me, him, and the moon ☾ l.s.

six - the face of danger

"You're extremely blushy today," Niall observed casually. The two boys sat side by side at the table in the infirmary, still working to perfect the medicinal mixture that Niall had come up with. It had worked pretty well in terms of actually curing illness in the first test run, but some of the side effects weren't exactly desirable. The nurses had asked them to try a few different variations, leaving out an ingredient or two in each batch to get to the root of the problem.

"I'm not," Harry denied. He ducked his head to hide his flushed face, pretending to look closely at the interesting shape of a chamomile flower's petal.

"And I noticed that you and Louis made up," Niall added, still watching Harry's face carefully for any open windows into the younger boy's mind.

"Yeah, we did," Harry confirmed. A few days had passed since their conversation by the river, and Harry hadn't stopped thinking about it since. He and Louis had even had dinner by themselves twice; as he was heading over to join their friends like usual, Louis had tugged him off to the side with an excited smile, and they had sat together on the edge of the woods. Both nights, they had talked well into the evening, sitting together long past the normal dinner hours, and both nights, Harry had uncharacteristically shown up a few minutes late for his work shift.

"I'm glad you two are finally coming to your senses," Niall said, smiling fondly at the dazed expression on Harry's face. "And realizing some feelings, maybe?"

Blushing furiously, Harry ducked his head, still avoiding eye contact with the Irish boy. "Maybe. We haven't actually talked about it, so I don't know if he really feels the same as I do."

"And how do you feel, exactly?" Niall pressed.

"I care about him a lot," Harry admitted. "As more than a friend, obviously. If anything, I think the argument was a result of me not knowing how to express my feelings."

Niall clapped obnoxiously, then pumped his fists above his head in an exaggerated cheer. "For fuck's sake, finally!" he exclaimed. He stood from his chair and grabbed his jacket off of the hook by the door -- on Fridays, Harry usually worked a bit later than him. "Hopefully Louis has sorted himself out as well. If not, I'll have a word with him."

"Don't you dare say anything to him!" Harry warned, waving his knife threateningly at Niall.

"I won't! But I never said I wouldn't push him in the right direction." Niall wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, grinning excitedly. "Subtly, of course!"

Harry groaned loudly, but he joked, "I really am going to have to poison you, aren't I?"

"You'll thank me someday," Niall laughed, already halfway out the door. "Okay, I'm heading out now. I'll see you later?"

Harry nodded, already refocused on his work. "Yeah, I'll meet you at your house as soon as my shift is over."

"Great! See you soon. Don't cut off any fingers!"

Harry laughed, rolling his eyes as the door slammed shut, indicating that Niall had left. He scrunched his nose in concentration as he ground the plantain leaves into a fine paste, forcing the intrusive thoughts of a particular blue-eyed boy from his mind. Niall was always better at mixing medicines, so he had to stay focused so he didn't ruin all of the hard work that his friend had already put in.

He reached for another handful of birch bark, pouting when he found the container empty. He paused to consider his options -- he could wait and finish the mixture with Niall during his shift tomorrow, or he could go into the woods himself to get more bark for the medicine. He glanced at the clock on the wall; he still had another hour and a half in his shift, so he decided to go grab fresh ingredients.