Disclaimer: No, I am not JK Rowling, so therefore I do not own her books…I just tend to steal her characters…

This was inspired when I was trying to go to sleep, so I hope you think it's good because the idea was bouncing around in my head all night.

Alice Through The Looking Glass

I opened my eyes to see a blonde smiling young woman opening the homely curtains at the window. My heart sank inside me, but on the outside I smiled back at Chloe. For one glorious moment I thought I was home; but this is my home now.

"Morning Alice, your son said he was coming today. He's grown up, now; I remember when he used to visit with your mother, may her soul rest in peace." My eyes brightened a little. My baby was still coming!

I wanted to get ready. Visits from him were special days. I wanted to look nice. Chloe always understood this and came round to straighten my pillows and tuck the sheets in at the end of my bed again. She did this every night, but by the morning, they were always untucked again. As I sat up against my pillows, my eyes fell on my husband. Sleeping late as always, tucked away in the bed at the very end of the ward; he looked so much younger. As fast as the years fell off him, in a flicker, he was back to his usual pale face and thin hair.

I raised my arms and Chloe helped me take my nightgown off. She took a fresh, ironed one out of the cupboard and slipped it over my head. I tugged it down over me, still smiling at her. She was new when I arrived, but together we settled in. She was like family to me. She brought a mirror and sat on the side of my bed, holding it in her hands for me as she did every morning while I brushed my thin, colourless hair.

I placed my hairbrush aside with the mirror as she brought my tiny makeup box out. I held still while she brushed a hint of mascara over my lashes, and put colour onto my pale cheeks and a pink onto my lips. She stood up again and held the bed cover back for me. As an every day ritual, I got out of bed and tottered the few paces to my husband's bed. I looked at her nervously and she gave a little nod. I placed my hand on his shoulder and kissed his cheek. As he did every morning, his eyes opened. It never ceased to amaze me how pale grey they were when they appeared.

I sat back in bed and hummed while Chloe buzzed around the others, my eyes fixed on the door. When it finally opened, I felt my spirits rise as my Neville stumbled through the door, trying to pull it, before he remembered it was a pushing door. He looked up, and I saw my husband in him when we first met. My handsome son was tall with deep pools of hazel eyes. He had had his teeth fixed by something the muggles called a brace, and they looked beautiful. He gave a jerk of his head and a lock of chestnut hair flopped into his face before he approached us with a weak smile.

Like he always did, he sat on the edge of the chair between our beds and held a strong hand out to each of us. He talked to us about his job at the Daily Prophet, the book he was writing about plants and shrubs, his new baby toads, how he had decorated his flat, about his girlfriend of three months. I sat there listening to his smooth, deep voice; so much like his father's used to be.

His visit ended all too quickly and the sky outside was growing dark. Heavy rain had started to spill from the sky, smashing against the window. Chloe came around, lighting the candles by the beds and hanging from the ceiling. I took my hand out of his and reached under my pillow. I put the object in his hand. He looked at it and his eyes started to sparkle. He wished us farewell as he walked out the door.

Sitting with his father, I looked at the pictures my son left behind for us. There was one of him; his sleeves rolled back and his tie loosened after a hard day at work. I gave it to Chloe to put upon the wall. Amongst the pictures in his flat I saw one textured-looking wall. I tried to squint closer, but Chloe wanted to put that up on the wall too. If I had had the time, I would have seen that he did as my mother had once joked and decorated one of his walls with the wrappers that had encased Drooble's Best Blowing Gum.

Chloe holds the mirror before me now. The rare moment of my sanity vanishing. As I look into it, I see myself on the other side. The thin, white wisps thicken into beautiful long chestnut curls that tumble into sparkling matching eyes and around elegant shoulders. I reach for my box again to outline my eyes, my pale cheeks now blushing like a rose. I kiss my husband goodnight with full red lips and he offers me his arm as we walk together the few paces to the little table. Chloe sets it with shining cutlery and places a real rose in the center. I can tell it marks a line. An anniversary, Chloe tells me. What I drink to, I do not know; my glimpse into reality has gone.

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x Imperial Princess x