It was evening time. Harry, Ron and Hermione were all gathered in the Gryffindor Common Room, after finishing with their day's lessons. Harry had run immediately to fetch the Marauder's Map from his trunk, and handed it to Ron with an excited, "Let's see what they say about you!"
The red-head had the Marauder's Map in his hands now. On either side of him, Harry and Hermione were towering, or so he felt. Harry had the ghost of a smirk on his face, while Hermione looked anxiously at Ron.
"C'mon Ron!" she encouraged, slapping him on his back. Ron, in spite of his anxiety as to what lay ahead, felt goose bumps erupt where Hermione had slapped him.
Things between the two of them had not been the same since Padfoot had pointed out that Ron fancied Hermione. Indeed, the two had lesser fights these days, and Hermione even let Ron copy her Potions essay, though reluctantly at first, which she had refused to do point blank to Harry two days earlier.
Ron gulped and muttered, "Revlon," even as he touched the map's surface with his wand's tip.
Words emerged on the map.
Good evening and welcome! You have entered that realm of this map which gives you advices on your personality. We are the marauders, and this time we are going to give you advices specific to the fields we deal with. We are, therefore, proud to present before you… ourselves.
"Wait a minute!" said Harry, his eyebrows up in surprise. "This is completely different from last time!"
"Looks like they have perfected themselves, now that this--advice area--of the map is being activated by someone," suggested Hermione.
Again, black words appeared.
I am Moony, the academic specialist, who will give you my opinion on your current grades, as well as advice to improve them, if the need may arise.
Hermione smirked. Good to see academics preceding every other field.
The previous words disappeared as new ones came into view.
I am Padfoot, your relationship consultant. I will review your current relationship status with other people, your place in society, rank among friends and other such important things, and hence advise you to strive for a better social life.
"This is fantastic," thought Ron, who seriously considered himself in need of such advice.
I am Prongs, your sports guide. Confused which sport you should choose? Don't think you are comfortable with the current sport you are into? I am the person you should turn to.
"This is seriously unbelievable," thought Harry, seeing that his father was going to talk to them, and that it would be about sports.
I am...er...Wormtail...yeah...Wormtail.
"Take your time to be sure, you git," muttered Harry.
Wormtail continued.
I will tell you which kind of hobbies to pursue. What kind of groups you should turn to. What kind of people to make friends with.
"I think he needs advice on that himself," said Ron darkly.
Okay! So if you are ready, we shall proceed. Kindly spell your name, mister.
"R-O-N-A-L-D W-E-A-S-L-E-Y." said Ron.
Moony would like to wish Ronald a very good evening. Well Ron, your grades, I think, are quite acceptable, even pretty brilliant in some subjects. Though you are pathetic in a few subjects like History of Magic and Divination, it is quite okay as we all have our points of weaknesses. You can always strive to be perfect, though. Practice. It makes a wizard perfect. Do your homework regularly and devotedly, and study extra hard like Miss Granger does, instead of snogging Miss Brown's face off like you are busy doing these days...
Ron blushed scarlet. Hermione smirked. Moony continued.
...The library is a region where you can work with all your concentration. Neither does Madame Pince allow friends to titter tatter there, nor does she think it is acceptable to snog someone in such a place. I'm sure you will find it easy to work there. Though I don't say that it is wrong to snog your girlfriend, but don't you think that all that time can ,instead, be utilized in something useful...like studying, for example?
These words disappeared as new ones came into view.
Oh, Moony, shut up for Nymphadora's sake! Fancy her, don't you? *smirk* This is Padfoot, by the way. Hi, Ron! How are you? Pointless though the question may seem, as I will not be able to hear of your health, it is still a mark of courtesy, which is a major, very major thing you have to learn if you want to win a girl's heart. I know, I know, you're thinking "I've already won Hermione's heart, what's the need for this lecture?"
Hermione's eyes were as wide as saucers, and Ron's mouth was so wide open that a baby Hippogriff could have fitted in there.
"Ha-ha," laughed Harry. "Trust Sirius to know what you're thinking."
He turned his face to the map. "Brilliant, Sirius!"
Padfoot continued.
But these are the basic things, which every man ought to know. Do you think I was termed "the hottie of the year" five times in my Hogwarts years just like that? Well, okay, that might have been because I was devilishly handsome and gorgeously charming, but still, your attitude matters a lot. This is kind of good for you, as you...forgive me for the lacks of manners here...lack looks. I'm sorry. But never give up; you're not completely Wormtail look-alike, are you? *smirk again* Sorry, Peter, couldn't help it. On a "sirius" note, you are fanciable, Ron. Though your hair is abnormally red, nose abnormally long, face abnormally freckled; they all add up to a normal, nice looking guy named Ron. And by the way, how's your relationship with Hermione going on?
Hermione shook her head helplessly. This was embarrassing, and yet cute and sweet.
