Remus and Sirius were sitting in the dining room, laughing at Tonks as she made her nose turn into the snout of a pig when the Weasley family practically barged in, Harry and Hermione in tow. Molly and Arthur were in the front, and George and Fred (curse those sneaky kids!) lolly-gagged in the back, squishing the three others into a human sandwich.

Dust floated in the room by the windows, which were covered in their own layer of grime and filth. Remus knew he kept telling Sirius to clean it, but with that batty old portrait screaming all the time, they were never going to be able to. Molly immediately engulfed the man in a bear hug, Sirius stiffening slightly as he awkwardly returned it. The wallpaper which had once been a deep green was now brown and flaky, floorboards creaking as the rest of the group came in.

"How's my favorite little witch!" Tonks laughed as she grabbed Hermione, ruffling the girl's brown hair.

"I'm not little, Tonks-" Hermione began to protest, jumping as the older witch morphed her face into that of a crow, black feathers poking out from where her eyebrows and hair once were. Going round the table to take a seat next to Sirius, across from Tonks, she scrunched her nose at her. Already, Molly was in the kitchen, the sounds of pots and pans clinking loudly from the door.

"Technically your hair makes up for most of you," Sirius' eyes twinkled as he joked with Hermione, receiving an eyeroll from her and a grunt of suppressed laughter from his godson. It made Remus smile, to see Sirius so happy again, the way his dark eyes lit up ever so slightly once Harry was with him.

"So, where's Kingsley?" Arthur asked, plopping himself down at the head of the table, "After all, he was the one who gave us the heads up about our boy here, right?" Remus cocked his head (force of habit, being a werewolf and all) as he gave Tonks a quick peck on her cheek before approaching the twins. Oddly enough, they had been conversing amongst themselves, not fooling around or tricking the rest of the Order as they normally would. Arthur's words he swatted away as if they were flies.

"He's with Dumbledore at Hogwarts right now, Arthur…" Remus said, his voice trailing as he eyed Fred and George, the two boys waving their wands and jabbing at, well, someone. They poked and prodded him with their wands, the man looking rather uncomfortable and small for his height. Not that he was actually a small person; no, he was rather gigantic (almost as tall, if not the same height, as Hagrid), but he did his best to draw himself into his being, his shoulders stooped forward, hands bound at his chest. His brown hair was messy, and his eyes had a sort of puppy-ish look about them, his lips pink in contrast to his pale skin.

Bound at his chest? That didn't seem right.

Clearing his throat, Remus caught the twins attention, "Gred! Forge!"

Just as he hoped, the boys beamed at the use of their "nicknames." Withdrawing their wands, they playfully punched his arms, "Hey, Moony! Long time, no see!"

"And what have you boys been up to?" Remus grinned, raising an eyebrow. No one else was paying them any mind, Hermione and Harry cackling as Tonks was morphing hr face to tease Remus behind his back, no doubt.

"Aw, you know- a little of this, a little of that…" George said nonchalantly, "And hey we kidnapped a guy today!"

"Yeah, I'm surprised Mum even allowed us to do it, considering how she blew her top when we blew up a toilet last year-"

"I DID NOT CONDONE THIS REMUS LUPIN!" came Molly Weasley's frantic cry as she raced from the kitchen, waving a soup ladle in her fst as if it were a sword. During the argument, the twins produced whoever it was they were poking at, the man looking very startled indeed.

"I-is this a crime ring?" he asked, "May I go home?"

"Ned, is it?" Remus asked, and the man gaped in surprise. It was rather cute, the way his lips formed a perfect oval, his thick eyebrows furrowing in shock. But the werewolf knew no one was near as cte as Tonks, who materialized next to him, eyeing the man curiously as he stuttered.

"Y-you know my name, that's not possible, I don't know you…." he trailed, adding, "Unless of course you're a friend of Olive's and this is one of her many ploys to force me into a relationship with her, as jealousy amongst women cannot be rivaled when it comes to getting what they want. By social norms, had Olive introduced you to me, I'd be perfectly fine joining you, but as she has not I see fit to call Emerson or the police, but Emerson is most likely very busy and Olive is relishing in the fact that she has me cornered…."

