Archive of Our Own

Louis wasn't in love with Zayn per se. But he was also not not in love with Zayn, you know? He figured that everyone who knew Zayn fell a little bit in love with him at some point. He also liked to think that whatever he and Zayn had transcended any mundane descriptions. Like, Zayn was his soulmate. He would be okay with ending up with Zayn at some point, but he would also be fine if they both ended up with someone else. They had a mutual understanding on that. 

However that might have been, his feelings for Zayn were not confusing to him. He would die for Zayn if need be, and he knew that Zayn would do the same for him. Zayn was his go to person for everything, whether it was something serious he needed help with or just a good time. If it came to choosing between anyone or Zayn, he would always choose Zayn. 

People rarely understood their dynamic. Most people assumed that they were dating and used to send Louis sympathetic glances in that brief period of time that Zayn was dating  Perrie, which was hilarious. People loved to believe there was something illustrious going on. But Louis really had an entire emotional life that didn't revolve around Zayn. He had crushes. He dated other people. And Zayn was always there, the one constant presence in Louis' life. 

"I think I just saw my future husband." Louis threw himself dramatically on the couch in the Slytherin common room. 

"Hello to you too," Zayn chuckled, not even looking up from his parchment. 

Honestly, it was the first week of school. How was he already studying? 

"How are you not a Ravenclaw," Louis deadpanned. 

"I knew you were gonna be a Slytherin," Zayn answered. "So I asked the hat to be with you."

"It was a rhetorical question,'' Louis rolled his eyes. "But really, you're not gonna ask me about my future husband?"

"I don't have to. You're gonna tell me either way." Zayn smirked. 

"Fine. He's a Hufflepuff. He spilled his coffee on me in the library," Louis said dreamily. 

"The one thing that I find the most unbelievable about this story is that you were in a library without me dragging you there by force." 

"Fuck you," Louis grinned at Zayn.

"You’ve already done that," Zayn quipped, laughing, then went back to his book.

"Yes, and I enjoyed it very much," Louis laughed and used a soft stinging hex on Zayn's nose, making the other boy laugh. 

Louis looked out the window. It was still warm out and Hogwarts looked amazing at this time of year. The Forbidden Forest was starting to yellow and everything was bathed in light. Louis loved yellow, especially on library guy's robes. He filled them up nicely, looking like he just got over a growth spurt ‘cause his robes were tight around his arms and his trousers were a tad too short. He had brown curly hair falling into his eyes. His eyes…  they were warm and lovely. When the guy bumped into him and spilled his coffee on him, Louis honesty couldn't tell whether he was hot because of the scalding beverage making his way down his trousers or the guy's eyes. He was so enthralled that before he got a chance to ask for the guy's name, he had already cleaned Louis up with a simple spell, blushed furiously - which did things to Louis - and ran away, apologies on his tongue. 

"I don't think he's in our year, ‘cause we had classes with Hufflepuff last year and I would have remembered him, but he's not much younger. I think he must be sixth year, maybe fifth. Who do we know in sixth year?" Louis asked. 

"Um… from Hufflepuff? I'm pretty sure no one." 

"I'll just have to stalk him the old fashioned way then," Louis sighed. 

"Or you could, you know. Go up to him in Great Hall like a normal human being and ask him out," Zayn mumbled under his breath, knowing full well there was no way Louis would give up on his scheme. 

Zayn turned back to his book, reading materials for his classes the next day. He liked to be prepared, and he actually liked learning. Slytherins were cunning, and to be cunning you had to be smart. 

The next day, Zayn arrived to his Herbology class a bit earlier than usual. Louis had skipped lunch, and it seemed that if you weren't dodging a hundred questions a minute, you could finish lunch in half the usual time. He opened the door to the greenhouse, and noticed a Hufflepuff picking up aconite flowers. 

"Hi," Zayn said, walking towards him. "You're here for N.E.W.T. level Herbology?"

"Y-yes,' the guy stuttered, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. A very cute deer. A very cute, tall, and muscular deer. 

"Cool. I'm Zayn. I thought I knew everyone in seventh year, " Zayn extended his hand and smiled, pleased when the boy squeezed it. His hands were huge, his fingers calloused, which led Zayn to believe he was probably a quidditch player. He was hot, but seemed like he didn't know it, probably because he was awkward when he was younger. Zayn always found that adorable. 

"Liam. I'm in sixth year." His face was still bright red and he was looking uneasily at Zayn, who had a hard time letting go of his hand. 

"What are you doing in this class then?" Zayn leaned in a bit, his hand still firmly holding Liam's. 

"Headmistress McGonagall seems to think that I should have a plan B that’s not quidditch related. And since I’m quite good at Herbology, she suggested taking this class and maybe becoming a potioneer." Bingo on the quidditch thing then. 

"I should probably start coming to the quidditch games then," Zayn said, looking Liam up and down with a small smile. He never tended to be subtle. 

"You should! The games are so much fun!" Liam exclaimed, the most animated Zayn had seen him since they started talking. His entire face lit up talking about quidditch. 

"I don't know how my house team would feel about me cheering on a Hufflepuff," Zayn teased. "But if it makes you smile, I may just endure their wrath."

Liam chuckled, looking at the ground bashfully and Zayn just wanted to keep talking to see him as flustered. 

He was just so, so, so pretty and he looked good with the pink on his cheeks matching his lips. Zayn was used to getting what he wanted. He and Louis were both young, rich, smart, and fearless. If they wanted something, they made sure they got it. 

"Do you want to be my partner for this class?" Zayn asked when he saw some other people trickling inside. Liam nodded, a surprised look on his face. The boy had no idea, did he? 

Zayn only saw Louis in the Great Hall when he came for dinner. Louis was already sitting in their usual spot, looking around. He waved Zayn over but kept looking around which meant he was still trying to stalk the guy that he met in the library. Zayn laughed softly and sat next to Louis, kissing his cheek in greeting. 

"I take it you didn't find your library guy yet," Zayn commented, stealing food off of Louis' plate. 

