Reflections by Cherry

Rating: G
Genres: Drama, Romance
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 4
Published: 19/02/2005
Last Updated: 19/02/2005
Status: Completed

Hermione traced her fingers over the smooth surface. It was what she had wished for all her life
without realizing it... (One-Shot)




1. Mirror, mirror...
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*This fic has been in brewing for months and hopefully it shows. It suddenly came to me and it
wouldn't leave me alone, even though I had no idea what to do with it. So it has taken many
months to refine the idea to what it is now. I do hope you enjoy it as much I did when I wrote
it.*

**Reflections**

Hermione bit her lip as she sneaked through the corridors, carefully hidden under Harry's
invisibility cloak. Sometimes, like now, she wished she wasn't so curious. She could have been
sleeping by now, resting under the warm comfort from her blanket. But instead she was sneaking
around in middle of the night in the freezing castle.

Well, it wasn't really that cold… but compared to her bed, the corridors, especially down
here in the dungeons, could just as well have been located in a freezer.

She halted in front of the many doors and glanced around, just to make sure no one was around.
Hermione took a deep breath and stepped through the door, quickly closing it behind her.

She simply stood there, staring in awe for a while. For there, glistering in the dim light was
the reason for her night walk.

She had managed to catch a small glimpse of it earlier that day, as she had passed just this
room. The door had been slightly ajar, and she hadn't been able to help herself… She normally
wouldn't do such a thing; she respected others privacy. But something had made her look. It had
only been a fleeting glance before she had to continue to her next class, but it had awoken her
sleeping curiosity.

And that was why she had made her hasty decision to walk down into the dungeons in the middle of
the night.

Hermione quickly threw off the cloak she had borrowed from Harry and stepped forward, towards
the glimmering mirror. “I show not your face, but your heart's desire…” Hermione whispered with
a shiver. She wasn't freezing. She was nervous, curious… and scared.

She silently wondered what the mirror would show her: Ron had once said it would be a perfect
grade, but she didn't believe so. Perhaps it would be herself as beautiful… not that she really
cared that much about her looks, but still… Everyone wished to be beautiful. It was a part of human
vanity which everyone carried with them, even if some people were less vain than others.

Finally she stood in front of the infamous mirror and she expectantly stared in to it; willing
it to show her an image. At first nothing happened, but then her image began to change, fading into
another.

Her breath got caught in her throat as she stared mesmerized at the picture in front of her. She
stepped closer, so close her breath fogged the clear glass. She fell onto her knees before reaching
out with her hand, placing it onto the smooth surface.

Now she suddenly understood why the mirror had gotten the nickname “Mirror of Desire”. Now she
understood why so many people had wasted their lives and their sanity staring into the mirror's
cold reflection.

It had shown her the truth as she had been too blind to see it. Somehow, she had always known,
but she had forced the knowledge into the back of her mind without even acknowledging it.

Hermione traced a finger over the soothing surface. How she wished it could be true… How she
wished she could stay forever… How she wished. She closed her eyes, resting her forehead on the
cold surface of the mirror as she silently wept. “No…” she whispered before looking up again. “No.”
She scrambled up, picked up the invisibility cloak which had laid all forgotten on the floor.

She opened the door before casting a last glance onto the already fading image.

The image of herself with Harry. Happy, together and loving each other. The image she had wished
for all of her life without realizing it.

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