A/N: I do not own anything Harry Potter. I realized after I published this chapter that there were a few mistakes so I have fixed them. Thanks so much to those that have reviewed and added this story to their Alerts/Favorites. You guys rock my socks. Hope you enjoy this next chapter! XO

Chapter 24

"Dragons?"

Annie was sitting on the couch with her knees tucked up to her chest watching Harry with an awed expression. "Dragons? That's the first task? Are you sure?"

"Well they were either dragons or little fluffy rabbits. I honestly can't tell the difference between the two," Harry answered rolling his eyes as Annie and Hermione laughed.

"What did your dad say when you talked to him last night?" Hermione asked flipping through the pages of her History of Magic book.

Harry picked some stuffing out of the arm of his chair and flicked it onto the floor. "He said he knew about the dragons months ago he's just not allowed to tell me about the upcoming tasks. Fat lot of good that'll do me. Anyway he also said to watch myself around Karkaroff. Dad, Sirius and Remus still don't trust him."

"Because he's a former Death Eater," Annie stated picking the fuzz off her socks. "I could have told you not to trust him. Hey, wait a second I did tell you that. Remember when I concussed my head and I said that?"

"I know you did," said Harry picking up his unfinished Divination homework. "I just wished he would have told me how I'm supposed to get past the dragons."

"Maybe you'll find the answer to that in your Divination homewo-"

Annie gave a small shriek as two hands grabbed her under her arms and lifted her up. George laughed at his girlfriend's reaction and slung her over his shoulder.

"Sorry but we need to borrow her," he said to Harry and Hermione whom Annie had startled. "We'll try to return her in one piece." George turned around and walked back over to where Fred and Lee were standing on the other end of the room.

"Don't keep her too long," Hermione called after George's retreating back. "She needs to finish her homework!"

"Leave it to you, Hermione, to put a damper on things," Annie called back.

George sat Annie on a low bookshelf and the boys stood around her with eager faces.

"Okay pup, it's your turn," said Fred extracting a brightly-wrapped candy from his pocket.

"What am I trying now?" Annie said taking the candy and holding it eye-level to inspect the wrapper.

"Canary Cream," answered George. "We've only just perfected them."

Annie unwrapped the candy and took a deep breath before popping it into her mouth. Three seconds went by before -pop!- Annie turned into a small yellow bird perched on top of the bookshelf. George, Fred and Lee burst into laughter and shook each other's hands. Annie popped back into existence and started to laugh along with the boys.

"Absolutely brilliant!" she exclaimed.

"Not yet," said Lee producing a clipboard. "We still have some standard questions to ask you."

"Fire away!"

George took the clipboard from Lee and pulled a quill out from behind his ear. He dipped it into the ink well sitting beside Annie and began his questioning.

"Are you experiencing any nausea?"

"No."

"Are you feeling feverish?"

"No."

"Light-headed?"

"No."

"Tingling?"

"No."

"Tired?"

"No."

George passed the clipboard to Fred who continued with the procedure.

"How would you describe the effects of this product?" he asked.

"Exhilarating and feathery," Annie answered smiling. "Oh and very funny."

"Is there anything you would suggest to improve this product?"

"No."

"Did you enjoy this product?

"Yes, like I said before it was very funny and it was delicious."

"Excellent," said Fred and George in unison.

"Just let us know if you experience any weird rashes or any other symptoms," Lee said taking the clipboard from Fred and looking it over.

"You got it," Annie answered. "So when will these Canary Creams be available to the public?" Annie dug around in her pocket until she found a few Bertie Bott's Beans. She picked one up, examined it and then popped it in her mouth. "Mmm…vomit!"

George laughed as he stole a Bean from Annie's hand. "You're disgusting and we were thinking on Tuesday at the after-party for the First Task."

"Oh right the party. Did you guys pick up the stuff from Madame Rosmerta?"

"We did," answered Fred ruffling Annie's hair.

"It's hidden in the one-eyed witch passage," Lee whispered. He looked over his shoulder to see if anybody had been listening in and turned back around quickly as he saw someone approaching. "Incoming."

