https://ko-fi.com//i/IR6R41B8VY
It wasn’t too long after the losers discovered the mirror of Erised in the Room of Requirement in their 3rd year of hanging out.
Or, more precisely, Bill discovered it when he accidentaly found the room on his way to Quidditch practice. Well, not the official training with the team which ended about 3 hours ago, but more of a personal training, since he overslept that evening and it was more like a personal improvement practice.He knew Mike will be there too, the only Gryffindor guy in the team he trusted the most.
He was in a hurry so the fact that his shoes were untied and his shirt was inside out on him weren’t a problem. Not until they soon became one when he stumbled over his shoelaces and he woke up face flat on the floor.
“F-FUCK!” he swore, getting up on and starting to tie his shoes when something, let’s call it fate, made him turn his gaze to his left. He saw a door which's existence he never acknowledged before. Well, since he was already late... curiosity got the best of him, making him walk toward the mysterious door, his hand clasping the knob and turning it, slowly revealing the room where he found a… Quidditch field.
“..No… way... this is amazing…!" he whispered in wonder before another thought passed his mind. "...hope the house elves from the kitchens didn’t slip anything in my pumpkin juice.” he grumbled, mirroring the reaction that Richie will have later when it will be his turn to hear about this room.
Bill had to pinch himself, bite his knuckles, and in the end, he decided to test this room for real. The brooms were amazing, the weather conditions, the equipment. All of it was real.
And naturally, as a good friend that he was, he wanted to share this surreal room with his friends, so the next thing he did was to run so he could bring his housemates, Beverly and Mike.
When he returned with the other two, the room was still there... but instead of the Quidditch field it was replaced with a storage full of different things.
“ Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi… “ Beverly read the words around the mirror. “This is… 'I show not your face but your heart's desire.' What… what is this supposed to mean?” she came to Bill that was smiling looking into the mirror. “...Bill?”
Mike looked equally clueless like Beverly toward their friend that was stuck there, staring at the glass in front of him as if he was seeing something they couldn't.
“Hey, buddy, are you---“ Mike started, coming to put a hand on his shoulder, making the boy jolt with the realization that they were there too.
“It... It.. It’s Geo—Georgie, guys! Can't you see him? Look!” he grinned, pointing toward the mirror's reflection. “Wow…it's …amazing...” he whispered in awe.
Beverly shared a look with Mike and both of them, with a silent agreement, left their friend to watch the mirror.
“A little privacy…” Beverly murmured in a sad tone as they closed the door of the room behind them.
And how did this rumor of the famous mirror spread like gossip down the grapevine in their group? Well…after Bill showed it to Mike and Beverly, they couldn't not tell Ben and Richie too, and the other two revealed it to Stan as well. And the last person to find about it was… Eddie.
But when Stan wanted to drop this information on him, Richie cut him off with a face that was saying ‘Please, let me do it.’ Stan just rolled his eyes and went back to his Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall with a little scoff.
Richie did plan to take Eddie there, following the schedule the others had with the mirror. It was an agreement planned carefully on days when each of them was there, letting their heart speak. And if sometimes the sound of it was too loud and took over the rationality of their brain, one of them would have known and stepped in.
In that room where their hearts were singing, Bill was seeing his little brother smiling and waving to him, showing him the boat they made together and running around the narrow space the mirror offered. He would have stayed there for hours if someone wouldn’t come to pat his back and bring him back to reality.
Beverly was looking at her parents smiling proudly at her. Both of them were hugging their daughter and caressing her firey locks as they shared an unfamiliar look between them, one that Beverly has never seen... one made out of love.
Stan saw himself with his friends, laughing as they walked the road to the castle. There were birds flying all over the place, and he was laughing too… looking so happy.
Ben saw himself in the garden, but not alone. He was surprised by the sight of his redhead friend, Beverly, who found his frog pet and gave it to him. She was so beautiful and all smiles, her lips landed on his cheek, kissing it softly.
Mike saw himself Champion of the Quidditch match, but the celebration wasn’t held there in the court of the castle... it was on a stadium so big, you’d say it was a whole country there.His parents and grandfather were there too, cheering for him as he held the trophy up, surrounded by his team mates that were happily clapping and chanting his name like a hymn of victory.
