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Izzy

The Mirror of Erised

"Ron. Ron! Wake up!" shouted Harry Potter at his best friend Ronald Weasley.

"What?" asked Ron sleepily.

It was one o´clock in the night. Really not time to wake Ron up. He wanted to push Harry away and go back to sleep, but something in his voice made him sit.

"Come, Ron, quickly. It´s back!"

"What´s back?"

"The Mirror of Erised." whispered Harry, almost as he has spoken about some God.

Ron immediately stood up and they went downstairs.

"I couldn´t sleep. I went for a walk and I found it."

"I thought Dumbledore destroyed it."

"Apparently not." said Harry happily.

He took out the Cloak of Invisibility and he was just about to cover them, when he heard some other voice.

"Where do you two think you´re going?"

Both Harry and Ron jumped and turned around. Their best friend Hermione Granger was sitting next to the fireplace and frowned at them. Obviously got stuck with some book.

"Nothing." Ron prepared to deny, but Harry interrupted him.

"Why don´t you come with us, Hermione? You won´t regret it."

Hermione frowned even more, but them she remembered all their adventures. And Voldemort was dead. Nothing bad could happen. Harry looked so excited. Without any more thinking, she smiled and covered them all with the Cloak.

"You lead the way, Harry." whispered Ron and Hermione nodded.

Three friends left their common room.

"Who´s there?" shrieked Fat Lady, but they continued without answer.

The castle was quiet, but amazing. As always. All the portraits were on their places and now slept tight. Hogwarts was half destroyed during the Second Wizard War, but now it looked like no Voldemort ever came here.

"I´m freezing." complained Ron. Hermione or Harry didn´t say anything, although they had shivers, too. They walked pass the Bloody Baron, but he didn´t notice them. All those years spent sneaking around came in handy.

"Are you sure you know where you´re going?" asked Hermione nervously. At least 20 minutes must have passed.

"Yes, positive. We´re almost there."

Harry rushed them into some hall. They walked through it and found themselves in front of a huge, wooden door. Ron pulled the door handle and they entered the room. Hermione knew she´s never been here before. It was large, shaped in almost perfect circle. White marble columns were touching the ceiling. And in the middle was the Mirror of Erised.

"You were right. But didn´t Dumbledore say he´ll destroy it?" asked Hermione.

"Perhaps he couldn´t. Perhaps he sometimes came here and looked into it. I´m glad he didn´t. It´s unique."

Hermione got scared. She knew Harry was able to get very attached to this Mirror. She wanted to look in it as well, but she was afraid her friend will lost his mind.

Ron came closer to the Mirror. He touched the frame and looked at his reflection.

"Wicked."

"What do you see, Ron?" Hermione came closer to him and looked at the mirror. She saw only herself.

"The same thing as years ago. Successful, handsome me and..." he didn´t finish. He looked at Hermione. Judging from the blush on his face, she knew exactly, what Ron saw. They had their kiss, there were sparks, but they didn´t date.

Ron moved aside and Harry stood in front of it.

He sadly smiled and nodded. "My parents. But... you´re there too guys. And...Ginny is there as well, right next to me."

"Yuck, Harry. I don´t want you to see my sister in that Mirror." exclaimed Ron.

"What are you going to do about it?" smiled Harry and punched him friendly. They started their little normal fight.

Hermione shook her head. Boys. She stood in front of the mirror, expecting to see herself with family and friends. The silhouette of some person began to shape. At first, she noticed the figure. Tall and good built. She saw his black clothes. Then, she noticed the pale, almost platinum hair. The person opened his eyes. The long lashes revealed them. They were gray as the clouds right before the storm. They were looking at her, storming but the look was gentle. His full lips smiled and her reflection did as well. Hermione – the real one – took a quick breath. That couldn´t be true.

"So, ´Mione. What do you see?" She barely noticed Harry and Ron coming back.

"Oh, well...I see myself in front of Ministry of Magic. I work as an Auror and you two as well. I have loads of books in my hands. "

Harry and Ron smirked at each other. "That´s our Hermione."

They quickly hugged her and prepared to leave. "Are you coming?" Ron asked.

She shook her head. "No, you two go, I´ll stay a bit. The book looks interesting."

Ron rolled his eyes and covered Harry and him with a Cloak. "Be careful on the way back."

She nodded and waved them off. She looked back into the Mirror. She had everything – Ron, Harry, great parents, high marks – everything she wished for. So why wasn´t she happy? Why did she have to see that person in the Mirror? Hermione spent hours in front of it. Those two people seemed to be very happy together.

The sun started to crawl out of the horizon. Hermione jumped. Was she here the whole night? She quickly looked at the Mirror and left the room.

She was very confused. Is it going to change anything? Does it mean something? For the first time in her life, she didn´t know the answer. Hermione knew only one thing for sure – she would never be able to look into the eyes of Draco Malfoy the same way ever again.