Not Alone After All

Chapter XXI

"Jesus Christ, Harry, you scared the hell out of me!" she whispered harshly to her brother, who was obviously trying not to laugh at her jump scare and her use of muggle expressions.

"Sorry, it was too perfect for me not to scare you," he said, snickering. "What are you even doing up?" he asked her as she pulled her wand up and lightened it up once more.

"I could ask you the same thing," Laura said, trying to change the subject.

She saw Harry pull out the Marauders' Map from his hoodie pocket.

"I saw you walking in here," he revealed. Laura blew out her cheeks. She couldn't tell Harry what she was doing, he still believed Sirius Black was a convict that was to blame for their parents' murder. Laura took the map from him and opened it, using her wand to reveal the castle grounds. She found the corridor they were in, and when she looked at it, her breath hitched in her throat. "What is it?" Harry asked. He had noticed how she had suddenly tensed up.

All Laura had to do was to show him what she was looking at. Two footprints and the name Peter Pettigrew were to be seen right at the end of the corridor they were in. Harry frowned. He didn't know of any student named Peter Pettigrew, but the name wasn't strange at all, it sounded almost familiar.

"That the guys Sirius Black supposedly killed," Laura told him. Harry frowned. If Peter Pettigrew wasn't dead, then Sirius Black hadn't killed him.

"Okay, but the guy is dead. Dumbledore said he had been killed, and only one finger had been found. The map must be wrong," Harry reasoned. He had to make things make sense.

"The map is never wrong, Harry," Laura told him. The two fell silent as the footsteps of the dead man started to approach them. The two held themselves in fear as the feet on the map approached them faster and faster, until it walked right beside them. The two pivoted in place to face Pettigrew, but all they saw was a mirror, and the two jumped as they saw their own reflections. They took a second to calm themselves, before turning their wands to where Peter Pettigrew supposedly was. They couldn't see him.

"What the hell," Laura whispered, almost out of breath from all the jumpscares she had gotten. Harry looked around, pointing his light everywhere, looking for any sign of a man, but none were to be seen.

"What it there, boy," a painting said to him as he accidentally shone his light in his face.

"We're trying to sleep, here," another one complained. The two immediately lowered their wands back to the map, and they realised that there was another pair of footsteps nearing them, those of Professor Severus Snape.

"Mischief Managed," Laura said, pointing to the map. The ink on it quickly disappeared, turning it into an ordinary piece of parchment.

"Nox," the two said, still holding each other closely, only now they were completely surrounded by darkness.

"Potter," Snape's voice said at the same time as a light shone behind them. The two quickly turned around and faced professor Snape, who had his wand pointed to their faces. "What are you two doing wandering the corridors at night?"

"Sleepwalking," was Harry's answer. Laura rolled her eyes interiorly. SNape's face was one of disgust as he thought of something to say.

"How extraordinarily like your father you are, Potter," Snape told Harry, his wand very close to his face. "He, too, was exceedingly arrogant, strutting about the castle.

"Our father didn't strut," Laura spoke up, turning Snape's attention, and his wand, to her. "And nor do we. Now if you don't mind, I would appreciate not having a wand pointed at my face," she said slowly and calmly. Harry was impressed by his sister but didn't say anything. Snape almost snarled but lowered his wand, which made him notice the bulge in Harry's hoodie pocket.

"Turn out your pockets," the Professor said. When Harry didn't even move, he repeated the demand, a little more harshly this time. Harry once again didn't move, so Laura reached into his pocket and grabbed the parchment. "What's this?"

"It's called a spare bit of parchment," Laura said innocently.

"Really? Open it," Snape ordered her. She immediately did, knowing that even if he tried to reveal the map's secrets, a funny little message from the Mauraders would appear, and the map itself would not be revealed. "Reveal your secrets," Snape said, pointing his still lit want to the center of the still folded parchment.

Some writing began to appear, such as the four Marauder's names, and four little messages from each one of them.

"Read it," Snape ordered her. Laura whispered 'Lumos' once again, and pointed it to the map so that she could read it out loud.

"Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs offer their compliments to Professor Snape and..." she paused, wondering if she would get in trouble if she said what was actually written. And when Snape urged her to keep reading, she realised she didn't care. "And request that he keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business," she said with an innocent smile as Harry snorted. Snape's face immediately contorted into rage.

"Why you insolent little-"

"Professor!" Remus Lupin's voice was to be heard. Snape stopped his sentence mid-way, immediately turning around to see the man standing behind him.

"Well, well. Lupin. Out for a little walk in the moonlight, are we?" Snape commented. Lupin gave him a side look before locking eyes with Laura, who shrugged innocently.

"Harry, Laura, are you two alright?" Lupin said, walking past Snape and completely ignoring his comment. Harry nodded.

"That remains to be seen," Snape corrected, snatching the piece of parchment out of Laura's hand. The action was so quick that the paper cut into her finger, making her hiss quietly. She looked down at her finger and could see it was bleeding slightly/ She quickly closed her palm and applied pressure. "I have just now confiscated a rather curious artifact from Miss. Potter. Take a look, Lupin. Supposed to be your area of expertise. Clearly, it's full of dark magic."

Laura watched as recognition flashed in Lupin's eyes, but he quickly hid it by giving Laura a knowing look.

"I seriously doubt it, Severus," Lupin said with a soft smile. "It looks to me as though it's merely a parchment designed to insult anyone who tries to read it," he said with a nervous laugh that had apparently fooled Severus. "I suspect it's a Zonko product?" Lupin asked Laura, who quickly nodded.

"Except none of you have the permission to go to Hogsmeade this year," Snape snarled to the two.

"Fred and George Weasley got it for me, Professor. As a birthday gift, last year," Laura said convincingly. "Since neither of us is going to be able to go any time soon, they brought something back from Zonko's. It's a gag gift," she said, rather calmly.

"Nevertheless-" Snape started, reaching for the map.

"Nevertheless," Lupin cut in. "Since you're so suspicious of it, I shall investigate any hidden qualities it may possess," Lupin said, pulling the Map closer towards himself and away from Snape's hand. "It is, after all, as you say, my area of expertise." Snape frowned. "Harry, Laura, would the two of you come with me, please? Professor, goodnight," he said, as he walked away with the two students following him close behind.