She was staring back at him for the first time in almost twenty years. Her eyes, which had haunted so many of his dreams, were focusing on him. There was nobody else in the frame. It was just them.
Severus sank to his knees, gripping with shaking hands the bottle he held. He had lost count of the number of nights he had done this. Barely able to steady himself, he downed the last of the whisky left in the bottle. Tears streamed down his cheeks and hit the black robes that forever concealed him from the world. "Damn you!" he shouted, turning his face to the side, burying his face in his robes. "Look what you've done to me!" The hysterics he shouted would never be heard. They stayed concealed within the walls of the basement just as his emotions were concealed behind his long hair and heavy robes. He was a hidden man. The truth behind his eyes would never be revealed, and the reason for each sneer would remain a secret forever. He was a tale that would never be told. His story, his identity, the truth of Severus Snape would be burned in ashes.
"Please!" he begged helplessly, knowing the image before him wasn't real. "Please just stop!" Albus had warned him; he had warned everyone about the dangers of the Mirror. Severus hadn't listened. The temptation to see her was too great.
Nonetheless, it was maddening. Being able to see her, being able to look into her eyes brought him to his knees, just as it had that night. As he sobbed violently, sweating and trembling, soaked in the liquids of his own misery, Severus threw the bottle across the room. It shattered against the frame of the mirror, bursting into hundreds of tiny pieces. Still, the image remained, and the mirror was untouched. "Why won't you leave me alone? It's been twenty years, and you won't leave me alone! I want to…" As his words were drowned out with sobs, the broken man slowly came undone.