"The Order of the Phoenix won't let us attend meetings," Hermione said tensely.
"So we don't know the details, but we have a general idea—"
"Fred and George have invented Extendable Ears, look," Ron said, holding up something resembling a flesh-colored string with a long cord attached:
"They're absolutely brilliant."
"Only we've been forbidden from using them lately because Mum discovered them and went absolutely mental. Fred and George had to hide them before Mum could confiscate the lot. But we used them for ages before Mum caught on. We know some Order members are tailing certain notorious Death Eaters, monitoring their movements—" Ginny added.
"Some of them are recruiting more people to join the Order—" Hermione said.
"And some of them are standing guard over something," Ron said, gesturing toward Harry, who snorted dismissively.
With two thunderous cracks, Fred and George materialized in the room's center as if from thin air, nearly trampling Ron's legs. You could tell they'd only recently mastered Apparition and were still drunk on the thrill of it.
"Don't do that again!" Ron said weakly to his brothers.
"Hello, Orli! We heard your voice drifting up," George said cheerfully.
"Drifting?" Orli raised an eyebrow, scanning the room:
"You've got those eavesdropping contraptions hidden in here? In the girls' dormitory?"
"Don't think like that, Orli," Fred said with a grin.
"We're merely protecting Ginny and Hermione—Harry and Ron are constantly barging into this girls' room."
"Though right now, we'd rather hear what's happening downstairs..." George began, but Ginny cut him off.
"Don't waste your time—Mum's charmed every door downstairs. I tried lobbing Dungbombs at them, but they just bounced right off. Tonks taught me that trick."
"You probably haven't met Tonks yet?" Harry said with renewed enthusiasm to Orli:
"She's a Metamorphmagus! Born that way—can reshape her face like modeling clay."
"Impressive," Orli admitted, feeling a twinge of envy.
"Did you learn anything new about Bill and the others?" Ginny asked the twins.
"Bill requested a desk position—he's already returned from Egypt to work for the Order. We should see him soon enough," Fred said.
"Claims he misses the pyramids, but," he smirked, "Bill reckons it's completely worth it."
"What do you mean?" Ginny pressed.
"Remember Fleur Delacour?" George said:
"She landed a position at Gringotts' English branch."
"And now Bill's providing her with extensive private instruction," Fred snickered.
"Charlie's also working for the Order," George continued.
"But he's still stationed in Romania. Dumbledore wants to recruit as many foreign wizards as possible, so Charlie's been establishing contacts lately."
"What about Percy?" Harry asked innocently.
At Harry's question, every Weasley family member exchanged a distinctly pained look.
"Whatever you do, never mention Percy around Dad and Mum," Ron warned Harry, Hermione, and Orli in strained tones.
"Why not?" Hermione asked.
"Because every time Percy's name comes up, Dad smashes whatever he's holding and Mum starts sobbing," Fred said grimly.
"It's absolutely dreadful," Ginny said mournfully.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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