"Oi," Louis swatted his hand playfully. "Get your own. And no, I didn't, but if there is a place I will find him, it's here."

"Well, it seems like we’ll both be hitched by the end of the year," Zayn laughed. "I met someone too," he added.

Louis turned to him, anticipation written all over his face.

"He's a Hufflepuff in my Herbology class."

"We do love us some Hufflepuff, huh?" Louis joked. 

"Yeah, it's not our fault they're so damn endearing. Soft fucking bastards." They both giggled and Zayn continued with the story of how he met Liam, and how well they worked together, and how smart he was. "So long story short: we're going to the next quidditch game." 

"Fine. Maybe I'll bring my Hufflepuff," Louis wiggled his eyebrows and then nearly shot out of his seat, looking at the door to the Great Hall. "Dude, he's here!"

Zayn turned around and saw Liam entering the Great Hall with another guy. "The blonde one?" Zayn asked, watching Liam and hoping to catch his eye. 

"No, the brunette next to him,' Louis said, and Zayn turned around to face him slowly. 

"That's Liam," he stated, watching Louis carefully. 

"Your Liam?" 

"My Liam."

"That's my library guy."

"So… your library guy. And my Liam. Are the same person," Zayn said slowly. 

They watched each other for a bit before bursting into laughter. 

"Of course we're into the same dude. I mean, why not." Louis said, wiping his eyes. 

"I mean, I can back off if you want," Zayn offered half-heartedly. 

"Naaah," Louis shrugged. "I mean. We don't even know if he's into either of us. But if he is into you and not me, it wouldn't be fair for me to make you both unhappy because I, what? Saw him first? Come on, man. This is us, we're not that basic. " He bumped his shoulder against Zayn’s softly. 

"We're anything but basic. We're fucking great. And we're gonna woo the shit out of that dude." Zayn kissed Louis' shoulder and looped an arm around his waist. "We'll just let him decide."

"I see that the thought of him not being into either of us didn't cross your mind," Louis teased. 

"Not possible. We're a catch," Zayn laughed. 

"Damn straight," Louis agreed. 

They both kept sneaking glances at Liam. He was sitting near the end of the table, talking to the blonde guy, who was gesturing widely and whose laugh could be heard all through the Great Hall. Liam was quieter, barely speaking and covering his mouth every time he laughed. Louis felt an uncomfortable surge of butterflies in his stomach. 

"We should probably go over and talk to him," Louis  mentioned as they finished up with dinner. 

"You should go ahead," Zayn said after a beat. "I mean, I'll see him tomorrow in Herbology, and I still have to practise my charms."

"Are you sure?" Louis pressed. 

"Hell yeah. I mean. We decided that we're gonna let him decide, right? And you should get a chance to introduce yourself." Zayn shrugged. 

"Okay. I'll see you in the common room, yeah?" Louis said, standing up seeing as Liam and his friend were also rising. "I love you,' he murmured to Zayn, kissing his head quickly. 

"Love you too." Zayn smiled and Louis moved quickly after Liam who was disappearing through the door. 

He caught up with them on the stairs and grabbed Liam's arm to get his attention. 

"Hey, hi! " Louis said, a bit out of breath but as friendly as he could manage. 

"Um… hi?" Liam said, a glint of recognition on his face. "I'm really sorry about that coffee, I swear… ' he started, blushing. His friend looked between them and then positioned himself between Louis and Liam. Did Louis really look like he wanted to bully him? He should work on how he came across. 

"No, no! It's honestly okay. Like, I didn't come here to yell or whatever." Louis laughed, seeing Liam's shoulders sag in relief. "I just didn't get a chance to introduce myself last time. You ran out before I gathered my wits. I'm Louis.'

"Liam? " he said, his intonation going high at the end, making it seem like a question. He still looked a bit unsure about what Louis wanted which was precious, considering Louis was pretty sure that there was only one reason he could have for running after him. 

"It's nice to meet you.' Louis grinned and shook his hand slowly, as suggestively as he could manage. "I would ask you out for a coffee, but I'm not sure I can trust you around hot beverages," he teased "...or myself around someone as hot as you. So would you like to go to Hogsmeade? Or maybe go flying with me?"

Liam's initial shocked expression was slightly worrying. Louis was a pretty confident guy. It wouldn’t be the first time he had to hex someone without a wand - if you're a gay wizard,  you tend to pick up on that skill and shield charms rather quickly. But it would really suck if Liam of all people turned out to be a homophobe. Louis’ smile was slowly slipping from his lips when the other guy piped up. 

'He'd love to,' he said, nudging Liam's side. "Wouldn't you, Li?"

"Um…  I… me? Really?" he asked, ducking his head in embarrassment. Louis' insides were flooded by sudden relief. He wasn't a douche; he was just insecure. 

"Well, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you, ever since you burned half of my body. And I'm a Slytherin - I should be thinking about revenge, not how nice your arms are, but here we are," he shrugged, seeing Liam's face getting even redder. "I mean, I am dead serious considering I am doing this very public declaration. I would like to take you out, but if you're not into it or whatever just say the word and I won't bring it up again.'

"No, I… " Liam cleared his throat. "I would love to go flying with you."

"Fucking ace," Louis smiled. "I'll send you an owl, yeah?"

Liam nodded.

"It was nice to meet you too," Louis added, turning to Liam's friend. 

"Niall,' he said, clearly holding back laughter at their entire exchange. 

"Pleasure, mate. I'm Louis. I’ll see you around, Liam,' he said and squeezed his arm softly before slowly leaning in and kissing Liam's cheek. 

Afterward, he ran back to his common room, his own cheeks burning. He was never shy about his advances. He always considered himself fairly liberal in life and love, so cheeks kissed was pretty tame when it came to it, but something about Liam made even that small gesture almost scandalous. 

He was living in a Victorian novel. 

"So how did it go?" Zayn asked with a small smile when Louis entered the Slytherin common room. 

