Chapter 19: The Mirror

Potions had been particularly boring as Professor Dervishire had informed the class that their Hiccup Solutions would be postponed until further notice, due to a lack of ingredients. "That's the second time this month…" Vanessa complained, "What a poor excuse…"

Instead, the class was taking notes on the various ways in which draughts differed from elixirs and the unique side effects that certain medicinal potions had on various creatures. "Why do I care if centaurs can't digest feverfew?" Vanessa rolled her eyes, "You know what muggles do to horses when they get sick…"

"Parkinson shut it. Amy and Georgina aren't here so no one wants to hear your trash." Jade snapped. Vanessa looked hopefully at Reggie and Malachi but the boys had decided Jade was a deadlier force to oppose and simply shrugged. She hissed quietly and glowered at her text. Scorpius and Al exchanged quick glances as they had been comparing theories as to what had so viciously fractured the Slytherin girls. At first, they had thought that Vanessa's snobbery towards Quinn's bloodline had been it, but as time went by, it seemed the schism had been centered around Jade. Beyond that, the pair had run out of solid reasons as to what had set Jade off.

Albus looked over to the table holding the Hufflepuffs, where Jeya looked contrastingly intrigued. After learning about the various Magical Creatures in History of Magic, she'd been increasingly interested in perhaps becoming a trans-magical Healer, or "veterinarian" as she'd described. Rowan White had left class midway, sick to her stomach, leaving her best friend Rudy Chance looking after her worriedly.

"It's just like last time…" Al heard him whisper to Jakob Geller. Apparently, Rowan had been an amazing and natural flyer during her lessons and was even asked to try out for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. But she had missed so many practices that she'd eventually stopped coming altogether. No one knew why.

The Markov twins also disappeared from classes every so often and sometimes Milo would be absent from the dorm even when Al and Scorpius returned late into the night. But they were so withdrawn Al never felt like he could pry much. Early on in the semester, Al had caught Milo watching his QuickRite quill editing his History of Magic essay and given him two extras for him and his sister. Since then, they had barely spoken a word, but Al was sure they liked him. Scorpius had tried to get them to hang out but they never wanted to venture much from the castle and didn't know many wizarding games like gobstones or even shared muggle games like chess or marbles, though they sometimes watched Scorpius destroy Al in wizards' chess, mildly amused. Scorpius had hypothesized that they had been abandoned by their muggle parents when their magic was discovered and maybe raised in some isolated orphanage- "My grandfather used to tell me muggles would do horrible things to even their own children if they thought they were witches…. But he could have been lying, he's not a friend of muggles for sure…" Al felt sorry for the twins if this was true but couldn't rid himself of the lingering feeling that something else explained the odd pair.

"Mr. Potter, how long must I let an Infusion of Wormwood age before it can be acceptably used in drinking potions?" Professor Dervishire had obviously seen the lapse in Al's notetaking.

"Erm.." He eyed the page, not seeing the ingredient anywhere. To his right Scorpius made a 'W' with his fingers and tapped his thigh five times. "Five weeks sir?"

"Ah hah, well I'm sure the answer was obvious with Mr. Malfoy's help, tell me, will you also be cheating on the quiz this Friday- Yes because of these two we will now be having a quiz this Friday, anything between pages 208 and 280- and ten points from Slytherin for lack of character."

As the class was dismissed, Scorpius looked scornful, "I swear I don't go a week without losing points for our house." He eyed the potions classroom ruefully.

"If you think house points mean anything, you really do have a lack of character. Really who cares?" Jade passed Scorpius and Al briskly, rolling her eyes, but giving Scorpius a half-grin.

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?" Scorpius eyed Al, equally bewildered.

"Yeah I think so…" said Al, wondering if he'd ever met a more confusing person in his life, "Maybe she's just trying to say thanks for freeing her from that Shrivelfig root."

"Oh good point," chuckled Scorpius, "Cause I'd doubt you could get her to say that directly…" Still, Al could tell he was a bit down from getting in 'trouble' and he was right- last week he'd been penalized almost thirty points from different teachers, mostly due to tardiness (after being hexed) or from being caught hexing someone (to avoid being tardy).

