Complete

No one had been able to see the Map yet. Just Sirius, the one who got to charm it. He had spent days and days, sitting with his back hunched, whispering spells whenever he had the time, testing the Map and trying to keep it a secret.

When he presented it with a flourish saved just for that one breath-taking moment, they knew that it was completed and perfect - just their aim. Their work was finally alive and they made it themselves - to work for themselves and provide years of amusement.

It had been James to talk first, tracing his hands over the blank parchment. "Did you use the same one? The one we thought of?"

James knew what he was talking about and smiled. His wand hit the paper and he whispered in an awed voice, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good is still the password."

Remus's lines that he had spent so long drawing sketched themselves onto the paper, coating it with black and showing them everything they wanted. Peter's perfect scale of the castle came back to life. Sirius's charms made it seem as though it were alive, an actual person who knew everything about Hogwarts - at least, almost everything compared to the four boys.

James's idea came to life.

As they all bowed over the Map, staring at it and seeing every detail appear, they knew that it was perfect. There was that small difference of seeing something planned and seeing something done that brought them to awe and silence.

Remus smiled. "'Purveyors to the aid of magical mischief-makers'? I see your vocabulary improved from 'the people who made this.'"

Sirius grinned. "And we get our titles."

"Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," Peter read, tracing a finger over the names slowly as if savoring it. The ink did not smear and the names remained there, etched forever.

"I'm offended, Padfoot," James said in a tone of mock envy. "Moony came first. I'm last."

"Saving the best for last, Prongs, saving the best for last," Sirius answered jokingly, throwing an arm around him. "Besides, this thing wouldn't exist without Moony."

"It wouldn't have been thought up without me," James answered, smiling.

"Without me the lines would be crooked," Remus joked, glancing up at them.

Peter's eyes were still fixed on the Map. He looked at every last portion, taking in the size of the drawings, the small moving footprints, the names that labeled everyone in the castle. He saw the four of them, close on the Map with their names in small, waving banners around their position.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" James asked, staring. None of them were able to turn away from it.

Peter quickly slapped his hands over it, took out his wand, and hissed a quick, "Mischief managed!" before folding up the Map and turning.

Sirius caught his shoulder and pulled his back. "Oi! What's that for? We were looking at it!"

"Filch is coming," Peter answered quickly. The four glanced at each other and dodged out of the empty classroom.

And the Marauder's Map was completed.