A/N: No amount of apologizing can make up for this. This truly is inexcusable behavior and I am deeply sorry for the wait. I could list every activity I'm in, but it still doesn't make the wait any shorter. I hope this will make it up since the chapter is longer! I loved every follower e-mail I got and the reviews made me want to do back flips (which I cannot do by the way.) I enjoyed every thought you had about the chapters and *crosses fingers* I will try to be faster now that my schedule is somewhat calming down! Anyways...on with the chapter! Oh and I don't own anything but Ella and Rowena the rest of everything belongs to J.K. Rowling.

The Mirror of Erised

Not long after the Quidditch match, the temperature really plummeted around the grounds of Hogwarts. One morning in mid-December, Ella awoke to find everything covered in a thick blanket of snow. Students were trudging through the enormous snow banks just to get to each class. Fred and George got into quite a bit of trouble for bewitching snowballs to hit Quirrell's turban which the entire Gryffindor House found funnier than anything. Ella decided to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays since she had yet to see the castle on Christmas. To her surprise, the twins would also be spending the holiday at the school due to their parents visiting Charlie in Romania.

The three friends sat in the common room watching the other students rush about trying to find all the things they'll need for going home. Since none of them would be leaving they hadn't felt the need to join in the fray, they merely watched and waited for dinner to be ready. Ella sat with her head propped up on her left arm observing her classmates. Every so often another kid would overlook the thing they needed and she would politely point it out to them while the twins attempted to hide their snickers.

"You know, it's a good thing I'm not leaving to go home. I'd be dragging all my books home practically breaking my back. You'd think the professors would give less homework in the spirit of Christmas, but I guess that would be wrong!" Fred exclaimed when a fifth year's knapsack broke open letting loose hundreds of parchments.

George shrugged, "Well, it's not all bad. At least we're studying Animagi in Defense Against the Dark Arts, that's a lot more fascinating than it could be."

Fred nodded, "I suppose you're right, it could be worse."

Ella's curiosity soon got the best of her, "What are Animagi?"

"Well an Animagus is a person who can change their form from human to animal at will. I find it absolutely fascinating. Can you imagine being able to turn into an animal and back whenever you please?" George said with excitement.

It felt to Ella as if the floor had disappeared from under her. She was glad she had been sitting. Her mouth gapped at the boys who were now looking worriedly at her. They noticed how pale she became after George explained it to her.

"Is everything alright Ella?" George asked hesitantly as though he didn't want to set her off any further.

"F-fine," she stammered, "I just remembered I need to look at something right away in the library." Before either boy could get another word in Ella leapt up and dashed out of the Common room.

She didn't slow her pace until she reached the library. Ella always had been fascinated by their library since it was such a large space filled with more magic than Ella had once believed existed. Even though she was in the area quite often, there were still places that were a mystery to her. As much as the books intrigued her there was no way she could ever read all of them. That didn't stop her from looking through any that peaked her interest. She found it odd how the kids in her grade couldn't wrap it around their minds how she knew so much, maybe if they picked up as many book as she did they'd understand. Maybe if they'd grown up accustom to books being their only source of companionship they'd realize why she always was sticking her nose in them.

Soon she was walking around the library without a clue where she was supposed to look. She began to fear she'd never find what she was looking for and started to panic. Her dreams were only getting worse and it seemed unfair to have come so close to an idea only for it to be torn away just as quickly. She had gone down her fourth row of book shelves when she ran into Madam Pince.

"What are you looking for?" She asked Ella in a kinder voice than most students get. Ella was there reading so often that the librarian didn't mind her. The woman appeared to have a soft spot for students with a love for reading.

Ella cleared her throat and answered, "I was looking for books on Animagi, ma'am."

Madam Pince looked her over, "Aren't you a second year? You don't study Animagi until your third year."

"I know ma'am, but I have friends who are in their third year and they mentioned them. I got very curious, it was so intriguing." Ella insisted to the woman being almost completely honest with her.

She smiled at the younger girl, "They are rather interesting aren't they? Well, follow me; I'll lead you right to them." The two weaved through the columns of papers and books until they came to a whole row dedicated to Animagi.

Ella's eyes grew as wide as saucers, "Thank you ma'am."

The librarian turned to leave and said, "What are you looking for, boy?" Ella turned around to see Harry looking as though he was caught red handed in a crime. Odd.

