The Chambers doing

Chapter 22 - A Trip to Hogsmeade Village

Harry and Ginny slowly made their way along the small tunnel under the grounds. Occasionally a drop of water fell from the ceiling, presumably from the freshly settled snow above – every so often one of the pair caught a glimpse of daylight through a small hole.

Eventually, the tunnel started sloping upwards. They'd long since disappeared from the edge of the Marauder's map, and Harry had stowed it back in his cloak pocket – it wouldn't serve them any use in Hogsmeade.

Suddenly, the tunnel came to an abrupt end. "What's wrong Harry? Why have you stopped?" Ginny asked from behind him.

"The tunnel just stopped." Harry said, frustrated. "I can't see a way out at all."

"Let me have a look." Ginny replied, manoeuvring herself around Harry. "Lumos", she whispered, lighting her wand tip. She ran it along the stones in front of her, then above her head. "There's a slight gap between this rock above us and the wall." She told Harry. "Here, hold my wand and I'll see if I can move it." She continued, handing Harry her lit wand. She braced her hands against the rock and pushed upwards. As it moved away, they could see it opened into a room of sorts, full of boxes and barrels, and a wooden staircase in the corner.

Once the stone was out of the way, the two teenagers clambered out of the hole created. The rock Ginny had been moving turned out to be a paving slab from the floor of the room. As Harry worked to put it back in place and hide the tunnel again, Ginny inspected some of the boxes.

"Ice Mice, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.... Harry! I think we're in the cellar of Honeydukes!" She exclaimed. "Yes, look – here's a box of Honeydukes' Best Chocolate."

"Well, at least we know where we are." Harry commented. "Here, come under the cloak," he added, holding the invisibility cloak above his head, "we need to sneak out of here somehow – although I imagine the shop is quite busy."

As it turned out, quite busy was an understatement. Being the last Hogsmeade weekend before Christmas, it was the last chance for most students to do their Christmas shopping, and Honeydukes was naturally heaving with students. Luckily, Harry and Ginny were easily able to slip past the counter, and once in the main shop decided it wasn't worth staying hidden – most the students wouldn't care they were there, and they could easily blend into the crowds. Removing the cloak, Harry took Ginny's hand in his and they started attempting to browse the shop.

Being Harry's first time in the wizarding sweet shop (and Ginny's too for that matter), they were overwhelmed by the variety available. There were shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable. In one corner were large barrels of Every Flavour Beans, Fizzing Whizzbees and more, along with shelves of Honeydukes' Best Chocolate, Wizochoc, Treacle Fudge and Chocolate Frogs, to name a few.

Eventually Harry decided to buy some Chocolate Frogs and Ice Mice – steering well clear of the more questionable offerings such as Acid Pops, Bat's Blood Soup and Blood-Flavoured Lollipops. Ginny looked longingly at the large bars of chocolate adorning the shelf closest to the counter, but didn't have any money of her own to spend. With the Weasley's struggling as much as they were, pocket money was thin on the ground as it was, and as she was in Hogsmeade a year earlier than she had been expecting until that summer, she hadn't been saving. She knew she could have just asked Harry and he'd be happy to buy her anything, but she was still getting used to the fact that what was his was hers, and felt a little bad about using his money like that.

Harry saw the direction she was looking in, and quickly added several bars of Honeydukes' Best Chocolate and a packet of Sugar Quills to his order, stuffing them into his bag before Ginny noticed – he'd surprise her later.

Eventually, the two tore themselves away from the bustling sweet shop, and headed out into the snow covered street. They had to tread carefully, as the uneven cobbles were slippery where the snow had been melting from continuous walking, but both were content to walk arm in arm at their own pace, stopping to look in the windows of several other shops.