In Perpetuum

Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Et dux Marauders Hogwarts

“And so Fynvola Forlorna went on the save many a life during the Troll Conflicts...”

Professor Binns hovered ceremoniously about a foot above his desk. As usual he did not take notice that most of the students were in varying stages of falling asleep. This had taken no more than five minutes to achieve owing to the warm weather coupled with the Professor’s perpetually energy sapping voice.

Hermione - usually able to overpower any feelings of lethargy – had succumbed and one could only see a halo of frizzy brown hair from where her head was cradled in her arms.

The bell sounded reverberating through the empty corridors and into the classrooms. Hermione’s head snapped up at the deafening sound and she watched the heads of her classmates shoot up as well in excitement. It was a gloriously warm Friday afternoon, lessons were over for the week and it was the beginning of the longest amount of time before another dreaded double History of Magic Class.

Hermione and the boys all but ran to claim their favourite hangout spot underneath the beech tree on the edge of the lake. Sprawling out under the shade of the branches, they loosened ties and kicked off shoes, ready to spend a lazy afternoon under the sun.

Sirius lay down on the grass, his head propped up on one of the giant roots sticking out of the ground. He let out a breath of contentment.

Hermione lay down next to him, her head also propped up on one of the adjacent roots. Her arms lay flaccidly at her sides while one of her hands was busy tearing up tufts of the grass beneath her.

She watched as Lily and Severus Snape walked passed, deep in conversation. She hoped that they would hold onto their friendship for as long as possible. It would ensure that Snape did not turn over to the Dark side so quickly, perhaps at all. She made a mental note to talk to Lily, the next time she and her were alone in their dorm, about Severus’ and her friendship.

In recent days Hermione had decided to use all the cunning she possessed to devise a plan that would instigate the boys into creating the Marauder’s Map. She had no clue as to how to go about this without seeming completely obvious or completely insane.

As she lay there tearing up the turf in nervousness she decided that perhaps being blatantly obvious was the way to go, and that right now, this very moment, was the opportune moment to do it in.

Everyone was exhausted from a week of lessons and they looked like they could use something that would, no doubt, be fun for them. It would present the challenge that they so desperately craved. It would also mean that they wouldn’t look too much into to, or ask too many questions.

“Hey guys, I was just thinking –”

“When are you ever not thinking, Hermione?” yawned James as he reclined into yet another part of the tree’s root system.

“Shush James,” chastised Hermione before she continued, “I’ve been thinking, wouldn’t it be great to be able to travel around Hogwarts without being seen?”

“We’ve already got the invisibility cloak,” said Sirius absent mindedly.

James made a flapping movement with his arms as though to tell Sirius to stop talking now.

“She’snotsupposedtoknowaboutthecloackyet,” said James through clenched teeth.

Hermione laughed aloud at this.

“Oh, I’ve known about the cloak for ages. In fact, I think you ought to be more careful with it. When I’ve stayed up late to do homework in the common room, I’ve seen several pairs of feet shuffling across the floor. They look remarkably like yours.”

Sirius angled his neck so as to get a better look of Hermione. He was visibly impressed with her observational skills.

Hermione ignored his admiring look and pressed on with the rest of her speech.

“But wouldn’t it be great to have a tool that would warn you if there are other people around? If there is anyone that could catch you, perhaps it would be able to show you an escape route? Something like an extremely brilliant, magical map that could guide you across the whole of Hogwarts.”

James looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. Even Remus looked up from his incomplete essay to stare at them.

“You know sis, I think you’re onto something there. Remus, Sirius, Peter?”

He paused for a second.

“Where’s Peter?”

“He’s probably off chasing butterflies. If I’ve told him once, I’ve told him a thousand times. Just because the creature had the word ‘butter’ in its name it does not make a good snack.”

Even Remus sniggered at this, albeit reluctantly.

“Oh well, we can tell him later. A grand map of Hogwarts is what we need. We could put on all the things we know about the castle that others don’t.”

“But how could we know where everyone is?”

They continued their planning well into the evening, even after they had retreated back to the castle. It was only then, when they were in the common room, that Peter resurfaced and joined the group.

Hermione was instantly wary of him. He had a smug smile in place and carried an air of self-righteousness that even belittled the conceited attitude that Sirius and James exuded at times.

Hermione had always regarded the map as an extraordinary piece of magic, however, it was not until the group had started writing down, on parchment, what had to be completed that Hermione truly appreciated what an undertaking this was.

There were a lot of tracking spells that had to be researched in order for the map to work correctly, as well as protective enchantments, for instance, how to make sure the map was not read by the wrong people. There was also the drawing of Hogwarts itself. They needed to find a way to put in every single secret passageway, every staircase, every classroom, all the teacher’s offices... Just the thought of it made Hermione breathless, but she put away her anxieties for now because knew that this map would be a wonderful tool for her in the future.