"We're going flying." Louis smiled bashfully. He sat down to compose a message to Liam and then looked at Zayn a bit sadly. "It's gonna suck once he chooses one of us, right?" 

"Maybe," Zayn shrugged. "But I think we will be okay."

"Will we? " Louis asked tentatively.

"I promise." Zayn nodded and kissed Louis' head. "Send him a message. Go on a fucking date," he urged. "Keep up, babe, ‘cause I'm making my move during herbology tomorrow," he teased, making Louis laugh. 

He and Liam agreed to meet after Hufflepuff's quidditch practise, two days later. Louis sneaked out to the bleachers early to watch Liam play. Most of his teammates were eyeing Louis warily, but Liam just smiled widely and waved at him from his broom. Louis waved back excitedly. Judging by the big C that adorned Liam's robes, he was a captain. Louis couldn't help but be impressed. He had always liked flying, but he was never particularly good at quidditch. He had dabbled a bit during first year, but it never stuck. 

Liam, though, was a brilliant defender. During the entire hour and a half that they practised, he only let one ball pass and Louis was pretty sure he did that on purpose. The boy that scored looked much smaller than the rest of the team, so  Louis suspected he might have been the newest addition. It was sweet of Liam to let the ball in, in order to instill some confidence. 

Louis watched as Liam descended on his broom and talked for a few minutes with his teammates. He clapped each of them on the shoulder and managed to exchange at least a word or two with everyone separately. Only once they were all on their way back to the castle did Liam jump on his broom and fly up to the bleachers, landing next to Louis. 

"Hi," he smiled, rocking a bit on the soles of his feet. 

"Hi," Louis grinned, pleased with himself. He took out flowers that he had hidden under the bench during practise. "These are for you."

Liam's mouth snapped open and he looked at Louis, shocked. 

"Some of my friends suggested chocolates, saying it was tacky to bring boy flowers, but I heard that this boy might like flowers," Louis elaborated, enjoying how red Liam got. 

"How did you know that I enjoy flowers?" Liam breathed, taking the flowers and sniffing them before scrunching his nose in disapproval. "In all the movies they always sniff the flowers. I’ve never gotten any so I figured I might test it, but they really don't smell that great, do they?"

"No, not really," Louis laughed. "The smell is overrated like all of the things you're supposed to love."

"Yeah, like big parties." 

"Or chocolate frogs." 

"Or summer vacation."

"Or kissing girls," Louis smirked, making both of them laugh. 

"Hm yeah, not a big fan of that one either," Liam giggled. 

"Figured," Louis shrugged. "So… you're gonna take me for a ride then?" He raised his eyebrow in question. 

Liam had prepared. He rented another broom from school, and they spent a few hours shooting hoops and flying over the lake. It was always intoxicating for Louis to be on a broom. He didn't have as much time as he wanted to to fly nowadays, so it was a nice change of pace. 

When it was getting dark, they landed near the lake and Louis accioed a blanket from his room. He laughed a bit at what Zayn would think about his blanket flying out of their bedroom. He spread it on the grass and he and Liam sat down side by side. 

"I had a really good time tonight," Liam whispered, the world quiet around them. 

"Me too," Louis smiled, nudging him softly. "I would like to go out again. We could maybe go somewhere else? To Hogsmeade?"

"Yeah. Okay." Liam nodded, biting his lip like he was trying to stop himself from smiling. 

"Wow, you didn't even need Niall this time to agree for you!" Louis joked. "If it goes this fast, I might be lucky enough to get a kiss next time." He smirked, expecting  Liam to blush and duck his head. 

"I’m really not that shy." Liam rolled his eyes fondly. 

"It's okay if you are, though." Louis shrugged. "I wasn't making fun of you. I think it’s cute."

"How about this?" Liam asked and gently turned Louis to face him, planting a soft kiss on his lips. "Is this cute?"

"Fuck, yes." Louis grinned and looped his arms around Liam's middle, bringing them closer. 

Somewhere along the way they toppled over on the blanket. Louis had not thought Liam would end up halfway on top of him on their first date, but he was not complaining. 

"I seriously can't believe you wanted to go out with me," Liam breathed in between kisses. 

Louis paused to give him a quizzical look. "Have you got no idea how you look?" he asked bluntly. 

" I mean, I'm okay…"

"Okay?" Louis groaned, throwing his head back.  "Are you insane? You should ask Zayn what I said about you when I first saw you. You inspired me to spout poetry." Louis laughed and kissed Liam's cheek playfully. 

"Zayn?" Liam asked, like he was trying to piece something together. 

"Huh, yeah. I somehow forgot about that part. Um, Zayn, the dude that has been hitting on you in herbology, is my best friend."

"Oh," Liam said, untangling himself from Louis and sitting up. Louis hadn’t really thought through how weird that would look from Liam's perspective. 

"Look, it's not an issue. I saw you first, sure, but then before I knew who you were, he met you and thought you were cute, too. We realised the gag in Great Hall the other day. But like. We're both grown ups. It's okay if you want to date just one of us. Like we figured that if you wanted, we would give you a few dates to figure it out, I guess." Louis shrugged. "Or, you know. If you don't want to date either of us, like, you can let me down now and then break the news to Zayn in class tomorrow? I'm sorry, is this weird? I sometimes forget people seem to think my relationship with Zayn is weird."

"Zayn is into me?" Liam asked, shell-shocked. 

"I should probably let him answer that question," Louis noted, feeling a small pang of jealousy. 

"I really. I… I don't want this to be a mess," Liam said slowly, like he was choosing his words carefully. 

"Look, " Louis said, turning around to face Liam fully. "Zayn is a great guy. He's… he's so special. And smart and lovely. And I will completely understand if you choose him. And I will be okay with it," Louis said, squeezing Liam's hand. "No one comes between me and Zayn. If you want me to say that I will let it all burn just to have a shot with you, I can't tell you that. I like you, I think you may just be the cutest thing that I've ever seen in my life, and I would like to see how this goes. But if you decide that you want to be with Zayn, I will still be his best friend and I will do my best to be yours, too."

