Work Text:
It’s approaching one in the morning and the Slytherin common room is deserted apart from the Zayn, Louis and Harry. Zayn’s flicking through one of Louis’ Quidditch magazines, reading about broomsticks that he doesn’t really care about, while he pretends not to notice the way Harry’s hand is moving further and further up Louis’ thigh, whispering dirty promises that would make even Zayn shudder if he could hear them, or the way Louis’ giggles are getting higher and higher – gasping and wriggling away from Harry, pretending he doesn’t want the things on offer. It’s been over a fortnight since Louis and Harry went public and they’re taking full advantage of everyone knowing, acting as obnoxiously in love as possible.
Louis gasps at Harry’s latest murmur. Zayn knows he’s acting like an unnecessary third wheel but he doesn’t feel like going to bed yet and annoying Louis is one of his favourite things to do. He gives in when the clock strikes one, getting up to give the lovebirds peace to shag on the couch. Before he can make it to the stairs, however, there’s a loud tapping at the window making all three boys look up.
It’s an owl Zayn doesn’t recognise, one that pecks at his finger when he opens the window and hoots impatiently when he takes too long untying the note from its leg. As soon as the scroll is off, the large handsome bird ruffles its feathers and flies back through the window, leaving Zayn to suck at the cut on his finger as he simultaneously unfurls the parchment, assuming it’s for him.
Zayn, I’m in the owlery. Sorry for waking you. I need you.
Niall
Zayn’s halfway across the common room by the time he’s finished the letter, aware of the way Harry and Louis’ eyes are following him as he pulls his hood up over his face; fooling himself into thinking it’ll stop him getting caught by that bloody Mrs Norris.
“Who was it from?” Louis asks curiously, just as Zayn’s opening the door.
The words flash in front of him. I need you. Niall needs him. He has to go. But something’s holding him back from telling Louis exactly why he has to go. He wants to keep the message private, a secret between him and Niall. A lie comes to his lips easily: “That Ravenclaw from last week” and an accompanying wink has Louis throwing back his head with a laugh before turning his attention back to Harry who kisses him enthusiastically. Zayn takes that as his cue to leave and slips out the door in the wall, leaning against it once it’s slid back into place. Niall needs him. The words cause something to flutter low in his stomach and he knows he’s acting stupid but he’s never been needed before.
The Owlery is as far away as possible from the dungeons which gives Zayn a lot of time to think, and worry. By the time he’s reached the sixth floor and his breathing is getting shallower he’s convinced himself that he’s over-reacting and that whatever Niall needs him for is help with his last minute Potions homework (He ignores the part of his brain that’s whispering that it’s the last week of the school year so they haven’t had homework for days, and even if they did Niall’s as brilliant at Potions as he is with any of his other subjects and therefore wouldn’t need Zayn’s help).
He takes the last set of stairs two at a time, his hood slipping off his head and his legs wobbling slightly as he crashes through the door into the room (he should probably cut down on the smoking but three Sickles for a packet is just too good a deal to resist). It stinks of hay and bird. He wrinkles his nose and looks around, searching for a boy in need.
Niall’s sat on the ground at the opposite end of the Owlery from where Zayn’s standing, just under the wooden stairs that lead to...well, nowhere Zayn discovers once he looks up. The stairs stop halfway up the room; he dismisses it as another thing he doesn’t understand about Hogwarts and makes a mental note to finally get round to reading Hogwarts: A History at some point over the summer. His attention is brought back to the matter at hand with a small sniff from Niall which, when paired with trembling shoulders, tells Zayn that tears are involved.
The realisation has Zayn rushing across the circular room and bundling the crying boy into his arms, pressing his cheek to Niall’s hair and rubbing comforting circles on the small of his back. Niall’s long arms wrap around his waist immediately, burrowing his face in the space between Zayn’s shoulder and chin and the pair sit in silence for a few moments until Zayn’s neck stops feeling so wet and the sobs have been reduced to the occasional hiccup.
