"I think we embarrassed her," Fred remarked, still perturbed by Rook's behavior when she left them that morning. He and George hadn't yet talked about it, and Fred finally felt the need to bring it up as they left the Great Hall after lunch. George had been oddly contemplative since the incident, and Fred had been waiting several hours for him to initiate the conversation.

"I should have said something," George said in an uncharacteristically earnest voice.

"Yeah, you should have," Fred agreed. "I mean, you could have told her… I dunno… that she's a good friend too, or… or something."

George looked slightly annoyed at this. "You know, you could have told her that yourself."

"I know, I just—I was surprised, okay? It's not that I don't like her, but we haven't even known her that long, have we?"

George said nothing, looking pensive. "No… we haven't," he spoke at last. "I think I need to visit the Hospital Wing. My throat is sore, and I feel a bit out of it. I think I might have a fever."

"Really?" Fred asked, surprised. "I thought you seemed a bit off… Do you want me to come with you?"

George shook his head. "I can manage. Don't worry about me. You should still meet up with Lee and them. I'll find you when I'm better; it shouldn't take long."

Fred parted ways with George and made for Gryffindor Tower. Once there, he was quickly intercepted by Lee, who was eager to show him his refined teacher impressions. Fred tried to maintain interest, but found himself preoccupied with scanning the common room for Rook.

"'I can teach you to bottle fame, brew glory, even to never have a painful poo ever again.' How about it, Fred? Who am I?"

"A real git, that's for sure," Fred guessed, wondering how much longer Rook was going to be in detention with Snape. "Hey, I just remembered, I'm supposed to meet Wood outside in a bit. He'll pitch a fit if I'm late, but I'll see you later!"

Fred crawled out of the portrait hole, feeling a small pang of guilt for ditching Lee. He just didn't feel like hearing Snape impressions when Rook was trapped in the dungeons with the real thing, probably wondering why he and George said nothing when she said they were her best friends.

And the real reason—the real reason—he hadn't said anything was because he didn't know what to say. He was elated. He knew Rook liked George, but to think that she thought so highly of him and Fred… It was touching.

As he wandered the castle corridors aimlessly, Fred caught sight of his sister Ginny, who appeared to be arguing with the school poltergeist, Peeves.

"Why can't you just leave her alone?!" Ginny yelled up at the waggish hellion. Fred approached her with interest, noticing a young blonde girl kneeling beside her, whose hair brushed the ground as she picked up several bits of paper. As he drew nearer, Fred identified her as their neighbor, the Lovegood girl. Fred bent over to help her, noticing that the papers each had a still photograph of a person's face, and were emblazoned with the word "MISSING".

"I just wanted to know what she did with all the missing muggle children!" Peeves cackled. "She wouldn't tell me!"

"Fred, can you do something about him?!" Ginny exclaimed upon noticing Fred had joined them.

"Never mind it," Lovegood spoke quietly, not bothering to stand. "He's always giving me a hard time."

"Me, give you a hard time? When have I ever?!" Even as he spoke, Peeves was tugging on Lovegood's hair.

Fred straightened up, eyeing the spectacle before him with some amusement. "Now Peeves," he said. "I like to think you and I have developed a rapport, if you will," Peeves said nothing, but redirected his attention to Fred as he tied Lovegood's hair in knots. She continued to sit passively, apparently quite used to this sort torment from Peeves. "So I'll ask you in a civilized manner to bugger off and leave this poor girl be."

"Get stuffed yourself!" Peeves retorted. "Loony and I are bosom companions having a laugh, right Loony?"

"I wouldn't know," Lovegood answered dreamily, seeming to seriously consider this. "I'm told I have a terrible sense of humor."

"I think you're a good sport," Peeves assured her, now ripping up the missing person papers and tying them into Lovegood's hair.

"Do my eyes deceive me?" said Fred, quite entertained. "No, it couldn't possibly be."

"What?" Peeves asked curiously, momentarily distracted from his mischief.

"Never mind."

"Tell me!" Peeves demanded.

"It seems to me," Fred observed innocently, "you're quite fond of this girl. Quite fond."

Peeves recoiled. "Eeeeeuuuuyuuuuck!" he retched dramatically. Ginny giggled and Fred withdrew his wand while Peeves was distracted.

"Oi, Peeves," he said, getting the poltergeist's attention once more. "You like Halloween, right? Melofors!" With a wave of his wand, Fred had encased Peeves' head in a large pumpkin. The poltergeist bounced away down the corridor, swearing the entire way. The remaining three could hear the persistent echoes of his profanity several moments after he had departed. Fred offered a hand to Lovegood and she took it gratefully, finally getting to her feet.

"Thank you for that," she said, looking up at Fred with her protuberant blue eyes.

"No problem. So… what did you do to those muggle children?" Fred asked, unable to help himself.

"Fred!" his sister chided in a voice uncannily like their mother's.

