AN: This section uses some diaglogue from the book. Partially to help me to get into the heads of the characters, and partially because I think this scene is really important since it's the first time the Golden Trio has seen each other all summer, and partially because I'm lazy. The work is JK Rowling's, not mine! And it's not something I intend to do much in the future.

AN.2: Thank you to everyone who's following this story and interested in what I have to say! This is the first time I'm writing fanfiction and the first time I'm posting anything online in this sort of a fashion. It's a nice ego boost for me to see that y'all care :)

Trigger Warnings: yelling, mention of scars and cuts

"Harry! Ron, he's here, Harry's here! We didn't hear you arrive! Oh, how are you? Are you alright? I'm so sorry - I know our letters were useless, but we couldn't tell you anything, Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn't, oh we've got so much to tell you, and you've got things to tell us - the Dementors! Look, they can't expel you, they can't. There's a provision in the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery for the use of magic in life threatening situations. I can't find out any more than that with the books we have here, but -"
"Let him breathe, Hermione," said Ron, grinning.
She let go and beamed at him. Hedwig swooped down and landed on his shoulder.
"Hedwig!" Harry said, reaching up to stoke her feathers lovingly.
"She's been in a right state," said Ron. "Pecked us half to death when she brought your last letters, look at this - "
Ron held out his finger and pointed at the large gash on his index finger. It was only half-healed and Hedwig had wounded him deeply.
Harry looked down at the floor, "Sorry, I wanted answers, you know. I didn't think it through."
"We really wanted to tell you. We really did. Hermione kept saying you'd go off and do something mad if you were left on your own without any news, but Dumbledore -"
"Made you swear not to tell me. You've said."
Hermione watched a steel wall of anger slide behind Harry's eyes. She held her breath. He was going to start yelling soon. After a long moment of uncomfortable silence she said, "Dumbledore seemed to think it was all for the best." She rubbed her thumb across one of the healing scars on her hands, nervously.
"He thought you would be safest with the Dursleys," Ron said.
"Did either of you get attacked by Dementors this summer? No? Didn't think so."
"There have been people from the Order tailing you all the time -"
"You wouldn't have believed how angry he was when you found out," Hermione said. Awe filled her voice. She'd never seen anyone so totally livid before. It had gone right down to the core of the Headmaster and blazed out through his eyes as brutal as one of the Unforgivable curses.
"I dunno what he's going to do to Mundungus. He's the one who was supposed to be watching you, but he left his shift early."
"I'm glad he did. If he hadn't I would have been stuck at Privet Drive all summer."
"Aren't you worried about the hearing?" Hermione asked, quietly. Harry was reminding her of some of the children who came into her father's office. If you spoke to them with soft voices when you told them about scary dentist things and they were about to freak out, it would help calm them down a little.
"No," Harry said, with emphasis and turned away. "Why doesn't he want me to know anything?"
Hermione glanced at Ron. This wasn't going as badly as they had expected, but it wasn't far from their guess. Harry turned back and caught them looking at each other and his face went a shade of red darker.
"We told him we wanted to tell you, but he doesn't want you to know anything," said Ron.
"Maybe he thinks I can't be trusted," Harry said.
"No, no, that's not - " said Hermione.
"How come you two have got to spend your holidays here, being part of everything and knowing what's going on?"
"We haven't been!" said Ron. "Mum's not been letting us into the meetings. She says we're too young."
"SO YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN THE MEETINGS, BIG DEAL! YOU'VE STILL BEEN HERE, HAVEN'T YOU? YOU'VE STILL BEEN TOGETHER! ME, I'VE BEEN STUCK AT THE DURSLEYS' FOR A MONTH! Hedwig took off of Harry's shoulder and flew a safe distance away to perch on the dresser. Pigwidgeon, Ron's owl shrieked and squeaked as he fluttered around their heads in panic at the noise. Hermione almost cast a silencing charm, but remembered just before she did that she wasn't at Hogwarts. Just because magical people surrounded her, did not mean she could do magic.
"AND I'VE HANDLED MORE THAN YOU TWO'VE EVER MANAGED AND DUMBLEDORE KNOWS IT - WHO SAVED THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE? WHO GOT RID OF RIDDLE? WHO SAVED BOTH YOUR SKINS FROM THE DEMENTORS? WHO HAD TO GET PAST DRAGONS AND SPHINXES AND EVERY OTHER FOUL THING LAST YEAR? WHO SAW HIM COME BACK? WHO HAD TO ESCAPE FROM HIM? ME!"
Ron stood staring at Harry, dumfounded, his mouth hanging half-open. Hermione looked down at the ground, not making eye contact and patiently waiting out the tirade.
"BUT WHY SHOULD I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON? WHY SHOULD ANYONE BOTHER TO TELL ME WHAT'S HAPPENING? YOU CAN'T HAVE WANTED TO TELL ME THAT MUCH, HUH? OTHERWISE YOU WOULD HAVE SENT ME A BLOODY OWL BUT SINCE DUMBLEDORE MADE YOU SWEAR."
"Well, he did - "
"I'VE BEEN NICKING PAPERS OUT OF BINS FOR THE LAST FOUR WEEKS TO TRY AND FIND OUT WHAT IN GOD'S NAME HAS BEEN GOING ON!"
"We wanted to -"
"I SUPPOSE YOU'VE BEEN HAVING A REAL LAUGH, HAVEN'T YOU, ALL HOLED UP IN HERE TOGETHER."
"No, honest," Ron tried to say.
"We're really sorry!" Hermione burst in. "I would be furious if it was me!" Harry glared at her for a moment and then started pacing around the room. Hermione and Ron watched him in uneasy silence.
"What is this place?" Harry asked.
"It's Headquarters," Ron said immediately.
"For the Order of the Phoenix," Hermione added.
"And is anyone going to tell me what that is?"
"It's an army, or a militia, really, totally secret. Dumbledore founded it during the first war against You-Know-Who. Mostly it's people who fought against him last time that are in it."
"And?" asked Harry, intensifying his glare.
"And what?" asked Ron.
"Voldemort! What's happening? Where is he? What's he doing and what are we doing to stop him?"
"We don't know. They haven't been letting us in on the meetings," said Ron.
"But we do have the general picture," Hermione cut in hurriedly. "Some of them are on recruitment, and they are constantly guarding something,"
"That could've been me, couldn't it?" said Harry.
"Oh yeah," said Ron, and you could see the light bulb switching on in his brain.
"So what have you been doing, then?"
"Decontaminating the house. This place hasn't been looked after except by an elderly house elf in ages. There's all sorts of Dark creatures and magic locked away places."