"Nothing," said Harry which was obviously the wrong thing to say. Madam Pince immediately had him leave her library. Ella briefly wondered why Harry wouldn't tell Madam Pince what he was looking for, since it was very obvious he was looking for something. She shook her head and began milling about the books she thought she may need for her studying. By the time she had grabbed all the books she thought she'd need there was a very large stack and she had no idea how to get all them to the table even if it was only a couple feet away, it would still take several trips back and forth.

She looked around for a moment, "Wingardium Leviosa." The pile began to float like it was just a feather and she proceeded to take them to the table.

Animagi for Beginners, it seemed like the place to start. After skimming through the book she found that the person's animal form would reflect their personality. She vaguely wondered what animal reflected her personality. It seemed like such a foreign thought that she had absolutely no idea what that creature would be. She also realized that not just any person could be an Animagus; you had to be profoundly talented in Transfiguration. Ella loved the class, but she wasn't sure if that would be good enough to provide her with the means to become one of these magical beings. Another hit came to her when she realized that you needed to be registered to become an Animagus because it was that dangerous and that difficult. She let out a frustrated breath of air. Were her dreams really pointing to being an Animagus or had she just jumped to conclusions to soon? She had been so sure.

Looking around she realized it must have been late and she would certainly be in big trouble if she was caught out of the dorm at this hour. She decided to take a how to guide on becoming an Animagus just in case she was right, but she wasn't exactly keen on it.

Rushing from the room she was shocked at how dark everything was outside and came to the realization that she had definitely been in the library longer than she had anticipated. Dashing as swiftly as she could while being quiet she tried to get to the Common Room before she ran into a teacher or worse Peeves. Speak of the devil, she heard the little bugger cackling down the hall and ran to hide in a nearby empty classroom.

The door lightly clicked shut as Ella slid down it letting a slow sigh of relief slip from between her lips. She was only going to wait until Peeves flew out of the hallway but a glint of light on the other side of the room distracted her. She stood up and walked over to a large mirror that seemed extremely out of place in the classroom. Ella highly doubted that any student was supposed to find it, yet here she was staring at the ceiling high, ornate mirror. It was absolutely breathtaking down to the last detail in is gold boarder. An inscription read: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. For a moment Ella tried to figure out what language the phrase was in, but quickly she gave up on the hopeless case.

Gazing at her reflection she was bewildered why this mirror was kept hidden. It obviously belonged in the room of a princess, not an empty room of an empty school corridor. She set her book down on the floor and glanced at her reflection's expression in shock. A smile was on its face and moving a tentative hand to her own; Ella discovered the smile was not mirrored.

"Why do you smile?" Ella whispered to the girl in the mirror. The girl was mute and simply brought her forefinger up to tap lightly on her head.

"You don't dream like I do, do you?" She asked the other version of herself. It shook her head to show that Ella was correct.

Placing a hand upon the mirror the girl followed in suit, "Why can't I be like you? Why must I see all the horrible things that haven't happened yet while you can sleep peacefully with dreams that mean nothing? All of my friends can go to bed without worrying what will happen once their eyes shut, I can't. I don't want to admit it and I never want to tell my friends, but it scares me. I watch these things in my head and then they come true. Some call it a gift, but I can only see it as a curse. At first it was brilliant. I knew who my friends would be and who would make the Quidditch team, but now that I only see threats and troubles. I don't want the power anymore! I can see all these dangers and I can't breathe a word of it. There is no one like me in the entire world, but I'm almost expected to just get out of bed and act as if I don't know what terrible things are going to come about. Why am I like this? What did I ever do to deserve this curse? Why can't I be normal?"

Ella cried out the last part a little louder than she had intended and stood completely still, waiting with baited breath to see if the shout had attracted any teachers to her. No one came and she turned back to the smiling self, the person she wanted to be. That version of her would never have to feel the burden she doesn't go a day without. For what seemed like an eternity the girls stared at each other. Ella could've stayed and pondered the possibilities that came with her not having her dreams for the rest of her life. The idea of doing so jostled her to consciousness. She suddenly became wary of the mirror and quickly stepped away from it. The girl in it stared at her and beckoned her to look further once more, but Ella had had enough of the mirror's hypnosis.

Swiftly, she made her exit from the room ignoring the mirror's silent calls to her. Luckily she made it back to the Common Room without being intercepted by Filch or Mrs. Norris. It was obviously past midnight at that point and Ella was thankful that break had started and she had no classes to wake up early for the next day. Ella felt exhausted all the way through her bones. The mirror seemed to have sapped her energy and spirit. She quickly went through the portrait hole and was nearly to the stairs when two throats were cleared simultaneously.

