Hey there! So, we're back in the world of the partially gender bent, alternate universe Harry Potter that I created. I actually got the idea for this scene late last night. It's on the shorter side but I still like it, so I hope you will to! Enjoy!
P.S.: I changed my mind! This is going to be a series of one-shots instead. Easier for me, less clutter and so on. Still not going to be in chronological order though, so sorry for jumping around!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter, his friends and his universe is not mine to own.
"Are you sure you know where you're going?"
"Yes, Ronnie. Now, shush, I'm trying to concentrate!"
Harri and Ronnie were whispering as they slowly made their way through the corridors. Sure they were invisible, both covered by the invisibility cloak that had once belonged to Harri's father, but the cloak didn't make it impossible to hear them.
"I'm freezing!" Ronnie said, shivering for good measure, "Let's go back."
"No!" Harri hissed, "I know it's here…Somewhere-Yes! Here!"
Once they entered the room, Harri pulled off the cloak and strolled towards the giant mirror in the room. When she looked into it, she smiled widely.
Staring back at her, gentle smiles on their faces, were her mother and father…In the background were other members of her extended family…The family whose faces Harri had never seen before the previous night.
"There!" she said to Ronnie, "Look, there are loads of them!"
Ronnie looked at her, puzzled.
"Harri, I don't see anyone but you," she said.
"You have to look at it properly!" Harri insisted, pulling Ronnie towards her, "Here, stand where I was."
Ronnie gave Harri an unsure look before gazing at the mirror. Harri saw the girl's expression change from uncertainty into awe. Her mouth opened slightly.
"What…Look at that!" she exclaimed.
"Can you see your family standing all around you?" Harri asked.
"No," Ronnie answered with a shake of her head, "…I look older. Wait, I'm Head Girl!"
"What?" Harri said, looking at her friend in disbelief.
"That's not all," Ronnie continued excitedly, "I'm holding the House Cup, the Quidditch Cup…Wow, I'm Quidditch captain too! …But…But why are there t-?"
Ronnie stopped herself before she could continue. Her happy expression morphed into one of fear.
Harri, on any other day, most likely would have noticed the stricken expression on Ronnie's face. However…
"Let me have another look," she said, nudging Ronnie.
"No way!" Ronnie replied, snapping out of it, "You had all of last night! Let me have more time!"
"What's interesting about what you're seeing? I want to see my family!"
"Don't you push me, Harri Potter!"
"You stop pushing me, Ronnie Weasley!"
A meow silenced both of them. Harri and Ronnie threw the cloak back on as Mrs. Norris, Filch's beloved cat, came in the room. When she left, the girls raced back to Gryffindor Tower.
Ronnie was worried…Very, very worried…
After the close call with Mrs. Norris, she had tried to convince Harri that it wasn't worth the risk to go back to the mirror. But there was something off about Harri…It was like she didn't care, not just about Ronnie's warning, but about food, sleep, friends…
Harri had told her she was being silly and that she was starting to act like Hermes, which Ronnie vehemently denied.
"Ronnie?"
She jumped at the sudden call of her name. After all it was past midnight in the girls' dorm. Ronnie turned to her other side and saw Harri sitting on her bed.
"Harri, you're back," Ronnie said quietly as she sat, hoping their dorm mates wouldn't wake up, "I would have gone after you but without that cloak of yours-"
"It's fine," Harri said.
"…You're not going back, are you?" Ronnie asked.
To her relief, Harri shook her head no.
"I got caught," she said with a sigh.
"Oh no, it was Snape, wasn't it?" Ronnie said, "That blasted git! How bad is it? Did he give you a bunch of detentions? Maybe-"
"Ronnie, it was Dumbledore," Harri told the ranting girl.
"Oh," Ronnie replied, immediately relaxing, "Well, that couldn't have been too bad then."
"He said he knew about my other visits to the mirror," Harri explained, "He called it the Mirror of Erised."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Haven't the foggiest. He said that many people wasted away in front of the mirror because they were obsessed with what they saw…But I don't get how Dumbledore knew what I saw!"
"What?" Ronnie asked in surprise.
"He knew that I saw my family," Harri said, "And he knew about what you saw too!"
Ronnie felt her heart sink into her stomach.
"He-He did?"
"Well," Harri said, wondering if she should be repeating this, "He said that your deepest desire is seeing yourself standing alone, the best of your siblings, because…because you feel overshadowed by them…"
Ronnie felt embarrassed but she had to know.
"Is that all he said?" she asked.
"Yes," Harri replied, looking confused, "Why?"
"Nothing!" Ronnie answered a bit too quickly.
Harri was a bit curious but saw that whatever was wrong, Ronnie didn't want to say anything so she let it go.
"You swear you won't go back there?" Ronnie asked as the two of them laid back in their beds.
"I won't," Harri said, "Can't anyways, since Dumbledore is having it moved…Night, Ronnie."
"Night, Harri."
Ronnie turned away from Harri, trying hard not to let out a sigh of relief. While she didn't like that Harri knew she felt overshadowed by her brothers and sister, she was glad that she didn't know the whole story of what she saw in the mirror.
Did Dumbledore know? He knew what Harri had seen. Maybe he did know but he didn't tell Harri? Well, whether or not Dumbledore knew, Ronnie was just glad that Harri didn't know…After all, what would Harri say if she knew?
…If she knew Ronnie had seen, not one, but two images of herself?
Ronnie had been so transfixed on one, she didn't notice the other. When she realized what the other was, she was glad she stopped herself from saying anything out loud.
Both images were identical. Holding the Quidditch and House Cups, being a Head Student…But there was one distinct difference.
On the left was Ronnie, an elegant, beautiful young woman…One that any mother would be proud to call her own…One who men would throw themselves at…
One the right was another Ronnie…A Ronnie who was a handsome young man…
Yes, she was glad Harri didn't know…
And done! Short but I said what I wanted to and I like how it turned out.
I'm sure some of you understand what Ronnie's desire is while others are confused. Well, I don't want to get into a full explanation. That will come whenever I write the Locket Scene from Deathly Hallows. But like I said before, Ronnie, with her position in the family, has some more complex issues than the canon Ron, and that makes her a fun character to write.
Well, thanks for reading and please leave a comment!
