I don't own Harry Potter etc.
"What do you mean 'the Weasley twins were already there'?"
Mad Eye Moody was furious, Harry Potter was supposed to be one of their greatest assets in this war and as far as any of them knew he was currently unguarded while two wizards were running around his house! Everyone in the Order knew the twins were not guards and who was to say it was even them? It could be death eaters in disguise, sent to spy on the boy. Maybe they planned to release some fowl magical beast into the house, or place him under the imperious, or kidnap him! Mabey there were two so one could deliver him while another took his place, there was no telling how low the scum that followed the dark lord would go; something he learned the hard way. That was it, the second he saw 'Harry Potter' he was going to make sure he was who he claimed!
As Moody sat there contemplating what he knew about Harry that dark forces didn't (something which was proving surprisingly difficult as he hadn't really met the boy much and certainly never had a heart-to-heart) the rest of the order was worried about what could be going on(minus the plans to curse Harry- they felt that may be counterproductive).
Meanwhile, Dumbledore was feeling something he rarely felt: confusion. His wards had indicated no dark forces in the vicinity of Privet Drive, and when he probed deeper he confirmed the magical imprint of Fred and George Weasley, two people he had specifically told to stay away. Times like these he felt Snape may have a point: Gryffindor's could certainly be troublesome.
Still, the question remained. "Why were they there?"
Looking around the table he saw most of the order discussing the issue, with topics ranging from weather they should bring the twins back or find out why they were there first to who should go on guard duty and whether they should go into the house to check on Harry. He also noticed that for some reason Moody had interrupted the Weasley parents worried discussion to demand Molly told him Harry's favourite sandwich (peanut butter according to Molly- though Dumbledore could have sworn it was cheese). Getting back on topic he called the table to attention.
"People please, I think we can all agree the best course of action here is to establish Harry's safety and decipher our identical friends motives" he stated calmly "now- Tonks, as you were the one to see them please go and approach the two Weasley's and enquire about their presence, meanwhile Kingsley, would you be so kind as to check on Harry and resume the guard post?"
"I should go too!" Moody demanded "Tonks may need back up and I want to check Potter for 'curses' or concealment charms!"
"I can assure you Alastor, Tonks will be quite safe, these are the real twins and I therefore, very much, doubt Harry has been cursed" Dumbledore replied, deciding not to mention the part about thinking Harry may not appreciate Alastor's prodding and poking; they all knew the man had something of a boundary issue.
"Why don't we go?" volunteered Arther Weasley "Molly and I have the most experience with the twins"
"While that is true I feel they may be more open with Tonks if they feel they can explain their reasoning with less chance of getting into trouble" was his reply before turning to Tonks again "on which note, kindly refrain from informing them of the order being aware of this, act as though you have simply spotted them and gone straight over"
Tonks nodded silently before quickly disapparating away with Kingsley.
…
Back in Privet Drive the three people in question were currently sat around Harry's small room with harry looking rather confused himself
"What do you mean you two are my new neighbours?" He asked, sure he misheard
"Exactly that" George replied with a grin "we have officially move in across the street"
"Number 7, in case you were wondering" Fred replied looking rather proud of himself "questions?"
"Umm, yes, as a matter of fact" Harry stated hesitantly "lots"
When neither twin said anything to that, instead just grinning wider and raising an eyebrow (oddly enough they each raised the opposite eyebrow which made them look almost like one was being reflected in a mirror, though Harry felt that was probably the point) Harry started again
"First off, why? Not that it's not cool, just, I'm not sure this is your kind of neighbourhood, Second, how? Third do the order know? And your family? And are they ok with it? And considering you just performed magic in my room am I going to be blamed for that because I really don't want to be expelled again?" looking like he wanted to say more but didn't know what Harry stopped.
"Shall we answer in chronological order or order of length?" George joked
"Just answer" Harry stated (as pleased as he was to see his friends he really wanted an explanation before his headache got any worse). Sensing Harry's tone Fred started:
"Well go in order of asked than" he started "First: we decided we needed a change of scenery, a fresh canvas of chaos, and lord knows this neighbourhood could use some. I dare say they'll be thanking us for coming before long, besides, what better place than along-side our dear friend?"
"Second" George took over "no the order don't know but I imagine they will find out soon enough"
Harry had the sinking suspicion they were doing what he dubbed- the twin relay, where they swap whos speaking every sentence. Sure enough Fred spoke next
"And neither do our family though, again, that will probably change soon"
"As they are currently unaware they are yet to provide us with an opinion" stated George
"And finally, no, we filled in the paperwork at the ministry so while the trace will pick up on magic in the area, it won't activate unless it's you specifically performing it" Fred finished with a bow "anything else?"
"My relatives?"
"Couldn't be more exited at the gift of our presence, well I assume its excitement from all the shouting" George replied with a wink "we did tell them at the station we'd be checking in after all"
Harry snorted at that.
"Speaking of presents, we have some for you now that you're awake" Fred said exited.
Harry eyed them up and down feeling slightly nervous (Ron had warned him about the twin's presents). Sensing his gaze George continued
"There back at number 7, we got somewhat distracted before coming over give us a sec and we'll be right back" and with that the two disappeared down the stairs leaving harry an odd mix of exited, confused and a little bit nervous. What would the Dursley's do when they got Harry alone? How would the twins respond to being the Dursley's neighbours (he knew from experience living with them was not fun)? Then again, he thought, this will certainly liven up the rest of his summer!
…
Having just arrived in Privet Drive the first thing Tonks saw was the twins crossing the street away from number 4. She gestured to Kingsley to head straight to Harry's room while she approached the twins.
