Harry Potter Haunted

TITLE: Haunted  
AUTHOR: Maidenjedi  
EMAIL: texgoddess@yahoo.com  
RATING: PG  
ARCHIVE: List archives, otherwise please ask.  
SPOILERS: PoA  
KEYWORDS: Lupin; missing scene  
DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and all affiliated characters  
belong to J.K. Rowling.   
SUMMARY: Lupin dwells on the recovery of the Marauder's  
Map.  
  
***  
  
HP Improv #3  
forge - lure - brutal - false  
  
Author's Notes at the end.  
  
  
*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*  
  
  
The Marauder's Map.  
  
Lupin willed his hands to stop shaking as he rolled  
the parchment and tucked it into his robe. Harry   
and Ron were looking at him as if he'd grown another  
head, so he scolded Harry for his carelessness and   
left. He knew Harry was oblivious to what this map  
meant, what it *could* mean.  
  
Sirius Black.   
  
Lupin sighed heavily, the name that had haunted him  
for twelve years now resonating loudly with each  
heartbeat. Was it possible, really possible, that  
Sirius was lurking around Hogwarts grounds, waiting  
for an opportunity to finish what he had started with  
by betraying James and Lily?  
  
The professorial side of Remus Lupin drained away as  
he passed familiar portraits and was greeted merrily  
by various ghosts. He wasn't Professor Lupin to many  
of them; he was still Remus, little Remus Lupin whose  
best friends in the world were James Potter, Peter   
Pettigrew.....and Sirius Black. The first day of the  
term, Lupin had wandered toward Gryffindor Tower, only  
to be greeted by a cheerful cry from the Fat Lady:  
"Remus Lupin, I declare! And where are your friends,  
dear?"  
  
It was the first of many such exclamations. Lupin had  
taken to holing up in his office as often as he could  
that first month, the halls haunting him as he recalled  
happier times. Voldemort may have been driven to weakness  
and be in hiding, but there were still gaping wounds and  
fresh scars on those left in his wake. The security and   
comfort of Hogwarts was false; it was a waking nightmare  
for this man whose memories were built into the very   
walls.  
  
Back in his office, Lupin shut the door behind him and  
pressed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and  
forefinger. The Marauder's Map was still in his pocket,  
and the rustle of parchment reminded him of how the map  
had come to be.   
  
In a fit of mischief during their seventh year, Sirius  
had declared that the Marauders had a duty to the   
students who followed them. The four of them were the  
only students, at least of their generation, who knew  
all of the castle's secrets. Sirius and James came  
up with the idea of making a map, and it was Peter who  
declared that it be made magical, and it was Remus who  
came up with the idea of the map's ability to give  
away the locations of people in the castle. Lily had  
suggested the part about Invisibility Cloaks being  
impervious to the map, much to the amusement of James,  
who used his own cloak on several occasions for the   
purpose of troublemaking.  
  
Once the map was finished, they set about trying to   
decide on a younger student with whom to entrust it.  
They settled on a fifth year named Thomas L'Engle,   
who tried it out for the first time about three  
weeks before classes let out for the summer. And  
he'd promptly gotten caught by Filch, and the map  
was confiscated. Not that Filch knew what it was,  
exactly; Thomas had forgotten to wipe it until the  
last second, and when he performed the charm Filch  
swiped it from his hands.   
  
Lupin smiled weakly, remembering that night and how  
furious Sirius had been with Thomas L'Engle. All  
that work! And it was a brilliant idea, too.  
  
But how did Harry Potter come to be in possession  
of the Marauder's Map all these years later?  
  
Lupin could only think about Sirius. He wanted to   
believe that the map was forged, that it wasn't the  
same one, but he'd seen what the map had written to  
Snape. He himself had come up with that protective  
enchantment, and James had been the one to charm it  
particularly against the likes of Slytherin interference.  
Could it be that Sirius was trying to use the map to   
lure Harry out of the castle?  
  
Lupin pulled the map from his pocket and tapped it with  
his wand. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."  
  
The words nearly choked him, as he thought about Sirius  
Black and how, in the end, he really had been up to   
no good. In the worst possible way.  
  
Sprawling script raced across the parchment.  
  
"Mr. Wormtail would like to greet Mr. Moony and wish   
him a merry time while using this map."  
  
"Mr. Prongs would like to congratulate Mr. Moony on  
his appointment as professor at Hogwarts. May all   
your adventures be grand while using this map."  
  
