A/N: We find out why Lily thinks she's back…tell me if you like the idea!

Mirrors Tell Lies

Italics is Dream/Flashback.

"Well that clears that unhappy buisness up!" Dumbledore exclaimed, the twinkle back in his eyes. He turned to look at Lily. "You and Harry can stay at Hogwarts for the remainder of the school holidays, it's alright with me. He turned his head even further until he was facing Snape. "Is it alright with you, Severus?"

Snape looked like he wanted to shake his head, but was smart enough not to refuse. So he grudgingly nodded his head.

"Well that's that!' Dumbledore said, clapping his hands. "Please excuse me, the house elves are making a new culinary delight that I must taste. He stood up from his chair and left, leaving Snape, Lily and Harry behind.

"He's gone soft in the head." Lily muttered.

"I prefer to use different wording, Potter. " Snape spat as he took his leave.

"Mum, can I stay here for a little while?" Harry asked.

"Sure, as long as you don't break, or completely destroy anything." Lily joked.

"I won't! I promise!" Harry said, frightened.

"Lighten up, Harry, I was joking!"

"…Joking?" Harry replied.

Lily nodded. "Come and give me a hug." Lily held Harry tight to her chest, the way she used to do when he was a baby. After a few silent minutes she whispered, "I love you." As she let go of Harry.

"I love you too." Harry smiled.

"I'll meet you in the Great Hall at dinner time." Lily said as she walked out the door.

This gave Harry the perfect opportunity to look around Dumbledore's office. There were various instruments covered in thick layers of dust that looked like they hadn't been touched in centuries. He lost interest in these and looked at Dumbledore's desk more closely.

Apart from the staggering amount of parchment on the desk there was a bag of sherbet lemons, a weird mini statue of a hippogriff and a photo frame of what could have only been his family. Dumbledore, considerably younger was standing next to two teenage girls, one who looked seventeen and the other who looked fourteen. Both had the unmistakable Dumbledore twinkle in their eyes. He looked at it for a few moments when something else caught his eyes.

A black sheet was covering something up in the corner of the room. But before he pulled it off, he had a feeling he knew what it was.

The Mirror of Erised.

It was exactly the way he remebered it. The elaborate golden carvings were still there. He didn't want to look in; he was scared of what he might see. He tried to keep his eyes from looking at the glass. But when he looked in, all that he saw was himself. Harry was confused. This had to be the mirror of Erised. Unless it was some cheap duplication, but Harry realized that Dumbledore would not keep such a thing in his office.

He racked his brain for any information that might be useful. Something Hermione had said, maybe? He thought back to the night where Dumbledore had discovered him staring into the mirror, looking at the image of his parents. He now had two thirds of that image. Two thirds of a family.

He gasped aloud when he remembered something else Dumbledore had told him. "The world's happiest man may look in the mirror as see himself exactly as he is." He observed his reflection again, to see if Dumbledore had indeed been telling the truth. He didn't get the chance to find out, because he noticed a difference he hadn't seen before.

He had no scar.

Harry fingered the glass where his scar should be, his fingers tracing a jagged line in the thin layer of dust the mirror had accumulated. In this reflection, he was just Harry…a normal twelve-year-old boy. Not famous for something he didn't remember, but just like the rest of the world, trying to figure out what they wanted to do with their lives. He, Harry, would never have to make that choice since it was already chosen for him. He patted down his fringe to make the difference look less noticable. Now his reflection looked just like himself, the way a real mirror should be.

"Mirrors tell lies."

Harry whipped around to see who had uttered this profound piece of knowledge. His mother was standing behind him; a hand rested on his shoulder. Harry recognized this image. The one that he had seen last Christmas.

"When I was at school, this mirror used to be in an abandoned classroom. But when I looked in, I didn't see pictures of my parents, I didn't see images of my goals being achieved. I saw myself, and it scared me. The other few people that knew about it told me that they saw things, like having a prefect badge, or being the Minister of Magic. But when I was in seventh year that changed.

When I got back from the summer holidays, I visited it again. In it I saw you, Harry, I saw you. And that's how I knew to give your father a chance…

"Give him a chance?" Harry asked.

"Your father and I used to hate each other. I used to think he was nothing but a bullying, arrogant prat. Then I saw you in the mirror…and you looked so much like your father…then I knew. When you were born, I was interested in why the baby in the mirror looked so much like you.

I did my research…and what I found was shocking. The meaning of the mirror of Erised has been mistranslated through time. A long time ago, the Mirror was plain, without it's writing. The mirror shows half-truths about the future. The glass distorts the true image, so that explains the differences."

"But Dumbledore told me that it wasn't healthy to dwell on my desires Did you tell him about what you found out"

"No…and the second part of my research made me decide not to. The mirror doesn't simply show glimpses of the future, it creates the future. It is creation. There are only two things in life that are a hundred percent guaranteed, Creation and Destruction, or more simply, birth and death. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded slowly. "But what motivated you to find out more about the mirror. I'm pretty sure it wasn't just for your own knowledge."

Lily smiled. "No, it wasn't. I was a Unspeakable."

"A Unspeakable?" Harry asked.

"A Unspeakable is a person who studies life's greatest mysteries. And life's greatest mystery is time. Time however is not a matter to be discussed on an empty stomach. Let's go down to the Great Hall, maybe someone saved some leftovers for you!"

Harry walked to his bedroom, exhausted. His mother had been wrong. There had been a lot of food there and he was sure that none of it was leftovers. He and his mother had two rooms, joined together by a door. He went to his side, and fell asleep.

Lily turned over in her sleep, her bedcovers falling off in the process. She felt cold…she was shivering…she was dreaming.

She was in a bedroom, holding Harry in her arms. She was waiting…waiting for two words. Accompanied by a flash of green light. For she had already seen them once. And she had already given up. She was going to die and she knew it.

She had never been so scared before in her life. She wanted to run, she wanted to jump out the window and run as fast as she could. But her legs were stuck, just like those dreams where there was someone was chasing her and she couldn't get away.

But this was so much more than a dream…

She could feel her tears trickling down her cheeks, leaving streaks of water. She clutched Harry to her chest. She never wanted to let go…she was so afraid…she put Harry in his crib, rocking him slightly. All that she ever wanted was him to be happy. Was that too much to ask?

"Goodnight Harry…" she whispered as the door was blasted in.

It was a blur from there…she only remembered the fear…

Then she remembered the light. The green light rushing towards her. She remembered screaming when it hit her…screaming so loudly it was impossible to hear…she was falling in a bottomless pit…she was never going to reach the bottom…she was falling…

Thump. Lily landed on the floor on top of her bedsheets. She heard herself screaming but she couldn't stop. Harry rushed in to the room, looking scared.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked.

"Harry!" Lily yelled. "You're alright!" She ran over to him and hugged him. "I'm never letting go…not again…"

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I probably won't be updating till the 9th of April since the school holidays are coming up and I have to spend that time away from my computer.

Miss Piratess: Glad you liked it ;)

Nightwing 509: Until all my reviewers told me, I never knew there were so few Lily-comes-back stories! Then I looked and I found like 2. Glad you liked it.

Bandgsecurityaw: Thanks for reviewing!

Fiction.nottttt: 'rolls eyes'

Yami: Your mutiple personality disorder strikes again! Lol…glad to see you could review…maybe doing school work is a good idea too!

IamSiriusgrl: nope, I'm not blonde…I'm a brunette.