Heart Themed Canvas [UsUk]

I Show Not Your Face

"Come on, Artie! Hurry up!"

"I'm going as fast as I can, you git! Slow down!"

Crimson and Blue robes flowed down the halls, over the stairs and through archways, dodging other students, and ducking around corners. Alfred held tight into Arthur's hand, practically dragging him around the halls of Hogwarts, the young Gryffindor on a mission with the young Ravenclaw unwillingly along for the ride.

"Would you at least tell me where it is you're taking me?" Arthur demanded, tripping over his feet for the umpteenth time.

Alfred just smiled that cheeky smile of his over his shoulder. "You'll see soon enough, we're almost there!"

Sure enough after a few more rooms and a rather terrifying ride on a staircase, the two first years reached a dark hallway with a slightly ajar door on the very end. Arthur crinkled his nose in distaste as Alfred started off down the hall, scrutinizing the layer of dust that covered just about everything.

"I don't think we're supposed to be here, Alfred," he mumbled, following cautiously after him.

"Aw, come on, dude," Alfred scoffed. "Where is your sense of adventure?"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Probably wandering about the Gryffindor common room, where it belongs. I'm a Ravenclaw, Alfred. We tend to think logically about things before we dive headfirst into them."

Alfred waved him off, before slipping into the room at the end of the hallway and beckoning him in as well. "You'll thank me for this later, I promise," he replied, finally pulling Arthur and his calculating glare in behind him.

It took Arthur's eyes a few moments to adjust to the dim lighting, but when they did, they immediately found themselves trained to a large structure on the back wall of the seemingly otherwise unused room. It was a tall mirror, with an old, gold frame and an inscription on top that Arthur was too far away to read.

He didn't need to get close to know exactly what it was, however, and thus he found himself trained to the spot, staring at it with mouth agape.

"Alfred, do you know what this is?" he asked finally when his voice finally started working again.

Alfred shook his head, but continued staring at it excitedly. "No, but I know what it does! Arthur, this thing can show you the future! Look!"

And he pulled Arthur over to stand next to him in front of the mirror.

"See? I'm the Griffindor seeker!" he exclaimed, his eyes shining at his reflection. "We just beat Sytherin for the championship, and look! You're even cheering me on! Thanks dude!"

But Arthur didn't see any of that. Arthur saw himself opening a letter and finding out he was a Ravenclaw prefect, something none of his brothers ever managed to achieve. His parents and peers were congratulating him, telling him how he was one of the best prefects Hogwarts had ever seen, everyone seemed to like him, wanting to be his friend, sit with him at lunch...

He cleared his throat harshly, snapping out of his trance to realize Alfred was still going on about being a quidditch star. "Shut up, would you? This thing doesn't show you the future."

Alfred instantly deflated. "It doesn't?"

Arthur shook his head, stepping forward and standing up on his tip toes to read the inscription etched into the frame. "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi," he expertly read. "I show not your face but your heart's desire. The Mirror of Erised... I've only read about it, I didn't think it actually existed."

"I show not your face, but your heart's desire?" Alfred asked, stepping up to the mirror as if to examine what it was showing him a bit more closely. "So this thing isn't showing me the future? Just what I want to be the future?"