Annie looked over Lee's shoulder and smiled. "Oh relax. It's only Nathan," she said as the first year walked up to her. "Hey Nathan, what's up?"

Nathan looked up at George, Fred and Lee nervously before addressing Annie. "Well, Emily and I were just about to walk down to the Library and meet the other kids in our tutoring class so we could study for our test tomorrow and we were wondering if you could come down and help us out for a little bit."

Annie smiled and glanced sideways at the boys who were trying to hide their sniggering in their hands. "I'd love to, sweetheart, but I got banned from the library for a month."

Nathan looked surprised. "What did you do?"

"Well," she said starting to laugh. "A couple days ago when Harry, Hermione and I were in the library studying, I got bored so I started playing with my wand and I may have set fire to a book or two."

"Or three," Fred said joining in.

"Or four," said Lee no longer containing his laughter.

"Or ten," George said wiping tears from his eyes as Nathan joined in with the laughter.

"Okay, okay maybe it was an entire stack of books. Anyway my point is I can't go to the library with you guys," Annie said crossing her arms across her chest. "Sorry, Nathan."

"That's okay. See you later!" Nathan turned and walked away to join Emily by the portrait hole.

"So, do you really have to finish your homework?" asked George after planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Unfortunately. I have an entire Muggle Studies essay due tomorrow and I haven't even started it yet." Annie hopped off the bookshelf and wrapped her arms around his waist. She stood on tip-toe and the two kissed passionately as Fred and Lee pretended to gag. "I'll see you guys later. And Fred, I would think twice about doing that. Remember our little chat?" Fred turned slightly pink and Annie smiled and walked back over to the couch by the fire.

On Tuesday morning Annie found herself sitting between Harry and Hermione doodling in the margins of her History of Magic notes. She looked over at Hermione who was scribbling madly on her parchment and then over at Harry who was staring into space looking scared-shitless. Annie discretely took out another piece of parchment, scribbled a note and passed it to Harry.

You okay?

Harry read the note and wrote back.

Fine. You?

I'm alright. You, however, look like you've just shat your pants.

Well I am about to face a dragon in a couple of hours.

Fair enough. Hey, do you want me to sneak you some Firewhiskey before you go out there? You know, to take the edge off.

Not even gonna ask where you got it but no, I'm good for now. I'll let you know.

Suit yourself then. Hey, you want to get out of here? I don't feel like sitting in this class anymore.

Sure. What do you have in mind?

Follow my lead.

Harry read Annie's last note and nodded. Annie and Harry quietly shoved their things into their bags as Hermione watched them out of the corner of her eye.

"What are you doing?" she whispered harshly not taking her eyes of Professor Binns.

"You'll see," Annie whispered back. She stood up on her chair and let out a high-pitched scream.

"Ms. White, what the devil is going on?" Professor Binns had stopped mid-lecture and watched Annie cowering in fear.

Annie jumped off her chair and started to back out of the classroom as the entire class looked on.

"G-g-g-ghost! You're a g-g-ghost!" she stuttered as the ghost professor advanced toward her. "Stay back! J-j-just stay away from me!" Annie ran out of the classroom leaving the class stunned by her act.

Harry leapt out of his seat as the class burst into laughter. "Sorry, Professor!" he called over his shoulder and running after Annie with both of their bags over his shoulder. "I really have no idea what's gotten into her!"

Harry ran down the corridor and found Annie crouching behind a statue clutching her stomach and laughing so hard no sound came out. Harry put his hand out in front of Annie and pulled her to her feet.

"Where on earth did you come up with that?"

"No idea. So where to?" she asked taking his arm and walking idly down the corridor.

"Dunno. Hey what do you think the penalty would be if I didn't show up for the First Task?"

"Death," Annie said simply smiling up at her cousin.

"Ah, so either way I'm dead. I face the dragon and I die. I don't face the dragon and I die," he said leading her up the stairs. "Let's go to the common room since it's a bit too early for lunch."

