So The Story Goes
You were in your first year: young, carefree, and innocent—more innocent, at least, than you would be in the years to come. It was in Filch's office that you found the drawer and couldn't help but investigate.
Your twin set off a Dungbomb in the corridors as a diversion. You opened the drawer hastily, scooped the lot into his arms, and ran, cackling, out of the office.
-
"You lost the map?" you said in disbelief, gaping, open-mouthed, at Wormtail as your friends glanced nervously between you.
"I… well, I didn't mean to, but Filch was hanging around, and…" He was nervous, you could see, so you relaxed slightly, not wanting to cause a friend too much discomfort.
You were wondering how to express empathy and anger simultaneously when Prongs cut in, wand out; it was only then that you realized you were gripping yours tightly. "It doesn't matter, Padfoot—"
"Prongs, are you—?"
"Padfoot," he said firmly, "it's almost the end of the year. What are we supposed to do with it after we graduate? Give it to Regulus?"
You quieted immediately at the thought and pocketed your wand. "If there's ever another worthy group of marauders in this school," Moony added, "they'll find it."
You forced yourself to believe him and finally did fifteen years later.
-
By the time you reached the tower, George had already busied himself flirting with Alicia Spinnet, a reserve Chaser for the Gryffindor team, so you smirked in his direction and hurried off to your dormitory. It was after hours, so no one but your brother saw you; in your dormitory, everyone was asleep, even Lee, who'd promised to wait up. You laughed silently, assuming correctly that he'd fallen asleep from the boredom of it all, and emptied your arms onto your bed, casting Muffliato just to be safe.
The majority was fairly straightforward, for Filch's idea of "dangerous" was closer to "anything disallowed". Dumgbombs, Zonko's gags… you grew fairly bored quickly until your eyes settled on a rather promising-looking sheaf of parchment.
When George finally burst into the dormitory, looking oddly pleased with himself, you said simply, "This one looks interesting."
-
For your sake, they put the Forest on the map. They had wanted initially to include Hogsmeade before the problem of your furry little problem arose into the conversation, and it was Sirius, surprisingly, who came to your defense, insisting that you be given utmost priority.
"We don't have time for both," Peter bleated feebly.
"Exactly," said Sirius, shooting you a look. "That's why we're putting the Forbidden Forest on it instead."
Peter raised no more objections, and the rest of the planning went quite smoothly. James would do the drawing, Sirius the rough sketch, Peter the safekeeping. And you… with a bit of charm help from Lily Evans, you sealed all your voices within the parchment.
-
Curiously, George poked at the parchment with his wand. Nothing happened.
"Don't be an idiot, you've obviously got to say some sort of keyword," you told him, laughing. "Open up."
And the words began to blossom.
-
You were awed from the start at the charm Lupin put on the Map, awed probably because you knew you could never perform such immensely complex magic. After all, you only managed to scrape by in most subjects with the help of your friends, especially Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts. But this… this was far more than you'd ever learn in a Charms classroom, even though it was your best subject.
You felt somewhat useless, your only job to protect it, so you piped up with the suggestion that their voices be able to identify anyone who was trying unsuccessfully to use it and react according to how well his or her personality would be liked. It was one of your finer moments, and you reveled in the enthusiastic support of Potter and Black.
The Map was completed before you realized it had been thought of.
-
Half an hour later, you were both exhausted and fully ready to give up, but you promised each other to keep working on it in the morning. You crashed on your four-poster and fell asleep instantly, dreaming to the rhythm of the comments the parchment had spouted.
George cracked it a few days later—you forgave him afterward for interrupting your chat with Angelina Johnson to tell you. He grinned a prankster's grin before tapping the parchment and declaring, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."
From that moment on, you fully respected Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs.
-
It was Sirius's project from the start, but you would be lying if you denied any significant part in it. Remus devised some story about the two of you catching a rather nasty bout of dragon pox, using prefect status to your advantage, and you pored over it night and day in your dormitory, empty of all but you Marauders.
It took a week but was worth the effort. After all, as Peter joked to you one day, you needed some way to teach Lily and your children all the secret passages out of the school one day.
Funny how the story goes.
-
A/N: Not my best at all, but I at least hope you caught the way Sirius called the Marauders by their nicknames and Peter by their surnames; that's an idea I really like and want to keep consistent throughout my Marauder stories posted on here.
I hope you liked it! Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated.