Hi, so this story follows four generation of Hogwarts; Marauders, Fred and George, the trio and then Rose and Scorpius. It's just a four-shot kind of thing that came to my head.
This is the first part, I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or any of the characters, I just love Harry Potter.
The Book for the Future: First
3rd May, 1979
James Potter was not usually the type to run into a dorm, clutching a book, looking as excited as his best friend, book-obsessed Remus did.
Peter Pettigrew ran through the door a few steps behind his two best friends, still completely confused as to why James and Remus had leapt up from the library and ran all the way back to Gryffindor tower without a word to him.
"Oh dear." Sirius sighed audibly, sitting up from his bed and raising his eyebrows at his friends. "What's happened?"
"You tell him." Lupin said excitedly, smiling widely before nudging James in the ribs.
The dark haired, scruffy-looking boy nodded, before stepping forward proudly.
"Well, do you remember that we were trying to think of a way to extend our legacy after we've left school-"
"Now old Filchy's nicked the map, yeah." Sirius nodded, looking at his friend expectantly.
"Well, me and Moony had an idea-"
"I-I thought we weren't going to use those nicknames anymore?" Peter stammered, "So Severus won't bring up Remus' problems-"
"Can you see Snivellus around, Wormy? No? Then I don't think we need to worry." Sirius replied, looking bored and without even glancing at the smaller boy. Peter nodded, before sitting down on his bed quietly and looking up at James and Remus.
"Anyway," James huffed, annoyed at being interrupted. "Remus and I just had the best idea." He paused for a moment, watching as Sirius leant forward in suspense. "We're going to write a book."
"What?" Sirius leant back again, looking thoroughly unimpressed.
"We're going to write a book! Our hopes and fears for the future-" Remus began.
"Lame!" Sirius yawned.
"For someone to find in a few years! So that when we're hugely successful and famous-"
"Speak for yourself, head boy." Sirius interjected.
"-Someone will find it and remember us!" James ignored his best friend and continued. "Maybe it'll go on the wall as some sort of artefact-"
"What, like that piece of cloth on the fourth floor that was supposedly from Merlin's cloak?" Sirius sarcastically commented.
"Exactly! Then no one will forget us, will they?" Remus told Sirius, folding his arms as if offended that his idea had already been so ridiculed. He thought it was far better than Sirius' idea to carve their names into the fireplace; at least this wasn't vandalism.
"I guess not." Sirius stood up. "Is this the book then?" he asked, taking the book from Potter's hands.
It was nothing special, but then again James and Remus had never exactly claimed that it was. It was just a red, hardback book with hundreds of gold-leafed empty pages.
"It's huge, though." Sirius remarked. "We'll never fill this; I don't have many thoughts."
James nodded, his eyes wide as he saw the flaw in his brilliant idea. Remus even sat down, biting his nails as he tried to think of a solution. Sirius didn't think the two of them had even thought this much about writing the Marauders Map; they must have been very excited about the idea.
Peter watched as his three friends sat, looking around the room quietly and trying to think. He opened his mouth, as a suggestion came to his own mind. "We could rip some of the pages out?"
"No." Sirius replied simply, again not even turning around.
Suddenly James stood up straighter, smiling widely. "I've got it."
"Really?" Remus asked.
"Yes. We don't have to be the only ones who write in it-"
"No. I know you share everything with Lily but-" Sirius shook his head.
"Not Lily!" James replied, before looking thoughtful, as if now considering asking Lily to be a part of the gang. "No, what I meant was; our children could write in it."
The other three boys, or at least the other two since Peter didn't really seem to react, looked at each other uncertainly.
"No, listen." James continued. "We could tell our kids where it's hidden, and they could write in it. And then their kids could write in it, and then-"
"Yeah, we get it." Sirius nodded. "The only flaw is that I don't want kids-"
"And I shouldn't exactly breed, should I?" Lupin said.
"And no one's going to have a child with Wormy, are they?" Sirius joked.
Ignoring Peter's offended expression, James spoke again. He wasn't going to let this go, and the other three knew it. "You will. You'll all have children and this book will pass down for generations. Our great-great-great grandchildren could read it! And then, when we've all completely died out, the book can go on the wall. It won't just be us; it'll be our entire legacy!"
Sirius then nodded approvingly, recognising the shining in James' eyes that meant he really wanted this.
"Let's write then." Sirius smiled. Remus and James high-fived, before Remus turned and scrabbled in his trunk for a quill.
"So, as always, 'Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs present'…What are we going to call it?"
"The book?" James proposed.
"Not special enough." Sirius replied.
"The Marauder generation-to-generation book?" Pettigrew suggested.
Sirius pulled a face. "Too special."
"How about…" Remus leant over the book again, which was placed on his knee.
James sat down on the floor next to him and hovered over his shoulder, before reading when Lupin leant back. "'Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs present The Book for the Future.' Nice." He nodded.
"Great." Sirius smiled approvingly, finally sitting next to the two of them and looking at the first page of the book. Lupin's writing swirled over the page, making the whole thing suddenly look very important. "Now what?"
"Wait one second." Remus put his hand up, making Sirius fall into silence, as he wrote again.
"'This book is to be added to by generations of marauders." Sirius read over his shoulder. "Great, you've written rules in the bloody book-"
"Sometimes things need rules." James shrugged. Sirius' eyes narrowed jokily; it was times like this that he wished James hadn't become head boy and had stayed as immature as he was before.
"Now if everyone writes a hope for the future, a fear, and a message for whoever's reading, that could be good." Remus wasn't suggesting this time, and turned the page and wrote his full name across the top of the page. "So…"
As he wrote, James and Sirius smiled at each other over the top of his head, laughing a little at his expression as he intently scrawled on the page.
Minutes later, Lupin passed the book to James with the quill.
"Can I read what you put, or-?"
"Yeah." Lupin nodded. "You know all my hopes and fears anyway."
"That's true." James smiled supportively, before looking down at the page in front of him. He rather liked reading this book; he could already imagine children in the future reading it excitedly. "'Hope: I hope that one day I'll be able to help other children who are bitten by werewolves or that I'll be able to invent a solution that stops the effects taking place.'"
"So basically you want to end the existence of werewolves?" Sirius asked, for once not being sarcastic.
"Yeah, that would be nice." Lupin laughed.
"'Fear: I fear that being a werewolf will hinder my future. Message: If you're reading this, and you're my child, then you've proved my fear could be conquered.' Oh man, do I have to try and follow that?" James whined, before picking up the quill and writing his own name. His writing wasn't as neat as Remus'; it still looked as childish as it had back in first year.
He wrote the word Hope, before staring down at the page. What did he hope for, he wondered. Biting his lip, he wrote the first answer that appeared in his head. To change the world.
Sirius leant over his shoulder and watched, smiling to himself at just how James Potter-ish his hope for the future was. Then he watched as his best friend wrote down his fear and message, and it dawned on him that his best friend was pretty much preserving his memory on paper.
Fear: To lose the loyalty of my friends, on which I know I'm pretty reliant.
Message: I do hope my child is reading this, and I hope that you're happy. And that you're reading this instead of your homework, just like I would be. I won't tell you off, I promise. Oh, and I hope you're in Gryffindor as well; if you're not then Lily cheated on me.
James laughed to himself, before looking up. "Peter, do you want to write?"
"Yes." Peter Pettigrew replied, scurrying towards his three friends who he had been watching silently.
He took a surprisingly short time, Remus thought. He understood why when Sirius read out his entry.
"Hope: to be happy, Fear: to die, Message: Hello. Wow Peter, that's fascinating."
"I-I didn't know what to put, really." Peter replied honestly, sitting on the floor opposite the little line the other three had formed.
"Your turn, Padfoot." James commanded, pulling the quill from Peter's hand and passing it to Sirius.
"Right, ok." Sirius replied, before leaning over the book.
He started with the easy bit, and wrote his own name. It wasn't as easy for him as some might think, though; he hated writing his own surname for all the hatred it threw at him.
"Can I write that I hope to sleep with one hundred girls?" He asked, sitting up and laughing at his own joke.
Remus looked shocked as James laughed. "No, you can't! You have to write something-"
"Meaningful. Ok, I get it." Sirius nodded, writing on the paper without thinking too much.
"What did you put?" Remus asked suspiciously minutes later when Sirius leant back from the book and smiled mischievously. He pulled the book in front of him and read it to himself, before laughing and handing it to James.
Hope: I hope I never lose my friends.
Fear: Well, to be honest, I'm pretty scared of this Voldemort guy people keep mentioning.
Message: Well firstly, you probably don't know who this Voldy guy is. So I'll be informative; Voldemort's an ass. And I doubt I really need to fear him; I was just filling the space. I'm fearless. OH, and if my child's reading this; you were a mistake.
Peter watched as James laughed at the book, and wondered what had been written. He didn't find out though, because James shut the book and stood up before Peter had a chance.
"We're going to be legends!" James stated excitedly.
"Now we just need to think of somewhere to hide it." Remus pointed out.
Sirius shrugged. "Midnight trip to the common room tonight, anyone?"
James nodded, realising he was agreeing to breaking the rules but not caring. Because he was trying to cram in all the memories he had with his friends at Hogwarts before he was forced to grow up.
He would be the happiest man alive if, when he was old and senile, the only memories he really had were those of his best friends.