Rook had no idea what to expect as she made her way to the pitch alongside Ginny on Saturday morning. She had never had much interest in sports, but the thought of watching any kind of sport played on broomsticks was a thrilling prospect. On the other hand, she was a bit apprehensive as well. Judging by the way Fred and George had described the sport, Rook had the impression that theirs might be the most hazardous positions on the team. She tried to remind herself that they had to be good. After all, they were good at just about everything else they did.

"They're going to love the banner," said Ginny. "You're a really good artist. You know, Dean Thomas is good too. He sometimes makes things like this for the games as well!"

"Really? Maybe we could collaborate next time."

"Could I help?"

"Why not? The more the better!"

Ginny volunteered to help Rook hold the banner once they had chosen their seats and were watching the Gryffindor team walk out onto the pitch. Ginny jumped up and down with excitement, and Rook had trouble containing her own enthusiasm when Madame Hooch blew the whistle to start the match. Though a bit confusing at first, the gameplay was more exhilarating than she could have pictured. She quickly determined that she was right in assuming Fred and George's flying abilities were first-rate. They maneuvered their brooms quite expertly, all while holding heavy-looking wooden bats. Their job did not appear easy at all, and after Fred had foiled a bludger hurtling toward Alicia, a nearby Ravenclaw beater successfully managed to redirect it toward Harry, whose early attempt at catching the snitch was thwarted by this well-timed intervention. Rook and Ginny groaned with disappointment, and watched as George vented his feelings by hitting the second bludger directly at the offending beater, who was forced to roll right over in midair to avoid it.

Rook was so engrossed in the gameplay that it wasn't until Stefan laid a hand on her shoulder that she realized he had made his way to the Gryffindor section of the stands and was attempting to talk to her.

"Rosemary," he said, leaning close to her ear so she could hear him. "Come sit with me."

"What?"

"Come sit with me."

"No, I heard you, I just—" with some difficulty, due to the crowd around them and her determination to hold onto her end of the cumbersome banner, she turned to address Stefan, "aren't you sitting with the Ravenclaw supporters?"

"So?"

The Gryffindors cheered again and Rook turned back toward the players, realizing she had missed something big.

"Rosey."

Without taking her eyes away from the match, Rook responded, "I can't go to the Ravenclaw section, Stefan; I made this banner for the Gryffindors."

"Well, she can hold it, can't she?" Stefan persisted, raising his voice. Rook noticed Ginny scowl in Stefan's direction and assumed he was referring to her.

Rook looked awkwardly over her shoulder again, frowning. "I want to hold it. My friends are on the team and I want to be in this section." Stefan looked irritated. "If you want to sit together, you can stay over here."

"You know, I have friends on the Ravenclaw team too."

"Stefan!" Rook snapped, her patience wearing thin. "We're going to miss the match completely if we keep arguing about this! You can sit wherever you want, but I'm staying here."

Stefan looked as though she had just slapped him in the face. "Fine," he said in a tense voice. "Excuse me for wanting to spend time with you. I won't bother next time."

Before Rook could respond to this, Stefan had begun pushing his way back through the crowd without sparing a glance back at Rook. She attempted to refocus her attention on the game, but the quickly-intensifying feeling of guilt made the action before her meaningless. Only a moment ago, it had been important that she support her friends alongside her fellow Gryffindors. She had missed their first match of the season, and she had wanted to savor the feeling of, for once in her life, having friends she could cheer for, or the feeling of being part of a team. But now… now all she felt was dread and remorse for blowing off Stefan. Surely there was some better way she could have handled the situation, a compromise that could have made them both happy, though she wasn't sure what that would be… She wondered whether she should go after him, try to fix this…

"Just let him be," said Ginny, breaking into Rook's reverie as though she could read her mind. "If he wanted to be with you so badly, he would have stayed. Oh! Look at Harry and the Ravenclaw seeker!"

