Written for inmemoriam7 livejournal community. Prompt: Elderly. Enjoy :-)
Albus Dumbledore stared into the Mirror of Erised. "What do you see in the mirror, sir?" Harry had asked, and Albus had told the young boy that he saw himself holding a pair of thick woollen socks.
It was true, in a way. When Albus gazed into the mirror that showed his heart's desire, Ariana appeared in the mirror. She always appeared as an old woman, because Albus never went a day without wishing that Ariana had had the chance to grow up and grow old. The mirror always showed Albus hugging her protectively like the brother he should have been, and Ariana's feet were always warmed by a thick pair of woolly socks.
Albus wasn't proud of the things he'd done in life, so when he appeared in King's Cross Station and discovered that he was alone he assumed that he was in purgatory. But then Ariana appeared, the madness she suffered in life having been cleansed by death and her feet warmed by purple woolly socks that clashed terribly with her simple white dress, and Albus decided that purgatory or not, the fact that Ariana was waiting for he and Aberforth meant he'd been forgiven for all his sins against her. Purgatory it may have been, but for one elderly spirit it was heaven.