Mr. Malfoy, Are You Sure?

"I'm not taking one more step unless you tell me what this great solution of yours is," I demanded, crossing my arms, and stomping my foot where I was. It no longer mattered to me if I was acting childish, but we'd been walking for half an hour through Mr. Malfoy's mansion, and it seemed like we were simply retracing our steps over and over again.

He shrugged. "You don't have to take another, step then." He crouched down slightly and reached around behind me. I was about to ask what in the bloody hell he thought he was doing, when my legs were swept out from beneath me and he began carrying me bridal style through his house.

Wasn't it just yesterday that he had commented on my unhealthy eating habits, and now here he was carrying the result of that? What a confusing man.

"This is a violation of personal space," I informed him, ever so helpfully.

"I don't hear you complaining," he smirked down at me. I would have folded my arms if one of them was preoccupied clinging to his neck. I was afraid of heights. I realize that my head would actually be farther from the ground if I were walking, but my feet weren't touching the ground. I had a thing about my feet needing to touch the ground at all times.

However, Mr. Malfoy was correct. I wasn't about to complain about this.

"Are you aware of the fact that you are infuriating?" I said.

He bounced me slightly in his arms so that I nearly fell, and I ended up clinging on to him like a pathetic little girl.

"Yes, I think I am," he said.

Mr. Malfoy kept walking, and I kept sulking. "Where can we possibly be going that would take this long to walk to in your own house?"

He laughed, then. "What?" I demanded.

"You think I'm making us walk all this way because the place I'm taking you is actually this far away?" he asked.

"What other possible reason would you have for dragging me around this long?" I said.

"I do this to throw off the house elves. They like to follow me around sometimes, but there are some secrets to my home that not even they are allowed to know."

I jumped out of his arms then and nearly fell on my arse, if he didn't reach his hands out to steady me. Doing my best to ignore this, I opened my mouth to start screeching about how he could have told me this a lot sooner. He put his hand over my mouth.

"Shh, look. We're here." he whispered, pulling out his wand and flicking it at what appeared to be a blank wall at the end of the corridor.

A massive oak door appeared before us. It creaked open like doors always seem to do in horror movies. I was more than a little reluctant to go inside.

"I can't go in with you, okay? I'll be waiting right here when you're done." he said.

I turned to face him, horror written all over my face. "Why not? What are you talking about? When I'm done with what? Is somebody in there?"

Mr. Malfoy smiled, and pushed me towards the door. "Just go. You'll be fine."

Looking down at my feet I realized that I was very slowly inching forward. A tiny bit closer to the door every second, I was nervous about what was awaiting me on the other side. It couldn't be that bad, right? If Mr. Malfoy believed that I would be fine, then I would be. Nothing would hurt me in here. He seemed to think it would help me.

The door opened in front of me and I felt something pulling me in. It wasn't as if anybody was physically grabbing me and making me come in, but there was a force. Something entering my mind, convincing me to enter the room. I wanted to obey it, and so I did.

As soon as I stepped inside, the door closed behind me, and I saw nothing. Everything was dark, and I was surprised I didn't start panicking. The same invisible force that had made me want to come inside, was keeping me calm.

Something silver caught my eye. It was a big reflective rectangle. I believe those are called mirrors. It was in a very ornate, gold frame stood upon two clawed feet. As I walked down what seemed to be a corridor toward the mirror, I realized that the magnificent mirror stretched from floor to ceiling. Everything else in the room was still pitch black, but the mirror gave off a subtle glow. There were carvings at the top of the frame, just above the mirror. It appeared to be an inscription that I could make out if I strained my eyes: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.

Was that in Latin? I was not a bilingual person, aside from all of the British phrases I'd picked up from Hogwarts. I was still speaking English there however, so I doubted that counts.

When I looked in the mirror, I gasped at what I saw. It was me, looking exactly as I did before.. well, before I got the news. There was something else different about me. There was something else in the mirror . . .

It hit me like a ton of bricks. I saw myself in the mirror, looking happier than I'd ever been. The reflection I saw staring back at me, I now realized was quite a few years older. What I was holding in this picture before me seemed to be the reason for my overwhelming joy.

I knew what I had to do. Seeing myself so care-free was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. My mother and father wouldn't want me to wallow in pity for them. They would want me to continue living my life, and know that they were watching over me somewhere.

This didn't mean I was planning on turning happy-go-lucky anytime soon and forgetting their existence. Just the opposite, actually. I didn't' care what Mr. Malfoy said. I was going to get revenge. He was going to tell me everything he knew about my parents' death and I wasn't going to take no for an answer. I was seventeen-years-old, which meant I was of age in England.

After a few more minutes of staring at the delicious picture in the mirror, I tore my eyes away and began to stomp my way back to the door. When I realized everything was still pitch black, I ended up having to put my hands out in front of me and edge my way forward until I made contact with something hard. I felt around for a handle or knob, but to no avail. Getting impatient, I knocked hard on the wall, and discovered it to be hollow. I must be right in front of the door.

"Mr. Malfoy, I can't see. Can you open this?" I said.

Then, I was knocked off my feet. When I had opened the door, it had creaked open, inch by inch. This time, it had flown open with enough force to catch me off guard and land me on my backside with an "Oomph."

"Ruddy door," he mumbled, hurrying over to me in a crouch. "I'm sorry, Sid. Are you alright?"

I swatted his hand away, and popped up with a bounce, rubbing my bottom. "Fine, fine. That mirror - I'm not really sure I understand what happened."

He grinned at me, and closed the door behind us with a wave of his wand before it disappeared. "That is the Mirror of Erised. It was stationed in Hogwarts back when I was at school."

"I mean, what does it do? That was no ordinary mirror. It reflected me, but not as I am now." I had to choose my words with care. What I had seen was very personal, and I wasn't quite ready to share it with anybody else.

After a moment of what appeared to be some sort of internal struggle with Mr. Malfoy, he answered my question. "This mirror, shows us nothing less than the deepest, most desperate desires of our heart. For example, the happiest man in the world could look at it, and see himself reflected exactly as he is. Does that make any sense?"

"Wow," I said.

"How very articulate of you," he laughed. "It changes you, doesn't it? That mirror. I knew it could be good for you."

I nodded my head. " I do feel . . . different. I don't think you'll like what I'm about to demand, but it has to be done."

The expression on his face showed fear. I had a feeling he knew what was coming.

"I've come to terms with the fact that my parents are gone," I said, point blank. "There's nothing I can do to bring them back. I understand that, as much as it tears me up inside. However, I do have the power to avenge them. We live in a world where revenge is not supposed to be the answer. I don't care. I will no longer wait here in comfort while other people out there could be facing the same fate as my parents, at the same hand. I want to find that man who came to my house. I want to hunt him down, and show him the meaning of regret. I don't know how much information you have about all of this, but you need to tell me everything you know. I understand you have orders from McGonnogal to keep me in the dark, but this is bigger than my safety right now. I need answers."

Silence pervaded the corridor. I didn't hear our footsteps as we walked through the house. I didn't hear the sound of my breathing or his. None of this mattered, but the next words to escape his mouth.

We continued walking, and I pressed the subject no further. I had a feeling, this was for a purpose. Mr. Malfoy was leading me somewhere in the house that would be appropriate for this conversation.

Down a narrow staircase, through a door on the left, up a long hallway, he came to a stop in front of a green door.

"You have a right to know."

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