Archive of Our Own ^beta

Part I

 Harry and Louis

If Louis had one certainty in his life, it was that his husband would never hide anything from him. The reason for his certainty was simple: Harry didn't know how to keep a secret, so even if he tried to hide something, Louis knew that he would never succeed. 

Not that he needed to worry, Harry didn't like lies and was terrible at surprises, since the beginning of their relationship it had been clear that Louis would always know what he would get on every birthday the instant Harry bought his present, and that they would talk and solve any problems as soon as they came up, without emotional games and saying everything is fine when in fact it isn't. 

Harry was honest and sincere, and after years of dating men who turned relationships into emotional Olympic games, Louis appreciated building a relationship based on dialogue and being vulnerable with each other.

That's why it was so strange that Harry still tried to hide that he was a witch. 

They had been married for three years, and before that, they had spent four years dating. Louis found out the truth before they even talked about being exclusive.

It's not that he was looking for secrets, it's just that Harry was really, really bad at pretending to be something he wasn't. On their first date Louis just thought that the glow he saw emanating from the boy when they kissed was a figment of his love struck mind, but by the third date it was clear that Harry was really glowing. It was also clear that he didn't need to get up to fetch cutlery, and that with a snap of his fingers he could tidy his entire room before they stumbled in towards the bed. 

At first Louis thought about questioning him, to demand an explanation, but every time he tried to do something about it, Harry made him laugh, or he would frown in an adorable way, or, being completely honest, Harry could just breathe and Louis would feel his heart melt. What he could say, it was love at first sight, he never had a chance.

So he waited, certain that eventually Harry would realize that there was no point in pretending, and that Louis had no problem with his magic. 

He regretted waiting now. 

With a sore back and a sweat-soaked T-shirt after a thousand trips back and forth from the moving truck to the house, he slumped on the living room floor, not wanting to mess the new couch, as he concentrated on his breathing. 

He knew Harry could have done all that moving with a simple ' bibbidi bobbidi boo ' - not that this was an actual spell, Louis knew that Harry didn't need to say anything to cast a spell -, but instead his dear husband had been pretending to carry boxes all day, clearly forgetting the part where he needed to pretend that the physical effort  would leave him exhausted in half the time it took Louis - magic definitely made his husband lazier.

“What are you doing?”  Louis didn't have to open his eyes to know that Harry had both hands on his waist, and a recriminating look on his face.

“What does it look like I'm doing Harold?” he replied with a dramatic sigh. “I'm dying, of course.”

“Couldn't you die after you finish unpacking?”

“I'd love to dear, but I'm already in the middle of the dying process, it would be rude to stop now. “

“Lou...I wanted to empty at least a few boxes today” Louis could picture the pout his husband must have been making, and hated that even with his eyes closed he was still influenced by it. If he didn't know better, he'd think it was part of some kind of spell Harry had on him, but as it was, Louis knew it was just part of being stupidly in love. 

“Nothing is stopping you Harold”

“What if I found some pots and pans and made us something to eat?”The mention of food made Louis open his eyes in interest.

“What if you lay down here with me and we ordered a pizza?”

“It's our first night in our new house, Lou, we deserve something a little more special.” Yeap, there was the pout.

“We’ll have our whole lives for special meals H.” he argued, sitting with his back to the sofa, patting the place by his side.

With a sigh Harry sat down beside him already taking the mobile phone out of his pocket.Louis closed his eyes again, resting his head on the sofa and letting the voice of his husband debating alone what were the best pizza toppings lull him.

An hour later, Harry had convinced him to find plates and cutlery, and they sat back down on the living room floor with the pizza propped up on the coffee table. Harry was still a bundle of energy, so Louis let him talk about the plans he had for decorating every room in the house while enjoying his pizza. 

“I can't believe we bought a house” He admitted in one of his husband's breaks to chew. “Doesn't it make you feel like an adult?”

“We've been adults for a few years now, Lou” Harry laughed after swallowing.

“You know what I mean” He pushed his husband's shoulder with his greasy hand. “This is our home H, our kids will grow up here, we'll grow old together here.”

When he looked back at Harry, his green eyes were already waiting for him full of love.

“I can't wait for all of that” 

And even though Louis knew that Harry didn't need to say anything to cast a spell, he still thought that those words felt like magic.

They finished eating clinging to each other, it had been a few years since they had been together, but moving into a new place, their place, and the big step they were taking together made Louis feel like a twenty-year-old boy again, full of love and dreams. 

When it came time to clean things up, Louis really considered getting up to help, but then Bianca decided to show up, after a whole day of hiding in some secret corner of the house, and sit on his lap. 

“Sorry Harold, the cat chose me, I can't move now.” It was an excuse, but Harry didn't argue and Louis just leaned his head on the couch again, stroking the soft white fur of the cat on his lap. 

After Harry, Bianca was probably the most important living being in Louis's life, simply because she was a part of Harry's soul. He didn't really understand how it worked, but Bianca was what witches called a 'familiar', an animal that shared part of his witch's soul and magic. 

When Louis first met Bianca, just after he and Harry started officially dating, the cat stared at him for three minutes - Louis counted - and it was as if she was looking through his entire soul - she probably was - and when she was finally done, she nestled into his lap and allowed herself to be petted.

Harry cried, but said it was because something fell in his eyes.

The cat didn't always show up, she was quite independent and liked her own space, but Louis had noticed that her mood was connected to Harry's, and probably that's why she was asking for some affection now. 

A cold breeze blew past him, making the hair on his arms shiver, and Bianca jumped alert, for a few moments the cat looked disturbed at the room, but Louis didn't see anything out of the ordinary. 

“Looks like you're no longer a pillow, how about helping me look for the things for our bed?”

Without any new excuses, Louis stood up and followed his husband to where the boxes labelled 'bedroom' were. Any awkward feelings being immediately forgotten with the promise of a soft bed.