If he had the choice Zayn would sit like this forever; Niall practically in his lap, his breath hitting Zayn’s neck every time he exhales (it should probably be at this point that Zayn realises exactly how he feels about Niall (that he wants to kiss him so his cheeks flush red and he sighs Zayn’s name against his mouth) but he doesn’t; he simply dismisses the feelings as this is what best friends do and tightens his grip round Niall’s waist) but he knows they have to talk about what’s wrong, what made Niall cry like his heart was breaking.
“What’s up, Nialler?” Zayn asks softly, once he’s sure the Hufflepuff isn’t about to burst into tears again. There’s no answer so he tries again, “Niall? What’s wrong hm?”
“It’s stupid.” Is the mumbled reply into the crook of his neck. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”
“Niall, you can tell me.” Zayn promises.
“But you’ll laugh –“
“I won’t. I promise.” Zayn jostles Niall gently until he looks up then smiles at him, warm and comforting.
The gesture works; Niall sighs and averts his gaze back to the floor before speaking so quietly Zayn has to lean in to hear. “I just. It’s summer in three days and I...I don’t want to go home.”
Zayn doesn’t know how to reply. Niall’s told them about his family before; his dad ran out on his mum when he was eight and his mum had turned to drink to ease the pain. The holidays were spent in the large family home with no comfort or love from his mother; the servants the only forms of company. Zayn wishes every year that Niall could come home with him (to his similarly large manor, the difference being that Zayn’s parents and sisters made it a more enjoyable stay) but he’s always been too scared to suggest it to Niall in case the younger boy feels too much like a charity case and rejects him.
“I just want to stay here with you.”
“Mate...” Zayn croaks after a stretch of silence. He’s not sure where he’s going with this sentence but Niall’s looking up at him with red-rimmed hopeful eyes so he needs to keep talking. “...you know we’d be happy to have you stay with us.” There. He’s taken the leap, he’s made the offer. Niall can decline if he wants but Zayn’s already imagining spending the entire summer with the blond boy, just the two of them, his mind wandering and taking him places he didn’t know he wanted to go - swimming in the lake, making forts with his duvet as if they were kids all over again, playing Quidditch in the garden. There’s a clenching in his stomach and he’s suddenly desperate for Niall to say yes, yes I’ll come home with you.
“I couldn’t -” He’s saying instead, bringing Zayn back to reality with a bump. “– I couldn’t intrude like that...”
“Don’t be stupid.” Zayn tells him quickly, his heart rate increasing and he’s suddenly paranoid that Niall can feel it under his cheek where his head is still resting on Zayn’s chest. He doesn’t know what’s wrong with him, why he’s reacting this way. He tells himself it’s because they’re practically inseparable all year and the thought of two months apart is making him sick because they’re best friends and that’s how close they are. There’s nothing romantic about it. Right? “You know my mum prefers you to me.” It’s true. Every year at King’s Cross his mother is always fawning over Niall telling him how tall he’s gotten since the year before and oh well done for all those Os in your OWLs and he better come visit this year, while the other four stand and smirk at the way Niall ducks his head and flushes scarlet at all the praise. “She’s been begging for you to come stay for years.”
Niall just sighs at this, leaning further against Zayn and picking at a thread on the dark haired boy’s sleeve. “Sure you wouldn’t get bored of me after a week?” he murmurs into the material after a minute.
Zayn scoffs and ignores the voice at the back of his head screaming you could never get bored of him because he has no idea where that’s come from, “You better keep me entertained then.” He doesn’t mean it the way it sounds and blushes the second it’s out.
Niall muffles a laugh into Zayn’s t-shirt then tilts his head so their eyes meet, a hand coming up to touch Zayn’s darkened cheeks. He smirks lazily, his eyes sparkling bright bright blue again and Zayn feels something a lot like hope build up inside him. “I’ll be your sex slave then if that’s what it takes to let me stay.”
Zayn completely skips over the sex part because a) his brain really can’t cope with thoughts like that right now and b) “Does that mean yes?”
