"It's bloody f-freezing up here!" Ron stammered, as he stood shivering on the hill overlooking the Baronte house.
He turned and watched as Hermione and Ginny, both wrapped in gloves and scarves, made their way towards him.
"We did tell you to bring a coat, Ron" Hermione said sounding slightly out of breath as she caught up with him.
Below them the valley was almost completly dark except for the previously unnoticeable glow of an inhabited house right in the centre. The rest of the valley was cloaked in a mist that reflected the weak light of the half moon as it shone through the clouds. The lights of a nearby village glittered over the opposite edge of the hills.
For Ron and Ginny, the Baronte house looked strange against a familiarly empty landscape. All their lives, they could not remember ever seeing a house down there, and had always assumed the valley to be empty and boring.
Hermione lifted her wrist to look at her watch but could not make out the time in the darkness.
"It must be nearly eleven o'clock" She said "Fred and George should be here any min… ARGH!"
She jumped as the twins aperated suddenly behind her with a loud pop
"You called?" Said Fred
"Don't DO that!" Hermione clutched her chest with her gloved hand
Ron sniggered, but after catching the scowl on Hermione's face he tried, without success, to disguise his outburst as a short coughing fit and turned quickly towards his brothers.
"So... Have you brought the extendable ears?"
"We have, little brother."
"And we've brought some specialist equipment just in case." George added, lifting a shoulder to indicate the backpack he was carrying.
"I hardly think that Puking-Pastilles will be useful here." Ginny said, sarcastically
Fred looked back at Ginny with a superior expression, then he turned and looked down at the valley
"That's new." He said simply
George looked around
"Well, we're all here! Shall we be off?"
He did not wait for a reply, and the twins set the pace down the valley towards the house, closely followed by Ginny and Ron and a slightly less than enthusiastic Hermione.
After a few minutes' walk, they reached a fence at the border of the house and hid themselves as best they could amongst a clump of thick bushes that grew there. From their vantage point, they could see into a generous sized sitting room through a large window at the back of the house. The group could just make out a silhouette of an elderly man standing in front of a modest fireplace, staring at a hanging picture on the wall. Behind the old man a large rocking chair swung back and forth, it's occupant; a smiling middle-aged woman, focused on a pair of knitting needles that twiched rythmically.
Fred rummaged in the backpack hanging from his brothers' shoulder until he was able to find two pairs of omnioculars they had acquired after the last Quidditch world cup. He also took out five long, flesh coloured strings, and handed one to each of them.
"Don't know if they're going to stretch that far." George said, taking the last extendable ear from his brother.
"Might be close. Okay, Go!" Fred whispered, and the strings obediently began to wiggle their way towards the Baronte house, looking like a herd of stampeding worms.
Ron took out his own omnioculars, concealed inside his jumper, and trained them towards the window. Keeping a pair for himself, Fred passed the last pair to Hermione.
Ginny looked outraged.
"What am I supposed to do?" She hissed
Fred shrugged and shifted closer to George who moved the omnioculars to one side so they could both see through different eyepieces.
"Hmph" Ginny scoffed, folding her arms
"You can be the lookout Gin." Ron offered
Ginny opened her mouth to protest
"Shhh!" Hermione cupped a hand over her ear as the creaking of the rocking chair began to tune in through the extendable ears, closely followed by a soft, tuneless hum that accompanied the clicks of the knitting needles.
"What's that she's making anyway?" Ron asked
"I think they're socks." Said Hermione
"Socks? Who knits their own socks?"
The group continued to watch in silence as the woman in the chair rocked and knitted merrily and the old man maintained his vigil in front of the fireplace, staring at the picture on the wall. Occasionally he lifted a drink from a wide crystal glass to his lips, sipping casually on the amber liquid within.
"Lively place this isn't it?" Fred stated
"What's so special about that picture anyway? He's been staring at it for ages."
"Why don't we go in there and ask him?" George said in a quiet whisper
"Yeah and while you're at it, you can ask if he's got some blankets and a few hot water bottles he can lend us while we spy on him." Fred added
"Funny!" Ron said, looking huffily back at the house.
