A Howl In The Night ✔ » l.s

13

Louis felt like a ninja as he followed Harry down the hall as stealthily as he could. Harry was great at sneaking around too, hiding just in time a person walks by and easily slipping through corridors.

He had no idea what Harry could be up to, but all he could think of was that Harry was probably days or even hours away from presenting fully, meaning he'll be hit with its full viciousness soon. Louis couldn't have Harry disappearing, especially now.

Louis shivered slightly as a cold gush of wind hit his exposed skin, silently cursing himself for not bringing a jacket or something. He was such in a hurry to catch up with Harry that he even ended up wearing mismatched shoes.

Harry suddenly stopped walking, glancing over his shoulder. Louis practically threw himself to the side and hid behind a thick pillar, wincing at the small noise his feet made against the floor. After a few moments when Louis deemed it safe, he took a peek from where he was hiding, eyes widening when Harry was already walking away and was about to disappear from his line of sight.

In his hurry, Louis suddenly jumped out of his hiding place and bumped into something—someone, rather—and stumbled backwards.

"Oh, Louis. What are you doing?"

Louis blanched when he realized who the voice belonged to. "Uh, Commander Roy. I was just, uh, going for a walk. Needed some air."

Roy didn't look convinced. "Is that so?"

"Yeah."

For a moment, the man just stared at him with bored eyes before sighing exasperatedly. "Very well. I'll be on my way back to my quarters, as should you."

"Yeah, sure." Louis said awkwardly, watching as the man walked past him and disappeared down the hall.

Louis was immediately skidding down the hall, looking around wildly for Harry. He groaned in frustration when he couldn't find him, but then a movement caught his eye at the end of the hall. He quietly crept towards it, sighing in relief when he found Harry standing in front of a pair of tall wooden doors, one that led to the archives, Louis realized.

Harry seemed to be fiddling with something on the door, but Louis couldn't quite see anything from where he was hiding other than Harry's hunched back.

Louis soon realised that he must've been unlocking the door when Harry finally opened the doors and stepped inside, securely shutting it closed behind him. Louis let a few moments pass before he quietly walked towards the door and cautiously pushed it open.

He easily slipped inside and closed the door without making much noise. It was dark inside other than the faint light casted by lamps hanging from the walls at intervals. Louis didn't really spend time in the archives in his years of staying at the Fort. He could only guess why Harry would sneak out in the middle of the night to pay a visit to the old library.

Louis crouched down behind a shelf, watching as Harry appeared and disappeared between rows of wooden shelves and tables. The boy was carrying a small lamp, scanning through books and scrolls. Eventually, he emerged from the shelves carrying several books, barley keeping his balance as he dumped them all onto a wooden table. He then placed the lamp on the table as well, then sat down and began to open the books one by one.

Louis didn't know what to think. Harry was…studying in the middle of the night? Did Roy give him some kind of homework to accomplish? Or was this some newly-found hobby of his?

A few moments passed, and Louis realized how stupid he was for sneaking around like this. He might as well just approach Harry and ask him what he was doing rather than to secretly watch him from behind a shelf like a proper creep.