12

The Mirror of Erised and Nicolas Flamel

Before Emily knew it Christmas was fast approaching. About mid-December the snow had begun to blanket the ground around the castle and the lake had frozen over. Students could be seen enjoying the grounds and having snowball fights. Emily found amusement in the snowballs that Fred and George had charmed to keep bouncing off Quirrel's turban, but unfortunately for them the teachers didn't see the amusement in it and gave them detention.Luckily for the pair they were assigned to Professor Snape who, though he would never tell them, was quite impressed with their skills in brewing and had them help prep potions for the Hospital Wing.

Everyone in the school seemed ready for winter break to start. As the temperature dropped outside so did the temperature within the castle. The common rooms and Great Hall always had fires going to warm them but the stone corridors were cold and the worst was the dungeons. You could see your breath in the freezing air causing many students to grumble about having to go to potions class. Emily and Draco had taken to drinking a small amount of warming potion before each class in the dungeons. They knew if Professor Snape tried to warm the classroom it could cause problems with the often volatile potions. There was a reason all the potion labs were located in the dungeons.

"I feel horrible for the people who are not wanted at home for Christmas," Theo announced one day in potions. "I can't even imagine how it must feel! My mother and father would never hear of me not spending the holidays with them." Theo never took his eyes off of Harry.

Emily wanted to glare the boy down but she refrained herself, she knew he was just trying to get under her brother's skin. Since the Quidditch match Theo seemed to try and start fights with her brother more often. Angered that Slytherin had lost, he had taken to insulting Harry's ability to play as a Seeker, blaming the win on sheer coincidence and not skill. Emily couldn't really argue that it had been skill since her brother had appeared to swallow the ball and not catch it with his hand, so she merely remained silent on the topic.

"He caught it with his mouth," he had often joked. "What are the Gryffindors going to do next put a wide mouth tree frog on a broom instead?" His ire seemed to grow as people didn't find his jokes very funny. Everyone had grown tired of the same jokes being spouted over and over and to be honest Harry had impressed quite a few people with his ability to hang onto his broom while it tried to buck him off so high up in the air. Theo who was not pleased with Harry's spotlight, so he changed tactics and began trying to taunt him about not having a family to go home to for the holidays, hoping to start a fight.

Emily had pointed out to Theo that as Harry's sister he was insulting her as well but that had only fallen on deaf ears. Draco refused to let her hex the annoying boy anymore saying Harry could handle this on his own. Perhaps Draco was right, it wasn't like Harry and his friends even acknowledged she existed, she needed to just ignore Theo and let her twin deal with his little rivalry.

It was true however, that neither Potter twin was planning on going back to Privet Drive for Christmas. Emily and Harry had been the first in their Houses to sign up last week when the Head of Houses came around asking who would be staying in the castle for Christmas. For the first time in her life, Emily was actually excited about the upcoming holiday. She used to dread Christmas, all the chores and cooking, being trapped with the Dursleys unable to go to school for a small reprieve but now she never had to do that again.Draco who refused to leave Emily alone in the Slytherin house for Christmas had signed up to stay as well.

That day Draco and Emily held back at the end of potions to ask if they could use the potions classroom over break. If they were going to be in the castle they might as well work on their brewing skills. After it was agreed upon the pair accompanied Professor Snape up the stairs just in time to see Weasley dive at Theo.

"WEASLEY, what do you think you are doing?" Weasley dropped his hold on Theo and turned white as he realized the Potions Master was headed straight for him.

They heard Hagrid's voice come from behind a large tree that was blocking the corridor. He seemed to be saying Weasley was provoked but he wasn't clear as he climbed his away around to see the scene. With Theo's behavior lately Emily did not doubt that claim in the least but she remained silently watching off to the side.

"We still do not condone fighting in the hallways like barbarians," said Snape silkily. "I believe that will be five points from Gryffindor," seeing Weasley was about to protest he held up his hand. "Would you like to see how many more points you can lose today, Weasley?" The disgruntled red head wisely shook his head no. "Good, now I think you all have places to be."

Theo, Crabbe, and Goyle dashed from where they were standing, spreading needles from the tree everywhere in their hurry. Emily and Draco made to follow Professor Snape, who was walking around the tree, when they heard Weasley mutter something about getting back at Theo but what made all three people stop was when Harry's voice could be heard from the other side of the tree.

