The painting swung open and Ron and Harry stepped in. Hermione and Kalli turned and immediately stood up, eyes wide. "What was it?" Kalli asked, moving toward them. Harry reached out and pulled her close as Ron went to Hermione. "Harry, what is it?"
"I think we found out where Diagon Alley went," Ron replied, holding Hermione close. Kalli swiveled her head to look at him, her mouth set in a frown. "Good news, though. There's probably more survivors then we originally thought."
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked cautiously, eying Ron and Harry evenly.
"I mean, we survived, so they probably did too," Ron continued.
"We survived what?" Kalli demanded, rising to her feet.
"Switching sides," Harry replied.
Now, Hermione was standing as well. "STOP BEING CRYPTIC. WHAT HAS HAPPENED?" she screamed.
"We have been pulled into a nether realm, which is where I'm going to assume Diagon Alley went as well." Hermione and Kalli started toward the portrait hole. "Girls, going crazy over this isn't going to help, we need to be calm."
"I'll go to the library and see what I can find," Hermione said.
"And I'll go up to the tower to see if I can sense anything at all," Kalli replied.
Harry and Ron glanced to each other. Harry beat him to it, "Ron, going crazy over this isn't going to help." Ron started to laugh at Harry, his brown eyes sparkling.
"Why did we think the girls were going to flip out?" Ron asked Harry. Harry shrugged. "They never flip out. We're usually the ones panicking about stuff while they're off researching and setting up a lookout."
"Ah, let's go, Weasley," Harry said, moving toward the portrait hole.
"What are we gonna do, Potter?" Ron asked, following him.
"I dunno. Go help Hermione, I'm going to break into Dumbledore's office, see if I can get word to Dumbledore." Ron nodded and headed off to the left to meet with Hermione in the library, while Harry headed right to make his way toward Dumbledore's office.
Standing in front of the gargoyle, Harry stared. He didn't know the password. Dumbledore changed it routinely, it was hardly ever the same word twice. He just stood there staring at the stone monster. This might be the only thing between him and getting them out of there, and it was a stupid password. "I wish Sirius was here," Harry whispered, glaring up at the statue.
It leapt aside.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" Harry exclaimed, dashing up the stairs. The password was Sirius! Of course it was Sirius! That was the one word that Harry had on his mind all the time. He burst in the office door and stopped abruptly. Inside Dumbledore's office without him, and he had to search his desk for something, anything that would get him a secure line out of the castle.
Carefully, Harry pulled drawers out. In one there were a few quills, and some parchment. The next one was magically sealed. The third one held files on every single student. The fourth one held packets of powder. Harry picked one up and opened it. Green Floo Powder. He didn't want to leave Hogwarts. He wanted to get a hold of someone.
The second packet was pink powder. "Perfect," he whispered to himself. He strolled to the fire, which licked warmly along the brick face. He threw it in, and the flames turned a shade of blue. "Dumbledore!" Harry cried, shoving his head into the flames.
At first he was met with nothingness, cold, empty nothingness. Then, suddenly, Fudge's office flashed into view, and Fudge's voice said, "What was that, Albus, old man. Did you see it?" He frowned, and shouted Dumbledore's name again. Once more, Fudge said, "There it was again. Looked like Potter."
Finally, he broke through. "Professor!" Harry yelled. Dumbledore turned.
"Hello, Harry, I see you found my powder. How are things at Hogwarts?"
"We've vanished, Professor!" Harry exclaimed. Dumbledore nodded knowingly. "How long have we been gone, Professor?"
"About twenty minutes. The moment you vanished though, Hagrid called me. Has Hermione found anything in the library?"
"Not yet." The office vanished. Only a moment later it returned. "Professor, this isn't going to last much longer. I'm going to have to go."
"You have the four most brilliant minds working on this, Harry. I don't doubt you for a minute. Good luck, and we'll see you-" The office vanished, and didn't return. Harry yanked his head out, suddenly feeling warm. He was sweating from the heat of the fire.
He turned away from the flames, and moved back toward the desk. He secured all of the drawers, and made his way out the door and down the stairs. He turned left and found his feet leading him toward the Great Hall. He had to see the ceiling, something was pulling him in that direction. Something was telling him that he had to be there.
He walked down the staircase, jumping over the broken step. In through the doors to the Great Hall, then he looked up. The sky was a swirl of colors and then nothingness, almost as if it was bleeding in and out. Harry stood, transfixed by the vibrancy of it all. He was staring at everything he could, watching with interest as the sky seemed to cry above him.
If he hadn't been focusing on everything around him, he wouldn't have heard it.
Harry.
His name, whispered, as if from the sky itself. He glanced around, confused.
Harry? Can you hear me?
"Uh, yeah," Harry replied to no one at all. He stared harder at the ceiling. "Are you there?" He felt like he was making a Muggle long distance call.
"Potter?" Ron said, coming in. "Who are you talking to?"
"The voice," Harry replied automatically, and without thinking.
"Voices again, Harry?" Ron asked, grinning.
Harry started. "Uh, never mind. What's going on?"
"Any luck with Dumbledore?" Ron asked coming to stand next to him.
Harry sat down on the table. "Yes, he said to keep working on returning. But I have a feeling that he was expecting us to make contact. Any luck with Hermione?"
Ron nodded, folding his arms and leaning against the table. "She thinks she found a spell that will suck us out of this place. But first, she wants to find out how we got here in the first place. You know Hermione, she always wants to know what makes something work."
"Ron, I heard a voice," Harry said softly. "It called my name, it asked me if I could hear it."
Ron rolled his eyes and motioned out the door. "Come on, Potter. Let's see what we can do about getting home to where you hear voices that don't know your name."
In the darkened abyss of their bed, Kalli rattled on about how Hermione had researched the disappearance. Harry lay beside her, every once in awhile agreeing with an "uh-huh" or an "absolutely."
"Harry? Harry?" Kalli said a little bit louder. "Harry? Are you listening to me?"
"Wha?" Harry asked, shaking his head. He looked down at Kalli, lying on his chest. "Yes?"
"You are NOT listening to me, Potter," Kalli snapped, sitting up and glaring at him. "What is wrong with you, Harry?"
"I heard someone call my name in the Great Hall today," Harry whispered. Kalli arched an eyebrow at him. "It was a whispered voice, like something from a dream."
"Are you sure it wasn't Ron, calling you from upstairs?" Kalli asked, her eyes filled with concern.
Harry's green eyes fell a little as he said, "It sounded like…" He trailed off. Kalli leaned into him, coaxing him. "It sounded like Sirius," Harry finished lamely, his eyes falling further.
"Sirius? Come on Harry, you're hearing things," Kalli said softly.
Harry snuggled down in the bed, and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned back into him and placed her ear against his chest. His heart was racing as fast as the engine of the Hogwarts' Express. "You're sure you heard Sirius call your name, darling?" Kalli asked, her voice humming against his chest. He took her hand in his and squeezed it lovingly. "I believe you, Harry. We just need to figure out how to get him back."
"I think that's what got us here," Harry whispered. "I think Sirius is trying to get back."