*

Harry knew that the house was perfect. From the first time he saw it, it was as if he felt all the lines of destiny converging at that point, the only other time he felt that way was when he first saw Louis. The boy with a grazed knee after falling off his skateboard, cap pulled back and the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen, asking him to use the flower shop's bathroom to clean his bruises. Harry thought that when he found his soulmate he would hear bells, or feel fireworks in his chest, but when his eyes met Louis', all he felt was calm, as if the entire universe had silenced itself to appreciate that moment. 

Even after years at Louis' side, he still had moments when he felt the calm of the universe around them, the moment when they walked into that house for the first time, was one of them. 

There was something special there, it wasn't just the yard that was the perfect size for the small vegetable garden he always dreamed of and the football goal Louis wanted, or the fact that it had three bedrooms and was the perfect size for the family they wanted to build, it was something more, something magical, that he couldn't wait to explore. 

It was only with all his willpower that Harry managed to hold back and not use his magic to tidy up immediately, maybe it would have been a good time to tell his husband about being a witch - ‘hey, I'm a witch, poof, the house is tidy, great isn't it?’- but after seven years together, Harry knew there was no way it would be so simple. Louis would have questions, and he might start to doubt some things about their relationship, and, in the worst case scenario, he would be so horrified that he would leave, taking all the certainty in the universe with him. 

Harry didn't know if it was possible for the universe to be wrong, but he didn't want to test that hypothesis. 

So he braced himself, unpacking boxes at the speed of any other human being without magic, finding places for each thing, and bickering with Louis as they debated whether it wasn't time to throw away the set of horrible glasses they'd gotten as a wedding gift. 

“What did you do to make your aunt hate you so much?” Louis asked when they first saw the monstrosity. Harry remembered the summer he turned his cousin into a frog when he was eight, and decided to keep the glasses a little bit longer.

But now it was Monday, his shop didn’t open on Mondays, and Louis was leaving for work at any moment, leaving Harry with the whole day to organize the house the way he'd always dreamed of. 

“Are you sure you don't want me to stay? I've still got a few days of holiday left, or I can talk to Amy and work from home today, then I can help you out" Louis suggested, though it was obviously more out of consideration than a desire to spend the day unpacking boxes. 

“Don't worry Lou, I can handle it," he replied, putting the breakfast dishes in the sink. “And Niall will come and help me later!”

“That's nice! Ask him if he doesn't want to stay for dinner too, I miss Nialler.” 

Harry smiled at  the comment, Niall was his best friend, and it meant a lot that Louis had adopted him so easily. In other relationships his partners were either jealous of their friendship, or they found Niall annoying, the first time Louis met him, he offered him a beer and invited him to play Fifa.

With a kiss goodbye and promises not to be late for dinner, Harry waved to his husband from the doorway, as he had always dreamed of doing, and then, after taking a deep breath began to work. 

“I don't know if it looks more like 'Matilda' or 'Fantasia 2000' but it's definitely some kind of children's movie!” Niall said, walking into the kitchen with packages of take away  “At least it's not Snow White and the house isn't full of animals.”

“It was only one time Niall!” Harry grumbled, getting out from under the sink, where he was testing practical ways to organize the pans. “And I was fifteen.”

“I think your mother would rather find the house full of bottles and party leftovers than rodents mopping up her dining room table.”

With a single gesture he positioned the food on the table and with two movements of his left hand the food spread out on the table.

“Where's the cutlery?” He asked and Harry pointed to the first drawer beside the sink, before Niall moved his fingers and the cutlery appeared on the table.

Magic is a matter of intention, which is why doing spells depends on knowledge, it's not enough to just want it, you have to know and understand how it works. The only reason Harry's cleaning spells were so good was because he knew how to do a good cleaning, and for that same reason, cooking spells were Niall's speciality. 

“How was the move?”Harry wiped his hands on his trousers and sat down at the table next to his friend who already had his fork inside one of the boxes.

Niall was practically a brother by now. They had grown up as neighbours, and were united by a tendency to conjure spells inappropriate for their ages, Niall could conjure three-course meals by the age of five, and Harry could make any plant grow and blossom regardless of season. 

“ It took forever! I should have convinced Louis that I could do it all myself," he said, despite having thoroughly enjoyed the sight of his husband carrying boxes all afternoon. 

“Or maybe, you could, I don't know, tell him the truth?” Niall was always harping on this subject, so Harry didn't even try to fight back.

“I need your help to remove some stains on the ceiling of one of the rooms, it looks like something exploded in there at some point.” he said naturally.

“Harry, I'm serious, Louis bought a house with you, you're planning to have kids! What are you going to do when the child starts developing magic?” There were great arguments, and Niall's blue eyes didn't have the same effect as Louis' , but they came close when he wanted them to.

“I know Ni, and I want to tell him, you know I do.” But it's not the right time he finished in thought, and years of living together would be enough for Niall to imagine what he was thinking, but the mental connection they had helped too. 

“It's never going to be the right time Harry, that train has already left the station.” Louis will understand he added and Harry wanted to believe it, he really did. 

A noise of something falling upstairs was what interrupted their conversation, but it was  Bianca, who until then had been peacefully sleeping on top of his bed, and now wasn't very pleased, that made him think that something wasn’t right. 

“What's wrong?” Niall asked, following him up the stairs, but Harry didn't know what to answer. 

Bianca was already standing in the room with the stained ceiling when they arrived, she stared at the wall in confusion, and Harry could feel her discomfort, although he couldn't interpret what could be bothering her. 

“Everything seems normal” He commented without finding anything that could have originated the noise.

Bianca jumped towards him,and Harry didn't have to think twice before picking her up. 

“Are you sure you didn't buy a cursed house H?” Niall joked, and Harry felt Bianca shiver in his lap.

No, he would know if the house was cursed, he had already cast so many cleaning spells that one of them would have detected the existence of any supernatural life. Right?

*

There was a ghost in the house. 

Louis first saw him a week after the move. Harry had gone out shopping and asked Louis to take the cookies out of the oven when the timer rang, of course Louis forgot and was in the middle of his shower when it did and he had to run through the house wearing only a towel and with shampoo still in his hair.

That's how he first encountered the ghost, standing in the kitchen doorway with his arms crossed and his brow furrowed. He had the appearance of a man not much older than Louis, and was extremely attractive, his hair cut short and an unshaven beard, jeans and t-shirt doing nothing to hide his well defined body with broad shoulders, and his muscular arms covered with tattoos. Louis didn't know ghosts could have tattoos, but well, it's not like he knew ghosts existed either.

He thought about saying something - what's the proper etiquette for approaching supernatural beings when you're practically naked? - but the alarm kept ringing, and Harry would be furious if Louis burnt the cookies. Shouting 'just a minute' he walked past the ghost and took the baking pan out of the oven. 

By the time he looked back the ghost was gone.

He was sure Harry would know if the house he was so passionate about was cursed, after all, supernatural things were his area of expertise, and he knew that Harry kept doing little spells around the house - which he pretended were 'meditation mantras' whenever he noticed Louis was around - so if he had a ghost living with them, Harry would probably be doing something about it.

That didn't make it any easier for him to find the ghost around the house at the most random times of the day, like when he was leaving for work, and the ghost was sitting on the couch staring at the television, or when he was doing laundry and the ghost was looking out the kitchen window. It would only last a few moments and the image would fade, and despite its constant presence, it had no attempt at contact or threat. He was just, there.

“What happened?” The question snapped him out of his thoughts, and Louis blinked a few times, finding Gemma beside him, with her youngest son, Ben, in her arms. 

Automatically Louis reached out his hands to pick up the little one, who came naturally into his arms, looking sleepy already, resting his head on Louis' shoulder. He began to rock him gently from side to side, he might be the only one in that house without magic, but no one could put a child to sleep like him.

“What do you mean?” He asked in a soft voice, starting to walk toward the garden to get away from the noise his husband and Gemma's older children were making in the living room.

“You seem distracted, and more than once I've caught you staring at nothing"  

She stretched her arms up over her head, and Louis was once again amazed at how she and Harry could be so similar. Physically the similarities weren't many, apart from the dark shade of their hair and some details in their nose and chin, but the way they walked, how they arranged their posture and stretched after a long time in the same position, was identical. 

“Gemma, I need to ask you something, and I need you to be honest with me” He asked, resting a hand on the back of the baby on his arms, gently caressing him.

“I always am, Lou"  She looked more serious now, and he was thankful that the years of knowing each other had made his sister-in-law able to tell when he was serious and when he was joking.

“Did Harry tell you anything about a ghost?” He watched as Gemma's eyebrow raised.

“What ghost?” She asked slowly, and Louis noticed her fingers moving, a few purple sparks coming out of them.

“There's a ghost in the house, and I was hoping that Harry was already doing something about it,  didn't he tell you anything?” He insisted, feeling a discomfort creep up the base of his spine that had nothing to do with the weight of his nephew. 

“No, he didn't, and I…” A few more finger movements that Louis didn't try to keep up with, and she shook her head. “I don't feel any evil presence either.”

“I don't think it's evil, he seems sad actually” His remark made her raise another eyebrow. “Whenever I see him, he is just staring at nothing, looking quite miserable if I’m honest.”

“Non-evil ghosts are rare, but maybe…”  She stopped talking, touching her lower lip lost in thoughts - another habit in common with her brother - that Louis thought it was better not to interrupt. 

“There you are! Pizza's here!” Harry spoke appearing through the door, his voice softening as he noticed his nephew asleep. “I'll get his pram!”

Once again alone, Louis looked at his sister-in-law.

“Can you try to find out something? I'd talk to him, but then…” He didn't need to continue, Gemma knew the situation between them well enough. 

With her promise to look into the situation further, they headed back into the house, meeting Harry on the way with the pram where Louis laid his nephew down. 

“You guys were out there for a while, what were you talking about?” Harry asked, as he pushed the pram to a part of the room where it wouldn't be too loud, but from where it would still be possible to observe the baby.

“She was telling me about Ben's colic, I was telling her the tricks mom told Lottie when she had June!”  Harry nodded, well aware of Louis’s sister's problems with her first child, and his nephew's trouble to get to sleep recently. Louis smiled even though he hated lying to his husband. 

It hadn't been Louis' intention for Harry's family to find out that he knew about magic, but it had only taken one dinner for Anne and Gemma to realise the truth. According to Anne, it was an intuition, but for Gemma it had been the fact that Louis hadn't even questioned it after Harry had given a rather lame excuse for the fact that he had washed the dinner dishes in record time. "The detergent my mum uses is more efficient" he said and Louis only smiled and nodded in agreement, used to letting Harry believe he was being convincing. 

The two questioned him about his intentions and why he hadn't told Harry yet, so he explained that he wasn't going to pressure Harry into telling him something until he was ready, the boy didn't owe him anything and Louis wouldn't put him in that position. The answer earned him a few tears from Annie, and a tight hug from Gemma. 

It was very helpful to have them by his side as his relationship with Harry grew more serious and more permanent. They explained things like the effect of the changing moon on witch’s' moods - it affected women more, but men were also sensitive - and how Harry's magic was linked to the forces of nature, which was why it was so important that he always have some element of nature nearby - Louis bought some plants for his flat after that - and in general, they were available for when Louis wanted to understand something he couldn't ask his husband directly. That was how he knew his children would have magic, even if they were adopted, because the bond of magic was greater than blood bond, and it would pass on to all descendants who entered Harry's family tree.

Two days later after the dinner party, Louis received the message from Gemma saying that she was sure Harry knew nothing about a ghost. He thought that maybe it would just go away with time if he ignored it, but then he found the ghost sitting inside the sink of the bathroom when he really, really, needed to use the toilet, and Louis wasn’t so sure what to do anymore.

* 

First it was the unexplained noises, and Bianca refusing to enter some rooms, even when Harry showed her that there was nothing inside. And then it was the unmistakable smell of cigarettes, which he almost blamed Louis for - even though he knew that his husband had quit in the second year of their dating - until he realized that the smell only appeared when the room was empty.

The final proof was the presence. Not physical, and nothing he could see, but as soon as the full moon rose in the sky and his senses become sharper, Harry was sure there was someone else inside the house. 

The strange thing was that his magic detected no sign of a threat, and all his cleaning spells were successful. Whatever was present there wasn't evil, which was a relief, but it was still strange, and it made Harry uncomfortable. 

Louis didn't seem to notice anything, but his sister had asked some suspicious questions the last time she'd gone to visit him, which made him think that he wasn't the only one to notice something different. 

That was why he had organised to take time off from the shop on a Thursday, a day Louis was usually stuck at work late in meetings with his boss, and asked Niall for help.

In the morning Harry did all the housework he needed to do, and then went through the protection and cleaning spells once more - it didn't hurt to be safe - preparing a reinforced lunch to ensure that he would have all his energy for what he planned to do that afternoon.

It had been a while since he had tried any more complex spells, and when he opened the boxes in which he kept his potions ingredients, he was embarrassed to realise how much was missing there. He didn't like to keep too much stuff inside the house, before they moved in together, more than once Louis had almost used the magic herbal mixtures to make tea, it would have been a disaster if instead of hibiscus with roses, he had made a tea with a mixture to make hair grow, and end up looking like a confused werewolf. 

Once again Harry wondered why he was still keeping secrets. It was getting more and more ridiculous to keep such an important part of himself hidden from the man he had chosen to spend the rest of his life with. The night before Louis had mentioned adoption again, they had a house with enough room for kids to run around, and Harry knew their hearts were more than ready to welcome another member into the family. There was nothing stopping them and they decided that that weekend they would start filling out the necessary documents to send to the agencies. 

So Harry didn’t have a lot of time to solve the issue of the presence in the house, and also to tell his husband that there was a great possibility that the child they would adopt would manifest magic as soon as his name became part of Harry's family tree. He was almost certain that Louis wouldn't abandon him after knowing the truth, but it had been this 'almost' that had prevented him from saying anything until that moment. 

“I can smell the smoke outside with all the neurons you're burning.” Niall's voice came from the front door. “What are you thinking so hard about?”

Damn, he'd have to explain about the connection between him and Niall too, wouldn't he? Whenever he thought about it he remembered the men who'd found it absurd that Harry had a mental connection with someone other than his romantic partner, and even when the other person had no idea about the magical side of the connection, his closeness to his friend always caused a certain amount of discomfort with suitors. Louis had been different, of course, but would it remain different after he knew the truth? 

His mental connection with Niall happened naturally, they spent so much time together growing up, especially during college when they moved in together, that when he started hearing his best mate's thoughts in his head, it was as if they were always able to do that.Normally this only happened between couples that were both witches and spent years in love with each other.It could happened between family and friends too, but wasn’t as common, and because people romanticize the whole thing, his last partners just thought that he and Niall were secretly in love. 

Louis might feel left out, or that he doesn’t love him as much, which, of course wasn’t true, and...

“Haz, I already told you, Louis isn't that kind of person” Niall spoke entering the kitchen and leaning his hand on his friend's shoulder, interrupting his line of desperate thoughts

“I'm going to tell him Niall” Harry said, looking away from the cauldron to his friend.

Something in his tone must have been different, or Niall just felt that he was being sincere this time, because instead of pressing the issue, as he usually did, he smiled and asked what he could do to help.

Harry had already updated him on the purpose of the evening, and thanks to the years of friendship, instead of asking why Harry needed help with a summoning spell, Niall just asked the time and if they would eat something together afterwards.

They worked side by side, chatting about amenities while Harry mixed the ingredients that Niall prepared in his cauldron, following the recipe in his grimoire carefully every time he needed to pronounce a spell.

When all the ingredients were at boiling point, Harry turned off the fire and let the mixture rest, while he and Niall went to prepare the room for the ritual. 

He didn't want to risk the new sofa that Louis loved so much, so they moved it away, and took the television out of the room as well, so as not to risk affecting it with any sort of paranormal remnants of the spell. 

“I'll start with the simple invocation, it's not an evil presence so it should have no problem responding to the call.” Harry explained positioning the cauldron on top of a heart shaped pot stand to avoid staining the floor.

Niall nodded in agreement, taking a seat inside the circle of candles opposite to Harry. It wasn't necessary more than one witch for the invocation spell, and if he was going to be honest, in a situation like these, the ideal would be the presence of the residents of the house to potentiate the effect of the invocation, but Louis wasn't an option, and Harry felt comfortable with his friend around, not to mention that Niall was the most sociable person Harry knew, if that mysterious presence wasn't in the mood for conversation, Niall would probably change that. 

When everything was ready, Harry sat down too, legs crossed, back straight, palms resting on his knees and Bianca in his lap. 

Feeling the magic flow into his body was already second nature, Harry didn't even need to close his eyes to concentrate, carefully he intoned the words etched into his grimoire, and the cauldron in front of him began to boil again, this time not by the induction of heat, but by magic. 

The right words affected the potion so that it created a lilac smoke that swirled clockwise,  Bianca meowed approvingly, which prompted Harry to smile in satisfaction. 

“I know you're there, please introduce yourself!” Harry tried to be as polite as possible while also trying to sound firm. 

For a few moments nothing happened, and then the lilac haze cleared and a boy appeared in the centre of the circle. The first thing Harry noticed were the tattoos, and that the boy was extremely attractive, but then their eyes met, and Harry was overcome by a wave of sadness that brought tears to his eyes. 

Usually ghosts didn't like to share their motivations, their purpose of existence was usually to create chaos, so sharing what their deepest feelings were was not a common practice. Of course the ghost living in his house had to be different. 

Harry had prepared himself to argue with the supernatural presence, so when the boy simply showed him all his cards, projecting onto him his anguish and reason for still being stuck in this dimension, he was taken completely by surprise

Looking satisfied, the boy vanished into thin air, leaving Harry with tears and Niall with a frown.

“Looks like you really do have a ghost in the Haz house” Niall commented breaking the silence, but before Harry could organise his thoughts to reply, a sigh coming from the door made his heart freeze. 

“Correction, we have two ghosts in the house”  Louis' voice echoed through the living room, making Harry's heart skip a beat, before he blanked out completely.

*

Part II 

Liam and Zayn

Louis was almost entirely certain that he was the one who should have fainted upon finding his husband with his best friend doing witchcraft in the living room of their new house, instead he carried a unconscious Harry to the sofa that had been pushed aside at the back of the room, while Niall carried the cauldron - which Louis always knew wasn't just Halloween decoration - into the kitchen. Louis was pretty sure that if it hadn't been for his fainting best friend, Niall would have jumped the kitchen window to avoid the conversation that was now inevitable.

“Louis, I shouldn't…” Niall tried to start, offering him a glass of water. His hair was a mess, as if he had run his hand through it.

“Niall, I know," he said to put an end to the anguish of the boy in front of him. 

“You know?”

“My husband is the worst liar in the world Niall, I've known he's a witch since our second date.” 

 Niall took a huge sip of the water that Louis hadn't accepted yet. He could see the cogs turning in his head as the boy assimilated the information.

“Okay, that makes sense," was the conclusion he came to, and then lifting Harry's legs, Niall sat down on the couch, propping them up in his lap again afterwards. 

“Is he going to be okay?” He couldn’t help being worried, he hadn't meant to interfere the ritual, but the words just came out of his mouth.

“He will, he just needs to rest, I think the ghost showed him something and when he saw you it must have been too much emotion at the same time," Niall explained, throwing his head back. “You said there are two ghosts?”

He nodded and sat down on the floor, he was still wearing his work clothes, but he didn't want to take the risk of Harry waking up and not seeing him there. “I've seen one around the house for a while now.”

“Why didn't you say anything?”

 Louis didn't know if the question was only about the ghost.

“If Harry wanted me to know, he would have said something”

 That's what he finally said, and the room went silent again. 

When Harry started snoring, he decided that it would be fine to take a shower and change his clothes, and get back to his husband's side before he woke up. Niall promised he wouldn't leave until Louis returned, which put him at ease too, so he dragged himself into the bathroom, hoping the hot water would help him find a better way to deal with the situation.

He had no idea what to say to Harry, it had been so many years of living that lie that he didn't want to just pretend to be surprised and spend the rest of his life with another secret, but the thought that his husband might resent him for never saying anything in all those years was one that haunted him too. 

There was no point regretting it now, if he really wanted to avoid the situation he would have turned around the instant he saw Harry and Niall in the middle of a ritual in the living room, but he didn't do that, he had stood and watched, impressed - and maybe a little aroused too - by how naturally Harry handled magic. He definitely shouldn't entertain those kinds of thoughts, but he loved his husband, and he couldn't do anything if watching him use his power was kind of hot.

“Focus Tommo," he muttered aloud trying not to let his mind wander to inappropriate thoughts.

Dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, he walked back downstairs finding, contrary to what he expected, everything back in place, and Harry sitting on the couch with a cup of tea in hand and another on the coffee table. Louis didn't have to think twice to know it was for him.

“Niall said he was going to stay” He commented sitting next to his husband, Harry looked at him wide-eyed, pressing his lips together in a thin line. 

“I told him he could go, I...needed to do this alone”

  His tone was worried and cautious, and Louis wanted to hug him to show him that everything was okay, but he knew that when Harry needed to do something the best thing to do was to respect his pace.

Louis took the cup of tea and wrapped it with both hands, recognizing the smell of chamomile, and, with a wrapping in his stomach, he realized that there was something else too.

“Haz, it won't work” He commented, placing the mug back on the table still under the watchful gaze of his husband. “Forgetting spells only works for short term information, I'll forget the ritual I saw, get a terrible headache, but I'll still know you're a witch.”

Harry took a deep breath beside him, but Louis shifted his disappointed gaze to the opposite wall. He didn't consider that Harry would want him to forget the truth, somehow that hurt more than all the years of lying. 

“If that's what you want Haz, we can both take it and go back to the way it was, but first, just tell me why?” He hadn't meant to sound so upset, he hadn't wanted Harry to think it was some kind of emotional manipulation to get him to admit the truth, but Louis was tired of the lies, tired of not being able to love Harry for all that he was. 

“You knew?”The question came in a whisper, but Louis didn't turn to see his husband's expression. He wanted to have that conversation, but that didn't mean it was easy.

“Since the beginning Haz, you're the worst liar in the world, it wasn't hard” He admitted with a sad smile. 

He looked down at his cup again, it was Gemma who had warned him about the forgetting potion, as far as he knew Harry had never used it on him, but his sister-in-law thought it was only fair that he should know about the possibility. She had said it as something that might drive Louis away, but he stayed, and now that it was finally happening, he thought himself silly for not having seen it coming. 

“Aren't you scared?” The question was ridiculous, even though Louis knew Harry was serious.

“Should I be?”

“I can turn you into a frog," Louis let out a dry laugh, just considering the idea.

“You would never turn me into a frog, Haz.”

The silence between them was fraught with anticipation, and Louis felt his time running out.

“You never said anything," another whisper. 

“You'd tell me when you were ready," he shrugged, taking a deep breath and reaching for his cup again. “I just hope it won't be much longer.”

He wasn't going to think, he was just going to drink his tea and hope that the pain in his heart would go away along with the memories of the night. 

“NO!” The scream came an instant before the tea touched his lips, but before Louis could move the mug away from his mouth, it was gone and his hands held only air.

Louis turned to find Harry with his right hand outstretched, holding the mug still wrapped in blue sparks. 

“I don't want you to forget” He spoke, placing the mug back on the table with the help of magic, his eyes not shifting from Louis. “I just wanted the chance to get it right, I had a speech ready and I…”

“Harry” his voice came out shaky, and the tears started to fall before he could control himself. 

