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They'd been searching for old mannequins on the seventh floor in the Room of Hidden things to use during the next DA meeting when they stumbled across it. Perhaps it may have been better to say that Neville had stumbled into it. Not that it was his fault, of course; he'd been so busy making sure not to step on any of the old relics littering the dusty floor that he just hadn't noticed it. Of course, its presence was made all too clear after the collision. The large, cloth covered object wobbled, sending up a cloud of dust as it threatened to topple over.
"Neville!" Harri rushed over to his side, pulling him away in case it decided to fall over on him. Fortunately the unwieldy object managed to regain its equilibrium; the large cloth, however slid to the ground, gathering in a dusty pile at their feet. The brunette paid it no mind, focusing instead on her fellow Gryffindor. "You okay?" she asked.
The fair haired boy nodded, his focus on the object behind her. "Wow, what's something like this doing tucked away back here?"
Curious, Harri turned, her emerald eyes widening at the large, ornately carved wooden mirror standing before them. She nearly did a double take, uncertain if what she was seeing was real, but the old inscription carved into its high arch rid her of any doubts.
Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi
The Mirror of Erised; to think she would stumble across it again!
Slowly, as if caught in its spell, the brunette felt her gaze shifting downward, peering deeply into the frosted glass. At first she saw only a pale girl with unruly black hair. A moment later the image changed, and just like all those years ago, Harri watched with quiet joy as her family began to appear around her. Her mother and father were standing at her shoulders smiling warmly at her while grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins waved happily from the background.
She knew in her heart that it was just an illusion - she'd learned through Sirius and Professor Lupin that her father was an only child and her mother's only surviving family were the horrible Dursleys - but seeing all those smiling faces... Harri now understood why Dumbledore told her the mirror was dangerous. At that moment she was almost certain she would have given anything to make the image before her real.
Her hand reached out, touching the weathered glass reverently. As she did so, the image rippled like water, shifting and changing. Harri still saw herself surrounded by her family, but it was somehow different.
"Oh!" Staring into the mirror's reflection, instead of a pale faced girl in a dusty school uniform, Harri found an woman with shiny dark hair, dressed in simple but elegant robes gazing back at her. 'Is that me?'
Emerald eyes framed by a curtain of lovely hair gazed back at her. Harri nearly reeled back in surprise – it was her alright… but older! Her parents were still there - older - but situated further in the distance with her extended family. Their hair was lined with streaks of gray, their faces worn with age, but the love and warmth in their eyes was still plain to see. However, that emotion was no longer focused solely on her, but also the small children held close to her side.
Her breath froze in her chest as her heart skipped a beat. Were those her children?! But then that would mean – she looked over her reflection's shoulder, gazing at the young man standing close behind her. His arm was draped around her, his hand resting gently on her shoulder. A simple gold band adorned his ring finger.
'My children… and my husband…' Admittedly Harri had never given much thought to what her life might be like after Hogwarts. After all, with the Prophecy hanging ominously over her head, her greatest concern was surviving the inevitable confrontation with Voldemort… whenever that came.
But seeing what might be… Harri gazed earnestly at the man standing closely behind her. Her first experience with dealing with romance hadn't given her much hope of ever being successful at it. Yet, gazing at her older self, happily married with a family of her own made her wonder if perhaps she might have a chance.
"Men have wasted away before it," Dumbledore had said. "Not knowing if what they have seen is real, or even possible."
'Of course it isn't possible,' she frowned absently. 'Who would be crazy enough to marry the Girl Who Lived?' She stared at the man as hard as she could, but his features were hard to distinguish. It was like trying to look through a frosted window on a cloudy day. Sadness crept its way into her chest as reality began to seep in once more. It didn't matter what he looked like... not really anyway. What she saw, what she felt… none of it was real; there was no way that anyone would ever—
"Harri? Harri?!"
