Christmas was coming. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and the Weasley Twins were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Professor Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban. No one could wait for the holidays to start.

While the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall had roaring fires, the drafty corridors had become icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms, where their breath rose in a mist before them and they kept as close as possible to their hot cauldrons. "How on earth do you survive down here," Selena said to Draco as she shivered from the cold. The Slytherin Common Room was down in the dungeons.

Draco shrugged. "I don't know, perhaps we Slytherins are immune to the cold." Selena chuckled, rubbing her hands together for friction against the cold temperatures.

"Too bad I'm not immune to the cold."

Draco looked over at Harry, then back at Selena. "I feel sorry, for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."

Selena rolled her eyes. "I did tell my folks that Harry and I wouldn't come back for Christmas. Hogwarts is my home now."

Earlier that same week, Professor McGonagall had gone around the school, making a list of students who would be staying for the holidays, and the twins had signed up at once. Neither of them felt sorry for themselves at all; this would probably be the best Christmas they'd ever had. Ron and his brothers were staying, too, because Mr and Mrs Weasley were going to Romania to visit Charlie.

Selena felt a burst of excitement when she saw Veronica Blackwood's name was absent from the list of those staying.

"It's a good thing Veronica's going home for Christmas, finally I'll have a peaceful time, even if it is for a few weeks." said Selena, though she was disappointed when she learned that Draco was going home for Christmas.

"I'll miss you," Selena murmured. Draco looked over at her, a hint of pink coming to his cheeks. "I'll miss you too,"

When they left the dungeons at the end of Potions, Selena and Draco parted and Selena ran to join her brother and his friends. When they reached the top of the stairs, they all found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud puffing sound told them that Hagrid was behind it. "Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" Ron asked, sticking his head through the branches.

"Nah, I'm all right, thanks, Ron."

"Excuse me? Some of us have places to be!" shrieked a high pitch voice. Selena groaned as she heard Veronica's shrill tone coming from behind her.

"Be patient, Ms Blackwood," Hagrid puffed, sounding very grumpy.

"The world doesn't revolve around you Veronica." Selena snapped as she whirled her head around to glare at the Ravenclaw brat. "Especially this world,"

Veronica pursed her lips until they turned a whitish-blue. "At least I'm not some recreation of Cinderella. Bet your family must really miss their little servants, oh wait – what family could you possibly have?"

"Me," Harry snarled as he dived at Blackwood just as Snape came up the stairs.

"POTTER!" Harry let go of the front of Blackwood's robes. "He was provoked, Professor Snape," said Hagrid, sticking his huge hairy face out from behind the tree.

"Blackwood was insultin' Selena."

"Bet that as it may, fighting is against the Hogwarts rules, Hagrid," said Snape silkily.

"Five points from Gryffindor, Potter, and be grateful it isn't more," Veronica was giving Selena a sort of smug look, while Selena glared dangerously at her. However, the smug smile on Veronica's face slowly disappeared as Snape narrowed his eyes at her.

"I think," he began in a harsh whisper. "the same can be said for you, Miss Blackwood. Insulting other students is strictly forbidden. Fifteen points will be taken from Ravenclaw, for your bad mouth."

Veronica's jaw dropped in shock. Selena nearly laughed at the expression Veronica was making. "Move along, all of you."

Veronica let out a stammered snarl and pushing roughly past the tree, scattering needles everywhere and scowling.

"I'll get her," said Harry, grinding his teeth at Veronica's back. "one of these days, I'll get her – "

"I hate them both," said Ron, "Blackwood and Snape."

"Blackwood's worse than Dudley," Selena sighed, feeling the intense headache Veronica was giving her. "she's pathetic."

"Come on, cheer up, it's nearly Christmas," said Hagrid. "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat."

All four of them followed Hagrid and his tree off to the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were busy with the Christmas decorations.

"Ah, Hagrid, the last tree – put it in the far corner, would you?" The hall looked spectacular. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls, and no less than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles.

"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked.

"Just one," said Hermione. "And that reminds me – Harry, Selena, Ron, we've got half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library."