He didn’t know why he was crying, if it was the fact that Harry finally trusted him with the truth, or the relief that all the lies were over - it  was probably a mix of both -, he hadn't thought it was possible to love his husband any more, but there was proof that it was. Harry's long, warm arms wrapped around him in a hug, and Louis allowed himself to be drawn into his husband's lap, snuggling into his chest as his tears wet the t-shirt under his face.

“Sorry it took so long my love” It was the only thing Harry said in his ear, not letting go at any point. 

Louis stopped crying eventually, but they didn't let go. They had always been the kind of couple that shows affection in physical ways, so, long hugs and falling asleep tangled up in each other was nothing new, but Louis felt that it was the first time he was this close to Harry, there were no more barriers between them. They still had a lot to talk about, he knew Harry would have questions and he'd like some answers too, but until then, it was nice to fall asleep knowing that his husband was totally his.

*

He had forgotten to close the curtains before falling asleep, so the sun woke him up earlier than he would have liked, especially when Louis was so well fitted in his arms. 

Louis, who knew about his magic from the start.

Louis, who even though he knew, never left.

Louis, who was willing to forget everything and give Harry a new chance no matter how much it clearly broke his heart.

How had he been such an idiot for so long?

The night before, he had passed out as soon as he saw his husband in the living room doorway, and when he woke up he needed some alone time to deal with all that information, so he allowed himself to go into a meditative trance until Louis decided to go to the shower.Niall knew him well enough to know that he hadn't fallen asleep, but Louis didn't know that side of him. Yet . With a warm feeling in his heart, Harry thought that this could change now, he would be able to tell Louis everything.

The trance helped him deal with what Zayn, that was the ghost name, showed him, and if Harry wasn't mistaken, the second ghost Louis mentioned was called Liam, although Harry had no idea how his husband knew of any ghost's existence. 

Whatever the story between Zayn and Liam was, it created so much sadness, that Zayn couldn't physically manifest himself. Apparently it had been the love and joy between Louis and himself that had awakened the ghost suffering from his own loss. Zayn didn't like that at all apparently.

For a few moments the night before, he thought his heart would soon join the ghost's sadness when Louis decided to leave.  

“Don't tell me you're changing your mind” The husky voice caught his attention, and Harry found worried blue eyes staring at him. 

“Never” He said sincerely, watching the worry lines soften around his husband's eyes.

“Good, because we have company” Louis looked over Harry's shoulder, who had to turn to be able to see what he meant.

Sitting in the armchair across the room was a different boy from the night before.

“Damn it.”

Harry got up as quickly as he could without throwing his husband off the couch, but the ghost didn't seem shaken, he was looking at the floor so all Harry could only see was his profile. 

“He doesn't do anything, he just stands still” Louis whispered, getting up beside him. “And looks sad.”

“Since when do you see him?” he asked, still weirded out from having such a conversation with his husband.

“A few weeks ago, Gemma said he's not evil," Louis said calmly, but Harry's eyes widened at the information.

“ Gemma know that you know?” He asked, his voice thinning in a way that hadn't happened since puberty.

“Your mother does too, but Haz, I think we have a more pressing matter right now!”

He would need to have a serious talk with his family, but Louis was right, they had two heartbroken ghosts to help.

“Right, Liam!” He didn't think before he spoke, but the name made the boy look at him startled.

“Do you know his name?” Louis asked.

“Can you see me?” Liam asked at the same time.

“Yes, and yes”

Liam looked about to say something, but then the door to the room opened and he vanished into thin air. 

“Great, you guys are awake!”  Niall spoke up just sticking his head through the door. “I brought reinforcements!”

*

Twenty-four hours ago Louis was pretending not to know that every morning his husband used a spell to make his curls look perfect, and now he was at the kitchen table listening to him discuss spells with his mother and sister while his best friend prepared breakfast using magic to scramble eggs and fry pancakes.

He sipped a cup of tea - no forgetting spells this time - in silence, trying not to get in the way, but Gemma and Anne gave him satisfied glances from time to time, as if to show how happy they were that he was part of this moment. Louis was happy too, maybe a little confused by the magical terms, but very, very happy.

“Something happened, and they're clearly connected to this house," Niall said as he finished putting the food on the table. Everything looked great, but Louis didn't think he could eat much.

“What's weird is that Zayn can't show up, but Liam can," Gemma commented between one bite.

“Maybe Zayn feels more guilty?”  Louis suggested, receiving all eyes from the table in his direction. 

He knew it wasn't his place to speak, and was about apologized, until he saw the pleased gleam in his husband's eye. He took a deep breath and continued.

“You guys talked about how the reason Zayn can't come out is because of grief, right? And that what happened probably involves the two of them in this house, maybe he feels more guilty for what happened than Liam does?”

“It makes sense” Niall agreed, and Louis felt Anne, who was sitting next to him, squeeze his arm affectionately.

“Maybe it will all work out if you get the two of them to talk?” she suggested, and Gemma frowned.

“Wouldn't it be easier just to ban them both? They might not be so open to dialogue," she remarked, and Harry shook his head.

“They're suffering, from what Zayn showed me it's not that he's attached to the house, it's the pain, if we ban them from here, they'll just keep suffering somewhere else.”

Louis had no idea what the ghost had shown Harry, but it was apparent from his concern, how deeply it had touched him.

For someone who until last night had been trying to hide much of his life, Harry didn't seem too shaken by the change in dynamic, there was no discomfort at all in the way he made the salt shaker across the kitchen floating through the air from the cupboard to the table. 

Maybe it was the fact that he was focused on the mission ahead, seeing Liam in the living room that morning had clearly changed something in him, so Louis didn't know if things were really okay between them. As much as he didn't want to admit it, being surprised with a forgetful spell had left him unsure of how things would be from there on out.

“Let's do one more invocation ritual and call them both” Niall spoke with his mouth full of eggs, and his hand holding a piece of toast.

