Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters.

A/N: OMG! I should really read my chapters before posting them! I put werewolf where I meant to put vampire. She is a vampire. Thank u to my reviewers for pointing out my mistake.

Chapter 6: Stumped in Applewood and Mystery at Bridgeford

"So here's the plan…..we don't have one."

"George! You said you guys had a plan." Said Ron angrily.

"Well, you see, we had one but then we realized that we don't know where she lived." explained George. "Do you know where she lives?"

"You know I don't think she ever told us." said Harry. Ron nodded in agreement.

"Well look at it this way, her train was supposed to arrive at Kings Cross Station at 2:00 so go there first and get a train schedule. That way you can find out what trains arrived at 2 and figure out where she lives." suggested Ginny.

"Brilliant! So here's what we do, George and I will leave saying something came up at the joke shop. We'll wait outside and Harry will sneak out five minutes later, the Ron. Ginny you just need to hold mom off for a couple of hours. That should give us enough time to know where she lives."

15 minutes later the boys where all out and headed towards Kings Cross Station via Knight Bus.

"A' look! It's 'arry-"

"Stan! Do not yell my name out to the whole world please!" snapped Harry. The four of them told Stan where they were headed and took seats in the back. There were no other passengers on the bus so no other stops were made. They were in London in no time.

"So where do you get those train schedules?" asked Ron. Harry sighed and walked up to the ticket booth.

"Can I have a train schedule please?' he asked the man behind the desk. The man handed him a brochure and Harry walked back over to where the others were waiting for him. "There was only one train arriving here at two o'clock. It came from just outside London. A Town called Mercer. (A/N: I don't now if that's a real town, I just made it up.)

"Well than let's go to Mercer." said Fred. The four of them walked out of the train station, destination in mind, going back to the Knight Bus which they hoped would help them make good time to Mercer. However, the flawless plan it turned out as they stepped out into the outside was perhaps a little flawed after all since there, in front of the Knight Bus, looking like the devil himself, stood Molly Weasly. To the side of her stood Remus Lupin and Kingsley Shacklebolt but neither of them looked like they were going to kill the first thing they saw.

"Oh bloody hell," Ron said, his eyes wide as he inched backward.

"You know, I think Ginny might have cracked," George said, sounding for all the world like he had made a huge scientific discovery.

"Now what do we do?" Harry hissed as the four of them quickly ducked back into the train station. "We can't go back out there, and if we stay in here too long they'll come in looking for us."

"Hmm," Fred said, looking around. "This is a bit of a tight situation we're in. But no need to worry!"

"Why not?" Harry demanded in a low voice.

"Because we're in a train station!" George said, catching on to his twin's train of thought. "And the Knight Bus is certainly not the only way to get out of a train station."

"Ah," Harry said. "I see."

"Good, now if we could all just casually stow away on the nearest train, we're good to go," Fred said cheerfully, making his way into the nearest crowd of people.

"Follow him!" George said, skipping after his brother.

"We're going to get caught," Harry said as they snuck onto the train on the Mercer tracks.

"Shh!" the twins hissed at him. "Come on!" The four go into the back car where there were no people, only a lot of luggage. George shut the door behind him and they headed toward the back. Fred and George piled up suitcases up around them and the four huddled against the back of the train, surrounded by the fortress of brown leather and lacy items that the boys did not even want to begin to imagine were.

The four remained silent, almost as if they were afraid that the slightest sound would reveal their presence to the adults outside. A few moments passed and from the other side of the thin doors the sound of other (paying) passengers boarding the train reached the boys' ears. The sound of trolleys being pulled along the concrete walkways made it almost seem as if they were going to Hogwarts. Almost.

Suddenly a whistle blew and the train lurched forward, sending the four spiraling into their fortress which collapsed underneath their weight and proceeded to topple down on them.

"Ouch!"

"Oof!"

"Get it off!"

"Hey, watch it! What are you touching me for?"

"Sorry, thought you were a suitcase!"

"Quit whining!"

"Stop being so loud or we'll get caught!"

"By who exactly?"

"I don't know, some train official."

"Fine."

After the suitcases were all thrown off, leaving a lovely mess on the train floor for people to have to pick through later to find their belongings, the four went back into the corner as it seemed the best place to spend the journey. If someone were to walk it they would probably remain unnoticed, provided they did not move.

"So," Ron said. "Not to sound like I don't trust you lot, which I don't, but it just struck me. Are you sure this train goes to Mercer? I mean, it did just come from it."

"Of course we're sure Ronnikins," Fred said, rolling his eyes.

"Have a little faith would you?" George added.

Four Hours Later

"This is not Mercer," Ron said as the four snuck off the train and out of the station only to be confronted with a view of a miniscule village with a rather large sign declaring its name to be Applewood.

"Really," Harry said sarcastically. "What gave that away?"

"I don't understand," Fred said in frustration.

"We should probably get back on the train," George said, sighing. At that moment, however, the train turned and started away.

"No!" All four of them shrieked, running after the train, arms failing madly as they failed to stop the speeding locomotive from leaving them stranded in the middle of nowhere.

"Oh great," Harry said, flopping to the ground in defeat. "What are we going to do now? Some rescue mission this has turned out to be." Fred went over to inspect the train schedule and turned a startling shade of white.

"The next train," he said, his hands shaking. "Doesn't come back for three days."

"What?" Ron and Harry yelled in unison.

"So I guess then we're done," Ron said slowly. "We really don't have any other choice than to go back and get yelled at."

"Oh come on Ron," George said angrily. "We can do this. Its only three days. Its just a…minor…setback."

"A minor setback?" Harry yelled in outrage. "What do you propose we eat in these three days? Or where are we going to sleep? Huh? What about tonight? Who is going to take us in, in the middle of the night?"

"Don't be so negative," Fred said. "I'm sure we can find a temporary job to suit our needs. There must be someplace that will let us crash until morning. Come on. Do you want to find Hermione or not?" Harry hesitated.

"Oh….all right," he said in defeat. "Let's go see what we can do."

"That's the spirit," Fred said brightly. All four of them, however, missed the looming figure that was Malfoy Manner which lay only just beyond the town….

Bridgeford Castle, Scotland

Severus Snape was not normally one to admit that things were not working out. He did not admit defeat and the fact that he was not always in control of the situation was not something he said often. But the fact was things were flying wildly out of control and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Oi, Sev, what's up wit you?" Mundungus Fletcher asked as he popped into the room, tumbling out of the fireplace.

"The world, Mun, the world is up," Severus sighed. "At least whatever is left of it. For now."

"Oh stop with the gloomyness, Sev, ye need to git out more," Mundungus advised.

"Because society welcomes me with open arms," Severus said, snorting.

"Ah," Mundungus said, taking out his pipe.

"Very wise words on your part," Severus said, sighing again. The room fell silent and Severus let his gaze fall onto the fire, and in the depths of the burning wood he could almost catch glimpse of what things would soon be like, if the situation could not be remedied…

A/N: thanx to my wonderfull friend, Remo, for "helping"coughwriting cough mewith this chapter. everyone read an review her stories to make her feel special! her penname is RemoCon