Disclaimer: We've been over this before! No I don't own Harry Potter or any of it's original characters. I do however own Annie. Lyrics to the songs Signal fire, Nothing better to do,
-It's our last dance in St. Louis. I feel like I'm going to cry- Judy Garland as Esther Smith
Chapter 15: Meet Me In St. Louis
Remus Lupin was a patient man, he was a tolerant man, he was a freakin saint compared to his school friends... but somedays...
Moony paced up and down the sitting room floor, sighing something to himself than looking back at Harry and Annie, then sighing something under his breath and looking back at Harry and Annie. It was like a really bad game of ping pong, back and forth and back and forth. He hadn't even noticed Sirius yet...
"He's pacing," Harry said to Annie, both of them still stairing at Moony.
"This is true,"
"He's turning puce..."
"This is true... hahhhha!" Annie said solemnly and then chuckled...
"What?"
"Puce... funny word..." Harry staired at Annie in disbelief..."He's looking at us..."
"This is true..."
"STOP, repeating what I'm doing!" Lupin turned around at them fuming... "Irresponsible... Selfish... Preposturous..."
"Oooooh...Big word..." Sirius muttered to himself...
"Tell me this: ARE YOU TWO BARKING MAD?"
"If we said yes would that win us any points...?" Harry asked cautiously...
"Do we run?"
"Do we dare?"
"I think...we may...have...severly...hurt...his head..." Annie leaned her head to one side while Harry leaned his to the other... Remus turned away from them and placed his gaze directly in the corner Sirius was in...
"What?...hm...Huh...How?" Moony muttered incoherently and then looked back at the two teenagers...
"That...that wasn't our fault..." Annie said jokingly pointing in the direction of Sirius...
"Yes...that, we had nothing to do with..."
"Ahhhhhhhh!" Moony hit his head on the wall...
"And he thinks you two are mad..."Sirius said between fits of chuckles, getting a dirty look from Moony, "Right, I'll just sit in my corner here. Corner nobody understands like you do..."
"Our sentiment's exactly..."
"Would somebody like to explain exactly what's going on here?" Remus asked pinching the bridge of his nose.
The three responded at the exact same time, "No, not really."
The Star Mile
Worlds arise as she lets you come in
A duo begins
To the Hollywood Inn
Of the lonely
"I won't let you keep me from my daughter again, Remus." This is what Harry heared as he came down in the middle of the night to get a glass of water. He and Annie had decided it would be wise to sleep separately since Sirius was back. They didn't think he would react well to his daughter and godson sleepign together. Truth was Harry had gotten used to her being there, and now he couldn't sleep without her. He stayed out of site by the door as the two men conversed heatedly in the candle lit kitchen. "I could've seen her, met her at least two years ago! Hell, if you had fought for Harry like you should've the two could have grown up the way Lily, James and I intended them to."
And all the gold dust in her eyes won't reform into rain
You hadn't lost the one thing
You kept in a safe place
"I was trying to protect her!"Remus pounded his fist on the table.
"From what!? Tell me Remus, because she seems to be able to take care of herself pretty damn well."
Remember the face
Of the girl who had made you her own
"I was keeping her from the mess that was her father! I was keeping her from the heartache of you going and getting yourself killed!"
And how you left her alone
"Get out! Get out of my house!" Sirius pushed his chair out knocking it over. Remus made his way for the stairs, "Where the hell are you going?"
"I'm taking my daughter and we are leaving!"
"Your daughter? Your daughter! Listen to me, you may have taken her in and raised her, but she is still My daughter." Harry had never seen Sirius and Remus this upset with eachother, yes they always had little disagreements which was understandable due to their differing personalities, but this wasn't like them... Maybe Remus, like Hermione said, had changed. Or maybe...maybe Sirius had changed, they still didn't know what truly happened to him behind that veil, but Harry wasn't sure he cared to know. Harry decided to step in before things got too heated, he walked into the kitchen acting completely unaware of what he had just overheard.
"Hey guys, what's going on?" He walked towards the cupboard and pulled out a glass.
Sirius cleared his throat, "Nothing...Moony was just leaving."
"Oh well the door's that way." Harry said cheekily and taking a swig of his water.
"Right, goodnight." He gave Harry a smile and when he didn't think Harry was watching he gave Sirius a look of disgust. Sirius sat down at the table and put his head in his hands.
Look down from your tower on high
And take in the night
"So, pup how much did you hear?"
"All of it." Harry sat down at the table across from his godfather.
"You know, I don't know if anyone's ever told you this, but James and Lily were Annie's godparents, not Moony..."
"Really...?"
"I wanted someone most like myself to raise my child..."
"And Remus and Peter definitely differ from yourself..."
"I just want to know Annie, but... I don't know how to really know her..."
Look her right in the eye
She'll listen
Harry sighed, "Annie is... kind, she's smart. She's really powerful but she doesn't boast about it to anyone. She's forward, but not arrogant. Honestly I think she's a bit of a martyr, she'll do what you ask her to even if it's going to be hard... or a struggle for her. Hermione asked her to look up something in the Black Library, she had half of the books read in a couple days, and you know how many and how depressing the books are in there... Uhm.. She's got a great sense of humor... slightly insane but only slightly. You can trust her with anything, she's loyal. She's difficult, but worth the effort... Just give it time." Harry got up, patted his godfather once on the back and went to his room. Just as he was about to walk up the stairs he turned and said, "Oh and her favorite color," Sirius looked up, "Is blue,"
And all the gold dust in her eyes won't reform into rain
You hadn't lost the one thing
You kept in a safe place
"Hey Harry?"
"Yes.."
"Thanks... can I ask you another question?"
"Of course..."
"How's the Order?"
"I honestly wouldn't know...we all kind of had a falling out with the Order in November...Goodnight." Harry truly hadn't heard anything, or even read anything about the Order's efforts.
"Night..."
The Prophet had a field day over the Diagon Alley fiasco, but for some odd reason they couldn't figure out who the mysterious cloaked wizards were that were fighting the death eaters... But what was even stranger was that the deatheaters normally posted outside of Grimmauld Place had... disappeared.
