A/N: Thanks for the support guys!
Lily could see that Catherine wanted payback for that make-up comment. Her eyes were blazing and Lily felt sorry for the parchment. There was no way Catherine would let that piece of parchment survive. She braced herself for Cathy's next spell.
"On the count of three" Catherine said.
Lily nodded.
"One. Two. Three."
Reducto
Nothing happened. Lily let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Predictably, writing appeared on the parchment.
Reducto
Reducto
Reducto
This time it was only Cathy who spelled it. Lily looked up at her in surprise. She really was aggravated about the comments then. Predictably, nothing happened to the parchment. She looked at Cathy, whose expression was no longer excited, but resigned. She waved her hand to indicate Lily to read the parchment.
Mr. Moony refrains to comment on the stupidity of Lily and Catherine fully knowing that it will be only a waste of ink.
Mr. Prongs would like to inform Lily that it feels like she performed the Reductor Curse on his heart by refusing his advances.
Mr. Padfoot would like to roll his eyes at Mr. Prongs. He would also like to add that he lov…..hates Catherine's vivacity
Mr. Wormtail would like to apologize to Catherine. He also wishes that Mr. Padfoot is now happy.
Lily passed the parchment to Catherine. It was obvious that Mr. Prongs, whoever he was, had a huge crush one her. And, truth to be told, she found it a little cute that he was so into her. Not that she was interested in him or anything. Not at all.
Mr. Padfoot on the other hand, seemed to hate her a little for taking up so much of Mr. Prongs attention. A jealous best-friend. Of course, he now seemed to like Catherine, not that Catherine would like him. Or, would she?
"So, what do we know about these people, if they actually exist?" Catherine said, her voice business-like. Her anger seemed to have vanished, only replaced by curiosity. Lily could see that Catherine wanted to know who Mr. Padfoot is.
"A group of four people. Four guys. Prongs and Padfoot are undoubtedly bestfriends. Moony is careful and strict. Prongs…." Lily trailed off, not knowing what to say.
"Prongs has a humongous crush on you. Moving on" Catherine said, noticing the way Lily's cheeks had gone red.
"Yes. Padfoot likes to insult and challenge people" Lily continued. She pretended that she did not see Catherine's face.
"And Wormtail is like the tail of the group." Catherine continued, writing all of it in Lily's notebook.
"That's all we have for now" Lily said, raising her wand again.
"Of course. We need more data." Catherine nodded, raising her wand as well.
"One. Two. Three."
DIffindo
Instead of tearing like they slightly expected it to, the parchment flew out of the window.
"What the hell?" Catherine said, both of them rushing towards the window and looking out.
Accio parchment
For a moment, the parchment stopped in mid-air and it seemed like the parchment was coming back. However, the parchment continued on its path. Lily had a slight suspicion that someone else was summoning the parchment, and by the force of it, they were extremely magical. Catherine seemed to have come to the same conclusion, for she casted:
Accio Parchment
The map stopped in midair and then started coming back to the girls dormitories. Lily and Catherine high-fived each other and looked eagerly outside the window. The map was doing some strange kind of dance in mid-air – as if it was unable to decide which way to go. Lily and Catherine wasted no time.
Accio Parchment
The piece of parchment still danced in midair. But, Lily and Catherine could see that they were losing the battle. They casted relentlessly, but some strange force pulled it away from them. The parchment went above their window and they could not see where it ended up going. Lily gave a disappointed sigh and was surprised when she saw Catherine's eager face.
"Oh, Lily! Don't you see? Someone else was summoning the parchment too!" Catherine said, excitement written all over her face.
"Yes, so?"
"Lily, you are one of the best of our year. And, I will not pretend, but I am really good at Charms. It must have taken an incredible amount of magical energy to have summoned it, resisting our magic. It surely could not have been one person" Catherine said. Lily saw it now.
"If whoever summoned it are students, there will be more than two people who summoned it together. Three gifted people. The people who created this parchment. So, you are saying…."
"Yes! Prongs, Padfoot, Moony and Wormtail summoned it back. They are actual people who are alive. I thought the parchment might have been created by old students who might be dead by now. Hogwarts contains so many secrets." Catherine said.
"I see what you mean. It would be really weird for a dead man to be crushing on me. So, that's a relief" Lily said, but Catherine was not listening. She was looking outside the window, trying to figure out the direction in which the parchment flew.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHP
"Finally! Moony, you are a genius!" James said, clutching the precious map.
"A Summoning Charm isn't genius, Prongs, it's common sense. We could have gotten it earlier if you told us you lost it" Padfoot said.
"Padfoot…." James began, but Sirius cut him off.
"Don't. I am still angry at you for losing the map. How could you, James?" Sirius demanded, snatching the map from James.
"For the first time, I must agree with Padfoot. You remember how much time it took us to make the map, Prongs. What if someone found it? You do realize the map is actually illegal?" Moony said, frowning at his Prefect badge.
"Illegal? Just because it breaks a few privacy rules? Moony, Padfoot we've done much worse things. No, no, don't deny it. Remember when we flooded the entire Charms corridor? That was illegal" James said, trying to brighten the mood.
It worked. Sirius's eyes shone, reminiscing the time they flooded the corridor. It had been on a whim, to flood it and blame it on Myrtle. Myrtle had been annoying Sirius while he was bathing (he did have quite a large fan-base). And, surprisingly, it worked.
"Okay, okay. But no map for you for two months" Sirius said, fully knowing that James would hate it. James had the extraordinary ability of appearing wherever Lily was. Well, not anymore. He opened the Marauder's treasure, checking for damage.
"Marauders! Someone tried to work the Map!" Padfoot said, with the glory worthy of a warrior.
"Time to see how good Padfoot's charms are then" James said, opening the map in Sirius' hands. All the Marauders leaned in to see the strength of their spell-work.
Mr. Moony offers no comment upon the increasing stupidity of, what he once believed, were "the two brightest witches of their age"
Mr. Prongs would like to add that Lily was ripping his heart by not letting him take her out
Mr. Padfoot would like to smirk in the annoyingly arrogant way that works better than love potions. He would also like to add that the redhead can never beat him so she should just stop trying. However, he would not mind if her friend tries.
Mr. Wormtail would like to ask his fellow Marauders if he could copy their Transfiguration homework.
A/N: Reviews are love.
For the first time in his life, James felt guilty. For the first time in his life, James understood how irresponsible he really was. The other Marauders shunned him as punishment for losing the royal treasure (read Marauder's Map). It was not even James' fault. He had the map in his pocket that morning and couldn't find it when he needed it in the evening. He had not used it for a single