Meddling With Potions

A Christmas Worth Waiting For

Disclaimer: I only own Aurora and any other OC's. Remember, I will occasionally use quotes from both the books or movie, depending on the scene; I do not own direct quotes or phrases. UPDATE: I do not own any of the chapter pictures. All were found via Google. 

~ oOo ~

Severus Snape was not one to linger on a particular thought or notion if it was not a direct threat to himself or those at the school, but when it came to an individual named Aurora-Nyx, the wizards mind would not stop wandering as it unceasingly switched from one thought to the next. In the weeks since Cassandra had passed, Severus found that he and Aurora were nigh inseparable; they ate breakfast and dinner together, met after dinner every night, and spent the weekend together when they weren't bombarded with grading papers. With the knowledge she'd obtained in Potions, Severus had asked Aurora to assist him in grading essays at the end of term when the stack was too much to handle alone.

Though they were around each other for a majority of the week, Severus still noticed Aurora was struggling with her mother's death. He observed how she eventually became her normal self around the beginning of December, but still lacked her lively character the wizard loved about the woman. He would occasionally find her staring off into space in her quarters, or the fireplace in his; when questioned upon the matter, Aurora admitted she was feeling stronger with every new day, but still felt off and couldn't explain why. But as the Holiday Break grew closer, Aurora continued to relay the same answer whenever she was asked by her friend, but Severus knew that it was just an excuse.

She was hiding something, he knew, but didn't want to press the issue. She was still in mourning and needed this time for herself.

What Severus wasn't aware of was Aurora had left her personal chambers during the middle of the night the first week she was back at Hogwarts. Using an Illusion Charm, because, sadly, she didn't have an Invisibility Cloak, Aurora walked within the castle for several hours. Aurora wove in and out of corridors, scanned numerous books while in the library – even sneaking into the Restricted Section for "shits and giggles" – before wandering down a familiar corridor and magically unlocking a specific door she had discovered whilst still a student herself. As the old door creaked open, Aurora shut it quietly behind her before her vision stared off into the desolate classroom, a place that had been vacant for some time. And in the far corner, stood the testament to her late-night stroll.

The Mirror of Erised.

With a small smile appearing upon her lips, Aurora guided her hand over the carvings on the side of the mirror, noticing that it had, obviously, collected large volumes of dust since she had last seen the mirror. Sitting on the floor, and pulling her legs against her chest, the witch stared into the clouded reflection of the mirror. She knew what would happen, she anticipated the reaction of the mirror with what she held within her heart.

Sitting their reminded Aurora how she first found the mirror. During her Sixth Year when her step-father passed away, she couldn't sleep after his funeral and wandered around the classroom, wanting to be caught out of bed in hopes to relieve the pain she felt from her loss. Upon her discovery, she found the mirror and quickly discovered its ability. She was never caught, and used the mirror as a way to grieve for she saw her step-father in the glass peering at her every night she was there. Her hopes were to see him alive and healthy.

Now, nearly eleven years later as a professor, Aurora found herself seeking the same mirror to grieve for her mother; she never thought she would need the Mirror of Erised to see her mother once more. As she gripped her knees tighter, the vision before her swirled and greyed in color before the shapes of her step-father and mother appeared. Both were smiling happily, and, Aurora admitted, that she hadn't see her mother that happy since her husband's death. Aurora knew Cassandra loved her daughter deeply, but there was something special about two individuals loving each other romantically that cut deeper if one were to pass on. She knew her mother was in a better place, a happy place, but the witch still hoped her mother was by her side.