A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I had trouble writing it because I've never much been a fan of Quidditch. However, you guys seemed to enjoy it, so thanks!!! To the person who said that Angelina was in the same year as Fred and George- There's nothing (trust me, I have searched time and time again) in the books that say what year Angelina is in- just her age, which could place her in either year (Fred and George's or the year above them). And as far as Marcus Flint, I said at the top that I didn't bother looking up any of the Slytherins' ages b/c, frankly, I don't really care too much. (

Disclaimer: Still not mine!

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The first weekend of December brought a Hogsmeade trip. Everyone was looking forward to it very much, as the teachers had all been piling on extra work in an attempt to ready them for the O.W.L.s. A daytrip of any kind was a most welcome event.

So, as Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way back up to the Tower to get their coats after breakfast, they were all talking excitedly about the things they were going to buy. Harry didn't notice the large group of Slytherins who were all crowded into one circle and laughing heartily. He didn't notice Draco Malfoy in the center of that group. And he didn't notice a magazine as being the cause of their amusement.

What he did notice was his name being called by Pansy Parkinson.

"Potter!" came the loud, annoying, high-pitched shriek. "Potter, come here!"

Harry looked up to see her pug-like face grinning madly and waving him over to the crowd of Slytherins. He glanced briefly at Ron and Hermione who both looked back at him with raised eyebrows, each obviously just as confused as he was.

He should have just walked right on by and ignored them. He knew enough not to trust that anything they had to show him was going to benefit him. But, of course, walking by would make him appear weak and even frightened, and he was definitely not scared of anything the Slytherins had to dish out. So, he rolled his eyes and marched over to the circle, Ron and Hermione close in tow.

"What do you want?" he asked coolly, noticing Malfoy in the center holding the magazine open with a stupid smirk on his pointed face.

Malfoy just continued to smile as he did his best innocent impression. "We were just reading something, Potter, and we were just curious to see if it was true." Malfoy held the magazine out in an offering, and after only a second's hesitation, Harry reached for it. When he turned it over, he was met with a large picture of himself and a rather long article. The headline read, "Harry Potter's Inner-Struggle."

"Fifteen year old Harry Potter has seen his fair share of misery in his short life. Being orphaned as a baby after his home was attacked by He-Who- Must-Not-Be-Named, young Potter was sent to live with his only living relatives- his mother's Muggle sister and her husband. Potter spent the next ten years of his life cut off from the wizarding world, and it was not until his eleventh birthday that he was informed of his background and told the full story of what had happened to his young parents, James and Lily Potter.

"Having grown up believing that his parents had met their demise in an automobile accident, we can all imagine the shock the poor boy felt when he was informed that his parents were really murdered in attempts to save him. It was the baby that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was after, but his parents sacrificed their own lives to save him. The baby was left unharmed, minus the lightning bolt shaped scar adorning his forehead. When Potter was told the true story of his parents' death, he was able to keep a stiff-upper lip and outwardly pretend as though he wasn't suffering a major guilt trip at being the cause of his own parents' death.

"For four years, the public has watched as Potter has tried his best to make up for the deaths he was the cause of at such a young age. He has attempted to play the hero time and time again at his current place of residence, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. However, one has to realize that the poor young boy is simply putting on a front and trying to do something, anything to make the pain and guilt disappear.

"Potter was doing a good job of keeping his front up until June of this year. As many of you will remember, Hogwarts was host to the Tri-Wizard Tournament last year and hosted contestants from both Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Young Potter somehow managed to become one of two champions for Hogwarts, despite the fact that his age of fourteen was nowhere close to the age limit of seventeen that was supposedly set into place. During the final event, Potter and his co-Hogwarts champion, seventeen year old Cedric Diggory were transported away from the school via portkey. Where they went or what happened while they were there are still topics to be explored. There are rumors, of course, that they were transported into the hold of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but confirmation of these rumors has yet to be found. The only thing we know for sure is that upon return to Hogwarts, Diggory was dead, having been killed somewhere along the journey that he took with Potter. If the rumors of falling into He-Who-Must-Not-Be- Named's traps are true, then we can all come to a natural assumption that Diggory was sacrificed for Potter in much the same manner that his own parents were. Whatever the case, though, it is obvious that Diggory met his demise while Potter once again escaped unscathed.

