Chapter 8: April 2016
After Justin's stint in the hospital wing, the Slytherins had kept their distance. Louis wasn't sure whether to take this to mean they were done harassing them, or whether they were just biding their time – waiting for another moment to strike. Either way, Louis was on his guard.
Meanwhile, the rest of Louis' life was looking good. His grades were up, the telescope was coming along nicely, and he was enjoying himself more than ever.
"Did you ever decide what you wanted to do after graduation?" Louis wondered one day as he and Caleb worked on installing their mirrors.
"Hmm?" Caleb muttered, a little distracted.
"The first day of astronomy club, you said you wanted to work in astronomy, but you didn't know where specifically. I just wondered if you'd decided. You don't have much longer now, after all," Louis pointed out.
"Oh, right," Caleb nodded. "Yeah that's… I've applied to a few positions. We'll see what happens I guess."
Louis nodded. He wasn't overly satisfied with such a vague answer, but figured maybe Caleb was feeling some anxiety about the situation as well and didn't want to talk about it.
"What about Melody?" Louis asked, shifting the focus to the other seventh year in the astronomy club. "Has she heard back from the Magical Astronomy Institution yet? Do you think she has a shot?"
"Let's just focus on these mirrors," Caleb said, gesturing to the one he was currently installing.
"Right," Louis nodded, a little disappointed. Usually Caleb enjoyed chatting with Louis while they worked. So why didn't he want to talk today?
LlLlLlLlLlL
"Attention astronomy club!" Melody Wellman declared one day while just about everyone was in the room working on various parts of the telescope project. "I have some very exciting news!"
Curiously, Louis dropped what he was doing to listen to the club president.
"As you should all be aware, a comet will be passing pretty close to the earth this Saturday night. Since this is sure a rare opportunity to see something like this up close, I've asked Professor Brunwell to give the astronomy club permission to use the astronomy tower that evening to observe it," she announced.
"You mean we're exempt from curfew?" Makayla asked excitedly.
Melody nodded. "We have the astronomy tower reserved for three hours, starting at eleven PM. You shouldn't have to leave your dorms until quarter to eleven, so anyone caught out after curfew before that will have points deducted and will not be allowed to join us in the astronomy tower. So please don't use this as an excuse to be foolish."
Louis exchanged a look with Justin across the room. This was beyond exciting! They were going to get to see a comet up close! Not to mention what they might be able to discern with some of Professor Brunwell's high-tech telescopes.
Louis rushed through the remainder of the work he and Caleb were doing, eager to get to the library to start researching this comet. He wanted to know everything he could about it before Saturday. Just because he was a first year didn't mean he had an excuse to be ignorant.
"Whatcha got there?" Justin asked, wandering into the library a little later to find Louis with a pile of astronomy books.
"I'm researching Saturday's comet," Louis replied.
"Well it won't be in there," Justin laughed. "It hasn't happened yet."
"No," Louis agreed. "But it's a recurring comet. So if I read up about times it's been near in the past, it'll give me an idea what to expect this weekend."
"That's actually brilliant," Justin said, pulling up a chair to join his friend. "You should be the one applying for an internship at MAI."
"Speaking of the Institution," Louis said. "Any idea when they let their applicants know if they've been accepted? Melody hasn't said anything, and Caleb always dodges the question."
Justin shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Can't imagine they'd know before they write their N.E.W.T.s though. It would be pretty embarrassing for MAI to accept someone and then for them to fail their astronomy N.E.W.T."
"Someone at risk of failing their astronomy N.E.W.T. wouldn't be applying to MAI," Louis pointed out.
Justin shrugged. "Well I'm sure an A wouldn't be too good either. MAI only accepts top applicants."
Louis nodded. This was true.
"I hope Melody gets in," Justin added. "She deserves it."
LlLlLlLlLlL
When Saturday finally arrived, Louis and Justin were so excited they could hardly contain themselves. They even took naps in the afternoon, deciding that this would be the best way to make sure that they were wide awake for viewing the comet that night.
When it was time, the descended from their dorms and made their way towards the portrait hole.
"And where do you think you're going?" a sixth year called out, blocking their path.
Louis pointed to the door. "We were just – "
"Going out past curfew, I expect," the sixth year said. "But not on my watch."
"No, you don't understand – " Justin tried to jump in.
"Oh, I understand that you think whatever first year hijinks you have planned is important," the sixth year interrupted. "But I don't care about whatever it is you were sneaking out to do. I care about the House Cup, and Gryffindor will never win if little chumps like you keep getting caught out after hours."
"We're not – "
"Not going to get caught?" the sixth year cried, almost laughing. "Oh, you all say that, and then when you do, you can't believe everything could have gone so horribly wrong. Well let me give you a piece of advice: you're not as stealthy as you think. If you were, you'd be sneaking out a little later, after the rest of us have gone to bed."
