Disclaimer: The usual stuff, you know...

Author note: I discovered that some people don't now what is the problem with Marauders Map. So, here comes the explanation: on the Map you are able to see the name of every person in the castle, which means that Marauders may see what are the real names of Harry, Ron and Hermione. That would be disastrous, as they have to hide their real identity in order to stay in Hogwarts and to avoid accidentally revealing anything about the future. I hope everything is clear now. Have fun

And as usually: thanks for all reviews and comments, I just love getting them.

Author note 2:Thanks for editing to Aln-Mai.

Chapter 6

Quite a lot of sixth-year Gryffindors came down for breakfast early next morning, although each of them for a different reason.

Lily was simply a morning person; she never slept long and to other girls" dismay, she expected them to do the same. She woke them up with loud and cheerful singing and dragged them mercilessly down to breakfast with her. Hermione suspected that she simply didn't want to eat breakfast alone.

Harry and Ron wanted to keep as close to Marauders as they could, in order to ensure that the four mischief-makers didn't use the Map.

And Marauders had to be in McGonagall's office punctually at 8:30, so they couldn't sleep as long as they would normally do on Sunday. They were supposed to have a day-long detention.

The detention turned out to be the blessing, because it meant that for the whole day the dormitory would be empty. It was an occasion which Harry, Ron and Hermione couldn't miss. They were waiting anxiously for 8:30 to come, so they could start their search as soon as they were sure that it was safe.

It wasn't as easy as they had hoped it would be, though. It seemed that Lily wanted to make up for the not-so-warm welcome that the new students had received the day before, staying close to them and trying to get them into a nice, merry conversation. She kept talking about random things concerning the school such as teachers, the differences between houses, Hagrid, Dumbledore and his strange habits, Filch (she didn't mention Mrs. Norris, which was very promising) and all sorts of other stuff.

Normally they would have probably found it interesting to learn what was different in the past at Hogwarts. This time, however, they just wanted to end the conversation as fast as they could and go to the dormitory, before it was too late. The longer they waited, the less time they had for their search.

Harry tried to come up with a way to get rid of his mother, but it was difficult, mainly because he really enjoyed her company and she was very determined to make them feel better. He begged Hermione inwardly to think of something—she was the intelligent one, wasn't she?

Lily could see their anxiety, but she interpreted it her own way. Touching Harry lightly on his shoulder, she told him with a slight smile, "Don't worry, it's not your fault."

Harry smiled back, remembering that these were his own words which he had used when he had tried to comfort her yesterday.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, I can see you feel terrible after yesterday, but you shouldn't worry; Potter and Black are just stupid jerks. They think the school belongs to them..."

"Oh, we aren't worried about that at all," Hermione said with a dismissive shrug. "Actually—um, it's something different. You see, it's about what Dumbledore told us yesterday... He said that teachers can throw us out of their N.E.W.T. class if we don't do well enough..."

"What?" Lily asked incredulously. "But that's ridiculous—what is the point of that?"

"They think we will be under too much pressure compared with what we are used to," Hermione said with a grimace. "Anyway, we wanted to study a little further ahead—you know, just to make sure that everything goes well..."

Harry and Ron nodded, pretending that the story was nothing new for them and that they indeed intended to spend last day of holidays studying.

"Oh!" Lily exclaimed. "I can help you, if you want. I'm doing pretty well in some subjects. Which N.E.W.T.s are you taking?"

"Harry and Ron want to be Aurors, so they're taking Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Transfiguration and Charms. And they're also taking Care of Magical Creatures. And I'm taking all that plus Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and Astronomy."

"That's a lot..." Lily said, a little startled. "So—if you'd like me to, I can help you with Charms—and the rest as well, apart from Potions..."

Hermione looked at the boys pleadingly, signaling that she had run out of ideas. Harry glanced at Lily and then turned to Hermione.

"You know what? I don't really feel like studying today—you guys go and I'll stay here and do something else. A game of chess, Lily?" he offered turning to his mother. She smiled and nodded in agreement.

"OK—that is, if Ron and Hermione don't need my help..." She added, casting a concerned look at the other two. Ron and Hermione shook their heads and murmured some thanks before heading off, on their way to the boys dormitory. Harry and Lily started the game.

While they played, Harry observed his mother discreetly. She was quite good-looking, although not the classical beauty. It was more about the way that every single emotion she felt was clearly visible in her eyes. She had pale skin with very few freckles on her nose and when she smiled, it simply looked sweet. Harry wasn't surprised at all that his father was crazy about this woman.

