Title: Eyes of the Chosen
Author: Emcee
Summary: The Trio discuss Malfoy and the paper Ron took from Trelawney
Author's Note: Thank-you to my muses, Rae and Fre and my beta and Pablo. This story is AU to "Order of the Phoenix". It is the sequel to Labyrinth of Illusion.

Disclaimer: "Harry Potter" and the characters, places and things related to it do not belong to me. They are from the brilliant mind of JK Rowling. They belong to her and her publishers. I am not making any profit from this fan fiction.

CHAPTER TWELVE
Thagari's Words

Ron threw himself onto the couch in the Gryffindor common room. He sighed deeply, watching Hermione come in after him. Her brow was furrowed, as if she was disturbed by something.

Propping himself up on his elbow, Ron stared at her. "Everything okay there, Hermione?"

Hermione sat down next to the crackling fire, shrugging. "I don't know... This is all a bit disturbing."

"Tell me about it," Ron sighed, leaning back again. "Draco Malfoy wants to help us out. That has to be the most disturbing thing I've ever heard."

"Actually, I was talking about the murder of two young innocent girls." Hermione rested her head on her hands. "Draco wanting to work with us kind of makes sense."

Ron stared at Hermione, slack-jawed. "You. Must. Be. Joking. Why would Draco ever want to work with us? He's a bad guy."

"But he's not." Hermione brushed off Ron's look of disbelief. "Yes, he's an awful prat. But he's not... Well, evil. Not in the same way his father and Voldemort are evil. Besides," Hermione moved closer to Ron, keeping her voice low. "I think Draco saw Lucius Malfoy kill one of the girls."

"So what?" Ron laughed coldly. "We all know Lucius Malfoy has killed a lot of people."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "There's a big difference between knowing and seeing. Just knowing doesn't mean anything. You don't have to see the face of the innocent person, the blood."

She got up, pacing. "Okay, I don't know if this is a proper analogy... When I was seven, I wanted to be a dentist. Both of my parents were dentists and they seemed really happy with it and I wanted to be close to them. So my dad took me to work with him and when I watched him do a root canal I cried for an hour."

Ron just blinked. "I think I understood about three words of that."

"Oh honestly, Ron... Take Muggle Studies!" Hermione shook her head. "What I'm trying to say is that Malfoy wanted to be a Death Eater because that's what Lucius Malfoy did. And when he saw exactly what he would have to do as a Death Eater, he got scared. I mean, really! Has Draco ever been anything resembling brave? He wants to protect himself and if that means working with us, he'll do it."

Ron just stared. "I cannot believe you're defending Draco Malfoy."

Hermione laughed. "I'm not defending him. He's a slimy, cowardly ferret. But that doesn't mean we can't use him."

Ron shook his head slowly. "Hermione, you're absolutely out of your mind."

Wormtail cowered as another glass bottle was thrown at his head.

"M-Master," Wormtail tried to shrink himself down as much as he could. It was his rat instinct-- make himself as small as possible, give a very little target. "Lucius has assured me... We will not fail this time."

"You have failed every other time," Voldemort's high-pitched voice penetrated Wormtail's entire being, sending a cold chill down his spine. "Why should this time be any different?"

"The spell has been hidden for many years. Dumbledore will not be able to find it before we have all the ingredients."

Another jar exploded above Wormtail's head. "If my followers had any brains, they would have taken that corpse with them! Because of their incompetence, Dumbledore knows I am planning something!"

"Lucius and Walden humbly apologise for their error, My Lord. They will be more discreet with the next donor."

"It matters not," Voldemort hissed. "Finding more dead will discourage Dumbledore and his lackeys."

"We will be successful this time, my Lord. I promise"

"Just as you promised sending Gwendolyn Maclay to Potter would succeed? Not only did we not get the boy, but I lost Akkei!"

Wormtail tried to find his voice again. "My Lord, I know you cared for her..."

Voldemort laughed. "I only cared for the power she offered me, you fool. I have long past foolish human emotions. She had not. The boy used that against me, set me back in my plan. If I had handfasted to Akkei, she would be dead by now and I would have her power! Now I have to follow this-- this-- contingency plan!"

"My Lord, please... Lucius has secured a talisman to circumvent the sanctuary charm. We can retrieve the second ingredients any time you wish."

"The spell requires more than two sets of eyes, Wormtail. Those two Gypos won't serve. I need others-- more powerful-- Seers. I need you to do something for me."

"Of course, of course..." Wormtail bowed to Voldemort. "Anything. What can I do for you, My Lord?"

"Before she died, Akkei told me something most interesting." Voldemort's lipless mouth curled in a smile. "Tell me about the wizard family you stayed with."

When Harry returned to the common room, Hermione sitting on the floor, several of her textbooks spread out in front of her. Ron was sitting next to her, wrinkling his nose as he flipped through a particular large book.

"Isn't it a little late for homework?" Harry asked, sitting down next to them. He picked up one of the open books, looking at the spine. These were not schoolbooks. They were older. The one Hermione held looked suspiciously like it was make out of human skin. "Okay, not homework."

"We're looking up spells or potions that might use seer's eyes." Hermione sighed. "I doubt I'm going to have much luck. I don't have many books that go that dark."

"Where did you get these ones?" Harry asked, afraid to know the answer.

"I got them last summer at the Used Bookstore in Diagon Alley. After Moody-- I mean, Crouch Jr.-- suggested we become Aurors, I thought it best to read more about the Dark Arts. You know, the only way to know how to avoid dark spells is to know them yourself."

