I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANYTHING AFFILIATED WITH IT. I ONLY OWN DEVYN AND HER PARENTS.

Chapter 24

"Put that light out!"

Devyn started slightly when she heard a rather disgruntled portrait call out at her and Harry, both of whom had their wand tips lit up.

"Sorry," they said softly in unison as they looked at the Map. Devyn's heart jumped into throat when she saw that Peter Pettigrew seemed to be about 20 feet in front of them.

They looked at each other and then held up their wands, to try and see through the all-encompassing gloom that surrounded them. They couldn't see anything, but when they looked down at the magical parchment again, they noticed that Pettigrew seemed to be moving toward them, so they stayed put but kept their wands raised, looking around for the supposedly deceased man.

Pettigrew's movement was erratic at best, dashing diagonally across the hall in small lines. Devyn strained her ears. She couldn't hear him. Why couldn't she hear him? Movement that fast and unstable should have caused at least some noise.

All Devyn could hear was the pattering of what she supposed were mice within the walls. Hogwarts was full of the small rodents.

The Map informed them that Pettigrew started making a beeline right for them, and Devyn and Harry followed his movement. At the last second, Pettigrew skirted around them, and when they turned to try and face the person that had just passed them, they jumped and let out rather loud exclamations of fear – but the only people they saw were themselves, or rather their reflection in a mirror.

They sighed in frustration at both their reactions to their reflections and the fact that the Map had apparently misled them, lied to them…why had it showed Pettigrew as being alive and in the castle, if he wasn't?

Devyn supposed it could have been Pettigrew's ghost, but they would have felt him pass them. Ghosts notoriously left a breeze of cold air behind them everywhere they went. They were practically made of frigid air. Devyn didn't think it was a ghost, and for that matter, she wasn't even sure if the Map showed ghosts.

So, had Pettigrew been there or not? What was going on? Devyn and Harry whirled around, aiming their wand behind them, searching for any sign that another human being had just passed them, but there was nothing.

"Watch it, kids!" a portrait called out. They apparently didn't appreciate Devyn and Harry waving their wands around while they were lit up like miniature suns.

"We're trying to sleep here!" another protested.

"Yes, we are," said a third.

Devyn and Harry looked down at the Map and noticed, panic running through them, that Snape was heading their way.

"Oh, of all the rotten luck," Devyn muttered. She whispered, "Nox," and her wandlight went out.

"Mischief Managed. Nox," Harry said. The Map went blank and his wandlight went out. They were plunged into darkness for only a few seconds, and Devyn heard Harry rustling around a little – she suspected he was hiding the Map – before another wandlight illuminated around them, and Snape was standing in back of them.

Devyn and Harry turned around to face him, and he sneered like always.

"Potter. Murphy. What are you doing wandering the corridors at night?"

"I was sleepwalking," Harry said. Devyn resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Snape wasn't that stupid; in fact, he was very clever and he would see through that in a second.

"Indeed? Both of you?" Snape sneered, looking between the two of them.

"No," Devyn said. "I was following Harry to make sure he didn't hurt himself."

Snape's lip curled and he said, "Well, Potter should count himself lucky that he has such protective friends."

"I do count myself as lucky," Harry said defiantly. "Devyn's a fantastic friend."

Devyn smiled at him but Snape glared at Harry and said, "How extraordinarily like your father you are, Potter. He, too, was exceedingly arrogant. Strutting about the castle -"

"My dad didn't strut," Harry interrupted the Potions Master, his entire disposition becoming defensive and angry. Harry hated it when Snape insulted his father, and Devyn couldn't blame him. It wasn't right to speak ill of the dead. They couldn't defend themselves, and beyond that, it was downright cowardly.

"And nor do I," Harry continued. "Now, if you don't mind, I would appreciate it if you could lower your wand."

Snape did, in fact, lower his wand after a moment's hesitation, but instead of pointing it at their faces, he used it to indicate their sweatshirt pockets.

