I'm not even going to make excuses. I was lazy, procrastinating, and decided to play video games and watch tv instead of writing. I offer my deepest apologies and will try not to let it happen again. On the bright side, I finally managed to get past Riku and beat the original kingdom hearts. Also starting next chapter, word count should increae to at least 3000 to 4000 words per chapter and maybe more. And finally due to National Novel Writing Month starting in a few days, the next udate may take a while as I am aiming to win. However I will work on the next chapter in every sare moment of my time.

Chapter 3:

The Mirror of Riapsed

(20 years later)

Severus walked through the potion store, picking the ingredients he was missing. He did not want to run out this time, so he made sure to pick up a little extra just in case. He would also need to invest in a better security measure to keep the Weasley twins out of the ingredients cabinet. He did not want a repeat of "that" incident. He still couldn't walk by McGonagall without her cracking a small smile.

'Maybe some giant, carnivorous plants. That would be sure to keep them out... Unless they decide to steal supplies from the Herbology greenhouse to get past the plants.' He thought, but put it to the side since he still had a little bit of time before classes start.

After making sure that he had all that he needed, Severus walked to the front of the store and payed for everything, putting everything in bags. After all, many of the ingredients would have reacted quite explosively if he used magic to take care of it. Perhaps that was why he enjoyed potions so much, the lack of using magic.

As he grabbed the bags and turned to head out of the shop, the door opened and two figures walked in. One he recognized as Hagrid, who greeted Severus jovially, the other was a young boy probably about to start his first year. However, as he got a look at the boy, images of his childhood rival came to mind. The boy looked up and Severus froze, peeking out from between the boy's bangs was a lightning bolt shaped scar. But that wasn't what had startled Severus, it was the boy's eyes. Severus was looking into Lily's eyes, or rather the eyes of her child, Harry Potter.

Severus quickly looked away and swiftly walked out the door. It was a few minutes before he slowed down to a more leisurely pace. He would have to get used to seeing those eyes since the boy would be in his class.

"It looks like someone's come face to face with a ghost," A young man's voice called out, coming from the alleyway to Severus's left.

"It's nothing, just surprised to see the one who defeated Voldemort here."

"Whatever you say," The voice replied. The seriousness in the air was palpable. "Just because he's gone doesn't mean that the Potter doesn't have any enemies."

Severus stared at the ground in silence as the sound of retreating footsteps met his ears.

"I know."

Severus looked back at the store to see Hagrid and Harry exit and walk in the opposite direction. Looking closely, Severus could also see the new defense against the dark arts teacher, Quirinius Quirrell staring at Harry, trembling with what most would assume was nervousness.

'What are you up to?' Severus narrowed his eyes, a strange tingling sensation running up his spine. Severus watched as Quirrell disappeared into the crowd of people before he himself apparated to Hogsmeade to get back to Hogwarts

Once he had arrived at the large castle and had made his way down to his classroom he began to put away the supplies. Locking the cabinets back up, Severus stared at the tattered books lining the shelves. He needed to get some information about Quirrell, there was something about that man that Severus just didn't trust.

But that could wait for tomorrow, he had other things that needed to be done. He walked over to one of the lower cabinets and pulled out a simple cauldron. He brought out to the middle of the room and began to clean it by hand. Quite a bit of dust had collected over the summer, and a cauldron had to be spotless clean when making a potion. One speck of dust could lead to disastrous results. He had heard a story about a man who made a potion in a dirty cauldron and had ended up blowing up his entire house.

Suddenly Severus felt a great amount of darkness and immediately pulled out his wand and turned around.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" A light breeze passed through the room, which might not have been so unusual if not for the fact that he was in the dungeon with no way for wind to get in.

"So this is the man who was the right hand man to the dark lord?" A sinister voice rang out, echoing around the room and preventing Severus from finding the source. "Now teaching a bunch of brats how to turn themselves into gophers. I expected more from the man who murdered the woman he loved."

Old memories bubbled in Severus's mind and bile rose in the back of his throat. "Shut up!" Severus quickly muttered a word under his breath and aimed his wand at where he thought the mystery person was. A ball of light flew from the tip of his wand and exploded in a ball of fire that scorched the stone wall. A shadow flickered from the spot to another corner.

"Oh my, it seems like I hit a nerve. Don't worry I haven't come to fight you. You're not my prey." A pair of green eyes broke through the shadows. "But you better keep a close eye on that little Potter brat." Once again the breeze filled the room and the eyes and dark prescence disappeared.

Severus quickly chastised himself for losing control of himself and reacting like he had, but he also had to send a letter about this encounter. He sat down and began writing a letter, carefully encrypting so that if it was stolen it couldn't be read. He then made his way up to the owlery and gave the letter to Mikoto.

