20 Simple Questions Chapter 4: The Third Question, a harry potter fanfic

A/N

I'm back! It's been like a week. Is that a long time? Ah well.

Disclaimer: Everything is JK Rowling's. And I'm not her. So too bad for me.

Onwards!

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After that question about the underwear color, everybody expected something to happen the next day. But nothing happened. That day was peaceful, and so was the next…and the next…and the next…and the next. It was five days later when something actually happened. During just a normal breakfast, there was a loud BOOM. People froze. Most of the students had forgotten about the question, some thought that all it was supposed to do was make some people embarrassed and make the situation awkward.

Well, that was the intention, but there was now a little more to it than they thought. After that deafening bang, puffs of smoke began to cloud the Great Hall. It felt humid, like real fog, but nobody knew what was going on. After a few seconds, everyone felt something whoosh over them. They all began to feel oddly uncomfortable. Not the type of uncomfortable where you're caught in an unpleasant situation, but the type of uncomfortable you feel if you feel like your pants were about to fall down or your shirt was too tight, preventing you from breathing properly. Most people looked down, hoping to see the cause of this sudden awkwardness.

Lily, being the responsible prefect she was, waited patiently for the fog to clear. Other people were not so calm. Lily heard several earsplitting and high-pitched girly screams, many people yelling, and Lily was quite sure Peter Pettigrew had burst into tears even though he was part of this unexpected prank.

When the fog finally disappeared gradually, Lily looked around at everybody, confused. They looked the same, but most of them had a weird expression on their face, and Lily wondered if they were also experiencing the same odd uncomfortable feeling she was.

Lily was a bit confused. Was the fog the prank? Or was it a distraction? Suddenly remembering where the odd feeling was, she looked down and gasped. Of course. The prank had to do with underwear. That was why it felt so weird. Because her undies had went from being inside her pants to outside. And they were purple, where Lily distinctly remembered putting on red ones this morning after her shower. She didn't know why she remembered, but she did.

Now, everyone's underwear were on the outside, and they had probably changed into the color they had put for the question. The only people who still looked normal were James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Of course, Lily thought disdainfully. They wouldn't want to embarrass themselves. While everyone tried to hide their underwear from public view, the Marauders stood up on the benches proudly and admired their work. They smirked at their fellow classmates glaring at them from their seats, taunted, teased, and cackled madly at the Slytherins in their hot pink lacy panties, and laughed themselves silly when their eyes landed on Dumbledore, who was sporting a rainbow and sparkly brief.

Lily looked over to the Slytherins' table and realized that all boys' boxers had been turned into ladies panties too, and she had to suppress a loud laugh. Her friends looked half horrified and half amused.

Lily came out of her reverie, suddenly remembering what she was wearing. Furious but unable to act because of her clothing and the fact that the professors were watching, Lily stabbed her steak and kidney pie moodily, reminding herself to yell at the Marauders and maybe give them a slap or two.

And she did. "Sirius! Remus! Peter! Potter!" Lily screamed at him the moment they were in the common room.

"Hey! How come you call everyone except me by their first name!" James cried indignantly.

"Because you're the only one that I don't like. What the hell was that all about!"

"Huh?" They all said together. What a smart response.

"That-That prank thing back in the Great Hall! That was disgusting and embarrassing! I have half a mind to give you a week of detention!"

"Only half? Well, that's a first!" Potter exclaimed haughtily.

"Whatever!" Lily stalked away because one, she couldn't think of a comeback, and two, the weird fluttering butterflies in her stomach were becoming increasingly uncomfortable…

It was two weeks after the second question had been posted and Lily was very glad her sudden infatuation with James Potter's boxers had ended and gone. She hadn't been able to sleep for many nights because that image kept flashing through her mind. She blamed the Marauders. If they hadn't started all this question nonsense, she wouldn't be so sleep-deprived. It was weird how she always felt an odd urge to check the board. She thought it was curiosity, but she knew perfectly well that it was something more, though she would never admit it.

She often felt a compulsion to laugh at the Marauder's antics, but she maintained a cold indifference. She had a reputation to upkeep. It was widely known that Lily Evans hated James Potter-a feat no girl had managed yet at Hogwarts. Lily felt like she had to keep pretending to despise them. Keyword: keep. Recently, the hatred had disappeared, only to be replaced by a warm, fuzzy feeling whenever Potter was around. Lily's friends, always quick on the uptake, had noticed at once that the looks of disgust and crinkling of her nose were gone, and in its place there was nervous fidgeting and many imperceptible blushes.