"How are you so cool about this?" Liam asked, his brows furrowed. 

"I don't know." Louis shrugged. "Me and Zayn never did anything the old-fashioned way I guess."

"You've been friends for a long time?"

"Ever since we were little. We were born within a few hours of each other, and our moms are best friends too, so we were inseparable since the beginning." 

"No pressure there, huh," Liam noted under his breath. 

"He speaks in sarcasm!" Louis teased. "I'm sorry, you know. But it's not really our fault you're so hot that neither of us wants to let go, " he added with a smirk, making Liam smile. 

They stayed up long past curfew and it was a hassle to get back to the castle without anyone catching them. Still, Louis managed to walk Liam to his dormitory, sneak a goodnight kiss, and then run back to the dungeons where Zayn was sitting on his bed reading a heavy looking book in the candlelight. 

The other boys in their room were already sleeping, so  Louis put some silencing charms on Zayn's bed and slipped under his covers. 

"How was it?" Zayn asked absently, his fingers tracing the line he was currently reading. 

"It was awesome," Louis smiled. "He's fucking amazing. I just want to squeeze him and never let him go," he added, burrowing his head under Zayn's arm. 

"I can still back off," Zayn offered. 

"But you like him too," Louis argued. 

"Yes, but I like you more. I like us more." 

"Aren't you the one who promised me that we will be okay?" Louis countered. "It wouldn't feel right, somehow, to not even give you guys a shot. I told him though, that we know each other. He seemed really surprised by the fact that you were into him. I thought there was heavy flirting."

"Oh, trust me. I’ve been laying it on thick. But if he's not picking it up, I’ll have to up my game then." 

So when Zayn stepped into the greenhouse the next day, he was wearing fresh robes, he had spent half an hour before class applying eyeliner (an incredible muggle invention that Perrie had showed him when they were dating - it was a plastic quill with its own ink that you could apply on your eyelids and it had the endurance to stay there all day!), and he was carrying two cups of coffee. Liam was already sitting at the back in a place that Zayn already considered their corner. Zayn wanted to think that maybe Liam came to this class early to be able to chat with him, the same way that Zayn has been cutting his lunch short every day to be able to steal a few minutes more with Liam. 

"I brought you coffee," Zayn said, pushing a cup towards him. 

"Oh! Thank you! I needed this!" Liam exclaimed, sipping on it gratefully. 

"I bet. Louis came back around midnight. What, pray tell, were you doing?" Zayn teased, earning an unamused expression from Liam. 

"Playing quidditch, flying… talking about you," Liam said, his tone challenging. 

"In my defence, I did think I was being pretty obvious with my flirting," Zayn laughed, throwing his hands up in defeat. 

"Maybe you were," Liam allowed. "It just didn't cross my mind that someone like you might actually be into me."

"You have to stop saying shit like that. It's not like we're doing you a fucking favour by being into you," Zayn said sitting beside Liam. 

"Not a favour, no. It's just surprising ‘s all".

"Babe, I beg you. Last night while you were flying under the stars with a cute guy, I managed to shovel in three bags of crisp, the big ones, get almost half of it all over my bedsheets and my night robes and go to sleep without changing them. Only today did I wash the orange dust from around my mouth. I am a disgusting human being," Zayn laughed. 

"Well…  you don't look it," Liam said, giving Zayn an appreciative once over. 

"So… there is this place in muggle London, a garden that I used to enjoy going to when I was a kid. Would you like to go with me this weekend? You would have to probably get a written note from your parents to leave campus, but if you can't score that we can maybe find a work around."

"No, I think my mom will be okay," Liam grinned. 

The rest of their conversation was interrupted by the professor walking into the greenhouse.

Zayn couldn't wipe the grin off of his face for the remainder of the day, even up until the point when he saw Louis at the Slytherin common room after class. 

"Getaway in London? Seriously?" Louis asked, raising his eyebrow. 

"Why not?" Zayn smirked. 

"Oh, we're playing that, this year, bitch?" Louis grinned, a challenge evident in his tone. 

"I was doing so already. Keep up, love," Zayn laughed and moved past Louis, murmuring a shield charm to block the inevitable pinching curse that was bound to follow. 

Over the next few weeks, Louis and Zayn tried to one up each other in front of Liam. 

“This is starting to get ridiculous,” Liam said. 

"Starting to?" Niall asked, unamused. "After Zayn made that insane banner for your quidditch game, Louis hired a fucking sky writer. I think we're way past ridiculous," he added, stuffing his mouth full of mashed potatoes. 

It was a few days before Christmas. Many students had already left, meaning the Great Hall was quiet. There were only a few groups of students still mingling around, the ones staying behind during Christmas break and the ones who were leaving later. 

"You should just pick one already," Niall urged. "It's not gonna get any easier and it's not like you can just keep dating them both. I can take Zayn off your hands," he added innocently, earning a smack on the head from Liam. 

"Not helping." 

"I don't know what you want me to tell you. Only you know which one you want to be with." Niall shrugged, helping himself to another plate of mashed potatoes and chicken. 

"Both," Liam groaned and banged his head on the table. 

"That would be way funnier if you were bi," Niall noted and happily went back to his food. 

Liam did not have this luxury. It's not that he enjoyed leading both of them on and all the crazy ways they showed him that they cared. It's just, he couldn't choose. Each time he made a decision quietly to himself to go with one over the other, he felt nauseous and wanted to cry over losing the other one. 

He almost missed the days when he was young and awkward and there weren’t any boys trying to date him, let alone two very attractive, smart, and funny young men. 

Either way, he owed it to them to make a decision already. He was scared that if he kept it up any longer, the playful competition they seemed to have going on, enjoying one upping each other almost as much as enjoying Liam's smiles, would turn sour. 

He sent them a message that evening asking them both to meet. He knew that they were set to go home in a few days and he figured after what he was about to say, they would need a break from each other. Maybe when they all came back after New Year's, they would be able to at least be friends. 

