Author's Note:

Reviews and Comments: To scrappy8: Thank you! Sirius definitely thought the gifts were good LOL. To Slaidback: Ha, your "Canadian fanfiction dealer" is my new favourite phrase ever LMAO! Thank you! As to Harry finding the plushie, the white stag that Harry had in the cupboard under the stairs belonged to Lily, he bought the other Marauder stuffed animals. To alix33: Because it was her birthday. Thank you. To EnigmaticEmperor: Agreed, of course he gave her a stag just to mock James LOL. Thank you! To ellyann13: Yes, he does. No, Lily hasn't heard the nicknames yet. Thank you. To Sets: I agree, I like that Lily is really the only witch among their classmates who knows Sirius is kind. Thank you for saying that Ginny seeing the whole relationship between Sirius and Harry from the beginning shows not only how close Harry and Ginny are meant to be, but the telling of Sirius' heart. Well said! Thank you! To A Huge Fan: Hilarious and sweet all at once was exactly what I was going for! Thank you! I think Harry gets a little of his sass from growing up with Sirius, but my head canon is that the sass is all Lily's personality coming out in her son! Thank you! To Nuno Neves: Thank you! I like writing Sirius and Lily moments to showcase their friendship.

My posting schedule: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Thanks to Dusk for her amazing editing skills.

As always, thank you very much for reading and please, please review!

Your reviews give me life! They give me inspiration! And they make me want to keep writing for more than just myself! Thank you for all of your continued support!

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN:

The One Where the Marauder's Map Can't Insult Lily

March 1977…

Sirius was studying the map carefully in an attempt to find Regulus. He wanted to talk to his brother as he was starting to worry about some of the people he was hanging around with. Regulus had been growing more and more distant over the last year and it worried him.

The map that he was using to try to find him was something that he was extremely proud of. The idea for the map had started back in fourth year. After finding a few more secret passages and hidden rooms in the castle, James had made a joke about them upgrading the map given to the first years.

"A map that warned me before a professor is coming would be nice," Sirius muttered. "I was only half finished setting the trap for the Slytherins when McGonagall caught me."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "We could make our own. Add the new places we know of and add a few modifications. I don't think it would be too hard."

"Oooh," James said, hopping up onto the table where Remus was working. "We can use the Homunculus Charm that Flitwick was talking about. If we did a mass charm on the castle, it would keep track of every living creature on the castle grounds."

"And then we'd know if anyone was sneaking up on us," Sirius said, his grin widening. "Brilliant!"

Peter made a face. "It sounds like a lot of work."

"We can use the map that we give to the first years to start," Remus suggested. "It would be a baseline."

James pulled the map from his bag. It was crumpled and a bit torn, but he used a quick refreshing charm on it, making the parchment look as good as new. He held his lip between his teeth as he began to draw all over it.

"See, we have the kitchens here, that's not on the map. Then there's the secret passage behind the one-eyed witch. Ooh, and the one behind the mirror that Pete discovered where we kept our Animagus potion and oh! We have to add the entrance to the Whomping Willow!"

Sirius leaned over James, his smile widening. "We can totally build our own map!"

Peter wrinkled his nose. "What would we use it for?"

"Duh. To help us prank better," Sirius said. "Or to sneak around at night without getting caught. I could definitely do with less detentions."

James and Remus grinned as they began to discuss how to create it.

It had taken them the better part of two years to finish it and Sirius had to admit, it was brilliant. They'd decided to call it The Marauders' Map to honour themselves and the hard work they'd done.

The nicknames had come about soon after they had started hanging out with Remus during the full moon. Moony had been first, Sirius proudly declaring that it fit Remus to a tee.

"It's like a secret name within a secret, Rem!" he exclaimed. "Because we know you're a werewolf, it's funny, but no one else will make the connection because they don't know your secret! See! It's brilliant!"

Remus hadn't quite been convinced.

"Padfoot for Sirius," James said.

Sirius wrinkled his nose. "Isn't that the bogeyman?"

"Technically, yes," James agreed. "But it's also, you know, a play on words because you're a dog. You have paws which are padded on the feet."

"Uh, Jamie, I think a padfoot is also another word for a footpad who is a criminal who robs pedestrians," Remus said. "Are we calling Sirius a criminal AND a bogeyman?"

