A/N: And here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Godzilla. I only own my original ideas.
Chapter 41: Marauders
As Harry collided with the two people outside the Room, he panicked for a moment that they'd been caught. That is, until he realized who he'd bumped into. Fred and George (or as they sometimes preferred, Gred and Forge) Weasley, the resident prankster kings of Hogwarts. It was a true stroke of luck that they ran into the two people who would never report on them for any sort of rule-breaking. As they noticed Professor Lupin, Fred quickly stuffed an old piece of parchment into his robes. While he wasn't the closest with the Weasley twins, he knew these two, unlike their younger brother, were trustworthy people.
"Oh, hello professor," said Fred.
"Fancy meeting you here," said George.
"And if it isn't Harry and his cadre for friends!" said Fred.
"What can we do for you this fine evening?" said George.
"Shouldn't we be asking you that?" asked Harry, "I mean, we're here with a teacher".
"Nothing, just exploring," said George.
"And that parchment you're hiding?" asked Harry.
"Nothing, nothing," said Fred nervously, "just our homework".
"If it was something so innocent, then why are you hiding it?" asked Remus with a smirk, "accio parchment!"
The piece of parchment flew out of Fred's pocket, and Remus deftly caught it. As he looked at it, a flash of recognition crossed his face. He had heard what the rest of the staff was saying about these two: comparing them to the Marauders… well let's see how they handled the real thing. He may act straight laced much of the time these days, but Remus was still a Marauder at heart.
"Now boys, where did you find this?" said Remus, clearly amused.
"Oh, here and there," said George, "it's nothing of importance".
"Oh, really? Is that so? I'll be the judge of that," said Remus, placing his wand on the parchment, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good".
The parchment reacted, and transformed into a map, a highly detailed map of Hogwarts. Along the top, there was a label: Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs present: The Mauraders Map.
"I thought as much," said Remus with a smirk, "I remember this, it was made by a group of troublemakers while I was a student here".
"You knew the Marauders!?" said Fred in awe.
"Oh yes," said Remus, clearing enjoying himself, "I recall that Moony was considered to be the real brains of the operation".
Harry could see what was going on… Remus was pranking them, having a laugh at their expense.
"Let me guess, you found this in Filch's Office?" asked Remus, "good to see someone carrying on our legacy".
The twins beamed at the praise before fully processing what he'd said.
"What," said George flatly, "Are you saying..."
"Greetings again, my fine fellows, Remus 'Moony' Lupin, at your service," he said with a bow.
The twins just gaped at him, before laughing, realizing they'd been pranked by one of their idols.
"Oh great Marauder, please teach us your ways!" said Fred.
"Show us how to be as skilled as you!" said George.
Remus just shook his head att heir antics before replying.
"Alright… it's getting late, so I better escort you back to your dorms," said Remus, glancing back at the map before freezing.
Remus blinked, the name on the map hadn't changed: there, in the Gryffindor Tower, right next to 'R. Weasley', was 'P. Pettigrew'. It should have been impossible… but he knew the map didn't lie.
"We need to speak with McGonagall, immediately," said Remus firmly.
"Why?" asked Harry, "what's going on?".
"Because there's an intruder in the castle," said Remus, all his previous humor gone from his voice, "someone long presumed to be dead".
Their group, now including Fred and George, made their way to McGonagall's Office. Upon opening the door, McGonagall looked at their group and sighed.
"What did those two do this time, and how does it involve Mr. Potter and his friends?" asked McGonagall, her tone saying how often this sort of thing happened.
"As far as I am aware, they've done nothing wrong, other than wander the halls at night," said Remus, "I was speaking with Mr. Potter and his friends, and we lost track of time, so I was escorting them to their dorms so they wouldn't get in trouble".
"Oh, what were you talking about that was so engaging?" asked McGonagall.
"He was telling me about my parents," said Harry.
McGonagall's expression softened, and she nodded in understanding.
