The Next Generation and the Followers of Darkness

Melody and Rose sat up in Gryffindor Tower that afternoon, trying not to wonder about the questioning they had received in McGonagall's office. Instead, they sat at the table by the window, reading their copies of Hogwarts: A History. The common room was a little crowded, as the sun had been blocked out by a thick layer of clouds in the sky, but no one bothered the two of them. In fact, no one had spoken to them since that morning, since they had returned to class after being called up to the Headmistress's office.

Albus and Carter, however, had not been seen since the end of Potions. And come to think of it, neither had the third year boys. Although it wasn't rare for the seven of them to disappear, they were usually just down at the Quidditch Pitch or roaming the castle corridors.

Thinking more about her brother and his friends rather than what she was reading, Melody snapped her book shut and proceeded to stare out the window.

Her mind wandered to the lights she had seen only nights earlier out this very window. They seemed less menacing now that Melody knew that the teachers weren't worried. Or were they? Something at the back of her mind kept muttering, "You're not being told the whole truth — there's something going on that they're not telling you."

"But why do I need to know?" she asked the little voice silently, furrowing her brow. "I'm just a student. It's not like I'm important. Why should I worry about this?

"Because you're a meddler. You can't stay out of anything like this. And you've got Oliver for a brother. How could you stay out?"

"Are you all right, Mel?"

Rose's voice snapped her out of her conversation with herself. Shaking her head, Melody tried not to think about how stupid she must have looked. And how mad it was that she was listening to the voice in her head — how mad it was that she had a voice in her head.

"Mel?" Rose repeated.

"Yeah, I'm fine," replied Melody quickly. "I was just . . . er . . . thinking about the boys. Where have they been all day?"

"I don't know. But I was thinking about them, too, and I just remembered something."

"What?"

Rose glanced around to see if anyone was listening, then lowered her voice and said, "The Marauder's Map."

"What about it?"

"We can use it to find them. And don't act like you're not curious about what they're up to. I know you don't like being left out of Oliver's insane schemes."

Melody shrugged. But Rose was right. Voice or no voice, she and Oliver were meddlers through and through. It had always been difficult for the two of them to stay out of trouble. Even when they were children, they had been known to eavesdrop on their parents and guests, so much so that Mr. and Mrs. Smith had been forced to place the Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen doors. Melody and Oliver had been very disappointed when the Extendable Ears they had bought from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes didn't work. Of course, they had worked around this obstacle, sending the Ears down vents from Oliver's room and listening from there. And so far, they had not been caught.

"Well, even if we wanted to find them," Melody said, "we don't have the map."

"Yes, we do," said Rose.

"No, we don't. It's up in the boys' dormitories. We can't go up there."

"Don't worry, I've already got it. James let me borrow it the other day. I wanted to see if the map showed the Forest, in case there was a chance we could find out who those people were."

"Any luck?"

"Nope. The map only shows the castle and Hogsmeade. Anyway, let me see . . . ."

Rose dug around in her school bag for a minute or so, pulling out school books, parchment, and quills and piling it all up on the table between them. Finally, she pulled out her wand and the ratty piece of parchment that was the Marauder's Map.

"You carry that in your bag?" smirked Melody, raising her eyebrows.

"What? Sometimes we get lost and I brought it with just in case we need it. Now shut it. I —"

Rose began to place her wand to the paper, but Melody stopped her.

"Maybe not here," she said, nodding her head at all the people around them."

"Oh, right. Let's drop our stuff in the dormitory, then go out to the hall."

About a half an hour later, they crawled through the portrait hole and stood in the corridor, looking around to make sure no one was nearby. Gianna and Lissa had stopped them to ask a question about their Charms homework, which ended up taking about twenty minutes to explain. Then Victoire had wanted to chitchat, chattering their ear off for another ten minutes. Finally, they had escaped the common room and now pointed their wands at the Marauder's Map.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," they said together.

Instantly, the castle appeared on the parchment. Little people began to show up everywhere. Amelia and Edward were walking hand in hand across the lawns, and Jeremy was in the Hufflepuff Basement surrounded by a crowd of second years. But the most interesting thing was seeing the group of little ink James, Oliver, Hayden, Richard, Luke, Albus, and Carter running toward the corridor that Melody and Rose were standing in, with Peeves right on their tale. Just as they rounded the corner to their left, the girls looked up at the real boys.

"Open the portrait hole!" Oliver yelled, at the head of the pack.

