Title: Opportunity

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter that privilege belongs to J K Rowling.

Summary: Cute little one-shot about how the marauders map got passed on.

Timing was everything. He knew he wouldn't get another shot at this. It was now or never. His parents wouldn't be home for another two hours at the earliest. He slowly opened his door keeping an ear out for any signs of life from the other inhabitants of the house. The coast was clear. He crept down the hallway, avoiding the squeaky floorboards he knew so well.

Down the stairs past his sister's room and into his dad's study. That's when the excitement kicked in. He wasn't allowed in here. If he was caught, who knew what the punishment would be? One thing was for sure though, this was too important to turn back. His future depended on him succeeding. He took a deep breath, controlled himself and walked across the room to his father's desk.

He thought about checking for an alarm spell that would be activated if he opened any of the draws. Then realised that even if he could identify it, he'd have no way of disarming it. Still, this was worth the risk. As the first draw silently pulled out he sighed in relief. 'Seems dad's not as smart as he thinks' he smirked to himself 'the big bad dark wizard catcher can't even protect his desk from an 11 year old'. Just as he was about to further congratulate himself on a job well done he heard footsteps approaching.

'Oh no!' he whispered furiously to himself. His parents must have come home early. The footsteps were getting closer and he had no time to get back upstairs. There was only one thing to do, the only thing any self-respecting troublemaker would do.

He hid under the desk.

The door flew open. He hardly dared to breath. "How dare you?!!" His mother screeched. His stomach sank. She was mad, really mad. "How dare you embarrass me like that?!" As he heard those words confusion set in. Those words didn't make sense, how had he embarrassed her? He was about to come out and face his mother when he heard another voice. "I'm sorry." Whispered so quietly he almost missed it. His father.

The elation that came with the realization that he hadn't been caught was quickly followed by dread. He was stuck in here listening to his parents fight. He hated it when they fought.

"I'm sorry too! I'm the one that has to work with these people. I'm the one who has to face them all tomorrow. I'm the one who's going to have to explain to everyone what the HELL YOU WERE THINKING!" This was not good. It was his grandmother who got the gold medal for the loudest voice, but when mum was mad she gave her some hefty competition.

"Look I said I was sorry but really I think you're over reacting". His father's voice had an impatient edge to it.

This was definitely not good.

"Over reacting? You punched him!"

"He deserved it!" The quiet anger in his dad's voice surprised him. He only ever heard that tone when he was talking about the evil wizards he had to catch.

"Of course he deserved it! He's Draco effing Malfoy! But you can't go around punching people, no matter how much they deserve it. Especially not in front of the people I work with. I've told them all that you're civilized, clearly I was wrong."

When she gave a small sigh he could tell that the fight had left her. "What did he say to upset you?"

After a few moments silence his father replied sadly "Nothing that needs repeating." Followed by a sigh, "He was just being Malfoy. Maybe I did, you know, over react." He said sheepishly "Just a little."

"Ya think?" But he could hear the smile in his mother's voice. "Oh well, at least I'll have a pleasant memory to keep me warm for when my co-workers shun me for having a lunatic as a husband."

He could hear his dad move towards his mum "Oh I don't know. I think they should be thanking me really. It would have been a very dull party without me." His mother let out a small giggle. His mother – a giggle!

After a few moments of unbearable silence in which he was sure he'd been discovered he snuck a peak to see what was happening, only to be branded with the worst sight imaginable… His parents were kissing! Kissing! If he listened closely enough he could even here them. This was hell on earth.

Thankfully it didn't last long.

"Mummy? I heard yelling" His heard his brothers voice from the door.

"I'm sorry sweetie we didn't mean to wake you. There's nothing to worry about though, your dad I were just having a bit of a loud discussion. How about we get you back to bed." The door closed as they all left and he was alone once again.

Saved by his little brother, could this get anymore humiliating?

He crawled out from his hiding spot. Dusted off his hands and made his way back to the door. He was just about to make the trek back to his room when he remembered why he'd snuck out in the first place.

He rushed back over to the desk and noticed that in his panic to hide he'd left the draw open. 'Thank god they hadn't noticed' he thought to himself. The first draw held nothing but old ink and quills, the next held a bunch of used parchment. It wasn't until he opened the last draw that he found what he had come for. He recognised it straight away and stood transfix to the spot.

He never actually thought he'd find it. He stretched out his hand and ran it over the old looking parchment. He knew that to the common observer it looked like rubbish but to him, it looked like the answer to his dreams. His potential was unlimited now.

He carefully took out the parchment, hid it under his pyjama top and quickly made his way back up the stairs, into his room. After getting back into bed he sat and stared at his treasure for what felt like hours. He couldn't wait to go to school now. He was one step closer to being the greatest prankster Hogwarts had ever seen and he had a lot to live up to. His uncle and his twin and been legendary and he'd been told that his grandfather was one of the ones responsible for what he held in his hands.

But he knew he would make them proud. With the marauders map to help him, James Potter was going to wreak havoc on his new school.

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