"I hate them," said Harry, "I hate Nott, Snape and just all the Slytherins in general. Ron's right they are slimy snakes."

Emily's head dropped and both Draco and Professor Snape were looking at her. She knew she was going to cry and refused to do it where people could see her. She quickly made for a passageway she knew close by that led to the dungeons. She ran down the passage and kept running until she reached the room that she and Draco had brewed the healing salve in. She flung the door open but hesitated when she realized the room was already occupied. Fred and George looked up from their cauldron and must have noticed her tears because they were over to her in a second. They were asking her questions but she just shook her head not hearing them. She backed up against the wall and slid down it. The twins took the spots on either side of her and waited for her to speak.

"He hates me," she finally was able to say.

"Who?" the twins chorused.

"Harry."

"He's your brother, he doesn't hate you," said Fred. "He just has our prat of a brother…"

"…giving him silly ideas about Slytherins…"

"Trust us he will come around."

"And if he doesn't?" she asked.

"WE PRANK HIM!" they exclaimed with glee.

Once the twins had gotten Emily laughing, they took the opportunity to show her their latest prank. They had been having trouble with the potion so Emily helped the pair correct the problems they were having with it before heading to the Slytherin common room.

When Emily entered the common room Draco was waiting for her by the fire. "Sorry I ran off."

"You needed a moment," Draco said pulling out a basket from the other side of his chair. "Come on picnic in my room since you missed lunch."

"Well I am starving," she answered getting up to follow him.

"I thought you might be."

Once the holidays started Emily and Draco were having too good of a time for Emily's thoughts to wander to her brother. The pair had the common room to themselves, no other Slytherins had stayed at the castle. They toasted marshmallows in the fire, they visited Professor Snape, brewed potions for fun, and played games of chess that lasted hours on end.

On Christmas Eve, Emily and Draco fell asleep in Draco's bed having been exhausted emotionally from their conversation that night. Emily had finally told Draco about her life with the Dursleys. There had been many tears and hard moments but Draco supported her and let her just get everything she needed to say out. When she had finished her story, he had expressed his outrage for his friend and promised her that he would never let her go back to her relatives. Emily didn't even care at the moment if she went back, it just felt amazing to finally be able to tell someone. When they went to sleep that night Emily was not only looking forward to Christmas but she felt less burdened than she had in a long time.

When the young Slytherins woke in the morning Emily was shocked to notice there were two piles of packages at the end of the bed.

"Merry Christmas Em," Draco yawned as he sat up.

"Merry Christmas Dray," she answered giving him a hug, she couldn't believe how lucky she was to have him as a friend.

Emily and Draco pulled their piles onto the bed and began to open them. The first gift she opened was from Hagrid. It was a wooden flute that Hagrid had obviously made by hand. When she tried it out she noticed it sounded like an owl. The second thing she picked up was a note and seeing it was from her aunt and uncle immediately set it on fire.

"Didn't like the gift?" Draco asked.

"My aunt and uncle," Draco needed no further explanation and nodded his head. Next Emily opened a huge box to find clothes. Not just any clothes but designer labels she had seen in her aunt's magazines. She read the note attached and shrieked jumping onto Draco. "Dray, you and your parents didn't have to do this! This is way too much!" she was already pulling out the new outfits they had sent her and examining them. She had never had such fancy things. Draco's mom would have had to go into the Muggle world to get these.

"My mom loves shopping and she has always wanted a daughter to shop for, it looks like she had some fun. I think she sent those boots you told me about too." Emily opened the next box to find she had indeed sent her the UGG boots, in black, that she thought would be nice to have in the cold Scottish winters. After staring at the incredible gift she finally put down the boots and opened the rest of her presents. Blaise had sent her a bunch of sugar quills and a silver snake hair clasp. Marcus Flint had sent her a green Quidditch jersey that said 'Potter' on the back and had the Slytherin crest on the shoulder. The Weasley twins had sent her some of the potion she had help correct for them along with a bunch of blood pops. Draco had gotten a kick out of the twins' gift as they had a joke that Emily was secretly a vampire. The girl was quite pale, lived in the dungeons of a castle and preferred nights, classic signs you might be a vampire.

