"Professor Dumbledore, we did not hear you come in." Draco responded with a hint of an apology in his voice.
"Yes, I am aware." Dumbledore quipped, giving them an amused look over his glasses.
Ginny, feeling uncomfortable about being caught saying he was short a few marbles, kept her eyes focused on the very interesting stone floors.
Dumbledore simply stared at Ginny until she raised her eyes to his. He smiled a wicked smile at her and said, "Mrs. Malfoy, I am aware there are people in this world who think I am quite mad. And, to be honest, I might be. However, I do know how to live; and to live one must be able to enjoy all aspects of life…all aspects. That is why I wanted you to figure this out on your own. You will appreciate the fight you have in front of you more if you have taken the time to learn the who, what and why on your own. Were I to simply hand you all the pieces of the puzzle partly put together, you would never be able to enjoy each piece that is needed to make the whole. Understand?"
Ginny simply nodded. Now, she felt even more embarrassed as her very maroon face showed.
"May we see the book, Professor Dumbledore?" Draco asked for his unnaturally quiet wife.
"Of course," he responded with a great flick of the fingers on his right hand.
The book appeared on the table before Ginny and Draco. It was a very small book with only about twenty to thirty pages. It was oddly shaped. Instead of the normal rectangular shape, it was oval like some children's story books are to make them more entertaining and fun. The book was covered in purple velvet that matched Dumbledore's robes perfectly, a little too perfectly many would think. To complete the ensemble, the velvet covering had obviously been charmed to randomly display twinkling yellow stars all over the cover. The title was nowhere to be seen.
Draco grabbed the book and placed it in front of him. He, then, opened the book to find very unusual pages. Instead of normal wood based paper, there were very thick cardboard like pages with pop-up images. Again, they very much reminded one of children's story books.
The first page was the title with author very clearly stated and a pop up image of the Vatican in Italy. Draco just shook his head in exasperation. He was beginning to understand why Dumbledore wanted this book in his private collection.
He turned to the next page and things began getting interesting. Essentially, it seemed, the book had been succinctly divided up to present the characteristics of the Predictor. The page read, "
v The Predictor is always born of the Union of the Flames.
v The flames are colored the same.
v The color of the flames is red in body and soul.
v They are nice yet can be as ferocious as the Lioness."
The page ended with a pop up caricature of a female lion, the lioness of the jungle. It became animated and gave a ferocious roar that caused all of them to jump. It began pawing at the page as if to insist that they turn the page…but before the group saw the lioness make that telling move; Draco turned to Ginny and pushed the book to her.
"Well, I guess we know who the Predictor is now. Of course, you already knew that Professor Dumbledore. Yes?"
Ginny gave Draco a funny, questioning look and then looked at the book in front of her. It took only a minute to read the text on the page and Ginny realized what Draco had meant. She was the Predictor.
"Oh goodness, I am the Predictor. All the references here state that the Predictor is a lioness not a lion. I am the only female of the union. I have to be the Predictor."
Ginny looked very pale and lost. Draco tried to comfort her, but she kept her attention on the book in front of her. She had noticed the lioness and her telling movements. Ginny knew there was more and it was not good.
She turned the page and her face, much to the dismay of Draco, became even paler. Her eyes were moving quickly over the page in front of her; she was obviously reading the page and she did not like what she was reading.
Draco stood up from his chair and walked around the table they had been sharing. He stopped behind Ginny and looked over her shoulder at the pages. He, too, went pale as he saw what was bothering her.
Dumbledore took in the scene before him and realized that they had come across the bad news. He sighed and sat down in the chair Draco had previously used.
At the sound of the opposite chair scraping across the stone floor, Draco and Ginny looked up to see Dumbledore sitting across from them with a sad look in his eyes.
"I see you have found out more information on your role as the Predictor. We should discuss this when you are ready. Would you like to do it now or later?" Dumbledore kindly asked.
"Later," Draco hastily responded, "I think Ginny and I need to speak about this alone first."
Dumbledore nodded in an understanding way and stood up to leave. Before he did though, he said, "I'll help in anyway that I can. You need only ask." He turned and was gone.
"Ginny are you all right?"
"I'm not sure. This is a bit much to take in…I think I need some time. Do you think maybe Professor Dumbledore would allow us to take this book and return home? I think I would like to spend some time with my family and maybe talk to Mom and Dad about their roles in all this. What do you think? Do you think it's a good idea?"
"I think it is a great idea. Let's go to Dumbledore's office and see if we can floo home, okay?"
Ginny nodded in agreement and stood up. Draco offered her his arm and she intertwined her arm with his. They walked to Madam Pince and gave her a slight wave goodbye. She acknowledged them with a brief nod and a smile. They walked out of the library and headed towards Professor Dumbledore's office.
They walked down a host of steps and were greeted by practically every oil painting on the walls. Ginny and Draco continually gave them smiles and nods in acknowledgement until they came across one that caught their attention for some reason.
The painting was a large one in bright, vivid oils. It was about a meter by two meters in size and depicted a small, red headed girl swinging in a swing. The swing was attached to the branch of a large oak tree that had to be many years old. The girl was wearing a pale pink empire waist dress that billowed around her ankles as she floated back and forth. Her feet were bare and were crossed in a lady like fashion at the ankles. Her face was cherubic. It was slightly round and had distinct pink blotches on her cheeks from the exercise. Her eyes were the colour of rare, fire opals from the mines of Australia, which meant that they changed colour according to where you were looking at them from. Her lips were a burgundy wine colour, and moved as she hummed. The little girl was frantically swinging back and forth and humming loudly. It reminded one of a small child that wanted to drown out all the noise around them.
She was in the forefront while a large lake, hill and castle filled the background.
She continued swinging while a great Grim ran from beside the lake to the other side of the tree she was swinging from.
The Grim barked loudly and scared the little girl. She flew off the swing and landed in a heap on the ground. Before she had a chance to begin crying, the Grim ran to her and licked her face. She giggled and looked directly at Ginny.
"Hello Predictor!" she said in a giddy girl's voice.
Ginny and Draco looked at the girl with startled eyes. She was still smiling back at them and scratching the Grim behind its ears.
"How did you know that?" Draco asked.
"I know because I am supposed to know. I also know that I see a Great Dragon." she explained.
"Is there a dragon harassing you from one of the other pictures, sweetie?" Ginny asked with concern.
"No, I see him with you." the little girl said over her shoulder as she ran with the Grim towards the lake.
Draco and Ginny looked at one another.
"Dragon…?" they said in unison.