A/N: Can you believe it? Two chapters in two days? It's Christmas in July, people! Enjoy! Share your comments and review!

CHAPTER FOURTY-THREE

Honest Illusions

When Harry woke up the next morning, light was already peering between the curtains of his bed. He was on his back with Eva in his arms. He was content, watching the rise and fall of her bare chest. He desperately tried to concentrate on other topics—such as Quidditch statistics—instead of the curves of her body and the soft feeling of her flesh against his. He had little success. The blood was rushing from his head to another part of his body, leaving him dizzy.

He couldn't believe she was in his arms. He couldn't believe Eva was his. When did he become so lucky?

Eva stirred and stretched her arms above her head, yawning. Then, suddenly realizing how naked she was, she pulled the sheet up and covered herself, blushing. "Morning," she said.

"Good morning," Harry replied. "Sleep well?"

She nodded and tugged at the Moon Guide. The chain was still hanging around her neck, the guide dipping between her breasts. "What is this?" she questioned. "It changed color. Is it one of those mood stones?"

Harry shook his head. He rifled under his pillow and pulled out the other Moon Guide, which matched the shade of the one that hung around her neck. "It's a Moon Guide. It's a magical device. As the moon approaches, this stone gets darker and darker. Remus gave one to me for my birthday to keep track of the moon." He hesitated, not sure if he was supposed to tell her all of its secrets. "Also, it's sort of a surveillance item."

Eva raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Harry lifted the Moon Guide to his eye. "When I look inside of it, and say the right incantation, I can see whoever is wearing the other one, and vice versa."

She studied the guide closely. "So when I look in here, I can see you?"

"Actually, I don't think you can, because you're a Muggle. The incantation won't work. But I can see you whenever I want," he added, seeing she was disappointed.

"Well, I'll just have to wear it all the time, won't I?" she said, proudly puffing out her chest.

"Don't ever take it off."

"Never ever?" she teased with an eyebrow raised in the direction of where Harry's blood was currently flowing.

Turning serious, Harry said quietly, "Never ever." He reached over and intertwined his fingers with hers and kissed her forehead.

"I won't," she replied. "What time is it?"

"I'm not sure, actually." Harry hadn't heard any sign of life in the dormitory, but that could have been due to the silencing charm—which he was very grateful he had thought of for the night before. "Want some breakfast?"

She shrugged. "I'm not very hungry."

"I could go down to the Great Hall and bring something back for both of us. Or we could sneak down to the kitchen. I'm sure the house-elves would fix something in no time." He paused. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," she replied. "That sounds fine. I'll get dressed." She sat up and collected her clothes that were no longer in a neat pile at the foot of the bed.

"Mind if I watch?" Harry asked jokingly. He grabbed her one more time and kissed her roughly. She kissed him back, but he could see her heart wasn't in it. He pushed a few strands of hair out of her face and pressed the back of his hand against her forehead. "You're burning up."

"I… I think it's the transformation. I'm sorry," she apologized. "I feel so… embarrassed."

Harry laughed nervously. "You don't have anything to apologize for—especially after last night," he added. "And you definitely have no reason to be embarrassed." Eva grinned, her face turning red. He cleared his throat. "I'll get dressed and give the invisibility cloak to you to sneak down to the kitchens. Then you'll have to stay right behind me, and make sure to not run into anyone. I bet the common room is full of people right now. And the hallways too."

Harry opened the canopy curtains and slipped out into the daylight. He quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweater, then checked his watch. It was almost eleven. She had to be in the kitchen by noon anyway. He took the invisibility cloak out of his trunk and poked his head back inside the canopy. Eva was already dressed back into her jeans and t-shirt. She took the cloak and draped it around her shoulders and disappeared. Harry held the curtains open and saw a slight movement as Eva got out of bed.

"Late night?"

Harry jumped. He heard Eva gasp, and he tried to cover it up with a cough. Seamus was across the room, digging for something in his trunk. "Ah… yeah. Remedial Potions and all."

