The next morning, Lena found herself grateful to be alone in the Slytherin common room, sitting in a chair by the fire. She wanted the time to think. On the other hand, she wanted a distraction and wondered if finding Kara might be a good idea, just to put a smile on her face. But she didn't have the energy to stand yet.
Then, a voice from behind startled her by saying, "Good morning, Lena."
Reflexively turning around as fast as possible and jumping slightly in her seat from surprise, Lena looked for the sound and found Jack standing adjacent to the chair.
"G-Good morning," she forced herself to say, wanting nothing more than to shrink and disappear into the chair so that she wouldn't have to speak again or have him look at her. Then, she realized, and said out loud, "God, I'm a mess. Don't look. I'm not awake yet."
But Jack just smiled and said, "You look beautiful, Lena."
Lena blushed at this, covering her face and shaking her head.
"We should probably talk about the plan, at some point," Jack offered, ignoring the blush in favor of not embarrassing her further. "But only when you're ready."
Lena dropped her hands and nodded once to convey her understanding. Silently, she hoped he knew how much she appreciated his lack of force in the matter.
"Would you care to sit with me at breakfast?" he asked, smiling at her.
Lena hesitated. She'd wanted to sit with Kara. Then again, if she was going to marry this boy, she should probably get to know him better while she had the chance.
So, she nodded her agreement and told him, "I'll be right back down. I just want to go clean up a little before I start the day. I look ridiculous."
"You look beautiful," Jack repeated, still wearing a charming smile.
Lena ignored this and went upstairs to get ready.
~!~!~
When Kara saw the two sitting together in the dining room, she felt her stomach turn to stone. She watched for a while – not stalking, just… checking in – and noticed that the more time passed, the more comfortable Lena's body language became. Kara even saw her smile.
Kara sighed to herself, turning her attention back to her plate and knowing she couldn't stand to see more.
Maybe she'll be happy with him after all, Kara thought.
Part of her was sad, of course, watching as her closest friend was being slowly torn from her arms. Not to mention the part where Lena's lips were soon to be on someone else's. But Kara told herself that she never had a chance anyway. After all, Lena would never think of her like that. It was hard enough to just build their friendship. Forget anything else.
The other part of Kara, though, felt somewhat happy for Lena, seeing her smile return. It wasn't as bright as Kara usually noticed it being, but it was there. Maybe Lena would be okay. The last thing Kara wanted was for her friend to be miserable. She needed Lena to be happy, even if it wasn't with her.
But it hurt still, so Kara found her eyes glued to her plate. Now, it was her turn to ignore her food, appetite forgotten. After a while, she forced herself to stand and head off to her first class: Care of Magical Creatures, wanting to do anything she could to take her mind off the Slytherin couple.
~!~!~
Lena found herself highly confused by her own emotions that morning. Jack was sweet. He was charismatic. He even managed to make her smile when she felt miserable.
But it felt strange not sitting with Kara for breakfast anymore, not seeing her smiling face. She knew she missed the girl terribly, but when she turned around after breakfast to look for Kara and say hello, the Gryffindor was gone.
Jack walked Lena to class, with her permission, and the two had a long talk about how much they hated Herbology, until they arrived at Lena's History of Magic class.
"I'll see you in potions later?" Jack offered, flashing her his most charming smile.
She nodded and returned the smile, though hers was more subdued.
All through class, she thought about her future and her seemingly pre-ordained destiny, nearly missing the entire lecture due to being stuck in her head for most of the class.
~!~!~
That night, Lena knew she had to settle things. She couldn't sleep, and when she glanced over at her clock, she saw that it was 2:34 AM. She'd been lying awake for three and a half hours.
"I have to know," she told herself, whispering under her breath as she swung her legs quietly out of the bed and sliding into her cloak. "I have to find it. I have to find it tonight."
Her desperation fueled her adrenaline and energy levels, which had been virtually non-existent since she'd returned to Hogwarts from Christmas break. Still, she knew she was very nearly lost in the castle after about an hour of walking.
I have to find it. I have to find it, she thought, looking around with sharp, determined eyes.
She knew the Mirror of Erised had to be at Hogwarts. It had to be. It was the safest place in the wizarding world, and Dumbledore was too clever to risk moving it from the castle. But he was also too clever to make it obvious where the mirror was hidden. Still, she was determined to find it. She had to know.
Another hour passed without luck, until she nearly jumped out of her skin at the crashing sound of trophies falling.
Shit, she was thinking, assuming that it was the typical rowdy Gryffindor group that had nearly put her in a Full Body-Bind curse the night Kara had intervened.
Kara, Lena thought, feeling a wave of overwhelming sadness wash her clean of conviction.
They hadn't spoken that day, and it was odd now for Lena to go through her day without seeing Kara at all. They didn't even run into each other at lunch or dinner.
Maybe I should just go back, Lena told herself, flattening against the wall in an attempt to hide herself from whatever had made the crashing noise. What if it's a professor? she wondered. I'm so fucked.
But it wasn't the three rowdy Gryffindors or a professor. It was Peeves, the ghost, and Lena, by some miracle, managed to not be seen as he sped by, cackling loudly at the mess he'd just made.
Once he was gone, Lena stepped closer to where the sound had come from, to examine what had happened, and found herself standing in a hallway she didn't recognize, looking at an open door she couldn't remember ever seeing before. Carefully, she stepped closer. Trophies – old, unpolished trophies – were scattered all over the floor, pouring out of the room. Something inside sparkled and caught Lena's eye, so she approached carefully, stepping over several large, metal trophies she didn't bother to read.
When she found the source of the sparkle, she nearly dropped her wand.
The mirror before her had refracted the light from the moon out into the hallway, and now that Lena was closer, she could see that that same light was being refracted on all kinds of metal items in the room – not just trophies. It almost hurt her eyes when it reflected off her glasses. But she couldn't have cared less about the other objects. Her eyes were locked on the mirror.
As she stepped closer still, the picture became clear, and when Lena saw it, she felt her chest tighten.
In the image reflected back at her – supposedly her deepest desire – showed Lena in the arms of a young, blonde girl, wearing a Gryffindor Quidditch uniform, their lips connected in a heated kiss. Lena, in her Slytherin robes, was being pulled tighter against the girl's body, and as this happened, her hands reached up to thread through the beautiful blonde locks of hair, deepening the kiss.
Kara.
Lena felt as though she might faint and found herself needing to lean on a nearby desk to maintain her balance.
"This can't be happening," she whispered. "This can't be it."
So she turned back and looked again. This time, in the mirror, she saw herself holding hands with Kara, standing shoulder to shoulder, wearing broad smiles before Kara leaned in and kissed her lips again.
"This can't be happening," Lena repeated. "Oh, fuck."
Needing to escape what she'd seen, Lena scrambled over the metal objects on the floor and stumbled out into the hallway, running the entire way back to her common room and only getting slightly lost twice on the way.
By the time she collapsed on her bed, heart racing from the shot of adrenaline she'd received from finally finding the Mirror of Erised, and what it had shown her, it was almost six in the morning. Her alarm went over shortly after, before she'd even had a chance to fall asleep.
She wanted nothing to do with breakfast, or even the smell of food, so Lena seriously considered sleeping another hour, but decided that she was in too much of a state of disbelief and confusion to actually rest, so she got back out of the bed and dressed herself for the day, body still trembling from shock.