Harry Potter & The Door of Dimensions.

Chapter 1:
In which a mad king sits at harry's door

As usual, Markl wouldn't shut up. At first, Harry had been polite and asked a few questions regarding his new 'bodyguard'. He had feigned interest when Markl was distracted by a tangent and he had been as kind as to smile and nod when Markl was simply becoming unbearable. Harry had no idea why he was annoying; it wasn't as if Markl spoke obscure amounts more than any other student at Hogwarts. Harry suspected that if anyone else were to speak to him right now he'd want to punch them in the face just as much as he wanted to deck Markl. This could be due to Harry's natural self-inflicted seclusion from social activity, but today it seemed particularly horrendous.

"Harry, you look tired. You should sleep when we get back to the dorm..." But the words reached Harry only on a vague, sub-terrain level of thought. The schedule was on time but the trains were empty.

"That's nice," Harry replied mechanically, thinking about how much he hated walking.

"Did you even hear what I said?" Markl retorted as they came up to a rather tall, thin painting of a black tower. Beside it was a painting of young boy with coal black hair and a coat of night sky that was barely familiar. On the opposite side of the tower was an aged King, holding his crown in his lap like one might hold a French poodle (if they were inclined to like such creatures, unlike Harry who would have held a French Poodle by the neck and a meter away from his body). His face was pale and chalky and a small smile tugged and twittered at the edge of his mouth as if it had been caught on a rambunctious threaded needle. The King didn't look all that healthy, Harry decided, and as they passed the king's eyes watched them go, his shoulder shaking a little. The man in the cloak of night, however, appeared to be sleeping.

"What's the password, what is the password..." The King said to the crown, stroking it gently.

Markl sighed and shook his head, looking up at the King and folding his arms, "Cheshire's Delight." The King smiled broadly and nodded several times, petting his crown more and more enthusiastically. Markl tapped his foot impatiently, "Can you please let us in now?" The King giggled and kicked his feet as the frame of the black tower slid to one side.

"Cheshire's Delight, cheshire's DELIGHT!" He echoed happily, apparently very pleased with the sound those two words made together, "Can you hear... can you hear that music...?" His voice grew quiet and faded as the picture frame covered the port hole once more.

"I swear. This system of passwords and port holes is a load of bullocks. It's so inefficient, especially when the paintings have their own personality. Yesterday it took me nearly ten minutes to coax that old bat to let me in. He wanted to make sure I could 'hear the music'. Just our luck to have a mad king at our door. Must be a bad omen."

Harry couldn't agree more. He agreed so much that he could have cried, but somehow all he felt was irritation. He would have screamed at the ground for being so down to earth if he had had the energy.

At any rate, he stalked passed the other students and didn't wait for Markl to catch up. Once more he avoided Ron's eye and when Hermione nearly ran into him on the stairs he simply passed her and ran to his room, which was comfortably furnished with all his belongings neatly piled beside his bed. It had been so long, it seemed, since he had seen his own things. After closing all the curtains completely around his little four-poster, he sat for a moment on the covers. It was perfectly familiar, he thought blissfully, before collapsing onto his bed, deflating anti-climatically.

Harry particularly hated nightmares, but what he hated more than that were Dementors, and even more than that; nightmares about dementors. It was one of those nights. Endless dreams about his friends dying, his family dying, someone screaming, someone laughing, pain, darkness, blinding light and finally…

He awoke, on a peculiar frosty evening, Markl was shaking him on the shoulder, and his voice was far away. Harry blinked the sandman's curse from his eyes and looked around, his glasses still on his face, hanging askew. He straightened them, or attempted to, as he sat up. Markl was sitting on the end of his bed like a puppy that needed to go outside NOW.

"Harry!"

Harry winced.

"Good GOD man! Where have you been all day! You gave me a damned heart attack!" He hung onto Harry's shoulders with both hands and looked like he was going to cry. Harry stared blankly at him.

"All... day?" He asked airily, raising an eyebrow.

"Harry, you've been asleep since... I don't know when! Yesterday afternoon at least."

"...Oh." Harry said, as if this statement didn't bother him in the least. He glanced around himself as Markl carried on recapping the day's events. The room was dank and dark, not a candelabra lit in sight and the windows curtains were all wide open, letting in the cool rays of the evening sunset. The room was tinted with blue and a soft breeze came from the open window. Harry had an odd feeling someone should have been standing there, or that someone was standing there, or had been standing there. An aura hung in the windows frame and it was chilly.

