Author's Note: It's a short chapter this time, but as it rides the coattails of the last, I hope it's not a disappointment. Happy reading! - jinxauthor

Chapter Fifty-Three – The Marauder's Map

The following weekend welcomed another trip to Hogsmeade, but Harry wasn't going. With fewer students roaming the halls and lounging in common rooms, it would be the perfect time to investigate the Gryffindor tower. Plus, Harry had no idea low long the list of passwords Blaise had stolen from Neville would be relevant. He needed to make the attempt today.

Blaise and Millie wanted to go with him, but Harry was determined to go alone. The time had long past since all three of them could fit under the invisibility cloak. And besides, the more of them venturing on this covert mission, the greater the chance of getting caught. Eventually, Harry was able to convince his friends to head to Hogsmeade without him, and tell everyone that he was back in the dormitory. They would say that Harry wasn't feeling well, but Harry gave Blaise full license to hint that he was really wallowing in misery after the loss of the Quidditch tournament. The Slytherin students were so disappointed in him, it was a believable excuse.

Harry waited until the carriages had carried most of the students away. He was lucky to find his own common room empty, and made sure to slip on his cloak before dipping into the hall. If he was supposed to be reclusively holed up in his room, it would not help his alibi to be spotted in the hall by some first-year or faculty member.

As Harry made his way closer toward Gryffindor tower, he tried to work out the best way of sneaking past Sir Cadogan. He had Neville's list of passwords in his pocket, but what good would it do to whisper them to the portrait from under the cloak? That was bound to cause more suspicion than approaching him in the open, and the sight of a door opening on its own would raise alarm if spotted. Harry would not put it past the painted knight to call upon reinforcements instantly.

He was still agonizing over this conundrum as he climbed the staircase toward the hidden entrance, and it was then that he heard familiar voices close by.

"How could you lose the passwords? And after Sir Cadogan went to all the trouble thinking up a whole list for the week, just so you could write them down? Honestly, Neville! This is exactly why they've had to increase security around Hogwarts. Think of what Sirius Black might do if he found that list!"

Luck was once more on Harry's side. Hermione and Neville had not gone to Hogsmeade with the others. They were headed back to their common room, their arms loaded with books Hermione had probably gathered from the library. Harry would be able to slip in behind them without notice.

He felt a little guilty about Neville, particularly when Hermione threatened to tell Professor McGonagall, the Gryffindor Head of House. He was getting reprimanded for what Blaise had done, and it turned out they wouldn't need the passwords after all.

Harry passed directly behind him after Hermione pronounced today's password, "Witch Hazel," and found himself standing for the first time in the center of the Gryffindor common room.

When Harry had first arrived at Hogwarts, he'd wanted desperately to be sorted into Gryffindor. It was the house of his father and his mother. Albus Dumbledore himself had been a Gryffindor. But the Sorting Hat, either from malice or spite, had placed him in Slytherin, the house to which he'd begged not to belong.

Perhaps because of the disappointment of his first night in the school, Harry had a lingering curiosity about Gryffindor house. He wondered what it would be like to stand where he was now as a member, not just an interloper. But nearly three years had passed since Harry sat upon the wooden stool, hidden under the Sorting Hat's broad brim. He was a different person now. And as he basked in the warm light of the fire burning in the large fireplace, Harry considered all the gilded finery rather garish, and the crimson upholstered furniture far too gaudy.

Hermione and Neville made their way to a large desk set in one corner. They dropped their armfuls of heavy textbooks on the surface, and began setting up for an afternoon study session – no doubt an idea of Hermione's. Harry lingered, partially listening to their conversation as he surveyed the two staircase leading off the common room. They layout was very similar to the Slytherin dungeon. Harry knew from experience that one stair would lead to the boys' dormitories, while the other led to the girls' rooms. But which should he choose?

Hermione began instructing Neville on the basics of vampire procreation for Lupin's latest essay when Harry steeled himself and ran up the right-hand staircase. He went at a light run, careful not to plod too heavily on his feet. He had just begun to congratulate himself on guessing correctly when he reached a point midway up the stair. Then, without warning, the stairs shifted under his feet, and where once there had been firm steps, there was now only a perfectly smooth, slippery slide.

