A/N: Okay, just like I promised, Chapter 4. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone you recognize.
Who's That Girl?
Chapter 4: Mirror Images
Lily felt someone take her hand. Turning around, she saw no one and opened her mouth to scream. Another hand covered her mouth and suddenly James was beside her, the cloak having slipped off.
When he knew that she wasn't going to scream, he took his hand from her mouth, bent down and picked up the cloak.
"What is that?" Lily whispered, reaching for the cloak.
James let her take it from him.
It felt slippery, like water, but still silky soft beneath her fingertips. A silvery shimmer surrounded it.
"It's an invisibility cloak."
Lily's eyes widened and looked up at him. "I've read about these! Where on earth did you get it?"
"It's a family heirloom. It first belonged to my great, great- grandfather on my dad's side. It was passed down to my great- grandfather, my grandfather, my father and me. It's tradition to give it to the eldest son on Christmas in their first year at Hogwarts."
"So, you'll pass it on to your eldest son?"
"That's right."
"Wow!" Lily stared at the cloak reverently. "I can't believe I'm holding an invisibility cloak!"
"There's enough time to ponder that later. We have to go before Drysdale comes back."
James took the cloak back and dragged Lily to him. He pulled the cloak around them both and they both disappeared.
"What are we doing?" Lily asked suspiciously.
"We're going to go for a walk," James replied. "That is, if you want to."
Lily raised an eyebrow, seriously considering it.
"Nothing will happen, I promise."
"Do you know what you're doing?"
"Yes. Sirius, Remus and I have gone on late night walks for years."
"Not for the sake of walking, I imagine," Lily retorted and fixed him with a piercing gaze that made her look disturbing like Professor McGonagall.
"Not exactly, no," James confessed. "Listen, are you coming or not? We can't hang around here."
"But we're invisible."
"That doesn't mean people can't hear us!"
"Well, where will we go?"
"Errr!" James walked away taking the cloak with him and leaving Lily very visible.
"Wait! James! Where are you going? Or, better yet, where are you now?"
James' head appeared, floating by the door opposite the one that Drysdale and Peeves had left through. He looked impatient and almost angry.
"I'm going back to Gryffindor Tower because we're obviously not going anywhere!"
"Why not?"
James bit his tongue to keep himself from lashing out at her. "Tell me Lily, how are we supposed to go anywhere if you are constantly either reprimanding me or asking questions?"
Lily blushed. "Oh, yes, you're right. I'm sorry. I'll be quiet."
James frowned. "Does that mean you want to go for a walk?"
Lily gave a half smile. "Sure. If it weren't for you, I'd still be scrubbing. The least I can do is join you on a walk."
He smiled; a genuine, friendly smile that lit up his whole face and made his eyes sparkle. Lily was glad she'd agreed.
"Well, come over here then," James said and opened up the cloak.
Lily joined him and wrapped the cloak around herself.
"So, where are we going?" Lily whispered.
"Where would you like to go? I can take you anywhere; even Hogsmede!"
"Ahh… maybe we'll go to Hogsmede another time."
"We could go down to the kitchens. The house elves are friendly and always willing to feed whomsoever enters their domain!"
Lily giggled quietly. "You, Sirius, Remus and Peter, right?"
James smiled. "Ding! We have a winner!"
"So, after we eat, what will we do?"
"Well, we could walk down to the lake. Have you ever seen the lake during the night?"
"Not since the night we first arrived but I wasn't really concentrating on the lake. I was too nervous and scared."
"That's understandable."
The pair walked for a while, quietly and calmly. This was a new experience for Lily; she'd never seen the castle at night. They passed a few teachers, including Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster, and The Grey Lady, the Ravenclaw house ghost. At one point, Mr. Drysdale hurried past them and Lily walked closer to James due to the impossible fear of the caretaker finding them.
"Are you tired, Lily," James asked as they reached the second floor and Lily stifled a yawn. "Maybe we should do this on a night that you don't have detention."
"It's not something that happens often."
