Disclaimer: the characters belong to J.K.Rowling.

Chapter XV – In the next room…

~~ 5 ~~

The surrounding was familiar, but Bill was too shocked to recognise it at first.

"…and the next time you consider taking advice from Fred or George…"

Only when he heard his mother's voice, Bill understood he was in the Burrow.

"Who's there?" Mrs. Weasley stopped dictating a Howler when Bill opened the kitchen door. "Oh, Bill, why didn't you tell me you were coming? Everything's a mess and your father will be at the Ministry all day…"

Still speechless, Bill let his mother give him a warm hug.

~~ 6 ~~

In the next room, they could see the Mirror of Erised.

"That's hardly something exotic" spoke Bill, a little disappointed.

"Don't tell me you're not curious!" Hermione taunted him.

"I checked it out when I was at Hogwarts. We sneaked up one night with… Well, a gentleman doesn't say certain things. Suffice to say that all she that night was me!"

"I wonder what's the point of this test" Oliver whispered.

Apparently, he was the only one concerned what the mirror will show to him.

"We should all take turns looking at it" Hermione suggested. "Any volunteers?"

"I'll go first" Bill stood in front of the mirror. "Am I supposed to tell you what I see?"

"I don't think that's necessary" Oliver said hastily. "If we see something dangerous, they'll let us know, right?"

"Yeah, I mean we don't need to invade each other's privacy" Hermione agreed.

"Look who has skeletons in the cupboard" Bill scoffed at them.

As nothing happened, he stepped away from the mirror. Hermione took his place.

She looked as nervous, Oliver remembered, as she was before the Sorting. That time, she was placed in Gryffindor. What was going to happen now… might not be as unimportant – did he think that? the Hogwarts Houses unimportant? – Oliver was worried.

Whatever she saw in the mirror, it came as a surprise. She was looking shocked at her reflection, unable or unwilling to speak.

*What is it? What are you seeing?* Oliver's heart was racing.

Something was happening. They could hear a noise coming from the bowls of the Earth. Enveloped in darkness, a figure came from behind the Mirror. Hermione was the first to recognise it.

"Harry" she cried out, running towards him.

A sharp pain stabbed Oliver's chest at her reaction. She had snatched her hand form his to run away. He tried to put things into perspective, to be the grown up he was supposed to be. Still, he couldn't help feeling as helpless and jealous as he was before he became the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, before he found his value in the girls' eyes, before the independence he had found working for the Institute. Before allowing himself to fall in love with Hermione.

~~ 7 ~~

"Oliver? Bill? Anyone?"

Hermione was getting worried. She stood alone in the next room. Something had gone terribly wrong.

The darkness was suddenly pierced by a ray of light from the farthest corner of the room. Anxiously, Hermione walked toward the source of the light. She found a candle, burning shyly on a three-legged wooden table. Her first instinct was to grab the candle and go back to the door to figure out a way to get back to the others. But on a corner of the table stood discreetly an old, withered, humble roll of parchment.

"Osiris" she whispered in awe.

~~ 5 ~~

"Hi, Mom!" he said eventually.

"Oh, you and your surprises, Bill!" Mrs. Weasley was fussing around him. "What happened? Something wrong? Are you feeling all right? Have a cup of tea and tell me everything!"

"I'm fine, Mom. How are things around here?"

"Oh, nothing new. Your father and Percy spend a lot of time at the Ministry. The twins are visiting almost every day. Every time a new gimmick backfires they come begging me to regrow their bones or change their colour back to normal. You know, as usually"

Bill sipped his tea, deeply confused. He could remember perfectly what had happened, but he couldn't understand. One moment he was with Hermione Granger and Oliver Wood, beneath Port Said, unlocking the door, and the next he was sitting in his mother living room, drinking her tea.

The lock must have been a port key, but what had happened to the others? He was about to go to the fireplace to go to his father's office through the floo powder when things got a turn for the worse. The Dark Mark appeared in the air and seven hooded figures aparated in the room. His mother let a faint shout, but she reached for her wand instantly.

Voldemort took his hood down and grinned maliciously at her while her wand burst into flames at an imperceptible movement of his hand.

"How splendid to find you here, young Weasley! Another bargaining tool comes in handy. Now, Mrs. Weasley, I know your husband brought home something that presents some interest to me. Will you be so kind as to tell me where might he had hidden it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" she tried to stand up to the evil, but the Dark Lord had no time for such useless acts of bravery.