December 24th 11:59 pm
Harry dreamsequence:
Harry tossed and turned in his sleep, his sheets intertwining around him like a straight jacket. He was wet all over from sweat, tossing and turning he heard voices and saw their faces...all those who had given him advice over the years...
"There's a storm coming Harry, and we best be ready when she does." Hagrid's gruff but kind face appeared in his mind and drifted away, as though he was being taken from Harry, taken away.
"And then we'll go with you, wherever you're going." Ron's voice clattered through his head
"You said to us once before," said Hermione quietly, "that there was time to turn back if we wanted to. We've had time,haven't we?" Flashes of all the people he loved, were slowly drifting away.
"What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed? Only innocent lives, Peter." Sirius's soft voice seemed to whisper in his mind.
"It unscrews the other way."
"Is that you sort of start thinking anything's possible if you've got enough nerve."
"You're fighting a losing battle there, dear."
"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."
The next few flashes were all new to Harry...
"You are a spiteful, spiteful man Harry Potter! What happened to you?" He saw a scene of Annie poking him in the chest with her finger.
"If you hurt her, if you so much as look at her, I won't kill you because you're the supposed savior of the wizarding world, but I will hurt you..." Said a voice he recognized, but couldn't place who it was from...
"Harry, if we live in the past or if we try to live in the future, we won't live at all."
"We're wasting time, valueble time. This war... this final battle, it could happen today, in a month, a year, we could be fifty by the time this all ends. But the more prepared we are the better..."
Harry awoke breathless with his hair clung to his wet forehead. He didn't know if what he dreamed was real, but if it was, he needed to get moving... and fast. This war, this final battle, this vendetta... it would someday come to an end. And just like the dream spoke, it would be best to be ready when the time came for this war to come to a final close. And for it to be final, that means getting rid of every last bit of the twisted being that was Voldemort.
Ginny Weasley reporting for duty...
Annie and Harry were awoken that foggy christmas morning by an extremely hyper Sirius bouncing up and down on their beds singing Christmas carols repeatedly until they grudgingly got out of their respective beds... and went into the kitchen to drown their drowsiness in coffee. The teenagers sat at the table, Harry putting his head in his hands while Annie squinted at the clock.
"Harry what time does that clock say?" Annie clearly knew what time it was, she just wanted to make sure her brain wasn't fooling her...
"It says 4:50, why?" Annie gave Harry a second to let it sink in... "4:50! You woke us up at 4:50?!" Harry and Annie hit their heads on the table in one synchronized motion.
"It's Christmas!" Sirius almost glided, "A time to be merry to be with the people you love! Why should we waste that on sleep?"
"I hate Christmas..." Annie mumbled as she slamed her head down on the table...
Annie gave Harry a look, he had told her Sirius was like this at Christmas, "I'm not gonna say I told you so, so I'll just give you the face." Harry gave her the 'Mmmmhmm I told you,' face.
"So when is Mrs. Weasley getting here?" Annie glanced up at the clock again and groaned, they were holding Christmas at Grimmauld Place because it had the most security charms out of all the houses owned between the hiding wizards.
Sirius looked at the clock and mouthed "Five, four, three, two, on..."
The sound of apparation filled the foyer of the house followed by the traditional Weasley family bickering.
"Good Morning Everyone! Merry Christmas!" Mrs. Weasley bustled into the the kitchen and looked slightly disappointed as she saw Harry and Annie still in their PJ's, "You're not dressed, go! Go!" She swatted them with a towel to get them moving.
"Ow! It's five in the morning!"
"Ow! We're going!" Harry and Annie ran into Ron and Ginny by the stairs, who looked like dead men walking.
"Well Goodmorning sunshine..." Annie poked Ron in the rib cage and he gave an involuntary, "Ehhugh.." and slumped over the railing.
"May I ask, why? Why did we all have to be here at the crack of dawn. It's not even the crack of dawn, dawn... has not cracked..." Ginny sighed sleepily.
"Because Christmas is the time to be merry with the people you love and we shouldn't waste it on sleep," Harry and Annie said in the most monotone, flat voices on the planets as if this fact had been beaten into their brains.
Harry was about half way up the stairs when he noticed Ginny and Annie following close behind, he gave Annie a confused look. She was just getting dressed, why did she need Ginny?
"What's going on?"
"Wouldn't you like to know," Was Ginny and Annie's cheeky response as the ascended the rest of the stairs and closed the door to Annie's room. Harry just shook his head and went to take a shower as the girls did their thing... Little did he know they weren't doing anything for themselves... it was all about him.
Ginny flopped on Annie's freshly made bed and sat pretzel style as Annie took a sweater out of her closet and sniffed it not remembering if it was clean or not, and discarded it quickly into the dirty bin.
"So how's Hogwarts, you know with the whole Snape being Headmaster, it's the end of the world thing?" Annie spoke sarcastically as she too plopped on the bed.
"It's kind of scary actually... it's like deathmuncher's junior high or something. The Slytherins of course think they rule the roost since the 'Golden Trio' left. For some reason those three gave people alot of hope, to keep trudging on. We all just feel so useless, we're not actually learning anything since Oliver was fired as Defense Substitute..."
"Wood was fired? I guess he'll be able to focus on Puddlmere more..." This was definitely news to Annie.
"Well after Snape took over McGonagall's post, he fired Wood and became DADA teacher himself, it's what he's always wanted, and now he has the power to do it I guess. I just think those of us who feel so useless had something to focus our efforts on. I mean at least when the DA was running it gave us some feelings of accomplishment..."
"I may.. be able to help you there..." Annie sat up a little straighter...
"Really... hmm... are you going to tell me how, or do you just want to play a game of 'Guess what's on Annie's mind' because honestly knowing you it could take a while..." Ginny laughed as Annie hit her with a pillow...
"I take great offense to that statement... but I won't deny that it's not true..." The brown haired girl said while smirking.
"So what's this idea...?"
"Well technically it's not my idea, it started as Hermione and Ron's... and then Harry's."
"Okay..."
