Chapter 7: March 2016

"What's the angle for this one?" Caleb asked.

"Thirty two degrees," Louis replied, reading from their notes.

The telescope project was really coming along. Louis was excited, because for once it was actually looking like something more than a pile of materials.

"Got it," Caleb declared, double checking the measurement once before pulling back. "I think that'll do it for today."

"Can't we do another one?" Louis asked. He was dying for the telescope to be finished, and the sooner they finished their part, the sooner he could take a look through it.

"Not today," Caleb shook his head. "We need to wait on Melody and Makayla before we can add any more. Besides, I've got a Quidditch practice in fifteen minutes."

Louis nodded, disappointed that there was no work left to be done today, but understanding that they couldn't do everything at once.

"See you tomorrow," Caleb said then, packing up his things and heading out.

"See you," Louis waved back.

Then he sighed. He supposed he should be getting to his history essay, but he was reluctant. It was on the gargoyle strike of 1911, which in his opinion was an incredibly boring topic.

Louis knew he had to write it eventually, so he gathered his things and headed out. His plan was to go to the library – Justin would probably be there already, since he and Ben weren't working on anything telescope related today.

As Louis walked down the deserted seventh floor corridor, he suddenly realized that the corridor was filling with smoke. He whirled around, looking for the source, but didn't see anything. The smoke was getting higher and higher and thicker and thicker, and Louis started to panic. Where was it coming from? Was something on fire? He started to run, but the smoke was too high and too thick for him to see where he was going and he ran into a wall.

"There you are Louis, good to see you again," a familiar voice said through the smoke.

"Flint," Louis coughed. "What's going on? Is there a fire?"

"Just a little smokescreen spell," Flint said. Turns out the stuff Professor Derlid is teaching us really can come in useful.

Louis tried running in a different direction, but banged his head on a suit of armor.

"There's no point trying to run," Flint said. "You'll never make it out until I reverse the spell."

Louis searched his mind for the counter-spell, but he couldn't remember it. He knew Professor Derlid had told them what it was, but since nobody had cast the spell successfully in class, they hadn't had a real need to use it yet.

"When did you become so proficient at defensive magic?" Louis wondered.

"I suppose it's a gift," Flint responded.

One final time, Louis tried to run for the end of the corridor, but he found his path blocked by the very boy he was trying to run from.

"You should remember that as the caster of this spell, I can see while you can't," Flint said. "You don't stand a chance."

Giving up, Louis shrunk back to get away from his tormentor. "What do you want?" Louis demanded.

"Professor Binns assigned a history essay to all of us," Flint said.

"I know," Louis nodded. "I was just going to write mine."

"Perfect," Flint declared. "You'll write mine too."

"No!" Louis protested. "That's not fair!"

"This isn't about what's fair," Flint said. "Either you write my essay, or I put you in the hospital wing. It's your choice. But I think I've proven that I'm perfectly capable, so you might want to think twice before saying no."

Flint was right. Louis would have no chance if it came to a fight. Especially since it was clear that Flint was extremely good at cornering him when he was alone.

"Alright," Louis agreed with a sigh, not seeing another way out of this. He could report Flint to a Professor, but all that would do was ensure that Louis would end up in the hospital wing.

"I thought you'd see things my way," Flint said, muttering the counter-spell to the smoke. "I'll come and collect it from you tomorrow."

As the smoke dissipated, Louis saw Flint rounding the corner of the hallway. Relieved that he was gone, Louis leaned against the wall, breathing deeply. Flint's presence always made him nervous, but at least this time things hadn't gotten physical.

If Louis only had a day to write Flint's essay, he'd have to start it now. His own essay would just have to wait until Flint's was done. Louis wasn't sure how he was going to manage to write two completely different essays on the same topic, but he knew it was in his own best interest not to hand in copies that were too similar, or they'd be accused of cheating.

When Louis arrived in the library, he sat down next to Justin, frantically getting his things out in an effort to get done with this as fast as possible.

"Whoa!" Justin cried. "What's the rush?"

"Got to get this essay written," Louis muttered.