“You’re the best friend any one could ask for, Zayn.” Niall smiles at him then and then his arms are round his neck and he’s hugging Zayn so tightly he’s having trouble breathing. It’s the first time Zayn’s hated being called Niall’s best friend.
~
It’s the last night of the school year so the whole school is in the Grand Hall for the final feast. The speeches are out of the way and the House Cup has been awarded. Slytherin won of course, for the sixth year running, and Zayn can’t help but wonder if the winning streak will continue after Louis’ graduated and they have to find a new Seeker.
He should be over celebrating with his house but Harry had opted to sit with Louis for dessert and there’s only so much of them Zayn can take. Especially since he’s started having these...musings about Niall and what it would be like to do the things Harry and Louis do with him. He’s lost count of the number of the times in the last few days that Niall has asked him what the fuck are you staring at, idiot. He couldn’t exactly say him. No, especially since they were meant to be spending the entire summer together and something like this would make it awkward and Zayn doesn’t want anything to ruin the next few weeks. When the question comes up he just mumbles something about zoning out and turns away so Niall can’t see his cheeks flush because Slytherins don’t blush.
So Zayn finds himself sitting at the Hufflepuff table for dessert (he’s not quite used to this table hopping after spending six years sat surrounded by Slytherins. He likes it though; the light hearted jokes from the Hufflepuffs and debates over at the Gryffindor table are a lot more enjoyable than the sly remarks and taunting his Slytherin classmates favour), squashed in beside Niall and a second year he doesn’t know the name of, glancing at the Niall every few minutes, watching the treacle tart disappear in front of him. He’s not really hungry anymore anyway.
“’m going to bed.” He says abruptly and Niall just nods, his mouth full of treacle and pastry, but the second year beside him squeaks a bye that has Zayn laughing and clapping him on shoulder. He misses being that small and innocent, when nothing meant anything and he didn’t have sort of inappropriate thoughts about his best friend. “I’ll speak to you later?” he adds and again Niall jerks his head and smiles, still chewing away.
Zayn looks over at the Slytherin table where Louis and Harry are kissing and the students surrounding them can’t decide whether to stare or look away in disgust. Zayn shakes his head and leaves the Great Hall without disturbing his roommate, hurrying down to the dungeons and muttering the password to the stone wall. He can’t get to his bed quick enough; closing his drapes and shutting himself off from the world as he lies and wonders how he’s going to last an entire summer with Niall and all these new feelings dancing around inside of him like a Hippogriff on Firewhiskey.
~
“Wakey wakey.” Louis yells in Zayn’s ear the next morning and this, is why the brown haired boy was put in Slytherin. He may seem alright at first glance but there’s an evil, mischievous streak hidden under the “perfect” exterior that only the Sorting Hat and Zayn are privy to.
“Go away.” Zayn burrows further under the covers where it’s stifling and he feels a little like he can’t breathe. He stays there for a minute longer than he should because last night’s dream had involved Niall skipping off the Hogwarts Express with Liam and yes, it’s ridiculous but Zayn’s being ridiculous at the moment so he worries about it while he’s hidden in his duvet cave.
Louis’ started singing some Muggle song and Zayn doesn’t even want to know where he learned the words. His only guess is Harry which makes sense given the lyrics are about fucking and that’s all Harry and Louis seem to do.
“Shut the fuck up, Lou.” He groans from his makeshift cave and he thinks it’s worked until suddenly he’s dangling upside down from an invisible hook, his head spinning as he blinks down at Louis who is grinning smugly. His arms flail and his t-shirt slips down to cover his head and he wishes he had his wand in his hand so he could stop Louis fucking Tomlinson from laughing at him.
“I’m up. Are you happy now?” He growls, pulling the material away from his face, revealing Louis curled over with laughter. “Fucking get me down, Tomlinson. Levicorpus got old in third year.”
“Only for you cause you can’t do it.” (It’s not Zayn’s fault, he just finds non-verbal spells hard, okay)
Louis cackles before giving his wand a flick which brings the other boy crashing to the ground in a tangle of limbs. “Get dressed, we’re meeting the others in the Entrance Hall at ten.”