"Turn out your pockets," he ordered suddenly. When they didn't immediately obey him, his eyes glittered maliciously and he repeated himself, anger coloring his words. "Turn out your pockets."

Reluctantly, they did as he told them; Devyn pulled her wand out from her pocket and Harry did the same, with the addition of the Marauder's Map. Snape smirked triumphantly at both of them, which spurred Devyn into speech.

"What, is carrying our wands against the rules now?" she snarled. Snape's smirk immediately disappeared and he growled, "Watch your tongue, Ms. Murphy, or you might find yourself in detention."

Devyn rolled her eyes but said nothing more. Snape turned his gaze on Harry and stared at the Marauder's Map from his hand.

"What's this?" Snape asked suspiciously.

"Spare bit of parchment," Harry lied. That actually wasn't a bad lie, but again, Snape was very clever, and he was looking at the Map as though he had seen it before, which was a very bad sign for them.

"Really?" Snape said. "Open it."

He knows, Devyn thought, her heart sinking horribly. He knows what it is.

Having no other option, Harry opened the blank Map and Snape placed his wand in the middle and said, "Reveal your secrets."

A ripple of slight relief ran through her. The Map only works if you use the password. Snape clearly knows that it's a Map, but he doesn't know the password.

Devyn stepped closer to Harry in order to read what the Map was saying, because inky letters were spider-webbing their way out from the spot where Snape's wand touched the parchment.

"Read it," Snape ordered Harry. Harry bit his lip, looking as though he really would rather not, but took a breath and narrated what the Map was writing.

"Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs, and Hoot offer their compliments to Professor Snape and…" Harry trailed off, smirking slightly to himself.

"Go on," Snape said. Devyn glanced at it and stifled a laugh. Snape wasn't going to like what was coming next.

Harry looked up at Snape and said, quite unabashedly, "And request that he keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business."

"Why you insolent little -!" Snape snarled at Harry.

"Professor!"

Snape whirled around and Devyn almost laughed when she saw who it was behind Snape. Harry's eyes widened as Moony stepped out from behind Snape. If Snape had been surprised, he recovered very quickly.

"Well, well, Lupin…" he said, his voice dripping with acidic hatred. "Out for a little walk…in the moonlight, are we?"

Devyn had to physically stop herself from snapping at Snape to keep his mouth shut by standing on her own foot. Moony, to his credit, ignored Snape's jibe and looked past him towards Harry and Devyn.

"Harry, Devyn," Moony said, walking around Snape towards them. "Are you alright?"

Devyn and Harry nodded but Snape, obviously feeling the need to put in his two cents, said, "That remains to be seen."

Moony stood with his hands in his pants pockets while Snape leaned forward and snatched the Map from Harry's grasp. "I have just now confiscated a rather curious artifact from Mr. Potter and Ms. Murphy. Take a look, Lupin. It's supposed to be your area of expertise."

Snape gave the Map to Moony (Big mistake, Devyn thought. And certainly not your last, Snape.) and Moony took hold of it with an almost inaudible sigh and examined it closely. When he opened it, and read the writing on it, he looked up at Harry and Devyn with very subtle hints of surprise and concern crossing his expression.

"Clearly, it's full of Dark magic," Snape said, sounding seriously paranoid. Moony raised an eyebrow and said, "Oh I seriously doubt it, Severus. It looks to me as though it's merely a parchment designed to insult anyone who tries to read it. I suspect it's a Zonko product."

He chuckled but Devyn could tell it was fake. Moony knew exactly what this was; he had helped write it after all. Snape tried to reach for it again, but Moony quickly pulled it out of Snape's reach, his expression almost saying "Too slow. Really did you honestly think you were going to get it that easily?"

Devyn bit her lip to prevent herself from laughing and Moony said, "Nevertheless, I will investigate any hidden qualities it may possess." He folded the Map back up and commented, "It is, after all, as you say, my area of expertise. Harry, Devyn…would you come with me please?"

Harry and Devyn followed Moony as he backed away from Snape and said, "Professor, goodnight."

