A/N: Wow, it's been over a month…I am SO sorry for this delay! My computer crashed and I have to use my sister's now- but I'm sure you don't want the grisly details. You're all going GIVE ME THE STORY DAMMIT! So here's the story!
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It was the most silent of silences that Hermione had ever experienced in her life. No one even tapped their fingers against the polished wood of the train carriage windowsills, or even breathed loudly. It was torture. Breathing in deeply, she stood up resolutely and looked at them all sternly. "If you want to sit here, thinking of all the 'what-ifs' and 'why-didn't-I's', you're more than welcome. I'm going to carry on. What's done is done and frankly, if it gives Malfoy that reality slap he's been begging for then I don't see why we should dwell on it." When she uttered her first syllable, all the people around her had jumped in complete surprise. Breaking the silence is often shocking, at best.
Harry, to their surprise, grinned and stood up too. "You're right…of course," he added cheekily. Hermione rolled her eyes, but fondly, relieved she had an ally on the issue. "Who's up for some Butterbeer?" Ron stirred.
"Since when have we had Butterbeer?" he asked quickly, scrambling to get up and find it. Harry nodded towards the corner of the carriage where, sure enough, there lay a seemingly huge carton of glass bottles. Ron's jaw dropped in delight.
"Wicked!" He ran over to the corner and grabbed a bottle excitedly, before seeing the others' amused expressions. "Want one?" he offered sheepishly, holding up one. Hermione and Harry immediately walked over to get one, but Ginny shook her head and watched as Ron doled them out. Suddenly, a huge flash of yellow light came from the corner, where Crabbe and Goyle were sleeping. "Holy Agrippa!" Ron yelled, shielding his eyes and dropping his Butterbeer. The next instant, the light was gone, Ron's bottle was smashed and the two in question were nowhere to be seen.
Harry sighed and popped open his Butterbeer. "I reckon Dumbledore gave up on them," he said matter-of-factly. His friends laughed appreciatively, even Ginny who had been the quietest out of all of them. They all stared at the spot where, moments before, Crabbe and Goyle had lain.
"Ah well. No big loss," Ron said abruptly, downing the rest of his Butterbeer and tossing it idly where they had been. It smashed with a soft 'tinkle', making Hermione wrinkle her nose in disapproval. "Sorry Hermione," he said, seeing the gesture.
"I'll just clean it up," she replied waving her wand firmly. The mess was soon cleared up, revealing a shiny patch of hardwood floor. Harry shook his head chuckling; Hermione could do anything with magic if she wanted to. Meanwhile, Ron chugged some more Butterbeer while staring, as if in a trance, at the large mirror at one end of the train.
"Did anyone else notice a mirror there?" he asked suddenly. Harry and Ginny shrugged uninterestedly, but Hermione walked forward with her wand in hand, looking at it curiously.
"No, I didn't," she replied frowning after a couple minutes. "When did that get here?"
"Same time as the appearing Butterbeer maybe," Ron said with a hint of annoyance, looking over at Harry.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Give it up! You have it, you're drinking it, so why do you care how it got here?" he said taking a sip. Ron shrugged.
"Good point."
"Back to the mirror?" Hermione cut in in irritation. Ron started.
"What? Oh yeah!" He turned back to it; it stared back blankly with its glassy surface. "Looks like your standard mirror to me."
"So did the Mirror of Erised," Harry interrupted, getting up and looking at it, now more intrigued.
"What's the Mirror of Erised?" Ginny asked suddenly. The three looked at each other uneasily.
"Just a mirror," Ron said quickly. Ginny narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything more.
"Let's see…" Hermione cautiously put a steady hand to it and poked it. It was as if molten silver encased her finger. The mirror quickly molded it around her now shaking finger and, without warning, sucked her in. Hermione was gone.