“I think that this time Harry and Louis need to do the spell” Anne said, causing Louis to choke on his tea.

“But, I don't have any magic" he said, although it was obvious, he was the only one who had to get up to get a napkin.

“You also own the house," Gemma explained, and Harry's brow furrowed even more. “Only one witch is enough for an invocation, but your presence will help strengthen the spell.”

“She's right” Harry agreed. “We can try again tonight, if you feel comfortable with the idea.”

Louis knew that question carried a lot more than an invitation for a summoning spell. Harry looked at him with an insecurity that reminded him of the beginning of their relationship, when Harry would present him with little facts about himself, like how he loved romantic comedies and liked to hold hands on the street, as if they were insignificant things, but which actually had great importance to him.

“Tonight.” He agreed with a nod of his head, without looking away from his husband. Just like all the other times, Louis was willing to prove to Harry that he wasn't going anywhere.

It was Friday and he had informed his manager that he had had a family emergency, and would be working remotely, so as Anne and Gemma began to make a list of everything they would need, he excused himself and went into the office to try and answer some emails and make some calls. 

Louis worked for an architectural firm and was currently helping out on a large project for a condominium in central London, and although everything was well underway he found himself completely losing track of time, only realising how much time had passed when his stomach started to complain about the lack of food.

It was already three in the afternoon and the house was empty, there was no sign at all of Harry and his family, and Louis felt his stomach clench, trying to avoid thinking of the worst case scenarios, until the spot the note on the fridge. 

Relief ran down his spine as he read  his husband's handwriting letting him know that he had gone out to buy some things they would need later. Harry would be back, he hadn't decided to abandon Louis. 

After a quick snack, Louis headed back to the office, decided that the best thing to do was to stay productive rather than consider all the possible conversations he and Harry would inevitably have to have. 

*

Louis looked strangely calm, even as Harry positioned the cauldron in front of him.He had decided to repeat last night's scenario, moving the couch away and placing candles in a circle around him and Louis. 

They hadn't talked much in the afternoon, Louis had locked himself in his office working and Harry was grateful for the excuse not to have to deal with his husband immediately. Basically, he was trying not to freak out about the fact that Louis didn't seem to be freaking out.

It wasn't supposed to be this easy. It was supposed to have more tears and screaming, maybe even some stuff thrown at him. Harry should have received some sort of punishment for hiding something so big for so long, and in return he should have been angry that Louis and his family had lied to him for the same amount of time. 

None of that happened. His mother and sister just shrugged when he gave them a pointed look, and apart from the conversation with Louis the night before, more of a statement than a dialogue, it was as if nothing had changed between them, and Harry knew it was too good to be true.

“Harry, wait!” Louis' voice was soft, as if he was afraid of disturbing.

 Harry felt a chill run up his spine. 

“We can stop if you're uncomfortable.” 

Ever since Louis had left his office and appeared in the kitchen while Harry prepared the spell, Harry had asked him about a hundred times if he was sure. He had been waiting for the moment when Louis would admit that this was all too much, that breakfasts with cutlery moving by itself and cauldrons full of magic potions were not the kind of future he wanted for his family.

“No, I want to keep going, it's just…”He looked down at his hands, taking a deep breath before raising his face again. “I love you. You know that, right?”

“Lou.”  A wave of affection washed over him as he allowed himself to be enveloped by the love in the blue eyes that stared back at him.

 Louis looked worried, and maybe a little confused, but there was nothing in his posture, or the look in his eyes, or even the energy he emanated, that indicated anything but love.

“I know we need to talk, about all this..." he gestured, indicating his surroundings, and then his eyes once again met Harry's. “But I love you Haz”

“I love you too" Was all he could manage to answer, trying his best not to jump over the cauldron to hug his amazing husband. 

They stared at each other for a few more seconds, while Harry allowed himself to feel all the love between them, and then Bianca appeared on his lap, indicating that everything was ready for the spell. Feeling more confident that Louis wouldn't get up and run off, Harry smiled.

“Time to begin.”

*

Harry had no right to look that attractive while reciting spells. His hair swayed as the magic flowed through him, and Louis caught himself wondering what it must have been like when he still had long hair, if the curls swayed like shampoo advertisements every time he performed a spell. Even now with short hair, Louis was sure that any brand of hair products would be interested. 

Also, his hands, who gave him the right to have such beautiful and sensual hands?It was just resting on his knees, slightly flexed, all the rings on their places, and a soft blue nail polish on his nails. It was ridiculous that even after years of marriage, Louis still felt affected by his husband's hands. Maybe if it wasn't for the aura of power surrounding Harry, he wouldn't feel like a teenager in front of his crush, but Harry Styles wrapped in magic sure made Louis feel fifteen years old again.

“We know you guys are there, please introduce yourselves!” Harry's voice echoed through the room and Louis watched as a lilac swirl shot from the cauldron to the ceiling, and then turned into a mist throughout the room. 

Louis had been distracted by his husband throughout the spell, but now he felt completely focused on what was happening, trying to notice any slightest possible change around him. Still, when the two boys appeared in front of him, he nearly screamed in fright.

“Liam and Zayn?” Harry asked, looking far less affected by the paranormal guests.Maybe he had experiences with ghosts, Louis would have to ask later. 

“I…” This time Louis heard Liam's voice, but it was clear that the ghost only had eyes for the other ghost in front of him. 

Zayn was even more handsome than Louis remembered. He hadn't really seen the details the night before, but up close it was impossible not to notice that the two of them made a ridiculously attractive couple.

“What do you think you're doing?” The accusation came from Zayn, and Louis felt as if someone had squeezed his heart. It took a few panicked seconds for him to notice Liam's expression and understand that he was feeling a reflection of the ghost's feelings.

“I feel your pain, we want to help” Harry continued, and his eyes were watery, probably a reflection of Zayn's feelings. 

 Before inviting him into the circle, Harry explained what could happen during the spell, the level of empathy and the connection they were proposing between them and the ghosts could make them access Zayn and Liam's feelings. So Louis wasn't surprised, but still, he couldn't help but find it impressive. 

