A/N: I do not own anything Harry Potter. Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing! As promised, here is the next chapter that has been in the works for a really long time which I really hope you enjoy. I hope you all have a safe trip back to Hogwarts! Happy reading! XO

Chapter 60

Annie sat on George's lap and listened to Harry tell the Weasley's what had happened to their dad. Apparently Harry had had a dream about Arthur Weasley being attacked by Voldemort's snake which had them all confused. Although she loved the Weasley family, she couldn't understand why she was called to Dumbledore's office.

"Thankfully we were able to warn the right people and get your father to St. Mungo's," Professor Dumbledore said after Harry had finished telling his story.

"So when can we see him?" Fred asked, speaking up for his siblings.

"Soon," Dumbledore answered vaguely. "For now you will go back to Ms. Black's house where Sirius will look after you until a family member comes to collect you."

He stood up and gestured for the group of kids to do so as well. Annie looked around at Harry who was leaning on Ron, his face pale and a bit sweaty.

"You okay, Harry?" she asked. Harry shook his head and she gave him a weak smile.

"This will do," Professor Dumbledore said, walking over to them and holding out an old tea kettle. ""I assume you are all familiar with portkeys. Just one finger will do."

Annie reached forward and placed a finger on the kettle and looked at the Headmaster as she waited for him to countdown. A sudden lurch behind her naval had her lifted off her feet and spinning around until their feet hit solid ground.

They had arrived in the kitchen of Black Barn and the portkey they were holding immediately dropped to the ground. Annie ran to the door of the kitchen and yelled for Sirius. He came down the stairs and walked in as the kids took seats at the table, Harry sitting next to Ron and slumping against his friend's shoulder. Sirius grabbed a bucket from under the sink and handed it to Harry who was looking extremely pale and nauseous.

"Your dad will be fine," Sirius said looking around at the Weasley children and sitting down at the table. "He's being taken to St. Mungo's where he'll receive the best treatment. Thanks to Harry, Dumbledore was able to alert James and Remus on time."

"Dad was on duty tonight?" Harry asked weakly before puking into the bucket. Ron sighed and rubbed his back.

"Yeah, he, Remus and Arthur all were tonight," Sirius responded. "What's wrong with Harry?" He looked over at Ron and waited for an answer.

"Harry wasn't feeling well tonight," Ron answered as Harry reemerged from his bucket. "He went up to bed early, saying he had a headache, and when he had that dream, he woke up and vomited all over the floor." Ron grimaced as Harry put his head back in the bucket.

Sirius frowned. "Alright, well it's pretty late. Why don't you kids go on up and sleep for a few more hours until Molly gets here," he suggested.

"What? No!" George protested.

"Yeah, Sirius," Fred said as Ginny nodded vigorously beside him. "We're not going anywhere until we hear something."

Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, okay," he said holding up his hands. "I kind of figured that was a hopeless suggestion. You guys can stay up. I'm at least taking Harry up to bed, though."

"No, I'm fine, Sirius, really," Harry said in a shaky voice. "I don't want to go to bed."

Sirius stood up from the table and walked over to the cupboard. "You call puking in a bucket fine?" he asked as he poured some potion into a glass and handed it over to Ron to give to Harry. "Here, drink this."

Ron took the glass and helped Harry drink. "Better?" Sirius asked. Harry gave a small nod as a little color returned to his face. Sirius bent down to pick him up and fling him over his shoulder He carried him up the stairs into his room and pulled back the blankets on the bed and threw Harry down. Harry gathered the pillow up under his head and groaned. Sirius ruffled his hair and turned the light off.

"Just go to sleep, okay? I promise we'll wake you up if anything happens," Sirius said quietly. Harry gave an affirmative grunt and Sirius shut the door as he left. He went back down stairs into the kitchen and found the Weasleys and Annie silently sipping Butterbeer at the table.

"Is Harry okay?" Annie asked as Sirius sat up on the counter.

"Yeah, he'll be fine," he answered. Annie nodded and started peeling at the label on her bottle.

"Why can't we go see dad?" Fred asked angrily. "Why do we have to wait here?"

