************************************************************************
"Pst, Remus!" Sirius' hand reached out from behind a door and pulled Lupin into an empty classroom.
"I'm almost afraid to ask, but.what's going on?"
"Well, you know how we know almost all of the passageways in the school?" James stepped out of the shadows.
"Yeah?" Lupin still sounded fairly uncertain.
"Well, we decided to make a map!"
"A map?" It was clearly not the answer that Remus had expected.
"It was Sirius' idea!" Peter spoke up excitedly.
"Wait, let me get this straight," Remus tried to hide his growing smile. "We're going to make a map of the secret passage ways in the school, and do what with it?"
"Leave it for our future troublemakers to enjoy!"
"And if it falls into the wrong hands?"
"It can't, we're going to bewitch it so that only true trouble makers at heart can use it."
"Yes, they simply say 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good' and the map will appear, when they're finished they say 'mischief managed' and it will clear itself."
"I'm impressed; you guys have really thought this through,"
"Well, we concentrate on the serious things in life," James forced a serious face.
"Yeah, and after becoming an animagus something like this was easy!" Sirius added.
Laughing, Remus agreed to help with the map.
"And well sigh our names as Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," Sirius added. "Now all we need to do is put a bit of ourselves into this map and we will have the perfect creation!"
They put a good half hour or so into creating the map, the map that would reveal the secrets of the school to any mischief-maker and help make their lives easier.
"Well, I think it's finished," Sirius exclaimed happily.
"I dub thee, The Marauder's Map!" Remus declared.
"M-Marauder's?" Peter questioned hesitantly.
"It means raider, troublemaker, something of that sort," James filled in the blanks in his friend's empty mind.
"So what now?"
"We plant it where the future rulers of the school will find it."
"And that is.?"
"You know that drawer labeled 'confiscated' in Filch's office?"
"You have got to be joking!"
"Not at all!" Sirius grinned. "Another adventure for the werewolf quartet!"
Laughing, the boys exited the abandoned classroom and headed to join the rest of the school for lunch in the Great Hall.
************************************************************************
"Would the Head Boy and Head Girl please report to the Head of their house after their final class is finished."
The Gryffindor 7th years were halfway through History of Magic when the announcement came.
"Probably to warn the students not to leave confiscated maps lying around," James muttered to Sirius who in turn, snickered.
"Ahem" Lily cleared her throat and turned around to glare at them.
"Hey, remember the first 'head' meeting James went to? How Evans gave him such a hard time?" Sirius tried not to laugh as James glared at him.
Try as he might, James could not suppress the memory that came rushing back to him.
It was the start of their seventh year, the Head Boy and Girl had been called to the first compartment of the Hogwarts express for their instructions. As he strolled into the compartment, James was not surprised to see Lily standing next to McGonagall, but she apparently was surprised to see him.
Rolling her eyes she slowly walked up to James, whispering, "What are you doing here Potter? Where are the rest of your clones?"
"The same reason you're here without your clones, Evan's."
"You can't possibly mean-" her eyes traced down to the Head Boy badge pinned on his chest. "Oh my God, that's - that's not possible - Professor!" She turned on her heel, "Professor, there must be some mistake! Potter, a Head Boy?"
"I can assure you that there is no mistake, Miss Evans."
"But, are you sure he's responsible enough? Surely Remus Lupin would have been a better choice. I mean, you of all people know of Potter and Black's reputation-"
"Miss Evans, I assure you, both Headmaster Dumbledore and I are quite sure that Mr. Potter is capable of upholding this position, and we hope that as 7th years, you two will respect our decision and work together. Is that clear?"
Lily nodded meekly.
"Good, now, if you two will follow me we can begin the instructions."
The memory faded from James' mind as the bell rang, signaling the end of Last period. Shaking the last wisps of the memory from his mind, James collected his things and proceeded down the hall, after Lily, to McGonagall's office.
"Good, I'm glad you two are here, I'd like to get this over as soon as possible, so.over the past few weeks there have been several accounts of theft. We ignored it at first, thinking it was just forgetfulness, students misplacing things, but it has been becoming more and more serious. Just yesterday Brittany Caston of Huffelpuff reported that her wand was missing, we found it this morning shoved into one of the taps in the prefect's bathroom." Sighing, McGonagall paused to massage her temples. "As Head Boy and Girl, it is your duty to look for any signs as to whom has been committing these crimes."