Zayn mumbles curses under his breath and tries not to think about the fact that “others” includes Niall. He knows the dream wasn’t real and Niall isn’t actually in love with Liam (well, he’s pretty certain about that and he really hopes he’s right because he likes Liam a lot and doesn’t want to punch him in the face) but he’s not sure how he’ll act around the others. These stupid butterflies in his stomach and the dizziness he feels around Niall are fucking up their friendship already and if Zayn doesn’t pull himself together things could end badly and he really doesn’t want that.
~
“A’right mate.” Niall grins in greeting and Zayn manages to smile back, inwardly groaning at the way his insides have turned to mush. “Looking forward to going home?”
They start the walk down to the carriages where the Thestrals will lead them down to the train. Zayn takes a moment to say bye to the castle for another summer, feeling a clench in his chest when he realises how much he’s going to miss it. It’s only a few weeks, he tells himself before he remembers Niall asked him a question and is still waiting for an answer.
“Suppose. Be nice to see my family again.” He shrugs. “Gonna miss this place though.”
“Same. But it’s only for a couple of months, so.” Niall reminds him, as if he can read Zayn’s mind. That thought makes Zayn panic a little. “I’ll miss the House Elves cooking...” Niall trails off looking wistful.
“Don’t worry,” Zayn tells him, bumping his shoulder against Niall’s, “my mum’s is better.”
“You know the way to my heart, Malik.” Niall laughs then stops to wait for the other three so they can all share a carriage. “Get in.” He taps Zayn on the arse to get him to climb into the carriage and Zayn’s thankful that he’s first in so no one can see his blush. What the hell is wrong with him? Niall’s slapped his arse before; they all have thanks to Louis who introduced the gesture to their friendship group back in fourth year. Why is he over-thinking it now?
“Why are you all red -?” Harry starts to ask once they’ve all clambered into the carriage and it’s moving bumpily down to the station.
“Be good to go home won’t it, boys?” Zayn says loudly to cover up the question. Harry looks at him bewildered but just shrugs and answers him.
“It’ll be alright, I guess. I always hate not being able to do magic.”
“Well don’t get yourself expelled okay?” Louis tells him, running a hand down Harry’s arm. “I need you next year.”
Liam, Zayn and Niall all roll their eyes when Harry grins at the rare moment of public sentiment from his boyfriend and takes the opportunity to kiss him obnoxiously until Liam pulls at his shoulder with an exasperated groan.
“Yeah I’m looking forward to it.” Niall grins up at Zayn even though he’s not going home, not really. He likes this idea better. “It’s gonna be great.”
“That’s alright for you to say.” Liam says petulantly, twisting his head for a final glimpse of Hogwarts before it disappears round the bend. “You two’ll have each other.”
Zayn smiles at the way it sounds and ducks his head only to meet Niall’s gaze, a smile of his own lighting up his features as they look at each other. The smile is theirs – containing promises and secrets and even if it’s not exactly what Zayn wants, Niall’s the best friend he could have.
~
They’ve been on the train for a good couple of hours before Zayn snaps.
They’re sprawled across the two benches of the end compartment; Liam and Niall are playing Exploding Snap while Louis and Harry take bets on who’s going to win. Louis’ head is in Harry’s lap and Zayn can’t look away from the couple, jealous of how comfortable they are with each other. His gaze flickers back to the Niall beside him who has won the last round and is now sticking his tongue out childishly at Liam.
Zayn studies the line of Niall’s jaw; the softness of his cheeks narrowing down to a sharp chin, a smattering of freckles around his nose that only appears in the sun. His eyes continue down to his neck which is almost shockingly pale, watching as his Adam’s apple bobs as he giggles at whatever Louis is saying.
Suddenly, Niall drops a hand to Zayn’s knee and Zayn can’t take his eyes off it, his breath hitching in his throat. Niall’s still laughing loudly; unaware of the reaction he’s caused. The others are all oblivious as well, leaving Zayn to stare at the large, pale hand resting on his sweatpants, the long fingers flexing slightly as their owner continues to giggle and snort. He takes in a shaky breath and wills himself to calm down, it’s only a hand.
