A/N: I do not own anything Harry Potter. I don't really have anything interesting to say except thanks to those who have added me to their Alerts/Favorites. Happy reading! Until next time! XO

Chapter 36

Annie bounded down the stairs into the common room and skipped over to where Fred, George, and Lee were sitting. She walked up behind Fred's chair and dropped a present in his lap and kissed him on the cheek.

"Happy Birthday!" she said as she sat down on George's lap with his present in hand. She cupped his chin in her hand and gave him a long passionate kiss. When they broke apart Annie put the present in his hands and beamed.

"Well, go on, open them!" she said looking between Fred and George.

Fred shook his head as he started to rip open the package. "Leave it to you to find something like this," he said grinning and pulling out the t-shirt she had given him. He turned it around for Lee and George to see and they burst into laughter.

"'I'd let you handle my wand any day!'? You are absolutely crazy, Annie," Lee said as wiped the tears from his eyes. "I can only imagine what yours says, George."

George smiled up at Annie and tore into the paper. He pulled out a similar t-shirt to Fred's but the saying was different. "'I don't know a thing about Merlin's pants, but I'd like to get into yours.' I have the coolest girlfriend," he said kissing her on the cheek. "No one else would even think to get a shirt like this."

"Oh, geez, I just remembered. You may want to hide those from your mother when you get home," she said raising a hand to her mouth. The boys laughed and stood up. Annie wrapped her arms around George's neck and stood on tip-toe to give him another kiss. "Happy seventeenth!" she whispered.

"Thank you!" he said taking one of her hands and following his brother and best friend out of the common room.

"So, Lee, what do we have planned for tonight?" she asked as they made their way down to the Great Hall.

"Well, after lunch we don't have any classes so Fred, George and I are heading into Hogsmeade to pick up some Firewhiskey and tonight, we celebrate," he explained grinning broadly.

"Excellent!" Annie exclaimed with a mischievous smile forming on her face.

"Don't you have tutoring tonight?" Fred asked her.

"What? Oh, yeah. It's cool, I'll just meet you guys down by the lake afterward," Annie said as they took seats at the Gryffindor table.

"Awesome!" George exclaimed.

After they ate their breakfasts, the Fred and Lee went off to their first class while George walked Annie to Transfiguration. They walked hand-in-hand down the corridor, pausing every few feet to duck behind a tapestry to steal a couple kisses. When they reached Professor McGonagall's classroom, George pecked Annie on the cheek and ran to his first class. Annie strolled into Transfiguration five minutes after the bell rang and sat down in her normal seat next to Hermione. She bent down and reached into her backpack and took out a piece of parchment and a quill. As she set them down on the desk in front of her, she pushed her tousled hair out of her eyes and smiled up at Professor McGonagall.

"You're late, Ms. Black," she said sternly.

"Yes, Professor," Annie said politely nodding.

"May I ask why?"

"Yes, Professor."

Hermione shot Annie a furious look as Harry and Ron sniggered into their hands.

Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared. "Why were you late, Ms. Black?"

"I forgot my book."

"You forgot your book?" Professor McGonagall repeated.

"Yes, Professor."

Professor McGonagall eyed her student curiously. "I am taking five points from Gryffindor: one for every minute you were late," she said. Annie nodded and Professor McGonagall turned back to the rest of class to continue her lecture.

"You didn't forget your book, I saw you put it in your bag this morning," Hermione hissed out of the side of her mouth.

"Hermione," Annie whispered, "I know that, and you know that, but Professor McGonagall doesn't need to know that." Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head and turned her attention back to the lesson.

"Thanks a lot, Annie!" said Nathan as he and Emily left Professor McGonagall's classroom after their tutoring session.

"Hey, no problem." Annie ruffled his hair as he passed her. "Hey, Emily, I see you still haven't made a move on Kevin yet."

"I'm only eleven!" she exclaimed blushing slightly.

Annie laughed as they started to walk down the corridor together. She turned around and gave a slight wave to Professor McGonagall and went back to their conversation. "Eleven? Huh? I thought you guys were older."

"How old did you think we were?" Nathan asked as they reached the stairs. "I mean, you've only been tutoring us since the beginning of the year."

"No idea. Maybe I'm just losing my mind," Annie answered clapping the two kids on their shoulders and turning to go down instead of up. "Well, I'll be seeing you."

"Where are you going?" Emily questioned looking very suspicious.

Annie started to walk down the stairs backwards and shrugged. "That is an excellent question." Annie continued down the stairs leaving the confused first years behind. She made her way into the Entrance Hall and found the front doors still unlocked. She looked around for anybody who might get her into trouble and pushed open the door. They were sitting under the cover of some trees when Annie found them already into their second game of Exploding Snap. She sat down on the ground next to George and plucked a Firewhiskey from the case.

