A/N: Oh my, you are REALLY wonderful readers! Thank you for all your compliments!

Tayla Riddle: Don't worry, I wasn't offended at all.

Creamy Mimi: Snape does not want Harry to be lost forever because he knows things… well, not telling what… but in chapter 14 Snape thought: *Under normal circumstances I'd certainly think of something to keep Potter away from the school forever… but given that pregnancy… and everything that ensues when the child is born… like it or not, Potter has to be found.* So, no matter how much he hates Harry, he wants him to come back. (Though he'd never show or tell it to anyone.)

sharliestar: I didn't take your review as a flame :-)

Hermione Gulliver: you wrote: "Because he has no memories he doesn't need a reminder, aka the scar?? I'm sure your explanation is much better!" – well, it's not better just much simpler.

clara2000: I'm happy that you liked the painted Malfoy! I liked him too!!!

PadmeSkywalker: ((hm, another SW fan? I'm one, too)) I promise you that Harry will get his memories back, but it won't happen right now. He needs to be amnesiac for a while because the plot requires it.

sirius's biggest fan: everyone asks when the baby will be born. I'm not telling yet – well, maybe it'll happen some time in December… (I mean in real-time December. In the story it will happen in June.) As about the scar… everyone asks that, too… you'll find out at the end of the story. (And yes, he'll get it back! Harry Potter is no Harry Potter without his scar!)

Waldomier: I'm glad that you liked Mrs. Figg, it was real fun for me to write such a crazy but loveable old hag :-)

Lionheart Eternal: don't worry, Millicent won't make more problems for Harry… but for someone else she will.

Jenna: the answer to your question is yes, but only in an implied way, not "on-screen".

Iris McCartney: I'm delighted that my story leaves you guessing, and that you think it's true to the feeling of the books. That's the greatest compliment I could get. (And yes, Harry Potter really rules! :)

Jesse: have I made you a Mrs. Figg fan??? lol…

Amanda: the Dursleys won't find out what Dudley did, but even if they found it out, they wouldn't care. They are happy about having got rid of Harry. (About the movie: which HP fan wouldn't want to be in it??? I would even be happy to play a suit of armour…)

Ghetto: I know the REAL song of the dwarf by heart (as well as I know the songs of the sphinx and the merpeople by heart). You should have realised that I rewrote the dwarf's song so that it would suit the situation (Ginny being pregnant, Harry being scared). That's all I can comment on your remark.

The Firefaery: I'm sorry that you don't like Lockhart, because you'll have to put up with him in about 5-6 chapters. My mother also used to hate him but she said that I managed to make her like Gilderoy. About the baby: Ginny won't have twins, only one kid. I'm not revealing the gender yet. A sonogram examination would be cute, but there's really no place for such Muggle stuff in a HP story.

obi_ewan_maul_lover: I do like Star Wars, I was totally obsessed with it for four whole years, but as I read HP this April, I just fell in love, and my SW mania decreased a bit. I still like it, though, but now HP is my number one obsession.

All right, read and enjoy!

Chapter 16

Lucius Malfoy's choice

Molly looked desperate. "Tell me, Mrs. Figg, is the photo that bad, are my eyes getting bad, or does Harry really have no scar anymore?"

"No idea, Mrs. Weasley." the old woman shook her head. "Strange… extremely strange…"

"The strangest is that he met Goldilocks." Fred whispered to George. "And Ron only wrote about some charm or curse that made Harry unrecognisable to the owls, but never mentioned anything about his amnesia or vanishing scars."

Though Fred was talking very quietly, Mrs. Weasley didn't miss a single word from his speech.

"Did you… did you know about this?" she hissed, totally upset. "Did you know that Harry got lost, and never told me?"

"Well, mom…" George mumbled.

"…yeah, it's just…" Fred continued.

"…that we didn't want to worry you, mom. And Dumbledore wants to keep it a secret for a while."

"Not to worry???" Molly was beside herself with rage. "How could you keep this from me? It's about my future son-in-law! Your sister's fiancee!"

"We know, mom, but don't worry. Mrs. Figg found him, didn't she?" Fred pointed his finger at the old woman.

"Oh, yeah." his mother muttered. "I'll call your father and we'll go to Great Winging for poor Harry." she shook her head. "We mustn't leave that child at a police station!"

"Child???" George made an amused face. "That 'child' fathered a child to your daughter, remember?"

Mrs. Weasely blushed a bit. "Oh, just my maternal instincts at work... For me all of you are children. Even Bill, Charlie and Percy. Yes, you two, too."

"Moooom…" the twins groaned. "We are NO children anymore!"

"No children?" Molly smiled. "Then why did you refuse to wash yourselves? That is a typical child behaviour." she turned to Mrs. Figg. "Thank you very much for your information. You helped a lot. But why didn't you just send us an owl?"

"Oh, because… stop that, Vader! Get off the sofa! Back into the kitchen, you naughty… oh, sorry, Mrs. Weasley." she chuckled. "Well, back to your question: I don't own an owl. Only cats. That's because I'm living in a Muggle town, near the Dursleys. An owl would be quite conspicuous there, wouldn't it?"