"Um, Professor, if I may ask, are there any houses that objects have not been taken from?"
Smiling, McGonagall answered, "I know what you are thinking, Mr. Potter, but all four houses have had objects stolen, from first through seventh years, prefects and troublemakers, boys and girls, whoever has been pilfering has been very careful in concealing their identity and their reason."
"But Professor, surely you don't think a Gryffindor student has been committing these crimes!" Lily cried anxiously.
"At this point, I have no idea, but I surely hope that no one from my house would have dreamed of committing anything as heinous as this. Now, if you two will excuse me, I need to speak with the Headmaster."
Taking their cue, James and Lily nodded respectively and exited the room.
"I can't believe a Hogwarts student could be doing this, can you?" Lily asked James in a hushed tone.
Surprised that she was actually speaking to him, yet eager to make it last\, James subconsciously threw on a more mature voice and decided to try not to offend her. "Not at all, you wouldn't have thought that someone would be stupid enough to try it under Dumbledore's nose?"
"Or desperate enough," sighing she added, "It sounds as though it may have started out as a prank."
"But it's too well thought out for that. Someone's been taking time to plan these things out, it's not the work of a simple prankster," he spoke the words the moment they entered his mind.
"Yeah, well you'd know a lot about that, wouldn't you, Potter?"
"I'm not that juvenile!" he retorted.
"Juvenile? Did you learn that word all by yourself? Or did Lupin have to teach it to you?" She put on a false voice as though she were talking to a young child.
"Hey! Just because Sirius and I occasionally cause a bit of trouble does not mean we're stupid!"
"Prove it,"
"If you only knew," James muttered under his breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, Lily." The name slipped before he could catch himself.
"What did you just say?" She asked, clearly astonished.
"Nothing, EVANS." He began to walk faster.
"You called me Lily, didn't you?" She maintained the same stride as James, no matter how many times he tried to change the speed.
"Well, that's your name, isn't it?"
"You never call me Lily," her voice softened, "it's always been 'Hey Evans,' 'same to you, Evans,' 'if you go out with me, Evans,'" She stopped, seeing the horrified look on his face after she uttered those final 7 words. "Oh my - oh my gosh."
Horror-struck, James sprinted off, leaving her standing there gaping after him.
"James! James, wait!"
But he would not wait, he ran the rest of the way up to the Pink Lady's portrait, through the Gryffindor common room, and would not stop until the boys' dormitory door was slammed shut behind him and his pounding heart.
************************************************************************
For the next few days, James tried his best to avoid Lily, "At least until the storm lulls," Lupin had said. Despite the fact that Sirius was James' best friend, James had refused from telling him what had happened that night after the meeting. Instead he had gone straight to Remus. Remus was the kind of guy who would give you advice but not tell you what to do, the kind who would not point out your mistakes but simply say what would be a better move next time, he was the kind of guy you could trust to keep a secret without being all cocky about it. In James' mind, Remus was the perfect person to go to.
But as hard as he tried, James could not avoid Lily forever. Almost a week after the meeting, as he was entering the Great Hall, James bumped into someone leaving it, knocking her books to the floor. Being the gentleman that he was deep inside, James bent down to pick up her books. Handing them to her, his breath caught in his throat as he glimpsed her face.
Quickly recovering from his shock, James spat out, "Sorry Evans," and began to stalk off into the hall.
"James-" she reached out and grabbed his arm. She had a surprisingly strong grip for someone with such a goody-good attitude.
"What? Come to humiliate me some more?" The words slipped out coldly. Not having intended this, James could feel his cheeks growing hot.
"No, James, I." she paused, staring at the crowd that was stopping to gawk at them. "I just wanted to apologize for the other night, I didn't mean to make fun of you, it just..slipped out, I didn't realize."
