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Harry bites her lip as she concentrates on the rainwater she’s pouring. She needs exactly 4 droplets or else the spell won’t work and after working on it for two days, she was not ready for rain water of all things to ruin it for her. There’s a heavy banging on the door and she jumps, the small vial falling from her hands and dropping into the potion with a puff of dark smoke. She groans in frustration, waving her hand so that the door bangs open as she lifts her cauldron. She heaves it into the sink, turning on the tap water to wash the failed potion down the drain. “This better be important because I’ve been working on that for two days and you just f-” She cuts herself off when she turns around, her cheeks turning a light pink when she meets a pair of ocean blue eyes. “Oh. Hi, Lou,” she greets, voice soft with fondness.
“Hey, Haz,” Louis says, grinning at her as she pushes a few of Harry’s ingredients out of the way before pulling herself up onto the counter. She’s so elegant in her movements. If Harry wasn’t in love with her, she might be jealous. Harry is the definition of clumsiness. Louis likes to giggle and tease her about her giraffe legs, and Harry just laughs along because even when Louis is making fun of her, she’s still the funniest person in the room.“Sorry about your potion. What was it for?”
“Mrs. Calloway’s roses have fire blight,” Harry responds, letting out a dejected sigh as she glances back at the ruined potion. “So, I was making her a potion to try and cure it because everything she’s tried hasn’t worked and her entire garden is dead.” Harry shrugs, giving her a small smile as she tucks a curl behind her ear. “It’s alright, though. I’ve got more than enough ingredients to start again.” She’s trying to not let it bother her. She knows that Louis didn’t mean it, but all that hard work was dribbling down the drain, literally.
Louis bites her lip, fiddling with her necklace as guilt tugged at her heart. It’s a small hare bone dangling from a leather cord, a gift from Harry when Louis first choose her path of death witchcraft. It’s one of her most prized possessions. When Harry had given it to her, she had let out a startled laugh, staring down at it like it was cursed. ‘It’s clean, I promise,’ Harry had told her. ‘I bought it from that witch shop you showed me. She said that it allows you to keep an outlet of your powers on you at all times. Figured that was a good thing.’ “You should just let the flowers die, Haz.” Louis suggested airily, trying to lighten the mood.. “If they’re meant to die, they’re meant to die.” Louis knew that Harry wouldn’t agree. But, some things just weren’t saving. Some thing just weren’t meant to be saved. And, what was so bad about death anyway? Death is a good thing. Death allows for new life. She’s trying to make Harry feel a bit better about this. Harry would always jump at the chance to help someone, even when she couldn’t.
Harry rolls her eyes, a small fond smile on her lips. “Of course you would say that,” She murmurs, turning around again to turn off the water. She’ll let the cauldron soak in the sink over night. By the morning, the water will have cleansed the cast iron of the negative energy of the failed potion. “So, did you need something?” she asks, turning around and leaning back against the counter.
“Pardon? I can’t visit my favorite nature witch without having an ulterior motive?” Louis gasps in mock offense, her hand covering her heart. Harry feels her own heart swell at the sight of her. She looks so lovely, her black tank top draping over her small frame. She's got her hair down today, a beanie covering it. It's usually up (“Out of my face and out of the way” Louis likes to say), but Harry guesses that it’s freshly washed.. It falls to her shoulders in the most effortless way. She's not even trying and that's why Harry's heart aches. Her sharp cheekbones don't need a bronze accent to make them pop. Her eyelashes don't need a thin coat of mascara to make them brush her cheeks. Harry startles when Louis snaps her fingers, eyes going wide. “You were staring,” Louis tells her, sliding off the counter and stepping up to her. She grabs her hand, intertwining their fingers and tugging her away from the counter. Louis tries to not focus on how well their hands fit together, Harry’s long fingers curling around hers, smothering them, hiding them from view. “There was something I wanted to show you,” She tells her suddenly, smiling at her quickly before starting to tug her towards the door. Harry smiles right back, even after Louis has turned away. Liam calls it her ‘Louis smile’ and Harry doesn’t really get it. Louis tries to pretend like she doesn’t. It’s one of those smiles that is just pure joy. Complete fondness. All of her teeth are on display and her dimples are popping out and Louis likes to think this is one of the smiles that is really just reserved for her.