"Oh yeah, you're right," said Ron, tearing his eyes away from Professor Flitwick, who had golden bubbles blossoming out of his wand and was trailing them over the branches of the new tree.

"The library?" Said Hagrid, following them out of the hall. "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"

"Oh, we're not working," Harry told him brightly. "Ever since you mentioned Nicholas Flamel we've been trying to find out who he is."

"You what?" Hagrid looked shocked. "Listen here – I've told yeh – drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'."

"We just want to know who Nicholas Flamel is, that's all,"

"Unless you could tell us who he is and save us the trouble?" Selena added. "We've been through hundreds of books already and we can't find him anywhere – just give us a hint, Hagrid, please – I know I've read his name somewhere."

"I'm sayin' nothin'," said Hagrid flatly. "Guess we just have to find out for ourselves, then," said Ron, and they left Hagrid looking disgruntled and hurried off to the library.

They had indeed been searching books for Flamel's name ever since Hagrid had let it slip, because how else were they going to find out what Snape was trying to steal? Even though Selena kept insisting that it wasn't Snape.

The trouble was, it was very hard to know where to begin, not knowing what Flamel might have done to get himself into a book. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack as the library itself was a network of tens of thousands of books; thousands of shelves; hundreds of narrow rows.

Hermione took out a list of subjects and titles she had decided to search while Ron strode off down a row of books and started pulling them off the shelves at random. Harry and Selena wandered over to the Restricted Section.

Unfortunately, you needed a specially signed note from one of the teachers to look in any of the restricted books, and both of them knew they had a fat chance of getting one. Those books contained powerful Dark Magic never taught at Hogwarts, and only read by older students studying advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts.

"Forget it Harry, those books are more trouble than they're worth." Selena said, realising that they had no chance of getting in there, without getting caught red handed. Harry let out a sigh.

"Yeah, you're right." The twins left the library and waited outside in the corridor to see if the other two had found anything, but they weren't very hopeful. They had been looking for two weeks, but as they only had odd moments between lessons it wasn't surprising they'd found nothing. What they really needed was a nice long search without Madam Pince, the Librarian, breathing down their necks.

Five minutes later, Ron and Hermione joined them, shaking their heads. They went off to lunch. "You will keep looking while I'm away, won't you?" said Hermione.

"And send me an owl if you find anything."

"And you could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is," said Ron. "It'd be safe to ask them."

"Very safe, as they're both dentists," said Hermione.

Selena face palmed. "Ron, I don't think they're going to know what we're talking about?" Selena explained.

Once the holidays had started, Ron, Harry and Selena were having too good a time to think much about Flamel. Out of all of Selena's friends, only Adeline had stayed behind ("My Mum's are staying with my Great Grandfather, he's got a poorly hip and I couldn't go because he lives in Russia.")

All four of them had the dormitories to themselves, and the common room was far emptier than usual, so they were able to get the good armchairs by the fire. They sat by the hour eating anything they could spear on a toasting fork – bread, English muffins, marshmallows – and plotting ways of getting Blackwood or Malfoy expelled ("Leave Draco alone, he's my friend remember,"), which were fun to talk about even if they wouldn't work.

Ron also started to teach Harry how to play wizard chess, which turned out to be exactly like Muggle chess except that the figures were alive and you had to verbally tell them where to move to. Ron's chess set was very old and battered. Like everything else he owned. However, old chessmen weren't a drawback at all. Ron knew them so well he never had trouble getting them to do what he wanted.

Meanwhile, Selena entertained Adeline by showing her how to do a traditional Indian Dance, something that Adeline was ecstatic about, having never learned about her Indian heritage. "Like this, move your hips in rhythm and then you can't go wrong."

On Christmas Eve, Harry and Selena went to bed looking forward to the next day for the food and the fun, but not expecting any presents at all. But when they awoke to the winter sunlight glowing onto their faces, along with the calls from their friends telling them to 'Get up', both of them threw off the covers and pulled on their bathrobes.

"Merry Christmas," said Ron and Adeline as the twins walking into the common room. To the twins' surprise, there were two small piles of presents sitting under the tiny Christmas Tree that sat in the corner of the room. "You, too," said Harry.

