The Years We Were Alive: Year 1

A Map

October 6, 2971

"Lizzie! I have a surprise for you!" James called to his friend as she finally entered the Gryffindor common room.

"Yeah?" she furrowed her eyebrows. She wasn't used to getting surprises.

"But first," James turned around and grinned at the other boys, "what took you so long to get back here?"

"I got lost," she shrugged. Lizzie could have sworn she saw Sirius handing over a sickle to Peter.

"Oh, I see, and that is why you are going to fall in love with me Elizabeth Rose Davies because I have the most perfect solution for you," he was being theatrical.

"If you think I'll ever fall in love with you, James," she paused, she didn't know his middle name, on that thought, she didn't know how he knew hers," Potter you've got another thing coming to you,"

"What if I gave you this?" he handed her a piece of parchment that had some of his homework scribbled on the back of it.

"A map?" she asked, "I appreciate it, thank you," she nodded and grabbed the paper from his outstretched hand.

"You're not in love with me now?" James made a pouting face. Lizzie had known him for about a month, and that was enough time to know that this was his idea of a joke. Ever since Sirius told him off for the jokes about him and Lizzie, James started passionately professing his love for Lizzie, and something his other friends did.

One day he made Sirius mad doing so.

"Oh, Sirius Black! I'm in love with you," James said dramatically, but also very loudly. Sirius couldn't see the Slytherin table, and he was glad for it. He would hate to know what his cousin's faces looked like.

"James, stop being such a queer," Sirius scolded his friend.

"Oh, is Ickle Sirius afraid of someone thinking he is in looooove with James Potter?"

Lizzie thought that he might have taken it a bit too far, but Sirius laughed about it with them later on.

"Sorry, I am most certainly not madly in love with you, but I do appreciate this," Lizzie smiled at him, "and where'd you get my middle name from?" she suddenly remembered.

"One day you left out a folder that said, 'Important things' on it, and inside of it was a piece of weird parchment that said, 'Elizabeth Rose Davies born to Elizabeth Smith November 2, 1959' and it looked so weird,"

"You went through my stuff?" Lizzie raised an eyebrow, she wasn't mad, just a bit confused.

"I mean," Peter piped up, "You left it back when we were studying,"

"I guess I didn't even realize it was missing,"

"That's because I put it in your stuff during potions," Sirius shrugged.

"Y'all are so very weird," Lizzie shook her head.

Lizzie gushed over the map for a while. It was amazing! It showed the important classrooms, and it marked which stairs to just avoid completely. It was a bit small, as it was only on one scrap piece of parchment, but Lizzie was grateful.

"Maybe I won't be late to anything anymore, careful, Potter I take it back, I really might fall madly in love with you,"

"And, not only that, but that's also just the first version, a better one will be right around the corner,"