"Because, it will be very suspicious if you show up in the middle of the night, minutes after they alerted your mother," Sirius answered. "Dumbledore would have waited until the morning to tell you what happened tonight if Harry didn't know."

"Yeah, but he's our dad!" Ron said defiantly. He slammed his empty bottle on the table and it skidded across toward Annie.

"And you'll get to see him when your mother gets here," Sirius said. Ron sighed and sat back in his seat and crossed his arms.

They sat in silence for some time sipping their Butterbeers and waiting for news on Mr. Weasley's condition. As Annie was peeling the label off of a fourth bottle, someone knocked on the front door. Sirius got up from the table to answer the door and came back with Remus following behind him. The Weasleys and Annie all looked up at him hopefully as joined them at the table.

"Your father is fine," he said. The Weasley children breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "He'll be in St. Mungo's for some time but Lily is taking care of him so there's nothing to worry about."

"So, when can we see him?" Fred asked after he drained the rest of his drink.

"Your mother is still at St. Mungo's but Bill should be coming over soon to take you all back to the Burrow. You'll have to ask him," Remus answered. Just then another knock sounded from the door and Sirius left to answer it again. Bill came into the kitchen looking extremely exhausted but happy to see his siblings.

"How's it going?" he asked looking around at them all.

"Oh, well you know. Just great," Ginny said sarcastically rolling her eyes. "We've just been sitting here waiting for news on dad, how do you think it's going?"

Bill gave a shaky laugh. "Well, you'll be able to see him in a few hours," he said as Ron, George, Fred and Ginny started protesting. "He's not allowed to have visitors yet, okay? Don't blame me! Now let's go, I'm tired."

The kids stood up and joined him over by the fireplace. Annie gave Fred and George each a peck on the cheek and Ginny and Ron a hug before they left through the Floo Network. Bill, who was the last to go through, shook Remus and Sirius's hands and thanked Sirius for taking them in. When Bill left, Sirius remained standing by the door as Remus pulled Annie onto his lap.

"I'm going to go check on Harry," Sirius said leaving the room.

Remus reached across the table and grabbed one of the bottles that Annie had been peeling and held it up. "Your doing, I suppose?" he asked smiling and kissing the top of her head.

"Hey, I wasn't' finished with that one!" she said taking it out of his hand. "So, how are things?"

"Things are alright. Aren't you tired?"

"I was woken up at two in the morning. What do you think?"

Remus laughed and ruffled her hair. "Why don't you go to bed then?"

"Because I'd rather stay up and wait for news," she said, shrugging. Annie placed the bottle back on the table and smiled up at Remus. "So, what's going on with you and Tonks?"

"Why would you think there is something going on between me and Tonks?"

"What about Tonks?" Sirius said reentering the kitchen and grabbing a couple Firewhiskeys from the refrigerator. He sat down at the table and passed two across which Remus took and put one out of Annie's reach.

"Padfoot, really? She's sixteen!" he said looking at his best friend disbelievingly.

"So, she's with us," Sirius protested, "let her have it. Only this one got it, kiddo?" Annie nodded and Remus sighed as he opened up the Firewhiskey and gave it to Annie. "Now where were we before Moony so rudely changed the subject?"

"I believe I asked what was going on between him and Tonks," Annie said before drinking deeply from her bottle.

"Ah yes," Sirius said watching Remus turn pink, "Moony and our dear cousin. Hey! Hey, Annie, look how red he's getting!"

Annie laughed. "Oh, so you do like her don't you, Rem?"

Remus didn't answer. Instead he took a long sip of his Firewhiskey as someone came in through the front door. Sirius pointed his wand toward the kitchen door as it swung open to reveal an extremely tired James. James walked into the room and sat down at the table, running a hand over his face as he did so.

"Everything okay, Prongs?" Sirius asked lowering his wand and clapping him on the shoulder.

James nodded. "Yeah," he said, "Dumbledore wanted me to finish up and then I stayed with Molly. Where's Harry? Is he okay?"

"He's up in my room. I just checked on him, he's fine," James's eyes widened at the last word. "Not 'fine' like how Harry uses the word, 'fine' like he's okay. Go on up and see for yourself."

