Minutes ticked by, and Fred and George were still sitting in the tree, terrified to go home, because they knew that, to some extent, this was their fault. They were also terrified to stay, because any minute now, those flying dogs could come back again. (Fred had kicked the two remaining dogs out of the tree, and after a while, they had picked themselves up and ambled off, wobbling slightly and looking dazed.)

'Make a shield', George said quietly, 'all around the tree.'

'Sorry George', Fred replied irritably, 'I must've been sick the day Flitwick showed us how to make a shield around an entire tree!'

'Well we have to do something!' George hissed furiously.

'Gimme the monacle', Fred answered in a whisper, 'lemme have a quick look.'

George tossed the monacle to his twin, who held it up to his eye and peered into the room which they had been observing. It was empty.

'It's no use us being up this tree', he said exasperatedly, 'we can only see one room, and they're hardly like to bring Tonks all the way up here, are they?'

'Probably stick her in a dungeon and force-feed her Veritaserum', George replied pessimistically.

'D'you think they have a dungeon?' Fred asked curiously, 'I bet it looks like the Snape's dungeon if there is one.'

'We should climb down', George advised, 'have a scout around the grounds. Here, Disillusion me, will you, I haven't got a wand anymore.'

Fred rolled his eyes, and disillusioned George, who then climbed carefully out of the tree. Fred followed suit, and the two brothers stood at the base of the tree, wondering what to do next.

'I can just hear Mum now', Fred muttered, 'YOU DROPPED TONKS OUT OF A TREE??' Crikey George, she'll murder us if we don't get Tonks back in one piece.

They crept to the huge front doors, and crouched behind a large bush, which was sculpted into the shape of a horrible lizard. The doors were at least twelve feet high, painted black, and had several locks and bolts on them.

'Try a simple opening spell', hissed George.

'Alohomora!' Fred whispered, pointing his wand at the doors. To their dismay, this only caused yet another lock to appear on the door, and another bolt also slid across.

'We'll never get in', they both said together. They looked at each other.

'If you can't get in the front door...' said Fred with a shrug.

'Then look for a back door!' George concluded with a grin.

They crawled on all fours around the mansion, looking for a back entrance to the huge mansion. All was quiet within the house, a fact that worried Fred and George even more; Tonks was either still unconscious, which couldn't be a good thing, or else she was so deep inside the mansion that they would have little chance of finding her without being caught.

The sound of cruel laughter made them both jumped. Peering cautiously around the corner, into the gathering darkness, Fred saw that there were three teenage boys surrounding a house elf, who was looking truly terrified.

'Come on then, sing a song for us', Draco Malfoy drawled, aiming a kick at the little house elf, who dodged it quickly, and let out a sob.

'Tilly d-doesn't know h-how to sing, M-master!' she sobbed, 'T-tilly doesn't know what singing i-iiissss'. Her words were no longer audible as she burst into tears. Malfoy aimed another kick, and this time, connected with her stomach, knocking her over. Crabbe then picked the little elf up, and tossed her to Goyle, who threw her to Malfoy.

'That manky little git', George hissed furiously, 'I know they're born to be servants, but kicking her about like that!'

'I've just had an idea', Fred said suddenly, as the sick game of Catch continued less than a hundred yards away, 'I can do a pretty good Lucius without using magic, but Lee gave me a handy little spell last week-we'll have to stay down really low, and hope there's another entrance into the house, 'cos if there isn't, they'll be walking right past us!'

'Why did Lee give it to you and not me?' George asked indignantly.

'You were in the middle of making the Super Skiving Snackboxes, and yelled at me to get lost, remember?'

'Oh yeah', said George with a grin, 'go on then, impress me.'

Fred pointed his wand at his throat, whispered 'Vox', cleared his throat quietly, and then muttered 'Lucius Malfoy' to himself a few times.

'Vincent! Gregory! Your fathers are leaving', he called loudly, in the voice of Lucius Malfoy.

Crabbe dropped Tilly on her head, and turned to look at the mansion. 'Already?' He said, disappointed, 'okay!'

Shaking their heads sadly, as though they had just been beginning to enjoy themselves, Malfoy's two henchmen began to trudge back towards the mansion. Malfoy called 'goodbye', and then picked Tilly up and drop-kicked her in Fred and George's direction.

The twins held their breath, praying that one, Tilly wouldn't see them when she landed, and two, Crabbe and Goyle would not have to pass them.

As Tilly flew shrieking through the air, they heard a door open and close- they heaved a sigh of relief. Obviously, there was a back door.

The little house elf landed with a bump on the ground only a few feet away from them. The twins had no idea whether Disillusionment charms worked on house elves or not, but they decided to sit very still anyway.

They had expected Malfyo to follow his cronies into the Mansion, but no; he was heading straight for them! Obviously, his torture session with Tilly was not quite over yet.

'Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Fred?' George breathed.

Fred grinned at his brother. 'I think I am, George.'

Silently, he disillusioned them both, and Tilly, who was just sitting up, slightly crossed eye, let out a gasp. George frantically pressed his finger to lips, and Tilly stayed quiet, although he couldn't be sure whether this was due to a concussion, or obedience to his request.

Slowly, the twins slid onto their feet adn stood, pressed against the wall. Malfoy was coming closer, humming some tune to himself sadistically.

'Oh Tiiiillllyyyyy', he called softly, 'Tiiiillllyyyy, where aaare youuuuu? Master has another treat for youuuu.'

Malfoy stopped and bent to pull Tilly to her feet, his back to the twins. Fred and George glanced at each other, nodded, and quietly stepped forward. They each laid a hand on one of Malfoy's shoulders and forced him to straighten up.

'Fancy meeting you here, Draco', Fred whispered into his ear, 'fancy helping us rescue a mate of ours?'

'Who is it?' Draco asked, panicking, 'I'll shout for help, I'm warning you! My dogs'll attack you! It's not possible to disapparate from these grounds!'

'You won't shout for help', George hissed into Draco's other ear, 'because if you do, I'll kill you. And the dogs won't attack us, because we knobbled them early. And don't lie to us, Draco, 'cos we heard your darling Mummy tell your Daddy that it is possible to disapparate.'

'Who are you?' Draco asked again. Fred could feeling him trembling under his grip. Tilly had flopped back onto the ground, rambling under her breath.

'Surprised you don't know us, Malfoy', George snarled, spinning the boy around to face them, 'after all the years you've spent laughing at our brother and sister.'

'Wh-what do y-you want from me, Weasley?' Malfoy asked, his teeth chattering.

'Are you deaf, Malfoy?' Fred inquired, 'we told you. You're going to show us where our friend is being held.'

'A-are you g-going to kill me?' Draco stammered, looking terrified.

'Wouldn't waste the magic', George replied in disgust, 'oh, just gag him, George, I can't listen to this whining.'

'HEEEELLLLPP!' Malfoy screamed suddenly, 'HEEEEEELLLLLLLP!'

'Bad idea, Malfoy', Fred whispered, before stunning him right in the chest.

Next chapter: Malfoy agrees to help find Tonks, but has he got a trick up his sleeve?; Fred and George get a lot more than they bargained for.