"Where have you been?" A twin asked her. She hadn't turned around to see who was talking to her, but knew it was one of them.

"The library," she replied slowly turning to face the boys. Their arms were crossed and they both looked extremely tired, like they'd waited up for her all this time.

George shook his head, "Maybe at first, but the library closed ages ago. Where did you go after?"

She gave the boys a look of disbelief and crossed her own arms, "What does it matter to you? I was out and…thinking." It wasn't a lie she really had been thinking, but it wasn't on her own accord.

"What were you thinking about, you were gone for an awfully long time," maybe it was the genuine worry in Fred's voice or her thoughts about how her life could be popping back into her mind, but tears sprung to her eyes.

Bringing a hand to her face she tried to inconspicuously flick the water from her eyes, "I was just thinking about stuff, nothing important." Ella tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall. If she could just make it to the stairs a few steps behind her she would be in the clear, but the boys were too observant for her plan to ever work.

Fred took a step closer to her, "What's wrong, Ella?"

Taking a step back she lied, "N-nothing."

George shook his head, "You can tell us, we're your friends. You don't have to hide anything; we only want to help you."

Ella had ended up backing into a wall and decided just to slide down it. Her knees were shaking too hard to support her anyways. The twins both kneeled down to her level so that they wouldn't tower over her or make her uncomfortable.

"I don't want to be this way," she whispered so they just barely heard her. She hated telling them, she hated to seem weak. Ella always was trying to be tough; she truly hated showing weakness especially now that she had friends and confidence. She had stood up to Allison and she had made it so far in the past year in figuring out who she was that she didn't want these kind of setbacks. It seemed that no matter how strong she was, she still needed moments of weakness. It made her human.

Neither twin knew what to say to her or if anything they said would help. So they did what they thought would help her. They sat down on either side of her and let her just let out all that she had held in. Sometimes words weren't needed to help a situation only the solid feeling of someone being there for the one who needed it. The proof they weren't alone to make all the difference. Soon all their eye lids were drooping and they parted ways. Not one of the three would tell another soul of what had happened; it was one of those things that never needed to be brought up again. As she climbed into her bed in her dormitory she thought about the Animagus book and whether she had been right. For once she decided to just dream on it instead of ponder it in consciousness.

It began again and Ella welcomed it this time. Now that she had an idea in her head she hoped to prove or disprove her theory. The images flashed in slow motion this time but they almost seemed as if they were now unimportant. A scene played before her and she stood in amazement as she beheld herself mastering the art of becoming an Animagus. Practically bouncing up and down she watched the steps of becoming an Animagus and crossed her fingers to see what kind of creature she would become. It was merely one small step away. One spell would complete the transfiguration.

Her eyes opened in the sun shining through her window. Groaning she sat up and noticed that all the girls were already gone. Of course, they'd be on the train heading home for the holidays today which meant that the school was virtually empty now except she was there and so were the twins.

While the Animagus book was left untouched until night time, Ella, Fred, and George spent their days planning pranks and joking around with each other. They spent most of the time laughing until they were blue in the face. She had missed spending time with them and not worrying about school or dreams. Ever since she found out what her dreams had been about, her nights were calmer. Sure, there was this giant chess board that seemed to lurk in the dream every so often, but with all the fun she was having she had little time to worry about what she dreamt.

Ella woke up bright and early on Christmas morning and began to go down into the Common Room. She wondered what it would look like since the castle seemed to have a magical ability to surprise her every time she thought of something.

"You too, she heard Harry say. "Will you look at this? I've got presents!" Ella stopped just before she got to the bottom of the stairs.

"What did you expect, turnips?" Ron replied. Ella heard tearing which, most likely, was Ron already opening his. Ella could understand that Harry believed he wasn't going to get anything. If the people he lived with acted anything like she had seen in her dreams, she doubted they gave Harry a lot of presents.

She listened a bit more of their conversation while they opened their presents. She was pleased to hear that Mrs. Weasley had made him one of her sweaters. Ella loved the one she had gotten last year and still had it. She had almost gone down the stairs and ended her eavesdropping session when Ron gasped and stopped her in her tracks.

"I've heard of those. If that's what I think it is- they're very rare, and really valuable." Ron said in complete awe. Ella poked her head from around the corner and was transfixed by the cloak in Harry's hands. It was beautiful with its slivery fabric and gleaming folds.

