26 HP no Voldemort II
This one's pretty much a 'part 2' of the 'no Voldemort' snapshot
"Get ready, they're almost within range."
Green eyes shifted to survey the path from underneath a covering of foliage in silent acceptance of the statement.
Indeed, there was the distance sound of a familiar bark of laughter from up the trail. The owner of the green eyes signalled the third companion, who nodded in understanding.
Three pairs of eyes stared expectantly down the path, mischievous grins fixed upon all three faces.
The moment of truth was at hand.
"So have you got any idea where they ran off to?" Asked a man with messy black hair and hazel eyes that shifted to observe the path.
The man who was laughing earlier blinked then took a glance around, "Eh, they'll be around here somewhere, Prongs. It's not like anything's going to happen."
The third man flinched at the second man's sentence and put a hand to his head, groaning.
This attracted the attention of his two companions who glanced at each other before looking back at the third. Prongs asked quizzically, "Er, Moony? Why did you hit yourself?"
Moony rubbed his temple and replied, "Because every time Padfoot says that –"
A loud screeching noise blared through the surroundings and the three unfortunate victims found something large falling from the sky on top of them.
With a loud crash it hit the ground.
x-x-x-x-x-x
The three women in the area shot up at the loud screech followed by the sound of something large crashing into the ground.
Instincts took over and they ran towards the commotion.
What met their eyes drove them silent from shock.
And then they started laughing loudly at the results of the crash and the conditions of their respective husbands.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
It was ridiculous.
It was shocking.
And it was hilariously funny.
The three victims of the prank had their arms crossed while scowling at the three observers, most probably because they couldn't quite grasp the brilliant irony of the prank from their vantage point. They just couldn't see the bigger picture.
You see, the thing that had crashed down on top of them was a large version of a kennel, and they were trapped inside, which meant that they were literally 'in the doghouse' as the saying went.
And it was funny.
It took a minute and a half for the women to calm down, and even then they were still breaking into giggles when they glanced back at their husbands.
The man with hazel eyes was tapping a finger against his arm and asked irritably, "Are you quite done yet?"
The auburn haired woman with green eyes grinned at the three men and walked towards them, circling the gigantic construction made to imitate a dog house. It even had a name plate, proclaiming its contents 'Marauders.' Moony, Padfoot and Prongs were pretty squashed in there as well, adding to the humour value. The looks on their faces, a mixture of confusion, embarrassment and frustration went a long way towards that as well.
Lily grabbed out her camera and snapped a picture. She had taken to carrying one around for events just like this.
"Oh are you stuck, James?" She asked teasingly.
The man in question rolled his eyes, "Obviously. Just what are we stuck in, anyway? Magic won't work."
The woman with dancing grey eyes and brunette hair fielded that question, "Oh, 'Masters of Mischief and Mayhem,' you seem to be stuck in the doghouse."
James blinked in surprise, hit with understanding of the extent of the prank, and turned to Sirius, "Mr Prongs would like to express his shock and pride at being the victim of such an elaborate prank."
Sirius grinned, "Mr Padfoot agrees with Mr Prongs, and would like to add that it was perfectly executed."
Lupin grinned and said, "Mr Moony would like to congratulate the people responsible for the prank."
Lily shook her head in amusement as Sirius transformed into a dog to complete the picture.
All in the clearing heard a snort that brought their eyes upwards, only to spot three grinning faces staring down at them. The three children high-fived before the girl jumped off the branch landing in a crouch, followed by her companions.
"A point to us." Drawled the brown haired boy with features resembling Sirius and the brunette woman.
The other boy with blonde hair nodded and threw in, "Now, remind me what the first rule of living with pranksters is?"
The black haired girl with green eyes grinned mischievously, "Why, that would be to never say anything that could be misconstrued as a suggestion." The girl then shook her head in mock reproach, wagging her finger at the three adults caught in the trap, "You really have gotten old and out of practise. I'm disappointed in you."
