Readers, hello. I hope that you enjoy this new version of The Prank. I was not happy with how it was left, and so I chose (during finals week of course) to revamp it giving it new life. I am currently writing the fourth chapter, and will release the ones currently written when you guys let me know when you want them and if you like the new style. Some stuff will remain, others are gone and new material will be in this story, so I suggest not skipping anything! Also the story structure has changed. I hope you like it!

-Aalis


The Great Hall was loud with student chatter as the Marauder's walked through the doors. Lily's eyes shot upwards, after Parker nudged her with her foot. She muttered the incantation she'd looked up last night, and pointed her wand. Within seconds, the four boys were wearing different uniforms than they had previously been wearing.

Now Potter was dressed in the Slytherin uniform; Black was, in Hufflepuff's, Pettigrew was sporting Gryffindors, and Lupin was in Ravenclaw's. However the best part was that these uniforms were the ones designed for the girls of those houses. The student body stared in shock, and then began howling with laughter. Even the boys were trying not to laugh at the other three, until they realized they too had become victimized.

"What's the triangle above their heads?" A first year asked Parker.

"The party responsible for the prank signs each incident with that triangle," Parker answered.

"What are the initials for?" The girl asked curiously. Parker shrugged as she tapped her nose with the spoon in her hand.

"Not sure. No one is to be honest; it's just some secret that the group has. There's no real name for them." She explained to the younger girl.. Lily grinned to herself as she thought about the enigma that they had created It was a blue triangle, with three initials; on in each corner: MR, PB, and HB. They represented each of the girls; Lily was a muggleborn with red hair; Parker, a pureblood with black hair, and Ashton, a halfblood with brown hair. It wasn't the most creative code, but they had created it in their first year, after the Marauders had stolen credit for their own prank.

To Lily's delight their first class was Charms. As usual, Ashton, Parker and her were the first to reach the classroom, and they sat in the back right corner. The Marauder's seat, which was the center aisle desk in the back row, remained empty throughout the class, and they didn't reappear until Transfiguration. They were all sitting in the classroom, before everyone else got there, even beating Lily, Ashton, and Parker.

Lily walked to her desk, forcing herself not to look at the four ridiculously dressed boys. The girls prided themselves on no one ever finding out about who was behind their antics. Even so it was difficult, not to laugh, especially at the fact that they hadn't managed to break the spell. While it was a simple enough spell, it was incredibly rare.

Ashton on the other hand was having much more trouble at not laughing. The more that Sirius Black kept scowling the harder she laughed. Parker was sending her warning glances as often as possible, but they were very close to what her smirks looked like.

"You know, it's rude to laugh," Sirius commented.

Lily rolled her eyes and dropped into her seat. Parker was about to respond when Professor McGonagall walked into the room."Mr. Potter, Black, Pettigrew, and Lupin, please share your reasoning as to why you have decided to break dress code this morning?" She asked disapprovingly.

James responded by pointing towards the floating signature over their heads. The Transfiguration Mistress tutted under breath.

"Yet you decided not to break the spell?" She asked.

"We couldn't figure out the charm," Sirius replied grudgingly. Lily stared at her desk unable to hide her grin. It wasn't until Parker kicked her in the leg which knocked the glee from her face. McGonagall had started the lessons. The teachers had long given up on trying to punish students for the pranks that the girls pulled. They never managed to leave enough of a trace to be discovered, and it kept the school year interesting.

Transfiguration was by far the hardest subject for Lily. She spent so much time attempting to learn and master it in order to maintain a high grade point average. She hated that Potter didn't have to study and could just complete assignments on his first try. She only managed to hold the highest academic spot by working non-stop on assignments, specifically ones that didn't come naturally to her.

Their assignment that day in class was to transfigure a snail into a thimble."Miss Evans twenty points to Gryffindor for being the first successful student." Professor McGonagall said as she approached her desk.

"You are quite the talented student. Very few are able to do so on their first attempt," she said

"Don't worry about homework."

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, and Mr. Lupin, five points for being able to transfigure your snails properly," the professor said approvingly. Before class let out she assigned everyone practice, and Lily, Ashton, and Parker hurried out of the room.

"Let me guess Miss Evans," Parker began in a mock McGonagall voice.

"You mastered that charm, when, hmm…last year perhaps?" Lily turned pink and gave her a playful push.