"If you had accepted my essay, you wouldn't have had detention."
"Maybe so, but we wouldn't be walking together either."
James thought for a moment. "Yeah, I guess that's true."
"James, can we stop somewhere for a few minutes? I'm tired."
"Sure thing."
James opened the next left hand door they came to but Lily could have sworn that it hadn't been there that afternoon. She didn't know why this bothered her. In a castle where the staircases moved, a room popping up out of thin air wasn't exactly surprising.
Upon entering the room, Lily knew that she'd never been there before.
The walls of the room were draped in a crimson material that fell lightly to the floor and swayed slightly as if a small, playful breeze passed through the room.
Square mirrors were hung on the curtained walls at regular intervals with lanterns between them. Directly opposite them, at the very end of the room, stood a huge, ornate mirror, the likes of which neither one of them had ever seen.
"What do think this is then?" James asked quietly, as if he feared someone else was in the room.
"I don't know," Lily replied, just as quietly and stepped out from underneath the cloak. "Let's have a look."
Having forgotten her tiredness, Lily moved to the first mirror on the right.
For a moment, she looked at her reflection, wondering what was going to happen. She had her answer when the picture dissolved and one of her earliest memories took its place.
Lily stared at her three year old self seated on the floor of her house. She was playing with her old rag doll, Maggie, and her stuffed puppy, Copper."
Lily's elder sister Petunia, then six, entered the scene.
"What are you doing?" Petunia asked impatiently. She had a 'Learn to Read' book under her small arm.
Mirror- Lily stared up into her sister's longish face. "I'm playin'" She turned back to her game.
Lily smiled at the sound of her babyish voice.
Petunia said, "Dogs don't talk!"
"Copper does!"
"Copper's a toy!"
Mirror- Lily's lower lip quivered and a tear trickled down her cheek. Petunia pulled one of mirror- Lily's red curls as their mother, Sara, walked in.
"Petunia! Don't be mean to your sister!"
Lily watched as Petunia left the room and as her mother lifted her high into the air, laughing. What a happy childhood she'd had.
"Lily?"
She was jolted out of her reminisces by James calling her name from over by the big mirror at the end of the room.
She walked over to him. "Did you look into a mirror?"
"Yeah. It showed the first time I played Quidditch with my dad."
"So they show memories. What does this one do?"
"I don't know. I haven't really looked at it yet. I thought I better wait for you."
Lily smiled her thanks and looked up at the writing on the top of the mirror.
"Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi," she read aloud.
"Interesting," James said. "What does it mean?"
"I don't know. All I know is that the first word is 'desire' backwards."
"Let's look into it."
"What do you think we'll see?"
"Who knows? We'll have to look to find out."
Lily and James stepped up to the mirror together. What they saw shocked them.
IN THE MIRROR
Lily ran out of Hogwarts castle. It was snowing.
"Come on, James! Hurry up!"
James ran down the steps after her. "Yeah, I'm coming. What's the rush anyway? Winter's not going anywhere."
"But it's my favourite season!"
Lily span around in a circle before James caught her in his arms.
They laughed and Lily said, "James, you're the best thing that ever happened to me. I love you."
James smiled and hugged her close. "And I love you, Lily. I always have."
REALITY
Lily and James turned to each other.
Hazel eyes stared into bright green ones declaring what they both knew but were trying to deny.
Lily wished he would do something, anything.
He did.
James leaned towards her and gently placed his lips on hers.
Lily wrapped her arms around his neck and his went around her waist as he deepened the kiss.
A/N: Well, that's Chapter 4. I hope you like it. It didn't start off very well, but it improved. Or at least I think it did. The mirror is the Mirror of Erised, once again, left around for just anyone to stumble across. The mirror scene was a twisted version of that photo in the third Harry Potter movie. I know they shouldn't have seen anything together but it was a shared desire.
Like I said last chappie, I'm starting school again the day after tomorrow but I'll update ASAP.
Now… review! Cookies for everyone that does!