"What is it?" Harry asked at the same time Ella thought it.

"It's an invisibility cloak," Ron stated. "I'm sure it is- try it on." Harry did as he said and Ella feel backwards in shock clapping her hand over her mouth before her shout of surprise could escape. Ron let out a shout.

"It is! Look down!" The first years continued to gape at the magical object and soon read a note that had apparently came with it. Ella tried listening for any other hints about who had sent the cloak to Harry, but Fred and George made their entrance and the two hid the cloak out of sight.

"Happy Christmas!"

"Hey, look- Harry's got a Weasley sweater, too!"

Sighing Ella finally came into the Common Room and made her way over to a little pile of gifts that were hers. It was roughly the same size as Harry's. Fred and George had matching blue sweaters that could only be torn apart by the F and G on each of them. Opening hers Ella noticed it was a pretty lavender shade this year and smiled as she slipped hers over her head. There was some fudge with hers that she nibbled on as she took a look at her other presents.

"Harry's sweater is better than ours, though," said Fred. "She obviously makes more of an effort if you're not family." Ella felt a blush creep to her cheeks as the twins looked at her sweater too. She didn't want Mrs. Weasley to put extra work in her sweater, she just felt lucky to get one.

"Why aren't you wearing yours, Ron?" George demanded. "Come on, get it on, they're lovely and warm." Ella smiled at the boys while Ron put his sweat on grumbling all the while about not liking maroon.

George looked over his brother in his sweater, "You haven't got a letter on yours. I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid- we know we're called Gred and Forge." She laughed at the joke. Only Fred and George would think of something like that.

"What's all this noise?"

Percy came walking down the stairs with his very own sweater thrown over his arm. Ella had noticed a slight change in Percy over the year. He seemed more zealous and thirsty to make the world see him, all the while moving apart from his family. She didn't like the change, no matter how small. In their own way it seemed the twins had seen the shift in behavior as well, but like everything else, they resorted to teasing to try and fix it.

Fred seized the sweater and held it up to admire, "P for Prefect! Get it on, Percy, come on, we're all wearing ours, even Harry got one."

Ella looked away as the twins fought Percy to wear the sweater. She instead took inventory of what she had gotten this Christmas. Nothing from her parents which didn't surprise her; they practically disowned her anyways. Katie had given her several chocolate frogs and Angelina gave her a book of spells. Ella knew she would enjoy reading it later. Alicia's present was some Fizzing Whizzbees which Ella had heard would actually make her float off the ground; that sounded like something she had to try. Lee had given her a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans as well as prank supplies from Zonko's. Finally, she had Mrs. Weasley's fudge, sweater, and a little note that said she hoped Ella was having a good year and that her boys were treating her well. She had already agreed with the twins they would exchange their gifts during Christmas dinner.

At the Christmas dinner she sat next to the Weasleys and Harry. It was one of those moments that made life worthwhile to Ella. The feeling of belonging and not intruding in someone else's life was what she felt the whole night. Her mind had nagged her when she first decided to stay behind because it thought things would be boring. As always that negative part was extremely wrong. Whoever cooked the dinner had really outdone themselves. Ella didn't think it was remotely possible to make a dinner better than the Halloween one and yet here she was eating the best meal of her life. The wizard crackers were the best. Like Harry, she had never seen anything more than the Muggle ones which were quite dull even when she hadn't known about magic. These took two people to let off and each one let out a sound much like a canon shot. Fred and Harry pulled one that made a cloud of blue smoke surround them as well as gave them a rear admiral's hat and nearly a dozen live mice. George and Ella's enveloped the group in several shimmering stars. They received a very droopy sun hat that no one could wear since it had recently become the place that held many mice.

Dumbledore was currently in a flowered bonnet laughing at a joke Professor Flitwick read him. When he saw Ella looking up there he smiled briefly at her then continued his conversation. The deserts were as wonderful as the rest of the meal, but everyone became cautious of the foods once Percy nearly broke his tooth on a silver sickle.

"Alright boys, are you ready for your present?" Ella asked finally pulling out a box that she had wrapped their gifts in. She was extremely nervous since she was from a Muggle family she couldn't really get anything magical and barely knew what to get two boys anyways.

Smiling the twins opened up the gift revealing some Muggle candies and a whoopee cushion. They seemed confused about all of it and Ella couldn't honestly blame them. Muggle objects were as foreign to them as magical ones were to her.

"Um, what are these?" Fred asked her holding up the Muggle prank tool.

