Chicken Pond
"Ginny Weasley, get over here at once!" Molly Weasley's dulcet tones shook the non-existent dust off the spankingly clean surfaces. Ginny sighed. What tedious chore would she be subjected to today? Cleaning out the shed? Maybe even Ron's room, which was, needless to say, a landfill if there ever was one in a house. "Great. Hopefully I'm not reduced to staying inside. I was just about to go swimming with the rest." She thought miserably as she plodded down the stairs dressed in a swim suit with a casual shirt and pair of shorts on top. The moment she entered the kitchen, her mother spun around and fixed her with that all too familiar look.
"Good morning dear. Swimming? Your brothers just left, so you're going to have to feed the chickens for me before you go. Oh and do me a favour and take lunch for them; I'm not having those boys dripping all over my newly mopped floor. Now, off your pop." Molly ushered her daughter through the kitchen and out into the garden, then threw her a sack of chicken feed and a picnic basket which was no doubt full of her marvellous food. So, yet again, Ginny sighed and slipped on her flip flops, which were a conspicuous shade of orange, then made her way to the yard where the chickens were currently roaming.
"Why can't those blasted things feed themselves? I'd much rather be swimming in the cove and eating mum's food." Ginny asked herself warily as she took a handful of the stuff in the sack and dispersed it across the yard, giggling inwardly at the molly coddled chickens which immediately followed the food and bickered noisily over who would get to eat. "They sure do love their food. I wonder what it tastes like? What makes chickens love their food so much?" She wondered vaguely. Unaware of this, Ginny's hand clamped itself over a handful of the chicken feed, and she gently rubbed it and allowed it to seep through her fingers back into the sack. She really shouldn't, but she couldn't help but wonder what the chicken feed tasted like. "I must be going crazy!" Ginny thought disbelievingly. Surely this couldn't be happening?! But the urge was too great. Her curiosity was going to almost definitely take the better of her. This time, instead of allowing all of the food to pass through her fingers, Ginny held on to a little bit. Just a few grams, not enough to be noticeable. Then, holding her hand up to her mouth, she sniffed the stuff. It smelt of nothing really. Just, well, nothing. "Oh well, here it goes." Ginny said to herself, and then, slowly, she stuck out her tongue and allowed a few grains of the chicken feed to stick to it. The moment it touched her tongue, she recoiled in disgust and sucked it back in. Except now she had the stupid chicken food in her mouth! What's more, it tasted disgusting! Absolutely horrible. In fact, she didn't know why she'd even tried to eat it. "I knew I was going crazy." Ginny berated herself annoyedly, and she spat out the remains of the awful stuff onto the ground, where it was promptly examined by the chickens but dismissed almost instantly. Turning her nose to the air, Ginny made a mental note not to mention this to anyone and simply decided it was time she got to the lake. After all, she didn't want the boys to have all the fun. And she really wanted to taste mother's delicious custard tarts. So, hastily tying the small sack of chicken feed to her belt (Ginny really wasn't bothered to take it back to the kitchen) and taking the picnic basket onto her arm, she quickly made her way through the field and down to the lake where her brothers were playing.
"Hey Ginny! Finally decided you'd come?" A laughing voice rang out from the water. On further inspection, Ginny realised it was actually George, waist deep in sparkling water and dripping wet; obviously he'd been attacked by his other brothers. Ginny's suspicions were proven almost straight away when Fred and Charlie jumped from behind and dragged George into the water with a muffled yelp and hysterical laughter. "Of course I'd come. This is probably the only day of sun we're going to get here in Britain; course I'm gonna make the most of it." Ginny shouted back, catching the attention of Ron, who smiled happily and gestured her to them.
"The water's brilliant! Who wants a game of water polo?" He grinned as his face lit up. Ginny nodded enthusiastically and said, "Hold on. I'll just set these down." And she beckoned to the chicken feed and that basket. Having just resurfaced, Fred, George and Charlie stared at the basket and asked, "That doesn't happen to be one of mum's great meals?"
Ginny giggled and replied, "What else could it be?"
At the thought of their mothers loved cooking, the boys beamed with delight and whooped in joy; giving Ginny time to quickly set everything down and plod into the water, which was pleasantly lukewarm and clear. She silently savoured the feeling of the water lapping against her feet, but then with a cry of laughter, she skipped further into the water and joined her brothers.
They quickly began their game, which took up most of the morning. They spent the hours splashing in the water and having immense fun, and after that, they left the water and sat in the midday sun drying off while they enjoyed some ham sandwiches with lemonade; all courtesy of Mrs Weasley. Then, they got to the treat they had all been waiting for.
