I do not own Harry Potter. Never have and never will.
Warning: This story is unbetaed.
Mirror Mirror On The Wall
The final battle of second wizarding war was over. The war which had been won was hard earned. The witches and wizards around the country were celebrating the downfall of the most evil wizard in Britain.
The battle had taken place on the most sacred place in Scotland. Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry was in ruins because it had been used as a battlefield, when Lord Vodemort and his army had attacked it. But the repairing work had begun earnestly. There were many volunteers who had stayed back to help with the repairs of the school. Everybody wanted Hogwarts to be back to its former glory but even with magic it would take a while for it to happen. George Weasley had been one of the volunteers. He had been coming back to Hogwarts to help with the repairing work for last few days.
The day had started normally for George. He had left The Burrow where he had been currently staying with his family to go to Hogwarts. He had been working on the fourth floor with other people to repair corridor which had been completely destroyed. After working for couple of hours, time for lunch break had arised and everyone had went down to greathall down for lunch.
But George, instead of usually going back to Burrow for lunch, was wondering in the empty halls of Hogwarts. He did not feel hungry and also did not want to go back just yet. He was reminiscing the good old school days. Every where he was going he was bombarded with memories. There were many memories in these corridors of the school. Some were good. Some were bad. But now everything was tarnished because of one dark night.
Since he was walking aimlessly and was lost in the memories of the past, he did not realised that he had reached third floor. Every thing on this floor was in rumbles and was damaged somehow because of the spell fire. But there was an exception to it. There was a door on that floor which had survived the battle that had taken place. There were scorch marks just to the side of the door and it looked like that some fire spell had been casted near the door.
George was curious as to how the door had not been damaged and then he decided to see what was behind that door. George could see that the door was warded from any damages. This was the reason that the door had remained damage free. He unlocked the door and entered into the room.
The room was fully covered in darkness and George can not see anything inside. So, George casted a spell to lighten the room up.
The room was a medium sized hall but it was completely bear except for one object. There was a full length mirror in the middle of the room. It was an ancient, ornate mirror and it was covered in dust.
George went near the mirror to inspect it. The mirror had clawed feet and its frame was made of gold but it was covered in dust. It seemed that nobody had come near the mirror for a while. The frame was also inscribed with the phrase. "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi."
The phrase written on the mirror was quite weird and George did not recognise the language it was written in. It may have English letters but to him it was nonsense.
The inscription was not making any sense which ever way he saw it. George cleared the dust with a spell and the mirror looked as good as new.
George posed in front of the mirror and said a muggle phrase, "Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the manliest of them all?"
When he saw his reflection in the mirror, something was wrong with it. His reflection had two ears and he was no longer holey anymore. Seeing this, George's hand went to his missing right ear but he found that ear shown in the mirror was not present in reality.
George was wondering how in the world it was possible to see something in the mirror and not find it in reality. George understood that this might be some sort of enchanted mirror. He decided to see how the mirror works.
George studied the inscription again in great detail. He knew that it was some sort of clue which would tell how the mirror would work. But he could not make head or tail of it. He even circled the mirror to see if there was any other clue which may help him solve the mystery.
"Damn it! Solving puzzles is not my strength." George exclaimed in frustration.
George then realised something and scrambled back to look at the inscription again to confirm his suspicions.
"It can't be…" George whispered. There were tears in his eyes. He desperately turned his face back to look at the reflection on the mirror.
The image shown previously had not changed at all. George touched the face of the reflection. His voice was cracking when he muttered, "Fr..Fred?"
The reflection in the mirror was not his but of his brother who was killed in the battle. The image in the mirror was smiling sadly at him as if it knew that George was incomplete without his twin. He had been going day on day since the battle in the automatic mode. All the days had been passed in numbness. It seemed that he had stopped feeling anything. He was present physically but mentally he was far away.
George fell down on his knees because his legs could not take the weight of his body. He was holding back his tears and was staring at the image.
George did not know how long he stayed there staring at the mirror. The memories of his twin had invaded his mind. There had not been even one moment where he had stayed away from his brother and all these memories reflected back on him.
Suddenly the image on the mirror had shifted and another person joined Fred's reflection. George blinked twice and found that the figure that had entered was of himself. His reflection then engulfed Fred in a brotherly hug.
There was another shift in the image but this time the transformation was as such that both Fred and his reflection were aging. It seemed that both of them were growing older.
Seeing this image, the tears which George was holding back were finally flowing free down his face. He started crying earnestly. Uncontrollable sobs left him as he thought back on the inscription and the true meaning behind it. It meant, 'I show not your face but your heart's desire.'
The mirror was the one that his brother Ron and Harry had found in the castle in their first year. It was The Mirror of Erised. This mirror shows the person his deepest desire.
George's most important and deepest desire in this world was reflecting in the mirror. He would do anything to have his brother back and grow old with him. But he knew that this was an impossible dream and can never be fulfilled as his brother is gone and would never come back.
George cried for his brother and their lost dreams of growing old together. Voilent sobs had racked his body. He cried knowing that this would be the last time he would cry over this. He would never forget his brother and would always feel his absense. But George made a resolution that he would never cry again over this.
His brother Fred would not have wanted to see him this broken and lost without him. He would have wanted him to move on and prank the world.
George wiped his tears on his sleaves and collected himself. He stood up tall in front of the mirror and stared at his brother. "From this day onwards, I will live for us both Fred. I promise." Said George with determination. His voice was hoarse from crying.
He left the room without once looking back, knowing that if he did then he would never leave.
A/N: Thank you for taking time to read this. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcomed.