Lupin looked a little more pale than usual, which was saying something.

"I doubt he's actually dead. He wouldn't let himself be killed by a cat," he said. "But this does make things a little more difficult."

"A little?" Draco said, a bit loudly. That was an understatement if he'd ever heard one, he thought. The rat might be dead, and with it any chance of redeeming Cygna's godfather.

He didn't want to tell her; she would be so disappointed. His shoulders drooped morosely.

"I have an idea," Lupin said abruptly, and Draco felt a spark of hope.

"What?"

"We're going to sneak into Filch's office, and," Lupin paused, and looked at him meaningfully, "I need you to stay out of the Forest."

"What's in Filch's office?" Draco asked curiously, trying to change the subject and avoid giving his promise.

"Draco," Lupin said seriously, "unless I'm with you, you must not leave the grounds. We were very lucky today. You do know what dementors are capable of?"

"The Kiss," Draco shivered as he said it. It was a punishment for the worst of the worst criminals, to live the rest of their lives as soulless shells of themselves.

"That's right," Lupin nodded, and then his expression softened. "Draco, you can't know what this meant to me today. I haven't… It's been so long."

His eyes were suspiciously shiny at the end, and Draco, to his own mild horror, felt a lump forming in his own throat. He shuffled his feet awkwardly.

"Wasn't any trouble," Draco shrugged. "And… I'll wait until you can come with me."

Lupin looked so obviously relieved that Draco felt slightly better about the sacrifice he was making.

"Thank you, Draco."

A week later, Draco sprinted down the corridor, and hardly slowed at all as he turned into the DADA classroom.

Professor Lupin was sitting behind his desk, quietly grading papers, and looked up at him with concern.

"Are you alright?"

Draco nodded, but had to lean over and put his hands on his knees for a few moments to catch his breath.

"Someone got – got Peeves all riled up," he panted. "Filch's trying to find the Baron."

Lupin just stared at him for a moment, and then he smiled.

"Well, it looks like we have somewhere to be."

Draco tried not to look too excited as they made their way to Filch's office, but he really couldn't help the extra bounce in his step. He'd never broken in to anyone's office before. It was thrilling.

Unfortunately, Lupin didn't seem to be of a mind to let him help with any of the actual breaking in and told him to keep watch for Filch or Mrs. Norris. Draco nearly pouted, but then he remembered that not only was this very important, but they were also in a bit of a time crunch.

The Bloody Baron could be difficult to find but Filch would have the portraits and other ghosts to help him, so they probably had no more than ten minutes, tops. Draco shifted from one foot to another nervously, turning his head every few seconds to check both ends of the hallway.

After a few minutes, he heard a drawer shut rather loudly, and whispered excitedly, "Find it?"

"No," Lupin responded, and a few seconds later he stepped out into the hallway. "It's not there anymore."

"You could try Summoning it?"

"I… hadn't thought of that."

Draco felt pleased with himself for thinking of something his professor hadn't.

"Accio Marauder's Map," Lupin incanted, and then they both waited… and waited… and waited.

"Guess it's not in the castle," Draco said, shoulders drooping a little in disappointment.

"Or it's with someone who knows the password," Lupin muttered.

"Password? What sort of map is it that it needs a password?"

"A very special one," said Lupin, his eyes seeming to look somewhere far away. "Sirius, James, Peter, and I created the Marauder's Map so we could sneak around. It shows every place in the castle, even secret passages, and where every person in the castle is. There is an Anti-Theft charm on it, but we anticipated passing it on to the next generation, so it can only be Summoned if whoever is in possession of it doesn't know the password."

"You made a map like that?" It sounded like a lot of really tricky, high-level spell-work. And they'd made it while they were in school. Draco was impressed.

"Not by myself," Lupin shrugged. "The others helped."

Draco thought it was more likely he'd made pretty much the whole thing himself. He knew how 'group' projects went.

"How long would it take to make another?"

"Months," Lupin sighed, rubbing his face. "And I'm not sure if – ah."

He was looking at something down the hall, and Draco turned to see Mrs. Norris rounding the corner. She hadn't seen them yet, having picked a fight with a cat in a portrait on the wall, but it was only a matter of time, and Filch couldn't be far behind.

