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Harry's always loved being a witch. It's something he's found pride and a sense of belonging in. He loves being able to change the way events play out, to conjure something he needs when he's too lazy to go upstairs to his bedroom, and he adores the art of potion-making.
What he doesn't particularly like, is keeping his talents a secret.
He's never been a good liar, but keeping his secret isn't the hardest thing in the world. Most of the time, he finds it easy to 'switch off' that side of himself. At home, he's a normal witch. At school or with his friends, he's just Harry. Most of the time.
"Zayn, I think I'm in trouble," Harry complains as he lays back on his best friend's bed. The early September breeze is filtering through an open window. Harry's always loved fall.
Zayn raises a brow at him from where he's sat in a bean bag chair, pointing a finger at an apple on the desk and drawing it closer to him. "Why do you think that?" he asks idly, indulging Harry in his dramatics just a bit.
"It's usually so easy to just... pretend like I'm normal, yeah?" Harry starts, sitting up a bit on his elbows. "But something weird happened today."
"How do you mean weird?" Zayn questions around a bite of the fruit in his hand.
Harry winces a bit. "Erm, you know the new kid? Louis Tomlinson?" Zayn nods before gesturing for Harry to go on, a new kid a few weeks into the school year means everyone's been talking about it for days. "Well, I saw him for the first time today, yeah? And erm, I think I accidentally slammed every locker door shut in the hall?"
Zayn snorts and clears his throat as he tries to not choke on his snack and Harry glares at him. "Sorry!" Zayn chuckles. "What do you mean 'accidentally'?"
"Well I didn't mean to make it happen, but it did? I was just making my way to class and all of a sudden he's walking toward me like some... model or something. And then the doors all slammed shut and scared the shit out of everyone. I mean, they all thought it was a gust of wind, but it was awful."
Zayn gives Harry a little sympathetic pout but almost immediately cracks a smile again. "So, basically, Louis Tomlinson is so pretty you lost control of your powers? Isn't that like one of the first lessons we ever took?"
Harry tosses a pillow at Zayn's head with a whine. "I know! It's awful. I just need to avoid him, I think."
And, with that, Harry resolutely decides to avoid Louis Tomlinson at all costs.
Of course, that's easier said than done. He'd only seen Louis the one time that first day, but when they get back to school on Monday, Louis Tomlinson himself walks into his second class of the day. The universe must be after him because of course, his English teacher points Louis to the empty seat beside Harry.
Louis takes a moment to get to his seat before he turns to Harry and smiles in his direction. Harry doesn't have time to be embarrassed by the fact that he was already staring at Louis before the blue-eyed boy waves and greets him with a "Hey, I'm Louis!"
"I know," Harry blurts out, his cheeks immediately flaming up as he shakes his head and tries again. "I uhm, I heard someone mention your name yesterday. I'm Harry."
Louis laughs lightly and purses his lips as he looks Harry over once. "I know," he hums before he settles into his seat.
Harry tries desperately to not overthink that little exchange as he attempts to focus on the teacher who is trying to give a run-through of the syllabus for the course.
Instead, Harry focuses on keeping himself in check. He doesn't want to embarrass himself or worse, reveal the truth of his magic and get in trouble with the High Council. He remembers the lessons from childhood with his and Zayn's tutor where she'd told them the stories of witches in the past who had failed to keep their secret and the subsequent shunning and removal of powers they'd faced.
Losing his powers is at the very bottom of the list of things Harry would like to do in this lifetime, along with humiliating himself in front of Louis, so he focuses on the teacher and hopes that this is the only course he has with the beautiful boy.
He makes it through without having to interact too much, thankfully, but only two hours later he finds Louis sitting in his homeroom and groans internally because it appears that every other day, he's going to have to work extra hard to control the magic in his veins for two hours. He's exhausted already.
Louis waves, obviously not picking up on Harry's avoid at all costs plan, and Harry returns the gesture before promptly burying himself in reviewing his history syllabus.
Unfortunately, Harry doesn't get a chance to see Zayn until Saturday. He's in a mopey mood, which seems to amuse his friend as they sit on Harry's sofa with a pepperoni pizza between them on the coffee table to share.
"You should stop pouting, you'll get wrinkles," Zayn observes.
"I'll just make a potion to make them go away," Harry retorts through a bite of the greasy food.
Zayn snorts but gives Harry a look that means his friend is willing to listen if he wants to complain.
"Louis is in my English class and my homeroom. I had to spend all of Tuesday and Thursday trying to keep myself from doing something stupid and it sucks," Harry tells him after a few moments.
"Well, did anything happen?" Zayn wonders and Harry shakes his head in response, thankful he'd kept his magic controlled for the time being. "Then stop worrying so much. Just because something weird happened once, doesn't mean it will again, yeah?"
Harry shrugs a shoulder and chews that thought over. "I suppose you're right. I just also don't want to embarrass myself. He's really cool, from what I've gathered."
