I coughed hysterically as smoke filled my lungs. Wait, not smoke. It had a different odor, absolutely disgusting. I spotted the flash of red once more and I followed it. I trailed down quite a few corridors, listening to the footsteps ahead of me. They stopped abruptly and I hid behind a column.

"I can't believe we actually nicked it! Filch is going to go absolutely mental when he finds it gone! Lemme see it Fred." I heard a chortle and the rustling of paper. "Alright, look, the writing is there again, just like it was in detention. 'Say the incantation, I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. To close the map say, Mischief Managed.' I'll be bloody mad if this doesn't work, waist of a good dung bomb, eh?"

I peeked cautiously around the column and watched the scene before me. One of the red headed boys tapped a filthy piece of parchment with their wand, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." They stared down at the parchment, eyes widening in excitement. They both exclaimed in awe, "Wicked!"

I didn't see what all the fuss was about. I tried to peak further around the wall, but I tripped on uneven ground. I groaned in pain as I noticed two pairs of feet walking towards me.

"What do we have here, George. Too small to be an older student, innit? But I don't recognize this boy from our classes-. Wait! You're one of the professors' children, aren't you?" I looked towards the boys shyly, rubbing the pain from my nose.

"Yes . . ." The boys narrowed their eyes at me curiously. I swept my eyes towards the piece of parchment that laid dormant in one of the boys' hands. I now noticed that it was no longer blank, but had writing on it. Moving ink. The boy whipped the sheet of wood behind him quickly. "What exactly is that?"

The identical boys looked nervously at each other, "I don't know we ought to tell ya that. How much did you hear kid?"

"I heard you saying . . . I guess a password and lock code for the parchment. And I know you set off, I believe you called it a dung bomb? If you don't tell me what it is, I can only imagine how upset Mr. Filch will be when he realizes it has gone missing. I might even fancy telling him who caused the bomb and the thieving."

The boys looked utterly shocked, but soon smirked. "I like your style kid. You mind me of a younger . . . well, us! You're fairly sneaky as well." The boy pulled out the parchment from behind him. "This is the Marauder's Map. Bloody geniuses, whoever made it! We spotted it in Filch's office and planned to take it. Find out what exactly it was. It's a map." The boy spoke giddily.

I was taken aback. All that fuss for a map? "Why do you care so much for a rotten, old piece of parchment that you call a map?" The boys chuckled deeply.

"Well, it's not just any map, is it kid? This shows us anyone in the school. Where they are, what they are doing? We don't fully understand it, but that is the general idea we have gathered."

"Wicked!" Both boys laughed once more. "Well, why'd you need it?"

They looked to me incredulously, "For pranking, of course. You never heard that though. You are a teacher's kid."

"Don't worry, I won't tell. As long as you allow me to join in." They both smiled happily, "You got the job, kid. Gotta name?"

"I'm Harry and you are?" They both smirked happily. "I'm Fred Weasley and this is my brother George."

I nodded politely to them, "I'm sorry, but how do I tell the difference between the both of you?"

"Oh, sorry 'bout that. I'm George and I have a darker freckle on my forehead, right here." George pointed towards the right side of his head. I spotted a brown freckle placed there. I looked between the two boys and Fred did not wear the same one. So I guess they aren't completely identical.

"Thanks! I think it's pretty cool that you both are near identical though. My twin sister and I don't even barely look alike."

"Is it that redheaded girl? With the extremely long hair?" I nodded, telling George he was correct. "Cool, it's bloody awesome having a twin. I can't imagine Fred being a girl though, can you Fred? You'd be Alfreda or something bloody mental like that." Fred sneered at his brother playfully, "And you dear sister would be Georgia or something, wouldn't ya?" George punched his brother's shoulder playfully. "Don't worry Harry, we're only joking. We have a sister at home, sweetest little beasty, she is. She is quite a bit younger than us, four years." I nodded my head.

"Oi, tomorrow do you want to meet us at lunch and we can talk about a prank idea I have?" George asked. I was about to agree when I realized that I had a prior engagement.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going somewhere tomorrow. Down to Hogsmeade Village." They gaped at me in shock, "You're allowed to go down to Hogsmeade? No fair! We have to wait till third year, we do. Our brother Charlie gets to go. He's a seventh year." I nodded, "I wonder why you aren't allowed."