"Where are Katie and Angelina?" she asked pulling off the cap and taking a swig of the drink.

"They couldn't make it," Fred explained as the cards exploded all over Lee. "Said something about having homework."

"Oh well," she said pulling out a pack of regular playing cards. She shuffled the deck and started dealing them out. "Alright, blokes. The name of the game is poker-"

"Strip poker?" Fred asked hopefully.

Annie laughed. "No. Poker. Twos are wild. Lee, your call."

The boys and Annie sat in the forest for a few hours celebrating Fred and George's birthday. Around one in the morning they ended the night by setting off a few of the fireworks Lee had gotten them and then stumbled back up to the castle. When they reached the castle doors, they were surprisingly unlocked. The four drunken kids spilled over the threshold, trying hard to contain their laughter, when they saw him sitting on the stairs with his chin resting on his long fingers. They stopped dead in their tracks and stared, open-mouthed and ashamed of themselves.

"Good evening," Professor Dumbledore said standing up and striding over to Fred, George, Lee and Anne. "A celebration, I presume?" Annie's and Lee's heads dropped to their chests and Fred and George shared a horrified look. "Follow me, please." He swooped around and ascended the stairs to the third floor as his students followed quietly behind. Once inside the Headmaster's office, Dumbledore sat behind his desk and once again rested chin on his hands.

"Explain yourselves, please," he said quietly looking between the four guilty students. They all hung their heads at a complete loss of what to say. Dumbledore seemed to sense this and spoke again. "Speechless? I would think so. Do you have any idea of the seriousness of your actions tonight?" he asked angrily. They shook their heads no. "Be that as that may, I am taking fifty points from Gryffindor each and you will serve detention every Saturday this month starting this weekend. You are also banned from the last Hogsmeade visit this year. I hope you understand that drinking will not be tolerated at Hogwarts. Mr. Jordan, Mr. and Mr. Weasley, I know you are all of age but that does not mean you are allowed to bring alcohol on school grounds, especially for someone who is underage like Ms. Black." They all looked up and nodded ashamedly. "I will be writing to each of your parents tonight. You are dismissed."

Dumbledore waved them out of the office and they walked down the spiral staircase in complete silence. They didn't meet anybody on their way up to the common room but were received by a very grumpy Fat Lady when they gave the password. Annie watched as Fred and Lee stumbled up the stairs to the boys' dormitories and turned to George.

"So," she said crossing her arms across her chest.

"So," he answered putting his hands in his pockets.

"So, despite the points deduction and the detention, how was the rest of your birthday?"

George smiled and pulled her by the waist into him. "Surprisingly great."

Annie reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck as he bent down and gave her one last kiss before going to bed. She walked up the stairs as noiselessly as she could and threw herself down on her bed, falling asleep instantly. In the morning Hermione shook her awake to disastrous results. She rolled over in her bed to look up at her bushy-haired friend and groaned from the ache in her head she received from burst of light in the window.

"Good morning!" Hermione sang as Annie sat up holding her head and groaning. "What's wrong with you?"

"Oh, you'll find out when we go downstairs," she answered swinging her feet out of bed and getting to her feet. After gaining her balance, she shuffled over to the bathroom where she showered and brushed her teeth. Annie pulled her robes on and grabbed her backpack and sunglasses and exited the dorm following a disapproving Hermione. When they arrived in the common room, she caught George's eye and gave him a slight smile. He smiled back and nodded as she made her way over to Harry and Ron who were waiting at the portrait hole.

"You were drunk again last night, weren't you?" Harry asked as she climbed out last.

"Yup."

"Hungover, are you?" Ron asked laughing as Annie pushed the glasses up her nose.

"Yup."

"Something didn't go well last night, did it?" Hermione asked raising an eyebrow at her friend's one-worded answers.

"Nope."

"You want to elaborate for us?" Harry asked as they walked into the Entrance Hall where a crowd of Gryffindors were standing around the hourglasses that recorded each house's points.

"Not particularly," Annie answered hanging back a little as her friends went to investigate.

"How could we be down two hundred points from yesterday?" Dean asked Seamus who was standing beside him.

"Dunno, mate. Hey, Harry, did you do something crazy last night to make us lose all those points?" Seamus asked jokingly elbowing Harry in the arm.

"Not that I know of, but I think I know who might have," Harry said turning around looking for Annie who seemed to have disappeared. He motioned for Ron and Hermione to follow him and they walked into the Great Hall to find Annie sitting halfway down the Gryffindor table picking at her food with her fork.

