A/N: thanks for all the reviews, people! You're great readers :-)
Vanilla: this chapter takes place at the end of November, so Ginny is about two months pregnant. Way to go until the baby is born! (But I'll include it into the fic, of course.)
Hermione Gulliver: I'm glad that you find my story full of twists and turns… I tried my best – and more twists and turns are to come!
Kaitlin: sure, it will be revealed that Draco was the culprit. Not yet, though.
rangerprincess: I also thought that they were "bad teenagers", but it was fun for me to write them the way I did. *naughty me*
Tayla Riddle: you'll get more of Ginny's POV, some Sirius and lots of stuff about Dumbledore (Albus is one of my favourites). I understand that you might think that sometimes the story gets boring, but hey, not even Rowling had action on all pages! There need to be transition periods to let the plot evolve… you need to know that everything I write (even if it isn't always action-packed) leads to something BIG at the end. So be patient with me, okay?
sharliestar: you are right about the Prefects Bathroom: it was sickeningly mushy. I am not a romantic type at all, and don't like writing too fluffy stuff. It was my mother's fault that chapter 3 (the bathroom scene) got so sappy… she said I needed to show more of Harry's and Ginny's emotions, so I did. Blame my mother! (LOL, no, she is really sweet.)
Juliana Black: I'm happy to see you back among my reviewers! I kinda though that you got angry with me about making Draco such a really bad guy… but apparently you didn't get too mad :-) And you know, I just wrote him the way he usually is… evil. (But I love him being evil!!! Draco rocks!)
Waldomier: ((you're Cloe, aren't you?)) yeah, I'd also go to Egypt *sigh* that's why I'm sending Harry there… if I cannot go, at least he'll have fun there. And of course Harry will see Ginny again – although not yet, not yet…
Isis: sure, I watched The Mummy, and liked it. It inspired me a lot (you'll see, how.) And truth be told I was also thinking about becoming an egyptologist when I was younger. Egypt is a really interesting land… so full of magic…
myr_halcyon: they won't run into Bill, since Bill isn't working in Egypt anymore (in my story, at least…) But other interesting things will happen to them there, just have patience! (Anyway, they only get into Egypt in chapter 17.)
Okay, let's move on to the story! Enjoy… and review!
Chapter 15
Snape's greatest dream
Despite Snape's efforts to conceal the shame Draco had suffered from the astral hands of Peeves, by noon every single student of Hogwarts knew about the previous night's events – thanks to Crabbe, who accidentally tripped over the curb of the Great Hall, grabbing Draco' hat to stop himself falling. He fell, nevertheless, and so did Draco's hat, – revealing his locks that he had tried to hide beneath it… they were still blue and purple. Dumbledore couldn't remove the paint, not even with Mrs. Skower's All Purpose Magical Mess Remover.
Seeing Malfoy's hippie-like hairdo, the whole Great Hall erupted with laughter, and from that day he had to put up with everyone's teasing.
"Hey, Draco, did you really have suns wearing sunglasses on your robes?" Seamus shouted after the blonde boy.
"I heard that the orangutangs were terrific on your face, Malfoy!" Dean added.
"Is it true that all this could be thanked to Hermione and Ginny?" Ron asked with a smirk. He was terribly proud of his girlfriend and little sister.
"Yea, that's true, Weasel." Draco drawled. "And you know what? I could go and squeal on them if I wanted…"
"Really?" Ron raised an eyebrow. "And who would believe you – besides Snapey? Not to mention that you should be happy you didn't get punished for staying on the corridor after bedtime."
"It wasn't my choice to stay there, you know it as well as I do." Draco growled. "Now leave me alone and mind your own business… like… go and find your ratty friend! I hope you'll also get lost!"
Ron gasped. How could Draco know about Harry's disappearance?
"You are surprised that I know it, aren't you?" Malfoy sneered. "Getting painted from head to toe had at least one advantage: I heard Dumbledore telling Snape that Potter was missing. Oh, that poor little sister of yours! She won't have a chance to marry him, and your family will have to live in shame forever!" he cackled. "Another field-day for the journalists, Weasel! Imagine the headline: 'Weasley child – now surely illegitimate', or 'The runaway groom'. Cool, aren't they?"
Ron was about to punch Draco's face when the voice of McGonagall interrupted their little chat: "Every students go back into your common rooms! Teachers into the stuff room, please!"
