A/N: I do not own anything Harry Potter. Hi, everyone! I'm finally back! I'm sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. Over the past couple of months, I was super busy with schoolwork and graduating and work that I didn't really have time to write. I really hope you liked the one-shot that I posted called Like Father, Like Daughter if you've read it. I hope you enjoy this new chapter! Happy reading! XO

Chapter 63

Annie's eyes widened as she read the article on the front page of the Daily Prophet. According to the newspaper, there had been a mass break-out from Azkaban and ten high-security prisoners were now at large. On the front page were ten sinister photographs of the escapees, but one stood out the most to Annie. Bellatrix Lestrange sneered in her portrait and looked as though she had no remorse for her crimes against the Longbottoms. Annie folded the paper and threw it on the table in front of her.

"The compared the break-out to dad's and Pettigrew's," she commented sullenly to her friends as she took a bite of her cereal. "It said there hadn't been this much mass hysteria since the two. Why did they bring up dad? He was innocent the entire time. And he's a respected member of Ministry! What the hell were they thinking?"

"They needed to spice the article up some more somehow," Harry responded. "It also mentions that Sirius is related to Bellatrix Lestrange."

Annie scowled at the mention of the name and looked down the table. Neville was reading the front-page story with horror, hardly touching his breakfast.

"He knows you and Sirius aren't horrible people like her," Hermione said, following her gaze. "It's just unfortunate that you're related to bad people."

Annie shook her head. "We're not related to them. Dad and I are our own family." She watched as Neville gather his things and leave the Great Hall, avoiding the gazes of his peers. "I'll see you guys in Charms. There's something I have to do first." She threw her backpack over her shoulders and ran to catch up to Neville. Out in the corridor, she looked over the heads of the students making their way to breakfast and saw Neville heading toward the staircase.

"Hey, Neville!" she shouted over the groups of chattering students. Neville stopped halfway up the stairs and turned to who had called his name. Annie ran up the stairs to meet him and he gave her a smile when she caught up.

"What's going on, Black?" he asked as they continued the rest of the way together.

"That article in the paper. I saw you reading it," she started carefully. Neville's posture stiffened.

"What about it?" he questioned, his smile fading.

"I just wanted to let you know that she's not my family," Annie continued. Neville stopped in the middle of the Charms corridor and looked away. "That article mentioned how Bellatrix is my dad's cousin. I just wanted you to know that she's not considered part of our family. We don't want to be associated with any of them. It's a horrible thing that Bellatrix did and I want her to rot in hell just as much as you do, believe me. I just wanted you to know that." There was silence between the two as Annie tried to read her friend's attitude toward the situation.

"Thanks, Annie," Neville finally said. "I know you or your dad could never be anything like her. You're too good for the kinds of things she's done."

"Thanks, Neville," Annie said as they started to walk again.

"That was a cheap dig at Sirius they did," he added. "Is that why you ran to meet up with me?"

Annie shrugged. "I think I would have come over regardless. And it was cheap. Dad's probably furious. It's slander!"

"It's bullshit," Neville added as they leaned against the wall outside Professor Flitwick's classroom. "The Daily Prophet has really gone downhill."

The pair talked a few minutes more until Harry and Ron joined them in the corridor. Professor Flitwick let them into the classroom and they each took their seats. Annie looked to her right and noticed that Hermione hadn't joined them.

"Where's Hermione?" she asked, turning to Harry. Just as he was about to answer, Hermione came into the classroom, out of breath. "Where were you?" Annie asked as her friend took her seat.

"I'll tell you later," Hermione whispered, as Professor Flitwick started his lesson. Annie shrugged in response and rested her head on her books to listen to the lecture.

On Saturday morning, Annie woke up with a groan. She rolled over in her bed, twisting herself in her blankets, and burrowing her head in her pillow.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, sitting on her bed across from Annie's.

"I have quidditch practice in, like, and hour," Annie answered into her pillow. "For the first time ever I don't want to go."

"Are you feeling okay? I know you didn't sleep very well last night," Hermione pried.

Annie lifted her head and rested it in her hands, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "I'm fine, yeah. I just want to go to Hogsmeade with George."

"As long as you're okay," Hermione nodded in disbelief.

Annie groaned again and sat up fully, pushing her unruly hair out of her eyes. After getting out of bed, she trudged over to the wardrobe and pulled out her practice clothes. A few minutes later, she was dress and tying her hair back as she and Hermione made their way down to the common room to meet Ron and Harry.

"You look how I feel," Annie commented, noticing Ron's uneasy expression.