"So? What's your point? Be grateful that I have mad study skills." Lily said giggling.

"Yes, we're grateful, but I thought that was your worst subject." Ashton interjected.

"I was bored."

"Who could have pulled this off?" Sirius asked heatedly.

"I mean, we couldn't even get rid of it!" His three best friends all looked rather sullen.

"You have to give them credit. It was some decent magic." James said as he took a sip of firewhiskey.

"Just be glad it's faded off." There was a moment of silence before anyone else spoke.

"We can't just let them get away with it. We need justice!" Sirius declared, while Peter nodded his agreement.

"As much as we all love that idea," Remus interjected.

"There's the small problem of the fact that we don't know who they are." As Remus' words sunk in, their energy began to evaporate.

"They have to be older." James said roughly. "I mean, that was decent magic, more than any normal fifth year could have done. After all, they swapped out our clothes, without a glitch or anything."

"Stupid Slytherins," Sirius muttered as he ran his hand through his newly re-grown tresses.

"Why do you think it was a Slytherin?" Peter spoke up.

"I mean, how else do you explain Sirius' hair?"

"That hex," Sirius said quickly. The rest of the boys looked at him confused.

"Remember, someone hexed me yesterday, but it didn't do anything? It had to be delayed, by a time spell."

"That would be a decent bit of spell work," Remus said skeptically.

"This would have to be an older student," James said from his four poster bed.

"I mean otherwise they would've needed a lot of help, and we know that Remus didn't do it. So they would have to ask someone who wasn't the top of the year."

"Actually, you're wrong," Remus said quietly. There was a slight tinge of pink to his cheeks, which exposed his embarrassment.

"What do you mean?" James asked confused.

"I'm not top of the year," he said. His voice was still relatively low. James, Sirius, and Peter all looked at him surprised. Remus' cheeks grew redder as he ran a hand through his hair sheepishly.

"It's that Evans girl who is ranked first. I'm actually fourth," he muttered

"Evans…." Sirius muttered thinking.

"Evans…have I made out with that one?"

"I don't think so. She's a bookworm. Practically lives in the library." Peter said with a shake of his head.

"She's about five foot five, deep ruby red hair, and emerald eyes," he continued to describe her. His voice began to trail off when they continued to look at him blankly.

"Oh." James said suddenly.

"She's in our classes." At this they all groaned.

"Of course the girl's in our classes, she's in our year." Remus said smacking him in the head with a pillow.

"Do you know her personally, Wormtail?" Peter shook his head.

"I've never talked to her. Well aside from her helping me out once in Charms, but that was in first year."

"Well, I believe that we may need to have a chat with Miss Evans." Remus said with a clap of his hands. The smile had returned to his face. His friends on the other hand simply looked at him confused.

"No, I don't think that she is behind it. However, she may know how they pulled it off. Earlier James suggested that a younger year had help, and since she's top in the year, they may have asked her about what types of magic they would need to use. We can ask her if she know who they are."

"Do you know what I just realized?" James spoke once more. They all looked at him grinning.

"After all of these years, they don't even have a name. Everyone in this school just refers to them, as 'them, or they," he told them.

"What's more is that they've never been caught."

It was the fourth of September, three days after they had managed to pull off their first prank of the year. Lily was studying in the library, hidden away in her favorite spot which was in a nook buried by a large bay window behind the stacks of Transfiguration books. It was so far back that the majority of students didn't know about it. She and Severus had found it when they were first years, and it was their spot ever since.

Her homework for the first few weeks were already complete, so she was back flipping through her sixth year spell book. She had bubbled herself into the corner with two powerful shield charms, and a silencing spells so that she could practice the spells that she found interesting. The shield charms had become standard after older students started teasing her while she studied in the previous year. She added the silencing charm, when she realized that couples had started making out around her. It was a nice system, because it allowed her to work by herself without interruption. Although it wasn't as efficient as wards, she didn't have much choice. In order to create wards in Hogwarts you had to have a certain amount of clearance.

She'd been there since noon, and it was now seven in the evening. Lily groaned as she realized she'd worked through dinner again.

"Great, Ashton and Parker won't let that one go," the redhead muttered under her breath. She started picking her books up, unaware of any movement outside her safe haven. It took her a few minutes to collect her belongings and take down the shield charms around her. She stepped away from the table, and proceeded to trip.

"Ouch," Lily moaned as she hit the floor hard.

