"If you don't imagine, nothing ever happens at all."

-Paper Towns by John Green

Albus Dumbledore was sat in the living room of his family home. Although a snow storm buffeted the windows of his home a fire blazed in the grate, filling the room with warmth and a piping hot mug of tea kept his hands toasty. Thick knit blankets and fluffy pillows were piled all around him and fuzzy wool socks guarded his feet from the elements.

A book lay across the arm of the sofa, the spine well worn from multiple readings and pages bent to mark favorite passages. Hand written notes filled the margins and to anyone else would've been a headache to read. Albus knew most of the words by heart, but he still loved it all the same.

A golden head of hair lay on Albus' shoulder and a slender body pressed up against him, snuggling underneath the blankets. Gellert lounged against him, his legs stretched out across the sofa. One of his hands was intertwined with Albus' and the other held a thick tome'. The two boys sat in perfect silence, captivated by the stories unfolding on the pages in front of them.

Ariana sat at the foot of the couch playing with a few toy dolls. Her high pitch giggles filled the room as she used magic to make the dolls dance and twirl. Aberforth was across the room, lounging in a loveseat, his legs dangling over its sides. A pile of muggle comics were scattered on the ground next to him and he flipped through them, marveling at the drawings.

The decadent smell of roast beef wafted in from the kitchen where his mother was preparing an extraordinary meal. He could smell the sizzling fat trickling onto the Yorkshire puddings as they baked and the earthy scent of turnips boiling. He could almost taste the thick rich gravy that she'd make with the drippings. It made his stomach rumble loudly.

"Hungry, are you?" Gellert said, a mischievous smile spreading across his face as he lifted his mouth to meet Albus' lips.

Albus kissed him gently, sighing contentedly against his lovers lips. Everything about this night was perfection. He was surrounded by all of the people who mattered most to him and happiness spread through his veins leaving him feeling warm and fuzzy throughout. "I love you," he whispered as he pulled away.

"I love you too," replied Gellert, nuzzling his cheek affectionately.

Just then a noise in the doorway caused Albus to look behind him. The door had swung open blowing cold air into the room, but there was no one immediately in sight. The warm scene at his family's home dissolved in seconds and he was left chilled to the bone. His lips tingled with the phantom of Gellert's kisses.

Searching the space in front of him, Albus noticed a slight ripple in the air. Taking care not to make a sound, he slipped back into the shadows. He'd preformed a disillusionment charm before he'd come, but he quickly reinforced it to make sure he'd stay invisible. He could feel the spell tickling his skin as it strengthened around him.

A second later, Harry emerged from underneath his invisibility cloak. Albus watched intently as the boy walked straight up to the Mirror of Erised and began gazing into it. Knowing the dangers of the mirror, he stayed still, observing Harry's reaction. He watched as Harry reached out a hand, touching the cold glass as if he were touching a long lost loved one.

A stab of pain shot through his chest as Albus realized he knew the feeling all too well. Dabbing at his eyes, he was surprised to find them wet. He knew better than anyone how Harry was feeling in this very moment. The Mirror of Erised had haunted him since the moment it had been brought to the school, taunting him with images of his long lost love and dead family members. He'd spent countless nights here in this cold room doing exactly what Harry was doing. Staring into a mirror and imagining it was reality.

Part of him wanted to reach out to Harry, to try and offer him a bit of comfort, but the other part of him felt ashamed to be spying on something so private. He wished he knew how to make it better, but the words simply did not exist. It was something that he realized Harry had to come to terms with on his own. Quietly, Albus turned and slipped through the open door, leaving Harry to his imagination.

Hi there!

This story originally posted on HPFF for the John Green Quote Challenge. The quote I was assigned is at the beginning of this story in italics. Truthfully, I've never actually read a John Green book, so I have no idea if this story fits with the theme of the story in my prompt. For whatever reason, this quote really made me think of Dumbledore and after a few false starts; this is what I came up with.

I hope you enjoyed it and would love to know what you thought. Please, feel free to leave me feedback in the comments section.

Thank you for reading!

~TreacleTart/Kaitlin