"It's ok," his voice softened, "It's not your fault, I mean, I probably would have laughed too if I were in your place." His voice broke, "I mean, who would be stupid enough to think that - that all-brawn-and-no-brain- Potter would win a date with stunningly-attractive-academic-star-Evans?" And with that, he turned away from his original destination and instead headed towards the empty classroom where he had helped create the Marauder's map only two weeks ago. He needed to be alone.
"I am so pathetic!" James muttered to himself. "Who could have thought that Gryffindor's seeker with the don't-mess-with-me attitude would crack like that because of a girl?"
"Yeah, well, everyone does stupid things when they're in love," a voice came from behind James.
Whirling around, James tried to wipe the terror off his face, "Hullo, Frank. I didn't know anyone else was in here, sorry." he turned to leave but Frank Longbottom called him back.
"Don't leave just 'cause I'm here, unless you want to be alone, that is."
"I don't really know what I want right now."
"Girl trouble?" Frank asked sympathetically.
"The worst!" He moaned.
Laughing, Frank agreed, "Same here, I'm hiding from Alice, you?"
"Lily Evans."
Frank gave a long, low whistle, "we sure know how to pick them, don't we?"
"Only two of the smartest no-nonsense girls in the year!"
Clearly thrilled at having found someone else to talk about girl troubles with, the two boys engaged in a deep conversation for the rest of lunch.
************************************************************************
Meanwhile:
"Lil, what was that all about?" Maren interrogated her as they headed towards the library.
"I don't know."
"Oh come on! Potter clearly likes you! And you clearly did something to offend him!"
"It's nothing, really,"
"Oh, right, and that's why half the school was watching you two. C'mon Lily, I'm your best friend! Even if it is nothing, I deserve to know! Now spill!"
"Very well, though you're not acting like a best friend."
"It's my job to know! I can't help you if I don't know what's going on!"
Sighing, Lily began her story, "Oh the way back from the meeting, we were talking, and James called me Lily instead of his usual Evans. I just casually teased James about it, I was imitating him and I said 'If you go out with me, Evans' and he froze, and I never knew.I didn't realize he liked me.then he bolted, and he's been really cold towards me ever since."
"You never knew he liked you? Girl, he's liked you ever since you first walked in this building."
"Maren.I don't know what to do!"
"Well, do you like him?"
"I've never thought about it, I mean, this is James Potter we're talking about! That stuck-up, pure-blood Quidditch jerk! I mean, so what if he does look kind of cute when his hair's all messed up, and how sweet he can be when he tires, and how cute he is when he's embarrassed." she trailed off, hardly aware of what she was saying.
"You like him!"
"What?!?"
"You are so in love with James Potter! I cannot believe it!"
"No, no way, there is no possible way that I am in love with James Potter!"
"Oh, but you are! You didn't just hear what I heard! Your eyes spaced out, your voice softened, and you got this dreamy look on your face."
"You are so lying," but the confident defiance that was in her voice earlier had steadily left it.
"Well, there's only one thing for you to do!"
"And that is."
Maren rolled her eyes, "tell him!"
"You say that like it's the most obvious answer in the world."
"That's 'cause it is," Maren interrupted.
"I can't tell him! Not now! Not after all that!"
"And why not?"
"He won't believe me! After all that he's going to think it's just pity! He will never EVER believe me, I don't even believe me."
"If it's so hard for you to go up and tell him how you feel, then that means you fear being rejected, which proves how much you really like him."
"How do you know I just don't have an intense fear of being rejected by anyone? Maybe I'd be afraid that er." she cast around for a name, "Snape would reject me!"
"Ok, any other girl would be begging Snape to reject her."
"I didn't say I liked him," she rolled her eyes, "It was an example. I didn't even say I liked James, let alone Snape."
"Lily, Lily-" Maren wheeled around, pulling her friend to a stop. "Look, you are never going to get Potter to believe you if you don't believe it yourself!"
"Maren, I need to think on this for awhile before I admit I like James. Can you just, just give me some time?"
"Alright girl, but I want to be the FIRST to know when you've come to your decision."
"Ok, you leave me alone say, 'till Christmas holiday is over, and you'll be the first to know, deal?"
"Deal." The girls shook hands, sealing the pack, then turned the corner and headed into the library.