"I'm so sorry!" The body that she had tripped over said. She was picked up and set on her feet before she registered what was happening.

"Why were you lying on the floor?" Lily asked as she smoothed her skirt. She looked up prepared to rant and rave only to become speechless.

James Potter was standing in front of her. Despite being in the same house and year, she didn't have much contact with him. They ran in different social circles: he was popular, and she wasn't. Lily awkwardly stood there fidgeting.

"Erm—hello," James said awkwardly. She said nothing, merely watched him, wondering what exactly he was after. She tilted her head to the side while looking at him confused.

"Well, I was wondering…" he sputtered after a moment of awkward silence. It was after that statement that the boy's nose started bleeding.

"You should probably go to the hospital wing," Lily said as her nose scrunched upward.

"What?" James asked.

"You nose is bleeding," she answered. He gingerly touched a finger to his face.

"Next time don't lie around on the floor," Lily said before leaving.

"Lily, we've kind of have a problem." Ashton said breathlessly. She had previously been running from the Great Hall with Parker on her heels. They'd hurried to the kitchens, looking for Lily, after noting the time. Despite the girl's addiction to the library, she had quite the appetite. When she had missed dinner, they both knew they'd find her in the kitchens.

"What are you talking about and why are you out of breath?" Lily asked before taking a bite of her food.

"We ran from the Great Hall," Ashton answered.

"You're easy to anticipate considering how much you enjoy food," Parker added. Lily glared at her for a moment before taking a big bite of food.

"Are you trying to say something?" The redhead asked defensively.

"No," Ashton interjected.

"They're looking for you," Parker blurted out.

"Who's looking for me?" Lily asked confused.

"The Marauders," Parker answered.

"Ashton you explain, you overheard them." Both Lily and Parker looked t her and she shrugged. They both looked over at the brunette.

"They want to get revenge on us," Ashton said.

"Well, they don't know that we're responsible for the prank. They seem to think it's an older Slytherin. However, because they have Lupin—who happens to be brilliant—they think that there's a possibility of someone younger who had helped. Specifically they think someone asked you," the brunette explained.

Lily erupted into laughter, while her two friends stared at her. The laughter drew the attention of the house elves for a brief moment before they started working again.

"I told you guys!" Lily said still laughing.

"I told you that they'd never suspect us."

"Lily, this is still somewhat of a problem," Parker said. Despite the comment, Lily continued to laugh.

"What if we just told them it was us? Just to see the look on their faces," Lily said. Ashton's eyes went incredibly wide.

"That'll go over swimmingly," Parker muttered under her breath.

"They'll rat us out," Ashton argued.

"I doubt that they'd believe us," Lily pointed out.

"I'd rather not take the chance," Ashton said.

"I doubt that they'd snitch on us considering they'd want revenge," Parker said.

"You don't know that for sure," Ashton said as she was handed a glass of pumpkin juice by one of the elves.

"Do you remember half the pranks that we've pulled on them?" Lily asked her snorting into her own glass.

"Ninety-percent are personal and public," Parker reminded her.

"Fine, shatter all of my hopes and dreams that we might survive this situation," Ashton conceded despite her grin.

"Since you two have all of the answers, what do we do?" She asked a moment later.

"Nothing" Lily answered.

"Just act like normal. They're looking for me; they've got no reason to think anything of you two, considering no one really knows who we are. I told you that the fact that we're so quiet and studious would help us in the long run. If they manage to catch up to me, I'll just feign all knowledge."

"So just act normal?" Parker asked.

"Yes, besides they actually have to find me first and if there's one thing that I'm great at it's hiding," Lily said.

"She's right," Ashton said to Parker.

"Lily, you alright?" Parker asked noticing that Lily had seemed to go rigid after her statement.

"They already found me," Lily murmured.

"What?" Ashton asked.

"Potter tripped me on my way out of the library. I thought he'd just been lying on the ground." Lily explained.

"He must have ran into the shield charms I had placed around me, and I didn't notice it because of my silencing spells," Lily said as her eyes widened. "What?" Ashton asked in obvious disbelief. Parker on the other hand exploded into hysterical laughter.

"His nose was bleeding, and I told him to go to the Hospital Wing," Lily added.

"So what does that mean?" Ashton asked.

"I suppose we'll have to see which group is better at Hide and Seek," Lily answered with a grin.