"Annie, I thought you said you felt alright," Hermione accused.

"I did, I am," Annie answered. "I just want to go to Hogsmeade today. I need sweets."

"We could trade places," Harry suggested, wanting so much to be back on the team. "You go to Hogsmeade and I'll go to practice. How much Polyjuice potion do you think we'll need for a whole day?"

"But then who would go on your date with Cho because I sure as hell won't?" Annie joked, knocking his elbow slightly with her own.

"But that's how we need to make the whole plan realistic," Harry argued. "You'd have to go out with Cho while I play chaser at practice."

"But you suck at Chaser. Angelina would know of our dastardly plan the minute you drop a pass," Annie countered. "And there's no way you'll get me to kiss Cho at any point."

"Who said you'd have to kiss her?"

"You really want to go to practice that badly that you would miss your date with the lovely Cho Chang?" Annie asked as they walked into the Great Hall. "You would risk losing that relationship by sending her on a date with me just to play quidditch? I'm a terrible first date. I have references."

"Like who?" Hermione asked, amusedly.

"Well, George for one," Annie ticked his name off on her fingers as they sat down at the Gryffindor table. "We were interrupted by Uncle James, Remus, and my dad; Cormac McLaggen told me that girls aren't that great at playing quidditch and questioned my ability to make it on the team so I kicked him in the balls; and Jeremy Stretton from Ravenclaw critiqued my quidditch performance in the last match we played against each other so I poured my butterbeer over his head and walked out."

"You dated Cormac McLaggen?" Ron asked, after Annie had finished. "When? Actually when did you date Jeremy Stretton too?"

"I was very busy in third year," Annie shrugged, turning back to Harry. "So, you still want me to go on your date with Cho?"

Harry shook his head in amusement. "Why does Angelina want to practice all day anyway?" He asked, changing the topic.

"To train the new beaters and Ginny," Ron answered, taking toast from Annie.

"Trust me, Harry, you wouldn't want to be there today," Annie commented with a mouthful of toast. "I have a feeling practice won't go very well today. It's gonna take a while to get used to the new dynamic."

Ron nodded in agreement and finished his glass of orange juice. He stood up from the table and Annie followed suit, wiping her mouth on her sleeve.

"We'll see you guys later," Ron said as the owls swooped in to deliver the morning's mail.

"Have fun on your date, Harry," Annie laughed, ruffling his hair before following Ron to the doors. "Bring me back some Cockroach Clusters!"

"Don't do anything stupid!" Harry called back which earned him a very rude gesture from Annie as she walked out of the Great Hall.

Just as she and Ron approached the front doors of the castle, a voice made them stop in their tracks.

"There's my Valentine!" Fred shouted from the top of the stairs before he cantered down them with George and Lee in tow. Annie laughed as Fred ran over to her and picked her up and gave her a big kiss on the cheek. "Happy Valentine's Day, honey!"

"Happy Valentine's Day to you too, sweet cheeks!" Annie replied as Ron rolled his eyes. "What happened with Angelina?" She knew he must have said something stupid to his girlfriend to receive this kind of attention from her boyfriend's brother.

"I suggested that she skip practice today and hang out in Hogsmeade with me instead," Fred stated while George and Lee sniggered behind him.

"How'd that work for you?" Ron asked, knowing Angelina's temperament concerning practice.

"She hexed him," Lee answered, clapping his friend on the shoulder.

"Nice clean one right on the bum," George pitched in. Annie and Ron laughed at Fred's predicament.

"This is why I'm asking you, Annie my dear, to be my Valentine," Fred said getting down on one knee and holding her hand, "and for you to do everything within your power to get her to end practice early so that we may spend time with our beautiful girlfriends."

Annie shook her head. "I'm sorry, sweetie. I'm already Georgie's Valentine."

"I told you it wouldn't work," George said, winking at Annie.

"Alright, if not for me then will you do it for George?" Fred proposed.

Annie sighed. "I'll try," she conceded. All four boys broke out in grins. They knew if anybody could put on a practice-cancelling performance it would be Annie. Fred gave Annie a kiss on the hand.

"Thanks, Annie," he said, standing up. "Do you need anything from us?"

"Skiving Snackbox treats at all?" George suggested.

"I think I'll – wait, yeah," she said, forming a plan in her head. "Do you have any Fever Fudges?"

Fred and George dug around in their pockets until they produced some candy.

"What have you got, Freddie?" George asked, inspecting the contents of his pockets.