"They want to build up an army..." Annie said apprehensively and waited for Ginny's response, which was a look of thought and then a big grin...
"I'm in. How can I help...?"
The girls chatted for a while, before Ginny finally asked the question Annie was expecting...
"So why isn't Harry telling me about this?"
"Harry, Ron, and Hermione have to do something, a task before Harry can finally get rid of Voldemort. I don't really know much about it other than Dumbledore left it for them to do. Which really just proves, Dumbledore kept alot from the people he supposedly trusted... I don't even think the Order knew about this 'task'"
"Strange..."
"But I do have a feeling that they're leaving soon..."
"How do you know...?"
"I just have a feeling..."
Where you lead I will Follow
Harry waited anxiously at the bottom of the stairs, holding a wrapped, rectagular box in one hand and leaned on the railing casually using his other hand to support himself. He began to shift his feet nervously in anticipation and finally saw what he was waiting for. The most beautiful woman in the world was striding down the steps toward him, smirking the whole way.
Annie wore a simple black, almost fifties style skirt that came to right below her knees, showing her creamy, perfectly toned legs; a red, slightly v-kneck, form fitting sweater, and little black flats... Her hair, was straight with sweeping bangs, slightly covering one eye. Her naturally, black long eyelashes stood out even more making her blue eyes sparkle with an unusual bit of happiness...
Harry bit his lip as she came nearer, it took all his willpower not to grab her by the hand, take her into the nearest room and make love to her until both of them couldn't think straight. He settled for giving her the most passionate kiss of his life.
He sent shivers down her spine as his lips slowly began to brush against her's. Her hands slowly made their way to his mid back, while he ran his fingers through her silky, peppermint scented hair. She aggresively pulled him closer to her body, as his tongue slowly parted her lips and waging war with her mouth. She moaned in his mouth as she could start to feel him against her leg...
He began to slowly pull away, and he could sense Annie's knees giving out on her, so instead of pulling away he decided to tease her a bit, he slowly and teasingly ran his tongue on her lips,
"Harry," she panted, weakly, "Stop or I'm going to..." But it was too late... she sank into his arms, her entire body shivering unable to support herself any longer. She pressed her head into Harry's neck to muffle her moans as he kissed her kneck...
"That was one hell of a kiss..." Harry sighed holding her close... it was good they stopped when they did... he smiled proudly at himself...
"Harry Potter!" She snapped at him, her blue eyes turning fierce. He opened his mouth to speak, "Give me a second..." She swatted him upside the head. "That was mean, very, very ... mean...Did you know you could do that...? Cause that, that was..."
"Amazing? Epic...?" She hit him again. "Well if I had known I could do that... nope still would've done it..." Harry smiled cheekily as Annie stumbled backwards getting her footing.
"There are people! Downstairs, there are people, who are celebrating the birth of baby jesus at ungodly hours of the early morning, for reasons I can't quite understand. And you kiss me like that, and don't expect me to want a bit more? You...you go downstairs... I need a minute..." Annie leaned against the wall and slid down it, sitting on the floor smirking...
"Nope, believe it or not there was a reason I was wating for you." Harry sat next to her and gave her the box that had fallen to the floor during their...er.. snog fest.
"You mean other than to snog me to that...er...extent, yes extent is what we'll call it..." Annie looked at Harry who was just smiling...
"I love you." Harry took her hand and placed a small rectangular box in her other hand. "Merry Christmas..."
Annie slowly opened the box and intook a sharp breath, it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. It was a silver necklace, with squarish pendant that had tiny, delicate diamonds leading to a deep blue sapphire in the middle...
"Flip it over," Harry whispered...
Still in a bit of awe, Annie did as she was told and flipped the pendant over and saw, 'Where you lead I will follow,' inscribed on the back. She felt her heart melt...Harry lifted her chin softly with his finger...
"I want you to know, wherever I am, whatever I'm doing, I'm still here and no matter what I will always, always come back. When you need me, I'll be here, all you have to do is ask..." For a second the necklace got warm in her palm and glowed a bright light...
"Harry James Potter, what did you do?" She said staring at the necklace as the light went down...
"Wouldn't you like to know..." He said, his smirk growing more apparent with every syllable he spoke, his dangerously green eyes gleamed in the sconcelit hallway.
"Thank you, I can honestly say it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen... Help me put it on?" She turned slightly so her back was facing him and pushed her hair out of the way as he clasped the necklace.
"What do you think?" Annie smiled down at the necklace.
"Perfect." He said, but he wasn't talking about the necklace...
Annie got up and walked over to the stairs where another dropped box was lying. She wistfully walked back towards Harry and sat back down on the floor...
"Happy Christmas..." Harry slowly slipped the ribbon off the box and lifted the top off to find a hansome deep green, velvet and satin lined wizarding cloak, with sliver stitching... Slytherin colors... but had anyone else noticed he looked good in Slytherin colors? The clasp was even shaped like a tiny gold and sliver snitch...
"Wait, there's something else in that box mister!" Annie said in a fake-stern voice while wagging her pointer finger.
Harry looked down and at the bottom of the box there was a piece of parchment that had to be at least three feet long, he pulled it out and unscrolled it, "We've got a document the length of Nicholas Nickleby here..."
"Hey that list is very important, that is every single defensive spell I had placed on this puppy. So not only is it a beautiful fashion statement..." She spoke as if she was trying to sell a used car, "It's a freakin super cloak, that blocks up to a weak reducto. I may have just saved your life, my friend." Harry kissed her forehead and grabbed her hand pulling her up.
"Thank you, I love it." Harry started to lead her towards the stairs.
"Do we have to go downstairs? It's going to be all awkward and forced,"
"What do you mean."
"Well you know, with Mooney and my dad fighting, and Tonks being all happy to the point it's depressing, and then there's the whole you leaving thing..."
"How'd you...?" He stopped as Annie began.
"I'll always know, Harry..." and with that she let go of his hand and walked down the stairs... her hand gently making her way up her face to wipe off a single, almost silver tear that had escaped her blue eyes. As she left Harry swore he could hear her say, "I hate Christmas..."
Walter's Mustache...