Everyone watched in confusion as he came to a mental conclusion as to why he was in Grimmauld Place, in this strange town. And who Olive was, exactly. None of them knew anyone by such a name, deeming it to be quite childish in their thoughts.

"-and then there's the matter of Chuck- why does Olive have to do such things?!" the man continued murmuring to himself, muscles tensing as he slapped his chest with his hands, which were turning red from lack of bloodflow. Tendons stretched underneath skin, biceps bulging as his arms were bent. It made Remus pull his jacket tighter around himself, to compare muscles, but Nymphadora simply smirked at him.

"And why is Ned here, Remus?" she asked sweetly, although he could see the taunting glint in her eyes. She was curious, as was the rest of the Order. Her voice was low, a whisper only he could hear. The werewolf felt eyes boring into him, but he ignored them as everyone went back to the table, seating themselves in their respective chairs. Sirius gave him a questioning look, but Remus merely sat next to him, watching as the Weasley twins positioned Ned so he sat with his back against the wall, next to George's chair.

"Alright, listen if it's money you want-" Ned began, his face turning red with embarrassment.

"We don't want money, don't worry," Fred laughed at him with a polite smile.

"What else would you kidnap me for?" Ned seemed to be cautious, folding in on himself as a thought dawned on his features, "Oh dear God."

"What?" was Harry's reply.

"Please don't do that to me."

Now Remus was confused, the look of fear etched into the man's eyes. He looked like a puppy that had run away from home, only to find out his master had replaced him when giving up the search.

"What do you mean by…. oh," Hermione piped up, her eyes widening with horror as she added, "Do you really think we're that depraved?!" Already however, Ned was bracing himself for the oncoming storm that was Hermione Granger, and Sirius gently placed a hand on her shoulder. Clearing his throat, Remus finally spoke up.

"Ned- it's alright if I call you that, right?- Ned, you're here because of a very specific purpose," Remus explained. "I assume you still have that letter?"

A beat.

Nodding, Ned jutted his chin at Molly Weasley, who had gone to scold her sons for making him sit on the floor. Wrists tensing against the ropes, Ned said, "She, uh, she still has it, I think." A rustling of paper, and Molly handed Remus the note, all the while still pinching Fred's (or was it George?) cheeks. Honestly, he had trouble figuring out the difference most days. Trouble crossed his fair features as Remus took it, opening it to scan, Sirius glancing at it over his shoulder.

"I-it said I lost something…?" Ned asked with uncertainty, "I'm not really sure what they meant by that."

"I'm sure Dumbledore can explain it," Remus said, tucking the note into his coat pocket. Ned mouthed the name curiously as Remus continued, "and just so you know, we made sure The Pie Hole, Olive, and Digby have been taken care of."

Harry laughed at Ned's reaction, his question, "How?"

"We have our ways, don't worry yourself dear," Molly cut in, guiding Ned up off the floor, "now why don't you take a seat? I'm sure the floor is very uncomfortable." Ned was shaking, surprised as Molly gently tugged at the ropes round his wrists and let them drop to the floor. Ned's skin was chafed; red and raw from where they dug in, and Remus thought he could see thin lines of blood near his palms. The scraping of a chair was loud as Molly sat Ned down next to George (or was it Fred?) and across from Remus, the newcomer eyeing the redhead boy warily.

"So…. why am I here?" Ned finally asked after a good five minutes of silence.

Sirius clasped his hands in front of him, leaning forward. His black hair hung in a curtain, obscuring his face partially. Clearing his throat, he said, "There are reasons to believe that certain… people are after you."

"Excuse me?" Ned squeaked, his fingers curling against the edge of the table.

"I'm sorry, but we brought you here to keep you safe," Remus echoed.

"From the IRS?"

Judging from the look on Ned's face, he was about to piss himself. Or almost piss himslef. Remus laughed; Ned seemed the type to do so, overly anxious and paranoid about everything. Nodding, Remus chuckled.

"Yes!" he joked, "From the damned IRS!"

"What's the IRS?"

