Good evening all! Thank you for returning for chapter four. As promised, the story starts to pick up now. I was gonna post this HOURS ago but I had work so sadly work has to come first (boo). I'll try to post one chapter a day, but if it gets to be every two to three days, please be patient; I promise good things come to those who wait :-)

Again, much thanks to Julie (remuslives23) for editing, awesome suggestions, and being super cool :-)

A/N: This goes for all chapter past, present, and future--everything you recognize comes from the wonderful JK Rowling; I'm just borrowing :-)

'Now get in there you no good ruddy kids and I'll be back to give you your punishment,' Argus Filch said before gimping off after Peeves, Mrs. Norris hot on his heels.

Fred, George, and Evelyn were locked in the caretaker's messy and smelly office after being caught out of bed after curfew and "caught in the process of causing mischief" as Filch had put it. The three of them had been prepping for their latest prank, to be executed the next morning. Their victims -- the Slytherins, the Gryffindor students' natural enemies.

But Evelyn, or Evey as everyone now called her, couldn't help but smile; she loved causing trouble with the twins. In the month since they arrived at school, they had detention a total of nineteen times--their mischievous antics earning them the name "The Troublesome Trio" amongst the staff and prefects.

It all started on the third day of classes. Evelyn was sitting at one of the tables in the common room, trying to finish the unreasonably long Charms essay that was due at the end of the week. The twins--who had the same assignment but were putting it off until the last minute--were sitting on the couch, elbows on their knees and heads together, talking in low tones about something that Evelyn couldn't quite make out. After about half an hour, one of the twins (George, Evelyn knew by now), fell back against the backrest, throwing his arms into the air dramatically.

'Well then I don't know what the bloody hell to do!' he exclaimed.

'I'm telling you mate--dungbombs! It will be hilarious and the smell will stay with them all day,' Fred argued.

Evelyn, who had her back to the twins, gently set her quill on the table and listened intently.

'No, you have to be nearby to set them off--we'll get caught for sure!'

'But isn't that the point? Don't we want everyone to know it's us performing these incredibly ingenuous practical jokes?'

'No! The point is to prank everyone in a way so that everyone knows it was us, but the teacher's can't prove it.'

'Oh...Well, what about nose-biting tea-cups?'

'No...they'd take a bite out of us too. Besides, where would we set them up? Only the teachers use teacups… .'

'Very true, very true.'

There was silence for a minute and in the quiet, the strangest thing was happening in Evelyn's mind. It was working fast, trying to think of a solution to the twins' problem. She was surprised - practical jokes had never been her 'thing' but when things started falling into place--bits and pieces from other conversations she heard between them in the past few days, she turned to the boys with a plan.

'Soap.'

'What?' the twins asked as one, watching as Evelyn rose from her seat and approached them.

'Soap. You said two days ago that you bought a whole crate of frog-spawn soap at Diagon Alley before you left for Hogwarts. Remember I asked you what it was and you told me that when the bars get wet, soap frogs come out of them and start hopping around everywhere and don't disappear until they dry out?'

'Ok,' George said slowly, recalling the conversation but still not catching on. 'So, what about it?'

'Don't you see? Replace all the soap in all the loos with the frog-spawn soap! It would be brilliant! Frogs would be hopping all over the place. And the best part is, since it only activates when it hits water, you can just leave them and stay clear of the loos and you won't be caught!'

The twins looked at each other, having a silent conversation between themselves. A full minute later, they looked back at Evelyn.

'We like your idea, Evey,' Fred proclaimed in a very business-like voice. 'However, there is one snag.'

'Which is?' Evelyn questioned, not bothering to challenge them on the incorrect the use of her name anymore.

'How would we get the soap into the girls' loos?' George asked.

Evelyn smiled, a strange anticipation filling her as she said, 'Leave it to me.'