He looked as though he wanted to say more, but then he stopped when a conversation began on the house and the group froze, listening intently in the dark.
"Well," The old man had said. "I think it's time we should be retiring for the night, my dear."
His voice was soft and rasping with age, and he placed his empty glass on the fireplace as he turned around.
"Oh father" The woman stopped rocking and looked up. She spoke in a high trilling voice. "I'm so excited! I just don't think I'll be able to sleep at all tonight."
The old man smiled
"You need your rest as much as he does." He said softly "Now go on, off to bed."
He smiled again as she placed her knitting to one side and jumped out of the chair. Then she skipped towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck, planting a swift kiss on his cheek as she swept out of the room.
The old man followed her slowly, extinguishing the lights with a flick of his wand. The fire dimmed until only the glowing embers were left, and the house went silent as any noise they might have made went beyond the range of the extendable ears. Then the light in the largest upstairs window came on, and the old man appeared to draw the curtains.
Ginny let out a long breath
"We came all this way for that? What now?"
"We wait I suppose." Hermione said
"Do you think they were talking about Harry?" Ron asked thoughtfully
Hermione shrugged "Could have been anyone." She spoke just as the light in the upstairs window extinguished the house became still.
Ginny sat down on the cold, hard ground and hugged her knees to her chest in an effort to keep warm while the boys, apparently enthralled, continued to stare through their omnioculars at the sleeping house.
"I think it's getting colder" Ginny said
No one responded, it appeared as though they all hoped that they had been right about this house, but realised that if they wanted to see what was going on, perhaps this late at night was not the best time. Just as Ginny thought it was time they gave up, a small flickering light suddenly appeared inside the upstairs bedroom.
"What's that?" Said Ron.
The light moved to the side of the room and extinguished.
Hermione jumped, clutching her ear as the sound of soft footsteps could be heard getting steadily louder.
"Oh! I think he's coming down the stairs!"
They watched as the living room door opened and the old man appeared in full night clothing, including a long night cap, and carried in his hand a candle in an old-fashioned candleholder. He stopped in front of the fireplace again, and gazed at the portrait on the wall.
"Blimey," Ron whispered "The man's obsessed with that picture."
"I wonder who she is" Hermione asked, to no one in particular.
Ginny stood up slowly. She subconsciously brushed the dirt from her trousers and craned her neck to get a clearer look at the house.
"I can't see!" She huffed, "What's he doing?"
"Not a lot" The twins chorused simultaneously
"Here." Hermione, pulled herself awkwardly to her feet. "You can share mine."
"What's he done that for?" Ron asked suddenly.
Determined not to miss anything important, Hermione rammed her head against the omnioculars, just as Ginny tried to do the same. In their haste, their heads collided painfully.
"Ow!"
"Ouch!"
"Shush!" Ron hissed
Rubbing the side of her head, Hermione gave the omnoculars to Ginny, realising that she'd probably missed whatever had happened anyway.
"What happened?" Hermione asked instead "What did he do?"
"It looked like he was going to pull the painting off the wall." Ron said "But he just pulled it over on its side and it went black."
"Hang on, does this thing have a zoom?" Ginny asked
"Yeah, try that blue button on the side there."
"It's dark Ron! How do you expect me to see what colour the buttons are!"
"Just try them all, you'll get it eventually"
"Where's he going now?" Hermione interrupted as she saw that the light in the living room had vanished.
"He's just gone!" Said Ron.
He'd been at a better angle to see the direction the old man had went in and he pressed a button on the side of the omnioculars.
"It looked like he went through a door, but there's nothing there, it's just a blank wall."
"Could be a secret door." George offered, finally looking up from his omnioculars whilst Fred continued to stare into the house.
"Well, that would make sense." Hermione said "If he's part of some secret organisation, then there's bound to be plenty of secret rooms and things in there."
"I wonder what's so special about that painting." Ginny said, seemingly oblivious to the conversation around her. Now she had full control over the Omnioculars, she began to test out the buttons on the side.
