The New Marauders and the Trickster God

Chapter 21: Mirror, Mirror

A bit disappointed about it, he further stepped into the room closely followed by Sam when they became aware that the room wasn't as empty as they had first thought. In the middle of the room stood a large ornate mirror.

"What is a mirror doing in an abandoned classroom?" Harry asked confusedly stepping in front of said object.

"Perhaps someone stored it here and forgot about it," Sam mused standing next to Harry.

They looked in the mirror, their confusion rising with every passing second when Sam suddenly drew a sharp breath.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" Harry asked him in concern.

Sam, on the other hand, could only stare at the mirror his eyes wide.

"Dean?!" he finally rasped out.

"Huh?" Harry looked back and forth between the mirror and Sam having deducted that Sam obviously saw his brother in the mirror. That was when he saw the inscription in the frame.

"Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi? What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

This finally brought Sam out of his staring.

"What?" he asked before he looked at the inscription himself wondering what irked him about it after having read it. "Wait, I know what that is. You have to read it backwards and rearrange the spaces.

"I show you not your face but your heart's desire," he recited, showing just how much he was used to deciphering strange languages during their hunts.

"So that is why you see your brother. You miss him and want him here, so the mirror shows you your desire – him," Harry muttered. "But why do I see nothing in it?"

"Perhaps you do not desire anything at the moment. I mean you met your parents, you have friends who care about you, and you will never have to return to your...the Dursleys."

Sam couldn't bring himself, calling them family because they most certainly were not.

"Maybe you're right," Harry agreed.

Right now, in the mirror, suddenly a girl his age with honey-blond hair and ice-blue eyes appeared. She wore a light blue summer dress and came to stand next to him before she snuck an arm around his waist leaning against him.

"Er... what?" was his very eloquent reaction to that.

"What is it, what happened?" now it was Sam's turn to be concerned.

"A girl I don't recognise suddenly appeared and snuggled against me," Harry said his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

That made Sam snicker. "It seems that the only thing left for you to desire is a girlfriend to love. But I have to say that you can wait for a few more years for that kind of desire," he started to laugh upon seeing Harry's indignant look.

"Agreed," Harry retorted before he turned away from the mirror. "However, I am tired, so let's get back to bed."

"That I can agree with," Sam laughed.

They both set off towards the dorms enjoying the silent castle at night. But turning one corner, Harry suddenly stopped Sam, quickly dug into his pouch, pulled out his invisibility cloak and threw it over Sam and himself. It was just in time because right at that moment two people rounded a corner down the corridor – Snape and Quirrell.

"You don't want me as your enemy Quirrell," Snape threatened the other professor, pushing him against a pillar.

Harry and Sam looked at each other in confusion, wondering what was going on. However, Harry refused to jump to conclusions concerning Snape since he knew the man quite well and liked him so he would always try to give him the benefit of the doubt.