Chapter Text
The anticipation before the kiss
Mirrored in my shaking lips
Oh god I feel so unprepared
The two of us so out of place
My feelings written on my face
Got what I want but now I'm scared
What if we ruin it all, and we love like fools?
And all we have we lose?
I don't want you to go but I want you so
So tell me what
Tell me what we choose
- Fools by Lauren Aquilina
_____________
It was Monday morning, Theo knew that he had to get up from the bed and actually get ready for classes, but he was tired and just wanted to sleep. Brett had been yelling at him to get up from the other side of the curtains for fifteen minutes now, clearly, feed up with Theo being late, but Theo just wants to stay in the warmth of his bed.
“Theo, get your ass out of the bed,” Brett shouted again.
“Fuck off,” Theo grumbled, face pressed against the pillow.
“Come on, Theo, we need to go have breakfast.”
By this time, however, Theo was sure that they would surely miss breakfast, he still had to get up and get dressed and he didn’t know what time it was, but it wasn’t time for breakfast.
“Why can’t they let us sleep longer?” He complained while leaving his bed, mumbling to himself about not having time to take a shower before class.
Brett was already ready to go, dressed and with his shoes on, and Josh was finishing getting dressed, the other boys with whom they shared their room had already left. Theo was late today, even more than he usually was.
“If you had gotten up the first time I called you, you would have time to shower,” Brett said while Theo ran around the room in search for everything he needed.
“Shouldn’t you be having breakfast already?” Theo asked when he was putting his shirt on.
“We decided to be good friends and wait for you,” Brett smiled sweetly, too sweetly.
“Is that so?” Theo asked with a raised eyebrow, knowing that that wasn’t the reason as to why his friends had waited.
“Nah,” Brett chuckled not even bothering to pretend. “We only stayed because seeing you rushing to find everything you need is really entertaining.”
Theo wasn’t surprised by that answer, it was typical Brett and typical Josh, but that didn’t stop him from looking at his friends and stick his tongue out like a child, pants midway up his legs.
“We also didn’t want to see Tracy with her tongue halfway down Hayden’s throat,” Josh added laughing.
“Are they dating?” Theo asked them.
He had spent his Sunday inside the common room, studying and helping some of the younger Slytherins with their homework, so he hadn’t had time to talk to Tracy, who had spent the whole day outside of the Slytherin territory.
“Tracy spent the whole day with her yesterday, so I'm guessing they are… Or that at least there’s something going on.”
“And didn’t you see them when they came out of the closet at the party? They didn’t even try to hide it.”
“Of course Theo didn’t see them,” Brett snickered. “He was too busy staring at Liam to notice anything other than blue eyes.”
“Actually, I did see them,” Theo grumbled. “I just wasn’t sure if they were dating or not.”
“Pardon me, let me rephrase. Theo was staring at Liam, but he also noticed Tracy and Hayden’s post make-out session state; how could I not have known that Theo looks at something other than Liam.”
“Shut up, Brett,” Theo chuckled and threw his pillow at brett before going back to tying his shoes, not even caring that Josh was laughing at him.
Theo got up from the bed where he was sitting and grabbed his bag and his wand, joining the other two at the door. He was still tired and he wanted to go back to his bed and sleep, but he knew that he couldn’t so he followed his friends out of the room. He would see Liam, though, that was a good thought that made him want to go to class a little bit more.
“To be honest,” Brett went back to the original question. “I’m not sure if they are dating or not. We’ll know eventually.”
And Theo was sure that they would know, Tracy might try to keep it down for a while to leave them curious, but she would eventually tell them everything, she always did. The common room was already empty when they left, making Theo even more sure that there was no way they could possibly go have breakfast.
“What about you and Liam?” Josh smirked.
“We’re not dating, if that’s what you want to know,” he shook his head.
“But you do like him,” it wasn’t a question, it was something that all of them knew was true.
“I’m not even going to deny that,” Theo shrugged.
“And he likes you, too.”
Theo didn’t answer but a stupid smile that he couldn’t erase even if he tried to appeared on his face and didn’t go unnoticed by his friends.