Fred scoffed, "Because 'ol McGonagall said 'it's a privilege and you must behave in a mature and orderly manner.'" We all laughed at the near exact imitation of Minerva.

"No matter though, Harry just do us the solid and tell us what Zonko's is like. And if you want, you can sit with us during the feast tomorrow, yeah?" I nodded ecstatically. George smiled brilliantly at my answer, as did Fred. "Well, we'll see you tomorrow, yeah? Remember, don't tell anyone about the map." I nodded in acceptance and smiled at them both before I left.

I strode away smiling, believing they were going to be some pretty great new friends. From the red of their ties, I could tell they were Gryfindors, but I didn't care. I know dad doesn't particularly care for that house, but mum was in there.

I wonder what kind of pranks we could pull with that bloody brilliant map. I knew I needed to provide some ideas and input of my own.

I trailed off towards the library, where I knew Anne would most likely be hidden away. I believe she told me, Susan invited her to join while she studied. Waving politely at Madam Pince, I darted my eyes around the large room. My eyes landed on a small redhead, nose stuck behind a book. Her eyes glanced up as if she noticed my presence.

I walked to where she and Susan sat. Susan looked up from her parchments of work, "Is it dinner time already?" I nodded, laughing a little. "Thomas said he'll meet you outside the hall."

"Thank you, Harry. See you tomorrow, Anne. Good night." Anne and I waved to Susan as she gathered her supplies and hurried off the Great Hall for dinner.

Anne continued to read her book, her eyes quickly darting over the last page in a chapter. "Anne, come on. You can finish reading before bed, but I'm starving."

"Oh, shut it. Just because you don't understand reading doesn't mean I can't finish the last page. . . . and done! Alright then, let's go." She tucked her book tightly under her arm and gripped her hand. We raced down the halls towards the teacher's entrance. We passed many ghosts on our way, but Anne forced us to stop for one.

"Helena! I haven't seen you in ages. How are you? What are you doing on this side of the castle? I've never seen you out of the East Wing." Helena smiled shyly at me and turned back to Anne.

"Oh, I was just wandering, dear. I haven't seen much of the castle since I died and our last talk convinced me to rekindle some of my old relationships with other ghosts." Anne smiled brilliantly at her friend. She bid her adieu and we continued to race along the corridors.

Helena didn't exactly dislike me, but definitely didn't like me as much as Anne. My sister informed me not to take it personally, she said Helena just didn't like young boys. She said they were tricksters and cheats, liars. I believe that a bit harsh to think of all boys like that. Anne wouldn't further explain, she said it wasn't her place to tell me.

We finally reached the wooden door that led to the Hall. We trailed in, seating ourselves on either side of Poppy. The meal was about to start when Anne started poking my shoulder. I brushed her off toughly. "What is it?"

"Sorry! Those red headed boys over there, I think are trying to get your attention." She narrowed her eyes at me angrily. I looked to see Fred and George waving me over. I held my hand up, telling them to wait. I turned towards my father, "Dad? Can I go sit with some of my friends?" He nodded, still reading his newspaper, not entirely paying attention. "Harry, come back up here after dinner. We have monitoring tonight." I nodded before running down the front steps.

A few eyes darted towards me as I raced towards the Gryffindor table. I seated myself in between the two twins. We talked about prank ideas, stuffed our gobs with pudding, and I met their brothers. Charlie was cool, you could tell he was related to Fred and George. Well, the red hair was a big sign too. But Percy . . . well, let's just say that they are polar opposites. He's very stuck up in a way. Not at all like his brothers. I don't think he would approve if he knew of his brother's map. I think Charlie would though.

They've told me all about their family. They have another older brother named Bill. He's graduated from Hogwarts. He works in Egypt, in a bank. They also have two younger siblings, Ron and Ginny. Ron is our age apparently and Ginny a year younger. They call Ron, Ickle Ronniekins. Poor bloke, but I would love to have that many siblings. Their mother also sounds wonderful, I would love to have one of those.