BUTTERBEER BLISS

"I'm such a dolt, Fuhrer. One of my friends could've forged the permission slip, but I had to go and blab about it to McGonagall first! Now if I turn up with a slip to her, she'll obviously know it's a fake!" said Harry, burying a fist in the snow.

Fuhrer tried to comfort Harry by attempting to play, but had little success. The downcast Gryffindor boy sat huddled against a tree trunk, contemplating the choices he had made so far that year. If only he had been smarter! He sighed, stroking the giant dog's head. No use crying over spilt milk now, I suppose…

Harry was beginning to feel cold, and was about to get up when he saw the Weasley twins pop up from behind a tree.

"Alas, we have found you, Mr. Potter!" said Fred.

"We have been looking for you for a while now." explained George.

"We heard of the dilemma you seemed to be in."

"So we decided to help you out."

"Because it is our duty-"

"-As honorary elder brothers."

"Okay… Just so we're on the same page here, which dilemma are you talking about?" asked Harry.

"Why, the dilemma-"

"-Of your Hogsmeade slip-"

"-Of course."

"And how would my honorary elder brothers help me out of this pickle? A 'Confundus Bomb' for McGonagall so she forgets I don't have a slip?" chuckled Harry.

"No, but that's a very good idea for a future product. George, note it down!" said Fred, raising his chin at George.

George mocked a salute, before whipping out a weathered notepad, scribbling the idea down. The twins then nestled themselves on either side of Harry on the ground, while Fuhrer watched on with curiosity.

"Dear Harry, behold, the instrument of our mischief."

"The device fueling our antics."

"The biggest gear in the engine of our shenanigans."

"The catalyst of our tomfoolery."

Harry watched carefully as George reached into his robes and pulled out an old piece of parchment. It was yellowed and slightly frayed at the edges. How could a piece of parchment be the secret to their pranks…?

"Ah, I see the quizzical look on your face, dear Harry-kins." said Fred.

"This here, is the Marauder's Map." added George.

"An ancient artefact of numerous uses… It was a legend among the great pranksters of Hogwarts-"

"-And we nicked it from Filch's drawer. Wonder why nobody looked there?"

Harry still had no clue exactly what the old piece of paper did. The name implied that it was some sort of map.

"A map, you say. A map of where, exactly?" asked Harry, intrigued.

"This, you see, is the map of Hogwarts." said Fred, jumping to his feet along with George.

"The ENTIRETY of Hogwarts." said both Fred and George in perfect unison.

"Okay… What's so special about that?" asked Harry, unimpressed.

"This map-"

"-Shows the location-"

"-Of every single nook-"

"-And cranny in the castle."

"It also shows-"

"-The location of-"

"-Every single person-"

"-Within the castle."

Harry was momentarily taken aback, before turning sceptical again. A magical item that showed every person's location within the Hogwarts castle would be a highly sought after artefact, not something that could be in the hands of the twin pranksters.

"Georgie, he still doesn't believe us. Do the honours, please." Fred encouraged.

"Certainly, Freddie. I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." said George, tapping the parchment with his wand.

Suddenly, the parchment came alive. Ink began to shift all over the yellowed pages, forming all sorts of shapes before twisting into words.

Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot & Prongs are proud to present The Marauder's Map.

The twins opened the Map, revealing a silhouette of what looked like Gryffindor tower. A pair of feet with the hovering tag 'Hermione Granger' seemed to be in the Common Room.

Harry was gobsmacked, to say the least. A map with such abilities was priceless… and incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands.

"Woah, does it show where everyone is at the moment?" asked an astonished Harry, as he stared at the pacing feet of Hermione.

"Yes, my dear, it does. Want to see us on the Map?" asked George.

Two firm nods from Harry was all the affirmation that he required. As George tapped his wand away on the Map, Harry noticed Fuhrer staring intensely at the three of them. Before Harry could do anything, George asked him to look on the Map. Harry noticed a fourth name near their names huddled together. He squinted to read it and was shocked by what he saw.

"Hey guys… You see that fourth name near us?" asked Harry, cautiously.

"Sirius Black. Wands out, both of you!" snapped George, facing away from the rest of them, wand aimed high.

Harry's heart was thumping fast in his chest. The adrenaline in his blood caused his senses to work on overdrive. He darted his eyes from high in the branches to low in the snowy roots, but Black was nowhere to be found. They stayed in that formation for nearly five minutes, before Harry spoke.

"Maybe the Map is broken, if it's still showing Sirius Black's name," said Harry.

"NO! We've used this map for five years and it hasn't malfunctioned once." said Fred urgently.

"And it couldn't have been tampered with either. It's always with me or Fred." said George, aiming high in the branches.

Harry grabbed the map from George and scanned it. Black's name was in front of where Harry stood at that moment. Right… where Fuhrer sat.

"Guys, I reckon my dog is Sirius Black. The name's floating exactly where he's sitting right now." said Harry, trying to keep the fear out of his voice.

The three boys aimed their wands at the dog, who sat still. Fred shouted, "The jig is up, Black! Show yourself!"

The black dog did nothing but stare back at them, before laying down and licking the snow.

"You think this is a joke? INCENDIO!" George made a wall of flames behind the dog.

Harry's heart jumped into his throat, as he witnessed the dog he had come to love grow and transform into a scruffy looking pale man with long hair and rags for clothes.

"Alright, alright. You boys got-" he couldn't finish his sentence, as Fred cast an Incarcerous on him. The tied man fell face first into the snow. Fred rolled him over with his foot, wand trained at his face.

"Who are you?" asked George.

"Sirius Black, the Map told you." said the man, chuckling ruefully.

"Why are you here?"

"To meet Harry." Black grunted as his ropes tightened.

"And why did you want to do that? You want to kill him?!" shouted Fred.

"NO! No, I wanted to meet him because he's my godson!" huffed Black.

That was something Harry couldn't have imagined in his wildest fantasies. Sirius Black, the mass murderer, was his godfather?

"LIAR! You killed my parents, Black! How can I be your godson?" spat Harry.

"Please trust me, Harry, I did not kill your parents. And I did not kill Pettigrew! It was all a lie made up by him! Peter Pettigrew is still alive somewhere!" said Black, as his voice broke slightly.

"As if we'll trust you," said George.

"Fine, but give me the benefit of doubt, please?" He said, his face strained. He bit at his lip before adding, "Tell you what. Why don't you take me to Minerva? I know she'll listen to me. She can even give me a dose of Veritaserum, so that you guys can confirm the truth."

"What's Veritaserum?" asked Harry.

"And who's Minerva?" asked Fred.

"Veritaserum is truth serum, it makes you spill all your secrets. And Minerva is the first name of McGonagall, you idiot! Have you never seen her damn signature?" said George.

"Ouch. Well, Harry? Do you want to go through with it? We could just hand him to the Aurors… But then we'll never know his side of the story." said Fred.

Harry pondered over it for a while, before reaching a conclusion. He searched the rags that covered the man and found no wand.

"Stay here and guard him, both of you. If he tries something, do as you please. I'll get McGonagall right away." said Harry, as he donned his Invisibility Cloak and sprinted off to the castle.

"What do you mean you found Black!?" asked McGonagall incredulously.

"He will escape if you don't hurry! And please get a vial of Vegita- Velita… Ugh! The Truth Potion! Please, Professor, we need your help!" pleaded Harry.

His Head of House sat thinking for a moment, before promptly getting up and gesturing for Harry to follow. Walking up to a closed door, she whispered a password, and it swung open.

Inside, shelves were lined with potions and ingredients of all kinds. A potions supply room! It belonged to Snape, undoubtedly. He didn't question why McGonagall had access to it, assuming it was because she was the Deputy Headmistress. She grabbed a small white vial of potion, and they set off towards the forest.

"So, Pettigrew is alive and he is the one who framed you for the murder of those Muggles and has been on the run since?" asked Harry in astonishment.

"Yes, that's the gist of it." said Sirius, his glazed eyes beginning to turn back to normal.

Harry was seething with rage. Peter Pettigrew was the man responsible for his miserable life outside school. He had betrayed his parents to Voldemort and then had proceeded to frame Sirius for their deaths! There were no words to describe a traitor like Pettigrew. Harry usually didn't harbour much dislike for anyone in his heart. But this time, he burned with a thirst for revenge. He swore to make the coward suffer for his actions before killing him, no crime of his would go unanswered.

"Sirius, you should stay here in your Animagus form in the meanwhile. Potter has inadvertently found you a safe place. He will keep bringing you provisions everyday, won't you?" asked McGonagall as she gazed at Harry, who promptly nodded.

"Thank you Minerva, Fred, George and of course, Harry. Please, don't tell anyone else about my being here. Not even your closest friends, okay?" said Sirius, as he patted Harry's shoulder.

Harry had so much to ask the man. What were his parents like? What were his grandparents like? Where would he have lived if his parents were with him, or even if Sirius hadn't been framed? He pushed those questions in the back of his mind, as he decided to ask them at a later, more appropriate time.

"Try to stay as a dog, we don't want anyone to recognise you." said McGonagall in a stern voice. As she was turning around to leave, Sirius stopped her. He asked the twins for a quill and parchment, and furiously scribbled something on it, before handing it to McGonagall. She smiled at him in return, before showing the parchment to Harry.

I, Sirius Black, Harry Potter's godfather, hereby give him permission to visit Hogsmeade at weekends.

"Good enough first impression for you, pup?" asked a smiling Sirius.

Harry felt overwhelmed with joy at the incredible kindness Sirius just displayed. He walked and hugged the man, someone he had known as a person for an hour at most, but that didn't matter. All that mattered to Harry was that he had someone whom he could call family, unlike the Dursleys. Now if he could just find that blasted Pettigrew guy and hand him over to the Aurors, Sirius was all but guaranteed instant freedom.

"Sirius, you didn't ask us how we found out about you?" questioned George.

"You used the Marauder's Map, I saw it in your hands." replied Sirius, pointing to the Map still clutched in George's hand.

"What?! How did you know about the Map?" asked Fred, dumbfounded.

Sirius walked to the twins and grabbed the Map, tapping his finger on the Map and saying, "Detegere Praeteritum." The Map opened and displayed a 'Welcome, Mr. Padfoot.'

"You-"

"-Are-"

"A MARAUDER?!" screamed both Fred and George in unison.

They began to assault him with questions with Sirius barely managing to defend himself. Harry was incredibly excited too, having learnt the legacy of the Marauder's Map just a few hours prior. Many of the twins' questions were about his pranks, equipment and spells the Marauders used in their time, and the secret functions of the Map that none of them knew of. (Detegere Praeteritum allows the user to access the past tracks of someone up to 24 hours. How neat!)

"It's time to leave, boys. Your friends must be getting suspicious." said Sirius, as he ushered the boys away from his kennel.

"I'll visit you tomorrow, Sirius. I'll bring human food next time onwards, that's a promise." winked Harry.

"A much appreciated change, haha. Goodbye, pup." Sirius hugged his newfound godson one last time, before the boys left.

Harry was immersed in his thoughts sitting on the shore of the Great Lake, his favourite person sitting right beside him. He contemplated telling Daphne about Sirius but ultimately decided against it, deeming it an unnecessary risk for her. Not that he didn't trust her (he trusted her the most of all), but he didn't want to endanger her life by giving her such sensitive information. Maybe, if he was successful in figuring out where that bastard Pettigrew was holed up in… Sirius could be a free man and Daphne could know about him. He could live with Sirius in his house, presuming he owned one, instead of going back to the literal Hell that the Dursleys' house was. He could visit Daphne during the summer break as well! What an enticing fantasy…

"A Knut for your thoughts, sunshine?" asked Daphne, interrupting his daydreams.

A slight blush crept up Harry's neck when Daphne called him sunshine. That's such a cute nickname! Why is she calling me with such a cute nickname?!

"N-nothing. Just school stuff." said Harry as he gazed away from Daphne's smiling face.

"What stuff?"

"Err, you know, Hogsmeade. I submitted my permission slip to McGonagall and I will go there this weekend." began Harry.

"And?"

"It's a nice place but I've never been to any magical marketplace other than Diagon Alley… I was wondering if it was any different."

"Continue." she crept closer to Harry.

"And… Erm, I was wondering if you'd like to g- WOAH!" Harry felt something crawling on his back, which majorly creeped him out. He didn't have an intense case of arachnophobia like Ron, but he still despised creepy-crawlies.

"What's wro-" Daphne was interrupted by Harry yelling for help.

"GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF, THERE'S SOMETHING UNDER MY SHIRT!" he shouted in panic, shaking around to get rid of the thing underneath his shirt.

Daphne watched as Harry tried in vain to take his robes off, and smiled to herself. He tripped on a rock and fell on Daphne, which made her smile even more.

"Sweetheart, stay still."

Harry obliged, nodding shakily. His body was quivering all over, as he felt the disgusting creature crawl up his neck.

"It's on my neck," he whispered.

Daphne crept his hands slowly up his neck, building up chills along the way. She plucked the insect and threw it away, much to Harry's relief.

"It was a centipede, a disgusting creature."

"Thank you." said Harry, with a grateful smile.

"Now, continue where you left off. I want to listen to it."

"Yeah, but-"

"Now, Potter."

Harry gulped with nervousness and said, "Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?"

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it? Yes, I'd love to." said Daphne, with a smile on her face. She bent down and planted a kiss on his forehead, leaving Harry blushing furiously.

This is supposed to be a date… I CAN'T WAIT!

Author's Note-

*sing to the tune of PIKOTARO - PPAP*

Harry: I have a dog.

Fred & George: I have a map.

Everyone: OH NO! That's Sirius Black!

Hey guys! We apologise for the delay, we had our practical examinations this week. (For anyone concerned, I absolutely nailed the Physics practical and Cel nailed her Economics one.) We also apologise for any delays in the following months, at least until Match. We will be having our final examinations, so we'll be occupied with that. Don't worry, however, there are no plans to stop this story until it is completed! So, rest assured and keep reading!

-Val.