Hi everyone!
This is my first story on here, so I hope you like it! I don't know when I'll be able to update or finish... but I'll do my very best to keep it reasonably regular!
Each chapter starts with a dream, daydream, or memory featuring a HP book quote and some song lyrics... All feedback is greatly appreciated! Anyway, enjoy... Our story begins about 8 years after DH.
P.S. I do not own the song lyrics, or the quotes, or Harry Potter, or any of the characters... If I did then it certainly WOULD have gone that way!

Shards of Desire

Chapter 1

We hide from the mirrors, They might show our scars
Reflection that we want to be, The people we are
Confront your reflection, Smash what you see
And let's restart, 'cause mirrors can't see our heart

(Broken Mirrors - Rise Against)

A great number of faces, both on the train and off, seemed to be turned toward Harry.
"Why are they all staring?" demanded Albus as he and Rose craned around to look at the other students.
"Don't let it worry you," said Ron. "It's me, I'm extremely famous."
Albus, Rose, Hugo, and Lily laughed. The train began to more, and Harry walked alongside it, watching his son's thin face, already ablaze with excitement. Harry kept smiling and waving, even though it was like a little bereavement, watching his son glide away from him...
The last trace of steam evaporated in the autumn air. The train rounded a corner. Harry's hand was still raised in farewell.
"He'll be alright," murmured Ginny. As Harry looked at her, he lowered his hand absentmindedly and touched the lightning scar on his forehead.
"I know he will."
The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well.

With a huge gasp Hermione shot up in bed, heart racing and blood pounding. She drew a shuddering breath as she realised that it had once again been only a dream. She was in her own bed and it was 3.12 am. She was 26 years old and single, not 36 with two children and Ron for a husband... Hermione ran a wobbly hand through her hair and climbed out of her bed. The house was silent and she breathed a sigh of relief as she pulled on her dressing gown.

A loud smash echoed through the house and Harry Potter sat up in bed. Grabbing his wand from under the pillow and swiping his glasses up from the nightstand and onto his nose, he silently got out of bed and crept towards the bedroom door. Turning the handle as quietly as he could, Harry edged out onto the landing pointing his tightly gripped wand in front of him. Opposite him, Ron's bedroom door was still shut. He looked up at the ceiling; Hermione's room was upstairs. Another sound from downstairs alerted Harry's Auror senses and he cast a silencing charm on his feet before creeping down the stairs to investigate.

Harry stealthily moved into the lounge and breathed a sigh of relief at the sight before him. There were no dark wizards in there, no death eaters or scary monsters, just his best friend Hermione Granger scrabbling about on the floor.
"Hermione?" Harry spoke quietly, "What's up?"
She looked up at him horrified and tried to hide whatever it was she was kneeling over.
"I'm sorry, Harry."
Harry looked up at the mantelpiece above her and noticed a gap in the objects on it. His mirror was missing, and a sudden rush of fear went through him, but it was gone as soon as it had started.
Harry knelt down beside Hermione, seeing the pieces of broken glass littered all around her. He reached for her hands, pulling them away from her lap.
"It's ok, Hermione. Let me see." She relaxed her hands and Harry was able to look at them properly. "You've cut yourself."
"Harry, your mirror. I'm so sorry. I tried to mend it..."
"Sshh... Come on, let's get you cleaned up." He pointed his wand at her hands and healed the cuts with a silent charm. "Don't worry about the mirror... I haven't looked into it for years. How did it happen? And why are you up at this hour?"
"I couldn't sleep."
Harry still held her hands in his and looked at her tenderly.
"Is everything alright?"
"I just had a dream that's all...and I woke with a start. It was nothing...I was startled but it was just one of those jumps you do in your sleep." Harry was looking concerned. "Don't look at me that way, Harry!"
"Sorry. But how did this happen?" He indicated to the broken glass on the floor around them.
"I came down for a cup of tea, and then when I passed the mirror, I wanted to see how I looked, so I got the mirror down and I saw...well, I dropped it. It was an accident. I'm so sorry!"
Harry nodded and smiled sadly. "It's ok Hermione. It doesn't matter, really. And you look fine." He reached out and brushed a lock of errant hair behind her ear. "I'm just glad you're ok. You are ok, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I am." She sighed. "I just keep dreaming the same dream, and it gets me all freaked out and jittery."
Harry stood up and led her to the couch.
"Sit down. I'll make you that cup of tea you came down for." He disappeared into the kitchen.

