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Smile Like You Mean It	By : AeraVale Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female Views: 6676 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. DM/OC, M/F

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Chapter 41 - The Beginning

The letter came sooner than Draco expected.

Three torturous days had passed, with him doing his very best to avoid Aera, who glared furious daggers at him every time he slipped away. Every hurt expression, every hiss of anger pained him more than he could say. He took to making sure Blaise accompanied him so that there would be someone to block his view.

His friend had asked what had happened. Draco had said nothing. Blaise had tried to reason out the change in their relationship. Draco had snapped and told him to mind his own business. His friend began to get a considering look in his eye every time they saw the dark-haired girl in the hallways that made Draco want to throw curses at someone.

Unfortunately, Blaise was not the only one who seemed more interested in Aera. Three times he saw guys approach her, flattering and chatty. The first one she had nearly growled at and sent hurrying away with a bruised ego. The next time she had seen him and that had caused her to smile and flirt back. Draco came very close to marching over to her and hauling her into the nearest empty classroom where he would have shown her in every way that no matter how long this forced exile lasted, no other man would measure up to what he could offer her.

And now it was the third day, and Draco gripped his father’s letter so tightly in his hand he thought it might turn to dust. He half hoped it would. Every few minutes the words would start flowing across his mind’s eye.

Draco,

I will be waiting in the Atrium. Your future begins tonight.

Lucius

So, it would be at his home. For some reason that infuriated him more than anything at that moment. Perhaps it was what Snape had confided about his mother’s true feelings. Holding the initiation of her son in her own house was a slap in the face. Or an unequaled honour, depending on which way you looked at it, he supposed.

The parchment twisted in his hand as he clenched his fist again. He was somewhat surprised that his father had given him so much warning. It made him edgy, and nervous. Not something he was accustomed to. However, it did leave him enough time to find Potter and his friends and let them know. It seemed he would have to apparate them there after all. And leave them.

It also left him plenty of time to try and hide it all from Aera.

Blaise was beside him when he spotted Granger striding along the corridor with her usual know-it-all aura. By chance she glanced in his direction and he saw her eyes widen as he gave an almost imperceptible nod. Her face paled slightly and she turned on her heel, hurrying away. Draco swallowed a sigh. Hurrying to tell Harry that the time had come.

He turned his head slightly and realised Blaise had been watching the entire exchange. He raised a questioning eyebrow then frowned as Draco shook his head. He had no intention of dragging his friend into this. If things turned out badly when the Golden Trio confronted the Dark Lord, he wanted no blame attached to the Italian man. Ignorance might be able to protect him.

Blaise’s gaze flickered down to Draco fist, still clenched around the letter, then back to Granger’s disappearing back. His mouth opened slightly and Draco just knew he was going to ask, so he turned around sharply and marched away. His friend called his name sharply but he ignored it. He didn’t want to waste any time avoiding leading questions or trying to pretend that everything was okay. Everything was not okay. And he felt a pervading need to talk to someone. But not Blaise.

Which was how he found himself in front of Snape’s door, facing the woodwork with a deep scowl. He hadn’t knocked yet and he wasn’t absolutely sure that he would. Talking to Snape may be the worst idea he’d had, or the best. And there was no way to be sure which without chancing it.

The bell chimed for class but he didn’t move. Thoughts raged through his head. The Golden Trio would tonight pit their strength against a roomful of Death Eaters and the Dark Lord himself. How could they win? It was sheer stupidity to think that just because they were noble and right they would succeed. Real life wasn’t like that. In real life bastards like Voldemort killed the innocent and tortured the good. And disobedient sons had to watch as the woman they loved was captured and hurt to punish him.

The door swung open and Draco took a step back in surprise, pulled out of his morbid thoughts. Snape stared down at him, face unreadable.

“Are you going to come in, or just glare at my door all day?” he asked wryly, pulling the door open wider.

Draco hesitated, then shrugged and walked past the professor and into the room. He threw himself into one of the chairs and folded his arms. Snape followed, taking the only other seat and steepled his fingers on the desk, peering at Draco.

“You seem somewhat . . . agitated. You are fortunate I don’t have classes this hour.” Snape said calmly. His eyes pierced, however, betraying an inquisitive and uneasy mood.

Draco sighed heavily and met his teacher’s gaze. “My initiation is tonight. And the Boy-Who-Annoyed is going to the party without me.”

Snape froze. When he finally spoke, it was with the tone he usually used on misbehaving students, cold and unforgiving. “You agreed to wait until I gave you information to pass on. How have circumstances changed, and why?”

Cold blue flashed in Draco’s eyes. “This is the perfect opportunity, you can’t deny that. There will be less Death Eaters than at any other time. If they have any hope of success, it is tonight. There’s no time to plan, so that fits in with your strategy too. What else is there?”