Louis pulls Harry out the door, her step brisk. What can she say? She’s a girl on a mission. (A mission to woo the lanky nature witch that lives in a cottage surrounded by flowers. God, how stereotypical could Harry get. All she ever wears is floral button ups that she doesn’t button up all the way and jeans that are so tight Louis is sure they’re painted on.) Harry lets Louis tug her along, waving her hand to get the door to shut and lock behind them. Harry stumbles along behind Louis, trying not to step on the backs of her sneakers as they make their way towards the woods.
Harry doesn't question it. She never questions Louis. She trusts her wholeheartedly (stupidly, some might say). (She hates to admit it, but Louis does love to get her in trouble.) (“I didn't know that it would kill the dumb plant, Harry! You can fix this, right?”) (She couldn’t fix it.) This isn’t something new for the two of them, either. Louis comes up with an idea, and Harry follows along, eyes wide and love struck as she does anything she asks. (Harry would try to argue that she wouldn’t do anything that Louis wanted, but then she remembers the time that she helped her collect animal bones in the woods for over an hour and realizes that there’s no point.)
Louis stops suddenly, making Harry stumble and crash into her back. Louis turns around quickly and they’re so close. So close that Harry could just lean down and then they’d be-
“Close your eyes.”
“What?” Harry asks, eyebrows furrowing at Louis’s command as she steps back a bit.
Louis laughs, shaking her head and pulling her back. “No, don’t be scared. I promise there's no reason to be scared. Nothing bad’s going to happen. It’s just… It’s a surprise. I want it to be a surprise.” She tells her softly, biting her lip to try and hold back her smile. God, she wasn’t sure if she was more nervous or excited about this.
Harry hesitates, but nods, closing her eyes and lifting one hand to cover them, the other still wrapped up in Louis’s smaller one. She gets pulled along carefully, and her heart swells. She's pretty sure she's never seen Louis do anything carefully since they met six years ago. They suddenly stop again after a few minutes, Louis’s hands resting on Harry's shoulders to steady her. She smiles.
“Can I look now?” Harry asks, already moving her hand away from her eyes. Louis hums her agreement, and then she's looking down at bright, blue eyes and a mischievous smile. Louis steps aside. There's a stump. A large rotting tree stump that's probably only half a foot tall. Harry doesn't get it. She stares at it for a few seconds, completely bewildered. That’s when she sees it. A patch of light blue flowers growing from the middle of it. They’re tiny, just a handful of blue and green, growing, thriving, in the death of the stump.
“I was wandering the woods the other day, looking for potion ingredients, when I stumbled on them. Literally and figuratively. And, they made me think of you. Um. Because you love flowers. And, I thought it was kind of funny that they were growing in the stump. Because it’s dead. And, you’re a nature witch. And, I’m a death witch. And, they go together really well. Kinda like us,” Louis’s entire face is warm by the time she stops rambling. She’s pretty sure she’s never looked as much like a tomato as she did right then. She licks her lips and she stares at the ground. God, she’s never been so in love with someone. She looks up at Harry and she’s grinning. It’s one of her Louis smiles and Louis’s smiling, too.
Harry’s hand goes to her cheek, her thumb dragging carefully over the sharp jut of her cheekbone. “They’re beautiful, Lou. Thank you for showing them to me.” They’re so close. Louis can feel her breath against her lips. She pushes herself up on her tiptoes at the same time that Harry leans down and then they’re kissing. They’re kissing and Louis is pretty sure she never want to stop. All of the breath is sucked out of her lungs and she’s leaning into Harry, wanting to be close, closer.
Harry’s the one who pulls away. They’re both a little out of breath and a lot red, but they’re smiling. They’re grinning at each other with the smiles that are just for them.
“I love them, Lou. I love you.” Harry breathes out, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.
“Well, good.” Louis laughs lightly, her eyes squinting in joy. “Because what’s death without life?” She told her brightly, letting out a sharp laugh when Harry pinches her side and pulls her in for another sweet kiss.