She had forgotten all about the questions after she received an A on a Transfiguration essay.

"An A!" Lily had wailed. She had never gotten below and E in any subject before. Even McGonagall shot her a disappointed look even though 'Acceptable' was still a pass grade. Her friends had reminded her three times already, that the third question had just been posted. But Lily pushed it out of her mind again and again. She blamed the Marauders for distracting her and getting her a bad grade.

There was this little voice in the back of her mind that kept saying. Go see the question, Lily! You can't pretend you hate the Marauders forever! Go check it! You know you want to! This was very annoying, Lily told herself, and it also caused her to get another Acceptable, this time on a Charms essay. Lily was nearly reduced to tears. Charms was her best subject, and to her, an Acceptable was not acceptable. Yes, she took school work extremely seriously.

And so, just to get that distracting and taunting voice in her mind to shut up, she went to check the question. That was the only reason. (Well, that was what she told herself.)

"Hi again! And lovely undies you had there, by the way. :)" Lily scowled. "Now, you're here for the third question, correct? Of course I am. But first, we need to announce something. (Lils, you already know :) ) Just so people who didn't want to answer the question don't started bellowing and screaming (AHEM.), we thought she just inform you all that once you've read the question you can't move until you answer. Brilliant, eh? And so, please don't start crying, sobbing, yelling, screaming, shouting, wriggling, cursing, punching, weeping, begging, or swearing when you realize your feet are stuck to the ground. And having an 'accident' is prohibited. Thank you for your consideration. We apologize for the inconvenience. NOW! On to the question!

Which nickname do you like best?

[] Prongs

[] Padfoot

[] Moony

[] Wormtail

Well? Choose choose choose!"

Lily debated on this inwardly. Padfoot was a mouthful, and if she was to shorten it to 'Pads'…Well, that sounded like…the lady products. And Wormtail sounded plain disgusting. So it was between Moony and Prongs. Lily, who even back home, had read the dictionary, already anxious to learn new words, and she tried to remember the definition of 'moony'. Pertaining to the moon. (Well, duh!). Dreamy, listless, or silly-just about the opposite of what Lily was. Prongs meant either the pointy part of a fork or an antler, or a branch of a stream. Well, that was better than being dreamy and silly, Lily thought. She would hate to be like that loony Xenophilius Lovegood. No offense.

So her answer was Prongs. What else could it be? It was the only logical one. (To her, at least) Padfoot, was too long, and if shortened, it'd become kinda…gross. Wormtail was already disgusting. The definition of Moony didn't make sense. Prongs was the only one left.

"Deoptus." Lily said, her wand pointing to her answer. She wondered what her other friends chose, and she imagined that when she asked them why they chose that, they'd probably say something along the lines of 'It sounded cool'. Lily would be the only one who began to explain that her answer was based on her own opinion and logic. Lily let out a giggle.

There were four nicknames, probably one for each of the Marauders. Lily distinctively remember most of the names being said by a member of the Marauders, but she wasn't quite sure who it was directed towards. Whenever she overheard a conversation between them, a nickname was used, but at other times where there were more people, they called each other by their normal names. It was as if it was a private joke between them that they didn't want anyone else to know.

"Where were you, Lily? We were looking for you everywhere!" Alice exclaimed during dinner in the Great Hall.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Apparently you didn't look hard enough because I was only in the common room. Where did you look then?"

Marlene faltered. "Er…we looked in the library."

"And?"

"The library…and…The library." She finished awkwardly.

"Honestly, you think I spend all my free time in the library?"

"Yes." All of her friends said together.

Lily huffed. "Well, I checked the question thingamajig."

They looked up eagerly. "And? What'd you choose?" Mary asked.

"Not telling, since you wouldn't tell me either!" Lily mocked.

"Who said we wouldn't tell you?" Marlene retorted.

"…Alright then. What'd you put?" Lily said testily.

Marlene turned pink. "Mmmm…Not…telling."

Lily let out a 'Ha!' and they all burst into laughter. It was against all her beliefs, but Lily found herself wondering what the Marauders had in store. She just hoped it wouldn't be too embarrassing. Or frightening. Or humiliating…

But to her, the prank afterwards was all three.

Lily walked with her usual three friends and seated themselves at the Gryffindor table. Helping herself to some treacle tarts, she and her friends began making small talk. Lily drank from her goblet and suddenly her head felt like it was about to crack open.