“Look at his face,” Brett teased. “He’s completely smitten.”
“Stop it,” Theo glared, but there was no heat or anger in it, he knew they were only teasing him and he didn’t mind that kind of teasing, it wasn’t like they were wrong either.
They were walking to the Potions classroom when Hayden and Tracy appeared in front of them. Tracy had two cupcakes on her hands and Hayden had one and they gave them to the boys. Theo noticed that their hands were clasped together and swinging between them, fingers intertwined.
“Hmmm… holding hands are we?” He smirked.
“Yes, we are. Is there a problem?” Tracy raised an eyebrow.
“Of course not,” Brett laughed. “You brought us cupcakes because we missed breakfast, Hayden clearly is a good influence on you.”
“I have always been nice,” Tracy scoffed.
Theo put his arm around her shoulders, laughing at the slightly offended look on her face, and made the two girls start walking to the class they would be late to if Tracy decided to engage in an argument with Brett about she being nice.
“Sure, dear,” he laughed. “You’ve always been as nice as me.”
Tracy elbowed him playfully in the ribs but laughed with him. She knew he was right, they were similar in that aspect, they could be really nice but they usually chose when being nice was the better option and when it wasn’t. They were nice if they wanted to.
“We’ll see what a Gryffindor’s influence does to you too,” she told him, clearly talking about Liam and their growing relationship.
“Yeah,” he smiled. “We’ll see.”
______________________
They were the last students to arrive to class, the others were already seated on their places and waiting for the professor to come.
Brett and Josh hurried to their table in the first row, making sure that they were seated before the teacher appeared. The both of them worked together in Potions class, as did Theo and Tracy, Hayden had partnered up with Liam since the beginning of the year. Following their friends lead, the other three walked to their tables which were next to each other.
Before sitting, Tracy stopped in front of Hayden’s table and talked to the girl in whispers. Theo looked at the other occupant of that table and winked when he saw that Liam had been looking at him, the other boy rolled his eyes playfully but smiled at Theo who couldn’t help but smile back.
“You guys are completely smitten,” Tracy’s voice broke them out of their small bubble.
“Like you’re not,” Liam raised an eyebrow, not denying what she had said.
The two girls looked at each other and laughed, it was plainly obvious that they were smitten, too. Hayden leaned in and kissed Tracy’s cheek before the Slytherin girl came to her place next to Theo, just as the professor appeared.
“I hope all of you studied what I told you to the last lesson,” Professor Slughorn said when he entered the classroom.
Looking around the room anyone could tell exactly who did the homework and who didn’t. Theo thought that they were stupid for not even trying to pretend, the small, knowing smile on the professor’s face told him that he wasn’t fooled by any of them either.
“Mr. Raeken,” he called, knowing that Theo would know the answer. “Could you explain to the class what is this potion and what it does?”
Theo smirked, happy to show that he, unlike many of his classmates, had done his reading and knew the answer to the question.
“This potion is Amortentia, the most powerful love potion in the whole Wizarding World. The person who drinks it will experience strong infatuation or even obsession with the person who gave it to them,” Theo explained.
“Anything particular you would like to add, Mr. Raeken?”
“If well brewed, the potion will have a different smell for everyone. It will remind the person in contact with it of the three things they love the most or find the most attractive, even if the person is unaware of their affection towards the object, or person, they smell.”
“Very well,” Professor Slughorn nodded with an impressed smile. “10 points to Slytherin.”
The Slytherins around the room looked smug since they had just earned some more points, while the Gryffindors looked slightly annoyed for having lost an opportunity to get house points, all except for Hayden who was looking at her book like she didn’t care and Liam who had an impressed look on his face while he looked at Theo.
“Now, no one is going to drink this potion here,” the Professor told them, not wanting any of them to do something stupid. “But we will brew it and smell it. Go grab your ingredients and put your hands to work.”
Tracy and Theo were the first ones inside the storeroom where the teacher kept the ingredients since they were the ones who sat closest to it. They got everything they needed and exited it before it got crowded with all the other students.
The two of them laid the ingredients in front of them on the table and checked if the caldron was clean before starting to read the instructions from the book, determined to make the best potion they could.