Jeya appeared moments later, looking a little more sympathetic, "Cheer up Scorpius, he's just in a bad mood…. Oh Al, your brother found me and he wanted to show you something, he said he'll meet you near the dungeons around 6."

"Excellent," laughed Al, still high from his talk with McGonagall. He had planned to find James sooner, but was curious as to what his brother had planned, "How can I miss a chance to lose more points?"

From the Slytherin common room, the sounds of the Merfolk wafted through the windows looking into the Great lake. The singing was positively enchanting, and Al had stood transfixed, along with the other first years (even Jade had been moved) the first time the haunting, dulcet tones had echoed into the space. The Merfolk kept time only to track the rising and setting of the sun, which did not penetrate the deepest depths of their watery kingdom. At this time of the year, the sun was beginning to set just around 6pm. So as the, now familiar, sunset song lilted through, Al cleaned up his space at a desk and nimbly left the Common Room in search of his brother.

The halls near the Dungeon entrance were silent and empty, so after waiting nervously outside his Common Room, Al surreptitiously begin walking towards the entrance where a Gryffindor would most likely be coming from. As the absence of his brother continued, Al begin to let nervous thoughts creep back into his mind, "What had McGonagall said to James? Had she'd been equally understanding or did James get blamed for causing the fight? Would he be angry with him?" Al had just sunk low enough in his brooding to entertain the idea that his brother may have lied to catch him out of bed when suddenly many things happened at once. Al was haphazardly pulled against the wall, his side colliding with the stone in a dull 'thwap". Both him and another person let out simultaneous 'oofs' before a hand covered his mouth. Just ahead, Mr. Filch, the wispy-haired and hawk-eyed castle caretaker hobbled around the entrance corner, with his ancient cat Mrs. Norris meowing petulantly at his side.

"There, there my sweet I believe you. Oh yes I know there are students out of bed, I can feel it." His acrid yellow eyes scanned the corridor and Al softly gasped as they gazed his direction. Yet, though Filch did seem to linger on the spot where Al stood, the man moved past him as he slunk his way down the corridor without acknowledgement. As the footsteps and paws receded, Al slowly realized the shimmery veil that had also been thrown around him. He turned carefully under the Invisibility cloak and stared up at his brother, who gave a careful glance in the direction Filch had gone before tugging Al the other way.

"Can't be too careful, I'm so tall now that sometimes if I'm not watching, my ankles show," James half boasted as he seemingly led Albus back toward the direction of the Gryffindor Common Room, "Not that it matters with that bloody cat anyway, I'm sure she can see right through this thing! I'm just glad she can't talk." He laughed lightly at himself but Al could sense his brother was just filling the space between them, nervous to let any silence bring about the elephant in the room.

In his head, Al thought about the main things he wanted to say to James, repeating a mantra in his head and trying to remember what compromises he was willing to make to get back on each other's good side. He was so engrossed in his strategy that he didn't notice that James completely passed his Common Room. In fact, it wasn't until he was stepping into another abandoned classroom that his whereabouts suddenly came back. "James where…." Al looked around the classroom, tucked at the end of a hallway just past the winding stairs to the Divination tower. Moonlight flooded the space like streaks of spilled silvery ink, highlighting the substantial accumulation of dust that seemed to cover most surfaces. Whatever had been taught in this space, had not been taught in a long time. At the end of the night-lit stripes, though, stood a very large and very ornate mirror, distinguishingly dust-free. Al looked up at James, who was fixated on the Mirror ahead of them and looking rather uncomfortable now that he'd brought his brother to his destination. Wordlessly, the pair crossed the room to stand just in front of the large glass. Al could now make out inscriptions on the wooden frame but didn't understand them- perhaps an incantation of some sort…

His queries were bounded as he caught sight of what lay inside? Al quickly looked behind him to reassure himself that he still stood in the abandoned classroom. Yet, even though his rational mind reminded him of his whereabouts, as he turned again to face the mirror, he felt engulfed by the scene before him. He was staring at the kitchen in the Burrow, down the long wooden table that usually spanned the length of the room. But even with its great size, Al knew the table was extraordinarily long. Still he didn't linger too much on these abnormalities because of who was at the table. He saw his cousins- all of them- with his aunts and uncles, lined up on the left benches, laughing happily. He saw Grandma and Grampa Weasley, but he also saw another pair of people sitting just across from them, a couple that he only recognized from photographs in a single album that sat on the tallest shelf in his father's office. The young woman turned toward Al and smiled warmly and Al saw her pair of glittering green eyes.