"See, Weasel?" Malfoy grinned. "They are gonna have a teachers' conference about that worth-nothing buddy of yours! Well, see you at next Potions class! We are going to learn about some cool poisons… I'll ask Snape to try them on you!" and off he went, leaving a furious Ron behind.
"Mr. Weasley, didn't you hear Professor McGonagall's command?" professor Flitwick asked, hurrying up to the staff room.
Ron just nodded.
The teachers were going to have a meeting to discuss the case of poor Harry, who had got lost. Ron had never felt so miserable before – he feared to have lost his best friend… forever.
* * * * *
"Is it true, Albus?" Professor Lupin asked, frowning.
"Yes, to my greatest regret, it's true." the headmaster sighed. "The boy got lost, and we cannot find him – not even via owl-post. I've already sent Hagrid to look for him at the Dursleys', but they said that Harry had decided to come back to Hogwarts right after dinner, and set out for Mrs. Figg's… but never arrived there… No one knows where he is. Supposedly a strong curse is hiding him from us – a curse that makes him unrecognisable to the owls."
"But what kind of curse could that be?" professor Sprout interjected.
"We can only guess." McGonagall replied. "But Albus is in the firm belief that it must have been connected to a certain potion called Teih-Nessegrev."
"What?" Flitwick hopped up. "I've never heard about such a potion. Have you, Severus?"
Snape didn't answer at once. He remembered having taught this potion to the sevenths-years just about eight or nine days earlier. "Yes, of course I know that one. It is one of the most difficult potions on the world. I taught… er, tried to teach it to the seventh-years last week. No one of them managed to make it properly. *No one, except Malfoy.* he added in thought.
"What do you know about it?" Minerva demanded.
"It was invented by a German wizard in the thirteenth century. Its name originates from the German word 'Vergessenheit', that means oblivion. It is only effective when added to clear water, and it totally erases the drinker's memory. Yeah, and its side effect is that it gives the drinker an invisible aura that hides him from the owls. Up till now no antidote has been invented. Well, that's all I can tell you about that potion." he shrugged. "Anyway, we cannot be sure that Potter got poisoned by this one. There are so many other possibilities as well."
"Yes? Name one!" Lupin said.
Snape didn't react on Lupin's words. He still couldn't stand that werewolf, no matter what a good teacher he was. Remus got the job of the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher again, which, of course, made him even less likeable to Snape.
"What can we do now?" Flitwick asked. "Should we send people all over England to find Potter?"
"No." Dumbledore answered. "We have to keep this a secret as long as possible. We could only send one of us."
"Yes, of course we should send someone!" McGonagall exclaimed, her eyes sparkling behind her rectangular glasses. "Someone HAS to find that poor boy! He has very likely lost his memories and cannot find his way back here! Can you imagine what terrible dangers could he get into? Especially with You-Know-Who ravaging around? We've got to find that boy – we owe him that much!"
"Owe – him?" Snape looked like as if he'd just swallowed a skrewt.
"Yes, Severus, we do!" Minerva stated with an extremely strict glance. "Without him Hogwarts would have been destroyed for several times by now! He saved the school from that crazy Quirrel, dealt with the perils of the Chamber of Secrets and managed to drive the Dark Lord away last year, too."
"That was Black, not Potter." Snape pointed out.
"Black couldn't have succeeded without Harry." Dumbledore answered. "You have to acknowledge that, Severus."
"Yes, of course… we mustn't forget what Potter had done for the school… drawing it into the greatest scandal of the century." Snape murmured under his breath, feeling totally humiliated. His colleagues were telling him off – because of Potter! Again Potter! ALWAYS Potter! Not even a lost – or dead – Potter could leave him in peace!
"Okay. Let's close this debate." Lupin cut in. "I shall go and look for Harry… if you give your consent, Albus."
Dumbledore looked contemplative for a minute. "But who will teach your subject in your absence?"
"My prominent colleague, Professor Snape." Remus replied.
Snape looked up. What? Lupin commending him to the headmaster? He must have been dreaming.
He pinched himself. No, it was no dream. "I'll gladly deputise for Lupin." he turned to Dumbledore.
"I can imagine how gladly, Severus." Albus nodded. "All right. Remus, come with me. We have to discuss the details of your journey."
As the door slammed shut behind the headmaster and the werewolf, a wicked grin spread on Snape's yellowish face.