"What, history?" Justin frowned, seeing the textbook Louis had with him. "That's not due until the end of the week. You still have time."

"Yeah, but now I have to write two of them," Louis said. He explained to Justin what had just happened with Flint in the corridor and Justin looked livid.

"He can't do that!" Justin cried.

"He can and he did," Louis replied. "And I'm not about to let him beat me up if I can help it."

"Well I can help," Justin offered. "I've already started mine. If I just re-word what I've already written, you'll have half of what you need."

"Thanks," Louis said gratefully. "The sooner I get this done, the sooner I can work on my own essay."

The two boys worked quickly, and in only a few short hours, they'd finished Flint's essay and Louis had started on his own.

"Yours shouldn't be too hard now," Justin pointed out. "Since you've already written it once."

"Except that now I have to make it so that it doesn't sound anything like what I've already written," Louis said. "Which is like, ten times harder than just writing an essay in the first place."

"You'll manage," Justin assured him. "It'll be fine."

LlLlLlLlLlL

The next day, true to his word, Flint came and found Louis in the library after classes were over. He brought with him an incredible show of force – all four of his fellow Slytherin boys trailed behind him – and Louis was extremely glad to have complied. The prospect of one Slytherin beating him up was one thing, but five would be unthinkable.

"You have my essay?" Flint asked.

"Here," Louis said, pulling it from among his things and holding it out. "You might want to recopy it though, so it's in your own writing."

Flint nodded and glanced over the document. "Someone helped you," he observed. "The writing at the beginning is different than at the end."

Louis swallowed and nodded. "Justin did the beginning," he admitted, hating to drag his friend into things.

Flint lowered the essay. "Perfect, then he can help you write their essays," he said, gesturing to the four boys behind him.

Louis faltered. "W-what?" he asked.

"You heard me," Flint said. "You're going to write essays for them too."

"But I already wrote yours," Louis protested.

"You think they want to do this dumb assignment any more than I do?" Flint demanded. "Our agreement stands. The hospital wing is waiting for you if you don't want to. That goes for you too," he added for Justin's sake.

Louis felt himself shaking. One extra essay was one thing, but five?

"And they'd better all be good," Flint added. "We all need some O's to boost our grades."

"Right," Louis nodded. How was he supposed to ensure O's when he himself struggled to get O's in history?

"We'll get those essays to you all as soon as we can," Justin spoke up.

"We'll need time to recopy them, like David," one of the other boys, Darian Reed, said. "So we want them in advance."

"No later than tomorrow afternoon," Flint decided. "We'll find you."

Louis gulped and nodded as the five boys turned to leave. He thought he might have seen an apologetic look on one of their faces, but decided he must have imagined it.

Turning to Justin, Louis groaned. "This is a disaster!"

LlLlLlLlL

With only a day to write four essays, Louis and Justin got started right away. Unfortunately, it was becoming more and more difficult to come up with unique ways of saying things that wouldn't make it obvious that all the essays were written by the same two people.

"Hey Louis," Victoire greeted Louis, sitting down next to him in the library.

"Not now Victoire, I'm busy," Louis insisted, not even looking up from his history textbook. He was desperately looking for something new he could add, but he was afraid he was tapped out of information.

"Too busy for your big sister?" Victoire inquired.

Louis sighed, realizing Victoire wasn't going to be leaving unless he spoke with her for a moment.

"Sorry Victoire, but I really need to work on this essay," Louis apologized.

"Ooh, what's it on?" Victoire wondered.

"The gargoyle strike of 1911," Louis replied.

"Sounds like fun," Victoire said sarcastically.

"It's not," Louis agreed. "And I'm really busy at the moment, so if you don't mind…"

"Louis, is everything alright?" Victoire asked. She was always able to tell when something wasn't right. It was something Louis had always loved about her, but now he hated it.

"I'm fine," Louis assured his sister. "I'm just a little stressed out about school is all."

Victoire leaned forward and frowned when she saw the top of his essay. "Louis, who's Alec Roper?" she frowned.

