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Severus was doing his sweep of the castle. It was his night on watch for rulebreakers. Children who knew not of the creatures that lurked in the night. They were simply lucky that the fool Hagrid had been forced to live by the accursed forest he loved so much and that no other student had been as enterprising as him.
He was going by an empty room, one that Dumbledore liked to hide his ‘secret projects’ and do his general plotting for fun, when he heard a noise. It sounded like a sigh. A wet sigh, like someone had been crying.
Naturally, Severus had to investigate. If Dumbledore was up to anything like his general tomfoolery, a student messing with it was a poor idea. He couldn’t allow it no matter how in the dark he was on what Dumbledore was planning at the moment.
He walked into the room to find-
A mirror. Severus recognised the mirror from books and vaguely remembered Dumbledore mentioning it once. The Mirror of Erised. An item that drove men mad with need, the want of the fantasy shown overwhelming their sense.
His gaze traveled around the room. It seemed to be empty. No students in sight, sound, or any of his other senses. He could leave now.
…he was a fool. His own desire to see Lily again was like a song luring to the mirror. It wouldn’t hurt to see her one last time. See her in her full self without the self-hate tainting the memories.
His body was on automatic. Severus couldn’t have resisted even if he’d wanted to.
He was almost to the mirror when there was a gasp and a desperate shuffling against the ground. That instantly sparked the thought of a student hiding with some half-cocked invisibility potion or some such not knowing the consequences.
“Nolite invisibilitatem!” The burst enveloped the room. Watching closely, he saw absolutely nothing. There was no invisibility to find.
Except there it was. A loud sigh, Severus imagining whatever child it was wiping their forehead in relief. Clearly this child had never played with invisibility before. It was pointless if one wasn’t quiet.
Another approach was needed. He muttered one of his personal spells and raised the tip of his wand into the air. Severus let his magic wash over the room. It coated everything in a film before melting away upon contact with stone.
Severus rolled his eyes as a thick coating stayed floating a short ways away from the mirror. He immediately went over and ripped the invisibility cloak off.
When he saw who it was, his eyes narrowed in disgust. He snarled, “Potter.” The boy scrambled to his feet. Every movement was ripe with disobedience. Not giving him an opportunity to speak whatever lies he’d come up with, Severus said evenly, “Being out past curfew is rather in-character for someone as yourself.”
The defiance on his face made his words unnecessary. Still, he snapped, “I needed to come here.” It only took a second for Severus to realise what he meant. It was likely the little brat was seeing himself king of the quidditch field or some other selfish nonsense. That was why he was alone without his tagalong lackeys. Potter said more quietly, “I wanted to see them again.”
That piqued Severus’ interest. Them. His family? The sniveling disgraces of the Dursley’s? He immediately shook the idea off. Dumbledore had been clear that Harry would need to be forced to stay with them for his own good. Who else could it be?
Severus’ heart twinged at an idea. He muttered, half-distracted by his thoughts, “Your mum…”
Potter was obviously surprised. He exclaimed, “Yes!” Then his jaw locked tight, not meaning to let that much loose. It was awkwardly quiet for a good minute. Potter’s attention went back to the mirror. Almost not speaking at all, he asked, looking up at Severus, “What’s it like having a mum and pa?”
The look in his eyes… Damn his eyes. Lily’s gaze was pained. He hated seeing that expression in her eyes. No matter how much he told himself this was James Potter’s spawn, one glance past his father’s features left Severus’ heart aching.
He wanted it to go away. Severus knew better than to answer the question based on his own experience. Thus he said, “From what I understand, it’s cosy and loving.”
Potter watched him for a moment. Then he said, “You too?”
Severus found that he’d walked closer. The mirror was in full view. In the reflection he saw Lily. Lily leaning against him, head on his shoulder. Her brow was scrunched in concern. This was a reflection of his heart. His want. The expression was something that he thought she’d have. And he knew why.
His gaze shot back to Potter. He was still carefully watching Severus. Legilimency was easy to use on such an open child. Severus took a quick look. He almost reared back in surprise; the boy was picturing what it would be like to have a family. His father kicking a football with him, leaves falling all around them. Lily came up behind him and hugged him. Her form was slightly off. Her hair wasn’t the brilliant red it had been in life.
Severus found he was struggling not to correct Potter’s imagination. As badly as he wanted Lily to be properly imagined as the beautiful, wonderful person she was, it would ruin too many things to do so. Still, there had to be something he could do to wipe that sad expression from her eyes.
There was only one thing he could think of. Even that might jeopardize everything but Severus found himself incapable of leaving it alone. Thus he ducked down and gave Potter a hug.
It had been a while since he’d hugged or been hugged. It was a strange experience. Potter tentatively hugged back. It was all-around an awkward experience. Severus was doing his best to comfort him without doing much else.
He looked at the mirror to find that Lily had gone to the other side of Potter and was hugging him as the apparition of imagination she was. Her expression had softened. It was grateful. This is what she had needed Severus to do.
When she released Potter, he did too. Then he grabbed the boy by the arm and pulled him up.
“Detention, Potter, for being out past curfew, and 10 points from Griffindor for fooling around with an artefact you don’t understand.” Severus pulled him along, letting the mirror fade into the back of his mind and the image of Lily’s smile burned into his memory.