Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, as can be attested by the state of my bank account.
"So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot."
– Final verse of the Hogwarts School Song, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
11 years after the Epilogue…
Head Auror Harry Potter was on his way out of Hogwarts, having just finished giving his annual speech to the 5th year Defence classes, when he got lost. He'd thought he'd seen every corner of Hogwarts after his school years, but apparently Hogwarts still had surprises to offer.
Kind of the way that – even after years of marriage – Ginny still managed to surprise him. It was an oddly appropriate comparison, now that he came to think of it; Hogwarts had been his first love, after all.
The staircase had brought him to what appeared to be an abandoned, dead-end corridor. Odd, that.
The stone wall had the normal adornments: drapes in the school colours, a mirror, torches… no portraits though, which was a bit strange.
"Hogwarts," Dumbledore had said once, "is almost a sentient being, my boy. Listen to her and you'll be surprised at how much she has to say."
"Right," Harry muttered.
If Hogwarts was trying to tell him something, she sure had a funny way of doing it.
Habits borne out of years of dangerous situations had his wand out and his eyes scanning the corridor, but nothing seemed amiss.
He took a closer glance at the expanse of wall before him. Nope, nothing out of the ordinary. While something about the mirror felt strangely familiar, he couldn't quite place it. And when he peered in the thing, he simply saw his own face staring back at him; there were a few wrinkles there now (mainly laugh lines) and his black hair had greyed a bit at the temples. But he still wore the same round-rimmed style of glasses, his hair still refused to lie flat, and his lightning-bolt scar was as prominent as ever on his forehead.
Shrugging, Harry turned away from the mirror. He supposed it was possible that Hogwarts was trying to tell him something. It was also possible that he'd just managed to get lost; it was bound to happen sometime or another. Even Dumbledore had gotten lost every now and then, and he'd been Headmaster.
And with that, Harry returned to the errant staircase, which promptly began to move again. Shrugging mentally at the vagaries of Hogwarts, Harry put the whole incident out of his mind. There was a family supper scheduled at the Burrow this evening, and Al was supposed to be there to tell them about his new job. (It hardly bore mentioning that Harry was rather looking forward to Mrs Weasley's excellent treacle tart.)
So Harry continued on with his life, unaware that the mirror which he had just left once bore the words 'Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi' on its frame.
"The happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised like a normal mirror, that is, he would look into it and see himself exactly as he is."
– Albus Dumbledore; Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter Twelve: The Mirror of Erised
A/N: I know that (according to Movieverse, at any rate) the Mirror was in the Room of Requirement, and therefore should have been destroyed by the Fiendfyre. However, my in-fic explanation is that it's a magical mirror, and thus managed to survive and find itself a new home. Does it stretch credulity that Harry wouldn't recognize it if it was in a different frame?
Also, of course things aren't perfect in the Wizarding World – or even in Harry's life – but I rather think that Harry has reached a point of acceptance. Besides, after all he's been through, he deserves a little happiness.
A very happy birthday to both Harry and J.K. Rowling!