Harry fell down on his stomach and slid backward into the common room, shooting straight past Hermione and Neville, and coming to rest behind an overstuffed sofa. He heard Hermione gasp and the sound of their chairs sliding back as both she and Neville jumped out of their seats. Fearful that they might have seen something of Harry as he slid down, he quickly moved to cover his feet with the cloak. But the Gryffindors had not seen him, there were merely startled by the sudden shift in the staircase.

"That's strange!" Hermione said, "The stairs only do that if a boy tries to sneak up them."

"They do what?" Neville asked. "Clearly, the charm placed on the stairs to keep the boys out of the girls' dorms was new information to him.

"I didn't see anyone pass by, did you?" Hermione continued, ignoring Neville's confused expression.

Knowing Hermione, it as only a matter of time before she suggested making a search of the dorms for the intruder. Hermione was very clever, and Harry couldn't be sure that she didn't know of some charm to reveal him hidden underneath the invisibility cloak. The one silver lining to his predicament was that he now knew the correct staircase, and without further delay, he made his way silently up the stairs.

It was possible that Hermione would send Neville to search the boys' rooms once they failed to locate anyone in the common room or girls' side. It was safest to assume that his search time was limited, and so he proceeded with haste. He paused only when he passed a door labeled "3rd Years." That would make it Ron Weasley's room. The temptation to search for Ron's rat himself was great, but Ron had already asserted that the rat had been missing since the start of term. And when Hermione mentioned blood on his bedsheets... If Pettigrew faked his death a second time, he wasn't going to make it easy for anyone to find him without the map.

Harry continued until he'd reached the floor with a door marked "5th Years." By that time, he knew everything there was to know about the Weasley twins, not because of their relationship to Ron, but because Flint ensured every member of his team was well-versed on the stats of their opponents, along with apparent weaknesses that could be exploited. Harry still had a sick feeling in his stomach when he thought about Flint, but nevertheless, he had the Quidditch captain to thank for some additional information on the school's most notorious pranksters.

Harry slipped inside the room, careful to shut the door softly behind him. The Gryffindor dormitories looked similar to the Slytherin dorms. There were the same heavy four-poster beds, five in number, but hung with red drapes instead of green. Their room was also brighter, with the morning sun streaming freely through the latticed windows.

Harry did not linger over the décor for long. He had to locate the Weasley twins' beds. It proved surprisingly easy to do. He noted two beds almost instantly. They stood side-by-side, with clothes strewn messily about. Among the discarded items, Harry noticed two homemade sweaters. One was emblazoned with a bright gold F, while the other was adorned with a G. Fred and George. This had to be it.

Harry began hastily rifling through the contents, heedless of the mess he was leaving behind. The twins kept their belongings in such a state of disarray that Harry hardly expected they'd notice if anything had been moved. But if they really had stolen the Marauder's Map from Filch, they were bound to notice it was missing eventually.

Harry tried several bits of parchment to no avail before he finally found a faded, severely creased piece of parchment. It had been folded in on itself several times, resulting in a large, somewhat heavy chunk of paper. Harry felt sure this had to be it, but he needed to be sure. Pointing his wand at the surface of the page, he spoke the words he'd learned from Sirius.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

He wondered vaguely if the Weasley twins had ever gotten this far, but in the next instant any thoughts of the twins were blasted away. A brown-red ink began to blossom from where his wand was pointed. Harry stared, ecstatic, as the ink formed itself into words.

Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs

Proudly Present

The Marauders Map

This was it! Harry had found it at last. It was tempting to pull apart the folded surface right there and search for Pettigrew's name, but there was no time. He had what he came for, and now there was nothing left to do but return the map to Sirius.

He took the extra precaution of banishing the map's text with the counter-charm, "Mischeif Managed."

But it wasn't quite managed. Not yet. He still had to get out of the common room past Hermione and Neville. To his consternation, the pair had resumed their seats and were continuing with the essay, busily sorting out vampire fact from fiction.

