Disclaimers in the first chapter.

Author's note: Thanks a lot for the reviews!

Chapter 2

The Mirror

The Start-of-term feast was out of the ordinary this year. Everyone was eyeing the Slytherins in a suspicious sort of way, although the Sorting Hat, once again, had made it clear that it thought that co-operation and unity was of the utmost importance in these days of hostility and animosity. There was a tension during the feast that had never been there before, because now most of the students and their families had realised that Voldemort was really back.

The delicious food made them forget about the Slytherins, however, and over some excellent treacle pudding Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville were discussing what classes they were going to take this year.

'I can't believe I got an 'O' in my Potions OWL,' Harry said, taking another spoonful of pudding.

'Well, that's not half as strange as the fact that I got one,' Neville said, shaking his head incredulously.

'I'm not surprised,' Hermione said, 'you're both rather good at Potions so long as Professor Snape isn't around.'

'Rather good, maybe, but to get an 'O'? It's just too unlikely. Maybe Dumbledore sort of... helped us?' Harry looked inquiringly at Ron. But Ron wasn't looking at him; he was staring at his plate, chewing his pudding mechanically.

'I didn't get an 'O',' he said quietly.

'Oh, er... – sorry, mate. But at least you're rid of Snape now, look on the bright side.'

'Yes, but I can't become an Auror without Potions.'

'Ah, I'm sure you can do it anyway, somehow,' Harry said, trying, unconvincingly, to sound cheerful. 'Your Dad's at the Ministry, after all. He's bound to be able to arrange something. And the rest of us are stuck with Potions now, it won't be fun, you know...'

'I'm off now,' Ron said grumpily and left the table. The others looked after him thoughtfully.

'It really will be dreadful, you know,' Harry said. Neville shuddered.

'You don't have to take Potions,' Hermione sighed. 'You could choose something else, Divination perhaps...'

You know perfectly well that we have to take Potions if we want to be Aurors,' Harry snapped.

'So? Don't complain about it then! Thank your lucky star you got an 'O', otherwise you'd have had to drop it!'

'I know, I just can't stand the thought of having that greasy old git for another two years.' Hermione and Neville looked at him thoughtfully, trying to avoid looking at his hair.

'I'm glad I can still do potions, though,' Neville said quietly. 'I want to be an Auror if I can, Snape or no Snape.'

Harry and Hermione looked at each other, both of them thinking about Neville's parents who had been Aurors before they were tortured into oblivion.

'He has taught us a lot, though,' Hermione said, 'Otherwise we wouldn't have got our 'O:s'.'

'If you can call that teaching...' Harry mumbled, glancing, for the first time since he had eaten, towards the high table. And there he was, Severus Snape, looking as mean as ever. Harry looked at him, talking to Professor McGonagall. He felt a surge of hatred at the sight of him; after all, it had been his fault that Sirius had died, there was no getting away from that... If it hadn't been for him, Sirius might still have been alive. Then he looked up, meeting Harry's eye. Harry stared back at him, insolently. Snape's eyes narrowed menacingly before he turned to Professor McGonagall again.

Harry looked over to where Remus Lupin sat, trying to catch his eye once again. He had been trying to do this all evening, but not once had he succeeded. Lupin couldn't be angry with him, could he? Harry kept him in view while he was finishing his meal, but Lupin, who wasn't talking to anyone, never looked his way.

Harry was looking forward to the first Defence Against the Dark Arts class. He thought about it as he went up the spiral staircase to the boys' dormitory that night, wondering what it would be like to have Remus Lupin as a teacher again. Of course, he had met Lupin a few times while he was staying with Kingsley Shacklebolt during the summer, but he hadn't told Harry that he'd be coming back to Hogwarts this year. Quite on the contrary it had seemed like he was really busy doing things for the Order and certainly wouldn't have time for anything else. But maybe Dumbledore thought that it was especially important to have a person he could trust as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher now, when everything was so turbulent...

Harry went over to his bed and found that all his things had been unpacked and arranged neatly in his cupboard, as usual. He threw himself down on the bed, but got up again almost immediately. He had to look in a mirror.

He stood there, scrutinising his own appearance, for what seemed like ages. He was shocked to see his hair lying flat on his head. Flat – and greasy. His face didn't look the way it used to either, though he couldn't tell exactly what was different. It was something about the shape of his face, and the hue. Although Harry had always been rather skinny, his face had looked quite round, like his Father's. Now it looked longer and thinner than before, and, unlike last year, it wasn't tanned at all, but very pale and, to tell the truth, sickly-looking. Could he be coming down with something – a cold, or even pneumonia? But he didn't feel ill. What had happened to him? Was he, perhaps, beginning to look more like his Mother? Yes, that had to be it. Harry sighed with relief, slightly surprised by his own reaction. Why had it made him so upset that he looked a little different? Ridiculous, really. He went back into the dormitory to go to bed.

Later, as he was falling asleep, he thought about his image in the mirror again. It had seemed vaguely familiar, reminding him of something... But of what? Of whom? Still puzzled, he dozed off. He slept restlessly that night, tossing and turning. At dawn, he had a nightmare, but not about Voldemort this time. He hadn't dreamt about him for a long time, whether that was worrying or not he didn't know. This time, however, he dreamed about something different. He dreamed that he went to the mirror again, and looked into it. But in the mirror, he didn't see himself. He saw Severus Snape.