Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/N: for the Safe House challenge. AU-ish (how much depends on what I do with this thing); starts in the middle of the fifth book, the day before Christmas break.
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Fred, George, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny -
Grimauld Place has been infiltrated. The Burrow is the new safe-house. None of you will be going back to Hogwarts after the holidays. A storm is coming. Similar letters have been sent to two of your schoolmates, though they cannot be named for now. We have no idea what's going on at the moment, so we clearly can't tell you six anything. Whatever you do, don't panic.
The Order
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The letter didn't work as intended. By the time all six of the recipients read it, an air of panic filled the common room, or at least the couch and two armchairs they occupied.
"This is horrible!" Hermione screamed as loudly as she could without being overheard. This was enough to hurt a few people's ears - Lee Jordan was teaching a group of third-years how to play Exploding Snap on the other side of the room.
"Hate to say it, but we got what we wanted and now we don't want it," Fred sighed.
"Which means WHAT?" Ginny snapped. "If Mum finds out that you wanted this..."
"All we wanted was a way out of school before the end of this year," George explained. "It figures - we got what we wanted in a roundabout way, and now I think I might miss this place."
"It's horrible timing on top of the pure dreadfulness of the idea," Hermione shuddered. "How are Harry and Ron and I going to get anywhere in the world if we haven't taken our OWLs?"
"Try our approach," Fred laughed. "We barely got any, and we're perfectly fine."
"That might work for YOU," Hermione insisted, "given that you two are THE most unambitious people I've ever met, but what about the rest of us? What if we actually want to do something with our lives?"
"Knock it off," Harry said, trying to calm Hermione down and failing. "It looks like that game over there's nearly over, and we're not supposed to let anyone know what's going on."
"Still," Hermione said, pulling herself out of her armchair, "it's a tragedy."
"On the contrary," George decided, "I think the fun is just beginning."
Hermione did not respond. Instead, as she went up to her dorm to pack, she sent Fred and George a death look.
"What'd I do?" Fred asked cluelessly once she was out of earshot.
"Does it matter?" Ron muttered. "She's like that. Spend a few solid weeks with her, and you'll get used to it."
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A/N: Not sure if Hermione-getting-mad-at-the-twins-easily is in the books, but I'm winging it. Also, in case it isn't clear, Mr. Weasley's accident did not happen in this AU-verse.