Oliver
I glance at my watch. It's 11:59. Where could she be? I wonder. I sigh. She must have gotten caught and sent back to her dorms. I hope that she didn't get in too much trouble. I'll never forgive myself if she did. It was at my request that she meet me here.
I start the long climb back to the Gryffindor common room when I stop suddenly. Mrs. Norris is staring at me from the next landing, blocking my path to Gryffindor Tower. Her tail is swishing, and she regards me with a cold stare. I take one step down, ever so slightly, but that slight movement makes Mrs. Norris mewl and run off to find Filch. I curse, turning to my right to find an open door that won't make too much noise as I open it. There's one immediately to my right. It's cracked open just enough I can slide in without moving the door. As I sneak in, I gently close the door just a smidge more, trying to prevent anyone from seeing me in here. Filch and Mrs. Norris run by and I hear Filch curse.
"Students out of bed are very naughty, my sweet. We'll catch them, though," Filch says, cackling and I groan. Filch stands guard at the entrance to the hallway, and I sigh. I won't be leaving this room for a bit. I turn around, looking for any other door to leave the room and am surprised to see a tall mirror in the middle of the room, along with someone lying in front of it.
I move closer and am surprised to see that it's Rose. I chuckle. Filch must have scared her here, too. It's lucky that she's safe and not caught. She's asleep, snoring slightly. She conjured herself a pillow, but no blanket, and she shivers slightly in her sleep. I smile, and with a wave of my wand, I conjure a blanket, then walk over towards her and pick her up gently, cradling her head against my shoulder with the blanket draped over her. When I glance in the mirror in front of us, I nearly drop Rose. Our reflection is not what I expected.
In our reflection, Rose is standing next to me with a smile on her face, a ring on her left hand, and her right hand over… a baby bump?
"What the heck?" I whisper. Rose moans and turns her head into me a little more, drawing my eyes away from the reflection. I stare at the sleeping girl in my arms, then back at our reflection. We're both a little older, but still us.
Whatever magic lies in this mirror, I love it. I gently kiss the top of Rose's head as I hear Filch walk off outside. Rose shivers in my arms again and I pull her closer, then walk over to the door. Filch is no longer in the hallway. I open the door slightly, checking both directions and see Filch is nowhere to be found. I sigh a breath of relief, then start carrying Rose down to the Slytherin Common room.
When we get there, I mutter the password Rose stated a few months ago, hoping it hasn't changed, but the door doesn't open so I nudge Rose awake.
"Rose? What's the password to your common room?" I ask, and Rose moans.
"What? It's…" she yawns. "Asphodel," she murmurs, then promptly falls back asleep and snoring softly. I chuckle, and am about to repeat the password when the door opens.
I smile, then enter the common room, and for the second time that night, nearly drop Rose in shock. For some reason, I did not expect the Slytherin common room to be so… nice. Or cozy.
Just like in Gryffindor, there are plush armchairs upholstered in emerald green crushed velvet with silver throw pillows around the fires, which are somehow burning green. There are black leather couches in the middle of the common room surrounding coffee tables that look like they're made of pure silver. In the back of the common room, there's a massive window looking into the black lake. It's dark right now because it's the middle of the night but I imagine that when the sun is shining into the lake, it's bright and beautiful and airy. There are beautiful silver lamps scattered around the common room, turned down to dim for now. I let my eyes completely adjust to the dim lighting and then nudge Rose again.
"Rose, which way to your dormitory?" I ask, and Rose lifts an arm and points to my left. She mumbles in her sleep, and I chuckle, resisting the urge to kiss her again. When I do, I want her to be awake. I tear my eyes away from the common room and focus on getting Rose up the stairs. While the Gryffindor common room stairs would have turned into a slide by now, the Slytherin common room doesn't do that. I find her dormitory and gasp. The Slytherin common room just keeps surprising me.
Rose's bed is covered in a comforter that I assume she brought from home. It has different strips of fabric sewed in random patterns all over. There's music notes, various muggle logos, and purple and blue stripes. It screams Rose.
I set Rose gently on her bed, then slowly drag my finger down her face to wake her. She barely stirs, so I slowly take off her slippers and socks, then tuck her into bed and kiss her forehead one last time. "Rose, I brought you back to your dorm. I hope you sleep well, beautiful. We can do what I was planning to tonight, tomorrow."
I slowly back away from Rose as she turns to her side and curls into a ball under her blankets, sighing deeply in her sleep. I smirk, then turn around and quietly make my way to Gryffindor Tower.