“So,” Theo started. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on between you and Hayden?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” She grabbed one of the knifes.
“Come on, Tracy, you can’t keep it hidden forever,” he whined.
“I won’t keep it hidden forever,” Tracy snorted while starting to cut the ashwinder eggs. “I just like a little mystery...”
“I know that, but do you have to keep it up with me?” Theo put the eggs Tracy had cut inside the cauldron.
“Of course I have to,” she laughed. “It’s entertaining to see you so curious.”
“What a nice friend you are,” he said ironically.
“We’re dating,” Tracy said after a few minutes of silence. “Hayden and I, we’re dating.”
“When did it happen?” Theo asked while lowering the flame on the cauldron.
“Yesterday.”
Theo added the rose thorns to the mix in front of them.
“I’m really happy for you, Tracy,” he smiled at the girl next to him.
She looked happy and relaxed and he was really glad that she had found love and was enjoying it like she deserved.
“What about you?” She passed him the powdered moonstone.
“What about me?”
“When are you going to ask Liam out.”
He stopped what he was doing and looked up at her. He did want to ask Liam out, but he didn’t know how to ask or where they could go; he wasn’t afraid of Liam saying no, he knew that Liam liked him as much as he liked him, he just had to wait for the right moment to ask.
“I don’t know.”
“But you are going to ask him out, aren’t you?”
“I plan to,” he added the peppermint.
Tracy smiled brightly at that, clearly proud of her friend and happy that he was going to give what he and Liam had a chance.
“There’s a Hogsmeade trip next weekend, you should use it.”
“I might.”
After that, they kept on preparing their potions, talking about their love interests and other random things in whispers while time passed and, all of a sudden, Theo was adding the pearl dust and finishing the last details of the potion, the class almost finished.
“Let’s see if your potions are as well brewed as they should,” the teacher said when everyone had finished their potions. “I want you to go around the room, smell each cauldron and if you can smell the same thing in each one of them it means that all the potions are good.”
Theo leaned in to smell their cauldron and sighed, it did smell good. The first scent that caught his senses was the smell of burnt wood and fire, remind him of the Slytherin common room where he felt at home; then he caught the scent of Tracy’s flowery perfume mixed with Brett’s and Josh’s colognes, the smell that reminded him of his friends, his family; and, in the middle of it all, there was the unmistakable smell of cinnamon and coffee, the smell that screamed love at his face, the scent that he had always loved on Liam.
He walked around the room, smelling the exact same things in almost every cauldron, making him feel warm and enveloped in nice feelings and memories, he loved all those smells and they were all so important to him, he wasn’t too surprised that this was what Amortentia smelled like to him.
Tracy stopped next to him when they were facing the last cauldron, her eyes were wide and bright and Theo knew that she was as mind blown by the feelings the smells carried with them as he was.
“What do you smell?” She whispered.
“The common room, you and the guys and Liam,” he answered with a little smile, looking up at where Liam was and making eye contact with him.
“I smelled my grandfather’s house, the Slytherin common room and honey,” she looked up at where Hayden was and Theo knew that she was the honey on Tracy’s Amortentia.
Theo and Tracy really were smitten with the two Gryffindors, but none of them cared one bit.
____________________
Theo was walking outside of the castle on Wednesday afternoon. He was alone since Tracy had gone to the Gryffindor tower to spend some time with Hayden and the other two Slytherin boys had gone to the library to study; they had invited Theo to go with them, but he really didn’t feel like studying and the weather outside was too nice to pass up.
Walking to the Quidditch pitch, Theo hadn't expected to see anyone flying around, convinced that everyone would be either walking around or studying, although he wasn’t too surprised since people relaxed in different ways. There was a figure hovering in the air, riding a broomstick and flying around. Theo would have kept walking if he hadn’t recognized the messy hair and the back and shoulders as Liam Dunbar, so he stayed; he sat on the bleachers and looked up at the other boy. Observing the way he flew around with confidence and ease, the way he looked like he was in his element, how well he did it.