"I've got a Ton-Tongue Toffee and a Canary Cream, They're both useless," Fred replied, placing them back in his pockets. "Here, I have a Cockroach Cluster. It won't help you but I know you'll eat it."

Annie took the proffered candy and turned her attention to her boyfriend. "What do you have, babe?"

"A few Bertie Bott's, a Nosebleed Nougat," he placed that one in Annie's hand and dug around in his other pocket. "Ah, you're in luck. I've got a Fever Fudge and a Puking Pastille. Just don't mix any of them again. I don't want to visit you in the Hospital Wing."

"What happens if you mix them?" Ron asked curiously, switching his broom from one shoulder to the other.

"We've advised on the boxes that you don't eat more than one candy of any flavor at a time," he answered. "Annie should know that considering she was the test monkey for that part."

"Yeah, I remember Sirius being not too happy with us when he got home from work," Lee reminisced.

"What happened?" Ron asked.

"Well, we mixed a Fainting Fancy with a Puking Pastille," George started, placing and arm around Annie's shoulder, "and then things took a rocky turn from there." Annie looked at the watch on George's wrist and gasped.

"Shit, Ron. We need to leave," she said, hurriedly giving George a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll tell you the rest of the story as we walk. Angelina is gonna kill us if we're late."

"Good luck!" Fred called to Annie as they hurried away.

"You better not mix those candies, babe!" George warned as Lee laughed.

"I won't. I'm not that stupid!" Annie shouted back before she and Ron disappeared out the castle door.

"So what did happen?" Ron probed, leading the way down the slippery slope to the quidditch pitch.

"Have you ever woken up in a pool of your own puke?" Annie asked and Ron gave a snort of laughter in response. "Yeah, laugh all you want. It smells horrible. When they couldn't wake me up using the remedy candies, they started to panic."

"What did they do then?"

"One of them Apparated into town to get Remus," she explained further. "He came back to my house and woke me up out of an enchanted sleep. Can you believe those three idiots couldn't think of the Ennervate spell?" Ron laughed again and Annie continued. "Anyway, after I woke up, I was still feeling groggy so Remus stayed with us until dad came home. When dad came home and found out what happened, he told us we weren't allowed to hang out together without supervision anymore. We all got grounded for a week. That's how we found out that the Skiving Snacks shouldn't be mixed."

They had arrived at the locker room for the Gryffindor quidditch team to find their teammates already there and dressed for practice.

"Nice of you two to finally show up," Angelina said when they walked in.

"Relax, Angelina," Annie said as she opened her locker. "We're not even late."

"Yeah, we got here with two minutes to spare," Ron added, tossing his cloak in his locker.

Angelina sighed in defeat. "Just dress quickly and listen up."

"Aye aye, captain," Annie said from inside her quidditch robes.

Angelina talked about strategy for an hour in the locker room. Annie looked around and saw Ginny, Kirke, and Sloper paying mindful attention while Ron looked as though he was about to fall asleep against his locker. Annie nudged Katie and nodded in his direction. Katie suppressed a giggle and turned back to her captain's chalkboard.

"Alright, team," Angelina called, startling Ron out of his doze, "let's get out on the pitch and take a few warm-up laps."

The team stood and stretched their limbs before grabbing their broomsticks and filing out. Just as Annie was about to follow Ginny out of the locker room, Angelina called her back.

"What's up, cap?" Annie asked brightly, shouldering her broom.

"You know what's up, Annie," Angelina said, tapping her head. Annie gave her a puzzled look. "Helmet!" she reminded.

"Oh yeah," Annie went back to her locker and shoved the helmet over her head and strapped it under her chin.

"And…" Angelina prompted, holding out her hand.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Annie feigned innocence.

"Annie, you are a terrible liar," Angelina warned, wiggling her fingers impatiently.

Annie sighed in defeat. "From my friends, I can't hide anything," she said, placing her Skiving Snackbox treats in her captain's hand.

"Come on, Annie," Angelina said, tucking the candy into her pocket and leading her on to the pitch, "we'll be done before you know it and you'll have the whole rest of the night to be with George."

"Oh, I wasn't doing this for George," Annie said with a sly smile as she mounted her broom. "I was doing it for Freddie. He begged me to do something to get practice cancelled. If you ask me, he really needs to get some." She gave a wink to her stunned captain and kicked off the ground to join Ron in the air by his goal hoops.