Emily having never received a gift before was overwhelmed. She had sent a few gifts but hadn't been expecting anything in return, this was more than she could have wished for.

ooo

Up in the Gryffindor dorms Harry was about to open his last gift that was extremely light for its size. When he opened it a silvery, almost water like fabric cascaded from his hands onto the bed. "Wow, those are supposed to be really rare," Ron said quietly staring at the pile of fabric.

"I don't understand, what is it?" Harry asked him.

"It looks like an invisibility cloak but you will have to try it on to be sure…"

Harry didn't need to be told twice, he quickly put the cloak on when he heard Ron gasp. Looking down at his body, he found it had vanished. He ran to the mirror to see what he looked like. Of course, all he could see was his head floating seemingly without a body.

"Who sent you that?" Ron asked getting up to join his friend by the mirror.

"I don't know do you see a note anywhere?" The pair looked around until Harry finally found the piece of paper that had fallen from the gift in his haste to open it.

Emily and Harry

This belonged to your father before he passed. It now belongs to the both you.

Merry Christmas to you both. Enjoy!

Harry reread the note a few times before the door swung open and Fred and George Weasley came in singing a Christmas carol. Harry grabbed the cloak and hid it under his covers he wasn't ready to share it with anyone else yet.

"Happy Christmas our good chaps!"

"I see mum has sent you a Weasley sweater, Harry!" Fred and George were wearing theirs, one had an 'F' and the other a 'G'. Harry wasn't sure if they were wearing the correct sweater or not but he had a suspicion it was more the 'not' option.

"You are making a lot of noise," Percy said sticking his head into the room. He had obviously unwrapped his presents as well because he carried a sweater and on it like the others was a golden letter 'P'. "Some people are still trying to sleep, please keep it down."

"Pish posh, our dear Prefect brother! Now why aren't you wearing your sweater?"

"Put it on Percy! Even Harry is wearing his, so we all match. Don't you want to be like us dear brother?"

"I… No don't…" Fred had grabbed Percy's sweater and George held him as they forced the prefect into it.

"And don't you think for a second you are allowed to sit anywhere but with your lovely brothers today," said George. "Christmas is a time for family. Do you hear that Harry?"

"A time for family," Fred said again staring directly at the young Gryffindor before joining George to march Percy from the room.

ooo

Emily selected one of her new outfits to wear for Christmas dinner, it was a black swing dress that flared out slightly when she spun in the mirror. She had accented it with green and gold ribbons in her hair and around her wrist. Dinner itself was rather enjoyable. Emily and Draco loaded their plates with roast turkey and potatoes only to cover it all in gravy, just because they could. They joked around and pulled large party crackers, they were nothing like the Muggle equivalent where you had a paper crown and a few little paper confetti. Wizard crackers had prizes ranging from chess sets to sailor hats. The evening was so jovial Dumbledore had even removed his usual pointed cap for a bonnet while Professor McGonagall could be seen giggling as she talked to Hagrid.

As the Slytherin duo stood to leave Emily heard her name called and turned to see Harry running to her. "Um – can I talk to you?" he asked. Emily nodded and followed Harry a little ways from Draco.

"Is everything ok?"

"Well, I got this gift that is kind of for both of us. It – um – is an invisibility cloak and it – well it said it was dad's."

"Are you sure?" Emily asked.

"Um yeah, and I wanted to use it but I thought maybe this first time we could use it together."

"I'd like that," Emily said excited at the prospect that maybe her brother didn't hate her as much as she thought. "When do you want to use it?"

"Um, tonight do you want to meet here at eleven?" Emily quickly agreed and went to join Draco and tell him what Harry had told her.

When it was a quarter to eleven Emily silently made her way to meet Harry. When she reached the front hall she noticed Harry was already looking for her, she quickly joined him causing him to jump.

"I have no idea how you can do that," he said while putting the cloak over the two of them.

Emily shrugged as she grabbed the end of the cloak and began to inspect it. The feeling as she ran her hand over it was amazing and the magic that radiated from it fascinated her. She wondered how old it was and how long it had been in her family if Harry was to be believed that it had belonged to their father. It wasn't until Harry cleared his throat that she remembered what she was supposed to be doing. "Where do you want to go?"