She blushed beginning to believe it was a stupid idea to give them such a trivial item, "Well the wrapped things are Muggle chocolates and that is something that Muggles use for jokes. You see all you do is blow it up and leave it on a chair then when a person sits down it will-er, make a rather rude noise." Fred and George looked at each other with mischievous glints in their eyes. Then they proceeded to test out Ella's gift. Both found it extremely amusing.

George roared with laughter as Fred sat down, "This is genius! No magic and the Muggles made something like this. I really do admire their effort."

"Agreed," Fred responded then pulled out their gift to her, "Well, um, here you are."

Ella unwrapped the gift and found a small box. She half wondered if this would be more candy and joke supplies. To her surprise, it was far from any sort of prank material. In the little box was a bottle of perfume. She gave the boys a questioning look and George began shifting around uncomfortably while Fred's ears turned about as red as his hair.

"Perfume?" She asked them wondering slightly if this was a joke. They definitely did not seem like the type to give a friend perfume. Then she wondered if she smelled bad to them…

George's cheeks flushed and Fred said, "I knew we shouldn't have asked Bill."

Spraying a tad into the air Ella sniffed, it was a pretty scent, "I like it. Very light and floral; reminds me of spring." The boys were still blushing but seemed relieved that she liked the gift. After that the Weasleys, Ella, and Harry made their way outside to have a vicious snowball fight. There was no clear winner but they all came in later for a small meal and to warm up by a fire.

Ella and Percy played a game of Wizards chess as did Ron and Harry. Then Ella sat with Harry and Ron to watch Percy chase the twins around the room in an attempt to get his Prefect badge back. All in all it was another perfect Christmas to add to her list. Being completely full she went to bed happily with only a small dream about Animagi. It wasn't until two nights after that Ella got a nightmare.

The giant chess board surrounded her, but she wasn't alone. Of course she wasn't alone; there always was someone there to make her worry for their well-being. It was Harry, Ron, and Hermione they appeared to be in the middle of a deadly game. She had obviously arrived in the middle of it and she watched in confusion as the Queen made her way towards Ron who was currently a knight. When the Queen raised her sword Ella knew this wasn't just kind of like Wizard's chess. It was Wizard's chess, and Ron was about to be taken down by a very fierce Queen. All Ella could do was scream in fear for him knowing she couldn't stop it.

The scene morphed itself into a new image one where the three first years were being suffocated by a plant. Ella wanted to identify it but she felt like she was trapped right along with them. Panic rose within her. What if she died in her dream and then died in real life? Why was she feeling the effects of the dream when she never had before? Hermione said something to the boys, but Ella's ears were deaf to it as the dream once again changed.

Now she was walking through the corridors of the school. Everything around her moved extremely fast, but she was still in a regular speed. Her classmates seemed to blur around her and the world was put on mute. She walked against the crowd which parted for her. Even though there were literally hundreds of people around her, she felt alone like she was the only person on the planet. It terrified her to be so painfully in her own world. Then the sound came, she almost thought she was imagining it, but then the noise became louder. It was hissing, like steam from a tea pot or a snake. Chills ran through her veins and she wanted to be in any other type of dream. That's when the dream became dark, too dark to see. Her own hand was lost in the darkness. Then a wave of pure emotion crashed into her.

Loneliness, anger, sadness, and bone chilling terror were all she could feel. She was consumed with hopelessness and just wanted it all to stop. She needed something to hold onto she needed to stop feeling like this. Then the Animagus visions began to flash with urgency. Sure, she hadn't looked at the library book in a little while, but it was the holidays she didn't want to have to worry about it then. For the first time in many nights she felt like her dreams were overwhelming her.

Ella awoke doused in a cold sweat and felt completely sick to her stomach. She was beyond thankful that all her roommates had gone home for Christmas. Suddenly she had the overwhelming desire to find the other Ella, the one from the mirror. She wanted to make that reality her reality. She was determined to find a way to do it. Leaping from her bed she left the Common Room, in her frenzied state she didn't even think about getting caught. All that registered in her mind was the mirror.

Luck was truly with her because she was able to easily find the classroom without anyone seeing her. She was about to go in when she heard someone was already in there. Pressing her ear to the door she discovered more than one person had found the hidden mirror.

"So you like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised," Ella recognized Dumbledore's voice and wondered who he was speaking to.

"I didn't know it was called that, sir." The new voice was Harry's, Ella was certain. She pondered for a moment what his alternate reality was, a scar-less forehead or maybe his family?

