Part IV

As Christmas break ended, Arthur found himself missing it.

"Didja miss me?" Gilbert yelled as he entered the Great Hall on the first day of the new term.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say," Arthur muttered.

"Un peu, mon ami," Francis added, his face unreadable.

Gilbert flashed them his cocksure grin and ran off to the Ravenclaw table. "Hey Roddy, Roddy! Didja miss me?"

"No, I didn't," the eternally annoyed voice of Roderich Edelstein replied.

"What, how could you not miss the awesome me?"

"Back to classes, hm," Arthur muttered, turning his attention to his timetable. "Look at what we've got today."

"Double Potions with the Gryffindors," Nataliya noted.

"Fun!" Francis said with a smirk; he cast a glance towards the Gryffindor table, where Madeline Desmarais was talking to a sleepy-looking Greek boy.

Snape's classroom was always cold. The students huddled around their cauldrons, trying to glean some heat off the miniscule fires at their bases.

"We will attempt to make a simple healing draught today," Snape said, holding up a little vial. "Unless you are a complete idiot, it will not take you very long to make it."

Arthur looked over to the Gryffindor side of the room, where Alfred was staring at the instructions in his book as if they were in French.

"Jones!" Snape suddenly snapped, causing said American to twitch a little in surprise.

"Yes, sir?" Alfred looked up, blue eyes wide behind his glasses.

"What are we doing today?"

"A…healing draught?"

"Congratulations, you were listening."

Arthur and Francis sniggered. Alfred shot them a dirty look.

The class set to making the potion. Arthur and Francis were working together; Arthur weighed the porcupine quills while Francis carefully grinded the beetle eyes into a fine powder.

"Careful, Arthur," he said quietly as he poured the powder into the brew, "Don't inhale any of this."

Arthur raised one thick eyebrow and looked at the book. "Alright, I think we should add the quills now."

"Non, we wait for one more minute – or until the potion turns bright blue."

They waited, watching their potion change colour. Finally, Arthur looked at the clock again and added in the quills.

The potion turned purple. Francis gagged a little. "Only you would enjoy this, Arthur," he muttered as Arthur stirred the contents.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "And now we wait again before adding in the Sporklesprout roots. Did you chop them yet?

Francis nodded, pointing to the finely chopped roots on the desk. Arthur checked the clock.

They were the first ones done with their potion, earning Slytherin ten points. Alfred stared at them as Snape calmly took their vial of healing draught back to his desk.

"How'd you guys go so fast?"

"C'est parce que je suis trop sexy," Francis said smugly. Arthur shot him an odd look.

"Since when did that have to do with Potions?" he demanded.

The Gryffindors were quick to leave the classroom after Snape dismissed them. Arthur, Francis, and Nataliya lingered for a while, but Snape had disappeared into his office and shut the door.

"Wonder if the chair's in his office?" Arthur asked.

"Non, I bet it's in the most remote dungeon there is in this castle," Francis said.

"Why are we trying to find the chair, again?" Nataliya added.

"To see if it's Busby's or not," Arthur replied, walking out of the classroom.

"Attends-nous!" Francis yelled.

Instead of turning left towards the upper levels of the castle, the three Slytherins headed right, deeper into the bowels of Hogwarts.

"Marcus," a low, hoarse voice whispered. "They've moved me."

Marcus's voice responded. "Mr. Busby, I assure you that you will find a suitable host body soon."

"Soon isn't soon enough for me, Marcus. If I do not find a body, I am afraid that I will have to use yours."

"Look, Arthur, the chair's not down here," Nataliya grumbled, shivering slightly from the cold.

Arthur shook his head. "Snape said that the chair is down here, so it's got to be somewhere close."

Francis rolled his eyes and leaned against a wall. "Maybe it's in a dungeon on the other side of the castle – aïe!" Arthur and Nataliya looked back at him just in time to see him fall through the wall.

"Francis!" they screamed together. Arthur ran up to the wall and tapped the spot.

"Francis, Francis, can you hear me?"

"Ouais, je peux," Francis's muffled voice sounded.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Arthur pressed his ear close to the stone.

"I fell through the wall, of course," Francis replied. "I'm sure if you leaned on that spot you would, too."

Arthur frowned slightly. "Are you nuts? I'm leaning on the wall right now!"

"Press harder to the stone," Francis's voice instructed.

The moment Arthur applied more pressure to the wall, it caved through and he fell into a dungeon. Moments later, Nataliya came tumbling through as well; she landed soundly on him.

"Aargh!"

"Sorry, Arthur." Arthur felt her getting off him and he clambered to his feet as well, looking around.

The dungeon was a room full of arches and pillars. Shafts in the upper part of the room let in some sunlight, casting an eerie array of shadows and light across the walls. In the centre of the room, a chair sat on a small dais. There was a figure in the chair; he was slumped over, his arm dangling limply from the armrest.

"Is he dead?" Nataliya wondered, kneeling down in front of the figure and tilting the head up. Francis's eyes widened.

"That's Marcus Lesauvage," he whispered. "He's a prefect."

"He shook my hand when I got sorted into Slytherin!" Arthur exclaimed, recognising the face.

Marcus's eyes were open, black eyes staring out at nothing. He was completely limp and bore a striking likeness to a corpse. Nataliya shivered a little. "Isn't he the one who was always so quiet after the first day? I've never heard him speak after he showed us the dorms."

"We didn't see much of him, either," Francis added.

"How do you know him, then?" Nataliya felt for a pulse in the boy's wrist.

Francis laughed. "Oh, his younger sister's a second year Ravenclaw. I think I told you about her, non? Lisette Lesauvage?"

Arthur made a face. "Probably two months ago, because the name doesn't ring a bell. Is he alive, Nat?"

Nodding, Nataliya added, "He's barely alive."

"Oui, mais... if this chair really is la chaise du Busby, then he won't be alive very soon unless we get him to Madam Pomfrey." Francis carelessly crossed his arms and legs. "I wouldn't mind, myself... I wouldn't have to fear for my life every time I talk to Lisette..."

"Belt up, you frog. Let's get him to the Hospital Wing." Arthur nodded at Nataliya, who took out her wand and made a swish-and-flick gesture.

"Wingardium leviosa!" Marcus's body floated up off the chair. "Mobilicorpus!"

As the three exited through a door on the other side of the dungeon, Arthur cast a backwards glance at the chair.