"Well, he tipped it over just before he disappeared, right?" Fred suggested
"So it's probably a switch or something." George added, glancing briefly at his twin who was still staring avidly though his omnioculars at the house.
"I think there's more to it than that." Ginny said, "I thought I saw another picture in the frame when it was tipped over, but I can't see anything at all now."
"Just rewind the picture and zoom in." Ron said, as though this was the easiest thing in the world to do.
"I don't know how this stupid thing works, Ron!" Ginny hissed savagely.
Becoming increasingly infuriated with the lack of help from her brother, Ginny began to jab the buttons on the side of the omnoculars at random and with greater force. For a few minutes nothing really happened until suddenly the omnioculars began to let out an ominous whirring sound which got louder and louder. She pulled them away from her face and held them at arm's length.
"Ginny, what did you do?" Ron whispered, harshly
"Nothing I swear!" She said, as the noise continued to get louder.
Then the omnococulars suddenly began to shake and they let off a bright flash of white light.
At the exact same moment Fred shouted
"He's back!"
"Shut it off! Shut it off!" Ginny squealed
George snatched the whirring omnioculars from Ginny. He jabbed it with his wand and it went instantly quiet. Fred had already snatched the extendable ears and had begun to shove them inside his jumper as they retracted
"I think we'd better get out of here!" Fred said, with a grin
"Come on Ron!" Said Hermione, grabbing him by the arm and hauling him up from the ground as they ran back up the hill as fast as they could.
Ron glanced back at the house and saw a light in the living room window, he thought he could just make out the outline of the old man peering through the glass towards them.
"I think he's seen us!" Ron panted as he ran even faster, grabbing Hermione by the hand instinctively.
George had pulled his backpack in front of him and after pushing the omioculars inside he reached further down and pulled at a small brown leather pouch.
"What are you doing?" Ron asked, bewildered "Why are you slowing down?"
"I told you, we brought some specialist equiptment." Fred said as his twin threw a generous pinch of black powder over his shoulder.
"Just don't look back!" George added, placing a guiding hand on Hermione's back and winking at Ron "It's classified!"
Fred looked slightly critical as they rushed past. "Could be a bit darker." He muttered, as they both sped up the hill to catch up with the others.
"Lets just hope it's enough for now!" said George, swinging his backpack over his shoulder again.
The group did not stop again until The Burrow was just visible in the distance. Fred took out his wand and skidded clumsily to a halt.
"Hang on a minute," he said as he turned and frowned at George "Why are we running?"
George stopped next to his brother
"That is a very good point!" He replied, panting heavily
They grinned at each other mischievously, and George pulled his wand from his back pocket. Then, they spun on the spot and disaperated with a pop.
"Wait!" Cried Ginny
"Gits!" Ron shouted as loud as he could with what little breath he had left. He let go of Hermione and placed his hands on his knees while he caught his breath
Ginny, who had been running ahead, stopped and turned, glancing round angrily
"Come on," she said "we'd better not stop for too long."
"I can't believe they just…ARGH!"
Hermione stumbled as the twins reappeared behind her.
"Hermione! I'm hurt!" Fred said, as he walked towards her carrying three knobbly broomsticks.
"How could you ever doubt us!" added George as he handed a broomstick to Ginny, keeping his own Cleansweep-five for himself.
Hermione scowled and brushed dirt from the knees of her jeans as Ron helped her to her feet. She took the broomstick Fred was holding out for her grudgingly.
"Cheers!" said Ron brightly, as he took his Cleensweep-eleven from Fred and stored the omnioculars inside his jumper. He waited for Hermione to mount her broom before he kicked off from the ground.
"Oh I hate flying" Hermione moaned quietly, much to Ron's satisfaction.
For once Ron was better at something than she was and he smiled secretly to himself. Then he was reminded of Harry, and his smile faded as he remembered what he had seen on his omnioculars just before they'd had to leave. He focused on getting his information to the others once they were safe inside the Burrow.