James nodded again and left the table. The three sat in silence for a while, each sipping their drinks, Annie peeling the labels off the bottles as they were passed to her.

"So," Annie said after some time, "do you think if you and Tonks got married you would have kids?" she asked turning to Remus who spat Firewhiskey all over the table.

Sirius placed his head in his arms on the table and shook with laughter.

"Hey, I'm being serious," Annie said, "I call godmother!"

"You two are the absolute worst," Remus said going even redder than before. "What has Sirius been telling you in those letters, huh?" Remus started tickling Annie until she could hardly breathe.

"Nothing, nothing," she giggled, "just that you fancy the pants off of her."

"Hey, that's not an understatement," Sirius said laughing. Remus continued to tickle Annie until James came into the kitchen carrying a sleeping Harry in his arms.

"I'm taking him home," he whispered. "He's not feeling too well and I think he'd be more comfortable in his own bed."

Sirius, Annie and Remus all stood up from the table. Harry stirred a little in his sleep and James rubbed his back as he walked over to the fireplace.

"Thanks for taking care of him, Padfoot," he said taking a handful of Floo Powder from the bowl on the mantle.

"Are you sure you don't want to Apparate home?" Remus asked.

James shook his head. "Harry doesn't like Apparating and I don't want to take him outside while he's sick. I'll see you all tomorrow." He threw the Floo Powder into the fire. "Potter Home!" He stepped into the fire and in a flash of light he was gone.

Sirius ran a hand through his hair and smiled over at Annie. "Bed time, kiddo," he said picking her up and swinging her over his shoulder.

Annie gave a small shriek and giggled. "But I'm not tired anymore!"

"Remus, you're staying over right?" Sirius asked ignoring Annie's objection and carrying her up the stairs.

"Might as well," he said following them up the stairs, "it's too late to walk home anyway."

They stopped at the top of the stairs and Remus kissed Annie on the top of her head and walked down the hall to the guest room. Sirius carried his daughter into her room and dropped her down on the bed. Bandit leapt up from the floor and jumped up on the bed as Annie pulled the blankets over her legs.

"Goodnight, Annie," Sirius said kissing the top of her head.

"'Night, dad," she said as he left the room shutting the door behind him.

Annie laid back on the pillows and Bandit shuffled himself so he was laying directly across her stomach. She fell asleep instantly despite saying she wasn't tired and woke up a few hours later with Bandit licking her face. She swung her feet out of her bed and walked down the hall yawning with the dog trailing along behind her.

"Morning, pup," Remus said passing her the Daily Prophet as she sat down at the table in the kitchen. "How'd you sleep?"

"Alright I guess," she said flipping to the cross-word puzzle in the paper. "Where's dad?"

"Well, he wasn't expecting you for a few days and he realized that there's no food in the house so he went to the store. He'll be back soon," Remus explained as he sipped his coffee. Annie nodded as the back door swung open and a few bags flew in with Sirius walking behind.

"Yes!" Annie exclaimed taking a box of cereal out of one of the bags. "Muggle cereal, why is this stuff so delicious?" She got up from the table and grabbed a bowl from the cupboard. Sirius handed her the milk which she poured over her cereal and then started putting the groceries away.

"Eat up quick, kiddo," he said as he sent a loaf of bread to land on top of the refrigerator. "We're going over Lily and James's in a few minutes."

"Why?" Annie asked thickly through a mouthful of cereal.

"Order meeting. Harry's still sick and Lily refused to leave him alone if we were going to Grimmauld Place."

"Will Lydia be there?"

"Of course, and she can't wait to see you," he answered sitting down at the table with a bowl of cereal of his own. "Now hurry up and eat. You too, Rem."

After Annie finished her breakfast, she ran upstairs to her room to take a quick shower and came back down to find Sirius, Remus and Bandit waiting by the fireplace. Annie took Bandit by the collar and took some of the Floo Powder Sirius was holding out to her. She tossed it into the fire and stepped in, saying her destination. She arrived in the living room of the Potter home and was greeted by James who was sitting on the couch, reading the Daily Prophet.

