A/N: I do not own anything Harry Potter. I have been neglecting you! I'm sorry this is late but you should just expect every other chapter to be late from now on. My classes are killing me this year but I will of course still find time to write. Happy reading! XO

Chapter 38

It was late, the common room had emptied hours ago and Annie was sitting on the windowsill with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She heard footsteps coming down the stairs but she didn't turn to see who it would be. She already knew. He sat down next to her, drawing his knees up to his chest and staring out the window.

"Full moon?" Harry asked.

"Yup," Annie replied. She sighed and placed her head against the cold window pane. They sat in silence, looking out the window into the deep night sky. "They'll be alright won't they?"

Harry turned to look at his cousin and ran a hand though his hair. "Yeah, they'll be alright. That's not the only thing on your mind is it?"

Annie lifted her head off the window and gave it a slight shake. She lifted her knees up and rested her chin on them. She looked over to Harry who was watching her closely and blew a piece of hair out of her eyes. "You really have no idea where that place is?" she asked. "You said that the place where Voldemort tortured Wormtail was the same as the one from your dream this summer, but you have no idea where it is."

This time Harry shook his head. "I don't. Dad or Sirius might though, you never know. I described it in the letter I sent this afternoon."

Annie turned her head back to the window. "I still can't believe they haven't found Pettigrew."

Harry slid over on the windowsill and placed a hand on Annie's shoulder. "I know. But apparently at the moment, you find Pettigrew, you find Voldemort as well. They're trying their hardest, Annie. Does Sirius ever tell you what they've been doing?"

"Not really. I suppose it's just in case Oscar somehow gets intercepted. He wouldn't want to send top-secret Ministry plans to his fifteen year-old daughter at Hogwarts," she said staring up at the moon.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. Earlier that evening, Harry recounted the dream he had in Divination and what he had seen in Dumbledore's pensieve. Ever since then Annie's head had been filled with thoughts on Pettigrew and Karkaroff and Ludo Bagman and Snape. Snape and Karkaroff she could believe were Death Eaters at some point but not Bagman. He had already retired by the time she got into Quidditch but James had told her and Harry all about his amazing feats on the pitch. There's no way that the great Ludo Bagman had ever passed information about the Ministry to Death Eaters. Snape was a different matter though. From what Sirius, Remus, James and Lily had told her, he had always been deep into the Dark Arts even at Hogwarts. Annie was surprised to find out that Dumbledore had vouched for him saying that he had turned spy. After some time thinking, she pushed the hair out of her eyes with one hand and then ran it over her face. She wrapped her blanket more tightly around her shoulders and looked over at Harry who had his eyes focused on the moon outside.

"You think they're alright?" she asked again watching his blank expression.

Harry turned his head around and smiled slightly. "Yeah, they're okay."

"I left for fifteen minutes and this is what I come back to?" Hermione said carrying a large stack of books in her arms. She walked over and placed them on the table that Annie was currently standing on and brandishing her wand toward Harry who was standing on the couch with Fred, each armed with a couch pillow. Annie looked down at George and Ron who had stopped dead in the middle of their fight to stare up at a livid Hermione. "Will somebody please explain to me what is going on?"

George let Ron out of the headlock he had him in and they, Harry, Fred and Annie looked around at each other guiltily.

"Well?" Hermione said crossing her arms across her chest and tapping her foot.

Annie lowered her wand and pushed her hair out of her eyes. "Well, first of all, the floor is lava and you are currently dying a seriously painful death," she explained as the boys all nodded. Hermione rolled her eyes and gave her a look that dared her to go on. "You see, we were sitting here just doing our work, and then my wand slipped and accidentally turned Fred's eyebrow green," she paused and looked over at Fred who pointed to his eyebrow. "Fred then threw a pillow at Harry and I jumped on the table and Harry and Fred jumped on the couch and we started dueling."

Hermione shook her head at the three kids standing on the furniture and looked down at the two brothers who were sitting on the floor. "What about you two?"

Ron gaped up at the bushy-haired girl as George winked at Annie.