“You can't help us, we're already dead aren't we?” Zayn's tone was loaded with hurt, and once again Louis felt his heart tighten.

“We're still here” Liam spoke up and Louis noticed that Zayn was struggling to keep his gaze on Harry. “I'm still here Zee.”

“None of us are here” Was the answer, even more filled with pain.

“You made a mistake, but there's no need to spend eternity punishing yourself for it” Harry continued, clearly knowing far more than Louis about the situation, perhaps because he was a witch he was more sensitive to empathy with supernatural beings - one more thing to add to the list of questions he'd like to ask his husband.

“And what do you know about this, witch?” This time the warning feeling came from him himself, no one talked that way to his Harry. 

“I know what it is to make a mistake.” Harry answered, and Louis stopped himself to get up and kick the ghost ass. “I know what it's like to think you're doing the right thing and then realise you were wrong, I know what it's like to be afraid of losing someone you love by admitting you made a mistake.”

Louis should have been focusing on the ghosts, but his attention returned fully to the look of pain in his husband's eyes. “I got a second chance and you deserve the same.” 

 Louis was once again taken by the love he felt for Harry. His idiotic husband who really thought he could lose him, even when he was Louis’ entire world.

“Zee, I'm here now, I've been waiting for you for so long, please, look at me” Liam's plea was sincere, and Louis knew that Zayn wouldn't resist for long. “It was an accident, and neither of us could foresee it. You were driving, but I was there by your side, talking and singing along with you.”

“I lost control" Zayn said, his and Harry's eyes filling with tears. 

“It was an accident.” Liam's voice was soft, Louis could feel the boy's affection for the other. “Do you know the last thing I thought of before I died?”

Zayn didn't answer, but finally turned his face to face Liam, which was worth more than any word.

“That the last thing I would take from this world, would be your laugh” Louis felt a sob escape his lips, and that's when he realised that he was crying too. “I wasn't scared Zee.”

“I'm so sorry Li” The choked voice was the last thing Louis heard before Zayn threw himself into Liam's arms, who already seemed to have practice at holding him. 

The lilac cloud that had been gliding across the room spun back into a swirl, and before Louis understood what was happening, the ghostly couple in front of him were gone. 

*

“So it worked?” Louis asked later that night.

They were lying on their bed, the bedroom light off and still wearing the clothes they had worn in the ritual. Louis smelled of green apples and magic, and Harry wanted more than anything to shove his face into his neck and stay there forever.

“Now it was up to them.”

Ghosts were complex creatures, no one really knew what happened in the afterlife, and it wasn't like they could ask once the creature stopped appearing, but Harry had a feeling that Liam and Zayn weren't gone yet, the empathic bond created during the ritual had already been undone, but he felt remnants of the bond like a tingle on his skin.

“Haz, what you said to Zayn... “ He felt the mattress move, and turned to find Louis lying on his side staring at him. “ You were never in danger of losing me.”

“I didn't know that” He admitted, feeling emotionally drained after the past couple days. The tears started falling before he could even find a specific reason for them. 

“Shhh, it's okay” He felt his husband's arms wrap around him and allowed himself to be held. “Everything will be alright.”

Harry didn't know if the statement was for him or if Louis was speaking to himself, but before he could say anything else, they were both asleep.

The next morning, Harry woke up to Louis running his fingers through his hair, and whispering in his ear. For a few moments he allowed himself to enjoy the affection, but then Louis' words started to make sense and he opened his eyes in confusion.

“We have visitors”

Not knowing what to expect - he really hoped it wasn't Niall and his mom and sister again - he first searched Louis' eyes, and then turned to the direction he indicated.

Liam and Zayn were standing in the doorway of the room, holding hands and smiling softly.

“Sorry to bother you guys" Liam said quietly once he realised Harry was awake.

“It's alright, are you guys okay?”  Louis spoke up, and Harry would feel impressed if he wasn't still trying to convince himself that it wasn't a dream.

“We'll be” Zayn replied, squeezing Liam's hand tighter. “That's why we wanted to ask, if it’s okay with you guys, if we could keep living here for a while longer?”

“We had just moved in when... “ Liam didn't need to finish his sentence. 

“We're not going to get in your way, it's just that the environment helps us feel more grounded " Zayn added instead. 

They both looked anxious, and Harry looked from one to the other before turning to his husband. Louis shrugged, making it clear that this was a decision he wouldn't know how to make, it was Harry who had the knowledge of the supernatural world. 

“You can stay as long as you need” He said finally, feeling Louis' hand on his waist squeeze him gently in agreement.

“Thank you” Liam and Zayn said at the same time, their words full of joy. 

They looked at each other, opening a smile that coincided with the reflection of the sun, causing Harry to have to look away. 

When he could see again, the couple had already left.

“So now we have ghost roommates?” Louis spoke up, drawing Harry's attention to himself again. If it wasn't for the affectionate way his husband looked at him, he might have been worried that Louis was finally going to snap. 

“I knew I wouldn't have a dull moment with you Styles," Louis commented, crawling up the bed to get up, "but you're the one who's going to explain to our kids why they live in a haunted house.”

“ Are you serious?” The question came out before he could control it, and Louis looked at him confused as he grabbed his phone from the bedside table.

“Of course it's serious, I'm not the one who's going to explain why they share a house with two ghosts” Louis didn't lift his eyes from his phone, probably checking his lost messages. “Let just hope they keep PG around the house” 

“Do you still want to have kids with me?” The question finally caught Louis' attention, who after a moment of frowning in confusion, threw the mobile on the bed and climbed back on it, crawling until he got in front of Harry.

“I never had any doubt about that," he replied, both hands holding his husband's face before placing a light kiss on his lips. “But no more secrets, agreed?”

“Agreed." 

He smiled as his arms wrapped around Louis in a hug, finally drawing his face into his husband's neck, still smelling the faint scent of magic on him, and feeling, once again, all the calm in the universe.