The next morning all preparations for the prank were in place. It was a very elaborate prank but with James' flair for ideas, Sirius' cunning, Remus' knowledge and Fred's experience, mainly in joke sweets and clever objects that were a massive help with pranks (from his joint ownership of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes), they just about managed to pull it off.
***
Little did Lily or Tonks know that the food that they had just eaten would make them a laughing stock for the rest of the evening. Due to the unlimited supplies of everything in afterlife Fred and Remus had been able to create a powder that would lower the pitch of the culprits voice whenever they said a 'trigger word' which the boys could change as they pleased. They had mixed this in with the salt and replaced this new mixture in the salt shaker and when Remus cooked dinner that evening he purposely added not enough seasoning so that the girls would be sure to pour what they thought was salt on their food. Remus had to be the one to cook the food, it would look very suspicious if Sirius or James had offered to do this as the ladies of the house knew that those two were some of the laziest people around. Remus was at least slightly helpful and could pull off looking as if he wanted to be helpful for one evening.
But they wasn't the only part of the plan. James and Sirius were going to place a curse on them where they would hallucinate that everyone around them turned into the opposite gender (including themselves) which would only add to the strangeness of having their voices deepen. Finally, to end the prank like they used to at school prank Fred would set off fireworks to let the girls know that they had been truly pranked.
The boys had set the 'trigger words 'to be: James, Sirius, Remus, Fred, Lily, Tonks, I, you, boys and what. These were some of the most used words in the household and would be sure to confuse the girls.
***
Lily was expecting a prank to be pulled, since the marauders were finally back together, and since James and Sirius had regularly pulled harmless jokes on her over the course of the last two years. However, she was definitely not expecting a prank of this scale and magnitude and this thought through.
Tonks had heard of the marauders' pranking history but had no idea what any of the previous tricks had included, given that she started Hogwarts a few years after the boys had finished their Wizarding education. Also, having known Remus, the most calm of the trio, the best out of the group she was not expecting a prank at all, let alone a prank this elaborate.
***
As soon as Lily uttered the words "James can you pass the salt please?" the marauders knew that their plan was going to go perfectly.
At first the effects of the 'salt' were so discreet that neither Lily or Tonks suspected that anything was amiss. Although, it was quite hard to miss that both of them in a few short minutes were speaking with deep, manly voices and they were both completely and utterly confused.
It was then that James and Sirius decided to curse the two unsuspecting victims into their short hallucinations. Lily did think that she heard her husband utter something underneath his breath but she was used to him making funny remarks to his best friend and so she thought nothing of it.
Tonks then for a mere few seconds thought the she saw her husband turn into a girl. Of course this girl version of Remus still resembled Remus but it was definitely not male and was almost certainly female but before she could dwell any longer on the subject Remus morphed back into himself and she thought that she was just rather tired and was having some very strange daydreams.
Remus, noticing the look of confusion on his wife's face and knowing that she had just seen her first hallucination did his best to put on an expression of confusion and wrapped his arm around his slightly worried wife.
Lily was experiencing the same effects as Tonks and had originally jumped to the same conclusion - that she was tired and was just daydreaming but after the fourth time she grew suspicious and decided to confront the boys.
After announcing these thoughts to the boys, the attackers grinned sheepishly and then Fred set off the firework display that ended with a large 'M' in the middle of the living room.
The girls, knowing that they had been pranked turned to glare at the boys and Tonks' hair was staring to add highlights of red, showing that she was angry until Remus pulled her into him for a hug and she relaxed in his arms.
The group stayed like that for a while, with the couples hugging on two of the sofas and Sirius and Fred taking up a whole sofa each, until Tonks started yawning and Remus decided that himself and Tonks were going to retire to bed.
Shortly after their departure Lily and James headed up to their room and Sirius and Fred, with nothing else to do, went up to their own rooms in the rather large house that they all shared.
***
The next morning the six people had their breakfast interrupted when there was a knock on the door. Sirius stopped inhaling his food to look up at everyone.
"Does anyone know who that is?" he asked
"I'll get it." Remus and Tonks said at the same time. However when they opened the door they got a surprise that none of them were expecting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N - Cliffhanger! On half term so am just about to start writhing the next chapter but I really needed to get this one published. I'm on holiday now so updates are going to be flying at you!
Enjoy, vote, comment
~ Emma482
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They Returned ~ AU HP fan fiction ~ The Marauders Return
Fanfiction*Now Complete!* A few years after the Second Wizarding War Harry's closest friends and family are living peacefully in the afterlife. What will happen when Harry overhears a prophecy predicting the return of those he holds dear? A/N references to d...
