Mirrors & Dates

20 years before…

It was my fourth year of Transfiguration and it still hadn't gotten any easier. I sat in the second row to the front. Most of the class was having just as much trouble as I or more. Almost everyone was busy trying to change their hamsters into door knobs. I was only trying to prefect mine due to the fact that it still had little fuzzy ears that wiggled when you touched them.

I let out a huge sigh of frustration, but as soon as I did this I regretted it. The last person that I wanted to talk to at that moment turned around, Sirius Black.

"Looks like you could use some help," he stated having finished transforming his hamster into an elegant door knob.

"Thank you, but no," I responded coolly.

He shrugged and returned to his conversation with James who had also done a brilliant job in his transfiguring.

My friend Sarah was seated on my right. She leaned over and whispered to me, "He could help me out any day."

I rolled my eyes and said, "I don't think that your boyfriend would appreciate that."

"He'd understand, I mean everyone knows Sirius Black is gorgeous," she replied looking at the back of Sirius' head with a look of longing in her eye.

I rolled my eyes once more for that was the same look that every girl in our school who had any sort of eyes gave Black these days. I myself couldn't even deny that Black was rather good looking, but it stopped about there. So he is clever too, but he is also a self-centered, arrogant, and an extremely troublesome jerk, who hung around with those just like himself.

By the time I had perfected my door knob the class was almost over. Professor McGonagall had assigned a mountain of homework and then we were out the door to lunch.

I entered the Great Hall for lunch alone because Sarah had to run back up to our dormitory to pick up her books for the next lesson. As I was walking someone knocked into me. To my disgust it was one of my least favorite people in the whole world, Severus Snape. Almost everyone in the entire school hated him, except of coarse for his fellow Dark Art obsessed Slytherins, but I think even they had their doubts about the sinister boy.

He looked at me with eyes full of hatred and with greasy hair draping around his pale pointed face and said, "Watch where you're going."

"Me? You're the one who hit me incase you didn't notice," I snapped.

He pulled out his wand and said, "Watch it because next time you'll be sorry."

I pulled out my wand as well and pointed it in his face saying, "Don't threaten me Snape."

I could see it in his hatred filled eyes, but I was ready. He began to open his mouth to curse me, but I was too quick for him. I shouted loudly, "EXPELLIARMUS," with a little to much emotion behind it. Snape flew back and landed several feet away on the ground. His wand landed even farther away and then continued to roll under the Ravenclaw table.

I hardly had any time to register what had taken place when I heard a furious voice behind me shout, "What is going on here?"

It was Professor McGonagall looking livid, "I am ashamed and from my own house. Cursing a fellow student right here in the middle of the Great Hall. What did you think you were doing? Ten points from Gryffindor and a detention."

I was just as furious about the whole situation, but for different reasons. She was being extremely unreasonable. Not caring about all the stares we were receiving, not to mention the countless cheers because everyone loved to see Snape get what he deserved, I shouted, "It was self defense Professor!"

"Did he attack you first?" she asked.

"No," I replied shortly.

"8:00 o'clock in my classroom then," she said.

It was a losing battle. I walked away, took my seat at the Gryffindor table, and slammed my wand down onto the table.

I left the common room at 7:45 that evening to ensure that I was on time to Professor McGonagall's classroom. I didn't want to have to face her fury twice in the same day.

When I entered her classroom she looked up from her desk saying, "Good you are on time." I glanced around the room and saw another occupant; I knew instantly who he was without him even turning around to look at me.

A few seconds later he then turned to face me with a smirk and winked. In return I gave him a look of loathing and proceeded to the front of the classroom. Of all people to end up in detention with it had to be him, not surprising though because he and James were so often in detention a visitor to the school would have thought that they take it as an extra lesson.

"The two of you are to clean this entire classroom," she paused then added, "without magic."

I gasped, "I expect that'll take all night, Professor."

"Then you two best get started, there is a lot of work to do as you very well see, my sixth years made a right mess of things with their canaries. I on the other hand have other business to attend to within the castle. I expect it to be spotless when I return," and with that she left the room and sealed the door behind her.

"Brilliant," I stated sarcastically.

"What? Isn't this every girls dream? Their detention to be served with several hours of nothing to do, in a locked classroom with me," he said with a confident smile.

"No, besides if you haven't noticed we do not have several free hours. This classroom is revolting," I said.

"You sure about that?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Wrong," he said. Then took out his wand and swept it through the air saying, "Scourgify," and just like that all of the yellow bird feathers and droppings disappeared as though they had never even been there in the first place.

"We aren't supposed to use magic," I yelled.

"Who's going to know?" he asked.

"McGonagall, you idiot," I shouted.

"Wrong again," he said with a bored drawl to his voice, "You see it's like this, McGonagall won't be back for hours and she won't know how quickly we finished or if we used magic to do it. Besides even if she does come back early then just be sure to blame it all on me."

Rather then agree with him because he did have a point I continued to shout, "Well what the bloody hell are we supposed to do now? Sit here and stare at the wall? And I wouldn't let you take all the blame."

He smiled and asked "What do you want to do?"

I turned away looking around the classroom in absolute furry. I had to admit the boy sure was skilled. I had never seen a classroom at Hogwarts look so clean, all of the usual dust and smudges were completely gone.

Continuing my angry manner I said coolly, "Nothing with you."

"Fine," he said, "Your loss."

Just then a third voice filled the room, "Sirius," it whispered.

To my surprise I watched Sirius pull out a pocket sized mirror from his pocket and begin speaking to it, "Hey James."

The voice from the mirror asked, "So mate do you have any company tonight or is it just you?"

Sirius turned the mirror to face me, and to my own astonishment instead of seeing my own face reflecting back at me, I saw the grinning face of James Potter.

I let out a sharp gasp of surprise. Sirius then turned the mirror back around and I heard James say, "I see, so I guess we'll talk later then."

Sirius gave a slight nod before returning the mirror once more to his pocket.

"What was that?" I asked with true amazement.

"That was just a little something James and I created so that we can talk to each other while in separate detentions because most teachers have caught on to the fact that we are less trouble apart," he sighed with a grim satisfaction to his voice.

"I would hardly say that," I sighed.

"Well you're right about that, love," he smirked.

"Love?" I questioned in disgust.

"Just an expression," he said with a smile.

"Yes I know," I grimly stated, walking over and taking a seat at a desk.

I watched as Sirius did the same taking the seat across from me. He sat down with the same grace and confidence that I had seen him display all these years and so it went, I'm not sure how many hours went by, but we sat there. Sirius would try to strike up a conversation, but I would reply too shortly to continue on the subject or tell him to "shut up."

By the time Professor McGonagall returned I was highly irritated with the total waste of time. She bid Sirius and I good night and told us to stay out of further trouble. She needn't tell me because I didn't want another night like that one to ever take place again. Honestly, me in the same room as Sirius Black for hours, it was madness.

The corridors were empty and dark. When we reached the large portrait of the fat lady she was asleep. When Sirius finally succeeded in awaking her from her slumber she was highly irritated at the pair of us.

I then began to head quickly to my dormitory when Sirius caught me by the wrist, "This was a lovely first date, don't I get a kiss goodnight?" he asked with mock hurt to his voice.

I pulled my arm away from him with deep disgust, "Ha… me go on a date with you, you must be insane and if you call detention a date then you should really check yourself into St. Mungo's," and with that I turned on my heal and climbed the stairs to my dormitory.