A/N: This story is set in the year after the Battle of Hogwarts, meaning Ginny's in a now-renovated Hogwarts and the Golden Trio are living in Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place until they find a new house. Have fun reading!

Harry slumped down into the sofa at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, feeling very tired. The Battle had been exhausting if not depressing. They had had a funeral of the Fallen Fifty just a few months previously - every single person had cried when it was Remus and Fred's turn. And now, Harry, Ron and Hermione were living in Sirius's old house until they managed to get one for themselves.

Sirius.

That one name still came as a shock to Harry. His godfather. Ron and Hermione had grown out of the depression, but Harry couldn't. Just couldn't. He remembered the Marauders' golden days at Hogwarts - when there was no threat around them, no mysterious happenings, just happiness.

But now that would never be the case.

Harry was interrupted from his thoughts by a tentative voice. "Harry?" He turned to see who was speaking; it was Hermione, who had put Sleekeazy's Hair Potion on again for the second time in her life - her and Ron were going on their very first date tonight.

"Yeah?" Harry grinned, but didn't mean it at all. He didn't feel like talking to anybody at all.

Hermione seemed to notice this. "Listen," she sighed, "I know you're feeling down, but... Ron and I have been talking about you." She said the last part in a rush, as if trying to get this conversation over with.

"Yeah?" His smile faded slightly, partly because his cheekbones were hurting, but partly for other reasons.

"After the Battle of Hogwarts, you-you've changed, Harry. You hardly talk to anybody, you spend days in Sirius's room, gazing outside the window... it's like you're depressed. Could you please, please, tell me why?"

Harry felt slightly impressed; Hermione knew how to talk, alright. "I am," he replied softly, "I am a bit depressed, yeah, but I'm trying to recover. Sirius... Remus... I've just lost too much. I just want some kind of - you know - souvenir of the Marauders. I need something I can remember them by."

"Y-"

"I know I have the Invisibility Cloak, and the Marauder's Map, but that's not enough. I want to be my father's son. I want to continue their legacy. Is there any other way I can... be like them?"

Hermione sighed softly - probably not out of exasperation. "Harry, I completely agree with you. You're in shock. And now I understand why you were in Sirius's room for so long. I do have an idea, though, but it's very dangerous..."

Before Harry could ask her what it was, Ron appeared, having combed his hair. He was slightly pink after looking at Hermione, but apart from that, there was no other sign of embarrassment. "Harry!" He said joyfully, before taking in the scene. Suddenly, his tone became more serious. "Hermione told you?"

The muggle-born nodded; Ron went even more pink. "Right, I'm joining you in a few moments," said the redhead, and waited until Hermione had gone before speaking to Harry. "Listen. There's no point being depressed over stuff. Just - think about other things." He then failed to smoothly changed the subject. "What about you and Ginny? Both of you haven't met up after the Battle. Besides, it's the school holidays! Wanna go to the Burrow?"

Harry waved his offer away. "Sorry, Ron, but not right now. Maybe in late August."

Sensing this was the end of the conversation, Ron waved and walked away. Harry could just make out the voices of his two best friends talking nervously. And now he was all alone at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.

The moon was shining brightly in the sky, but Ron and Hermione still hadn't returned. Harry finally finished reading all the booklets he found in one of Sirius's drawers. Each one of them described every prank the Marauders did. Sighing, he pulled open the window and watched the almost-full moon shine in the sky. After a few minutes, he resignedly went up to Sirius's room again, not hoping to find anything different.

He was wrong.

There was a very small drawer which Harry had noticed on his first night here, but had chosen to ignore it. On the drawer, there was a piece of crumpled parchment with hardly-readable letters written in miniscule handwriting. He tried to pull open the drawer, but that (obviously) didn't work. Exasperatedly, Harry muttered "Engorgio!" and the drawer puffed up. He could barely make out the words written on it:

Password: The world's worst couple (luckily, they didn't come together)

Amused, Harry leaned over to the drawer and paused. This obviously was some Marauders secret, because he recognized the handwriting as Peter Pettigrew's. And it must have been in their Hogwarts days, of course. "Er - Lily and Severus?" he said tentatively. The handwriting became bigger and more messy:

You've got the right people, but you're calling them the wrong thing!

"Ev-Evans and Snape?"

The handwriting became slightly shaky this time, not to mention neater:

Correct, but the last one needs to be edited.

Harry racked his brains until he finally got the answer. Grinning, he muttered, "How about - Snivellus?" This time, the handwriting looked like his godfather's:

You have gotten it! Open the drawer.

He opened the drawer. Inside was a book which looked untouched, perhaps from the fact that it had been staying in this drawer for more than twenty years. It had a slightly faded red cover, and some of the pages were bent, so it didn't look like a book from the library. Curiously, Harry took it out to see beautiful gold lettering.

The Marauders' Guide to Becoming Animagi

It was well past midnight until Ron and Hermione returned. Both of them were pink in the face from the strong wind outside. "Harry!" called the redhead joyfully. "You won't believe what happen-"

"Oh shut up, Ron, that wasn't funny," said Hermione, although she did seem to say it good-naturedly.

Harry sprinted downstairs, beaming with a real smile on his face. He was carrying The Marauders' Guide to Becoming Animagi in his hand, but hadn't read it yet; he was planning on reading it with his two best friends. Instead, he had spent the night solving puzzles around Sirius's room, some of which that were very amusing, if not a little bit nasty. Ron burst into a story, but Harry interrupted him.

"Guys!" he said, really happy for the first time after the battle. "Look at what I found!" he held up the rather thick book he had found. Ron's jaw dropped, but Hermione just smiled fondly.

"Oh, Harry, that was just what I was about to suggest!" she said happily. "Why don't all three of us become registered Animagi? It'll be something we can spend our free time on, because we're currently not busy at all. Plus, it can help you feel more connected to your dad and his friends!"

The redhead examined the book, mouth still hanging open. "Hermione," he said weakly, "This... could be dangerous."

Before Hermione could say anything, Harry shot in. "Listen, Ron. The Marauders could do it at the age of fifteen. We're three years older than them-"

"Not to mention ten times smarter," muttered Hermione under her breath.

"So, obviously, we can do this!"

Ron considered it for a moment, then broke into a wide grin. "'Course we can."

There was a very comfortable pause, then Hermione said, "So - what do you say we start tomorrow? I know that some of the steps involve a full moon, and tomorrow is one." She pointed out.

Harry smiled. "I'm up for it. You, Ron?"

"Of course."

Just then, the redhead gave a huge yawn, and motioned to the other two that he was going to sleep. Sure enough, the next second you could hear him snoring in Regulus's bedroom (each of the three had picked a bedroom for themselves; Harry had Sirius's, Ron chose Regulus's, and Hermione had Narcissa's). Harry and Hermione smiled at each other.

"Good night, Harry," said Hermione sleepily.

"G'night, 'Mione."

Hermione shot a good-natured glare at the offending nickname, but didn't say anything. Harry made his way to Sirius's room and collapsed onto the bed. Today was an eventful day, and he couldn't wait to look at the book alongside his two best friends.