There were whispers.

Lots of them.

Seemingly thousands of voices all calling out achingly quietly and meshing into one overwhelming voice Harry couldn't hear.

He tried to call out, tried to ask for one voice to break through, but his own cries were lost in the din. Like a great tide, the whispers filled his mind, saturated his body, begging, pleading, wishing for his attention, but far too many at once.

Harry's heart began to pound as anxiety rose. The whispers became overpowering, calling out to him in words he couldn't understand, yearning to be heard and listened to and …

… used.

It was too much. He was drowning.

"Harry!"

Harry jolted awake with a sharp gasp. Breathing heavy and fast, he gripped the arms that held him, the mere contact alone able to quell the instantaneous panic.

Before him, Ron held his best friend tightly, waiting for reality to crash land and the other to drag his senses back. He didn't flinch as Harry's fingers dug into his arms or those terrified blue eyes stared straight through him, unseeing and scared out of his mind.

"Harry." He called again, softer this time. "Harry, it's me. You're fine. You were dreaming."

Finally, Harry calmed down enough to register what was going on. Blinking, he stared in surprise at Ron sitting o the bed beside him, staring at him in just as much surprise through the thin darkness of the midnight hour.

"Ron? Are you okay?" he asked.

Ron stared at him incredulously. "Me? Harry, you were tossing and turning like you were on fire or something. You scared Ginny, so she came to get me."

Harry stopped. Then he noticed Ginny hugging her knees on the other bed in the room, biting on her lower lip as she gazed at him.

Harry drew in a dep breath and smiled at her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, Ginny."

Ginny gave him a small smile. "What were you dreaming about, Harry?"

"Yeah," Ron said, frowning. "You usually talk in your sleep, but you're not usually moving around that much or calling out. I'm surprised you didn't wake Krysta up."

Harry gasped sharply as his gaze shot down to his big sister.

"She's fine." Ron said quickly, seeing his reaction. "Krysta's still out cold, but Mum says her injuries are healing, she's almost out of the woods. We need to just let her rest."

Harry sighed in relief and gently caressed his sister's hair before drawing the blanket he had dislodged back over her shoulder.

"She didn't wake up or anything yet?" he asked anxiously.

Ron shook his head. "No, she's been out going on twelve hours now. We took it in turns to watch both of you just in case. It's almost midnight now." He glanced at his sister. "You started freaking out about ten minutes ago and Ginny didn't know what to do."

"I'm sorry." Harry said again, hoping to god the thin darkness hid his blush. He ran a hand through his hair, his heart beat finally returned to normal.

"I thought you were just having a nightmare, but then you started saying something odd." Ginny told him.

The boys stared at her as she hesitated.

"What did Harry say, Ginny?" Ron asked, hating the dread that rose inside him.

Ginny bit her lower lip again. "It was like…a countdown. You kept saying it every few minutes."

Harry's heart began to pound again. "What did I say?"

"Thirty seven hours, thirteen minutes." Ginny told them. She shook her head. "Then a few minutes of tossing and turning later, you said thirty seven hours four minutes."

"Thirty six hours, fifty-eight minutes."

Harry stared at the siblings. Both the Weasleys mouths were hanging open and staring at him back.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"What the hell was that?" Ron demanded, his green eyes wide.

"What?"

"Harry, you just said thirty-six hours, fifty-eight minutes."

"No, I didn't."

"You did, we both heard! But… it was like it wasn't you saying it. you looked all weird for a split second."

"I don't remember saying that."

Ron went to say something, then thought better of it, and turned to his little sister instead. "Get Hermione, would you, Gin? I think we need somebody smart right now."

A few minutes later, Hermione was staring incredulously at Harry as well.

"Do you have any recollection of that at all?" She asked.

Harry shook his head. "It's just a time, so… does it matter?"

"Could it just be a residual effect from the nightmare?" Ginny asked. "I know Harry's awake now, but he hadn't done it again since. He was just doing when he was sleeping."

Hermione regarded her friend for a long moment, then nodded too. "I'm inclined to agree." She sighed and glanced at Krysta still sound asleep beside Harry. "It's been a rough day, for you especially, Harry. It must be the stress."

She stood up and gestured for Ginny to come with her. "Get some sleep, Harry. It's almost midnight, there isn't anything more we can do right now."

Harry looked hopefully up at his friends. "Is there any word about Dante?"

Ron shook his head sadly. "Nothing. The Order was so sure Voldemort would use him tonight, so everyone's been on high alert. The adults are even taking turns watching the house. Dumbledore even came here a few hours ago to boost the spells around the house while Krysta's still defenceless. But nothing has happened and there's been no info on where Dante is either."

Harry closed his eyes and grasped his sister's hand beside him, trying very hard to keep himself together.

Then he smiled feeling Hermione hugging him.

"Try not to worry, Harry." She said softly. "Dante is more than capable of looking after himself. He was alone for fifteen years before he met Krysta. With that smart mouth on him, Voldemort must be tearing his hair out and wanting to kick him out already."

Harry and the others chuckled. Even after only knowing him for a few days, that seemed like the best assessment of Dante he'd heard in a while.

Hermione drew back and beckoned Ginny towards her. "Come stay with me, Ginny, Ron's used to Harry talking in his sleep, so he'll be able to rest without it bothering him."

Smiling, Ginny nodded and left with Hermione with one last flash of a sweet smile to Harry.

Lying down in his sister's bed, Ron yawned and pulled the covers over himself. "Tomorrow," he said tiredly. "We can work out a more solid action plan for what to do about Dante. Lupin and Dad will be back from the Order as well as have some more ideas about where Voldemort took Dante too. Try not to worry."

Harry smiled and lay down too. Snuggling up to his sister, he pushed away all the frightening thoughts and focused on the memories of Dante pissing off Voldemort instead. Feeling better, exhaustion took him over.

It was just as Ron was about to fall asleep, he heard it.

"Thirty-six hours, thirty nine minutes."