"I'm always right," Zayn muses and then grins. "Did I tell you Liam asked me out?"
"What? Zaynie, that's amazing! I told you he was into you!" Harry squeaks, reaching over to hug his dark-haired friend. "You have to tell me everything!"
Harry starts to think things might be okay as he makes his way into school on Tuesday morning. Yesterday, he managed to say hi to Louis in the hallway without anything crazy happening, and he thinks that maybe the first time he was just taken by surprise.
When he's sat in homeroom later that day, having made it through English unscathed, Harry is feeling more confident in his abilities to keep himself in check. Emboldened, he turns in his seat so he can face most of the way toward Louis and grins, "Hey. Do you think Mrs. Turner realized her shirt was inside out yet?"
Louis immediately snorts and shakes his head. "No, definitely not. She taught the whole course like that and had no idea."
Harry can't help but laugh quietly along before he shakes his head in mock solemness. "Poor woman," he hums.
Louis giggles again and Harry tries not to think too hard about how much he loves the sound as the other boy turns the page in the magazine he has splayed on his desk. Harry peeks at the page that's open. "Oh, I love Fleetwood Mac," he gasps.
"Who doesn't? Stevie Nicks is a vocal legend!" Louis answers enthusiastically. "I think ‘Landslide’ is my favorite song of all time."
"Oooh, it's such a good song. Mine is ‘The Chain’ – what a brilliant concept!" Harry grins as he looks at the vintage photo printed on the page. "I love Stevie. She's at the top of my list of celebrities I'd love to meet."
Louis nods in agreement but doesn't say much else as his eyes read along the article printed alongside the photo. Harry smiles to himself, endeared by the way the page had captured Louis' attention as he turns back to his own desk to let him be. He doesn't want to be a bother, after all.
Pulling out his history notebook, Harry starts to review his notes. It may be early in the term, but it’s never too late to start studying. As he reads on, he sings along to Landslide in his head, thinking about how lovely the song is and how it seems to capture so much about Louis. He's always been one to believe that someone's favorite song says a lot about them, and he loves having that little bit of information.
Just as he's singing inside his head about being afraid of changing, Harry pauses, his eyes going wide. Suddenly, Stevie's voice is playing on the intercom right where he'd left off. Harry schools his face, knowing full well that this was not a coincidence at all, but deciding to play it off as one.
Louis gasps quietly behind him, and Harry turns with wide eyes to him. "Woah! We were just talking about this song! What are the odds?"
He watches as Louis processes the moment, his own breath seeming stuck in his chest as he waits for a reaction from the other boy.
Louis finally chuckles quietly, just as the office secretary's voice comes over the speakers, apologizing for the strange technical issue, and Harry lets himself relax a bit. "Crazy, honestly," Louis muses with a little grin. "Probably a senior prank or something, though it is a bit early in the year for those to start."
Harry grins and shrugs a shoulder. "I've seen them start the morning of the first day. Week two isn't too bad," he notes as they both settle back into their own quiet moments.
Harry sends a text under his desk to Zayn, what does it mean when he tells me his favorite song and then it plays over the loudspeaker right after????? before he tries to go back to studying and definitely not thinking about Louis' favorite songs.
Just before the bell rings for the end of the period, Harry feels his phone buzz and he pulls it out to see a text from Zayn. His cheeks burn a bit as he reads the words sounds like you're in loveeee with a heart emoji and he sends back his own middle finger up emoji to his friend.
When Harry gets to class the next morning, he tries hard not to dwell too much on the fact that he wishes he had more classes with Louis. He does start to wonder when he became a masochist, however, considering how hard he's got to start trying to keep his magic in check as it is.
Thursday comes around too slowly for Harry's taste, and, much to his disappointment, he doesn't get to talk to Louis in English as they are separated into small randomly assigned groups for discussion. By the time they're heading for homeroom, Harry's eager to get a chance to talk to him.
He gets there before Louis does and settles into his seat in a way that faces him mostly toward Louis' chair as casually as he can. He's also fairly sure it doesn't look casual at all, but Louis grins when he sees him, so he figures he must have pulled it off well enough.
"I swear Mrs. Turner put me in that group with the cheerleaders just to do my head in," Louis pouts as he sits down. "I wish you'd been in my group to keep me sane."
Harry laughs a bit, feeling sorry for the fact that Louis had to endure a class full of trying to reign in gossip and drama in his group, and also finding joy in the fact that he had wished Harry had been with him. "Sorry. My group wouldn't talk to each other, if that makes it any better? I was trying to lead the whole discussion myself."
Louis grins as he pulls out a notebook and taps it with a pen. "I'd love to chat with you, but I have to finish my calculus homework before it’s due next period," he sighs.
Harry can't help but read into those words, wishing he could talk to Louis more since he'd been robbed of the chance earlier. "Boo," Harry complains with a frown, though he's sure Louis knows he's only kidding. "How much more do you have to do?" he wonders.