"Did I just hear that right?" Ginny watched the door as her mother left the kitchen, hips swaying to the Christmas music that she loved and everyone else loved to hate...
Annie was chopping some sort of onion, of which kind she couldn't be quite sure... It was er... smelly and...oniony... but other than that she had no clue. "Yes I believe," Annie began, hostily chopping...
"My mother just asked us to cook the Turkey..." Ginny stepped over to the opposite side of the counter Annie was chopping the onion like substance on and sat on a barstool nearby.
"I would believe that's what she said unless she's speaking in some sort of code..." Annie flashed a cocky grin towards her turkey cooking companion, but had to duck as onions flew threw the air at her...
"Hey! Alright, sorry! Just don't throw the weird vegetable thing that smells like Harry's socks at me!" Annie dumped the chopped items into a deep pot, and giving it a look of disgust as it emitted a hissing noise...
"It's in the vat..." Ginny mumbled as both girls peered over the edge of the pot, Ginny raised one eyebrow and Annie bit her lip as they put the cover over the concoction that was emitting green gas clouds...
"So when are Hermione, Luna, and Neville getting here?" Annie sat down at the table, twiddling her hair around her finger as she glanced at the recipe Mrs. Weasley had left for them.
"Er... I think Mione said they'd be here late afternoon," Ginny looked over at the fire place in the denlike kitchen, looking at the worn clock that said it was only seven thirty in the morning. Why must they start every holiday so early in the morning?! "And you said Tonks and Remus would be here at..."
"Eleven, but with Tonks in tow..."
"Make it more like Twelve," among her many charming qualities, the metamorph's clumsiness was matched with a tendency to always run late...
In the sitting room Harry watched as his godfather struggled with wrapping a rather odd shaped christmas present,
"Do you want some help with that?" Sirius was in tangles on the floor, one hand attempting to spellotape, one foot holding the paper, and the other hand holding the spellotape.
"No, I'm... er good," He looked down at himself and quickly jumped up and composed himself, smoothing out his robes as he huffed a piece of hair out of his face.
Mrs. Weasley bustled into the sitting room and Sirius was engulfed into a boneshattering hug, patting Sirius on the back so hard he actually coughed. "So glad to have you back with us dear," She said still embracing him, "Are you alright?"
Sirius looked down, and then glanced at Harry, and said, "Never better." But Harry saw a look of pain in the grim's eyes. The veil and the department of mysteries were just things Harry, Sirius, and Annie had avoided talking about during their time at Grimmauld Place. But now Harry was starting to wonder just what the veil had brought upon the man...
"Er.. Mrs. Weasley do you happen to know where Annie is?"
"Oh, she's in the kitchen dear. Annie and Ginny have been given the task of cooking the turkey, matter of fact I better go check on them..."
"Thanks... Mrs. Weasley." Harry casually slumped onto the couch and Sirius sat next to him. Looking over, the older man asked with fear...
"Have either Annie or Ginny prepared a turkey before?"
In deep thought, Harry scratched his chin for a moment, "I don't think so..."
"We're all going to die." Sirius said gravely, putting a perfect expression of mock terror on his face...
"Have a little faith, they can do it..." Harry tried to reassure himself as Ron, Fred, and George walked into the room.
"Where's..."
"Ginny and..."
"Annie...?" The twins asked.
"In the kitchen making the turkey..." Harry said cheerily...
"We're all going to die." The three red headed brother's all said as they plopped on the couch at the same time...
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
"Hello sad, pathetic little bird..." Ginny and Annie stared at the uncooked bird that was lying in the sink...
"Hey you're hurting little Walter's feelings!" Ginny pretended to cover what could've been the ears of Walter...
"Ginny, he can't hear us, he has no head... and he's kinda sticky..."
"Yes well I'm here to help him in his sticky, headless, naked time of need..." Ginny patted little Walter as Annie walked back to the counter to look at their instructions...
"Walter... Gin...? Couldn't we at least give him a turkey like name..."
"Like what...?" Ginny and Annie looked in thought at the turkey...
"I dub the Walter Thaddeus Turkeypants..."
"I feel so bad for your future children," Ginny said in distaste of little Walter's name.
"Well I happen to think that it is an honorable name..."
"Well I happen to think you are insane..."
"I am not the one who named him Walter in the first place, though I can't deny... It's a fetching name.."
"Isn't it?"
"Hello dears, how is it coming..." Molly entered the kitchen with a determined look on her face.
"Er.. Great!" Both girls lied through their teeth.
"Perfect, well I'll be upstairs taking care of some Christmas wrapping, so if you need me. Oh Annie dear, what a lovely necklace."
Annie absentmindedly moved her hand to the pendant on her kneck and shyly smiled, "Thank you."
"Is it from someone special?" Mrs. Weasley gave a knowing smile.
"Um... yes ma'am." With that Mrs. Weasley went upstairs humming one of Celestina Warbeck's slightly porny songs. She pivoted and walked back to the counter to find Ginny doing something very very strange to Walter...
"Gin, are you giving Walter a face...?" She spoke leaning her head in one direction to better see the turkey...
"He was feeling self conscious..." Ginny spoke whilst waving a radish speared on a toothpick through the air to emphasize her point.
"Alright, just er... give him a mustache will you?"
"Handlebar or Pencil?"
We Three Weasleys
At about one o'clock Remus and Tonks arrived at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. It was awkward, to say the least... Especially considering that Neville, Luna, and Hermione arrived at precisely the same time and apparated on top of them. Sirius and Remus somewhat avoided each other, but when they did speak it was forced and awkward. The girls, Luna, Ginny, Hermione and Annie mainly hung out in the kitchen, because according to Gin and Anne they had to keep an eye on 'Walter.' Needless to say Hermione was a little put off by a turkey with a face and a name although she couldn't deny, it was quite fetching. Luna just suggested it was part of a Wonkycross conspiracy.
Harry ducked his head into the kitchen, he looked around. His eyes suddenly looked too old to be his own, instead of green they had turned gray, with green barely noticeable. Annie was coming to recognize this as his solemn, serious expression. It was a look, Hermione knew all to well.
