Running From Lightning

The next day I sat waiting for Hermione in the Library after classes. She trotted in, clearly upset. I think I might've raised my eyebrow because she started to explain why she was so frazzled.
"Snape hasn't changed a bit from last year," she mumbled, sitting down next to me. "Harry slips up a tiny bit in a potion and he just throws it away."
"Double Potions?" I asked. She nodded numbly in reply. There was a pause for a moment. "So, this thing I'm supposed to help you out with..."
"Yeah... the mirror of Erised has-"
"The mirror of Erised?" Hermione gasped in surprise. The librarian (who had been walking nearby) hissed and gave Hermione an evil look. "I thought Dumbledore got that mirror far away from the school...?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Yeah, he thought so too. I guess it somehow wound up back here at school. Albus found it in the restricted section of the library-"
"What was he doing in the restricted section?" Hermione cut me off again. I was taken aback. I hadn't thought to ask. I looked over at Hermione and she gave me a weak smile.
"Sorry... ever since the end of the summer, Harry has been really suspicious of Dumbledore... I guess the suspicion wore off on to me a bit, too."
"Why would he be suspicious of..." I trailed off, my mind snapping to the memory of Albus storming past me over the summer at the house. The look in his eye was almost murderous. His wand- which he was clutching very tightly in his left hand- was sending off red sparks, which were getting ever more violent as he stormed into the room that he forbade me to go in-- his private office. As the door had slammed shut, I pressed the side of my head to the door.
"Albus?" I yelled, knocking slightly on the door. "Albus, what's wrong?"
There wasn't an answer at first, just an eerie sort of silence. Then, after what felt like an hour, he replied.
"Ariana," he said softly. "Stay here."
And then there was a crack and he was gone.
I suppose I was a little suspicious of him, too.
"Yes?" Hermione asked.
"Never mind," I whispered, keeping my eye on the librarian lurking nearby. "Right now we need to do what we're told. I still trust Albus. This is important. We need to get rid of that mirror."
Hermione nodded.
We pretended to be reading books while we waited for the librarian to clear off, and then we quickly snuck over to the restricted section. As we slipped in, I instantly felt the air grow tight around me. I could hear moaning off in the distance. A shiver tickled up my spine.
"Okay, now we just need to locate the mirror..." I murmured.
"That shouldn't be hard. After Harry had told me he had a run-in with the mirror first year, I did a lot of research on it. We should start to feel something when we get closer..."
I didn't ask about Harry's encounter with the mirror. I was pretty sure I knew what he'd seen. I had looked into the mirror once before, as well. And just like Harry, I saw the smiling faces of the two people I missed. The two people I wanted back. The two people I felt like I had never really had. The only different between Harry's and my own experience was the fact that he had faces to put to each thought of his parents. I knew nothing at all about my own. I kept all of this to myself as well.
We wandered around the restricted section for less than a minute until we finally felt it. The feeling of something wonderful and sad. As we wandered down a hall, the feeling grew even more and more intense. Finally, there was a soft glimmer only a few feet away from us in the dark.
"Lumos," Hermione murmured.
The mirror stood in front of us eloquently. We stared at it for a moment, and then I nudged Hermione.
"Go on," I said "take a look."
Hermione reluctantly shuffled directly in front of the mirror.
"What do you see?"
"U-uh... It's me... leading S.P.E.W victoriously..." I knew she was lying. She was blushing. "You're turn," she quickly recovered, shoving me into her place.
I saw what I had seen the first time I had looked. My imageless parents standing by my side. But there was something strange in the distance. A person. A person smiling and laughing. Something I noticed in particular was the hair...
I quickly turned away.
"What? What did you see?"
"My parents," I said. "Now, let's move this thing."
"Where to?"
"In front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy,"
"The room of requirement." we both said in unison. We smiled at each other.
"Wingagium Leviosa," I said, my wand swishing and then giving off a final flick towards the mirror. The mirror immediately began to float above the ground. Hermione and I moved quickly through the school after we managed to sneak past the librarian again. The seventh floor was completely empty, and we easily made it to the tapestry.
"We should just leave it here. That's what Albus told me to do."
"Alright..."
I slowly lowered the mirror down. Not ten seconds after I had set the mirror down, the ground gave a small shake. I spun around and the door appeared again. The door swung open and the hall filled with a musty smoke.
"Blimey! I think we charmed it too much, George!"
"You don't say?" the other twin replied, coughing slightly because of the smoke.

I felt like they were following me.