Harry handed Hermione a mug and sat down heavily next to her.
"Harry, can I ask you something?"
He nodded, looking down into his own mug of tea.
"Where did that mirror come from? You never told us anything about it."
"It was part of the Mirror of Erised." He said, blowing into the hot mug in his hands. "I never told anyone."
"How did you get it?" Hermione whispered, staring at him. "Why?"
"Dumbledore once told me that the mirror showed the 'deepest and most desperate desire of our hearts', and I needed to see mine again." He looked at her, and swallowed the lump beginning to form in his throat.
"The first time I looked into the original mirror, when I found it while I was hiding from Filch, I saw my parents. Dumbledore moved the mirror and asked me not to go looking for it again. So I didn't, and I forgot about it for a while. Then, when I least expected to, I remembered. After the final battle, when it was all over, I found the mirror again. It was amongst all the burnt rubble in the room of requirement, completely unscathed." Harry paused. "I'd gone for a walk after we left Dumbledore's office. I needed to clear my head and be alone."
"I remember." Hermione said quietly. "I offered to go with you."
Harry nodded and continued. "I walked around the castle for hours that evening, long after everyone had gone to bed. Then on the fifth floor, the room of requirement appeared to me, so I went inside. It was a wreck in there. But, somehow, I found the mirror. I wanted to see my parents again, now that it was all over. But I saw nothing, just myself standing there, smiling...I can't explain it." He frowned, and continued. "Then I was so angry. I felt so abandoned, so upset, so alone... I- I smashed the mirror. When I realised what I had done, I took the biggest piece and cleaned it up, made it into a proper rectangle shape."
Harry gestured to the broken pieces on the hearth rug. "That mirror was the largest remaining piece of the original mirror of Erised. 'Men have wasted away before it, not knowing if what they have seen is real, or even possible.'" He recited Dumbledore's words and sighed. "Dumbledore explained to me how dangerous and precious that mirror was, and I never believed him until it was gone. I knew I had to keep that piece." Harry said. "But since then I have never looked directly into it. I don't want to see my own reflection from that night again."
He got up from the couch and began to pick up all the tiny shards of glass. Harry carefully picked up the two largest remnants of the broken mirror and handed one of the pieces to Hermione. "I don't want to look into it again, but here, you keep this one. I hope it still works for you."
Hermione took the piece of mirror in her hands, but didn't look into it. "Thank you, Harry." She thought for a moment and then spoke. "Maybe you saw yourself smiling that night because your heart's desire was to see yourself alive and finally happy... I know mine would have been." She stood and leaned up to brush her lips against his cheek. "Goodnight Harry."

Back in her bedroom, Hermione sat in bed leaning against the pillows. She was staring at, not into, the piece of mirror; she was afraid to look into it again. She hadn't told Harry what she had seen in the mirror which made her drop it. Her hands had fumbled and her breath had caught in her chest as she watched the image play out in the glass. A blush had risen on her neck and heat had flooded her whole body; the glass had slipped from her hand and shattered on the floor. Now, taking a deep breath and mustering all her courage, Hermione raised the mirror in front of her face. The image she had seen earlier swam into view again and she let out another gasp. This was her own heart's desire, and it was still a shock.

Harry closed his bedroom door behind himself and leant back against it, turning the piece of glass over in his hand. He reached up and touched his cheek where Hermione's lips had been only moments previously. "Oh Hermione..." He sighed. He could not bear to look into the mirror ever again, and threw the shard to the floor unceremoniously. It did not shatter, but slid across the wooden floor and came to rest under the chest of drawers. Harry stalked over to his bed and dropped his glasses onto the nightstand. He climbed back into bed with a muttered "Nox," pulling the covers right up to his forehead and closing his eyes. It seemed to take hours for him to fall asleep...