Peeves appeared behind them, and Melody was a little frightened. She had never seen the poltergeist so angry. His little face was beet red and his black eyes flashed as he zoomed through the air, pelting the boys with pieces of chalk.

Rose turned on the spot to say the password, but only a squeak escaped her. Spinning on her heel to see what was the matter, Melody's jaw dropped.

"Who the hell visits a friend in the middle of the day? She's supposed to be here to let us into the damn common room. That's her only job in this whole bloody castle!" James roared as he dashed past.

He and the others kept running down the hall, turning right at the end of the corridor. Still fuming, Peeves followed. And with no where else to go, so did Melody and Rose, the former stuffing the Marauder's Map inside her robes.

It was impossible to guess what the boys had done to make Peeves so mad. But instead of asking, Melody and Rose ran after them at a safe distance as to keep Peeves attention off them. It wouldn't be smart to anger him any more than he already was.

James led them all over the castle in an attempt to throw Peeves off their trail. Up the North Tower, through the Charms corridor (at least three times), past a tapestry of trolls in tutus, and into so many hidden passages that Melody had no idea where they were or where they were going. But before she knew it, they had appeared near the top of the magnificent marble staircase.

Coming to a halt and looking down into the entrance hall, the girls saw the boys racing down the stairs, Peeves still right behind them.

"They're heading toward the dungeons," Rose wheezed, clutching her sides.

"The Bloody Baron," breathed Melody, understanding suddenly.

The Slytherin ghost was the only one Peeves would ever listen to, but the Baron was terrifying so it wasn't surprising. Melody had nearly walked through him the other day and had received quite a lecture that had lasted for ten minutes about why should be looking where she's going. She couldn't imagine what would happen to the boys if this plan didn't work. Following quickly to see what would happen, Melody and Rose dashed down the stairs and across the hall after Oliver, James, Albus, Carter, and the others.

The pounding of footsteps ahead of them was the only thing that kept them going. Melody and Rose made a silent pact to head back to Gryffindor Tower if Peeves came swooping back their way or the boys received a talking-to from the Baron. But, just as they rounded a corner, a hand reached out of the nearest dungeon and grabbed Melody's shoulder.

Her shriek was cut off as Oliver reached out his other hand to cover her mouth. She and Rose were pulled into the dungeon and the door was shut behind them. Although Oliver and James had released them and they now knew that they weren't being kidnapped by any Slytherins, they couldn't help sitting down on the floor and shuddering.

"You know I already hate the dungeons," Rose was hissing at James. "Did you have to scared the hell out of me?"

"Lumos," he muttered, ignoring her question. The little light on the tip of his wand cast long shadows around the room as it illuminated the other boys faces. "Is everyone here?"

There was some muttering from Albus, Carter, Hayden, Richard, and Luke, who were standing around them. James leaned against the door behind them, holding the tip of his wand inches from their faces and giving Melody and Rose a stupid grin, while Oliver had his hand outstretched and his eyebrows raised. Melody narrowed her eyes at him.

"What Oliver?" she snapped.

"The Map," he demanded.

"What?"

"The Marauder's Map. May I see —?"

"You can have it if you explain what's going on. What did you do to Peeves?" interrupted Rose.

"Did you find the Bloody Baron?" asked Melody. "How'd you get away from —?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" James cut in. "Slow down. Too many questions at once. Shut up, and let us talk without you two saying anything — anything."

"James Sirius —" Melody began, about to order him to tell her and Rose exactly what was going on, but once again, James butt in.

"Melody Cornelia." She flushed bright pink in the wand-light, making him smirk even more. "That's right. I know your middle name, too. Just shut it for a minute, Mel. I know how hard that going to be for you, but just — listen. Map first, then explanation."

She opened her mouth to argue with him but closed it again at the sharp look from Oliver. Biting her lip, she pulled out the Map.

"Thank you," said Oliver, snatching it out of her hand mischievously. He opened it to see that the girls had not said Mischief Managed before running after them. "Well, well, doesn't look like we'll be letting you borrow this again. You have to wipe it before you put it away. I don't know if we should include you two anymore. How irresponsible. I can't believe —"

"Get on with it, Oliver," said Rose.

"All right, fine. It was all an act. Peeves was in on the whole thing. Said we remind him of the legendary Hogwarts troublemakers: Fred and George Weasley. It was all a show to get you two to follow us. We knew you wouldn't come with us to some remote location if we just asked, so we devised a little plan to trick you both.

