I arrived early, about ten minutes before the time they had said that they wanted to meet.

I figured that there would be no better time to explore the wall's mechanism/magic, so I wanted to do that.

I pushed the carpet aside and took a close look at the wall. Nothing. There wasn't a trace of anything that would imply a secret entrance.

I traced the wall at the place where the outline of the door would appear with my fingers, and then with my wand, trying to sense or trigger anything. But there was nothing, again. I pointed my wand at the wall. "Revelio!" Still. Nothing. How on earth had they managed to find that secret room!?

I got frustrated and kicked the wall, careful not to crush my foot in the process, but froze when I heard a voice.

"What are you doing?"

James Potter smirked.

The marauders were there, and Merlin did I want the floor to swallow me up whole. They saw me kicking a wall. Bricks!

I cleared my throat embarrassedly and stepped back from the wall as if nothing had happened. "This mechanism is extraordinary," I mumbled, probably blushing terribly.

"It really is." Remus walked up to me and pushed his shoulder against the wall, like he'd done a few nights ago on our patrol.

There was the crack again, and the hidden brick door appeared. We all went in, and it looked like last time; a round wooden table with chairs surrounding it. Only the parchment on the table was gone.

"How did you find this room?" I just had to ask. The chances were... Like 2 percent. I mean, it was hidden incredibly well, nearly impossible to open or find.

Peter snickered and James blushed crimson red.

"We had a lot of time to explore," He murmured.

"He walked into the wall," Remus clarified. "Because he tripped on his shoe laces."

I burst into laughter, and Peter, Sirius and Remus grinned at James, trying to keep their amusement at bay.

"I hate you all," He crossed his arms in front of his chest and flopped down on a chair. "You said you wouldn't tell anyone."

"Ts ts ts," Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You demanded we wouldn't tell anyone, but we never agreed."

"Whatever."

Calming down, all of us sat down around the wooden table. I was sitting next to Sirius and Remus, who pulled out parchment from his robes. He laid it down in front of me and I stared at it. It was just random, blank parchment.

"So? What am I here for?"

"For this." Remus nodded his head at the parchment. "Sirius, if you were so kind?"

"Of course, Mr Lupin." Sirius pulled out his wand, cleared his throat and touched the parchment with the tip of his wand. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

I gawked at the sight in front of me. Where Sirius' wand had touched the parchment, a black dot appeared and several small lines extended from it, spreading across the parchment. It almost looked like there was a geometrical structure behind it, but I couldn't put my finger on what it reminded me of.

Something else caught my attention.

"Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers, are proud to present the Marauder's Map?" I read out loud, both amused and fascinated. I looked up at James, Sirius, Peter and Remus, all grinning like proud dads.

"Precisely." Sirius reached over to unfold the parchment- or map. "In our six years at Hogwarts, we've explored every corner of the castle, and we got the idea to make a map."

Ooh, so that was the geometrical structure I'd recognised. A map of Hogwarts. "Honestly, it surprises me that no one has ever thought of that before," I mumbled, not even necessarily wanting them to hear me. I'd just wanted to get the thought out of my system. A map would really help all first years, even if it didn't have every corner of Hogwarts on it. Apparently, the marauders had heard me.

"I know, right?" James agreed. "And we're pretty proud of the map, it was a lot of work."

"Half a year so far, to be precise," Peter added.

I eyed the card. Every floor of Hogwarts was shown, with every hallway and classroom. I could also make out the kitchen, the Great Hall, the common rooms and several bathrooms. Even passages I didn't know, probably secret ones, were drawn on this parchment. The staircases were moving, too! So the map showed all corners of Hogwarts, exactly how they were at that exact moment!

"This is completely genius!" I whispered in awe, bending over the parchment. I couldn't imagine the amount of talent the creation of this map must have had required. "You did this all on your own?"

"Yup," Sirius said proudly, popping the 'p'. "Just because we don't always study doesn't mean we're talentless."

