DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT ANNELISE BLACK AND JAMIE McKINNON.

CHAPTER FOUR

SPRING 1978- NIGHT AFTER GRADUATION

Annelise sat in the common room of her Head Girl dorm with Sirius, James and Lily. Her trunk was packed, her room bare and she was finally ready to leave her old school behind. Tonight was going to be a night to remember in her life. Being inducted into the Order of the Phoenix was quite possibly one of the most important moments in her young life. This was the night when she would become a recognized oppose to Voldemort, this was when she would truly become an adult and most importantly this was when she would become accountable to people other than herself.

All four people remained fairly quiet as Annelise and Sirius sent the luggage through the floo system. When Annelise turned around, now dressed in black pants and a red blouse for her first Order meeting, she saw that Lily had arranged a display on the coffee table for her. A cake sat in the center with the knife and serving plates beside it. A stack of two wrapped presents were next and Annelise grinned when she saw what her friends had done.

"You didn't have to get me anything," she smiled.

Lily shushed her, "Of course we did! You only graduate from Hogwarts once."

Sirius said, "Well come on then. We don't have all night. Open them already!"

"Hold your horses Sirius," Lily said as she picked up the first present.

Glancing at the card she saw that the first was from Lily and James. It was a beautiful gold locket that when opened showed a slideshow of holographic, moving photos of herself and the Marauders through their Hogwarts years and a few of Lily and James' wedding as well. Annelise stared in awe at the tiny moving figures in the projected photos and then hugged both Lily and James tightly.

"It's gorgeous! Thank you so much! I absolutely love it!" Annelise gushed.

Sirius added, "Well it's not as awesome as my gift so hurry up and open mine."

Annelise took the next gift and opened it to find a small, jewel encrusted mirror with sapphires and rubies in the shape of a dragonfly on the lid. She opened it up to see that a modified Black Family Tree was engraved on a gold plate with everyone blasted off of it except for Sirius, Annelise, Andromeda Tonks and her new husband and young daughter, Dora, as well as their deceased Uncle whom had always supported their decisions.

"Sirius it's..." she started.

"That's not all," Sirius said, "Look, if you pull the plate forward there's a mirror. I connected it to the two way mirrors that James and I have so no matter where you are you can always find me."

Annelise kissed Sirius on the cheek, "You're the best big brother in the world."

Sirius smirked, "Yea I know."

Annelise slipped the compact mirror into her pocket and then asked Sirius to fasten the locket around her neck. It was time for them to leave. The Order meeting would be starting soon and Jamie would be waiting for her. She was getting slightly nervous. Lily squeezed her arm.

"Well, take a look around Anna," Lily said, "This is the last time you'll be in the Head Dorms."

Annelise replied sadly, "I can't believe this is all over."

Lily shook her head, "Things are just beginning."

Annelise nodded thoughtfully, "Yes, I suppose you're right."

Sirius, Lily and James went through the floo and Annelise stepped into the fireplace after them. Throwing down her handful of floo powder she called out her location and took one last look at Hogwarts before disappearing into the flames and rematerializing at the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. She stepped out of the fireplace and wiped off the soot that had lightly dusted her clothing. She could hear noise coming from the kitchen, where the meeting was going to be taking place.

Annelise headed towards the door and as she reached for the kitchen door, someone walked through and crashed into her. The door swung shut behind them and Annelise fell backwards. She didn't even register who she had crashed into as he tried to grab her to stop her fall and ended up toppling over on top of her, pinning her to the ground. Annelise opened her eyes and realized the she was practically nose to nose with the man that had not spoken to her in almost a year now. He stared at her for a moment before clearing his throat and moving off of her so that they could both get up. Neither one said anything as the tension between them was so brutally thick that even Sirius couldn't have cut through it with an awkward and entirely inappropriate innuendo regarding Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy.

"Hi," Annelise said awkwardly.

"Hi," he replied, shifting from foot to foot, "Sorry about that."

Annelise shook her head, "It was my fault."

An uncomfortable silence fell over them until Remus once again broke in, "I got you something... for your graduation."

