AN: Here's chapter six, again sorry it's really really short but I shall have the next chapter up in a couple of days and I'm hoping it's not too much of a cliff-hanger for you. As always thanks for reading and thankyou to skaterofthebooks for being my beta :) Enjoy!
The Prank That Delivered, Chapter 6: Hogsmeade Post Office
The Post Office was a crumbling, peeling building that had obviously once been quite grand. Fred and George hid behind one of the many grubby pillars, which just about held up the roof jutting out lopsidedly over the pavement. Casting Disillusionment Charms on themselves, they tiptoed inside, out of the biting wind.
The inside of the post office consisted of a large, wooden counter running along the back of the room covered with scraps of parchment, assorted quills and heaps of oddly shaped parcels. Behind the counter lay shelves filled with bags of owl treats and posters advertising discounted prices of owls to certain destinations. Every other inch of the remaining walls, from shoulder height all the way up to the round skylight in the high ceiling, were covered with owl perches, most of them occupied. Owls of all different breeds, shapes, colours and sizes were bound by a metal chain, linking them all together and keeping them by their numbered posts.
A powerful stench hit Fred and George as they sidled over to the far corner. It rose from the flagstone floor, which was littered with clumps of hay, owl droppings and parcel string, attacking their nostrils vigorously. A bony, straw-haired witch, who's large, round glasses and small, sharp nose made her look remarkably like an owl herself, emerged from a door behind the counter. She plodded slowly up and down the room, muttering to herself as she shuffled things around on the counter, clearly searching for something.
George and Fred waited with impatiently for her to leave; Malfoy could be here soon and they hadn't got everything ready! 'Hurry up' Fred silently urged the scrawny witch, who didn't look like she didn't anything in a hurry. George glanced out the window. Eventually the witch's leisurely movements stopped and she picked up a piece of crinkled parchment, pausing to read it. 'C'mon' George murmured softly 'We haven't got all day!' Fred sighed in frustration as George looked out the window again, checking that Malfoy wasn't on his way already.
Having clearly found what she wanted, the owl-like witch made her way back through the door, still muttering to herself. Fred and George simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief. Then looking around to check nobody else was there, their faces lit up with mischievous smirks, their moment of panic immediately forgotten.
Fred pointed his wand at an extremely large pack of owl treats that stood on a wonky shelf, covered in sawdust. Whispering 'Wingardium Leviosa', he made the packet slowly rise and waved it in front of the owls, taunting them. Then when nearly every owl's eyes were locked on the large swaying carton, he raised it even higher until it floated high above them, in the centre of the room.
Still keeping his wand on the owl treats Fred slowly backed into a corner. Looking over in the general direction of George, who was crouched in a corner on the other side of the room, he nodded, 'Ready George?'
'Ready Freddie' George replied, his wand raised 'And now we wait' He whispered.
'And now we wait' repeated Fred in an undertone.