"Snape's a bastard," Seamus muttered. "Did you hear he gave little Nora a detention? And she's never made trouble for anyone."

"I heard," Harry replied. "Well, I'd better get to the Great Hall and get something to eat. I'll see you later." Harry breathed a sigh of relief as he left the boys dormitory. He could hear Eva's quiet footsteps behind him.

The common room wasn't too full. Harry didn't take the time to look around and made a beeline for the door. They quickly went to the portrait of the fruit. Harry tickled the pear and the portrait swung open. When they were safely inside, Eva took the cloak off. Harry took it and put in his bag.

"Think anyone saw you?"

"No, except…" She hesitated. "I swear Nora's kitten looked right at me."

Harry grinned. "I think cats can see straight through the cloaks."

Eva crossed her arms over her chest. "Nora didn't tell me she got a detention. Why'd she get it?"

"She corrected one of her professors. He didn't like it very much."

"Who?"

"Snape." Harry didn't even bother to try his hatred for the man. "He teaches Potions."

He was also the one to blame for the attack on Christmas Eve, but Harry didn't want to tell Eva that. She was growing paler by the second and he didn't want to upset her. "Let's go. I'm starving." He took her hand and helped her down the stairs.

The house-elves scurried around them and set up the room they were in last night for brunch. All but Dobby acted as though Eva was a ticking time bomb. Eva, however, seemed indifferent to all the fuss, and appeared to be struggling to stay awake. Even breathing wore her out. When the food magically appeared on the table, Harry found that he lost his appetite. Instead, he scooted his chair over next to her and rubbed her back until noon.

Saying goodbye was the worst part. Harry barely got to kiss her one last time before she followed Remus and a handful of house-elves into one of the hidden doors in the kitchen. Dumbledore met them with some last-minute instructions about when Snape would be arriving to administer the potion.

"Will I get to see her again before she leaves Hogwarts?" Harry questioned, watching her disappear.

"I'm afraid not," Dumbledore replied. "She'll be quite ill after the full moon. The transformation takes a toll on one's body. Then she'll have to return to the Ministry." He turned and smiled at Harry. "You'll see her next month. Valentine's Day, if my calculations are correct."

That seemed so far away to Harry. "Well, thank you, professor. I'm really grateful for spending time with her."

Dumbledore nodded. "Love is like war, Harry. Easy to begin but very hard to stop. You'd better get back upstairs before Professor Snape sees you."

"He doesn't know I'm seeing her?"

"Would you be able to trust him with Eva if he did?" Dumbledore questioned.

"No, I guess not." Harry imagined that Snape would love to take his revenge on Harry by doing something horrible to Eva during her transformations. He may have caused the attack, but now she was depending on him to make her changes less painful and dangerous.

Dependent on Snape. What was a nightmare.

Harry, Michael, and Marietta were seated at a round table in the center of the Room of Requirement. It was silent except for Marietta's nervous chatter as she answered Harry's questions. After, of course, he'd remembered to collect their membership coins. Her words were not registering with him, or rather, he didn't care what she was saying. It was all about how she felt.

His Legilimency lessons had been progressing smoothly. Harry didn't know how to explain exactly what happened when he uttered the incantation, but the more he practiced, the more confident he felt. He hadn't used his skills on Dumbledore much, but he did get to use them on willing house-elves. Harry had "read" Dobby a few times, but he found that the better he knew someone, the more uncomfortable he felt using Legilimency on them.

Usually, he only got a feeling of whether the subject was being honest or not by concentrating on the eyes. However, more and more frequently he was able to pick up images from someone's subconscious—or even sounds or feelings. The most powerful senses he felt were of smell. Whether it was the aroma of something pleasant or the stench of fear, it always clouded his mind and made it hard to concentrate on anything else.