"You need to deliver this to Vallus. Fly quickly." Mikoto let out a screech before taking off into the dusk sky. Severus watched as the owl's silhouette gradually become smaller and smaller before disappearing entirely. He turned around and began the walk to Dumbledore's office, Severus needed to inform him about this intruder.

Along the way he passed several other teachers but paid them no attention, and he soon reached the door to the headmaster's office. He knocked and after a few seconds of silence the door opened.

"Ah, Severus, how nice to see you this evening. Come in, come in, would you care for a lemon drop?" Severus politely refused the lemon drop as he entered the office. Dumbledore's trust phoenix sat overhead, preening itself. Severus recounted the experience in the dungeon, Dumbledore listening carefully and patiently.

"I doubt it's anything to worry about, most likely a former death eater with a grudge. He shouldn't be too hard to locate and apprehend."

"With all due respect, sir, he was no mere death eater. He knew that I was the one to kill Li- Mrs. Potter. Other than yourself,only Voldemort knew that."

"Don't worry, Severus. I have faith in you."

"Of course, I will find out the identity of this man."

Dumbledore smile and popped another lemon drop into his mouth. "While you're here I would like to give you a special job. I need you to do nightly checks of a certain room to make sure that no one goes in there."

Severus had followed the directions of Dumbledore and found the room that he was supposed to be checking. He placed a spell on the door that would alert him and Dumbledore if the door was ever opened. And for the next few days Severus's schedule consisted of trying to find out the identity of the man who had appeared to him, finding any information about Quirrell that he could, and returning to the door each night to make sure the spell hadn't been tampered with.

However, one night, his curiosity got the better of him. Severus wondered what was behind the door that was so important.

'If Dumbledore entrusted me with this task then surely he wouldn't mind if I knew what I was supposed to be protecting.' He thought, and then disabled the spell. Walking in the room, the only thing he saw was a mirror with some words etched into it. He got closer and was able to read the words, "The Mirror of Erised". He looked up, expecting to see his reflection, but had the breath sucked out of him instead.

He saw Lily, standing right there in front of him. She was wearing a white dress and her eyes were closed. Her right hand was u almost like she was waiting for a high-five. Had it all been just a nightmare? Had it all been a bad dream that he had finally woken up from? Part of him wondered how it was possible, but Lily was standing right there perfectly fine. He hadn't hurt her after all.

He reached out place his hand on hers and but was stopped by cold glass. Severus crumpled to his knees and rested his forehead against the mirror as silent tears fell down his cheeks. The cold hard pain him like a stack of bricks, it was all real. It was no nightmare. He really had killed her. The entire time, the image never disappeared.

"The mirror of erised, that is to say, the mirror of desire. It shows us our deepest, most heartfelt desires. It shows what we wish for more than life itself." Severus looked behind him and saw Dumbledore. "Come, I would hate to have one of my best teachers wither away in front of that mirror like so many others."

Severus nodded, taking a last glance back at the image of his deceased friend, who finally opened her eyes and looked directly at Severus. He quickly turned away and followed Dumbledore back out.

As Dumbledore shut the door and recast the spell on it, Severus spoke up.

"It would be more truthful to call it the mirror of despair." Memories flooded through his head as he looked at the door. "After all, it only shows you what you cannot have."

Dumbledore looked over, but the usual twinkle in his eye was gone, replaced by a look of sympathy and understanding. Severus didn't have the heart to ask what it was that Dumbledore saw when he looked in the that night, Severus never wanted to open that door and was extra vigilant that no one could enter in and fall prey to the mirror's trap. And he sent his days combing through various sections of the library searching for clues.

And then a week before the start of the school year he found his first clue. In an old dust book that had been sitting in the wrong section. It was about various folktales and myths of the magic world. One in particular caught his attention.

'Legends tell of a being who has plagued humanity since the dawn of magic. Those that have seen the being completely never live to tell of his full appearance. Before killing a victim the being selects someone to warn of his future deeds, concealing himself in shadows. Those who have been warned always report that the entity came and went with the wind and had striking eyes like emeralds.'

Severus's hand shook, this was exactly what he had experienced. He looked at the top of the page and read the words emblazoned there in gold and silver lettering.

'Vento Demone.'

To be continued…

And there's chapter three. Not really anything to explain this time around except that I'll be adding my own plot elements into the series so that way I'm not just show the books from Sev's point of view. Also the scene of Severus and the Mirror of Erised was inspired by a youtube video which is no longer viewable in America for some weird reason about it not being available in this country. It is on another site though, so go check it out here just put /'s where there are -'s : .jp-watch-sm7957079