Crime of the Century | Remus Lupin (o.h)

Chapter Four

The Mysterious Thief of Hogwarts was a constant figure that everyone dealt with. Although many of the Professors had ideas on who the thief could be, there was no way that they would ever be able to prove it was such person anyway. After all, even the Professors had become victims of the thief.

For Estrella whose entire life relied on her swift ability to steal. However, once she first arrived to Hogwarts, the stealing for survival quickly became a habit that seemed impossible to break. No matter what she did that itch always came back, the need to steal. And although she had absolutely she ever needed at Hogwarts, stealing for survival wasn't quite an option anymore. So that's where what Estrella referred to as her Robin Hood complex came into play.

She had to steal to keep sane so what better way to continue than stealing people's belongings and giving them to the people that deserved them instead. In a weird, sarcastic way it was her humanitarian act, but now James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were her next victims.

Bridget had been a mess for a few days but bounced quickly after Sirius' rejection, but that was just how she was, a constant joyous presence that nothing could ever really get down.

But Estrella wouldn't like it to slide so easily, Sirius had hurt one of her friends and Estrella would get her revenge in the only way she knew how.

All four boys would need to learn how to live with the thing they needed the most before she would eventually give it back or even better she would find someone who was more deserving. The only thing that stood in her way was not knowing what such an item was, but that would be easily solved by yet another of life skills from her time on the streets. Her ability to blend in and become almost invisible.

Estrella Quinn leaned against the wall in one of the corners of the Great Hall, her eyes scanning the loud groups of people heading into the Great Hall for dinner, but she was searching for one group in particular. Although due to the constant raucous nature of such a group, it didn't take long at all for Estrella's ears to pick up their arrival.

"Are you going to use the map tonight?" Peter asked Sirius and James, Remus, nowhere in sight but Estrella quickly brushed that off to his Prefect duties.

"Yeah, we will, you alright to get it, mate?" Sirius clarified turning to James.

James only nodded in response, his eyes and complete attention now resting on a certain redhead but Estrella had her answer, she just needed to know what this map was.

It didn't take long for her, with everyone heading the opposite way towards the Great Hall for dinner to reach the empty Gryffindor common room. And thankfully for her, although the boys were trusted enough not to go into the girls' dormitories the girls didn't have such an issue with entering the boys' dormitories. So with a quick glance around to make sure no one still lingered, she hurried up the stairs, locating the boys' dormitory easily but quickly froze with her hand on the doorknob, remembering Remus' absence with the rest of the boys heading down to the Great Hall.

But she soon shook it off, turning the doorknob but still ducking into the shadows as she scanned the room only to breathe a small sigh of relief when it was completely empty. And unless Remus was hiding under a bed somewhere, she would have no problems.

Estrella's eyes scanned the darkened room for anything lying around obvious that would resemble a map, however, nothing stood out at her. Shuddering slightly at the thought of having to go through their trunks but knowing it was the only option, she bent over the nearest trunk when a few leftover pieces of parchment paper caught her eye, sitting on top the bed.

She walked over only to notice the footsteps accompanied by names all over the pages, it was a map of Hogwarts with everyone's whereabouts on it.

"Now, that's a map if I've ever seen one," Estrella muttered quietly to herself, but her eyes widened as James Potter's name appeared nearby to her own, he was coming back up to his dormitory.

She quickly dived under his bed, listening to his quickened footsteps as he reached his bed. Resisting the urge to gag at the number of dirty socks under there, the panicked flop of his blankets back and forth as James Potter frantically searched for the map that was currently in Estrella's hand. She soon breathed a quick sigh of relief as James ran back out of the room in panic, smiling down at the map.

"And she strikes again."

At breakfast, the next morning three very tired boys dragged themselves to the table, Peter very nearly face-planting into a bowl of porridge on the way. Although they had had a very successful night of mischief, one loss weighed heavily on their minds. The Marauder's Map had completely disappeared into thin air.

Without it, it made their lives ten times harder while sneaking out to the Whomping Willow although James' invisibility cloak made it slightly easier but needless to say they were already desperate to work out where it had disappeared to.

However, the most concerning part were the fact that James as the last person to use it had left the map open and active so whoever found it first could easily work out the map's true purpose and even arguably work out exactly who it belonged to.

And with Remus in the hospital wing after last night's full moon, they were down a member for their investigation.

"Where do you think it went?"

"It was on your bed, right?" Sirius checked. "Did you check underneath it?"

James scoffed. "Of course I did."

"Well, do you think someone took it then?" Peter asked.

"Took it?" Sirius and James asked in disbelief.

"No one knows about it apart from us." James continued.

"Yeah, um, I don't know." Peter trailed off, his eyes frantically travelling across the room. "Do you think Estrella took it? She definitely doesn't like you very much, maybe for payback purposes?"

"No way, her? If someone took it, it definitely wouldn't be her."