Author's Note: A thousand apologies for the late update! I have managed to survive the end of school, massive computer problems AND the holidaze. Yaaay! I hope you all had a nice Christmas. Unfortunately, nobody bought me the LOTR extended version DVD set. Everyone must have mistaken me for Professor Dumbledore, cuz all I got were warm, thick socks!
Draco's poem is actually "The Web of Eros," by Edith Sitwell, a British poet.
Chapter Twenty-Six
"Are you sure I can do this?" I asked my enchanted mirror nervously. I reached out my hand, and it melted into the surface of the glass. I gripped the volume of my grandfather's spells firmly beneath my other arm.
"No worries, Dearie," The mirror said. "Just please be careful."
I drew a deep breath, and stepped through the mirror into a cold, dark room. Torches that lined the stone walls ignited instantly, and the firelight gleamed in hundreds of mirrors of all shapes and sizes. I gazed around in amazement. I had no idea where exactly Professor Dumbledore had created this room, and there were no doors that could lead to the outside. It was a little eerie to be there alone, and seeing my face in the mirrors gave me the impression that I was surrounded by people who were watching me.
The Mirror of Erised wasn't difficult to find. It was magnificent, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame that stood on two clawed feet. I read the inscription carved around the top: "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi." I had spent some time wondering what I would see in the mirror. I expected to see my parents, like Harry had. I was quite surprised, then, when I looked into the mirror, and Draco's image appeared.
He smiled and waved. Studying his image closely, I saw that he was quite relaxed and his eyes shone with a certain innocence that I had never seen in them in real life. He was painting a magical portrait. To my amazement, other people joined him in the mirror: my uncle Lucius, my mother and father, Severus, Hermione, Professor Lupin, and even Harry Potter was there with a pretty red-headed woman who had his eyes, and a man with his messy, dark hair. My parents were happily chatting with me. My Uncle Lucius was a famous writer. Professor Snape still worked on his potions, but he looked entirely younger and much more relaxed. He actually turned and smiled at me. Was I seeing everyone else's desires? It took me some time to realize that I was seeing scenes from another world, a world where Voldemort had never existed.
Harry had once told me that he found it extremely difficult to pull away from the Mirror of Erised. Now I knew what he'd meant. I lost all track of time watching my parents' happy faces.
"Excuse me, Miss Silverthorn," A rather dreamy voice said. "I don't mean to interrupt, really I don't. But my twin is expecting you."
"Huh?" I looked up, and realized that the mirror was speaking to me.
"It's just that it wouldn't be wise for you to aggravate the Mirror of Emit," the mirror continued. "I'm afraid that your grandfather had a row with it just before he disappeared. I really miss Master Silverthorn. We all do. We felt useful to him. Now Albus Dumbledore has us locked up all the time in this horrid room. I used to be kept in the other rooms of the castle, until that naughty, little boy Harry Potter found me. We're all hoping that you'll become our mistress, and put us to good use again."
"Hear, hear!" A cacophony of voices filled the room as the other mirrors chimed in.
"Thank you," I said, looking down at the cover of my grandfather's book. I had the funny feeling that the mirrors were expecting me to make a speech. "I didn't know my grandfather-"
"He was a wonderful man!" One of the mirrors cried. "A saint!"
"Don't interrupt her!" Another mirror shushed.
"But I hope that I can be as good of a Mirror-Mage as he was. I promise that I will try to do right by you all." I blushed as the mirrors cheered. Who knew that I would end up with mirror-groupies? This could be really good for my ego. "If you don't mind, though, I do have to talk to the Mirror of Emit now."
I pointed my wand at the mirror. "Speculum aperto!" My wand began to glow with a white radiance, reflecting in all the hundreds of mirrors and blinding me. The light hit the Mirror of Erised and turned it to burning gold. I walked through the glass to a dark space. There were no torches there. The darkness and the silence made me pant as if there was no air. I swayed for a moment as I felt the drain of power.
"Lumos," I whispered, and light blossomed from my wand.
