9 Mirrors

Hermione sat in the common room pondering her situation about Ron. A bright splash of color caught her attention as Parvati Patil swished across the carpet in a luxurious new silk robe.

She envied Parvati and felt sorry for her at the same time. Parvati was popular, made friends easily and she always looked great without any effort. She rarely had boy trouble and never for long. Despite her outward silliness, she got good marks but never seemed to take intellectual pursuits seriously.

"Parvati!" Hermione called out.

Parvati turned and struck a perfect pose.

"Yes, Hermione?"

"I need a little advice; do you have some time after dinner?"

Parvati looked at her knowingly. "Certainly, see you in the Room of Requirement about seven?" Hermione looked a little apprehensive.

"Don't worry, Hermione, it's only for privacy."

"See you then, Parvati. And thanks."

Parvati gave her a nod and went off to show Lavender Brown her robe.

Hermione entered the Room of Requirement to find Parvati Patil sitting there like a princess in the middle of an ornate hall bedecked by mirrors. Before she could say a word Parvati spoke.

"Boy trouble," she declared regally. Hermione blushed.

"You read like a book, a bit ironic isn't it?"

"I'm having trouble with Ron as the whole school seems to know. Still, I need you to keep this confidential."

"Of course, no one's forgotten Marietta Edgecombe. I value my complexion," Parvati joked. Suddenly Hermione felt badly about Marietta. She realized maybe she'd gone too far.

"Parvati, you have more experience in these things than I do. What do you do when you've got too close to someone? What comes afterwards?"

"You and Ron?" Parvati looked at her anew. "You mean if he doesn't come 'round afterwards?"

"It's been awkward mostly. Like something's broken between us. Though I think he still cares beneath that thick hide of his."

"Send the right signal if he's a little shy."

"I'm not a girly-girl like you. I'm not popular and I don't have your looks."

"You've crushed her under a pile of books but she's still there."

"What?"

"Your girly-girl. Remember, you let her out for the Yule Ball and Victor Krum. Victor Krum, oooooh." Parvati fanned herself and leered. "You've got your own look and it's a good one." She added quickly.

"I feel so plain sometimes--"

"Rita Skeeter's looks come out of a bottle, such as they are. And she didn't properly see you in twelve yards of chiffon with your hair done up. Forget that dreadful article."

"I felt that way before Rita Skeeter."

"Are you good at tests, Miss Granger?"

"What?"

"Not swotty tests, tests about yourself. Look in a mirror, any mirror." Parvati gestured casually to the left. Hermione saw a veiled image of herself wearing the Yule Ball gown in every mirror.

"Which one are you, Hermione Granger? Can you identify your own silhouette?"

Hermione glanced around the room.

"Let's see if you can live up to your insufferable know-it-all reputation." Parvati said in a passable imitation of Professor Snape. "Do you really know how you look? Which image is it?"

Hermione walked slowly up and down the hall.

"That one," she pointed to the one nearest Parvati.

Parvati waved her wand. The veil lifted, revealing Cho Chang.

"Very close, Hermione, You've a nice figure much like hers, try again."

"There, then."

"Good taste, Miss Granger." Parvati waved her wand once more, a veil vanished. The Parvati in the mirror winked and struck a new pose.

"Shuffle the images," Parvati said. She waved her wand lazily. Mirrors flew about the room. Parvati pointed to an image near the center. A veil dropped, mirror Parvati giggled and bowed.

"I know my own appearance," she said with more than a little vanity. "Hermione Granger, come forward." One veil fell.

Hermione saw herself in a new light. Her hair and eyes were lovely. Was that really her complexion? She did have an attractive shape. Maybe she wasn't so plain.

"I can't wear that gown everyday and it took ages to get my hair like that."

"There's nothing wrong with your clothes, well not most of them," Parvati giggled. Hermione made a face at her.

Parvati conjured a skirt and blouse from her trunk.

"Put these on."

"I don't need a makeover, Parvati!"

"Agreed, just try them on."

She slipped into the clothes easily. Despite the fact that she was steadily taking on womanly proportions, Hermione still felt like she wasn't quite there yet. Parvati's stylish clothes felt like pajamas on her, as though she wasn't filling them quite right.

"Parvati, I just don't feel alluring in these clothes."

"You don't just pull them on, you have to believe you're attractive. Really, it only takes a little bit, you know."

Hermione said nothing; she just looked in the mirror.

Parvati looked at Hermione and walked around to the other side of the mirror, swishing her wand absentmindedly.

"OK, try this; you know that you have 'got the look' but you've misplaced it somewhere in the back of your mind. It's there; you just can't quite lay your hands on it."

Hermione thought about this for a moment and brightened a little.

A wall cracked inside of her and she began to accept her appearance.

"Thank you so much, Parvati. Why are you doing all this for me?"

"After the battle at the Ministry a lot of Death Eaters got sent to Azkaban because of you and the others. I have many friends who have lost loved ones to that lot. On a lighter note, between you and sister Padma you've taken some of the bighead boys down a notch academically. They needed that."

Parvati smiled a small smile that rivaled any of Gilderoy Lockhart's large ones. "Keep the clothes. Wear your skirts like that one; just above the knee, not just below. And Hermione, pay a little more attention to your appearance, and your feelings."

Parvati produced an elaborate little bottle. "And put one drop of this," she glanced at Hermione's hair, "make that three drops in your hair before you wash. I guarantee it won't get any straighter but you will love the results."

Parvati dropped the bottle into her hand as her eyes darted to the door.