"I LOVE IT!" Sirius declared.

James snorted. "Notice how when it's an insult, he's suddenly a fan?"

Peter grinned. "Padfoot. I like that."

Remus chuckled. "And what about you and Pete, Jamie? You're a stag and he's a rat."

James looked pensive. "Well, Peter's tail does look a bit a long worm, doesn't it, Padfoot?"

Sirius grinned widely at the use of his new name. "It does… Wormtail. It's a good play on his animal and like Moony, no one would know unless they knew, you know?"

"Wormtail," Peter said, saying the name aloud. "Wormtail. I think I like it."

"Excellent!" James said. "Now what about me?"

"Well, you do have those forked pronged thingies on the top of your head?" Peter supplied.

Sirius barked in laughter. "You mean antlers, Wormtail?"

"They don't look like forked prongs," James said, pouting. "They are majestic antlers showing that I am a beautiful and proud stag."

Remus and Sirius exchanged a look before both saying. "Prongs."

"No!" James whined. "Come on! Prongs aren't even the same as antlers!"

Peter snickered. "I like it."

"Us too," Sirius said. "Moony, Padfoot, Wormtail, and Prongs. It sounds perfect."

"Like it's kismet," Remus agreed. "Isn't that what you said when we all met and ended up as roommates in Gryffindor, Prongs?"

James sighed. "Ugh, fine. It's kismet. I'm Prongs."

Sirius and Remus high-fived as Peter laughed.

James rolled his eyes, but the four of them had adopted their nicknames as easily as they'd adopted each other.

Sirius was staring down at the map now, trying to find his brother's dot. When he saw that he was safely in the Slytherin dorm and by himself, he found himself feeling relieved. He wished that his brother would stop hanging around with so many of the older students, the ones who seemed to show support for the rising dark lord. Not for the first time, he wondered if leaving his brother alone in Grimmauld Place had really been a good idea.

His brooding thought were interrupted by Lily and he quickly closed the map down before she could see it.

Lily was staring at the parchment in his hands. "What are you doing out here, past curfew, with that old bit of parchment?"

Sirius shrugged. "Er — nothing."

"Wow, that was a genius lie, however can I possibly see through it."

"Sarcasm, Evans — I'm shocked."

Lily rolled her eyes and tugged the parchment away from his grasp and stared down at it, turning it over in her hands. "Why do you have this?"

"To record my thoughts. I have deep thoughts you know."

Lily chuckled and tapped on the parchment. "Lily Evans, Prefect, demands you reveal your secrets."

The parchment immediately began to scroll ink across the page in a neat cursive writing which Lily then read aloud.

"Mr Moony would like to say that Miss Evans is a wonderful Charms student, but still doesn't have the charm to unlock this secret." She looked up in surprise. "What the…"

Sirius just grinned and nodded at the parchment. "Keep reading…"

Lily did as he asked as the writing changed. "Mr Wormtail would like to say that he's noticed Miss Evans napping in History of Magic and thinks that she could do better. Mr Padfoot wants to say that Miss Evans needs to mind her own business and stop harassing innocent students in the corridors. Mr Prongs would like to add that Miss Evans is insane-ly beautiful and her eyes shine like emeralds in the dark. Miss Evans would make a fine match for that James Potter."

Lily blushed scarlet and shoved the parchment back at Sirius. "I don't know what this is —"

Sirius shrugged. "Harmless fun. Look, it even complimented you!"

"Only the one who calls himself Prongs, the other three charmingly insulted me, before I was told that I would make a good match with Potter? I don't think so!"

Sirius simply grinned. "I know how you can figure out the secret."

Lily's eyebrow rose. "The secret?"

"To this parchment. You're right, it does do something special."

"Oh?"

Sirius shoved the parchment into his pocket and smirked at her, his hands in his pockets. "Go on a date with Jamie and you'll see."

Lily rolled her eyes and turned to storm off in a huff of annoyance. "Now you're trying to set me up with him? Merlin!"

Sirius laughed as she stormed off. He couldn't wait to tell James that the map couldn't even insult Lily on his behalf.

That had to be the ultimate sign of love sickness and he couldn't wait to tease his friend about it.