And there were times when he didn't even need to use the incantation. Sometimes, when his guard was down or he was feeling particularly tired, he could merely look someone in the eyes and get images or sounds or feelings or smells from them. It was these times that worried him the most. He didn't want to see anything he wasn't supposed to.

He had asked Dumbledore's permission to interrogate Michael and Marietta. The headmaster said that it would be his first true test of his skills. Now he was beginning to see what a burden they truly were.

"It was a moment of weakness," Marietta continued. "I know that you can't afford to be betrayed, but you have to understand, that Umbridge woman was horrid…"

It was no good. She couldn't be trusted. Harry grasped a few of her thoughts: Why is he staring at me like that? When will this be over? Doesn't he understand that I want to be back in? I bet he's playing favorites. He just has Cho in the stupid club because she snogged him last year.

Harry concluded within minutes that Marietta's pure motivation for wanting to be in D.A. was jealousy. Cho had everything. She was beautiful, she was Quidditch captain, she had a boyfriend—a fellow Ravenclaw—who Marietta had a crush on for years. She wasn't even sorry for ratting D.A. out last year to Umbridge.

"I'm sorry, Marietta," Harry said, interrupting her. Her face was red. "I just can't let you back in to Dumbledore's Army."

"But…"

Harry shook his head. "These are dangerous times. I think you would be much safer if you weren't involved in our club." And Harry thought that his D.A. family would be much safer without someone like her around who couldn't be trusted.

Marietta seemed to pout. Fine, I'll tell everybody about your stupid club. Harry quickly interrupted her thought. "And if you ever speak of it to anyone, another curse will befall you." He held up the contract that Hermione had written. It was binding that if either Michael or Marietta spoke of Dumbledore's Army, they would be immediately hexed. He was very glad Hermione had thought of it, otherwise there was no stopping Marietta from telling the whole world about D.A. However, the curse was quite complex, and even Hermione wasn't exactly confident in her spell.

Defeated, Marietta sat back in her chair and absent-mindedly played with one of her reddish-blonde tendrils, pouting. Harry denounced her as a lost cause and turned to Michael. He was suddenly glad that he had his Legilimency skills, otherwise he would have believed Marietta's argument, which would have only caused trouble in the long run.

Harry began with the same line of questioning. "Why should you be back in D.A.?"

Michael glanced at Cho, who standing near the entrance with her arms crossed over her chest, listening to the interrogation. "Well, last year, the only reason I wanted to be in Dumbledore's Army was because Ginny was in it. I was her boyfriend, and I wanted to spend more time with her." He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "But now it's different. I want to be in D.A. because I actually care about the cause."

Rubbish.

Harry had already caught him in it. So he, too, set out to deceive him. He wanted to be back in D.A. not because he cared about the battle, but because he wanted to get Ginny back. As Harry concentrated on Michael's dark eyes, he muttered the spell a little louder to probe deeper into his mind and give himself an extra magical boost.

He could see Ginny in Michael's thoughts: their secret meetings outside behind Hagrid's Hut and in a corner of the dungeon from the year before. One time he showed her the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower, which was not the brightest idea, and quite stupid, really. He wanted her back, but Harry had trouble deciding whether it was for his physical desires or not.

Harry shuddered. He was going way too deep into Michael's memories—and Ginny's private experiences, for that matter. The less he knew of their relationship, the better.

For some reason, he felt an obligation to keep Michael away from her. He didn't know if it was the brotherly protectiveness he felt towards her or that he was a little jealous of their past relationship himself. He was, after all, a guy, and he had kissed Ginny. Or rather, she kissed him. It was only human nature to…

Malfoy.

He did a mental double-take. What dark corner of Michael's brain had that image come from?

They were having a conversation. No, an argument. Something didn't work. He tried not to get distracted, but the image of Malfoy had shaken him deep into his core. Michael was bargaining with him.

"What's in it for me?"

Draco sneered and pulled out a small flask from his robe. A bright potion, red as blood, was inside of it. There was something special about this potion, something about the way it sparkled.

