She's upset. It's obvious. I should try to not look pleased. Damn, George is doing a bloody good job of keeping a straight face. I'm sure he's over the moon about this. Wait, was I smiling just now? Ah, bugger it. She knows I never liked Spencer.

Fred and George had come back from a day in Hogsmeade to the news that Rook and Spencer had, at last, broken up. The trio now sat in the Great Hall, eating dinner and discussing this recent development. Though Rook appeared weary and downcast, Fred thought (or perhaps hoped) he also sensed an air of relief about her.

"Was he very upset?" Fred asked Rook, making only a partial effort to sound appropriately solemn.

Rook didn't seem to notice, and she looked guilty as she answered, "He was. I feel terrible about the timing, with him being so stressed about O.W.L.s and everything."

"I wouldn't worry about that," said Fred.

"Dumbledore will shave his beard before Spencer gets a bad mark on his exams," said George.

"And Filch will audition for the ballet before Spencer neglects to inform us all of his top marks," Fred assured her. "You'll see."

"Besides, you have your own exams to worry about," added George.

"Right…" said Rook, still looking worried.

"Will he still tutor you?" George asked.

Rook sighed heavily. "I don't know. We didn't really get a chance to talk about that."

"Either way, you've got us!" said Fred enthusiastically.

"We can help you with everything but Arithmancy," said George.

"I'm a terrible influence on you two," said Rook with a smile. "To think you've been spending so much time on schoolwork for my sake. I've gone and ruined your reputations."

"I warned George," said Fred, shaking his head disapprovingly. "I knew you were bad news from the start, but he couldn't resist."

A look passed between George and Rook at this. They both blushed and neither of them said anything in response.

It had already occurred to Fred that it was now only a matter of time before the girl he fancied began dating his brother. He had already taken strides toward accepting that likelihood, but now that it felt more imminent, he was beginning to wonder whether he could truly handle it.

"Enough about me," Rook said, breaking the silence between the three of them. "How was Hogsmeade?"

Fred shrugged. "Uneventful. I mean, we tried breaking into the Shrieking Shack again, but that place is suspiciously well-fortified for an abandoned shanty."

"Dumbledore probably enchanted it to keep the likes of us out of there," said George thoughtfully.

"Makes me mad wondering what it's like on the inside," said Fred wistfully. "Think maybe there's still a clue about what did all the shrieking?"

"I reckon there's blood all over the walls, and dead animal bits everywhere," said George.

"You should be more careful," said Rook seriously. "What if you get in there and see something really horrifying? Something you can't un-see, you know?"

"Such as?"

"Like… like what if it's just chock-full of geriatric clown pornography?"

Fred did a spit take, which was followed by a prolonged coughing fit.

"'Geriatic clown pornography?'" he repeated loudly, causing a group of second years to look over at him in alarm. "That's the first thing that comes into your mind when you think 'something really horrifying'?"

"You do have a talent for delving into the darkest corners of the human psyche," said George. "I'm making a mental note to never put you in front of a boggart."

"The world doesn't need that," Fred agreed. "Who knew Rook was such a deviant?"

"I don't want to hear that from you, Fred," Rook retorted indignantly.

"I'm sure I have no idea what you mean."

"Oh, I've been meaning to ask," said Rook, changing the subject, "was Harry all right with not going to Hogsmeade this time?"

Fred experienced a short moment of panic at this, now realizing that he had completely forgotten to tell Harry that the Honeydukes passage was no longer viable. The moment was short because Harry sat only a few seats away from them, and Fred could see plainly that he did not have the devastated look of someone who had been severely punished. He swiftly composed himself and gave Rook a noncommittal reply to her question, later cornering Ron in the common room at the first opportunity.

"I didn't see Harry in Hogsmeade today," he commented. "Did he go, or…?"

For whatever reason, this simple question caused Ron's ears to turn pink as he answered, "Er, no. He decided not to this time."

"Really?" Fred asked, both relieved and curious. "Why?"

"It's just not a very good idea," Ron spoke in a bolder voice. "And he won't be going again as long as Black is still out there! It's dangerous, and you don't need to make fun of him about it." He glared at Fred defiantly, as though daring him to make a joke at Harry's expense.

"Me, joke about Harry's safety?" said Fred, grinning. "I would never! In any case, I suppose you and Hermione have made up? This definitely seems like Granger brand common sense."

Ron turned even more violently pink at this. "We all agreed—!" Ron started.

"Hey, I'm not arguing against it! Believe it or not, I prefer Harry in one piece. I reckon he's much better at Quidditch that way."

Fred rejoined his friends, satisfied with the fact that Harry himself had decided to curtail his Hogsmeade visits indefinitely. As long as Black was at large, Fred saw no need to tell him that Lupin knew about the passage.