I wish you all the best for the relationship with Miss Granger. Prongs here is getting quite impatient for his turn, so I will leave with a note that it's perfectly normal for you to snog your girl around, but let's hope that next time it's Hermione for you, Ron, instead of Miss Brown, whom, as is quite evident, you do not have any soft spot for.
Hermione was positively floating, Harry thought. She had a wide, smug grin on her face that she barely wanted to conceal.
"Wow! Girl problems sorted out just like that, huh, Ron?" asked Harry, punching Ron on his arm.
Ron smiled, "I guess so."
He turned slowly to look at Hermione. Harry thought he looked like Neville asking Snape whether he had passed Potions or not.
"Oh, Ron!" squealed Hermione, and to Ron's biggest surprise in his entire life, moved toward to him and gave him a tight hug, kissing his cheek.
To say Ron was dreadfully surprised would be an understatement. However, recovering quickly, he, too, embraced Hermione and sheepishly returned the kiss on her cheek.
"And the two lived happily ever after," mocked Harry, placing his hands on the couple's heads, as if giving his blessings.
A few people in the room smirked on seeing Ron and Hermione's latest happening, a few glanced away with an expression that said, "Well, all knew this was bound to happen", while a few others shrieked like they had seen a ghost...er...no, ghosts are common in Hogwarts, so let's say they had seen Voldemort. In a bikini. Bright pink. Posing like a supermodel. Oh well. Actually, the latter group included just one girl, and that was Lavender Brown.
Hermione hurriedly let go of Ron. Lavender stared at Ron with a look that said "You meet me. Just meet me after this."
The trio then remembered what they had been doing, and quickly returned to the map.
"This really is a brilliant piece of work," exclaimed Hermione, because the last lines of Padfoot were still etched across the map, waiting to be replaced by Prongs's words as soon as the reader turned his attention towards the map, so the trio hadn't missed anything during the little episode between Ron and Hermione.
Harry held his breath as they waited for words to appear from Prongs. His father. He wanted to carefully read between lines, to see his father's choice of words, his general way of talking, things he would never be able to notice now.
Hello, Ron! This is Prongs. It is a pleasure to see that you are such a devoted Quidditch player. I'm happy to be asked for advice from you. You are a Quidditch player, and therefore I am going to advise you on that. And also because I love to talk about it! As you must know, Ron, Quidditch is a game that demands long hours of practice, concentration, and guts. I think you fulfill all these requirements, except the last one. By that, I do not mean that you are afraid of heights, but as you very well know yourself, you get really nervous before games. That, my dear, should be the cause of concern for you. Imagine that you are the finest player on the whole team, believe in yourself. I am sure they didn't choose you just like that. You have talent. Be self confident. It is a proven fact, Ron, that nervousness is the root of failure. I'm sure you can overcome it, come on, being a Gryffindor you should be able to! Be a true Gryffindor--be brave. That is to say, don't not fear anything, but overcome it. Hope you understood the last line, I can act a bit barmy when it comes to Quidditch. So, all the very best for your tries of overcoming nervousness, and your next match against Slytherin. Flatten Slimeball's stinking servants! Er...my apologies, but I’m sure you know what I mean. *wink*
All of them were smiling by the time Prongs's stanza ended.
"Your father is great, Harry, I mean...," Ron stopped at his ignorant usage of the word "is", "I mean was great," he blurted out and blushed furiously at his tactlessness.
"It's okay, Ron," said Harry, relieving his friend of his embarrassment.
Hermione looked on, feeling close to tears.
"Git's turn now," said Harry, trying to lighten up the atmosphere, which had suddenly gone painfully silent. "C'mon guys, it's okay."
They turned to the map, on which words starting emerging as soon as Ron turned his gaze on it.
Hello, master...er... I mean Ron. How're you? I'm Wormtail.
"Oh yeah? We thought you were a particularly foul blast-ended skrewt," said Harry that caused both Hermione and Ron to giggle.
I am to advise you about which hobbies to pursue. What kind of groups to join. I would suggest Wizard Chess to you, Ron, as you seem to be excellent in it.
No more words appeared.
"What a loser!" said Ron, "Everybody knows I'm good in Wizard's Chess. How come he was counted as a Marauder, I dunno."
"Sooo...,” Hermione said dramatically, "whose chance is it going to be tomorrow?"
She and Ron smirked and turned to Harry.
"Of course, I'll be glad to get advices from the marauders," said Harry, and quietly thought, "and talk to my dad."
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A/N: That's all! I hope you liked it. Plzz review and tell me your thoughts.
The Marauder's Map's Secret Power! by Bookwormy
Chapter Notes: The 2nd chapter is here...Ron facing the marauders! This chapter is FULL of surprises...
Thanks awfully to my friend and beta reader, boycrazy94 for doing the fantastic job on my punctuation errors! U rock, boycrazy94, and so does randomness and hyperactiveness and all the blah blah we consider rocking! lol
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters you're going to read about (bless you). They all belong to J.K. Rowling. So read on, and review!