"Being the cause of three people's deaths would be a lot for anyone to handle. Imagine what it must be like for a fifteen year old boy. It should be no surprise that Potter is currently suffering such shame that he has completely blocked himself emotionally from his schoolmates and professors, the exception being two Fifth Years with whom he bonded deeply with in his first year, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. Weasley is the son of Ministry worker Arthur Weasley, and he and Potter have been known to argue on several occasions, causing Potter's worst personal moments. Granger is the daughter of two Muggle dentists, and you will all remember the scandalous love affairs that she engaged in with both Potter and Bulgarian Quidditch star, Viktor Krum. Perhaps these two youngsters are too naive to realize what lies before them if they continue their close relationship with Potter. It is sad, of course, to think about, but the painful truth is that Weasley and Granger should think twice before befriending someone who has a history of causing the deaths of all who choose to get close to him.

"For their own sake, we should hope that Weasley and Granger consider all the consequences of this friendship before it is too late..

"Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet Correspondent."

Harry was staring at the article in shock; he could feel both Ron and Hermione reading it over his shoulder, but neither of them spoke, either. It wasn't until Malfoy pushed his way forward and spoke that any of them made any sort of movement.

"Looks like you didn't do such a good job of keeping Rita Skeeter quiet, did you, Granger?" He was sneering evilly at the three of them.

"This is bullshit," Ron said simply; he was completely outraged and was not about to stand around and let Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins sneer at him.

"Oh, is it?" Malfoy laughed. "I was definitely under the assumption that Potter's poor mum and dad were both quite dead. Not to mention poor Cedric, of course- pity that was." He feigned a look of concern.

Hermione was absolutely livid, and she grabbed the magazine away from Harry forcefully. With a glare, she shoved the magazine into Malfoy's chest and addressed him directly. "How is it even possible for someone to be as cruel and heartless as you are, Malfoy?"

With a sharp glare to match her own, Malfoy took the magazine away from her. "How is it even possible for someone to be as annoying and ugly as you are, Granger?"

"You shut the hell up," Ron said furiously.

"Oh, what's this?" Malfoy said with another slight smirk. "Trying to get in on the infamous Granger love-fest, are you, Weasley? Well, I'm sure that since Krum finally realized she was trash, there's probably an opening in her social life." The group of Slytherins found this quite hilarious. "Of course, you'll have to fight Potter for her, and that would surely prove to be a horrid argument that just might result in Potter's personal lowest ever."

"Just shut up, Malfoy," Hermione said through clenched teeth. She glanced at Ron who had gone very red in the face, and then she turned her attention to Harry who was still silent.

"What?" Malfoy said innocently. "I happen to think it would be one hell of a fight! I'd pay good money to see Weasley and Potter fight it out over Granger, wouldn't you guys?" He glanced around at the other Slytherins who all nodded enthusiastically. "Hey! There's an idea! Stage the fight and charge for the seats, Weasley! You might be able to buy your family some suitable living conditions."

"Oh, that's funny," Hermione said sarcastically. She glanced around once again and saw that Ron was still very red in the face, and then she turned her attention back to Harry. He was uncharacteristically pale and staring very determinedly at the floor; it appeared as though he couldn't even hear the arguments going on around him.

Malfoy followed her gaze and took in the sight of the distressed Harry with much glee. Speaking in a fake friendly tone, he said, "What's the matter, Potter? Surely you don't believe everything you read in the papers, do you? I mean, obviously you aren't upset at all about the deaths you've caused; don't let this Skeeter woman sway you to feel any differently."

Harry didn't even look up.

"If you don't fuck off right now, I'm going to beat the shit out of you." The threat was from Ron, and the horrid language didn't even merit a reprimanding from Hermione.

Malfoy completely ignored him.

"Do us all a favor, though, would you, Potter?" Malfoy smiled silkily at him, though Harry didn't look up. "Make sure you keep a close relationship with these two. The world will be a hell of a lot better with one less Mudblood and one less Muggle lover. Come to think of it, with your record, you might be able to rid the world of a ton of Muggle lovers. I'm sure those desolate Weasleys are the closest things you have to parents now that you've managed to kill your own, so don't hesitate in doing away with them as well."

