The Potter Twins and the Order of the Phoenix {5}

4. Secrets Don't Make Friends

"Secrets don't make friends, we make love and love falls apart, tell me when the party ends, take cover from our future hearts" ~ Take Cover, All Time Low

"The Order of the - what?" 

"Not here, girl!" Moody snarls. "Wait till we're inside!"

He pulls the piece out parchment out of Harry's hand and sets fire to it with his wand tip. As the message curls into flames and floats to the ground, I look around the houses again. We're standout outside number eleven; I look to the left and see number ten; to the right, however, is number thirteen. 

"But where's - ?"

"Think about what you just memorised," Dad says quietly.

I think, and no sooner have I reached the part about number twelve, a battered down emerges out of nowhere between numbers eleven and thirteen, followed swiftly by dirty walls and grimy windows. It's as though an extra house as inflated, pushing those on either side out of its way. The stereo in number eleven thumps on. Apparently, the Muggles didn't feel anything.

"Come on, hurry," Moody says, prodding us in the back. Side by side, we walk up the stone steps, staring at the newly materialised door with wide eyes. Its black paint is shabby and scratched, and the silver doorknocker is in the form of a twisted serpent. 

Lupin pulls out his wand and taps the door once. I hear many loud, metallic clicks and what sounds like the clatter of a chain, and the door opens. 

"Get in, quick," dad whispers, "but don't go far inside and don't touch anything."

I step over the threshold into the almost total darkness of the hall. I can smell damp, dust and a sweetish, rotting smell; the place has a feeling of a derelict building. I look over my shoulder and see the others filing in after us, Lupin and Tonks carrying out trunks and Dad carrying Hedwig's cage. Moody limps into the house and closes the front door, so the total darkness becomes complete. 

"Here - "

He raps our heads with his wand, and I feel as though something hot is trickling down my back. The Disillusionment Charn must have lifted. 

"Not stay still, everyone, while I give us a bit of light in here," Moody whispers. 

The others' hushed voices are giving me an odd feeling of foreboding; it is as though we've just entered a house of a dying person. I hear a soft hissing noise and then old-fashioned gas lamps sputter into life all along the walls, casting a flickering light over the peeling wallpaper. Aged portraits hang crookedly on the walls, and there's a cobwebby chandelier glimmering overhead, shaped like a serpent. I give Harry an apprehensive stare, which he returns quickly, his eyes alight with worry. 

There are hurried footsteps and Ron's mother, Mrs Weasley, emerges from a door at the far end of the hall. She's beaming in welcome but looks rather thinner and paler than she was the last time I saw her. 

"Oh, Harry, Haylee, it's lovely to see you!" she whispers, pulling us into rib-cracking hugs. "You're looking a bit peaky; you need feeding up, but you'll have to wait a bit for dinner, I'm afraid."

She turns to the gang of witches and wizards behind us and whispers urgently, "He's just arrived, the meeting's started."

Those behind us all make noises of interest and excitement and begin filing past us towards the door which Mrs Weasley just came through. Harry makes to follow Lupin, but Dad and Mrs Weasley both grab him. 

"No, Harry, the meeting's only for members of the Order. Ron, Hermione, Tay, and Riley are upstairs, you can wait with them until the meeting's done, and then we'll have dinner. And keep your voices down in the hall," Mrs Weasley adds in an urgent whisper.