What If? -Drarry

Part One: Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

"Come on, Draco!"

"Ok, ok! Just stop hurrying, can't you? It's hard to walk under this cloak. What did you want to show me so badly?"

Draco and Harry came to a stop in a small room. There was no furniture, apart from a full-length mirror, which had the sort of distressed air that all old mirrors do, standing proudly in the centre of the room.

"So?" Asked Draco, confused. " It's just a mirror,"

"No, its not." Harry walked forward to stand in front of the mirror. "It's called the Mirror of Erised. When you stand in front of it, it shows you the thing you most desire. You can't see, but when I look at it, I see myself with my parents. I wanted to show you, I've already shown Ron and Hermione. Go on, stand here,"

Draco, still confused, walked to where Harry had been standing. "Harry, I don't-" Draco stopped speaking and stared into the mirror. His father stood behind him, beaming down at him. His own reflection looked up at his father, and they smiled at each other.

"What do you see?" Harry asked quietly, but Draco could only stare at his reflection. His father looked so proud, so happy. And then, Draco realised. His father was looking at him with love. It was an expression that Draco had never seen on his father's face.

It felt as though something inside of him would break.

"Draco?"

"Let's go."

"Why?"

"Let's go."

Draco held his breath as they walked back to their respective dorms, simply nodding at the perplexed Harry when he said goodnight. When he finally reached the Slytherin dorm, he got into his four-poster (being careful not to wake Manimi, who was coiled next to his pillow fast asleep), and cast a silencing charm over himself.

Then, and only then, did Draco allow the tears to flow, as the pain he had felt for years came to the surface, throbbing in his chest.

0o0o0Harry0o0o

"You did what?"

"I showed him the mirror," Harry replied calmly.

"Why? Why would you show him something so secret? And now he knows about the invisibility cloak!" Ron appeared to be in shock.

Hermione closed the book she was reading to join the conversation, which Harry recognised as a bad sign. Hermione very rarely closed her books. "Why did you do it, Harry?" She asked. "What makes you think you can trust him when he's proved himself untrustworthy several times?"

Harry ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "I don't know, Hermione. I didn't want to show anyone else in Gryffindor, but I wanted someone else to know, like getting a second opinion. He was just the first person I thought of."

"I don't trust him," Stated Ron. "I know he apologised to you, but I don't think that cancels out the other stuff he's done. The remembrall thing, for example? Setting you up to get caught by Filch?"

"He apologised, Ron. And he hasn't done anything like that since then." Harry tried to keep the defensive tone from his voice.

"Still, that doesn't mean you can show him your invisibility cloak, or the mirror. I trust Parvati, but that doesn't mean I'm going to tell her all my secrets, does it?" Hermione, as always, made annoyingly logical points. Harry took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"Look. I understand where you guys are coming from. But I did what I did and it can't be changed now. I'm sure he won't tell anyone. Let's just go to bed, please? It's getting late."