Smile Like You Mean It

Ok, Smurphy don't worry, at some point Draco will reveal what he saw in the Mirror of Erised, I promise!!

And here's a scene you might have been waiting for, though you probably didn't see it unfolding quite like this... Hopefully it will remove some of the kinks in the story and reveal a lot of what happened when Aera was younger....


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Chapter 11 - Revealing The Truth

Down at the breakfast table next morning, Harry sat opposite Aera and leaned across the table to speak with her in a low voice.

"Hermione told us what you suggested. Are you for real? You want us to brew up a potion that could potentially kill you?" his tone was sceptical.

Aera grinned at him. She had finally slept fitfully and Hermione had been the one to wake her, just ten minutes before breakfast. Her sleep had also thankfully been undisturbed by dreams.

"Yep, and even if you get it into your head that you're going to steal it off the potion's master I won't drink it until the end of the month. Make the Veritaserum. Then I'll answer all your questions." she replied, pouring some porridge into her bowl and heaping it up with maple syrup.

Harry smiled back, a look of relief on his face. "I wasn't sure if I should believe you. I can't persuade you to tell us what this is all about before then, can I? It would save time. I promise we'll believe you if it's true."

Aera laughed out loud at this. "Harry, as much as I treasure your friendship and respect your good nature, I assure you this is the best way. Wait until this month finishes, then I promise, no more secrets." Excepting anything to do with Malfoy. She wasn't about to tell anyone about that just yet.

As if on cue her eyes lifted to the person walking in through the door to the Great Hall. His silver gaze found hers and flashed blue in the morning light coming through the windows. Her breath caught in her throat and she looked away. She had no intention of encouraging him. But for a long while she felt his eyes on her.

Harry had engaged Hermione and Ron in conversation. Ginny was late for breakfast, but that was nothing usual. Ron was speaking darkly about her latest interest, Dean, who was also missing from the table. Aera hid a smile. Older brothers could be so protective, apparently.

Harry interrupted Ron's musings. "You know, I was thinking about ways to find out what he's up to."

The other two went silent. There was no mistaking who Harry was talking about, though he tried to ease the situation with the light tone of his voice. It was clear that Voldemort was never far from her twin's mind.

"And?" asked Ron, sounding unsure.

"Well," Harry answered, eyeing his friends closely, gauging their reactions, "Wouldn't it be easy to find out if we were close to someone on their side? Or even better, convert the son or daughter of a Death Eater to the Light side. Then they'd keep us informed of all we need to know. We all have our misgivings about Snape and his spying, so why not have our own?"

"Harry..." Hermione butted in, her voice a warning. She flicked her eyes toward Aera and back to Harry with a question in her look. He sighed.

"Look, she's already agreed to take Veritaserum, she's told us she's on our side. I think we should trust her and involve her in our plans."

At this unexpected announcement Aera's heart filled with excitement. She felt love for her brother fill her until she was surprised she didn't float off the seat. Finally, if the others agreed, she would have the opportunity to help them without having to sneak around.

"You really want to do this Harry?" Hermione asked kindly. "You know how you are about trusting people. Are you sure this is the wisest decision? Why not wait until she's actually answered our questions?"

"Because I do trust her!" Harry snapped, making Hermione shy back. "She's not who we think she is, but Aera is someone who is very close to me!"

Harry stopped suddenly, realising what he had said. Aera felt her mouth go dry. Had he really just said that? Was there some unrecognised connection between them that allowed Harry to sense who she really was?

Suddenly Aera noticed someone standing behind Harry. Ginny was frozen in the motion of going to tap Harry on the shoulder, her face white. There was the tracks of tears that had been earlier dried, but now they rose again into her eyes. She glanced down at the back of Harry, her hand not moving, then looked across at Aera. The hatred and hurt in her gaze made Aera shudder inside. They stared at each other for a long moment before Ron noticed his sister.

"Oh, hey Gin. Why don't you sit with us?" he asked, motioning to the empty space beside Harry. Aera noticed Harry's back stiffen and he slowly turned around.

Ginny gave a jerky shake of her head and walked hastily back the way she had come, out of the Great Hall.

Harry watched her go and then moved to stand up and follow. Aera laid a hand on his arm, holding him back and got to her feet.

"I think it best if I go." she said quietly, her voice calmer than she felt.

