Kailor: Hi ho, hi ho, chapter 8, now here we go. And thanks again for the reviews!

I apologize if you felt weird about a certain relationship here. I was planning to explore the Penny and Ven relationship more in this chapter so that it would become apparent what was really going on. You guys just beat me to the punch, you lovely wonderful smarties lol. (Well, it means you're reading.) And I kinda did mean for it to come off weird for now. Mwahahahahaha. Don't hate me. You'll understand soon. I am not a pedo, nor will any of my characters be. Just bear with me. Embrace how weird it feels because it's supposed to.

Also, again. Do not fear the OCs my friends. Like I said, only a few of them will feature in the story as more than passing mentions. Thank you all again for the reviews and the love. Keep 'em coming, yeah! Disclaimer thingy. I don't own Harry Potter. Ladeedah.

One more thing, robst! Ah! Love your writing! I was reading your Halloween story when I got your review! Thank you so much!

Harry set up his cauldron, mentally preparing himself. Though he and Hermione had made up, and she kept telling him she knew she had been stupid about the whole thing, he was determined to tell Snape something today. When the man swept into the dungeon, however, Harry's mind went blank. The speech he had prepared the night before was gone. Snape was limping and he did not look happy.

Snape set them making a Forgetfulness Potion. Ironically, Neville turned out to be good at this particular concoction. Despite that, the Gryffindor was prepared to completely sabotage their potion. He and Harry had discussed it before class. If Snape refused to listen to Harry and give Hermione some recognition, Neville and Harry would wreck their potion so that Hermione's would be better. Were that plan to fail, they had brought along some of Fred and George's Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks to toss into their classmates' cauldrons. Harry thought this was going a bit far, but the twins had assured him this was the only way to get through to Snape. If Hermione's potion was the only one left, Snape would have no choice but to say something about it.

Harry watched carefully out of the corner of his eye until he saw Hermione add her and Padma's last ingredients. Snape swooped down on their table in seconds, peering into the Ravenclaw girls' cauldron. Harry shoved his red and gold bangs from his eyes and tried to steady his shaking knees. He opened his mouth to say that Hermione's potion was clearly worth the highest grade. But-

"Stir once more in a clockwise direction, Miss Granger. The book doesn't tell you that, but it will settle the porcupine quills completely. There you are. That is the exact shade of lilac we need. Ten points to Ravenclaw." And he stalked away to check Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil's potion.

Stunned, Harry and Neville glanced at each other, then back at Hermione. The girl's eyes shimmered with tears and her hand covered the smile growing on her face. Behind her, Ven was dancing with joy, her hands above her head and her hips rolling in ways Harry was certain the dark dungeon had never seen before. Ron joined her in the dance, his lanky body awkwardly moving to whatever beat was in his head.

When Snape released them Harry waited for the other students to file out of the room. Snape was turned away, bent over his desk. The door closed behind Seamus Finnigan and Harry was alone with the Potions master.

"Mr. Lachlan," Snape said, his voice low. "You wish to speak with me?"

"Uh, yeah. I wanted to thank you. I think."

"For what?"

"For uh, recognizing how well Hermione did, I guess? You never have before."

Snape stood, turning to face Harry. For a moment he was silent, the dungeon air feeling thicker. His piercing gaze made the young Ravenclaw want to look away, but he didn't. Finally- "This is true. I...apologize for that. Should you repeat anything I am about to tell you, I will deny it and your Potions classes will become significantly less...friendly." He crossed his arms, his dark eyes narrowed. When Harry nodded he continued. "She isn't the first girl to deserve more respect from me. She is, however, the first that will receive it. Do not thank me for that. I believe Miss Granger is the person to thank."

Harry frowned, confused. "For what? For deserving more respect?"

"No, for lying for you," Snape said. His eyebrow lifted at Harry's expression of shock. "Come now, Mr. Lachlan. A girl as brilliant as Miss Granger would never go looking for a troll on her own. By the same token though, a girl that brilliant would tell a blatant lie to save her friends. I see that now. Professor McGonagall is aware of it, too."

"Professor McGonagall knows?" Harry said, his stomach sinking.