"Hermione, I didn't expect you here. Dobby said the room was available, sorry." Seamus said as he entered. "Maybe you can help me with this wand." A purple bolt of light shot from the wand, hit the mirror in front of Parvati, bounced off and got absorbed by one of the Yule Ball mirrors on the wall. Hermione smoothed her skirt and fussed with her hair. Seamus dropped his wand as she walked out. Parvati ran her finger under Seamus's chin and followed Hermione to the door.

Seamus sat by the fire in the common room and observed Hermione closely before approaching her. She'd just had one of her many arguments with Ron. He watched as her attractive features slowly resumed their earlier appearance. She eased up a bit, getting ready to throw herself into her schoolwork. Despite her more relaxed posture, he still wasn't sure of her state of mind. Seamus fiddled with his notes a bit longer, waiting for the right time.

Hermione threw back her hair. More powerful than any common beauty charm it fell back exactly where it was. Hermione's hair was almost as willful as Harry's. The motion caught Seamus's eye. Hermione was looking up as if contemplating something profound, just like she usually did before starting a long bit of composition. Seamus couldn't help but stare at her for a moment, admiring the warmth and intelligence in her eyes. He would have to make his move before she started in on her studies.

Hermione curled up in her favorite chair in the corner of the common room and reached for her pile of books and parchment. Crookshanks perched himself at the top of her chair.

"Hermione," he said cautiously.

She stiffened for a second and looked up.

Seamus cringed inside but didn't move a muscle.

"Yes, Seamus?"

"Hermione, if you can spare a minute I'm working on charmed objects . . . mirrors, to be exact, I wouldn't trouble you with it except I've exhausted my search for information--"

Hermione shifted an eyebrow a tiny fraction.

"I'm not asking for you to hand it to me on a platter. I'll tell you where I've been and perhaps you can tell me where else to look."

"Why not ask Madame Pince?"

"She loves books, you love knowledge." Seamus answered simply.

Hermione blushed slightly and the corner of her mouth curled just a little bit.

"What do you need to know?" she asked.

"Come on, Harry."

"No, don't drag me into this. I don't mind sorting out the odd dragon or basilisk but you two are on your own."

"Thanks a lot, Harry. I thought you were my best mate--"

"And I want it to stay that way." Harry called out to Ron's back.

Lightning flashed amid cheers and laughter, changing color

followed by cracks and booms. More cheers and then everything went quiet.

Horace Slughorn came to investigate the ruckus breaking the calm of his dungeon domain. The disturbance had come from the long disused corner classroom. He muttered an incantation and the heavy wooden doors swung open. There were half a dozen cauldrons simmering in a corner and rows of parchment neatly pinned together. Three bludgers lay in the middle of a worktable with 'HHR" painted on them. A Quidditch bat twitched by itself next to a stack of carefully written notes. Slughorn made his way to the back of the classroom where he spied Hermione Granger and Seamus Finnegan standing in front of two staggered rows of heavy framed brass and wood clad mirrors.

"Nicely done cheval glass," Slughorn said, eyeing the fine brass work. "What are you up to?"

"It's called Granger's Sieve," Seamus explained. "Each mirror has a shield charm on it for different types of spells. If you have a wand or other magic entity whose effect is unknown aim it at the mirrors and its magic will be reflected. When it hits the right mirror it will stop."

Slughorn looked unimpressed.

"Hermione can tell it better than I can," Seamus spluttered.

"Just point a wand at the first mirror and utter the suspect incantation."

Hermione expounded. "The spell will bounce from mirror to mirror until it stops at the one having an affinity for its family of spells. The spell family name is cast in ancient runes at the top of the mirror. That narrows down what magic the mystery spell could be drawn from. My research so far shows that most spells fit into seven basic families."

"Then why are there eight mirrors?"

"The last mirror is for the spells that get away."

"Granger's Sieve," Slughorn clasped his hands together in exaggerated delight. Hermione's lip twitched for a second and then she smiled. "It's a name Seamus came up with until we can think of something better . . . just a working name."

"Nonsense, Miss Granger. The name is perfectly fine. And well deserved I might add."

"It's still very rough but it catches nearly every spell we've thrown at it. Would you care to try, Professor?" said Hermione.

Slughorn pointed his wand with a flourish at the first cheval glass and watched a blue spell flash from mirror to mirror, stopping at the third one and setting the runes aglow.

"Would you please try again Professor Slughorn? We'd like a third person to work a spell for every mirror, outside validation if you like," Seamus pleaded.

"My pleasure," the professor said, putting Granger's Sieve through its paces. Seamus and Slughorn were both delighted as the purple glow of the last spell faded away.

"Oho, you're onto something big here, Miss Granger. What put you onto this idea?"

"Well, Seamus thought of it actually. He had a spell bounce off an ordinary mirror and get absorbed into an enchanted one. He came to me with an idea and in a few weeks we've reached a point where we can demonstrate it."

"That's not the half of it, Professor. Hermione here has devised a potion plotting diagram using Arithmancy that can balance a complex potion in hours instead of days." Seamus said with great enthusiasm.

"Seamus, that's an old idea that I've been toying with and it's not ready to show to anyone. You're embarrassing me. Because of that I haven't worked out the serpent's potion yet either." Hermione looked daggers at Seamus.

Slughorn shrugged and put his arm around Hermione. "Come with me Miss Granger, we need to talk. I have friends at the Ministry that must see this. Now don't say anything about it being rough. A proof of vision is all they need to see."

Seamus waited for the two voices to fade before repeating Slughorn's last spell.