School of discipline (L.S.)

Chapter 23

Halloween was one of the best nights of the year. At least in Harry's mind it was. He was sure that wasn't a sentiment shared by anyone over the age of about thirty but back home Halloween had been the talk of the school for weeks before the night itself, namely the annual party at Jenny Buchanan's house. Letting loose for the night, getting drunk and dancing to blaring music with his mates had been a good time. Most people back in Holmes Chapel couldn't have pulled off a do like Jenny Buchanan's party but her parents were loaded and had a fucking huge house that meant his whole year and more had been able to attend, and there were certainly those in his year group that had not been invited. Harry's own mum would never even consider letting him throw a party of that scale let alone with alcohol when kids under 18 were in attendance but Jenny's parents were cool; they'd even supplied the alcohol themselves.

Harry hadn't expected anything of that sort to happen here, had just assumed Halloween would pass like every other night. So when Louis had casually mentioned that Zayn and Liam wanted to pop round before the party this Saturday he had been beyond surprised.

"What party?" Harry asked, pushing that fact that he was going to have to see Liam and Zayn again to the side for now, looking up at Louis from where he had previously been focused on his plate of curry. He'd made a vegetable one for himself but decided to add some chicken to Louis' not wanting to have to listen to him complain about Harry forcing 'healthy eating' upon him.

"It's an annual Halloween party the students in their final year throw. I thought I'd told you?"

"No," Harry shook his head, spearing a piece of cauliflower with his fork. "A party on campus?"

"Yeah, the teachers turn a blind eye for the night. They don't necessarily approve but they understand we all need a night to go a bit crazy, and they would excuse it with it being a good team working project for the students who organise it. And to be fair, it does take a lot of planning to coordinate an event for that many people."

"Don't approve of what? Is there drinking?" Oh did he hope there was drinking. He could really use some alcohol right about now. His head had been nuts the last few days, with Louis' family being here, and Louis' confession about liking him and his own subsequent feelings about it, and even a small drink to block that out for a night would be nice. The party would probably do that anyway but alcohol would definitely help.

"No, no alcohol," Louis told him, and Harry's lips pulled minutely down into a barely there frown "but that's because the party tends to involve play and we don't want anyone's inhibitions or decision making abilities to be lowered to prevent them from providing informed consent."

"Play?" Harry questioned though his cheeks flushed a light pink only a moment later when he realised what Louis was talking about. "Oh. Play."

"Yeah, though we can still go to the party without getting involved. There are plenty of people who won't play at all and will just go to enjoy a night off from school, and life in general."

"But most people will play? Would you normally?"

"Yes but that doesn't matter. All that matters is what works for us right now," Louis assured him though that didn't make Harry feel a great deal better. Once again he felt as though he was letting Louis down, holding him back from doing what he truly wanted. Regardless of how he felt, maybe they simply weren't compatible. He felt like they could be though, maybe. They had similar tastes in music, they both liked football though Louis was much better at it than him, they both loved their families and wanted their own when they were older, and they just got on well. They laughed and joked around and Harry felt he could talk to Louis about anything serious too. He was a good listener and gave good advice. He'd seen that in his interactions with his siblings during their stay. They clearly valued his opinion on just about everything, understandably so. They had fun together.