Everyone was surprised to find Ron speaking up, having stayed silent as he listened in on the whole ordeal. The lights overhead flickered, shadows creeping into the corners of the dining area.

"It's a Muggle thing, I'll explain later," Harry assured him.

"Muggle? What is that?" Ned asked.

Molly immediately turned red with anger. She wrung her hands, the bowl of the ladle she held banging carelessly against the wall. From another room Remus heard that damned portrait screaming bloody murder at the top of its lungs. Why was Sirius so adamant on keeping that blasted thing?!

Of course, it was hard to tell who was screaming louder; the portrait, or Ned.

"You mean to tell me!" Molly shrieked possibly louder than Ned and the portrait combined, "That we basically kidnapped a goddamned Muggle who doesn't even have a lick of sense when it comes to the wizarding world?!"

Remus felt his skin getting hot, sweat beading at the nape of his neck. Awkwardly, he wiped at it, the corner of his mouth twitching. The reason they had brought Ned to Grimmauld Place, well, that was a bit of a shocker, really. It had all been Dumbledore's idea, after learning of Voldemort's return. The werewolf shivered at the mere thought of the dark wizard, unable to bring himself to answer to Molly's anger.

Ever since the return of Voldemort- Remus had long given up on using the term "You-Know-Who" or "He-Who-Should-Not-Be-Named"), a darkness had spread across the wizarding world. Children and parents feared even going out to visit Hogsmeade, and that was a designated family area. Students at Hogwarts and even some teachers had decided not to return for fear of being attack or losing their positions if accused of being associated with his return at all.

And then he and Sirius had come across this nervous wreck of a man sitting in front of them. While visiting a quaint little pie shop- his very own Pie Hole, to be exact- they had seen him, well, kissing a sheet of plastic wrap quite passionately. No doubt he had done it multiple times, but Remus had been thankful he hadn't noticed them staring. The more alarming thing, however, was when he had picked up a strawberry from the counter.

Remus remembered it well. When he and Sirius had visited, a box of nearly rotted strawberries was sitting on the counter, free for the waitresses to pick at while the bussed tables and waited on the pies. He had seen the way the chef was glancing around before gingerly picking one up, the blackened fruit turning ripe by the second, bulging with flavor and juices.

So when Dumbledore had mentioned this man, Remus immediately knew he'd be an asset. Whether or not he had played a part in Voldemort's resurrection, they'd find out soon enough.

Sirius had to fight off a smirk as realization dawned on Ned's face.

"Exactly two years ago," Ned reminded himself, "You two walked in and sat down, Olive taking your order- I believe she flirted a little with you-" Ned pointed to Sirius "-before writing down that you had ordered a kiwi and banana pie."

"You Muggles eat some weird things," Ron commented, wincing as Hermione threatened to smack him upside the head.

"Wait-" Ned began.

It really had been Dumbledore's idea. Remus and Sirius were originally quite uncomfortable with the idea of kidnapping a random stranger, so the had waited. And then they had seen what he could do (whether or not he was aware was evident, as he began to ramble about someone named "Chuck" besides this Olive woman.)

"Ned, we brought you here because we have reason to believe you could have aided in the return of…. a certain someone, let's put it," Sirius cut the babbling baker off bluntly, his eyes having grown stern as he knit his brows together.

Ned seemed on the verge of tears at this point, "Wha-? If you mean Chuck then there is no way, my girlfriend is as alive as possible I promise I didn't go to the crime scene-"

Whatever he was busy talking about, no one knew, but it didn't matter. They had a job, and that was to get this man to speak. The painting a few rooms away had (thankfully) stopped screaming, and Ned's voice seemed to get higher and higher with each passing second. The chair was beginning to get uncomfortable for Remus, the wood scratching his back through his jacket.

They certainly had a long way to go if Dumbledore was sure that this man- this puppyish, nervous wreck of a baker- was the man they were looking for. A chill was suspended in the room, Remus pulling his coat tighter around himself as he glanced at his watch, however, he really wasn't reading the time, Ned's voice going in and out as he trembled. Before he could open his mouth to interrogate him some more, he was confused as Ned's voice broke through his trance:

"May I use your kitchen?"