"Harry," Hermione said softly. "Harry, please talk to me."

It wasn't the most polite thing he could've done, Harry knew, but he closed the hangings around his bed and told her from within that he didn't want to talk to anyone right now.

"Just go away," he pleaded.

"This is important," said Hermione, and to Harry's surprise, she pushed the hangings aside and sat next to him on the bed. Harry knew then that it would be pointless to argue with her.

"Fine," said Harry. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to know…" Hermione took a deep breath. "Were you really going to send that letter to me?"

"Well, no," Harry admitted. "I meant every word of it. But I knew it would be too embarrassing to actually send."

"Why would it be?" Hermione asked. "I didn't think it was embarrassing."

"You didn't?"

"No." Hermione smiled. "I thought it was kind of…sweet."

Harry felt his face turning hot. Nothing would convince him that his letter wasn't embarrassing, but still, if Hermione had liked it, maybe it wasn't so bad.

"Like I said, I meant all of it," Harry mumbled.

"If you wanted me to be your valentine, Harry, you should have asked," Hermione said brightly. "I think we could give it a try, don't you?"

"W-What?" Harry stammered, sounding like Professor Quirrell. That was the last thing he expected her to say!

"Harry Potter, will you be my valentine?" Hermione asked, beaming.

"Yes!" Harry blurted, then pinched himself. It hurt a lot, so he supposed that meant he wasn't dreaming. No, his perfect Valentine's Day was actually happening.

"Okay," said Hermione, kissing Harry on the cheek. "By the way…I especially liked how you said you loved my smile. Not many people say that, as you could probably imagine."

"I think it's great," Harry told her, then added, "So…if you're my valentine…does that mean we go on a date or something?"

"Of course," said Hermione. "And I have an idea where."

"Really? Where do you want to go?"

"Well, you know how we've been having trouble finding out who Nicholas Flamel is?" Hermione asked, leaning in a little closer. "Maybe…maybe we could sneak down to the library tonight and look through the Restricted Section."

"Wouldn't that be…breaking the rules?" said Harry, grinning.

"It's for a good cause," Hermione said firmly. "And what could be more romantic than a study date? The only issue is, we could easily be caught by Filch."

"Not as much as you think," Harry told her. "You see, I've got some aids to magical mischief-making."

Harry dug in his trunk and pulled out both his father's Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's Map. Hermione's chocolate-brown eyes widened.

"You've got an Invisibility Cloak?" she said. "Where did you get it?"

"It was my dad's," Harry explained. "He left it with Dumbledore before he died, and last Christmas, Dumbledore passed it on to me."

"And what's that?" Hermione asked, pointing to the Map. "It looks like an ordinary piece of parchment."

"Yeah, but watch," said Harry. "You say these words—'I solemnly swear I am up to no good'—tap it with your wand—and…"

"Oh, wow!" Hermione gasped as the Map started coming into view. "Looks like a Protean Charm to me."

"I found this in my dad's safe deposit box at Gringotts," Harry told her. "Sirius has got one too, you know. It was in his safe deposit box, but he brought it to Hogwarts to keep an eye on me."

"Hmm…" Hermione looked closely at the Map. "I don't see Sirius on here."

"Only the cartographers can see each other on the Map," Harry explained. "Also, if you try to work the Map but you don't know how, all it will do is insult you. But Sirius told me my mum tried to work it once, and since it had my dad's magic in it, she couldn't be insulted. Instead Prongs started trying to give her hints on how to work it, until Moony, Padfoot and Wormtail made him shut up."

"You're lucky to have Sirius, to tell you all these stories," said Hermione, and Harry agreed.

…

Around 11:30 that night, Harry couldn't believe his luck as he and Hermione squeezed under the Invisibility Cloak. It was a bit awkward, being that close to each other, but they tried to just focus on making their way to the library.