"We were trying to get onto the same chair and we started fighting over it," Ron said, his face turning slightly pink.

Hermione put her head in hand and sighed. "I never should have left you alone," she said angrily. "Get off the furniture and clean up this mess!" She waved her hand over the spilled ink bottles and strewn parchment all over the floor and sat down in one of the armchairs.

Harry and Fred jumped off the couch and helped Ron and George to their feet. George walked over to Annie and picked her up off the table and set her down carefully as Harry siphoned the spilled ink up with his wand.

George sat down on the couch and pulled Annie onto his lap. She leaned back against his chest and he whispered in her ear.

"Fred and I want to get out of here. You want to come with us? Grab some food? Hex some Slytherins? Wreak havoc? You know that sort of thing?" he asked before kissing her cheek.

Annie giggled and kissed him back. "Aren't you quite the charmer? You know just what to say to a girl." She stood up and held out her hand for him to take.

"You've talked her into going then?" Fred asked placing a few stray pieces of parchment on the table. "Wish we could have done the same with Lee."

"Oh, he's in love. Let him be," Annie said waving a hand.

"Speaking of love, where is Angelina?" Hermione asked as she turned to a page in one of the books she brought back from the library.

"She's studying for that Charms test we're supposed to have tomorrow," Fred answered leaning on George's shoulder. "Anyway, we should get going."

"Ah, yes. We wouldn't want to waste too much time standing around," George said wrapping an arm around his brother's shoulders and the other around Annie's waist.

"Where are you three going?" Ron asked looking up from the essay he had gotten back to writing.

"Not sure yet. I think we're just going to wing it tonight," Annie replied. "See you later."

Annie, Fred and George made for the portrait hole as Harry, Ron and Hermione watched them leave. When the Fat Lady swung shut behind them, Hermione let out an exasperated sigh and turned to Harry.

"I don't understand," she said shaking her head. "She wasn't this bad last year."

Harry scratched out a sentence on his essay and smiled up at Hermione. "Think about it, Hermione. Who was here last year but isn't this year?"

Hermione gave him a puzzled look and then her mouth fell into an understanding "o". "Remus," she said.

"Exactly," Harry said pointing his quill toward her. "She wouldn't dare try half the things she's done this year with Moony watching her. Plus, she's got Sirius back and he doesn't really care if she gets detention, he actually congratulates her."

"Annie sure has gotten into a lot of trouble this year," Ron said forgetting about his essay and joining the conversation. "You would think after losing all of those points that one night she would have calmed down."

"Yeah, but the thing is, Annie doesn't think," Harry said shaking his head.

Annie took off at once down the corridor, free of the common room, free of homework, just free. As she did a couple of cartwheels, Fred and George laughed at her antics and followed behind her. The descended the stairs to the basement and walked right up to the portrait of the bowl of fruit and tickled the pair. They pulled the portrait open and climbed into the kitchens and were immediately greeted by the house-elves. As they showered the three kids with all of the food they had, Dobby came bustling over, his tower of hats threatening to topple off his head.

"Hey, Dobby," Annie said taking an éclair from one of the trays in front of her, "did you get a couple new hats?"

"Miss always notices my new hats," he said bowing to her.

"Well, they are some pretty nice ones," she said.

After Fred, George and Annie had their fill of the overflowing amount of sweets the house-elves offered them, they left the kitchens waving goodbye to Dobby and started to take a stroll down the corridor.

"So how did you know that Dobby got a couple new hats?" George asked Annie as he took her hand and started swinging back and forth.

"Honestly," she said looking up at him, "I didn't. I just took a guess. He has so many, I just figured he got some new ones."

"You are absolutely crazy, Annie," said Fred shaking his head.

"That's been said one too many times but was never proven to be true," Annie said slipping a hand into her pocket and taking out the Marauder's Map.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," George recited as he tapped it with his wand.

At once the many outlines of rooms and corridors appeared on the parchment before them. Annie scanned the Map for Filch's tiny dot and found it stalking the fifth floor. She traced her finger along one of the corridors in the dungeon and found Snape in his office and two Slytherin prefects patrolling the halls.