--
"I kill Draco Malfoy…I don't kill Draco Malfoy…I kill Draco Malfoy…" Pansy moodily plucked crisp white petals from the daisy she was holding in her hand. The last petal fell to the ground as she said in disbelief, "I don't kill Draco Malfoy." There was a pause- "Oh what does a bloody flower know anyway?!?" Angrily, she threw the daisy to the ground and fumed as she watched it lie innocently in the dirt. "I've always hated daisies. Thank God I'm Pansy and not Daisy," she mused quietly, tearing up a grass blade with her nails. Having taken many long, deep breaths and imagining Draco being repeatedly pummeled with Crabbe and Goyle's gargantuan fists, Pansy was feeling a tad better. After a moment's hesitation, she peeked her head around the corner of the train carriage and bit her lip at the sight of him. From where she was sleeping, the sleeping boy looked for all the world like an angel at rest, with his blond hair swept across his brow. She almost felt amicable towards him…
Almost.
--
"Hermione!" Ron yelped, looking in horror at where the mirror had silently and efficiently stitched itself up after devouring the girl. "Where the hell did she go?" He reached out frantically to tap the glass but Harry grabbed his arm before his fingers grazed it.
"Remember what happened the last time someone did that?" he reminded Ron sternly. Ron glared at him but dropped his arms. Ginny meanwhile had gotten up (wincing at the tightness of the leather she was still wearing) and walked up behind Harry and Ron.
"Where did she go?" she piped up, making them jump. Ron sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
"We dunno Ginny, go away." Ginny crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue at his back, making Harry smile slightly, before huffily trudging over to a seat and flopping down. Ron looked resolutely at the mirror and then at Harry. Harry's eyes widened.
"I know that look…don't do it Ron!" he pleaded, looking at Ron's determined face. Ron shook his head.
"Something might have gotten her- I'm going in. Don't try and come in after me, I can take care of myself. Be back soon!" Ron winked at him before looking back at the mirror with confident eyes. Harry looked on helplessly as his best friend took a deep breath and placed his hand gingerly on the mirror. It took no hesitation in sucking it in like it had Hermione's finger, and in an instant he was gone too.
Behind Harry, Ginny sharply inhaled. "Oh my God." Harry turned around and tried his best to grin casually at her, the creases of his eyes folding as he did so. Ginny felt the familiar tug at her stomach as he sat down next to her and then, in a brotherly fashion, patted her knee reassuringly.
"They'll be back; Hermione's far from stupid, and Ron's got a good head on his shoulders," Harry said, reminding Ginny of her second year Defense teacher, Professor Lupin.
"What do you think's back there?" Ginny asked, drawing her knees to her chest and hugging them tightly. Harry shrugged.
"No idea. Hopefully nothing bad, eh?" Their conversation tapered off into silence as they thought in unison:
Fuck.
--
"ARGHHHH PONIES!!" Draco woke up in a panic, breathing heavily and grabbing onto the grass beneath him for dear life. "Bloody…cotton candy…I hate clowns…" Shuddering, he straightened himself up and shook the carnival nightmare out of his head. He looked around him slowly, taking the scenery in: no roller coasters. He breathed a sigh of relief and hopped up, brushing himself off. Pansy was nowhere to be seen; in fact, except for the train carriage sitting annoyingly superior in front of him there was no sign of life at all. "Odd…" Draco mused, walking towards the carriage and without thinking, opened the door.
Harry and Ginny looked up quickly at the sound of the opening door. When Ginny saw who it was she immediately went pale and decided that the grass outside really was very interesting after all. Harry's face remained blank. Draco narrowed his eyes in intense dislike of the two in front of him and threw himself on a seat rebelliously. "Where are they?" he asked sullenly.
"Sorry, where are who?" Harry replied woodenly. Draco rolled his eyes.
"Two thirds of the Golden Three. The Duo in the Trio. Your chums," he added icily, drumming his fingers on the windowsill. Exhausted from the silence, Ginny was grateful for the sound; she didn't move her head.
"Oh. They umm…got distracted," Harry said, almost laughing at the incredulous look on the other boy's face.