"First, we disappeared for hours, waiting just round the corner from the common room. We knew that eventually, you two would come looking for us. And we also knew that you, Rose, had the Marauder's Map and would use it to find us. I must say, you two are more curious than Ravenclaw in a library. . . . Anyway, so we waited until you both came out and opened the Map, then ran down the corridor toward the common room, Peeves chasing us as planned. The Fat Lady has been gone for a long time before you both came looking, so it had all been rehearsed. We'd ask for you to open the portrait hole so we could 'escape' Peeves, and when you discovered that she was missing, we'd lead you all over the castle until we ran down here. And now, we can begin telling you about the plan for tomorrow."

Oliver, James, Albus, Carter, Hayden, Richard, and Luke all looked quite impressed with themselves, grinning smugly at their trickery. But despite that the elaborate plan had worked out, Melody and Rose were far from excited to hear their next plan. In fact, Rose's face was so red that she looked as if she were about to explode.

"So you just wanted us to follow you?" Rose said through gritted teeth. "Whatever. I don't even want to know what your bloody plan is. I'm leaving."

But as she made a step toward the door, James took a step forward.

"Just hear us out, Rose," he said.

She huffed and crossed her arms but gave the boys a look that obviously said, "Go on."

Holding the tip of his wand above the Marauder's Map, James motioned for the rest of them to gather around. Melody and Rose stood shoulder to shoulder between Hayden and Albus, gazing down at the map. It was true that both were irritated that the boys had deceived them, but they were still curious about why the Map was needed.

"These are the secret passages." Oliver indicated several tiny passageway leading away from certain points in the castle. "There are seven in all. However, four of them are collapsed. And the only one that leads to Hogsmeade is —"

"Hogsmeade? That's what this is about?" Rose blurted out.

Albus gave her a stern look.

"Yes, now shush."

"As I was saying, the one that leads to Hogsmeade is this one — the One-Eyed Witch passage. Take that for about a half hour and you'll reach the Honeyduke's cellar. And bring dad's cloak. You don't want to be caught."

Melody had often heard of this cloak but had never seen it. Apparently, it was an Invisibility Cloak. The real one. One of the famed Deathly Hallows.

"So, you're encouraging us to sneak out of the castle?" said Melody, frowning.

"No. Oh, no. No, no, no. . . . We would never encourage any of you to break the rules," James joked. "Rather, we're inviting you four to Hogsmeade with us."

Melody and Rose gave each other one look, and they had already made up their minds. With two detentions to still serve, it seemed risky to even attempt to sneak out of the castle, let alone go and have fun at Hogsmeade. And even though it sounded fun, Melody knew that she and Oliver needed to be on their best behavior. Amelia had been in the worst mood lately and was not to be upset.