It was clear that this was clearly too much for Ron to handle, and he started to lunge furiously at the blonde boy in front of him. Hermione was quicker than him, though, and before anyone could stop her, she'd leapt in front of Ron and whipped out her wand which she was pointing dangerously close to Malfoy's chest. Several gasps filled the small hallway, and Malfoy himself was even looking at the wand with a hint of apprehension.

Not about to let her realize that she was frightening him, though, he gave a fake little laugh and said, "What are you going to do, Granger? Hex me? That would look wonderful on your perfect little record."

"My record's already imperfect," she said evenly. "Thanks to you, of course. And yes, I will hex you. I swear to God I will."

Slytherins might have been pure evil scum, but they weren't stupid- save Crabbe and Goyle, of course. They were all smart enough to realize that a threatened hexing from Hermione Granger was something to take seriously. She didn't have the highest marks in the school for no reason, and she could probably do serious damage if she got the urge to use her wand against someone. Malfoy and his entire group took a step backward.

"Fine, Granger," he said, never drifting from his silky smooth voice. "But you just better watch your back. That's all I have to say."

Hermione glared at him. "I don't give a damn what you have to say."

"Ooh," Malfoy feigned shock. "You should watch your language. It's very unladylike. But, then again, you've never been too much of a lady, anyway, now have you?"

Hermione's eyes narrowed, and it was obvious that she was about to hold true to her promise. Ron, obviously frightened that she was about to get herself into trouble she couldn't get out of, grabbed her arm before she could get her words out, though.

"Don't." He was speaking to Hermione, but he was shooting a burning glare at the Slytherin. "He's not worth the trouble."

Malfoy cocked his head to the side and smiled. "How adorable," he said with an overly-sweetened tone. "What's the matter, Weasley? Don't want your little Mudblood girlfriend to get into trouble?"

Ron went red, and Hermione had to fight down a blush as well. This didn't change the fact that Malfoy had just called her the most offensive thing he could think of, though. And while Hermione didn't really take too much offense to the remark because she hadn't grown up hearing it and also because it was Malfoy, who had no brain that she could see reason, anyway, Ron was furious.

"Why don't you take your own little lapdog girlfriend and get the hell out of the way?" he shot back with a venomous look at Pansy Parkinson, who was standing by watching the whole exchange. She looked outraged at Ron's remarks, and her cheeks turned a deep crimson color.

Malfoy glanced at her and then back at Ron. "Take that back, Weasley," he warned seriously.

Ron looked as if he would sooner kiss Gregory Goyle. "Why should I? It's the truth. Of course, I don't see how you could possibly get anyone better than her anyway, seeing as it is you and you do sort of resemble a pile of dragon shit."

Gasps filled the small hallway as Malfoy ripped his wand from the inside of his cloak and aimed it directly at Ron. It took only a second for Ron to do the same.

Malfoy kept his eyes on the other boy and said, "Go ahead, Weasley. I dare you. I'd love to see you burp up slugs again or whatever the hell it was that happened the last time you tried to use your wand against me because of this little bitch." He swung his head in Hermione's direction but never took his eyes off of his opponent.

Ron was still quite red, and it appeared that he was going to take Malfoy's dare, as he raised his wand and aimed it at the Slytherin's face.

"Let's go."

The words came from Harry, who had spoken for the first time since they'd read the article. His voice was low and barely audible. Ron and Hermione turned to look at him at the same time, Ron lowering his wand as he did so.

Harry spoke again. "Let's just go, okay?" Without another word, his two best friends followed him away from the crowd, completely ignoring the echoing taunts of the Slytherins behind them. No one spoke until they had almost reached the portrait hole. Finally, Hermione broke the silence.

"Harry, don't pay any attention to that article, okay? I can't believe Rita Skeeter is writing again, but you know she's full of nothing but lies. Anything for a story, right? It doesn't matter what."

Harry nodded, but it was clear that he wasn't quite convinced. His face was sullen, and neither Ron nor Hermione knew exactly what to do or say. Ron tried his hand nonetheless, though.

"Yeah, Harry. Hermione's right- Rita Skeeter is nothing but a crazy old cow with nothing better to do than barge in on people's private lives. She's full of shit and so is that article."

Harry nodded again, and Hermione tried to change the subject. "Let's get our coats, shall we? The shops will be opening soon."

It was at this time that Harry spoke for the second time. "You two go on. I think I'm just going to hang around here today."

Ron and Hermione shared a look that clearly said, "Now what?" but in lieu of that response, Hermione simply said, "Harry..."

But Harry shook his head. "I'm fine. Just go on, okay?"

Hermione glanced over at Ron who simply nodded his head silently, communicating that things were better left alone as it was. Hermione sighed softly and reluctantly nodded, too. "Alright."

Ron and Hermione then disappeared up the stairs, and Harry sat down feeling worse and more frightened than he had since that night back in June.

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When he was alone in Gryffindor Tower, save the First and Second Years, Harry made a decision. He'd spent the day being bothered by questions, and he'd finally resolved to get some sort of explanation from the one person within asking distance that might actually know. Sure, he could ask Dumbledore or McGonagall or any number of people vague questions about the topic, but there was only one person at Hogwarts that would actually know the real story.

And that person was Professor Remus Lupin.

As it had last time, it took several moments for Professor Lupin to finally open the door, and when he did, he looked genuinely surprised at his visitor.

"Harry," he said, a bit shocked. "What are you doing? Why aren't you in Hogsmeade?"

Harry glanced down at the ground quickly before looking back up. "Professor Lupin, can I talk to you?"

"Well, of course," the teacher answered instantly. He held the door open and motioned for Harry to come in. Harry did so, albeit a bit reluctantly; he took the seat that was offered to him and politely refused the offered cup of tea.

Professor Lupin sat down across from him and eyed him curiously. "What's going on? Is your scar bothering you at all?"

Harry shook his head. "No, it's not that. I just needed to ask you a question."

"Well, what is it?"

Harry looked away, suddenly feeling more than a little apprehensive. In a small voice, he said, "If I ask you, will you promise to tell me the truth no matter what?"

The teacher furrowed his brow a bit, but then nodded. "Of course I will."

Harry nodded and looked away. In a very, very quiet voice, he finally posed his question. "Did I kill my parents?"

There was a long silence in which no one spoke. Harry finally turned his gaze to the older man and saw that the teacher was looking at him with a very serious expression. "Don't tell me that you read that Skeeter's woman article," he said calmly.

Harry just raised his eyebrows. "It's true, though, isn't it? Voldemort didn't even want them, did he? He just wanted me."

"Harry..." Professor Lupin seemed to be trying to approach this as tactfully as possible.

Harry, though, wasn't in the mood for tact. "Please, just tell me the truth," he said quickly. "Please."

With a reluctant sigh, Lupin nodded slightly. "Yes. Voldemort was after you."

Harry didn't react to the news; he'd prepared himself for hearing it. He simply bit down slightly on his lower lip and barely nodded his head. "So, it was my fault. I killed my parents."

"Harry, you did not kill you parents." Lupin's response was immediate, and it was clear that he was quite serious. "Don't even think for a moment that any of it was your fault."

Harry looked up and met his teacher's eye. "But it was. He didn't even want them."

Lupin shook his head. "Yes, Voldemort wanted you, but your parents made the decision to protect you. They did that because they loved you."

Harry didn't want to hear that his parents loved him and gave their lives so that he might live. He wanted to know the truth; he wanted to know things that no one else could tell him. Looking up at his teacher seriously, he said, "What were they like? I don't know anything about them at all."

Lupin sighed softly and settled himself more comfortably into the cushioned chair he was on. He ran a hand through his already disheveled hair and appeared to be lost in thought for a moment. Clearing his throat slightly, he started to answer the question. "They were complete opposites of each other. Completely."

Harry smiled slightly, already enjoying the fact that he was getting at least some of his questions answered. "Really?"

The professor nodded. "Oh, yeah. They were close friends, but they fought all the time. About anything and everything. It was actually quite amusing most of the time." He chuckled softly. "When we were very young, we used to tease each other at your mother's expense."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

Lupin rolled his eyes. "Oh, you know, silly eleven year old stuff. 'Ewww... You're gonna marry Lily!' Of course, Lily would hear us and bless us all out for even thinking that any of us had a chance with her." He smiled softly. "But James was always mad about her."

"He was?" The question was soft.

Nodding, the teacher went on. "Yeah. But we were all crazy in love with Lily at some point or another- even Sirius who fought with her even more than James did."

Not knowing what to think of the latest statement, Harry just asked for clarification while battling a smile of his own. "You were in love with my mother?"

Professor Lupin laughed quietly. "It was impossible not to be in love with your mother." Smiling reminiscently, he said, "She was the most beautiful girl in the entire school. And the smartest, and she was so funny. And just so genuinely nice..." He shook his head tuttingly. "But everyone always knew she was destined for James, even though they liked to deny it for many years." Pausing for a second to reflect, he suddenly laughed right out. "Do you want to hear something entirely disturbing?"

Harry, of course, wanted to hear anything and everything he could.

Lupin wrinkled his nose, as if he was debating whether or not to subject Harry to the next bit of news. Finally, he shook his head and said, "Okay, but remember I warned you." There was no mistaking the snicker that escaped his lips before he went on. "When I said everyone was in love with her, I meant it. Your dear old Potions Professor asked her out on more than one occasion."

Harry was vaguely aware that his eyes were probably the size of saucers. An extremely queasy feeling settled in his stomach as the words set in. "Please, please tell me your joking," he pleaded seriously.

Professor Lupin laughed loudly. "Unfortunately I'm not."

Harry was sure that he was going to be sick at any moment. "Please, tell me she never said yes."

Still laughing, Lupin shook his head, and relief washed over Harry. "No, she never said yes. Of course, she was too nice to be rude about it, much to all of our chagrin..." He shook his head out of that wishful thinking and said, "But when it became obvious that she and James were together, he gave up completely and was rude enough for everyone. God, he hated your father."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Yeah, no shit. Trust me, I figured that out years ago."

Lupin laughed again, but it faded away as he went on. "But Snape really got bad during our last year and a half. He was awful to your mum."

"How so?"

Thinking up the most appropriate analogy, the teacher finally said, "Think Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger."

Harry felt anger just at the mention of the name. "Snape was like Malfoy?"

"Well, maybe no so prissy. And a lot uglier," he added as an after- thought. "But his favorite words when we were Seventh Years were, 'Mudblood Evans.' He was a real jackass."

The younger male's blood heated up slightly with the words. "So, my mum got teased by the Slytherins just like Hermione does?"

Lupin nodded. "Yeah, all Muggle-borns do from time to time, don't they? It's awful and it's bigotry, but it's always happened, and I reckon it always will."

"The other day after Potions, Malfoy was being really awful to her. He threatened to smack her and was saying all this shit about how she was high up on some list but how there were a couple of people higher than her." He got angry just thinking about it. "I hate him."

"He threatened to hit her?" Lupin looked ready to take action.

Harry thought back to the day to get the exact quote. "Well, he said something like if we weren't in school, he'd smack that smug look off of her face so fast she wouldn't know what hit her. And then maybe she'd learn how to keep her place."

Lupin looked disgusted. "He's probably seen his father smack his mother around a fair bit." He shook his head slightly. "It's awful. I feel sorry for him."

Harry was positive he'd heard wrong. "For Draco Malfoy?! How can you feel sorry for him?! He's a bastard!"

The professor held up his hand to quiet him down. "I know he is, but you have to understand what he's been raised in. He's the only child of probably the biggest bastard alive. Lucius Malfoy is pure evil, you understand? Pure evil." He looked disgusted just thinking about the other man. "And all those things- hatred and superiority and all those- they're all learned characteristics."

"So, you're saying that he's been taught to hate me his entire life?" Harry wasn't convinced.

"You probably have no idea the things he's heard about you from the time he was a year old. He probably hated you before he was three!"

"But he tried to be my friend when he first found out who I was. If he hated me, why would he do that?"

Lupin smirked. "He was probably thinking of how much his father would dote upon him if he was able to put a stable connection from his family to you." As an afterthought, he said, "Why didn't you accept his offer, though?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Oh, something about the comment, 'No need to ask who you are. My father told me all Weasleys have red-hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford,' turned me off of that particular offer."

