The Dream Trilogy Book Two: Tread On My Dreams (A Harry Potter FanFiction)

Chapter Thirty Five

Chapter Thirty Five

Harry was seriously regretting not taking the time to find the stairs. He'd been too concerned the Death Eaters would come back and find him, so he'd waded across the Ministry's atrium and forced open the elevators. He'd assumed they'd be powered by magic, and therefore still working, but after prying open his third elevator shaft he'd had to accept that wasn't the case. The first one the lift had been stuck on the fist level, refusing to move, the second was apparently several floors down, and Harry had to grab onto the sliding door to stop himself being swept down the lift shaft with all the cascading water. The third was only one floor down, and the water started churning and bubbling back up towards him almost as soon as the doors were opened.  

He had glanced over his shoulder, trying to hear if anyone was sloshing around in the corridors leading into the atrium, but with the broken fountain still pumping out water at a ferocious rate he couldn't hear anything. He'd also looked for a sign for the stairway, but there wasn't one. So that's when he'd decided his best bet would be to climb down the second lift shaft, the one with the actual lift stuck far below, and force his way out at another level. 

He really should have looked for the stairs. He'd performed a few charms to give him extra grip and protection on his hands, but he was essentially now trying to climb down a slippery metal cable with a waterfall pounding on his head.  

He gasped for breath, and spluttered out as much water as he could. He could barely see where he was going, and wasn't sure if he'd reached the second floor or not. He leant out to try and feel the wall, maybe shift out of the water's main path, but the gripping charm couldn't take only one hand being on the cable, and with a sickening lurch his fingers slipped free, throwing him down the lift shaft. 

He hit the water after only a few seconds of falling, blasting all the air from his lungs. He scrambled back up to the surface, arms flailing, fighting for breath. He wasn't a very strong swimmer, but with the thick metal cable to hold onto he was able to drag his mouth above water and keep it there, despite the torrent slamming down on his head. 

The water was freezing, and Harry found his body shaking uncontrollably. He could barely feel his hands clinging to the cable anymore, and realised he couldn't stay here long or he'd risk hypothermia. He let go with one hand to shield his eyes and try and decipher if he was near an exit or not. The top half of the double doors were visible about a foot above the water line. 

With a determined push he kicked his way over to the exit and clung to the lip of the door frame. He braced his feet on the right hand door edge, took several deep breaths as he tried to steady his heart and prepare himself to go under the water. He wished he'd learnt how to do a bubble head charm, but he'd never bothered. He promised himself if he got through this he would get Hermione to teach him first thing. That and how not to get himself in trouble with Death Eaters every fifteen minutes. There must be a spell for that too surely. 

He lit his wand instead and ducked his head into the icy cold depths, feeling the current swirling around him as the water fell from the atrium above and slowly leaked either side of the lift below him. The wand showed him where the two lift doors met, so he wedged it in his jeans and forced his numb fingers into the crack. It was much harder to prise the doors apart with the weight of the water pressing down on them, and Harry had to resurface twice for air, all whilst the water level was rising. The second time he'd glanced up to see if the Death Eaters were looking down the shaft at him, but the coast was still clear. 

On his third attempt, the doors finally budged. Water began shooting through the small gap, slamming his body against the door as it rushed out into the corridor beyond and emptying his lungs of what little air he had left. Panic burst to life in his chest where the oxygen had just been. Never mind hypothermia, if he didn't get these doors open in the next minute he was going to drown right there and then.