"We're not coming," Melody and Rose said together. And before the others could say anything else, they turned, wrenched open the door, and began the trek back up to Gryffindor Tower.

~~~~~

Oliver and James had never really been quitters, and it took quite a lot of refusal to get them to stop hounding Melody and Rose about going to Hogsmeade. The two of them claimed to have everything planned out from start to finish, with Plans B and C in case anything went in a direction they didn't want. The girls' decision to not go with had put a wrench in these plans. Apparently, they had not planned for this.

So they began to bombard Rose and Melody in an attempt to break them.

At dinner, Albus and Carter sat opposite them and muttered the entire time about how Hogsmeade was going to be no fun without the girls there. They just wouldn't shut up. Melody and Rose went up from dinner early, only to find that Hayden, Richard, and Luke were waiting for them in Gryffindor Tower — with a list of things that could not go wrong. Of course, the list was pointless, as the girls pointed out all the things that could go wrong. Eventually, they escaped up to their dormitory, turning in before Isabella, Lissa, or Gianna had even come upstairs.

The last attack on the girls was the next morning, as they were sneaking across the common room to the portrait hole, about to head down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Someone clearing their throat from the direction of the fireplace made both of them jump.

"And where do you two think you're going?"

Turning on their heels and clumsily pulling their wands out of their robes, Melody and Rose aimed at the armchairs beside the fireplace, pointing directly at James' and Oliver's noses. It was James who had spoke.

"We're going down to breakfast, you prat," Melody spat at him. She was fed up and obviously irritated with the third years, but they just didn't know when to stop. "And if you ever scare me like that again, I'll jinx that nose right off your face."

"Please," scoffed Oliver, standing to his feet calmly despite the wands pointed at his face. "You two can hardly shoot multi-colored sparks out of those things, let alone cause minor damage."

He was clearly bluffing. Having been at the receiving end of one of Melody's Body-Binding spells, he knew all too well what the two girls were capable of. They practiced Disarming Charms whenever the common room was vacant enough, in addition to practical Defense Against the Dark Arts classes and attending almost every single Defense Club meeting. Right now, even if she got into trouble for it, Melody was about to jinx her own brother to make him stop bothering her and Rose about going to Hogsmeade.

"Mm-hmm, let's go with that," Rose said, turning on her heel once again and climbing out of the portrait hole into the corridor outside.

Melody gave her brother and warning look before joining her best friend in the hallway. But the boys followed them.

"I'm asking you, Melody, because I love you," said Oliver. "I want you to enjoy this year. I wouldn't ask if I didn't love my little sister."

"You've got to come," James said, sounding a bit more desperate with every word. "We've planned out everything and it won't be any fun without the two of you. The entire thing is fool proof."

"So we've been told," growled Rose. She was about to snap, and Melody knew it, instinctively taking a step back in case her friend became violent. "Maybe once, or twice, or all — last — night! We don't want to go. Just drop it, James."

"Oh, come on, Rose. Of course, you want to come. I mean, who doesn't wanna go to Hogs —?"

"Shut the hell up, James!"

And there it was. The explosion of anger that James had once explained came from the tempers of both of Rose's parents. Melody took yet another step back as Rose rounded on James and Oliver. Nothing could save the boys now from this outburst.

"I swear, if either of you bring up Hogsmeade this year, I will personally see that you are bashed by the Whomping Willow or fed to the spiders in the Forbidden Forest. You two just don't know when to shut up. The only damn thing I ask of you right now is to respect our decisions. We don't want to go to bloody Hogsmeade. Don't you get it? We're following the rules. I get that you two idiots and your friends can go to Hogsmeade. You — have — permission slips! We're first years. We can't go. And I don't suggest you encourage Albus and Carter to go either. If they're caught, they're going to be in worse trouble than they already are. What, with two detentions."

The boys' gaping mouths and stunned stares were almost enough to make Melody smirk. With one last hard look at James and Oliver, Rose turned to Melody, making her friend flinch in case she might explode again.

"Shall we head down to breakfast, then?" said Rose in a surprisingly calm voice after the loud lecture she had just given Oliver and James.

"Yes," Melody replied, suppressing a cackle as the two of them headed off down the hallway, leaving the others in a state of shocked silence.

The last thing they heard before they rounded the corner was from James.

"Just like, Aunt Hermione, that one. She's definitely her mother's daughter."

They waited for the boys to follow them but were pleasantly surprised to find that they had finally given up after hours of harassment. Although it left them without anyone to argue with or avoid, now Melody and Rose could enjoy some peace and quiet. Of course, that wasn't to last long.

Proceeding down to the Great Hall, they found that it was nearly deserted, save for some other first years scattered along the long tables. They took their usual spots at the table to the far right of the hall. A moment later, they were joined by Scorpius.

The boy's enthusiasm at having friends had simmered down recently as he was slowly being accepted by Melody's fellow Gryffindors, but he still always seemed to be excited to have someone to talk to or even just sit beside; however, today he looked a bit curious about something, suspicious about something.

"You'd better go see Longbottom at the High Table right now," he said as he fell into the seat across from Rose. "He wanted to see you two and Albus."

Melody swallowed. One word flashed in her mind.

Detention.

Her mouth dry, Melody blindly allowed Rose to lead the way to the front of the hall where Professor Longbottom was in deep conversation with Professor Flitwick. They waited until he was finished and had turned to face them.

"Ah, there you are," he said without smiling. "I have spoken to Professor Fintan and we have come to a decision. You two and Albus will serve your detentions today. This will make up for both detentions you have received."

"What will we be doing, sir?" asked Rose.

"Helping Mr. Witt around the castle with his various jobs. Please, meet Mr. Witt in the entrance hall at eleven o'clock. And when you see Albus, just send him my way. I'll explain it to him."

~~~~~

They would have done as they were told if that had seen Albus that morning, but he had disappeared. So had Carter. Neither boy was in the common room and apparently not in their dormitory. Melody and Rose checked some of the obvious places: the Trophy Room, the Great Hall (repeatedly), and several vacant classrooms. Still nothing. And for good measure, they even dropped by the library. Not there either. Rose suggested that they had used some of their Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes to get out of detention. Although it was illogical, as Carter didn't have detention today and Albus couldn't have heard about it, they stopped in to make sure. It was as if the two boys had vanished into thin air.

