THUNK!
"Ouch!"
I slowly sat up and looked around the room. It was pitch black but I could sense something was off about the room. I looked right at the corner of the bed and spoke.
"Ron? Is that you?"
"No, it's Harry." Harry pulled the invisibility cloak off of his head. I sighed as he looked like he was going to crap his pants.
"What are you doing?" I looked outside the window. "It has to be almost midnight!" He walked over to the left side of the bed and sat on the edge.
"I'm gonna try and get into the Restricted Section of the Library using the Invisibility Cloak." He said. "We still have no clues who Nicholas Flamel is. Do you want to come with me?" He asked.
I leaned up and looked over at Ron who was asleep just a bed away. I looked back at Harry and nodded.
"Let me quickly get dressed, into warmer clothes and I'll join you." He smiled as I got up and went over to their bathroom. I changed into a purple jumper and threw on a nice warm pair of jeans. As I walked out I whipped my hair up into a bun and used my wand to secure it.
"Whoa. You look nice in Purple, Lori." Harry said.
"Thanks. Now, let's go. We don't have all night." We walked out of the Common Room and headed straight for the library. I pulled my wand out of my hair and unlocked the library doors and the door that leads to the Restricted Section. The door made a quiet creaking as Harry pushed it open. We both winced hoping we wouldn't get caught. Luckily we got in without any more loud noises.
After looking for a fair amount of time we found the "N" section of the library and took off the cloak. Harry placed the large lantern he was carrying on the table and started running his hand along the spines of the books.
Harry after a moment yanked a random book off the shelf and opened it. As soon as he did, a face appeared on the page and started letting out a horrid scream. He slammed the book shut with a sigh as we stood still frozen with fear.
"You don't think anyone heard that, do you?" I asked. Before Harry could answer we heard Filch shout from the main part of the library.
"Who's there?!" We jumped as his voice was closer than we thought it would be. "I know you're in there. You can't hide." We noticed a small glow of his lantern just entering the Restricted section. Harry hastily started pulling the cloak off of the table. What he failed to observe was that our lantern was on top of the cloak.
Even with my fast reflexes, I wasn't able to catch the lantern before it hit the floor with a CRACK and it smashed into bits.
"Bloody hell!" I whisper shouted. Harry grabbed my wrist and pulled me under the cloak quickly. Just as I got under Filch rounded the corner and shouted dangerously.
"Show yourself!" I normally being the braver twin, almost let out a squeal of fear. In the lantern light, Filch looked beyond the normal definition of scary and looked more of a cross between scary and demonish.
We slowly inched around Filch into the corridor. After we made it into the corridor we finally started to breathe normally. We silently agreed to head back to Gryffindor Tower. We were about to turn a corner when we were halted in our tracks by the sounds of two of our Professors.
"Harry ..."
"Shhh!" we slowly inched around the corner and saw Snape press Quirrell up against the wall.
"Severus ... I-I t-thought-"
"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell." Snape cut him off.
"W-What do y-y-you m-m-mean?" Quirrell stuttered out. Part of me wanted to emerge and defend Quirrell, but yet something in my brain told me, this needed to happen.
"You know exactly what I mean!" Snape spat coldly at Quirrell. Snape froze with his hand inches away from Quirrell's neck and he turned to face Harry and me. I quickly raised my hand over my mouth and Harry did the same, as we slowly backed away.
Snape reached out his hand slowly. His fingers extending as far as they could, before he clutched and pulled the air. Once he was certain nothing was there he whirled back to face Quirrell. His already natural low, drawn-out voice, dropped even lower as he basically threatened Quirrell.
"We'll have another chat soon ... when you've had time to decide where your loyalties lie." Quirrell's face went pale, and I let out a small quiet gasp. Filch had turned the corner holding the lantern we broke in the library.
"Professors, I found this, in the Restricted Section. It's still hot. That means there is a student out of bed." The three of them darted back off around the corner, leaving Harry and me under the cloak.
"Bloody hell," I muttered out. "That was close."
"Yeah. Let's go." Harry said as we walked over to the door at the end of the corridor. We opened the door slowly and walked in without making a sound. Once we were in, Harry shut the door and pulled the cloak off, and placed it on the floor.
"What's that?" I asked pointing into the middle of the room. The room was completely barren except for a big rectangle sitting in the middle of the room.