Shrugging his shoulder, Louis thumbs through the pages. "Honestly, I can't remember. I was doing it last night while trying to look after my sisters and cook dinner. I think there's only a couple left, but it might take me a bit."
Harry pouts, wishing that calculus didn't exist because he's got about thirty follow up questions he could ask based on the information he was just given. Calculus can get lost for all he cares. "Alright. Let me know if you finish up before class is done?"
"Will do," Louis promises lightly as he flips to the correct page in his book.
Harry turns back to his desk and starts absently doodling on his own notebook, as he listens to Louis shuffle through his papers. He finds himself wanting to know everything about the other boy. He wants to ask more about his sisters, like how many he has and if he gets along with them like he himself does with his own older sister.
Before he can get too far into thought, he hears a slightly surprised noise come from Louis behind him. Curious, Harry peeks back over his shoulder with a raised brow to see Louis staring at a worksheet in his hand. His lips are slightly pursed as he looks on, clearly puzzled by something, and Harry thinks he looks adorable.
"Need some help?"
"No, actually I guess I can talk. I thought I had some left to finish but it's all filled out," Louis says as he lays the paper down, showing Harry the completed questions. "I could have sworn I left some to do. Daisy wouldn't leave me alone, wanting to tell me about this guy she's interested in..."
Harry bites at his lip a little bit as he peers at the paper. He'd be willing to bet that his runaway magic had something to do with this situation. "That's weird, maybe you forgot you finished them," he supplies.
Louis shrugs a shoulder and shoves the paper back into his notebook. "Suppose so," he hums, not seeming bothered too much at his apparent lack of memory.
"So, tell me about your sisters?" Harry asks hopefully, wanting to know more about Louis' life outside of school.
Louis tells him all about his five younger sisters (and one younger brother) for the rest of free period and Harry tries not to get too caught up in the way Louis' eyes light up while they chat. He can tell Louis loves his family, and Harry eagerly supplies answers to Louis' questions about Harry own when he's asked.
When the bell rings to signal the end of the class period, Harry swallows the disappointment that wants to rise in his chest as he gets to his feet. "Have fun in Calculus! See you next week?" he asks Louis, hoping he doesn't sound as disappointed as he feels.
Louis pauses for a moment before he starts walking beside Harry toward the door. "Actually, tomorrow we have the homecoming pep rally, would it be alright if I sat next to you?" His voice sounds a bit nervous, and it makes Harry's heart leap in his chest.
"Yeah, of course you can! I'm going to sit with Zayn and Niall, probably Liam too. You can meet them all, they're great guys," Harry answers quickly.
Harry grins as he sees relief fill Louis' features. "Okay, cool. I'll see you tomorrow, then!" Louis chirps before he heads down the opposite hallway from Harry as the taller boy tries his best to hide his excitement.
He must not be the best at keeping his features schooled because, for the first ten minutes of history, Niall interrogates him until he tells his friend that Louis is going to sit with them at the rally. The rest of class is spent with Harry trying his best to get Niall to leave him alone instead of teasing him about his massive crush on Louis.
Harry spends the beginning of Friday an excited ball of energy. He's eager to see Louis again, but he blames the feeling on the overall excitement the school seems to be buzzing with.
One o’ clock can't come soon enough in Harry's mind, and he all but runs out of his math class to the gymnasium to get to his little group’s normal spot in the juniors’ section of the bleachers to save Louis a spot right beside him. He'd hate for Niall or Zayn to think it would be funny to sit between them, and he wouldn't put that past his friends.
He's the first of his group to get there, but soon Zayn and Liam join him. They easily get lost in a conversation about the pep rally, and it's not until Harry feels a poke to his side that he realizes Louis is sitting next to him.
"Hey!" Harry greets with a wide smile, taking in Louis' appearance for the first time that day. He's just as pretty as ever, Harry thinks.
"Hi, I've been here for ages. Rude that you ignored me," Louis teases lightly, reaching down to adjust the white tee he has on where it had ridden up a bit, probably from when he set his backpack down. It's a school-themed shirt, and the traditional light blue color really makes Louis' eye color stand out even more than usual.
Harry forgets to function apparently, too focused on the notion that Louis' eyes are his new favorite color, because Louis blinks at him and supplies, "I was kidding, you know, not really upset?"
Harry feels his cheeks heat up as he snaps back to reality. "Of course! Sorry. I like your shirt," he blurts out. He can hear Zayn snicker from behind him and he hopes he didn't just hear him make a fool of himself.
Hoping to stop embarrassing himself, he turns toward his friend and nudges him. "Guys, this is Louis. Louis, this is Zayn and his boyfriend Liam."
"Hey, Louis. I've heard lots about you!" Zayn says with an all to innocent smile on his face and Harry kind of wants to punch him.
