Lily Evans, soon to be Potter, walked through the Department of Mysteries with a big yawn. Another day, another couple dollars. She was still training as an Unspeakable, and currently on her lunch break.
However, that morning, she and her fiancé James had been a bit occupied, and she'd forgotten her lunch. Lily grinned at the memory. Since she had no lunch and virtually nothing to do, she was exploring the many rooms of the Department.
She came to a room that looked a bit like an auditorium, though steps led downward towards a stone dais. Intrigued, she made her way gracefully down the steps.
Nobody was in the room, so she walked over to the dais, on which was an archway. She walked around and saw that there was nothing behind it. Nonetheless, a faint whispering was coming from somewhere nearby. A thin curtain hanging from the archway was fluttering from the force of a nonexistent wind.
Lily frowned and figured it was something old that the ministry had been built around, and she turned to go. However, her long red hair was blown forward as a breeze came from behind the curtain. Lily heard a clatter, and then it was over; the curtain was still, the breeze gone.
Looking down, she noticed something small and pink near her left foot. She went to pick it up when a voice startled her.
"Hey Evans, your boss is looking for you; he says you were supposed to be back at training fifteen minutes ago."
Lily glanced up at an Unspeakable and forced a smile as she surreptitiously wrapped the item in a tissue and stuffed it into her bag.
"Coming," she said cheerfully.
Training was long and tedious, and caused Lily to forget all about the dais and the odd wind. By the time she got home to the small house she and James had just bought, she was exhausted. Lily took a quick shower and put on comfortable flannel pajamas. James wouldn't be home until late, so she went about making something to eat and unpacking some boxes.
She lit a fire and sat by it with a cup of tea and her crock-pot dinner. A box lay open at her feet, and she peacefully went through it as she played soft music on the muggle stereo that she loved too much to get rid of.
She was looking through pictures of her youth. One showed a beaming Lily in an auditorium after her dance recital, when she was five. As she stared at it, she remembered the auditorium-like room in the department of mysteries and the mysterious object wrapped in her bag.
Minutes later she was settled back in front of her fire, the tissue-wrapped parcel waiting in her lap. She stared into the fire a bit before opening it, wanting to prolong the excitement.
As she slowly unwrapped the tissue, she found the most beautiful and delicate mirror she'd ever seen. It was pale pink ivory, and obviously very old. The back was carved with seashells and other pretty things. The front was slightly cracked, and a bit tarnished, but Lily could still see her wide eyes dancing in the firelight in her reflection. She thought she saw something flutter behind her in the mirror and turned around, but nothing was there.
Lily tried to be sensible; after all, she was a very sensible girl. However, she had a great love of fantasy. While she told herself the mirror had been on the floor when she'd entered, that someone had dropped it, and that the breeze was caused when the Unspeakable opened the door, she didn't believe it for a second. Not knowing scared her, so she wrapped the mirror back up and placed it carefully where she knew James would never look: under the bathroom counter. He was terrified of that small cabinet and wouldn't look at it, let alone open it.
Had Lily looked back in that mirror later, she would have seen a pair of green eyes just like hers looking back at her, looking for one ray of hope, one companion, one person to love.
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Backstory: This week, on a rainy Wednesday, I went for a smoothie with my Mad Asian friend, and we walked to the antique store. (I'm obsessed with Antique shopping. Bigtime.) Anyway, I found this pink mirror, and I fell in love with it. This sounds corny, but there's something magic about it. I know that JKR describes the mirror given to Harry by Sirius differently, but that's her story and this is mine. I don't know.. It's a bit odd, with the time-warp, but I sat down and had to write, and this is what came out. Not my fault. Hah. I hope you like it, for all it's oddness and randomness. Cheers.
Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.