The request to meet up found Zayn and Louis in the Slytherin dungeon, exchanging Christmas gifts. They were alone in their bedroom since everyone else had already gone home. 

Louis was messing around on the guitar that Zayn gave him, and Zayn was sketching him in his brand new sketchbook. The owl tapped on the window and Louis murmured a spell to let it inside. 

"It's from Liam," he said, recognising the owl. 

"Yours or mine?" Zayn asked, not taking his eyes away from his drawing. 

"Both of us it seems," Louis noted, looking over the letter. "He wants us to meet him tomorrow to talk."

"Well," Zayn said, tilting his head to send Louis a soft smile, "about time, eh?" 

Louis didn't reply. He simply stood up and joined Zayn on his bed where he proceeded to burrow himself as deeply as he could into the other boy's side. 

"Hey. I'm glad you're you," Zayn said after a long stretch of silence, drawing patterns on Louis' back.

"I'm glad you're you," Louis responded, kissing Zayn's arm. 

"I don't think anyone else in the world could handle this better than us."

"We're special," Louis agreed. 

"We're unstoppable." Zayn smiled. "He's gonna choose tomorrow. And I know it's been mostly fun, but I keep trying to think of a way that neither of us has to lose him and I can't figure it out."

"Maybe there isn't a way." Louis shrugged and tightened his hold on Zayn's waist. 

"Either way." Zayn shrugged. "One for the road?" he added, smirking. 

Louis smiled softly and kissed him. "We're gonna be okay, remember?" Louis squeezed his hand. 

"We're gonna be okay." Zayn nodded.

After a while, they both dozed off. 

They met Liam the day after and brought him back to their room, since it was supposed to be a private conversation and they did not want to be overheard. Liam looked like he was about to puke his guts out, and Louis started to feel bad. 

Maybe he should have just backed off when Zayn first mentioned Liam. He loved them both so much. He just wanted them to be happy and right now, both of his boys looked anything but. 

If only there was a way that this didn't have to end in one of them being miserable. 

"I'm sorry, I just…" Liam said when the silence became unbearable. "I can't choose, okay. I don't want to come between you and I honestly don't know how to choose one of you without breaking my own heart," he said, his voice breaking. "And I wish there was a way that I could be with you both, but I know that there isn't and I think... I think it will be better if we all just stay friends," Liam finished, looking on the verge of tears. 

Louis and Zayn jumped to him out of instinct and cuddled him between themselves. 

"We're so sorry that we put you through this," Zayn said, now looking like he wanted to puke. 

"This fucking sucks. All I want is to be with you both. Why in the name of Merlin can't we just all be together?!" Liam exclaimed, looking more annoyed than either of them had ever seen him. 

Zayn was still busy kissing Liam's head, trying to placate him. But Louis felt like he had just been struck by lightning. 

"There's no reason," Louis said slowly, seeing confusion on both of the other guys’ faces. 

"Reason for what?" Liam asked.

"There's no reason why we can't all three of us date," Louis said, smiling at the idea. "No, think about it," he added when he saw skeptical looks from other boys. "All we talk about is how great it would be if we could just all date. Why don't we then?" he asked, seeing Zayn's face lighting up. 

"Like polygamy?" Liam asked. 

"Polyamory, more like," Louis stated. "We would all be together. The three of us."

"We..  we can do that?" Liam said, stepping back. He looked confused, but significantly calmed down, which led Louis to believe that he wasn’t turned off by the idea. 

"We can do whatever the fuck we want, love." Louis smiled. 

"That's such a fucking Slytherin thing to say." Liam rolled his eyes and they all laughed softly. 

"I think we can do it. There are other people doing it. I think it would take a serious conversation about boundaries, but I think we can figure it out," Zayn said, looking at Liam and Louis. "If you want.'

"Fuck," Liam laughed, rubbing his eyes. "Of course I want to! " he added a bit hysterically. "I thought I was going to be so miserable after this conversation!"

“So, just so we’re clear. We’re doing this?” Louis asked, having a hard time hiding his smile.

“I think so, yeah.” Zayn grinned back at him. 

“And I thought telling my parents I was gay was tough,” Liam chuckled. “Now I have to tell them I have two boyfriends?”

“Boyfriends.” Louis wiggled his eyebrows. “I like the sound of that.”

“So how about we stay here tonight since tomorrow we’re going home for Christmas, and then when we come back, we can talk about things?” Zayn asked, looking at both of them expectantly.

They spent an entire evening playing chess, talking, and making out a bit. Liam was surprised how normal all of it seemed to him. He supposed he would need some time to adjust to the new situation, but when he fell asleep between Louis and Zayn, on two of their beds pushed together and heard Louis' loud snores on his left and felt Zayn's soft breaths on his right, he knew he was exactly where he needed to be. 

Christmas break was torture. He, Louis, and Zayn wrote to each other but it always took so long for a letter to be delivered and Liam simply missed them. He also knew they were together during the break, as their parents were neighbors and close friends. He couldn't help but feel a little jealous about the fact that he was missing out on that. 

When New Year's Eve came around, he couldn't be more thrilled. The day after tomorrow he would be back at Hogwarts and he would see his boys again. He woke up pretty early and made sure he packed his bags. He had already done most of his assignments and seeing as he usually wore muggle clothes at home, he could have his trunk packed and ready to go. 

He walked downstairs and smiled at the sight of his mom and dad dancing around the kitchen while pancakes were being mixed in a bowl. 

"Hi guys," Liam smiled. 

"Good morning baby," his mother greeted him and swiped her wand to accio the pancake mix. "Pancakes?" she asked, her eyes shining brightly.

His dad walked past him and kissed his head. "I have to go to work today, unfortunately, but I will be back around 5 p.m." he said, drinking his coffee. "Stock exchange never sleeps." He winked at his son. 

Liam’s dad was a muggle and had met his mom at one of his buddy’s bachelor's parties. She was working at the time, straight out of Hogwarts in a muggle bar in London, and she had found him in a bathroom black out drunk and had taken care of him. Geoff had a blurry memory of apparating with her, but after he woke up he did not remember anything else besides how gentle she was. So he came back the day after to the bar to look for her and kept coming back until she agreed to go out with him. 