"Yay! Custard tarts!" Fred yelled excitedly as he lunged for the basket. Charlie immediately pulled the basket away from his grip and grimaced, "Keep your socks on Fred! We don't want them crushed!"
Fred sat back, grinning, and sighed, "Oh fine. Pass me one Charlie. Mum hasn't let us tasted them since they first came out of the oven." Then took the tart he had been longing for from Charlie's hand. Charlie smiled, and then examined the rest, "Obviously you guys don't want any, so I'll just eat them all to myself."
George, Ginny and Ron exclaimed indignantly, and George cried out, "Hey! You gave one to Fred!"
"Little Freddie Weddie is a little baby waby and if I hadn't then he would throw a teeny tiny tantrum." Charlie held his nose up, but still passed around the custard tarts. Fred choked at this, laughing really hard. His hysterical laughter unfortunately was contagious, and soon all four children were rolling around on the ground, trying to contain it but failing miserably. But then, they stopped when they heard a peculiar clucking sound.
"I'm probably dreaming, but can anyone else hear chickens?" Ron gasped for air as he sat up and stared strangled at the hill behind them. Everyone stopped to listen, and soon, they realised what Ron was talking about.
"Yeah, I can hear it too!" Ginny frowned and she stood up to try and see where the mysterious clucking sound was coming from. Fred, George, Charlie and Ron both stood up too and all five Weasley children were standing on their tiptoes in order to see. "We should follow it." George said.
Fred nodded in agreement, but Charlie cut across with a short, "No, let's stay here."
They all nodded, slightly scared. Of course, Charlie was trying to act brave. After all, he was the oldest. Fred and George were finding this hilarious as usual, so quite frankly it was only Ron and Ginny who were explicitly worried. A few minutes later, a few tense silent minutes, the clucking sound got louder and a reasonable number of plump white figures started making their way down the hill and towards the five. Fred and George shaded their eyes from the sun, and squinting, tried to make out what the white things were.
"Blimey! They're chickens! What would they be doing down here?" Fred and George yelped at the same time with surprise. Ron whimpered and slunk back, but Charlie eyed Ginny.
"Ginny, did you by any chance feed the chickens before coming here?" He asked her kindly. Ginny nodded, and realising what she had done wrong, she wrinkled her nose and looked like she was going to cry. Charlie patted her shoulder and said, "Don't worry. It's just I think you trailed the chicken feed all the way to here."
"Too right. Nice one Ginny. We've been trying to think of a subtle way to do those chickens in." Fred grinned and George ruffled his hair in delighted disbelief. Ginny sniffed and turned to Ron, who shrugged and stuck his hands into his pocket. Fred and George laughed and they piped up, "Well, we're going to have to do something 'bout this or mum will blow her top."
Charlie nodded, and so the five kids advanced onto the chickens, which were still clucking madly and hurrying to the lake at ridiculous speed. They stared at the chickens worriedly, but knew that no harm would befall them. In fact, Ginny, Charlie, Ron, Fred and George were far more worried about how their mother would react. They started running around the chickens in an attempt to round them up, with no success.
After ten minutes of unstrategic and rather random running about, the Weasley children regrouped, breathless and a little more disheartened.
"Damn those chickens are fast!" Fred panted as he caught his breath. George nodded and added, "I don't know how we're going to catch them without magic."
"I say we try again, but drive them towards the lake." Charlie schemed. Ginny frowned again and turned to Ron, who looked just as clueless as she did. Fred, George and Charlie however seemed to understand very well. "You see; chickens hate water. If we trap them with the lake behind, then we'll catch them easily." Charlie enlightened the two youngest, who then understood and pondered for a minute whether this tactic would work. They didn't get much thinking time though.
"Let's go then. Fred, get the right hand side. George you're on the left. Ginny and Ron flank either side of me and I'll go head on. Ready?"
Everyone nodded, and so they followed their older brother's instructions and started chasing the chickens in a whole new direction- towards the lake. This was thankfully easy due to the fact that most of the chicken feed was by the lake, which prompted the chickens to immediately take that route. The Weasley twins took either side of the group, sprinting, shouting loudly and flapping their arms about as they scared the chickens into the right direction. Then, on either side of Charlie there was Ron and Ginny, who followed their brother's examples and did the same, thinking about how stupid they probably looked. Then, in the middle ran Charlie, who also did the same, hoping hard that his plan would work and that they wouldn't have to face their mother's wrath if she found out.