"But I expect you've realized by now what is does?"

"It- well- it shows me my family-" Harry stuttered confirming Ella's theory.

"And it showed your friend Ron himself as head boy." So Ron had seen it too? Ella wondered how many other students had stumbled upon the room or if the Gryffindor students were the only ones to wander about the castle at this hour. Realizing she missed some of the conversation while she was thinking, she began to listen again.

"Now, can you think what the Mirror of Erised shows us all?" Dumbledore asked, but when Harry remained silent he elaborated, "Let me explain. The happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised like a normal mirror, that is, he would look into it and see himself exactly how he is. Does that help?"

Ella let the words roll around in her head a bit. If the happiest man looked into it and saw nothing but himself what would that mean? The man could be content with his life and have no need for a better world or was there something more?

Harry replied, "It shows us what we want…whatever we want…" Ella could tell he was unsure of his answer and Ella was unsure of hers as well. Dumbledore knew the answer and she wanted desperately to know what it was.

"Yes and no," the professor said in a soft voice. Ella strained her ears to hear him say, "It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. You, who have never known your family, see them standing around you. Ronald Weasley, who has always been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best of all of them."

"And I who have been plagued with knowledge of the future see myself unburdened and free, my heart's deepest, most desperate desire." Ella thought to herself.

Dumbledore continued, "However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible." Ella shuddered, she had considered doing that. She would have most likely been driven mad if those two hadn't been there.

"The Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry, and I ask you not to go looking for it again. If you ever do run across it, you will now be prepared. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that. Now why don't you put that admirable cloak back on and get off to bed?" Ella found his comment of dreams odd. She felt as though the wise old man knew she was there.

"Sir- Professor Dumbledore? Can I ask you something?"

"Obviously, you've just done so. You may ask me one more thing, however." Ella waited to hear what the boy's question was.

"What do you see when you look into the mirror?" He asked and Ella too was curious.

"I? I see myself holding a pair of thick wool socks," Dumbledore told him. "Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People insist on giving me books." Ella didn't believe a word of it. She pressed herself against the wall and was thankful when Harry had passed.

"Ah, Miss. Worthington, I see you're out for a midnight stroll. I dare say, you wouldn't mind if I accompanied you?" Dumbledore asked spotting her before she could make a quick getaway. Nodding they began to walk and Ella felt herself relax a bit, it didn't seem like she was going to get in trouble.

After the two had gone a little ways Ella piped up, "Socks sir? Surely you can't be serious. I mean someone who's lived as long as yourself must see something different."

"I should've known you had found the mirror," Dumbledore said more to himself than to her. Giving Dumbledore a look he questioned her kindly, "Well if you're so apt to share, what did you see, Ella?"

She bit her tongue and looked down a bit, "I saw myself, well not quite myself, but it was me. I just-"

Dumbledore knew what it was, "You didn't have any dreams."

Ella nodded, "I found it on the first day of the holidays. That night I had been entranced by it, I wanted to be a part of that world. I had a nightmare tonight and I planned on watching the mirror until I discovered a way to make it so. If you hadn't been there or Harry, I would've ended up like the men you spoke of."

"To rid one's self of a burden is a popular desire. At so young of an age you carry such a great burden that most men my age couldn't handle. I see that you and Harry are alike in many ways. Both of you do not favor who you live with, you're very bright children, you find a home within Hogwarts, and the both of you were given too many hardships for someone of your ages. I see myself and my family together in the mirror as Harry does, but he does not need to know that. Sometimes the mind does better when it has to think, I believe Harry needs to learn to think of the smaller things in life like socks. He doesn't need to think about other families being like his. You children need time to be children; you're already too grown up." Dumbledore told her wisely and she believed him. She and Harry dealt with more troubles than most first and seconds would deal with in their life time.

Looking up she realized they had walked straight to the portrait hole to the Gryffindor Common room. Ella hadn't realized how tired she was until then. Even with the thought of nightmares she still would rough it for some shut eye.

"I believe this is where I bid you farewell, Ella. You would do well to follow my advice to Harry about both not searching for the mirror and not dwelling on dreams. A life spent in fear and hiding isn't a life at all, but a sad existence for the faint of heart, something you are not." Though, as she laid down once more that night Ella worried that even though she was strong now, it wouldn't be enough to face the dreams that surely would get worse with time.

A/N: So...how was it? Not too bad for how long it took, was it? I love any Reviews you could write. I mean they make like my life! Thank you!