"Only joking!" Fred spoke hastily. "I'm Fred, in case you haven't guessed: Ginny's older brother! I know you're from Ottery St Catchpole, but I don't think we've officially met, er—"

"I collect them," said the girl, clutching her stack of missing person fliers with a faraway look.

"Er…" Fred looked to Ginny for help.

"This is Luna Lovegood," said Ginny by way of introduction. "She's in my year, but she's a Ravenclaw."

Luna looked at Ginny. "It's true," she confirmed.

Fred grinned. "I can see why Peeves likes to pick on you!" he said.

"Why?" Ginny asked, confused.

"'Cause she's interesting, isn't she?" Fred spoke as though it was obvious. "I bet Peeves gets bored with people reacting the same way all the time. I bet he's favored you since he met you, hasn't he?"

Luna nodded, but seemed more focused on pulling pieces of paper out of her hair than the conversation at hand. "Can you hold these?" she asked Fred suddenly, holding out the missing person fliers. Fred took them and immediately began rifling through them curiously.

"You said you, er, collect these?" The photographs mostly showed muggle children, but there were a few adults in the mix, some of whom who looked as old as forty.

"I find them whenever I visit town, though the people are from all over Britain." she said. "I find them in rubbish bins sometimes. At first I started taking them because it made me sad, seeing them there."

"And then?"

"I like having them around."

Fred had paused on a grainy, black-and-white photo of a smiling woman. It was eerie, looking at the completely still photographs of muggles who had vanished as if by magic. Fred was transfixed by this particular picture. For a second, he looked at the words asking, "Have you seen me?" and thought maybe he had seen her before. He strained his brain trying to think of where he could have possibly seen her, but to no avail. He finally concluded that his mind must be playing tricks on him.

Luna held out her hand once she had finished untangling her hair. Fred gladly handed the papers back to her, feeling unsettled.

"Like I said, you're an interesting one. It was good meeting you, but I have somewhere to be, so I'll just be on my way, then."

"Wait for me, Fred!" Ginny said. "Luna, are you going to be all right?"

Luna nodded. "Oh, yes, I'm sure I'll be fine. You go ahead."

Fred and Ginny walked on, leaving Luna to gaze out the castle windows absently.

"I've been dying to ask," Ginny started once they walked a short distance, "where is George?"

"In the Hospital Wing with a fever," he answered.

"Oh, no! I hope he gets better soon! Is Rook with him?"

"What? No. She's in detention."

"Oh, right! I think I heard about that. Something to do with Snape and Neville's toad?"

"Yeah. She's been in there for four hours now." Fred sighed heavily.

"I really like her," Ginny commented approvingly. "Standing up to Snape like that is really something. I hope George marries her."

Fred stopped short. "What?"

Ginny laughed. "I'm joking, obviously. Though they would be cute together, wouldn't they?"

Fred shrugged. "I guess…"

"Speaking of which, McGonagall asked Percy if he would be Rook's tutor—"

"Percy?!" Fred exclaimed before Ginny could finish her sentence.

"Yeah, but he said no. Apparently he wants to focus on his N.E.W.T.s and his Head Boy responsibilities. He must be really anxious about getting his top scores! I don't think we've ever known him to pass up such a great opportunity to show off!"

"So McGonagall is still doing interviews today?" Fred asked, a thought suddenly dawning on him.

"Er, I suppose. I hadn't heard about that."

"I wonder who she'll pick. Hey, I just remembered—I have to meet up with Wood in a bit. He'll kill me if I'm late, so I'll see you later, all right?"

Fred darted off, feeling no remorse over using the same excuse he'd used on Lee. He made his way back to the first floor and intercepted Professor McGonagall outside her office.

"Professor, I was wondering, are you still interviewing students for the tutoring position? Can you interview me?"

Professor McGonagall eyed Fred suspiciously. "I am not in the mood for pranks, Mr. Weasley."

"It's not a prank. Why does everyone—oh, never mind. I was just thinking, I mean, I could use the Galleons, after all."

Professor McGonagall considered him intently before she spoke. "I'll tell you the same thing I told your brother. You are not at the academic level required to give Ms. Rook the guidance she needs."

"My brother? You can't mean Percy?"

"Your twin brother, Mr. Weasley."

Professor McGonagall walked away as Fred absorbed her words. She was talking about George! George had interviewed to be Rook's tutor! Was he even sick, or had he lied to Fred just so he could meet McGonagall? Fred's mind reeled as he resumed his wandering, hoping to avoid George until he had fully processed this new information.

Why didn't he just tell me? he thought. When did he plan this? Then he remembered how George had gone back for his gobstones the night before. He must have gone back to check the notice.

Fred was confused. Was George embarrassed? Did he think Fred would have a problem with him tutoring Rook? Did George still think that Fred didn't want to be friends with her? Did Rook think that he didn't like her?

Fred wished Rook's detention would be over already.