The plan worked perfectly. The next morning, while everyone was at breakfast, the twins and Evelyn scurried around the castle replacing as many bars of soap as they could. Throughout the day, intermittent screams could be heard coming from all the loos, and soap frogs were hopping down the halls. Everything was going to plan, until Peeves caught the twins sneaking out of one of the loos on the seventh floor during dinner (it took them all day to hit all the loos) and Filch came running at the poltergeist's screams. The twins were cornered in the common room by McGonagall and threatened with a weeks worth of detention each. Evelyn couldn't let them take the fall all alone and bravely confessed that it had been her plan, and she just asked Fred and George to help her with the execution. It cost their house ten points and all three of them got a weeks detention, but as Evelyn, Fred, and George polished trophies without magic the next night, they were quietly planning their next prank.

As Fred and George tried to figure out how to escape the office before Filch came back, Evey took the opportunity to look around. The room was quite small and could barely qualify as an "office"; it was more like a large storage closet with a desk, a lantern hanging over their heads, a huge cupboard, and dozens filing cabinets stacked to the ceiling. Needless to say, it was quite cramped in there. It smelled something awful and Evey was gagging, only choking it back when she thought of how the twins would tease her if she was sick. The odour seemed to be emanating mainly from the stone walls, which were damp and covered in some kind of slimy substance that she honestly didn't want to think about. Behind the desk on the wall hung various types of chains and manacles that Evey fervently hoped hadn't been used recently nor would be getting used any time soon. The small desk was covered in parchment, and Evey saw Filch's barely legible handwriting on most of it.

As she scanned the filing cabinets, she was quite pleased to see that she, Fred, and George already had their own drawer marked "Troublesome Trio" and was a bit jealous that the twins also had a separate drawer all of their own. The other drawers had various labels on them, none of which caught her eye until she saw one marked "CONFISCATED AND HIGHLY DANGEROUS." That label certainly peaked her interest, so as the twins continued to try and knock down the door, she went over to the very intriguing drawer to take a look; only to find, to her disappointment, that it was locked. She instantly regretted leaving her wand in her dorm.

'Bugger!'

'What is it, Evey?'

Evey whipped her head around, her long ponytail nearly hitting her in the face, to see that she had caught the twins' attention with her outcry. 'Oh, its just this drawer--its locked.'

'What's so interesting about a drawer?' Fred asked as he and George kneeled down next to Evey.

She smiled, 'Oh, nothing...just the fact that it's labelled "CONFISCATED AND HIGHLY DANGEROUS!"'

The twins' chocolate eyes lit up, and they smiled like kids on Christmas morning. 'Oh really?'

Evey simply pointed to the label on the drawer, and that was all it took for the twins to start trying to open the drawer instead of the door. After nearly tugging the cabinet down, though, they sat back on their heels with frowns on their faces.

'Well, isn't this just unfair?' George said with a pout.

'Right you are, twin,' Fred agreed.

Evey sighed and sat down, cross-legged, and put her head in her hands. Something so tempting was right in front of them, and yet it was just out of reach. A stray strand of hair tickled the back of her neck and she reached her arms up to fix it.

George saw her and said, 'What are you doing?

She looked up at him, 'Fixing my hair.'

Fred suddenly looked up, eyes wide, 'How?'

'With bobby pins...OH!' she exclaimed, finally catching on.

She immediately pulled all the bobby pins out of her hair, loose hairs falling all around her face. She dumped them in a pile in front of the boys. The three of them stared at the pile before Evey spoke.

'Now what?'

The twins looked up at her, then at each other for a few moments. She still wasn't sure how they did it, but they were having another silent conversation, communicating with just a look. She had seen them do this many times since she met them, and it astounded her every time. After quite a long silence, Fred nodded and George grabbed one of the bobby pins and started to attack the small lock on the drawer. After wiggling it, jiggling it, and twisting it, an audible "click" was heard and George slid the drawer open with a smile.

'Voila!' he said.

The trio dove right in, seeing so many interesting things that their brains could not comprehend it all. Suddenly, they heard the lock on the door jiggle. The twins and Evey scrambled to close the drawer, but not before Evey grabbed the first thing she laid her hands on -- not wanting to leave empty handed. They stood shoulder to shoulder, Evey in the middle, the fantastic drawer once again closed, just as Filch opened the door.