The Mirror of Emit looked much like its twin, only it was made from silver. Its inscription read: "Emit ni eur tsemoc erised straehr ouy." How I wished it was true. I would do anything to make those scenes in the Mirror of Erised a reality. Now that I was here, in front of the mirror, I again felt that rush of power, that burning temptation to try and change history. But of course, who knows what I could make happen by attempting to change the past.
Using a spell in the book, I contacted my mother. The spell was such that it could only contact people through other mirrors, and luckily, my mother had a large antiquemirror that she had propped up in the back of her shop in New Orleans. It was a very emotional and difficult conversation. She had been in a great deal of denial about her boyfriend, Karl, but the shock of seeing me from the future immediately convinced her that what I told her was the truth. She would not let me go until I had told her every detail of how my Uncle Lucius had found me.
Before I broke the contact, my mother said, "I want you to get away from that mirror. It's powerful, and dangerous. I'm not sure if even Professor Dumbledore could destroy it. Baby, do you remember the One Ring from Tolkien's novels?"
"Yes," I said.
"Well, Tolkien had this right- when an object has absorbed so much magic, it becomes, well, sentient. It isn't just a tool anymore. It develops a will of its own. Don't use it anymore, do you hear me?"
I nodded, as her image in the glass flickered out. Once she was gone, I argued with myself. I had been dying to speak with my father, at least, to say…something to him. I wasn't sure what.
With another spell, the image of my father wavered in the mirror. He had the same dark blond hair and green eyes that I remembered, only this time his reflection focused on me.
"Daddy?" I said.
When he heard my voice, he started and studied me with a mixture of curiosity and cynicism. "What kind of trick is that old fool Dumbledore attempting to play on me?" He asked. "I thought this mirror was supposed to show me my 'heart's desire,' or some kind of nonsense like that."
"I'm your daughter, Miriel," I said. "I'm from the future. I'm talking to you through the Mirror of Emit."
He stared at me. "I don't have a child."
"You will. Daddy, I'm here at Hogwarts." To my horror, his image wavered in the mirror and began to dim. Contacting my mother must have exhausted me more than I realized. "I just wanted to tell you, that I love you. I've always loved you, even when I didn't know who you were-" I took a deep breath. "I wish you were here. And I love you for what you did to save me. You're my hero. Thank you, Daddy…"
But his image was gone. I remembered what the Headmaster had told me. My father had changed dramatically after looking into the Mirror of Emit, eventually allowing my mother to escape Voldemort. I realized what must have happened. When Professor Dumbledore had made my father look into the Mirror of Emit, my father must have seen me.
"What can I do?" I asked myself, looking into the Mirror of Emit. I looked up once again at the words that lined its frame. "How can I make my heart's desire come true?"
"My dearest Mistress," The mirror said. "You have only to ask. I will grant you whatever you want. My only purpose is to serve you."
I jumped at the voice. Unlike the other mirrors, whose voices at least sounded somewhat human, this voice was utterly alien. It was more of a shiver of crystal or ice that vibrated against my eardrum. The voice held the ineffable, such as mystery, eternity, and time. The voice didn't quite sound… right somehow. I stepped back cautiously.
What did I want? I wanted my parents together. I wanted a childhood with a father who loved me. I wanted my Uncle Lucius to be happy as I had seen him in the Mirror of Erised. My mind swirled with possibilities. "I want Voldemort to be destroyed. Forever," I finally said. I dashed the tears off my cheeks with my hand. "I just don't know how to do it. I'm afraid to change the past. Anything could happen. I could make things worse."
"Then that leaves the future, my beautiful mistress," The mirror responded. "The desire of your grandfather's heart was to travel through time."
"I don't want to do that," I said anxiously. There was something about the hypnotic, crystalline voice that made me uneasy. It seemed to swirl around me, pulling me closer towards it. "But if I could just talk to somebody from the future, maybe I could get some information that would at least save Severus." I chewed my lip, wondering who I could contact. I was tired and drained, but this could very well be my last chance before I'd have to turn my grandfather's book over to Dumbledore and leave Hogwarts.
"Allow me to choose for you," The mirror said. "I am rather an expert at this sort of thing."
