Title: Eyes of the Chosen
Author: Emcee
Summary: Draco discovers Derek's plan to save Ron and at St. Mungo's, Harry meets Savori Kalderasha.
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 SEVENTEEN
Crazy Kalderasha
Harry looked down at Hermione as the mediwitches fussed over her. He had worried his lower lip so much, small indents were beginning to develop in the tender flesh.
Hermione looked very pale, dark circles under her eyes. Harry could feel the wrenching of his stomach. Had this been what Hermione and Ron had felt when he had emerged from the graveyard during the third task?
Neville stood nearby. He was nearly as pale as Hermione. He kept wringing his hands together.
"I'm sure she'll be all right," Neville murmured. "I mean..."
"Where's Ron?" Hermione croaked.
Harry snapped to attention at the sound of Hermione weak voice. He took her hand, stroking it gently. "He said he had some studying to do."
"At least one of you is listening to me." Her laughter quickly turned into a coughing fit.
"Let me get you a glass of water." Harry pulled out his wand and muttered the charm. His wand didn't do anything. It didn't produce a flash, or summon up the water like it was supposed to. Harry blinked, then shook his wand. He tried it again.
"Honestly, Harry," Hermione whispered. "We learned about it in Charms. You can't cast spells at St. Mungo's."
Harry quirked an eyebrow. "Really? But... Why..."
"Sanctorum Spell." Both Harry and Hermione were surprised to hear Neville speak. "The building is enchanted so only the Mediwitches and Healers can cast spells. It's to protect the patients. They're not well. They could do something wrong."
Hermione appeared confused, but Harry understood. Neville had probably spent enough time here at St. Mungo's with his parents to know the inner workings.
"See those medallions the Mediwitches are wearing?" Neville pointed a trembling finger towards the mediwitch who was summoning up a steaming potion and then placing it on Hermione's bedside. "That counteracts the Sanctorum charm, so they can use magic in here."
"You two should go find Remus." Hermione gave Harry's hand a brief squeeze. "What is he doing?"
Harry and Neville looked at each other. Remus had said he had to attend to a few things. At first thought, Harry believed him to be settling Miss Tsukino into her room. They did seem very close. But as he had been going off with Hermione, he saw Miss Tsukino go off with her nurses, while Remus and Severus went down another corridor.
"Maybe we should find him," Neville murmured, wringing his hands together again, looking around. He was breathing heavily.
"But... Hermione..." Harry looked down at her.
"I'll be fine." Hermione squeezed his hand.
"She should be asleep anyway," one of the mediwitches clucked disapprovingly. She was almost a clone of Madame Pomfrey. Was that a requirement?
Harry raised Hermione's hand to his mouth, kissing her knuckles. "We'll be back later. Get some sleep."
Harry left Hermione's room, Neville close on his heels. The hospital was very a stark white, painting decorating the walls. The inhabitants of the portraits kept suggesting remedies for Neville's shakes.
"I'll be fine," Neville muttered, "Just a bit... I don't like this place."
"Remus was down here last time we saw him." Harry pointed down a corridor, grabbing Neville's sleeve and pulling him along.
"Please, I need to know, have you seen anything?" Remus' gentle voice had a pleading tint to it. Harry pressed his ear to the door it seemed to emanate from.
"How should I know?" The other voice was tense. It was feminine, but it was definitely not Miss Tsukino. "Stuck in here. Don't see much."
"I know you better than that. You watch everything. Come on... This might affect you. A Kalderasha has already died."
"I don't have the Sight. Though it might explain a lot of things. There's someone at the door. Better let them in. Can't leave someone waiting at the door."
There were footsteps and the door opened. Remus looked down at them. "Harry? Neville? Why aren't you with Hermione?"
"She needed to sleep." Harry wasn't going to bother being embarrassed about being caught eavesdropping. He wanted to know what was going on with this mission they were on. "What are you doing?"
"Introduce us, please." The woman Remus had been speaking to was standing on her bed, her feet bare. She was dressed in long white robes, almost like a nightdress. Long black hair cascaded down her back. The tresses were knotted and wild, as if she had not seen a comb in years.
"This is Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom." Remus said gently. "Are you going to turn around and introduce yourself?"
Slowly, the girl began to turn. Only hints of her features were visible under her matted hair. "Now... I don't want to scare them, do I?"
Raising a hand slowly, she pushed the hair out of her face.
With hauntingly grey eyes, pale skin and full lips, this girl was once very pretty. The vision was marred by rough, twisted scars littering the right side of her face. The scars extended from her chin, up to the top of her head. Now that she had moved her hair, Harry could see she had a large bald patch where the scars continued.
Harry hissed in a breath, trying not to show too much reaction. Neville reached out, gripping Harry's wrist.
The girl laughed heartily, pointing at the two boys. "I love it when people do that."
Remus sighed deeply, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Harry, Neville, this is Savori Kalderasha."
Harry hissed again, that name ringing in his memory.
This scarred girl was Sirius' daughter.
And judging from her maniacal laughter, she was completely insane.
****
Draco thought prefect patrol was exceedingly boring. After this afternoon's attack by Walden Macnair, all of the students had been scared into their Common Rooms, save for a few students willing to brave the library.
He had been walking around for an hour. He hadn't even seen a student he could possibly give detention to.
Oh well. He would just head back to his dormitory and try to avoid Crabbe, Goyle and Zabini. That would be easy enough.
