Blood and Family

11 years later

"That's insane," Harry Potter said, looking at the girl standing in front of him. She had a mischievous glint in her brown eyes which was making him wary of anything she said.

"Possibly," Echo Snape said off-handedly. "But if you don't believe me, then sadly, there's nothing I can do to help you in your endeavors." She sighed and turned to walk away, tossing her black hair over her shoulder.

"Echo, wait!"

She stopped and turned. "So you believe me." She looked extremely amused if the grin on her face was a clue to anything.

"I didn't say that. Why do you twist everything I say around?"

"It's the way you say it; besides, I know that you want to know where that map is. I can see it in your face."

"I'd figure that if this map does exist, then Fred and George would have it already."

"Oh, they have one of the maps. I have the second."

"Where?"

"In my trunk. My mother gave it to me."

"I find it hard to believe that she would want you to cause more trouble than you already do around here."

She looked at him, her eyes blank, expressionless. "She said that some friends of hers would expect me to cause trouble. Something about following family traditions." She shrugged.

"So who are the Marauders?" he asked, following her to Gryffindor Tower. He had only known Echo for a week but already found her a complete mystery. For one thing, she was the only daughter of his Potions and Defense against Dark Arts professors. The former was the head of Slytherin house and hated Harry for reasons unknown. He was very strict and very professional.

But his wife was completely different. She kept her class light, despite what she taught. She preferred to be called Leah, rather than Professor Snape. Harry saw that she and her husband were as different as night and day. He had heard many different thoughts on how they had stayed married for so long, but none of them had made sense.

Echo was another example of that. When he first met her, Harry was sure that because her father had been Slytherin and was the Slytherin Head of House that she was sure to be one as well, but she surprised everyone when she was put into Gryffindor. She later told Harry, Ron, and Hermione that her mother had been in Gryffindor.

It still didn't explain it all. She was the youngest student in the school, starting her classes one year before normal. Hermione had figured that it had to do with the fact that both her parents were professors.

Despite everything, Echo was always ready to cause trouble wherever she went. Now she was going on about a map that showed the entire school, all the passageways, and where everyone was. It sounded like a treasure to anyone who wanted to create some havoc.

Harry waited in the common room as Echo rushed up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. She came down a minute later followed by Hermione.

"Where's Ron?" Echo asked, looking around. "He'll want to se this too."

"Ask them," Hermione said, pointing to Fred and George who were practically nose-to-nose over a piece of parchment. Echo narrowed her eyes and walked over to them.

"'Allo, boys," she said, clapping them both on the back. She was smiling, her blue eyes twinkling with a hidden amusement. She dropped her voice to a whisper. "You do know that this won't work. You have to change these ingredients around or else you'll end up with an adverse reaction. Try rat liver rather than frog spawn. It will create a much more colorful reaction."

Fred grinned. "So what else do you want, Echo?"

"I'm looking for your brother."

"Why?" George asked.

She grinned. "Now if I told you that, I'd have to tell you what I'm plotting and I won't do that."

"Why not? You know what we're doing and we didn't even say anything."

"How do you do that, anyway?" Fred asked, looking at her.

"Maybe one day, if you're good, I'll tell you. Trust me, though, it took years of practice and I'm still not that good at it."

"We saw Ron take off a while ago. He said something about the library." She nodded.

"One last thing," she said. "Don't get caught."

"Why would we?"

"I have it on good authority that there are certain professors are trying to find all the pranksters and give them detention just because he can."

"Really? We'll have to be a little more careful then, as will you."

"I'm always careful," she said. "I've lived in this castle most of my life and I know more about it than even you two."

"Really?"

"Yes, George, I do."

"Why was the Whomping Willow planted over the secret passage outside and where does the passage go?" Fred asked.

"First, the tree was planted before the passage was created and both were done for a special reason. The passage goes to Hogsmeade, but I won't tell you where."

"Why not?"

"Because it's a secret. Have fun, boys," she said walking away. Harry and Hermione were waiting. "The library," she said heading to the portrait hole.

~~~

"I think we have a problem, Leah," Severus Snape said walking into their living quarters. She looked up from the book she was reading, her dark eyes narrowing with apprehension.

"And what would that be?"

"Echo."

"How so?"

"She's causing trouble."

"Well, I told you that she was just like James," Leah said, going back to her book. "She'll continue to cause trouble and nothing either of us can say will deter her from that."

"Except this," Severus said, showing her a copy of the Daily Prophet. "Now do you understand the problem?"

She read the article quickly and looked up at him. "How? No one has ever escaped Azkaban." Her voice held only the slightest trace of worry that was imperceptible to anyone who didn't know her well.

"Well, Black certainly did have a talent for getting out of trouble," Severus said. "But this goes beyond anything he did as a student."

"No one can get past the Dementors."

"An Animagus can."

She looked up at him and nodded. "Yes, I suppose one could," she said, not denying that she herself had helped her brother and his friends to become Animagi. She sighed. "We can't do anything about it now."

"I see."

"What do you want me to say, Severus? There's nothing we can do. Sirius has done the impossible. We both knew that it was only a matter of time."

"He'll come after Echo, you know that."

"He can try, but if I see him, I'll kill him, as I'm sure you will." She looked at him with calculating eyes. Severus had only seen her eyes like that a few times in the twenty years that he had known her. Those eyes always meant that trouble was coming and she would be the one causing it.

"We need to see Dumbledore about this."

She tossed her book on the table. "Fine. Let's go." She had fastened her cloak and was out the door before he stood, a scowl on his face.

"Typical Potter," he muttered, following her.

~~~

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Echo had left the castle and were outside sitting under a tree near the lake. Echo pulled the old piece of parchment from her robe and put it between them.

"The Marauders had originally only made one copy of this map," she began. "But in their seventh year, another party informed them that she would need a copy to watch out for them during a particularly dangerous prank, and that is how this one came into existence."

"How did your mother get it?" Ron asked.

"My mother was the one who asked for the copy," Echo said with a smile. "This map, unlike the original, shows the forest and Hogsmeade."

"Fred and George would love it."

"That is why they don't have it. They have the first map which has several limitations." She smiled, pulled her wand and touched it to the map. "I swear to protect my family from trouble." Lines spread across the page forming the map. Marked dots showed where people were. Harry and Ron grinned. Hermione looked at the map with apprehension.

"I don't trust it," she said.

"Why not?" Ron asked.

"It could get us into a lot of trouble," Hermione rationalized.

"But," Echo said, "it can also get us out of trouble. With this map, we can pull off more pranks than Fred and George."

"Sounds good to us," Harry said after he and Ron shared a look. Even though Harry knew that they would eventually get into trouble he wanted the chance.

"So," Ron asked, breaking the silence, "who're Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs?"

Echo shrugged. "I have no idea. My mother wouldn't tell me." She smiled distantly and cleared the map by saying 'family saved'. She leaned against the tree trunk. Each of them were lost in their own thoughts.

~~~

Remus Lupin stepped off the platform at Hogsmeade Station. He looked around, wondering where to start, not yet ready to go back to Hogwarts. He knew that he would have to, to face everything he did, all the mistakes he made that led to a lot of ruined lives.

He walked through the town, remembering so many things. The nighttime walks through the town, sneaking into town from the secret passageways at Hogwarts. Those had been great times.

But time and loyalties had ripped the Marauders apart. James had married Lily and joined the Ministry, intent on stopping Voldemort. Sirius soon followed. Peter didn't know what he was doing half the time. And Remus had fled. He knew the dangers of Voldemort, better than anyone else, though he never told anyone that fact. No one needed to know.

Remus found himself in front of the Hog's Head. He smiled and walked inside.