A/N: I do not own anything Harry Potter. Well, here is the next chapter. I really hope you enjoy it. Thanks to those who have added me to their Alerts/Favorites. Happy reading! XO

Chapter 35

Annie sat next to Harry in the back of the History of Magic classroom with her feet up on the desk and her chair tilted all the way back so the front two feet were way off the ground. Her head was inclined backwards as she slept soundly while snoring slightly with her mouth hanging open. Annie had gone to bed the previous night with a slight fever and woke up in the morning feeling even worse. After eating basically nothing at breakfast, she denied that was sick and ignored her friend's pleas to go to Madame Pomfrey and went to their first class anyway. Harry looked over at his cousin and shook his head at her stubbornness. Just then Annie's chair began to tilt further back until she crashed to the floor with a loud bang.

"What is going on back there, Porter?" Professor Binns said stopping his lecture and questioning the interruption.

"Annie just fell backwards off her chair, Professor," Harry answered as he left his own and knelt down next to her. "Are you okay?"

Annie sat up rubbing the back of her head and her shoulder and nodded. "Was I asleep?" she asked looking up at him and wincing in pain.

"Yeah, you were," Harry said as put her arm around his shoulder. "Come here, you." Ron got out of his seat too and grabbed her other arm. They hoisted her off the floor and set her on her feet.

"We're going to take her to the Hospital Wing, Professor," Ron said taking his and Annie's backpacks as Harry grabbed his own.

"If you must, Wallaby," said Professor Binns waving them out the door.

Harry and Ron helped Annie out into the corridor where she shrugged them off and took her bag from Ron and slung it over her shoulders.

"You guys don't have to walk me there," she said crossing her arms across her chest and looking down at the ground. "I'm not going to see Madame Pomfrey anyway."

"Yes you are, Annie," Harry said looking at her with concern. "You're sick. You just don't want to admit it. And you just fell off a chair and sat up rubbing your head. You've got to get that checked out."

Annie gave a small sniffle as she lifted her head. "I'm fine. Really, I am. I'm just tired in case you couldn't tell. And I didn't hurt my head all that much, just a slight bump, honest."

"Annie-"

"I'm not sick. I just want to sleep. Can we just go to the common room?" Annie looked between Harry and Ron who looked at each other for the other's opinion.

Ron shrugged. "If she doesn't want to go, mate, we can't force her," he said.

Harry sighed and shrugged his own backpack onto his shoulders. "Alright, we'll go to the common room. But if that bump on your head gets worse, I'm taking you down whether you like it or not."

"Thanks, Harry," Annie said. They walked up to Gryffindor Tower in silence and gave the password to the Fat Lady who admitted them into the common room. Annie made for the couch by the fire and immediately kicked off her shoes and sprawled out.

"I'm so tired," she groaned into the couch cushion.

"Because you're sick," Harry said dropping his bag on the floor before sinking into an armchair.

Annie turned her head to face him "I already told you I'm not sick. I am going to stay here all day on this couch and sleep. If anybody has a problem with that, tell them they will be facing my wrath when I finally wake up." Annie turned her whole body to face the back of the couch and fell asleep. Harry ran a hand through his hair and shook his head as Ron laughed.

"Hey, think of this way," Ron said turning to Harry, "at least she got us out of History of Magic."

Harry and Ron sat in the Gryffindor common room playing a few rounds of Wizard's Chess as Annie slept through the rest of their class. Hermione climbed through the portrait hole a half-hour later with a few of their fellow fourth years behind her. She made her way over to where Ron and Harry were sitting and stood directly behind the couch where Annie was still fast asleep.

"What is this?" Hermione asked gesturing toward Annie. "I thought you two took her to Madame Pomfrey."

"Go! Go!" Ron yelled as he cheered on his queen that was now bludgeoning Harry's. "We were going to but she didn't want to go," he explained as he looked up at Hermione.

"She didn't want to go? Then why didn't you make her go?" she asked sternly as she placed her hands on her hips and turned to Harry.

"I can't force her to do something she doesn't want to do, Hermione," Harry said innocently. Hermione reached down to shake Annie awake but Harry stopped her. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Her hand stopped just as she was about to grab Annie's shoulder. "And why not?"

"Do you really want to be on the receiving end of Annie's wrath?" Ron asked.

"Well, no, but-"

"Then let me wake her." Harry got up from his chair and knelt down beside the couch. He placed one hand on Annie's back and gave her a slight shake. She turned around, opening her eyes and allowed them to focus on Harry's face.

"This better be important, Potter, I was sleeping," she said moodily ignoring the smile that formed on Harry's face.

"How's your head?" he asked.