"I know that Weasley's got the better of you. I know she humiliated you last year."

"So?"

"So wouldn't you like to get the better of her? Wouldn't you like to pay her back?"

Draco tossed the flask to Michael, who caught it in midair. He held the opened the flask and sniffed the contents. He shrugged.

"What's this?"

"A love potion."

"I'm not going to play some silly school girls' games with her, Malfoy."

Michael was about to throw the potion back to him, but Draco held up his hand, stopping him.

"It's not just any love potion. It makes the drinker completely submissive. She will be your slave for two hours. Only a few drops and you can settle the score with Ginny Weasley."

Harry gasped. His first assumption had been wrong. Michael didn't want to join D.A. so that he could win Ginny back. He wanted to join D.A. so he could take his revenge on her.

He felt his blood run cold. It took every fiber of his being not to reach across the table and beat the hell out of Michael Corner. How could he stoop so low?

"You're out, too," Harry barked. "You can't be trusted."

Michael shook his head, confused. "But Harry, I really think I could help…"

"No." Harry glanced sideways at Michael. Maybe he had the potion on him right now. He doubted it. It was too precious and needed to be hidden away. Harry had to get it and destroy it. It was too dangerous in the hands of a horny, vengeance-seeking teenager.

Harry shuddered to think what could have happened if he hadn't found out about the potion. The gift of Legilimency may be a curse that gave him extra responsibilities, but at least it taught him that no one could be trusted. If he had been judging Michael purely on his argument, he would be back in D.A. as well.

"Harry, what are you saying?" Cho demanded from the doorway. "After all of this time, after all these ridiculous questions, you're still not going to let them back in?"

Harry glanced over at her. When he met her eyes, he saw that they too were clouded with ulterior motives. Behind her façade of beauty, there were secrets lurking, and Harry wasn't ready to find out what they were. He'd had enough surprises for one night.

"They made honest mistakes," Cho continued. "They admit that. They're sorry. Isn't that good enough?"

Harry shook his head. "It's not good enough." He stood up from the table. "This meeting is over. I warn you again, if you speak of this meeting, or of Dumbledore's Army to anyone, you will be hexed at once." He couldn't look either of them in the eyes.

Marietta scoffed and quickly left the Room of Requirement. Michael cast one long look at Harry, shrugged, and walked out of the room. Cho turned to leave as well, but Harry stopped her, and beckoned her to come closer to him.

He wasn't imagining things. He could see she had her doubts about D.A.—especially now that Harry had accused her two house-mates of being deceitful. He could see that she had some of the same untrustworthy characteristics that Michael and Marietta possessed. "If I were you," Harry whispered, "I'd make sure that I knew where my loyalties are. Don't forget who you pledged your honor to."

Before she could reply, Harry turned sharply and hurried out of the room. He didn't want to know what he would find inside her mind.

Harry didn't bother to sneak around, but swiftly walked straight to Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore had asked Harry to report to him about how the interrogation went. Harry didn't think he meant as soon as the meeting was over, but he had no choice. What he had found out was so disturbing and so utterly unbelievable that he had to tell Dumbledore immediately.

Harry muttered the password and quickly hurried up the stone staircase. He no longer felt the nervousness or apprehension of being called to the headmaster's office—he'd been there many, many times. Harry knocked on the door, more loudly than he intended, and he heard Dumbledore call for him to enter.

The headmaster didn't delay Harry with any pleasantries. He motioned for Harry to take a seat. "What have you learned?"

"Michael has a potion," Harry said breathlessly. "It makes the drinker become completely submissive. He wants to… He wants to use it on Ginny…"

Dumbledore nodded. "I am aware of the potion that Mr. Corner has in his possession, but I assure you that it does not do what he thinks it does."

"How did you know…?" Harry began, but stopped in mid-sentence. Of course Dumbledore knew. Harry should have known he would never let anything so dangerous fall into the wrong hands.

