Smile Like You Mean It

Chapter 2 - Meetings at the Cottage



The wheels of the carriage were not made to land on a dirt track, but the invisible animals drawing it were well-trained, there was only the slightest of discomfort as the wheels bounced once or twice before they came to rest.

Aera was out of the door before Dumbledore could open it for her, mouth dropping at the sight of the small country-side cottage. Chickens scratched at the dry earth around the front door and there was a fence-enclosed garden off to one side that reminded her of a jungle scene. Things were moving in its depth, but darted about too quickly for her to make out.

The sun, only just beginning to creep over the distant mountain cast a lovely warm glow over the entire setting and Aera shivered. It was plainly weird to be there, knowing that her brother was inside, the only family she had, but she couldn't even tell him who she was. Dumbledore believed events would work out better is she pretended to be someone else for a while yet, and she didn't see any problem. The idea of marching up to Harry and claiming to be his only surviving relative, and his twin to boot, was a bit ridiculous. Besides, he could be an absolute twat, maybe she would never tell him.

The door of the house slammed open so quickly that Aera jumped backwards a foot, eyes wide. A woman with a mane of red frizzy hair and a wide berth wrapped her up in a massive hug and Aera gasped for breath.

"Oh my dear, oh Aera! So long, so long I've wanted to see you!" The woman pulled back and Aera filled her lungs once more. "My goodness, you do look like your parents, don't you? Course not quite the way Harry does, but that's just as well really. Still, you've got your mother's features, oh Lily always was a pretty one, all the boys were after her. But you have James' hair and his dark brown eyes. Oh! And Lily's figure too, though there's a touch of James around the shoulders! Oh darling, its so good to finally meet you!"

Aera stared open-mouthed at the woman, feeling heat rise in her cheeks at the close scrutiny and praise. But the attention of the red-haired woman was quickly moving. "Albus! How was the journey? I'll bet you're both starving, well, I've got some breakfast on, it'll be minutes only, come along inside, both of you."

"Not me, Molly, I must be off," said Dumbledore with a smile. "There are things to be done that will not wait. My apologies."

"You're going? But... but Albus-" Aera felt fear wrap itself around her insides, squeezing and twisting. The idea of being alone in that cosy-looking house with this Molly and a bunch of other strangers frightened her more than the idea of facing a swarm of grindylows alone.

"Sorry, my dear. You'll be fine, just go with Mrs Weasley and she'll introduce you to the others. Farewell."

And with that he stepped into carriage which rose and left, leaving Aera feeling very much alone.

"It's alright dear. I'll be keeping an eye on you, make sure the hoard inside don't bother you too much. Come on, now. You look much too skinny, we'll have to feed you up."

Aera found herself bustled inside the house and into a steamy kitchen where she was directed into a seat at a polished wooden table. Curiosity took a hold and she had a good perusal of the room while Mrs Weasley bent her head over a frying pan full of black pudding, eggs and bacon.

A snowy white owl was watching her closely with orb-like eyes, ruffling her feathers majestically. There was a tiny little owl beside her, looking very much like a fluff-ball. Things looked all topsy-turvey in the kitchen, with pots and pans being balanced precariously on top of each other around the sink. A duster was dancing across the surface of a dresser and a large cauldron of soup was stirring itself on the stove.

Having never been in such an informal wizard house, Aera's eyes roamed over everything. Even when Mrs Weasley plopped a large plate piled with pudding, egg, bacon and toast in front of her, she continued to study her surroundings. There was a clock leaning against the glass door of the dresser, with lots of hands rather than two. They were all but one pointed at mortal peril. Mr Weasley was pointed at travelling. She supposed they were pointed thus due to Dumbledore's news of Voldemort's return.

That stunning piece of news had been accompanied by the truth of the prophecy, which Aera had taken a while to mull over. In truth, she wasn't too sure how she felt about that just yet.

The door to the kitchen opened and a man with red hair and dressed in a shabby suit stepped inside. His eyes fell on Aera, with a forkful of egg half-way to her mouth. She paused, waiting for a reaction.

"Good gods, is it-?" he cut off, his eyes going to Mrs Weasley, who nodded, beaming. With two quick steps he was beside her, hand reaching out to shake hers, which happened to be full of a forkful of egg. He went red with embarrassment. "Oh no, terrible sorry, one moment..."

He waved his wand across them both, clearing up any sign of the spilt egg. "Arthur Weasley, may I say we are so glad to have you here. You are welcome any time, do you hear? Any time."

"Who's welcome?"

The sleepy voice came from the still open doorway and Aera spun to see who was there. A drowsy-looking teenage girl with bright, silky-red hair that fell half-way down her waist stood there. Behind her was another girl, with bushy brown hair and a slim build.

"Ah, Ginny, Hermione. This is Aera Vale, she's the friend of Fleur's we told you about."

Aera was impressed by the quick recovery of Mr Weasley as he calmly moved away and set his briefcase on the floor. Mrs Weasley had a plate of food ready for him as he sat. The two girls moved into the kitchen and seated themselves across from Aera. There was something uncomfortably astute in both their gazes and Aera felt a tingle of nerves. These two she would have to be careful around if she intended on keeping her secret intact.

"A friend of Phlegm's, hm?"

Aera paused, "I'm sorry, did you say Phlegm?"

Colour touched briefly on Ginny's cheeks. "Uh, no, sorry, meant Fleur. She's a bit older than you, though, isn't she?"

Aera nodded, helping herself to more toast. "Yes, I've known her family for years. They gave me a helping hand after my parents died."

Hermione's hand flew to her mouth in horror. "Oh my goodness, I'm terribly sorry. We didn't mean to intrude..."