"Here we are," Hermione whispered in Harry's ear, and she lit her wand. The two of them stepped over the rope that separated the Restricted Section from the rest of the library and looked along the rows of books. Harry didn't know what book to look at first, but Hermione pulled a big, heavy one down. Harry ran to look over her shoulder, but as soon as she opened it—

SCREAM! The book let out a terrible, never-ending screech. Even when Hermione closed the book, the shrieking went on and on. Things got worse when they heard footsteps getting closer.

"Nox!" Hermione whispered hurriedly, and her wandlight went out. Harry threw the Cloak back over their heads and they ran, trying not to trip over the hem of the Cloak. They stopped when they reached a tall suit of armor.

"Do you have any idea where we are?" Harry hissed.

"No," Hermione whispered back, looking beyond frightened. Then they heard Filch.

"You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night," he was saying, "and somebody's been in the library—Restricted Section."

"The Restricted Section?" Harry heard none other than Snape reply. "Well, they can't be far, we'll catch them."

Harry and Hermione backed up, watching with dread as Snape and Filch came around the corner, but it was no use. If they went much farther, there would be a collision. The Cloak made Harry invisible, but he was still as solid as ever.

Hermione nudged Harry and pointed to an open door to their left. Harry understood, and they darted inside. Harry thought it was an unused classroom, judging by the desks and chairs against the walls and the upside-down wastebasket. But then—

"Oh my God, I know what this is!" Hermione gasped, taking the Cloak off of both of them.

"What?" said Harry.

"This mirror!" Hermione told him, pointing to what was indeed a mirror, a huge one that reached the ceiling. The frame was golden, and around the top were the words Erised stra ehru oyt ube carfru oyt on wohsi.

"I wonder what the words mean," Harry said thoughtfully. "D'you think it's Latin or something?"

"No," Hermione said excitedly. "It's a code, see? Read it backwards."

Harry squinted and read backwards: "I show not your face but your heart's desire."

"It's a Mirror of Erised," Hermione explained. "When you look into this mirror…"

"It shows us what we want," Harry realized. "Whatever we want."

"Do you want to look first?" Hermione asked.

"Um, okay."

Harry stepped in front of the mirror, and he was astounded at what he saw. In the mirror he recognized his parents—his mother, a beautiful woman with dark red hair and green eyes just like Harry's; his father, a tall thin man with untidy black hair and glasses, only his were square, not round; and behind them, what must have been the rest of Harry's family.

"Well?" came Hermione's voice, from far, far away. "What do you see?"

"I…I see my parents, and all the rest of my dead family," Harry told her. "My heart's desire is for my family to be alive."

The excitement faded from Hermione's face. Now she looked sad, and Harry was shocked when she gave him a gentle hug.

"Oh, Harry, that's terrible," she said sympathetically, sounding suddenly like she was going to cry. "You must miss them so much."

"It's okay," Harry said helplessly. "I mean, I still have Sirius, he's like my family, too. Do you want to have a look?"

"Sure," Hermione said tearfully, separating herself from Harry and looking into the mirror. Then she said, "Not quite as remarkable…I see myself as Head Girl—and I got all O's on my N.E.W.T.s!"

"You got what on your what?"

"N.E.W.T.s, or Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests," Hermione explained. "They're the highest qualification Hogwarts offers. And the grade 'O' is short for 'Outstanding'."

"You will be Head Girl, Hermione," Harry told her. "And you can get Outstanding, too."

"Want to have another look?" Hermione asked understandingly.

"Yes, I do."

Harry nodded emphatically and moved in front of the mirror, staring at his parents, who waved at him; Lily was smiling, but she was crying at the same time. James put his arm around her. And how Harry wished they could be here now, so his mother could hug him too, so his father could play Quidditch with him and Sirius, so they could see him off at King's Cross…Never before had Harry suddenly felt such a pang of envy for Ron and Hermione, who both had their families and never knew what it was like to be an orphan.

"Harry," said Hermione, suddenly shaking his shoulder. "Harry, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Harry told her.

"I think we should go," she said nervously. "I heard a noise outside."

Harry pulled himself away from his reflection and his family.

"I'll come back," he whispered to them, so Hermione couldn't hear. She slipped the Cloak on over their heads and back they went to Gryffindor Tower.