Twenty years later, they were still as in love as ever. Liam hoped he would one day be able to be a part of a relationship like that. Maybe in his teenage brain he even carried the notion that his current relationship could turn into something like that. 

"So when do we get to meet them?" his dad asked while squirting a caramel sauce on his pancakes. 

"Zayn and Louis?" Liam had caved and told his parents everything the second he came back for Christmas. He just couldn't hold it in, he was so happy. 

"Yes, your boyfriends." His dad smiled. 

"I don't know. We just started to date, dad. I think we can wait a bit until I introduce them to my parents." Liam rolled his eyes. "I don't want to scare them off." He added biting his lip. 

"I don't think they scare easily." Geoff laughed jovially and before Liam had a chance to react, he heard a distinctive whoosh from their hallway. 

"You should probably check who that is." His mom smiled.

 Liam narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously, but stood up and slowly moved to the hall where he stopped dead in his tracks. 

"Surprise!" Louis and Zayn yelled out, still a bit ashy from the floo ride. 

"What?!" Liam yelled out, a huge grin spreading over his face. "What are you doing here!" he exclaimed and jumped on them in a second, hardly able to contain his excitement. 

"We wanted to surprise you," Zayn explained, kissing Liam quickly before Louis planted a kiss on him as well. "We missed you," he added. 

"I missed you too." Liam replied. "How are you even here?" he asked, still in shock. 

"Well, you wrote that you had told your parents so the next time we sent you letters, we attached a note to them asking if we could surprise you for New Year's Eve." Louis shrugged. 

Liam kissed them both again and urged them towards the kitchen where they officially introduced themselves to his parents and filled them in on a party they wanted to take Liam to. Their childhood friend, Gigi, was having a small New Year’s Eve get together. She attended Beauxbatons and Louis and Zayn didn't keep in touch with her as much as they liked to, but this year they had a hot boyfriend and they wanted Liam to meet their friends. 

"Her parents are home, so we won't be unsupervised and our parents already agreed for Liam to stay with either of us." Zayn assured Liam's parents. 

"Come on, I'll show you my room," Liam said excitedly and pulled his boyfriends by their hands. 

His room was a mix of both of his identities. On one hand there was an owl in a cage on his desk, and his trunk at the foot of his bed as well as his broom resting against the wall near the closet. On the other hand, he had a TV and football posters all over his walls. 

"Huh, these don't move," Louis noted looking at David Beckhams' poster, intrigued. 

"Yeah, it's a muggle poster," Liam explained. 

"Is he… a friend?" Louis asked then, still not taking his eyes away from the poster making Liam laugh hysterically. 

"He's a famous football player," he said, looping his arm around Louis' waist, "and you seem a little too enthralled by that poster for my liking."

"Well, he's hot. I can see why you would put him up directly opposite of your bed," Louis teased. 

"Is football like quidditch?" Zayn asked, looking over other posters and noticing a ball in almost all of them. 

"Yeah, you could say that. But they play on the ground obviously and there is only one ball."

"Huh. Isn't it like, super boring? Is this why all of the players are so hot? So you don't notice how boring the game is?" Louis asked curiously. 

"It's not boring! It's fascinating. I always watch it with my dad on TV, but I’ve heard that being in the stadium is even better!"

"You've never been yourself?" Zayn asked. 

"No, not to a real one, not a good one at least. Like, there are different leagues and the best ones are expensive."

"So why don't we go to this football thing?"

"I don't think you understand how expensive those tickets are," Liam said seriously. 

"I don't think you understand how rich Zayn and I are," Louis countered. 

"You're such a fucking Slytherin prince, I literally can't stand it." Liam rolled his eyes at his boyfriend, earning him a kiss on the cheek. 

"I don't think it will be more interesting than quidditch, but fuck yeah, let's go. Our treat." Zayn added, nuzzling Liam from the other side. 

"Okay, you two really don't have to act like my sugar daddies. Just because my parents don't own half of the Gryffindor Valley doesn't mean I'm poor."

"Love, we're just a year older than you. I think daddies may be pushing it." Louis laughed, playing with Liam's hair. 

"But if you ever want to bring that out in bed, I don't think we would be opposed to it,' Zayn teased, earning a smack from Louis. 

"Can we please not discuss daddy kink while my actual dad is like right below us?" Liam deadpanned, making the other boys laugh. 

"You're right," Zayn allowed, sitting down on the bed. "But we did hope that maybe we could talk about all the boundaries that we were supposed to think about." 

"Yeah, we should talk before we go to that party," Liam agreed and sat down next to Zayn with Louis occupying a space between their feet. He started to play absently with Zayn's ankle. "Well… " he continued when it was pretty apparent that neither of them wanted to start. "I did some research."

Louis snorted fondly.

"I think that we should just make sure that we are all on the same page,” Liam said. “And then going forward, make sure to be honest with each other. This is new to all of us, so there may be things we're unsure about. I just have one thing I want and that is for you both to promise that if any of this becomes uncomfortable, you will tell me."

"Promise." Louis smiled. "I don't really have anything. I just want to spend time with you and make out." He shrugged and Liam pinched his leg with a small chuckle. 

"I… Um. I have a question," Liam said after a moment, looking between the two of them. "I mean… Like. Is it okay if we like, kiss and stuff when it's just two out of three of us?" he asked, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. 

"Fuck yeah, like. You're not a lover that I'm letting my boyfriend fuck while I'm not there, you know? We're all in this together and I think that if we're not okay with each of us having separate moments together, then this really isn't for us, you know?" Louis said. 

"What Louis wants to say," Zayn started, rolling his eyes, "are you okay with us kissing and stuff without you?"

Liam mulled it over. On one hand, being able to see those two incredibly hot people making out was just about the hottest thing he could imagine, but on the other he couldn't help but think that it was just speeding up the inevitable when Zayn and Louis would realise that they really don't need him for anything. 