"Dunno," Harry said as we approached it. We walked around it and noticed it was a big huge mirror. "Whoa," Harry remarked.
"Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi." I read from the top of the mirror. "What language is that? Gibberish?!" I looked over at Harry who was staring into the mirror. "Harry?"
"Mum? Dad?" He muttered out while placing his right hand on his left shoulder. He stood there for a few minutes in silence before grabbing the cloak off of the floor and running out of the room.
"Harry! Wait for me!" I called. He just raised his hand to stop me.
"Stay here! I'll go get Ron. He needs to see this!" Before I could even say that I wanted to go back to sleep, Harry was gone and out of the room. I sighed and walked over to the mirror. Something about it seemed different. Other than Harry seeing his two dead parents beside him.
I went and stood in front of the mirror, and as I did my mouth dropped all the way to the ground. Behind me and beside me was my entire family! From Mum and Dad to our god-awful Aunt Muriel. Everyone was happy and smiling. There was only one thing off, we all looked older and I was wearing a white dress!
I blinked my eyes as the reflection changed once more. Standing beside me now was a man, with black hair and beautiful green and hazel eyes with maybe a slight hint of blue. My heart skipped a beat as I knew those eyes anywhere, the man standing beside me was Neville!
My heart started beating faster as I leaned forward to touch the mirror. As I did, I could hear a conversation, as clear as day between Neville and me.
"Neville? Have you seen Meeko? Alice has been searching for him for hours."
"No, but have you checked with Frank?"
"Not yet. I was hoping after the last time he would have learned his lesson."
"If he is anything like his Uncle's then, he will never learn his lesson."
"I knew we should've restricted their quality time in that Joke Shop."
"If you did that you would have just offended your dear old brothers. They would think we don't trust them!"
"We don't!"
I pulled my hand away quickly and fell back to the ground. I didn't know what that thing was supposed to do but something told me, THAT wasn't supposed to happen.
Suddenly the door was thrown open as Harry drug in a sleepy Ron. Harry pulled Ron right in front of the mirror and started talking to him. I paid no attention, still dealing with the "conversation" I had heard from the mirror.
Was that my future? On the other hand, how could it be, Harry's parents died a long time ago. Their conversation went on for a few moments before Harry grabbed the cloak and wrapped it around the two of them.
"Lori, we should head back to bed." I nodded and joined the two underneath the cloak. Once we were all back in the dorms, we said our goodnight again and fell off into sleep. Except for me, I sat on Neville's bed and stared out the window at the stars.
"Goodnight Nevy," I said quietly. I then laid down on the bed and slowly drifted off. Hoping that one day, I would know what I heard in that mirror.
***
The next day, I woke up to an empty dorm. I rubbed my eyes and got up and walked over to my dorm. I grabbed out my orange jumper and jeans and went to the showers to get myself clean.
The entire time, everything that happened last night kept replaying in my brain. Then I made an impulsive decision, I was going to find Dumbledore and ask him about it. Even though I may get detention for being out after curfew, I needed to know what I saw and heard.
***
I found myself standing at the stone gargoyle that leads to Dumbledore's office. I had written him earlier today asking to meet with him. Which he gladly accepted, and told me he really likes Sherbert Lemons.
After standing there for a few moments, my brain figured out that Sherbert Lemons but be a passcode of some sort. I took a deep breath and spoke clearly.
"Sherbert Lemon."
The gargoyle started to move to reveal a staircase. I all of a sudden got short of breath and regretted even asking Dumbledore. However, my need to know overpowered my fear of getting in trouble.
I got to the top of the stairs and was about to knock on the door when Dumbledore's sweet and calming voice called out.
"Come in, Miss Weasley." I smiled as I opened the door. "To what do I owe this, meeting?"
"Professor Dumbledore, I have some questions regarding a magical object that I came across last night." He leaned forward with interest.
"And what was this magical object?"
"It was a mirror, of some sort. It said 'Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.' On the top, I remember because it sounded so weird. It wasn't any language that I have ever seen and even though, I'm only eleven, I know quite a bit about languages." I said.
"Ah. You found the Mirror of Erised." He said with a smile. "The mirror shows our heart's deepest desires. But, I can see that's not all you want to mention." I nodded my head.