Thankfully, Liam smacks Zayn's arm lightly and waves at Louis. "Hi! Nice to meet you! Harry said you're pretty cool!" Liam tells Louis.
Louis thanks them both and, when Harry turns back toward him, he can see a bit of pink on the tops of his cheeks. He wonders if he'd been embarrassed by Zayn and Liam’s eagerness to greet him.
"Sorry, they can be a bit much..." Harry starts, feeling the need to help Louis feel more comfortable.
Louis pats his forearm gently instead and smiles. "Why are you apologizing? They seem nice," he assures, sending relief through Harry's veins.
Niall joins them just then, plopping down next to Louis and effectively taking those beautiful blue eyes away from Harry as he loudly introduces himself and starts in about the football team with Louis.
Niall's always been one to make fast friends with someone, so Harry tries not to get too jealous, focusing instead on the pretty light blue color of the writing on Louis' shirt. He thinks that more things should be that shade of blue. It goes nicely with so many different colors, and it gives Harry such a positive feeling. He thinks maybe it's his favorite color, and that has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that it matches Louis' sparkly eyes.
With Louis' attention elsewhere, Harry pulls out his phone to check the time as he's sure the pep rally is bound to start in just a few moments. He flips the device in his hands and his eyes go wide as his light pink colored phone case starts turning a very specific shade of blue before his eyes.
With a quiet gasp, Harry reaches down to shove his phone into his backpack, hoping desperately Louis' attention was still solely on Niall and he hadn't caught what happened. With his phone tucked away (he'll have to change the color back later, but that can wait) Harry closes his eyes and takes a moment to try and gather himself.
He's honestly getting tired of this runaway magic thing. How embarrassing, honestly, all he had done was think too hard about Louis' eye color.
When he opens his eyes, he's immediately met with the same shade of light blue on his wrists where his favorite – typically brown – bracelet sits. He tries to be discrete about taking it off and sliding it into his bag with his phone, but he must accidentally nudge Zayn enough that his friend peeks over just inside to see a very blue binder and notebook nestled alongside his blue phone and bracelet.
Zayn slaps a hand to his mouth as he snorts, laughing at Harry's expense as he zips the bag shut. "Mate, you've got it bad," Zayn mutters to him as his cheeks burn in humiliation.
Before Harry has time to make anything worse, the sound of the fight song to their school starts over the speakers and the entire student body gets to their feet to start singing along enthusiastically, though more than half don't know the words.
Overall, the pep rally is a good time, but the football game later that night is probably even better. Louis joins their group again, and Harry has the time of his life cheering the team on with his friends. And if Louis complimenting him on his blue nail polish (that may or may not have appeared magically on his way home from school earlier) makes Harry smile like an idiot even when he gets home that night, no one needs to know.
Harry spends a fair amount of time over the weekend after the game researching how common it is to have slip-ups with his magic, and apparently, aside from children who haven't trained much if at all, it's not a common occurrence. However, he does find some hopefully helpful tips for how to keep himself more in check and he spends all of the weekend practicing them, finding himself successful in making no more embarrassing mistakes.
The next week at school, Louis sort of starts popping up more often, even on days he and Harry don't have class together. It turns out Louis has classes with both Liam and Zayn, and their introduction and time hanging out over homecoming weekend went well enough that he starts walking with them between classes, occasionally bumping into Harry in the halls. Harry finds himself enjoying seeing Louis around more than he will admit out loud. He knows he isn't good at hiding his feelings -- his friends remind him of that every time they see him smiling like an idiot -- but even if he's being obvious, he's really not sure how to go about asking Louis on a date.
Harry takes pride in the fact that he's made it all the way to Thursday without slipping up. Nothing's turned blue, no more songs have played, and nothing else has taken him by surprise. Not during either of their two classes on Tuesday, and not during any of the times Harry had unexpectedly seen Louis around school. All his weekend practicing must have worked.
He's feeling confident again by the time he's sat in English beside Louis, certain that with a little extra concentration he can get past whatever has been happening to his magic and be successfully normal around Louis.
Today, Louis is in a chatty mood. Harry finds himself laughing as Louis lists off ideas for Halloween costumes he could pull off.
"I mean, I could do so many things, Haz," Louis notes, excitement evident on his face. "I could be a soccer player, or a cat, or! Wait! We could see if the guys are up for a group costume, that could be fun!"
Harry nods along, trying to not picture Louis in each of the costumes he's listed off. "I think Zayn and Liam are going as Marvel characters? Zayn was all excited to get to do a couples costume," he remembers, effectively ruling out any group costume ideas. "I could do something with you, though? We could do a pun costume? Or we could be characters from a film?"
Louis' eyes light up, and Harry tries not to read too much into that. "Haz, that would be so fun! I have to think about what we could do. Wait, you're going to Nick's party, too, right? Niall told me about it and said everyone was going but, if you had other plans, I don't have to go."