************************************************************************
"Pst, Remus!" Sirius' hand reached out from behind a door and pulled Lupin into an empty classroom.
"I'm almost afraid to ask, but.what's going on?"
"Well, you know how we know almost all of the passageways in the school?" James stepped out of the shadows.
"Yeah?" Lupin still sounded fairly uncertain.
"Well, we decided to make a map!"
"A map?" It was clearly not the answer that Remus had expected.
"It was Sirius' idea!" Peter spoke up excitedly.
"Wait, let me get this straight," Remus tried to hide his growing smile. "We're going to make a map of the secret passage ways in the school, and do what with it?"
"Leave it for our future troublemakers to enjoy!"
"And if it falls into the wrong hands?"
"It can't, we're going to bewitch it so that only true trouble makers at heart can use it."
"Yes, they simply say 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good' and the map will appear, when they're finished they say 'mischief managed' and it will clear itself."
"I'm impressed; you guys have really thought this through,"
"Well, we concentrate on the serious things in life," James forced a serious face.
"Yeah, and after becoming an animagus something like this was easy!" Sirius added.
Laughing, Remus agreed to help with the map.
"And well sigh our names as Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," Sirius added. "Now all we need to do is put a bit of ourselves into this map and we will have the perfect creation!"
They put a good half hour or so into creating the map, the map that would reveal the secrets of the school to any mischief-maker and help make their lives easier.
"Well, I think it's finished," Sirius exclaimed happily.
"I dub thee, The Marauder's Map!" Remus declared.
"M-Marauder's?" Peter questioned hesitantly.
"It means raider, troublemaker, something of that sort," James filled in the blanks in his friend's empty mind.
"So what now?"
"We plant it where the future rulers of the school will find it."
"And that is.?"
"You know that drawer labeled 'confiscated' in Filch's office?"
"You have got to be joking!"
"Not at all!" Sirius grinned. "Another adventure for the werewolf quartet!"
Laughing, the boys exited the abandoned classroom and headed to join the rest of the school for lunch in the Great Hall.
************************************************************************
"Would the Head Boy and Head Girl please report to the Head of their house after their final class is finished."
The Gryffindor 7th years were halfway through History of Magic when the announcement came.
"Probably to warn the students not to leave confiscated maps lying around," James muttered to Sirius who in turn, snickered.
"Ahem" Lily cleared her throat and turned around to glare at them.
"Hey, remember the first 'head' meeting James went to? How Evans gave him such a hard time?" Sirius tried not to laugh as James glared at him.
Try as he might, James could not suppress the memory that came rushing back to him.
It was the start of their seventh year, the Head Boy and Girl had been called to the first compartment of the Hogwarts express for their instructions. As he strolled into the compartment, James was not surprised to see Lily standing next to McGonagall, but she apparently was surprised to see him.
Rolling her eyes she slowly walked up to James, whispering, "What are you doing here Potter? Where are the rest of your clones?"
"The same reason you're here without your clones, Evan's."
"You can't possibly mean-" her eyes traced down to the Head Boy badge pinned on his chest. "Oh my God, that's - that's not possible - Professor!" She turned on her heel, "Professor, there must be some mistake! Potter, a Head Boy?"
"I can assure you that there is no mistake, Miss Evans."
"But, are you sure he's responsible enough? Surely Remus Lupin would have been a better choice. I mean, you of all people know of Potter and Black's reputation-"
"Miss Evans, I assure you, both Headmaster Dumbledore and I are quite sure that Mr. Potter is capable of upholding this position, and we hope that as 7th years, you two will respect our decision and work together. Is that clear?"
Lily nodded meekly.
"Good, now, if you two will follow me we can begin the instructions."
The memory faded from James' mind as the bell rang, signaling the end of Last period. Shaking the last wisps of the memory from his mind, James collected his things and proceeded down the hall, after Lily, to McGonagall's office.
"Good, I'm glad you two are here, I'd like to get this over as soon as possible, so.over the past few weeks there have been several accounts of theft. We ignored it at first, thinking it was just forgetfulness, students misplacing things, but it has been becoming more and more serious. Just yesterday Brittany Caston of Huffelpuff reported that her wand was missing, we found it this morning shoved into one of the taps in the prefect's bathroom." Sighing, McGonagall paused to massage her temples. "As Head Boy and Girl, it is your duty to look for any signs as to whom has been committing these crimes."