"The Restricted Section of the library."

Emily who loved books was not about to question him and quickly agreed though it certainly was an odd choice for her brother to make. For now she let it go and focused on remaining silent as they crept through the castle to reach the library.

The library was dark but Emily thought if there was a fireplace it would be the perfect place to curl up and read at night. Even though she didn't mind the dark the young witch casted a 'lumos' so they could see where they were walking, Emily wouldn't put it passed Madam Pince to set up some kind of alarm or trap to alert her of trespassers. The Restricted Section was roped off from the rest of the library and located in the very back. The twins were careful not to trip on the rope as they climbed over it. Harry pulled out a lantern and lit it so he could have a source of light as well before walkingto the opposite side of the section as Emily.

Emily felt the magic change as she entered the Restricted Section of the library. Looking to the books she could feel some had residual magic on them. The titles were hard to read as the golden letters were fading. She noticed some were written in Latin which she had started to learn at Professor Snape's prompting. She could easily understand why he had suggested it now. Spells often came from Latin words and obviously many old books were written in it.

"Harry, be careful I think there are some added magical protections to keep people out." Emily instructed her twin as she pulled out a book that she noticed was on potions and turned to Harry. "Why did you want to come here anyway? I haven't seen you with a book except Quidditch Through the Ages."

"I'm looking for Nicolas Flamel." Before Emily could tell him she thought he needed to let it go he reached for a book that was almost black in color and had a chain hanging from it. Upon opening it the entire library was filled with a loud shrieking, the book Harry had just opened was screaming.

Mere seconds later the twins heard footsteps coming down the corridor outside. They quickly put their books back on the shelves as Emily grabbed Harry making sure they were both under the cloak before running for it. Filch was standing in the doorway when they reached it with his arm outstretched holding a lantern. Emily motioned for Harry to duck. Together they slowly crept under his arm before dashing down the corridor.

They finally came to a stop and leaned against a stone wall. Neither had been paying attention to where they were going. It was like old times when they used to run away from Dudley's gang together. They both broke into smiles and were about to start laughing when they heard Filch's voice. Emily couldn't believe their luck, how on earth did the caretaker follow their exact path.

"Professor I found this in the Restricted Section, there is a student out of bed. I was told to come to you if I found anyone out after hours."

Emily looked at Harry what could he have found? Harry very quietly whispered, "lantern." She nodded that she heard, she would have to teach her brother to use 'lumos'.

They heard Professor Snape's voice next which only seemed to sour Harry's expression and mood. "They can't be too far from here. Follow me."

The twins pressed themselves as close to the wall as they could, watching as Professor Snape and Filch came into their view and made their way towards them. The hallway was narrow and neither twin wanted to accidentally trip one of them. They were invisible but they were still solid.

Emily pulled on Harry and they backed away never taking their eyes off of Filch or Professor Snape. Emily noticed that a door to their left was open and motioned to Harry who gave her a nod. They slid through the opening as quietly as they possibly could. The twins watched as Filch and Professor Snape walked right past them allowing the pair to release the breaths they had been holding. Emily turned and immediately started to take inventory of the room they were in.

She surmised they were in an unused classroom taking note of the desks that were pushed up along the wall to the left and a few piles of chairs to their right. But directly in front of them was something she didn't think belonged in the room. It seemed to have been placed there recently, as unlike the desks and chairs, there was no dust covering it. It was a gorgeous mirror mounted in an elaborate golden frame. It was almost as tall as the ceiling and was quite large. She noticed that there was an inscription that read: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi .

Emily tried to figure out what language it might be when she heard Harry gasp. She looked to him, his hand was clasped over his mouth standing directly in front of the mirror. She heard him whisper "Mum? Dad?"

She quickly made her way over to the mirror not prepared for what she saw reflected in it. A woman and a man were standing beside her. The woman looked a bit like her. Her hair was redder than hers was and she had green eyes. She was leaning into a man with unruly black hair and brown eyes. She was frozen, these people had to be her parents. She had seen a younger photo of their father in the trophy room but had never seen any pictures of her mother before. In front of her parents stood an older looking Harry who was smiling at her.

