. Molly and Arthur are kind of worried; George is never this quiet. It’s unnatural for him to be this quiet, almost like Fred’s death caused something in him to disappear. He simply sits in his room, with the door locked. I’m pretty sure that this is the first time in which George has stepped foot outside of the Burrow.”

“I need to find a way to get over there,” she muttered.

“Yeah, that would definitely be for the best,” Harry whispered. “You’re the only one that might ever be able to help George break out of this funk. Within the past five days, George has only spoken to us when we’re talking about you. That’s got to mean something.”

“Do you know?” she asked.

“About Fred? Yeah.”

“How?” she asked. Apollonia had no intention of saying anything to anyone outside of George regarding the promise she made to Fred. How was Harry even aware of such a thing?

“George told me,” he answered. “The day that The Quibbler special edition was released, Ron attempted to convince Molly that it was as unreliable as the Daily Prophet was. I was going to say something, but George spoke up before I could; he’s been helping myself and Hermione by stopping Ron from bashing you every chance he gets. After that first instance, I spoke with him, learned the reason that he was so pissed off about how Ron was acting in regards to you. Apollonia, why didn’t you say anything about that deal you made with the twins?”

The Slytherin shrugged. “I didn’t exactly want to remember what I did. Just before everyone met you out by the Room of Requirement—I was at that meeting, by the way—Fred pulled me aside and produced a lily right before my very eyes. At that point the Fidelius was still around Mum’s name, so this was the only possible way for him to explain what he knew. After I realized that Fred was aware of the fact that I’m your sister, he asked me to watch over George if anything happened to him. That’s the part that I’m guessing that George told you. The part that you probably don’t know is that Fred’s death bound me to the promise I made; with his death, Fred made it so that I was unable to break my promise. And, I really don’t want to know what’ll happen if I break my promise. That’s why I need to be able to freely go to the Burrow; so I can help George.”

“May 11th; nine AM,” Harry said.

Apollonia stared at her brother, wondering why he would give her a date and time in response to what she said. A date and time was not about to help Apollonia find a way to approach the Burrow with Ron yelling at her. “What is that supposed to mean?” she asked.

“The Malfoy trials,” he explained to his sister. “That might turn out to be the one chance you have at explaining everything. I don’t know it’s going to work, but we’ll have to try that.”

Four days from now, she realized. Could she really go another four days? No, the better question was would George be able to go another four days with Apollonia coming to help him? Especially tomorrow with his brother’s funeral. Despite the fact that Fred was to be buried close to the Burrow—yet another reason in which Apollonia needed Ron to accept the fact that she was Harry’s twin—the Slytherin was sure of the fact that George would not find any comfort in that. His twin was gone, something that only Apollonia could ever truly relate to; Harry died for a moment before coming back to life. If anyone could comfort George over his loss, it was Apollonia. “Can you be sure that it would work?”

“About ninety-five percent,” he answered.

“I hope you’re right, Harry,” she said. “For George’s sake.” There was simply no possible way for George to be okay tomorrow. In fact, there was a possibility that he would be in the situation she was in today, trying to accept the fact that someone close to them was gone.