When Liam came down from his flight, he sat on the ground panting, with his back turned to Theo, broomstick laying on the floor next to him, clearly tired from the exercise he had just been doing. Theo took advantage of his distraction and got up as slowly as he could, so that he wouldn’t make any noise, and walked up behind Liam, quietly, and, when he was standing directly behind him, he stopped and opened his mouth.
“Fancy seeing you here, Dunbar.”
Liam jumped, getting up in under a second and turning around so fast that Theo worried he would get dizzy and fall over. His eyes were wide and his body seemed to shake a little from the scare, Theo felt a little bad, but he hadn’t meant to startle him so much.
“Merlin, Theo, what the hell,” he screeched, hand on top of his chest. “You can’t just sneak up on people like that.”
“Sorry,” he said, but the laughter in his voice showed how amused and unapologetic he really was now that he knew that Liam was ok and not mad. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“Shut up,” Liam chuckled, calmer now. “That was exactly your intention.”
“You think so lowly of me?” Theo asked, faking disappointment.
“Yes, actually,” Liam shrugged with an innocent grin.
“You wound me, Liam,” he gasped in mock hurt and betrayal.
Theo two of them laughed and looked at each other with smiles on their lips.
“What are you doing here?” Liam asked, sitting on the floor again.
“I was just walking by and saw you flying,”Theo sat next to him and turned his face so that they were making eye contact. ”You’re really good at it.”
A shy smile stretched across Liam’s face, eyes averting to look somewhere else for a moment before turning back to Theo’s eyes.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
Theo didn’t answer, but he kept his eyes on the boy in front of him, looking across his face and admiring the way he looked in the sunlight, hair swept back from his flight and cheeks slightly flushed, taking in the beauty that was Liam.
“You look beautiful,” he couldn’t help but say.
Liam needed to know just how attractive Theo found him, how perfect he was, and Theo didn’t have a problem with telling him, in fact, Theo would tell him as often as he could, making sure that the other boy knew just how amazing he was.
Liam was blushing harder now and Theo smiled wider when he saw him playing with a strand of his shirt while avoiding eye contact with him.
“It’s true, Little Lion, you are beautiful.”
“Stop it,” he whined, punching Theo’s arm lightly.
“Ok, I’ll stop,” Theo chuckled. “For now.”
Theo laid on his back on the grass after that, looking up at the sky and the clouds racing each other, he was glad that the sun wasn’t too bright and he could look at it all without getting blinded. After a few seconds, seemingly recovering from his embarrassment, Liam laid down next to him, eyes on the clouds too.
“We should hang out this weekend in Hogsmeade,” Liam said.
Theo turned his face sideways to look at him while Liam kept staring up.
“Are you asking me on a date?” Theo asked, startled.
“Maybe… Will you say yes?”
“Damn it, Liam,” Theo groaned. “Why did you have to ask before I could?”
“Wait,” Liam turned his face to look at Theo, their eyes meeting. “You were going to ask me on a date, too?”
“So, it is a date, after all…” Theo smirked.
“Come on, Theo,” Liam laughed.
“Yes, Liam, I was going to ask you on a date.”
“Then your answer is yes, right?”
“Of course, I’ll go on a date with you,” Theo reached with his right hand to grab Liam’s left one and intertwine their fingers. “I really want to go on a date with you.”
“Good,” Liam grinned. “Because I really want to take you on a date.”
They stayed like that for a while, eyes holding the other’s, hands intertwined and happy smiles stretched across their faces. It was an amazing way to pass the time, just being in Liam’s company and enjoying having him near, appreciating the way his blue eyes shown with the sun and the warmth of his hand on his. This was everything to Theo. Liam was becoming everything to Theo.
So, he leaned in and kissed his forehead softly, mumbling a quiet “You’re beautiful” and settling back down on the ground to enjoy the beauty that was Liam’s reaction.
_______________________
Theo was waiting at the Entrance Hall. The majority of people had already left for Hogsmeade but Theo was still waiting for Liam to climb down the stairs. The Gryffindor was late and Theo was starting to worry. He was stupidly wondering if Liam had given up and decided not to go on their date, ridiculously doubting Liam. Logically, he knew that Liam wouldn’t do that, he had been the one who had asked Theo out, he had said that he wanted the date, he wouldn’t back down and if he did,he would have told Theo; Theo knew that, but that ridiculous part of his brain still doubted it all a little, for some reason.