"Yeah, I'm going. We went last year, Nick and I had science together so he invited me. It was really fun," Harry answers quickly, not wanting Louis to think he had other plans. He had planned on going as Sherlock Holmes, but suddenly he's excited at the idea of matching costumes with Louis. Part of him wonders if that means that this is a date, since they'll obviously be going together.
He takes a moment to chew that thought over before he decides he should maybe ask Louis for clarification.
"Great, it's a date then," Louis decides before he can ask. Harry's pretty sure his heart stops as he tries to remember how to function because he's officially got a date with Louis Tomlinson.
He swallows, his throat feeling a bit tight all of a sudden (probably from the lack of breathing on his part) before he speaks. "Yeah, it's a date!"
Harry's eyes widen at the sound of his voice when it comes out. It sounds like he'd just taken a deep breath of helium like he's just hitting puberty and his voice is cracking.
"I- there's something in my throat!" he lies, trying to ignore the slightly amused look on Louis' gorgeous face as he gets to his feet and hurries out of the classroom to the water fountain across the hall.
He takes a long drink, feeling himself relax a bit as the seconds tick by. He knows his voice hasn't cracked that bad since eighth grade, which means his own magic must have betrayed him yet again.
Harry takes a moment to try and recover from the utter humiliation he feels in his bones. He thought he had the situation under control, and yet he's just completely embarrassed himself in the exact moment he's made a date with Louis.
After testing to make sure he can speak like a normal human again, Harry takes a deep breath and returns to his seat.
"Everything alright?" Louis asks and Harry can hear the grin in his voice before he can see it on the other boy's face.
Turning to him, he smiles a bit and nods. "Yeah, I have pretty bad allergies in the fall. Suppose they're acting up today," he says as casually as he can manage, and thankfully with his normal voice.
There's something in Louis' eyes that he can't place, beyond the obvious amusement that's dancing across his features. "Alright," the other boy hums, and Harry really just wishes the ground would swallow him whole.
He makes it through the remaining ten minutes of class and then waves goodbye to Louis as they part ways.
He recounts the story to Zayn later that night when they're halfway through pizza night. Zayn doesn't stop laughing for ten whole minutes but in the end, tells Harry that he's excited for him and hopes his plans for a Halloween party first date with Louis go well.
Harry spends the rest of the weekend trying to think of fun costume ideas for himself and Louis just in case Louis needed any other suggestions.
When he takes his seat beside Louis in English the next week, he gives him his attention in the five minutes the teacher uses to set up before starting her lectures.
"Okay, so I have a few different ideas. I know we only have this week to get everything together, but what about Cosmo and Wanda?" Louis shows him a picture on his phone of the inspiration for their costumes.
Harry smiles, seeing how absolutely excited Louis looks before he nods his head in agreement. "Let's do it. I think that's easy enough to do in a week!"
Louis' answers with a smile that leaves Harry pretty sure he'd dress up as a stereotypical witch and embarrass himself if Louis asked, just to see it again. He's pretty sure he'd do almost anything Louis asked him, if he thinks about it too long. It's a bit scary, but he's absolutely smitten with the beautiful blue-eyed boy.
Harry glances down to his previously opened notebook, groaning internally as he grabs at his pencil which had started to scrawl along his paper on its own. After taking a moment to find himself grateful that he and Louis sit at the back of the class, Harry peeks down at his notebook page to see what he'd been magically doodling.
Though it's not entirely shocking, Harry's cheeks heat up as he tries his best to keep his hand blocking the perfectly drawn heart with H+L written inside it. Harry quickly turns the page to a blank one and starts taking notes, decidedly avoiding looking in Louis' direction for the remainder of class just on the off chance that the other boy saw what he'd drawn.
They exchange numbers in their homeroom class later that day, both of them realizing that somehow they still hadn't taken that step, and Harry briefly wonders if it means as much to Louis as it does to him.
Through the rest of the week, Harry doesn't stop grinning at his phone. While the original intent had been to just make sure they had everything for their costumes, Louis has been easily keeping the conversation going with jokes and anecdotes about his day when they aren't together. If Niall gives him shit about it, Harry can't find it in himself to care.
When Saturday rolls around, Harry finds himself a bit of a jittery mess starting first thing in the morning. The plan is to get ready separately and meet at Niall's house at six for a beer before they'll all head to Nick's as a group.
He busies himself for most of the day and at five, he gets dressed in the black skinny jeans and yellow shirt he's picked out for his costume. He can't wait to see how Louis looks in his complementary outfit as he swallows down a potion he'd made earlier in the night to turn his hair pink. He watches curiously in the mirror as the strands turn pink and he smiles proudly to himself before he fixes it into a simple style with a paper crown nestled on top.
Once he's dressed, he grabs the identical star-shaped wands he'd made for them and starts toward downstairs. He thinks they look great, but he's pretty sure if he'd crafted them without magic, they would have turned out a disaster. After a quick goodbye to his mum, assuring her that he'll be good (only a partial lie really), Harry starts the walk to Niall's house.
