ALWAYS & FOREVERMORE | harmione

𝐱𝐯𝐢𝐢. 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬

𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐰𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧

"Where is everyone?" Harry asked; his hand instinctively wrapped around Hermione's, caressing her skin with his slightly calloused fingers.

"The Ministry closed around a half-hour ago—" Ginny started, her voice echoing throughout the vast, and entirely empty hallway; "—I suspect they all went home."

Harry nodded grimly in response, opening his mouth to faintly reply. "That's how Voldemort got in unnoticed."

The curly-headed girl could almost hear the bitterness laced within his tone of voice. She affectionately fondled his hand within her own as they continued walking, followed by the others.

"This is it—" Harry muttered, entering the hallway that he recognized from his dream.

The others followed him into the dark hall, stopping as they reached a sealed door. There wasn't a single trace of light peeping out from underneath the doorway, trying its hardest to escape.

The green-eyed boy shakily exhaled, grabbing the door-handle with his clammy hand. To Harry's uttermost surprise, the door opened with no trouble.

Turning back, he shared a knowing look with the others; the look acting as a warning to them all. Hermione stepped into the room first, her grip on Harry's hand forcing him to follow in pursuit. She swiftly motioned for Neville, Luna, Ron, and Ginny to do the same.

The room ahead brought relief. It was almost like they were expecting to come face-to-face with Voldemort himself.

Luna gulped, her eyes tracing over every door that aligned the outsides of the circular room. Each door was a twin of the one adjacent to it. In addition to the doors, there were a myriad of candles, each stacked and ignited with a blue flame.

"Now where?" Ginny asked, a befuddled expression resting on her features.

Harry shook off her question, abruptly looking around the room; he too, was confused. "I don't understand. In my dream, the doors weren't identical."

"Well, let's try a few..." Hermione suggested; Harry nodded in response.

"I'll know the way when I see it—" He murmured under his breath, approaching the first door and opening it.

Sighing, he turned the knob, swallowing as he pulled the door open, and stepped inside. The room itself was strange, and just being there gave Harry a chilling feeling. There were multiple sets of stairs, each trailing down to the lowest level of the room. In the center, a dark, grey veil, fluttering as if there were a breeze. Soft whispers floated throughout the room.

"Who's there?" Harry called out, leading the others down the stairs and towards the veil.

He stopped, staring directly at the veil; there was something odd about it. The whispering intensified.

"Sirius—?" The boy hollered, his voice coming out louder than it was previously.

"There's no one here, Harry. This isn't the right room." Hermione whispered, shuddering as she felt a sharp breeze hit the back of her neck.

"Does anyone else hear that?" Harry questioned, turning to look at the others.

"I do—" Luna mumbled, "—it's coming from the veil."

Their gazes fell onto the veil once more, watching as it flapped menacingly through the wind. Harry slowly stepped closer, although his consciousness warned him not to. This wasn't good, they needed to leave. However, this feeling of dread seemed to only be temporary.

"Harry—" Hermione hissed, reaching out for his hand; she missed.

His eyes remained fastened to the veil, almost like he was hypnotized by it.

"There are people in there!" Luna exclaimed, her face scrunching up as she looked away.

"What do you mean, people?" Ron asked, gasping.

"Harry, I think we should leave." The curly-headed girl said; she was growing more and more worried by the minute.

Hermione grabbed Harry's arm, pulling him back. He yanked away from her, his eyes glued ahead of him as he steadily reached out towards the veil. The whispers turned into harsh moans. Chills danced down their spines. This veil was harmful, and it seemed like everyone knew that, besides Harry.

"Harry!" Hermione cried out, grabbing his hand once more. "We're here for Sirius, remember?"

Harry blinked; it was almost like he was recovering from his daze. The raven-haired boy tightened his grip on the brunette's hand because truthfully, her presence always reassured him.

"Right...Sirius." He mumbled incoherently, following Hermione as she gently led him away from the veil.

The moans returned to quiet whispers once more, although they seemed much angrier as the students departed. When they had returned to the room with many doors, Hermione drew a flaming "X" over the door they had just closed.

Harry moved towards the next one, still in a frantic state from the last room. He exhaled, fastening his hand— the one that wasn't entangled with the brunette's— around the brass knob.

"It's okay..." Hermione murmured; her voice was only loud enough for him to hear. She watched as he nodded in reply, planting a loving kiss against the corner of his cheek.

His cheeks turned bright red upon this, even though her kisses weren't rare occurrences. Feeling more confident than he was before, Harry turned the knob only to find that the door was locked.

"Alohomora!" He exclaimed, but the door remained close. "Whatever's in there, the Ministry doesn't want anyone getting into it."

They walked towards the next door, opened it, and stepped inside. Neville was the first to react to their new surroundings, letting out a nervous breath.

"G-Guys—" He stuttered, motioning to the walls surrounding them.

The walls themselves were long, stretching farther than they could see. In addition, every inch of the surface was covered with a clock. Tick. The clocks started up immediately, all counting in unison. Tick. Harry clenched his eyes shut, feeling himself grow dizzy.

"This is it—!" He screamed, fighting away the pain that raced through him. Tick.

"Let's get out of here!" Ron hollered, covering his ears.

The ticking was increasingly growing louder. Tick. Ginny winced, rubbing her forehead in hopes of soothing the throbbing ache. Tick. Hermione bit her lip, producing a stream of trickling blood. Tick. Luna tucked her head to her chest, clasping her hands over her ears. Tick.

"Come on!" Harry screamed, dragging them towards the door at the end of the room. "This is it! This is where Sirius is!"

Tick. They started running, desperate for silence. The raven-haired boy reached the door first, pushing it open and charging through. The others followed, sealing the door behind them. The ticking ceased to exist; but even the ticking would've been better than what was ahead, and deep down, even Harry knew that.