"Oh, of course." Molly nodded.

"I have to go now. Find and bring Harry back." Arabella said and stepped to the fireplace. "Vader!" the black cat jumped into her arms. "Good-bye."

"Good-bye and thank you!" Molly waved her hand.

"Bye, Mrs. Figg!" the twins yelled and were about to sneak out of the kitchen while their mother was staring into the flames.

"No, you don't." she said, her back still turned on them.

"Don't what?" George asked.

"Don't take those toasts. Put them back on the table." she turned around.

The twins exchanged resigned looks and pulled the food out from behind their backs.

"Good boys." Mrs. Weasley smiled. "Now go up and clean your room. I presume it needs some tidying. Oh, and don't forget to clean yourselves, too."

* * * * *

Officer John Thomson, at the Police Station of Great Winging, was reading a report on some local burglaries when the door opened.

He looked up.

The two strangest-looking people he had ever seen were standing before him. They were wearing robes, just like that poor amnesiac boy he had grown to like so much. One of the visitors was tall and almost bald, the other was small and plump. They both had fiery red hair.

"Um, good morning. I am Officer Thomson. May I help you?" John asked, putting the report down.

"Er, yes." the man stepped closer. "We've come to see Harry Potter."

"Who?" the officer raised an eyebrow.

"The young man who was shown in the paper a week ago." the small woman replied.

"The boy?" John's face lit up. "You know him?"

"Of course we do. He is our son's best friend. His name is Harry Potter." the tall man said.

"Where is he? Could we see him right now?" the woman asked excitedly.

The small smile disappeared from the officer's face. "I'm sorry lady, sir, he isn't here anymore."

"Isn't here?" the woman yelled. "Where's he then? Have you turned him over to the Ministry of Lost Muggles, or what?"

"Molly, there's no ministry like that." the man whispered.

"No, madam, I'm sorry." Thomson answered. "He just disappeared last week… together with the other man whose picture you must have seen in the article."

"With Gilderoy?" the woman gaped.

"Not Gilderoy, sweetheart, Lockhart." the man corrected.

"Oh, sure, Lockhart." the woman sighed dreamily and turned back to the officer. "Where did they go?"

"I have no idea." John shook his head. "When the boy – Harry – left my office for the room he shared with that blonde guy, everything seemed to be okay. I decided to join them ten minutes later, but by the time I got there, they weren't in the room. I started to look for them in the town with the help of my colleague, but we just couldn't find them… they disappeared without trace… Incredible, isn't it?"

"Disapparating." the tall man stated.

"But how, Arthur? Harry couldn't have already learnt that! Not even Ron or Hermione know how to do it!"

"But Lockhart might have known it." the man said. "He is a full-fledged wiz…" the woman clamped her hand on his mouth.

"I know, I know." she replied. "But he is amnesiac, according to the article. How could he remember how to disapparate? That's nonsense, Arthur!"

"Um, may I interrupt you?" Thomson asked.

"Yeah." the two red-haired people turned to him.

"That Lockhart, or who, mentioned that he had selective amnesia. Sometimes he remembered things." John said. "Though he usually forgot them not much later."

"That's it!" the tall man yelled. "He must have remembered how to disapparate, even if only for a minute."

"But, Arthur, where can they be now?" the woman asked, clearly worried.

"Good question, Molly." he turned to the officer. "Well, thanks for your help, I wish all Muggles were as kind as you."

"Arthur!" Molly pinched him.

"Sorry, dear, I always forget… but you, too!"

"Sure, I admit it." the woman smiled. "Just one more question, officer: did Harry have a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead?"

"Scar?" John tried to remember. "No. No scar."

The woman shot an anxious glimpse at the man. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." the officer replied.

"Most curious." the balding man muttered.

"Yeah, most curious." the woman nodded. "If there was no scar, then it simply couldn't be Harry… could it, Arthur?"

"No. Curse scars never vanish." the man shook his head. "The photo must have been wrong. That boy on it only resembled Harry. We've come here to no avail… it wasn't Harry."

"But what if it was? Arthur, we should at least notify Dumlbedore…" the woman insisted.

"Oh yeah, and then Dumbledore will think that we are crazy." the tall man shook his head. "I don't want to end up in the lunatic ward of St. Mungo. Do you?"

"No, of course not, Arthur." his wife said. "You are right. It wasn't Harry… We have to tell the twins not to tell anyone about the article… we shouldn't bother people with such alarmist reports!" she turned to John. "Well, thank you once more, Mr. Thomson. Good bye."

"Um, good-bye." the officer mumbled. He was sure that his visitors were out of their minds.

At the door the man bent down to the woman and whispered something that John didn't hear.

"Um, Molly, dear, don't you think we should implement a memory charm on this guy?"

The woman glanced back on the officer. "Nay, dear. He is totally harmless, and we didn't reveal anything to him, either. Just leave him in the belief that he had some lunatic visitors."