Devyn, although she was immensely relieved that Moony had shown up when he did, couldn't help but feel like she and Harry were in for the scolding of a lifetime.

As Moony led Harry and Devyn into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, he said, "Come in. Now, I haven't the faintest idea, Harry, how this Map came to be in your possession, but quite frankly, I am astounded that you didn't hand it in."

Devyn looked down although Moony wasn't even scolding her. But she knew it was coming. However, it seemed like Harry was to be reprimanded first.

"Did it never occur to you that this," he held up the Map briefly, "in the hands of Sirius Black is a map to you?"

Harry swallowed shook his head.

"No," Moony said.

"No, sir," Harry murmured. Moony stepped towards the two of them and, keeping his eyes on Harry, he said, "Now, your father never set much store by the rules either, but he and your mother gave their lives to save yours."

His voice was soft but increased in volume when he said, "And gambling their sacrifice by wandering around the castle, unprotected, with a killer on the loose, seems to me a pretty poor way to repay them!"

Harry looked down, clearly ashamed of himself and Devyn jumped when she heard Moony address her loudly.

"And you!" he said, turning to her. It only now occurred to Devyn how tall her godfather actually was. Usually his height seemed reassuring, but now, when he was this angry, it made her feel two feet tall…and she didn't like it.

She wasn't going to be cowed by anyone, least of all her godfather. She squared her shoulders and looked up at him, her jaw set.

"I expected much, much more of you, Devyn! I thought you were smarter than this! You know what Black is capable of, and yet you still put yourself in danger! I am extremely disappointed in you! I thought you had inherited your parents' common sense, but apparently I was wrong!"

Devyn tried not to flinch when he yelled at her, but it was a knee-jerk reaction; she couldn't help it.

"I cannot believe that you would allow Harry to go wandering around when you know there's a killer after him! How could you be so stupid?! I have asked you in the past to not put yourself in danger, and each time you have deliberately disobeyed me! Your parents would be ashamed of you! I am ashamed of you!"

Devyn felt as though the wind had been knocked from her body. Tears welled up in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. The thought that Moony would hardly be satisfied to see her cry ran through her mind, but she demolished that thought within seconds.

"I don't have to stand here and take this abuse from you," Devyn said angrily. And with that, she turned on her heel and marched straight out of the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom, leaving a rather stunned Moony behind. She walked right on out, ignoring her godfather's protests and callings of her name.

She stopped just outside the classroom and waited for Harry, swiping furiously at her tears. Just before he came out, she heard Harry say, "Just so you know, Professor, Devyn tried to stop me going out tonight. And she only came along, I think anyway, to make sure nothing happened to me. She was only trying to protect me. You can yell at me all you want, but she didn't deserve that."

Moony was silent and Harry said, "Oh, and I don't think that Map always works. Earlier on, it showed someone in the castle. Someone I know to be dead."

"Oh, really?" Moony said, sounding intrigued. "Who might that be?"

"Peter Pettigrew," Harry answered.

Moony's answer came after a second's hesitation, his voice sounding slightly fearful. "That's not possible."

"It's just what I saw. Good night, Professor."

Harry walked out of the classroom and sighed when he saw Devyn standing there. As soon as she saw him, she started walking back to Gryffindor Tower. Harry caught up with her after a few seconds and said, "You know, I'm sure he didn't mean what he said, Devyn. He was just worried -"

"I don't want to talk about it, Harry," Devyn said, sniffing and angrily wiping her tears away. They just wouldn't stop coming.

"Alright. But you didn't see his face after you walked out. He looked like he really regretted saying those things."

"I said I don't want to talk about it!" Devyn snapped.

"Okay, sorry," Harry said quickly.

"No, it's not your fault. It's just…I've never fought with him before. And I never thought he'd ever say anything like that to me and…I don't know, it just hurt."

Harry put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed before letting go again. They walked back to Gryffindor Tower in silence and when they got up the stairs, they parted ways, each muttering a good night to the other.