It wasn't until an hour later that they arrived back to the Gryffindor common room. Filch had been brutal, bringing Snape and McGonagall with him to assist in assigning their punishment. In the end, it was decided they'd have to clean all the loos in the dungeon by hand, no magic, for two weeks. It was disgusting, and unfair, but it would be worth it due to the fact that the teachers and Filch hadn't discovered the pranks they had been setting up so they would still go off as planned over breakfast.

By now, everyone else in Gryffindor tower was asleep, which gave them time and privacy to investigate what it was they had nicked from Filch.

'That's it?' Fred said as they stared at the blank bit of parchment they had risked their necks for.

'Quite a let down,' George said sadly.

'Now look, you two, it must have been in that drawer for a reason,' Evey argued. 'I'm sure there is something interesting about this thing...BLOODY HELL! LOOK!'

The three stared at the parchment as words began to appear.

Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Miss Collins for acknowledging the fact that this marvellous artefact was confiscated by the wretched Mr. Filch for a reason.

The three eleven year old stared at the parchment in shock; it just wrote them a message! Incredible!

'Evey, ask it a question,' George said.

'What? Why me?'

'Because it obviously likes you,' Fred said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Evey shrugged then her jaw dropped in total shock as the parchment was writing again.

Mr. Prongs agrees with Messrs. Weasley.

As does Mr. Padfoot.

And Mr. Wormtail.

And Mr. Moony.

'Go on then Evey,' George prompted.

Evey thought she had lost her mind--a piece of parchment that apparently had multiple personalities was talking to her. Then again, she hadn't believed there was a magical world at first either. She took a deep breath and spoke.

'Alright then, well, er, why exactly is it that Filch had this--or you--in that drawer?'

Mr. Prongs believes it is because Mr. Filch is a no good bilge rat.

Mr. Wormtail takes offence to Mr. Prongs' comment.

Mr. Prongs sincerely apologizes to Mr. Wormtail.

Mr. Wormtail accepts Mr. Prongs' sincere apology.

Mr. Padfoot would greatly appreciate it if both Messrs. Prongs and Wormtail shut their traps.

Mr. Moony sincerely apologizes to Miss Collins for his friends' behaviour.

'Its quite alright,' said Evey, still self conscious that she was talking to a piece of parchment. 'So what exactly is this… um, I mean, who exactly are you?'

Ah, Mr. Prongs wishes is was just that simple.

Sadly, Mr. Padfoot must inform young Miss. Collins that the nature of this magnificent item must be discovered without any help.

However, Mr. Wormtail is pleased to inform you that guessing is allowed, and correct guesses will receive hints as rewards.

Mr. Moony feels he must say that because he feels Messrs. Weasley and Miss Collins are very worthy of knowing the secrets the parchment contains, so hints may be better than if it were anyone else.

'Well, that is bloody stupid,' Fred said.

'Don't insult them! They're sweet,' Evey said.

'Of course you think so, they complimented you,' George said.

'Ok, come on, we can figure this out,' Evey said, ignoring the look George was giving her.

'Now, these guys obviously hate Filch, and so do we. And he confiscated this from them like he confiscated those wicked fireworks from us last week. Maybe...they were, what did Filch call us; "no good ruddy kids"... Hey look!'

The three of them saw the parchment, which had gone blank then drawn a hang man set-up. The mysterious Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs had already filled in some of the blanks with the words "TO" "NO" and "GOOD".

'Hey, good going Evey!'

'I agree with George, brilliant job.'

'Look, another one!'

The word "I" appeared twice on the parchment.

'Ok, so we have to guess... seven more words in total,' Evelyn mused. 'Maybe it has to do with Filch?''No, no, no, that's just stupid.'

'Hey, don't call her stupid, you dumb git!'

'Don't call me a dumb git, you bloody wanker!'

'George, Fred, stop it! Let's just think about this, shall we? Now it appears that if we say one of the words in this phrase, it shows up. It must have something to do with whatever it is.'

