Secret of the Mirror

It was a couple nights before either Irlynn or Harry ventured out again for the mirror. Neither could deny that they wanted to see it again. Irlynn had also been avoiding Harry because she wasn't sure how she felt about knowing she had been seeing into his mind since they were children. Unfortunately, she could no longer avoid him. He cornered her after classes near the end of the week.

"Irlynn, wait," Harry called as she tried to walk away from him. He caught up to her and they walked in silence for a minute before finding a quiet alcove to talk.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Fine," she answered.

"No…not really," she finally admitted.

"I…I feel horrible about telling you what I did…about my visions," she rambled.

"It is…a little strange…but I haven't told anyone," Harry assured her. She cracked a small smile.

"Thank you…I don't want people thinking I'm off my rocker," she laughed.

"Do you…want to go see the mirror tonight?" he asked. She thought for a minute.

"I would…not that I'll see anything," she sighed.

"So how does it work? Your visions I mean?" he asked and they started walking again.

"Well…they just come to me. I never hear words really…I just see whatever is around you. I saw when you got in trouble with Snape the first day," she said.

"Did you only see things that happened at Hogwarts?" he pressed, silently hoping that was the answer.

"No…I see…other things. Whoever you live with are just awful," she answered. Harry's heart stopped momentarily. She'd seen Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia.

"They're the only family I have," he said, letting out a sigh. Irlynn just nodded her head in understand/

The pair stopped walking when they reached the Transfiguration corridor. Harry shifted his bag from one shoulder to the other.

"So should we meet in the room then?" he asked.

"That sounds good," she agreed and they parted ways.

All through Transfiguration, Harry was distracted by thoughts of the mirror. He still couldn't over the fact that he'd seen his parents. He kind of liked sharing this little secret with Irlynn. It's snot that he didn't' trust Ron and Hermione to keep the secret, it just felt like something the two of them could share.

"I'm starving," Ron groaned as they walked out of the classroom some time later.

"You're always hungry," Harry laughed as they headed for the Great Hall. Dinner passed uneventfully. It was loud and boisterous as usual and Harry enjoyed the noise for once. He was trying to just be there in the moment with his friends and not think about the mirror or whatever Hagrid and Dumbledore were so worried about.

Shortly, Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting in front of the fire in the Common Room. All of their books were away. They had all managed to get their assignments done before tonight.

"Harry…are you alright?" Hermione asked, tapping him on the shoulder. He'd drifted off into his own thoughts.

"Yeah…fine, Hermione. Just thinking," he mumbled.

"Thinking about what?" she probed.

"Just how lucky I am to be here," he answered.

"I…I'm sort of tired. I think I'm going to turn in early," he muttered and headed up to the boy's dorm. He drew the curtains around his bed and grabbed the cloak before heading out to meet Irlynn. He caught sight of her outside the room and sprinted to meet her.

"Hi," he said once they were inside.

"You didn't have to run," she teased. He let the cloak fall to the floor and they both sat down in front of the mirror. Each saw their own desires reflected before them. Irlynn's image was still blurry but it was starting to gain some clarity.

They lost track of time until they heard the clock in thee tower clanging ten. Neither made a move to get up and head back to their Common Rooms. As they sat in silence, Irlynn finally felt the courage within her to tell Harry about her parents.

"I think the people in the mirror are my parents too," she blurted. Harry turned his head and raised his eyebrow.

"Then why can't you see them?" he replied.

'I meant my birth parents…I was adopted. My Mum and Dad told me over holiday," she admitted.

"Oh…" he trailed off. He didn't really know what to say. So they fell back into silence for a minute or two.

"I'm trying to find her…my birth Mum…only her name was on the birth certificate," she rambled.

"I bet you'll find her," Harry said. Before either of them noticed, a figure was standing behind them.

"You two shouldn't be out of bed," Dumbledore said, making both of them jump. They scrambled to their feet but he raised a hand to stop them.

"No need to panic," he assured them and they sat back down.

"I'm not surprised either of you came across this," Dumbledore continued, conjuring a chair for himself. He smiled down at them over his half-moon spectacles.

"I…I don't understand, Sir," Harry spoke.

"The mirror does not show us what is true, it only shows our desires," Dumbledore explained. He had a feeling his explanation would dash the hopes of both students in front of him but it was better to know the truth than to wallow in the false hope.

"But wouldn't our desire be clear then?" Irlynn interjected.

"Not always, my dear," the headmaster answered.

"It is not good to dwell on these thoughts," he continued.

"Why not?" Irlynn asked.

"They can consume you. It gives you false hopes and you get lost in them," Dumbledore sighed.

"I don't want either of you to come back here anymore," Dumbledore said, standing up.

"Come now. You need to get back to your dormitories," he added. Harry picked up the cloak and walked ahead of Dumbledore. He watched the two students walking away from the room and he let out a sigh of his own.

"Do you want help finding your Mum?" Harry asked in a whisper, fearing that a teacher might lurk around every corner.

"Yes…though I'm not certain where to start looking. See I don't want to bother Mm and Dad about it…I think it would hurt their feelings," Irlynn answered. Harry nodded, the cloak swinging from his arm as they went.

"Maybe we can ask Professor McGonagall or maybe Madam Pince. Maybe they can help," Harry offered as they finally reached the Ravenclaw Tower.

"I wonder how Dumbledore knew we were there," she yawned.

"I don't know…but he's a powerful wizard. He's been at Hogwarts for a long time," Harry muttered.

"I wish he would let us see the mirror…just one last time. Maybe it would show me who my Mum is," she said. Harry nodded in agreement but knew that the headmaster wouldn't be so lenient if he caught them there again.

"Good night. I'll see you tomorrow," he said and they parted ways. He donned the cloak and took his time walking back to Gryffindor Tower. He knew he should tell Ron and Hermione about the mirror now. It wasn't really a secret anymore, was it? Dumbledore had found them. He would let Irlynn tell them about her parents though. It wasn't hiss place to do it. He finally approached the portrait of the Fat Lady as the clock struck quarter past eleven. He pulled the cloak off and got a disapproving look from the painting.

"Password?" she said grumpily. He gave her the answer and she let him in. The Common Room was chilly as he walked through it and up the stairs. He pushed open the door to the first year boys' dorm and snuck past Ron's sleeping form. He opened the lid of his trunk and stowed the cloak before heading for the bathroom to brush his teeth and change his clothes. As he finally climbed beneath the covers, he stared up at the ceiling and let out a sigh. Finally sleep overtook his overworked brain.

Irlynn didn't have as much luck falling asleep. She tossed and turned beneath the covers for a while longer. As her subconscious finally took over she saw images spinning around in her mind; the blurred figures of her own parents and the clear ones from Harry's mind. They were twisting and bending, trying to mix together. She let out a groan as she rolled over again and clutched at her pillow.

Little did either Irlynn or Harry know but Dumbledore was sitting in his office, staring at the door in front of him. He couldn't shake the ominous feeling that something was going to happen and soon. He knew it had to do with the stone…but he had employed every safeguard to keep it protected. There was a soft squawk from behind him as Fawkes rustled his feathers. The old wizard looked at the bird and smiled. He needed to let his own mind rest. So he stood up and headed for his own quarters.