"Harry, look at this! We've got presents!" Selena squealed.

Adeline giggled. "What did you expect, turnips?" she said, as she and Ron turned to their own piles, which were a lot bigger than Harry and Selena's.

Harry picked up the top parcel. It was wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawled across it was: To Harry and Selena, from Hagrid. Inside were two roughly cut wooden flutes. Hagrid had obviously whittled them himself. Harry gave his flute a try – it sounded a bit like an owl. Selena picked up a medium sized box, wrapped in silver paper and silver ribbon. The note taped to the lid of the box read: To Selena, from Draco. She opened it up and inside was an expensive-looking silver lyre with gold designs. Harry picked up his second parcel, which was very small, only containing a note:

We received your message and enclose your Christmas present. From Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia. Taped to the note were two fifty-pence pieces. "That's friendly," said Harry. Ron was fascinated by the fifty pence. "Weird!" he said, "What a shape! This is money?"

Adeline pushed out a huge parcel wrapped in scarlet wrapping paper, wearing a knitting scarf she had gotten from Vanessa.

"This one is from Mummy Tatiana and Mummy Astra," she said. Inside was a book on sewing charms and a miniature sewing kit, along with several rolls of material.

"Mummy Tatiana owns a sewing shop, I told her how good you are at sewing, so she figured you'd want some supplies."

Harry was eying at another small pile of parcels that seemed to be a bit of a mystery.

"Who sent these?" Harry wondered. "I think I know who those one's are from," said Ron, turning a bit pink and pointing to two very lumpy parcels on the twins' piles.

"My Mum. I told her that you two didn't expect any presents and – oh no," he groaned. "she's made you both a Weasley jumper."

Harry and Selena had torn open the parcels to find a thick, hand-knitted jumper in emerald green and a large box of homemade fudge, each. "Every year she makes us a sweater," said Ron, unwrapping his own, "and mine's always maroon."

"What's wrong with maroon?" Adeline frowned, flicking her magenta hair at Ron. Adeline picked up a medium sized box. "Here Selena, this one's from me." said Adeline, handing Selena the box. "Thanks Adeline." Selena opened up the box. Inside was a silvery-blue felt bound diary, locked shut by a silver padlock. A key was taped to the lock. The next few presents also contained sweets – a large box of Chocolate Frogs each, Harry and Selena got from Hermione. Selena received a packet of Jelly Slugs from Odessa, a witch's friendship charm bracelet from Asha with a charm from each of her friends.

Each charm had a tiny picture of each friend, including Draco. The photos all smiled and waved back at Selena, while glowing and shimmering brightly. Evan sent Selena a pair of rabbit fur gloves and a packet of CD albums from her favourite artists. Vanessa sent her a polaroid camera wrapped in hand-knitted midnight blue scarf with silver dots for stars, and instructions on how to make the pictures move once taken.

Soon, there was only one parcel left. Harry felt it, then noticed the label that read: To Harry and Selena.

"Selena," he started.

"Yes, Harry," Selena said, taking a picture of Adeline, who was doing a catwalk pose.

"This one's for the both of us." Harry told her. Selena stopped testing out her new camera and she began to help Harry slowly unwrap the parcel in his hands. It was very light. Something fluid and silvery grey went slithering to the floor where it lay in gleaming folds.

"What's that?" Adeline muttered.

Ron gasped. "I've heard of those," he said in a hushed voice, dropping the box of Every Flavour Beans he'd gotten from Hermione.

"If that's what I think it is – they're really rare, and really valuable."

"What is it?" Harry picked the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. It was strange to the touch, like water woven into material.

"It's an invisibility cloak," said Ron, a look of awe on his face. "I'm sure it is – try it on." Harry threw the cloak around his and Selena's shoulders and Ron gave a yell. "It is!"

"Oh my God, look down!" Adeline squealed.

The twins looked down at their feet, but they were gone. "Our bodies are gone!" Selena cried.

"That's so cool, your heads are just floating in mid-air." Adeline said, in awe.

Selena giggled – "Now you see me," and pulled the cloak over her head, "now you don't!"

