TITLE: The Land of Desire
AUTHOR: MinnGirl
PAIRING: Harry/Draco
RATING: PG for now. Will most likely go up in later chapters.
SUMMARY: What would happen if you could travel into the Mirror of Erised and live out your deepest desires? Would it be everything that you expected? Harry and Draco are about to find out.
DISCLAIMER: The characters are not mine, they all belong to J.K. Rowling. Who is an absolute genius for giving us such great characters to play around with for a little while.
CHAPTER ONE
Through the Mirror
For the hundredth time that night, Harry twisted his body around and lay on his opposite side. This wasn't the first night he couldn't get to sleep and he knew it wouldn't be the last, not as long as the nightmares about Cedric continued.
Everyone had already told Harry that it wasn't his fault that Cedric had died. He, however, knew that if it wasn't for him, Cedric would still be living. Everything follows something else, like links in a chain. If Harry hadn't insisted that Cedric grab the cup with him, then Cedric would still be alive. If Harry would have reacted faster when the killing curse was cast on Cedric, maybe he could have saved him. If Harry hadn't even been in the tournament, then Cedric wouldn't have been put in harm's way. But of course, that all goes back to the biggest link in the chain…Voldemort.
Harry couldn't stand it anymore. He sat up with a frustrated sigh and reached for his glasses. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could see four still shapes huddled under comforters in the other beds. He wished he could be with them in their wonderful slumber, but knew it wasn't going to happen anytime soon. He felt like walking and thinking. He couldn't lay here all night and think of all of the "what ifs" of life.
He swung his legs out of bed and made his way over to his trunk. Opening the lid as quietly as possible, he reached in and felt the soft, smooth material of his father's invisibility cloak. He pulled it out, draped it around his shoulders, and then silently left the room.
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Draco traipsed quickly through the corridors. He had to find that room again. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about it since he had first come across it last night. He had been tossing and turning in bed tonight, not being able to forget the image that he had seen.
He had been down in the kitchen for a little snack. While he was on his way back, he had heard Peeves approaching from around the corner. Draco had ducked through the nearest available doorway, and quickly shut the door.
When he had turned around, he saw a room that looked like many other rooms in the castle. It was a small room with two windows, and there were desks and tables stacked along one side. They were all covered with dust and he figured that this room must be some kind of storage area. Then he noticed a mirror standing on the other side of the room. As he walked towards it, he saw markings all along the frame. He leaned in closer and realized that the markings were actually words, though seemingly in a language that he couldn't understand. He studied the frame for a while longer, trying to puzzle out the writing. When he finally gave up, he then glanced at his own reflection in the mirror and gasped at what he saw.
Yes, what Draco had seen had truly taken his breath away. And he couldn't wait to see it again. That's why he was walking purposefully down the corridor, trying to retrace his steps to that room. As he was walking, he kept an ear listening for Peeves or Filch and his stupid cat, and he kept an eye watching for familiar looking signs. Signs that might point him in the right direction. Finally he saw a portrait that he remembered glancing at the night before. It contained a little boy in a blue outfit, sitting on a tree stump and giggling. Draco looked around and found the doorway, presumably the one he had used last night.
He opened it and his eyes immediately darted across the room. There it was: the mirror that had become such a fixation for Draco in the past 24 hours. He made his way over to it, stared into its depths, and sighed with relief when he saw what he had been hoping to see. He was so captivated by the image before him that he didn't notice the door opening and closing, or the soft footsteps making their way to him and the mirror. He didn't notice anything until he heard a sharp gasp right by his ear.
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As Harry glided silently down the hall, he couldn't help thinking how different his life would be if Voldemort was dead. Cedric would be alive and Harry wouldn't feel so guilty. Maybe he would even get more than two hours of sleep at a time. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice that something was following him.
Meow.
Harry started. He looked over his shoulder and spotted Mrs. Norris strutting down the hallway behind him. He knew that wherever Mrs. Norris was, her owner, Mr. Filch, wasn't far behind. Even though he was invisible, he couldn't trust himself to be quiet enough to fool Filch. He looked around for the nearest escape and spotted a doorway to his left. He quickly ran to it and pushed his way through.
Once inside, he leaned against the closed door, trying to calm his heart. Currently it was beating like a jackhammer. He was also watching the door handle over his shoulder to make sure that Filch hadn't seen the door open and close and decided to investigate it. When he was quite sure that he wasn't being followed, he looked around the room and was surprised to see Malfoy…standing in front of the Mirror of Erised!
Harry almost giggled. Malfoy was standing so close to the mirror, it looked like he was actually trying to walk into it. His face was only inches away from the smooth glass and his mouth was hanging open. Harry's curiosity got the best of him, and he crossed the room to stand behind Malfoy. He had to know what Malfoy's greatest desire was. He looked into the mirror and was surprised to see…himself. Standing next to Malfoy. But surely the mirror couldn't project his reflection if he was invisible. But wait…why was the Malfoy in the mirror reaching up to cup Harry's face, and why were his eyes closing as he leaned in closer? When the two figures in the mirror touched lips, Harry gasped.
Immediately Malfoy turned around to find the origin of the noise. As he did so, he lost his balance and started to fall backwards towards the mirror. His hands reached out reflexively and grabbed onto Harry's arm. Before either realized what was happening, they were falling into the mirror…and out through the other side.