Remus paced back and forth across his office, stopping every so often to frown at the map spread open across his desk. He had no idea how Harry had ended up with the Marauder's Map in his possession, but ever since he'd confiscated it he'd been using it to observe the goings-on at Hogwarts, finding a strange sort of comfort in the tattered parchment from his school days. So much of the Marauders was gone now, but their map was still here, a bit old and worn but just as brilliant as ever.
Remus had been watching Harry and his friends sneak across the school grounds to Hagrid's hut, going to visit him before his hippogriff was executed. They weren't supposed to be out on the grounds this late, of course—Remus suspected they were using James's Invisibility Cloak, which he knew Dumbledore had returned to Harry when he started at Hogwarts. So Remus was monitoring them, using Harry and his safety as an excuse to delay his trip down to Severus's office for his nightly goblet of Wolfsbane Potion. Tonight was the full moon, so he very much needed to take it, but Remus was dreading having to speak to Severus one-on-one. Somehow, the relationship between the two of them had only grown worse over the course of the year; Snape was trying to sabotage his job by dropping hints about his lycanthropy, and he'd made no secret of the fact that he thought Remus was working with Sirius to help him break into the castle. Remus, for his part, had done the best to be civil to his old rival, but his classes had contained one too many drag-Snape Boggarts for Severus's liking. Still, Severus had never failed to brew him an impeccable batch of Wolfsbane Potion before the moons—Remus could be grateful for that, if nothing else.
Suddenly he halted mid-pace and whirled back around to examine the map, having caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye that made him think his nostalgia must be playing tricks on him. But no, he'd seen correctly: accompanying the tiny ink figures of Harry, Ron and Hermione was a fourth one labelled Peter Pettigrew.
Peter…. He'd died almost thirteen years ago, and yet here he was on the Marauder's Map. Remus narrowed his eyes; the map had never deceived him before. The Marauders had been sure to enchant it so it could not be fooled by anything, not Invisibility Cloaks or Polyjuice Potions or even Animagi.
Remus's hands began to shake. Ron owned a pet rat; he'd overheard him and Hermione arguing over it more than once during class. And Peter's name was right on top of Ron's—could it be…?
No. That was impossible. Absolutely ridiculous.
But then there was another name that drew Remus's attention, headed straight for Peter at breakneck pace—Sirius Black. Sirius and Peter, a dead man and a convict, somehow reunited on the map. If Peter was alive—if Sirius hadn't killed him…Remus's heart was thrashing against his insides, all the way up to his head. It didn't make any sense….
The little map figures were all heading towards the Whomping Willow, Sirius with Ron and Peter and the other two chasing after them. They were going to the Shack; Remus would have to go too if he wanted to learn the truth. He had to learn the truth, had to learn what had really happened during those horrible few days in 1981.
He still hadn't taken his Wolfsbane Potion…but he didn't have time for that, Sirius and Peter had already vanished beneath the Willow…if he didn't go after them now, someone was very likely going to end up dead.
With a deep breath, he grabbed his wand and tore out of his office, leaving the door ajar and the Marauder's Map lying open with the fates of all his friends spelled out in its ink.