Harry was sure that he saw the teacher smile briefly. "So, you'd already met Ron at that point, I see."

"Yeah, he came into my compartment because everywhere else was full. And Mrs. Weasley was the one who told me how to get onto the barrier because Hagrid felt the need to leave me before telling me where the platform was. So, they were the first people I met."

Lupin looked just as interested in this story as Harry had been in Lupin's stories earlier. "When did you meet Hermione?"

Harry groaned slightly and rolled his eyes. "On the train."

The professor laughed. "Why are you looking like that?"

"Because she came in with Neville, and they were looking for his toad. And then the next thing we know, she's perched herself into the seat beside Ron and is telling him that he's doing magic wrong. He was trying to turn Scabbers-" Harry cut off and looked up at Lupin carefully. A little quieter, he said, "He was trying to turn the rat yellow, and he had a really stupid spell. And what was it she said? Oh, yeah." In a mimicking of eleven-year old Hermione, Harry said, " 'Are you sure that's a real spell? Well, it's not very good, is it?' And then she proceeded to tell him that he had a dirty face."

Professor Lupin laughed. "So, I take it you didn't get off on a good foot with young Miss Granger, did you?"

"No, we hated her." He smiled slightly. "Ron was really, really, really mean to her back then. Even more so than he is now."

"Why did you guys dislike her so much?"

"Because she was such a little know-it-all, and she was like a talking rule book!" Harry laughed. "She followed us downstairs one day, and we got locked out of the Common Room. And that happened to be the night that we first ran into Fluffy- you know, Hagrid's three-headed dog?" Lupin nodded. "And when we got back to the Common Room, she actually said, 'We could have all been killed- or worse expelled!' You should have heard Ron on that one..."

Lupin laughed at the image, and Harry snickered at the memory. "So, what changed?"

Harry rolled his eyes again. "Ron made her cry."

"And this made you all best friends...?"

"Well, she locked herself in the girls' bathroom, and then, of course because what else would happen, a mountain troll was set lose in the school. And then we sort of locked it in the bathroom with her."

"Harry!"

Harry shook his head. "No! It was an accident!" He laughed. "We were trying to lock it up, so it wouldn't get to her. And then when we realized it was the bathroom, we went in there and rescued her. And the rest is history."

Lupin was smirking slightly. "You three certainly have a knack for mischief, don't you? It's a wonder you all haven't been expelled three times over."

Harry returned with his own smirk. "We're just really good at not getting caught. We have a bit of help in that area, but then... I'm sure you know all about that, don't you?"

The professor turned a slight red. "I guess I should confiscate that map again, shouldn't I?"

Harry shook his head. "No, you don't know that we have it. For all you know, it could have gotten burned up in a fire somewhere. Or dropped into the lake."

Lupin smiled. "Right." He laughed. "But I know all about the trouble that piece of parchment can get you out of. And the Invisibility Cloak, too."

Harry smiled, too. "Yeah, but we can't all fit under the Cloak anymore. It used to cover all three of us, and now it only covers one- two at best if it's me and Hermione, and that's only if I squat down."

"Well, I can imagine. Must put a damper on the rule breaking, eh?"

"Nah," Harry said with a hint of a mischievous smirk. "The map is still quite useful."

"Well, just make sure you don't get it confiscated. You'd have a nice time explaining that one away. And I'd probably lose my job."

:Laughing, Harry said, "Well, I don't reckon anyone would be able to use it anyway, would they?"

The professor raised an eyebrow. "Well, I trust someone taught you how to use it, no?"

"Yeah, but that was the Weasley twins." He rolled his eyes. "They found it in a drawer marked 'Confiscated and Highly Dangerous.' They could figure out how to work anything with that label."

"Yeah, I remember the day it got confiscated..." Professor Lupin looked strangely reminiscent. "It was all Sirius' idiot fault."

"What happened?"

Lupin snickered. "You probably don't want to know."

Harry's interest was definitely piqued now. "Yes, I do!" he piped up instantly.

