I look a little bit older, I look a little bit colder

Keith stared up at the Hogwarts express for the fourth time in his life, and was surprised to find that it no longer inspired the same sense of magical wonder it had the previous three times.

No big deal. He shrugged it off.

Normally he would've rushed aboard the train with reckless abandon, but for some reason he didn't. Instead he stood in the middle of Platform Nine and Three Quarters and watched the frantic bustling around him as students and parents all geared up for either their first or yet another year of learning magic at Hogwarts. It all seemed very strange, the way they were so focused on their tasks, like little ants scurrying from one insignificant thing to another.

He vaguely recognized that he was getting dangerously detached and pretentious, and immediately told himself to stop. He told himself a fart joke. Heh. Fart jokes. Nothing better to bring you back down to earth than a good old fashioned fart joke.

Well, no use standing here acting like he was Ser Cooly McCool Cools when he damn well knew he was only Mr. Cooly McCool Cools. Maybe next year, Keith, he thought as he grabbed his bag and prepared for his fourth trip to Hogwarts. Maybe next year.

Jack pushed her way through the crowd, a very important document clutched in her hand. For so long, Jack had been trying to get this to Keith Nicholas and now she would not be foiled. Trying to find a short kid among a tall crowd when you were short yourself, however, was proving difficult.

She realized that Keith had taken some new turns. She had always been a prankster, but she had her ethics. She doubted that could be said for Keith, but he had probably found a way to reason around it. Jack would guess the boy was much cleverer than she was at the age. Possibly more clever than she was currently.

And Jack spotted a familiar mop of blonde hair. Jack immediately veered towards the figure, dodging the little brats that filled the platform. "Oi!" she called. "Keith!" She smirked. He had no idea the favor she was doing him.

None.

"Oi! Keith!"

Keith had always enjoyed the sound of his own name, so he was quick to drop what he was doing (shoving past a first year) and look around from where it had come from. It hadn't sounded like his parents, or any of his friends from Hogwarts - well, he was playing a little fast and loose with the term "friends" but it didn't matter. Who...

And then he saw the shock of red hair and everything clicked into place. Jack.

Keith was surprised, an emotion he tried to bury but was only partially succeeded in doing. "Jack," he said, leaning up against his luggage. "What are you doing here? They finally figure out you faked your way through History of Magic? Are they sending you back?" He kept his tone light.

Just don't let her see how much you want it to be true. Don't let her see how much you want it to be true. Head up, shoulders back, smile, picture perfect like. Devil-may-care gleam in the eye. There we go kid. Just like she taught you.

"Or no, let me guess," he continued, not giving her a chance to get a word in edgewise. "You need my advise. The student has finally surpassed the master. I'm flattered Jack, but I'm a bit more of a tough love mentor. Go do pushups or something. Builds character."

(that post made me flop around and announce to the world that Keith and Jack were best friends... And by the world I meant the one person near me. But juss saying. XD )

Keith automatically began making all of his crazy harebrained assumptions, and Jack bore them with a big grin. She missed having someone to joke around with, without all pf the pain and consequence that came later. Keith was a good kid- though not by any normal moral compass- but Jack's compass had always been a little off and therefore admitted Keith.

"No," she said, batting away all of his jokes that quickly and with little finesse because she was brimming with happiness to do this for Keith. Lately, she had been a bit of a failure trying to help people, and this one little act was going to make up for all of her failures, she could feel it in her bones.

"I actually have a gift for you. I meant to give this to you awhile ago, but, I don't know, life got in the way or something." She grinned and reached out her hand, holding the map before her. "Ever heard of something called the Marauder's Map?" She took out her wand and cleared her throat. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

And the map began to unfurl from the center of the page. Jack couldn't help the habitual smile that came with it and she glanced up at Keith. "Every inch of the castle, including those who inhabit the halls. Look," she pointed out a dot of the groundskeeper. She looked up at him. "I don't need it anymore. But I'm sure you can think of something to do with it. I do have one condition though." She looked at him, waiting to see he was so far on board.

"I actually have a gift for you," Jack said, brushing past all of his witty opening banter.

"My favorite words," Keith said, his eyebrows vanishing into his bangs.

Jack grinned. "I meant to give this to you awhile ago, but, I don't know, life got in the way or something. Ever heard of the Marauder's Map?"

Asking Keith that question was like asking the headmaster of Hogwarts who Albus Dumbledore was. Keith stared, open mouthed, as Jack drew forth a wrinkled old piece of paper and tapped her wand to it.

I solemnly swear I am up to no good.

Tiny lines of ink began growing and twisting from the tip of her wand, arranging themselves into a detailed but elegant map of the Hogwarts castle and grounds. Several tiny dots could be seen, each with a small banner above them showing Keith who they were.

"You had it this whole time?!" Keith whispered, staring at the piece of paper that was so much more than just a piece of paper. "You?! You..that's...that's how you always found me! I knew something was up with that!" He kept his voice hushed but could barely contain his excitement. "This thing was supposed to be a myth!"

And then she said he could make more use of it than she could, on one condition, and Keith almost died right there.