"Of course." He nodded eagerly but Zayn was still eyeing him suspiciously. "Really," he pressed on, looking into Zayn's eyes. "As Louis said, we need to work on our individual relationships as much as on our collective one, I think," he finished and it must have been the right thing to say because Zayn smiled and kissed him softly. 

As Liam laid with Zayn and Louis in his bed, talking quietly about their Christmas break and the upcoming party, he realised that he didn't really care if they got up and left him in a few days or months. He was the happiest he has ever been, and he was going to enjoy it for however long it lasted. 

His mom knocked on their door a few hours later with tea and peanut butter pie. Liam kissed her cheek as a thank you. 

"Oh, what is it?" Louis asked, eyeing the plate with interest. 

"A peanut butter pie."

"A what butter now?" Louis asked, his expression puzzled. 

"Are you seriously telling me you don't know what peanut butter is?" Liam deadpanned, and he was pretty sure that Louis was teasing him until he saw an equally puzzled expression on Zayn. 

"Holy shit! One sec," he yelled and sprinted out of the bedroom to bring back a jar full of peanut butter. 

He grabbed three spoons out of the kitchen as well and ran back up to his room where he proceeded to scoop a huge amount of peanut butter on a spoon and give it to each of his boyfriends. 

"Come on, try it," he urged. 

"It does not look appealing," Louis said, eyeing his spoon wearily. "The color reminds me of a vomit bean." 

"Well, muggle snacks are not like that. I have no idea where wizards get this masochistic streak." He rolled his eyes and nudged Louis' arm towards his mouth. 

Louis reluctantly put the spoon in his mouth and he looked at Liam shocked. 

"This is fucking delicious, what the fuck," he said and grabbed the jar out of Liam's hands to get himself another spoonful. 

"Not bad." Zayn nodded appreciatively. 

"Ha! See! I'm always right," Liam exclaimed, pleased with himself. 

"Of course you are." Zayn grinned, pulling Liam fully onto the bed and into his arms. 

"This is delicious," Louis murmured under his breath, completely preoccupied with the peanut butter jar. 

Zayn kissed Liam's neck softly and nuzzled the side of his face, making Liam giggle. "So you're ready for the party?"

"Yeah, I've never been to a New Year's party." 

"Are you kidding? Oh boy, you're in for a treat!" Louis hummed, seemingly talking to the peanut butter jar. 

He wasn't mistaken. Gigi's house was a gorgeous mansion, and even if Liam's entire existence was opposed to one family holding this much wealth, he had to admit that it was beautiful. 

Seeing as there were supposed to be about 50 people at the party (Liam guessed small get-togethers meant something different in pureblood world), they didn't take the floo. Instead when it was time to go, Zayn took out the envelope with the invitation and said that it was also a portkey that would take them to Gigi's house. 

They said hello to the hostess and her girlfriend Taylor, who made Liam a bit loopy in the head. He was shaking it, trying to get rid of the feeling when Louis looped his arms around his waist and whispered in his ear, "She's part veela. If you were straight, you would be in love with her already." 

"Well thank Merlin I'm not straight," Liam laughed. 

"That's my general attitude as well." Louis kissed him. 

"We have one more surprise for you," Zayn said, pulling them both towards the door. 

They stepped inside another living room, with couches spread all over the place and with one Niall Horan standing happily on the coffee table, wand in hand, singing a drunken muggle song happily with music coming out of his wand. 

"Leeeyummm!" he yelled out when he spotted him coming into the room and almost fell while trying to get down from the coffee table. 

"What are you doing here?" Liam asked, genuinely surprised. 

"Your boyfriends invited me." Niall grinned. "It is so like you to get yourself two boyfriends and not leave any to the rest of us," he tutted jokingly. 

Louis pulled all of them over to the couch in the corner of the room and Zayn accioed them some drinks. Liam was sandwiched happily between Zayn, who had Louis on his lap, and Niall, who was sitting on the other side of Liam. 

They were chatting happily when Gigi appeared out of nowhere and requested that Liam come for a tour of the house. Zayn suspected that she wanted to make sure he wasn't trying to take advantage of him and Louis, but he made no move to stop her. Liam was a sweetheart and Gigi was smart as a whip, she would see that. They left and it was just Zayn, Louis, and Niall, who started to look between the two of them, his eyes going from one to the other in increasing speed. It looked comical for a second before he stopped and threw himself back against the couch. 

"I don't know how to give a good shovel talk without threatening eye contact," he announced gravely. 

"Yeah man, that's like the most challenging thing about this poly situation," Zayn said, and Louis stifled his laughter. 

Niall eyed him with an unamused expression. 

"You two may be pureblood royalty or whatever, but it won't protect you if you hurt him," he said seriously. "Liam is the best person I know and I will not hesitate to hex you if he comes out of this heartbroken."

"Look at you, it seems like you do know how to give a good shovel talk!" Louis teased. 

"We won't hurt him," Zayn promised. 

"We're completely gone for him." Louis nodded, backing Zayn up. 

"Good." Niall nodded and his demeanor changed in a blink. He relaxed and smiled once again. "I'm gonna get us some more drinks. We gotta celebrate!"

When Liam came back to the living room, he saw Louis and Zayn on the couch, just the two of them. Louis was still sitting on Zayn's lap, his face buried in Zayn's neck, they were talking quietly. Liam wanted to go to them, bury himself in Zayn's other side and hold Louis' hand, but something stopped him. The feeling of inevitable dread. Like he was looking at a car crash happening in front of his eyes but he was powerless to stop it. 

Before he had time to dwell on that feeling, Zayn noticed him and smiled softly before whispering something to Louis which made the other boy sit up and motion for him excitedly. They must have drank a few more drinks while he was out talking to Gigi. He felt that maybe he could table his musing for later and moved towards his boyfriends with a smile. 

The last thing he remembered were insane attempts to all three kiss at the same time when midnight struck and not being able to fit all of their heads together. Then laughing at their own misfortune and Zayn kissing him with Louis firmly attached to his back and his neck. 