Still snickering, Lupin went on. "Well, Sirius and Peter and I had the map out, and we were trying to find... Well, our plan was to find your mum and dad, actually, and to distract them from whatever they were... engaged in. Because they had a tendency to just disappear for long periods of time..." He let his voice trail and glanced at Harry who didn't know whether to laugh or feel slightly sickened. "And, well, we'd just located them; they were in the broom closet at the end of the fifth floor corridor." Harry snorted. "So, we headed up there with the intent to barge in and interrupt them, but we weren't paying attention to the map anymore. And, of course, Filch just had to be roaming that particular hallway." Harry could definitely relate. "And, you know, it was past curfew, and we didn't have the Cloak at all because James had taken it with him, so we were just basically very screwed. Filch caught us, and Sirius tried to stuff the map into his pocket, but he didn't even attempt to be smooth about it, so, of course, it looked extremely suspicious. And, to make a long story short, Filch grabbed it, and Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs decided to write him a friendly little message."

Harry laughed outright. "Oh, my God!" He remembered clearly the things that the Marauders had had to say to Professor Snape two years before.

Lupin nodded. "Yep. I believe it was something along the lines of, 'Find a real woman, so you can stop fooling around with your cat,' or something like that. It wasn't pretty, trust me."

Harry couldn't stop snickering. "How much trouble did you get into?"

"A full month of detention and a loss of seventy-five House points. But that was probably getting off easy."

Harry nodded, still laughing. "But I bet he spent three hours telling you how much he wished he could use corporal punishment and beat you with a branch from the Whomping Willow or at least string you up by your toes in the dungeons, didn't he?"

"I see he hasn't changed much."

"No, I've heard it more times than I care to remember. But, hey, why didn't you guys just use the Invisibility Cloak to sneak into Filch's office and steal the Marauder's Map back?"

"Well, it was just three months till graduation, and we wanted to leave our legacy behind. We figured that if someone was worthy enough of possessing the map, they would find a way to get it and use it." He grinned. "I suppose you can't get much worthier than Fred and George Weasley, huh?"

Harry smiled fondly. "Nope. They're going to open a joke shop when they graduate. Unless, of course, Mrs. Weasley gets her way. She hates the idea of them 'throwing away their lives' on pranks. She wants them to work at the Ministry like Percy. She might changer her mind now, though, because no one's heard from Percy in months."

Lupin raised an eyebrow. "Really? Has the Ministry got him working off somewhere?"

"Yeah, but no one knows where. It's top-secret or something. I don't know. Even his dad doesn't know where he is."

"Well, what about you, Harry?" Lupin nodded in his direction. "What do you want to do with your life?"

Harry shrugged. "I dunno. Last year I sort of thought I'd like to be an Auror, but now I think my main goal is just to see my sixteenth birthday." He couldn't hide the bitterness in his voice.

The teacher frowned. "Don't think like that. You're going to be fine, and I'm sure you'll be successful in whatever you decide to do."

Harry perked up slightly. "I'd really like to play Quidditch after I get out of school, but I don't know if I'm good enough."

"You are," Lupin said without hesitation. "You could get a position on probably any team in the league. I'd put you up against Viktor Krum even."

Harry couldn't help but laugh a little. "Yeah, I'm sure Ron would love to see that."

Lupin smiled knowingly. "Oh, yeah. Hermione, right? What was with that anyway?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "I don't know. I didn't ask, and she didn't tell me, and I have no desire to know really. All I know is supposedly he's dating some French model or something now." He shrugged again. "And I don't know anything about Ron and Hermione, either, so please do me a favor and don't ask."

Professor Lupin laughed. "Okay, I won't. But speaking of Ron and Hermione- what do they want to do when they get out of school?"

"I don't really know," Harry answered truthfully. "Ron mentioned something about Auror training, too, but I don't know if he was serious. And Hermione will probably go work for the Ministry. Or maybe she'll stay here and teach. Or she might be a medi-witch." He shook his head. "I don't know. She could be anything. Except a Quidditch player," he added as an afterthought.

"She certainly has potential, doesn't she?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. She's too smart for her own good sometimes. Any place would jump at the chance to offer her a job."

"Except a Quidditch team," Lupin said through a smile.

Harry laughed. "Yeah. Except a Quidditch team."

As the two of them continued their conversation, Harry realized he felt better than he had all day. Hogsmeade was definitely overrated.

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