Have I Told You Lately? (l.s)

nineteen

14.10.18

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Valentines day fell on a Sunday. The morning of was a glorified affair, garlands of paper hearts floated gently in a magical breeze, that wafted through the Great Hall as students ate their breakfast. Any fires burning in the candles or the fireplaces were a bright pink, sending a loving hue all around the room. Eggs had been fried into the shape of hearts, similar to the way the pancakes and slices of toast had been cut. All around the school, people were coupled up, whether they had been the day before or not, and you couldn't go anywhere without stumbling upon two people locked in what was usually a steamy kiss. 

"Makes you feel kinda lonely doesn't it?" Niall asked, waving his toast crust around as he looked up at the ceiling while they ate. 

Liam and Zayn hummed agreements as they ate their breakfast. Louis was out at quidditch practice as even though it was a Sunday, the second to last Inter-House Quidditch match, and Slytherins last, was only four weeks away and the team captain was hounding them to train as regularly as they could. 

"Not really," Harry shrugged, "that sort of stuff doesn't bother me." 

"Like at all?"

"No." 

"Not even a bit, like it doesn't even make a little part of you want to curl up with your bird at the end of the day?" Liam asked, looking at Harry with confusion. 

"No," Harry responded, thinking to himself how adverse he was to the idea of doing something like that with anyone other than Louis, "I'm just not looking for that right now, I've got too much on to be worrying about relationships. It might be nice yeah, but I'm not craving it." 

Zayn looked at him with a frown, to which Harry responded to with a shrug and slight smile. 

Most of what he was saying was a cover up, although there was a small part of him that was telling the truth when it came to having too much on to worry about a relationship. Really, through most of the conversation he thought about Louis. Despite the fact they were comfortable with whatever they were, Harry was not comfortable with himself. As much as he hated to admit it, he didn't know what he wanted, and even though he knew for a fact that his heart sped up when Louis entered the room, and he craved nothing more than to be around the other boy, he wasn't entirely set on his intentions. 

Mostly, he just wanted to be in contact with the other boy. Talk to him, hold him, kiss him, he just didn't want everybody else to know. He knew for a fact that once people knew about relationships, no matter who it was between, everyone wanted to get their own comments in, wanted to say something about what they thought and give opinions no one asked for. Harry knew he didn't want that for any relationship he was in, regardless of who it was with. 

Luckily for Harry, the topic of conversation changed, giving him the excuse to sink into his thoughts and not have to answer their questions, listening and making comments intermittently. Once they'd finished eating, they grabbed their stuff and moved outside, sitting down in their usual spot by a group of trees near the lake. It was mid February so although it wasn't necessarily warm out, it was bright and the sun was shining, meaning they were able to wear coats and sit outside comfortably. 

None of them were really working, despite the fact that they all had studying to do, it was a Sunday and Harry didn't want to. It wasn't until after midday that Louis joined them, fresh from the shower after practice, wrapped up in a jumper and a coat, hands deep in his pockets. It was like a sixth sense Harry had, always able to tell when Louis was near, because the boy hadn't even announced himself and Harry was looking in his direction.