"Nobody," Louis said hurriedly, pulling another piece of parchment to cover the essay he was working on. He didn't want Victoire to know he was writing Alec's essay and not his. Even less did he want Victoire finding out about everything that was going on with Flint. As a sister, she'd think it was her job to try to protect Louis from the Slytherins. As a prefect, she'd think it was her right to give them detentions for cheating and bullying. But Louis couldn't have that. Because it wasn't as though Victoire could shadow him forever, and eventually Flint and the others would find him on his own.

"Louis, if there's something going on – "

"There isn't," Louis insisted. "Look, if I need any help, I'll come and find you. But right now I'd just really like to focus."

"Alright," Victoire said, sounding unsure, but backing off just the same. "You know where to find me…"

LlLlLlLlLlL

If Louis had thought writing Alec's essay had been difficult, writing Darian's afterwards had been a nightmare. Though he hated Justin getting dragged in to everything, it was a relief not to have to write essays for the other two boys. Louis didn't think he'd have survived that.

When Flint came to collect the essays, Louis and Justin were mercifully finished with them and handed them over without a word.

"These better be good," Flint said, passing them to his friends. They left as quickly as they'd come, but Louis didn't feel any better with them gone. If one of the essays didn't receive a good mark, what would the Slytherins do?

LlLlLlLlLlL

Waiting for their history grades was torturous. They handed their essays in on Friday and had to wait a full week before receiving them back. Louis didn't understand why it took so long – Professor Binns couldn't sleep, so what was he doing that took up so much of his time? Why couldn't he have had them graded for Monday?

When Louis received his essay, he was pleased to see an E at the top of the page. If he'd gotten an E, he felt confident that the others boys had at least passed. The material he'd included in the essays was the same, just worded and organized differently.

Nervously, he glanced in their direction. Alec Roper was the closest, and when he tilted his paper at the right angle, Louis was relieved to see he'd received an E as well. Louis couldn't see anyone else's paper though, and their facial expressions weren't telling him anything.

When Flint looked in his and Justin's direction, Louis averted his eyes immediately. He didn't want to be caught staring – it would only incite Flint's anger, which Louis certainly didn't want.

"How'd you do?" Louis wondered, glancing over at Justin's paper. Justin's paper had only received a grade of A, and Louis felt his blood go cold. If Justin's first attempt at the paper was just a pass, the how had his third attempt turned out?

"Think any of them failed?" Justin wondered. He made no motion to indicate who he was talking about, but Louis didn't need any.

"I hope not," he replied. "But I guess we'll find out soon."

Justin nodded.

LlLlLlLlLlL

The rest of the day, Louis and Justin made sure to stick close to other people. They went nowhere unless it was with a crowd. They didn't know if Flint or any of the others had failed, but they weren't taking any chances.

By the end of the day, they were relieved to have made it safely to the common room. It was almost curfew when Justin realized he'd forgotten his transfiguration textbook in the library.

"Just wait and get it tomorrow," Louis said. "There's no telling if they're out there waiting, and the corridors will be close to empty at this time of day."

"They're probably already back in their own common room," Justin waved Louis' concern away. "They're bullies, but they're not stupid."

"Well I'm not condoning this," Louis said, crossing his arms. "It's a bad idea."

"You're going to send me on my own?" Justin frowned.

"Well by your own statement, they're probably not out there," Louis pointed out. "Besides, if they want to attack you, they want to attack me just as much. It's not like I'd be any protection."

"Fine," Justin said, squaring his shoulders. "Well I'm going. Who knows what Madam Maxwell will do with my textbook if she finds it lying around. Likely she'll check it into the library and I'll have to buy a new one."

"That wouldn't happen," Louis shook his head, but Justin was already on the move.

As Louis watched Justin climb out the portrait hole, he felt a twinge of fear for his friend. What if they really were out there? But then he shook it off, telling himself that he was being paranoid, and that there was nothing to worry about.

When curfew came and went, Louis started to panic. What was taking Justin so long? He wanted to go out after him, but he couldn't.

When Victoire returned from her rounds and Justin still hadn't returned, Louis really started to worry.

