"What are your brothers doing?" Harry asked Ron as they played chess on the floor by the hearth. Hermione sat nearby with her nose buried in a book.

Ron glanced over to where Fred and George were sitting at a table bent over something. "I don't know, but whatever it is, it can't be good."

"You're probably right," he replied, moving another piece.

Hermione sighed as she turned a page in her book. "I heard them say something about a map of the school."

"I told you," Ron said. "It can't be good."

Harry tried to pay attention to the game but heard Fred and George say something about Professor Lupin and Moony. He turned to look at the two red heads. How could they know that Professor Lupin was Moony. He and Draco were the only ones who called him that and they never did that when there were other students around. He got up and walked over to them. "What about Moony?" he asked them, leaning over their shoulders to get a look at what they had been doing. Hermione was right about one thing. It was a map.

Fred turned to look at him. "Ah, young Harry. Just the man we needed."

"Need for what?" Harry asked.

He slid his chair over so that Harry could get a better look at the parchment on the table. "This is the Marauder's Map, Harry. Created by Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. It's a map of the school."

"It shows everyone in the school, every minute of every day, no matter what they are doing and where they are," George told him. "We know that Moony is Professor Lupin and Wormtail is Peter Pettigrew, but we're not sure who the other two are."

Harry stared at the map, taking in every detail. "They are probably my dad and Sirius Black. They were best friends with Moony...Professor Lupin. Where did you get this?"

"We nicked it from Filch's office," Fred told him. "First year."

"It's been the secret behind our success," George added. "And we know where all the secret passage lead...all except this one." George pointed to a spot in the map.

"Why haven't you found out yet?" Harry asked them.

"Because it's under the Whomping Willow," George replied.

"We'll make a deal with you, young Harry," Fred said. "You find out where the tunnel leads and we'll give you the map. We don't really need it any more."

Harry sighed. If his dad had helped make this map, he really wanted to have it. But if he got caught Uncle Sev would kill him. "How am I supposed to get into the tunnel if its under the Whomping Willow?"

There in the margin some writing appeared: Poke the large knot on the trunk and the branches will freeze.

'Hey...how did the map do that?' Harry looked closer at the writing. "Is it really that easy?"

"The map hasn't been wrong yet," George told him.

'What map do what?' Draco asked through their bond.

Harry bit his lip. He hadn't realized that he had said anything. 'Fred and George have a map of the school that Moony helped create. I think Dad helped too.'

'How did they get it?'

'Nicked it from Filch. I wish you could see this. It's amazing.'

'Why are they showing it to you?'

'They said that they would give it to me if I go see what's at the end of the tunnel that's under the Whomping Willow...'

'Well let's go then.'

'What?! Have you lost your mind?! Uncle Sev will kill us if he finds out.'

'Look, Jamie...you have Dad's Cloak. I want something of Dad's too, alright?'

Harry looked between Fred and George and the map. "Oh...alright," he said, heading upstairs to get the Invisibility Cloak. 'I'm going to get you with Dad's Cloak.'

'Brilliant! I'll wait for you near the door.'

--

Harry tucked the Invisibility Cloak behind a bush just outside the front door and he and Draco hurried around the building toward the Whomping Willow. “We’re going to be in deep trouble if Uncle Sev catches us,” Harry told his twin, looking around for a long stick to use on the knot that would still the big tree. He remembered just how much damage that tree could do.

“You worry too much, Jamie,” Draco replied. “Besides, he’s probably tucked away in his lab brewing and won’t be seen or heard from until class on Monday. You know how he gets when he’s brewing.”

Harry sighed and nodded. Uncle Sev could forget about a lot of things when he was brewing. “Alright…come on,” he said, picking up a long stick and managing to press the knot. A small hole opened up in the roots of the tree. Carefully, the twins made their way through the hole and into a dark tunnel. He pulled out his wand and cast a Lumos, giving them some light. Draco did the same and they slowly made their way through the tunnel. “I really, really don’t like small, dark places.”

“Because of the cupboard?” Draco asked.

Harry merely nodded. “If I went in there on my own it wasn’t so bad…but when they locked me in there it was different.” He sighed and changed the subject. “I didn’t realize not having something of Dad’s bothered you so much. I mean, I wondered, but you never really said anything…”

“Anyone would be jealous of that Cloak, Jamie.”

“Yeah…I guess. You can have it if you want it.”

Draco stopped and turned to face his brother. “Have you lost your mind?! Dumbledore gave that it to you.”

“Only because he didn’t know about you…”

Draco shook his head and turned to continue walking down the tunnel. As the tunnel began to rise, they heard a loud howl from up ahead. “What was that?”

“It sounded kinda like a wolf.”

“Jamie…” Draco said, his voice wavering, “…it’s the full moon, isn’t it?”

Harry thought about it for a moment and then nodded. “Yeah.”

“Think there is a werewolf up there?” They had learned about werewolves in Defense class the week before. Professor Lupin had not planned on teaching them about werewolves until the end of the year, but he had overheard some Slytherins talking about werewolves, and one in particular, and decided to go ahead and teach his students about them.

“Merlin, I hope not,” Harry replied, “But if it is, I hope that it’s had some of the Wolfsbane that Moony talked about in class.” They continued inching their way forward, both eager and terrified to see what might lie ahead. They heard a few more howls before they reached a rickety set of stairs leading up. Exchanging a glance, they climbed the stairs and found themselves in an old shack that looked like a strong wind would knock it over.