"Lost some house points did you?" Harry asked sitting down next to her and wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

"Just a bit," she said popping some eggs into her mouth and avoiding her friends' eyes.

"A bit?" Hermione shrieked. "Annie, two hundred points isn't a bit!"

"I know," Annie said quietly.

Just then the owl post came swooping in. The students moved their plates and cups out of the way as their owls landed in front of them. Annie looked up and noticed Oscar swooping in carrying a letter tied to his foot. Annie sighed as she noticed the handwriting as Sirius's and was thankful that he had the sense not to send a Howler.

"How much trouble am I in this time, Oscar?" she asked as she gave him some of her bacon. He nibbled her finger and she untied the letter. "Well, here goes nothing," she said holding it out and starting to read.

Dear Annie,

What the hell were you thinking?

"Clearly I wasn't thinking at all," she interrupted herself.

What the hell were you thinking? First off, I know I'm the wrong person to be lecturing you about this with my history in school, but as your father I am entitled to do so. Remember what I said the last time you were caught drinking by Remus? I told you to watch yourself and be careful and I meant that. Annie, you're only fifteen years old and already you're on the path to becoming just as reckless as I am. Professor Dumbledore doesn't kid around about this stuff. Back in sixth year, your Uncle James and I were caught out in the corridor way past curfew, drunk and doing something we really shouldn't have been doing, and that night did not end well. I just want you to be safe. Just promise me you won't get caught again, okay? And keep off the Firewhiskey for a bit.

Love,

Dad

P.S. I gave you that map for a reason.

"Well he doesn't seem too mad, does he?" Annie asked looking up from the letter and around at her friends.

"No, he doesn't, but he does sound disappointed in you, Annie," Harry said squeezing her shoulders.

Annie sighed and put her head in her hands. "I know. Am I really becoming that reckless?" Harry shared an uneasy look with Hermione and Ron and didn't say a word. "I'll take your silence as a yes."

"Oh, come on, Annie," said Harry ruffling her hair, "if you weren't reckless, we'd have nothing to laugh about." Ron and Hermione started to laugh but stopped when they saw the expression on Annie's face.

"I'm glad I'm so amusing to you," she said angrily gathering her bag and standing up from the table. "I'll see you guys later."

"Where are you going?" Harry called after her.

"I'm going to see Madame Pomfrey about my headache," she answered crossing her arms across her chest and walking toward the door. "I'll see in Charms."

Harry watched Annie walk out of the Great Hall and turned back to Ron and Hermione who were both frowning.

"Harry, you need to apologize to her," Hermione said before taking a sip of her tea.

"Yeah, I know. I had no idea that she'd get upset about that," he said tipping some sausage onto his plate.

"Can't you tell she's really upset about what Sirius wrote her?" Hermione asked. Harry shook his head and then looked at Ron who shrugged. "Well, we all know that when your dad and Sirius were in school they weren't very well-behaved, were they? And Sirius was, well, he was a bit unstable. Sirius is afraid that Annie might turn out like him. He doesn't want that for her and now she's upset that she is going to be just as reckless."

"That or she's just really hungover," Ron said looking at Hermione with a blank expression.

"You can add that in too, I suppose," Hermione said rolling her eyes. "I should also mention that she's probably upset about all the points she lost last night."

"I guess I'll go find her and apologize then," Harry said getting up from the table. "I'll see you guys in class."

"Good luck, mate," Ron said.

Harry walked out of the Great Hall and looked around the corridor for Annie. He spotted her just at the end as she was turning the corner and started to run after her.

"Annie! Annie, wait up!" he yelled after her. Annie spun around, her arms still crossed in front of her chest, and waited for Harry to catch up.

"Make this quick, Potter, because in a few minutes I think I might puke," she said staring at him angrily.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry for what I said back there," he said as he clutched a stitch in his chest.

Annie frowned and looked away. "I don't try to be reckless, you know," she said quietly. "Neither of us tries. I just like to do things and hope for the best outcome. I've never thought of the consequences my actions might bring, just how much fun I'll be having."

Harry placed an arm around Annie's shoulders and started to lead her to the Hospital Wing. "I know. And I didn't mean that we like to laugh at you. You just have very entertaining ideas. But you do have to admit, you do get in trouble for some of the craziest things."

"I suppose so," she said shrugging. They stopped outside the Hospital Wing doors and Annie gave Harry a hug. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Are we good?" Harry asked.

Annie gave him a small smile and nodded. "Yeah, we're good." She placed her hand on the knob and walked into the Hospital Wing letting the doors slam shut behind her.