Hogwarts seemed different this term. Almost as if Draco was looking forward to going back to school. Ever since his encounter with Potter's eyes in Borgin and Burke's all Draco could think about were those eyes. "Damned Potter" Draco thought to himself. Draco stopped when he heard rumbling behind him and turned to see the walls opening and turning into a wooden door. Draco slowly walked back toward the door to open it. He went through the threshold to find an exquisite mirror, much like the one his father had installed in his washroom at home. As Draco gazed into the mirror, a figure appeared behind him. "Potter" he quickly turned around only to see that he was still all alone. He turned back to see Harry put his finger to his lips as if to warn Draco to be quiet lest he wanted to be caught out of class and talking to a mirror. Suddenly, a chair appeared as if the room itself knew that Draco needed to take a seat. He watched his own reflection look into Harry's eyes. As much as he wanted to stay to see what else his reflection might do on its own, Draco knew he could not miss Potions.
Professor Severus Snape, Potions Master and longtime friend of Draco's parents; more so a friend to Draco's mother. She took the liberty of asking Snape to watch over Draco this year to make sure that Draco would complete his task. Though he had accepted it from the Dark Lord, he didn't think everyone needed to know what he was about to do. Draco knew because of this fact that anything that seemed amiss with him would immediately be reported back to his father. Just as the clocks stopped tolling, Draco sat down to take his seat. "Malfoy" Snape said in his ominous tone.
"Yes, Professor"
"My office after class."
After this greeting Snape began his lesson which seemed to take longer than normal. Draco wanted to get back to that room and more importantly back to that mirror. For what seemed like more than the 90 minute class period Draco couldn't focus on his schoolwork. He mind kept drifting back to that mirror, to his reflection and Potter's. As Snape rolled on, Draco caught himself looking behind himself at Harry. Harry looked up and caught Draco's gaze. Draco tried to give Harry a cordial smile to which Harry replied with a scowl and a shake of the head. "Only in the mirror" Draco thought to himself, then the bells began to toll again to let the students go about their way to their next classes. Before Draco could get up Snape was in front of him.
"Sit. Down. Malfoy." Snape said punctuating every word as if to hurt Draco when he spoke.
"Yes, Professor"
"Turning over a new leaf are we"
"Sir?"
"Don't toy with me, Draco. To toy with me is to toy with the task you were given. Or should I tell the Dark Lord that you are no longer interested in restoring your family name?"
"No, sir."
"Focus on your path, Draco. After all, Hogwarts is a school that gives back to its students."
"Yes, sir."
"Oh and Malfoy?"
"Yes, Professor?"
"Do try and keep your eyes off Potter. I understand that he can be a bit of an eyesore but it's not polite to stare." Draco felt himself get angry but changed his scowl to a smile. "Yes, Professor".
As Draco walked out of Snape's room, he pondered a place to go where he could let out his thoughts. As he paced through the corridor, the same threshold appeared just like earlier that day. Once through, Draco took a deep sigh and thought, "I need to get away". A black cabinet like the one he saw at Borgin and Burkes appeared. He opened it and immediately heard the sounds of the shop on a busy day. "This is it." Draco thought to himself. As he walked away from the cabinet he contemplated how he would explain everything to his father when he bumped into a chair. This chair replaced the one he used earlier that day. This one was almost like a throne. Draco sat in his new chair and for a little longer decided that it would be okay to gaze into the mirror. Potter's reflection had returned just as he hoped it would. "Hello…" Draco said as he tried to let the foreign word cross his lips, "Harry." Mirror Harry smiled and nodded toward the door as if to tell Draco it was time to leave which Draco did, reluctantly.