When they woke up the next day, they were in Zayn's house. His bed was large enough for all three of them. Liam woke up to soft voices and the smell of coffee. He opened his eyes and saw Louis and Zayn sitting next to him with a tray full of food. 

"Hi, babe." Louis smiled and Zayn wordlessly handed him a cup of coffee. 

Liam sat up and rubbed his eyes tiredly before accepting the cup from Zayn. 

"Thank you." He smiled gratefully and gulped almost half of it in one go, burning his tongue a little. 

They chatted about the party last night during breakfast and when Louis started to throw his food at them, Zayn decided that it was enough and went back to the kitchen with dirty dishes. Liam excused himself to shower, because he had something on his mind and he was trying to build up the courage to say it. He wanted to be noble and brave, and if they were not going to do this themselves, he should push them along. If he really loved them. 

With a resolution fresh in his mind, he stepped back inside the room. Zayn and Louis were laying on the bed, both reading a book. 

"I think you should go on a date," Liam said, his face determined. 

"Do you mean we should go on a date?" Louis asked nonchalantly, not taking his eyes away from the book. 

"No. You two," Liam said with conviction, and that caught their attention. 

"And why, pray tell, would we go on a date without you?' Louis raised his eyebrow, closing the book. Zayn studied him with a small crease between his brows. 

" I just… I think that… I mean you guys…" Liam blushed, biting his lip. 

"You think that we're gonna dump you. To be together, just the two of us," Zayn stated with a straight face, and Liam hated that he couldn't read him yet. 

"I… maybe you needed me? To like. Realise that you love each other?" Liam asked, his voice small. 

"We do love each other. We also love you," Louis said, standing up and moving toward Liam. He stood next to him and took his hand in his, trying to get him to meet his eyes. 

"We don't want to do this without you," Zayn said, joining them. "There is a reason me and Louis never really went there before and that reason was you. Because this, " he motioned between himself and Louis, "this doesn't work without you." He put his arm around Liam's waist. "If you would feel better if we went on our own, we can do that, but I can tell you exactly how it's gonna go. We're gonna go on a date, have fun but also miss you, and then Louis will say "hey, there is peanut butter cake on the menu, Liam would love it" and we will come back here, because in case you didn't notice, we're-" He stopped, thinking that maybe all the usage of plural pronouns was part of the issue. "I'm crazy about you."

"Me too." Louis nodded. "That's kinda how this all started, didn't it? Us being crazy stupid head over heels for you?"

"But like. Didn't you say that we should have relationships with each other just as well as all three of us?" Liam asked, still not convinced all the way, but desperately needing all of it to be true. 

"Yeah, and we have. And we will work on ours too. I mean, it is a bit of an adjustment for me and Louis to actually date, but. We were always pretty flexible." He winked at Louis. "And now you're not asking us to do it because you want us to get closer for our relationship to be as healthy as it can be, you are asking because we're closer than we are with you and that scares you. And that's okay. We can honestly reassure you all day every day." Zayn smiled, stroking Liam's cheek. 

"And every night…" Louis smirked, earning a playful shove from Zayn. 

"Yes, sure, and night." Zayn rolled his eyes. 

"I know it must be awful for you sometimes, because me and Zayn know each other so well, but we can't turn back time…"

"Actually…" Zayn piped in, ready with a magical theory or two about time travel. 

"Zayn, not now," Louis laughed, making Liam produce a weak smile of his own. "We have known each other for years, and you're new, sure, but it doesn't mean you're any less important. And honestly I don't think any words will be able to convince you at this point.' He shrugged. " So we'll just have to convince you everyday how much we love you, until you believe us."

"For however long it takes." Zayn smiled and kissed Liam's nose softly and Louis joined in from the other side, kissing his temple. 

"For however long it takes," Louis promised. 

10 years later

Louis and Zayn sat on their bed, enjoying a quiet day. A few years back, they opened the first privatised magical orphanage and today all of the kids were on a trip to London. They had decided to open shortly after they were denied adoption based on their "lifestyle". They had been devastated that they were refused when there were so many kids looking for homes. It took a fair amount of wrestling with the Ministry but they managed to open and now they were housing over 100 kids who were always fed, clothed, and cared for. 

It wasn't the same as having one of their own, but they weren't about to give up on that dream either. 

"What ever happened to Liam?" Louis asked with Zayn carding his hand through his hair. 

"No idea, it's been years," Zayn agreed, a small smile playing on his lips. 

"He was such a great young man," Louis sighed. "Now I barely remember what he looks like."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it old man, I am never home," Liam laughed, walking into their bedroom. "I'm sorry that I have to play all over the world. It must be such a hardship for you to visit me in the US or Costa Rica," he added, jumping on the bed with them and tugging Louis into his side. Over the years as Liam trained heavily, he became taller and bigger and Louis seemed to be exactly the same size he was in Hogwarts. It was the root of endless fun for Liam, considering now he was able to actually pick Louis up with one hand. 

"I missed you," Louis said petulantly. 

"I missed you guys, too," Liam said, kissing Zayn and then Louis. "You know I hate it when I have to leave but it's not that bad. I'm back, the season has ended, and you'll be able to get tired of me now."

"We'll never get tired of you," Zayn murmured, pushing into Louis, trying to get to Liam as well. They were usually awfully clingy any time he came back from being away. Quidditch kept him busy, and even though he always made a point of coming home for the night when they were playing somewhere close by, he would have to be a lunatic to try to apparate or fly on broomstick over the ocean. For those long distance travels, he had to take a plane or a flying carriage. 

"I love you. Both," Liam whispered when he had both of his boys on either side of him, both with legs and arms thrown across Liam like they wanted to keep him from leaving again. 

"Love you too," both of them whispered back and Liam thought that nothing else hardly mattered as long as he got to hear those words out of his partners every day for the rest of his life. He teared up a bit thinking about how lucky he was to find them and slept peacefully all through the night.