"Hey Mione, Ron and I need to talk to you for a minute..." They were leaving, Harry knew it, Annie knew it, Ron knew it, hell Walter the turkey probably knew it. But that didn't make it any easier.
"Sure, I'll be back guys." Hermione left and exited the kitchen.
"I wonder what that was about," Luna said dreamily twiddling one of her thumbs...
"It's nothing Luna... absolutely," she paused letting out a deep breath, "nothing." Annie spoke with such an emotionless tone that it almost sounded bitter.
"Girls! You haven't put the turkey in yet?!" Mrs. Weasley bustled into the kitchen, with packages bundled in her arms.
"What if Walter doesnt' want to go in the oven...?" Ginny walked over to the counter and hovered over the bird protectively...
"Gin, let go... come on let go." Annie managed to pry Ginny's hands off the turkey, "At some point we all have to let go..."
"Alright...but I'm not happy about it." Annie put the turkey in the oven and shut the door, gave a huff and said,
"That's okay, I'm not either..."
"Girls! You better get in here or else Ronald is going to faint from present withdrawls..." Hermione came in the kitchen with a look of determination.
"Tell him to keep his panties on, we'll be there in a second..." Ginny and Luna started to walk out of the door, but Annie just stood there.
"Hey are you okay?"
"Yeah, it's just... holidays. Let's go." The three girls walked out of the kitchen and climbed the stairs to the sitting room where Ron, Harry, Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George, Sirius, Mooney, Tonks, and now Luna, Ginny, and Annie were gathered. Before she could reach everyone else, Annie was pulled aside by Fred and George,
"We just wanted you to know..."
"Whatever you need us to do..."
"We're in..."
They flashed her their famous Fred and George mischievious smiles, and left Annie alone in the hallway. This was good, she thought to herself, she had three Weasleys, not to mention the three wittiest, coniving Weasleys on her team so far... Now all she needed was Neville and Luna...
God Bless the Merry Gentlemen...
Harry had recieved the traditional box of chocolate frogs that was twice as big as the normal box from Ron; from Hermione he was given a book series on the Greatest Wizards in Defense, Sirius had given him a pair of dragon skin gloves with his intials embroidered in gold and a few books on...animagi... there was a note attached to the books saying not to let anyone see, and that Sirius wanted to ask him something later... He also was given the every year Weasley jumper and mince pies from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley; a broom servicing kit from Lupin and Tonks, an assortment of WWW products from Fred and George, and more sweets from Ginny, a mimbulus mimbletonia from Neville, and lastly from Luna... she gave him a fluffy pink rabbit's foot to "Keep the gillysnuffs away..."
Ron was in absolute awe over his gift from Hermione, the broom was perfect. He wondered how she knew it was the exact broom he wanted... He just hoped she liked her gift from him as much as he loved his new broom...
Hermione unwrapped the box from Ron to find original copies of the books Emma and Northanger Abbey... she was shocked to say the least. They must have cost him a fortune! He had actually listened during one of her self admitted dull book conversations that seemed to last for hours. She gave him a short, sweet, respectable kiss on the lips before turning away...
Remus and Tonks gave Annie an extremely rare set of books on havenry from the middle ages, books Annie had been looking for for a while. She was eager to finally be able to fully understand the extent of her powers..., Hermione and Ginny had gotten her some nice honeysuckle scented lotions and bathsalts. Luna gave her a pair of artichoke shaped earrings to match her radish ones (Luna also gave Hermione a pair of parsnip earrings and Ginny carrot earrings. The girls took this as Luna finally feeling like she had friends...) and her Dad, Sirius, gave her a new wand, rowan wood, her own hair as it's core (she thought she felt something weird as she was falling asleep a week ago...little did she know it was Harry and Sirius pulling out a few pieces of her hair with her muggle tweezers...) 9 and a half inches, light but powerful... It was the exact same as her old wand except the handle was made out of an almost crystal like material and had little blue jewels between where the wand and the handle met; it almost matched the necklace Harry had given her. She had lost her old wand when she was attacked in November. As she took the wand in her hand she could feel the magic surging through her whole body. She loved wandless magic, but she couldn't deny the effect that holding a wand in her hand did to her. She felt five times more powerful, more secure, more centered... He also gave her a book on animagi... and a note not to show anyone the book. She shared a knowing look with Harry wondering just what her father was up to... It seemed Harry was just as confused as she was..
Luna and Neville got sweets from Annie with an envelope attached that said not to open it until they were alone, among gifts from all the others.
Annie and Harry teamed together for Sirius's gift, they bought five beautiful black leather photo albums and filled them full of pictures. The first book were pictures of James, Sirius, and Remus at Hogwarts (they chose to leave pictures with Peter out...) that they had found in the attic while looking for Christmas decorations. The second was after Hogwarts pictures, mainly of James, Lily, and the few baby pictures of Harry that Harry had. The third was all of Annie as baby, toddler, and little girl. She had had the thickest, tightest, curliest hair as a little girl... The fourth book, was all that Sirius had missed after he fell through the veil... it was filled of pictures of the golden trio (since he often considered Hermione as good as another daughter,) the Order, Christmases and birthdays... and the last photo album was empty except for one picture; it was of Harry and Annie sitting next to eachother on what looked like the steps, Harry with one arm around Annie and his other arm holding the camera steady as she giggled. A note was fastened to the fifth book saying the rest was his to fill... Sirius could truly say it was the best Christmas present he had ever gotten...
Ginny and Annie were sitting next to eachother looking at pictures until they heard.."GINEVRA! ANNE! What did you do to this turkey?!" Mrs. Weasley's voice bellowed through the house as she looked in aversion at Walter Thaddeus Turkeypants...
Both girls turned their heads at the same time and shared a look of understanding before nodding and saying at the same time, "Run!" both yelling "Ahhhh!" in fear as they ran off, Molly Weasley chasing them, holding Walter the Turkey who bore a striking resemblance to Harry...
"Like I said, We're all going to die..." Sirius leaned back on the couch as Harry nodded..
Christmas Time is Here...
