The woman in the mirror (Harry Potter fanfic)

Chapter 2.13 (The woman in the mirror)

"Adeline was so angry. She yelled for us to stop. For me to stay away from her. For him to turn back to normal and stop being so controlling. Her saying that angered him...and before I knew it her yelling had stopped. As I turned...there she was...lying on the ground....eyes closed and a no-longer beating heart in her chest."

"He killed her?"

"No, worse...he made her immortal. He wanted to stay with her for eternity and he had found a way...ancient magic...very ancient...to use his love and the blood of his enemy- that enemy being me- to create the still-life that was once my daughter. Adeline had frozen in time. No longer able to grow up and evolve. She was stuck in her age and abilities and couldn't move forward.

"I very nearly killed Grindelwald in grief and anger but he escaped, promising my awakening daughter eternal love and devotion."

"What did she do next?"

"Finished school, blaming me and as soon as she graduated...she told me to never contact her again and to leave her alone. I didn't see her again for many years...."

"But if she is immortal....what is she doing in that mirror?"

"Adeline found a way to break whatever bond Grindelwald had with her and started aging again...this was back in 1975. She returned to Hogwarts to freshen up and learn the things her condition hadn't let her before....At the physical age of twenty years old, Adeline gave birth to a girl. She named her Aurora Ariana Lilith Analie. She was so crazy about that little girl...her little girl. The living prove she had overcome the curse and she could grow old. Umfortunately the happiness was shortlived as Adeline died a year later at the hands of Lord Voldemort and her daughter was left without parents."

"That's horrible." Artemis's head was spinning. She started to feel rather nauseous as the realisation of what Dumbledore was telling her slowly started to sink in. "Why not take the girl in? Make up for your wrongdoings with her mother. Why let er live with a monster you knew could be dangerous for her?"

"Remus would never harm you."

"No, of course not. He had to eat himself up every single full moon to ensure that nothing happened to us. Had to deny what he was...fight it...hate himself to make sure we were safe. But I was not talking about Remus, Professor...I meant Jasmine."

"Jasmine loved you more than anything once. She would've given her life for you once. But the demons she had fought very hard to surpress slowly started to make their way to the surface. You have to understand...growing up in a family like hers scars you for life. Whether you agree with their ways or you don't. Jasmine had lost the man she loved more than anyone in the war. He had loved someone else...someone that you look a lot alike. I imagine that as the years passed her own jealousy and grief started to latch themselves onto you. The loss of Cyra ruined her as it would any mother."

"She didn't care for Cyra. She lost interest in her favourite the moment she learned Cyra didn't have magic." Artemis spat.

"And that is where I suppose your young memories fail you. Jasmine fought for her daughter until the very end. But the presumed lack of magic did cause both Lucius Malfoy and Walburga Black to pull their hands away from Cyra. And without the money they had provided until then...Cyra could not be diagnosed and treated in time. Everything that happened after that was Jasmine realising the world was a far darker place than she could ever have imagined...and she turned cold."

"If you knew what had happened...how Jasmine had changed, why not take me away? I would have been young enough not to remember and it would have spared me years of pain."

Dumbledore didn't answer but something in his eyes told Artemis enough. He hadn't cared enough to keep her safe...to let her feel loved. He was still gaining power and again the raising of a child might have come in between him and his desires.