"There's a note!" said Ron suddenly. "A note fell out of it!"

Harry pulled off the cloak and seized the letter. Selena rolled up the cloak and read the note over Harry's shoulder. Written in narrow, loopy writing they had never seen before were the following words:

Your father left this in my possession before he died,

It's time it was returned to you two,

Use it well,

A Very Merry Christmas to you both.

There was no signature. Harry and Selena stared at the note. Ron and Adeline were admiring the cloak. "I'd give anything for one of these," he said. "What's the matter?" Adeline asked, noticing the look on the twins' faces.

"Nothing," said Harry. He felt very strange and by the look on Selena's face she felt the same has he did. Who had sent the cloak? Had it really once belonged to their father? Before either of them could say of think of anything else, the sound of a dormitory door flinging open from upstairs and Fred and George Weasley bounded down the stairs.

It was obvious that they had beaten them to the presents earlier and had opened their own pile. Selena quickly stuffed the cloak under a couch cushion out of sight. She didn't feel like sharing it with anyone else yet.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Hey, look – Harry and Selena have got Weasley jumpers, too!"

Fred and George were wearing blue sweaters, one with a large yellow F on it, the other a G. "Yours are better than ours, though," said Fred, holding up Harry's sweater. "She obviously makes more of an effort if you're not family."

"Why aren't you wearing yours, Ron?" George demanded. "Come on, get it on, they're lovely and warm."

"I hate maroon," Ron moaned half-heartedly as he pulled it over his head. "You haven't got a letter on yours," George observed. "I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid – we know we're called Gred and Forge." The girls giggled like teenagers.

"What's all this noise?" Percy Weasley had come down into the common room, looking tired and disapproving. It seemed that the prefects had their presents brought up to their dormitory rather than being left under the tree.

Percy had clearly gotten through half his presents as he too, carried a lumpy sweater over his arm, which Fred seized. "P for prefect! Get it on, Percy, come on, we're all wearing ours, even Harry and Selena got one."

"I – don't – want –" said Percy thickly, as the twins wrestled the jumper over his head, knocking his glasses askew.

"And you're not sitting with the prefects today, either," said George. "Christmas is a time for family."

Selena laughed, picked up her new camera and snapped a picture. The picture printed out almost immediately and Selena laughed at the awkwardly hilarious pose the three Weasley brothers were doing.

"Look at that," she said, showing Adeline.

Adeline guffawed. "It's even funnier when the picture is frozen in that hilarious position."

Ron gave her a funny look. "You're crazy, you know that?"

Harry and Selena had never in all their lives had such a Christmas dinner. A hundred fat, roast turkeys: mountains of roast and boiled potatoes: platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce – and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table. These fantastic party favours were nothing like the feeble Muggle ones the Dursleys usually bought, with their little plastic toys and their flimsy paper hats inside. Harry pulled a wizard cracker with Selena and it didn't just bang, it went off with a blast like a cannon and engulfed them all in a cloud of blue smoke, while from the inside exploded a rear admiral's hat and several live white mice.

Up at the High Table, Dumbledore had swapped his pointed wizard's hat for a flowered bonnet and was chuckling merrily at a joke Professor Flitwick had just read him. Selena enjoyed snapping pictures with her camera at all the festivities. She was even bold enough to use her telekinesis powers to snap a group picture of them, all wearing Santa Hats and smiling wide.

Flaming Christmas puddings followed the turkey. Percy nearly broke his teeth on a silver Sickle embedded in his slice. Harry watched Hagrid getting redder and redder in the face as he called for more wine, finally kissing Professor McGonagall on the cheek, who, to Harry's amazement, giggled and blushed. When Harry and Selena finally left the table, they were laden down with a stack of things out of the crackers, including a pack of non-explodable, luminous balloons, a Grow-Your-Own-Warts kit, a diamond headband made from real diamonds – cut into the shape of snowflakes and sparkled like the stars, and Harry's own new wizard chess set. The white mice had disappeared and the twins had a nasty feeling they were going to end up as Mrs Norris's Christmas dinner.