"It does kind of look like Harry," Hermione got a glare from Harry, "You know if you tilt your head a bit...other than that you er... can't er see it, I'm just going to stop talking now..."
"It does look like Harry..." Luna also tilted her head the same way Hermione's was placed...
"It has a name you know..." Annie and Ginny said at the same time as they too leaned their heads to the right... Hermione popped her head up...
"You named it! You named something were going to eat..."
"Well..." Ginny began
"Seemed like a good idea at the time..." Annie and Ginny slowly backed away...
"Let's just eat shall we? And get this over with..." The last part Mrs. Wealsey muttered under her breath as she walked away carrying Walter at arms length like he was a baby with a dirty diaper.
The all sat at the cavernous, long kitchen table; Annie next to Sirius who was acrossed from Harry who was sandwiched between Ron and Hermione who both wore looks of depression on their faces... Mr and Mrs. Weasley sat at the heads of the table with Tonks and Remus on Mrs. Weasley's end and Fred and George nearest their father's end... Luna and Neville were somewhere inbetween the hub bub...
"Er... who wants to carve the turkey...?" Mr. Weasley glanced at the men around the table.
"Yes, who wants to hack into my face first?"
"Ooo I do!" Annie shouted and jumped out of her seat all too enthusiastically earning herself questioning glares from the rest of the table. She sat down and smoothed her skirt, "Er.. I mean I believe carving the turkey is a er uh.. valuble life skill to er well um have and it would be er interesting, yes interesting to uh learn. Right... yeah..."
Harry had to think, what had he done to get his face hacked in to by his girlfriend...? Let's see he had her steal a station wagon, fend off death eaters, go to hogwarts and pretend to be a student, not to mention the whole leaving without telling her thing and then her finding out... but then again he did reunite her with her estranged innocent ex supposedly dead convict...
You could hear the silver ware clatter against the plates, chewing was their backround music, and silence was their conversation. Glancing at the clock, they had been eating for only five minutes but it felt like eternity...
"Okay everybody! Out with it! I can't take it anymore, what are we all bloody hiding from eachother?!" Annie slamed her fist against the table. They all gave her looks that said she was insane, "Oh stop lying! Stop lying to eachother, stop lying to your friends, but stop lying to yourselves! IF we can't trust eachother, we've got nothing! Do you all realize what witholding the truth will do to your so called friendship? It will eat you alive until nothing, nothing is left...Now talk." Annie sat back down and leaned back in her chair with an expectant look on her face..."Well go on then..." she shooed them on with her arms...
"Harry and Annie are dating!" Ron jumped back as literally the entire table shouted back at him, "Well duh!"
"Tonks is pregnant!" Remus spoke, but not too happily...
"Remus! Fine have it your way, Remus is too bloody afraid that the kid will be a werewolf that he doesn't want me to have it!"
"It is his isn't it...?" Ron asked as he was firmly swatted upside the head by Hermione,
"Of course it's his you idiot! Tonks isn't some scarlett lady..."
"Oh and you would know all about those..." Ron smirked to himself..
"And what's that supposed to mean? Just because we had SEX..." The entire room stopped their bickering to stare at the now blushing girl, Hermione sank in her seat as she shot daggers at Ron, if looks could kill...
"Fred I can't do this anymore..." George began
"Do what?" For the first time in his life, Fred had no idea what George was thinking...
"Fred has always harbored a secret desire to..."
"George no!"
"To fix Hermione's hair..."
"And what's wrong with my hair?" Hermione subconciously touched her head...
"Nothing it's just..."
"Arthur you cannot keep doing this forever! There are two worlds, muggle and magic! They are not meant to co-mingle! The nonsense has to end! You can not just keep bewitching toasters forever!"
"Harry's leaving soon! Sorry it just slipped out!" Ginny covered her mouth in shock that she just let it slip.
"Ginny!" Ron, Harry and Hermione said at the same time...
"Neville, you have nice socks..."
"Why thank you Luna..." There was some peace left in the room...
"Do you feel left out because I, I feel left out..." Sirius asked Annie as he waved his bit of turkey on fork in the air...
"I do! I feel slightly left out... I say we just jump in, rip off the band aid..."
"Are we insane for wanting to be part of a fight that will end with someone in tears, somebody pinned up against a wall, and someone with a bloody nose. Personally I don't know what sounds like more fun..."
"Well if we are insane, than I don't want to be sane. Quick! Just say something to make them hate you..."
"Go Voldemort!" Sirius stood up hoping to be recognized and quickly sat back down as people stopped their arguments for a moment, but then returned quickly back to their own matters... Sirius huffed and looked down, in dissapointment of his efforts. "Brilliant plan, it worked beautifully."
"You gave it your best shot..." Annie had to supress a smirk as she patted Padfoot on the back. She pushed back their plates and both of them rested their feet on the table as they watched the scene before them until someone muttered incoherently,
"Monkey monkey underpants!" Fred launched himself at George as the two wrestled on the floor ...
"Oh over there! Big Gesturing, big gesturing!" Annie pointed towards the other end of the room where Mrs. Weasley was acting something out quite animatedly with her arms. The two spectators hurriedly turned their chairs in hopes to see what was going down...
"I thinks she's about to take flight over there." Sirius chided as Mrs. Weasley's arm waves got bigger and bigger with time.
"Did she just call him..." 'No,' Annie thought to herself,'Mrs. Weasley wouldn't...'
"A three headed hag with a big fat hairy arse? Yup..." Sirius and Annie were silent for a few moments, until they looked at eachother and couldn't supress laughter any longer. He slowly gazed around the room taking everything in,
"What are you doing?" Annie mimicked his gaze.
"Taking a mental image of all this. I mean who would want to forget monkey underpants and three headed hags?"
"Not I, point well taken. Oh don't forget Walter the turkey." Annie folded her arms across her chest as she felt the cool metal of her necklace press against her skin
"Oh yes, we musn't forget Walter the Great Turkeypants."
"This is what I'm saying.."
"I will not name my son Fabio Lupin, Remus, I just won't!" Tonks' hair turned a dangerous red as her skin paled to liquid paper white face.