"According to this author, vampire's aren't really allergic to sunlight. They only avoid it because they... Huh? Hermione, this says that vampires sparkle!"

"Sparkle? Oh Neville, those are fairies! Honestly, what Muggle nonsense are you reading now?"

This was no good. As engrossed as they were in their studies, there was no way they wouldn't notice the common room door swinging open on its own. Their suspicions must have already been raised by the staircase fiasco, and both Hermione and Neville knew about Harry's invisibility cloak. He couldn't risk being caught now.

Feeling like a horrible friend, Harry slowly drew his wand and pointed it at Hermione and Neville.

"Confundo," he whispered, his voice so quiet it was barely audible, even to himself.

The spell worked. Hermione leaned over to Neville as she attempted to explain some new term. She started to stammer over her words, and frowned as she looked over the page again, apparently having trouble deciphering the text.

A moment of confusion, of uncertainty, that was all he needed. Harry moved quickly to the common room entrance, pushing the door open as Hermione and Neville puzzled over what they had just been talking about, as neither of them could recall what they had been doing. They didn't notice the door opening on its own, and soon Harry was past the threshold.

The door swung gently shut behind him, and Harry began congratulating himself on a job well-done.

His victory was short-lived.

The moment the portrait swung back into place over the secret entrance, Harry felt a slight tug on his hood, and the entire cloak was pulled from him. Horrified and exposed, Harry felt his knees lock beneath him. He could turn only his head to face Professor Lupin.

"Hello, Harry," Lupin said with a gentle smile.

Harry quickly tried to hide the map behind his back, but it was too late. Lupin had his wand at the ready.

"Accio," he said with a flick of his wand, and the map slipped right out of Harry's fingers and into Lupin's open hand.

Harry at thirteen was still very much a child, and like a child, he blurted the first thing that sprang to his mind, "That's not fair!"

"Not fair?" Lupin repeated. It was the first time Harry heard him sound close to anger, and it was terrifying. He held the map in front of him, and Harry noticed his hand was shaking, "I constructed this map myself, Harry! Your father lost it years ago. It seems fitting that you've returned it to me. How is any of it not fair?

Harry said nothing. His mind was racing. Was there anything he could say to the professor to convince him to hand over the map? Probably not. But Lupin hadn't disarmed him. He still had his wand...

"What has he told you?" Lupin asked, breaking Harry's train of thought.

"I don't know what you're talking about," harry replied promptly.

"Harry, there are only two people alive who know about the existence of this map," Lupin said, "I'm one of them. That leaves only one possibility for how you've managed to find it."

Harry remained silent. It was his only defense now. There was no arguing against the professor.

Lupin stepped closer toward him, careful to keep his wand pointed at Harry in case he tried to make a move.

"Where is he hiding?"

"Please, professor..." Harry began. He had run out of lies, but if he could just convince Lupin not to report this to the headmaster - or worse, Minister Fudge - he might still be able to save Sirius.

"He's innocent! I know it's hard to believe, but you have to trust me. If you just look at the map..."

"Oh, I intend to," Lupin said, "Keep your secrets, Harry. I'll find him soon enough."

He pushed past Harry and began making his way down the staircase, not saying another word. Harry felt as if all the wind had been knocked out of him. He was about to let his one chance to clear Sirius's name walk away with the person who was most anxious to have him arrested. But Harry had already drawn his wand against a teacher once, after confronting Snape about his patronus. He wasn't afraid to do it again.

He lifted his wand against the professor while his back was turned, but Professor Lupin was faster once again. He had not been hired to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts for nothing.

"Expelliarmus!" Lupin cried, spinning around just as as Harry opened his mouth to confound him as he had Hermione and Neville. Harry's wand went soaring out of his hand and down the stair to where Lupin waited.

"I'll be confiscating this," Lupin said coolly, "You can collect it from me tomorrow night, when you serve your detention."

And that was it. Their plan was foiled. What was worse, Lupin had the map, and with it he could monitor Harry's movements. He couldn't risk trips to the Chamber of Secrets now. He couldn't even tell Sirius that he had failed.