Fred was annoyed. Whether with himself or with Rook, he was not certain.
He really had been worried about her, when they were on the train. When the lights had come back on, George had been holding her tightly as she thrashed, her expression alarmingly distressed.
As a person who rarely wasted effort on taking anything seriously, Fred was somewhat thrown by his intense concern for Rook. He had helped his brother lay her down when she became fairly still and even pulled out a set of his own robes to place carefully beneath her head while his friends marveled at his consideration, for he was hardly known for it.
And now she probably thought he was an overbearing arse.
"So what's with the attitude?" George broke into his reverie. "You were kind of rude to her."
"You don't think she was rude to me? And since when are you so fussed about being polite, Percy?"
"I just think you came on a little strong. I mean, she's new to this school and this country. That's overwhelming enough without someone as... er... exuberant as you hitting on her."
"I wasn't hitting on her!"
George knit his brows. "You could've fooled me."
Fred felt his face heat up. "I was just joking around!" he insisted. "And then she had to go call us 'nasty'-"
"It seemed to me like she was joking too."
"It's different."
"I see. So you can dish it out, but you can't take it."
"I can too take it! I'll take all of it!"
"So what's the problem? I think she's funny."
"Well, it's-I mean, I was barely serving her appetizers and she's already shoving puddings in my face!"
"You've never been one to complain about pudding before," George chuckled.
"Are you calling me rotund?"
"I'm just saying... If you don't want Rook's pudding, I will be happy to take it off your hands."
"So much for solidarity," Fred grumbled.
"Like I said," George shrugged, "I like her."
"Yeah, yeah... Are we gonna do this, or what?"
Fred and George broke away from the rest of the Gryffindors and ducked behind a statue of Boris the Bewildered. After casting a few furtive glances around the corridor, Fred withdrew a timeworn piece of parchment from the pocket of his robes. George tapped it lightly with his wand and murmured, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
From the point where George's wand had touched the parchment, thin, spidery lines of ink spread across the surface, slowly forming an daedal map of Hogwarts castle and its grounds.
Fred and George grinned at each other. In their hands was the Marauder's Map, an invaluable treasure they had stolen from Filch in their first year at Hogwarts.
Fred and George's first year at Hogwarts had defined them as the "tricksters" of their family. In fact, on their first day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Fred and George thought that simply going to sleep would be an anticlimactic end to an exciting day of riding the train, sorting, and feasting. So they did not go to sleep. Instead they spent their first night at Hogwarts exploring the castle grounds.
They had started by sneaking down to the Quidditch pitch and picking the lock on the broom shed. They stole two broomsticks and raced each other through the Forbidden Forest, until they had managed to upset a rather large nest of spiders within its depths. Very fortunately, the Hogwarts gamekeeper, Hagrid, discovered them and rescued them from a most untimely death.
As he dragged them back to the castle, the large, hairy gamekeeper assured them that they were in very, very deep trouble, placing particular emphasis on the fact that they had broken seven school rules before sunrise. After much pleading and a combination of fake and genuine tears, Hagrid at last agreed not to turn them in to Professor McGonagall on the condition that they helped him train his new dog, Fluffy.
This incident began a tradition the twins had dubbed "Seven Before Sunrise". They vowed that they would launch each new school year by breaking seven school rules before the sun rose, or else what was the point of even coming back?
Fred and George examined the Marauder's Map carefully, their eyes following tiny moving dots, labeled with the names of every individual in Hogwarts Castle. They watched as the dot labeled "Argus Filch" made his final rounds before retiring to his office with his cat, Mrs. Norris.
"Oh, bloody Hell... What's she doing?"
Fred's eyes had found a small dot labeled "Rosemary Rook", wandering the West Wing aimlessly, frequently stopping and changing direction, as though...
"Is she lost?"
George smiled wryly at Fred. "I think this is something to be taken advantage of."
Fred's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?! Wait, wait... Are you suggesting that we bring her along for Seven Before Sunrise?"
"That was my line of thinking, yeah."
"Absolutely not. No. No, we-"
"We might as well see if she's interested! It'll be fun, Fred!"
Fred sighed with frustration and ran his fingers through his hair. "It's always been you and me, George. It's our thing, okay? Maybe she's cool. Maybe she's even... a little funny," Fred added begrudgingly in a rushed voice, "BUT... I mean-It's just... You know?"
"No," George said decisively. "You always call the shots. I propose a challenge. If she agrees to it, if she breaks seven school rules of our choosing before the sun rises... she is our new best friend, officially. If not, you won't hear another word about her. Not from me, anyway."
"Really? 'Best friend'? What are we, five?"
Honestly, the proposition was a win-win. If Rook rose to the occasion, they will have gained a befitting ally. But Fred was not about to admit this so casually. He was still on the fence regarding Rosemary Rook, and would remain there until she provided definitive evidence of her merit.
"All right," agreed Fred at last. "Let's see what she's made of."