"Did they finally get a room then?" Draco asked in confusion. Harry nodded his head toward the mirror and didn't say anything. Draco frowned and got up, examining the mirror as he got closer. He only stopped when his nose was two inches away from the mirror, making Ginny (who was watching out of the corner of her eye) want to jerk him further away from the dangerous object. Instead, she remained quiet as he pondered. Suddenly he drew himself back, a look of alarm plastered on his face. "That's a Dark Arts object."
When she heard this, Ginny squealed and fell off the seat as Harry rose immediately to walk over next to Draco. "How do you know?" he asked simply. Draco snorted.
"Greasy haired bloke…Knockturn Alley, he has a shop there. 'Borgin and Burkes' if I remember correctly, my father brought me there all the time-" Harry winced in the memory of the hiding in the musty cupboard as Draco and Lucius talked with the shopkeeper. "I saw this in his shop. Why is it here?"
"Ron and Hermione are in a Dark Arts object?" Harry asked disbelievingly. Draco nodded, not quite able to hide his smugness at the fact.
"Yup. Sucks to be them." Ginny, now on the floor, bit her lip hard.
"Will they ever come out?" she asked timidly.
Draco didn't turn to look at her when he answered a good thirty seconds later. "If we know how to get them out they will."
A loud door slam and the clacking of high heels interrupted their trains of thought. All three heads swiveled 'round to look at Pansy, who was looking positively murderous, and the gaze was aimed straight at Draco. "I'll teach you to insult me! 'Pathetic girl' my ass, you'll forget you ever imagined I was pathetic by the time Im through with you-" ranted the girl.
Harry and Ginny looked at her in amazement as Draco caught her flailing arm and hissed, "What did your father tell you about Dark mirrors Pans?" Pansy stopped, completely thrown.
"Umm…why?" she asked suspiciously. Draco raised an eyebrow, mainly at himself.
"Dunno why I care really- you know what, I don't. Ask Potter." Draco turned her around to face Harry and sat back down again moodily, glaring at the mirror that hung so innocently on the wall. Pansy looked at Harry with disdain all over her face.
"What the hell do you want from me?" she asked, hands on her hips.
"Do you know anything about Dark mirrors? At all?" Pansy shrugged, a little coy smile placed on her lips.
"A little."
"Turn around." Pansy did so, and was faced with the mirror. She cocked an eyebrow in interest, reaching over to scrutinize it further-
"Don't touch it," Harry said quickly, grabbing her hand. He let it go as soon as she glared at him for it, and looked back at the mirror again in a slightly less confident voice. "Ron and Hermione did an now they're in there." Pansy's eyes widened.
"Oh Lord," she muttered running a hand through her hair, Draco temporarily forgotten. "Well this won't be easy. But I can do it," she added confidently, looking closely at it. "My father's an expert on Dark Arts artifacts you see," she started explaining to Ginny and Harry. "Ever since I was little…he'd show me all his stuff. I think I remember this, from way back…or something like it." Harry grinned wide, ecstatic; his friends weren't lost!
"Then you'd better hurry up," Ginny's small voice interrupted. "'Cause it looks like this mirror likes the company." The four looked back at the mirror, and were instantly horrorstruck.
Little purple veins were making their way all over the mirror's face, were tendrils of brown and red hair interlocking between them.
--
Ron landed in a large, empty valley. The overwhelming gray and fog was too much to take in after being teleported from Norfolk, England. He squinted his eyes for a sight of Hermione: nothing. "Hermione!" he yelled into the silence. Still nothing.
His heart leapt when he saw a flash of dark brown hair up ahead. He whooped and started running towards it, and then stopped in horror. Hermione floated two feet above the ground, her brown hair stringy and disheveled around her bony shoulders as her white eyes bored into Ron's blue ones. Ron backed away slowly, not able to take his eyes off of the ghostly specter in front of him. Then, as she spoke, every hair on the nape of his neck prickled with horror and disgust:
"You don't belong here."