"Um, Professor, if I may ask, are there any houses that objects have not been taken from?"
Smiling, McGonagall answered, "I know what you are thinking, Mr. Potter, but all four houses have had objects stolen, from first through seventh years, prefects and troublemakers, boys and girls, whoever has been pilfering has been very careful in concealing their identity and their reason."
"But Professor, surely you don't think a Gryffindor student has been committing these crimes!" Lily cried anxiously.
"At this point, I have no idea, but I surely hope that no one from my house would have dreamed of committing anything as heinous as this. Now, if you two will excuse me, I need to speak with the Headmaster."
Taking their cue, James and Lily nodded respectively and exited the room.
"I can't believe a Hogwarts student could be doing this, can you?" Lily asked James in a hushed tone.
Surprised that she was actually speaking to him, yet eager to make it last\, James subconsciously threw on a more mature voice and decided to try not to offend her. "Not at all, you wouldn't have thought that someone would be stupid enough to try it under Dumbledore's nose?"
"Or desperate enough," sighing she added, "It sounds as though it may have started out as a prank."
"But it's too well thought out for that. Someone's been taking time to plan these things out, it's not the work of a simple prankster," he spoke the words the moment they entered his mind.
"Yeah, well you'd know a lot about that, wouldn't you, Potter?"
"I'm not that juvenile!" he retorted.
"Juvenile? Did you learn that word all by yourself? Or did Lupin have to teach it to you?" She put on a false voice as though she were talking to a young child.
"Hey! Just because Sirius and I occasionally cause a bit of trouble does not mean we're stupid!"
"Prove it,"
"If you only knew," James muttered under his breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, Lily." The name slipped before he could catch himself.
"What did you just say?" She asked, clearly astonished.
"Nothing, EVANS." He began to walk faster.
"You called me Lily, didn't you?" She maintained the same stride as James, no matter how many times he tried to change the speed.
"Well, that's your name, isn't it?"
"You never call me Lily," her voice softened, "it's always been 'Hey Evans,' 'same to you, Evans,' 'if you go out with me, Evans,'" She stopped, seeing the horrified look on his face after she uttered those final 7 words. "Oh my - oh my gosh."
Horror-struck, James sprinted off, leaving her standing there gaping after him.
"James! James, wait!"
But he would not wait, he ran the rest of the way up to the Pink Lady's portrait, through the Gryffindor common room, and would not stop until the boys' dormitory door was slammed shut behind him and his pounding heart.
************************************************************************
For the next few days, James tried his best to avoid Lily, "At least until the storm lulls," Lupin had said. Despite the fact that Sirius was James' best friend, James had refused from telling him what had happened that night after the meeting. Instead he had gone straight to Remus. Remus was the kind of guy who would give you advice but not tell you what to do, the kind who would not point out your mistakes but simply say what would be a better move next time, he was the kind of guy you could trust to keep a secret without being all cocky about it. In James' mind, Remus was the perfect person to go to.
But as hard as he tried, James could not avoid Lily forever. Almost a week after the meeting, as he was entering the Great Hall, James bumped into someone leaving it, knocking her books to the floor. Being the gentleman that he was deep inside, James bent down to pick up her books. Handing them to her, his breath caught in his throat as he glimpsed her face.
Quickly recovering from his shock, James spat out, "Sorry Evans," and began to stalk off into the hall.
"James-" she reached out and grabbed his arm. She had a surprisingly strong grip for someone with such a goody-good attitude.
"What? Come to humiliate me some more?" The words slipped out coldly. Not having intended this, James could feel his cheeks growing hot.
"No, James, I." she paused, staring at the crowd that was stopping to gawk at them. "I just wanted to apologize for the other night, I didn't mean to make fun of you, it just..slipped out, I didn't realize."