"Let's just say that I have eyes and ears everywhere," Dumbledore replied, his eyes twinkling. "He hasn't used the potion, then?"

"I don't think so. I don't know, exactly. I only saw that he got it from Malfoy."

Dumbledore nodded, stroking his beard. "Mr. Malfoy has been attending some nightly Potions lessons himself, courtesy of Professor Snape. He thinks he has been learning the darkest, most powerful of Potions. But I am afraid that Professor Snape has gotten the ingredients slightly out of sorts." Dumbledore smiled. "I have been keeping an eye on Mr. Malfoy. And did you find Mr. Corner to be trustworthy?"

"Of course not," Harry replied. "I don't care if he actually used the potion or not. His intentions were completely foul."

"And what of Marietta?"

Harry sighed. "She wanted to be back in for all the wrong reasons." He hesitated, but he thought he should tell Dumbledore everything about the meeting. It was, after all, his first test of his Legilimency skills. "I could see some of those same reasons in Cho. I'm not entirely sure that she's trustworthy, either."

"It is a burden," Dumbledore said quietly. "Sometimes you will see things you don't want to. But Harry, I feel congratulations are in order. You've passed your first test with flying colors."

"I have?" Harry questioned. He thought he did well, but there were still other things he wanted to find out, especially about Michael.

"Indeed. The fact that you can recall the images—the memories—of your subjects is quite amazing, really…"

"But I still haven't learned how to find out everything I want to," Harry interrupted. He felt like a Pensieve sometimes, collecting the thin silvery strands of memory that he'd seen Dumbledore extract with his wand.

"It will come with time. You've only been at it for a little over a month. You have already exceeded my expectations." He grinned. "You probably don't even need to speak the incantation anymore, am I right?"

Harry blushed at the compliments. "Er… Well, no, not really. Sometimes it helps when I can't quite concentrate. But when I meet someone's eyes, I can tell instantly if they're lying. It's a flash of brilliance, and then it's gone. It's happening more and more." In fact, Harry wasn't sure of how to turn it off. "How do you stop it?"

Dumbledore laughed lightly. "It is difficult. You'll learn to control it. But the memories are what trouble me. Even I, Harry, cannot see memories without using the incantation. I'm afraid you have surpassed you teacher already. There is only one other Legilimens I have heard of that can see inside a person's mind without a spell."

"Voldemort," Harry said. He didn't need to use his skills on Dumbledore to figure it out. "But how is that possible?" Harry questioned.

"I imagine that, like Parseltongue, he has transferred some more of his powers to you. However, it also works with your Occlumency training. The more you empty your mind of emotion, the more space you have to fill it up with your Legilimency skills—what you see in someone else."

"So now you're telling me that I need to work backwards," Harry said, "to be more… sensitive in order to stop seeing everyone else's memories?"

"I'm afraid so, Harry," Dumbledore replied. "Quite ironic. Tom Riddle never asked me how to stop his mental intruding throughout our training. He never wanted to turn it off. He always wanted to see as much as he could see. He took advantage of others as often as he could. There was no deceiving him. And there is no deceiving Lord Voldemort today."

Harry slumped back in his chair. He suddenly felt very tired. Despair seemed to wash over him. To the untrained eye, Michael and Marietta were two perfectly good candidates for D.A. They were smart and ambitious. Yet they couldn't be trusted. How many more people would he find that couldn't be trusted either?

"I know that you haven't had much of a break," Dumbledore said, interrupting his brooding, "but I'm afraid that I must give you an assignment."

"An assignment?" Harry questioned. "From who?"

"The Order, of course," he replied. "For the next week, Draco Malfoy will be spending each night in Defense Against the Dark Arts detention." His eyes sparkled. "And you, Harry, will be joining him."

A/N: Dumbledore is quoting Henry Louis Mencken when says that, 'Love is like war...' One of my favorites, and quite fitting, no? Also, the title of this chapter is the title of a book by Nora Roberts which I highly recommend.