Lemon Grass and Sleep

WHAT EXACTLY IS GOING ON

Harry was just as damp as me when I arrived, but he didn't say much as he walked past us into the room with Ron and Hermione. I imagined he was overwhelmed with a lot of the same questions we all had, probably even more.

It was a little insulting that I didn't even get a hi, but Fred and George seemed less bothered, so I tried to follow their example. Instead, it was back to waiting. Harry was most likely catching Ron and Hermione up on what his life had been like all summer, which I doubt was anything less than interesting.

"What do you think he's telling them?" I asked, not able to contain my curiosity any longer.

"I don't know, maybe something about the trial."

"He still has his wand," George mumbled, "The papers definitely would've said something if he was ruled guilty."

"You know," Fred whispered excitedly, "I bet they're all down there in one of those meetings again. George, did you bring those ears in your luggage?"

"Oh, Fred, I knew there was a reason I keep you around," he quickly responded, getting up off the floor and going to dig around in a suitcase.

"Just wait until you see this, Soot, it's brilliant. How nosy are you on a scale of one to ten?" Fred's eyes were bright with childish deviance, and I knew it must be some joker trick they'd brewed up in my absence of impulse control.

"A healthy six," I responded, glancing over to George's hands that held some lumps of something.

"Take a peek at this," he said, kneeling down and presenting his hands to me.

In George's palms rested a long, thick ribbon that was gathered together in several loops. My eyes scanned the entire pile, looking for something impish or mischevious about it, but it really did just look like an ordinary piece of fabric.

"Oh, wow," I said, acting impressed, "What am I looking at?"

"We're calling it an extendable ear, a listening device."

"Perfect for eavesdropping down a flight of stairs," George nodded enthusiastically. "I think it's about time we bother Ron and them."

"Hermione and Ron already know about them, but now we've got to show them off to you and Harry."

Listening in on a top secret meeting among adults who have the door shut is not exactly an easy task. First of all, the door is shut so none of the words can be heard too clearly through the wood. Secondly, it doesn't help if some nearby witch happens to have a curious cat as her chosen familiar.

"I didn't know he would try and eat it," Hermione said glumly.

"Yeah, well, quite a bit's been chomped off," George complained, inspecting the damage done to the end of the device.

Crookshanks had stolen the microphone end of the extendable ear, and taken it off somewhere.

"Will it be hard to repair?" I asked, peeking over his shoulder. It definitely did look like a big chomp had been taken out of the strip of fabric.

"Normally, no..." George mumbled.

"Here? Yes," Fred finished for him, looking just as crestfallen.

"Well, what all have you guys told Harry?" I asked, trying to lighten up the mood and change the subject.

"We haven't really filled him in at all," Ron sheepishly replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

I knitted my eyebrows in confusion, thinking back to the animated talking we could hear from behind the door. What on earth could they have been talking about, then?