For the next few weeks the twins put any thoughts of locating a unicorn's horn out of their minds. Oliver had carefully, but firmly, explained the need for the pair of them to keep out of trouble, especially around Snape as he suspected that the teacher would use any excuse to put a member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team in detention and force them to miss the next match. Normally Fred and George would have ignored this request but Oliver was so insistent that they were actually worried his head might explode if they had the misfortune to tell him they weren't able to play. Since the only way to get hold of a unicorn's horn was to either steal from Snape's private supply cupboard or sneak into Hogsmeade, the boys elected to wait until after the upcoming match to put their plans into action.

Oliver's suspicions were somewhat confirmed when the twins realised that Filch seemed to be stalking them wherever they went in the hope of catching them in the act. In the end they spent much of their free time in Gryffindor Tower so as to limit the temptation to break school rules. Although in the run up to the match both boys noticed that they were presented with much more opportunities for rule breaking than normal.

"Look at it," said George, hypnotically gazing at an old vase. There was a large sign on the plinth which read 'Do Not Touch, Under Any Circumstances. Dangerous.' He slowly reached a hand forward.

"George, don't," said Fred, slapping his brother's hand away.

"But I need to know. Why can't we touch it? What'll it do?" George looked at the vase with narrow eyes. "I've got to know."

"Shouldn't you guys be down at the pitch already? The match is starting soon," said Lee. He was carrying a large folder containing a number of loose parchments, each of which were filled with handwritten notes and facts on the two teams for him to read from during his commentating.

"Yeah, we were just on our way when we saw this," said Fred, nodding towards the vase. "I can't believe we've never noticed it before."

"That's because it wasn't here before. I saw Filch putting it out the other day," said Lee. He looked at the sign then back at the twins. "You know it's a trap right?"

"What? What do you mean trap?" said George, frowning. "How do you know what it does?"

"It doesn't do anything," said Lee. "The sign says don't touch, so if either of you touch it Filch or Snape can stick you in detention."

"How would they know if we touch it?" said George, who hadn't taken his eyes off of the vase.

"Because Mrs Norris is sat right over there," said Lee, pointing across the corridor with his folder. The twins looked over their shoulders and sure enough the caretaker's cat was sat watching them from between the legs of a suit of armour. "It's a trap and you nearly fell for it."

"Why that sneaky little git?" muttered George, trying to shoo the cat away. Mrs Norris responded by hissing at him. "I knew it was a trap anyway, I would never have touched the vase."

"Yeah right," laughed Lee. He shifted his folder slightly and spilled half the contents on the floor. "Damn."

"Here," said Fred, as the three boys started picking up the parchments.

"What's this?" said George, reading from one of the pages. "'George Weasley, seventy-five percent accuracy with Bludgers.'"

"Oh, I've just made notes of all the players, it helps me with the commentary," explained Lee, trying to sort the pages back into some sort of order.

"Seventy-five percent? Not bad," said George, handing the paper back to his friend.

"'Fred Weasley, eighty percent accuracy.' Hah, take that," said Fred, reading from his own sheet.

"Do you have these on all the players? Even the other teams?" asked George.

"Pretty much," nodded Lee. "Why?"

"You should show them to Oliver, he'll probably be interested in reading them. Might save us a few extra practices if he's holed up in his room with all this."

"Good idea, I'll talk to him after the match."

"'Angelina Johnson, smells like coconut and lavender. New shampoo?' Not entirely sure what this one has to do with Quidditch," said Fred, reading from another page.

"That shouldn't… I'll just…" stammered Lee, grabbing the parchment from his friend's hand and stuffing it into his pocket. "Shouldn't you be going?"

"Oh yeah," said Fred, pushing the last few pages towards his friend. He grabbed his brother by the collar. "Come on George."

"See you later," called George over his shoulder. Lee wasn't sure if he had been talking to him or the vase.

Down in the changing rooms almost everyone else was already dressed into the team Quidditch uniforms, only Harry was still in the process of pulling on his robes. Oliver looked at the twins as they entered and tapped at an imaginary watch on his wrist.

"I know, I know," said George, as they started to get changed. "We made it didn't we?"

"Only just," muttered Angelina. She turned to look at Fred. "What are you doing? Did you just sniff me?"

"What? No. If you must know I have a slight cold," said Fred, frowning. He made his way over to his brother. "He was right; coconut and lavender."