'So it's "I blank blank blank I blank blank TO NO GOOD blank blank." What could it be?' Fred said thoughtfully.

'What if it's some kind of revenge from the Slytherins?'

'How could they possibly have gotten into Filch's office, George?'

'How am I supposed to know that, Fred? Oh, I said two more! See, the words "THAT and "AM" appeared!'

'Finally your ridiculous fighting pays off,' Evelyn jokes.

'Hey!' the twins said, and moments later they were chasing her around the room.

'Don't you dare! Don't you DARE tickle me!'

'Oh, you don't want us to tickle you?' the twins said evilly.

'I swear if you do I'll...I'll never talk to you again!'

'An empty threat if I've ever heard one.'

'Indeed. You'd miss us too much.

'Who would you get up to mischief with?'

'I won't get in trouble anymore without you two, and I think that's a good thing.'

'Oi, its your fault we managed to get caught--who knew you were scared of ickle spiders?'

'Hey, that thing was as big as a snitch and you know it!'

'She's just like Ron, isn't she?'

'She even screams like him.'

'Yea, like a little girl!'

'Shut up you two! Look.'

The three looked at the parchment and saw that they were now missing only one word.

'What an odd phrase,' Evey said, sitting on the couch and frowning down at the parchment.

'Yeah, who says things like that?' George said, sitting to Evey's left.

'Obviously these blokes,' Fred responded, settling himself on her right.

'Merlin, only one more word...what could it be?' Evey said to herself.

Under the nearly completed phrase, writing appeared again.

Mr. Padfoot feels it is his duty and obligation to help Miss Collins solve this particular riddle. You see, Miss Collins, Sometimes Only Little Eleven-year-olds Make Nasty Little Yarns.

The three eleven year olds stared at the phrase in confusion.

'What the bloody hell does that mean?' Fred said.

'These blokes have lost their marbles,' George added.

Evey read the phrase silently to herself several more times before smiling, 'No George, I don't think they have. This Mr. Padfoot fellow is very clever, indeed.'

The twins switched their look of confusion towards Every instead of the parchment.

'Don't you get it?' she said excitedly. 'Its a mnemonic device!'

'Looks like the bloke from the parchment isn't the only one who's lost his marbles,' Fred said with a smirk, and George chuckled.

'No, really, it's a mnemonic device! This Mr. Padfoot guy used the letters from the missing word in a seemingly meaningless phrase to hint to us what the final word is!'

'Meaning...?'

'Meaning that the first letter from each of the words in that phrase spell out the missing word! Sometimes Only Little Eleven-year-olds Make Nasty Little Yarns! S-O-L-E-M-N-L-Y! Solemnly!'

As she said the word it appeared in the blank space, and little ink coloured fireworks went off silently around the finished phrase.

Mr. Wormtail wishes to congratulate Miss Collins and Messrs. Weasley on solving the Secret of the Marauders Map.

Mr. Moony would like to inform the new owners of this map that the first ten words of the phrase are used to activate this parchment and the last two to turn it off, or else anybody can read it. Remember to tap your wand as you speak as it is a spell.

Mr. Prongs hopes that Miss Collins and Messrs. Weasley use this magnificent map for the purposes of sneaking, mischief, mayhem, pranking, and all around tomfoolery.

Mr. Padfoot bids you goodnight and happy pranking!

And with that the parchment cleared, leaving Evey, Fred, and George in total awe.

'Someone get a wand, quick,' Evey said quietly but urgently, and all three of them raced upstairs to their respective dorms as one.

They were back moments later, each with their wand in hand.

'Ok,' Fred said, 'who says it first?'

'How about we all say it?' Evey suggested.

The twins nodded and all three touched the parchment with their wands.

They muttered in unison, 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.'

As the Marauders Map revealed itself to them for the first time, they grinned wickedly--they knew this would be the key to their success.

Ok, so there's chappie number four! Hope you all enjoyed it--it was REALLY long, I know; don't get used to it, lol. If you love me, please review...I'll give you a cookie if you do :-)