Harry, Selena, Adeline and the Weasleys spent a happy afternoon having a furious snowball fight on the grounds. Then, cold, wet, and gasping for breath, they returned to the fire in the Gryffindor common room, where Harry broke in his new chess set by losing spectacularly to Ron. He suspected he wouldn't have lost so badly if Percy hadn't tried to help him so much.

After a meal of turkey sandwiches, crumpets, trifle, and Christmas cake, everyone felt too full and sleepy to do much else before bed except sit and watch Percy chase Fred and George all over Gryffindor tower because they'd stolen his prefect badge. It had been Harry and Selena's best Christmas day ever.

Yet something had been nagging at the back of their minds all day. Not until they had retired to bed were they free to think about it: the invisibility cloak and whoever had sent it. Ron and Adeline, full of turkey and cake and with nothing mysterious to bother them, fell asleep almost as soon as they'd drawn the curtains of their four-posters.

Harry leaned over the side of his own bed and pulled the cloak out from under it. His father's…this had been his father's. He let the material flow over his hands, smoother than silk, light as air. Use it well, the note had said.

"Harry, why are you still up?" Selena's voice echoed through his mind.

"I could ask you the same question, Lena."

"I was thinking about the invisibility cloak, I can't believe that it really belonged to our father."

"Me too, we have to try it out now."

"The note did say to, Use it well,"

Suddenly, Harry felt wide-awake. The whole of Hogwarts was open to them in this cloak. Excitement flooded through him as he slipped out of bed and stood in the dark and silence. He and Selena could go anywhere in this, anywhere, and Filch or Mrs Norris would be none the wiser. Ron grunted in his sleep. Should Harry wake him? Something held him back – his father's cloak – he felt that this time – the first time – he wanted to use it with Selena.

"Let's try it out,"

"I'll meet you down in the common room." Selena replied, with excitement in their voice.

Harry crept out of the dormitory, down the stairs, and into the common room. He turned his head up to the staircase that lead to the girl's dormitory and saw Selena walking down the stairs in her polka-dot pyjamas. The smile on her face was enough to tell Harry that she was in and they both crawled under the cloak and climbed through the portrait hole.

"Who's there?" squawked the Fat Lady. Neither twin said anything. They walked quickly down the corridor.

"Where should we go?" Selena asked Harry.

"The Restricted Section in the Library!" Harry replied.

Selena looked at him and they smirked at each other. They would be able to read as long as they liked, as long as it took to find out who Flamel was. They set off, drawing the invisibility cloak tight around them both as they walked. The library was pitch-black and very eerie. Harry lit a lamp to see their way along the rows of books. The lamp looked as if it was floating along in mid-air, and even though Harry could feel his arm supporting it, the sight gave him the creeps.

It gave Selena the creeps as well. The Restricted Section was right at the back of the library. Stepping carefully over the rope that separated these books from the rest of the library, Harry held up the lamp to read the titles, while Selena kept watch. The books didn't tell him much. Their peeling, faded gold letters spelled words in languages Harry couldn't understand. Some had no title at all. One book had a dark stain on it that looked horribly like blood.

The hairs on the back of Selena's neck were beginning to prickle. "Harry," she whispered. "Can you hear that?"

"Hear what?" he whispered back.

"That– faint whispering – coming from the books."

"It's probably just a draft or something, Selena, don't worry about it." Harry said, dismissing her claims. Setting the lamp down carefully on the floor, Harry looked along the bottom shelf for an interesting looking book.

A large black and silver volume caught his eye. Selena was getting more and more nervous. "Harry, I really think we should leave, something doesn't feel right."

"Just one moment," Harry said, balancing the book on his knee and let it fall open.

A piercing, bloodcurdling shriek split the silence – the book was screaming! Harry snapped it shut, but the shriek went on and on, one high, unbroken, ear-splitting note. Selena's hands were already covering her ears to block out the noise. They stumbled backwards into each other and knocked over the lamp, which went out at once.

Selena heard the sound of footsteps coming down the corridor outside. "It's Filch! Run!"she screamed to Harry. Harry abandoned the screaming book and they ran for it. They passed Filch in the doorway; Filch's pale, wild eyes looked straight through him, and the twins slipped under Filch's outstretched arm and streaked off up the corridor, the book's shrieks still ringing in their ears.