"And why not? It's a respectable name!" The vein in Moony's forehead began to pop out with his rage...
"It sounds like a dirty stripper! My child will not be a dirty stripper!"
"And what if he wants to be a dirty stripper? I've heard the dirty stripper business is actually quite successful. " Sirius was quickly silenced by the glowers on his cousin and friend's faces.
"One day, I'm going to write a book... and in this book there will be mentions of Walter the Great Turkey, underpants with monkeys, three headed hags, and streussel." Annie smiled at the chaos in front of her.
"I'd buy it. But may I ask, why streussel?"
"Highly underrated, poor little streussel, how the world has wronged it so."
"By far, best Christmas ever.." Sirius joked.
"Oh by far." Suddenly all the glares of angry faces turned upon two heirs of the Black family...
"I think- this may be- an excellent time- to run..." Sirius spoke gravely as he turned towards his daughter.
A couple of bandages and half hearted apologies later...
"This is excellent pudding Molly really. Definitely your best." Arthur spooned more pudding into his mouth.
"Why thank you Arthur."
"I think we have learned something important today. Like all families, it's better to lie, cheat, and steal from eachother and lie about the lying, cheating, and stealing. Agreed?" Harry waived his spoon around diplomatically as he spoke.
"Agreed." The table responded back, mouthes muffled full of pudding.
"Okay, who farted?"George asked as he sniffed the air disapprovingly.
"Ron!" Everyone shouted in unison.
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Harry looked around his now bare room, he had packed it all, at least all that was important to him in his rucksack. There was nothing worse than looking from the outside in at the life you could have, the life you should have... especially when it was staring you right back in the face...
She watched him from the open door in the kitchen as he slowly made his way towards his two best friends who would stick with him to the end. Laughter clouded the air as Sirius and Remus told a story in the kitchen of their hay days at Hogwarts. But the laughter haunted the trio, like ice slowly freezing their every bone, like knives and daggers piercing their skin... almost taunting them to stay.
Blue eyes can be so kind, but the second they feel betrayed, or angry, or upset; they turn cold, permanently freezing the person they belong to until true happiness, more like their true love is brought back to them. This will change her, maybe not forever, but it will change her.
Harry took one last look at the house he had called home for such a short time, he had grown to like this old house, maybe someday he would return... He felt like he was stepping into his death.
It wasn't going to be an easy fight, at least he wasn't used to easy. But it would be worth it in the end when the wizards and witches of the world could finally call themselves free... He was leaving his family behind taking with him a brother and a sister, he hoped one day they could all be together without this wretchedness, but he could only do so if he left.
"You ready mate..." Ron slowly twisted the doorknob as Hermione took the redhead's other hand, carrying with her the small purse they would keep their essentials in.
Harry was in a daze as green met blue, almost competing with eachother. Her eyes gave him a feeling of disappointment that he wasn't going to say goodbye. But she smiled a bit for him, the corners of her mouth tiliting upward a bit instantly warming her gaze... She half heartedly put her hand up in a wave, but after a few seconds she turned away. She too had to fight, but it was quite a different fight from his, and she'd be damned if she failed.
"Let's go..." Harry's voice felt caught in his throat. The golden trio walked solemnly onto the front step and closed the door behind them, leaving the life they knew behind them.
"So where to boss..." Ron said with a bit of a smirk.
"Godric's Hollow, back to where it all began." Hermione and Ron apparated slightly before him, Harry placed on hand on the door as Annie placed her hand on the same spot, just on the other side. She closed her eyes as a single tear began to prickle her delicate cheeks, like pins trying to make her weep even more the tear burned. He took his hand off the door and apparated away, and she felt empty and wiped her lone tear that fell across her face.
"Goodbye Harry..."
All that he wrote
Annie solemnly and silently walked up the stairs to her room and carefully shut the door behind her, she didn't need the whole house to follow her to see what was wrong when they heard a door slam... She sat down on her bed and saw something out of place. On her pillow was lying Harry's favorite dress shirt folded up, the mimbulus mimbletonia Neville had given Harry, and an envelope labeled Blue...
She quickly opened the letter and stared in a gaze as she read it's contents, tears falling freely, staining the parchment it was written upon.
Dear Annie,
Someday I hope you understand why I had to leave and maybe you already do, but I know understanding doesn't make it hurt any less. Letting go has never been a strong suit for me, but I guess it shouldn't be. Because letting go for a short while reminds me how much I love your smile, and your laugh, and the way your hair unquestionably smells of peppermint.
So all I ask of you, is to remember me when your feeling happy, not when your sad. Don't allow sad thoughts to tarnish your memory of the time we've spent together. So when the sun rises in the morning, that is me saying, I love you. When the night wind comes and the moon light's the sky that is me wishing you a peaceful sleep. If the wind tossles your hair, that's me giving you a kiss. And when the day seems long and ruff, and there's nobody to talk to, think of my arms wrapping around you, that is my way of telling you everything will be alright.
And if you ever truly need me, all you have to do is ask. Think of me, and I'll be there. It may feel like I'm gone, but I'll never truly be gone. Think of the words of your favorite song, and you'll find me there.
And someday, maybe not soon, someday you may fall in love with someone else. And that's okay, because all I truly want is for you to be happy. But there will always be a part of me that wants you to be mine...
And when the westward wind smells of salt and sea, that is when I'm truly gone. The one thing I can promise, is that wherever I am, I will always be thinking of you.
I love you more than you can imagine,
Harry...
Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood may have been in separate places but they were reading the exact same thing...
(we hear Annie's voice narrating as Neville and Luna read silently)
Dear Fred, George, Neville, Luna, and Gin;
Let me just start by saying I have no bloody idea on how to start this letter so just bare with these brief awkward lines. I'm just going to come out and say it, get things out in the open, you know rip off the band aid, bring on the pain... okay now I'm getting carried away and I'm rambling on paper which shows true signs of insanity...
Here we go, Harry.. well not just Harry, rather Harry, Ron, and Hermione would like to start... an army. An army that's prepared to fight Voldemort when the time comes. And they've asked me to put it together while their off on a mission from Dumbledore. But the thing is, I can't do it alone. And that's where you all come in...
