Hermione felt weird as she walked along the floor at night. Essentially invisible.

"This should be impossible," she said.

"Be quiet," Draco hissed. He was well aware of the issues Hermione was going over. Her parents were dentists and had insisted that Hermione be well educated in muggle matters.

She was able to be quiet until James tucked them into a room. "How are we able to see? If we're invisible shouldn't we be blind. My mother has a whole rant about light refraction index and how invisibility in movies is so wrong."

"You're forgetting something," Draco said.

"Oh. And what might that be?"

"Magic," Draco said. "And most 'invisibility' charms, cloaks, and such are more to distract the person looking at you and keep you hidden. Like that camouflage your dad's mentioned."

Hermione thought it over. She didn't understand. She had a basic understanding of science. And Draco was right that magic made a lot of those rules a little screwy. But she didn't understand physics well enough to make too much of an argument.

"Come on," James said. He pointed them at a mirror.

Hermione looked and saw a much older her and a much older Draco. They were standing side by side, a small bundle in her arms.

"What?" Hermione said. "I don't think we're seeing the same thing."

Draco was facing away from the mirror, his face very red. Hermione shook her head and turned her attention back to the mirror. It showed something so far away. But James mentioned parents, so he must be seeing the past.

She looked for clues. Around the top of the mirror was a strange inscription.

Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.

Hermione puzzled it over. It wasn't any language that she knew about. But she could probably figure it out.

"So, what do you two see?" James asked.

Hermione felt the blood rush to her face and was glad for her more olive toned skin. And the dark. "Possible life after Hogwarts," she admitted softly.

"Please don't ask," Draco said. "It's not exactly gentlemanly."

"Okay," James said hesitantly. He looked back. "Maybe it shows different times? But I see myself with my parents there. Myself as I am."

"Erised," Hermione muttered.

Draco turned to her. "What did you say?"

"Erised. The mirror says it on the top."

"And it's a mirror," Draco said. "What's erised backwards?"

"Desire."

They pulled James away from the mirror. He didn't fight much. Thankfully.

"What's wrong?" he asked. His mind and body didn't understand why his friends were dragging him away from what he wanted to see. More than anything.

"It's a mirror of desire," Hermione attempted to explain. "It's just showing you what it thinks you want. And since it's magic, I'd bet money it knows what you want."

"It's a trap James," Draco added. "The mirror will keep you staring at it for as long as it can. Only the most disciplined witches and wizards are able to pull away from it."

James looked between the two of them. "Then why can you two?"

Hermione looked at Draco. "When you know that real life can give you exactly what you want, you don't feel compelled to stay and look at what it could be."

"You also know that when it's real, it will be so much better," Draco added.

"What?" James asked.

"We both saw ourselves married to each other," Draco explained. "That's going to happen. So it's not so hard to walk away and let it happen."

James paused. He thought it over. He didn't think that was true, but he knew that Draco and Hermione weren't likely to mislead him. And he had to trust their movements.

"We'll look it up in the library," Hermione said. "But I don't think it's going to be good."

They headed back to bed, all under the cloak. They didn't notice the shadow watching them.

The next morning they had classes as usual. And then they bundled up. Flint didn't want them flying in snow just yet. The pitch was kept clear for most things and magic did have its uses, but he wanted them to be conditioned to the cold.

"Oh I hate this," Hermione grumbled. "Why do we have to run laps in the snow?"

"Flint said to," Draco answered. His cheeks were red and he was just as tired as Hermione.

"It will build up our ability to fly in the cold," James answered. "Then we won't need as many heating charms as the other team and will be able to fly better."

Hermione sighed and trudged along. The first lap was the hardest since the snow wasn't broken up.

"What are you doing?" Hagrid asked from his hut.

"Laps," James admitted. "Flint told us to."

"'evens," Hagrid said. "You're gonna freeze. Best come in for a cuppa tea."

The three of them looked at each other. Flint was going to blow a gasket. But Hagrid was a staff member and therefore had more authority.

Once inside Hermione felt wonderful. It was warm. Exceedingly so. She shed her coat and the two other extra layers she had on underneath for outside.

"Are you sure it should be this warm?" Draco asked. He'd also shed clothes in an attempt to keep from sweating. "I'm not exactly the most comfortable in the cold, but this is very warm."

"Just trying to keep it warm," Hagrid said hurriedly.

Something seemed off, but the three of them were just glad to be inside. They had tea and attempted the rock cakes. Those seemed more like rock than cake and they resorted to dunking it in tea to even try to take a bite.

Eventually the talk turned to school. Hermione made an offhanded remark about the third corridor.

"What's in there is business between Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel."

Hermione froze.

"Who's Nicholas Flamel?" James asked.

"I shouldn't have said that," Hagrid said. He shuffled them back outside before they had finished putting coats on.

"What was that about?" James asked. "I've never seen Hagrid like that."

"Something's off," Draco answered. "And Nicholas Flamel is an alchemist. He supposedly created a philosopher's stone."

"I thought those weren't real."

Hermione sighed. "Evidently magic makes just about anything possible. I just don't understand exactly why it's here. Wouldn't it be safer in the hands of the man who made it?"

"Hermione, he's about six hundred and something years old. He's probably not in a position to defend it from any potential thieves."

Hermione sighed. She knew Draco was right. But she still didn't like the idea of the philosopher's stone being at Hogwarts. It was too much of a risk. And there were students who could potentially be collateral damage.

"It was almost stolen the day after it was removed from Gringotts," James said. "I read it in the prophet. Someone tried to take it from the vault not knowing it was gone."

Hermione felt her anger build up. "Dumbledore," she grumbled. "Is there anyone we can talk to about this? Snape maybe?"

"Maybe." Draco turned back to the way they had been headed. "But for now, let's finish our laps."

A/N: Hope you guys enjoy. This took way longer than necessary to write. But it's done now.