Ginny had successfully drawn Rook's attention back to the gameplay. Harry was pelting so quickly toward the ground, Rook felt a rush of adrenaline just watching him. The Ravenclaw seeker followed him, but he pulled out of the dive sharply, now accelerating toward the Ravenclaw end of the field. It looked like nothing would stop Harry this time, but then—

Rook felt a second surge of nerves as three dark figures walked onto the pitch. Dementors! But… were they? Even at this distance, Rook could tell they were far clumsier than any dementor she'd ever encountered, and she sensed no change in the atmosphere around them… Before Rook could fully register what she was seeing, Harry had pulled out his wand and fired a large, silvery beast-like apparition at the unsuspecting intruders, causing them to tumble backward in fear or alarm. Seconds later, Harry had managed to capture the golden snitch, winning the game. Rook and Ginny screamed with triumph, dropping the banner and hugging each other as they jumped up and down together.

"Oh my—!" exclaimed Ginny, pointing at the flailing figures tangled up in the crumpled heap of black robes on the ground. "Look who it is!"

The hooded figures had been none other than the Malfoy boy, his two hulking cronies and an older Slytherin boy Rook didn't recognized.

"That's the Slytherin team captain, Marcus Flint!" said Ginny, doubling over with laughter as Professor McGonagall strode over to the four of them, a fire in her eyes the likes of which Rook had never witnessed before.

"An unworthy trick!" McGonagall shouted at the Slytherins, her voice ringing out across the grounds. "A low and cowardly attempt to sabotage the Gryffindor Seeker! Detention for all of you, and fifty points from Slytherin!"

"Let's go down with the others!" Ginny managed to shout at Rook over the tumult around them. Rook nodded and gathered up the banner before following Ginny's crimson mane to the field where the entire Gryffindor team had landed in a huddled mass. Rook had only started fighting her way through exultant crowd before George had met her halfway, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Y'all were so—whoa!" she gasped as he lifted her with ease and spun her around. She held on to him more tightly in fear of falling. He laughed as he set her back down.

"Sorry," he said, still laughing. "We were so what?"

"Brilliant!" she shouted, also laughing. "I've never seen anything like it!"

"Just wait until you get in the air yourself!" he said. "That is… if you still want me to teach you to fly?"

"Yes!"

"So you actually bothered to show up this time?" a familiar voice chimed in.

Fred had emerged from the crowd, a wide grin across his face. He pulled Rook into a brief, one-armed hug.

"I'm never going to live that down, am I?" said Rook, making a face at Fred. "Even though it was your fault in the first place!"

"I'd say it was more George's fault," argued Fred. "He's supposed to be the responsible one."

"You take that back!" said George in an offended tone. "Hey, Harry!" he shouted suddenly over at the pleased and disheveled seeker emerging from the crowd. "Party! Gryffindor common room, now!"

Not without some lingering feelings of guilt, Rook accompanied her housemates back to Gryffindor Tower. Briefly, she thought that now might be a good time to find Stefan and try to make up, but she gave up quickly when she was unable to spot him on the way back through the castle. If he wanted to talk about what happened, wouldn't he have approached her after the match? For all she knew, he was upset over Ravenclaw's loss, and seeing her would only make his mood worse. Or was she just rationalizing so that she could forget about him and enjoy the festivities? It bothered her that she couldn't dismiss this possibility outright…

The truth was, Rook was starting to feel as though she and Stefan were always fighting or in between fights. She felt sure that if she sought him out now, not only would their argument continue, but it would worsen before it was resolved, if it ever was resolved. And then, even after that… she'd continued to be on edge, awaiting the next altercation, for it would certainly come.

Couples fought. That was an immutable truth, wasn't it? But… was it normal to fight this much? She felt as though she always handled things badly and exacerbated the conflict. She also felt like Stefan was just a lot more mature than she was when it came to relationships, and she never knew the "right" course of action. It that sense, it was certainly easier to avoid the conflict altogether. Rook did have hope that, if they each had a bit of time to themselves, to cool down, they'd be able resolve things more easily when they were face-to-face again.

So Rook tried to dispel her anxiety and engage in the celebration, with little success. Her fight with Stefan was only part of what was on her mind. She was also preoccupied with thoughts of her birth mother, Erimentha Eades. She had taken the missing person notice to Snape and showed it to him. The only new development he had to offer her was that her mother and Bellany Fakhri had gone missing at the same time.