But Melody had a creeping suspicion that she knew exactly where the two of them had gone.

Pushing Albus and Carter from their minds, Melody and Rose made their way down from Gryffindor Tower to the entrance hall at ten forty-five. Mr. Witt was just arriving back at the castle after walking students down to Hogsmeade when they scurried down the marble staircase to meet him.

"How punctual of you," he chuckled as Melody and Rose skidded to a halt in front of him. "I hope you're up to be the caretaker's assistants today. And I thought Mr. Potter would be joining us? Ah, well. He'll have to serve his detention another time. We've got a lot to do."

"Brilliant," Rose muttered sarcastically in Melody's ear as he led the way down the nearest corridor.

~~~~~

It wasn't really difficult work, helping Mr. Witt around the castle. All they had to do was follow him around and hand him various supplies from the cupboards hidden in different places. Mostly they were cleaning up after students playing pranks, but there were so few in the castle because of the Hogsmeade trip. The last thing they had to do before their detention was over was walk down to the gates with Mr. Witt to receive the students returning from Hogsmeade.

The third year boys were walking in a tight knit group, avoiding Melody and Rose. Every time they caught the girls' eyes, they'd look away quickly, mutter, and walk even closer together.

Melody narrowed her eyes. They were definitely up to something. And it was revealed as they were walking up the front steps.

Suddenly Albus tripped and fell through the group of boys surrounding him and Carter. He seemed to have appeared out of nowhere; Melody saw James stuffing something inside his robes — probably the Invisibility Cloak. Then she and the other students watched as Mr. Witt's calm demeanor disappeared.

"Potter! Quick! What the —? How on earth did you —? All right, the rest of you get inside the castle right now! You two, come with me to Professor Longbottom's office. And bring your co-conspirators, too!"

Melody and Rose walked in beside the boys, but as they were breaking away from the group to walk up the stairs, James and Albus stuffed the Marauder's Map and the Invisibility Cloak into Melody's and Rose's hands without saying a word. They didn't even look back as they disappeared down the corridor leading to Longbottom's office.

~~~~~

"Why'd they give you those?" Lucy Weasley asked as they sat up in Melody and Rose's dormitory.

Rose had hidden the Invisibility Cloak in her trunk after finding Lucy and Roxanne, while Melody asked Gianna to tell them when the boys came back. Now they and two of Rose's cousins were sitting up in the first year dormitory with the Marauder's Map spread out on the floor, watching as the seven of them stood in Longbottom's office, talking about what would come to pass as a result of this.

"They can't be caught with these," Rose said, picking at her fingernails. "They would have lost them if Longbottom had found them. And then Uncle Harry would have been mad as hell."

"Is his temper really that bad?" asked Melody before she could run that thought through her mind. Biting her lip, she watched the Weasley cousins carefully. They didn't seem offended by the comment, though.

"Sometimes, but usually he just sulks when he's angry. . . ."

Roxanne's voice trailed off. It was pretty obvious what she was thinking about. The boys would probably receive detentions for this, and with the first Quidditch match coming up, neither James nor Oliver could afford to miss practices.

Ten minutes later, the little James, Oliver, Albus, Carter, Hayden, Richard, and Luke began making their way back to Gryffindor Tower. Rose tucked the Map inside her trunk alongside the Cloak.

Gianna came running up to tell them the boys had come back.

When she saw that the boys were smiling and laughing in the common room, Melody couldn't hold back her frustration any longer. How could Oliver not be worried about how Amelia or Jeremy would react? About how their mother would react? So she seized Oliver by the arm, pulled him toward the portrait hole, and forced him out of the common room.

"What're you getting for this?" she snapped once they were alone in the corridor, crossing her arms and glaring at her brother.

"For what?" he asked stupidly.

She wasn't up for him playing stupid and smacked the side of his head.

"Hogsmeade, twit!"

"Oh. Just a detention."

"I told you something like this would happen."

"You never said Albus and Carter would get caught."

She smacked him again.

"Don't be smart or sarcastic right now. I'm really mad at you. You never listen to me, even when you know I'm right —"

"Please don't rant, Mel. I've had enough punishment for one day with a lecture from Longbottom, a detention, and you smacking me around."

"Well, I would have to disagree," she hissed, smacking him one last time before turning toward the portrait of the Fat Lady. "And if you want the Map and the Cloak back, you're going to have to prove you can follow the rules."

"Oh, come on, Mel!"

"I'm punishing you because I love you, Oliver. I wouldn't do this if I didn't love my brother."