A noise to their right caused them to turn. There in the corner of the room was a large wolf-like creature staring at them and growling softly. “Umm…Harry…I think that’s a real werewolf…”

“Uncle Sev is going to kill us…”

The door to the shack opened and a large black dog came flying through the door, nearly knocking them over. The dog gave a happy bark and started wrestling with the other animal.

“I don’t think that’s supposed to happen,” Draco told him brother.

“I’ll tell you what is about to happen,” came a very familiar voice and both boys suddenly found that their adopted father now had a very firm grip on their ears, pulling them back down into the tunnel and away from the two fighting animals. “I know two boys who are going to be very sorry by the time I’m finished with them.”

“Ow,” they both whimpered, trying to pull away.

Severus turned them around and gave them each a firm swat on the trousers. “Move,” he ordered.

--

A short time later Severus sat in his chair in front of the hearth in his quarters, looking at his two sniffling sons who were seated on the couch facing him. “I would like an explanation as to why you two thought it would be a good idea to not only sneak out of the castle, but also off school grounds…”

The two boys looked at each other before Harry answered. “Well…Fred and George had this really brilliant map that Moony helped make and we thought that maybe Dad had helped make it too. And I have his Invisibility Cloak, but Ri doesn’t have anything of Dad’s…so Fred and George said we could have the map if we went and found out what was at the end of the tunnel under the Whomping Willow.”

Severus ran his fingers through his hair. “If I hadn’t just walloped you two, I’d blister you…” he muttered, before taking a deep breath. “I will be having a discussion with Fred and George about what is appropriate for my sons to be doing after curfew. What did this map look like?”

“It showed the whole school and where everyone was and it was created by Moony and some other people called Wormtail and Padfoot and Prongs.”

“The Marauder’s Map. Yes, it was created by Remus and Sirius Black and James. But that is beside the point. You two knew better than to leave the castle and school grounds.”

“We didn’t realize we were leaving school grounds, Uncle Sev,” Draco told him, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

Severus gave the blond a dirty look and a handed him a handkerchief. “You shouldn’t have even been out of the castle. You two are very lucky that I happened to see you two heading for the Whomping Willow and knew where it led. There were too many things working in your favor tonight, scamps, but that won’t always be the case. What do you think would have happened if I hadn’t seen you going into the Whomping Willow? Or if I hadn’t known where the tunnel led? What if Black and I hadn’t gotten there in time? If that werewolf hadn’t taken his Wolfsbane Potion you two could have been bitten or killed! And then what do you think would have happened to that werewolf? He would have been killed!”

“You sound like you know the werewolf,” Draco snapped lightly.

“So do you!” Severus responded. “That werewolf is Remus!” Draco fell silent and looked down at the handkerchief in his hands. “How do you think he would feel when he transformed again in the morning and found out that he had hurt the two of you? That man loves you two almost as much as I do!”

The two boys were quiet for a few minutes before Harry asked softly. “Uncle Sev?”

“What Harry?”

“You said that Sirius came with you to get us. Why didn’t we see him?”

Severus ran his fingers through his hair again. “That big mutt was Black. He’s an animagus. I sent a Patronus to him in Hogsmede because he was closer to you than I was.”

“Where were we?”

“You were in the Shrieking Shack. And you are NOT to tell anyone about Remus, is that understood?” Both boys nodded. “It will be bad for Remus if you do. And when he is feeling up to it, I want the two of you to go and talk to him.” He looked them over for a moment before continuing. “No brooms over Christmas holiday. The Firebolt is mine until the two of you have earned it back. I'll have a list of chores for the two of you to complete when we go home for Christmas. And I'm going to let Remus add to the list of terms for your grounding.”

“What?!”

“Uncle Sev!”

He held his hand up. “No. You made him part of this, so he’ll help set the terms. End of discussion.”

“Yes sir,” they both muttered, knowing better than to argue with him.

“Go to bed, both of you. Harry, I’ll let McGonagall know that you are spending the night here.”

--

Draco sat in Arithmancy, hiding another book behind his Arithmancy book as he pretended to follow along with Professor Vector's lecture. He was actually reading a book that Remus had given him two weeks before. It was a book for young wizards who wished to become an Animagus.

Rae kept glancing over at him as she tried to follow along, but seeing the pictures in the book had open was distracting her. She reached over and poked him in the ribs with her quill.

"Watch it," he hissed.

"Pay attention," she snapped in return.

He rolled his eyes. "I don't need to. I have a photographic memory," he told her. "I already read the chapter and unlike some people, I actually understood it the first time."

She glared at him, before slipping the book from his hands so that she could see it better. She would not have even tried had they not been sitting at the back of the room. "You're trying to become an Animagus?"

"Give me that," he hissed, glancing toward the front of the room to make sure that Professor Vector was not paying attention to them. The last thing he needed right now was more trouble. He and Harry had gotten into enough trouble last night and now they had to wait for Moony to get better so that they could find out the rest of their punishment.

Rae slapped at his hand as she flipped through the pages. "Who is going to be your mentor?"

He sighed. There was just no stopping her, was there? "Professor Lupin...I hope."

"You hope? Did you get into trouble or something?"

"It's none of your business," he snapped, grabbing the book back from her. He and Harry had discussed it last night after being sent to bed and decided that the only think that could make their punishment any worse would be for Moony to change his mind about training them.

"Is there a problem back there?" Professor Vector asked them.

"No ma'am," they both muttered.

"Leave your squabbles outside my classroom. Five points each for disrupting my lecture," she replied, before starting to lecture again.

The two Slytherins glared at each other, knowing that they would be in for it when they got back to the common room.