Aera grinned. "Its okay. I'm fairly used to it. Hermione, right? So that makes you Ginny?"

The red-haired girl nodded enthusiastically. "If your waiting for Fleur to get up, she's going to be a while yet. Her and Bill tend to lie around in bed till about midday. Really annoys mum, but oh well. The other two boys are still snoring so they won't be up for a while either."

Aera smiled and felt the earlier suspicion falter and fade as they grinned back. She could see Mrs Weasley give a barely audible sigh of relief behind the girls' backs. Mr Weasley was hidden behind a newspaper.


The morning passed quickly, with the two girls showing her around the house and the sleeping arrangements. Behind one attic door came the sound of deep-sleep snoring, a duet and the girls sniggered.

"That's Ron and Harry, guys are terrible when they're asleep." said Hermione.

"Worse when they're awake." snorted Ginny. "You come from an all-girl school, though, don't you?"

"Yeah, it's going to be a big change at Hogwarts."

"Have you got your list of books or anything yet? We're going to Diagon Alley at the weekend, so we can pick up anything you need then."
Aera thanked them both. They were surprisingly friendly once the defensive suspicion was broken past.

Nerves were still bubbling inside as time passed, however. They had moved out to the back yard when the back door was flung open and two figures bounded outside.

"Morning! Heard we have new visitor!" The speaker was a good half a head higher than Aera, with the trademark red hair of the Weasleys and cheerful manner to him. So that meant...

Aera's eyes found the other boy and her heart leapt painfully into her throat. Dark hair, bright green eyes, wide-rimmed glasses, just about her own height. He grinned at her and she felt the world spin. The reality of the situation was painfully obvious as he stretched out a hand towards her.

"Hey, I'm Harry."

She tentatively let her own hand touch his and bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. Her own brother, here in front of her, blissfully unaware that his twin sister was before him, shaking his hand.

"Aera, you okay? You look kind of pale." Ginny moved forward towards them and the spell was broken. She smiled weakly and twisted away, faced now by the Weasley boy.

"It's alright, Harry's stunningly grotesque appearance affects people like that, right Harry?" he ducked as her brother swung a fist at him, nudging past her. "Ron, by the way. Friend of Fleur's right?"

"Ron find's your friend impeccably beautiful, Aera. He wants her and Bill to break up so he can have a go."

"Shut it, Gin." Ron growled, the tips of his ears were pink, clashing with his hair. The young girl gave a tinkling laugh and Aera smiled. There was something wonderfully jovial about the four friends. She could sense the underlying tragedy attached to each of them, particularly Harry, but they were able to still stand here in the garden and joke with each other. She let the feeling of good naturedness drift though her.

"So, you're heading off to Hogwarts with us at the end of the month, Dumbledore says?" Harry asked, his bright green eyes sharp on her.

There was definite friendliness in his gaze, but a wariness too. He seemed curious that she wasn't questioning him about things, but then she already knew it all, the Hall of Prophecies had been part of Albus' update before he left her here.

"Yeah, suppose I'm going to have to get used to it. The decision was made for me in the last month of school. You're all in the same house?"

"Yep, Gryffindors all. Proud of it too." Hermione said, a wide smile on her face. She had produced a book from somewhere and was half-hidden behind it. From the lack of reaction by the others this was a fairly standard course of events. "How did you do in your O.W.L.S.?"

"I got Outstanding in Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration and Potions, everything else was Exceeds Expectations or Acceptable. Thankfully I didn't fail anything, otherwise I doubt Hogwarts would have taken me. What about you?"

"Oh, Outstanding in everything but D.A.D.A., she got Exceeds Expectations in that. Course, with 'Mione it'd be more shocking if she got worse than that."

"Oh shut up Ronald." said Hermione, but there was a distinct pinkness to her cheeks and she didn't sound at all convincing. Ron didn't appear to notice, but Aera saw Harry's eyes flicker between his two friends. At least he wasn't that thick then.

"Lunch-time!"

The five of them followed the sound of Mrs Weasley's voice indoors. Lunch was spread across the table as a feast and they all hungrily tucked in.

A commotion on the stairs turned everyone's head to see a tall man with his hair tied back in a pony-tail tickling a very beautiful woman as they descended. The girl was giggling loudly, the sound like the tinkling of glass. Her clothes were very fine, baby blues in a skirt and blouse.

"Bill! You should not treat me zo, not in front of zee family!"

Aera felt a groan well up and took a gulp of her tea to hide it. Feeling a little irritated that Fleur still managed to look so pretty while acting like a complete moron, she got to her feet and painted a convincing smile across her lips.

"Fleur! Ca va, ma cher?" (Fleur! How are you, my dear?)

Fleur paused only a second before allowing the recognition in her eyes to be followed with a shriek of delight. "Aera! Tu as arrive se matin? C'est superb, mais tu est plus grande!" (Aera! You arrived this morning? That's wonderful, but you are very large!)

Aera smiled back, wishing she could scowl like she really wanted to. It was just as well that no one here knew how to speak French, according to Dumbledore. "Tu est un fou, Fleur. Mais, ton fiance est tres beau. Ou est une laisse?" (You are a fool, Fleur. But, your fiance is very handsome. Where is the leash?)

Fleur smiled mockingly and turned to the rest of the family. "Oh, my deepest apologies! I forget to speak ze eenglish, it is just so good to see an old friend."

Mrs Weasly laughed in good humour, but Aera saw the flash of relief in her face. So, they had not been sure that Fleur would keep up the play-acting. A heavy bargain to be betting on.

"I"m Bill, Fleur's fiance." She shook the tall man's hand as he smiled broadly at her, ignoring the look of spite from the blonde beauty. She wasn't there to strike jealousy in Fleur's heart, though the thought did make her smile more realistically.