"Okay then."

Harry and Annie made their way up to Gryffindor Tower. Since the First Task would be happening right after lunch, they each took their bags up to their rooms. Annie threw her bag onto her cluttered bed and knelt down on the floor. She reached her hand underneath her bed and pulled out a six-pack of Firewhiskeys. She grabbed the whole pack and trooped back down into the common room. She looked around at the older students who did not have classes at this time and located Harry sitting by the fire shuffling a pack of Exploding Snap cards.

"Here drink up!" she said handing him one of the bottles and sitting across from him. She opened her bottle on the side of the table and raised it up to him. "Cheers!" Annie took a swig and set it down on the table and picked up the cards Harry had just dealt her.

"I'm good actually," he said passing the bottle back to her and then rearranging his cards. "So where did you get that from anyway? I thought Fred and George weren't of age yet."

"They're not but Lee is," Annie answered giving a devilish smile. She tipped the bottle to him and took another deep swig.

Harry shook his head and smiled back. "You're turning into your father you know that?"

"Awesome!"

XXX

Hermione and a slightly drunken Annie made their way across the grounds to the tent that was set up on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. When they reached the champions' tent Hermione peered inside and spotted Harry.

"Annie, are you coming in?" she asked holding open the tent flap.

"Nope," Annie hiccupped. "I'm going to go find some seats. Tell Harry I said good luck."

She watched as Hermione slipped into the tent and walked over to the make-shift stadium. Fred and George were busy making their way up and down the rows of students collecting bets and Lee was sitting in the commentator's box adjusting the megaphone. To Lee's right Professor McGonagall was sitting in the stands talking to an all too familiar person. Remus looked around to the entrance where Annie was standing and waved her over. Annie covered her face with her hand and walked over to the stands in the complete opposite direction. Of course when I show up drunk, Remus is here to catch me she thought to herself. She sat down and threw the blanket that she was carrying on the seat next to her and looked around everywhere but at the werewolf who was now making his way over to her.

"So what have you done this time that you're avoiding even me?" he said sitting down next to her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. He sniffed the air around her and smelled the alcohol instantly. "Ah I guess I should change my question. How many have you had?"

Annie looked up at him. "Moony, I'm shocked that you would think that I would even do such a thing," she said attempting to feign her innocence.

"How many?"

Annie put her head in her hands. "Two," she confessed.

Remus sighed and ruffled her hair. "Annie Black, what am I going to do with you? You're fifteen! Can't you just stick to getting high on sugar like you usually do?"

Annie ran her hands through her hair. "That or next time I'll make sure I don't run into you," she said giving him a cheeky grin and elbowing him lightly in the side. She looked around at the now crowded tent and spotted Hermione and waved her over. Hermione climbed over the stands towards them.

"Remus! What a surprise!" she said as she sat next to Annie and draped the blanket across their legs. "What are you doing here?"

"I have every Tuesday off," he answered. "And besides, Lily said she would kill me if I didn't come and keep an eye on 'her baby'."

Annie and Hermione laughed and watched as Professor Dumbledore stood up in the commentator's box. The crowd went silent at once.

"Welcome to the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament!" his voice boomed and the students and faculty cheered. "Before we begin I would like to introduce our judges: Mr. Crouch, Mr. Bagman, Madame Maxime of Beauxbatons, Professor Karkaroff of Durmstrang and of course, myself." He paused so the crowd could cheer once more. "And now I will turn over all the commentating to Mr. Jordan." Dumbledore handed the megaphone over to Lee who was standing quite confidently up in the commentator's box.

"Thank you, Professor," he said. "The first Champion up is Hogwarts' own, Cedric Diggory!"

A/N: Oh you guys will just have to wait to hear what happens in the Triwizard Tournament. Spoiler Alert (kind of): I will actually write about it unlike the World Cup. I have just one last thing before I leave you with that cliff-hanger. If you haven't already, I wrote three one-shot Annie prequel stories called Boggarts, So Close, and Sirius Black: Father-To-Be. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time! XO