A few days later, Rook readied herself for her first tutoring session following her and Stefan's breakup.

"Why even bother going?" Fred asked.

"Do you think he'll show up?" asked George.

Rook sighed. "I don't know, but I have to go, at least to see if he's there."

"Alternatively, you could stay and help us make more of those paper fortune-tellers," said Fred.

"People have been requesting the ones with your drawings on them," said George. "And Ron's told me he actually uses the one you made for him to make up predictions in Divination."

"See? Do it for the children, Rook."

"I'd rather stay," said Rook, "but if Stefan's showed up for our appointment, I can't just leave him waiting for me."

"Oh, sure you can," said Fred, and he could tell Rook was repressing a smile as she departed. When she did not return in fifteen minutes, it was clear that Stefan must have kept their appointment as well, but Fred tried not to worry about it. When she appeared in the common room much later, it was with the news that she and Stefan had agreed to remain friends.

"Didn't you say he reacted poorly to the breakup?" George asked.

"He was just upset, but he's had a chance to calm down, and he was really nice during our session," Rook said, though she looked as uneasy as Fred felt. "Anyway, friends is better than enemies."

"I dunno," said Fred. "Personally, I'd prefer being Spencer's enemy."

Fortunately, Spencer began to fade into the background of their lives over the next couple of weeks. Rook still saw him during her sessions, but he went back to sitting with his Ravenclaw friends during Potions, and they never saw him hovering over the Gryffindor table at mealtimes.

It was just as well, as their classwork was not getting any easier with O.W.L.s looming ever nearer. Patricia Stimpson nearly fainted in the middle of Transfiguration when she was unable to vanish her ferret. Alicia did not even stop studying for Quidditch practice, going so far as to copy notes onto the back of her arms and go over them mid-flight, to Wood's great irritation. Rook put a heavy emphasis on her Potions work, since it was the only O.W.L. she would be taking, but she managed to keep her spirits up in spite of the pressure. Fred and George, on the other hand, were dealing with a different kind of stress. They only spoke of it in whispers, truly terrified that it might somehow get back to their mother, but they meant to purposefully fail certain exams so that they would have the free time to devote themselves to more productive pursuits next school year. They had discussed this decision at length, and they had no way of knowing whether it would pay off, but they were certain of their passion, and they intended to follow it.

Between all the homework they were assigned, Quidditch practice every day and the Slytherins' constant attempts at sabotaging the Gryffindor team before the upcoming match between the two houses, the Easter holidays did not hold the promise of relaxation. The twins had reason to greatly anticipate them nonetheless, as their sixteenth birthday happened to land on their first day off.

"Wait, he asked you out for April first?"

Fred, George and Rook were in Potions. Rook had been concentrating hard on her potion, but she had reached a point where she was to let the brew sit for several minutes, and she was free to join in on Fred and George's whispered conversation about their birthday.

"Not on a date," Rook clarified. "And I turned him down, obviously, but he didn't give me a chance to explain why."

"Did he get angry again?" asked George.

"No, he was more like… disappointed," said Rook guiltily.

"He seems fine now," said Fred, watching the Ravenclaw prefect's flirty exchange with Atarah Amaryllis.

"Does it bother you?" George asked Rook when she followed Fred's gaze to Spencer's table.

"No," said Rook. "Maybe it should, but… it's sort of a relief, after spending all this time feeling guilty." Rook returned to her potion, adding carefully portioned crushed bicorn horn to her cauldron. "And she suits him better, doesn't she? She's a lot prettier than I am, for one thing."

"Can't agree with you on that point," said George. Rook bent low over her cauldron at this, pretending she hadn't heard him, but from what Fred could see of her face, she was redder than the crimson fumes wafting up from her potion.

When George went to wash up at the stone basin, Fred lingered at their desk where Rook was still in the process of bottling her sample for Snape.

"Why don't you ask him out already?" Fred asked her point-blank.

"I would, but he never responded to my love note," Rook answered. "Plus, he's a bit old for me, don't you think?"

"Very funny and not at all disgusting, Rook," said Fred, then lowered his voice. "You know who I meant, and I know you're interested."

Rook corked her sample and began writing the label. "I can't," she sighed. "After how I messed everything up with Stefan… I couldn't risk doing the same with George." Fred opened his mouth to reply, but was silenced by a warning look from Rook.

"What's taking so long?" said George, back from the stone basin. "I don't know about you two, but I'd rather not be in here any longer than I have to be. I think Snape's still in an especially bad mood."

"I'm amazed you can even tell," said Fred, slapping a haphazardly scrawled label onto his potion sample.

They left the classroom shortly thereafter, Fred in the lead and George and Rook lagging behind.

