Purple Rain.

Chapter Sixty-Five.

The door of the telephone box burst open; Harry toppled out of it, followed by Neville and Luna. Hermione let (Y/n) leave before she did and Ginny followed them. Ron was the last to leave. The only sound in the Atrium was the steady rush of water from the golden fountain, where jets from the wands of the witch and wizard, the point of the centaur's arrow, the tip of the goblin's hat, and the house-elf's ears continued to gush into the surrounding pool.

"D'you hear anything?" Harry demanded of (Y/n), who already seemed to be one step ahead in the matter.

"No..." (Y/n) murmured. "It's like it's entirely abandoned," she said. "Which is weird. It isn't even that late... What about night shifts?" There was a pause in which anxious looks were exchanged.

"Come on," Harry said quietly and the seven of them sprinted off down the hall, Harry in the lead, past the fountain, toward the desk where the security was meant to be. It was deserted.
It was quite the ominous sign that even the security guard was nowhere to be seen. The foreboding feeling increased as they passed through the gates to the lift. Harry pressed the nearest down button and a lift clattered into sight almost immediately, the golden grilles slid apart with a great, echoing clanking, and they dashed inside. Harry stabbed the number nine button, the grilles closed with a bang, and the lift began to descend, jangling and rattling.

"Hey, what's our exit strategy?" (Y/n) whispered.

"Our what?" Harry asked. (Y/n) stared at him.

"We rescue Sirius and then how are we going to get back out?" (Y/n) asked. Harry opened and closed his mouth before falling silent, thinking. "Oh, my stars, we're going in there without knowing a way out?"

"Calm down, I'm thinking!" Harry huffed. 

"We are so dead! Even if we get out of here alive, one of our parents will reign hell!"

"Our mum, probably," Ginny said.

"Or mine," Harry murmured.

"My parents are only 'reigning hell' on anyone that hurts us..." Neville said quietly.

"Can't wait to join your family, Nev," (Y/n) said.

"I— what?"

"Remus is a wild card," Hermione added. "Could be mad at us, could be mad at whoever's with Sirius..."

"What's Remus gotta do with this?" (Y/n) asked.

"He's your dad," Hermione said simply. 

When the lift halted and the cool female voice said, "Department of Mysteries," the grilles slid open and they stepped out into the corridor where nothing was moving but the nearest torches, flickering in the rush of air from the lift.

"Hear anything yet?" Hermione asked in a whisper.

"No screams, no shouts, no voices," (Y/n) answered. "Just Kate Bush and us." Had this been any other moment, there would have been more of a reaction than just short grins.

"Let's go," Harry whispered after turning toward a plain black door. He led the way down the corridor, the others trailing behind him, gazing around with interest. "Okay, listen," said Harry, stopping again within six feet of the door. "Maybe... maybe a couple of people should stay here as a— as a lookout, and—"

"And how're we going to let you know something's coming?" asked Ginny, her eyebrows raised. "You could be miles away."

"We're coming with you, Harry," said Neville.

"Let's get on with it," said Ron firmly.

Harry seemed reluctant to let them all come. Regardless, he turned to face the door and walked forward. It swung open and Harry marched forward, leading the others over the threshold.
They were standing in a large, circular room. Everything in here was black, including the floor and ceiling— identical, unmarked, handle-less black doors were set at intervals all around the black walls, interspersed with branches of candles whose flames burned blue, their cool, shimmering light reflected in the shining marble floor so that it looked as though there was dark water underfoot.