Charley sat on Fred's bed in the boys' dormitory. Lee was the only other Gryffindor boy their year, making the room seem slightly bigger with only three beds. Fred, George, and Lee dashed around the dormitory, getting ready for classes. A week into lessons at Hogwarts and Chuck had noticed the frantic dash to get dressed and fed before morning classes was a normal routine for the three boys.
"Oi, Chuck, make yourself useful and find my shoe." Lee said crawling around on his hands and knees searching under the beds.
George chucked a pillow at Lee's head and said,
"Do not speak to the lady like that!" He turned to Charley and smiled, "Dearest Chuck, would you be a dear and help Mr. Jordan here find his shoe?"
"Oh I suppose." Charley laughed.
She hopped off the bed and accompanied Lee on the floor. Fred came out of the bathroom and glanced down at the scene looking utterly confused.
"What'd I miss?" he asked George.
"The lady is helping me find my shoe." Lee mumbled.
"What lady? There's a lady in here?" Fred asked looking around wildly.
"How very rude." Charley said standing, placing her hands on her hips.
"You were referring to Chuck." Fred said grinning from ear to ear.
"It's alright Freddie, I wouldn't expect you to recognize a female. Seeing as you rarely have any up here, or anywhere really." Charley said giving him a sympathetic look.
"Oh, so you're clever now?" Fred asked amid George and Lee's sniggers.
"I've always been clever Fred," Chuck smirked, reclaiming her stake on Fred's bed, "Now can you boys please hurry up?"
"Found it!" Lee exclaimed raising his shoe in the air.
"Good, now let's get it on your foot. George you still need your Gryffindor tie and Fred are you going to class with wet hair?" Charley rattled off.
"Okay Mum, yeesh." George said grabbing his tie off a chair.
"I don't want to be late, we have potions with the Puffs first." Charley replied.
Charley had only been to one class of Professor Snape's and she already knew not to mess with him. He had already singled her out, which Fred and George assured her was normal since she was not only new, but also a Gryffindor. It didn't help that she had chosen to sit with two of Snape's least favorite students. In fact, by the time Charley had reached Charms on the Tuesday of her first week, she had realized it was best not to sit with Fred and George.
"Not so sure the Hufflepuffs liked to be called Puffs." Lee grinned,
"Shoe. Foot." Charley barked.
"Why don't you just go ahead with out us." George suggested.
"And walk into Snape's alone? You are joking right?" Charley asked wide eyed.
"Girl's got a point." Lee nodded to George.
"Well I'm ready." Fred said sitting next to Charley on his bed.
"Your hair." Charley pointed out.
"Oh right." said Fred with a grin, giving Charley a devilish look.
"I don't like that face." Charley said apprehensively.
Fred pounced on her, planting her firmly beneath him. He shook his head wildly, like a dog, spraying Chuck with water.
"Fred!" she shrieked, trying to shield her face.
"I don't think so." Fred grabbed her hands and pinned them down.
Lee glanced at George, asking the inevitable question. Fred was so fickle, it was often hard to follow his moods. But George knew him better than anyone, and with the slightest shake of his head, Lee's question was answered. Fred was also a notorious flirt. Then again so was George, he was just a tad more sensitive with the feelings of his "subjects".
Fred gave on final shake of his head and released Charley, beaming triumphantly. Charley just sat glaring at him.
"You've gotten me all wet, you lousy sod." she said furiously.
"You bet I did." Fred winked.
George flicked his ear and glared at him trying not to laugh, Lee chuckled behind his hand. Charley looked between the three of them curiously.
"Leave it Chuck." George said shaking his head.
Charley's eyes widened as she understood Fred's joke.
"Oh gross!" she said hitting Fred in the face with a pillow.
Fred had been laughing so hard, he had actually fallen to the floor.
"You should've seen your face." he said through laughter.
Charley hopped off his bed, stepped on his chest and waltzed out of the room. Fred looked up at George and Lee, both were laughing at his shocked look.
"She stepped on me." he said in disbelief.
"You had better go after her or she'll be moody with all of us today." Lee said nodding towards the door.
"Right, like I care." Fred said with a laugh.
George and Lee stared down at him skeptically.
"Who here is buying that? Are you buying it Lee?" George asked conversationally.
"Why no, I'm not, are you George?" Lee replied.
"Not a chance. What about you Fred?" George asked his twin with a wide grin.