"It's okay. You better have a good reason to wake me up," she said sitting up and rubbing her back. "Has this couch always been lumpy or is it just me. And are you cold as I am?"

"Actually, I thought it was a bit warm in here with the fire going," Harry said feeling her forehead. "Annie you really should go down to Madame Pomfrey. You're burning up."

"I'm not going there. She's just going to give me Pepperup Potion and that stuff is disgusting," she said crossing her arms over her chest.

"Ha!" exclaimed Ron and pointing at Annie. "Did you hear that? She just admitted that she was sick!"

"I did not!"

"You kind of did, Annie." Hermione said smiling.

"I did not," Annie said again this time getting to her feet. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going upstairs to sleep in my bed where I won't be disturbed." She turned on her heel and stalked off to the staircase leading to the girls' dormitories. She pushed the door to her dorm open and walked over to her bed, stripping off her robes and tossing them carelessly on the floor. After settling down under her covers and finding a comfortable position, she fell asleep for the third time that day.

"What time are we supposed to meet them?" Annie asked as she trudged slowly down the path to Hogsmeade behind Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Two," Harry answered from ahead of her. "You really should have stayed behind to rest."

"What are you, my mum?"

"She has a point, Harry," Ron said grinning back at Annie.

"I think Harry's right," Hermione said as they walked into Gladrags. They walked right up to the bin of mismatched socks and started to rifle through, picking out ones for Dobby.

"That's a first," Harry said smiling at his friend as he picked up a bright blue sock with broomsticks all over it.

"If I stayed behind, I never would have found this lurid piece of clothing," Annie said holding up a long black sock with brown and yellow polka dots all over. The other three kids laughed as Annie threw the sock back into the bin and leaned against the wall. "As weird as Dobby likes his clothes, I still wouldn't give him that one."

After finding some of the most ridiculous unmatched socks, Harry, Annie, Hermione and Ron left the store laughing. Annie followed slowly behind her friends into the some of the other shops and slumped against every open wall as they took a look around. As Hermione and Ron wandered through the aisles of Scrivenshaft's, Harry nudged Annie who was fast asleep as she stood leaning against a pillar. At Harry's touch her head shot up and she looked around.

"I'm awake I swear!" she said looking alarmed. She looked sideways at Harry who laughed at her reaction.

"I told you you shouldn't be out," he said ruffling her hair. "Look at you! You're falling asleep while you stand."

"It's a talent," Annie said stiffly. "Can we go to the Three Broomsticks after this please?"

"Need a place to sit down and sleep, do you?" Harry asked with a sly smile.

Annie shoved Harry playfully in the arm. "No, it's just cold in here and I could really use some Butterbeer."

"Yeah, sure."

When Hermione had finished looking around the store, they made their way over to the Three Broomsticks. They walked into the packed pub and Harry walked toward the bar to order drinks as Ron, Hermione and Annie looked for a booth. Harry came back carrying the four frothy drinks and set them down on the table. As her friends chatted, Annie put her head down in her arms and drifted off to sleep with one hand still on the handle of her mug. A half-hour later, she felt a cold hand on her forehead which sent shivers down her spine.

"Merlin, what happened to this one?" a familiar voice asked before sliding into the booth next to her. "She's on fire."

"She's not feeling well but she won't admit it," Hermione answered before taking a sip of her Butterbeer.

"Sounds like you, Padfoot," James said sitting across the table from Harry. He reached across the table and pried the mug from Annie's fingers and took a sip.

Sirius wrapped an arm around Annie's shoulders and gave her a slight shake. "Annie, kiddo, wake up," he said quietly.

Annie picked her head up off her arms and gave him a lazy grin. "Hey, dad, long time no see, eh?" Annie gave a shaky laugh and turned to everybody at the table. "Uncle James, how's it going? Oh, hey, Moony, how are you?" Annie nodded toward the man now coming back to the table with three Firewhiskeys.

"Annie, how long have you had a fever?" James asked ignoring her question.

"Annie has a fever?" Remus asked sitting next to Sirius who had picked up Annie and set her on his lap. He reached up and felt her forehead and shook his head.

"I don't have a fever," Annie said pushing Remus's hand away. "I'm not sick, I'm just tired. Now can we please get to what we came here for?"

"She's actually been sick since Thursday night," Harry answered James's question.

"And she absolutely refuses to see Madame Pomfrey," Ron added as Hermione nodded at his side.

"Ron, I thought you were on my side?" Annie said as she reached across the table to retrieve her drink.

"You've been sick since Thursday?" Sirius asked her. Annie looked away from all of them and crossed her arms over her chest. "Harry, when we're done here, you are to take her straight back to the castle and bring her to Madame Pomfrey, got it?"

