Cracked Mirrors | Remus Lupin

𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 | 𝐃

Decisions were impossibly hard to make when the time wasn't on her side. She had only a week to make up her mind about what she wanted to do with her long-standing dream about being a writer.

And yet, each of those days were filled with the faint possibility of failure. What if she couldn't do what Remus had told her? What if she couldn't be her true self?

It was a quiet evening in the middle of spring, silently pleading her to not resist the urge for one last escape from the stone barriers of the castle.

Her decision could wait for another hour, right?

Without waiting for a moment of doubt, Y/N leapt onto her broomstick and took off flying across the sky. The air was cool and delicate against her skin, carrying the sweet scent of blooming flowers and fresh grass as it wafted through her hair. Soon her eyes spotted a hill nearby and she slowed down to land on it.

As she sat atop, she found herself in awe of the breathtaking grandeur of the scenery that unfolded before her. The sun was descending bellow the horizon, casting a warm glow across the whole land- the swaying trees, the meadows, the lake. It wasn't frozen anymore. Its surface had changed into a shimmering mirror that reflected the beauty of orange sky above.

Oh the mirrors...

"Where are we going, Remus?" She panted breathlessly, impatience bubbling insider her.

Fifteen minutes into their walk and she had already lost count of how many corridors and floors they'd left behind. As she followed his steps in tow, her mind was busy still wondering about the things he'd told her the previous night.

Finally they came to a halt by a large oak door at the end of the deserted corridor. It was the seventh floor, she presumed.

He squeezed her hand assuringly and walked her inside the room, determined to find the exact magical object he was looking for.

"Mirror of Erised. I'm sure you've heard the name before, right?"

She nodded briefly, enticed by the numerous items that were stored in the Room of Requirement. Most of the school's belonging had been destroyed and burnt during the war, but there were still too many antiques left, forgotten in history and waiting to be discovered again.

"I was a first year at the time we were introduced to it. Back then I didn't fully understand its use."

Remus hummed in agreement and eventually found the object in a corner. It was concealed beneath a loose black curtain. He pulled at the piece and it felt on the floor, revealing a large gold-framed mirror that stood tall before them. She was in awe of how magnificent it was.

"This, my dear, is a charmed mirror, designed to show you your heart's deepest desire. Upon looking at it, it will reveal what you really want at this moment. The words are literally carved around it..."

He was talking, but her nervous paulse had become louder than any other voice in her ears. She breathed deeply and took careful steps to look at her reflection, fearing that it would offer her the same shattered picture she'd seen many times. It somehow was different this time. Her eyes widened in shock and she surpreseed a gasp.

This mirror had no cracks on it.

But what Y/N saw was way more shocking.

Her reflection was smiling at her. She was standing in the middle, wearing her same glorious black and yellow robes. And instead of being alone, she was surrounded by identical versions of herself as if someone had created numerous copies of her and gathered them together in a frame, except that each one had a different way of dressing. One of them was wearing a shiny wedding dress. The other one was shivering in a soaked cardigan.