"Professor, I touched the mirror and it took me, to what I saw in the mirror. I could hear the conversation that was happening, and it was almost like ... it was the future ..."
Dumbledore's blue eyes lost their sparkle as he got up from his chair and walked over to the window. He stood by the window staring outside for a good three minutes before speaking.
"That is very interesting, Lorrinda. Does anyone else know of the mirror's location?"
"Yes, sir. Harry and my twin brother Ron. Though, neither of them knows what I experienced. I was too freaked out by what I saw ..."
"What did you see, may I ask?"
"I saw myself and Neville Longbottom, married, with kids," I said slowly. I felt my face get red with embarrassment, for no one really knew my true feelings for Neville. Dumbledore let out a small chuckle.
"Interesting ... very interesting." He walked back over. "Miss Weasley, at this moment in time, forget about what you saw. Also, I ask you to not return to the mirror again, for your safety as I myself do not know what this means." He told me. I nodded, but something told me he was lying. He definitely knew something about this, he just wasn't going to tell me.
"I will not return to the mirror Professor," I said starting to get up. "Thank you for meeting with me." I smiled at the man.
"Anytime, Miss Weasley. Now, if you should ever have another question of such a nature, don't be afraid to reach out." He smiled up at me, the sparkle returned to his blue eyes.
I gave him a nod and quickly left his office. The meeting was supposed to give me answers, but I just left with more questions.
***
"Where were you?!" Ron shouted as I entered the Common Room.
"We were supposed to have a Wizards Chess tournament!" Fred griped from where he was sitting with George. "Instead, I've been stuck with these kids who take forever to make their moves!"
"Shut it, or I won't move!" George said looking up at his twin. He quickly turned to face me. "We were quite worried Ri Ri. Percy has been drafting letters to write home if you got hurt, killed, went missing -"
"Basically any scenario you can think of, he's drafting a letter home for." Fred finished.
"I was in a meeting with a teacher. About school, you know, what we are here for?" I joked sitting down on the sofa. "Besides, we still have all day tomorrow before the rest of the students get back from break."
"Not the point, Lorrinda!"
We all turned to see Percy storming down the stairs.
"Next time, let us know! Honestly, we had no clue where you were!"
"Okay! Geez! Calm down! Next time, I will. I just didn't think you all needed to know my every single move." I said getting up.
"We're your brothers! Of course, we do!" Percy said. "You're our little sister, we need to protect you!"
"I'm not a defenseless little maid constantly in need of a knight in shining armor! For the love of Merlin, I'm a Weasley! I know how to take care of myself."
"You're only eleven!" Percy rebutted.
"So? It's not like, I'm defeating Dark Wizards! I'm just walking around Hogwarts! Gosh!" I ran up the stairs to my dorm and slammed the door shut.
I loved my brothers, but this overprotective shit was getting old. I sighed and walked over to the window and opened it. The room was in need of fresh air. Luckily I did, cause an Owl flew in the window with a small gift and a letter. I took the gift and letter from the owl and it flew off. After looking at them, I realized they were from Neville! I tore open the letter and began reading it.
Dear Lori,
I hope your Christmas was well! It was quite boring here, so I might stay at Hogwarts next year. Good thing, I actually listened to you and got a small carrier for Trevor! He really enjoys sitting in there, now my problem is getting him to come out.
Gran is excited to meet you one day. I told her about how sweet and kind you are. She is familiar with your Mum, apparently, your Mum and mine were friends through my Dad!
I sent a small gift of candies, and a little necklace I found going through some old stuff up in the attic. I hope you like it! I know we said, no presents but your my first "best friend" and I wanted to show you how much I care for you.
See you in a few days!
Nev
P.S. Tell Ron and Harry I said hi!
I chuckled reading his letter. Neville really was one of the sweetest friends in the world. I folded the letter back up and opened the small gift. It was mainly filled with different types of Chocolate and a few packs of Jelly Slugs!
The necklace was beautiful! It was two small hearts with gemstones in each one. After examining it, I noticed in one heart the gem was Aquamarine (my birthstone) and the other one was a bright red Ruby.
I walked over to the vanity and clasped the necklace around my neck. I gasped as I put it on. My heart raced as the necklace floated in the air for a few moments before falling onto my chest. Something in me clicked that day, a part of me was always gonna love Neville Longbottom. Not just as a friend but as something much more.