Title: What Lies Ahead?
Author: Keiko
Rating: R
Pairings: Harry/Draco, Ron/Hermione cameo
Spoilers: Books 1-4
Warnings: Slash
Summary: Harry and Draco get an unexpected glimpse into the future. If I say anything else, it will give away the plot.
Chapter 2After drinking three glasses of pumpkin juice apiece, Harry and Draco were finally able to release themselves from an insistent Dobby's grasp, who kept trying to serve them a five-course dinner.
"Well that was refreshing, but now we've got to get moving. We'll miss dinner if we put this off any longer" Harry said unenthusiastically.
"Yes, let's get this ordeal over with." Draco replied even less pleased than Harry.
Forty-five minutes later, Harry asked, "Are we there yet. We've been walking for ages."
Draco scowled angrily and said "We would have been there already if the damn staircases didn't change every five minutes. This stupid map is so antiquated and obsolete, it does not update itself quickly enough. Wait, I think we are almost there. Just three more doors to the left. Yes, here we are finally. I was just about to faint from the heat."
"Draco, what are you on about? Please just open the door so we can get Snape's book and leave."
"Fine, I'll unlock the door, but if I pass out, you'll have to personally carry me to the hospital wing. I wouldn't trust your levitation spells."
"Since you'll be unconscious, you'll never know if I bump your head a few times with my levitation spell, so please just unlock the door." Harry said in exasperation.
Draco took out the odd looking key Snape had given him and placed it in the lock. The door opened with a loud whoosh and the key evaporated into a cloud of smoke. "Wow, an enchanted key!" Harry exclaimed in amazement.
"Well, what did you expect? Snape said this room contains a lot of valuable articles. I'm sure Dumbledore isn't daft enough to use a Muggle-type lock and key." Draco said with his usual air of superiority.
"True." Harry agreed. "Let's find that book."
Upon entering the room, the two young wizards observed that the room was immense and was filled from wall to wall with intriguing, magical items. There were several bookcases scattered haphazardly about the room, making the task ahead a lot more difficult.
"Why couldn't Snape at least have had the courtesy to tell us which bookshelf his book was on? None of these are in any kind of order. We'll be here all night." Draco sighed.
"I guess we'll just have to split up and check each bookcase. There aren't that many books on each one, so it shouldn't take too long to find the one we're looking for. I'll search the ones on the right of the room and Draco, you take the left side." Harry suggested.
"But there are more bookcases on the left. I want the right side." Draco whined.
"Fine then. I'll take the left and you'll take the right, you big baby."
So Harry and Draco began to search the room for the book in question, each muttering and grumbling under their breath about what a bastard Snape was.
"Lumos!" Harry said and a second later Draco also cast the same spell to make reading the book titles easier.
"Have you found it yet?" Draco asked.
"I just got started. Do you think we'd actually have that kind of luck? It'll probably be the last book on the last shelf we search."
"I hate to admit it, but you're probably correct, Harry."
An hour later, Harry and Draco were still looking for the potions book. Harry found himself in the far left corner of the room when he turned and saw a familiar object. "Merlin's beard! I haven't seen this thing for ages. I wondered where Dumbledore put it." Harry shouted in excitement.
Draco, never one to miss out on the excitement, rushed over to Harry's side to see what had caused Harry's outburst. "What's all the fuss about, Potter?"
"Draco look!"
"I guess you haven't seen one before Potter, but that is just a mirror. I have about ten of them in my room at home."
"Very funny Draco, this is the Mirror of Erised. I found this mirror back in first year in an unused room. It shows you what your heart desires most. I guess that why it is call the Mirror of Erised, since it is desire spelled as a mirror image. Anyway, when I looked into the mirror back then, it showed me my parents and other family members. Come here, let's look into the mirror together and see what we see."
Draco moved next to Harry and the two young wizards looked into the Mirror of Erised. "Well, what do you see?" Draco asked first.
Harry scowled and said, "Something's wrong. What do you see?"
"I see you and me Potter, just like in any other mirror."
"Yeah me too. I don't understand it. I used to see my family and now all I see is our reflections. Look again, will you?"
Together, Draco and Harry stared into the mirror, this time, more intently, hoping to see something different than before.
After a few minutes, Draco announced "All I still see is myself and you with those big, beautiful green eyes."
"What!"
"Er, did I say beautiful? Sorry Harry, I guess I was-um- staring at the mirror for too long and- um- the heat- well, you know." Draco explained with a slight blush rising across his pale cheeks.
Harry stared at Draco for a moment, slightly embarrassed himself and then said, "Oh well if that was all it was.."
"Dumbledore probably put an enchantment on it to prevent it from showing people their desires. I'm sure he didn't want a bunch of students running around Hogwarts trying to find some mirror to tell them what they already know. Really, who needs some stupid mirror to tell me what I desire most." Draco quickly tried to change the conversation.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. We better get back to the search."
Twenty minutes later, Harry was finished with his side of the room, his search bearing no results. The book had to be on the right side of the room, so Harry decided to assist Draco. As he approached Draco, he said, "I can't believe you're still not done and you had less shelves to search than I." Then he noticed that Draco was twirling a shiny object in his fingers very quickly. When Harry was almost next to Draco, he saw a golden, gossamer chain dangling from the object Draco was rotating. Then he realized what it was and lurched into action.
"Draco, put that down now!" Harry screamed. Draco instinctively stopped twirling the object and clutched it tightly at the shock of hearing Harry's stark warning. At the same time, Harry impulsively grabbed for the object and wrapped his hand around Draco's, which was still holding the tiny item and chain.
Suddenly, the room around the two wizards seemed to become warped and distorted, as they felt themselves being propelled forward very quickly for a few seconds and then their feet came into contact with the ground again.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!