Disclaimer - Meh... y'all know it's not mine.

Chapter 56

March was anything but a meek lamb as it rolled, or more like barreled, into April. The weather was so bad that, for once, Quidditch practice had been canceled. With the unexpected free evening, the guys grabbed the invisibility cloak and set out to finish up the Marauder's Map. They stopped by the library to confirm their last minute changes to the spell they were using. Since they weren't yet using the cloak, Sirius borrowed it to slip into the restricted section.

Mrs. Potter had gotten back to him about occlumency. It was a branch of magic used to guard one's mind against outside intrusion – specifically, to counter legilimency. Sirius wanted to see if he could find a book that taught how to practice occlumency or maybe the theory behind it. He hadn't been able to find anything useful in the regular section of the library.

After thirty minutes or so, Sirius heard a whispered call, "Sirius!" He took note of the title of the book he was reading and then hurried back out of the restricted section, removing the cloak as he joined the others.

Next, they headed to the dungeons. Once inside the classroom they were using, they magically sealed the door and put a silencing charm on it.

"Okay," Remus said. "The potion looks perfect. We just need to add the… you know."

"Rock and water?" Sirius chuckled.

The binding spell was high level magic. It was made to bind something to another object that changed over time – usually something living. Two of the ingredients for the binding required the flesh and blood of the object to which something was being bound. This had made Remus and James nervous, as they thought that pushed the spell into the dark side of magic. But they justified that, since they were binding to the castle, and it didn't really have flesh or blood, they weren't hurting anything. Modifying the potion and spell slightly to fit an inanimate object, they used the rock for flesh and water for blood. They also had to mark the castle with a runic symbol at the four points of the compass. Then they had to gather pieces of the castle, they figured chips of the stone walls would do, for the points farthest from the center. They also took a splinter of wood from the headmaster's chair that sat in the Great Hall. The potion required something from the heart of the castle and that was the closest they could figure it to be. The Great Hall was where most of the school events took place. Everyone had to enter the Great Hall at some point or other to eat. And they chose the Headmaster's chair because he kept the school running and organized.

"Now lay the map on the floor," Remus instructed. The four Marauders stood, surrounding the map, while Remus recited an incantation which roughly translated was "map bind to castle." It was such a stupid incantation that Sirius and James snickered every time they heard it. And he poured the potion over the map.

At first nothing happened, but then a breeze swept through the room, making a sucking noise as it intensified over the map. Light was also drawn to the spot where the map rested on the floor. It culminated in a bright flash that made each of the guys shield their eyes. Then it was over.

They looked at the ground and didn't see anything – including the map. Remus knelt down and ran his hand over the ground. As he did a thick layer of dirt pushed aside to reveal that the map had simply been buried by the debris that seemed to come from nowhere. He picked up the map by its corner and shook it slightly to free it from more dirt and dust. He laid it on a nearby desk and looked up at the others. They gathered around the desk and James nodded at Remus, who opened it.

Sirius let out a long whistle. The map was perfect. They quickly noticed that it had even filled in a few rooms and corridors they had missed. Where there used to be a circle marked "statue," there was now a perfect tiny drawing of the statue.

"Excellent!" Sirius said in an awed whisper.

Peter's eyes moved quickly around the map, taking in the things that they had missed or mislabeled. "Look at that," he'd say every once in a while as he'd catch something new.

"Just one more spell to go," James said, grinning.

Remus nodded. He'd been researching how the personalities of the people in portraits stayed true to who they represented. They wanted to add a bit of themselves to the map for future fun-seekers. "It's actually a pretty simple spell - relatively. I'll be ready by next week."

"Fantastic!" James said excitedly. "So who's up for a bit of practice?"

Peter groaned. By October, all four Marauders were able to cast non-verbal spells with regularity. Peter's occasionally missed their mark, but for the most part, he was right on with the others. They had gotten so good at it that they'd started dueling with non-verbal spells. Their private study sessions were the only times they practiced that freely. They were smart enough to know that using non-verbal spells in public or at the Dueling Club, would lead to unwanted attention. They only did them when there was enough other magic flying that they were pretty well guaranteed not to get caught. For example, James would hex Snivellus with a verbal spell and Sirius would very subtly compound it with a non-verbal, though they didn't do this often, as it gave the appearance that James had erratic control of his magic.

By the beginning of March, James, Sirius and Remus could consistently cast a simple wand-less spell, though it still took a great deal of energy and concentration. They were a little nervous about the jump from a simple spell to the one required for transforming into their animal form, but they decided not to worry about that yet. Remus had figured out that each of them had to focus on drawing in energy in a different way – for James, it was Quidditch; for Remus it was like looking through a library and focusing on that one book he wanted. Sirius had flat out refused to share what he'd imagined, which, of course, made James intensely curious. He would spring the question on him at odd moments, hoping to get Sirius to accidentally say what it was. Unfortunately, the more he did this, the more ready Sirius was with a fake answer.

"Don't worry. You'll get it, Peter," Remus reassured him.

"I don't know. I just don't know what to imagine," Peter whined.

"Have you tried food?" Sirius said, half under his breath.

Peter gave him a scathing look, then mumbled, "Yes."

"What about… What about exploring the castle?" James suggested. "You're really good at that and it gives you control and a destination."

Peter looked at him skeptically, but decided to give it a go. He imagined himself walking down a corridor in the castle. He took in every detail and knew immediately where he was… now to plan a destination. The kitchens seemed as good a place to end up as any… No. The Trophy Room. With each step he took toward his destination, he felt power draw to him from the walls. He concentrated harder, not wanting to get distracted by the new sensation of power. He approached the door to the Trophy Room and entered. He looked at all the different trophies and plaques until he found the one he wanted. It didn't exist in reality, but in his mind, there was a trophy with his name on it. Accio. The trophy flew to his outstretched hand. Looking down, he saw that the trophy had turned into a pillow. It was then he became aware of the whooping going on around him. He looked up and his friends were around him, clapping and laughing and congratulating him. Peter grinned with pride and held up the pillow in triumph.

"That calls for a celebration!" James declared. "To the kitchens!"

Sirius lifted the spell off the door of the classroom and then all four crowded under the invisibility cloak and headed for the kitchen – the map safely tucked away in James' robes.

"So what do you visualize?" James nudged Sirius.

"Rainbows and ponies," Sirius deadpanned.

When the guys arrived back at their common room, there were a surprising number of people still awake – most of them older students. End-of-year exams were looming again and the tension was beginning to build, along with the frantic late-night studying.

Lily, Gillette and Stacey were occupying the Marauders' usual places, so they joined the girls around the fireplace, with James and Peter sitting on the floor.

"And what are you lovely ladies up to this evening?" Sirius asked cheerily.

"Gossiping, of course," Stacey replied.

"Oo. Anything good?"

"Well, Wendy is seeing Thomas. Katy caught Ben with Bree. Oh, and Lily broke up with Hayden." Gillette winked at Sirius.

James' head snapped up and he turned to look at Lily. "And why's that?"

"None of your business," Lily said coolly. "By the way, Remus," Lily said shyly. "I never did thank you. You know… for talking with me."

Remus smiled. "You're welcome."

Just then, Rodney walked by and put a note up on the notice board.

"Whatcha got there, Rodney?" James asked.

"Hogsmeade," he answered back tiredly.

"Evans?" James asked with a mischievous grin.

"No," she answered, without bothering to look at James. She stood up and gave the girls hugs. "'Night all."

"Night," everyone answered back.

The next week the guys were back in the same classroom, preparing to put the final touches on the map. Two more spells were required – a concealment charm, of a sort, and a personality charm, which was actually closer to the transfiguration branch of magic, a sort of modified switching spell.

Remus taught each of the Marauders the personality spell which they cast on themselves and then finished by touching the map. Then James cast the concealment charm. The map went blank.

"I hope that worked," James said with a nervous chuckle. Either it worked and the writing was concealed, or he'd just erased the entire map.

"Let's try it," Remus encouraged. They all stared at the map for a few seconds.

"Oh for Pete's sake," Sirius huffed.

"Yes?" Peter added his usual response, which earned him a swat on the back of the head by James.

"Reveal your secrets," Sirius said and tapped the map with the tip of his wand.

At first nothing happened, but then writing appeared.

Messer Moony would like to remind Sirius that had he not hit his head so often, he might have remembered the correct password.

Messer Potter agrees with Messer Moony, but is comforted that his secrets will remain safe as long as Sirius' memory remains the same.

Messer Pettigrew agrees with Messers Moony and Potter and wants to add that, it's really too bad he can't read the map because, with his sense of direction, he's bound to get lost.

Messer Black is currently too mortified to insult himself, but thinks it might have been a bad idea to have put so much of himself into the map, as it's obviously had adverse affects on… himself.

"Oh. Ouch." Sirius feigned injury, which was difficult since he was both laughing and excited that the map was working properly. After a minute, the writing faded. "Excellent."

"Okay, now – I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," James said and tapped the map. Immediately writing began to appear and spread like a towel soaking up spilled ink. After a few seconds, the map lay before them, a perfect replica of the floor-plan for the school.

Peter let out a squeak of delight. "Oo, oo. Can I?" he asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Go ahead," Remus answered.

Peter touched his wand to the map and said, "Mischief Managed." The writing on the map retreated into itself and the parchment became blank once more.

The guys whooped and jumped around with delight, giving each other high-fives and a side-arm hug or two.

The excitement of the working map and their success with non-verbal and wand-less magic carried the Marauders to the end of the school year. They had also each received full extra-credit in Defense Against the Dark Arts for their skills in dueling. They felt they had really achieved some major goals this year and were all the more excited for next year to begin. In fact, they wished they could just skip the summer.

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A/N – I know that the names are wrong for the map, but remember, they don't have their nicknames yet. There is also something else missing from the map (did you catch what?), so no, they did not really complete it in fourth year – they just think they have… for now.

Also - sorry for the length of the chapter. I seriously contemplated posting the next chapter as well, but that begins year five and, so... I'm makin' y'all wait until Monday. :)

And of course, thank you to all who read and all who review. Thank you also to those who have recommended this story to others. I'm flattered and humbled - and a little nervous about dropping the ball. Thank you all, very much.

Thanks also to my lovely beta, J.A. Carlton, and my editors Mom and mei mei. (Is there really a difference between a beta and an editor?). And now that my A/N is as long as the chapter, I leave you and hope you have a wonderful weekend.

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Nonair – Thank you! I've got a few reviews from you now and haven't been able to comment on them yet. I'm glad you still like my take on the boys and their maturing process. I love your attention to detail and the motives behind what they do. I'm glad you see things as fitting in their proper place – that it makes sense, not only in what I've done, but how it fits with what Rowlings has established for the 'verse. And I'm thrilled that not only do the heroes of the story fit, but so do the villains and the boys' reactions to Voldemort and Kreacher, for example. You did very well picking up on how the deaths of the Evanses would affect the sisters.

I like to think that for all of Sirius' silliness and rashness, he had his moments of maturity and caring. I'm glad you enjoyed that bit of insight he had with Gillette.

I find James hard to write because he's so… normal, but I also love that about him. He had absolutely nothing bad happen in his life, yet when push came to shove he was still able to, not only pick a side, but defend it – and others – to the death.

Thank you for the awesome words of encouragement.