"It's all of them," whispered James. As he followed his line of sight, "They go back generations…"

Al followed the table to less familiar faces, but frequent features, red hair, freckles, green eyes, black messy mops…. Somehow he could never see the end. As he pulled back from the engulfing visage he also noticed his father and mother sitting right at the head of the table. He'd almost missed them because Harry, how Al knew him, looked like the father of his own parents. A sharp panging sadness suddenly enwrapped Al but was abated as his Dad turned to him in the Mirror. Tipping a mug toward him, he was smiling more fully than Al had ever seen in real life, before turning again to talk to his mum….

Al stepped back quickly from the front of the mirror, feeling like the magic was both beautifully fulfilling yet incredibly cruel at the same time. The other grandparents in the mirror looked more lifelike and real than any of their small snapshots, more real than reality itself…

James was studying Al's reaction. He smiled comfortingly, "I don't think they're actually in there, but isn't it cool? I think this shows you your families' history." He looked back again at Al, " I found this during my first year here, its not too far from the dormitory see… I," he paused, "I really missed all of you, especially you and Lily. But even Victoire and Dominique weren't around as much as I thought. I came here almost every night until Christmas."

"I didn't know you had a hard time here." Said Al quietly. He remembered greatly missing his brother as well, but receiving notes about how he'd made the quidditch team, his antics with Teddy, his new Gryffindor friends…

James shrugged, "I guess I was used to knowing everyone around me and then suddenly no one really knew me, but they knew our father. And… well I don't know how to explain it." He paused again, choosing his words carefully, and Al felt they had finally shifted to the reason James wanted to talk.

"See, there's me- the 'Me' you know. The 'Me' I am at home with Mum and Dad and the cousins, you know… I see that me in the mirror. But I never had to explain that 'Me' to anyone. So then there's 'School Me', I guess, and 'School Me' is me… of course." James looked a little frustrated as he puzzled his way through his words," But it's only a small part of me and, well, when you came here I guess you sometimes force me to be parts of 'Me' that I haven't shown to people here and… well honestly… I think the real me would be ashamed of the 'School Me'." He finished and shrugged at his little brother, looking for feedback, "Did that make any sense Al?"

"Yeah a little," replied Al slowly. He considered the rambling for a bit. "What parts of you do I force out?"

James looked in the Mirror again and gestured to it, "This I guess. The part of me that's someone's son or someone's brother. I mean, I know Adrian is sometimes horrible… Al please just listen." James looked weary as Al couldn't help but snort at that description. "Look, the third year Slytherins are the biggest pureblood supremacy lot there can be. There's not one of them that isn't on about that garbage about lineage. You must have figured this out by now."

Al had to agree, Gregor Rosier was the leader of a very unified cohort.

James went on, "And they hated me right off the bat. I heard it on train here- 'Harry Potter's Son'. The reason their families were outcasts. If Adrian and Callum hadn't pulled me into their seats I probably would have arrived at school bloody. And it was hard Al, I mean everyone loves me at home, even the Dursleys aren't actually that bad, but people hated me."

Al realized James had left a lot out of his letters.

"But then I made the Quidditch team and other people started to like me and thought I was funny- but I wouldn't have been that if Adrian hadn't accepted me and protected me for those months. He's the reason I'm where I am. And honestly for the most part, he didn't really go after people that didn't deserve it. Really it was him and Rosier going at it for the most part- but Scorpius came."

"What's so special about Scorpius?" Al asked. James sighed, "Dad never mentioned it but he and Scorpius' dad were also in the same year in school and, well, they were pretty much sworn enemies. His dad hated Aunt Hermione because she was a muggleborn and he, he let a band of Death Eaters into the school that were going to kill Albus Dumbledore… his family housed the Lestranges, Greyback, Voldemort himself during the last of the War."

"I mean his family did that…" Al started, but James cut in, "Yeah sure his dad was the Death Eater at first, but Draco took the Dark Mark as well, at sixteen. And he, by himself, let the Death Eaters into Hogwarts… I mean his dad was in Azkaban!"

Al was quiet. Scorpius didn't talk much about his family, other than mentioning that his mother was often in a hospital. James pushed on, more excitedly, "And after doing all of that… all those things… where are the Malfoys? Sitting in a fancy Manor biding by on their family riches. At least most of the other Death Eaters are rotting in Azkaban right now, but somehow Draco still has a job in the Ministry?"

Clearly this was a subject that many of the non-Slytherin students talked about, but Al was just hearing it all put together for the first time. Some of the reactions to Scorpius were starting to make sense…

"Most of the people in Gryffindor figured Scorpius would hate you Al. I thought I would have to defend you from him like Adrian had to for me, "James calmed down as he explained, "But then you ended up being friends… best friends! And it's just confusing because then people started saying things about you and I, well I never thought I'd have to choose between you and my friends that's all… I figured you would be one in the same." Al looked up sympathetically, as James finished, "I guess this semester just reminded me that no matter how I am at school, I'm the worst brother and…"

"What?" said Al sharply, "Why would you say that?"

James smiled softly, "I guess when I came back from school, I felt like you and Lily had gotten really close… or maybe I had just gotten less close." He shook his head at Al's protests, " No, it wasn't bad but Lily… chooses you over me a lot… she goes to you for help, she asks you to read to her, you guys have inside jokes…"

"I thought you didn't like reading to her?" chuckled Al, "You always complained…"

James groaned, "Yeah I did when she asked all the time, but then I went away to school and really missed everything. But then when I came back, it just felt like it still wasn't the same. And I really hoped that when we all came here that maybe it would start to be the same again, we'd all be Gryffindors and get to do everything together and I could be me again… and that just hasn't been true since the first day you got here…"

Al remembered James scooting Aldo Creevey over to open up a seat next to him during the Sorting Ceremony. James sniffed very softly, "I'm not saying that you chose to be in Slytherin as something against me, McGonagall basically told me you found Scorpius on train. But it's just been really hard not to take it personally… I just… like maybe if I'd been a better brother and invited you to sit with me when we came maybe you would… " He gestured to his red and gold sweater, "I know you tried it on in the summer… it was always laying near your bed."

Al was shaking slightly as he took in what his brother was saying. In a way, James' words were comforting because Al finally understood why he had acted so distant since September. Still, he needed to tell James his side.

"I didn't expect to sit in the same carriage with you, James- I didn't mind really- I knew you would want to catch up with your team, "James didn't look convinced, "Besides, I had Rosie to sit with anyway."

"Then what made you choose it?" James pointed at the Serpent on Al's chest, "Like really, what pushed you away?"

"I guess Scorpius was really nice is all," said Al, "And then your friends were just so mean to him right away and… well you didn't stand up for him really either. And Jeya got sorted into Hufflepuff and Rosie into Gryffindor and it just seemed like I already knew who my friend was, and he was in Slytherin…" Al finished lamely, "I mean, I figured that since we're brothers, it wouldn't mean anything to be in different houses."

James nodded, "Yeah that's what McGonagall tried to tell me. I guess Scorpius doesn't really fit into any other house and he's okay… he's not at all what I imagined a Malfoy would be like."

Al was silent for a little longer before starting again, "James, I haven't told Dad that I'm in Slytherin."

James smirked, "Yeah, I mean he knows Al," but became more serious as he saw how affected his brother seemed, "Al he's not going to think you're something just because of your house…"

"Yeah, but you did," Al replied, and James blanched, "Yeah but I'm your brother, I'm… Dad loves you okay? He always says you're so much like him when I complain about you…" James nudged Al playfully.

But Al looked up bewildered, "But I'm nothing like him. I'm not good at flying, I chose Slytherin, I'm not popular at all…"

James cut in, "What does that even mean Al, those are just things he did or how he looks now. He means how you are. I-apparently- am just like Mum." James beamed in exaggeration, trying to lighten Al's mood. Al gave a reluctant grin.