"But-"

"Yeah, I can do that," Harry answered nodding. Annie sighed angrily and leaned against Sirius's chest, defeat finally written all over her face.

"So, what did you all want to talk about?" Remus asked as he took a sip of his Firewhiskey.
"Well, we wanted to talk about Mr. Crouch," Harry answered looking between his father and uncles as Ron and Hermione both nodded vigorously.

Annie could feel Sirius's body tense up at the mention of the name as he reached for his drink. "What about him?" he said gruffly.

"Remember that night when Annie and I saw Crouch in Snape's office?" Sirius and Remus nodded and Harry went on. "Well, dad said that there was some stuff that he couldn't say in a letter and asked for the date of the next Hogsmeade weekend."

"Oh, yeah, that's right I did say that," James said shooting a warning glance at Sirius who he could tell was getting angry.

"Yeah, what gives?" Ron asked slamming his mug on the table. "He doesn't show up for the Yule Ball or the Second Task and sent Percy in his place. If as he's sick like Percy and the papers say his is, then why is he so keen on getting into Snape's office?"

"And let's not forget the World Cup where he made Winky save him a seat but didn't even come and how he fired her for not wanting to get trampled," Hermione chimed in.

The three Marauders looked between each other and then back at the kids.

"Alright, you want to know a bit about Barty Crouch?" James said folding his arms across the table as they nodded. "Years ago Barty was slated to become Minister of Magic. He used to be the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and he's always been obsessed with catching dark wizards." Harry, Ron and Hermione listened with rapt attention. Annie stared up at Sirius's stony expression as Remus looked on. "He gave orders to the Aurors to kill when necessary. Back then it was suspect everyone, ask questions later. Isn't that right, Sirius?"

Sirius nodded and finished his Firewhiskey in one swig. After placing the bottle on the table, he continued where James had left off. "Even after Voldemort had disappeared, he still kept up with his new orders. Aurors captured anyone who gave even the slightest hint of dealing in the Dark Arts and threw them into Azkaban without a trial." Annie picked up the empty bottle and started to peel back the label, something she always did when she was upset or nervous. "That's how I ended up in there."

"You didn't receive a trial?" Hermione asked, her eyebrows arching in complete shock.

"Not at all." Sirius kissed the top of Annie's head and watched her pick at the bottle.

"Wait," Harry said also turning to his father. "You said that he was supposed to be the Minister of Magic. What happened?"

"His son was caught with some known Death Eaters," Remus answered.

"What?" said Harry and Ron together.

"But he couldn't possibly have sent his own son to Azkaban?" Hermione asked. "He would have gotten him off somehow."

"Yeah, any normal father would have done that," Sirius snorted, "but not Barty. He didn't want to have anything or anybody tied to his name that would associate him with the Dark Arts. I saw them bring him in from my cell."

"Is his son still there?" Annie asked.

"No, he died about a year after he was brought in," he answered. "Because of his high position in the Ministry, Crouch and his wife were allowed a deathbed visit."

"So that would mean his firing Winky," Ron started.

"Was his way of getting rid of anything that would associate him with the Dark Arts again, yes," Remus finished for him.

"So what about Snape then? Why is he sneaking around his office late at night?" asked Harry.

"Your guess is as good as ours," James said sitting back in his chair. "The slimy git has always been involved with people who were involved with the Dark Arts but he's never been charged. Dumbledore trusts him for some reason though."

"Well, he and Karkaroff seemed to be pretty good friends. He came into Potions the other day and showed him something on his arm," said Harry.

All three of the Marauders' heads whipped around alarmed.

"Wait, what?" said both Sirius and Annie.

"Karkaroff showed him something on his arm?" Remus asked. Harry nodded and looked over at Sirius who had his mouth open in shock and Annie who looked confused.

"When were you going to tell me this?" Annie asked ceasing the peeling of the bottle and staring at Harry.

"After you were feeling better," Harry replied. Annie scowled and picked up the bottle once more.

"You didn't see what he was showing him did you?" James asked curiously. Harry shook his head. "That's very interesting, but I guess there's really nothing we can do about that now."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, taking in the information and sipping their drinks. After Remus had drained the rest of his Firewhiskey, he passed the bottle over to Annie who was still sitting on Sirius's lap with her head against his shoulder. As the talk turned to the Triwizard Tournament, Annie looked up at Sirius's face and gave him a sleepy smile.

"Tired, are you?" he asked quietly as he ruffled her hair.

"Just a bit," she answered shrugging. "How's the search for Pettigrew coming along?"

