Ok, I fully admit my last chapter sucked. At least the ending did. I was going for a quick little wrap-up cause I didn't have any inspiration for the first prank Richard and Eddie would be playing. Now, however, I have one. And I can only hope it'll leave you laughing.

The Next Generation: Marauders^3

Chapter 4: A Spur-Of-The-Moment Prank

            Richard and Eddie walked down into the Gryffindor common room. All the apparitions were waiting for them (and of course, not seeing them thanks to the Obscurity Spell).  They were understandably confused until a voice out of nowhere said, "Finite Incantatem!" The two boys popped into view, much to the delight of all the Marauders present.

            "Bloody brilliant, these two are" Sirius said to no one in particular. Harry and Ron's chests puffed out with pride until he added, "Bet you they have no friends but each othe…" He didn't even get to finish the sentence before Harry, Ron, and Hermione jumped on him. James and Lily watched for a few seconds before turning to the boys.

            "Well, since your parents are…indisposed, shall we say, I think it's up to us to show you the entrance to the Meeting Place" James said. Lily quickly covered for the looks of confusion on the boys' faces.

            "Climb up on the mantle. Next to the portrait of Godric Gryffindor."  The boys obeyed. Standing there by a huge portrait, Richard felt very small indeed. Eddie looked around in his curious manner and spotted something.

            "Hey, what's that?"  He pointed and Richard looked.  Just next to the portrait was something familiar…

            "That's a Marauders crest!"

            "Exactly" James said, as his son was still busy wrestling with Sirius. "To get into the Meeting Place, simply tap it and say 'Moonium'."  Remus smiled as the boys looked at each other and shrugged. Eddie tapped the Marauder crest and spoke.

            "Moonium!" The portrait swung outward. The boys regarded the new passage a little cautiously. The apparitions, however, simply floated inside.

            "Well, if it's safe for them…" Richard said, and walked in. Eddie followed, a step or two behind. Immediately, they were in the small room Harry had discovered years before (and his father years before that).  It was just as Harry had found it, except for the seven statues created by the Marauders.  Eddie noticed them and went over to have a look.

            "It's you! You all have statues here?"

            "That's right, Eddie" Ron said. "We created them in fact. We'll have to tell you another time about the pranks we pulled that warranted their creation, though.  There's something we need to tell you about these archways.  There's a powerful Shield Charm on each one. You can't get through until you recite the Marauders motto: 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.' Got it?"  Richard and Eddie laughed a little.

            "Got it Dad…where should we go?"  Harry spoke up.

            "I suggest Slytherin House…the Marauders always seem to have such fun there. Of course it probably won't be that great without Malfoy." Richard and Eddie perked up.

            "Draco Malfoy? As in, father of Draco Jr.?"  The younger apparitions were understandably surprised.

            "Wait a minute…Draco got someone to marry him?"

            "And have his child?"

            "Uh" Richard interjected. "Children. Twins, actually."

            "Oh, this I have to see" Ron said. "Let's go to Slytherin House." Richard nodded and stepped up to the archway to Slytherin House, raising his wand.

            "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." The snake over the arch hissed, and Richard and Eddie were given their first look at the Slytherin common room.

            "You know, they could really use my old Invisibility Cloak right about now…where is it, Harry?" James asked.  Harry sighed.

            "Unfortunately, it was lost during the war…but I think they'll suffice with the Obscurity Spell. Boys?" he said, turning to Richard and Eddie, who drew their wands and pointed them at each other.

            "Silencium!" Properly obscured, the boys stepped into the Slytherin common room.

            "Wow is it always this cold in here?" Eddie asked, shivering.

            "Well it's underground, so…probably" Harry replied. Richard took a look around. Nothing had changed in the common room since the Marauders had last been there. The same high-backed chairs were around the fireplace, and the green lamps hung from the ceiling.  Ron spoke up as Richard was looking around.

            "Ok, let's go see those Malfoy boys!" He was floating off as Eddie spoke up.

            "Dad, the twins are a boy and girl. His daughter's name is Draca."  Everyone stopped dead at this. Hermione was the first to speak up.

            "Draco Jr. and Draca…Ok, Marauder apparition vote. Is that unimaginative, or just incredibly narcissistic and sad?"  There was a moment of silence before all seven of them said at once, "Both."  Richard and Eddie nodded agreement.

            "Twins, huh?" Ron said. "I bet they look exactly alike. Worse, I bet they look like their father."

