Chapter 12: Mirror Mirror...

"Are you sure this is the one?" Harry asked the Cursebreaker. The mirror was a lot more gaudy than the one Colin had been trapped in. Harry had been considering asking if they had a diary to use- except one that wasn't a dark artifact like the Riddle diary. Draco loved it instantly. It was obviously old and passed on with spells, because it had that rustic magical use that Harry had seen in his Black-inherited manor. It had a rune on the back and a amulet stuck to the front of it. Draco had already charmed it to green. "I'm sure we can make it less girly for Fred, Harry." Draco told him offhandedly, still studying the mirror until he fixed it with a charm to turn the base baby-blue.

"Draco, enough. We haven't even bought that yet." Harry told him sternly. Draco looked down at him like a petulant child, except Draco was at least 5 inches taller than Harry. "Like we aren't going to buy this. Would you rather take your chances with something he hasn't tested yet?" Draco challenged, referring to Mr. Clarke, who was pointedly pretending to not hear their conversation while dusting off dark objects. The whole place was off Knockturn Alley and Harry had the distinctive feeling Draco had been here before after his apprenticeship was over. "That's not the point. It's called being polite to shop keepers. Remember what we've been over?" Harry hissed under his breath.

Draco huffed impatiently and handed off the mirror to Harry. "Fine." Harry grinned and stepped back to the counter. "I think we'll buy this one. You're sure the charms are in place right?" Harry asked. Mr. Clarke swooped back to the counter and took the mirror from Harry. "Absolutely sure. You take this to the man in charge of the ritual, he can do it easy. Assuming he knows how to of course." Mr. Clarke said unworried. Harry gave a questioning glance to Draco but he was already enchanted by another magical item at the front of the store. It looked like a coffin. Harry shrugged and turned back to the man. "I've got a check then."

"Harry, would you look at this? I remember seeing one of these when I was 11." Draco told him after he paid. Draco was pointing to the coffin- a Sarcofaggus? a Sarcophase? Harry never had paid attention at the museum on school trips. "It's a sarcophagus. One straight from Wizard History." Harry rolled his eyes at Draco's dramatic nature. It was probably some pure-blood wizard coffin from the dark ages that had the misfortune to not marry another pure-blood and was evicted from the family Mausoleum. Harry wondered if Draco was planning on buying it for his huge bedroom. "Oh come on. It's not that weird." Harry guessed his face had showed what he was thinking.

Harry looked in his pocket at the shrunken mirror. He wondered what Hermione would think when she found out it was just not a spell, but a whole ritual bond to complete on the mirror and Fred, all while in Hogwarts around schoolchildren. If it even worked. Draco was telling Harry about all the rituals he had read about in his Manor's library and Harry hadn't the heart to tell him that those books were probably all dark, or biased. It wasn't fair to skew Draco even farther off forgiveness for his father. "I'm sure Fred will love your willingness to put a spell on him." Harry told him jokingly. Draco stuck his tongue out at him. "At least it isn't a jinx."

~.~.~.~.~.

Draco held up the mirror at arms length to show Fred in the portrait. "You know, I might be inside a painting but I can still see normally." Fred told him. Draco sniffed and held it back. The audacity of this man! Let's see how he feels when he's inside a MIRROR... Harry chuckled and Draco glared at him. And this prat was encouraging him! "Want to start the ritual now, Draco? The kids are still in class." Harry asked him. Draco rolled his eyes and took his wand out. "Alright. where should we put the mirror?" Draco asked him. Draco was surprised Severus hadn't stopped by to see what they were doing yet.

As if on cue, before Harry could respond, Snape himself appeared in his own portrait and stared down at them. "I never thought that when Fred Weasley was moved next to me that I would have to see the two of you all the blasted time." Snape insulted them. Harry groaned. "Nice to see you two, Professor Snape." Draco ignored his godfather and gave Harry a nudge. "Oh. Well it says here that Hermione said the best place to put the mirror was levitated right in front of Fred's... paint?" Harry suggested. Draco scoffed. "And of course I'm going to be doing that the whole time." Harry snorted.

Draco levitated the mirror and Snape looked ready to yell for Peeves. "Put that mirror down! What in Merlin's name are you doing, child?" Snape asked Draco, watching as he raised it to Fred's face. "It's a ritual. And I'd appreciate you keeping you and your big nose out of it, sir." Harry told him, without taking his eyes off their instruction lists. Draco held in a laugh as Snape frowned and began attacking Harry's character. Harry was unswayed, though, and began casting the charms necessary to bind Fred to the mirror. Harry then had to spell Gemino on the mirror and the portrait so that they wouldn't be in trouble with Headmistress McGonagall for stealing a portrait entity.

"Okay, hold steady Draco. You alright?" Harry asked Draco. Draco could see why. He always got nervous around Harry whenever he started doing magic. Whether those nerves were dealing with fear for his own life or being turned on... that remained to be seen. "I'm fine. Don't focus on me, Harry. The only reason we can do this in the first place without consequences is because Fred is a spirit. Who knows what would happen if you turned away." Draco told him. Harry rolled his eyes. "Alright, Snape." Harry retorted. "Actually, he's the only reasonable one in your little duo." Snape told Harry.

Harry mumbled about Snape never staying quiet and then continued on with the end of the ritual. A rip in the dimension was made as Harry pantomimed the wand movements and Draco had to turn away from the light that reminded him of an Apparition- blinding and highly uncomfortable to look at. Harry muttered the last spell and Draco turned back to watch as Fred seemingly conjoined outside of the portrait and then split into the mirror and back into the portrait in about 10 seconds flat. It seemed to make Snape nauseous, by the way he was staring at them. "Did it work?" Harry breathed out, clearly affected by the mass-spell usage. "Look for yourself." Draco told him.