"Constant vigilance," Ron added, tossing his book aside. "There's nothing in here, Hermione. Maybe we should use the invisibility cloak to go into the Restricted Section?"

"You're helping out?" Harry raised an eyebrow, staring at Ron. "I thought you wanted to stay out of this."

Ron opened a new book in his lap. "If two girls are dead and Trelawney is willing to blind herself to avoid danger, I don't think I have a choice. What about you?"

Harry ran a hand through his fringe, fingers grazing the scar on his forehead. "Eh... Destiny."

"Oh, you guys!" Hermione pulled them both into a huge hug, making both boys blush. "I'm so glad you guys are going to help. Anyway, I'm sure Dumbledore's thought of looking in the Restricted Section. But it might not hurt. But I think we should get a teacher's permission."

"Who would be that thick?" Harry asked. "Lockhart's not here anymore."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "They don't have to be thick, Harry. They have to be in on what's going on."

"So like McGonagall?" Harry laughed. "I doubt she would give us permission, even if we're trying to help out."

"I wasn't thinking of McGonagall. You're right, she probably wouldn't let us look in the Restricted Section. I was thinking of someone who might feel a little guilty about what's happened to us over the past few months."

Ron looked confused. "Who would feel guilty that's a teacher?"

"Miss Tsukino," Hermione replied. "She's teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts now officially. I heard Cho Chang and Roger Davis talking about her today. She knows what's going on and she feels very guilty over her role in Voldemort's plan."

"Are you suggesting we emotionally blackmail a teacher into letting us do something against school rules?" Harry gaped at Hermione.

Hermione nodded. "Yes. Is there something wrong with that?"

Harry look of surprise turned into a grin. "Not a thing I can think of."

Ron smacked himself on the forehead. "Man, I'm so stupid!"

"I can't disagree with that," Hermione teased. "What is it, Ron?"

Getting off the floor, Ron grabbed his book bag. He began to dig around in it. "This afternoon, in the Divinations classroom I found a parchment. It had the seal of the Kalderasha Gypsies on it. I nicked it, thinking it might be something important." He found the parchment and held it aloft. The books inside the bag had crumpled it.

"You haven't read it yet?" Harry looked over Ron's shoulder. "Come on, open it."

Hermione jumped up, scattering her books. "Well, I want to see it too! You think this is the reason Professor Trelawney hurt herself?"

Ron unfurled the parchment. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for the dark revelation that lay on the page. His heart began to beat faster as he saw--

"It's blank?" Harry exclaimed. "All of this for a blank bit of parchment?"

"What do you mean?" Ron asked.

"Well, maybe it's like Tom Riddle's diary. Maybe you have to write something on it before you see anything." Hermione answered Harry, ignoring Ron.

"What are you two talking about?" Ron repeated his previous question. "Are you insane?"

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked.

"I mean." Ron pointed at the parchment. "The writing is right there." He stabbed the parchment with his finger.

Hermione looked in closer, pressing her nose against the parchment. "There's nothing there Ron. Unless--"

"Unless what?" Harry looked thoroughly confused.

"Well, maybe only Seers can read it." Hermione answered. "Ron's been having visions, and you and I have never had any-- Well, except for your visions of Voldemort. Perhaps it's charmed so that only a true Seer can read it."

"I keep telling you I'm not a true Seer!" Ron whined.

"Well, if you can read the parchment," Harry said gently, "Can you read it to us, so we know what it says?"

Ron nodded. He felt his stomach turn as he read. "It was written in 1945, by Thagari Kalderasha... In the final years of the century, the Sight will die. The future shall be unknown. Seers, take heed-- You shall not survive the purge. Only the Chosen shall remain, the Saviour of the Romany . With the heart of a lion and marked by fire, one who has faced death shall be reborn as the Chosen."

"Why did that scare Trelawney so much?" Harry asked.

"Well? Isn't it obvious?" Hermione sat down. "She knew she wasn't the one. I mean, she's a crazy fraud. There was no way she could be the saviour in mentioned in that."

"But who's to say that's even true?" Harry sat down beside Hermione. "I mean, who knows who that Thagari was."

Hermione jumped up. She knelt down on the floor, going through her books, while Ron slid down beside Harry.

"I've heard that name before, I'm sure of it." She dug to the bottom of the pile. "A ha! I knew I had one. I got this out of the library for our History of Magic report on the Purge of Griendelwald."

Harry read the spine as Hermione flipped through the book. It read: The Rise and Fall of Griendelwald.

"Ah, here it is..." Hermione began to read aloud, "During the final days of the war, Kalderasha leader, Thagari Kalderasha, paired his magic with Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore to destroy what was left of Griendelwald. Thagari was fatally injured in this endeavour. As he died, he spoke a final prophecy to Dumbledore. The prophecy was recorded and enchanted, only Seers able to read its words. Its contents are still unknown, the Prophecy protected by the Guardian of the Eye."

Ron rolled the parchment again, resealing it. He slid it back into his bag.

"So what should we do?" Harry asked. "This could be really important in what's going on."

"We're going to go to bed," Ron replied. "We have class tomorrow."

"But Ron--" Hermione started.

"Go to bed, Hermione. You don't want to fall asleep in class." Ron smiled at her. "We don't need to do anything about this."

Ron watched his friends go to bed, as he quietly whispered, "I have to do something about this."

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