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"Hurry up!" Remus Lupin called back to his friends. "Come on! Honestly, Padfoot, for a dog you move exceptionally slowly."
Sirius Black shook his hair back from his face. "Oh, shut up, Moony. You act as though we might get caught."
Remus looked at Sirius disbelievingly. "And just what is there to keep us out of trouble if we do get caught? It's three in the morning!"
A boy with disheveled hair and circular glasses replied with a smirk. "We'll say we were out for a romantic, early morning stroll. That's not suspicious at all."
Sirius took James's hand. "Or weird." They both laughed.
Remus shook his head, smiling, but the smallest boy, Peter, looked between the two. "Wait, you aren't…are you?"
Sirius rolled his eyes. "James is with Lily, you idiot. And I am with, well, practically every girl in Hogwarts. Can't you take a joke?"
Peter laughed hysterically. "I know! I was just playing along."
"Shove it, Wormtail."
Sirius and James walked on ahead. "Stupid git," Sirius muttered to James. "I can't believe we put up with him. Why do we, anyway?"
"No idea. Moony and his saintly ways."
"Suppose…I still miss the days without him though."
"Don't we all."
Remus caught up with them, leaving Peter to follow. "Sorry about him."
"Not your fault, mate."
"I know, but still…anyway, I wanted to show you this." He held out the Marauder's Map to James.
"What?"
"Look in Dumbledore's office."
"Sirius snatched the paper from James and glanced at it. "What?! Oh, Albus, you dog!"
"Owl, actually, Padfoot."
"What?" asked James, who had not been able to see what Remus was indicating on the map during the short amount of time he had it in his possession.
"Look," ordered Sirius.
"Well, I was trying to, until you took it. Anyway…my god…that's…what the hell?"
A slight wheezing behind them announced the approach of Peter. "What is it? What's going on?"
Sirius brandished the map in front of his face. "Our Headmaster…our Transfiguration professor…together…somewhere in Dumbledore's office…at three in the morning."
"Why?"
James scoffed. "Well, that's kind of what we were trying to figure out, Worm."
Wormtail sniggered. "But they couldn't be…together, could they? I mean, Dumbledore's only about a hundred years older than McGonagall."
"Actually, only twenty or so."
Sirius sighed. "That's our boy, Moony. Always so knowledgeable. I wouldn't believe you on this if I didn't know you are always right. I mean, McGonagall isn't bad, as far as teachers go."
"That's sick."
"But true."
"Alright."
"But why wouldn't they tell anyone?"
"Voldemort."
Peter gasped. Sirius turned to stare at him. "Voldemort Voldemort Voldemort Voldemort VOLDEMORT!"
"We haven't died yet, Worm."
"It's just a name, Wormtail," said Remus.
Sirius continued. "Do you remember what Binns told us?"
James stared at him in disbelief. "You mean you do?"
"Well, ok, no, but Remus told me this. Binns said that when Grindelwald was around, and now that Voldemort is, his greatest enemies try to keep practically every aspect of their lives secret. Then he can't use it against them or something like that."
"That makes sense. But it's still weird because Dumbledore is the only one dear Tom is afraid of. You wouldn't think he'd be worried."
Remus looked sideways at James. "You must know how it is, Prongs. You wouldn't say anything about Lily if you had even the slightest suspicion that something bad could come from it."
"Yeah," replied James dreamily. "Yeah, I guess not."
"They're lucky, really, being professors. They can meet up whenever. But poor James here…there's nowhere for them to break school rules like that."
"But, Sirius, it's only us and Remus in our dormitory. Lily and James have there."
"Oh, get real, Peter. Do you really want to watch them make out?"
"Stop it, Padfoot."
"Sorry, Prongs."
"It's alright, mate."
Remus interrupted. "Hey, they're leaving."
Sirius elbowed Peter out of the way. "What?"
They all watched as the dot labeled 'Minerva McGonagall' went through a wall in Dumbledore's office. Suddenly new lines appeared on the map, showing passageways from the Head's office to the Gryffindor common room and the Transfiguration department. James whistled. "So that's how she gets to the common room so fast when we won't shut up."
Remus nodded. "Yeah, I always wondered where she came from. Looks like the fireplace has an opening."
"Let's go check it out."
They went quickly back to the common room and stood before the fireplace. "Which side is it on, Moony?"
"Er…the right. From the way we are looking at it.
"Sirius pulled out his wand and tapped the stone wall. "What's it say?"
Remus looked carefully at the map and saw a tiny speech bubble next to the dot labeled 'Sirius Black'. "Minerva Vesta McGonagall."
"That's one hell of a name." Sirius tapped the fireplace again and said the password. The wall slid away to reveal a tunnel.
"After you," said Sirius cordially, allowing the three others to enter before him and giving him the chance to stick his foot in front of Remus.
"Lumos," they all muttered. With the help of their wands, they followed the tunnel for a minute. They then heard voices up ahead. "Nox."
Remus gave his wand a complicated wave and whispered, "Fortisima." The voices became louder and they could hear every word.
"So I'll see you at breakfast."
"I'll look forward to it. I'm sorry you have to leave so early."
"It's what happens when, for whatever reason, I don't get any work done when I'm supposed to."
"Sorry."
"Don't be."
They heard the professors kiss, and Dumbledore let out a sigh. "I love you, Minerva."
"I love you, Albus. Thank you for a most enjoyable night."
"The pleasure was all mine."
The Gryffindors stared at one another as their professor's footsteps echoed in the distance. Remus muttered, "Pianisima."
Sirius opened his mouth to speak when they heard Dumbledore say something. "Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore." They heard a door slide open and saw a square of light before their professor's silhouette blocked it. The door closed and they were left in darkness.
Sirius laughed. "I lied. That is one hell of a name."