Marauder's Map: Part Two

I'd just walked out of the bathroom when I ran straight into her and my book bag was knocked off my shoulder, scattering its contents onto the floor.

It was a reflex response to say, "Watch where you're going." But when I saw the head of bright red hair in front of me, I stopped and quickly corrected myself by adding, "Sorry."

"No, I'm sorry," she said, but when she looked up and met my eye I saw the apology die on her lips. "Are you really just going to keep on running into me everywhere I go, Potter?"

"In my defense, you ran into me, this time," I said, trying to look as innocent as possible.

Our sixth year was drawing to a close, and my use of the Marauder's Map had gotten a touch obsessive. Maybe just a bit. I didn't think my actions were over the top – this was true love we were talking about, no gesture was too grand! - but the other Marauders sure gave me hell for it. And if Lily had thought that our constant meetings were something more than coincidence when I found her in the garden, she knew it now.

She still bent down to help me collect my things off the floor, though, because she's lovely like that.

"What are you doing at this end of the school?" I asked, forcing myself to sound casual as the side of my hand brushed hers.

"Don't you know? I thought you were tracking my movements," she replied with just a touch of snark.

I decided to respond with a joke. "I told you, I haven't quite got my network of fans set up to cover the whole school yet."

She held a broken quill up in front of me, waving it so the top half fell forward pathetically. "Do you still want this? And that's such a shame, they make me feel a bit like a celebrity."

"Uh, you can just throw it back in here, that's alright." I held my bag out to her and she tossed the quill inside and gave me a smile. I ran my hand through my hair and said, "I am sorry for running into you, though."

She shook her head and her hair tumbled forward over her shoulders. "That's alright, it was probably my fault. Not watching where I was going."

"Daydreaming were we, Evans?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

She pursed her lips at me and said, "Maybe I was."

"About a certain handsome Quidditch captain?" I prodded, flashing her my most charming smile.

She threw a roll of parchment at my head, but I caught it before it made contact.

"That's your dreams, Potter, not mine," she replied easily, her lips twitching up into a smile.

"Aw, I dunno," I said, scooping up the last of my books and shoving them back into my bag. "I think you're starting to enjoy spending time with me."

"Oh, don't tell anyone," she cried in feigned distress. "I think the social structure of the school might just fall apart if you and I became friends."

"Whoa!" I leant back, holding my palms up. "Whoa, Evans, who said anything about being friends? I was just talking about being in each other's company and now I find out that you want to be my friend -"

"Oh shut up," she snapped, rolling her eyes and dusting her hands off on her skirt as we stood up. "Well, I think we got everything -"

She started to say a goodbye, but then we both spotted it at the same time; a piece of parchment, neatly folded and completely blank, sitting half under the door to the bathroom. I went to grab it, but she must have seen something in my expression change and she lunged for it before I could stop her.

"Ah, thanks for grabbing that, I'll just be putting it back in my bag and going, now -" I tried to grab it off her, but she just stepped back and held it out of my reach.

"Uh-ah, I don't think so," she tutted, taking a few more steps back and holding the parchment out in front of her. "You didn't want me to see this."

"It's just a blank bit of parchment, why wouldn't I want you to see it?" I lied, ruffling my hair up.

She arched an eyebrow at me disbelievingly. "Then you won't mind if I just have a look, will you?"

I shrugged my shoulders, resigned to the fact that I wasn't going to be able to stop her, and just hoped that she wouldn't figure out what it was. "Go ahead."

"Hmm," she said thoughtfully, unfolding the parchment and finding it completely blank. "This is interesting."

"It's not, really," I said, trying to push the desperation out of my voice.

She looked up at me. "What is it?"

"I told you, it's just a blank bit of parchment, a spare scrap."

"No, it's not."

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"Yes." She pulled her wand out of her pocket and tapped it against the parchment, muttering something that I assumed to be a revealing charm.

"Oh, no, Evans, you really don't want to do that -" I began, lunging forwards again; but it was too late. Ink was already spreading out across the page, and her brow furrowed as words took shape before her eyes. "Oh, no," I mumbled, putting my head in my hands.

Who knew what the map was going to say to her?

I listened helplessly as she read aloud;
"Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Miss Evans and would like to inform her that Mr. Prongs will tell her anything she desires if she agrees to go on a date with him.
Mr. Padfoot strongly objects to that claim, and would like to let the beautiful Miss Evans know that he is not afraid to hex her if she doesn't mind her own business.
Mr. Wormtail would like it to be known that he believes Miss Evans can figure it out without Mr. Prongs' help.
Mr. Prongs would kindly appreciate it if Miss Evans could ignore everything read before now and give him back his belongings. He would appreciate it even more if she accompanied him on a date this weekend."

I let out a deep sigh and gave her a weak smile. "Ha."

"What?" She asked, astonished. She glanced between me and the paper, and blinked as though she couldn't believe what she was reading. "I don't understand. What have you made?"

"We didn't make it," I began, but the look she gave me told me she saw right through that. "Alright, so we made it. But… It's complicated. It's silly. It's nothing, just a bit of joke parchment, meant to confuse whoever tries to read it."

"Hm." She looked thoughtfully at the parchment again, her eyes scanning over the words. "Does it need a specific spell to open it then? Like a password? I wonder what you're hiding…"

Stupid map, betraying me even as I tried to keep it secret.

"Really, Evans, forget it," I insisted, relieved when she finally handed the parchment back over, even if she did so reluctantly.

"I will figure out what you're doing," she told me threateningly, leaning in towards me. "Without resorting to going on a date with you."

"We could just go out for fun, you know," I tried, smiling at her as I hastily hid the map away.

She shook her head, but she was laughing. "Will you ever give up, Potter?"

"Probably not."

There was a pause, where she tucked her hair behind her ears and just watched me, and then she said, "Bump into me again soon, okay?"

And as she turned to go, I swear I saw her wink.

a.n. A few of you have been asking for the second part of the Marauder's Map, so here you go. Sorry it's a bit shorter than the last one, I hope you still enjoy it.
Thank you all so much for your reviews and favourites and alerts, you're just amazing and it means so much to me. Keep the requests coming! Thanks again, have a splendid day.