The Missing Marauders Map
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Harry Potter series (But I wish I did)
Summary: The Marauders have lost their Map.
"About bloody time," Sirius Black grumbled. He was sitting in the common room with his friends Remus Lupin and James Potter.
"There were a lot of parchments on that table," Peter Pettigrew retorted. "It took a while to find it."
"But you did get it, right, Wormtail?" Remus asked nervously.
"Yep, I did." Peter retorted, handing a piece of parchment to James.
"Prongs," Sirius said lazily,"would you care to do the honours?"
"I think we all should," James grinned.
The four fifth years began to pull out their wands when Remus hissed at them to put them away. The others glanced up. The common room was empty of everyone but them, except for another fifth year coming down the stairs from their dormitory.
"Hey guys," Frank Longbottom said. "What are you doing up so early?"
James looked at the others.
"We were just talking," he told Frank. "We didn't want to wake you up, so we came down here instead. Trust me; we'd still be in the dorm right now otherwise. I mean, it's Saturday! Anyway, what are you doing up?"
"Just going to the library to study for my O.W.L.s. I need to do well on the Divination final if I want to pass."
"Just make it up, mate." Sirius grinned. "No one will ever know the difference. Just make sure you don't start telling the examiner that they're going to kick the bucket, and don't put them in an unflattering light. They'll never know."
"Yeah, well, my Mum would figure it out." Frank told him. The others winced. Augusta Longbottom had a temper that could rival McGonagall's. "See you guys around," Frank said, and left the common room, a sheaf of parchments tucked under his arm. After he left, the boys all looked at each other.
"Let's go up to our dorm. Frank's gone, so we can lock the door and keep any unwanted visitors out," Peter suggested.
"Sounds good to me," Remus told him. The four of them went up the stairs. Once in their room they closed and locked the door. They turned to one another.
"Well, lets get on with it. Everyone remember the phrase?" Sirius asked the other three. They nodded, and the group put their wand tips on the parchment that was James had spread out on his bed.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," they said in unison, and looked at the parchment expectantly. Nothing happened.
"What the hell! Why isn't it working? Padfoot, you said this thing was finished properly!" James yelled.
"It is! Moony and I tested it out on a map of the tower, and it worked fine! And we did everything the same, so it should be working!"
"He's right," Remus confirmed, "and we did do it the exact same, at the same time."
"Wormtail, are you sure that you grabbed the right parchment?" James asked.
"I think so, but..."
"But what?" Sirius asked suspiciously.
"There were alot of parchments on that table. I could have grabbed the wrong one by mistake, since I haven't seen too much of the real thing."
"Anyone could have made the same mistake, Wormtail," Remus told him, already turning toward the table. "We'll just get the real deal, and... BLOODY HELL!"
"Moony, what is it?" James was concerned. Remus never cursed, unless it was something really big. The guy had even cut his hand open with a knife in Potions, and the worst thing he said had been 'crap'.
"THE TABLE'S BLANK!"
"Oh, shit."
"Wormtail, I thought you said that there were a ton of parchments here," Sirius said, worried.
"There were, they were right there, not even ten minutes ago!"
"Yeah," James said slowly, "there were. Before Frank came down." He let that sink in before continuing. "He had a bunch of parchments under his arm. Guys, Frank took the Map!"
"Shit!" Sirius swore. "If he writes on it, all the spells will be cancelled, and we'll have to start all over again, from the very beginning!"
"And that would take a while to do, you guys spent six months getting all the spell together, mixing the inks, and Wormtail and I would have to redraw the Map from memory." James' voice trailed off.
"My fingers only just got back to normal two weeks ago, after all that drawing. Why did we have to burn the rough drafts again, Moony?" Peter asked.
"Because if anyone got a hold of them, they would have gone to McGonagall, and then we would be in detention until our grandkids were here at Hogwarts." Remus looked at the others. "We have got to get that Map back"
So, what do you think? Am I wasting my time with this, or is it actually good. I hope I can get the next chapter up soon :)