They came to a sudden halt in front of a tall suit of armour. Both Harry and Selena had been so busy getting away from the library, they hadn't paid attention to where they were going. Perhaps because it was dark, neither of them could recognize where they were at all. There was a suit of armour near the kitchens, they knew, but they must be five floors above there.

"You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody's been in the library Restricted Section." Harry felt the blood drain out of his face. Whenever they were, Filch must know a shortcut, because his soft, greasy voice was getting nearer, and to his horror and Selena's surprise, it was Snape who replied, "The Restricted Section? Well, they can't be far, we'll catch them."

They back away as quietly as they could. A door stood ajar to Harry's left. It was their only hope. They squeezed through it, holding their breaths, trying to not move it, and to their relief both of them managed to get inside the room without making any sounds. They walked straight past, and the twins leaned against the wall, breathing deeply, listening to their footsteps dying away. That had been close, very close. It was a few seconds before either of them noticed anything about the room they had hidden in. It looked like an unused classroom, given the fact that the room was completely absent of any furniture, except for a mirror.

It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top: Erised stra ehru oy tube cafru oyt on wohsi. Their panic fading now there was no sound of Filch or Snape, the twins moved nearer the mirror, why, they did not know. Perhaps out of curiosity. Or perhaps the mirror was more intriguing because of it being the only piece of furniture in the room.

As the twins stood in front of the mirror, they were shocked to see not only their reflections, but also the images of a man and a woman standing behind them. But the room was empty. Breathing very fast, they turned slowly back to the mirror. There they were, reflected in it, white and scared-looking, and there, reflected behind them, were two others. Harry looked over his shoulder – but still, no one was there.

The woman standing right behind Harry was smiling at them and waving. He reached out a hand and felt the air behind him. If she was really there, he'd touch her, their reflections were so close together, but he felt only air. Selena reached out a hand to hold his arm down. "Harry, I think they only exist in the mirror." She whispered.

The twins stood side by side and soon got a closer look at woman. She was a very pretty woman. She had dark red hair and her eyes – her eyes are just like ours, the twins thought, edging a little closer to the glass. Bright green – exactly the same shape. Her hair was also the same ember red as Selena, falling around her face in gentle waves of red. Selena's eyes widened. The woman looked like an adult version of herself, same face shape, same hairline, same nose, even the same long, dark eyelashes.

The tall, thin, black-haired man standing next to her put his arm around her. He wore glasses, and his hair was very untidy. It stuck up at the back, just as Harry's did. The twins were so close to the glass that their noses were nearly touching that of their reflections.

"Mum?" they whispered. "Dad?"

They just looked at them, smiling. Harry and Selena were looking at their parents, for the first time in their lives. Lily and James smiled and waved at their son and daughter as they stared hungrily back at them, hands pressed against the glass as though they would fall right through it and reach them. They felt a powerful kind of ache inside them, half joy, half terrible sadness. How long they stood there, they didn't know. The reflections did not fade and they looked and looked until a distant noise them back to their senses.

"We can't stay here," Selena finally whispered to Harry. They tore their eyes away from their mother's face, and whispered, "We'll come back," and hurried from the room.

Yet Selena looked back at the mirror one last time, and she could have sworn she saw the image of Draco Malfoy in the corner of the mirror, smiling and waving at her as she left the room with Harry.

"You should have woken us up," said Ron, crossly.

"Why didn't you?" Adeline added.

"Both of you can come tonight, we're going back," Harry said.

"I'd like to see your mum and dad," Ron said eagerly.

"And I want to see all your family, all the Weasleys, you'll be able to show us all your brothers and everyone."

Selena smiled. "And you'll be able to show us your Mum's and the rest of your family, too, Adeline."

Ron and Adeline chuckled. "You can see them any old time," Ron said. "Just come round my house in the summer."

"I had the same idea! Mummy Tatiana and Mummy Astra would both like to meet you Selena, we could have a girl's sleepover."

"Shame about not finding anything about Flamel, though. Have some bacon or something, why aren't either of you eating anything?"

Harry and Selena couldn't eat. They had just seen their parents and would be seeing them again tonight. Harry had almost forgotten about Flamel. It didn't seem very important anymore. Who cared what the three-headed dog was guarding? What did it matter if Snape stole it, really?

"Are you two all right?" said Ron. "You look odd."

What Harry and Selena feared most was that they might not be able to find the mirror room again. With Ron and Adeline covered in the cloak, too, they had to walk much slowly much more slowly the next night. They tried retracing the twins route from the library, wandering around the dark passageways for nearly an hour.

"I'm freezing," said Ron.

"Let's forget it and go back."

"No!" Harry hissed. "I know it's here somewhere."

They passed the ghost of a tall witch gliding in the opposite direction but saw no one else. Just as Ron started moaning that his feet were dead with cold, Harry spotted the suit of armour. "It's here – just here – yes!" They pushed the door open. Harry and Selena dropped the cloak from around their shoulders and ran to the mirror. There they were. Their mother and father beamed at the sight of them both. "See?" Harry whispered.

"I can't see anything."

"Look! Look at them both…I really do look like our Mum!" Selena insisted.

Adeline's brow crinkled. "We can only see the two of you."

"Look in it properly, go on, stand where we are."

Harry and Selena stepped aside, but with Ron and Adeline in front of the mirror, they couldn't see their family anymore, just their friends in their pyjamas. Selena looked to her best friend.

"Adeline?"

Adeline was staring at her reflection with a confused look. "I – I see myself, except, there are two people with me, a man and a woman." Harry and Selena felt a burst of excitement. "Is it our parents?"

"I don't think so, they're both Indian. The woman's wearing a beautiful purple sari and gold jewellery and the man has a turban similar to the one Quirrell wears and he has a beard. They're both smiling and hugging me." Adeline finished. Harry and Selena looked at each other, confused.

Adeline then let out a murmur. "Mum, Dad?!"

Selena raised an eyebrow. "Is it showing you your biological parents?"

"It looks like it, though I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'd rather see Mummy Tatiana and Mummy Astra in the mirror."

Ron, though, was staring transfixed at his image. "Look at me!" he said.

"Can you see all your family standing around you?"

"No – I'm alone – but I'm different – I look older – and I'm Head Boy!"

"What?" "I'm wearing the badge like Bill used to – and I'm holding the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup – I'm Quidditch Captain, too." Ron tore his eyes away from this splendid sight to look excitedly at Harry. "Do you think this mirror shows the future?"

"How can it? Both our parents are dead,"

Adeline finally looked away from the mirror as well. "And my parents abandoned me because of my appearance, apparently they couldn't except the fact that they had a 'freak' for a daughter."

"You're not a freak Adeline," Selena whispered.

"That's not what they thought when they dumped me in that box on the street, it was lucky that the Minister of Magic at the time was visiting India and found me when she did." Adeline frowned.

"Let us have another look –" Harry said.

"I don't really want to see my biological parents right now." Adeline said, moving away from the mirror, wearing a mixed expression of hate, sadness and wonder.

"You two had to yourselves all last night, give me a bit more time." Ron hissed.

"You're only holding the Quidditch cup, what's interesting about that? I want to see my parents." Harry snapped.

"Don't push me –"

"Guys!"

A sudden noise outside in the corridor put an end to their discussion. They hadn't realized how loudly they had been talking.

"Quick! Under the cloak!" Selena hissed, picking up the cloak. She threw the cloak over them all as the luminous eyes of Mrs Norris came around the door. Ron, Harry, Adeline and Selena stood quite still, both thinking the same thing – did the cloak work on cats? After what seemed an age, she turned and left.

"This isn't safe – she might have gone for Filch, I bet she heard us. Come on." And Selena pulled them all out of the room.

The snow still hadn't melted the next morning. "Want to play chess, Harry?" said Ron.

"No."

"Why don't we go down and visit Hagrid?"

"No…you go…"

"I know what you're thinking about, Harry, Selena, that mirror. Don't go back tonight." Said Adeline.

"Why not?"