Practice ran all day. Angelina had the team running every drill imaginable and every play the team knew. They also learned a few new plays that Annie, Angelina, and Katie had developed over the course of the year. Ron was improving as Keeper and seemed to be gaining confidence in his abilities, and Ginny was proving to be an excellent replacement as Seeker. She was no Harry, but Annie had to admit she was good. The new Beaters, Sloper and Kirke, were doing pretty well in practice, but Annie found herself missing the dynamic of Fred and George.

The practice had been going well until they started to gain an audience. Annie looked down into the stands to see Lee, George, and Fred and a few fellow Gryffindors, some stray Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Slytherins. With the added pressure of the spectators, Katie started fumbling passes, Ron started letting shots go in, and Annie started missing a few goals. Sloper and Kirke had let a few bludgers stray dangerously close to their teammates, one striking Annie on the back of her shoulder causing her to fall off her broom and landing a few feet below in a puddle of mud. Annie had never seen Angelina so frustrated when she refused to show her captain's orders to see Madame Pomfrey.

It was just starting to get dark when Angelina finally called practice for the day. The spectators had already gone inside, the Gryffindors shaking their heads at the abysmal performance. Covered in mug and sweat, Annie, Ron, and Ginny walked in silence back to the castle. They found Harry and Hermione in the Great Hall and sat down at the table.

"How was practice?" Harry asked as they each grabbed dishes of food piled their plates.

"Don't ask," Annie answered moodily, wincing in pain when she lifted a plate of turkey. "How was your date with Cho?"

"Don't ask," Harry replied in the same fashion. "Are you okay? You really don't look so good."

Annie rolled her eyes and jabbed her fork at a carrot. "Why is everyone so concerned with my well-being today?"

"Because you're pale and you're shoulder is killing you. "Don't act like it's not," Ginny added when Annie opened her mouth to retort. "You need to see Madame Pomfrey."

"What I need is a hot shower," Annie shot back. "I could also use a nap."

"You always need a nap," Hermione added. "What happened to your shoulder?"

Annie swallowed her food before answering. "I got hit with a bludger. No big deal. It was a nice beat."

"You can barely lift your arm though," Ron argued.

"That's how you know it was a good beat," Annie responded. "So, anything fun happen in Hogsmeade? Oh, Harry, did you bring me back some Cockroach Clusters like I asked?"

"Yeah, they're upstairs," he answered as he started in on his dessert. "As for Hogsmeade, I'd say it was more interesting than fun."

"How so?" Annie asked, reaching forward to steal a bite of pie off of Harry's plate but taking it back when her shoulder gave a throb.

"Get that checked out and I'll tell you," Harry bargained, scraping half of his dessert onto Annie's plate.

"Not a chance. Now get on with it," she said, shoveling the food in her mouth.

"Fine. I gave an interview to Rita Skeeter for the Quibbler in the Three Broomsticks today," Harry said.

"What?" Ron and Ginny interjected, Ron through a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"How is the old cow?" Annie asked. "Haven't heard from her in ages."

"She's just as delightful as ever," Hermione answered spitefully.

Annie laughed. "So, what did you talk about then?" she questioned.

"I told her about Voldemort and how he came back and how Cedric really died," Harry reported, ignoring the flinches coming from Ron and Ginny.

"That's amazing, Harry," Ron praised, giving his friend a slap on the back.

"When will the interview be published?" Ginny asked

"Luna said it could be featured in next month's issue," Hermione informed. "She sent it off to her father right when we got back to school."

"Excellent! I can't wait to read it," Annie said, helping herself to the rest of Harry's dessert. "Have you guys read the Quibbler recently? It's always an interesting read."

"Annie, don't tell me you really follow the Quibbler's nonsense stories?" Hermione groaned.

Annie waved off her friend's disapproval. "I know that, but Luna lets me borrow a few of the issues every once in a while," she said. "Not all of it is cracked though. For instance, I had no idea that when my dad was on the lamb, he was actually parading around as rock star, Stubby Boardman. The group laughed at Annie's joke as she shoveled the rest of the dessert in her mouth. "Luna and her father have a very interesting perspective on things, but that doesn't meant it should be ignored just because it's different."

"I agree, Annie," Ginny said, grinning.

"Thanks." Annie stood up from the table, avoiding any sudden movements so she wouldn't hurt herself any more than she already was. "I'm going to shower. I'll see you guys later. And Harry, I expect you to tell me what happened with Cho back in the common room."

"How about I tell you on the way to Madame Pomfrey to get your shoulder checked out?" he suggested with a laugh.

"I'll think about it." Annie gave a wave and walked away, leaving Harry shaking his head at the table.