Richie watched Mike leave the room as he snuck in, pulling his friend alongside him.
“What the fuck, Richie?! We totally shouldn't be ! Do you know how many points we can lose if we do things like this?” Eddie was trying to put some force and get out of the rushed way he was dragged to this ‘mysterious’ room.
But not even when they entered the room, this crazy curly-haired friend of his didn’t let go of his wrist. Only when he was forced to stay in front of a big mirror he was released.
“Shhh!!! Let me show you something cool, Eds! Look! This! What do you see?” Richie finally let go of him and stepped away.
Eddie frowned at the suspicious mirror that his annoying friend put him in front of.
“Erm… nothing?”
“Yeah, sure. You are seeing your mom, huh?” Richie chuckled, leaning against the side of the mirror's frame his eyes drawn interested on his friend’s facial expressions.
“Shut up, idiot! I am sooo NOT! What the fuck is this anyway?! Mirror of Erised? Isn’t this like a cursed object or something? Because it does sound like one. Why would they keep a cursed object in a school? Why, Richie?” the shorter boy glared at the offending object before turning to the other.
Richie frowned stepping next to him.
“Really?” ‘But you were supposed to see your heart’s desire’ Riche bit his lip at the thought in his head.
“Really what?” Eddie looked pissed at him.
“You really don’t see anything?” the taller boy looked at him then back at the mirror, then back at him again.
“I see us. What am I supposed to see Richie?” Eddie folded his arms, obviously having his nerves on edge.
Richie turned to him looking like he was having some sort of disease.
“I…I see us too …” he started in a lower voice.
“See? So it's not that magical…now let’s go, asshole. I don’t want to get caught here…” Eddie rolled his eyes and threw his hands in the air in exasperation.
“But…”
“But? Is there a 'but'? What do you see?” the little boy’s curiosity was piqued for a moment.
“We are older and… we are aurors… and you are waving your wand and making bandages around and …it's Christmas…”
“Aurors? Nooo… probably this is just your imagination. My mom would never let me become an auror.”Eddie laughed at the silliness of his friend that seemed to be captured by the images he was seeing in the mirror. “Rich? What is it? What do you see, man? Why I can’t see it too?”
Richie was indeed captured, but by his own unconfessed feelings, when he heard that voice so close to his ear wake him up from that captivating dream.
“What? I don’t know, asshat, maybe you need glasses…”he snapped out of the trance and gave his friend a half smile.
“Ha, ha, very funny.“ Eddie pulled a face looking one last time into the mirror, seeing the image of them, standing side by side. “Come on… let’s go. I don’t want to be late for dinner.”
“Yeah… sorry for this… I really don’t know why… I mean it shows what we want the most… you know?”
“Yeah, aurors? I guess for you man…”
“But you can’t see anything…”
“Maybe because I already have what I want, right? That would be the only logical explanation.” Eddie shrugged, already turning his back to the mirror, not because he was that hungry for the pumpkin pie, but because he didn’t want to risk his friend seeing the crimson color in his cheeks.
“Really? Really, Eddie? Is this all you ever wanted? A miserable life with an obsessed mother and exams over exams? Pfff... gotta say that was lame.” Richie sighed, running after him so he could catch up.
“Shut up, idiot! You better study your ass off, not everyone gets to be an auror.” Eddie punched him in his arm when he came next to him.
“Well you too, you were there after all...” Richie laughed, catching his wrist and tickling his side playfully, but the way he said it as they got out of the room was a little promise, a secret shared by them only.
“Sure, sure. I will believe it when I see it.” Eddie grinned.” Until then, I have three books of medical plants I need to finish …” and so the boy went on and on with his notes, getting his friend bored and making him playfully tackle him until they started racing each other on the way toward the dinner downstairs.
But…
But Eddie was right.
He did have what his heart wanted, that is why it was staying silent. His desire was… right next to him.
He was tall, he was annoying, he had dirty jokes even the wizards didn’t get… but he was the best he ever had.