"Speaking of April first," Fred heard George's voice as he addressed Rook, "I know I told you I would teach you to fly, but we haven't really had the time. Maybe after our Quidditch practice on Friday, I could show you a few things?"

"Receiving my first flying lesson from this school's most notorious practical jokers on April Fools' Day doesn't seem like the smartest idea, but… ah, heck, why not? Nobody lives forever!"

"If it helps put your mind at ease," Fred interjected, matching their pace, "I'm not going to be involved in this little venture."

"You're not?" Rook asked, the slightest note of panic in her voice.

"No, I don't think so," said Fred. "I spend more than enough time at the Quidditch pitch as it is. I'm starting to get a serious case of broom bum. But you two knock yourselves out—figuratively, of course."

"So it'll just be you and me, Rook," said George. "Is that all right?"

Rook only nodded shyly in response.

Only a few days later, Fred awoke late on the morning of April first to find that most of his and George's belongings had been covered in wrapping paper patterned with the repeated phrase, "Happy Birthday, party animal!" weaving through countless cartoon lions. He reached for his ringing alarm clock and tore the paper just enough to shut it off before setting back on his bedside table, which was also completely wrapped in paper.

"George, wake up!" said Fred, tossing his pillow at his sleeping brother.

George sat up groggily and looked around. "Blimey," he said weakly, taking in his surroundings. "Looks like a good haul this year!"

A snort of laughter came from Lee's bed and the twins looked over at him. He was the only other person in the room, as the other fifth year boys were already at breakfast.

"Are you responsible for this?" Fred asked.

"Nah, only one of those presents is mine," said Lee.

"Which one?" asked George, noticing that all of their birthday gifts must also be wrapped in the cartoon lion paper, and were indistinguishable from the rest of their possessions.

"How on Earth did you manage this?" Fred asked, both awestruck and annoyed as he ripped into the parcels that seemed most likely to contain his clothes.

"Sorry, mate," said Lee. "We were sworn to secrecy. Not that we needed to be. We all agreed that we're better off not adding any weapons to your arsenal of tricks."

"What the bloody hell is this?"

Fred looked over at George, who had just unwrapped lion onesie pajamas and was holding them in front of him with a bemused expression.

"Must be a gift," said Fred.

"There are three sets of them," said George.

"Isn't there a card, or note, or something?"

George rifled through the torn paper around him, finally withdrawing a small slip of parchment. "'I got these for your birthday, but it didn't seem right not to get one for Jack as well,'" he read aloud. "It's from Rook, but… who's Jack?"

"You got me," said Fred, shrugging.

"It couldn't be a reference to one of your many inside jokes?" asked Lee.

"Maybe…" said George uncertainly.

"Forget about that," said Fred. "Give me one of those onesies. I can't find any of my regular clothes, and I have a feeling I'm not going to."

"Oh, that's diabolical," said Lee with a grin.

"You say, as though you had nothing to do with it," said Fred, already stepping into the absurd garment.

"Well, I was going to lend you something of mine, but not if you're going to make such outrageous insinuations," said Lee.

"It wouldn't fit anyway, and you know it!" snapped Fred, now zipping up the onesie.

"So now it's my fault you have freakishly broad shoulders?" Lee countered.

"Of all the freakish things about these two, you make fun of the shoulders?"

Rook was standing in the doorway of their dorm room, a wide grin across her face.

"Oi, you're not supposed to be up here!" Fred exclaimed.

"I've never heard that," Rook replied calmly. "I think you're lion."

Fred's jaw dropped and he looked down at his outfit then back at Rook in horror.

"You…" he spluttered, "You devious… you evil… You planned this all! All for a pun, you sick fuck!"

"Don't talk to her like that!" said George, jumping up, still in his pajamas. "She went out of her way to find us the purr-fect birthday gift, and you're just shouting at her!"

"Stop that," Fred turned on George. "You stop that right now!"

"Stop what, Fred?" Rook asked, alarmed. "I'm not kitten around with you, I just came to wish you and George happy birthday!"

"Well, this is a catastrophe," said Lee, digging through a box of week-old Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans he found under his bed as he watched this scene unfold before him.

"You too, Lee?!" Fred shouted. "You traitor!"

Rook and George exchanged a disconcerted look.

"He seems quite purr-anoid about something," muttered George.

"What could paw-sibly be going through his head?"

"Maybe he fur-got what day it is?"

"I'm about to forget I ever had a twin brother," Fred spoke testily, pulling out his wand. "And Rook, if you don't stop with the terrible jokes, I swear I'll give you whiskers!"

"Ooh, yeah, I wanna see that!" Lee chimed in.

Rook covered her face quickly, though she couldn't help laughing. "I'll stop!" she promised in a muffled voice. "That looks really good on you, by the way."

