Disclaimer: I own none of these characters or anything else to do with Harry Potter, they are all the creation of J.
Chapter 1 - Confiscated
Remus Lupin smiled. The folded piece of wrinkled parchment in his hands felt familiar. It was a long time since he'd held it and he quietly reminisced the people who he had once shared it's light-hearted shenanigans with. But he banished the thoughts, dwelling on sad memories never helped.
He tucked the parchment into his robes and headed for his bed chamber. As he walked, his mind replayed the evenings events...
*flashback*
Lupin had been heading for his office when a disturbance in the portraits along the passage had caught his attention. He stopped, listening to their grumbling complaints.
"Put that light out!"
"We're trying to sleep here!"
Curiosity aroused, Lupin turned and headed in the direction of the dull light showing at the end of the corridor. He heard familiar voices and signed, another confrontation between Harry and Snape. Nothing new.
Then he spotted the parchment in Snape's hand.
"Why you insolent little..."
"Professor...?"
Lupin interrupted Snape mid sentence, who turned to glower at him.
"Well, well. Out for a little walk in the moonlight, are we?" Snape sneered at him, affirming his pun had been intentional. Lupin bushed it aside. Ignoring the leering professor, he turned his attention to Harry.
"Harry? You all right?" It wasn't unusual for an argument between these two, but the fact that Harry was roaming the castle at this hour was worrying. Snape, however, seems to show no such concern, immediately jumping in to criticize Harry.
"That remains to be seen. I've just now confiscated a rather curious artefact from Mr. Potter. Take a look, Lupin. This is supposed to be your area of expertise."
Lupin took the parchment, which was displaying a rather unflattering caricature of Snape. He suppressed a grin as he remembered designing this particular feature himself. With a neutral expression fixed carefully on his face, he attempted to convincingly check the parchments contents.
"Clearly, it's full of dark magic." Typical Snape, always assuming the worst when it came to Harry. His calm expression threatened to betray him, but he managed to keep his tone casual as h replied.
"I seriously doubt that, Severus. It looks to me as if it merely insults anyone who tries to read it. I suspect it's a Zonko product."
He'd missed this old thing, it was nice to see it again after all this time. The thought of Snape locking it away or worse, destroying it, made him wince. He quickly added:
"Nevertheless, I shall pursue any hidden qualities it may possess. As you say, it's my area of expertise. Come, Harry."
Snape looked irritated at a lost opportunity to punish Harry, his expression slightly tightened in annoyance. However he dismissed the matter and, with a dramatic turn and flourish of his robes, disappeared down the corridor.
*flashback ends*
He had feigned anger with Harry for not turning in the map, but there was no power behind his words. Deep down he knew he wasn't really angry, it had been a front. After all, he was Harry's teacher, his superior, and showing favouritism towards him would not be a wise move.
As he prepared for bed, Lupin threw aside his robes and continued to his small bathroom, when the impact of landing slid the folded square of parchment from the concealment of the fabric. He picked it up and slipped into his night clothes, before settling onto his bed. Taking his wand from the nightstand, he pointed it at the parchment and spoke the phrase:
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good"
As the inky lines slowly formed intricate lettering , Lupin read aloud the words he knew by heart.
"Messrs Moody, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present the Marauder's Map". Carefully unfolding the flaps, he revealed a detailed picture of the whole of Hogwarts, with each person present in the castle accurately marked. It was so accurate, in fact, that the labels moved in accordance with their subject.
He watched as the footprints representing Professor Snape disappeared into the dungeons, and Harry's label arrived in the Gryffindor dorms. With a quiet chuckle, he refolded the parchment and tucked it into a narrow shelf on his nightstand, aiming his wand and clearing the pages with the words:
"Mischief Managed!"