Chapter 33 - Having Friends Goes One of Two Ways

Louis felt better in no time. Which is why when the end of the day came, he happily skipped to the dining hall for lunch.

" It's a wonder how you can recover so quickly. " Draco says as Louis takes his seat.

" I told you I will not be staying sick for more than a day, it would kill me. " Louis states as he takes a handful of Jello.

" So, what happened while I was in the hospital wing? " Louis asks the three curiously.

Richard, who was reading his book, finally looked up and spoke " Not much, nothing new, but you do really need to go see your pals in the forest. Their at the point where rampaging their way into Hogwarts to make sure your not dead, seem better than doing nothing. "

Louis nods his head, " Got it. " Annie chimes in, " It's best to stay clear of the new professor for a while....or the whole year really. He's a stuck up and a narcissist. I'm beginning to suspect that what's in his stories, were never done by him. "

" No joke, he was bragging about his ' achievements ' for the whole lesson. And his office is FULL of pictures of himself. " Draco complains as he takes a swig of his drink.

" Now that's what I call narcissism. " Richard states with a fling of his fork, to which Annie and Draco nod in agreement to.

Louis who was whole heartedly stuffing himself with Jello, overhears the conversation from the golden trio.

" The polyjuice potion will take a month to brew..." Hermoine says softly ' Shapeshifting? Why would they need to shape shift? ' Louis questions himself.

" M.o.a.ning Myrtle's bathroom..." The three decide in conjunction. ' There's the location, now all I need is the reason. '

" Proof of Draco being the heir to... " Harry says in a whisper but was a tad bit louder than Hermoine, Louis proceeds to choke on his Jello.

" You okay there? Here down this to make the coughing go down. " Richard says as he hands Louis some water to wash down the Jello.

" I'm fine. " Louis wheezes out before chugging the water down like how a grown man would chug a beer.

" You don't act fine. " Annie states as she Pat's Louis on the back to get some stuck Jello down.

" I assure you, if anything goes horribly wrong and I'm in a life or death situation, I will tell you. " The Jello inhaling boy says to reassure his cousins.

Draco buys none of what he says.

So after Dinner, and the four were heading back, Draco pulled Louis to one side saying that it was a matter between him and Louis and that it was nothing to worry about.

" Spill it Louis. " Draco says sternly as he crosses his arms and leans against the wall.

" Spill what? " Louis says acting dumbly. " We both know that your hiding something. So spill it. " Draco was not going to back down and Louis knew it.

Hence, with a reluctant sigh, Louis started telling Draco what he heard. " I overheard the trio talking about making the polyjuice potion inside m.o.a.ning Myrtle's bathroom so they could get evidence of you being the ' heir ' that was mentioned yesterday. "

" Really Louis? " Was the first thing Draco said after a long and awkward silence, which thoroughly confused Louis " Huh? "

" You could have just told me instead of bottling it up. I can handle myself quite well in situations like these, I'm a Malfoy. Not a stranger on the side of a road. " The young heir says in a matter of fact tone.

Hearing Draco's words, did help ease of some tension on Louis that he's been holding. " I couldn't be more thankful to have a friend like you. " He states happily as he gives Draco a hug.

" Come on, we should head back to our dorms for the night. Now that your better, the forest can become calm again. " Draco says while he leads the way.

" I do Wonder how Meister, Gideon, Bandit and the rest are doing. I certainly hope they haven't set anything on fire while I was gone. " Louis says worryingly as they walk down the hall.

• • •

The weeks passed as so, Louis had visited the forest as soon as he was free only to be glomped by the worried yet extremely relieved creatures.

It was safe to say that they watched over his every move while he was in the forest to make sure nothing else unexpected happened to the boy.

Annie and Richard continued their lives as usual, adding to the fact that they would make sure nothing bad happened to Louis, which wasnt any different from the usual. Louis was like a child being watched by his babysitter basically.

Draco was unofficially-officially Louis' babysitter. No matter what Louis said to get Draco away from him, it never worked.

But it was understandable, Louis who was never sick, fell sick out of nowhere, and it was right after the Basilisk attack. So there was no way Draco would leave Louis by himself.

What if he fell sick after another attack? What if he was too ill to defend himself against the dangerous Basilisk? Or an enemy attack? Like Draco would leave his side, he'd rather drop dead than let that happen.

" Draco, I'm fine. You don't have to follow me everywhere I go! " Louis exclaims rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

Louis wanted to head to the toilet, so Draco followed him naturally. " And risk you fainting like a princess when things go wrong? Keep dreaming. Plus, Annie and Richard would know when your alone anyways, so theres no escape. "

Louis stops in his tracks and turns to Draco, " First my friends in the forest baby me, than Ann and Richie, and now you? No, I feel like I'm a child for Merlin's sake! I'm almost 12! I can take care of myslef. "

" And crossing your arms and pouting like a kid proves your a kid. Now let's go. Bandit's with the Weasley twins, and I do not want to know what happens when we leave him for more than ten minutes in the care of those two. "

A shiver passed through the twins somewhere in Hogwarts.

• • •

" Hey Louis! " The twins call out, running to catch up to the two boys who were heading to the dining hall for breakfast.

" Yeah? What do you need? " Louis asks the two curiously as they catch their breaths.

" We need to work out more. " Fred notes to which George nods to. " Anyways, we were wondering " Fred starts, " If you will be going to watch the game against us and Slytherin. " George wheezes out.

Louis turns his head dramatically to Draco and speaks in a sad attempt at a southern belle accent " I do wonder if my dear old babysitter would let me go to the quidditch match to support these two. "

" Shut up. " Draco smacks Louis on the arm in spite. " So we'll take it as a yes? " The twins ask through their barely contained laughter.

A roll from the eyes is the only thing they got in response, and a roll from the eyes is a 'yes ' to them.

" Great! We'll see you tomorrow then! " Fred says happily as he leads the way to the dining hall with George following along.

Entering the dining hall for breakfast, the twins take their usual seats and part ways from Louis and Draco who take their own seats.

" So what did you do? " Annie asks just based from the looks on both faces. " What do you mean, ' What did I do? ' I did nothing. " Louis weakly defends himself.

" Your face says otherwise. " Richard shoots a pointed look at the two, waiting for their explanations patiently.

" Louis agreed to go watch the quidditch match tomorrow. " Draco was the first to break under pressure. " Dang it Draco! " Louis exclaims exasperated.

" You do know we're going with you no matter what right? " Richard asks putting his book on potions down on the table.

" It's why I didn't want to tell you. " Louis mumbles out sadly as he takes his cups of Jello.

" Relax. As long as nothing goes horribly wrong. Everything will be fine! " Annie says cheerily. " Aaaand you jinxed it. " Louis says followed by a groan.