"Hey, pup," he said smiling and placing the paper down on the end table. Bandit ran forward and leapt onto James's lap. "I see you've brought a friend."

"Yeah, well, I didn't want to leave Bandit home alone," she said pulling him off James as Remus appeared in the living room. "Is it alright if I go up and see Harry?"

"Sure, go on up," he said waving her toward the stairs.

Remus joined James on the other end of the couch as they waited for Sirius to arrive and Annie ran up the staircase with Bandit following close behind. Annie walked down the hallway toward Harry's room and knocked three times on the door.

"You can come in," a voice said on the other side. Annie opened the door and found Harry sitting up in his bed smiling up at her as she walked in. "Hey, I was wondering when you'd get here." Bandit leapt up on the bed and Harry scratched him behind the ears.

"How's it going?" Annie asked sitting down on the bed next to him and running a hand through his hair.

"I'm alright," he answered, "but I don't think that stuff Sirius gave me worked very well though. I was puking all last night."

"Oh, what a lovely image," Annie said grimacing as Harry laughed.

"I'm fine now though," he said. Annie gave him a look of disbelieving. "Really, I swear!"

"Okay, I believe you. Just stop tossing 'fine' around like it's confetti," she said as a knock sounded from the door. "Come in."

Ron opened the door and walked in with his siblings following behind. He and Ginny joined Harry and Annie on the bed and Fred sat on top of Harry's desk as George took the chair. They sat in silence for a few minutes, looking between one another waiting for them to speak. Finally, Annie decided it was time to break the silence.

"Well, anyone up for a game of Exploding Snap?" Annie asked her friends and producing a pack from her back pocket.

"I'm good," Harry said shaking his head and leaning back against his pillows. Annie put the cards back in her pocket and laid back on the bed with her head resting on Ron's stomach. Ron ruffled Annie's hair but stopped as his brother cleared his throat behind him.

"If you want to keep your hands, Ron, you'll watch where you put them on my girlfriend," George threatened. Harry, Fred and Ginny laughed as Ron took his hand off Annie's head.

"You are so adorable when you act tough, did you know that?" Annie said turning to him and flashing him a cheeky grin. Silence fell over them again as they sat with nothing to do and nothing to talk about. Fred got up from his perch on the desk and started pacing the floor as George picked up one of Harry's old textbooks and flipped through the pages. Bandit had finally abandoned Harry and was now resting his head on Ginny's knee as she stroked his head.

"There really is no way of hearing what's going on downstairs is there?" Fred asked after sometime still pacing the floor.

"No," Annie replied. "No nooks or crannies that I know about that they don't. Trust me I would have said something by now."

"The Extendable Ears probably wouldn't work either," George said placing the book down. "Mum and Lily would have put up the Imperturbable Charm on the doors."

"That's true," Annie said sitting up and reaching out to scratch Bandit behind the ears. "By the way how's your dad? Didn't you guys see him this morning?"

But before Ron could answer, Harry cut across him.

"Annie, could you go downstairs and get dad? I'm not feeling very well again," he said as his face turned as white as his pillow.

"I don't think we're allowed to interrupt the meeting, Harry," she said reaching out and taking his hand.

"Dad said if I needed him he would come up."

Annie nodded. "Okay, I'll go get him. Ron, do you want to stay with Harry? Ginny, George, Fred, you guys can take Bandit with you over to my old room. I'll be right back." Annie stood up and kissed Harry on the forehead before leaving the room.

She made her way quietly down the stairs and walked down the hallway to the dining room where Order was holding their meeting. She took a deep breath before reaching her hand up and knocking three times on the door. The knob turned and the door swung open by itself to reveal the Order staring at Annie with curious eyes.

"Sweetheart, now is not really a good time," Lily said.

"I know, but Harry wants Uncle James," Annie answered as she peered in for James who was now standing up from the table.

"Where are you going, Potter. Sit down," Moody growled as James strode across the room toward the door.

"I'm going to check on my son, Alastor. In case you didn't hear, Annie just said he needed me," James said putting an arm around her shoulders.

