BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE - REMUS LUPIN

83 - "UP TO NO GOOD"

What the hell, he thought, that one phrase on a cold, disbelieving loop. What the hell.

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Remus, James, Peter, and Sirius were all sitting down at the Marauder's corner library table, waiting on Hollis to start their two rolls long Potions essay. Peter was just about to bring his wrist to his mouth when Hollis emerged, breathless from around a bookshelf so sharply that she almost fell over with the force of her own turn.

"You guys, we need to find a way to secure the Map as soon as possible," she said, slamming down their creation on the table with a flat palm. "Anyone can read it, and that could be really, really bad if it fell into the wrong hands."

All four boy's eyes widened in alarm at what had provoked this outburst.

"Don't worry, nothing bad happened," Hollis reassured breathlessly as she saw their expressions. "Gideon just saw the footsteps and I thought that we should try and find a way to lock it so only we can use it."

Rolling his eyes, James sighed exaggeratedly as Hollis mentioned Gideon. 

That ginger is always trying to impress Lily, he thought with a frown. Not that I don't do the same, but I'm finally making some progress. If that git disrupts this, he's gonna pay.

"Yeah," Sirius said, pulling out his wand and rolling it underneath his hand on the table. "But how?"

Biting her lower lip slightly, Hollis thought for a second. "If we can just come up with two phrases, one to open it and one to close it, then I think I can do it with a modified Locking Charm after a few tries," she said confidently a moment later, and Remus grinned.

He was only now starting to realize that this ambitious side he was so attracted to was her Slytherin, but he found himself not minding in the slightest.

"Ok, well, what should the opening phrase be?" Peter asked, wanting to get this over with so they could finish their essay on the Essence of Insanity drought and then eat a big dinner.

James and Hollis simultaneously leaned back in their chairs, something that both he and Sirius had developed the habit of doing off the Rosier. Remus dragged a thumb thoughtfully across his lip, making Hollis momentarily distracted from her train of thought. Only the rustling of books rearranging themselves and the distant shout of Madam Pince yelling at some fourth years from across the library could be heard as the five Marauders tried to think of something both catchy and memorable.

"Well, it obviously has to be prank-related," Hollis muttered, seeing if narrating her thoughts would help their process. "Because that was one of the main original purposes of the Map. So, like, maybe something saying that 'I'm pranking, but better?"

The others nodded along with Remus, liking where this was going.

"And it has to be dramatic of course," grinned Sirius, making all of them laugh. "Not just some commoner vocabulary."

"I solemnly swear," she started in an exaggerated voice, grinning widely. 

"That I am up to no good," James finished, and Hollis grinned at him widely.

Grabbing the spread-out yellow piece of parchment marked with scarlet, emerald, black, and navy ink, Hollis drew her wand. With one flick of her wrist, everything on the Map vanished.