A/N: I do not own anything Harry Potter. Hello, hello! I've written a new one-shot, this time about Sirius called Sirius Black: Father-to-Be. Hope you enjoy this chapter, it's kind of a fluff one but don't worry the story will pick up after this. Happy reading! XO

Chapter 22

"The dungeons? But we go there all the time," complained George. "How about the third floor? We haven't terrorized Madame Pince in a while."

"An excellent suggestion, Georgie," said Fred taking the lead up the stairs. "Annie, do you want to stash that bag?"

Annie hitched her bag further up her shoulder. "I do, Freddie. And since I had no idea both you and Lee were coming, I didn't bring the Map," she said giving Lee a slight shove. He smiled and caught her in a headlock and ruffled her hair.

They walked on up to Gryffindor Tower and Annie ran up to the girls' dormitory to deposit her bag. When she walked in she found Hermione sitting on her bed reading a book.

"Hey, how was tutoring?" she asked dog-earing her page and closing the book."

"Oh it was fine," Annie answered shuffling through her trunk and pulling out the Marauder's Map. "Hey, did you know Ernie Macmillan thinks I don't read?"

Hermione laughed. "Well, I can see where he would make that assumption. You do only read in Gryffindor Tower."

"That's true," Annie said standing up and walking toward the door. "Well, I'm off. Where's Harry by the way?"

Hermione opened her book once more. "He went to bed. Where are you off to? It's almost curfew."

"Just around the castle with Freddie, Lee and Georgie," she answered. "I'll try not to wake you guys when I come back."

Annie waved goodbye to Hermione and ran back down the stairs to meet the boys. They climbed out of the portrait hole and ran down to the third floor with Annie in the lead. She passed the map off to Fred and skipped off down the corridor with George and Lee running after her. They reached the library crouched behind a statue to check the Map for Madame Pince. Once they determined that the coast was clear, Annie rushed forward and opened the lock with her wand.

The library was dark and quiet having only been vacated about two hours before their arrival. Annie pointed her wand at one section of books and levitated them off the shelf and swapped them with the ones Fred was levitating on the opposite side of the room. George busied himself by sticking the chairs to ceiling while Lee turned the tables upside down. When they had gone through the entire library, the stood back and admired their work.

"You know, I think I like the library this way," said Fred looking up at the chairs.

"I would study here," Annie added. She tapped the map that was sitting on Madame Pince's desk. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Annie ran her finger over the map and gasped. "Shit, we need to go." Annie ran toward the door with the boys at her heels. Once she locked the door with her wand, she took off at full speed down the corridor.

"What's wrong?" panted Lee behind her. "Is it Filch?"

"Yes sir. Keep your voice down."

They continued their jog around the third floor and only stopped when Annie dove behind a statue and George, Fred and Lee followed suit. Annie scanned the map for Filch and found him tottering toward the library.

"We need to get upstairs, like, now," she whispered placing her fingers on two prefects that were patrolling the fourth floor.

"Well do have a plan?" George whispered back.

"We run like hell." Annie wiped the Map clean and poked her head out from behind the statue, looked both ways down the corridor and broke into a run while the boys followed behind her. They amazingly made it all the way up to the seventh floor without getting caught and skidded to a halt outside the Fat Lady's portrait.

"L-l-lobalug," Annie sputtered clutching a stitch in her chest.

"You are very lucky," yawed the Fat Lady as she swung forward to admit them.

They climbed into the common room laughing and high-fiving each other. George swept Annie off her feet and kissed her while Fred and Lee pretended to vomit.

"Please," said Annie smacking them both upside their heads after George placed her on her feet. "You two get girlfriends and you'll see how we act. Goodnight." Annie walked up the stairs to the girls' dormitory and blew a kiss to the boys and waved.

Annie was alone in Potions for the first time ever. She wasn't speaking to Ron at the moment, Hermione went to get her teeth fixed after the debacle with Malfoy in the corridor and Harry was just called out of class for something with Triwizard Tournament. She had already finished the antidote she was supposed to be working on and was now bending over a cross-word puzzle from the morning's Daily Prophet. Just as she scratched a word into the boxes, a looming shadow hovered over her. She looked up at Professor Snape's face glowering down at her and she gave him an innocent smile.

"Can I help you with something, Professor?" she asked putting aside her newspaper.

"You are supposed to be working on your antidote not wasting your time doing mindless games," he said slowly as everyone in the class turned to watch what was going on.

"Well, Professor, I've already finished my antidote and was waiting for you to come by and check it," she said coolly arching one eyebrow.

Professor Snape's mouth curled into smile. "I see and your antidote is invisible then?" he asked peering into Annie's empty cauldron.

"That would be stupid," answered Annie rolling her eyes. She reached down into her bag and pulled out a corked flask and held it up. "It's right here. I cleaned up already when I finished making it."

Professor Snape took the flask out of her hand and held it up at eye-level. "Hmm… Lacewing Flies? Flobberworm Mucus?" he said holding it to his nose and giving it a curt sniff. "And a hint of Butterscotch among other ingredients? Ms. Black, are you trying to poison your target?" Snape looked down his hooked nose at Annie who glared back.

"Why don't you test it out for yourself then?"

Professor Snape nodded. "Very well." He placed the flask on the table and walked away only to come back with a white rabbit in one hand and a bottle of Shrinking Solution in the other. He placed the rabbit on the table and tipped a few drops of the Solution into its mouth. The rabbit shrunk down quickly to half its normal size. Professor Snape then picked up Annie's flask and fed the rabbit some of her antidote. The whole class seemed to hold its breath each waiting for the result. Suddenly, the rabbit shivered and stretched back to its normal size. Annie gave a confident smile as the Gryffindors gave a sigh of relief.