"She knew the moment Miss Granger said it." Snape waved his wand and two chairs moved to the center of the room, facing each other. He limped over and took one, offering the other to Harry. "Not much of a lie if you think about it really. The group of you did go looking for her. You did send Miss Patil to get Miss Clearwater. You did forego calling for a teacher in favor of a prefect. And you did beat a twelve-foot mountain troll on your own. Most would say that Miss Granger's lie was useless, even stupid. They would say there was no point to it."

"But-"

"But Miss Granger took all of that blame onto herself by speaking up. As it was, it looked like the four of you went looking for the troll to battle it. She made sure that you were seen as going to look for her to save her. Instead of being glory-seekers, you were true friends."

Harry nodded, seeing his point. He made a mental note to thank Hermione again later. He hadn't thought about how the rest of the school would take the news that four of their own had purposely gone to where the troll was to face it.

"You...and her..." Snape was quiet for a moment. "You both truly remind me of someone..."

"Who?" Harry asked. Then he blurted, "And what happened to your leg?"

But Snape stood, moving away and taking the answers to Harry's questions with him.

XXXXXXX

That afternoon Harry found himself outside, lying in the grass beside the lake. It was a beautiful day and other students were also scattered around the still waters. The Weasley twins were tickling the tentacles of the Giant Squid, which was lounging in the shallows. Ron was asleep against a nearby tree. Neville had a Herbology book open in his lap, but he was just skimming through it. Hermione and Padma were studying for Charms. Penny was writing her mother a letter. A group of giggling Hufflepuffs were a little way down from them, pointing and laughing at Ven. Harry couldn't blame them. He was tempted to laugh at his sister too.

Ven was in the lake. She had left her robes, pants, and shoes on the shore, wearing a pair of swimming shorts and her Hogwarts shirt. Her tie was turned backwards, tracing her spine. A pair of thick goggles were fixed to her face and she was bent over, her nose only inches from the water.

"What are you doing?" Harry called, rolling onto his stomach to watch her better.

"Waiting," Ven said, statue still. "Albion bet me I couldn't catch a fish with my bare hands before six today. If I win, he'll convince Cedric to compete in our first Quidditch match on a school broom instead of his own. That'll make it easy for Gryffindor to wipe the floor with Hufflepuff."

This got Penny's attention. If there was one thing the Ravenclaw prefect truly loved, it was Quidditch. "Harry, do you think you could make the same deal for when Ravenclaw plays Hufflepuff?"

"I doubt it." Harry laughed. "Besides the fact that I would never win that bet, Albion must have gotten something sweet to make that deal. What did you bet him, Ven?"

"It's possible that, if he wins the bet, I have to attend the game in Hufflepuff attire and profess my love to someone over the magical megaphone they commentate on."

Harry hissed through his teeth. "Good job. Who are you going to confess to?"

"I'm going to win, so not a bloody soul. HYAH!" She shot forward into the water, splashing about. When she lurched back to her feet, a triumphant grin on her face, she held up a large purple crab, its claws snapping wildly. "Ah ha! I win!" She pushed her goggles up to her forehead and began to dance with her crab. Harry debated telling her that she now had black circle indentations around her eyes from wearing the goggles for so long. He decided it was much more entertaining to leave her clueless.

"And it's six now," Neville said, glancing at his watch. "Just in time. Though-"

"Though what?" Ven said, stopping her victory dance. The crab snapped its claws at her face, desperately reaching for her nose.

"That's not a fish," someone called from behind them. The group turned to see Albion hurrying towards them. "The bet was for a fish."

Ven looked at Harry. Her twin was trying not to smile. The fact that she now looked like a wide-eyed raccoon made this difficult. "Sorry, Ven. He's right."

"But," Ven gaped at her friends. "Penny!"

"A bet's a bet." The prefect returned to her letter. "Perhaps this will dissuade you from gambling in the future."

"That'll be the day," Albion scoffed as Ven clutched her heart, looking betrayed. "Professor McGonagall sent me to get you, Ven. It's time for your detention. And we'll call this my win." He grinned, his dark eyes alight. "I can't wait for that Quidditch match."

Ven groaned. Harry figured she had forgotten the detention she'd gotten for knocking Malfoy out during their flying lesson. Add on that she was going to have to humiliate herself at her first Quidditch game, and Ven was not a very happy customer.

Harry watched his siblings head back to the castle.

"What's a detention like here?" he asked Penny.

