A/N: sry its a little late internet was down, plus im mourning my country

Chapter 4: The rebirth of the map

James and Sirius had plans for the day. They were going to sneak off to Hogsmeade, through the honey dukes passage, and buy new quills. After that, they were going to pick up a book for Peter. He had misplaced his Potions book and was borrowing Remus's for the time being. Once they ran their errands, they were going to stop by and visit Rosmerta for a little while.

Their plans were ruined before they started. Remus told them, at breakfast, over a meal of jam on toast, that today was cleaning day. James and Sirius tried to get out of it. They, begged, pleaded, and shed crocodile tears; but Remus wouldn't budge. The rule was that they stayed in the room until everyone completed cleaning. This was going to make for a long day for James and Sirius.

It was a common occurrence for the Marauders to be in their dorm room at the same time. They, unlike others at the school (or so they heard) got along with each other. They would gather in their dorm to do homework, or plan mischief. Because they spent so much time in their room, the boys tried to keep their dorm room tidy.

One weekend every month, Remus would force them to sacrifice their Saturday to ensure neat living. James, who knew this routine, had already hid his unmentionables in the false bottom of his trunk. And by "unmentionables", it was only just his letters from Lily's mother. They had formed some sort of friendship through the letters. He still hadn't told anyone that he had continued the exchange after that first letter. The only times he felt guilty about it were when he remembered that Marauders promised to tell each other everything. He was remembered of this often.

Today, James had finished his cleaning first. He and Sirius always raced to see who would be the first to finish. It had been a tradition. Last year, Sirius had won 6-3. This year, James was determined to win it all, and he was off to a good start.

James lay on his freshly made bed, silent. He was waiting patiently for Peter to finish. Sirius, who had also finished his cleaning, was spread out on his own bed, reading the daily prophet. He tutted at an article and shook his head. Remus had also finished cleaning his own area, but was now helping Peter. Peter dumped the entire contents of his trunk on his bed and was once again attempting to organize his life.

"Why do you still have Standard Book of Spells Year 1?" Remus asked.

James looked over to see Remus holding up the tattered book.

"There are still a few spells I haven't gotten the hang of…" Peter reached up for the book, but Remus pulled away, above his head. It was out of Peter's reach.

James watched as Remus used his height to his advantage. Pieces of parchment were hanging out of the frayed pages. Homework assignments that were never handed in and old notes passed between the four of them. James was curious as to what they would have passed notes about when they were 11. It seems like ions ago.

"You're telling me," Remus's voice was low and steady. He spoke with a mix of anger and disbelief. "A sixteen year old wizard, who has achieved becoming an animagus, can't levitate a damn feather?"

Remus threw the book on the ground, resulting in a loud snap as it hit the hardwood. Peter jumped from the noise, cowering under Remus's glare. The book slid across the floor and under James's bed. Pieces of parchment flew out. Sirius, who had closed the newspaper at the sound of the book being thrown, stood up.

"Hey!" Sirius exclaimed at Remus, "Apologize to Wormtail."

Remus did as he was told, his tail between his legs. James summoned the book and the pieces of parchment from under his bed. He was going to return them to Peter when something caught his eye. He held up a piece of parchment with a drawing on it, smiling. He showed it to Sirius.

"It's the map we made Peter first year… when he kept getting lost," James said with nostalgia in his voice.

Sirius looked up at it, squinting. His face broke into a smile and he took it from James's hands. It was a rough sketch of the Great Hall in relation to the Gryffindor Tower. Boxes drawn to represent the classrooms they used their first year at Hogwarts. Looking at it now, James had aquired so much more information about Hogwarts since they made the map; back then, he thought he had known everything. Sirius pointed to an empty spot on the map.

"The kitchens would be right here," he said.

"Slytherin common room over here," James said, pointing to a spot in the dungeons. His finger rested near a box that was labeled 'potions class' - wendesday morning.

"Hufflepuff common room."

Sirius moved his finger over just a little bit from where it previously pointed to the kitchens. The Huflepuff common room was near the kitchens.

"Nobody needs that on a map," James said.

The two boys laughed.

"Get me a quill," Sirius requested.

James discarded Peter's book on his bed. He retrieved a quill from the drawer of his nightstand. Sirius spread out the parchment on the floor; the only flat surface large enough and hard enough. James got on the floor beside Sirius and they started working together. They drew all the classrooms, the North Tower, and even added the Whomping Willow to the drawing.

By the time Peter and Remus had completed organizing Peter's belonging's, James and Sirius had completed most of the map. There were just a few blank spaces, where they couldn't remember what was in a certain location.

"Where's the Ravenclaw common room?" James asked when he realized it was missing.

"No clue. Maybe it's on this seventh floor spot. I swear I saw something there—"

"No, Padfoot. That's just a wall."

"Prongs, I am going to prove you wrong," Sirius said with determination in his voice.

James gave Sirius a shove.

"I'll take my invisibility cloak to find out where the Ravenclaw common rooms are. You go to this seventh floor nothingness to confirm that it is in fact nothing. Peter can investigate over here, and Remus here. Sound like a plan?"

And so, the Marauder's Map was born.

That night, Sirius went off to the seventh floor to investigate. Peter inspected halls near the library. He was able to confirm their suspicions that the Staff Dormitories were on the other side of it. Meanwhile, Remus was instructed to go to the Astronomy Tower. He marked down where that door you know the one leads to. James was successful in following a group of Ravenclaws to their common room. He was also mildly disturbed by the argument that was instigated between them after a statue asked them a question.

Peter, Remus, and James gathered back in the Gryffindor Common room to finish the drawing of the map. Sirius hadn't made it back yet. James was nervous about this. Did he run into trouble?

"He's probably trying to find the thing that he thought he saw," James tried to convince himself. He looked from the door, back to the map.

"Maybe he got stuck in a staircase," Peter offered. James looked at him, aghast. Sirius would never allow that to happen to himself. "Happens to me all the time…" Peter defended himself.

"He'll be back," Remus assured, "In the mean time, we can add what we found. How do you get into the Ravenclaw Common Room, Prongs?"

James shrugged, "I'm not sure. I didn't see it open, the students were fighting."

"What were they fighting about?" Peter asked, always nosy.

"The answer to a riddle that a statue asked."

"What was the riddle?" Remus was genuinely curious.

"I don't remember."

Remus rolled his eyes, "It would be useful to have that information on the map. That way if we ever needed—"

"Why would we need to get into the Ravenclaw common room?" Peter asked.

"I'm just saying," Remus said, blushing.

James gasped, "Are you crushing on a Ravenclaw?"

"No."

"You are, aren't you?" Peter poked Remus's cheek.

"I'm done with this conversation."

Remus crossed his arms and closed his eyes. His head lolled back and he fell asleep.

"Who do you think it is?" James conspired with Peter.

"That fifth year Prefect, definitely."

James agreed, and the two got back to work on the map. They were still waiting for Sirius to return with his tidbit of information. James was beginning to worry again about if he ran into trouble. Maybe some Slytherins were trying to pick a fight. He shook the thought from his head. They wouldn't do that, it was unfair to pick on somebody when they were alone.

But when were Slytherin's fair?