"I dunno, I've just got a bad feeling about it – and anyway, you guys have had too many close calls already. Filch, Snape, Mrs Norris, it's too dangerous to keep wandering around. So, what if they can't see you? What if they walk into you? What if you knock something over?"

"You're starting to sound like Hermione."

"Someone has too!"

"Adeline's right Harry, don't go."

But the twins only had one thought in their heads, which was to get back in front of the mirror, and neither Ron or Adeline were going to stop him.

The third night, they found their way more quickly than before. They were walking so fast they knew they were making more noise than was wise, but they hadn't met anyone.

And there were their mother and father smiling at them again. Harry and Selena sank down to sit on the floor in front of the mirror. There was nothing to stop them from staying there all night with their parents. Nothing at all.

Except –

"So – back again, Harry and Selena?"

The twins felt their insides turn to ice. They looked behind them. Standing in the corner of the gloomy room was none other than Albus Dumbledore. They must have walked straight past him, so desperate to get to the mirror they hadn't noticed him. "Professor," Selena stammered as they stood up. "We didn't see you, sir." Harry said.

"Strange how nearsighted being invisible can make you," said Dumbledore, and the twins were relieved to see that he was smiling. "So," said Dumbledore, striding over to stand before them. "you two, like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised."

"We didn't know it was called that, Sir." The twins said.

"But I expect you've realized by now what it does?"

"It – well – it shows us our family –"

"And it showed your friend Ron himself as Head Boy and your other friend Adeline with her biological parents."

"How did you know –"

"I don't need a cloak to become invisible," said Dumbledore gently. "Now, can either of you think what the Mirror of Erised shows us all?"

The twins shook their heads.

"Let me give you a clue. The happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised like a normal mirror, that is, he would look into it and see himself exactly as he is. Does that help?" Harry and Selena thought.

Then Harry said slowly, "It shows us what we want…"

"Whatever we want…" Selena added, looking back at the mirror.

"Yes and no," said Dumbledore quietly. "It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. You two, share the same desire. You have never known your parents, so you see them standing beside you. Ronald Weasley, who has been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best of all of them. Adeline Knotley, who was abandoned by her Muggle family because of her strange appearance, sees that same family, excepting her for who she is. However, this mirror gives neither knowledge or truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, even gone mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible."

"The Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry, Selena, I ask of you both not to go looking for it again. If you ever do run across it, you will now be prepared. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that. Now, why don't you put that admirable cloak back on and get off to bed?"

"Sir – Professor Dumbledore? Can I ask you something?" Harry said.

"Obviously, you've just done so," Dumbledore smiled. "You may ask me one more thing, however."

"What do you see when you look in the mirror?"

"I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woollen socks."

Harry stared.

"Socks?" Selena questioned.

"One can never have enough socks," said Dumbledore. "Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books."

As the twins prepared to leave, Selena stayed behind a little, while Harry waiting outside under the cloak. She turned to Dumbledore.

"Professor," she whispered, purely for Dumbledore to hear. "When I looked into the Mirror, I didn't just see my parents. I know this may sound silly, but I could have sworn I saw Draco Malfoy in the mirror as well. Why?"

Dumbledore smiled at the young girl. "Selena, I cannot be sure, if I had to guess, I'd say that the mirror works a little bit differently for you. You, Selena, are a remarkable girl. You refuse to choose what you desire the most, so you treat your two main desires as one, therefore you see them both in the Mirror of Erised. I think, there will be a time in the future where you will find that Draco is more than just a friend to you. Now, off to bed with you."

It was only until the twins were safety back in bed that it struck Harry that Dumbledore might not have been quite truthful. But then, he though, as he shoved Scabbers off his pillow, it had been quite a personal question. Selena, however laid awake. The Mirror showed her two deepest desires, instead of one. The second being Draco. But Draco was her friend and her telekinesis coach, nothing more. Right?

So Selena not only saw her parents, she also saw Draco in the Mirror!

Yes, I am aware that this may not be the way the Mirror works, but this is fan fiction, I can do what I want (not really...)

Adeline's part was a lot deeper than I intended it to be...