Written for the Mirror of Erised Competition by EvangelineKL on HPFC. I hope you like it R&R, no flames accepted, CC accepted.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by none other than the brilliant J.K Rowling.

"The heart wants what the heart wants."

Lily Evans decided to sleep late tonight. Being 16, she didn't get drowsy so early, unlike younger children. She stayed up all night finishing her book for the sixth time this year. The witch was all alone, sitting on a cozy chair near the fireplace, in the Gryffindor common room.

Not a sound disrupted the still air. Not even Peeves, or the boys and girls in their dormitories made a noise. It was quite unusual, actually.

Finally, when the fire in the fireplace gave its last crackle, Lily decided to go to bed. The young girl collected her book and stumbled to her room. When she entered, all of her roommates were found sleeping as soundly as a cat. No surprise there. For when Lily glanced at the ticking clock, it was five after midnight. The redhead gasped. It's a school night! She thought. How could I've gotten so carried away?

Quickly,—but quietly—she stripped off her uniform and slipped on her PJs. Then she slid into her four-poster bed and shut her eyes.

At first, the muscles on her face were tense, but then they relaxed. Her breathing dimmed. Slowly, Lily was drifting away, as if in a raft, into a sea of dreams. Right when Lily was on the verge of sleeping, she heard soft, unrecognized whispering. Lily's a light sleeper, and that's a fact. Any sound bothered her as much as the pea bothered the princess.

At first she ignored it, but then it got loud enough to wake the dead. The voice kept increasing in volume, and then—

CRASH!

Dammit, Lily thought.

Dazed and annoyed, Lily shoved her slippers onto her cold feet. She marched into the common room to see what all the fuss was about. When she arrived at the common room, she saw nothing in the dull light—not even a shard of glass, indicating that something broke.

Huh, I must be going mad.

As if on cue, Lily heard the light shuffling of footsteps that was about four feet away. It was probably a first year going to explore the castle. Or maybe someone was sleep-walking. Either way, the sixth year was going to stop him or her.

The head boys aren't very careful of students. If I'm ever head girl, I'd be the best.

Anyway, Lily Evans stood in the middle of the common room. Then she spotted a clue. The exit was slightly ajar. The redhead rolled her eyes, trying to let it go. However, a faint whisper then spoke, "Come on, Prongs."

Immediately, Lily recognized the name. Prongs was the weird name Potter was called by his friends or—as Lily liked to call them—clowning comrades.

Now, Lily couldn't let this go.

She knew now that this was something very severe. When it comes to Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Potter, one does not want to be a victim of their pranks. Surely, they were going after the Slytherins. Angrily, Lily stomped out the door and continued down the Hogwarts corridors. She didn't want to lose any more points for Gryffindor. She didn't want Sev to get pranked again.

Ugh, Potter—that arrogant reckless beast. Apparently, he was—in Sirius's words—"madly in love" with her. It's too bad for him that she doesn't like him. He has too many flaws to forgive, such as, being too arrogant, reckless, careless, inconsiderate, conceded, and worst of all, being a bully.

However, Lily did have to give him credit for his good qualities. She was quite impressed by his consistent "love" for her, and his determination of going out with her. Sometimes, she even got a glimpse of the real James—not the popular, cool guy who would make girls drool. He can be sweet and courteous and sometimes even brilliant. Also, he was sort of—kind of—maybe—a little handsome. The jet-black hair would've been okay if it wasn't styled like a web of weeds. As if he had just finished playing a game of Quidditch. His eyes were a comforting hazel. Hazel like caramel. And he wore a sly smirk on his face that was both hilarious and charming.

For a second, Lily felt herself falling for Potter. No, she thought, I will not fall under his spell.

She tried to keep her mind off the boy. Her mind concentrated on finding the trouble-makers that woke her up. She wandered the night corridors, following the sound waves that faded long ago. The witch was about to give up. Then she heard the creeping creak of an aged door. She could've sworn that the door wasn't there two seconds ago. Hogwarts is strange.

Deciding to have a little fun, Lily clamped her hand over the golden doorknob of the random door in a cautious manner. She turned it in a swift motion. Expecting to see the quartet of jokers, Lily entered. No one was in the room. Nobody. At first, the young lady saw a glint of light in the dark. As her feet moved closer, she found that it was a mirror.

It was a dingy, dirty, dusty mirror. What is a mirror doing alone in a room? It stood alone like an island in the middle of the ocean. How peculiar, but then again this is Hogwarts. It had a beaten wooden frame keeping the piece of glass up. Inscribed at the top was an odd slogan, Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohs i. Despite the fact that Lily had the highest marks in her year, she had no idea what that meant.

Lily peered into the reflective surface. The sight startled her. A sharp gasp escaped her lips.

A pair of dark eyes looked at her beneath a mop of dark hair. Potter sneered a little.

"Lily," He said.

The witch responded to her name. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? I think we both know that I'd sneak out of bed." He chuckled. "What are you doing out of bed? Aren't you the goody-two shoes?"

"I heard someone sneak out and decided to after them."

"Oh, that's nice." James replied sincerely. "Why don't we go to bed?"

"Wait a minute, what were you doing?"

"Uhhh…never mind that," And he laughed nervously.

"Hm," Lily turned to stare at the mysterious mirror. She was very curious about it.

"Come on. Let's go." James insisted, quite calmly. "The others are already in their dorms." Lily knew that he was talking about Sirius, Remus, and Peter. "I heard someone in here, and I wanted to see who it was. Since, it's you I don't want to get you in trouble."

It's sweet of him to put her before him, Lily commented to herself, but she ignored him. She continued to gawk at their reflection. There was definitely something different about this mirror. Something Lily couldn't seem to put her finger on.

"Okay, fine. If you want to know what we were doing, we set up a prank on Filch. He-he, he's not going to be happy with his hair tomorrow…" Potter confessed.

The redhead frowned at him.

"What? He snapped at me." He replied.

"Wow, Potter, that's real mature."

Whatever, I don't want to get you in trouble, so let's leave."

"It's fine. I'll leave after you leave."

James gave a defeated sigh. "Suit yourself."

Lily watched him go and looked back at her reflection. Her eyes widened as she saw…James?

"What the…?" Didn't she just see Potter walk out the door? She twisted her body around. He wasn't there. No one was in the room. What could this be? Was it some sort of ghost? Or was it some sort of frozen image? Inhaling sharply, she looked back at the mirror; there was Potter.

He stood unusually close to her. His hand was rested on her waist. Lily reached her hand to her waist. She felt no hand there. In the image, however, her fingers were planted over his. The corners of his lips were turned upward. He smiled. It was a warm smile, not a wicked grin. She beamed back. Her emerald eyes locked in with his caramel ones.

It felt good having the feeling that James—not Potter—was with her. It was comforting. He didn't say anything, but his expression insisted that he was a better person. That he had become more considerate, careful, and given up pranks; the way Lily would've liked him.

Again, Lily had that sense that she was falling in love with him. It was as if every time she had that feeling she was sinking below the ocean. Then she would struggle to rise up to the surface of reality.

The witch stormed out of the room. Lily headed back to her dorm.

As she laid bed, Lily couldn't help but wonder what that damn mirror was. It's weird. Now all she could think about was Potter—er, James. Lily had no idea what the mirror was, but she did know that—there's no point in denying it—she was staring to fall in love with James. As she slept, she let herself sink all the way to the bottom of the ocean because the heart wants what the heart wants.

Thanks for reading. R&R! I appreciate it! By the way this takes place in Lily's sixth year, and the Mirror was in the Room of Requirement.