"Look, he's said that you are a lot like him, I'm not lying. But also, when I got here, everybody knew about him and it was honestly impossible to try to be what everyone thought Harry Potter's son would be. You deserve to be yourself, Al. Cause, you know, he's a good friend and stands up to people and, sometimes, is…cool"

This time, Al's laugh was genuine.

The streaks of Moonlight were very much slanted from their original trajectory, signaling the passage of a good amount of the night. Al looked into the Mirror once more.

"James, does it make you sad that we don't know them?" Al pointed his distinctly youthful grandparents. James nodded. "Yeah, I don't know how Dad made it without…" he trailed off, "I guess our family is so big it seems like we are always with some of them. I can't imagine half of them being gone, and he had no one. I wish everyone could be together, or that they could have been together."

James pointed to the Weasley side of the table, "Do you notice the double-take?"

Al had skipped over the cluster of Weasleys that were his uncles but now realized that his Uncle George was sitting next to his twin brother, Fred. Like Lily and James, Fred looked unnaturally young, yet still strongly resembled his aged twin. Still, it made Al feel uneasy to look at the mirror's image- everything was so real and yet the inconsistencies cracked that reality… that hope. And even though he knew it wasn't true, he was still fearful of how badly he wanted it to be so. James had said what Al also felt, he wished more than anything that his entire family had the chance to be together. That way his Dad wouldn't withdraw suddenly or hide photo albums or just… look lonely.

James seemed more wholly content as he stared into the Mirror. He turned to Al again, "I know it doesn't make a difference, but Adrian's family was almost completely wiped out by the war. His Dad and Mum were both the youngest in their family and only survived because they were in still in school. They both lost all of their siblings and his Mum had nine of them. His dad is… very extreme in the way he treats pureblood families and very particular on who Adrian can be friends with. He never mentions that he hangs around with Fiona Rowle because she's a pureblood, even though she's in Gryffindor and his dad basically tanked her brother's Auror chances when he found him talking to Adrian once…" Al tried to keep his face neutral.

"It's no excuse but Adrian could be a lot worse. And his dad is hard on him overall- he's livid that Adrian got kicked off the team and Adrian won't tell him exactly why because he doesn't want his dad to get involved with Scorpius. I know it seems like he's ruining Scorpius' life right now, but even he knows his dad goes too far." James sighed, "I know you must hate him but I know him a little better and there's a lot of reasons why he's the way he is."

"I guess I wish people gave Scorpius the benefit of doubt like that, that's all." Al said glumly.

James agreed, "McGonagall told me you expected me to stand up for Scorpius yesterday- I'm touched you think I'm that brave."

Al looked at James soberly, "I think you are that brave James, I guess I didn't realize how complicated this all was. There's no War anymore but everyone still seems to think there's a good and bad side like it never ended."

James regarded his brother, "Yeah, I suppose you're right. But there's no war between us okay? Unless of course you manage to make Slytherin Seeker."

Al chuckled, "I think I see a lasting peace then," eliciting laughter from James, "You know some people are late bloomers that's all… It's almost winter break, I can give you some tips when we get home"

"Drop it James." Al snorted, genially.

Somehow, the shadows had gotten even longer and both brothers realized that it was now very much past midnight. James handed Al the invisibility cloak, "Here, the Gryffindor dorms are so close I won't get caught. I just need it back by Saturday."

"Oh how come?" Al raised his eyebrow at his brother, "Isn't that the first trip to Hogsmeade? And aren't you the only one on the Quidditch team that can't get into the Three Broomsticks?"

"Completely unrelated statements Al, "Dismissed James as he ruffled his hair. The brothers exited the classroom silently and, after hearing a sharp yowl somewhere distant in the halls but nothing more, bid their separate ways.

From inside the classroom, the dappled shadows had hidden the calico coat of a very still cat perched under the last window of the room. After a moment, the cat began to walk through the streaks of light and gracefully emerged a few bands later as Headmaster McGonagall. She strode inquisitively to the Mirror of Erised and wondered how rare it was to have two people look into its depths and see the exact same thing.