"WE'RE ALMOST THERE!" Charlie encouraged his siblings. So far his pan was working well, and they had the chickens almost total rounded up by the lake. The flightless birds seemed terrified of them, but they were hesitant by the water. It was something they most definitely did not like. So, in defeat, the chickens stood still. So still, they seemed to be assessing the situation.
"That's all of them." George grinned victoriously.
"Yep. Time to get them back. By the way, how are we going to do that mister clever clogs?" Fred asked his older brother as he ran his hand through his messy ginger hair. Charlie bit his lip and thought. How were they going to get these chickens home? What had brought them here in the first place? "I know! Chicken feed! We'll lead them to the house using the chicken feed Ginny brought."
Ginny's face brightened up as she understood what they should do and she went and fetched the small sack of chicken feed, which was thankfully still semi full.
"Here. Are you sure this will work Charlie?" She asked.
"Positive." And he handed the sack to Ron, who stared at him, confused.
"Why did you give it to me?" Ron queried as he inspected the sack and then turned his suspicious gaze to his older brother, who grinned bashfully.
"Don't worry Ron. They don't bite." Fred and George laughed, then realised the irony of their words. Of course the chickens bit. After all, those chickens had almost been the death of poor Ron. Unfortunately, poor Ron seemed to remember that unpleasant experience, and was extremely reluctant to have and direct role in getting the chicken's home. He scowled and said blatantly, "I am not leading the chickens."
Charlie groaned and took the sack from Ron, then stared pleadingly at the other three, who backed away. "Looks like I'm gonna have to do this. I always knew you guys would be the death of me. Well, here it goes. Be sure to have my back covered. We don't want those mad things to… what the!"
At that moment the Weasley children were surprised by the most ridiculous sight. The chickens were actually attempting to fly across the lake, but failing miserably as the plonked into the water one by one. They children shouted in disbelief and panic, dreading their mother's reaction if the chickens were never to resurface. It would take ages to buy a new bunch, and Molly Weasley would no doubt insist that they get chicks so that she can fatten them up her way. It took quite a lot of time for these guys to mature and the Weasley children were most certainly not ready for them to die, especially since it would be their faults and they would never live it down.
"W-we've got to stop them!" Ron gasped, aghast. Ginny clamped her hands to her mouth as she realised that this was all her fault. Why did she have to not take the chicken feed back to the kitchen? Why couldn't she just deal with it and take a few minutes returning the sack rather than the hour and half that would probably be wasted from chasing the chickens, explaining to mother what had happened and the lecture which would no doubt follow. Unfortunately, it was too late for anything. Charlie, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny watched in horror as the chickens tried to flap their way out of the water, failing again and again and again, and then just sinking down into the clear, sparkling water. Charlie and Ron looked sick, Fred and George were just silent and Ginny quietly sobbed into her hands.
"Come on, we should go home now." Charlie murmured. He wrapped his arm around his younger sister and gave her a reassuring squeeze, "Don't worry. Hopefully mum will go easy on us."
Ginny nodded weakly and clutched onto her brothers shirt miserably. She was really upset. As much as she had hated those birds, she still loved them very much; and the fact that they had drowned made her feel not only guilty but very sad. Fred and George sighed sadly, and synchronised, they piped up, "Oh well, at least we don't have to wake up at five in the morning to feed those things."
Ron scowled and added, "I can't wait to see mum."
Everyone groaned, and together, they made their way back to the Burrow, obviously dreading what would happen next.
Once they got home, they peeked around the door to see if the kitchen was safe to enter. Fortunately, it was empty, Mr and Mrs Weasley apparently in the living room. So as quietly as possible, Charlie, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny tiptoed into the kitchen and gently shut the door behind them.
"So here you are. May I ask what you five are up to?" The unmistakable voice of their mother came from behind. The five kids slowly turned around and faced their mother with sheepish expressions.
"Nothing mum, we were just going to get changed and ready for dinner." Charlie hastily told her. Mrs Weasley raised an eyebrow and replied, "I know that. What I want to know is why there aren't any chickens in the yard."
At the mention of the chickens, Ginny broke down into tears and sobbed, "I didn't mean to. We tried to save them but they- they were too fast!"
Mrs Weasley, startled, patted her daughters shoulder and knelt down, "What do you mean, too fast?"
Ginny sniffed, "The chickens followed me to the lake, and, and, they drowned!" she wailed distressedly. Mrs Weasley rubbed her back soothingly, while shooting poisonous glares at the boys, mouthing, "We'll talk later."
And so it was left at that. Charlie, Fred, George and Ron did indeed receive their hour long lecture, reduced as a punishment to degnoming the garden in the rain. Fortunately for Ginny, she was let off as she hadn't meant to do anything wrong.