"But we need to – "
"Need to?" the sixth year scoffed. "You don't need to do anything. There's nothing out there that can't wait for morning. So just turn around and get your scrawny butts back up to your dorm and go to sleep for Merlin's sake."
"We have permission!" Louis cried, saying it in a rush to avoid being interrupted this time.
"Permission?" the sixth year asked, his face incredulous. "Who on earth would a couple of first years have permission to be out this late on a Saturday night?"
"Professor Brunwell," Louis stated, feeling certain that using the astronomy professor's name would lend credibility to his story.
"Oh, that's a good one," the sixth year laughed. "And what's the reason? Late night study session? Couldn't find time to slot you in during the day, so you scheduled one at night?"
"I'm sure wouldn't be at all strange for our astronomy Professor, given that everything interesting in that subject happens at night," Justin pointed out.
Louis had to applaud Justin. It was a good point.
"So is that what this is?" the sixth year asked.
"Well no, but – "
"I knew it," the sixth year didn't even let Justin finish his thought. "That's it, back up to the dorms with you both. Now. Before I get angry."
"But we really do have a good – "
Louis didn't have time to finish before the sixth year had both Louis and Justin by their necks and was manhandling them back to the boys' staircase.
"Do I have to drag you up there myself, or do you know how to get back to your dorm?" he demanded.
"We know how to find our dorm, thank you very much," Justin said.
"Good. And don't let me catch you sneaking out again. One step on the floor of the common room and you'll seriously regret it."
The sixth year walked away, leaving Louis and Justin at a loss for how to proceed.
"What do we do now?" Justin asked.
"I don't know," Louis frowned. He checked his watch. "The club will be meeting right about now."
"We can't miss this comet," Justin insisted.
Louis nodded. Justin was right.
"How about this?" Louis asked. "On the count of three, we make a run for it. If he's such a stickler for the rules, he won't come after us once we make it into the corridor."
"Okay," Justin nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
Louis took a deep breath and got into position, motioning for Justin to do the same. Carefully watching out for the sixth year, Louis counted it out, and on three both boys made a mad dash for the portrait hole.
Just as Louis was pushing it open, a hand wrapped around his arm and jerked him back. Dismayed, Louis discovered that Justin had been caught too, and they were both being hauled back into the center of the common room.
"That was a bad idea," the sixth year declared.
"We're not breaking any rules!" Louis insisted. "We have permission to leave tonight."
"We're in the astronomy club," Justin added. "Professor Brunwell gave all of us permission to use the astronomy tower tonight to see a comet."
"You expect me to believe this is all about some stupid comet?" the sixth year asked disbelievingly.
Louis nodded.
"And I don't suppose anyone can corroborate your story?" he asked.
"Well there's Kelsey," Louis said, naming the only other member of the astronomy club that was in Gryffindor. "But at this point, she's probably already there."
"Isn't that convenient?" the sixth year mused. "Too bad I don't believe you."
"What do you care anyway?" Justin demanded. "If we get caught, we're the ones in trouble."
"I care about all of Gryffindor," the sixth year cried. "Where's your house pride? Your loyalty?"
Louis and Justin exchanged a look.
"Listen, if I have to camp out at the bottom of these stairs all night, I will. But neither of you is leaving Gryffindor Tower until curfew is lifted," he declared.
"But that'll be too late," Justin whined. "The comet will have passed long before then."
"Shame," the sixth year said, shoving the boys back onto the staircase. "Now scram."
Seeing no alternative, the boys reluctantly climbed the staircase to their dorm.
"Now what?" Justin wondered. "We can't just miss this! Surely Kelsey will come looking for us and then she can corroborate our story."
"She won't come," Louis shook his head. "They'll just assume we decided to sleep instead."
"This is so unfair," Justin groaned.
Louis agreed.
"We just have to wait for the sixth year to go to bed," Louis decided. "Just because he threatened to keep watch all night doesn't mean he will. He's bound to get tired at some point. I'm sure his house loyalty doesn't extend that far."
"I hope he goes to bed soon," Justin sighed. "We're already missing things."
LlLlLlLlLlL
After half an hour, Justin snuck down the stairs to see if the sixth year had retired yet. He hadn't.
After an hour, Louis took his turn to check on the status of the sixth year. When he poked his head out, it was like the sixth year was expecting him.
"I don't think so," he said. "Get back up there."
Louis slunk away, unsuccessful.
After another half hour, Louis and Justin were getting restless. The time the club had reserved in the astronomy tower was half over. At this rate, they might not get the chance to make it at all.
"Should we just go to bed?" Justin wondered.
"We're not giving up until it's over," Louis declared. "We can't."
Justin snuck down to check that time, but he returned and reported that the sixth year was still watching.