Rook wasn't sure what to make of this. Perhaps Fakhri was alive; perhaps she had run away to the United States with her mother and was successfully hidden. Or maybe Casta had murdered her, and that's why her mother decided to run.

Rook hadn't had a chance to share this with anyone, and she wasn't sure she wanted to just yet. Everything in her life was starting to feel so… complicated. She desperately wished she could just turn off her brain and enjoy the party, but instead she felt more ruminative and agitated by the second. She was considering giving it up as a lost cause and excusing herself when Fred approached her.

Rook forced a smile. "Is it always like this when you win a match?" she asked, making an ambitious attempt at casual conversation.

"Actually, I was thinking it's not nearly as good as it could be," he answered, leaning against the wall next to her. "I think this party needs something… What do you reckon?"

Rook's eyes travelled about the room as she considered this. "Hmm… Strippers?"

"I know what you're trying to do, Rook. You're trying to get me naked."

"I didn't say you should strip!"

"Why not? I'll have you know, I put on a Hell of a strip show!"

"I didn't need to know that."

"Stop begging, Rook!" Fred said loudly. "I'll be keeping my clothes on, thank you very much!"

Rook had been trying not to laugh, but she finally broke. Fred was smirking in a self-satisfied way when George joined them.

"Ah, George!" said Fred. "I was just about to tell Rook; I think this party is in need of some supplemental refreshments."

"Oh?" replied George in a low voice. "So we're making a trip to Hogsmeade?"

"Hmm…" Fred paused thoughtfully, his eyes darting between Rook and George. "I don't feel much like walking the whole way there."

"What?" said Rook. "It was your idea!"

"It's still a good idea," he said. "I just don't fancy doing the legwork."

"In other words, you want us to do all the work?" Rook guessed, amused.

"You ought to use the secret passage to Hogsmeade at some point, Rook," said Fred reasonably. "No time like the present!"

"Er," George interjected, "It is quite a long walk, and the passageway is a bit cramped…"

"Oh…" said Rook. "You don't want to go either?"

"No, I mean," said George, "I'm just not sure you would want to…"

"I want to!" said Rook eagerly. "It'll be fun! Fred, are you sure you don't wanna come too?"

"I would, but Lee always bursts into song at some point during these parties, and I'm not keen on missing that."

"Really? Is he any good?"

"In his head, I'm sure," said Fred, grinning wickedly. "Go on, get out of here! I'll keep the momentum going until you two get back!"

So George and Rook made their way to the third floor corridor, toward the same secret passageway they had used to hide during their Seven Before Sunrise exploits. Once George had opened the witch's hump, he gave Rook a leg up into the opening. She tumbled down the stone slide, landing unceremoniously on the soft earth. She quickly stood and pulled out her wand, lighting the end of it in anticipation of George, who managed to land far more gracefully than she had. She helped him to his feet, and he brushed himself off before lighting his own wand.

"It's a pretty narrow passage," he said apologetically. "You can follow behind me—here—" he squeezed past her with some difficulty. "Sorry… Are you sure you want to come with me? I can do it myself, if you don't feel like—"

"I want to. It's a good distraction."

"Distraction?"

Rook shook her head. "Nothing. Never mind. Lead the way!"

George eyed her curiously, but didn't press the subject. He started down the winding path, and they talked about the match as they hurried along. The conversation helped the time to pass quickly, and, soon enough, the passage began to rise, eventually leading to the foot of a stone staircase. They fell silent, ascending the staircase slowly. After a long climb, George halted, and Rook realized they had reached a trapdoor. He extinguished his wand, and Rook did the same. In the darkness, George's hand found hers, and she was momentarily taken aback before she realized he was leading her up through the trapdoor and into a dark, dusty cellar full of what looked like some sort of shop inventory. George closed the trapdoor gently and deftly guided Rook up another staircase, through a door at the top and past the counter of what Rook now recognized as Honeydukes. George released her hand, but held a finger to his lips, indicating that she should remain quiet. She looked around the shop nervously. There were no customers, no one behind the counter, and Rook had to wonder if the place was even open for business, despite it being early in the evening. George, however, merely opened and closed the shop door so that the bell tinkled merrily. They heard hurried footsteps, and a jovial-looking wizard with a shiny, bald head appeared to greet them. Once he had a good look at them, he laughed.