At last. He'd have what he'd always wanted. And truth be told, he had to thank it to Potter…
* * * * *
"Rooon! How long do I have to wait for you?" Hermione asked nervously. "DADA is about to start in two minutes! Stop dawdling with that toast, will you?
Ron kept chewing. "Don't rush me, Herm!"
"But I don't want to be late for Lupin's class! He said we'd learn about the Yetis today!"
"The Yetis?" Ron groaned. "Oh, no! We've already learnt about them… in second class, don't you remember? That Lockhart guy told Harry to imitate a Yeti that he'd allegedly vindicated years earlier." Ron reached out for the jug of milk. "Do you remember poor Harry having to wear the fur of a grizzly bear to look a bit like a Yeti?" his heart sank at that moment. He might as well have asked: 'Do you remember Harry?' he knew that Hermione was suffering as much as he was – neither of them managed to keep their best friend out of their minds for a single minute. Ron supposed that Ginny was feeling the same way: desperate, almost hopeless.
"Leave that jug, Ron and come at last!" the girl commanded.
"Aye, aye, captain!" the boy sighed and stood up. "I hope this lesson will be more enjoyable than that one with Mr. Goldilocks!"
"Of course it will be much better. Lupin's lessons are always great." Hermione replied as they hurried upstairs. When they reached the door of the DADA classroom, they found it already closed. "See? We are late!" the girl frowned.
"Luck that Lupin never punishes anyone…" Ron said aloud while opening the door.
"That is Lupin, Weasley. Not me." a grim voice came from inside.
Ron and Hermione exchanged horror-stricken glances. They both felt as if blood had frozen in their veins. "It's… it's… Snape…" the boy whispered. "What are we gonna do now?"
For possibly the first time in her life, Hermione had no idea what to answer.
"If you don't want me to take fifty points from Gryffindor – fifty per head – then don't make us wait any longer, Weasley!" Snape's voice came out of the classroom.
The two youngsters gulped and entered. All eyes focused on them as they headed for their seats.
"I didn't let you sit down!" Severus said harshly. Hermione and Ron turned around. "Weasley, stand into the corner, and for the remaining part of the lesson, repent your cheek. Granger, get to the table and write "I swear I will never be late for the lesson of professor Snape" for… let's say… five hundred times." Hermione didn't believe her ears. No teacher in the whole school could do THIS to HER! "What are you waiting for, Granger? Move your butt!"
Whaaat? Hermione got livid with fury. How dare anyone speak to her like that? She is a model student! No one has the right to treat her that way! NO ONE!
"Hey, come, Herm!" Ron held out the chalk for her.
"No, Ron, thanks." she replied, then turned to Snape. "I – will – not – write - down – that – rubbish – for - five – hundred - times!" she yelled.
"Herm…" Ron took her arm.
"No, Ron, let me speak!" she tossed him away.
"Speak?" Snape scowled at her. "I don't remember having given you my consent to open your big mouth, Granger! If you don't comply, you may as well go! The door is that way! And don't dare come back to any of my classes – Potions included!"
"Are you sacking me, Professor?" Hermione shouted. "Okay, I'm going to Professor Dumbledore! Let's see his opinion about your methods of education!"
"Easy does it, Granger!" Snape sneered. "Dumbledore, alas, is outdoors right now."
"Then I'll go the Professor McGonagall!" she retorted.
"She left together with Albus, last night. They won't be back in the next two weeks." Severus smirked even more.
"Okay, then! I'm leaving!" she looked at Ron. "Are you also coming?"
The boy shook his head. "No, Herm… and neither should you…" he was rewarded by the most withering look Hermione had ever given him. "I'm sorry…" he mumbled, but the girl didn't hear him anymore.
She had left.
* * * * *
Their next lesson was Care of Magical Creatures, and the students were washing the Martians again. Hagrid seemed to be in quite a good mood. "Silence… silence and peace…" he sighed. "No Malfoy ter bother us no more… Fer a prefect he still doesn' know how ter behave…" his eyes fell on Ron. "Why are yeh lookin' that sad? Yeh should be happy that that flobberworm isn' here."
"He ran away from last class… just like Hermione." the boy muttered.
"Hermione?" the giant's eyes widened. "What'd yeh mean? Er, I've wanted ter ask yeh why yer girlfriend wasn' here."
Ron blushed. How could Hagrid know about his romance with Hermione? "I'll tell you later, okay?"