He was interrupted from trying to stop himself from freaking out when Liam finally appeared, running down the stairs. He stopped in front of Theo, panting and breathless, face red and eyes wide.
“Did you run all the way down from the Gryffindor tower?” Theo raised an eyebrow.
“Maybe?” Liam said in the middle of taking deep breaths to regain his breath.
“You didn’t have to,” Theo shook his head fondly.
“I did. I’m sorry for being so late,” he apologized.
“Don’t worry,” Theo put an arm around his shoulders and led them to the outside. “It's fine.”
“I wanted to come earlier, but I had to go over some things with Madam Hooch and the Quidditch team. I came as fast as I could,” he explained.
“Liam…” Theo tried to stop him from talking anymore.
“I swear I tried to get away from them, but I’m the team captain and I really had to be there,” he continued, ignoring Theo.
“Liam,” Theo called again, stepping in front of the other boy and grabbing him by the shoulders to make him stop. “Stop worrying about it, it’s fine. I get why you were late. There’s not a problem.”
Theo smiled encouragingly at him, willing him to believe that everything was ok between them and that Theo wasn’t mad at all and that things were alright between them. He had been ridiculously worried before, but now that he knew exactly why Liam had been late he was reassured and he understood it, the worry completely leaving him.
“Alright, ok, let’s go,” Liam finally smiled back, now more relieved than before.
Theo stepped back to his place next to Liam, wrapping his arm around his shoulders again and bringing him closer before starting to walk again.
“So, where are you taking me?” Theo asked after a short pause in the conversation.
“I guess you’ll see when we get there,” Liam answered with a smirk on his face.
Theo huffed, amused, he should have expected Liam to say something like that, he should have expected Liam to feed his curiosity and leave him wanting to know what they would be doing more than before leaving the castle, making Theo as eager as he could.
“You could at least give me a hint,” he suggested, knowing he wouldn’t get an answer but that Liam would love to see that his work on getting him curious had been done well.
“Don’t be so impatient,” Liam teased, leaning his head up to kiss his cheek.
When they arrived at Hogsmeade, Liam stopped in his tracks and stepped in front of Theo like the boy had done earlier. There was a smile on his face, but Theo could see the little lines of worry in his expression and he didn’t like it at all.
“What’s wrong, Liam?” He hurried to ask.
“It’s just… I wasn’t sure about what we could do, I wanted to take you somewhere nice but this is Hogsmeade and the options are not exactly that open, so I kind of just went with this plan hoping for the best.”
“There’s no need to freak out over this, you can take me anywhere it’s fine,” he reassured. “Well, unless you want to take me to the Shrieking Shack because there is no way I would like to visit that for a date.”
“Well, we could go there and do some shrieking of our own, if you know what I mean.”
Theo blinked, mouth falling open in surprise, he hadn’t been expecting to hear Liam say that and, judging by Liam’s reaction he hadn’t exactly planned to say it, either. Liam was looking around the village, eyes everywhere except on Theo, he had taken one step back and was now shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
And Theo couldn’t help it, he started laughing because the situation was so good, so priceless. He laughed until his stomach ached a little and tears appeared in his eyes, he laughed until Liam eased up and started laughing with him and then the two of them laughed together. And it was incredible.
“Wow, Little Wolf, didn’t know you had it in you, but what a nice suggestion,” he winked teasingly.
“Shut up,” Liam chuckled.
“Come on,” Theo grabbed his arm. “Take me out.”
“I really hope that you like what we’re doing.”
“Little Lion, I’ll be spending time with you, of course, I will like it.”
Liam shook his head fondly.
“Who knew Theo Raeken could be this cheesy.”
“You love it,” Theo winked.
“I do.”
They kept walking along the street while teasing each other. It was already so nice and they were just walking to whatever place Liam had chosen. Theo had told the truth, he knew he would have a good time because he would be with Liam and that was all he wanted to do, be with Liam.