"I don't know how you do it, I really don't!" the man exclaimed. "But aren't there supposed to be two of you? Who's this?"

"Uh…" Rook spoke nervously.

"A friend," George answered, saving her the trouble of answering. "We're sort of in a rush. Gryffindor is having a victory party. We beat Ravenclaw earlier today, you see."

The shopkeeper chuckled. "If you had said you just beat Hufflepuff, I might have refused my services," he said. "But since it's Ravenclaw, I'll give you a discount!"

"Excellent," said George, smiling widely. He gathered several bags worth of sweets and brought them over to the counter, where he and Rook split the cost.

"You know, I'm not one to turn away one of my best customers," the man said, "but I feel as though I should at least point out that these are dangerous times for students to be wandering out-of-bounds by themselves, what with there being a convicted murdered on the loose."

"We'll look out for one another," said George. "You don't need to worry about us."

"I suppose we've got the dementors' protection, but they're not exactly pleasant to run across themselves, are they? Hardly get anyone in the shop anymore because of those horrors."

"You can't worry about it too much, Ambrosius," said George. "You're never going out of business as long as Fred and I are around. Besides, dementors are no match for your chocolate!"

They completed the transaction, and George and Rook departed with a wave. They then ventured onto the darkening streets of Hogsmeade toward Three Broomsticks. They were nearly there when it happened…

The temperature suddenly dropped several degrees and the light seemed to fade. Rook watched her icy breath rising in the air in front of her, feeling a horrible dread as she stopped dead in her tracks. Then she saw it: an ominous, cloaked figure gliding toward them. Rook trembled violently, wanting desperately to run, but remaining rooted to the spot as it came closer. Her right hand clutched her Honeydukes bags so tightly her fist turned white. She tried to clear her mind, to detach herself, but she couldn't. A screaming voice rang out, grew louder…

"It's all right, Rook," she heard George's gentle reassurance. "It won't do anything. Once it realizes we're not Sirius Black, it'll move on." Rook nodded slowly, but couldn't tear her eyes away from the dementor. She felt George's hand as it closed around hers for the second time that night. The dementor was in front of them now. Rook did all she could to focus on the feeling of George's hand while the dementor assessed them carefully. She felt herself fading in and out of consciousness, and, after what felt like ages, the dementor moved on. Rook nearly collapsed as it retreated. George steadied her and helped lower her gently onto the ground before sitting beside her.

Rook was hardly aware of what was happening as George rummaged through one of the Honeydukes bags and unwrapped a chocolate frog.

"Here," he said softly. "Eat this, Rook. Go on…"

She bit into it absently. The sweet taste gradually brought her back to reality and she concentrated on the act of slowly dissolving it in her mouth. She held the rest out to George.

"No, you eat it," he said.

"You… you need it too," she said weakly. "It helps…"

"Rook, that's for you."

"Please?" she asked, looking at him with wide, worried eyes. He paused, then took it from her and popped it into his mouth.

"Thank you, Rook," he said thickly, his mouth still full. She continued watched him worriedly. He swallowed and smiled at her. Inexplicably, tears began to form at the corners of her eyes.

She pushed herself to her feet. "I'm sorry," she said, smiling as she discreetly brushed her hand over her eyes. "I didn't mean to hold everything up. I'm okay."

George scrambled to his feet. "Don't be," he said. "Rook… are you sure you're okay?"

Rook opened her mouth to tell him she was fine, but her voice wouldn't come out. Before really thinking about what she was doing, Rook had wrapped her arms around George. Though clearly caught off-guard, he returned her embrace, pulling her close against him and stroking her shoulder gently with his thumb. After several moments like this, Rook suddenly became very conscious of his pleasant smell and her heart thudding painfully against her chest. Almost reluctantly, she came away. As she did, she noticed that George's face was as red as hers felt.

