Draco had been very excited at the revelation of the invisibility cloak, Harry could tell. He was sure the two of them would have so much fun walking the halls of Hogwarts unseen and pulling pranks on unsuspecting students and staff. However, both of them were still getting used to the ever-changing halls of Hogwarts, and it was hard to walk unperceived when one continually got lost and had to ask portraits for directions.
"You know what would make this so much easier?" Draco said one day after another failed attempt at sneaking through the castle unseen. "A map. We should figure out where to get one."
"What good is a map in a place that's always changing?" Harry asked.
"Well, we'd have to get a magic map, of course," Draco said, rolling his eyes. "Let's search cartography charms in the library."
Harry folded the cloak and placed it into his bag, and the two of them walked up to the library.
Hours later, they hadn't had much luck learning to charm a map of the school, and it was nearly curfew. Suddenly, Harry snatched up a book and tapped Draco's shoulder, gesturing for him to follow. The two of them took out four books on cartography charms and returned to the Slytherin common room.
"What is it?" Draco spoke up, having waited patiently to ask what had made Harry want to leave so abruptly.
"There is a list of charms here to make a map which will be helpful anywhere in the world and will not only show locations, rooms, and paths but also people! It will be perfect for sneaking about and for pulling pranks, even when we aren't at Hogwarts!" Harry enthused, opening the book and showing Draco.
The two boys walked into their room and got some parchment from Draco's trunk, sitting on Harry's bed behind closed curtains and beginning to practice the charms. The first try was rather wonky, but upon banishing it and trying again, they had a rather brilliant self-updating map that changed depending on where they were, how they were travelling, and where they wanted to get to, so they went through the process again, resulting in two copies. After testing the ability of the maps to navigate them successfully through the castle, Harry rolled his copy up and placed it and his cloak in his satchel. "This will be so useful," Harry enthused as they returned to their room. "Now we'll never be lost or get caught at mischief again!"
"Tomorrow we should research spells that will prevent anyone else from seeing what it is or using it," Draco suggested as they entered the dorm room.
~Time Skip~
The next evening, Harry and Draco were in the library again.
Eventually, they found a charm that would avert others' attention from an object unless it was being used, so they cast it on their maps and were kicked out of the library for speaking aloud.
Days and weeks passed, Harry and Draco spending the mornings in class and the evenings exploring the school until they knew every secret passage like the back of their hands. The only people they could never seem to sneak up on, even with the cloak, were Fred and George Weasley. The two older Slytherins always seemed to know exactly where they were no matter how silently they moved. Neither Harry nor Draco considered that maybe Fred and George had a map of their own which showed the positions of every person on the Hogwarts grounds. Fred and George were known pranksters and therefore Harry and Draco kept a close eye on their positions at all times, no matter who they themselves were planning to prank. It wouldn't do to be caught off guard by a prank aimed at one of them, after all. So it was that when Fred and George were on the seventh floor pacing back and forth three times before disappearing completely from the map, Harry and Draco knew immediately. Upon reaching the seventh floor, they double-checked their map to make sure Fred and George were still not in the plottable portions of Hogwarts before pacing the same section of hallway exactly as Fred and George had. A door appeared and they entered the room to find Fred and George in a sitting room, not unlike their common room aside from the bright windows, both facing the door with matching grins on their faces.
"Welcome," they said as one.
"To the Room . . . " the twin to the left said.
" . . . of Requirement," the other twin finished.
Harry was awed, as was Draco, though the pureblood heir hid it better. They both seated themselves on a long, curved couch facing the twins and apprehensively waited for them to speak.
~P.O.V. Change~
"We've noticed that the two of you have means of getting about undetected and of knowing who's where in the castle," George began.
"And we know you've been using those means to pull pranks," Fred added.
Harry and Draco kept their best poker faces on and remained silent, causing the twins to roll their eyes.
"We want to know how you're doing it," they said together.
Harry broke eye contact, turning to Draco and appearing to have a silent conversation with him. Finally, they both faced the twins again.
"I have an invisibility cloak, passed down to me from my father. We charmed a magic map to help us get around without help, with the added bonus that it tells us who's where in the castle so we can avoid getting caught," Harry said.
Fred and George had a quick silent conversation before turning back to the other boys, George pulling the Marauders' Map from his robes.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he said, touching the tip of his wand to the parchment.
A map of Hogwarts spread from the point of contact, and he looked up, enjoying the look of awe on Harry's face. However, instead of focussing on the actual map or the points showing who was in the castle and where, he was starting at the Southwest corner of the parchment, where the creators of the map had signed it: Moony, Padfoot, Wormtail, and Prongs, each name with a paw print beside it.
Unexpectedly, Harry spoke. "I don't remember much of my first year of life," he said, "but I remember my dads calling each other Prongs, Padfoot, and Moony. My mother, of course, was always Lily, except when she was Rose."
"Dads? As in plural?" Draco asked, obviously Harry hadn't mentioned this before.
"Oh, yes, all four of them were Soulmates. They had a friend who was around less frequently who wasn't, Wormtail . . . Then Mum and Prongs were killed and they put Padfoot in jail. Moony couldn't take me on account of being a feral Werewolf, so they put me with my Muggle aunt."
"How do you remember this so clearly?" Fred asked.
"I don't know," Harry admitted with a shrug, "I guess I just held on tight to the only positive memories I had when everything was terrible."
The four boys sat in silence for a moment, acknowledging the fact that Harry's childhood had been rather shit. Then the twins spoke up again.
"We want your help to pull a prank," they declared.
Word count: 1220
Hey, Strangers!
So, this chapter isn't the best and it took a while to work through the writer's block enough to finish it, but it's something. I promise never to promise I will post faster ever again. I should have known better. Feedback is appreciated.
All the Love, Emmi