"It's ok," his voice softened, "It's not your fault, I mean, I probably would have laughed too if I were in your place." His voice broke, "I mean, who would be stupid enough to think that - that all-brawn-and-no-brain- Potter would win a date with stunningly-attractive-academic-star-Evans?" And with that, he turned away from his original destination and instead headed towards the empty classroom where he had helped create the Marauder's map only two weeks ago. He needed to be alone.
"I am so pathetic!" James muttered to himself. "Who could have thought that Gryffindor's seeker with the don't-mess-with-me attitude would crack like that because of a girl?"
"Yeah, well, everyone does stupid things when they're in love," a voice came from behind James.
Whirling around, James tried to wipe the terror off his face, "Hullo, Frank. I didn't know anyone else was in here, sorry." he turned to leave but Frank Longbottom called him back.
"Don't leave just 'cause I'm here, unless you want to be alone, that is."
"I don't really know what I want right now."
"Girl trouble?" Frank asked sympathetically.
"The worst!" He moaned.
Laughing, Frank agreed, "Same here, I'm hiding from Alice, you?"
"Lily Evans."
Frank gave a long, low whistle, "we sure know how to pick them, don't we?"
"Only two of the smartest no-nonsense girls in the year!"
Clearly thrilled at having found someone else to talk about girl troubles with, the two boys engaged in a deep conversation for the rest of lunch.
************************************************************************
Meanwhile:
"Lil, what was that all about?" Maren interrogated her as they headed towards the library.
"I don't know."
"Oh come on! Potter clearly likes you! And you clearly did something to offend him!"
"It's nothing, really,"
"Oh, right, and that's why half the school was watching you two. C'mon Lily, I'm your best friend! Even if it is nothing, I deserve to know! Now spill!"
"Very well, though you're not acting like a best friend."
"It's my job to know! I can't help you if I don't know what's going on!"
Sighing, Lily began her story, "Oh the way back from the meeting, we were talking, and James called me Lily instead of his usual Evans. I just casually teased James about it, I was imitating him and I said 'If you go out with me, Evans' and he froze, and I never knew.I didn't realize he liked me.then he bolted, and he's been really cold towards me ever since."
"You never knew he liked you? Girl, he's liked you ever since you first walked in this building."
"Maren.I don't know what to do!"
"Well, do you like him?"
"I've never thought about it, I mean, this is James Potter we're talking about! That stuck-up, pure-blood Quidditch jerk! I mean, so what if he does look kind of cute when his hair's all messed up, and how sweet he can be when he tires, and how cute he is when he's embarrassed." she trailed off, hardly aware of what she was saying.
"You like him!"
"What?!?"
"You are so in love with James Potter! I cannot believe it!"
"No, no way, there is no possible way that I am in love with James Potter!"
"Oh, but you are! You didn't just hear what I heard! Your eyes spaced out, your voice softened, and you got this dreamy look on your face."
"You are so lying," but the confident defiance that was in her voice earlier had steadily left it.
"Well, there's only one thing for you to do!"
"And that is."
Maren rolled her eyes, "tell him!"
"You say that like it's the most obvious answer in the world."
"That's 'cause it is," Maren interrupted.
"I can't tell him! Not now! Not after all that!"
"And why not?"
"He won't believe me! After all that he's going to think it's just pity! He will never EVER believe me, I don't even believe me."
"If it's so hard for you to go up and tell him how you feel, then that means you fear being rejected, which proves how much you really like him."
"How do you know I just don't have an intense fear of being rejected by anyone? Maybe I'd be afraid that er." she cast around for a name, "Snape would reject me!"
"Ok, any other girl would be begging Snape to reject her."
"I didn't say I liked him," she rolled her eyes, "It was an example. I didn't even say I liked James, let alone Snape."
"Lily, Lily-" Maren wheeled around, pulling her friend to a stop. "Look, you are never going to get Potter to believe you if you don't believe it yourself!"
"Maren, I need to think on this for awhile before I admit I like James. Can you just, just give me some time?"
"Alright girl, but I want to be the FIRST to know when you've come to your decision."
"Ok, you leave me alone say, 'till Christmas holiday is over, and you'll be the first to know, deal?"
"Deal." The girls shook hands, sealing the pack, then turned the corner and headed into the library.
************************************************************************