It's not far but, when he gets there, the rest of his friends have already arrived.
"Wanda!" Louis shouts excitedly when he spots Harry entering the kitchen. "You look great! Here are your wings," he compliments, holding out the pair of wings he'd insisted on making.
Harry can't help but take a moment to admire how good Louis looks. He's got on a white button-up that accentuates his waist just right, along with a tie and black jeans. Harry grins and takes the wings, exchanging them for the wand he'd made. "Thanks, you look great too! Look at your hair! It's so green! It suits you, though."
Before Louis can answer, Niall makes an exaggerated gagging noise and calls out, "Get a room, you two are gross."
Louis laughs and tosses his middle finger up before he makes his way to the kitchen island and grabs his beer again. Harry makes his way over and leans on the counter beside Louis as he takes a drink for himself and cracks it open.
It's slightly awkward, standing there chatting with their friends instead of focusing solely on Louis like he wants to, but Harry enjoys himself as they toast to a great night out and down the last of their drinks.
When they finally make it to Nick's house, the party is already in full swing. The front yard is decorated in various creepy items that grab Louis’ wide eyed attention.
Harry grins as they walk into the rather large house and are met with loud music. Almost immediately, Niall heads for the kitchen to grab a drink and Liam and Zayn get called over by one of Zayn's theater friends who Harry knows as Perrie.
And then, it's just him and Louis. Harry can't help the nervous feeling he's got floating in his belly as he glances over to Louis to find him surveying the loud room. Harry leans closer so he doesn't have to shout too much to ask, "Want to grab a drink?"
Louis jumps a bit, clearly not having expected Harry to be quite so close, but he quickly smiles and nods before he takes Harry by the hand, gesturing for him to lead the way. Harry bites back against his smile and leads Louis along. When they reach the kitchen, it's just the slightest bit quieter without the speakers blasting in their ears.
Harry turns toward Louis and gives him a smile. "What do you want to drink?" he asks, wondering briefly if Louis feels nervous like he does.
Louis eyes the counter full of various drinks before he pulls Harry over and grabs two of the tiny red solo cup style shot glasses. "Do you like tequila?" he asks, already pouring some of the amber liquid into each little cup.
Harry shrugs. "Not my first choice, but I don't mind it," he answers as he grabs two limes from the bowl next to the bottles of booze and offers one to Louis, keeping the other for himself as he picks up one of the cups.
"To first dates on Halloween!" Louis raises his cup as he meets Harry's eye and Harry swears he sees those blue eyes sparkle as he echoes the sentiment and takes down the shot. He’s not entirely sure if it's due to the Tequila or the effect of Louis’ confirmation that this is definitely a date, but his chest feels warm inside.
Coughing a bit, Harry quickly shoves the lime into his mouth and bites down, cutting the bitter taste as he lets out a laugh. "Tequila sucks," he announces with a grin toward Louis as he grabs them each a beer.
"Yeah, tastes like shit. But it makes me want to dance," Louis replies as he takes the cold beer and cracks it open. Harry takes a drink to try to keep his mind from wandering to images of Louis dancing.
His nerves seem to settle a bit after their shots, and while he's still got a ways to go before he’s drunk, Harry finds it more natural to interact with Louis as they make their way around the house side by side, drinking and laughing with people from school.
At some point, they end up holding hands again and Harry really can't be sure if that's Louis’ doing or his own, but Louis doesn't let him go for the rest of the evening.
Somewhere along the way, Harry loses track of the time. All he's sure of is that it's dark, people keep commenting on his and Louis' costumes, and Louis keeps giggling into his ear. He's definitely tipsy, letting himself just soak in the way it feels to have Louis' hand in his own, how Louis' laugh sounds like bells, and how he smells so, so good.
He's pulled out of his wandering thoughts as Louis tugs at his hand and gestures for him to follow along, so he does without question. It only takes a minute or two until the cool breeze of the night surrounds them both. It's quiet out on the little deck Louis found, and while Harry can still hear the party going on, it feels private out here.
Louis takes a seat on the outdoor loveseat and pats the spot next to him as he looks expectantly to Harry. "Sit with me?" His voice is hopeful, and Harry can't think of anything more he'd like to do.
"It's nice out here," Harry comments lamely as he takes the spot, sitting close but not too close.
Louis hums and shivers a bit exaggeratedly. "Yeah. A tad cold though, don't you think?"
Harry wishes he'd brought a jacket but, instead, he settles for leaning over and wrapping his arm around Louis, hoping to help warm him up. "Why'd we come out here then?" Harry giggles.
He doesn't get an answer. Instead, Louis leans into his side and rests his head on Harry's shoulder. "I love Halloween," Louis notes, a smile evident in his words. "I think it's my favorite day of the year."