Images flashed and blurred on the surface of the glass, and finally stopped on a scene. The mirror was so huge, that it felt as though I was really there.
The elegant restaurant was classic New Orleans: A mirrored dining room, with linen covered tables, bent wood chairs, two-paddle ceiling fans, crystal water decanters, and an enormous pendulum clock. The room was decorated for Christmas, and the colored lights from an enormous tree bounced off the mirrored walls and filled the place with a warm glow.
An elegant man who looked about thirty sat alone at a table. He wore a fine, silk suit, and his hair cascaded like a silvery waterfall down his back. His attention was absorbed in writing something onto a piece of paper. He must have been Christmas shopping, since a bag of brightly wrapped presents sat on a chair besides him. My first thought was that it must be my Uncle Lucius.
"Will Mrs. Malfoy be joining you tonight, sir?" The waiter asked him, filling the customer's goblet with wine. "Our specialty tonight is Shrimp Remoulade, Turtle Soup au Sherry, Poisson Meuniere Amandine, with Banana Bread Pudding."
"My wife is visiting her parents," The man said, looking up from his paper. "And the kids are with -"
There was a crash as the bottle of wine hit the floor. The waiter gaped at me, and I realized with a shock that he could see me in the mirrored wall of the restaurant. I glanced around him, but he and the customer appeared to be alone.
"I, uh, don't think I'm feeling well, Mr. Malfoy," The poor waiter mumbled, wiping his face with his hands. "Must be having a bad reaction to my medication. Yes, that must be it…" He disappeared into the back of the restaurant.
The customer recovered from his surprise remarkably quickly, but it wasn't until mischief flashed in his grey eyes that I recognized him.
"You naughty girl," He said with a very familiar smirk. His voice sounded deeper and richer than I remembered it, with a more mature note to it. "You should know better than to play around with the Mirror of Emit. What are you trying to do? Scare the Muggles and get me into trouble with the Department of American magic?"
"Draco?" I gasped, my mind racing to think coherently. Gazing at his reflection, I stepped closer to the mirror. "It's amazing." Without thinking, I placed my fingers on the silver frame of the Mirror of Emit. "You look so different, so much…"
"Sexier?" He suggested. "More sophisticated? Charming, perhaps?"
Draco obviously hadn't changed that much. It was then that I felt it, a horrible tug at my stomach. I fell with a jolt toward the mirror.
"What's happening?" I said in panic, and shrieked at another tug. I tried to pull my hand off the frame, but it was stuck. The Mirror was sucking me into it, just as it had my grandfather! "Stop it, you stupid mirror!"
Draco reached out his hand, and to my amazement, it passed through the surface of the glass. He gripped my arm.
"What are you doing?" I cried. "I'm trying to get away!"
"It's going to be okay. Stop struggling!" Draco pulled on my arm. It felt like someone was trying to pull me through a tornado. My clothes felt like they were about to be torn from my body, and even my hair came loose and stung my face.
I stumbled, tripping over the base of the mirror. Suddenly, I was there in the restaurant, holding onto Draco for dear life.
"Miriel," he said. "Are you okay?"
"Um." I gazed up at him, drinking in his appearance. An older Draco was definitely an improvement. His body was heavier, his muscles more solid. He must have changed colognes, since he didn't smell like a spicy, rich kid anymore. He just smelled… wonderful.
"Sweetheart, it's really you," He said, smiling in wonder. "You're a teenager again. I've been wondering for years when you'd turn up."
"Where am I?" I asked.
"This is your favorite restaurant," He said. "Galatoire's, on Bourbon Street."
"Galatoire's?" I said in surprise.When I had lived in New Orleans, my favorite restaurant had been a cheap pizza place, since that was all I could afford. "I've never been able to afford this place."
"The older version of you is quite fond of it," Draco said. "Sit down, Miriel. Here, you look like you could use this." He guided me to the chair, and pushed his goblet of wine towards me.
"The older version of me?" I looked around, horrified. "I'm not here, am I?" The one unbreakable rule of time travel was that you were never supposed to meet yourself. Bizarre and dangerous things could happen in that case.