A warm handed landed on her shoulder, and Harri jumped in surprise as her reflection shifted again. She could see her own pale face staring back at her, along with Neville's, his eyes dark with worry.
"Are you alright, Harri?" he asked. She glanced over her shoulder at him, blinking slowly as if she was surprised to see him standing there. "You've been just standing there like you were in a trance or something…"
"I'm…" She brought a hand to her head, shaking it lightly as if to clear it. "I'm okay. I was just looking at the mirror."
The boy paused, peering into the glass. "What's so special about it?" he asked.
"It's called the Mirror of Erised," she answered. Closing her eyes, she remembered her conversation with the headmaster in that old, abandoned classroom. "It shows us the 'deepest and most desperate desire of our hearts'."
Neville blinked at her, and then at the mirror again. Realizing only the two of them were visible within the frosted glass, Harri flushed slightly. The same thing had happened when she attempted to show Ron the image of her parents. "I guess it only works with one person at a time."
"Oh," Neville continued to stare, his expression turning thoughtful.
Harri nodded, stepping away and stooping down to collect the sheet that had been covering the mirror. It'd probably be best if they re-covered it and acted like they never saw anything. Perhaps she should even tell the headmaster so that he could have it moved to another location. Glancing up at Neville, she opened her mouth to ask for his assistance when she noticed his expression. His eyes were wide open and he gazed at the mirror's surface with what looked like hopeful longing.
Although she had no way of knowing what it is he was seeing – she knew it really had to be something based upon the look of joy that passed across his face – the brunette frowned in worry. She knew how easy it was to fall under the mirror's spell. It had had her in its snare just moments ago!
"Neville," she called out gently. The boy turned his head her way, but his eyes did not leave the mirror. "This mirror is dangerous… It shows you the thing you want most, but none of it is real." She felt a sharp twinge of pain as she said this, but pushed on. "Professor Dumbledore told me that people are so desperate for that illusion that they've spent their entire lives in front of it, wasting away."
His eyes finally shot to hers, widening as his face paled at the thought. "Merlin's beard…" he gaped. "You're serious?"
She nodded. "We need to cover it back up now." She grabbed a section of material, beckoning him to do the same. "We don't need any of the others getting caught by it, too."
"R-right," Gathering a large section of cloth in his arms, Neville began dragging it over the mirror. Because of its size, it eventually took an application of the Levitation charm to get it up and over. Eventually they succeeded, although the effort left them both covered in dust.
"There we are," Harri exclaimed, nodding in satisfaction. "All done."
"Yeah," Neville agreed, although there was still a touch of longing evident in his expression.
The brunette regarded him with worry. She, too, felt a pang of sadness knowing that her heart's desire was beyond her reach. For a brief moment she considered asking him if he wanted to talk about it, but eventually decided that it might be too private to discuss. After all, she couldn't imagine trying explain how desperate she'd felt to learn the identity of her imaginary husband. How awkward would that be?
Still, she couldn't stand seeing him looking so forlorn. He was her friend after all; she had to do something. After a moment's hesitation, she reached out, placing a hand on his shoulder gently. "Hey, Nev,"
He jumped, his eyes falling on her face. Something flashed in his eyes briefly, but it was gone before she could even consider trying to decipher it. "Yeah, Harri?"
"How about we go find those mannequins?" she suggested. "If we don't, Fred and George'll try to use the firsties instead."
That got a chuckle out of him. "That'd be terrible," he exclaimed. "Weren't you going over hexes today?"
She grinned. "I thought about leaving it up to Ginny, actually." She confessed. "She's pretty wicked with the Bat-Bogey Hex,"
Together, the pair ventured back towards the front of the room, leaving the mirror behind. However, although their conversation remained light, the images of what they'd seen still weighed heavily upon their minds.
Ironically enough, if either of them had spoken of what they'd seen, they would have come to quite a startling revelation…
….the image they saw gazing back at them in the mirror was exactly the same.
~End