the secret of Erised {s.b.}

chapter 24: round two

Two weeks.

That's the time Esmeralda needed to reconnect with her body and mind. At Hogwarts, things had been happeningtoo fast and she had no idea what was happening half of the time. That was one of the reasons she didn't want Sirius to spend Christmas with her, she needed time for herself. Time that she hadn't had while inside the Mirror. It was different to be alone inside the Mirror and alone outside the Mirror. Esmeralda enjoyed having company, but sometimes being by herself helped her think things with more clarity.

It had been ten years since she had been inside her room and nothing had changed. Her walls were still decorated with Quidditch posters and pictures that she had from her favourite muggle band. She had no idea if they were still popular, but in 1966 The Rolling Stones were really famous amongst the young English teens. There was so much that had changed in the time she had been trapped inside the Mirror. She really needed the time to get used to it and handle it by herself. The only company she had when she decided to go into her room and think was Obsidiana, who McGonagall had given back as soon as Madame Pomfrey had said Esmeralda could be around animals.

The day before Christmas, Perla and Esmeralda went to Diagon Alley and London to get Esmeralda's school supplies and Christmas gifts. While Perla went to Flourish and Blotts for the necessary textbooks, Esmeralda walked around Diagon Alley in search for her Christmas gifts. Perla told her that having her with her after ten years was the best Christmas present anyone could've given her, so she prohibited her from getting her anything. Still, she wanted to get her aunt a small gift like a chocolate frog just to thank her for everything.

She wanted to send Sirius something for Christmas, but she had no idea what to get him. They had known each other for years and she had never thought about what to give him for Christmas. What if she got him something that the absolutely despised and never talked to her again ? A bunch of questions were going through her head when she spotted a stall vendor in the middle of the main street of Diagon Alley.

The little stall had a bunch of crystals and mirrors displayed in it as well as herbs and incense. Esmeralda walked towards it and her eye was instantly caught by a pair of identical mirrors sitting at the back of the display.

"Can I help you with anything, dear ?" the small witch who attended the stall asked Esmeralda.

"Yes," she replied politely, "Could you tell me what those mirrors in the back are ?"

She pointed at the pair of Mirrors and smiled at the old witch, she smiled back.

"Yes, dear," she said, "They're something extremely rare called Two-Way Mirrors, those are the only I know exist in Britain."

"Excuse my ignorance," she started, "I am not familiar with what TwoWay Mirrors do."

The old witch let out a laugh.

"You don't have to worry about that. Most people in our world don't even know about their existence," she said, "They are a way to communicate with another person. Say you own one of the mirrors and I the other, all I would have to do in order to talk to you would be to say your name in front of my mirror and you'll know that I want to talk to you. What is great about them is that you can actually hear and see the other owner once they have their mirror, too."

Esmeralda's heart fluttered with excitement. There was no other thing that she could give to Sirius. She had to admit that she missed constantly talking to him and sometimes when she was alone wanted nothing more than to speak to him, but letters sometimes took too long and she still wasn't used to writing again. These mirrors were the perfect 'thank you' gift she could give him and it was also a reminder on how they met and the start of their friendship.