"Name it. Anything. I will cut off my left hand for this thing Jack don't think I won't."

Jack glanced up, having seen the familiar unfurling of the ink map so many times that she could close her eyes and see the progress. What she had rarely seen, however, was a stunned Keith Nicholas, or one so speechless. No, she fully believed a silent Keith was much more astounding the Marauder's Map, and she watched him stare at what would be his soon with a smile on her face.

She only grinned as he pieced together how she managed to be such a successful stalker. "It's no more a myth than the Weasley twins. I told you I was a huge fan. They had this- of course, I would be the one to nick it back."

Keith was fully on board for her condition and she smiled at his suggestion, knowing hers would seem much tamer, and yet, held even more weight. She suddenly looked very serious as she locked eyes with him. "Sometimes terrible things happen in Hogwarts. One informed person with good intentions can be the difference between lives saved and lives lost. I know you will use this for mischievous dealings and some off-color business, that's what it was intended for. But if the situation ever arises, make sure this is used for the right reasons." Yes, it was cryptic as hell, but so were the times they lived in. She held it out, offering it to him if he could accept the condition.

Keith arched an eyebrow. "What, you want me to be a superhero?" He asked Jack, watching the tiny dots dart in and out of classrooms and down halls. "Should I put on a cape? Get someone to kill my parents? I could always charm a spider into biting me but I'm pretty sure I'm allergic."

Jack opened her mouth to speak, but Keith cut her off. "I know, I know, I'm evading the question. Yes, I'll help, of course I'll help. If only to upstage Potter's Army at their own game." He chuckled. "Look, I know you were a little Potter's Army goody two-shoes Jack but I'll be honest the guys get on my nerves sometimes." He grinned and looked back down at the map. "Oh man they are gonna be so mad when I start using this, I'm going to mess with the all the older students sneaking away to snog."

He crinkled his nose. "My God. Did you hear that? I just said snog, this is so weird..."

She rolled her eyes as he insisted she was trying to turn him into some saintlike martyr of a super hero. She opened her mouth to assure him otherwise but he continued on. When he finally shut his trap, Merlin bless him, she smirked. "You did not call me a goody two shoes. I may have lead but, I'll have you know, I offended them all profusely." She grinned. "They were desperate for a leader. They got stuck with me."

She laughed. "One day, you'll be into snogging I'm sure. That little business partner of yours must have hit puberty now. She'll be looking good to you, I'm sure." Jack laughed and then cringed. "Okay, no more talk of hormones, it makes me sick. Just... watch out. There's some people in Hogwarts who need a helping hand every once in awhile. You never know- they may grow up to be Minister of Magic, and they'll owe you."

Keith smiled as Jack talked, but he wasn't really listening. He was staring at the piece of paper he held in his hands - the legendary marauders map, his for the using. It felt much heavier than it should have.

Jack was telling him he needed to use it to help people, and Keith wasn't surprised. Jack might've been a prankster, a bit of a rebel, but she was still a good person. She might've offended Potter's Army, and they might've been desperate for leadership when she stepped up to the plate, but the point was that she had stepped up to the plate, and Keith honestly couldn't see himself doing that in the same situation.

It was very odd, separating himself from Jack like that. Of course they had had their disagreements - Jack had made several decisions Keith did not think were exactly wise, and he knew Jack didn't really approve of his little buisness venture. But before this conversation...well, he had never really thought about it. He preferred not to.

But then he looked back down to the Marauder's Map - the actual Marauder's Map, seriously, how cool was that - and he smiled.

He and Jack weren't the same person, but that didn't mean he couldn't do what she would've done. Occasionally.

"I'll...keep that in mind," Keith said, looking up at Jack and smiling. Despite feeling incredibly self conscious about the whole ordeal, he pulled Jack into a brief hug before stuffing the map into his pocket. "The...train's leaving," he said sort of awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. "I've got to go. It was...great seeing you." He grabbed his trunk and began heading towards the train, but before he got on he turned and gave Jack another wave.

"And don't worry!" He shouted to her from across the station. "You can count on me! I'll help them!"

Hell, I won't even charge for it.

(I think you may have made my heart grow three sizes. XD)

Jack could never have given this map to anyone else but Keith Nicholas. No. She had never even considered the idea that someone else could use it more, enjoy it more, or appreciate it more. Jack had appreciated the hell out of the thing, especially since she had to do the stealing to recover it from the evil clutches of the caretaker. She knew Keith had worked for it in his own ways- he was the only one close to proving himself worthy.

He said he'd remember her words, and she knew this to be an improvement. Mostly, Keith ignored what he did not want to do, and she doubted her condition excited him much. She began to respond when he suddenly hugged her. Never a hugger, Jack stumbled to respond and awkwardly patted his back, laughing at the awkwardness between them.

They pulled apart and she let him leave without saying anything, just waving back with a small smile. How it had come that the nineteen year old Head of the Department for Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures had come to ask a favor of the fourteen year old delinquent, she could not explain. She could only watch her friend go with some pride and excitement, sure he was going to have one hell of a year.