They stopped in front of a little shop in which Theo had never entered before even though he had looked at it and wondered what would be inside.
“I really like this shop,” Liam explained when he opened the door. “I’ve been coming here since the first time I came to Hogsmeade.”
Theo looked around surprised, he hadn’t expected it to be a music shop, but it was perfect and looked so cozy, he automatically felt welcomed in there.
“Liam,” he gasped. “This is so nice.”
“Yeah? I'm glad you think that.”
Liam leads him to the back of the shop, to the place where they could listen to the records, passing by the man who was behind the counter and greeted Liam like an old friend. He probably did go into the shop as many times and for as long as he had said, he knew his way around and acted like he was home, it was nice to see him in such a Liam environment, like watching him playing Quidditch.
“All the records are Muggle,” Liam explained. “The owner wanted to share a bit of the culture and music with the wizard community.”
“That's really nice.”
“I'll show you some records.”
He moved to grab one out of a neat pile and put it on the player, grinning at Theo the moment the song started playing.
“I never listened to this one, I usually start by a random one, so that I can maybe find a new song that I like, before moving onto the ones related to it, if I like it, or the ones I already know and like,” he explained just as the song started.
Theo listened to it carefully for a few seconds, before looking up at Liam and grimacing.
“What song is this?”
Liam shrugged and grabbed the cover to look at the title.
“It's called ‘My All’ and it's by Mariah Carey…” He read.
“Will you be mad if I ask you to change it? It's just way too slow.”
Liam chuckled.
“I don't like it, either.”
He took off that record and started looking for another one. Theo observed him, smiling at the concentrated pout on his lips and the way his eyes were narrowed while looking through the titles in search of the perfect one.
Suddenly, Liam gasped, hands gripping one of the records and bringing it up from the place where it was. He walked up to Theo and grinned.
“I can't believe I found this. See if you recognize it, ok?”
Theo nodded and Liam put it on. Theo couldn't remember ever listening to the song before when he started listening to it, but, when the song progressed, he raised his eyes to meet Liam’s in recognition.
He knew exactly what song it was.
“This is the song,” he started. “The one that was playing at the party.”
“Yeah,” Liam said softly.
Their eyes met while the song floated around them, rhythm and lyrics reminding Theo of the party in the Room of Requirement, the song to which Liam and he had slow danced. The song that made him realize just how much he liked Liam. And he knew that Liam’s thoughts were going around the same places, his eyes were shining, looking right at Theo’s and the smile on his face was so beautiful. Theo was so glad that he had given what they had a chance. It was everything.
“I'm buying this,” he found himself saying.
Liam smiled even wider, eyes crinkling at the corner.
And Theo was in love with Liam, he was so in love with him.
____________________
It was warm inside the Three Broomsticks. After Theo and Liam had left the music shop, Liam had dragged him to the pub, saying that he wanted to warm up and drink something, so they were now sitting at a table with a Butterbeer in their hands. It was nice and cozy and Theo didn’t want the afternoon, and their date, to end.
“How did you start liking Muggle music, Liam?” Theo asked him, curious to get to know the Gryffindor a bit better.
“I have always liked music, but the music made by wizards never appealed to me,” he explained. “My mother’s best friend is a Muggle and introduced her to their culture. I’ve been listening to their music since I was a kid and I have always liked it better.”
“I have to say that wizard music is not my favorite either, I listen to some, but I prefer Muggle. My mom is Muggle-born so I have always been in contact with the culture and always enjoyed it,” Theo shared a little about himself, too.
“You’re a half-blood,” Liam stated, looking a little surprised at the revelation.
“You didn’t know?” Theo raised an eyebrow.
“No, I mean, you’re a Slytherin and I had always assumed that you were a pureblood.”
“There are some half-bloods and even some Muggle-borns in Slytherin, Liam, people just ignore it because they only care about the stereotype,” he scoffed, tired of the assumptions everyone made about his house.
“You’re right… I guess I need to try harder in order to look past all the stereotypes like I want to.”