"Victoire!" Louis called out to his sister. "You didn't happen to see Justin when you were out there, did you?"

"No," his sister shook her head. "But I only rounded on the top three floors. Is he missing?"

Louis nodded. "He went to get his transfiguration book from the library, but he never came back."

"You're sure he's not up in your dorm?" Victoire asked, to check.

"I'm sure," Louis nodded. "He's still in the castle."

Victoire sighed. "I'll go and talk to the other prefects on duty," she said. "I finished pretty quickly tonight, they should still be out there."

"Thanks Victoire," Louis said earnestly.

"Louis, is there something you want to tell me before I go?" Victoire wondered.

"What do you mean?" Louis frowned.

"Just… is anything going on that I should know about?" she asked.

Louis shook his head. "No, everything's fine. Except that Justin's missing."

Victoire nodded. "Alright, I'll go see what's going on."

Victoire exited the common room, and left alone, Louis started to pace. He was sure now that something bad had happened. Justin was probably lying hurt and bleeding in a corridor somewhere and it was all Louis' fault. If he'd just gone with him, maybe he could have fought back. Two against five weren't great odds, but they were better than one-on-five.

After what seemed like an inordinate amount of time, Victoire finally returned.

"Did you find him?" Louis asked, running to her immediately.

"He checked himself into the hospital wing just before curfew," Victoire informed him. "Apparently he got caught in the trick stair and when he pulled his foot out, he ended up falling down the stairs and breaking his arm."

"Did you see him?" Louis asked, eyes growing wide. The trick stair was obviously a fabrication. This had Flint written all over it.

"No," Victoire shook her head. "But I read the report Madam Eldridge left documenting her patients. He's fine."

"I have to go and see him," Louis said, immediately heading for the portrait hole.

"Wait!" Victoire cried, grabbing Louis by the arm. "It's way past curfew, I can't let you go wandering around out there on your own."

"Then come with me," Louis insisted. "If I'm with a prefect, I can't get in trouble."

"No, but I can," Victoire stated. "Look, Justin's fine. He's probably already asleep. Just go up to your dorm, and wait for the morning."

Louis blew out a breath in frustration. He knew Victoire was right, but he didn't like waiting. When she refused to leave until she saw him safely upstairs, Louis gathered his things and ascended to his dorm. He contemplated waiting until she was gone and then sneaking out on his own, but he decided against it. If Justin was in the hospital wing, then he wasn't in danger. And Louis would only get in trouble if he got caught. Which he would, since the hospital wing was directly supervised by Madam Eldridge.

Sleep didn't come easily for Louis that night. Once he realized that Flint must have caught up to Justin, he started to wonder if the same was coming for him. Louis wondered which of the essays had failed. It probably didn't matter anyway. Flint would make sure to punish the both of them – a message not to mess with him again.

When morning finally came, Louis was up and out before any of his dormmates had even thought about rolling out of bed. He hurried down to the hospital wing as fast as possible and hurried straight to Justin's side.

"What happened?" Louis asked, seeing that Justin was awake.

"It's nothing," Justin assured him. Louis looked Justin up and down, but saw nothing wrong with him. "Stop looking for injuries, I'm fine. I wouldn't have even had to stay here, except that by the time Madam Eldridge had me all patched up, it was past curfew."

"It was Flint, wasn't it?" Louis asked.

Justin nodded. "Don't beat yourself up over it. You told me I shouldn't go, and I ignored you."

"Who failed?" Louis wondered, stomach twisting as he waited for an answer.

"It doesn't matter," Justin promised. "Flint won't come for you."

"Tell me," Louis insisted. "I need to know."

Justin sighed. "It was Reed. He got a P."

Louis' heart sank. "But I wrote that one," he said.

Justin nodded. "I told them I wrote it."

"You shouldn't have done that," Louis frowned.

Justin shrugged. "My arm was already broken. There was no reason for you to get hurt over it too."

Louis didn't know what to say.

"Just thank me and let's move on, shall we?" Justin asked.

"Thank you," Louis said immediately.

Justin nodded. "Now I just have to get the okay from Madam Eldridge and we can get out of here."