But then it slides further up his thigh, the fingers spreading further apart as it maps out Zayn’s leg, nimble digits feeling and probing the skin beneath them. Zayn can feel his body start to react and looks up worriedly to see if anyone’s looking in his direction. Niall’s talking to Louis about the Chudley Cannons. Harry’s taken over from Niall to play Liam at Snap and the two are laughing and shouting as they argue over whose hand is on the pile. No one’s noticed Niall feeling up Zayn in the corner, not even Niall.
Zayn’s being delusional, and ridiculous, he knows he is. But he can’t keep it in anymore; he needs to tell someone about the way he can’t think about anything else but the way Niall’s eyes shine when he looks at him and how he keeps burning up and who better to tell than the person causing it all?
Before he can talk himself out of it, Zayn is on his feet, knocking the offending hand off his leg in the process. “Niall.” He hears the way his voice sounds; high and panicked, and cringes inwardly.
“You alright, Zayn?” Niall looks up at him, concern contorting his features. “You look funny.”
“Mm, I’m fine.” He waves it off, tries to be casual even though his insides are dancing and he can’t really breathe in the small compartment. Out the corner of his eye he can see Liam, Harry and Louis looking at him as well; Louis and Harry look as confused as Niall but Liam’s got a knowing smile on his face and Zayn doesn’t like the look of that. “Wanna go for a walk, Nialler?” He needs out of here, he needs to tell Niall now or he’ll explode.
“Sure.” Niall shrugs easily and lead the way out the door, pausing to chuck a few Sickles at Liam. “Get me a couple of Chocolate Frogs when the trolley comes, will you?”
Zayn finds an empty compartment a couple down from the way they’d just left. They slip inside and slide the door closed behind them, Zayn trying to think of how to start.
He turns from the door to see Niall standing with his hands by his side, his head tilted as he looks at Zayn with wide blue eyes, still not sure what’s going on. Zayn fidgets and looks anywhere but the boy in front of him. Just tell him the voice at the back of his head urges and for once he listens to it.
“So. Niall. I - um. Well for the last couple of weeks I – I’ve been feeling...” he trails off, takes a deep breath and starts again. Niall’s still staring at him and for the first time since they’ve known each other Zayn can’t tell what he’s thinking; his stormy eyes unreadable. “I’ve been feeling differently towards you. I think – Well, you’re my best friend. But I... I don’t know what it is but it’s different.”
“Is it good different?” Niall asks his voice soft and suddenly he’s right in front of Zayn and oh, something just flopped low in his stomach.
“Good?”
“Do you like the feeling?”Niall’s so close now, one hand comes up to rest on Zayn’s shoulder and it feels like it’s burning straight through his t-shirt on to his skin. Zayn hopes he keeps it there.
“Yes.” Zayn can’t lie; can’t do anything with Niall looking at him like that, his blue eyes misty with what looks like the same emotion that’s swirling about Zayn’s insides – something he’s too scared to label.
He’s about to ask Niall what he’s thinking to make his forehead crease like that but then Niall’s smiling, that same secret smile he did earlier in the carriage and Zayn’s heart increases to the speed of a Firebolt darting through the air, his breath shortening as though he’s been taken on the broomstick and is flying higher and higher, and words don’t seem important anymore.
Niall presses his lips to Zayn’s, gently but not so soft he can’t taste the want. Zayn’s head swims and he feels that familiar dizzy sensation before he remembers what’s happening and kisses back, a hand coming up to settle at Niall’s waist. Their kiss slowly, getting used to the new sensation of kissing your best friend and liking it, before Niall opens his mouth tentatively and Zayn does the same, their tongues meeting.
All Zayn can think is that he’s kissing Niall and it doesn’t feel anything like he thought it would; it’s not weird or awkward and he definitely prefers it to all the girls he’s ever kissed. He wonders if it’s the way Niall’s gripping his shoulders, his thin fingers digging into his skin in a way that will probably leave light bruises even through the thin material, or the feel of Niall’s bony hips beneath his own fingertips, that makes him like it so much and then Niall breathes “Zayn” between their joined mouths and Zayn’s train of thought disapparates.