Fred glared at the two of them. He sighed and stood walking out of the room angrily. George and Lee laughed as they heard Fred shout for Chuck to wait for him.
Charley was still angry with Fred, although she had begrudgingly accepted his many apologies, as the trio walked to the potions dungeon. Fred was timidly making small jokes at George and Lee's expense, trying to move back into Charley's good graces. He was having no such luck.
As they entered the potions classroom, Chuck sat as far from Fred, George, and Lee as possible. George and Lee laughed silently as Fred stared after her slightly shocked.
"She accepted my apology." Fred said looking at Charley frustrated.
"You forced it down her throat mate." said Lee.
Fred looked up at Lee grinning wildly.
"Yeah I did." he winked.
"Unbelievable, see that there is the reason she's mad at you in the first place!" George laughed incredulously.
"Oi! It was just a joke! The girl can't take a joke?" Fred asked.
"You better just leave it for a bit mate." Lee said with a laugh.
"When have you ever known me to leave anything be?" Fred mused.
With a glint in his eye and a wink Fred stood and began to make his way over towards Charley's desk, now shared with Angelina Johnson.
"Give it a rest Freddie!" Lee shouted shaking his head.
George was shaking his head at his brother, though he knew it would be in vain. Fred never gave up, he didn't give in, and he certainly didn't listen to anyone other than himself.
"Hello beautiful ladies." Fred said sitting atop Charley and Angelina's desk.
"Go away Fred." Charley said smiling sweetly.
"Oh c'mon Chuck, you aren't still angry about this morning are you? It was just a joke." Fred said playfully punching Charley's shoulder.
"Did he just hit me?" Charley asked Angelina.
"I believe he did, shall we hex him now?" Angelina replied.
"I think now's as good of time as any." Charley nodded.
"Oh I get it, you two are friends now." Fred said narrowing his eyes at the two girls laughing in front of him.
"We sleep in the same room Fred, its hard not to be friends." Angelina said rolling her eyes.
"Get off the desk Mr. Weasley." came Snape's harsh voice from the front of the door.
Fred jumped at the sound and half fell off Angelina and Charley's desk. He walked back to his seat as George, Lee, Angelina, and Charley chuckled at him.
Snape glared out at the class, then removed a small bottle from his sleeve. The bottle looked as though it was filled with nothing more than water. Having spent six years in Snape's potions class, none of them actually expected the tiny bottle to hold simply water.
"Can anyone tell me what this is?" Snape asked glancing around the room at the blank faces, "No one? In a class full of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs? The shock." he said sarcastically.
"I can tell you what it is. It's Veritaserum, the most powerful truth potion there is." Charley said quickly.
"Ten points from Gryffindor for speaking out of turn Miss Rook." Snape said angrily.
"Oi! You asked us!" Fred said indignantly, shooting up out of his chair.
"Detention Weasley." Snape shot back.
Fred sat back down, glaring at Snape and crossing his arms.
"This bottle is filled with Veritaserum, the most powerful truth serum available." Snape explained sounding bored.
"So I was right then?" Charley asked.
"I have already taken points from your house and given detention to your defender over there, would you like one as well?" Snape asked.
"No of course not." Charley replied.
"I didn't think so."
"I just assumed, seeing as I got it right, I'd get some sort of credit or something." Charley shrugged.
Snape's lips curled into an evil grin as he rounded on Charley.
"Detention Miss Rookwood." Snape said with an evil smile.
Fred stood ready to protest, but was forced back down by George.
"You've already got detention you git." George whispered.
"She's going to cry." Fred whispered back nodding to Chuck.
Charley did indeed look as though she was going to break into tears at any moment.
"Its Rook, her name is Rook." George burst.
"Is it really? Maybe she should come up here and showcase the class just exactly what this potion does. We'll see what her real last name is. Perhaps she'll tell us there whereabouts of her mother and father." Snape taunted.
"Leave her alone!" Angelina shouted.
Fred, George, Lee, and Chuck all looked up at Angelina in shock. She had shot up out of her chair and was glaring at their professor.
"Well, it looks like Miss Rook is responsible for yet another detention. If anyone else would like a detention by all means, let me know." Snape sneered.
The class was silent as the students glanced around at each other.
"I'll take one." Lee said raising his hand.
Snape looked as though he would bust from anger.
"Fifty points from Gryffindor! Out of my class, all of you!" he shouted.
Everyone stood and shuffled as quickly as they could out of the classroom. Charley was out before any of the others. She could feel the eyes of Fred, George, Angelina, and Lee on her back. They followed her up to the Great Hall, where she stopped right out of the doors.