"Crucio" hissed Voldemort.

The pain he could see on his mother's face was not something he could endure. He launched himself in a raging physical attack against the dark wizard, taking all of them by surprise. All but Voldemort. Tom Marvolo Riddle simply suspended his torturing curse against the mother to throw the son in the same inferno of pain.

Bill heard his mother's voice, pleading for his release. With all the lucidity he could muster, Bill shouted.

"Don't tell him anything!"

The intensity of the pain soon stole all capacity for rational thinking. The agony seemed to last for centuries, but it actually stopped in matter of minutes. Mrs. Weasley had yielded. She had bought Bill's sanity with the information Voldemort had asked.

"I don't need you anymore" Voldemort sneered triumphant at Bill and raised his wand.

Before the dreaded Avada Kedavra took Mrs. Weasley's life, Bill jumped before his mother. He felt the lightning piercing his body, reaching his heart.

*I love you, Mom!*

Everything became calm. Quiet. Peaceful.

~~ 6 ~~

*Bloody Harry Potter! How did he get here?* Oliver hated having these thoughts. *Even Bill seems happy to see him? And why shouldn't they be happy? When Harry Potter comes in to play, the victory is certain. He's the boy who lived! But why would he appear here? Now? Is that what Hermione saw in the Mirror? Harry Potter!*

The familiar way she looked in Harry's arms bothered him.

"It's so good to see you! What are you doing here, Harry?"

"Some weird things were happening in the University and we decided to find out more. Ron went to talk to one of the professors and I was on my way to meet Sirius when all of a sudden I found myself here, staring in the Mirror of Erised. When I heard the door opening I hid behind the mirror until I could see who it was"

"Oh, Harry! You saw your parents again…" Hermione had always felt sorry for the orphan Harry.

"The strangest thing…" Harry whispered, blushing a little. "I saw you"

It was Hermione's turn to blush.

"I hate to interrupt this heart felt moment, but does anyone want to get passed this stage?" Bill stepped in.

"What did you see?" Oliver asked her.

The look she gave him made it all clear. She hadn't seen him. Oliver's heart was breaking. He wished he had never asked that. he wished he'd never met her.

"I saw Harry"

~~ 7 ~~

She leaned over the papyrus. The hieroglyphs were rapidly changing into letters, the words were starting to make sense. The introduction was a fairly standard warning. "May he who reads this be ware of the monumental power and the awesome danger enclosed in these writings. If you reader, came into possession of this book by accident, leave it where it stood and forget all about it!"

The papyrus transmitted an overwhelming sensation of terror. The warning was authentic.

*Just one more page* Hermione postponed searching her friends.

"These are the words of the all mighty Osiris. At the beginning, Osiris walked the earth with the mortals and gave us much help and wisdom. When the time of his return to the world of the spirits had come, he summoned the med-jai and left them his secret words"

"Stop it!" she stopped herself from reading. "Whatever this is worth, it will still be here when we return. If not… who cares? I have to find Oliver"

~~ 6 ~~

"Hermione, I love you! I've been blind all these years. We've all been blind. Hermione, you see it too! We're meant to be together!"

"Harry" she whispered softly, but then she remembered something. "Oliver…" she looked at him, guilty.

The anger and the pain made Oliver's blood boil. How could she do this to him? The hate rose in him.

*No! You can't have her! Why should you have everything? What makes you so special? She's mine! She loves me! Me!*

"Oliver, I'm sorry. I do love him"

Oliver felt his heart being torn from his chest. All he could say was:

"I just want you to be happy"

~~ 5 ~~

Peace. Darkness.

~~ 7 ~~

"I have to find Oliver"

~~ 6 ~~

"I just want you to be happy"

~~ * ~~ * ~~ * ~~ * ~~ * ~~ * ~~ * ~~ * ~~ * ~~ * ~~

Bill fell from the feeling of safety into the relative normality of the last room.

Hermione startled when, taking the next step she left the "reality" of the papyrus room and stumbled in the last room.

The darkness hid the tears in Oliver's eyes. Harry and the Mirror of Erised had disappeared. He was with in the last room.

~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~

~~~~

Not too dissappinting, hopefully.

BabyStar, Lauren, Alle kat, Shellie, Heather, Josie, Kelly, Blackandroseangel69, thank you so much!!!!!

Juvenus, Ryoko Blue, LOTRHPlver, Holly, Elle, Cinder, Hannah and Theed, thanks again for reviewing!