The half-giant nodded. "Okay, everyone, pick up the brushes again an' scrub the Martians' back! Hurry up, I want 'em as fragrant as the wildflowers in the Hogwarts parks!"
All students got down to cleaning the smelly, greenish aliens that made funny, belching sounds all along.
"Now tell me, what's botherin' yeh?" Hagrid turned to Ron after every student left. "Get it off yer chest!"
Ron sat down next to his friend. "Everything… everything went wrong, Hagrid. First of all, Harry got lost."
"I know." the giant said with a resigned voice.
"He is lost, and no owls can find him." Ron sighed. "Surely that's why Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall and Lupin left the castle. Maybe they want to look for him, I don't know. But now Snape is our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and he had a terrible row with Hermione, who ran away… I think she got terribly angry with me, because I didn't want to stand up to Snape. She must be feeling betrayed… betrayed by me."
"Hey…" Hagrid squeezed Ron's shoulders. "It wasn' yer fault. Yeh were right that yeh didn' oppose Snape. He can be quite nasty sometimes."
"Quite nasty? That's a grave understatement!" Ron said. "I have to go, Hagrid. Have to find her and tell her that I…"
"That yeh love her, right?"
"Exactly." Ron gave his friend a small smile and off he went.
* * * * *
"Herm…"
"Don't talk to me." the girl answered, never looking up from her book – the fourth volume of Beautiful Bill's Biography. Maybe she was determined to annoy Ron, clearly showing that she was reading that particular book.
"Look, Herm, I…"
The girl slammed the book shut, stood up and headed for the door of the library.
Ron, however, didn't intend to let her go. He grabbed her arm to hold her back.
"Do – not – touch – me – you…" she hissed, trying to break free, but Ron's hands held her in a vice-like grip.
"…what?" he asked, trying to complete the sentence: "Traitor? Maybe. Fool? I don't think so. If one of use could be called a fool, then it's surely not me."
Hermione knitted her eyebrows, her pretty face contorting into the image of a banshee just about to shriek. "You chose… you chose Snape! Not me, him!" she shouted.
"I didn't want to get expelled, Herm. Snape is the deputy headmaster in Dumbledore and McGonagall's absence. He has all the power and no sentient being at Hogwarts would cross him!"
"Do you mean that I'm not sentient?" she gritted her teeth. (Since that incident in fourth year, she had the nicest row of teeth in the whole school – still, Ron didn't like it now.)
"Listen, Hermione, I don't want to argue with you! I love you!"
"Hah! Love me? You chose a strange way to prove it." she tried to toss his arms away, but the boy still held her close – maybe even closer than a minute earlier.
"Hermione, getting ourselves sacked isn't the right path to follow, is it? Especially not now, when we are in our final year!" he tried to affect Hermione's common sense and her enthusiasm for studying. "Just think of all those cool exams we'll have to take at the end of the year! Do you want to miss them all? Imagine those wonderful tasks: McGonagall will surely make us transform each other into dagger-toothed tigers! Binns will make us write a twenty-feet-long essay on Frankie the Freckled and Victor the Vicious. And of course there'll be terrific tasks from Hagrid too, for example having to steal a horn from the Hungarian Horntail dragon, or having to ride a wild unicorn… You don't want to be left out of all these fun, do you?"
The girl looked down on her shoes. Ron was right. She'd never miss the opportunity to become a full-fledged witch – and not even Snape could prevent her from becoming one.
"Okay." she sighed. "I'm gonna apologise by Snape and even humiliate myself if needed. I WANT that diploma."
"Clever girl." Ron smiled. "You'll be the best witch ever."
"Sure, I will." she replied. "Would you please let go of me now?"
"Oh… sorry." he blushed and followed her with his eyes. "Er, Herm…" She turned back from the doorframe. "I meant it."
"What?" she looked amused.
"That I loved you. I really do."
"You'd better mean it." Hermione said and, screwing up her courage, she left for Snape's room to plead him to let her attend his classes as before.
* * * * *
A loud bang came from upstairs. Molly Weasley dropped the frying pan. "What are you two doing again???" she shouted angrily.
"Nothin', mom!" George yelled back.
"Nothing?" his mother freaked. "You scared me so much that I dropped my favourite frying pan! It was the one I got from your father as a wedding present, and now it got dented! It's all your fault, and don't ever deny it!"
"We won't mom." came Fred's voice.