I must admit, I'd underestimated them. I couldn't even dream of putting together such a literal piece of magic, and the marauders had successfully done that. They had every right to be proud. That's when I noticed that all of them were following my every move, probably not wanting to miss any part of my reaction.

I got super self conscious and bent back, sitting up straight and folding my hands in my lap.

Remus and Sirius exchanged a weird look.

"Soo, the map looks pretty complete in my eyes. What do you need help with?" I said to fill the silence, and Remus took over.

"It needs the final charm. One idea behind the map was to find a way to sneak through Hogwarts without getting caught. We want it to show everyone at Hogwarts, exactly where they are.

"We've done our research and know exactly how to do that, but noone of us has casted the charm successfully.... That's why you're here."

"I'm supposed to cast that charm?"

They all nodded.

Heat rose to my face.

"But if you didn't manage the spell, how am I supposed to do it?!"

I was really nervous. I had just gotten a front row seat to how talented the marauders actually were- and if they couldn't do it!

I was good at charms, yes, but just because I was a good student, not because I was exceptionally good at magic. I didn't want to embarrass myself, or let the marauders down when they had such high hopes in me.

"Don't talk yourself down like that, Freya. You're the head of class in Charms," Remus said. "We believe in you."

Somehow, that made me feel even worse.

"I don't want to disappoint you, lads. Lina is just as good at Charms as me! Ask her!"

"I know she's your best friend," James said, "But, no offense, she's giving me sketch vibes."

"Plus, we've met you and kinda grown to like you," Sirius added.

I couldn't blush more if I tried, but they either didn't notice or care, so Sirius continued. "So we put our trust in you. We believe you can do it, and you can at least try it, right?"

I couldn't believe it. He was giving me puppy eyes! He folded his hands, put on a little pout, tilted his head and raised his eyebrows, showing me those big grey eyes. Oh man... Would it deflate his ego too much if I told him that puppy eyes never worked on me?

I looked away from him, only to see Remus, Peter and James with pretty similar, pleading and hopeful expressions. Oh Merlin.

"Pleeeease?"

I mean, I'd already promised that I'd help. And all I could do was fail, right? I'd warned them.

So I sighed. "What charm do you want me to do?"

All of their faces lit up.

"The Homunculus charm," Remus said, his grin not fading from his face.

My face, however, fell. "That's way beyond NEWT level!"

James nodded, still smiling. "Which is probably the reason we've failed."

A fist softly bumped my left shoulder and I turned to Sirius. "We're not mad if it doesn't work. We just ask you to try it."

I sighed, my right foot starting to bob up and down like it always did when I was nervous. I really didn't want to make a fool out of myself when they believed in me so much... "Okay. I can't make any promises, but I'll try."

"Yes!" Sirius shouted and bent sideways to wrap his arms around me.

My heart rate sped up, probably because I couldn't blush any more, and I stiffened. Then I reached up with my right hand and awkwardly patted his back, as the rest of the marauders laughed at Sirius' antics.

"You're welcome?"

Puuh, he let go. I avoided his gaze and looked at James, Peter and Remus instead. They all seemed really happy. "Thank you Freya, really." Remus smiled.

I nodded slowly. "I mean, even if I'm able to cast the spell, I'll need time to practice."

They all nodded understandingly. "Take all the time you need," Peter reassured me.

"Well," James grimaced. "It would be nice if we finished the map until spring, though?"

I forced out a breathy chuckle. "I'll meet you here in exactly one week, at the exact same time, alright? If I can't do it then, I'll never be able to learn it before school ends, so I won't take up any more of your time and you can find someone better if it doesn't work out. Sounds good?"

Somehow, and don't ask me how, they all seemed to really believe that I could do this, which put even more pressure on me. They all looked at me with twinkling eyes, completely unbothered.

Sirius held out his hand for me to shake. "Sounds perfect."