"Not very well unfortunately," he answered with a slight frown. "Since he's an unregistered Animagus rat, we're finding it pretty difficult to track him down."

"Oh."

"We'll catch him, Annie, don't worry," Sirius said sweeping the bits of the bottle label into a neat pile on the table. "We've got James and Kingsley heading the case. He'll be in Azkaban soon enough."

"Maximum security?"

"Absolutely. That way he'll rot there, the filthy bastard." Annie giggled and placed the bare bottle down on the table. "What time is it?" Sirius asked turning to Remus.

"Half-past three. You kids should get back up to the school soon," he said nodding at Harry, Ron and Hermione. Everyone stood up from the table and walked out of the almost empty pub. Out on the street, James turned to Hermione with a big cheeky grin on his face.

"Hermione, I forgot to ask you, how long have you been harboring your feelings for my little boy?" he asked pulling Harry into a headlock and messing up his hair. Ron, Remus and Sirius laughed as Harry fought back and Hermione blushed. "Tell me, is it the eyes? Or his winning personality? I personally would fall for his impeccable good looks if I was girl."

"That's only because he looks exactly like you, Prongs," Remus said.

"Exactly my point."

"Dad, none of that is true," Harry said when James finally let him go. "Hermione and I are just friends and she and Krum are just friends."

"Hang on, did I miss something here?" Annie asked looking around at everybody. "Is there something else you guys didn't tell me?"

"That magazine article in Witch Weekly about how Hermione is apparently toying with both Viktor Krum's and Harry's emotions?" James answered shooting her a curious glance. "Didn't you read it?"

"Obviously not. You guys didn't tell me that either?"

"Well, we were going to but you were asleep all of yesterday," Ron said.

James wrapped an arm around Hermione's shoulder. "Hey, don't sweat about that article, okay? Rita's a bitter old cow who just has nothing better to do than gossip."

Hermione smiled. "Thanks. We should get going. We still have to bring Annie to the Hospital Wing."

"I'm not going," Annie protested as she backed away from her. Sirius caught her from behind and spun her around to face him.

"Annie, you really don't have a choice," he said pulling her into a hug. "If I don't get an owl from Madame Pomfrey later, I'm coming up to that school and dragging you down myself, got it?" Annie nodded into his chest and he let her go. "Feel better soon, kiddo."

"Yeah, yeah," Annie said turning back to her friends. "Are we going or not?"

After the kids said their goodbyes, Harry took Annie by the elbow and led her back up the path to school. By the time they had reached the Hospital Wing, he was half carrying her through the door and set her down on a bed.

"Goodness, I was wondering when I would be seeing her," Madame Pomfrey said as she bustled over. She placed her hand on Annie's forehead and clicked her tongue. "How long has she had a fever?"

"Since Thursday night," Harry answered.

Madame Pomfrey clicked her tongue again and left to get some Pepperup Potion. When she came back, Annie had pulled her knees up to her chest hugging them tightly as she shivered slightly.

"Is anybody else cold?" she asked through chattering teeth.

"She should have been brought to me straight away," Madame Pomfrey said sternly. She poured some of the potion into a goblet and handed it out to Annie. Annie drank the potion as Madame Pomfrey brought over some curtains and placed a pair of pajamas on the bed beside her. "Put these on, Ms. Black. You'll have to stay overnight." Annie opened her mouth to protest but Madame Pomfrey tilted the goblet for her to keep drinking. After she changed into the pajamas, Annie sunk back against the pillows and Harry, Ron and Hermione came around the curtains to see her.

"How do you feel now?" Harry asked as he and Hermione sat on either side of her on the bed, Ron standing behind him.

"A little better, I guess," she answered quietly. "Are you guys going to stay?"

"If you want us to," Ron said smiling at her. "We'll stay until Madame Pomfrey kicks us out."

"Which would be now," Madame Pomfrey said behind him. "Annie needs sleep. She won't get any better if you lot are keeping her up."

"Can't they stay until I fall asleep?" Annie asked looking over at Harry.

"I'll tell you what, Mr. Potter can stay until you fall asleep but the other two have to go now. Is that alright?" Madame Pomfrey looked between Ron and Hermione who nodded. They each told her to feel better and left the ward with Madame Pomfrey at their heels.

"Try to sleep, Annie. I'm right here if you need me," Harry said quietly.

Annie nodded and let her eyes close. As soon as she fell asleep, Madame Pomfrey came over and told Harry that he needed to leave. He nodded and left the Hospital Wing without a single word and went straight to the Great Hall to join Hermione and Ron for dinner.

A/N: I just wanted to use this to say that this chapter was posted on August 29, 2012 on what would have been Michael Jackson's 54th Birthday. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time! XO