He looked back at Markl, who was still speaking. Harry missed all his classes and the notification that there was to be a Quidditch meeting in the library at noon the next day. The Captain was to be announced and the dates of the try-outs. Harry discovered that he had slept for twenty hours. That morning Ron had rushed out to classes early in accordance to Hermione's demands (who wished to have an early study session with Ron on the second day of classes. Ron thought this was ludicrous of course but went along with it anyways because Hermione promised to bring some Muggle candies from home for him to test out and for Mr. Weasley to research.), never noticing Harry wasn't going to wake up. Markl didn't check on him because Ron hadn't mentioned anything out of the ordinary, but quickly grew nervous when the be-scarred boy didn't attend first class. He grew even more restless when upon the bell's toll Harry was no where to be seen in second period. By the time third period ended he was nearly in convulsions with anxiety. Lunchtime had offered no help as the King at the porthole wasn't letting any of the Gryffindors in to the dormitory, for fear they would steal his crown behind his back. Markl spent the rest of the day biting his nails down to bloody stumps and trying to convince the King if they were going to steal his crown they would have bloody well done it already. He also tried to convince him that he was, in fact, a piece of canvas strewn with paint, so that it was physically impossible for them to steal his crown, but that didn't go over to well either.

All in all, it was amazing that Harry didn't wake up at one point or another during the day, and it was just dumb luck that the room happened to be inaccessible.

Well. I'll be off then. Thank you Markl, for being so delightfully concerned, but I believe I have... oh... 6 detentions to attend. So..." He got off the bed and stood, adjusting his cloak, shirt, tie and just about everything else he was wearing, "Bye."

Harry didn't get far.

"Harry! You can't just go wandering off!"

"Why not?"

"Because you can't!"

Harry turned on Markl, who was only a step behind him. The fair skinned, red-headed boy stumbled and backed up. Harry thought he could see a little touch of fear in his eyes, but it was quickly smothered, "You will not tell me what to do. So bugger off."

"I... I can't do that!"

"Can't or won't? Not that it matters...You won't tell me anyways. You seem to always be hiding something. You've been lying to me since the first day we met. So either spit it out, or suck it up."

Markl suddenly looked as if he needed a quick escape or good excuse to leave. His eyes searched the stairs and doorway, finding no answer, he was plainly cornered. Harry took a step foreword and Markl took a step back.

"I can't, Harry! You don't understand!"

"That's fine, you can help me understand. I'm sure whoever it is you're working for will understand just perfectly." Harry jabbed his wand up under Markl's chin and narrowed his eyes, hissing under his breath, "If you follow me one more time, or bother me EVER again, I won't hesitate to defend myself. I don't want your help or your company." With one last shove Harry swept away from him and down the stairwell, gliding through the porthole and closing the painting behind him. Markl, who stood where he was left, was unable to move. Even if he had wanted to follow Harry, he couldn't. The porthole closed with an audible whoosh of air.

Harry turned to the painting of the black tower and waved his wand at it. He was going to make sure Markl stayed put, or at least, if he didn't, then Harry would know when Markl left the dorm. It wasn't any spell he had learned in a book, but somehow the idea for it just came to him. He leaned his forehead on the picture frame and sighed. What was he thinking..?

"Harry..?"

A voice from behind that wasn't too annoying caught his attention and he swivelled his head to one side, forehead never leaving the frame, "..." He looked blankly at the person, who he quickly recognized to be Hermione, "...Oh. Hi." He said, watching her a tad blankly.

"Harry... I... know that things have been pretty rough lately..."

"Rough isn't he half of it."

"...and I just wanted to let you know that Ron and I... We just want to be here for you..."

"And where is Ron now?" Harry said spitefully, turning fully to the side so his shoulder was against the wall.

"Well... I was actually wondering if you had seen him. He was with me for the first class... but then he said he was going to look for you and I haven't seen him since. You didn't see him in the Dorm did you..? I could have sworn I saw him come down this hall..." she looked down the hall towards the stairways, biting her nail apprehensively. He brunette curls were glossy and styled, framing her face perfectly and her eyes reflected worry and anxiety. Harry was a tad surprised she wasn't roaring angry with him for the way he talked to her. He made a mental note to apologize... later.

"I'm sure he's around, it's not like he just died or something. He probably ran into Ginny. Or Fred and George."

Hermione simply nodded, still looking down the hall, "...Alright."

Harry sighed a little, "Come on, we'll go look for him."

Hermione brightened a little at this and nodded to Harry.

For a while they walked in silence, looking down halls, calling up stairs, and the like, without really speaking to each other. There was no sight of Ron though. At last when they thought all was lost and he was probably avoiding them both, they sat upon a railing over looking a section of the library that wasn't commonly visited. From this point they could see everything below them, but not be seen themselves, it was advantageous when scouting for a skulking friend or enemy.

"He's just GONE, Harry... Really, this is starting to become frustrating. It's like he's purposefully hiding to spite us." She crossed her arms and watched Harry for a reaction. Harry glanced at her and nodded a little, looking a tad grim.

"...it is a bit strange he should, up and vanish."

"We should go back and ask all the painting if they've seen him... They see loads of useful and not-so-useful stuff."

"Yeah, maybe." Harry answered airily, looking down at a couple of people who just entered the library. He blinked and immediately recognized Howl as the first, but the second appeared to be a young woman, or old, he couldn't much tell. She had grey hair and a round belly, as well as wearing a simple dress and shoes. Her appearance was almost ghostly. As Hermione began to speak again Harry quickly clamped his hand over her mouth at the two moved closer to them, talking animatedly to each other, "Shh..." He hissed quietly, watching with narrowed eyes. He strained to hear but unfortunately they were talking too quietly. Who was that woman he was with?

