Chapter 5 ~ Give Love a Chance
The morning of the Hogsmead trip was like any other morning, if any other morning entitled ditching your best friends so you could set them up on a date. Annie stood hidden in a secret passageway off the great hall, clutching the Marauders Map, which Remus had stolen from James' trunk while Annie was trying to prevent James from committing a double murder in the common room. She watched the dot labelled James Potter make his way down the Marble Staircase to the Entrance Hall. Something then caught her eye, the map showed Lily Evans was walking into the Entrance Hall and next to her there was a dot labelled Severus Snape. She just about leapt out of her hiding place to tell the git to leave her alone when James joined her.
Annie moved up the passageway hoping to come out at the top of the Marble Staircase so she could spy on them easier. She tapped the map with her wand and said, 'Mischief Managed," to wipe the map just before she stepped out in to corridor. Creeping towards the top of the staircase she looked down at the scene, Snape was storming away from Lily and James, and she took the fact that no one had been cursed as a good sign, she watched them walk towards the doors outside so she would know when she could go down the steps to enjoy Hogsmead.
"What are you doing?" Whispered a voice in her ear, she jumped as though she had received an electric shock, her wand in her hand as she spun around to face the owner of the voice.
"Wow, remind me not to do that again," Gideon said as Annie's wand came to a stop a hairs breathe away from his nose.
"Gideon? What are you doing here? We don't have a lesson today," Annie said lowering her wand.
"Meeting with Dumbledore. I was on my way out when I saw you spying on something. What were you spying on anyway?" Gideon asked trying to peer around the corner as well.
"Nothing, I was just planning on going to Hogsmead and seeing as you are insisting on scaring the hell out of me every time we meet you can buy me a butter beer," Annie told him as they started down the staircase together, Annie keeping an eye out for James and Lily.
"I guess that's fair, I don't really have anywhere to be right now so a drink would be nice. Shall we keep going or do you insist on just stopping at random intervals to look around corners and see who's on the other side?" Gideon asked, bemused by Annie's movements.
"Sorry, I'm trying to set up two of my friends and they can't see me here, otherwise the plan won't work," Annie told him. Once the coast was clear they set off down the path to the Gates and Hogsmead.
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"I had the best time ever today, we walked around the village and talked and just had so much fun. He was so sweet and I had to kiss him because he didn't even try, he has changed so much, he not an arrogant, bullying toe-rag anymore," Lily was telling Alice and Annie in their dormitory that night.
"Wow, seems like you two really hit it off today," Alice said with a knowing look.
"Yeah, I never knew James liked me liked me, I always thought it was because he wanted to add me to his long list," Lily said with a slightly dreamy look.
"He has never liked another girl how he likes you. You could have asked me that sooner, would have saved us a lot of screaming matches in the Common Room," Annie said as she looked at the Marauders Map.
"Speaking of liking people, what was with you and Gideon at the Three Broomsticks? You two looked pretty cosy snogging in the corner booth from what James and I saw," Lily said giving Annie a look.
"Annabelle Black, who do you think you are not telling me that you kissed my cousin?" Alice started ranting.
"You saw that?" Annie asked Lily, ignoring Alice completely as she continued ranting.
"Kind of hard not to miss. So are you two together now? What's going to happen with your training?" Lily asked.
"Gideon said he might get Fabian to fill in if Dumbledore doesn't allow him to train me if we are together. And before you say anything I really like him and I don't want to hear you disapproving about him," Annie said as Lily opens her mouth.
"I was not going to say anything, I was just going to ask you to get off my bed so I can sleep," Lily said, disgruntled.
"Oh right, sorry," Annie said getting off Lily's bed.
The girls wished each other goodnight after Annie got Alice to shut up and went to bed. Annie lay awake, reliving her date in Hogsmead. She and Gideon had just been joking around, then he just leaned in and kissed her. She felt a silly happiness at that fact; it wasn't just her having a crush on a boy but the boy liking her back as well. She thought about Gideon for hours, about his kind and sarcastic personality, his wicked sense of humour and ability to see the bright side in terrible situations. She fell asleep with a smile on her face.
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"What did you do?"
"What?" Annie asked confused and tired after being woken up from her nap on Sirius' bed, it had been a full moon the night before.
"With Lily. She went with me to Hogsmead and is being nice to me, she is never nice to me!" James said, close to panicking.
"Wow, calm down. I didn't do anything, she just released what an amazing guy you are," Annie replied, shaking herself from her sleep induced stupor. At first she was confused why he only started questioning it now but realised that it was the first day of holidays so he could question her as loud as he wanted.
"So you're saying she likes me for me?" James asked sounding both extremely excited and vulnerable at the same time.
"Yes you idiot! Now get in to bed before you collapse from exhaustion," Annie exclaimed taking in his ragged appearance.
"Thank you for being here for me," James said as he collapsed on his bed, fully clothed.
"I'm always there for my brothers if they need me," Annie told him before she left the dormitory, the door closing softly behind her.
A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry. Here is chapter 5 so please don't kill me for taking so long. I'm writing the chapters on my iPad so they are taking quiet long to finish. Thank you so much for reading. Review please, it will give me the motivation to get the chapters done faster. xoxo MAHP