"You didn't have to do that," Annelise said.

Remus pulled out a small box from his pocket, "Here. Congratulations."

Annelise pulled off the ribbon and flipped open the lid of the box slowly. Sitting on the Gryffindor red box was a brown, leather banded watch. The head of the watch was different than that of a regular watch. It had five hands on the watch, each with one of her friends' faces- Lily, James, Sirius, Peter and lastly Remus. There were ten different options and Annelise examined each one. The first was "home", followed by "work", "order business", "headquarters", "Hogwarts", "running errands", "Grimmauld Place", "Mortal Peril", "St. Mungo's" and lastly "Dead". She looked at the tiny moving hands which were placed on the headquarters option. Remus looked at her anxiously.

Annelise looked up at him, "It's perfect."

Remus sighed with relief, "I didn't come up with the charm myself. Molly Weasley helped me out with it. If you want to add anyone to the watch you just tap their temple lightly with your wand and then tap the watch and say "Adora Tracus". I wasn't really sure who to add to it. I know that you are quite close with Jamie McKinnon but I couldn't get in touch with him so I suppose you can add him when..."

Annelise went on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek lightly, "I love it. It was extremely thoughtful of you. I couldn't ask for a better friend."

Remus snorted, "I've hardly been a friend to you lately."

Annelise shook her head, "I... I think I should apologize to you Remus. What happened at the wedding was my fault and I can't say that I regret it but I don't want anything to jeopardize our friendship and if you are really that strongly opposed to... us, then I think we should just forget it ever happened."

"I don't want to forget about it," Remus said, "I just... Annelise there is so much you don't understand- so much that I don't want to burden you with."

"Then explain it to me. Tell me. Make me understand," she pleaded.

"Annelise, you deserve a much better man than me," Remus said.

It was Annelise' turn to snort, "You do realise that I am a Black right?"

"You deserve someone who can take care of you, Anna. I can't do that. I can barely hold down a job. I'm too poor and too dangerous."

"Too dangerous? Are you forgetting that I grew up with the Cruciatus Crazy Aunt Bella?" Annelise asked.

Remus shook his head, "I can't burden you with my lycanthropy. You would be an outcast if we were together. You would be shunned and with the rise of You Know Who things would be even worse for you. You're already marked as a blood traitor. You hardly need to add werewolf lover to that list."

Annelise cut in, "How many times do I have to say that I don't care if you are a werewolf before it finally sinks in? I know what it would mean to be with you! I don't care if society is crooked! I love you for God's sake! Money and status don't matter to me."

They both froze as they realized what Annelise had just said. She bit her lip and glanced up into his stormy eyes. They had softened considerably as he closed his eyelids and heaved a sigh. When his eyes opened they looked far too sad for Annelise's liking.

"There can never be anything between us Anna," he said quietly, "You need to except that and move on."

With that he turned back and went through the kitchen door. Annelise followed a moment later and the meeting began promptly. Annelise, Jamie and a few of their classmates were inducted into the Order during a small ceremony. White light protruded from Dumbledore's wand as he officiated the ceremony and wrapped itself around their wands and forearms, emblazoning a golden phoenix outline on their arms. In less than ten minutes, five new members had pledged their allegiance to the Order and were now entering the war against Voldemort. Remus looked distraught as Annelise swore her allegiance, but she couldn't bring herself to even look at him. She had just told him she loved him- even if it had just slipped out and he hadn't really even acknowledged that.

The meeting ended an hour later. The other members had congratulated her and Anna had even struck up conversations with Molly and Andromeda and was introduced to countless others. Sirius seemed to have smoothed things over with Marlene for the fifth time since he had started to fancy her and Annelise wouldn't have been surprised if they started going out again.

Anna pulled Jamie aside and performed the charm that Remus had told her about. She added him to her clever little watch and smiled as his hand moved to "Headquarters" as well. Peter, who had arrived late for the meeting, had also left quite quickly and Annelise noticed that his hand was spinning uncontrollably around the face of the clock before finally settling on "Work". She quirked an eyebrow. It was strange. Since when did Peter have a job outside of the Order?