Hermione rolled her eyes and pulled Harry's hand off her face, "You're so hopeless." She whispered, holding her want up to her and Harry's ear, close enough so that when the tip glowed a dark green the edges of the dark light touched both their ears. Suddenly everything sounded much louder, every tiny sound was amplified and he could even hear the murmur of students at the other end of the Library. Harry eyed Hermione a little. How did she learn this stuff?

However, he was distracted by the conversation taking place directly below them. He could hear Howl saying, "...I know its crazy but believe me I SAW them."

The woman replied, in a youthful voice, "Don't be stupid, Howl. Do you know the chances of that? It's practically a billion to one..!"

"Listen to me! You don't think I KNOW that? I invented the blasted thing, I know how it works. I don't need you patronizing me on its mechanics."

"Yes well, you wouldn't know sometimes, with the way you act sometimes. It's like you've been living in a hole your entire life."

"ME! Just hold on ONE frigg--" He stopped himself forcibly and sighed deeply, rubbing his temples, "...Look, fighting about that isn't going to get us anywhere."

"Us? How about YOU? I have nothing to do with this, remember? You said yourself that this would be a good job for 'breaching the gap' as you so eloquently put it. Are we breaching the gap? I don't think so. This is getting way to out of hand, and if what you think happened actually DID happen, then we're in a lot more trouble then we thought." She paused, catching her breath, "...Is there even a way to contain it? Or stop the transfer?"

Harry could hear Howl tapping his foot against the ground, "Unfortunately, once it's through it's though. If I had access to it, that would be a different story. It's this long distance magic that really gets to me."

"Well, at least you've been able to do a little."

Howl grunted then said, "The important thing is to keep it away from Harry."

Harry felt a little choked suddenly, wincing mentally. Why did everything come down him in the end? It was like inevitable terribly curse of shitty things, all happening one after another. He felt a strange jabbing pain in his side and realized Hermione was elbowing him. The amplified hearing quickly vanished and they watched from their lofty perch at the two below looked suddenly to the doorway off the Library. They spoke to each other quickly, before Howl dashed out in a blur of violet and red (his chosen colours for the day). The girl however lingered a little while, shuffling from foot to foot. Harry felt Hermione pulling on his sleeve anxiously.

"Harry... I have a bad feeling, come on!" He yanked him free from the railing and they both ran out the other door of the Library, being careful to avoid anyone who might see them on the way out and realize they were eavesdropping.

Once into the main hallway they both stood stalk still as teachers and students rushed passed them. The students, at brisk walking pace or running were all heading to the dorms, most looking befuddled and confused, some fearful. A few teachers were dashing to and fro, trying to get orders out and keep the students together. He noticed some of the teachers checking the windows and waving their wands at the glass. They appeared to be putting protective spells on them…. The windows..? Was something outside?

Harry snapped his hand out and grabbed hold of Neville's arm, who he saw dashing passed, "Neville! What's going on?" He demanded breathlessly.

Nevilled started at Harry's sudden appearance, "Oh..! Harry! I dunno really… They're saying a student was killed by a dementor. But I haven't seen anything. We're all being ordered back to our Dorms! You should head back too! They say it's really dangerous right now…"

Harry stared at him, cold fear rushing over his body. He felt his hands go numb and realease Neville, letting him continue to run. He could feel a burning hot feverish panic run over his skin and he suddenly noticed Hermione was shaking him and shouting, "Harry! Harry! Are you alright? Come on! We shouldn't stay here…! We should go back to the common room and wait for the teacher's instructions! It'll be safer there!"

But Harry was miles away. Pulling free from Hermione's grip he joined the fray, trying to see over other's heads. It was a battle upstream but eventually he came across an abandoned area, a few teachers stood in a large circle, a few shaking their heads and pacing, some others kneeling on the ground, beside the body. Hermione was far behind by now, but he could distantly hear her voice, trying to call him back.

Harry was frozen, his feet becoming cement blocks. Slowly, very slowly, he took a step towards the teachers. McGonagall turned and saw Harry, her eyes wide with grief, the wrinkles around her mouth clearly defined. She rushed towards Harry and tried to turn him away, but Harry looked passed her.

Howl was there, kneeling over the student's crumpled, soulless form. One hand was over his eyes in a sign of dread and helplessness. He looked down again and put a hand on the body's shoulder, shuddering a deep breath in and out. He was too late.

A pale freckled face, turned to the side, eyes open in terror and fear. A shock of brilliant fiery orange hair looked unusually gray, but still bright against the dark blood coloured carpet beneath his head.

He heard Hermione catch up. Then slow. Then scream. McGonagall held her back, who was struggling much more than Harry now, in desperation, in frantic terror. McGonagall looked down and closed her eyes, pulling Hermione into a hug and rubbing her back. Hermione gave up and collapsed into tears, sobbing and shaking her head, disturbing the almond curls she had so carefully placed that morning.

"… I'm terribly sorry."

She moved aside, and it was clear that who lay on the ground, that familiar face.

"Ron Weasley is dead…"