"Please remind me again…what is the point of all this?" Hermione Granger could be heard saying exasperatedly in an abandoned classroom on the second floor of Hogwarts.
"Albus feels that there could be dangerous objects hidden in the rooms of the castle and that we should search for and destroy them. Plus, it is good for your training"
Said Remus, sounding bored, as if he'd memorized the whole thing by heart.
"Bollocks. I do believe that facing Voldemort would be adequate 'training'." Hermione was training to be a teacher, and that included basic training in all areas, not just charms, which she would be teaching after the summer holidays.
For the past hour, the two had been scouring the castle for any dangerous objects and all they had found was 2 very dusty Weasely's Wizarding Wheezes' fake wands and a Boggart. And they had only just finished on the second floor.
They then proceeded to walk in companionable silence up the stairs and into the third-floor corridor.
The first classroom they tackled was infested with Doxies, and it took them another hour to get them out. Remus pulled his mask down and sat on the edge of a desk. He checked the clock. 10:05. He and Hermione had started at eight, shortly after breakfast; and they were only on the third floor.
"I really hope that there are no more doxy infestations, or Dumbledore might just have to do this himself" Said Hermione, looking decidedly flustered. Remus chuckled and nodded.
"Well, I think our hard work deserves some morning tea, eh?" He said, conjuring his kettle, cups, and tea things. Remus tapped the kettle with his wand and a jet of steam issued from the spout. Soon after, the two of them were sat down with a desk between them.
"Now all we need is some food" Said Hermione, smiling. As if on cue, a house-elf appeared in the room, briskly deposited a tray of cakes and biscuits on the table and promptly left. Hermione and Remus just sat there, staring at the spot the elf had occupied for a few milliseconds. They then both shrugged and proceeded to have morning tea.
15 minutes and an in-depth conversation on house-elf rights later, they resumed their work. Their labour was uneventful until they found a locked door right at the end of the corridor. It seemed oddly familiar… Then she realized. It was the door at the end of the third-floor corridor. How could she have forgotten? Mind you, it had been eight years since her first year at Hogwarts. She started to chuckle. Then it turned into a full-blown laugh. Remus looked at her as if she had just grown a second head that closely resembled a pink elephant.
"What?" he said, looking amused.
"Oh, nothing. Well, something. This is the same room that we went into in our first year. It's the one with the trap door."
"And this is funny because…"
"I'd actually forgotten about it. I forgot about facing a giant three-headed dog, flying keys and a plant that tried to strangle us. Not to mention the chess pieces." the thought of which set her off again. It took a few minutes for Hermione to compose herself and unlock the door.
"It looks exactly the same…" She said, looking around the room, "Look, there's the chain that Fluffy was attached to… and the Harp that professor Snape enchanted into playing…" Her eyes rested on a huge square object covered with a dusty piece of linen.
"Hang on, I've never seen that one before" She walked over and lifted up the sheet, which was very a bad idea, since a cloud of dust issued down and made her sneeze.
"Bless you." She heard Remus say.
After her fit of sneezes and the dust had subsided, Hermione looked at the grimy object before her. Hmph, a mirror. Not very excit…hang on. The reflection of Remus was walking up to her. Hermione looked behind her, but Remus was standing just as he had been, with an incredulous look on his face. She then looked back. The reflection of Remus was now beside her, taking her free hand into his and smiling at her, a soft smirk of a smile. Hermione felt an irresistible urge to pull the cover off. So she did. She was presented with a magnificent mirror, with a gold frame and strange, ancient inscriptions around the edges.
Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.
The fascinating words sounded oddly familiar. Hermione replayed them in her head.
"Oh.my.god." Hermione exclaimed.
Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi…I show not your face but your hearts desire.
"Wh…what is it?" Remus asked, transfixed by the reflection. Hermione looked around at him and blushed.
"It's the Mirror of Erised -Enchanted, as the inscriptions say, to show not your face but your heart's desire. Harry…told me about this." An awkward silence ensued, during which Remus' jaw appeared to begin a slow descent to the floor.
"Right", said Remus after a while, "Well…I'm sure that Albus would want me to report anything of…interest to him…" And with that, Remus all but ran out of the room, leaving a very dumbfounded Hermione staring at the reflection in the mirror.
Walking as quickly as he was, Remus only took a minute to get to the Gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office. Shit. He didn't know the password. Remus racked his brains, and began to guess various sweets. The gargoyle, unsurprisingly, moved aside on "Candy Canes", but not before he had gone through a list of at least twenty sweets, including Fizzing Whizzbees, among others. Running up the stairs, Remus stopped and knocked on the door before opening the door.
"Albus" He said, striding in and stopping in front of Dumbledore's desk.
"Ahh, Remus, what a pleasant surprise. To what do I owe this visit?" Said Dumbledore, despite having the tone of voice that suggested that Remus' visit was not a surprise in any way, shape, or form.
"In our cleaning exercise, Herm- Miss Granger and I have come across a very interesting object. The mirror of Erised" Dumbledore nodded, Remus noticing a characteristic twinkle beginning to form in his eye "The reflection was…unexpected. Albus, she knows" Remus said, his eyes pleading Dumbledore to do something…anything.
"And…is that such a bad thing?"
"Yes! Of course it's a bad thing. Albus, I'm old enough to be her father; I'm a raging, furry werewolf 36 days of the year, and I have the income of a teacher. I used to be her teacher. How would she accept someone like me into her life when she has so many others to choose from?"
"Have you discussed this with Miss Granger? Something tells me that she does not share your opinion of yourself. Remember that it was not just you standing in front of that mirror", came the reply from Dumbledore. Remus was silent for a few minutes.
"Headmaster…if you would excuse me" He said, before bounding out of the Headmaster's office and back to that fateful third-floor corridor.
Fin
And there we have it. This is a complete one-shot. woot. please review.