"Now who's lion?" said Fred. Rook laughed again.

She helped them to find their actual birthday presents amidst the wrapping paper chaos, and the the four of them talked and joked as they evaluated each gift. After they were pretty sure they had opened every gift, George donned his onesie and the friends made their way to the common room where the twins' fellow Weasleys were waiting to wish them a happy birthday.

"To think that this time next year, you'll be of age," said Percy with a sentimental expression. "Of course, it's never too early to start thinking seriously about one's future trajectory. I know you're unlikely to perform as well as I did two years ago, but I do so hope you two manage to get enough O.W.L.s to start working toward a respectable—"

"Whoa, Perce, save some of this riveting stuff for your own birthday!" Fred cut him off.

"We can only have so much fun all at once, you know," added George.

Ginny giggled and Fred winked at her.

"You look so ridiculous in those outfits," Ron said. "I can't believe you wore those down here."

"Really?" said Fred, swinging his tail idly. "Here I was thinking I looked downright dapper."

"That reminds me," said George suddenly, "Rook, who is Jack?"

Rook, who had been laughing at Fred's antics, looked George blankly and didn't answer.

"Jack?" Fred clarified. "From the card?"

Rook glanced back at Fred in apparent confusion.

"Should I… not have brought him up?" she asked, inexplicably casting a worried look over at Ron and Ginny, neither of whom were smiling anymore.

"I'll let you know once you've told us who he is," Fred said exasperatedly.

"Oh… um…" Rook looked around at them all once more, now seeming very uncomfortable. "He's… nobody. It was just a stupid joke."

"And the joke was…?" Fred pressed.

"Just a silly joke about… about an imaginary friend, or something," Rook said in an unconvincing voice, "but I realized it really just isn't funny, so forget it."

"Ginny, what's going on?" George asked, noticing Ginny's now reticent demeanor. "Do you know who she's talking about?"

Ginny only shook her head, but she was clearly on edge about something, and Fred realized that Percy and Ron were also acting strangely reserved.

"Who's Jack?" Fred demanded. Lee shrugged, looking just as confused as Fred and George.

After a brief, awkward silence, Percy was the one who cleared his throat and stepped forward. "I suppose you were bound to find out at some point," he said importantly, though he still seemed flustered. "Honestly, I expected you'd know by now, but… er, how shall I put this…? You and George were not born as twins, but as triplets. Jack was… well, he was our brother. He was delivered without complication, but he died, inexplicably, only a month later."

Fred exchanged a bewildered look with George. If he didn't know better, Fred would assume this was another prank, but Percy was almost physically incapable of making a joke, much less a joke that required this level of commitment.

"Why wouldn't mum and dad tell us we had a… a triplet?" George asked.

"Mum's still quite sad about Jack," Ginny said in a small voice. "Ron and I caught her crying about it on your birthday three years ago. That's when dad told us…"

"I'm really sorry," said Rook miserably. "I thought you knew, or I never would have…" she trailed off, biting her pinky fingernail guiltily. "I'm sorry."

"I, too, am very sorry," Percy spoke gravely in response to the twins' stunned silence. "I'm sorry you're so gullible, that is."

"Wait, what?" said Fred, hardly believing his ears.

"Think of it as payback for all the mockery I've endured from you over these last sixteen years," Percy said in a scolding manner.

"Payback?" said Fred weakly.

"This is just about the most incredible birthday gift we've ever gotten!" said George.

"Percy Weasley having us on!" Fred exclaimed. "This is one for the history books!"

Percy's ears had turned red at this point. "Yes, well," he said, "don't get used to it. Heaven knows I have better things to do than this sort of nonsense."

"You see that?" Ron said to Ginny. "I think they're having a moment."

"If only Jack were alive to see this," Ginny sighed.

Fred and George didn't get into too much mischief that day, all things considered. They played small jokes on each other and their friends throughout the day, but they found it difficult to accomplish much with Filch and Mrs. Norris tailing them everywhere they went about the castle. For the Weasley twins, it was enough to act as a decoy for Peeves, who took advantage of Filch's split attention to raid the Caretaker's extensive collection of banned items. The poltergeist was soon found accosting various students in the great hall with Fanged Frisbees, Stink Pellets and Whizzing Worms. With the food in the Great Hall compromised, Fred and George decided to leave lunch early and head to the Quidditch pitch for practice, a nervous Rook in tow.

"Remember," Fred whispered to her as they walked, "today is all about facing your fears!"

"I think that's Halloween," Rook whispered back. "And it's easy for you to say. What fears do you plan on facing today?"

"Oh, I'm not afraid of anything," Fred lied.

"Except pretty girls, as I recall," Rook said, smirking.

"For an amnesiac, your memory is way too good."