Devil's Snare

          
The next morning’s dawn had the sun beaming into the Tower windows, revealing Potter at the mirror, inspecting the black eye he’d received to go along with his split lip. He turned to call to his two friends, without worries of waking up any other roommates. “Oy, you lazy sods, get your asses out of bed! I’m hungry!” Against tradition of placing five students per room, he, Remus and Sirius were the only three to be placed together in the room.


          
When they’d asked about it, Dumbledore had merely smiled in his quiet, gentle way, saying that it was so the three of them could stay together, as boys needed their friends about. However, they themselves knew better. It was all set up by Dumbledore so that James and Sirius could keep an eye on Remus and his condition without placing others in harm’s way. Twice a month, the Headmaster ‘conveniently’ posted no watches in the grounds along the pathways in the direction of the Womping Willow.


          
“We’re up… we’re up!” Remus immediately called back, though he didn’t seem to be too sure. “I think.” He slanted his eyes against the unwelcome sunlight. “Ugh.”


          
Sirius sat up as well, holding a hand to his head, mumbling, “Honestly, who spiked the pumpkin juice last night?”


          
“You did.” Remus replied, pulling himself out of bed by help of the banisters and stretching luxuriously before his vision wavered and he groaned again.


          
Laughing, James tried to put some semblance to his hair, though it still looked like a tussled mess. “Next time, no triple-shots.”


          
Glancing sidelong and merely allowing himself to blink a few times, Sirius’ expression cleared as memory returned. “Oh. That’s right, I did.” Then he pointed at Remus, wagging his finger at his friend. “You wouldn’t be saying that if I’d managed to figure out a way to turn the drink chocolate as well.”


          
‘Now THAT would be a great jinx…” Remus replied with a dreamy tone as he sighed, already pulling his shirt over his head. “Too bad we only have two more days until the full moon, I have a great plan.”


          
“That time of the month already?” James asked, turning to peer at the calendar, humming softly. “At least you’re more regular than a girl. Honestly, why can’t they get those period things set to the same exact time each month!?”


          
“We should get that potion ready for you then.” Sirius replied to his friends, pulling his shirt off as well. “Good thing we’d managed to get into the same room starting our Second year.”


          
“It wasn’t luck. We were put together on purpose.” Remus murmured, already dressed, as he sat next to James, who was dressed as well. Now they just had to wait for Sirius, who was looking over his uniforms, trying to find one that was presentable.


          
“Say again? Were we? I thought we just had the best luck in the world.” Sirius flashed them a smile that did nothing to reassure either of his friends.


          
Shaking his head, James leaned back, motioning towards the clothes. “Get DRESSED, Black! You know why we’re together…”




---Three Septembers previous---


          
Dumbledore looked over McGonagall’s room decisions, before taking his quill and scratching a few out, shifting the names around a bit. Frowning, McGonagall tapped the parchment at the room with only three names on it. “Those three do enough damage on their own, without granting them alone time together during the night as well, Albus!”


          
“Let it alone, Minerva. They’d sneak to see each other anyway.” Dumbledore reasoned, trying to calm her down before her temper started. She could be as angry as a ruffled Harpy, given enough time. “At least this way, they’re all in one place to begin with and we’d have less worries.”


          
“But, Albus…”


          
Knowing that McGonagall didn’t know about Remus’ werewolf affliction, a fact he’d kept firmly to himself, Dumbledore placed a calming hand on her arm, his voice still quiet and serene. “It’s less dangerous to keep them together, than it would be to keep them apart.”


          
Giving her long-time friend a dubious glance, the Gryffindor Head of House signed her name to the parchment next to his, staring unhappily at Tower Room Four with its three names written in Dumbledore’s handwriting. James Potter. Sirius Black. Remus Lupin.


~~~



          
James hissed as he touched his eye again, on their way down to the Common Room, despite Remus pulling his arm down so he’d stop touching it. “What the hell… honestly, you try and defend a girl’s honor and she kicks your ass for it!”


          
“That’s what comes from going for a redhead. Even if she’s not technically your girlfriend.” Remus replied, calmly, though the look James was giving him daunted him only slightly.


          
“You know, Evans can handle herself, and when she can’t, she’s asked for help. YOU just wanted any excuse you could get your hands on to tussle with Malfoy. We all know that, and THAT’S why she slugged you.”


          
“Remind me to investigate a jinx against an unarmed opponent….” James replied, before he rummaged in the pockets of his cloak as he sat down so that they could wait for Peter and Lily, per their habit. “Speaking of jinxes… Look what I’d managed to tweak out…” His search came up with a blank piece of parchment, which immediately got his friends’ attention. With a wicked smile, he recited the words they’d previously agreed upon, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”


          
The parchment flickered for a moment, before settling into a map of their room and the common room, with small dots indicating the three of them and their location. On top of the parchment read, ‘Marauder’s Map, by Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs.”


          
“Really good. I like how you’ve managed to get the dots in there too, now. Oh, hey, hang on…” Sirius paused and tapped the paper, expanding it to include the girls’ tower as well, drawing it out with care.


          
With the praise, James’ ego grew a bit more, like it needed it. “Thanks. It took me the better part of a week to manage it. It’s to scale too, which it will do naturally without us having to think about it.”


          
“I don’t want to know.” Remus drawled before charming the paper as well. Immediately, only the girls’ dorms showed up.


          
Sirius snatched the parchment from James’ hand, staring at it for a moment before glaring at Remus. “What’d you do!?”


          
“I jinxed it so that only the section that the reader is concentrating on shows up at the moment. Do you realize how much parchment we’d need for the entirety of Hogwarts and its grounds?!”


          
“Bloody brilliant, Moony.”


          
James filled in a bit more, including the moving staircases and the Great Hall. “Wormtail’s been sneaking down into the dungeons lately, he’ll help us fill in that area.”


          
“Shouldn’t we wonder WHY he’s been going down there a lot, lately?”


          
“What’s it really matter, long’s we get the map done? Honestly, who’s going to worry about a rat in the dungeons. It’s probably full of them anyway. He fits right in.”


          
“Well, I still worry.”


          
“Eat some of your chocolate. You’re too tense.” Sirius glanced in time to see footsteps coming down from the girls’ stairwell, as well as listening to Peter shuffling down the boys’. Though Peter knew about the map, and was actively helping with it, Lily didn’t. It was better kept that way, too. “Hst. James, the map.”


          
Quickly murmuring, “Mischief managed”, James shoved the parchment into the pocket hidden in his robes. He’d sewn it there himself, jinxing it so that even the most thorough search wouldn’t turn it up.


          
The three stood at the entrance of Peter and Lily, where they smiled brightly and declared, “Morning Pettigrew, Morning Evans.” It caused the female Gryffindor to cast them suspicious glances, and a dark look towards James in particular, a gleam of satisfaction in her eyes at seeing his own. James ignored it and clapped Peter on the shoulder, all but shoving him towards the portrait. “Bout time you two showed up, we’re starving!”


          
Without another word, they all filed down to get breakfast.




TBC