Emily noticed she looked older in the mirror and a man had his arms wrapped around her from behind. He had long dark red hair tied back at his neck. He was resting his head on hers and every so often would turn it to kiss her head. She noticed he had a fang earring hanging from one of his ears, which was a touch odd since she had yet to see a male with a piercing in the wizarding world yet. She wondered if piercings were as popular in the magical world as they were in the muggle one.

Draco stood to the side of her, he too looked older and kept smirking at her before looking over to the mirror version of her and raising an elegant eyebrow.

She tore her eyes away from the mirror to look at the inscription on the top. After staring at it for a minute she understood it was mirror language, 'I show not your face but your heart's desire'. She was seeing what she desired most, her deepest desires were shown before her in this mirror. She looked over to Harry and he had yet to move, his eyes glued to the mirror.

Suddenly a noise shocked them both and Emily grabbed Harry pulling the cloak over them as she dragged him from the room. When they reached the spot where their paths went different directions Emily pulled Harry into an alcove. She could see in his eyes he was still entranced by what he saw in the mirror.

"I know what you are thinking, you can't go back Harry."

He looked at her stunned. "How can you say that?"

"Harry…"

"It was our parents!"

"Harry, it wasn't real. Please I don't think anything good will come from going back to the mirror."

"I knew it. I shouldn't have asked you to come!"

"Harry come on, please! Just promise you won't go back there."

"I can do whatever I want. This was a mistake."

Emily felt like she had been slapped, she should have expected this. She turned and left without another word slipping into the shortcut to the dungeons. The witch kept moving until she got to Draco's room. He was awake reading a book when Emily crawled into the bed and told Draco everything that had happened.

Over the next two days Emily observed Harry fall into a deep obsession. She was worried for him. Weasley could be seen trying to engage him in different activities but Harry always seemed to wave him off. She knew the mirror wasn't healthy for him but she was unsure of what to do.

Emily decided to go for a walk through the castle to clear her mind and found herself staring out a window down onto the snow covered grounds when she was startled by a strong magical presence, she could tell it belonged to the headmaster.

"Are you ok Miss Potter," he asked stepping up next to her to look out the window as well. "You seem pensive."

She debated with herself before deciding on the truth, "Harry and I found a mirror on Christmas night."

"I see."

"He refuses to stop visiting it and… well, I fear he is losing himself in the image the mirror offers."

"And what image might that be?"

"Our parents."

"Ah," Dumbledore looked down at her, "I can understand why one who has never known their family takes comfort in seeing them."

"But it is just an image professor. It's not real, no matter how much we wish it, no magical object can bring them back to us."

"That is a very wise thing to remember but a very tough lesson to understand." Dumbledore was quiet for a moment before he spoke again, "I will make sure your brother does not dwell on the mirror. I had been planning to move the mirror tomorrow anyway. Do not worry Miss Potter." Emily didn't ask how he knew what mirror she was talking about but was glad it would soon be moved. The headmaster patted her shoulder and left down the corridor. As Emily watched him go she hoped her brother would listen to him.

Her talk with Dumbledore seemed to have been a good thing as she noticed Harry become livelier again over the following days. She was thankful he no longer appeared to be dwelling on the image from the mirror.

Soon the castle was filled with students again and the new term began. After class one day at the start of the new term Emily overheard Harry say something about Flamel to Hermione in the halls. She had completely forgotten about the man until now.

When Emily mentioned it to Draco he laughed. "You mean the alchemist?"

"I don't know, the name sounds familiar though and apparently whatever is in the school belongs to him."

"Well he is mentioned in the book I borrowed from you last week."

"Show me." Draco went over to his bookshelf and pulled out the book Emily had lent him and brought it back over to his bed flipping through it to find what he was looking for. He stopped and pointed at a section which Emily leaned forward to read. The book said that alchemy was centered on the creation of the Sorcerer's Stone. The Stone could change any metal into gold which would be reason enough for many people to want it but what caught her attention was that the Stone was known to produce something called the Elixir of Life, making the drinker immortal and the only known owner of this unique Stone was one Nicolas Flamel, who was six hundred and sixty-five years old. Emily looked up and turned to Draco, "The Stone is here, it's in Hogwarts."