Katie grinned widely as she dismounted Harry's Nimbus 2000, passing it back to him.

"That thing is awesome Harry!" she babbled.

She and Harry had been alternating between using each other's brooms since dinner, racing each other round the quidditch pitch. Katie had never ridden a broom so exillerating and so in tune with her intentions. She was mounting her cleansweep 7, which Harry had passed back to her in exchange for his Nimbus 2000 when he spoke.

"Katie. You have noticed the timeright?"

Katie looked up to the sky, which was pitch black, dotted with twinkling stars.

"Its 15 minutes passed curfew," Harry continued.

Katie groaned.

"I got carried away." Katie muttered, slightly embarriced.

Harry giggled slightly.

"I could tell." he said.

"Come on then," Katie said, turning towards the castle, "we better be quick."

They set off across the grounds, walking quickly. The castle cast an ominous vissage in the darkness, with all the lights extinguished. The night air was silent apart from the wind whispering in the distant trees of the forbidden forest but neither felt they could speak. Once they reached the castle's entrance, they slipped through the large oak doors, which to their horror, slammed shut behind them. Harry and Katie both paused, listening for any sign that a professor had heard the clatter. When no sound of footsteps came, they continued into the castle breathing a sigh of relief. Beginning to climb the many flights of stairs up to the Gryffindor tower, At every landing, the silhouettes of suits of armor and the muttering of portraits had them triple checking that Professor Snape or Mr. Filch wasn't standing in the shadows, preparing to deduct points and give detentions.

"This place is creepy at night," Katie commented quietly, glancing down a corridor as they passed.

"Isn't it." Harry said before he came to a sudden holt, staring at something that was moving along an adjacent hall, "Katie..."

"What?" Katie asked in a whisper, noticing that Harry had stopped, she followed his gaze and let out a panicked breath.

Staring back at them was a pear of large, amber, lamp-like eyes. It was Mrs. Norris, Mr. Filch's cat (who most students liked even less than the care taker himself).

Harry, Katie and the cat stared at each other for a moment before Mrs. Norris let out a loud, squealing, "Meow!"

"Blasted cat," Katie cursed, "come on."

She grabbed Harry's hand and almost yanked his arm out as she began to run. They darted behind a tapestry into a secret passage and sprinted down a set of stairs and came out in the charms corridor. They turned right, but on hearing running footsteps doubled back and ran down a different hall.

"Here, Harry this way," Katie panted, "Oh damn its locked."

They ran full force into a set of double doors that did not budge. Katie whipped out her wand and tapped the lock, announcing "Alohomora." quietly. Harry tried pushing on the door once again and it swung open.

They darted through the crack in the door and swung it shut, pressing themselves against it. Katie pressed her ear against the door listening for any sounds on the other side.

"Did they come this way Mrs. Norris?" someone who sounded like Mr. Filch said, "They must have gone this way."

She heard footsteps getting quieter before silence overtook the hallway outside the door.

"I think we're good." she said, sighing in relief.

Katie realised that Harry was still clutching her hand and made to let go, a slight blush creeping on to her cheeks, but his grip was almost painful.

"What's wrong Harry?" she asked, but it was at that moment that she registered the expression of terror on Harry's face and she heard the growl.

She slowly turned to see three massive heads, with drooling mouths and very sharp looking teeth bared at them. Letting a small scream from her mouth, Katie half scrabbled, half got pulled by Harry through the door away from the three dogs before they slammed the two heavy doors against the beasts that were now snapping at their heals through the gap in the door.

"What the," she gasped, "Why were their three dogs in there."

"One." Harry said, looking shellshocked, "It was only one, with three heads."

"A serberus?" Katie asked, "In a school?"

Harry shrugged.

"It looked like it was on a trapdoor, but i could be wrong." Harry said hesitantly.

"Odd." she muttered.

"We should probably go before Filch comes back." Harry said nervously, glancing around.