"Five points from Gryffindor," said Professor Snape sternly. "For Ms. Black's cheek." He swept away, his robes billowing behind him.

"Vampire bat," Annie said scowling and picking up her newspaper again and scratching the letters into the boxes.

Snape turned around and gave her a curious look. "What did you just say?"

"Vampire bat," Annie answered not looking up from her puzzle. "It's one of the answers to my mindless game."

Annie walked out of the classroom a half-hour later and made her way up to the Great Hall. As she reached the top of the stairs coming out of the dungeon, she spotted a familiar face walking through the corridor ahead of her.

"Hey, Potty wee Potter that rotter of a lad," she sang. Harry stopped to let her catch up and shot her a dirty look. Annie laughed and shoved him in the arm. "I merely jest."

Harry sighed and shoved her back. "Whatever," he said.

"What's got your knickers in a twist, Harry? Hey why did you get called out of class?"

"Some Weighing of the Wands ceremony for the Tournament," Harry answered as they walked into the Great Hall. "What happened in Potions after I left, then?"

Annie waved his question away with her hand. "Same old, same old. Snape gave me attitude, I gave him attitude. I did something impressive, he took five points from Gryffindor."

"Right," said Harry sitting down at the table across from and reaching for the potatoes.

Their conversation was interrupted by Hermione's appearance. She sat down at the table and flashed them a smile showing that her teeth were back to normal.

"So what did I miss?" she asked pouring Pumpkin Juice into her goblet.

"Harry's got detention, and was called out of class to get his wand weighed or something and I made a great antidote, then I got snarky and Snape took five points from Gryffindor," Annie said a-matter-of-factly vigorously cutting her pork chops.

Hermione rolled her eyes and started eating her dinner. "You got called out of class, Harry?"

"Yeah, for the Tournament. I think there is going to be an article in the Prophet tomorrow about it. Some reporter, Rita Skeeter, was interviewing me before the Weighing of the Wands Ceremony," Harry said miserably. "I don't think it went well."

"Rita Skeeter? Ah I hate her. There's always very little truth in her articles. Yup, I'd say you're pretty much screwed, Harry," Annie said patting him on the back. "But hey, don't worry about it. She's trashed other people worse. Do you want to go flying tonight?"

Harry gave Annie an incredulous look. "You are really the worst at making anybody feel better, did you know that?" he asked as she gave him a mashed potato smile. "But yeah, I'll go flying with you. I need to clear my head."

And so, after dinner Harry, Annie and Hermione all went back up to the Gryffindor common room. Harry and Annie ran up to their dorms, grabbed their broomsticks and after saying goodbye to Hermione, left Gryffindor Tower and made their way down to the Quidditch pitch. As soon as they walked into the stadium, Annie kicked off from the ground and soared into the sky with Harry following behind. They took a few laps around the pitch and came together in the middle. She swung her legs over the side of her broom and hung upside down. Harry hovered in midair next to her and laughed.

"So, fancy doing a couple penalty shots before heading inside?" he asked.

Annie turned herself upright. "Race you down there!"

They took off once around the pitch and zoomed down to the edge of the stadium. They went over to the broom shed and pulled took the Quaffle off the shelf and went back sky. Harry took his position at the goal hoops and waited for Annie to make her move. She tossed the Quaffle in the air a couple times to herself before flying forward to attempt a goal. She faked right, then left, then right again and threw the Quaffle into the hoop. After ten tries she switched positions with Harry. Harry, who wasn't as good a chaser as Annie or his dad, flew forward to make his last goal but hit Annie in the head instead. Annie laughed and flew to fetch the ball. They landed on the ground and after returning the Quaffle to the broom shed, walked back castle and Gryffindor Tower.

Annie returned her broom to her dorm and went back down to the common room where she spotted a familiar red-head reading a piece of parchment and twirling his quill between his fingers. She walked over to Fred and sat down on his lap and he smiled.

"You know you've got the wrong twin, right? Your boyfriend is over there," he said tucking a piece of hair behind her ear and nodding to George, Lee and Angelina Johnson who were talking on the other side of the room.

Annie smiled and swung her arm over his shoulder. "Oh I know my boyfriend is over there talking to your girlfriend. What I want to know is what you're doing over here."

"My girlfriend?" said Fred laughing nervously and shaking his head. "Angelina is not my girlfriend and I'm over here because I'm reading a letter Charlie sent me."

"Stop avoiding the pressing matter here, Freddie. Do you or do you not have a crush on Angelina?" Annie asked arching her eyebrow, silently daring him to say yes.

"What? No, that's crazy, I don't have a crush on her," he said turning slightly pink. "I just like her. As a friend. That's all."

Annie laughed and ruffled his hair. "Don't lie to me, sweetheart. You're telling me that you don't think she looks pretty with her hair pulled back in that braid? You're telling me you don't think she's really sweet and smart? You're telling me you don't ever think about her?"

Fred turned an even deeper shade of pink. "I, er, well maybe I do think she's really sweet and, er, maybe I do think she's really pretty with her hair pulled back, I guess," he stammered watching her laugh with Lee and George then turning back to Annie. "Why are you asking those questions? Does she like me? What has she told you?"

"She's told me nothing but I'm usually good at reading people and I think she likes you back," Annie said slipping off his lap and holding out her hand. "You want to go find out?"

Fred stood up and took Annie's hand and started walking over with her to their friends. "No, I think I'll just like her from afar for now," he said pausing then leaning down to talk in her ear. "Just until you find out for sure that she likes me. Then, you know, I'll make my move."

Annie smiled and winked and let go of his hand. She walked up to George and sank down into his lap and gave him kiss on the cheek and then turned her attention to their conversation.