Chapter One:

AN: So I just realized that I have this on AO3 but not here. I'm under the same name (RuhRo7) on the Archive, if you'd rather read it there!

His heart pounding, pounding as he ran. He had to keep going, for Sirius. The revolving doors of the Department of Mysteries suddenly surrounded him. He cursed, he's always just known which door to use in his dreams and they're all completely non-descript.

"Fuck it- Hall of Prophecies." Harry's command rang through the room. After a moment's hesitation, everything started to shift around him. When things finally went stationary again- 'this is taking too long, Sirius'- the door in front of him opened revealing the hall that had haunted his dreams for months. All was quiet.

Harry started running again, he can't be too late, but it's too quiet. 'Please gods don't let me be too late.' Quickly glancing around, trying to identify the place he'd seen in his visions, showed there are numbers on the rows. He's near 147 now, faster, 103- can't let Sirius die- 97. Harry froze. Nothing. Sirius isn't here. His entire being vibrating with tension, Harry looked around him. "Sirius?" He called quietly, hoping not to draw Voldemort's attention to himself. Silence, it's too quiet.

He sighed, Hermione was right, it must be a trap. He shouldn't have come alone. Shouldn't have come at all if he's being honest. Shouldn't have left his friends back at Hogwarts.

Flashback

The others had met with Harry and Hermione at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. They'd just gotten Umbridge abducted by centaurs when the rest of their friends appeared, helping them get back closer to the school. Ron was bickering with Hermione over their plan or lack thereof while Neville and Luna held Ginny back from running after Umbridge. Apparently seeing the toad get dragged off by centaurs wasn't enough for the revenge thirsty red-head. She clearly also deserved a few hexes along the way.

"How will we get there Harry?" Hermione asked, logistics always on her mind. Her and Ron had not gotten any closer to a solution in the few moments they'd been speaking.

"We? No. I've dragged all of you into too much to begin with. If this is a trap I need you to stay here and get help for Sirius and me." Harry refused to allow them to put themselves into even more danger with him. He honestly couldn't say whether this would be a trap or not and wouldn't put his friends in the position where they could be hurt again for him. He could see Hermione's bushy hair starting to spark as it did when she was upset.

"Harry, we are here for you and always in this together."

"Yeah, mate, I thought Hermione and I proved that back in first year with the obstacle course."

He could see the rest of their friends starting to get riled up and ready to defend their friendship as well. Though they may have not been close for as long they had all deepened their friendships over the trying year they'd been having.

Harry exchanged a look with Luna who nodded. They both whipped out their wands and stunned the other teens.

"Harry, I just want you to know that we all love you and we'll miss you. But, don't worry about coming back." She looked up at him from behind her curtain of hair. She was clearly worried but also seemed resigned. She knew as well as he did that her trying to push him would just see her alongside their other friends.

Harry paused, it sounded like Luna was saying goodbye. "Luna, I'll be back. But if Hermione really is right and it is a trap then tell the others that I love you all and you've been the best family I could hope for." Luna's face crumpled. Harry stepped forward for a quick hug, feeling as she put something around his neck. Looking down he noticed it was a small pendant with a tiny sack next to it.

"For protection." Luna stepped away and whistled, calling a thestral to them. She gestured for Harry to mount and went to talk to the creature. "Now, Aziraphale, take Harry to the Ministry of Magic and fly home safely." The thestral nodded at the small blonde and then started running to take off. Harry contemplated looking back once they hit the air but steeled himself forward. To Sirius.

End Flashback

Not seeing anyone coming for him immediately did little to convince him that this was not a trap, since his godfather was nowhere to be seen. But he did wonder why the vision brought him here instead of literally anywhere else in the seemingly empty Ministry of Magic. Harry Potter, his eyes caught on the small plaque bearing his name. Reaching out from under his invisibility cloak, which Hermione had run and gotten while he was arguing with Ron over plans to invade Umbridge's office, Harry grabbed the luminescent orb.

"Very good Mr. Potter," came a soft, drawling voice from behind him. Jumping slightly, he thought he'd been more aware of his surroundings than that, Harry looked right into the face of Lucius Malfoy. He was staring at Harry's hand still holding the prophecy outside of his cloak.

"You would be wise to hand that over to me, Mr. Potter." Lucius held his hand out as though he was just waiting for Harry to place the orb in his hand. As if Harry would be stupid enough to hand over the only thing stopping these Death Eaters from cursing him into oblivion.

Turning to see where all of the Death Eaters were placed around him, since they never seemed to be sent to do something alone, without moving his hand in an obvious way was a difficult but necessary task. There! Between what must be the Lestranges, though they looked even more deranged than their wanted pictures in the Daily Prophet.

"I think not, Mr. Malfoy," Harry shot back as he dropped his hand back underneath his cloak. Thanking Merlin for having remembered to silence his feet before having come to the Ministry, a little trick the twins taught him, he took off between Bellatrix and one of the male Lestranges.

"Stun him, the Dark Lord wants him delivered unharmed!" Lucius yeled, shattering the quiet of the Hall of Prophecies. At this cue all of his fellow Death Eaters sprung into action. Whilst the others began to call out Point Me spells and other trackers, Bellatrix had a very different plan of action. She began cackling madly while shooting curses into empty ait, apparently trying to track Harry down blindly. Thankfully for Harry he was already past the Lestranges and swiftly moving towards the door. Opening said door proved to be an issue though.

"There, by the entrance!" Called the other male Lestrange. Harry picked up the pace, bursting through to the revolving room which once again began spinning as soon as the door he entered through shut. He quickly picked a door, knowing the Death Eaters would be following through any second.

Slamming it shut behind him, Harry looked around the room. It was a strange place, though the same could be said for the rest of the Department of Mysteries as well. There were clocks of varying sizes and colours everywhere. Then there was the strange bird in a jar that moved through life's circle at a dizzying rate. Birth, life, death, and rebirth constantly like a phoenix ramped up. Harry froze, looking around for a back entrance so he could sneak away from the main doors. As he hunted for his escape, someone came through the door behind him, knocking him over. Harry stumbled, trying to catch his balance so his cloak wouldn't fly up. However, he just managed to flail, hitting something golden that began to hum onto him on his way down.

Then there was only pain. The world filled with it, overflowed with it, and someone screamed. He only realized he'd been floating when he hit the floor, as the pain escalated impossibly. Forget Voldemort's Crucio, this had to be hundreds of times worse. Then with a distorted Stupefy, all went black.