She looked up from her letter again. "It really depends on who gives it to you. Detentions can be nearly anything. Cleaning classrooms, writing lines, helping a professor with a task. Sometimes you have to clean the bedpans in the Hospital Wing. Without magic, of course."

Harry grimaced. "Well, in that case, I'll just leave the detentions to Ven."

"Good idea," Penny said, smiling. "Since you're in my house, I'd prefer her to get more anyways."

"I'll keep that in mind. Got a spare bit of parchment and a quill?" Harry waited while she dug the requested items out of her bag. "I've got to write home. Mum and Da will be thrilled to hear about Ven's bet."

XXXXXXX

Lyall sat on the edge of the bed, reading the letter in his hand. "Sweetheart, we got a letter from one of the kids."

Faolan's hair was still wet from the shower as she joined him. She leaned over his shoulder to read the parchment, water drops landing on his bare chest. For a moment he forgot the letter completely. "Oh, from my Anrai. Let's see." She skimmed through the messy writing, frowning slightly. "Well, he and Hermione made up. That's good."

Lyall snapped back to attention. "Yeah, but this part about Snape-"

"Sounds like the charm is working." Faolan moved back to the bathroom, drying her hair with a quick spell. "Right? I mean, I know we were scared that Snape was seeing Lily in Harry and recognizing him. But it seems that he is seeing Lily in Harry, but isn't making the connection. That means it's working."

Lyall flipped the letter over, reading the back. "He mentions that he almost got in trouble for trying to get into the wrong side of the third floor corridor a few days ago. Got lost, he said."

"I believe that. I mean, this is Harry, not Ven. I doubt he went looking for trouble. He wouldn't purposely seek out what was in there."

"True," Lyall said. "Though I wonder what Dumbledore is playing at. What's in that corridor?"

Faolan leaned out of the bathroom to give him a smirk. "I'm sure you'd love to investigate, dear. But leave it be. I have a feeling we don't want to know."

Lyall agreed with his wife, but he didn't tell her what he really thought: that it would be just his luck that one of his children would be the ones to find out what was inside that corridor.

XXXXXXX

The next morning, Harry sat at the Ravenclaw table, happy to be beside Hermione again. Her constant chatter about classes and books she'd read made him smile. He was just listening to her go over what they'd learned in Transfiguration last class, when someone grabbed his shoulder.

"We need to talk tonight," Ven said, close to his ear. "One a.m. Meet me at the bottom of the Ravenclaw stairs." And she was gone, hurrying back out of the Great Hall.

Penny frowned at the Gryffindor's retreat. "Where's she going? Is she not eating breakfast with us today?"

"Uh, I guess not. I think she's not feeling well," Harry said, still confused.

XXXXXXX

That night, at one a.m., Harry snuck down the dormitory stairs to the common room. The fire had burned low and he paused on the bottom stair, studying the shadows. He half expected Penny or another prefect to step out of the corner and ask him why he was awake. After a few moments, he braved another step into the common room. Nothing jumped out at him, so he hurried to the door.

"Harry?"

He nearly drew his wand and hexed the speaker, he was so surprised. Hermione was sitting in one of the armchairs, a large book open in her lap and a pink bathrobe on. "Hermione! Merlin, you scared me."

"Where are you going this late? Curfew's already passed."

"I know," Harry said, struggling to find an excuse. "I was just going to the bottom of the stairs. Ven wanted to show me something. I won't be long." When she didn't immediately speak, he turned and pulled the door open, stepping into the dark staircase.

"Wait for me." Hermione hurried after him.

"No, you stay. I'm just-"

"Going to meet with a student who is out of bed after hours." Hermione's pink slippers carried her past him and suddenly he was the one following her. "I can be your lookout while you talk to your sister."

Harry was shocked and a little touched. "Hermione, you don't have to."

"I know," she said, throwing a smile over her shoulder.

At the bottom of the stairs Harry stopped, glancing around. Across the hall was a suit of armor, but otherwise they were alone. Then Harry realized the suit's arm was twisted at an odd angle. Someone had turned the arm around so that it was pointing to the door of a nearby classroom which, he realized with a grin, was ajar. He pointed out the door to Hermione and the two Ravenclaws hurried to it, slipping inside. Ven was there, sitting on one of the desks with her arms crossed and a bit of parchment in her lap. Ron waved from over by the window.