Niall pulls away first and Zayn doesn’t think he whimpered (he hopes not) but the smirk on Niall’s delightfully reddened lips tells him he might have.
“So.” Niall says once they’ve both had a few moments to get their breath back. “That was definitely different.”
“A good different?” Zayn mimics Niall’s question from before. He doesn’t know how he’ll react if Niall says no.
“The best.” Niall grins, then pulls Zayn’s head down and joins their lips again. Zayn goes along with it because kissing Niall has shot right in to his top five favourite things to spend his time doing.
Niall bites at Zayn’s bottom lip, moving back just far enough so he can rest his forehead on Zayn’s shoulder while the taller boy tips his head back with his eyes closed, savouring the moment. Zayn feels the sensible thing to do will be to bring up what just happened and what it meant because he likes to know the meaning behind everything and kissing your best friend is definitely something that needs to be discussed.
“D’you want to hear something funny?” Niall says quietly before Zayn has a chance to open his mouth.
“What?” Zayn’s fingers inch along Niall’s hips, stroking at the skin.
“I’ve wanted to do that ever since third year and you stopped the Whomping Willow from bashing my head in.”
Zayn can’t believe it. He’s spent the last three days obsessing over these feelings and Niall’s telling him he’s felt them for the last three years? His chest tightens at that, his heart jumping.
“Why didn’t you say something?” he croaks, feeling disbelief and a warped sense of self hatred at having wasted the last three years kissing random girls when he could’ve been snogging Niall.
“I didn’t think you felt the same until the other week when you acted all funny. I didn’t want to scare you away by calling you up on it.” Niall murmurs against Zayn’s shoulder.
“Oh.” Is all Zayn can say to that. “So, what happens now?”
“Well, we could become the new Harry and Louis?” Niall suggests, lifting his head so Zayn can see the way his eyes are glinting mischievously. “Without all the drama, obviously.”
“That means making out everywhere and annoying everyone with how in love we are doesn’t it?” Zayn checks, just to make sure. He grins widely when Niall nods. “Sounds good to me.”
They seal the deal with another kiss, their noses bumping, Niall giggling which makes Zayn’s stomach swoop and really, it’s not such a bad feeling after all.
~
The boys catcall when they come back to the compartment looking distinctly more ruffled than when they left, their hands linked loosely by their sides.
Niall just rolls his eyes and plants himself in Zayn’s lap, leaning down to kiss him as they pull into King’s Cross. Zayn makes a polite gesture the other three behind Niall’s back, his eyes closed as he focuses on the way Niall’s lips feel against his own instead of the worry building in his stomach at seeing his mum in a few minutes.
He needn’t have worried. Zayn’s mum grins delightedly when Zayn says “Mum, this is Niall. He’s my...um.”
“Boyfriend.” Niall supplies, winking at Zayn then Mrs Malik pulls him in for a hug telling him she’d suspected it all along, Zayn never shuts up about him. Both boys blush a bit at that, looking at each other then away again. Mrs Malik just tuts and rolls her eyes, leading them towards the exit and warning Niall that he better be hungry because he’s gotten so tall since the last time she’d seen him and he needs some fattening up. Niall just laughs and says of course, Mrs M, he’s always hungry and winks at Zayn again who is torn between ducking his head in embarrassment at his mother or laughing as well.
Cool fingers slip between his own and he grasps the warm hand as they slide through the wall back into the Muggle world. They have the whole summer ahead of them. He’s going to take Niall to his secret hideouts and beat him at Quidditch. He’ll make him a bed on the floor then pull him into his own every night and teach him how to roll a joint properly. He’s going to cover him in love bites and kiss him till his lips are red and full because hey, they’re boyfriends now and he’ll be damned if he doesn’t take full advantage of that. Basically, he’s going to make sure this is the best summer of Niall’s life, he deserves it.