"No. I wonder if you knew you'd be here. That means I have you all to myself this evening." He grasped my hand, and pressed my fingers to his lips. "I am surprised to see you, but very, very pleased."
"Stop that!" I jerked my hand away. "You are a married man. With kids! I heard you tell the waiter that." For some awful reason, I felt a sharp stab of betrayal and disappointment.
Draco laughed, a deep, rich laugh that was full of fondness. "I don't think that my wife would actually mind at all. Wait a moment," he said, glancing toward the back of the restaurant. "I'd better go and obliviate the help before we go. It wouldn't do for anyone to see you here."
As he left the table, I grabbed the goblet of wine and took a huge gulp. All of this was very shocking. How was I going to get back to my time? Did my mother or Professor Dumbledore even know I was gone? Had Voldemort been destroyed by now?
Something on the table caught my eye. It was the paper that Draco had been scribbling on. Picking it up, I saw that it was a Christmas card. He had been writing a poem inside it:
"Within your magic web of hair, lies unfurled
The fire and splendor of the ancient world;
The dire gold of the comet's wind-blown hair;
The songs that turned to gold the evening air
When all the stars of heaven sang for joy.
The flames that burnt the cloud-high city Troy.
The maenad fire of Spring on the cold earth;
The myrrh-lit flame that gave both death and birth.
To the soul Phoenix, and the star-bright shower
That came to Danae in her brazen tower…
Within your magic web of hair, lies unfurled
The fire and splendor of the ancient world."
Draco plucked the card from my hands. "That is a Christmas gift, Miss Snoop."
"That poem, did you write it?" I wondered if it was for his wife, or maybe a mistress. Someone who evidently had beautiful hair!
He nodded, and shrugged into his jacket. "I suppose I've developed many talents since you last knew me."
"It's beautiful," I murmured, looking down into my wine. It was so sensitive, and it even used Muggle references. Perhaps Draco had really changed over the years. He certainly looked more mature and elegant, and there was something about his face that seemed much nicer than when he had been a teenager. I had always liked older men, and to my discomfort, jealousy over the card's recipient began to squirm in my stomach.
"Honestly," Draco said, shaking his head. "You are so ridiculous. Did you see who the card is addressed to?"
I shook my head. "It's none of my business," I said primly.
Draco retrieved an envelope that had been placed to the side, and held it up for me to see. In his elegant script, the envelope read, "To My Beloved Wife, Miriel."
Draco bent down and closing my wide-open mouth with his hand, he kissed me. "Did you really ever think you'd escape marrying me?" He asked with a smile.
Thank you and a Happy New Year to all my wonderful reviewers! Thank you Badger, Quidditchgal91, ice-princess42 and Dragonfires.
Escaped: As usual, thanks for all your great compliments! I'm glad you and your computer (oh yes, and car!) are doing well. My story probably wouldn't be so twisty and turny if I'd made a detailed outline and stuck to it. I have to cram so much into it because I don't want to have any loose ends. I'm afraid it's turning into an epic.
Arsinoe de Blassenville: Thank you so much for your review! I didn't realize that Lucius was disguised as Bellatrix until you told me that. He is so sneaky! I read a lot of the essays at Redhen-publications. Com, and they were great. Death to the Weasleys! Heh. I've been having computer problems lately, so I haven't been able to post on your library.
RachelW: Thank you so much for your reviews, and I really liked your story on Ashwinder about Snape, Hermione, and the Japanese ghosts (I haven't gotten to your other stories, yet!) I tried not to make Miriel too Mary-Sueish. I wanted to portray the "nice" side of Lucius Malfoy, and I knew the only way that he would respond to her in such a way would be if she was powerful and pure-blooded. I also needed a reason why she could get to the Mirror of Emit, when many other people couldn't. I think I'll probably need to work on the punctuation in my story before submitting it anywhere else! I took a look at my first couple of chapters, and my commas and periods got pretty wild! I really need to track down a Beta.
Monique: Thank you so much for your review. You are so sweet. I know the frustration of checking the Net every day for an update on my favorite stories. With school out of the way, I have a lot more time to write now!
