The Wizarding Afterlife

An Unexpected Encounter

*J.K. Rowling owns all of the characters.*

"JAMES POTTER! I SWEAR TO MERLIN, IF you and your gang continue to wreck havoc in the bloody lounge, I'll send all of you out!" Lily's voice could be heard from within the Potters' abode, her cheeks slightly pink and her long, bright hair apparently unkempt. She was holding her wand up in the air, threatening her husband to fix their poor, completely abused house or face the quite horrid consequences if he didn't. The fuming witch could be seen in front of the Marauders, her expression shocked and filled with utmost disbelief.

A strong, putrid odor filled the air, its smell reaching Lily's nose and causing her to sneeze. Upon seeing this, James glared at Sirius and Fred, who were both responsible for releasing a huge amount of Dungbombs in the exact same location. He magically summoned a plain white handkerchief and gave it to his wife immediately, worried. Remus shook his head disapprovingly at the mess which his friends had created, asking himself as to why he had agreed to all of this in the first place.

Fred was highly embarrassed and rapidly blurted out an apology, but his eyes instantly danced with mischief when Sirius whispered something in his ear. Thinking that there was nothing he could possibly do to disrupt the 'likely' formulated plan, the logical Remus Lupin decided to stay silent, heaving a huge sigh. Merlin's beard, even if Peter Pettigrew was already gone, he still needed to manage three undeniably witty pranksters! At least I don't need to fuss about our trips to detention anymore, the wizard thought to himself, shrugging.

"Honestly, I'm serious." Lily emphasized her threat further when nobody moved. "I can and I will send the lot of you out."

Like a quick, responsive robot, James set to work and held both of his hands up in surrender, shrugging dismissively while fetching his own wand to start the given task. After all, Lily was always quite particular with these things ever since Harry showed up (even though their son wasn't technically here at the moment, the wizard could only guess that his wife became accustomed to the habit).

The Marauders and their newly introduced (yet as mischievous) recruit, Fred Weasley, were hurriedly setting off traps and throwing out other types of pranking materials which they had placed almost everywhere, fearing that Lily might jinx them to oblivion if they continued performing such childish acts.

Unsurprisingly, the ingenious James Potter had saved up [retrieved] some products from Zonko's Joke Shop when he was still a mere wizard student at Hogwarts, which meant that his constant 'trips' and numerous 'appointments' in Hogsmeade had really meant something indeed. The said bloke 'brilliantly' stored an entire box of Puking Pastilles, Dungbombs, Nose-Biting Teacups, and whatnot in their cupboard, further impressing Sirius Black and earning a brief scolding from the now-alarmed Remus Lupin, who was thinking that a very young Harry might've touched the said products 'accidentally' back in the real world.

"Finished yet?" Lily asked, annoyed, as she massaged her temple and impatiently tapped her foot on the floor.

"Almost...I think." Remus answered, clicking the handle of the metal box open as he shoved the other unused pranking products inside. "We're having a little issue here."

"Oh? Do tell." Lily raised her eyebrows at the latter's remark, apparently unconvinced. "Come on, I won't bite."

"Your expression tells us otherwise, Mrs. Potter." Sirius pointed out, shrugging. "Oi! You used to do these things with us back at Hogwarts! You even tricked the three of us to eat those jinxed tarts then! Evans---er Potter, you were basically a professional in this field! A professional, I tell you!"

"I matured, Sirius. Matured. I grew up for Harry and James over here." Lily sighed, moving to sit back on the couch only to be stopped by her husband. "What?" she asked the rather paranoid wizard.