Smile Like You Mean It

Hey people!

Sorry I've taken so long, I'm writing the follow-up to my novelette and kinda lost track of this story!! (Me scuzee!)

So, here it is, I have the next few chapters written and ready to upload so give me a review to remind me to update, ok?


xxx Aera Vale

Special sorry to Hyperventilate!!! :D


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Chapter 32 - The Order

Draco slammed the door of the empty classroom, causing clouds of dust to billow upwards. Blaise watched silently, folding his arms and leaning against the wall. Draco would explain when he was ready, though Blaise was itching to know what was going through his friend’s head.

He couldn’t help the feeling that this all had something to do with Aera and that it was very, very bad news.

Draco was still glaring at the opposite wall, frustrated fury in his eyes. As Blaise waited for him to start, his mind reeled reluctantly back to the previous night when he had met Aera in the Quidditch Pitch.

It had been the hardest thing he had ever done, watching her walk away, knowing that she was going to another man. Knowing she would never be in his arms. Yet, no matter how much he wished that it had been him she had gone to meet, he could not hate Draco. The man was his closest friend and never guessed that Blaise harboured feelings for his girl.

“They know.” Blaise’s thoughts were interrupted by the harsh, strangled whisper. His brows creased for a moment before understanding swept through him.

Denial came fast on the heels of comprehension. “No, they can’t! How would they ever have guessed?”

Draco shook his head. “They didn’t.”

Blaise listened carefully as Draco spoke aloud his dark realisations. With each word he felt cold horror rise inside him. Aera was in perilous, mortal danger. His biggest fear was making itself real.

When Draco finally came to a halt, his face twisted with indecision, Blaise let out a sigh of remorse. “It has begun, then. Your father expects you to become a Death Eater and Aera is in danger of being put in the line of fire.”

“I don’t know what to do.” Draco hissed. Blaise understood his friend all too well. The frustration of not knowing which direction to take was soul-wrenching. His mind raced with options, trying to offer advice.

“You could hide, ask Dumbledore for protection and reveal what you suspect of the Dark Lord’s interest in Aera.” Blaise suggested.

“No,” Draco said gratingly. “Wherever my loyalties now lie, I cannot put my trust in that old man. He has failed to protect too many. I won’t chance him trying to hide me while Aera remains in danger here.”

“No, I suppose not.” Blaise said softly. He knew if he was faced with the same choice he could never leave Aera unprotected either. “You will have to tell her though.”

Draco’s head shot up, staring at Blaise with disbelief. “What? Why in Merlin’s name would I do that? She’s happy, Blaise! Why would I ruin the happiness that ignorance gives her?”

Blaise took a step forward, bringing himself right in front of Draco. He fought down the urge to take his friend by the collar but couldn’t stop the hint of irritation in his voice. “If you really care for her, you should respect that she has a right to know. You can’t keep something this vital from her!”

Draco stared at his friend for a moment, then let out a sigh of defeat. “You’re right. She’d kill me if she found out I knew and never told her.” He let out a helpless bark of laughter. “Sweet Morgana, she’ll probably be glad You-Know-Who suspects her. It’ll give her a good excuse for having told Potter who she is.”

Blaise felt the surge of anger fade. Draco would tell Aera and she would be prepared for whatever came. That, at least, was a comforting thought.

“There may be some benefit in letting Potter know as well, through Aera of course.” Blaise added, pondering. “He is her brother and I suspect he will be just as hell-bent in trying to keep her out of danger’s way.”

Draco frowned thoughtfully. “I suppose I could persuade Aera to tell him, let him think she ‘seduced’ me for the information.”

Blaise watched as his friend’s lips twisted into a smirk. He could well imagine where his friend’s thoughts were. He couldn’t deny, in the privacy of his own mind, how tempting it was to indulge in such fantasies of Aera in the role of seductress.

“Focus, Drake.” Blaise chastened. “You must tread carefully from now on.”

Draco nodded, the smirk fading. The idea of becoming a Death Eater was not a particularly pleasant one and with such a thing on the horizon he could not afford to lose concentration.


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“Aera.” The soft whisper stopped her in her tracks. She had been headed to the Restricted Section, determined to pick up where she had left off in her search.

Looking around she saw a pale, slender hand beckoning her from between two enormous bookshelves. Taking a quick glance around to make sure no one would spot her, she slipped into the shadows.

Warm, strong arms wrapped around her, squeezing hard enough to make her gasp. She was quickly released and she found herself looking into bright blue eyes that glittered in the darkness. Aera smiled. She had been hoping to see Draco so soon. It was only a few days after their . . . tryst in the changing rooms.

Delighted by his presence, she leaned up and kissed him. But before she could deepen the kiss and take advantage of their hide-away, he pulled back, taking her by the shoulders.