John saw the man nod and offer his arm to the woman. They left the office.

Thomson found them somehow suspicious. *Should I have arrested them?* he wondered. He decided to have a look at the strange couple's car – it might have been stolen. Who knows? They might have been burglars or murderers, or drug-traffickers…

He hurried out to the open air.

The couple had already left.

But how? Thomson didn't hear the motor of a car at work… but they couldn't have got out of sight so quickly on their feet, could they?

Officer John Thomson was confused.

Very confused, indeed.

* * * * *

The Dark Lord was bored to death. He was sitting in his favourite armchair, stroking Nagini's head and listening to his death eaters' reports about their jobs.

"Enough, enough of this, Crabbe!" he growled at a fat death eater. "I'm not interested in that Muggled you flayed. I'm fed up with all of you only committing such petty crimes. I want massacres all around the globe and my dark mark painted on every single building on earth! And of course… I want you to deliver me interesting news, not such trivial ones like Goyle's heart attack. Who cares about him?"

Lucius Malfoy stepped forward and bowed deeply.

"Yes, Lucius?" Voldemort asked. "Do you have something interesting to share with me?"

"Yes, My Lord." Malfoy replied. He knew that he had to get back the Dark Lord's grace that he'd almost lost when Voldemort got to know that Arthur Weasely had caught him hiding illegal dark-magic artefacts at his mansion. Voldemort hated to be surrounded by incompetent and foolish servants – he only wanted the most perfect ones. Lucius decided to show him that HE was the most perfect of all of the death eaters, providing him with the information that none other of the Dark Lord's servants could tell him. "Harry Potter got lost, My Lord."

"Lost?" Voldemort raised an eyebrow, his red eyes glinting with interest. "Go ahead, I'm all ears."

Malfoy cleared his throat. "The boy, um, has drunk a certain potion that erased his memories, My Lord. His family, those Dursleys put him out somewhere and he couldn't find his way back to either Hogwarts or to his family. He doesn't remember anything, and is surely strolling along the streets of some small town trying to figure out who he is."

"Most interesting, Lucius." Voldemort nodded. "But tell me, how do you know of all these, if no one else knows it?"

"My son reported me about it, My Lord."

"Ah, your son… Drakie…"

"Draco." Malfoy corrected, then suddenly realised that he shouldn't have done so. Correcting the Dark Lord himself! How could he do such a foolish thing? He'll get killed, for sure. He shut his eyes, waiting for the Avada Kedavra to strike him down, but it never came.

"So, your son, Lucius." Voldemort repeated. "Draco. Hmmm, a great death eater he could be…"

Lucius looked up. "A death eater? My son?" he dropped to his knees. "Thank you, My Lord! This is the greatest honour!"

"Stand up, Lucius, and tell me, do all the students at Hogwarts know about Potter's disappearance?"

"No, My Lord." Malfoy replied. "I think only Potter's closest friends may know about it."

"His closest friends?" Voldemort knitted his eyebrows. "As far as I know, your son is definitely not one of Potter's closest friends, is he?"

"No, My Lord. They are arch-enemies." Lucius answered. "Draco hates Potter as much as you do, My Lord. Thus he'll be an obedient servant of yours."

"You are gravely mistaken, Lucius." Voldemort said. "No one – not even your son – can hate Harry Potter as much as I do."

Malfoy bowed. "As you wish, my lord. Then Draco is the second one who hates him the most."

"Yes, he may be." the dark lord replied. "But you still haven't answered my question. How could your son get to know about Harry's disappearance, if he doesn't belong to Harry's friends? How?"

Lucius gulped. He didn't want to tell his lord that Draco made the potion that erased Potter's memories. The dark lord would think that it was Draco's fault that no one – not even he, Voldemort, – could find Harry now.

"I'm – waiting – for – your – answer." Voldemort said at a low voice.

Lucius felt his knees buckle. He realised that he'd better kept his big mouth shut. Trying to get back in favour with the Dark Lord, he revealed not only the fact that Potter was lost, but much more than that… things he should have kept a secret forever. He knew that if the Dark Lord got to know that it was Draco who got rid of Potter, he'd want to revenge himself on Draco, just because the boy denied him the chance to eliminate Harry himself. For Malfoy knew that there were two things that Voldemort wanted above all – first: to gain immortality, second: to kill Harry Potter.

Lucius now reached a deadlock: he could betray his son; or he could refuse to provide that information to the dark lord – and get killed in return. Or he could lie…

"Well, my Lord, my son overheard a discussion between… I don't know whom, but… he just heard it somewhere, I guess." Lucius answered with a quavering voice.

Voldemort's red eyes became slits. "You are lying."

A/N2: All right, a stupid Lucius… even the brightest people can make mistakes once in a while. But at least you got a bit more of Voldie… lol.

Sorry that this chapter was so short – this was kind of a transition chapter. The next one will be much longer, set in EGYPT!!!

Review!!!