"Come down, breakfast is ready!" Molly shouted. "Though you wouldn't deserve it." she added.
"Coming!" the twins yelled in unison. A minute later two scorched Weasley twins thundered downstairs. "What's for breakfast? We're starving!"
"Stop!" their mother cried. "Stop at the doorframe! Don't you come into my newly cleaned kitchen until you haven't cleaned yourselves, too!"
"But mom, it's just a bit of soot, nothing else!" George whined. "We are hungry!"
"Up! I said go upstairs!" Molly howled at them. "I want to hear the water run!"
"Okay…" sighed Fred. "C'mon, George."
They went upstairs and turned on the taps. "Now mom can hear the water run." George snickered. They waited for another two minutes – the usual time necessary for a quick wash – then went downstairs.
"Ready, mom. Can we have the toasts, please?"
"Sit down." Molly told them with a small smile. "Your breakfast, here…" she was about to hand Fred a toast, who reached out for it with both hands. Molly jerked the toast back and grabbed Fred's hand. "Do you call this clean? Do you???"
Fred cast a glance at his palm. "Geez, it must have got dirty when we came downstairs… you know I grabbed the bars of the stairs… they must have been a bit dusty, I guess…"
"Dusty, eh?" Mrs. Weasley knitted her eyebrows. At that moment she looked exactly like Percy when being disturbed in the middle of writing a report on cauldron thickness. "Just to inform you, I cleaned the bars yesterday."
"Really?" George gave her an innocent look. "Er, must have been the ghoul from the attic. He was surely very bored and dirtied the bars just for fun…"
"Just for fun, huh?" Molly looked at them wearing a 'don't-take-me-for-a-fool-stare'. "Get out of my sight! No breakfast today!"
"But, mom…"
"No 'but mom'." Mrs. Weasly replied sternly. "You had a chance and you forfeited it. Now…"
She couldn't finish her sentence, because the flames in the fireplace started to crackle, indicating an incoming call or visitor.
It happened to be the latter.
An old lady stumbled out of the fireplace, her jet-black cat jumping down from her arms.
"Vader! Come back right now!" she yelled after the kitty, that didn't seem to have heard her. "Oh, my I'm sorry, Mrs. Weasley, he is my newest cat, just bought him yesterday. He's still a kitten and very mischievous."
"Oh, never mind. We like cats." Molly answered. "But would you please tell us who you are?"
"Oh, how ill-mannered I am!" the old women turned red. "My name is Arabella Figg." she stretched out her hand and Molly shook it.
"Pleased to meet you, Ms. Figg. Or Mrs. Figg?"
"Oh, yes, Mrs. Figg. I'm a widow." Arabella replied. "Vader! Leave that curtain! Don't you scratch that door! Oh, I'm sorry, Mrs. Weasely, he's so playful. Maybe I shouldn't have brought him."
"Maybe." Molly nodded. "To what do I owe the honour of your visit, Mrs. Figg?"
"Oh, I almost forgot." Arabella chuckled. "Well, it's about Harry Potter. I know where he is."
"At the Dursleys', I presume." Molly replied, believing that the old woman was somewhat senile.
"At the Dursleys'?" Mrs. Figg raised an eyebrow. "You haven't heard it yet?"
"What?" Mrs. Weasley asked, confused.
Fred and George exchanged worried glances.
"Harry left the Dursleys almost two weeks ago, and no one knows where he'd gone."
"Left? No one knows… oh my! He fled! He got scared from the responsibility of having to marry my Ginny and fled! That damned little…"
"No, no, no, please, Mrs. Weasley, let me finish!" Arabella cut in. "He didn't flee at all. He lost his memories and got lost somehow. Look at this." she handed a newspaper to the red-headed woman. "A Muggle paper, that one of my old friends brought me after having travelled through the town of Great Winging."
Molly unfolded the paper. On the second page she saw two people: Harry and… "Hey, that's Gilderoy Lockhart!" she gasped.
"Lockhart?" the twins gaped. "With Harry?"
"Yeah, look: 'TWO UNFORTUNATE AMNESIACS WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO RECOGNISE THEM'." Molly read out the headline. "Poor, poor dear Harry…" tears appeared in the corners of her eyes. "And I almost thought that he was… it's not his fault…" she wiped her tears away. "But look! His forehead!"
"What is with his forehead?" the twins asked curiously.
"The scar! I can't see the scar!"