"And where do these two come in?" asked McGonagall.
"We ran into them in the hall, and I noticed they had a rather peculiar parchment," said Remus, "a certain map. Upon confiscating it, I noticed something unusual amd troubling: Gryffindor Tower, 3rd year boy's dorms. What names do you see?"
"Seamus Finnegan, Ron Weasley, Peter Pettigrew," said McGonagall, looking in shock at that last name.
"Are you sure of this?" asked McGonagall.
"The Map doesn't lie, Minerva," said Remus. "It insults you if you use the wrong password, but it doesn't lie".
McGonagall considered this for a moment, before nodding firmly.
"All of you, stay here," said McGonagall, "Remus, with me".
Harry and the other students waited in McGonagall's office, and about an hour later they returned with Scabbers in a cage.
"This is troubling," said McGonagall, "we need to get Albus!"
"Hold on, I just thought of something," said Hermione, "rats aren't on the approved pet list, how was Ron allowed to bring Scabbers, anyway?"
"Why, Albus would have to go examine it, make sure there is nothing untoward about it," said McGonagall, "no diseases, curses, animagi…"
She paused as she considered her words, and frowned. Albus would have known that this rat was an Animagus, yet he approved it… why?
"Yes, perhaps I should contact the DMLE instead," said McGonagall, "and we will be keeping the map for now. I have a feeling we might need it more than you at this time. Remus, if you would? Oh, one more thing: Mr. Potter, if you wish to know more about Lily and James… my door is always open"
Professor Lupin escorted them back to their respective dorms, and he then went off on his own, considering the implications of everything he'd learned this night. As much of a revelation as it was to discover that Harry really was a giant monster in disguise, what he'd learned from seeing the Marauder's Map pushed that aside as his mind spun through what this all meant.
Peter was alive. That meant Sirius didn't kill him. But Sirius had still killed those muggles, right? But then, he couldn't think of a specific spell that would cause that sort of damage to that street while leaving a single finger intact. Until recently, Sirus had been locked up in Azkaban. So why had Peter been hiding in his Animagus form for so long? Unless… he was afraid of something? He knew Peter was never the bravest of them, but what could he have been afraid of? You-Know-Who was dead, Sirius in prison, and the Death Eaters had gone quiet. Unless, that is, Peter wasn't innocent. Could they have switched?
He thought it through again. With all the suspicion flying around at the time, his friends had somewhat distanced themselves from him. They likely worried that he'd join up with Greyback and his beasts on Voldemort's side. Sirius had always been there for them, especially after Walburga practically disowned Sirius (though she lacked the authority to actually do so, as she wasn't Sirius' head of house). Peter had always been the quiet one, his Animagus form excellent for scouting and spying. After all, who really paid attention to a rat? He recalled that James had made Sirius Harry's Godfather… his sworn Godfather, an oath that if he broke by betraying the Potters and therefore Harry would have killed him. Sirius was still alive though, which meant Sirius didn't betray the Potters.
This led him even further down a particular train of thought. Dumbledore was the one who cast the Fidelus charm over the Potter home, so he knew who the Secret Keeper was. If they'd switched Secret Keepers, Albus would know, as he'd have to recast the spell. This meant that if what he was thinking was true, Dumbledore knew Sirius wasn't the Secret Keeper. So why would he allow Sirius to rot in prison. How didn't this get found during the trial? Sirius did get a trial right? He knew Bellatrix did, but did Sirius? His mind came back to what Harry had told him: Dumbledore wasn't trustworthy. Dumbledore knew Sirius didn't betray them. Dumbledore was responsible for him losing his friends, losing his pack.
In the back of his mind, the wolf howled in joy, celebrating that they were on the way to having at least some of his pack back together.
A/N: And there we go! I decided that the Twins would be alright allowing Remus to borrowing the map, as he was one of the people behind it's creation (yes, Fred and George will get the map back). In any case, next time: A Sirius Discussion. See you then!