Harry nods his head in agreement. "Me too, it's so fun to dress up." He feels a bit lame with his response, still not sure why Louis brought him out here, but happy that he's sat where he is.
"Yeah." Louis falls quiet for a moment as he just watches the sky, so Harry watches with him. The sky is clear of clouds and the moon is a beautiful crescent, almost identical to the one that makes up Harry's family crest.
Louis stays still for a bit, seemingly content with just cuddling outside even though he'd said he's cold already. Eventually, though, he sits up a bit and looks at Harry.
Harry grins and looks back when Louis doesn't say anything right away. "What?" he asks, realizing that Louis only sat up a tiny bit, but his face is really close to Harry's.
"Kiss me," Louis breathes out, the words somewhere between a command and a wish.
Harry's mind seems to short circuit for just a moment, but he doesn't need to be told twice. He reaches up and gently cups Louis' jaw with his hand to bring their lips together. It's bolder than he thinks he's ever been, and he's not sure if he should thank the alcohol he'd consumed for that or if it's simply to do with the fact that he's been dreaming of kissing Louis for weeks now.
It's so good, the way they seem to fit together. Harry holds Louis' cheek as he kisses him slowly, savoring the taste of the other boy's lips. He thinks that his heart is about to burst out of his chest as he runs his tongue along Louis' lips and gets a sigh in return as Louis melts further into him.
Harry's sure that their kiss only lasts a few moments, but it somehow also feels like time stopped around them as he slowly places one last peck on Louis' lips and pulls away a bit so he can look at his gorgeous face, flushed the slightest shade of pink.
He watches as a smile fills Louis' features, his eyes open so Harry's met with that gorgeous blue color he loves so much. There's a moment where they just stare at each other. Harry tries his best to find words to tell Louis how he feels, but it's all so overwhelming suddenly.
Instead of speaking, Louis leans forward with a breathy laugh and kisses Harry again. This time, it's a bit simpler, just a brush of lips, but it makes Harry's entire body tingle.
Just as Louis pulls away, Harry hears a high pitched whining sound, followed only seconds later by a pop and crackle as the sky erupts with a firework that lights up Louis' face.
Harry's eyes follow the sound of another firework launching, he knows it must have been close if he could hear the rocket flying through the air before the explosion.
To his dismay, it's clear to him even in the dimly lit back yard there are no teenagers lighting off fireworks. All that Harry can see is Nick's empty backyard that stretches on toward the woods at the back of the property. He knows where the fireworks are coming from, but he's not exactly sure what he's supposed to say.
"I-" he starts, glancing toward Louis who just looks flat out amused. "I think I need to use the toilet. I'll be back," Harry announces, getting to his feet and hurrying as best he can toward the sliding door back inside.
"Harry, wait!" Louis calls out as another pretty rocket lights up the sky. "I know you're a witch.”
Harry stops in his tracks and curses internally. This is exactly what he's been dreading, being figured out. Louis probably won't want anything to do with him and, possibly worse, he's going to have to face the High Council and explain that he really wasn't trying to be careless with his magic, he's just had shit luck because he's got a massive crush on a pretty blue-eyed boy.
"What?!" Harry asks, turning around to face Louis and hoping desperately he can worm his way out of this one somehow. "You're insane, Lou. Witches aren't real, I think you've had too much to drink."
Louis crosses his arms over his chest and purses his lips as he surveys Harry for a moment. "So we're playing that game?" When he doesn't get an answer, Louis continues. "Look, I'm fairly observant, yeah? I'll admit, at first I didn't realize what was happening, really. But I saw your things in your backpack turn blue at the pep rally."
Harry feels his jaw fall open a bit as he tries to think of an excuse. Just as he's about to spout some nonsense off about heat-activated color-changing products and how the technology is really advancing, Louis starts in again.
"After that, it made sense, really. The song playing over the speakers when we talked about it, my homework finishing itself when I know I didn't do it, the lockers all shutting on my first day. It clicked. You're a witch and you've been trying to use your powers to seduce me. These magically appearing fireworks are just icing on the cake really." Louis looks so smug and Harry doesn't know what he's supposed to say. He's been well and truly caught.
"I wasn't trying to seduce you!" he complains, his cheeks turning red because he'd really meant to argue against the whole witch thing, but it is what it is.
"You definitely were! I don't understand your ways, I'll admit. But it worked, so I'm not complaining." Louis seems so sure of himself, and Harry's never been a great liar.
But really, he’s caught in a tough situation. On one hand, he could face the fate of whatever happens here. He could confirm Louis’ suspicions and admit he’s a witch, but that means he most likely could kiss his magic goodbye when the High Council finds out.
On the other hand, he’s sure his magic could be used to get him out of this situation. Maybe he could slip in a selective memory-erasing potion into Louis' drink to get out of this, though he does hate that idea quite a lot as he's never been one to use his magic for manipulating others.