"Well, should we risk it?" Fred asked as he read the map over George's shoulder.

"Who are you and what have you done with Freddie?" Annie asked looking up at Fred with a mischievous smile. "Of course we risk it! George, how much time do we have until curfew?"

George looked down at his watch. "About fifteen minutes."

"Plenty of time," Annie said before wiping the Map clean. "Let's go." She took George by the hand and led him and Fred down the stairs into the dungeons. Once down in the dungeons, they found a ratty old tapestry to hide behind and Annie took the Map out once more. "Okay," she whispered, "Snape is still in his office but the two prefects are headed this way. Any of you have a plan?"

"Not a one," George said taking out his wand.

"I say we just go with the flow," Fred said mirroring his brother.

"Ah, my perfect kind of plan," she said as she pocked the Map and waited. A few seconds later, the voices of the two Slytherin prefects reached their ears. Annie peeked out a tiny opening and took careful aim.

"Anteoculatia," she muttered. The spell hit its target perfectly and Annie laughed as the girl prefect shrieked as antlers sprouted straight from her head.

"Who's there?" said the boy prefect brandishing his wand and pointing it in all directions. "Show yourself."

"Radactum Skullus," Fred whispered pointing his wand through the tiny hole. The hex soared just over the boys shoulder and hit the wall behind him. The prefect spun around on the spot ignoring the cries coming from the girl. "Damn," Fred said lowering his wand.

"Let's see if I can get him," George said stepping forward and taking his place. "Locomotor Wibbly."

George's curse hit the prefect right on his knee and he collapsed right to the floor. Annie, Fred, and George sniggered into their hands as they watched the boy try to get to his feet only to fall right back down. The girl was still running her hands over her newly formed antlers and was crying hysterically.

"Shall I finish this off?" Annie asked pointing her wand through the small opening.

"Please do," Fred said wiping tears from his eyes.

Annie fired two spells toward the prefects and watched as their heads transfigured into two waving tentacles. The two perplexed prefects started running around the corridors with their arms held out trying not bump into the walls and each other as the three kids doubled over in laughter.

"We should get out of here," Annie gasped holding her stomach. "The effects might start to wear off soon and we do not want to be here if Snape finds them."

Fred and George nodded and they left the cover of the tapestry and ran for the stairs. Once they made it to the safety of the first floor, they ducked behind a statue and pulled out the Map. Annie checked for Snape and Filch who were both in their offices and beckoned for Fred and George to follow. They climbed the stairs all the way up to Gryffindor tower and fell into the common room clutching their stomachs in a fit of laughter. Fred and George made their way over to the staircase leading to the boys' dormitories waving goodnight to Annie, laughing too hard to say anything. Annie walked over to Harry, Ron and Hermione and stretched herself out on the couch.

"What's so funny?" Harry asked as she leaned against his chest. Still giggling madly, Annie recounted the debacle down in the dungeons. When she finished Harry and Ron were laughing hysterically, while Hermione crossed her arms over her chest and clicked her tongue.

"What now, Hermione?" Annie asked turning her head to face her friend. "They wouldn't know it was."

"What if they do find out it was you who cursed them? What are you going to do then?" Hermione asked. "Annie, you don't know it, but you are walking on thin ice. You've gotten into some serious trouble this year. Who knows, one more prank and you could get kicked out of Hogwarts."

Annie turned her head to look up at Harry who shrugged.

"She's kind of right," he said. "Maybe you should just cool it for a little while."

Annie looked over at Ron who nodded and then back at Hermione. "I guess I could do that for a little bit," she said. "I kind of like being at Hogwarts

Hermione beamed. "Good. Who knows, maybe you'll make prefect next year if you stay on your good behavior," she said only half joking.

Annie laughed as she thought back to her discipline records. "Yeah, like that will ever happen."

A/N: Again, I am so sorry for the delay in this chapter. As of right now, you should just accept this as a regular pattern now because I am super busy this school year. Classes, homework, Quidditch practice. Crazy! Anyway, thanks for reading! Until next time! XO