"Er… Let's stop for a butterbeer," he suggested awkwardly, gathering up his Honeydukes bags and setting off toward the Three Broomsticks. Rook said nothing, a swarm of butterflies in her stomach upsetting her equilibrium as she followed suit.

George ordered a butterbeer for each of them, and they sat down together. Rook didn't dare look him in the eye, and from what she could see of him in her periphery, he was avoiding her eyes as well. They sat in silence for the first several moments, and Rook's heart and mind raced.

Something had just happened between them that Rook had never noticed happening before…

Mutual attraction.

She had never been confident in her ability to pick up on that sort of thing, but something about the way he had looked at her made it difficult to deny. George was attracted to her. Perhaps he had felt this way for a while…

Rook felt warmth rise in her cheeks once more, and she quickly took a sip of her butterbeer in a futile attempt at obscuring her face. The warmth of the beverage calmed her nerves a bit. She set the mug back down with a steady hand and managed to look at George directly. His brown eyes met hers and she noticed the pink tinge return to his freckled cheeks before he looked away again, pretending to be very interested in the décor of the pub that had hardly changed in appearance since Rook's first visit to Hogsmeade.

"I'm… sorry about that," she said, breaking the silence at last. "With the hugging out of the blue, and all… I guess I was more shaken up than I realized. This is helping though." She lifted her mug jerkily, causing some of the liquid to slosh over the rim and onto the little wooden table. "Oh, oops…" Her face burned with embarrassment.

George laughed, a little at first, then more, until Rook started laughing as well. She wasn't quite sure what they were laughing about, but it felt nice. Once the laughter tapered off, George was looking straight at her again, a fond twinkle in his eyes.

"Rook… I've never known anyone like you."

Rook smiled nervously. "Is that a good thing?" she asked.

"It's a great thing. I'm just… really glad I get to be your friend."

To her surprise, Rook felt a sense of relief at these words. There was an unmistakable sincerity in this simple statement. It was clear that he was telling her that he didn't expect any more than friendship from her, and she was deeply grateful for this.

"You're rather singular yourself, George," she said.

"I can't believe you just said that with a straight face. I'm an identical twin, remember?"

"You two really are different from each other. Obviously, the two of you share several great personality traits, but you have a distinctive way about you, George."

"And I'm the cute one," said George playfully. "Or did you only say that to get a rise out of Fred?"

"We should probably go back soon, shouldn't we?" Rook conspicuously changed the subject, standing with her empty mug in hand.

"Hey! You're not getting away that easily!"

The remainder of the trip was relatively uneventful. They talked animatedly as they bought more butterbeer and pumpkin fizz to bring back to the castle. They placed a useful charm on their bags to make them lighter, and managed to sneak back through Honeydukes by placing a silencing charm on the bell inside the door. They continued to chat and joke all the way back to the common room, where their return was met with cheers and astonished admiration.

George was engaged in conversation by Angelina, Alicia and Katie, and Rook found her way to the most remote niche of the common room she could find, settling herself there to think.

She wasn't sure how long she had been sitting there when Fred appeared and leaned against the wall next to her.

"So… what happened in Hogsmeade, anyway?" he asked, looking at her with uncharacteristically discerning eyes.

"Wh-what do you mean?" she asked, hoping she sounded convincingly bemused.

Fred raised his eyebrows. "Oh, I dunno… You sort of ran away from George the minute you two got back, and yet… you can't seem to take your eyes off him."

"Nothing happened, really," she insisted, hoping she wasn't blushing again.

"Don't insult me, Rook," said Fred. "The only person more obvious than you is George. Still… it took you long enough to pick up on that, didn't it?"

Rook blinked, slowly processing these words. "You don't mean—?"

"What do I mean?" Fred asked cryptically. "It's not as though he's been mad about you since September first."

"Since—?!"

"Shh—!" Fred shushed Rook. "George is going to kill me when he finds out I told you. Give me a head start, at least!"

Fred stood and disappeared into the crowd once more, leaving Rook thunderstruck, his words ringing in her ears.

…since September first.