So, he just stares at Louis, unsure of what he's supposed to do.
Louis grins and shrugs a shoulder at Harry's lack of response. "I personally would have just created a love potion? Much simpler honestly, some rosebud and lavender with a sprig of sage?"
Harry blinks slowly at Louis, his mind taking a moment to process that bit of information. Louis knows how to brew a love potion?
"How do you know that?" he blurts out before he can think about it too hard, his head is starting to ache at this point.
Louis giggles and steps a little closer. "Haz, think about it for a second," Louis hums with a grin on his lips that Harry wishes he was kissing again. Maybe he gets lost in the thought of tasting the other boy’s lips, because a few moments later Louis continues. "Nothing? Look how green my hair is. I'm sure you know the trick- Lily root, fig leaf, turtle shell powder, something in the color you want, and a single hair from your head."
Probably far too late into the conversation, Harry catches on with a gasp. "You're a witch too?!"
Rolling his eyes in amusement, Louis nods his head. "Yep!" he giggles, popping the P sound at the end. "I know Zee is too, he's the one who gave me the idea to mess with you a bit honestly."
Harry frowns at that. "Zayn knows? And he didn't tell me?!" Honestly, he thinks he needs to speak with Zayn. "Wait, what do you mean 'mess with you a bit'?"
Louis grins, unable to contain the pride he obviously feels at whatever he'd done. "Remember when your voice went all funny? And then when your pencil started writing hearts with our initials?" Louis points to himself, clearly saying it was his own doing.
"I can't believe you!" Harry whines, pressing his hand against his face. This conversation really took a turn in a completely different direction than he'd expected, and while he's not mad about it, he really is struggling to take it all in. He’s got a weird combination of confusion and embarrassment swirling in his stomach as he speaks again. "Why didn't you just... tell me like a normal person?"
"Zayn said you were having issues with your magic running away and we thought it would be kind of funny. I did feel bad, though, but I also thought you might catch on?" Louis shrugs a shoulder, and Harry can see in his eyes that he isn't completely lying about feeling bad.
Harry purses his lips and shakes his head. Somehow, despite feeling more than a bit annoyed that Louis has known for about a week now his biggest secret, he also feels relieved. And he also still can't stop thinking about kissing Louis.
Louis speaks again before Harry can figure out what exactly to say. "Look, I'm sorry, Haz. I shouldn't have messed with you like that. I just thought it was cute and all that you had a crush on me and, obviously, I'm super into you too. I probably should have just said something."
"Look, I'm not mad..." Harry starts, moving so he can sit on the little loveseat again, in absolutely no hurry to get back to the party inside. He can see from where he's sitting that Louis' face relaxes a bit. "I'm a little annoyed, I don't like pranks all that much. But uhm, I'm kind of just... happy?"
Louis sits down on the arm of the loveseat with a cautious smile starting to form on his beautiful face. "Happy?" he questions.
"Yeah. I mean, I don't have to keep the whole witch thing a secret, and I don't have to worry about you freaking out about it or anything, so that's really nice." Harry can feel the smile on his own face as he continues, "Plus, you said you're super into me, so that's a win too."
He watches as Louis laughs, his head tipping back a bit as he swats at Harry's arm. "Of course I'm into you. Have been since the first day I met you honestly. You're gorgeous and so sweet and funny."
Harry ducks his head and shakes his pink curls a bit. "Well, if the fact that my magic can't contain itself around you doesn't tell you how I feel, I'm not sure what will," he muses as he turns his face toward Louis again, unable to really put together words for how pretty he looks with only the light from the windows on the porch illuminating his features.
"Can I kiss you again?" Louis asks, looking a bit embarrassed by the question as if it had slipped out without his full permission.
Harry nods his head and scoots closer as Louis slips down to join him on the loveseat. There's a moment where both boys just smile at each other, unable to contain their newly admitted mutual infatuation. But then, it's lips on lips again and Harry's pretty sure that he's never going to let this feeling go.
Harry drinks in the taste of Louis' lips, the way his hair feels as Harry's hand gently finds a place to rest at the back of his neck, and how his own heart seems to still feel like it’s going to jump right out of his chest.
Eventually, they come up for air, both of them taking a moment to steady their breaths as they sit pressed close together. Harry breaks the quiet first as he reaches over to tangle their fingers together.
"So, would you maybe want to be my boyfriend?" He hopes he's not jumping in too fast for Louis – after all this is their first date – but he also doesn't want to have to dance around the question.
Thankfully, he doesn't have to dwell on whether it was the right moment for long, because Louis answers almost immediately with a smile on his face. "Only if you'll be my boyfriend, too."
Harry laughs and leans over to kiss Louis once more. This time, it's quick, a simple brushing of lips through a giggle. Somewhere off behind them the familiar high pitched whir of a third firecracker going off sounds. "Sounds like a deal, then." he murmurs just as the sky erupts in a display of light.