Disclaimer: None of it is mine... -sigh-
A/N: Wow, so sorry for the delay. I know I promised I'd have this up by, what was it- two weeks ago? But anyways, here it is now...
Oh, and this story has a slight reference to Puppy! which is one of my other stories. You don't need to have read that one in order to read this chapter though.
A Nonny Mouse: -grin- Thanks for the review. It is a rather funny story, isn't it?
The seven people stared at Pig. Ron and Harry were trying not to laugh at the looks on Fred and George's faces. Hermione was frowning, obviously not approving of the bit of fun Ron and Harry were having at the other's expenses. Sirius and Remus were trying to figure out why Ron's owl was giving them a letter. And of course, Fred and George were wondering how Pig could fail to give the letter to the right people and then return and give the letter back to the wrong people as well!
Sirius reached forward and grabbed the letter, slowly unrolling the scroll. He quickly read it before he started to laugh. He handed the letter to Remus, who read it aloud to the others.
Dear Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and/or Prongs,
First, we would like to thank you for the great help you have been in aiding our "magical mischief making" career during our school years. And of course, we want to thank you for providing the passwords used to operate the map, for without them it would've been useless to us. We could not have done half of the pranks that we have pulled off without the help of your wonderful map. We will forever be in your debt. (This was the point where choked laughter could be heard from Ron and Harry.)
We have passed the map onto another student by this time; Harry Potter in fact. However, even though the map is no longer in our possession, we still use the knowledge gained from it every year. (More laughter from Ron and Harry.) We have always wondered who you really are, since we know that no one going by your names ever attended Hogwarts. We would greatly appreciate it if we could have your names, even just your first names.
Your humble servants,
Fred and George Weasley
Sirius, Ron and Harry burst into loud laughter. Even Remus was smiling at the contents of the letter. Hermione was still looking like she disapproved of the whole matter. And of course, Fred and George were slowly turning bright red.
Remus turned to Sirius, who had finally started to calm down. "Well, at least we know why Pig was giving us a letter." He said. "Although I have to admit, I'm rather surprised that this is the first time that they've tried to send a letter to us..."
Sirius chuckled. "Well Moony, you have to admit that it was a rather brilliant idea. Sort of the thing Prongs would've done- if we had gotten and not made the map... if that makes any sense..."
"None at all Padfoot." Remus said.
Fred and George stared at the two adults. "Wait... so Pig wasn't... and it didn't... and you are... and Moony is... and Padfoot..." They continued to stare. Ron and Harry were still chuckling softly and even Hermione had managed a small grin now.
Remus grinned. "Well, looks like the secret's out." He joked. "Yes Sirius and I are Moony and Padfoot... for what I hope are now obvious reasons." Fred and George nodded; they both knew that Sirius was an Animagus and that Remus was a werewolf.
Sirius picked up the story. "Wormtail was Peter Pettigrew and Harry's father was Prongs." They turned to stare at Harry, who started to look very uncomfortable.
"You... you're related to one of the Marauders!" They said, continuing to stare at him. Harry shifted around nervously, not sure what to say. Fred and George were looking like they were about to worship him and it was starting to freak him out...
Luckily, he was saved from an awkward worshipping moment by Remus. "Yes, the four of us were the Marauders. We used to get into all sorts of trouble- thanks to James and Sirius, of course."
"Hey!" Sirius said, interrupting Remus. "That's not true! What about the time that you pulled that prank on that little Ravenclaw instead of the Slytherin?"
"Yeah, well what about the time you got caught in your Animagus form by a little girl?" Remus retorted. "Or the time you tried to tell Severus to go into the Whomping Willow on a full moon? Or the time you first tried to transform in the dog and you ended up with a tail for two weeks! Or the time-"
Sirius glared at him and luckily he stopped, but not before Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all giggling again. Remus continued talking. "Well, we did a lot more productive things than that."
"Like make the map?" Fred asked.
Sirius grinned. "Like make the map. Took a lot of complicated spells to do it, but after we became Animagi in our fifth year we started working on that. We had it finish by December of our seventh year... just to have it found and confiscated by Filch right before we left."
"Although I guess it is better that way..." Remus said thoughtfully. "We never did figure out how we were going to pass it on to someone else, since they had to touch the map in order for us to find out that someone had it. This was at least someone managed to get it without us having to hand it over."
Fred and George stared at them again. They were starting look like they were going to worship the two adults and now it was Remus's turn to look uncomfortable. They probably would've started their worship then and there is Sirius had casually said, "So Harry, Ron, Hermione- why is it that you've never told these two who the Marauders were?"