When Louis went down to check half an hour later, the sixth year was stretched out on a couch, eyes trained directly on the boys' staircase. He was alone in the common room now and he looked like some kind of student vigilante.
He didn't say anything this time. All he did was shake his head and Louis turned and climbed back up the stairs in defeat.
"Maybe we should give up," Louis sighed. "It's one AM. I'm exhausted."
"No," Justin shook his head. "We keep waiting. Like you said, we can't give up."
Half an hour later, Justin snuck down to see the situation. When he came back up though, it was with a look of triumph instead of disappointment.
"He's gone?" Louis asked excitedly.
Justin shook his head. "But he's asleep. If we're really quiet, I think we can sneak past him."
Following Justin back down the stairs, Louis carefully tiptoed into the common room and then past the snoring sixth year to the portrait hole. When the two boys finally emerged in the empty corridor, they felt an overwhelming sense of joy.
"We'd better hurry," Justin said then. "There's only a half an hour left. If we want to see anything we need to get there soon."
Louis nodded and the boys broke into a run towards the astronomy tower. When they were about halfway there, they ran into Kelsey and Dorothy.
"It's not over, is it?" Louis cried in despair.
"No," Kelsey shook her head. "Most of us have left, but Melody and Caleb should still be up there. They had to stay behind to clean up. Technically if you want to catch the comet you can still make it."
Louis and Justin thanked the girls and resumed their run, only stopping when they arrived at the door to the astronomy tower. Louis pulled it open, and Justin ran in first, Louis coming up behind him. The stairs were numerous, but neither boy slowed at the thought. They were running on adrenaline now, and Louis even took some of the stairs two at a time in an effort to reach the top quicker.
As they neared the top of the stairs, the sounds of an argument caused them to slow their pace. Louis stopped just short of where he would be visible to anyone in the tower and held out a hand to stop Justin as well. He didn't want to walk into anything he shouldn't.
"… stabbed me in the back!" Louis heard Melody's voice shouting.
"I didn't betray you," Caleb shouted back.
"Then what do you call this?" Melody demanded.
"It's not my fault they liked me better than you," Caleb cried. "But if it wasn't me, then it could have been anyone."
"Why didn't you at least tell me? Why all the secrecy?" Melody asked.
"I didn't want to get my hopes up," Caleb said. "And if I'd told people and then I'd been rejected… well I couldn't have taken that."
"And yet you had no problem at all putting me in that position," Melody cried.
"First of all, I didn't put you in any position. This could have happened regardless of whether or not I'd applied. And second of all, you haven't been rejected yet. You haven't heard anything," Caleb insisted.
"Hearing nothing is as good as being rejected," Melody said. "You know that as well as I do."
"So what would you have me do?" Caleb demanded angrily. "Turn them down?"
"Of course not, don't be absurd," Melody cried.
"Then what?" Caleb asked. "What do you want from me?"
"Just leave me alone!" Melody screamed.
Fear of being caught eavesdropping trumped disappointment of not getting to see the comet, and suddenly Louis was shoving Justin down the stairs, afraid that if Caleb came down he would see them.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs and spilled out into the corridor, Louis grabbed Justin by the arm and dragged him into the adjacent classroom, shutting the door behind them and peering out through a crack in the wood.
Moments later, Caleb emerged from the astronomy tower and stomped down the corridor in the direction of the grand staircase. After a few more moments, Melody appeared, tears staining her face, and headed in the direction of Ravenclaw Tower.
"What do you think that was all about?" Justin wondered as Louis let him out into the corridor and they started to make their way back to their own common room.
"Wasn't it obvious?" Louis frowned.
Justin thought. "Well Melody was really mad at Caleb for doing something – sounds like he got chosen for something over her."
"Exactly," Louis nodded. "It's MAI. It has to be. Caleb must have applied for an internship too, without telling anyone."
"And Melody's mad because he got accepted and she didn't," Justin said, understanding. "That makes sense."
"I can't believe Caleb got accepted," Louis said, impressed. "I mean, it can't be more than a conditional acceptance at this point, but it's pretty cool."
"I can see why Melody's so upset though," Justin said. "Even though he probably didn't literally steal a spot away from her, what with all the applicants they must get, it's hard not to see it that way."
Louis nodded in agreement. "Hey, if you ever do decide to apply, do me a favor and tell me, alright?"
Justin laughed, but agreed. "And you'll do the same?" he asked.
"Of course," Louis nodded.
They arrived back at the common room and were relieved to find the sixth year still snoring away on his couch. They made it back up to their dorm with him none the wiser.
"Sucks that we didn't get to see the comet after all," Louis lamented as they climbed into bed.
"Yeah," Justin nodded. "But there'll be plenty of astronomical events to see in the future I'm sure. We'll have another chance."
"And next time, we should get a note from Professor Brunwell to prove we have permission to leave," Louis added.
"Definitely," Justin agreed.