Now I may not be as smart as Hermione, or as strong as Harry, or as funny as Ron. But I have a good heart. Maybe it's not about one of us being strong, and smart, and strategic, and funny. Maybe it's about identifying our flaws and our strengths and working together to make those weaknesses into strenghths. We're all experts at something. But we can't expect to know everything and be amazing in every aspect of our lives.
If we band together, and we teach each other our different specialties, than maybe we can finally call ourselves strong. Think of us as separate, identical puzzles. But the pieces, they got mixed up somehow. So some of us have extra of the same piece while other's are in need of a piece. If we share our "puzzle pieces" than maybe one day we can become whole puzzles. Complete. Unwavering in our strength, and our bond of friendship. God that was cheesy, sorry guys...
You may ask, why? Why should I risk my life when I'll probably just die anyways. Yes, everybody does die eventually, we can't avoid that. And if you fight along side Harry, you may die. But don't you feel better, knowing that you'd be leaving this world doing everything you could to fight back. To fight what was wrong, to fight what was evil?
We're not fighting for honor, or fame, or even for our lives. We're fighting for love. And the knowledge that evil will never go away completely, but that we did everything we could to help stop it, at least for a short time. Pledge yourself with the hope, that your children, and your grandchildren, might be able to live a life not in fear, like we have, but in love.
Harry needs us, and for me that's enough of a reason to fight, and I hope it is for you all as well.
Love as always,
Annie...
Neville got up suddenly a rush of accomplishment and pride went through his body as he walked with a purpose down the hall of his gran's house...
Luna smiled and grabbed her bright yellow cloak throwing it over her shoulders as she prepared to apparate back to Grimmauld Place...
Annie slowly decended the stairs preparing to join whatever guests were left in the house. But she rammed directly into someone halfway down the stairs...
"Oh I'm sorry!" Sirius extended his hand to his daughter and pulled her up without any struggle at all. "I was just looking for you, and Harry, and Ron, and Hermione." he said as though he was crossing each person off a list in his head.
"Harry's gone, Ron and Hermione too..."
"What do you mean their gone?"
Annie smacked her forehead with her hand, "Ugh, Dumbledore left them something to do. I really shouldn't say anything, but you'll just want to know anyways. Horcruxes, their hunting down horcruxes."
"You mean a horcrux...?" Sirius looked at his teenage daughter quizzically, how she knew of the dark object was anyone's guess.
"No I mean horcruxes, six to be precise if you don't count Voldemort as one of them."
"So he's really gone...?"
"He's really gone?" Annie looked at the pain in Sirius's eyes, she just wished that everything could be different. She wondered what life would've been like if Harry had his parents and Annie had grown up with Sirius as her father figure. She just wondered what it would be like... "Have you ever, no nevermind it's silly..."
"No go ahead, have I ever what?" Sirius and Annie sat on the steps, him putting his arm around her protectively.
"Have you ever wondered, more like wished, that everything was different? You know, no death, no Azkaban, no war."
"I could be a brave man, a knowledgeable man and tell you that everything happens for a reason. But I would be lying if I didn't tell you that every day, I wish that everything was better, that all the problems that Harry, and you, and I have had could just disapear... Does that answer your question?" Sirius looked down at his daughter with kind eyes.
"Yeah I think so... Hey I'm going to go to bed..."
"And leave me to break it to Molly that her son is now galavanting through god knows where hunting down tiny pieces of Voldemorts soul?" Sirius gulped at the thought.
"Where's that Gryffindor courage?"
"It ran away, far.. far.. away..."
"Night.."
"Night love." Annie ascended the stairs as Sirius walked down them dreading his conversation with Molly that was about to insue.
She closed her door and put on the dress shirt Harry had left her, it smelt like Harry to her and that would have to do for now. She opened the drapes to the small window in her room and looked at the night's sky, the snow falling down and gracing the dreary street. She glanced up at the sky and saw one gleaming star and couldn't help but wish, "I wish everything was different."
Harry looked at the sky above the ruins of the Potter Cottage in Godrics Hollow. He saw one bright star as the snow clouded the rest of the sky. He sighed and couldn't help but wish, "I wish everything was different."
Sirius too looked out his window at the cool crisp sky, maybe Annie was right, maybe things could be different and he thought, "I wish everything was different."
Way Back Into Love
Time is a curious thing, a wise man once told us so. Time is effortless, and ticks on as though it has no care in the world. It is a loop of events and places that have no limits, and no end. Time is one continuous loop of ribbon that has no beginning and no end.
Wishes are similar to time. The imagination has no set limitations, you can dream up anything, you can desire everything, and if you wish you can truly change anything as long as you want it, desire it, and dream it enough. All you need is time...
So when we desire something so much that we would go back and do it all over again, time plays it's timeold (no pun intended) trick and redoes itself giving us a do over that we don't know we're recieving. Time is just hoping that by going back and adding a few wishes as variables, that things will work itself out and history will be rewritten.
Not to be confused with timetravel, as the desiree doesn't go back in time themselves, it's just time repeats itself giving it's inhabitants another whack at it. What I'm trying to say is, when three people wish for the exact same thing, at the exact same moment, and these three people have such a bond... well Time takes the hint and realizes, it's made a mistake, the loop rewinds itself taking the three out of their current world completely. They won't feel a thing, because they'll still exsist, just in their past selves and in their past's minds all Time is doing is simply moving backward, and then simply moving forward. Time After Time.
The END of Arms of the Angel, the beginning of something new...
Author's note: This is not the end of the story of Harry and Annie. As I said, time is simply going to rewind itself giving their past selves another shot at it. I think of the past, the present, and the future as ever going things. They never stop, because time never truly stops. So their pastselves will have no clue of their futures. Basically, we're going back to 1980 to see how things could pan out...
This may not make sense at the moment, but it will when I start writing it. I will post this in this same fic thread so the story will still be in the Arms of the Angel link, just with another story after it. After things are 'fixed...' we'll wind up where we are.