Chapter 42 - A Rather Productive Day

All Draco has ever asked for when he was younger, is a friend who is nice and honest.

Someone who would start a fight when they are wronged, or defend their friend who's framed for something they didnt do.

And when he gets what he asks for, he often wonders where in this merlin forsaken world did Louis pop up from.

Louis Princeton does have everything he's ever asked for, and he is glad for that.

But considering the number of times the boy just willingly throws himself into all kinds of shitty Merlin situations, makes him seriously consider rethinking his life choices.

However, despite everything that's going on - at the present moment - ignoring the nauseating feeling churning within him due to Meister's teleportation, Draco has never been more grateful for the friendship he has with Louis.

Amd he wouldn't change it, not one bit.

If only the boy of the topic could stop skipping around him in pure joy at his suffering.

The homeland of the unicorns is something Draco will without hesitation, wholeheartedly call breathtaking.

Despite it being high in the sky hidden by the clouds, the population has been able to prosper and flourish like nothing he has ever seen.

Though it is awkward when he and Louis are the only two who walk on two legs among the four legged unicorns that populate the land.

Well Louis is walking he, on the other hand, is hanging off Meister's back trying to get rid of the nausea he's still suffering from.

Arriving at their destination was rather quick and easy, entering the palace - At least that's what Draco thinks it is - Was relatively easier, all they had to do was let Louis show the armor-wearing-unicorn guards the letter of invitation from their king.

After sliding off Meister's back like a lifeless slug, the two boys follow Meister to where his king awaits them.

Three unicorns were inside the throne room. The king(no shit), the king's advisor, and the queen.

Bowing to the unicorn on the throne made of a treebark Draco could not identifyfor the life of him, Louis speaks up " King Augustine, it's good to finally meet with you. "

...

" Richard, you look like your soul's been s.u.c.k.e.d out of your body, are you sure your okay? " Neville asks worriedly, looking at his friend stumbling about Hogwarts hallways on their way to class.

" Never been better. " He replies monotonous.

Like he's going to say that he and Annie spent the whole of last night at the night before checking through the school for any sign of the Basilisk that's got everyone on edge.

Sadly enough, no matter how much they searched, they could not find a single clue about the whereabouts of that Merling foresaken thing.

" We haven't checked the bathrooms. " Annie, who was already in class seating at her usual place, mumbles subconsciously while she scribbles on her paper showing the school's blueprints.

" Hey Ann. " Richard greets as he very 'gracefully' falls into his seat next to her. Neville also greets her before taking his seat next to Richard.

With their lesson starting, the two barely pay any attention to what was going on. Annie was too focused on the blueprint of the school to care enough about the lesson, and Richard was on the verge of welcoming the darkness.

" Richie, Look at this. " Annie says as she proceeds to jab Richard by the side with her hand before sliding the blueprint across the table and in the line sight of his eyes.

" What's this? " Fighting back a yawn, Richard shakes the sleepiness out of his body listlessly before taking a look at what Annie has.

" Blueprints of the school. " she pops a piece of candy into her mouth.

" Why do you have blueprints of the school drawn out on a piece of parchment? " Neville - who was zoning out during the lesson - happened to overhear what Annie said and couldn't help himself to ask.

" Because we're tracking down the Basilisk that's in the school. " Annie casually says with a quirk of a brow, as if it was the most normal thing to do in the world.

" What?! Why? " Neville whisper shouts, not wanting their professor to know what was going on right under his nose.

" Think about it this way, would you have the professors deal with the Basilisk while it takes the students down one by one as time goes by, or would you rather deal with the situation by yourself if you have the power to do it? "

" Let me remind you that the professors we're talking about, are the same professors that didnt know Quirrell had Voldermort on the back of his head for basically the whole of last year. " Annie says as she eats another piece of candy.

" And we have Mr. self-publicist who's ego is far too big for his head and has the magic capability of a toddler. "

Richard adds in as he checks the blueprints to see if Annie missed anything while she was making the blueprint.

" I can't help but feel that you two don't really like our professors. " ' Or professor Lockhart for that matter ' Neville states as a sweat drop rolls down his forehead comically.

" We don't exactly hate them per say, it's more like we question their meaning of existence is all. " Richard says, putting down the blueprint and picking up his feather pen to cross out the areas Annie had missed.

" That's a tad bit too much, don't you think? " Neville asks, sad on behalf of the professors who aren't there to defend themselves.

" Do you want to join us? Because two people searching for something is definitely going to take a longer time than three people. " Annie offers, drinking from her tea cup she summoned under the table.

" I don't know, getting into trouble isn't really something I want to do. " The hesitation on his face is as clear as the sky is on a sunny day.

" Neville, trust me when I say this, you will not get caught. " Richard reassures, placing his hand on the young Longbottom's shoulder.

"....Alright then, but if I go down, you're going with me. " Neville promises his friend, to which he agrees to.

....

When the night comes at last, the three adolescents begin their mission, sneaking out into the hallways with the moon high in the sky, just to search for the lone Basilisk that slithers inside the school premises.

They didn't need to search for long, for Neville caught a glimpse of the Basilisk's body when he turned a corner, and hastily shoved the two behind him back to the corner to hide.

" A heads up for the shove would be nice. " Richard says in an attempt to lighten up Neville's mood whom at the current moment is very stressed about what he saw mere moments ago.

" Well at least we found the Basilisk. Now comes the decision making, do we follow it back to it's hideout or do we put a tracking spell on it and leave it for another day? " Annie mumbles lowly so only the two boys can hear.

" I vote tracking spell, both of you are exhausted anyways so some rest could do you good. " Neville says knowing full well how unprepared and ill equiped he is to handle a Basilisk of all things.

" That aside, we'll need to tell Louis when he gets back since he's the one more knowledgeable in creatures and animals than us. " Richard says which Annie agrees to.

While the two Princeton's talk between each other about their next course of action, Neville has many questions he'd like to ask them.

For instance, why would Annie and Richard, two of the smartest students of their year - and possibly the whole school - want to tell their younger cousin about what they have just found, but not the professors?

Sure he's seen Louis here and there in their first year at Hogwarts and at the start of their second year, but after that, he rarely saw the boy around.

It was like Louis can just come and go as he likes without needing to face the consequences of doing so.

He's a complete mystery, enshrouded in the shadows, not wanting to be found or heard of.

And if you ask him if he wants to figure out the boy, it's a mystery he doesn't want to solve anytime soon.