Draco exchanged a glance with Lupin, and they simultaneously turned and made their escape.

Lupin looked more and more weary over the next few days, and Draco couldn't help worrying about him a little. He just looked… miserable.

Draco went to the library at one point and checked out a bunch of books about tracking spells, but most of them were extremely difficult, and you needed a bit of whoever you were looking for, or something they had recently worn.

He was leaving the Great Hall and wondering if maybe Weasley had ever dressed his rat in a holiday jumper and happened to still have it, when he heard voices coming from a classroom. He probably wouldn't have stopped, except for a key word.

"Check the map. He still at dinner?"

Draco stopped in the hall. There was a rustling of paper, and then –

"Yeah, we're good. Creevey's still next to him."

Draco recognized the voices now. It was Fred and George Weasley. And now that the evidence was right in front of him, it seemed obvious that the map had fallen into their hands. No wonder their pranks were always so good.

"Move along now, nothing to see here."

Draco jumped in surprise. Fred (or George, he honestly didn't know) was looking out of the open doorway at him expectantly. Normally, he probably would have kept going, not wanting to risk getting targeted by a Weasley prank, but this wasn't a normal circumstance.

"Actually, I need to talk to you two," he told the Weasley twin, who straightened up and looked at him suspiciously. George (or Fred) crossed his arms in consideration, and Draco did his best to look innocent.

"Come on in, then," the twin finally acquiesced, turning to go back into the classroom.

Draco scrambled after him, only to stop just inside as he saw what the twins were up to.

Well, he couldn't really tell what they were up to, just that they were up to a lot, if the state of the abandoned classroom were any indication. If it were anyone besides the Weasley twins, he might have thought they were practicing brewing some potions.

"Well?" Fred or George asked, tearing his attention away from the cauldrons.

"It's about the map," Draco said, gaining a little confidence now that he could see it, spread open across two desks.

The twins exchanged a glance.

"What about it?"

"I need it."

The Weasleys simultaneously burst out laughing.

"He thinks – "

" – we'll just – "

" – give it to him?"

"I just want to borrow it!" Draco said loudly, but they still kept laughing. He knew he shouldn't have just blurted out what he wanted right away, but he hadn't prepared a plan for this situation at all. He needed something to use as leverage…

…and then he had it.

"What if I could introduce you to a Marauder?"

"Not gonna give us a hint?"

"Not even one?"

"No," Draco said smugly, as he led the two Weasley twins through the castle. He just hoped Lupin was in his office.

"No way," one of them said, when Draco stopped at the Defense classroom.

Draco rolled his eyes and opened the door.

Lupin looked up at them from behind his desk, confusion spreading across his face as the Weasley twins stared at him with barely suppressed glee.

"Draco, Fred, George," he said. "How can I help you?"

"I've brought you your fan club, professor," Draco smirked.

The Weasley twins, who had seemed too excited to speak at first, suddenly found their tongues.

"Are you Moony – "

" – Wormtail – "

" – Padfoot – "

" – or Prongs?" the last they chorused together, with identical grins.

Draco laughed quietly at how utterly surprised Lupin looked, but he recovered quickly. The professor held out his hand, and the twins quickly produced the thick, folded-up piece of parchment and gave it to him. Draco leaned forward with some interest as Lupin set it on his desk and placed his wand tip directly in the center.

"Reveal your secrets."

Immediately, writing began to appear across the yellowed paper. It read:

Messrs Padfoot, Prongs, and Wormtail express the most violent surprise that their dearest Moony, their most favorite Prefect, could ever have forgotten the magic words, but until he remembers them, there will be no mischief for him!

"That was Padfoot's idea," Lupin said, with a little laugh. "It insults everyone who doesn't know how to use it."

"Wicked," the twins said, at the same time, staring at Lupin with awestruck faces.

Draco thought it was an excellent idea, too. The map, when not in use, could be passed off as some kind of joke paper.

"I assume Draco has told you we need to borrow this?" Lupin asked the twins, who nodded violently. Draco almost snorted aloud at their sudden willingness to give up their most valued possession, but it really was as easy as that, and they had the map.