“I need to talk to you. Please, stop distracting me.” The husky voice sent a tingling sensation buzzing through her. But the tone was serious. Holding back from the urge to kiss him again, she took a step away, trying to focus on his words rather than the sound of his irresistible voice.

That wasn’t very hard when she heard the subject.

“I got a letter from my father.” Aera was immediately alert, hearing the dark, reluctant tone. “He said that You-Know-Who is preparing for my initiation.”

Aera swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat. She could only guess at the despair Draco felt. Reaching out she took one of his hands, feeling him tighten his grip as he intertwined his fingers with hers.

“There’s more.” This was spoken with even more unwillingness. “I think He may have some idea as to who you really are.”

Aera’s heart clenched, the air in her lungs disappearing. For a moment all she could feel was numbing fear, Voldemort knew. Then another feeling rose, stripping away the fear.

She felt relieved. Finally it was out there, her parentage, her history. It was the first step along the path of revealing who she was to the entire wizarding world. Even if Voldemort only guessed that she was Harry’s twin, it would be easy to take it a little further and confirm his suspicions. With that done, no one could deny that she had the right to be beside Harry, to fight beside him.

She knew she must have surprised Draco when she let out a soft laugh. He took her by the wrist, pulling her forward until a single ray of light that had bravely passed down through the shelves fell on her face. He let out a growl of anger as he saw her lit up expression.

“Goddamn it, Aera! You shouldn’t be happy about it!”

Aera laughed again, and shook her head. “Why not? This is what I wanted, Draco. I don’t want to pretend to be Aera Vale anymore. I’m Aera Potter.”

She closed her mouth against the laughter when she heard the deep-chested growl bubbling up inside the man before her. But she couldn’t wipe the grin off her face.

“Aera,” Draco said slowly, his voice tight with restraint. “I didn’t tell you this so that you’d get excited about revealing who you are to the world. He doesn’t know for sure yet, so my plan is to hide the truth for as long as possible.”

The grin slid from Aera’s face and she felt her eyebrows twist into an expression of anger. “It’s not up to you, Draco.” she said in a dangerous voice. “And even if Voldemort doesn’t know for sure, do you really think that he would have any qualms about trying to kill me just in case?”

Draco watched her silently, his face unreadable in the darkness. Aera’s anger gradually faded as she waited. When he finally spoke, his voice was soft. “You gave me a choice in this when you decided to trust me and show me how you feel about me. We make these decisions together.”

Aera hesitated, then nodded in defeat. He was right, of course. She couldn’t exactly expect him to turn the other cheek if she made up her mind to do something. She had invited him into her life and would have to face facts. If she was going to do something, he had a right to at least now and try to dissuade her.

“I think we should tell Harry that your father is planning for you to become a Death Eater soon. When you find out the date and venue we can tell Harry and he’ll know where to find Voldemort.” She said, trying to change the subject.

It made sense to her though. This would be a perfect opportunity for Harry to plan a surprise attack on Voldemort and she had managed to refrain from hinting at her intention of her own involvement.

“So the time has come to prove yourself as a seductress than.” Draco whispered and Aera could hear the smile in his words. She took a step forward until she could lean towards his ear, her lips tickling the soft skin there.

“Well,” she breathed, feeling him shiver at the feel of her mouth so close to him. “I’m actually a little busy right now. Besides, you’ve already told me everything I need to know.”

With that she turned quickly, moving to exit the darkness of the shelves. She was brought to an abrupt halt by strong, firm hands. Pulled back suddenly against the broad, muscular chest she let out a gasp. Draco bent to brush his lips against the nape of her neck, causing goosebumps to flare across the sensitive skin.

“I’m not finished.” he murmured. She felt his lips trail across her throat, her back arching to give him more freedom. His hair tickled her face and she reached up with her hands to catch his face, pulling him forward for a scorching kiss.

When he finally pulled away, Aera sighed with regret. His brilliantly blue eyes gazed down at her, unreadable.

“We should probably stop. This isn’t the most private of places.” he said reluctantly. “One last thing though, you should probably include all the information when you tell Harry. Like the part about You-Know-Who having an idea as to who you are.”

Aera nodded distractedly, wishing she could stay there with him, ignore the going-ons of the rest of the world. She paused as she turned to leave, trying to find the words to express what she wanted to say. He waited patiently.

“Draco,” she started, slowly. She turned back to him, trying to express with her eyes the sincerity of her next words. “Whatever happens, I’m glad we had this time together.”

She slipped between the shelves and was gone, never once looking back to see the confused, tight expression on his face.


