A/N: As always, I don't own the Potterverse. In order to make this story flow, some elements of canon were massaged to fit. Umbridge arrives a few seconds later to her office, and Harry has already opened the package containing the mirror. Special thanks to bakazuki26, without whom this story would not have been written.

From Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry dashed over to the fireplace, seized the pot of Floo powder and threw a pinch into the grate, causing emerald flames to burst into life there. He knelt down quickly, thrust his head into the dancing fire and cried, 'Number twelve, Grimmauld Place!'

There was nobody there. He had expected this, yet was not prepared for the molten wave of dread and panic that seemed to burst through his stomach at the sight of the deserted room.

'Sirius?' he shouted. 'Sirius, are you there?'

His voice echoed around the room, but there was no answer except a tiny scuffing sound to the right of the tire.

'Who's there?' he called, wondering whether it was just a mouse.

Kreacher the house-elf crept into view. He looked highly delighted about something, though he seemed to have recently sustained a nasty injury to both hands, which were heavily bandaged.

'It's the Potter boys head in the fire,' Kreacher informed the empty kitchen, stealing furtive, oddly triumphant glances at Harry. 'What has he come for, Kreacher wonders?'

'Where's Sirius, Kreacher?' Harry demanded.

The house-elf gave a wheezy chuckle.

'Master has gone out, Harry Potter.'

'Where's he gone? Where's he gone, Kreacher?'

Kreacher merely cackled.

'I'm warning you!' said Harry, fully aware that his scope for inflicting punishment upon Kreacher was almost non-existent in this position. 'What about Lupin? Mad-Eye? Any of them, are any of them there?'

'Nobody here but Kreacher!' said the elf gleefully, and turning away from Harry he began to walk slowly towards the door at the end of the kitchen. 'Kreacher thinks he will have a little chat with his mistress now, yes, he hasn't had a chance in a long time, Kreacher's master has been keeping him away from her - '

'Where has Sirius gone?' Harry yelled after the elf. 'Kreacher, has he gone to the Department of Mysteries?'

Kreacher stopped in his tracks. Harry could just make out the back of his bald head through the forest of chair legs before him.

'Master does not tell poor Kreacher where he is going,' said the elf quietly.

'But you know!' shouted Harry. 'Don't you? You know where he is!'

There was a moment's silence, then the elf let out his loudest cackle yet.

'Master will not come back from the Department of Mysteries!' he said gleefully. 'Kreacher and his mistress are alone again!'

And he scurried forwards and disappeared through the door to the hall.

Harry pulled his head out of the fireplace angrily. "Hermione, Kreacher says Sirius is at the Department of Mysteries. We have to go NOW!"

As Hermione was about to respond, the door handle turned. Thinking quickly, Hermione pulled Harry under Umbridge's desk and threw the Invisibility Cloak over both of them. Umbridge strode into the room, looking smug, clearly expecting to catch someone in the act. Her smug grin drooped when a quick scan of the room showed no one.

"Specialis Revelio!" Umbridge shouted. Harry and Hermione looked at each other, afraid to move much less breathe too loudly. After a few moments, Umbridge's formerly smug grin became a furious frown. She turned to address someone standing across from her at the door. "If someone was here, they've long since left. Release the pests, there's nothing I can do to them for now. Do not presume to question me, Mr. Malfoy, or have you forgotten who is in charge here?"

Umbridge stared into the fireplace for a moment, then shook her head and left her office, closing the door firmly behind her. Harry and Hermione crawled out from under the desk slowly, and then Harry remembered what they had been doing before the interruption.

"Hermione, we have to go! Sirius…"

"Is probably not at the Ministry, Harry! Since when have you ever taken Kreacher's opinions at face value? He and Sirius don't get along; of course he'd tell you something to make you panic. Don't you have any other way to contact Sirius?"

Harry was about to protest, but suddenly he spied his own reflection in a mirror on Umbridge's desk. The mirror! That was it!

"Hermione, you're brilliant! We've got to get back to the Tower; Sirius did give me another way to contact him! Let's go!"

On the way back to Gryffindor Tower, Harry explained what he knew about the mirror Sirius had given him. Hermione made him promise her a chance to study the mirror later, so that she could get a better idea of how it worked. Finally arriving in Harry's room, Harry gently lifted the mirror out of his trunk and called for Sirius. A few seconds went by, and then his godfather's face appeared on the mirror. "Harry! I've been wondering when you were going to call me. What's up, pup?"

Harry and Hermione exchanged a brief look before Harry spoke. "Sirius, you wouldn't happen to be at the Department of Mysteries right now, would you?" asked Harry. "I had a dream that you were, and Kreacher confirmed it…"

Sirius looked baffled. "No, I'm at Grimmauld, as always. Wait, you said Kreacher confirmed it? …. Ah, so that's their game. Harry, stay put for a moment. I've got to talk to some other members of the Order, but I promise I will come back and tell you what's going on, OK?" Harry nodded, and Sirius shut off his mirror.

Now that he knew his godfather was safe, Harry was able to relax slightly. A few minutes after talking to Sirius, the mirror reactivated, and this time Sirius had Dumbledore with him. The headmaster asked Harry to recount his dream one more time, just to be sure he had everything correct.

"Thank you, Harry," said the aged wizard. "You have confirmed something very important for me, that Voldemort is both aware of the mental connection between you, and trying to use it for nefarious purposes. So that he cannot tempt you further, and so that this exchange of information feels fair to both you and Miss Granger, I will tell you why exactly Voldemort wants you to go to the Department of Mysteries. Miss Granger, you may wish to get parchment ready…"

A/N 2: So yes, Dumbledore tells Harry the prophecy. Am I a bit of a jerk for leaving it here and not writing a battle scene? Perhaps, but why did that battle need to take place, other than for Sirius to die, and Harry to learn the prophecy? Thanks again for reading, reviewing, favorite-ing, and following, and keep submitting ideas. I've already gotten a few good ones, and I intend to try to write scenarios for all of them that I get.