He enjoyed playing with her. She obviously didn't have much experience playing wizard's chess, but from time to time she came up with a witty, original move which made the game quite interesting. Harry felt really grateful for all those times when he played with Ron. Although he was no match for his best friend, he still had learned a lot and felt very proud when Lily complimented him on his skills.

"Oh no, Ron is much better then I am," he replied modestly.

It was surprising how easily the ice broke between them. Lily was very easygoing and Harry listened attentively to everything she said. Soon they were chatting about many different things. Lily told Harry that she envied him for his wonderful siblings and started to recall different and often funny memories about her sister, Petunia. The cold relation she had with her sister worried her, but there was nothing she could do—Petunia rarely replied to her letters and refused to spend any time with her during the holidays.

It was quite unusual, how their conversation turned out to be so personal. They had known each other only for day and a half! Maybe it was simply because Lily liked to talk and Harry was eager to listen and learn as much as he could about his mother.

After an hour and three more games, Alice and Heather came downstairs from the dormitory. Lily beckoned the girls to sit with them. Some of the Gryffindor boys came down as well, and the large group of sixth year students decided to leave the common room.

It was a perfect opportunity for Harry to go and check on his friends. He started to feel anxious about what was taking them so much time. After all, one didn't need an hour to look through four trunks—the Map either was there or it wasn't, and with or without it, they should have been downstairs by now.


Harry's curiosity was gone as soon as he reached the dorm. The knowing smirk appeared on his face when he saw a red-faced, furious Hermione shouting at an equally red-faced Ron.

"Honestly, Ron, I am not your little sister, to get angry whenever a boy notices me!" she continued, oblivious to the fact that Harry had entered the room.

"I don't think you're my little..." Ron started to reply, but Harry didn't let him finish and broke in, still smirking.

"One leaves you two alone for five minutes and you're already at each other's throats?"

Both of his friends turned abruptly and both blushed even harder than they did before.

"Harry, we were just..." Hermione started to explain, but Harry only waved his hand and interjected smugly, "Acting the way you usually do. I know, I'm used to it by now."

"Yeah, sort of," Ron mumbled, slowly calming down.

"So?" Harry demanded. "Did you find the Map?"

"No, we didn't," Hermione answered seriously. "But we couldn't open James' trunk; it's probably charmed to recognize its owner or something like that..."

"We thought that maybe you could open it, since you're his son," Ron added. "Some families have trunks working for all the family members. Maybe that's the case..."

Harry nodded and headed towards his father's bed. He sat there and put his hand on the lock. He felt the strange energy running between him and the trunk, and it immediately unlocked with a loud crack.

He raised the lid cautiously, feeling an overwhelming curiosity.

Everything inside was mixed together—clothes and books and other stuff, with a broom catalog laying on top of black school robes and a bag of sweets wrapped in red-gold socks with five toes. Harry chuckled and started to take each thing out one by one, examining it and then placing it gently on the bed next to him. Ron and Hermione observed him from the other end of the room without a word as he slid his hand through the familiar material of the Invisibility Cloak or touched the delicate material of a shirt. James clothes, although kept untidily, were ones of good quality, same as every other thing he possessed.

A sudden movement caught Harry's eyes in the middle of this little ritual he was having. It was a photo. He picked it up and stared at it, unable to move. There was a little bit younger James there with an older man, who obviously had to be his father. He stood behind the boy, his hands resting on the other's arms, with an expression of pride and fondness, while James fidgeted and seemed to be a little uncomfortable.

After a long while, Harry carefully laid the photo on the bed, next to the pile of James' stuff. He resumed his search, and after taking almost everything out from the trunk, he finally found a familiar piece of parchment. He smiled to himself and turned around to his friends.

"I think I found it!" he announced, taking out his wand and whispering, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

Immediately images started to appear—it really was the Map. Harry handed it to Hermione, saying, "I think you'd better keep it. That way, we won't risk them finding it..."

Hermione took it and examined it with a frown.

"They're still in the detention?" Ron asked, trying to look at the map from behind Hermione's back.

"Yes..." she said uncertainly. "Except for James, though. I can't find him."

"Is he coming?" Ron asked, horrified. "Better put his stuff back, Harry!"