"And why does Harry wish to see James, Ms. Black?" Dumbledore asked putting up a hand which made Mad-Eye fall silent. The Headmaster was sitting at the head of the table with a cup of tea in front of him and his chin resting on his long fingers as he waited for her answer.

"Well, sir, Harry's not feeling well and said he needed Uncle James and asked me to go get him," Annie replied, looking around the room at everyone.

"A minute ago you said Harry only wanted James. Now it's 'need'. Make up your mind, girl, does he want James or need James? There's a difference," Moody barked down the table.

"I-"

"Don't question my daughter that way, Alastor," Sirius said placing his cup of coffee angrily on the table. "Go on up, Prongs. I'll fill you in later."

James nodded and led Annie out of the room without another word. She followed him up the stairs and down the hallway to Harry's room and stopped in the doorway as James walked right in. Ron was standing next to Harry, rubbing his back with one hand and holding a bucket under him with the other.

"Thanks, Ron," James whispered as he took the bucket from him and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Any time," Ron nodded. He walked over to the door and he and Annie made their way over to her old bedroom where the rest of the Weasleys were waiting for them.

"Is Harry okay?" Ginny asked from the floor where she was playing fetch with Bandit.

Ron shook his head as he sat down on the bed and ran his hands through his hair. "He started puking again as soon as you all left. I don't think you should have mentioned dad, Annie."

Annie sat down on George's lap and he wrapped his arms around her waist. "I guess not. But how is he?"

"He's alright," Fred answered from where he was standing at the window, hands in his pockets. "The Healers said he would make a full recovery. Bill is still with him though, and we came straight here after visiting him."

"But how did they explain why he was where he was?" Annie asked.

"Professor Dumbledore came up with an excuse for both Arthur and I to be there," said James by the door. He walked in the room and sat down on the bed next to Ron, taking off his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Remus was able to use an invisibility cloak to duck out of the Ministry before anybody knew he was there."

"So, what were you doing there?" Ron asked cautiously.

"I can't tell you guys, you know that. Trust me, Sirius, Remus and I are all for telling you and Harry a lot more than what we already have, but Dumbledore won't allow it. And neither will Lily and Molly. They think you're too young to understand."

"But we're not," Annie said quietly.

"No, you're not." James sighed and stood up. "Come on, you lot. The meeting should be over now and Lily will be making lunch."

They trooped out of the room after James making no noise as they passed Harry's room. Down stairs, various members of the Order were walking through the living room talking in whispers. Annie tried to catch snippets of their conversations as James led them into the kitchen.

"How are you, sweetheart?" Lydia said pulling Annie into a big hug when she walked over. "I missed you."

"I'm great and I missed you, too," Annie said into Lydia's shoulder. Lydia let her go and she sat down next to Sirius who kissed her on the head.

"How has school been?" Lydia asked.

"Oh, you know. Same old, same old," Annie said, grabbing a plate of food that was passed to her. "Detentions, schoolwork, quidditch, massive dungbomb explosions." She said the last item under her breath, hoping nobody heard. Unfortunately for her, Sirius had and choked on his Butterbeer.

"Massive what?" he said, placing his bottle down on the table and turning to his daughter.

"I didn't say a damn thing," Annie answered, pointedly looking away.

"I believe what you heard was 'massive dungbomb explosions,'" Remus pitched in, throwing a wink at Annie who stuck out her tongue.

"I thought so. What did you do, kid?" Sirius grabbed Annie's face and turned it so she could look him in the eyes.

"I didn't do anything," Annie said innocently. "Yet, that is."

"Explain."

Annie sighed and blew a stray curl out of her eyes. "Well, I may have planted a few dungbombs in the wing where Defense Against the Dark Arts classes are held and in the entrance hall and set them to go off at different times today and tomorrow."

Sirius let go of Annie's face and rested his elbow on the table as he laughed. "I'm not even mad," he said. "I'm just impressed."

"Thanks," Annie said, looking at the watch on Sirius's wrist. "The ones in the Defense Against the Dark Arts corridor should actually be going off in about five minutes."

"Annie, you're diabolical," Lydia said, laughing as she ate her lunch.

"Thanks, I try."