“You already look past the stereotypes, Liam, you hang out with us, we’re on a date. You see the real us, the real Slytherin, and the real me.”
“Still, I want to stop assuming things just because they have been thrown at me all these years. I want to put all of that behind my back and form my own opinions.”
Theo stayed silent, just staring at Liam with a smile on his face.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I just love when you talk like that.”
Liam shook his head fondly, he knew how important it was to Theo that he valorized him as a Slytherin, that he was thinking for himself and seeing things as they were, and he was determined to make Theo see just how worth it and lovely he thought the Slytherin was.
“I didn’t ask before, but what was the Quidditch meeting about?” Theo asked him.
Liam took a gulp of his Butterbeer before looking up at Theo.
“Just going over some things we have to polish until next game, Madam Hooch was helping us plan everything. I’m sorry for being late.”
“Can you stop apologizing for that?” Theo huffed. “I said it’s fine. I only asked now because I’m interested in you and Quidditch is an important part of your life, I want to know what’s going on in your life. It’s not to make you feel bad or anything, I better not hear another apology coming from your mouth.”
Liam laughed with an eye roll, Theo knew that a part of Liam would still beat himself up a bit for being late to the date, but it really was ok. Liam was stubborn, Theo knew that.
“Are you always this charming?”
“You know I am, Little Lion, and you love it!”
“Can’t deny that,” Liam winked.
They talked about some random things for a while, just enjoying each other’s company and having fun without worrying about anything. It was such a nice date, the best they had ever had and the both of them couldn’t be happier to be with each other in there.
__________________
After leaving the Three Broomsticks, the two of them had gone to Honeydukes to buy some sweets and candy to eat when they were back at the castle. Liam had insisted on paying for both of their bags which were full of chocolates and other candies and, although Theo had said that he didn’t need to, he had done it anyway and Theo wouldn’t say no to free sweets.
“When did you meet your friends?” Liam asked while they walked back to the castle, hands intertwined between them.
The sun was almost setting and the air was starting to get colder, so it was time to go back to the school and say goodbye to the date.
“I’ve known Tracy and Brett since we were nine or something and I only met Josh when we started school at Hogwarts,” he told him. “I remember playing with the two of them before Hogwarts, wondering what house we would be sorted in.”
“Did you think you would be a Slytherin?” Liam asked with a fond smile.
“I had always been almost sure that I would be one, the hat only confirmed it,” he grinned. “What about you?”
“I wasn’t sure. I did think that I had some of Gryffindor’s traits in me, but I wasn’t sure that it would be the house where I would fit in… Hufflepuff seemed like a possibility, you know?”
“Hmm… I can’t imagine you in yellow, red is your color,” Theo teased and, just because he knew that he would get a reaction out of Liam, he added. “And you are my Little Lion for a reason.”
“Your Little Lion?”
“Yeah, my Little Lion.”
“You’re right, I definitely am your Little Lion.”
They stopped walking and stood in front of each other, eyes locked and smiles wide. Their hands were still clasped between them and they only let go when Theo took one step forward and raised his hand to touch Liam’s cheek gently. Liam leaned into the touch, eyes closing and a sigh escaping his lips.
When his eyes opened again, Theo felt his breath catch in his throat, losing himself in the beautiful shade of blue. Liam leaned up, a small breath between their lips.
And then it happened.
Theo leaned down and Liam leaned up and their lips touched. Softly at first, trying, careful. And then they grew more confident, lips parting and hands moving. Liam’s hands went to the back of Theo’s neck and his hair and Theo’s hands moved to Liam’s hips to bring him closer.
Their kiss was gentle and sweet, it tasted like Butterbeer and chocolate, it tasted like coming home, it tasted like everything they had wanted to do for a while, and it tasted like a promise for a future together.
Theo didn’t know how long they stayed in there, in the middle of the road, just kissing and touching softly, enjoying every bit of what they were doing, giving everything they had and receiving everything the other gave them.
And it was perfect, the whole date had been perfect, everything with Liam was perfect.
Because Theo was in love with Liam and he was pretty sure that Liam felt the same way, and it was lovely and beautiful.