For a long while silence reigned between them. When at last Snape spoke, it was with a soft sigh. “You’re right, of course. Who exactly will be involved in this surprise attack?”

Confusion built in Draco. Snape seemed to be more concerned with who was involved than with any other part. He clearly had not known about it which suggested he had not been invited to be one of the Death Eaters present. That raised enough questions in itself. He did not ask where it would take place. In fact, the only thing he was really asking suggested . . .

Draco’s jaw dropped. “You know who she is!” He waited for affirmation, then realised it was unnecessary. Snape’s expression said everything. Emotion, stark and raw, played across his features and suddenly Draco understood. “You know she’s Harry’s twin and that’s why you made her drink the Elixir. But you’re trying to protect her. Why?”

Snape stared at Draco for a moment, then ran a hand through his long hair. His eyes were unguarded, as if at last he had decided there was no more need to hide his secrets. “I knew her mother. And I failed her, betrayed her. Perhaps helping Aera, more than anything else, will redeem me of my sins. She is her mother’s daughter. And Harry ever was his father’s son.”

The last made little or no sense to Draco, but the first did. Severus was trying to make up for the mistakes in his life. He had been trying to make sure Aera would not be facing the Dark Lord.

“You can rest easy, Severus. I made an agreement with Potter. Aera will not be there.”

The relief was instant, the hidden gasp of tension eased barely audible. Draco watched as Snape rose from his chair to pour himself a shot of whiskey from the dresser into a tumbler. He downed it in one long draft. He stood there, empty glass in hand, staring into the distance.

“Tell me everything.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Aera shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She should have been in Charms, but Dumbledore had met her outside the Great Hall as she left lunch and almost ordered her up to his study with him. Now, here she sat, staring at his back as he stood facing the tall window. She had no idea why he had chosen now, but she did know it had been a while since he had showed any sign of even acknowledging her existence.

“You stopped going to the library, Miss Potter.”

She nearly jumped when he spoke. And then her teeth began worrying at her lower lip. How could she have been so careless? Of course he would get suspicious if she stopped researching.

“Which leaves me to conclude,” he continued, turning to face her with a stern face, “That you have found something. I left ample time for you to come to me with it, which you did not. And so now, I am curious.”

Aera met his level stare with one of her own. She refused to be drawn into this battle of wills. If he wanted answers, fine. It was not like she was getting anywhere with Draco or Harry. She half considered telling him everything, the shaky alliance between the two men, the Elixir Snape had asked her to drink. Common sense overrode emotion though. He would get answers, but he wouldn’t get the truth. She trusted Draco and her brother’s strategy over this doddery old man’s.

“It was a waste of time.” she said coldly, pitching her voice to irritation. “How many hours did you expect me to leaf through dusty old books in the hope that something might turn up?”

“I expected you to do it for as long as it would take.” Dumbledore returned in a voice just as chill. “You believe you can help Harry? I gave you that opportunity in bringing you here. I did not expect you to balk at the task as soon as it got boring.”

“Boring?” Aera snarled, rising to her feet. “Don’t you dare talk to me like that, Albus! You treat this as some sort of great game with you and Voldemort as the players! Harry and I are nothing but pawns that you use whatever way you think is best. Well, guess what? There was nothing in that prophecy all those years ago that said you had anything to do with this!”

Dumbledore’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth angrily, but Aera went right on, not giving him the luxury of interrupting. “Everything you’ve tried has failed. Why can’t you bloody well see that? So, what next? You tell Harry when and where to fight next time and he might end up killed!”

Her breath caught and she shook her head angrily, too furious to speak further. For a moment she thought he would say something, tell her she was too young, too naïve to understand. Then the fight went out of him. He sank into his chair, head hanging into his hands. When he spoke, it was in a voice so soft she was sure she was not meant to hear.

“And so I learn the greatest lesson of humility.” Aera glared at him, though he didn’t raise his head to see. He continued on at a more normal volume. “Harry is lucky to have such a spirited sister. I will not ask what you are planning with him, though by what you say it seems as if things are already in motion. Perhaps it is for the best that I do not know.”

Aera’s heart slowed from it’s terrific thundering into a steady rhythm. He was not going to stop them. It seemed that she had finally made him understand. He glanced up with a sharp gaze.

“I suppose you have already revealed yourself to him. I hope you do not have to regret that. You may find that such a truth will put Harry in a difficult situation.”

Aera nodded, understanding. She had to be there for the battle. And Harry would put himself rather than her in danger, knowing who she was. If there had been another way, a way to gain his trust without revealing who she was, she would have tried that. But there was no way to change the past.

“What is done, is done.” Dumbledore said quietly, echoing her thoughts. “And so it begins.”

_______________________________________________

Oooh!!! It’s all starting! I’ve been so excited about getting to this point . . .

Love Aera
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Smile Like You Mean It