Cracked Mirrors | Remus Lupin

𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 | 𝐀

It all happened at lunch time.

Heart beating fast in anticipation, she tiptoed her way past the three-legged stools. Some of the elves were perched on them, shooting curious looks at her and probably wondering why she wasn't at the Great Hall instead. She ignored her surrounding and kept on walking.

Other than a seventh year student lounging on a table and a couple of first years scribbling notes over numerous parchments, the Hufflepuff common room was mostly empty.

Upon her arrival, two heads rose up in her direction, wearing the same curious looks she'd received moments ago. She slowly waved at them and took the stairs two at a time, relief washing over her when the familiar door came into view.

Finally.

The boxes sat in a corner for endless hours.

Over the months, thick layers of dust had painted a blurry picture on each side of the place, but that wasn't stopping vividly painful memories from flooding back to one of its long-forgotten residents. There was not a day without three of them being together. From celebrating Hufflepuff's victories in Quidditch matches to cursing at final exams. From gossiping about silly things to coming up with brilliant ideas for Y/N's stories.

They used to dress up for Christmas Balls and get ready for unfair wars, right in the middle of the place she was standing now, alone. She could still spot the initials they had carved on the front of each other's beds.

E, S and hers.

"To the eternality of our friendship."

The air was thick with the ghost of those laughters and sobs.

It wasn't the same anymore.

One of them had broken her promise.

When she rested her tear-stained cheek on the mattress, her vision was too blurry to make out what those happy faces in the picture frame in her hand were doing. Her eyelids drooped and hopefully this time a dreamless sleep consumed her.

Night had already fallen when she woke up.

There was no sign of unwelcome nightmares or visitors. However, something wasn't quite right.

She rubbed the sleep off her eyes and her fingers made a clumsy attempt to find her wand. It was too dark to see anything in the room. 

But it wasn't only the darkness that was bothering her. Beads of sweat were trickling down her flushed face. It felt as if the room was stiflingly hot, suffocating in its own unyielding grip. The walls were radiating waves of heat. The curtains hung motionless like heavy drapes of fire.

The heat was too much.

Seconds stretched into eternities. She had to do something.

With one hand on her knee, she pushed the struggles aside and stood up, pacing around like an aimless ghost. With each step she became more aware of the blazing sea she was trapped in. Everything was fine, but nothing was actually fine.

Every inhale was setting her lungs in flames, igniting a searing pain that spread all over her body. Every exhale carried embers

All of it only meant one thing.

The room was on fire.

Where was it though?

Her unblinking eyes couldn't see the flames, but her whole being was trapped in the burning sensation.

There was invisible smoke everywhere.

A hazy embodiment of her inner wars.

Her mind was clouded with discomfort, her hand heavier than the the air around her. She screwed up her eyes and walked towards the curtains, trying to assure herself that she wouldn't get burnt as her languid fingers reached for the window handler.

A ghost of wind rushed in and its coolness calmed her skin in an instant. She clutched the windowpane firmly and gasped for fresh air, trying to process what had just happened.

She was losing her mind.

It slowly dawned on her. Her old thoughts came flooding back to her mind. Sometimes the wars weren't visible. Sometimes the eyes couldn't see their opponents.

She tilted her head to a side and caught a glimpse of her once-beloved bookshelf. Seven leather-bound notebooks stood there, unfazed by time and looking down at her with expectation.

She had to know about that war.

One look in the mirror, and she would have an idea who her real opponent was.

Had she lost the peaceful spirit of nightfall just like daylight?

Maybe.

All she truly knew was that very eventful nights awaited her...