"Harry," Ven said in greeting. "I know I didn't say it, but I thought it was obvious I meant for us to meet alone."

"Hermione said she would come and keep watch while we talked. And you brought a friend." Harry glanced at Hermione. She looked like she regretted accompanying him now. She opened her mouth to apologize.

"I'm not mad, Hermione." Ven hopped off the desk, smiling at the other girl. "We'll need someone smarter than us for this venture anyways. All I could bring along was Ron."

"Hey!" Ron protested.

"Venture?" Hermione repeated. "I thought you were just talking."

"We are. Then I'm going to show you all what I found last night." Ven moved closer and leaned into Hermione, narrowing her eyes. "Can you keep a secret?"

Hermione leaned away, looking suspicious. "I can. Why?"

"Because I'm about to reveal a few to you." With that cryptic statement, Ven slapped the parchment onto the desk. It was blank. Harry recognized it. Hermione and Ron, however, were confused. None of the four that took on the troll had said how they knew where Hermione or the creature was. Ven drew her wand and tapped the parchment. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

And once again, ink appeared on the surface of the old parchment, spreading and breaking to form the beautiful map of Hogwarts.

Hermione was the first to speak, lightly touching the corner of the page. "Where did you get this? How?"

"The Weasley twins." Ven unfolded the parchment, revealing more and more of the castle. "They nicked it off of Filch in their first year here. They've memorized it by now and agreed to hand it over to our younger and-" -she made air quotes with her fingers- "'less educated' generation."

"What?" Ron exclaimed, looking up from the map. "They gave it to you? Why not me? I'm their brother!"

"Actually, they didn't give it to me." Ven laughed. "We may not have known each other very long, but even they know I would wreck Hogwarts with something like this. They are giving this," she looked at Harry. "To you."

"Me?" Harry blinked. "Why me?"

"They think you have what it takes to lead the next generation of marauders. After that day with the troll, why wouldn't they?"

"Marauders?" Harry said.

Ven smiled, moving a hand over the parchment. She pointed to the heading at the top of the map.

Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs- Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present THE MARAUDER'S MAP.

Harry's eyes wandered over to the Ravenclaw tower. At the bottom of it, in a small classroom, were four tiny dots. He ran a finger over the little script that read, Harry Lachlan. Then he pointed to another dot moving in their direction. "Ron, your brother's heading this way."

Ron frowned at Percy's dot. "Probably on patrol. We'd better get a move on once he passes. I don't fancy him finding us running around at this time of night."

But Ven was leaning closer to the map. "Wait...Penny..."

Penelope Clearwater's dot had appeared on the staircase to Ravenclaw's dorms. And it was on a collision course for Percy. At that very moment, they heard Percy's voice in the hallway.

"Penelope! On patrol?"

"Uh, yeah." Penny answered, sounding reluctant. Ven led the other first years to the door, all four listening closely.

"I've been meaning to speak with you, actually. About your...relationship with some of my first years and a few of yours." Percy's voice dropped lower, as if he were afraid someone was listening in, (which they were) but he was still audible. When Penny didn't answer, he continued. "I find it a little odd that you spend so much time with them. Especially the Lachlan girl. She-"

"What exactly are you trying to say, Percy?" Penny's voice dropped too, but from anger. "Are you accusing me of something?"

"Absolutely not," Percy countered. Harry heard him clear his throat and his shoes clacked on the floor. "I am simply saying it is strange for you to show so much interest in her-ah, in them. They're first years."

"And I enjoy my time with them. They're much more mature than most of the students in our year."

"So mature that the girl regularly tells you how beautiful you are?"

Penny paused. "Yes. What does that matter?"

Percy's shoes clacked again and Harry realized he was moving away from them. "It's just not appropriate really. She's eleven, Penelope."

"I'm not courting her, Percy! And how is it not appropriate for her to tell me those things? It's not like anyone else is going out of their way to say them!" Now Penny's voice was shaking.

Percy made an odd choking noise, then said, "Well do you like it when she says it? Do you likes girls now?"

"No! Of course I don't! And like you said, she's eleven! And I've barely known her a few months! Do you really think I'd be so easy to win over?"

"It sure seems like she likes you, Penelope!"