"Mr. Padfoot welcomes Mr. Moony back to Hogwarts and  
wishes him the best of times while using this map."  
  
The words stood out on the parchment, blurring a little  
as tears sprung to Lupin's eyes. How he missed them  
all; James and his wild-eyed ideas, his bravery and   
his unassuming nature, Peter and his timidity, his willingness  
to take part in every adventure, and Sirius. Sirius with  
his unwavering loyalty, his fierce protectiveness of Remus  
and the others. How had it all gone wrong? How was it that  
Remus Lupin was the only one left standing, left on the   
side of light and truly alive?  
  
The parchment changed, the corridors and rooms and secret  
places of Hogwarts appearing, the names of various occupants  
floating over tiny dots. Lupin saw his own name in his  
office; Snape pacing in his; Dumbledore in McGonagall's  
office across a desk from the Transfiguration professor.  
The names Harry Potter and Ron Weasley appeared in the  
Gryffindor common room, and their friend Hermione   
Granger appeared to be sitting at a desk, likely studying.  
  
Lupin unwittingly searched the parchment for James, Peter,  
and even Sirius. Once, before they gave the map to   
Thomas L'Engle, James had told them he was going to the  
Quidditch pitch for a little late practice; Sirius   
whipped out the map, and he and Remus stood laughing  
as the names James Potter and Lily Evans appeared in an   
empty classroom on the fourth floor.  
  
But those names were nowhere to be found.  
  
Knowing that he should give the map to Dumbledore, tell him  
that these fears, tell him that Sirius Black had been  
Padfoot once upon a time, made Lupin a little ill. He  
wanted, for so long, to believe Sirius was innocent. The  
breakout and the evidence of his presence at Hogwarts made  
Lupin's heart ache. For twelve years, when the wolf would  
take over and he was shut in dark rooms, often chained  
and bound, Moony would howl for his friends, especially   
Padfoot. Padfoot who would howl with him, Padfoot who   
would wrestle with him, Padfoot who would guard the door  
for him.   
  
He didn't take the map to Dumbledore. Instead, he wiped  
it and rolled it up, locked it in his desk. He was tired,  
so tired, and feeling much older than his thirty-two years.  
Lupin then made his way back to Snape's office, needing  
to take the first goblet of Wolfsbane Potion for the month.  
  
Snape glared at Lupin as he entered the room, clearly still  
seething over the map and Harry's escape from punishment.  
  
"Let it go, Severus. He doesn't know any better. He doesn't  
know about Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs."  
  
Snape nearly spat out his response. "But I do, Lupin. And  
Potter having the map could only mean that Black is here,  
waiting to pounce." He took a breath, looking only slightly  
calmer afterwards. "I can be a man about this. I won't  
get angry at you now for a childhood prank." Lupin stood  
quietly, not wanting to point out Snape's obvious grudge  
against himself and the Marauders for another, not so   
harmless prank. "But the map must be brought to Dumbledore  
and used as evidence. If Black's here...."  
  
"He's not, Severus," Lupin said, a heavy sigh following his  
words. "The map doesn't lie. And Black's name was nowhere  
to be found."  
  
"Where is the map now?" The snarl was back in Snape's voice.  
  
"I burned it. The past is past, and we have to learn to   
move on."  
  
The men stared each other down, one too tired for an argument,  
the other too wound up.   
  
"I suppose you came for your potion, then?"   
  
"Yes, if it's ready."  
  
"Of course." Snape handed Lupin a steaming goblet, the foul  
smell drifting between them. The taste was brutal, and a   
shiver went down Lupin's spine.  
  
"Thank you, Severus."  
  
Snape didn't answer. He took the goblet and turned his back,  
busying himself with something at his desk. Lupin turned to   
leave.  
  
"Lupin, if I find out you are in league with that criminal,  
I will see to it that you burn for it."  
  
The threat was voiced in a harsh whisper, the voice of a man  
driven to carry it out. Lupin left the room, and the halls  
greeted him with the same rush of memories as they always did.  
  
And Moony retreated to his room for the night, haunted by the  
ghosts of Wormtail, Prongs, and Padfoot.  
  
  
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A/N: Many thanks to Twinkledru J. for running the  
HP Improv and offering up such great challenges. This  
is the first HP I've actually finished. Whew!  
  
Feedback at texgoddess@yahoo.com  
  
The chapter/fic has now ended. 


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Harry Potter, Angst