Harry didn't need telling twice. He started throwing all the things back to the trunk, leaving them in even bigger mess then they were when he had opened the trunk. He was almost finished when Hermione exclaimed, "I can't believe it!"

"What?" both boys asked in unison.

"Guess where James is! I'll bet McGonagall didn't let him go there!"

Ron took the map and scanned through it until his eyes widened in disbelief.

"I never heard of McGonagall letting anyone from detention early," he said, shaking his head.

"Where is he? Tell me!" Harry inquired impatiently.

"On the Quidditch pitch! And judging from the speed of the dot, he's flying, too!"

"You know what? I think we'd better go outside as well; now that we have a Map, there's no point in us staying inside any longer," Ron said. Hermione agreed and they both headed to the door, Harry following them closely.

None of them noticed that there was one thing that Harry didn't put back into the trunk. It was the photo of James and his father, which he carefully folded and hid in his pocket.


No matter how impossible it seemed, the truth was that McGonagall really did let James out from the detention for the Quidditch practice. Everyone in Gryffindor seemed rather pleased with her decision and all the sixth-years, who were outside with Harry, Ron and Hermione now among them, watched the year's first practice enthusiastically.

Harry felt very proud when he saw his father flying—he was extremely good, and moreover, he really knew how to make other Chasers work as a team—even if he was much better than his teammates, he didn't play the whole game by himself, which could easily happen. He was explaining something to Heather, who was nodding vigorously while Harry watched.

Lily Evans noticed Harry's awe and said in a sarcastic voice, "Please, don't tell me that you're joining his fan club—I couldn't stand that. Not after thinking that I finally found someone with more sense."

Harry looked at her with surprise and then replied sarcastically, "Well, actually, joining his fan club did cross my mind. But after a serious consideration, I decided it simply wouldn't be enough—I thought about idolizing him as a god and building a temple..."

Lily, who at first seemed startled, snorted and playfully hit Harry on his arm. He smiled at her, while Hermione joined their conversation. "You have to admit that he is good..."

"Well, maybe in Quidditch—but I bet that you could beat him in chess if you wanted, Harry." At that, it was Ron's turn to snort.

"Lily, what did he make you believe?" he asked, pointing at Harry. "He's terrible in chess. If he was to beat James in anything, it would surely be Quidditch, not chess. He's much better at flying than strategy."

He immediately knew after he finished that he had said too much, and saw the alarmed look Hermione cast in his direction.

Lily was probably more puzzled by their sudden nervousness than the sense of Ron's comment.

"So you play Quidditch?" she asked.

"Who plays Quidditch?" Lea Leafdrop joined into the conversation.

"Harry and Ron—a little," Hermione answered the double question, not letting her friends say anything. "Not very well—they never had anyone to practice with them. They only learned basics by themselves, and that's all..."

"Oh—I see," Lea replied. "I only asked because there's a spot open on the team. Martin, our previous Seeker, graduated last year. They will probably be holding tryouts sometime soon. Alice wanted to try out, didn't you?" she nudged other girl, who wasn't listening to them and was instead staring at the fliers dreamily.

Alice nodded without even looking at them. Lea smirked at her and then continued with a laugh,

"She's hopeless. The first girl to fall in love with Quidditch instead of a guy..."

Harry hoped that the change of the subject would cover up Ron's little mistake—that had been too close. It was a good thing that Hermione had such good mental reflexes to be able to come up with a proper explanation about where Harry had learned to play Quidditch. Even during careless chats like this they had to be wary. Constant vigilance, just as Moody used to say.


The rest of the afternoon passed rather uneventfully. After the Quidditch practice was over, everybody returned to Gryffindor Tower. It was getting late, so they started preparing things for tomorrow—the first day of lessons. Lily handed out the schedules, and Harry discovered that he had the Herbology as his first lesson tomorrow. He didn't take N.E.W.T.s in that subject, but he still had to attend the "normal" lessons. Defense Against the Dark Arts was his last lesson on Friday.

When they all finished comparing their schedules and the subjects which each of them took, they all went down to the Great Hall for dinner.

Harry found himself sitting between Lily and Ron, enjoying their meal. Harry was joking and having a good time with both his old and new friends when suddenly, he felt a strange shiver. He turned around and saw James Potter glaring at him, jealousy written all over his face.

Right, the last thing I need. My own father thinking I'm trying to steal my mother from him. He could tell, judging by James' hateful expression, that his troubles with Marauders had only just begun.