Devyn re-entered her dormitory and climbed into her bed, anger and hurt burning in her chest. Tears kept leaking out of her eyes and after a while, Devyn just gave up on trying to brush them away.

She actually cried herself to sleep that night, thinking about the awful things her godfather said to her. And the worst part about all of this was…he was right. She should have known better. Her parents would be ashamed of her.

But, she thought, anger replacing the sadness she felt, I didn't deserve to get yelled at like that! That wasn't fair and he had no right to say those things to me! What was I going to do? Let Harry go off on his own and possibly get hurt?

But you shouldn't have gone off in the first place, Devyn, Snow told her.

I know, Snow, but still! He shouldn't have said those things.

Yeah, but you know he was only saying those things because he was upset that you were possibly putting yourself in harm's way again.

It's not like I was going looking for harm, or danger, or trouble. None of us do, for that matter! Trouble usually find us! And I'm sick of everyone acting like we're stupid little children that can't take care of ourselves. I think we've proven that we can, don't you?

Well, yes, but he's your godfather, Devyn. It's in his nature to be worried about your safety.

I wish he'd worry less sometimes.

You don't mean that.

Don't I?

No, you don't. You know if Moony suddenly didn't care what you did, you'd be upset and hurt. You know that.

…Shut up, Snow. Look, I just want to be mad at him in peace, okay? I think I deserve to be a little childish every once and awhile and just be unreasonable.

Yeah, alright, fair enough. But you know that you being mad at him is going to hurt him, right?

So what? He hurt me. Now it's time I repay the favor.

Thankfully, after that, Snow remained silent. Devyn knew she shouldn't have gone off searching for Pettigrew, but she wasn't about to let Harry go alone, was she? Besides, she didn't really care if being mad at Moony hurt him. What he said really hurt her and she didn't deserve that.

She could take care of herself. And besides, it wasn't like they were in any danger tonight. Black wasn't stupid enough to go wandering around the halls of Hogwarts, especially when there would be teachers patrolling everywhere. Pettigrew hadn't been a danger as he hadn't even been there.

The only 'danger' they had even come close to was the danger of getting detention from Snape, and even that was avoided.

She wasn't a little kid anymore and she was tired of being treated like one every time she turned around. Every time she had put herself in danger willingly, it was to save a friend's life, and prevent Voldemort from returning to power. She only put herself in danger when it was necessary.

She didn't do it because she wanted to. She did it because she had to. Because she wasn't going to let the monster who was responsible for so much terror and bloodshed return to power. Because she wasn't going to let another family get torn apart like hers (and so many others') had been.

She refused to let that happen. So Moony could get stuffed if he thought what she did was foolish. She was only trying to find out what was going on. Honestly, the last time she had done something like this, she had helped save Ginny from dying; helped Harry to kill a Basilisk; defended the entire Muggle-born population of Hogwarts from Tom Riddle and his Basilisk; once again helped to prevent the resurrection of Voldemort; and got Hagrid's name cleared, which subsequently got him released from Azkaban Prison.

She could only imagine what would have happened if she and her friends hadn't decided to act. The entire Wizarding World would probably have gone up in flames by now if they hadn't interfered.

Did she wish she could avoid danger all together while protecting the world she loved and the people in it? Sure, of course she did; but it was unavoidable. They come together as a package, and if you didn't take a few risks now and then, you'd never accomplish anything.

So maybe a few of the things she had done were foolish, but they paid off in the end, didn't they? She knew what she was doing, but she wished that Moony would open his eyes and see that she wasn't a little girl who needed protecting. She didn't need a knight in shining armor to save her from the nasty dangers of the world.

She was her own knight in shining armor and she liked it that way.

It was thoughts like these that raced through her mind as she finally fell asleep.

Okay, so Devyn and Remus had their first argument. Just so you know, I've been planning this chapter for months on end and I'm so glad that I finally got to write it out. I hope you liked it. Please leave a review and tell me what you liked, disliked, etc.

Please? Pretty please?