HP- The Mirror of Erised

                                                            The Mirror of Erised
Lynnette Carter

Lynnette Carter felt her breath catch in her throat again as she bounded down the halls. The echoing laughs of the other students still rang ruthlessly in her ears, pounding unceasingly against her brain, as if constantly taunting her.
"Jackson, you're gonna pay for that," Lynn muttered to herself as she dashed further down the halls, not even sure where she was going anymore. She had been stupid enough to pick a fight with some Slytherins, and it ended quit badly on her part, because it was four to one.
As Lynn finally began to slow down, and she finally began to feel as though it was over for now, she abruptly felt her stomach drop a mile as she saw someone walk into the hall directly in front of her. Professor Talon, the very much detested Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher,  a skulking wizard who once resided in the Slytherin house, was coming down the hall right in Lynn's direction.
"Oh blast," Lynn said in an undertone, her stomach tightening to knots, fearing the worst. Being a Gryffindor, this was surely not going to go down well, considering that fact that Lynn was still sporting the wounds from the duel with the Slytherins, particularly Bellatrix Black. Lynn glanced feverishly around for any kind of escape, anything from the view of the Slytherin teacher. And to her great surprise, and immense relief, Lynn saw a door to the right of her, only a few paces away. Lynn barely registered the fact that it wasn't there a few seconds ago, but in an instant, Lynn was inside the room, gently closing the door and the hatch behind her. Very slowly, praying that Talon wouldn't try and walk into the same room, Lynn sank down to the floor, trying to regulate her breathing. Her nose was still throbbing painfully from the nasty hex that Bellatrix threw at Lynn. Bellatrix really hated Lynn, with quite a disturbing passion, and the only reason she dueled with Lynn was because 1) Lynn happened to be best friends with Bellatrix's cousin, Sirius Black, who was in Gryffindor, and 2) because one of the more popular Slytherins, Garret Jackson, had somewhat of what someone might call a crush on Lynn, even though only a handful of people knew. Bellatrix hated Lynn for that, and tried to keep Jackson away from Lynn (who gladly obliged) and Bellatrix tried her hardest to keep Jackson's feelings as squashed as possible. And that was because Bellatrix didn't want to possibly think that he could like a Gryffindor. Though, in actuality, Lynn's case was a bit more complicated, considering the fact that she was transferred to Hogwarts from the Beauxbaton Academy of Magic in her sixth year. But, Bellatrix hates everyone else, so it's not that big of a deal, Lynn thought absentmindedly to herself.
After she was quite sure that Professor Talon had passed her hiding place, Lynn slowly stood up, her breathing finally regulated. But, as she was just about to leave, something in the back of the room caught her eye. The old room she was in was obviously abandoned and hadn't been used in quite some time, considering the layers of dust over the floor (which was now clinging to Lynn like burrs). But in the back corner of the room stood a tall object that was covered with a thin white cloth. It looked to be about eight feet tall, and maybe three or four feet wide, and it was fairly thin looking. Curiosity getting the better of her, Lynn walked over to the other side of the room where the tall mysterious object stood. Are you sure you should be doing this? A small voice asked in the back of her mind. It won't hurt anything, Lynn replied to herself, and then without even thinking it over, Lynn reached out and took a hold of the corner of the cloth. She quickly tugged on it, and watched it slide off. When the cloth was on the floor, Lynn gasped. There stood a tall, magnificent mirror. It was made of a beautiful dark wood, and odd words were engraved across the curved top. Lynn gaped at it, marveling at its beauty. Slowly, Lynn moved to the side slightly so she could see her reflection. In the reflection she saw her long dark hair, and bright green eyes. Her almost perfect features were, though, tarnished by her usually slim nose, which was a bright red colour, and slightly swollen. Lynn groaned when she saw it. Then Lynn moved directly in front of the mirror to assess the rest of the damage from the livid duel. When Lynn finally saw her entire reflection, she let out a loud gasp again. There, in the reflection, a woman was standing next to Lynn. She had long dark hair and brilliant green eyes. Lynn automatically whipped around, and she saw nothing. Bewildered, Lynn turned back to the mirror, disbelieving. Is it a ghost? she asked herself. She stared incredulously at the smiling woman. Then she looked at her own reflection. She noticed, though she was completely humbled by her own appearance all the time, she was stunning. But then, something wasn't right about the refection. My hair isn't that light… she thought, watching the reflections, who only smiled at Lynn. And my eyes… I'm pretty sure they're greener than that… Lynn marveled at the reflection, noticing the same shaped nose, and the curve of the eyebrows. But then she looked over at the woman. She was young, maybe early thirties. She had long dark hair, and vivid green eyes, very similar to Lynn's. Very similar. And the same nose and the same curved eyebrows… Abruptly, Lynn clapped a hand to her mouth in sudden shock and comprehension.
"T-that's m-me!?" she cried, her voice stifled. The reflection only smiled, offering no solace to Lynn's shock.
"Then who's…?" she asked, letting go of her mouth, her voice sounding odd in the empty room. Lynn looked at the other girl whom she had, at first, assumed to be herself. Lynn watched as the woman reached up and placed an arm around the teenage girl's shoulder. And then, it dawned on Lynn. It wasn't a huge shock, or a jolt of realization. It was simply a whimsical thought.
"That's… that's… my daughter…" she said quietly, her voice beginning to fail her. She was staring at her future self, and her future daughter. She was seeing her future.

Or was she?