After the Marauders had something to eat, they went back to the library.
"Alright, Sirius, what is it?" Severus asked when they were all sitting down.
"Well, since we all have nicknames, we should make a map of Hogwarts, one that will tell us where everyone is, and yes, James, we can sneak around at night easier," Sirius explained.
"You mean, we could prank everyone without being caught?" James asked excitedly.
Sirius snorted. "I'm not saying we WON'T get caught, but maybe it will be a little easier to get away with things, because we can use the map to get away before a staff member gets to us," Sirius answered. "Though, it won't be easy. There are house-elves around who tell the Heads of Houses if students are out of bed."
"Better than nothing though," James said. "Let's do it! But er, how do we do it?"
"Well, we need to use charms, I think. We will have to do some research," Sirius said, pretending he had no idea how to make the Marauder's Map.
Lily and Severus immediately set to work, researching every advanced charms book they could get their hands on. Sirius pointed out different books they should try. He hadn't been a part of the research process in his old timeline, but he knew the kinds of charms they needed to use, so he decided to point them in the right direction.
"Oi, Padfoot," James said, standing beside Sirius. "What should we call the map? I mean, we're not just going to call it Map of Hogwarts, are we? That just sounds boring!"
Sirius grinned, then whispered so no one else could hear him, "In the original timeline, we called it the Marauder's Map." James grinned.
"I love that name!" he exclaimed.
"What is it?" Lyanna asked curiously. "What name?"
"The map!" James stated with excitement. "Sirius suggested calling it the Marauder's Map!"
Lyanna smiled: "I think that's a really cool name," she remarked.
"I think so too," Capella agreed. Just then, Lily and Severus came out from behind a bookshelf with a few different books in their arms.
"Well, we found a few things, so we'll see if these books have what we're looking for," Severus stated, setting his books on the table while Lily set hers down.
"That's great news!" Sirius replied with a smile. The Marauders spent the next couple of hours going through the different books and making notes. Finally, they had found what they were looking for.
Seeing as Lily was the expert in Charms, she was going to master the spells necessary to create the Marauder's Map. James offered to help as well. He was known for his excellent grades in Transfiguration, not Charms, but Lily agreed.
It only took a few weeks to master the charms, Lily learning them first, while James took a few more days to master.
"We need a big piece" of parchment," Lily informed her friends. Remus produced a roll of parchment he kept in his bag, and allowed for Lily to select how much of it she wanted. After selecting the parchment, she started casting the charms, with James helping with some of the easier ones.
When all the charms were cast, everyone was staring at a map that had moving dots with names of the people in Hogwarts and Hogsmeade.
"See? There's Grandmother," Regulus pointed out. "She's in her office, probably grading History of Magic essays."
"And there's Marlene," Sirius said, pointing at the Gryffindor common room where Marlene was.
"This is so cool," Alice said quietly. "Oh! And there's Frank!"
Mary rolled her eyes. "Of course you found him first," she teased. It was no secret that Alice and Frank spent a lot of time together, and Sirius was really starting to wonder when those two would announce their relationship.
"Oh, and if at any point, any of you want to change your insult, let me know," Lily told them. Each Marauder had added their nickname and an insult to the map, the same thing that had been in the map the first time around, except there were more people this time, and the insults would not be directed at Severus Snape. Sirius wondered who would be the lucky one, or more like unlucky one, to read the insults.
"Should we try this out?" James asked hopefully.
"What are you thinking we should do first?" Mary asked.
"Well, there's always us stalking some Slytherins," James suggested.
"Really?" Severus asked, rolling his eyes. "Stalking is against school rules."
"What ISN'T against school rules?" James asked. "Come on! We won't get caught!"
The Marauders agreed, though Severus was the last one to do so. They used James' invisibility cloak, and had the map active.
"There's Florian!" Capella pointed out. "Florian Greengrass!"
"Perfect," Sirius said with a grin. "Let's go!" They headed to the study room in the dungeons, where Florian was studying. They watched him for a while, listening in on his conversations with Percival Parkinson.
"If he starts gathering followers, will you join him?" Percival asked.
"No. My family does not take sides," Florian responded firmly.
"But don't you see? Your family is very powerful. He could use someone like you," Percival pressed.
"I said no," Florian snapped. "I do not like wars, and I am not about to get into one."
The Marauders wondered who was going to gather followers. They were so distracted by the conversation that they forgot to check the map until it was too late. Someone ran into them, not seeing them there due to the cloak. They turned around to see Professor Slughorn. They took off the cloak, so he could see them.
"Sorry, Professor," Sirius said, deciding to be polite. After all, he highly doubted they were in that much trouble. At least it hadn't been McGonagall who had caught them.
"That's quite alright, Mr. Black," Slughorn said. "Though I would recommend not listening to other people's conversations in the future. It is not a very nice thing to do, after all."
"Understood," Remus and Lily said in unison while the others nodded.
"Oh, and ten points each from your houses," Slughorn said before walking away.
"Wow! We got off easy," James stated.
"Yes, but we have to be more careful from now on," Alice said. "Come on. Let's go back to our common rooms. It's been a long day." The Marauders split up to go to their common rooms.
As Sirius lay in bed that night, he had one thought running through his head. Who was looking for followers?