(no subject)
Title: Compass Rose
Author: Devonwood
Format and Word Count: Ficlet; 1,449
Rating: PG-13 (T)
Prompt(s): Prompt 2 (“There’s no such thing as a crowded battlefield. Battlefields are lonely places.” Alfred M. Gray), Prompt 3 (“Human Behaviour”, specifically “There’s no map to human behaviour… and a compass wouldn’t help at all.”)
Warning: Deathly Hallows spoilers. Unbeta'ed, and not-britpicked. Apologies. :)
Author’s Note: I don’t know how I’m going to be able to write any more about the final battle…….I feel depressed already. Somehow, both of my fics so far have to do with Christmas. Maybe I’m wishing for colder weather. :) I'm still in Ohio on dial-up, so I can't go back and read yet. Boo...
“I solemnly swear I am up to no good.”
The map sprang to life before his eyes, unfolding every crease as it began to spread out over the floor. Remus hastily scanned the floor he was on, checking over the names for the people on their side who weren’t moving, checking over the names for the people on the opposite side who were.
“Happy Christmas, Moony!” Sirius said cheerfully, thrusting a worn piece of parchment into Remus’s hands. There was a stain of tea in the corner, and the edges were nearly ripped off. He let his eyes drift downwards for a second, before raising his eyebrows.
“Thanks, Padfoot,” he said dryly, flipping the paper over onto the back as though looking for his present on the other side.
“Honestly, you’d think a Professor would be smarter than to take things at face value,” Sirius said aside to an invisible audience, and Remus rolled his eyes. He pulled out his wand and tapped the parchment.
“Reveal your secrets.”
Writing began to scrawl all over the paper, and Remus gasped as he read the text.
“Messr Padfoot would like to kick Moony in the arse for being so dumb. It’s like being in 2nd year again,” Sirius read aloud to Remus’s sputters.
He continued, “Messr. Moony would like to register his complaint with himself, and wishes he had more sense in that tiny noggin of his.”
At his spluttering protests, Sirius guffawed, clapping him on the back. Then, to Remus’s surprise, more writing appeared on the parchment. It was more feminine then James or Peter’s had ever been, and Remus read the words aloud.
“Mdme Tonks thinks Remus is a brilliant person, and would have figured it out sooner or later, but she wonders why she doesn’t have a cool nickname.”
Sirius began laughing hysterically as Remus gave the paper a perplexed look, but he smiled with a blush, concealing it behind his hand.
“She helped with parts of it. You know what to do, mate,” Sirius said, still chuckling, and Remus tapped the parchment with his wand.
“I solemnly swear I am up to no good.”
The parchment unfolded in front of him, and a map of Hogwarts sprang to life in front of his eyes. There weren’t many names on the map, because most students were away from the grounds for Christmas, but Remus saw Minerva in her office and Severus down in the dungeons.
There was also an arrow on the side that Remus didn’t recognize, and Sirius pulled out his wand and tapped the arrow, saying “The Order of the Phoenix is at Number 12 Grimmauld Place.”
The map of Hogwarts disappeared, and a smaller map took its place. Remus saw his own name on the page, right next to Sirius’s name in the den. He recoiled in realizing just what this meant. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were upstairs in one of the bedrooms, while Ginny and the twins were in the kitchen.
“Tonks helped with this part,” Sirius mentioned quietly when Remus remained silent. He tapped the parchment again on the arrow, saying “Down with Voldermort.”
Hogwarts appeared again and Remus saw that McGonagall was now down in the kitchens with Dumbledore.
“This is amazing.” Remus whispered breathily, mumbling the saying to close the map. It folded itself back up, and he looked up to Sirius with tears in his eyes.
“I couldn’t put James and Peter’s thoughts on there, because they’re not around for me to record them, and I didn’t think you’d want Wormtail’s name on there anyways, but Tonks was helping me with the map of Grimmauld, so I figured she could add her name, and if you don’t like it I can always get you a-“
“It’s perfect,” Remus interrupted, silencing Sirius’s babbling. “I absolutely love it. Thank you, Padfoot.”