The brown haired boy next to her solemnly shook his head at the adults, as did the blond haired boy.
The women were shaking with laughter while the men looked insulted.
Padfoot had transformed back and said, "So this is what we get for introducing you to the world of pranks?"
Lily's head snapped to the men and she said irritably, "So I have you three to thank for corrupting my youngest child?"
Padfoot and Prongs whistled innocently while Moony rolled his eyes and protested, "Well, I had no part in it, if that's any consolation."
Lily rolled her eyes at her husband and turned to her daughter, "Aiden Potter, just how did you manage this?" She unfortunately couldn't gather up the necessary commanding tone and disappointed look that was involved in 'parental orders' and only managed to sound curious.
"With a lot of difficulty." Came the response.
This was met with chuckling before Lily turned back to the doghouse and said, "Ah, James? Why haven't you got out yet?"
The three had their wands out but had not managed to move their cage or blast a way through it.
"I can't? However they did this, I want to know." Hazel eyes scrutinised the walls that just wouldn't budge.
The brunette woman, Nicole, raised an eyebrow at her son, "Rigel Sirius Black, you better not have been using magic! You aren't even at Hogwarts yet! Not old enough to own a wand! That would be extremely dangerous!"
The third woman, whose eyes were a bright blue, looked at her blonde-haired son and raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms expectantly, "Well, Seth? Do you have something you'd like to share?"
The boys blinked and had surprised faces, "Us? Why, we'd never do anything illegal, mother! Do you hear what they are accusing us of, Seth?"
Seth stared at her mother like she was mad, "Why I don't believe it, Rigel! Just where does she think we would get examples of someone breaking the law? The thought would never cross our minds!"
Both women rolled their eyes, noticing that the 'adults' in the doghouse were actually looking strangely proud of their behaviour.
Off at the side, Aiden grinned watching her two best friends – the three of them were the same age and had been best friends for their whole lives. She was the third child of Lily and James – Harry was her eldest brother, who had just finished his third year at Hogwarts, while Jason – Jase for short – had just completed his second year.
Rigel was the oldest child of Sirius and Nicole Black and had younger siblings – fraternal twins –named Leonis (Leo) and Carina who were two years younger than them. Seth was the oldest child of Remus and Jacinta Lupin and had a sister, Charlotte, who was a year younger than them as well.
All in all, they were the budding pranksters of the bunch; that dream-team combination of Black-Lupin-Potter. Aiden was aware of a fourth member of the Marauders who her dad called 'Wormtail', but he had drifted away from the other three after school.
Even so, Harry did manage to get into a lot of trouble without looking for it at school, nearly driving Lily batty with worry from his latest stunts, not the least of which occurred in first year when he broke his arm in his first Quidditch match when he got hit after time by a disgruntled Slytherin beater.
It was currently summer, and they would be attending Hogwarts come September. Their parents had found great amusement in a comment from the headmaster – that Professor Snape or, as her brothers referred to him – the 'Great Greasy Git' – was drinking more frequently since he heard the news of their impending arrival at Hogwarts. Aiden, Rigel and Seth hadn't been able to catch the exact reason behind this, but were looking forward to testing out some of their designs on him all the same – Aiden's older brothers had nothing but bad to say about the Potions Professor.
Nicole pursed her lips while scrutinising the trio, searching out the lie. "Well, I think we can make an exception, just this once. Although I'd love to know which of you performed it."
All three grinned at each other and the men in the kennel recognised the Marauder sign for victory – they had made up a series of hand gestures to coordinate pranks better (and insult people silently without their knowledge) which they had passed on to all their children… without the knowledge of their lovely wives, of course.
"Well, now that that's done, anyone for flying?" Asked Aiden, diverting attention.
Lily shrugged, "I don't see why not. Just don't fall off and make sure no one sees you."
The three cheered and ran off, and the women lazily started walking back to the clearing where they had been catching up.
Behind them, they could hear the vocal protests of the three men trapped in the large dog house.