Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story related to Harry Potter or J.K. Rowling. Other than the plot and a few (very few) Original Characters, it's all hers—no OC this chapter. I wish I owned Harry, but I don't. Then again, don't we ALL wish we owned Harry?

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CHAPTER 3: Serious Pranksters

            All the people on the underground gave them a wide berth, obviously afraid of the odd looking, limping man with the bowler.

            Fred and George walked a little ahead and to either side of Harry on the way to the station, all business. Any sign of cheer was gone from them.

            They sat on the underground with Fred in front of him, George in back, and Moody right next to him. Harry stared, partly glum out the window, watching the concrete wall slide by. He should be happier; he wouldn't have to see the Dursleys until next summer. So what was the matter with him?

            Finally they got off, Harry didn't even pay attention to what stop it was. The twins carried his things for him, keeping one hand each inside their pockets to reach their wands.

            Harry was surprised to find that they stopped in front of a rather shabby looking hotel in downtown London.

            "What are we doing here?" he asked curiously.

            "Spending the night. Go in, this stuff's heavy."

            Harry expected Moody to check them in at the reception desk. He didn't. He just walked straight back to the elevator. They went to the second floor and Moody took out a key and led them into room 23.

            Harry wasn't sure what he'd been expecting but this certainly wasn't it. The room contained a bed, with a little nightstand next to it; a small window at the back of the room; two doors which Harry assumed led to a bathroom and a closet; a couple lamps; and a small table with chairs around it. The table had some silver instruments on, it which Harry recognized as Dark Detectors, but aside from that the room was quite ordinary if a little run-down.

            There was silence. Finally Harry said, "I don't understand."

            Moody slammed the door shut and pointed to a chair. "Sit. Dumbledore specially arranged this room. It has more wards and safety on it at the moment than perhaps any place in London, except for one."

            "So this isn't the new Headquarters for the Ord—I mean the bird watchers' club?"

            "Of course not! Let me finish. This room has been specially warded by Dumbledore and is under severe watch. At midnight the three of us will leave and in groups of two, members of the Order will come for guard duty. One will remain invisible and outside your door, the other will remain in here. This will continue until such a time that Dumbledore has an opportunity to speak with you and you can be moved to Headquarters. Is this all understood?"

            "Yes. Though I still don't understand why, sir."

            "Think, boy! THINK! There are people out there who want you dead and worse. If you go down, then the rest of us don't have a hope. You know what I'm talking about. I don't know the details, Dumbledore has kept those to himself but you know them! And you know what you'll have to do. Nobody else can do that. Just you. That's why." His glare dared Harry to challenge him.

            Harry wasn't quite stupid enough to do that, actually, he was that stupid. "So everyone's still going to treat me like a little kid? I can defend myself, you know. I'm not totally useless."

            "Dumbledore had a feeling you might feel this way. He authorized me to do whatever I felt necessary to keep you from doing magic." Moody's voice was grim. "Accio wand!"

            Harry's wand flew out of his waistband and into Moody's gnarled and outstretched palm. He pocketed it. "You'll get it back when you see Dumbledore, if you behave. I'm going outside to keep watch. Be good. Weasleys, keep your eyes and ears sharp, y'hear? Harry, don't stay up too late." With that, Moody hobbled to the door, walked outside, and slammed it shut.

            "Why didn't you two say anything?" Harry demanded. The twins had stood by quietly, unpacking his things for him.

            "Look, Harry, we're under orders."

            "Yeah. You've got to understand. It's different now."

            "How?" he asked.

            "Kid, we're adults. And—"

            "Frankly, we decided when we got into this thing that we were going to own up to responsibilities and act like adults."

            "The truth is we decided that the moment we left Hogwarts."

            "Heck, it was before that even."

            "At Hogwarts we were kids. We goofed off, we ticked off the teachers, deliberately caused troubled just for the fun of it. That's not us anymore."

            "We're the same ol' Fred and George but now we're serious. You wouldn't understand."

            "Wouldn't understand? Wouldn't understand! Because I'm still at Hogwarts? Because I'm still a kid? You're only two years older than me and you ran away from school. Grow up! I've faced more than you have out there in the world! Out where it counts!" He waved at the window. "Wouldn't understand! Don't tell me I wouldn't understand because there are things that you don't understand! Nobody killed your family! Nobody's been hunting you down since you were born and trying to kill you! NOBODY! Nobody asked you to murder anybody! And you say I don't understand?" He took a deep breath and continued his tirade. "How would you like it if—" Suddenly he became aware that though he was moving his lips there was no sound coming out. He knew it had to have been one of them. He glared.

            "Don't make us do anything drastic, Harry. We do understand."

            "Yeah. We may have been lucky but we've had some really close calls. What about Ginny, huh? He went after our little sister!"

            "And our dad was nearly killed last year!"

            "Look, Harry, we still want to be your friends. But Dumbledore isn't just our Headmaster anymore. He's our boss."

            "And he isn't any ordinary boss, Harry. This is like the Muggles' MI6 or the CIA. This is life and death we're talking about. Millions of wizards. It isn't some dumb game."

            "They made us understand this going in. It was all or nothing."

            "Do you understand where we're coming from on this?"

            "It's torn apart our family. Percy won't speak to any of us. We never liked him much to begin with but it's hard on Mum and Dad. Charlie and Bill and Mum and Dad are putting their lives and jobs on the line everyday being in this Order. And so are we. The lives part, I mean, we're our own bosses as far as work goes."

            "We care about Ron and Ginny and Hermione and you. We want you all to stay safe more than anything. More than being rich. More than anything."

            "Don't you understand it, Harry?"

            "We want to take care of you and the best way for us to do that is to listen to Dumbledore and do what he says is best. He's the smartest guy we know."

            "And we trust him completely," there was a finality in the tone of George's voice.

            "We're sorry we had to stand by and let Mad-Eye take your wand. We're sorry you have to stay here under guard. I'm sorry I put that mute charm on you, but it was the only way to get a word in edgewise. But we are not sorry that we think we're doing the right thing by you. Do you get it?"

            "Yeah." The charm had been lifted. "I do get it. I guess I kinda lost my temper back there. I'm sorry."

            "Us too, Harry. But let's put all this behind us and move on to happier things."

            "We brought you some Extendable Ears."

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If this isn't too horrible, would you continue reading it? A review would be nice too.