As she followed the red-head, some things became crystal clear in her mind. She understood now why Ginny had shown so much interest in other guys. Her interest in Harry went far beyond that and what she had over-heard at the breakfast table could quite easily be taken to mean something other than what it was. The trail of old tears down Ginny's face suddenly had a new meaning too. Aera knew without a doubt that Ginny had broken things off with Dean earlier that morning, the reason she was late for breakfast. Perhaps she had done so in the hope that Harry would then allow his feelings for her to show through.

Aera saw the telltale flash of red heading out into the grounds and she hurried to follow. By the time she passed through the great double doors Ginny was already halfway down the front steps.

"Ginny! Wait up!" she called out, hoping the girl would listen. For a moment her steps faltered, then she strode forward with doubled determination. Aera ran after, until finally Ginny came to a halt by the edge of the lake. The morning sun off its surface was reflected against her hair and Aera wondered if Harry had ever seen this young woman in such a beautiful pose, her back turned, arms folded.

"Ginny," she said softly as she approached. There was no reply. "It's not what you think-"

"How the hell would you know what I think!" shouted Ginny, spinning around to face Aera, her wild hair flying. "Why don't you just fuck off back to your upper class French school! You have no idea what you're doing here, no idea what trouble you're causing!"

The tears running down Ginny's cheeks made Aera quail inside. The guilt she had felt before was nothing to this. Here was honest proof that she was really hurting people, not just betraying their trust.

"I... I'm sorry, Ginny. But please, hear me out."

"Oh fuck off, you prim little snob. You prance around with your dark hair, making all the guys watch you. But you hardly talk to us, the girls. And when you do you don't tell us where you come from, or who you are! Maybe it's 'cause you come from an all girl school, suddenly found out you can get any guy you want. Well, not Harry. You keep away from him." The words came out in a rush, Ginny's breasts heaving with emotion.

"Stop." Aera said, holding up her hands in defeat. "Please. If you knew what I was hiding you'd understand..."

"Then tell me!" Ginny breathed, her shoulders sagging in despair. "I love Harry, more than you could ever understand but once you arrived all he's talked about is you. Why?"

Aera opened her mouth, then realised she had no idea what to say. She wanted to tell Ginny that she didn't understand, that the red-head could have no concept of what was really going on. But that was all just brushing things under the carpet.

"I'm Harry's sister." The words were out of her mouth before she realised and suddenly it was too late to take them back. The sentence hung in the air between them, the shock on Ginny's face evidence that they had been said.

"You're lying." she whispered. "You are such an incredible bitch. How could you say that? Don't you know what he's had to go through?"

Aera sighed. She had thought she would feel relief after finally telling the truth. Instead all she felt was injustice. Why couldn't this one person believe her? She made up her mind. She would make Ginny believe her, without the need of potions or magic.

"Sit down, Gin. Listen and let me talk. I'll tell you everything." Aera said, her voice strangely calm. For a moment she thought Ginny would stalk away, refuse to listen, but instead she sat down, arms folded, face hard.

"All right then. Convince me. But if you can't, I swear I'll hex you so bad you'll wish you'd stayed in France."

Aera settled herself cross-legged in front of the other girl and tried to control her thoughts. Where should she start? She had ran this scenario through her head so many times, but the main difference here was that instead of it being her brother, it was Ginny.

"Voldemort went after the Potter's in Godric's Hollow. That night there wasn't three people in the house, but four. Harry's twin sister was the other baby. She was with James when Voldemort arrived, but he wasn't after her. Due to a prophecy he was after a boy child, believing him to be the real threat. Once James was killed he moved upstairs, looking to finish Harry off. But Harry survived thanks to Lily. The two babies were removed from the house by Dumbledore's loyal friends, each taken to a place of safety where they could be hidden from the wizarding world.

"You have to understand, at this time the Potter's weren't famous. Because of the war the announcement of their children's birth was done quietly. Only close friends and family were there to christen them Harry and Aera. Dumbledore decided that the downfall of Voldemort would be credited in Harry's name, hoping to both protect the girl child and keep people ignorant of her until such a time when it may be necessary to reintroduce her among her own wizarding kind.

"I was raised in an orphanage among muggles, though I knew of Dumbledore from an early age. He used to come visit me, posing as a donator to my education. He told me, before I turned eleven, the truth about who I was and what my true name was. I wasn't Aera Vale, as I had believed. But Aera Potter, a girl with a twin brother who lived with more of my family. The pain of finding out and not being granted permission to meet him nearly killed me. But the knowledge of his existence did fill a hole inside me that had been there ever since I could remember."