…
Fred and George hurried out of number 4, they wanted to get back soon so Harry wouldn't be alone with his relative for too long but they had both felt the need to get out for a moment to gather their thoughts, for all their joking they were worried. Harry didn't just look unhealthy, he looked like death. He needed help, and they needed to give it to him. Just, not with their tempers bubbling just under the surface. They silently agreed that they would ask for some of their mothers' recipes ASAP- Harry looked to need good food, support, and laughter to help him back on track and luckily they were more than willing to provide it.
At that moment they were pulled from their thoughts by Tonks (whom they learnt to recognise by her hair never being a 'normal' colour as she never looked the same which could make it tricky- and people thought their similarity was confusing). 'Here we go' they thought, the moment of truth.
"Hello Tonks" Fred said, putting as much charm in as he could
"George" she said with a nod, apparently trying to come across as serious (not easy with blue hair and seemingly pink eyes)
"That's Fred, I'm George" George replied looking amused.
Looking between the two Tonks just sighed
"Whatever" she started "why are you two hear? I didn't think you two were allowed to be on guard duty"
"Well my dear, I think you'll find that if you check ministry records my brother and I are now official residents within the area" Fred stated, deciding not to beat around the gnome hole.
"After being advised to seek a new place of residence we decided it would be in everyone's best interest to move into that house" he gestured to number 7 "so we can provide protection and support to our greatest hope in these dark times"
Tonks looked at them like they had sprouted tentacles!
"You do realise the order will have a fit when they find out!"
Fred suddenly felt very serious
"Tonks, we know it's not what we were supposed to do but trust me when I say it was the right thing to do"
"If you don't believe us just go look at Harry!" George continued
Tonks looked uncertain so Fred kept pushing
"He's falling apart Tonks, he just lost Sirius, his last hope of escaping the Dursley's early, combine that with the rest of the ministry fiasco, what he went through with Umbridge, death eaters, and You Know Who and he's barely hanging by a thread! He needs someone right now, and the two of us are the prime candidates, we're his friends so we know how to cheer him up without him feeling like he's being baby sat, we're of age so we can do magic if needed, and were part of the order so we can protect him if anything happens. We need to do this before Harry shuts down completely and we lose him for good!"
Tonks shifted from one foot to the other, on the one hand the order would almost certainly fight this, but on the other hand… they were right. You can't abandon someone who has been through half of what harry has and expect them not to break down! She was still amazed he hadn't already!
In the end she came to a decision to put all cards on the table
"I'm going to have to tell the Order what you told me, and I will try and make your case. However you two better prepare for backlash"
"Thanks Tonks" George said "trust us, we know what we're doing"
With that she nodded and left them to go into their house.
…
While all this had been happening Kingsley had appeared in Harry's room, the crack surprising Harry enough to almost throw another punch.
"Harry, are you ok?" Kingsley immediately stated, sounding oddly surprised, his eyes roaming up and down Harry's face and form.
"Yeah, I'm fine" Harry replied, unsure whether or not to mention his previous visitors, they had said the order didn't know, Harry was starting to suspect they had just found out.
"Have you seen anyone suspicious hanging around lately?" Kingsley continued. Harry wished he'd stop staring at him like that, it was very offputting (the twins had looked at him in a similar way for some reason though it was less creepy as they did look at each other occasionally which broke the stare) and he was getting conscious of the fact he couldn't remember when he last left the room to shower.
"No one I'd consider a threat, but I haven't really left my room" he stated, figuring it was honest enough.
"What about Fred and George Weasley?" and there it was, the question he couldn't get around truthfully (despite what the papers said, Harry preferred not to lie unless he felt it was really necessary- like the school was in danger, or if it was to Snape or the Dursley's). Instead he went with the true-but-clearly-not-what-the-question-was-asking route:
"I don't think they count as a real threat, I mean they may pull pranks but they wouldn't do any permanent damage"
Kingsley found himself torn between amused and frustrated
"I meant have you seen them!" he stated in a tone that left no more room for games
"Yes, you just missed them actually" Harry admitted
"Did they say why they were here?" Kingsley pressed
"They mentioned the incident at the station where you guys said you'd be checking in occasionally" again- true, they mentioned it along with other reasons
"Right" said Kingsley, feeling there was more to it but deciding to let it slide for now rather than battle through more vague answers (this kid has spent way too much time around the Hogwarts headmaster) "did they do any magic?" he continued, hoping they wouldn't have to bale Harry out of trouble again
"Not much, just a healing spell of Fred's nose which they said the Ministry wouldn't pick up on"
This worried Kingsley, there weren't many reasons the ministry wouldn't sense magic in this area and all of them had the man thinking they were about to have some interesting conversations between both Dumbledore and the two read heads
"What happened to his nose?" he asked curious
"I punched him" Harry responded sheepishly
Kingsley blinked a few time before giving up and asking
"Why?"
"He tried to wake me from a nightmare and I lashed out, I swear it was an accident!" Harry insisted before adding in a small, almost pleading voice "don't tell Mrs Weasley"
Deciding to take pity on the kid Kingsley smiled
"Don't worry, I have no more wish to entice Molly Weasley's wrath thank you do"
"Thank you" stated Harry
They both fell silent after that. Kingsley felt he should do more, ask how Harry was doing or find out if he needed anything. The kid looked like hell, but he also knew Harry wouldn't say so instead he decided it would be best to collect Tonks and report back both what he learnt and what he saw.
As he was about to leave he paused, something he heard at the table springing to his mind
"By the way Harry, What's your favourite sandwich?"
Hey everyone- Thank you so much for the lovely reviews and fave's! I'm really exited to learn people are enjoying this story. A bit of a longer chapter this time so hope you enjoy it. I will try and update ASAP (I'm now working on a second story which I plan to update later today if all goes well, so feel free to check that one out too)