            "Twitchy little ferret, wasn't he?" Hermione said. The younger apparitions laughed.

            "It's not easy dealing with twins" Ron said. "Fred and George drove my parents crazy cause they could pretend to be each other…" Richard didn't catch the rest of what Ron said, cause an idea was percolating in his brain.

            "Wait!" he cried, interrupting a rather interesting story involving floating rocks and broken windows. "What if we did that?"

            "What, levitated rocks through windows?" Sirius asked.

            "No…make Draco and Draca into each other!" The apparitions looked at each other, silently conferring.

            "Richard" Remus spoke up. "I admit it's a good idea, but Polyjuice Potion takes a while to make…and besides it only works for an hour."

            "And we can't make them pretend to be each other, either. That would require Imperius, which is illegal" Lily spoke up.

            "Too true, Grandma. However, I believe there's a certain spell you're not thinking of. Eddie?" he said, turning to his cousin.  Eddie pondered for about a half a second before his face brightened.

            "Perfect! Do you want to do it to Draco or Draca?" "Let's go with Draco, I think" Richard replied, heading for the first year boy's dorms.

            "You know, I think the best part of this spell is that it can be done while a person is sleeping…" Richard said quietly to Eddie.  The Marauder apparitions looked at each other in confusion.

            "WHAT SPELL?" they said all at once. Richard smiled.

            "Hold on guys…ah there he is." He walked up to Draco Malfoy Jr.'s bed. He had the blanket pulled up to his chin, sleeping quietly with his silver-blond hair slicked back.

            "Wow, he does look like his father" Harry remarked. "I wonder if he wears the same green and silver silk pajamas?" (A/N: That's a throwback to my original story. Click here to see it.)  He shrugged silently.

            "All right son…what's this spell you're planning to use?"  Richard smiled even more.

          "You'll see…Eddie? I think this'll require our combined effort." Eddie nodded and raised his wand, pointing it at Draco. Richard did the same.

            "Delegomentis!"  As the mouths of Richard and Eddie's parents and predecessors opened in shock, they concentrated on Draco's sister.  The apparitions conferred behind them.

            "Are…are they switching the twins' brains?" Harry asked in shock. Hermione, Remus, and Lily nodded.

            "Properly, too, I'd say" Hermione said. "Look at the concentration on their faces!"

            "And there!" Remus said, pointing. Everyone looked and saw what seemed to be a ghostly image of a brain floating up from the body and disappearing through the wall. A moment later, an almost brain image came back through the wall and settled into Draco's body.  The boys lowered their wands slowly.

            "I think…I'm speechless," Sirius said.  "First time for everything, huh Padfoot?" James quipped. Sirius was too shocked to even think of hitting him for it.  Ron was the same.

            "Our sons…our ELEVEN year old sons…just performed the Brain-Switching Spell…and CORRECTLY?"  Richard chuckled under his breath and whispered to Eddie.

            "What say we get out of here before our Obscurity Spell wears off?" Eddie nodded. The two of them walked out of the dorm, leaving most of the apparitions behind. Remus snapped out of his stupor long enough to tell them where the Marauder crest was in the Slytherin common room (right in the middle of Salazar Slytherin's forehead on a certain painting) and facilitate their clean escape.

Later that morning…

            Draco Malfoy Jr. woke up happily. He'd been having the greatest dream about his father destroying his archenemy, Harry Potter. Of course, it had only been a dream…but there was still time, wasn't there?

            Draco was so into the dream, he didn't notice for a few seconds that he wasn't in his bedroom. When he did notice, he started to panic. When he looked down and noticed that he was wearing girls pajamas, he panicked more. When he suddenly realized that his pants seemed to fit a little differently, his eyes bugged out. And when he pulled the pants he was wearing open to verify it…

            Richard and Eddie were awakened by the loudest scream they'd ever heard. Their roommates John and Henry heard it too.

            "Sounds like a girl…somewhere far off" Henry said.

            "I wonder what's happening to her?" John wondered out loud. Richard and Eddie knew perfectly well what had happened, and they grinned at each other.

            "Nice work, Mr. Weasley" Richard said.

            "And the same to you, Mr. Potter" Eddie said. Almost immediately, they buried their faces in their pillows and started laughing their heads off.

(A/N: Yeah I know I know…one Malfoy's bad enough, why make it two? Honestly, I'm not sure. It just happened. You all know the drill…read and review!)