"Now that we're all here," said Oliver, looking pointedly at the twins, "I just wanted to say a few words. We know Hufflepuff aren't the strongest team but Snape is refereeing and with the chance to overtake Slytherin he'll use any excuse to give out penalties against us. Don't give him that excuse. Play a clean game and we'll be fine. Chasers," he looked at Angelina, Alicia and Katie, "you could beat their 'keeper with your eyes closed, but if you go up to catch the Quaffle alongside one of them watch out for your elbows. Lift your arm too high and Snape will say you fouled the other player with an elbow to the head. Fred, George," he pointed at the brothers.

"That's us," said Fred, adjusting his robes.

"Don't tell us," said George. "Just keep doing what we do. Bludger here, Bludger there. Protect the team."

"Don't hit any Bludgers at Snape," said Oliver in a warning tone.

"What? Why would…" started Fred before his captain cut him off with a look. "Fair enough."

"We're the best team. We deserve to win. Make sure that happens. Our House is counting on us," said Oliver, punching a fist into his palm. He took Harry aside to give him a few words of individual encouragement, as Fred poked his head out of the door to look at the pitch.

"The whole school's out there! Even… blimey… Dumbledore's come to watch!" said Fred excitedly.

The team made their way out onto the pitch and got into positions. The Snitch was released, then the Bludgers and finally Snape threw the Quaffle high into the air and blew the whistle. Angelina grabbed it first and passed it back to Alicia who in turn passed it across to Katie. The three girls continue to pass it back and forth amongst themselves trying to stretch the Hufflepuff Chasers out of position. Fred and George had barely had to defend against the Bludgers before Harry had gone into a spectacular dive, which drew gasps and cheers from the crowd. He streaked towards the ground like a bullet. He pulled up sharply with his hand raised in triumph. Between his fingers he held the Snitch.

The stands erupted; it had to be a record, no one could ever remember the Snitch being caught so quickly.

"What's going on?" shouted Fred to his brother. "It can't be over already."

"Harry did it," George replied. "He got the Snitch."

The boys, along with the rest of the team, landed next to Harry and lifted him up onto their shoulder's as the rest of Gryffindor House spilled onto the pitch and surrounded the team whilst chanting Harry's name. They carried him all the way back to the changing rooms.

"Unbelievable Harry," beamed Oliver, slapping a hand down on his shoulder. "I knew you were good, but that was just… unbelievable."

"Good one Harry," said Katie, nodding towards him.

"Top of the table," said Angelina, shaking her head. "When you told me Snape was refereeing I didn't think we stood a chance. But… top of the table."

"Just Ravenclaw to go," said Alicia, smiling.

"Don't be getting ahead of ourselves," said Oliver. "Ravenclaw are still a good team, well need to practice loads if we're going to beat them."

"Merlin's Beard, Oliver. Can't you just be happy that we've won?" said George, shaking his head.

"You're right," said Oliver, holding his hands up. "We won, that's all that matters today. Three cheers for Harry."

Once the team had changed out of their clothes and returned their brooms to the shed, most of them made their way back to the Gryffindor common room where they were greeted by a jubilant crowd of supporters. Fred and George volunteered to liberate some cakes and other supplies from the kitchens and events quickly turned into party.

"Alright Ron? What happened to you?" Fred asked his younger brother who was holding a cloth filled with ice up against his nose

"Nosebleed. Malfoy gave it to me but I gave him a black eye, so I'm pretty sure that means I won," explained Ron. He looked around the room. "Where's Harry?"

"He stayed behind in the changing room," said Fred, shrugging his shoulders. "Probably still a bit amazed that he caught the Snitch so quickly."

"Here Fred," said a fifth year boy with a mouth full of food. "I think we're running low on cake. Any chance you or George…"

"George already went for some more cake and biscuits," said Fred, nodding his head towards the door. "Should be back any minute."

"I wouldn't count on it," said Lee. "Just saw Filch dragging him off for detention."

"He got caught stealing from the kitchens? Doesn't sound like him," said George, shaking his head.

"Of course it sounds like him. He steals from the kitchen all the time. You both do," said Lee, waving a small blue fairy cake under his friend's nose.

"Oh the stealing part is him. I meant the getting caught part."

"Filch didn't put him in detention for that. George was on his way to the kitchen when Filch nabbed him," explained Lee.

"Then why…ah… the vase?"

"Yep, pushed it right off the table and it smashed to pieces," nodded Lee.

"Well at least it was worth it."

Now that the Hufflepuff match was out of the way, Oliver relaxed his constant reminders to the twins to stay out of trouble which was why during one third years' outing into Hogsmeade that Lee, Fred and George found themselves standing outside the Hog's Head Inn. It was a dingy looking place with filth encrusted bay windows which made it impossible to see through. Inside was no better, with one small very dirty room that smelled faintly of something similar to, but not quite like, wet dog. The room was filled with rough wooden tables which had the odd melted stub of a candle resting in the middle. There were a number of people inside, but most had hoods pulled up over their faces and didn't seem to pay the new arrivals much interest.