"Then she's going to be disappointed! Much like you will if you ever dare to ask me out again, Percy Weasley!" Before Percy could answer, Penny stormed away, passing their hideout. The first years moved away from the door, but Penny didn't even glance at the classroom. A moment later, Percy's shoes clacked off in the opposite direction.

Harry was uncomfortably aware that everyone was staring at Ven, including himself. He had suspected his twin had a small crush on the older Ravenclaw girl, but had never expected this. He searched her face to see what she was thinking. In the dark classroom he could barely make out her scar, much less her expression.

"Are you okay, Ven?" Hermione whispered, touching the Gryffindor's arm.

"'Course I am. Come on. Before one of them comes back this way." Ven grabbed the Marauder's Map and led them out of the room.

XXXXXXX

On the way, Ven whispered a quick explanation to Harry and the others. "My detention was with Quirrel. Apparently he was too frightened of the old storage closet in his classroom to clean it out himself. Well, when I was done, it was after curfew. So he said he'd walk me back to Gryffindor tower. But he got spooked by one of the suits of armor and decided I could find my way alone. So he hurried off, but I noticed he went a different direction than the one we'd come up."

"So where did he go?" Harry said, checking the map in Ven's hand before they turned the corner.

Ven stopped before a thick, oak door. "Here."

"This is where we were going?" Ron hissed. "To an empty classroom?"

Ven narrowed her eyes at him. "You're proving why we brought Hermione along." She looked at the brown-haired girl.

"This is the third floor corridor. The right hand side."

"Exactly. And Quirrel was standing outside this door for a few minutes, talking to himself. When he left, I came to check it out. The door's locked, but-" Ven looked pointedly at Harry. "I'm pretty sure there's a very large dog in there." She took a deep breath through her nose and Harry nodded. He understood. She had smelled it.

"How do you know?" Ron asked.

"I could hear it barking," Ven lied smoothly.

"It must be a guard dog of some sort," Hermione said. "This is an off-limits corridor."

Harry tried the door handle. "Locked." He turned back to his sister and saw her ear twitch. A moment later he heard it too. "Someone's coming."

Ven glanced at the map, then thrust it at him. "It's Filch!"

"We're doomed," Ron breathed, spinning around to look for somewhere to hide.

"Oh, move over!" Hermione pushed him out of the way and pointed her wand at the door. "Alohamora!" The lock clicked and the door swung open. The four of them crowded through, shutting the door just as Filch entered the hallway where they had been. His plodding footsteps passed the door and they heard him whispering to his cat, Mrs. Norris.

When his mumblings had faded away, Harry relaxed, sagging against the door. Beside him, Hermione was anything but relaxed. He turned to see what was wrong. And came face to face with exactly what was wrong.

Ven had been right about there being a dog in the corridor. What she hadn't told them was the the dog had three heads and filled the entire hallway. All six eyes were blinking down at the group, obviously surprised by their appearance. But a low rumbling had started in its chest and Harry was sure they didn't have much longer before it regained its senses. He shoved Ron off the door and pulled it open, grabbing the Gryffindor boy and throwing him out of it. Hermione and Ven were quick to follow and Harry joined them, slamming the door just as the dog's barks sounded, smashing against his eardrums.

The map forgotten, the four of them ran. By some unspoken agreement, they all headed for the classroom at the foot of the Ravenclaw stairs. Once the four of them had skidded into the dark room, Harry shut the door, breathing heavily.

"Oh Merlin," Ron panted, clutching his chest. "What was that thing? Why is it in a bloody school!"

"A Cerberus. It was a Cerberus." Ven's face was pale, her eyes wide.

Hermione opened her mouth, probably to explain exactly why that wasn't completely correct, but then she shook her head. "Forget that. Did none of you see what it was standing on?"

"The floor?" Ron guessed.

"A trapdoor," Harry said. Hermione nodded, smiling at him. "It is guarding something, but not the corridor."

Ron waved a hand, obviously too winded to care what the dog was protecting. Ven was laid out across a desk, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she tried to catch her breath.

Hermione adjusted her robe, clearing her throat. "Well, if we want to find out more, there's only one thing to do."

"What's that?" Harry said, peering at her across the dark room.

She crossed to the window and pointed at the little cabin near the Forbidden Forest. "We need to talk to Hagrid."

Kailor: Ah! I hope you enjoyed! And I hope any weird feelings about Ven and Penny have been resolved! See you next chapter! Reviews appreciated!