Sirius stared at the ceiling of his small, stuffy room at the Leaky Cauldron. He could still hear the singing and shouting from the bar downstairs.

It was Harry Potter Day. Witches and Wizards across the globe were celebrating on this warm, summers day. Sirius and his friends had, of course, joined the celebrations. After all, as Harry Potter was Sirius' father, he would never have dreamt about doing anything else.

The singing died down as the voice of Sirius' mother drifted up the stairs.

"Come on now, you don't want to wake the children."

"Oh come on Gin! Personally, I think you sent them to bed far too early!"

"Well that just shows how inconsiderate you can be."

"Me? Inconsiderate? Nah…"

Sirius grinned. He liked his Uncle Ron a lot, and though he never said it out loud he preferred him to Aunt Hermione. She was forever lecturing him on the neatness of his handwriting.

The bedroom door creaked open, and Sirius' three cousins, James, Will and Freya crept in.

James was eleven, the same age as Sirius, and both were due to start Hogwarts in September. Will was fifteen, in his 5th year and Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Freya was in her 7th and final year at Hogwarts, and was Head Girl. All three gathered around Sirius' bed, very much wide awake.

"Wow, today's been brilliant, too bad your Dad couldn't make it Sirius." Will Sighed.

"Still, the fun's not over yet. You two still have Hogwarts to look forward to now." Said Freya, pointing to James and Sirius.

"Yeah, I so can't wait!" Breathed James, falling back onto Sirius' pillow. "It's gonna be brilliant!"

"Hey Sirius, I wrote to Professor Lupin and asked if you can take you broom, and he agreed!"

"Why Sirius? Why not me?" James whined, before Sirius had a chance to speak.

"Because Sirius has got his father's talent, talent I haven't seen since Matty Wood."

"Isn't he the son of Oliver Wood, the England Keeper?"

"Sure is, little bro'."

"Oh! I know him!" Freya cut in. ""He was a year above me! He was so good looking…"

"Anyway," Said Will, loudly. What do you think Sirius? Want to try out for the Gryffindor team?"

"Well…I'd love to... It's just that…" Sirius hesitated.

"What?"

"I don't even know that I'm going to be in Gryffindor."

"Oh never mind that!" Will waved the thought away as though it were a fly. "You're the son of Harry Potter! Where else would you be?"

Sirius opened his mouth to speak but James jumped up suddenly.

"Mum's coming!"

The three scattered, leaving Sirius alone in his room. Then, there was a small "Pop" and Harry Potter was standing at the end of Sirius' bed.

"Dad!"

"Hey kiddo. Good day?"

"You bet! We've only just stopped celebrating!"

Harry Potter grinned, his green eyes flashed and he ran his fingers through his untidy black hair. Sirius noticed, with a slight shock, that he looked exhausted.

"Where've you been Dad?" Sirius whispered.

Harry sat down on the bed next to his son.

"You know I can't tell you that."

"Sirius sighed, Harry ruffled his equally black and untidy hair. Sirius giggled, and then remembered what he was going to say.

"Dad, Professor Lupin says I can take my broom to Hogwarts!"

"Hey that's great! You can try out for the Quidditch team!"

"Oh I can't wait! I want to go now!"

Harry laughed.

"Well, I was going to save these until the night before, but since you're so excited…"

Harry put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a long cloak and a piece of parchment.

"Er…Dad? What's that for?" Sirius pointed to the parchment. The cloak he knew was an invisibility cloak.

"That is The Marauders Map. It's a map of Hogwarts and it shows everyone who is in the castle at the time and exactly where they are. My Dad, your grandfather, and his friends wrote it."

Harry tapped the map with his wand and said clearly, " I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

At once, think ink lines appeared and began to join together, forming a perfect map of Hogwarts Castle. At the top, words had begun to form. Sirius leant in closer and read:

Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs,

Purveyors of aids to Magical Mischief-Makers,

Are proud to present:

The Marauders Map

"Who are…"

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs? The nicknames of my father and his friends. He was Prongs, Sirius was Padfoot, Professor Lupin was Moony and…and Pettigrew was Wormtail."

Sirius thought for a moment, and then asked his father, "Did you and your friends never try to recreate the Marauders?"

Harry blinked and stared at his young son. It suddenly struck him how like the first Sirius he was, even though there was no actual blood relation.

"You know, that's a brilliant idea. I can't believe I never thought of that. Well, actually I can, because for starters I never got the map 'till my third year…" Harry thought for a moment, and a certain trip into the Pensive came back to him. He grinned, jokily, and placed his wand on Sirius' left shoulder, then his right.

"I dub thee…Padfoot."

Miles away, the Headmaster of Hogwarts paced his study, waiting for his Wolfsbane Potion that would protect him from the approaching full moon.

"You mean it? You really mean it?"

Sirius sighed, and for the fifth time answered, "Yes. My Dad wants me to include my friends, and who better to start with than you? You are my best friend, after all."

James grinned, his light brown hair flying all over his face.

"Excellent. I'm going to love Hogwarts, I just know it."

Suddenly, a train rushed past and made them both jump.

"Boys! Get over here!"

Sirius and James caught up with Ginny Potter, dragging their trunks and owl cages behind them.

"Right, through the barrier, come on." Harry Potter guided Sirius onto Platform nine and three quarters, following James, Will, Freyer, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.

The scarlet form of the Hogwarts Express made Sirius gasp, he'd forgotten how beautiful it looked. For years he had followed with Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron to wave off Freyer and Will, but now, finally, he would take that trip to Hogwarts himself.

Ron and Will lifted all the trunks onto the train, then turned back to the group for farewells.

"Oh Sirius!" Ginny pulled him into a hug so tight he could hardly breathe. "Promise me you'll behave, and be careful."

"Mum, I'll be fine, I promise."

"Sirius?"

Sirius turned to his Dad. Harry ruffled his son's hair and grinned.

"Mind how you go, and be sure to put the map and cloak to good use." He winked, and added, "Padfoot."

Sirius was ushered onto the train, and the last words he heard his parents converse floated through the door.

"You gave him the map? Oh for heavens sake…"

"Relax, Gin, he's a sensible kid…"