"Where do we start?" whispered Lee.

"I say bar-keep, three Butterbeers when you're ready, my good man," said George, planting himself on one of the old stools up at the bar. It creaked uncertainly for a few seconds but didn't break.

"You got money?" muttered the barman in a gruff voice. "I don't give out free drinks to kids you know?"

"Here you go," said George dropping some coins down onto the counter.

"Not enough," said the man. "Need two more sickles."

"Six sickles? For three Butterbeers? It's only four down at the Three Broomsticks," complained George.

"You're paying extra for the ambiance," replied the man.

"Does ambiance mean 'smell'?" Fred whispered to Lee.

"Look, do you want them or not?" snapped the man.

"Yes, we'll take them," said George.

The barman scooped up the coins in one hand, reached under the counter and pulled up three dusty looking bottles of Butterbeers. He popped open each one and left them in front of the boys. Lee almost asked for a glass but one glance towards the shelves behind the bar was enough to see that it probably would have been cleaner to just pour the drink on the floor and lap it up with his tongue.

"So now what?" whispered Lee as the three boys slowly sipped at their drinks.

"I don't know," admitted Fred. "Should we just go over and ask someone?"

"You can't just wander over to a stranger and say 'here, do you have any unicorn horn? Pure unicorn mind none of that rhino stuff,'" explained George.

"Well how else are we going to do it?" asked Fred, turning to look at his brother.

"Er… we didn't really think this one through did we?" said George.

"Makes a change I suppose," said Lee sarcastically.

"I've an idea," said Fred. He turned back around and nodded at the barman who was busy wiping a dirty looking glass with an even dirtier looking cloth. "Excuse me, but me and my friends…"

"Associates," muttered George.

"What?" said Fred.

"Associates. It sounds better."

"What does it mean?"

"Friends."

"So how is that better than just saying 'friends'?" asked Fred, completely ignoring the fact that the barman had managed to produce an even more surly expression than when the boys first entered the Inn.

"That's what you say when you're looking to do any shady deals. Associates. It's like a code word. Trust me," said George, nodding encouragement.

"Sorry. Me and my associates were wondering if you knew anyone in the general area that might be able to get…"

"Procure," interrupted George.

"Procure," said Fred, without missing a beat, "some hard to get… sorry procure… items."

"I won't have anything illegal in my pub," stated the barman, a little bit louder than necessary, "of course I can't stop what I don't know about can I?"

"Oh it's not illegal," said Lee quickly. "Just difficult to get."

"Procure," said Fred.

"Procure," repeated Lee.

"Hmm," grumbled the man, jerking his head towards the far side of the room.

"So is that a yes?" said Fred, hopefully.

"Him," said the man. Pointing a finger towards a large figure with his back to the group. "He's always getting his hands on things."

"Brilliant. Thanks," said George.

The three boys made their way over to the table. As he was still turned away from them they couldn't see the man's face but they could tell he was huge. He had a large pitcher of drink on the table and was drinking directly from it, and even then it still looked small in his hands.

"Ahem," coughed George, "excuse me, the barman said that you might be able to help us get hold of something."

"Oh he did, did he?" said the man turning around. The minute he saw the boys his eyes opened wide. "Wha' the bleeding hell are yeh doing here?"

"Hagrid?" said the three in unison surprised to see him.

"O' course it's me? Who else is it going ter be?" said Hagrid. "Yeh three shouldn't be in here. It's not right."

"Friends of yours Hagrid?" asked the barman who had now come around from behind the counter and was standing next to the boys.

"No Aberforth, just students from the school. Where they should be goin' back ter right now," said Hagrid firmly.

"We were just looking…" Fred started to speak.

"Yeh were jus lookin' fer trouble, that's wha'," said Hagrid. "Now be on yer way before you find any."

"But," said George.

"You heard the man. Off you go," said Aberforth, ushering them towards the door.

"No it's just… hang on… stop pushing," complained the boys before they were unceremoniously pushed out into cold air. "Well that was just rude."

"Well that's that then," said George.

"We could always comeback another day, you know when Hagrid isn't here," said Lee.

"The barman would probably kick us out again," muttered Fred.

"So now what?" asked Lee, rubbing his hands together as he blew warm air onto them.

"Only one thing for it," said George, shrugging.

"Steal from Snape?" asked Fred.

"Steal from Snape," confirmed George.