"You shouldn't have done that." she said looking at the four of them.
"C'mon Chuck, it was only a matter of time before out first detention." Fred shrugged.
"To be honest, I'm surprised we've lasted this long." George grinned.
"I wish you hadn't done it." Chuck said looking at her hands.
"Charley, we're Gryffindors, its what we do. Besides, Snape was so asking for it." Angelina said smiling.
"Yeah, being in Gryffindor ensures you never have to go to detention alone" Lee winked.
"I'm starving and lunch smells amazing. Shall we?" Angelina asked the others grabbing her stomach.
She hugged Charley and gave her a reassuring smile before walking into the Great Hall. As Lee walked by he messed up Charley's hair. Fred slipped a finger beneath Charley's chin and lifted her head. He kissed her on the cheek, then grinned at her and followed the other two into the Great Hall.
"They didn't ask." Charley said still looking down.
"Who didn't ask what?" George asked.
"Lee and Angelina, they didn't ask about what Snape was saying. They just stood up for me and took punishment without even knowing what they were fighting for." Charley explained.
"It's Gryffindor blood. We look after our own." George laughed.
"You know, I've never needed anyone to stand up for me before." Charley said, looking up at George tearfully, "I feel like since I left America, all anyone has been doing is standing up for me and looking out for me."
"We all look out for each other, turns out, you need a bit more looking out for, at the moment." George shrugged.
"I don't feel like me anymore." Charley said bursting into tears.
"Come with me Chuck." George said taking her hand.
George led Charley out through the grounds. He led her all the way out to the middle of the quidditch pitch. He pulled out his wand and made a small blue blanket shoot out the end of it. He straightened it out and lay down.
"Join me Chuck." he said looking up at her.
"Why did you bring me out here?" she asked laying next to him.
"It's where I come to think." George replied.
Charley nodded and started up at the sky silently. After a few moments George took her hand in his.
"It's okay to have people looking out for you Chuck. You know that right?" George asked looking over at her.
"I know, this summer has just drained me. I feel like I need to find my strength again." she replied.
"Well, consider Fred, Lee, Angie, and I your backup until you relocate your lost strength." George winked.
Charley laughed and rest her head on George's shoulder. Charley couldn't feel more grateful for George and the others. The two sat, just listening to the soft sound of the wind.
"Charlie has a girlfriend." Charley said suddenly.
"Pardon?" George asked shocked.
"Charlie has a girlfriend." she said again.
"This is not your week Chuck." George said squeezing her hand reassuringly.
"I know." Charley laughed sadly.
"How did you find out?" he asked.
"We've been writing. He told me in his last letter. I haven't been able to respond, I don't know what to say." Charley explained.
"I thought you two were just friends." George asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You bought that?" Charley asked with a laugh.
"No, but Fred did." George chuckled, "Listen, Chuck, I know my brother and the last thing Charlie wanted to do was hurt you. I'm sure he told you to avoid leading you on or having you hear it from someone else. You don't have to respond to his letter, he knows that."
"No, I know, you're right." Charley nodded. "Let's go back in, it's getting cold."
"As you wish." George said hopping up.
He held out his hand and pulled Charley to her feet. The two walked up to the Gryffindor common room, where Angelina, Lee, and Fred were sitting.
"Where'd you two go, we have Defense Against the Dark Arts in fifteen minutes." said Lee.
"We'd better get going then, that Moody guy scares me." Charley said quickly.
"He is pretty frightening isn't he?" Angelina laughed.
Lee began to lead the way out of the portrait hole when Charley stopped suddenly. Angelina turned, noticing Charley wasn't following.
"What's up Chuck?" she asked.
"I just wanted to say thank you for what you all did today." she said softly.
"Well, we did all the work." Angelina said with a laugh gesturing to herself, Fred and George.
"Yeah, all Lee did was act like a stupid git and take a detention for no reason." Fred said shaking his head.
"Oi! I am just as noble as the rest of you lousy sods!" Lee protested.
Charley laughed and followed the others out of the portrait hole. Angelina linked arms with Charley as they walked towards the Dark Arts classroom. She couldn't help but smile as Fred and George continued to tease Lee. Charley had been content going into Hogwarts with just Fred and George by her side, she'd never even expected she's find Lee and Angelina as well. She had only just met them, but she knew Lee and Angelina were her friends for life.