She moaned, putting her head in her hands.

"What's wrong Lily?"

"I think I have a migraine…my head hurts like hell!"

"Wow. It must be really bad." Alice smirked and Lily's head was pounding so much she didn't even have the energy to respond.

"Ouch!" Marlene's voice exclaimed. And soon, people all over the Great Hall were groaning and complaining about some part of their body hurting terribly.

Marlene, who was holding her feet with one hand and biting the other hand, was muttering curses out of the corner of her mouth. Mary was scowling and clutching the table so hard her knuckles were turning white.

After about ten more minutes of pandemonium, the pain subsided. Lily breathed a sigh of relief. But it didn't last for long. Suddenly there was a loud noise that sounded oddly like 'Blerp' and Lily's head suddenly became so heavy it felt like her neck would break.

"L-Lily? Take a look." Alice's voice trembled and she passed Lily a compact mirror. Lily let out a earsplitting scream. Antlers! What had she done to deserve this?…Of course. The question. Oh, she was so going to kill the Marauders!

Lily was too engrossed in staring, horrified at her own reflection that she hadn't noticed what had happened to all the other students. Some had antlers just like Lily, and they all had trouble holding their head up because of the excess weight. Others had fur covering their arms and legs, and they all looked even more horrified than Lily had been. Marlene and many others had padded hands and feet. They were covered with shaggy black fur and they seemed to have been transformed into dog paws. And some, but not as much, had a long rat's tail poking out from their behind. The Slytherins, of course, had all four and Parkinson was shrieking her head off.

The weight of her head began to much and Lily had to rest her head on the table…

"Oi! How long is this going to last exactly?" Lily called, hands grabbing her antlers.

"We're not sure!" Sirius called back. "Maybe three or four…"

"Three or four what? Days? Weeks? Months? Years? Hours?"

Sirius seemed to be thinking hard. "Maybe even five…"

Needless to say, she had not been able to extract an answer from Sirius, and her neck was becoming extremely sore. Classes had been halted until the spell or potion wore off, much to Lily's disappointment. She would have to work even harder to make up for lost time because holding her head up was very hard work.

Potter had later made a comment that Lily did not understand at all. He had said, "You chose Prongs! I knew you'd warm up to me some time Lilykins!" Since she didn't understand, she chose to not reply and she plastered a frown onto her face. She didn't know what to say and Lily Evans not knowing something was against the rules.

Some students had visited the hospital wing, hoping to be turned back to normal, but Madam Pomfrey had not been able to make the slightest improvement to them. Lily hadn't bothered, since she had been the victim of some pranks in the past and even though she would never admit it out loud, the Marauders were very good at spells and they were quite clever. Pity they don't use their brains for school. It would've saved Hogwarts a whole lot of problems. Lots.

A/N

Wow! This one was my longest one! :D

Well? How was it? I hope it wasn't too bad. I wasn't very sure how to end it, so I just left it like that. Review! It makes me super super super happy! I have 39 reviews for just 3 chapters! :) I love y'all! Thanks to everyone who's either read, alerted, favorited, reviewed, and suggested ideas! You're awesome.

Right. So if you think you have a good idea, private message me and maybe I can use it :) Try not to put it in a review because then other people can see, but if you can't or you're too lazy to, it's alright. As long as I get the idea!

Speaking of ideas, thank you to CoralFlower for this one! :) It was a wonderful idea, so thank you thank you thank you so much for suggesting it!

I already have an idea for the next one. I just need to write the chapter for it. (Hint-ish: It's from pyrodragon82) Yeah, most of you don't understand that 'hint' but I just want to let pyrodragon82 know that I'm using that person's idea next.

Also, a guest reviewer called pickles told me that prefects don't have the authority to give out detentions. I think they do, because in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, when Seamus and Harry had that argument, Ron had stepped in and word for word the book said: "Yeah? Well unfortunately for you, pal, I'm also a prefect!" said Ron, jabbing himself in the chest with a finger. "So unless you want detention, watch your mouth!" And a teacher wouldn't give detention over that argument so it had to be Ron. Just saying, though I'm not sure pickles will know about this since that person wasn't logged on.

And finally, I hope this chapter was satisfactory, and once again, REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! :)

-TheEvilPinkCupcake

P.S. That was the longest author's note I've ever done in my fanfiction life. I don't know whether I should punch myself or applaud. Maybe I should go with both. Anyways. Bye!