Jonghyun was wandering the castle by himself, his friends all seemed busy with their own affairs, even Taemin but he decided to not let the loneliness affect him too much; the quiet was pleasant and the amber glow of the lit torches along the corridor made him feel that his shadow was dutifully keeping him company. It was a few days ago when Taemin first heard him sing and he sang for his boyfriend many more times since then, Taemin proved to be a decent singer as well while sharing his embarrassing childhood stories of how he used to sing with Jinki and how his older brother would always outshine him. There was never any bitterness when Taemin spoke about his brother, "Jinki is really talented" Jonghyun smiled at the recent memory, it was always endearing to hear Taemin talk about his family; the family he knew so little about but would never pressure Taemin into speaking about them. It was a story for another time and Jonghyun would eagerly wait to hear it.

 

He was so engrossed in his own thoughts he didn't even realise that he was in a part of the castle he wasn't familiar with. Jonghyun looked behind him and even searched for fellow students but he was utterly alone; it was more than a little unnerving. He started to backtrack and stepped onto the stone staircase just as it began to move, as a reflex Jonghyun yelped and quickly returned to the stable floor of the mysterious corridor.

 

He knew there wasn't much to be afraid of at Hogwarts every since the war ended many decades ago, Jonghyun was the most comfortable in the dark but that didn't stop the instinctive paranoia as he inched further and further down the corridor. All the portraits he passed by were either dozing off or were simply ignoring his presence; all except for the portrait of a young veela girl that caught his eye for she reminded him of Taemin. she jumped up from her own scene and began to skip from frame to frame, dancing along each painting, ignoring the complaints of the elderly paintings of past wizards and witches, all while motioning with her hand for Jonghyun to follow and follow he did. He was no longer afraid and he was soon mesmerised as her long, detailed hair flowed behind her, disappearing from time to time because of the spacing between the portraits. She halted and Jonghyun did the same, she pointed directly at Jonghyun with a mischievous grin on her face.

 

"Me?" Jonghyun asked but she didn't reply and simply continued to point, Jonghyun slowly turned and saw what the girl led him to, a door. He thanked her and prayed that the portrait hadn't led him into danger. He glanced into a completely dark room so he pulled out his wand and casted an illumination charm, he squinted and made out what seemed to be curtains covering windows from the other side of the room. He swiftly made his way towards it only to clumsily knock into a unused desk but he continued on while carefully manoeuvring around any possible obstacles. When he finally came to the other end of the room he felt the curtain and with one strong tug, a series of windows were revealed. Jonghyun found no need for the charm anymore as the room was lit by the moonlight. 

 

It looked like an abandoned classroom for no subject in particular, complete with empty desks and bookshelves, an object covered by a similar dark curtain. He tugged the curtain as he did with the curtain upon the window and was surprised by the sight of his own reflection. It was a mirror but no ordinary mirror and it was Jonghyun's reflection but slightly different; his eyes were reverted to their natural mismatched colours and there were no dark bags under them, his cheeks seemed fuller and he even reached to touch them only to be met with the strong cheekbone of his faintly skeletal face, his lips were less chapped and his skin was much darker. He looked the same only healthier. 

 

His eyes trailed to the frame of the mirror where the words "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi" were engraved. Everything became clear then, this mirror was the famous mirror of erised, a mirror that is said to drive many wizards and witches mad for it showed what their heart truely desired, it invoked sadness in those with unattainable desires but pushed others to work harder to acquire what they wanted, it was a mirror Jonghyun had only ever read about. It seemed Jonghyun had discovered more about the castle in the past few months than he had in the past five years. His eyes trailed down to his reflection once more but jumped at the sight of a figure next to him. It was Taemin. But it was simply a reflection of the Taemin that wasn't there. 

 

 

 

 

At that moment the headmaster's eyes grew dark and stared at the mirror in discontent "But you must know this is simply a vision of what the heart so desperately desires, it is not wise for the young to find this. Many have spent their lives wasting away in front of the mirror, forgetting how to live or forgetting that it is not real and may never become real if they so desperately depend on the illusion. I assume what you see is real and I suggest you go seek it and not be driven mad by this as so many have before you. Not everyone is as lucky to be living in their own dreams, some even destroy themselves to try and achieve what you have" 

Jonghyun nodded and politely excused himself only looking back once to see his headmaster staring solemnly into his own reflection. 

 

Jonghyun rushed down the now stable flight of stairs and set of to find the real thing. 

He asked every person in a green and silver uniform where Taemin was and he was finally led to the library, which he needed no directions to. He found Taemin clad in his quidditch uniform along with a matching Sehun and Kai. Taemin didn't say a word as he stood and embraced Jonghyun.

 

"What's wrong?" He asked but Jonghyun only shook his head and he held Taemin tighter making sure he wasn't just a reflection.