Aera paused, her throat constricting with the memory of it. She had begged, cajoled, pleaded and threatened Dumbledore. It was every orphan child's dream, to have a family. To know of Harry and be unable to see him, to know that he knew nothing of her, had cut her deep.

"What happened then?" Ginny blurted out, sounding curious despite herself.

Aera smiled to herself. "Soon after Albus sent me to Beauxbatons. Madame Maxime knew who I was, but was under strict orders to keep me tightly within the school. During the summer I remained behind while the other students travelled home to their families. Now and then, so I would gain a little more experience of the world, I was sent to stay with the Delacours. The parents were nice enough, but the daughters were terrible snobs.

"I knew something was up when Dumbledore arrived at my school during the summer. When he arrived he seemed annoyed, irritated. I had figured out for myself that I was his scape-goat. Should his plans for Harry not come through, I would be there to fill in the gaps. So it was that he arranged for me to be sent here, making me promise not to reveal to Harry who I was. My task was to befriend him, make him trust me. I was to discover why Harry had so far failed to defeat Voldemort once and for all, find out whether it had anything to do with my absence from his life."

Aera fell silent. Ginny was watching her, but her thoughts were unreadable. For a long while there was no more sound between them.

"You said that the Potter's close friends knew about you. That would mean Sirius knows who you are."

Aera was impressed. "Yes, he does. I didn't think you'd be so quick to figure that out."

"I have another question. Why did Dumbledore choose Harry over you? Why allow Harry to enter the wizard world as the known son of Lily and James and not you?"

Aera gave a small half smile. "Because Harry was the one Voldemort tried to kill. Harry gained the protection of our mother's love when she died. Albus believed that this gave Harry an edge, that it made him more powerful than I and so more likely to succeed where I would fail. He is unsure now, however. Harry has come face to face with Voldemort a number of times and each time failed. He doesn't believe that I myself could ever defeat such a powerful dark wizard, but perhaps I can give Harry the extra aid he needs."

"You look like him."

Aera's eyes widened as Ginny continued. "I doubt anyone else would ever notice, but now I can see it. You have the same hair, similar features. I think if you had been a boy or Harry a girl no one would have been able to tell you apart."

Aera grinned. "So you believe me?"

Ginny hesitated. "One more question before I answer that. Why did you tell me all this? You haven't told Harry, so why me? Surely he deserves to know."

"I would love to tell him Gin, and that's the truth. But he wouldn't believe me. I've told him to make some Veritaserum and question me under that. And I told you for hundreds of reasons. Mainly because I needed someone to know. I needed to be able to be honest about it with someone. I didn't plan on it, but you thought I was trying to seduce Harry, it gave me the excuse to tell you."

Ginny smiled. "I believe you Aera, Merlin help me but I think you're telling the truth."

Aera gave a gasp of relief and threw her arms around the red-head who hugged her back just as hard. "Oh Ginny! Thank you!" she whispered as tears poured from her eyes.

The two girls remained in an embrace for another moment before pulling back. Ginny gave a soft laugh. "It's some secret, Aera Potter. You really trust me to keep it for you?"

"I like you Gin, and I know you're a decent person. I think you'll wait until I'm ready to tell."

Ginny nodded and got to her feet, pulling Aera up with her. "We've been down here quite a while. Breakfast will be finished and classes starting soon. We should head back to the school. They're going to wonder what was said, why we're suddenly such good friends."

"We talked. I assured you I had no intention of getting with Harry. Tell them I have my eye set on another guy." This last came out entirely unintentionally and made Aera wince inwardly as Ginny's sharp gaze fixed on her. A moment later it softened.

"You don't need to tell me. I think we've had enough secrets for one day. But if you need to talk about guys, I'll tell you now, I'm the best for those discussions!"

They laughed as they began heading back to the castle. The day suddenly seemed much brighter for Aera as she felt a weight lifting from her heart. At last she had told someone, and they believed her! Perhaps this year wouldn't be quite as hard as she had first thought.


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So.... whaddaya think????? Please review!! I need to know if you guys are happy that she finally told someone... I didn't want Harry to be the first to know cause this way we get to draw our the confrontation a little more hehehe!

And thank you to all my faithful reveiwers so far xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx You guys are the best!