Then he heard a grunting noise. It was anxious. Maybe two students had decided on a midnight rendezvous in the corridor.
He turned to the corner, ready to dish out some deserved detention. He was not prepared for what he saw.
Ron was spread out on the floor. Derek was bent over him, his arms wrapped around his waist. He was trying to pick him up.
There was a fleeting feeling of something Draco could not identify. Then he blinked. "What in the..."
Derek turned, his eyes wide. He relaxed when he saw it was Draco. "Help me here!"
"Are we killing Weasley?" Draco asked. "Okay." He strode over, picking up Ron's feet.
"We're not killing him. We're keeping him safe. I need to get him to my camp. In the Forbidden Forest."
Draco dropped Ron's feet, not caring when they hit the stone floor with a dull thump. He shook his head. "No way. I'm not going anywhere near the Forbidden Forest. Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
"I live there, you prat," Derek grunted, trying to pick Ron up again. "Come on, just help me. I can't do this on my own."
"May I remind you, Gypsy, that a Death Eater charged out of that Forest today?" Draco crossed his arms tightly over his chest. "I don't care if you have lived there your entire life. I am not going anywhere near there."
Derek scowled at Draco, his light eyes filled with fury. "Fine then. I'll do it by myself."
He grabbed Ron by the wrists, dragging him across the floor. He kept grunting, struggling to pull Ron's prone body along. Draco couldn't help but laugh at the sight. "You're really serious about this."
Derek halted, dropping Ron. He fell like a ragdoll. "My mum needs to see him. Badly. There's something odd about him."
Draco exhaled, running a hand through his light blonde hair. "I could have told you that. It's nothing interesting though." He shook his head as he watched Derek struggle. "Oh, for... Don't be such a Muggle!"
Draco pulled out his wand, waving it. "Mobilicorpus."
Ron's limp body rose a foot of the ground. His head lolled, his red hair falling in front of his face.
Derek frowned slightly, looking up at the unconscious body. He ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head.
"What's wrong with you?" Draco spat.
Derek let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm feeling guilty!"
Draco's lips curled into a smirk. His cold, grey eyes glittered menacingly. "So... That's what guilt looks like, huh? Well, get over it. I thought this was important." He added a whiny drawl to the final word.
Derek scowled, his glared settling upon Draco's self-satisfied smirk. "If you're going to be a jerk, you can just go."
Draco shook his head, his wand still extended. "I can't. I've got to come with you now. Carry him along."
Derek shook his head, looking furious. "Fine then. Let's just go."
Draco was smirking as he walked alongside Derek. "You know, you're amusing when you're riled."
"You're not funny."
"Well, I think I am."
****
Savori's light eyes stared right into Harry, her lip curled in a twisted smile. The tough, leathery scars showed no wrinkles. It was disconcerting to Harry as she stared at him.
"Harry James..." Savori hissed. "I remember you. I was just a little girl, begging Prongs to let me hold you. Grew up okay, didn't you? How is my erstwhile father?"
Harry felt his breath catch in his throat. This was so much different than seeing Derek. Derek had never met his father. Savori had, she had grown up with him.
"Has he ever mentioned me?" She asked quietly. "His youthful indiscretion? The mistake that never went away?"
Harry turned back to Remus and Neville, looking for help. What was he supposed to say? This obviously insane girl was questioning him on Sirius. Of all of the subjects Harry could be questioned on, save for his parents, Sirius was the hardest.
Harry didn't need to say anything. Remus did instead. "Savori, we need to talk. Has anyone been here? You see things around here. Anyone you don't trust."
"Malfoy," Savori murmured. She raked her fingers through her hair. When she pulled them out, clumps of raven hair were stuck between her fingers. "He's been here. But that's not out of the ordinary. He likes to see where his money is going. I saw you last year, you know, Harry."
Harry shook his head, laughing nervously. "I would have remembered you, Savori."
"On the Knight's Bus. I was under a cloak. Didn't want to scare people." Her eyes left Harry for a moment, drifting over to Remus.
"Why did you leave?" Remus asked, a slightly chiding hint to his voice. "You know you're not supposed to leave the hospital."
"I needed a new lighter." Savori looked back to Harry. "You see Harry, I like fire. It's warm. Alive. Very soothing. Since I had my wand broken, I have to do things the Muggle way."
"Savori, you're not supposed to be lighting things on fire." Remus shook his head sadly, clucking his tongue.
"This room's been charmed by the mediwitches," Savori retorted. She pulled a lighter from her robes. She flicked it, her eyes lighting up as she watched the flame. "Nothing burns in here." She stuck her arm over the flame, her plain robes falling into the dancing orange flames. They didn't react to the heat. "Not even me."
"Still as mad as ever, I see," Snape drawled. He stood in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest.
"Get the hell out of here," Savori spat. She threw the lighter at Snape, his sleeve catching fire.
Snape let out a yelp, beating out the flame. His black eyes glowed with anger. Harry wasn't sure if Snape had ever been that livid, even with him. Of course, Harry had never tried to immolate him.
"Charm only goes to the threshold," Savori sang out, her lip curled in a snarl. "Now get the hell out before I do a lot more, Gazda."
Snape's eyes narrowed. "I would like nothing more, you little swot. Lupin, Potter, Longbottom-- Visiting hours are over."