“No problem,” Sirius said, pocketing his wand. “It’s what mates do; make the other cry with gifts, either from true friendship, or from utter embarrassment.”
“Like the time in sixth year that you bought that Muggle book of sexual positions, and made me open it in the Great Hall?”
Sirius grinned. “Exactly.”
Remus found Ron and Hermione’s names on the Map first; they were down near the second floor, and seemed to continue going downstairs, away from the battle. He searched for the rest of the Order next, finding Kingsley and Dedalus Diggle paired with three Death Eaters on the second floor, and Luna Lovegood had gone from the seventh floor to the third in a matter of seconds. He watched her name for a moment, thinking she might have fallen, and when she continued to move he resumed his search.
Harry’s name popped out next, on the seventh floor, but he disappeared suddenly off of the map.
Remus watched for his return, and he finally reappeared in the Seventh Floor corridor, followed by Ginny, and someone he hadn’t expected to see on the map at all.
“Thank you for helping Sirius with my present.”
His sudden presence had startled her, and Tonks jumped as she closed the book she was reading, nearly toppling out of the couch she was sitting on.
“Oi, Remus! You gave me a fright.”
He chuckled, sitting down on the cushion next to her.
“Happy Christmas!” Tonks said cheerfully, pointing her wand at her mug of cocoa. She scrunched her eyebrows in concentration and an exact copy appeared next to the fire engine red mug. She offered it to Remus, who took it gladly and placed a marshmallow in the top that seemed to appear from nowhere.
“Mmm. Same to you,” he replied, wiping a bit of froth from his upper lip.
“So, did you like the map?” Her badly concealed enthusiasm made Remus realize she had been waiting to ask him this the whole time.
“I absolutely loved it,” he replied, inwardly grinning at the color that rose to her cheeks.
“Really? Oh, I’m so glad you did. I wasn’t sure if I was intruding by putting my name on there.”
“Not at all. Anyone who could do remarkable magic like putting an unplottable location on a map wholeheartedly deserves a place on the Marauders Map.”
Tonks blushed and started choking on her hot cocoa. He patted her shoulder, lingering a bit longer than necessary after she could breathe again.
“What did I…er…the map say?” Tonks asked finally, once her hot cocoa was gone.
“Something about me being brilliant, and that you needed a nickname.” He paused to chuckle, and Tonks snorted into her empty mug.
After a minute or two of silence, Remus asked, “What about Dora?”
“What?” She looked confused.
“You know, for a nickname. Dora.”
Tonks appeared to think it over for a minute, but finally chuckled. “That’s what my parents call me, but whatever works for you.”
Remus snickered in a rather ungentlemanly manner, and finished his cocoa. They sat together in comfortable silence for a few minutes, before Tonks stood up with a yawn.
“I have a shift at the Ministry tomorrow at eight, and then Moody’s giving Kingsley and I a lecture on proper Auror procedures.” She rolled her eyes slightly. “I’d better head on up.”
“I might as well, too. Sirius is probably drunk off his arse by now, and he’ll want someone to complain to in the morning.”
Tonks laughed and began to walk out into the entryway. Remus followed behind her, taking a second longer to float their mugs back into the kitchen. Her eyes drifted upwards and she suddenly stopped, whimsically saying,
“Oh, look. Mistletoe.”
Remus’s heart thumped loudly in his chest, and he felt like he was having an out of body experience, looking down at the paper and seeing his body sitting there at the same time. He could feel the blood rushing to his head, but shook it to clear all of the horrible images that filled his thoughts. She was heading down the back stairs where little of the action was happening, thought it couldn’t be clearer she was trying to get in to the battle herself. In just a moment, she would be on the fourth floor where he was and Remus’s hand shook as he drew his wand.
A sound from the corridor brought him back to earth and he looked at the map, seeing two Death Eaters on the fourth floor making their way slowly towards his position. Remus took a large breath as he stepped out from his hiding place, and prepared himself for the fight of his life. He tapped the map as he caught a flash of pink out of the corner of one eye, and two large hooded figures in the other.
“Mischief Managed.”