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Sitting again at the solitary table in the Restricted Section, Aera took out her notebook where she had jotted down the page she had last finished on. She was just over half-way through the Unorthodox Orders and Covenants. And she was really, really beginning to hate Ano Malous and his enigmatic scribbles.

Her determination to find a reference and explanation to the Order of Uller had strengthened with Draco’s revelations. If his father’s urgency was true, she had very little time in which to complete the task she had assigned herself. The one thing she was pleased about was that Dumbledore wasn’t checking up on her every couple of days. That would have slowed her down.

She flipped the book open, coughing as she dislodged another century’s accumulation of dust. Finding her place she started deciphering the notes once more.

It was nearly an hour later that she found something. In a dense paragraph at the bottom of one page.

My researching in the Scandinavian countries has repeatedly brought up the phrase ‘Order of Uller’. So far I have been unable to discover much beyond the origin of this elusive ‘Order’. Uller appears to have been a god that the Norsemen worshipped for many years. The natives invoke Uller for ‘glory, duels and hunting’. Their legends also add that he carried a bow, an oath-ring and something called a ‘wuldortanas’. It was not too difficult to discover the meaning of the word which translates into my own tongue as ‘glory-twig’. Could it be that Uller was a wizard, unrecognised at the time, and that the ‘wuldortanas’ was his wand?

Aera sat back, her heart racing. What she had read had not been very relevant to her search, yet it was the first sign of proof that the Order of Uller even existed. She quickly wrote out the paragraph into her notebook.

It was only two pages later that Ano Malous continued with what information he had uncovered. She bent over the pages, smelling the musky, old scent of fading parchment.

At last! I have expanded my searchings and discovered more to the Oder of Uller. It is no surprise to me now that I was unable to find references to him within the wizarding records, for I have no doubt now that he was stricken from them. Our kind cannot tolerate his like and will do what we must to protect ourselves from the non-wizard world.
Uller was indeed a wizard, though he must have persuaded the normal folk with his powers that he was a god. He ruled over them, going so far as to make them believe that he was responsible for the Northen Lights, or Aurora Borealis. Yet my findings cannot deny that he was a brilliant wizard, adept at magic. His abilities led him to create the ‘Order’.
This fascinating magical contract he created in order to expand his control and fend off wizards who came to challenge his seat of power. The ‘oath-ring’ referred not to a band of metal, as I had thus presumed, but rather a Protection Ring of magic.
It was brilliant. When the governing bodies of the magical world came to unseat him, he cast the magical ‘oath-ring’ and invoked the Order of Uller.

The words were the key!

If his adversary agreed to the duel, Uller faced only one opponent rather than the group of wizards. And they could not harm him without forfeiting, preventing them from using their advantage of superior numbers. For years he protected his title and lands this way, invoking the spell that was unfamiliar to other wizards. He vanquished many until finally a wizard by the name of Wodan came. Wodan was renowned for his abilities and triumphed over the power-hungry Uller.
Uller was banished, his wand snapped. The Order of Uller was no longer of use as the days of duelling passed and became history.
Perhaps my ramblings have become a little confusing. I shall explain in simple terms what occurs when the Order of Uller is invoked so as to cast light upon it.
When two opposing groups wish to battle, a duel may be offered in order to protect the ‘pawns’. This worked well in the days of honour and integrity. However it was not unusual for the pawns to chance a hex or curse at their opposition during the duel, creating casualties that could have been avoided, sometimes even altering the course of the duel itself. Uller realised that with his few allies he was at risk of being crushed beneath the wizards who objected to him portraying himself as a god. We wizards are proud people and dislike being seen to outnumber those against us. It is seen then as a battle of sizes rather than skill. By creating this magical twist on the duel, he was at no risk of any other stepping in to take his combatant’s place if it appeared that Uller was winning. The pawns could even leave if they wished! No contract held them to stay put until the duel was finished.
He was, as I have already pointed out, a highly skilled wizard and thus it was some time before a man came who had any chance of besting him.
Until that fateful day when Wodan beat him, Uller was protected by the rules of his order. When he won, his enemies were completely unable to attack in full force. Their magic could not touch him, the champion, and they were subject to his powers.
It was brilliant, incredible. And soon forgotten.


Aera finished, the writing continuing on seamlessly into a description about ‘The Nameless Order of Heteroclite’.

She was breathing hard, her face alternating between hot and cold. She’d had no idea what to expect when first hearing the name of the order, yet this was beyond anything she could have dreamed up.

The Order of Uller would ensure that no one else would get hurt. It made it possible to protect everyone long enough to get them out of harms way.

Her mind started racing. There was so much to plan, so much to do. If Lucius Malfoy really was setting things in motion for Draco to meet with Voldemort, she didn’t have much time to prepare. She would have to be careful, make sure that everyone important to her was safe . . .

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xxx Aera