Chapter 23: Shards of Erised

Waking up to scent of roses, Lily's first groggy thought was to wonder where she was. The room in its splashes of pink and green was completely unfamiliar - as was the gutted candle still giving off scent. She tried to sit up but someone's arm had pinned. James. And she remembered. She was at the Potters.

She allowed herself a moment to enjoy looking the way lashes curled on his cheeks when he was asleep before shaking him awake.

"Geroff," James mumbled sleepily.

Lily only shook him harder. "Your parents are in the house. You shouldn't even be here." She couldn't remember when he came in.

James rubbed his eyes. "Couldn't sleep. Had to hold you."

Lily patted his cheek. "Not quite the way for me to make a good impression on your parents, though."

"Yeah, well, I'll go back to my room and rumple the bedsheet," he stretched up. "Will that restore respectability?" With a faint 'pop' he Disapparated.

Lily stared at the spot where he had been; running her fingers through her thick red hair. It perturbed her that he had sounded so put out. But she had been right, for Merlin's sake.

She hurried showered and dressed in a pair of jeans and a white cardigan, wondering as she did, whether Mrs Potter would mind Muggle clothes. She did not have time to pack much when she had left home – she would have to go back to get most of her things. After finding Remus. If they managed to. Sneaking back and looking over her shoulder just to get her things and see her parents was a thought so depressing, she could have curled up and cried.

She shoved that thought away.

Breakfast was served in a cozy blue-walled alcove, quite a distance from the room. The Potter mansion seemed even bigger than she had previously thought. As her feet sank in the thick carpet, she reflected that she had little idea exactly what she was marrying into.

The long hallway her room opened to was lined with portraits; from huge oil paintings, to sepia daguerreotypes, and black and white portraits photographs. Seven generations of Potters.

Heavens.

Most of the people in the portraits were still asleep. One witch sat frowning over a piece of parchment, her long skirts trailing over the chair. Her face would have been commonplace but for a pair of exceptionally bright hazel eyes.

Adelia Potter

Inventor and Merchant

1771-1790

"She's always busy," a voice said behind Lily. Lily turned to see Olivia Potter coming towards her. "Hardly ever sleeps, our Adelia. Then again, she was responsible for turning the family fortunes around. And in just 10 years. Very fascinated with mirrors. We still have some of her inventions – did James ever show you his two way mirror?"

Lily smiled. "Yes, he did. I think he mainly uses it to talk to Sirius during separate detentions."

"Bloody waste," growled the witch in the portrait. "The younger generation, tsk, most degenerate."

"There, now," Olivia said placatingly with the air of someone who had heard this quite a few times before. "Everyone must have their fun."

"I didn't," she snapped. "Died too young."

"How did you die?" Lily asked curiously. 29 was young to die especially for a witch. Belatedly, Lily realized that the question was not exactly the most tactful. Adelia did not answer but turned back pointedly to her parchment.

"It's a great mystery, that," Olivia Potter said instead. "She was just found dead one morinig with the shards of one of her own mirrors strewn about her."

"One of the mirrors I invented as a team," Adelia interrupted peevishly. "Do get your facts right. Erised was too powerful for me to discover and craft on my own."

"…and not a soul knew what happened," Olivia said as if no one had said anything. "One of her cousins inherited her things. He had a rather peculiar sense of humour. H e used the pieces as a glass front for a display cabinet. We still have it in the attic."

"Did anyone ever try to look into it?" Lily asked as they left Adelia to her writing.

"Not that I know of," Olivia answered. "It doesn't do to see too deeply and too much."

A house-elf was cheerfully serving breakfast to Alice and Revera who greeted them as they entered. The latter picked at her food as if she would never eat again.

"Men," Olivia Potter shook her head. "Always the last ones down."

"Mrs. Potter," Lily said suddenly. "I really have to thank you for your hos…"

"Oh, please, don't stand on ceremony, my dear," Olivia said gently. "James' friends are like children Harold and I never had. And you are going to be family."

Her words melted Lily's hear towards her; a spark of warmth in the cold of uncertainty over her own family and Remus.

"Thank you," she repeated softly.

"This is an older version of a scrying mirror," Harold Potter explained as the 4 men dragged a huge, dusty, semi-circular orb to the center of the library. Mentally, Lily had already dubbed the room as the mirror room. Bookshelves stood against the mirrored panels which served as walls, towering over the occupants. Filled with light, penetrated and reflected; its glare cut down by spell, the library literally dazzled.

"What does it do?" Alice asked as the mirror was set down, concave face up.

"In ancient times, when Divination was one of the most powerful and well-used form of magic; this mirror is used as a tool to foretell the future," Mr. Potter explained. James flicked his wand and the dust on the mirror evaporated. "When Seers died out 400 years ago, their secrets and magical aids died with them. Even those with the Inner Eye now could not unlock the secrets of the tools of the past. However, through careful study, some wizards have found that the mirror can be used to see other people or things far away. The only problem is, one could never be sure whether what we see lies in the past, present or future."

"Used with the Finding Spell, however, it can usually quite efficiently locate missing people or things," Harold Potter ended his mini-lecture. "This mirror is a little old – hundreds of years – but sufficient for what we wish to do here. Its been rather long since I used the Finding Spell though, I will need to look up the incantation."

"I can cast the spell," Sirius offered. "I know it quite well." The three remaining Marauders exchanged knowing grins.

The force of Sirius' spell made the mirror wobble. Alice and Lily watched the kaleidoscopic images flashing swiftly one after another, fascinated.

"It might take some time," Harold Potter warned.

15 minutes later, no one was staring agog at the mirror anymore. Images kept swirling; too fast for any information to be gleaned. Sirius, Peter and Harold settled on footstools, waiting while Revera drifted towards the window and Alice paced the room.

Unable to bear inactivity much longer, Lily reached randomly into the nearest bookshelf for something to read. The first bounded parchment she drew out was practically incomprehensible.

"West Saxon," James remarked over her shoulder. "Just run your fingers down the page."

As she did so, the sentences dissolved and transformed into modern English.

Trust. Unity. Love

A Record of Brotherhood

She flipped to the next page.

'Linking Spells,' her fingers traced. 'A circle of magic can increase the power of a spell threefold for each wizard or witch who participates. The circle can be cast with the incantation 'Iugo Iunctio'. To join the circle, the same incantation is used while pointing the wand in the direction of the leader's.

The Linking Spell will only take effect if the linked group has complete trust in each other. Not only will it fail to take effect if there is the slightest discord or distrust among members of the group, the spell cast will reverberate back to the users, often with disastrous results.'

"Interesting," James commented as he read over her shoulder. "But not very practical. I cannot think of many wizards who has complete trust in one another. Certainly not Ministry wizards."

What with internal squabbling and political maneuvers, he certainly had a point.

Lily twisted around to look at him squarely. " We do, don't we?"

"What do you think? Want to give it a shot?" he replied.

Trust me all in all or trust me not at all, he had pleaded a few months back. She didn't then. And she still wasn't sure now, looking up into James' hazel eyes.

"I thought you might not want to risk it," James said wryly, reading her response in her look. "But let's keep this, shall we, just in case."

Before she could respond, a small explosion rocked the mirror. Everyone hurried towards it. Grey smoke rose through the center.