They set off again, taking as many side passages as possible, avoiding the main staircases when they could. They got lost several times as they ended up in parts of the castle that looked identical to other corridors in the dark and before long they ended up in a wing that they'd never seen before.

"Where are we?" Harry asked, letting out a yawn.

It was now gone midnight and they were getting increasingly paranoied. Katie had seen a suit of armor and had leapt back, bumping into Harry. She had then spun round to see another suit and she let out a quiet squeak. Every shadow and every slightest sound had them on edge.

"I've no idea," Katie told him, "All my classes are on the first few floors so I don't have to come up here."

"Well."

"Well."

"Well."

Harry and Katie both spun round to see two identical grins, framed by flaming red hair looking back at them.

"Deary me,"

"Our lovely Katie,"

"Corrupting young Harry,"

"Already?"

"What are you doing here?" Katie asked, her shoulders relaxing slightly.

"Looking,"

"For you,"

"Of course."

"So, what are you doing?" the twins chorused.

"Why were you looking for us?" Harry asked, looking puzzled.

"Your friend,"

"Neville,"

"was getting worried as you hadn't,"

"returned from flying yet."

The twins told them.

"So?" they asked in unison, "What were you two doing."

"We got distracted while flying," Katie told them, "Then we got lost."

"And we almost got caught by Mr. Filch," Harry said, "Which lead to us accidentally going in the forbidden corridor on the third floor."

The twins looked rather interested at this information.

"Oh yeah?"

"What's in there?"

They asked.

"A serberus." Katie told them, shuddering slightly.

Somehow, the twins' smiles grew even larger.

"Come on now Katie," one of them said.

"You don't think we believe that..."

"its true." Harry told them, "I think it was standing on a trapdoor."

"Very interesting," one of the twins said, "Dear brother George of mine, I do believe we need proof."

"I'm not going back in that room," Katie whispered loudly, "That thing almost bit our legs off!"

Harry too looked rather panicked at the thought.

"We're pulling your legs." George said, a cheeky smile spreading across his face.

Katie gave him a hard swat on the shoulder and shook her head in exasperation.

"How did you find us?" Harry piped up.

At this question, Fred and George exchanged a significant look, seemingly communicating silently. After a short pause, in which Harry and Katie stood rather awkwardly, they turned their attention back to them.

"Follow us." Fred said definitively, leading them behind a tapestry into a small alcove.

"Now," George said, "Please do not tell anyone about this. We're trusting you two a lot with this."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Katie said, waving her hand dismissively, "Just show us already."

The twins chuckled then straitened their backs.

"May we,"

"reveal,"

"Our key to success,"

"Our most prised possession,"

"The Marauder's Map."

George held out a piece of parchment.

"Its blank." Katie stated.

"Or is it." the twins chorused.

Fred withdrew his wand from a pocket and tap the parchment, announcing, "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."

Lines of ink began to spread across the parchment and text was forming at the top:

Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs

Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers

are proud to present

THE MARAUDER'S MAP

Beneath this text had spread a map of Hogwarts. Their were dots gathered in all the different dormitories, all labeled with different names. Katie could see a dot labeled 'Mr. Filch' moving along a corridor on the second floor.

Beneath the map was a small text box that read:

Enchanted 1975 - The Marauders.

"Who are they," Harry asked, a slightly puzzled expression on his face, "I swear I've heard those names before."

"We have no idea." George said honestly.

Katie looked at the text at the top of the map again.

"Hey Harry," Katie said, "Doesn't the hand writing of the person that wrote Prongs look identical to yours?"

"Huh. Yeah," he said, "It does."

"Weird." the twins chorused.

"I won't mention the map," Katie said to the twins, "but would you mind if i asked my dad if he'd heard those names? He was in his last year in 1975."

"Don't see why not." Fred said interestedly, "We've been trying to find out who they are since we found it in our first year."

"Anyway," George interjected, "We should probably get back, Snape's on the prowl."

He pointed to the dot labeled Severus Snape walking along the fifth floor corridor. Above him, on the sixth floor, was a collection of 4 dots with their names hovering above the huddle.