Author's Note:
This is just kind of a fun chapter, it's not particularly long, but it will wrap up the events of chapter 9 quite nicely.
Fred had come back from Hogsmeade just before dinner, with an arm load on Exploding Whizzpoppers, Fanged Frisbees, an entire case of Nosebleed Nougat and other assorted contraband. Normally Louis would be all over the moon, planning out pranks month's in advance with Fred, but at the moment he was more preoccupied with Erin's letter.
Louis,
There's something I've been wanting to tell you for three years, could you come to the common room tonight after everyone's gone to bed?
Please come, I really want to talk to you in private.
Erin
It wasn't much of a letter, and after what had happened in History of Magic earlier, he didn't think it likely that she'd still show up. But if she did show up and he didn't, then it would certainly be the end of whatever it was they had between them.
Louis had pondered the question since he opened the letter after dinner. It was not until he realized that it was quarter to eleven, that he had subconsciously made up his mind simply by staying up this late thinking about it. All he had to do now was quietly make his way into the common room, which was easier said than done.
Louis' bed was furthest from the door, and the boys did not exactly keep the dormitory clean. So the floor was littered with all sorts of objects, two pet frogs and a pet cat, discarded sweet wrappers, discarded sweets - their gooey innards mashed into the carpet, but most frighteningly of all, was Fred's large stash of Whizzpoppers and Fanged Frisbees right next to the door.
Why couldn't the house elves clean earlier in the day, Louis thought hopelessly.
It had just turned eleven, and it was now or never if Louis was going to make it down to the common room in time.
As he took his first step out of bed however, he stepped on something bulbous and wrinkled.
"Watch where you is stepping!" A squeaky voice shouted from underneath Louis' foot.
"Shh! Please, I'm sorry, but you've got to be quiet."
"I hasn't got to be anything. I has got to clean!"
"Shh!"
"Shush yourself! Everyday I has to clean up the messes that you'ses make! Filthy clothes, every kinds of stain, sweets you'se do not even eat, and all with no help! No other elf will clean here, so they makes Dreamer do it. And I do it, because I is a good elf, but you will not be standing on my head sir!" The house elf squeaked shrilly.
The others had woken up now and most of them had cast the lumos charm, nearly blinding him in their combined light. Louis could make out Dreamer's face in the pale light. He had a long thin nose, the size and shape of a quill, and floppy round ears that hung down to his shoulders. His bald forehead was covered in deep wrinkles and his eyes were narrow slits in his oversized head.
"What is that thing?" One of the boys said, but this was the last straw for Dreamer.
"I is not a thing sir, I is a house elf! I is the one that cleans up after you disgusting boys, and I is doing it no longer!" and with a crack like thunder he was gone.
"So again, what was that thing." Louis now realized that it had been Fred who had posed the question.
"A house elf." Louis was breathing deeply. "I accidentally stepped on his head when I was getting out of bed."
"Why were you getting out of bed?" This time it was James who asked, and Louis knew that James would be able to see his face turn scarlet in the light of the wands.
"Bathroom." He mumbled quickly, and made his way out of the room, no longer caring about what he stepped on, just hoping that he was not too late.
When Louis made it down the stairs and away from the confused questions of his peers, he found the common room depressingly empty. The fire was small but still quite bright and warm. Louis slumped into one of the tall backed armchairs in front of the fireplace, and read the simple note over and over again, waiting for its author to show up.
It was nearly midnight before Louis decided that Erin would not be showing up. He was angry now, partly at her but mainly at himself for his lack of tact.
He looked down at the letter one final time and then he looked at the fire - which was little more than hot coals at this point - but he could not bring himself to burn it. She may have given up on him, but he would not surrender that easily. Instead he walked silently back into the dormitory and sat on his four poster. He folded the letter into a square no larger than a galleon, and put it underneath the felt lining of his glasses case.
Sleep came much more easily than Louis had expected, and in his dreams the day had gone much differently. In his dreams he had not made a fool of himself in History of Magic, and in his dreams when he waited for Erin in the common room she showed up - and it was magnificent.
Author's Note:
Well that's the end of this chapter, what did you guys think? Do you like the idea of telling pseudo-one-shot stories that don't really relate to the main story? Do you want me to keep doing that? If so (or if not) let me know with a review.