Disclaimer: All the characters of the fanfiction are owned by JK Rowling.
JAMES POTTER
Standing true to his reputation James Potter was on his routine of wandering about the magnificent castle of HOGWARTS. He was alone today. His three friends who are usually seen with him all the time weren't there. To an outsider nothing would have seemed out of place, bar a student breaking the rules. But to the general household of Hogwarts this was a peculiar scene, because it's not every day you see one of the otherwise "stuck at the hips all the time" MARAUDERS, wandering about the castle alone, without his people around.
It was cold, really cold, but the Potter boy didn't seem to care, for he just wanted to be alone for some time because James Potter was living one of the worst days of his life, at least that's what he thought. Lily, his loving Evans, had this afternoon, compared him with the giant squid "I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the Giant squid", these words kept ringing in his ears.
Telling that James was shell shocked would have been an understatement, he was heartbroken. Was he really that bad? Why in Hell would Evans compare him to the squid of all things, in front of the entire castle? He could make out the acid in her voice and the laugh of his friends? Why were they laughing at him instead of supporting him? Was he really no better than the stupid Squid?
He was furious the entire day, his friends could never understand what he was feeling. He wanted some fresh air, so here he was roaming around the castle absentmindedly going wherever his feet would take him. Tiredness finally took over him and he stopped. He was somewhere near the astronomy tower, for the sky was starkly visible from here and he could easily make out the constellations.
He looked around, the place wasn't familiar, he had never been to this part of the castle. "I will make it a point to add this to the Map", James thought to himself. Though never seen before, the room seemed to be like an unused classroom or a store, he could see a score of benches stacked against one of the walls, while the other held a number of what looked like old decaying cupboards and mirrors and a hoard of other things.
Casually walking around the classroom, James found himself admiring his reflections on one of the mirrors, "How could Evans be disgusted by this handsome face?", this was enough to bring back the memories of the afternoon, it stabbed his heart like a crutiatus. Lost in his thoughts James was about to trace back his footsteps to the dormitory because it was getting really late, when he was unconsciously pulled toward a grand mirror like the ones the wealthy would love to show off with.
"What could a mirror like this be doing amongst this muck of rotten furniture?"-realization then dawned on him, this was no ordinary mirror; it had some powerful ancient magic imbibed within it, he could sense it. There were some very intricate designs carved all along the length and breadth, a message was written on the top bar, in some foreign yet familiar language, "Goblin made it is"- James concluded.
He stared at his reflection in the mirror. There was some strangeness in the way his refection smiled at him; it was calm, very calm indeed. But he wasn't smiling, he hadn't really smiled that way ever since he was a kid, ever since a certain power thirsty crackpot had taken upon himself the task of "purifying the magical world". Truth be spoken, nobody had really smiled or laughed for no reason ever since the threat of the war had surfaced. People became too acquainted with plastering fake smiles upon their faces for the sake of their loved ones though deep inside everybody knew that all of this was slowly eating them up, until they decide to give up or die trying.
The hooting of an owl brought James out of his reverie. He was so deeply engrossed in his thoughts that he had not noticed the other person's presence until he looked up. He turned around to greet his favorite person, his hands automatically reaching his already messy hair out of habit. Lo! There was nobody behind him but she was right there! He turned to look in the mirror. Lily was there, standing right next to him, just… just that she wasn't Lily, not really.
The reflection looked different; Lily was smiling at James. This was enough to make his head explode with happiness, Lily smiling at him, like genuinely smiling at him. His lopsided smirk returned. He glanced back at the mirror; more figures had appeared. He could see his parents smiling, next he saw Sirius, Remus and Peter all of them laughing gleefully at some secret joke. In fact, everybody in the mirror seemed to be happy, really happy. What made them happy was unknown but they were how he would have wanted them to be in real life; carefree, tension-free, everything hunky dory.
He suddenly realized that he had seen that smile somewhere, somewhere in his universe. Alas! That was the smile he used to see on his parents' face almost every day until Tom Riddle came along, to ruin it all. He knew that smile, he had seen it, but it was ages ago, when there was no threat of a brewing war, when the days just went off in happiness, when people would not see an owl as a messenger carrying the news of another death, accident or attack. The thing to be worried about the most was running out of chocolate frogs and liquiore wands! A warmth, like a longing ache, filled his heart.
Outside, the horizon turned to a brilliant palette of colors- spreading pink, orange, yellow and red hues along its way, splashing its beautiful colors to swallow the never-ending darkness. "Probably we still have a chance, maybe we can still win, may be its not the end just yet." Thinking along these lines, James retraced his steps back to the Gryffindor tower. It was getting colder.
Author's Note
This is my first attempt of writing anything related to Harry Potter, there will be a few more characters in this series until I run out of ideas.
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Stay Safe. Be Kind :)