Chapter Text
A kernel of popcorn landed in Louis’ lap. “Break it up, you two,” Zayn pleaded. “I know you are like, so totally in love, but really, I’m ready for you to get over the honeymoon phase.”
Harry gripped Louis even tighter in his arms. “We haven’t been together that long. We’re allowed to be a little…”
“Cuddly,” Louis said..
With multiple beers between his fingers, Liam walked back into Louis’ living room. “Of course you are, and we’re happy you’re getting some, but I could smell your pheromones from the kitchen.”
“You’re allowed to be… cuddly… but you were cuddly before you even got together, so now you’re like, far too cuddly to be in public,” Niall said.
“We’re not in public,” Louis countered as he burrowed his face into Harry’s neck.
“To even be amongst friends. Can you at least stop with the kissing for a few minutes?” Zayn asked.
“Jealous?” Louis murmured without lifting his head.
Liam laughed under his breath.
“No, don’t think I am,” Zayn said.
“Should be. Harry’s lips are… heavenly,” said Louis.
Niall snorted. “Not something you’d know about.”
“Rude.”
“Come on, Louis. Seriously. We need to discuss this,” Zayn said.
“Why? Can’t we be done discussing our relationship?” Louis gave Harry another kiss for good measure.
Zayn groaned. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. I don’t want to talk about Harry. I want to talk about Trivia Tuesdays.”
“Hmm… much rather kiss Harold here than worry about that.”
“What’s wrong with your trivia game?” Harry asked, once he pulled away from Louis.
“The Kardashian Coven beat us last week, which puts them in second place and bumps us down to third. We’re never going to win at this rate,” Zayn said.
“There’s still so much of the season left. We can come back.” Louis rolled his eyes.
“Not sure about that,” Liam said. “We are pretty awful at anything involving pop culture. Another few nights like the ones we’ve had and we’re going to be at the bottom.”
“Ergh,” Zayn crushed a handful of popcorn and dropped the mess on the floor. Louis raised his eyebrows at Harry, trying to express how out of control Zayn had been about the whole thing. “Maybe we need to add another study session to our week.”
Louis groaned. “No way. I can’t possibly.”
“Like you have anything more important to do,” Zayn nearly shouted.
Louis squeezed Harry’s side but was quite proud of keeping his thoughts to himself.
“Part of the problem might be that we’re such a small coven. How can the four of us expect to win when some have so many members?” Niall asked.
“I could join.” Harry looked around the room.
“Babe, that’s nice of you to offer, but humans aren’t allowed.”
“I know,” Harry said.
Suddenly everyone in the room was looking at Harry.
“We couldn’t expect you too,” Niall said.
“Harry, not over a trivia game,” added Liam.
“I’m not going to say no.” Zayn gave Louis a pointed look. “But I’m also not going to turn you. You’ll have to convince one of the others.”
Harry squirmed in Louis’ lap. “I mean, I kinda thought…”
Louis pinched the soft bulge of his love handles. “We’re not talking about this here.”
It wasn’t like Louis hadn’t thought about it, how it seemed like Harry just fit with the rest of them in a way that seemed almost too easy. He was falling fast, too fast honestly, but Harry had slid into their lives and Louis hoped he wouldn’t have to give that up… but it was so soon. He needed to be a thousand percent sure that this was what Harry wanted.
〰〰〰
Once Niall came back with their drinks, Zayn banged his fists on the table. The bar was less crowded than normal, which was great, because they could discuss their business freely.
Zayn took a long sip of his Bloody Maria and slammed his glass on the table. “I hereby call this meeting to order.”
Liam and Niall both burst out laughing and Louis rolled his eyes.
“Okay, fine. Who wants to start?”
All three of them looked at Louis. “Why are you looking at me?”
“You’re probably the most invested in this,” Liam said.
“Uh, no. If he’s joining our coven then we’re all equally invested,” Louis countered.
“He’s right,” Zayn said. “Let’s do this. If anyone has any reservations about Harry joining, now is the time to voice them.”
All four members looked around at each other. Niall shrugged and took a sip of his drink. Liam was focused on a hangnail. Louis opened his mouth once, then closed it.
“Cool. Well that was easy. Let’s put this to a vote. All in favor of inviting Harry into the coven, raise your hand.”
Zayn lifted his hand while he was still speaking and Niall and Liam’s both shot up right as he finished.
“Lou, seriously? What’s your deal, do you honestly not want him to join?” Liam asked.
“No, I do… it’s just… it’s his call to make. I don’t want him rushing into a decision.”
“Do you think we’re going to force this on him?” Zayn looked genuinely troubled. “I’d have hoped by now that you’d know it’s totally his choice. We’ll welcome him with open arms and help him all we can if he wants, but if he doesn’t that’s totally fine too.”
“No, I know. It’s just…”
“Just what?” Niall leaned forward in his seat. “What are you worried about?”
“Just… wanna make sure he knows what he’s doing.”
“Have you two talked about it?” Liam asked.
“Yeah, like… everyday for weeks now. That’s all we’ve talked about. He knows what to expect and we’ve covered the coven rules, made dozens of pros and cons lists.”
“And what does he want?” Zayn asked.
Louis took a deep breath. “He wants to join the coven.” Louis knew the other three were exchanging looks while he stared down at the table. “Look, I know it’s his choice. But I’m worried I might have influenced him too much. I’m way too excited about the prospect of him being a part of the coven. I love you guys, but he’s like, already my best friend. To know we’ll have an eternity together is…” He struggled to find the right, all-encompassing word. “Incredible. I don’t want him to regret it a hundred years from now if it’s not as great as I’ve made it seem.”
“He’s adult who can make his own decisions. You don’t think he’s thought this through carefully?” Niall asked.
“He’s smart. He says he knows what he’s doing,” Louis finally said.
“Alright.” Zayn clapped his hands together. “Let’s vote again. All in favor of inviting Harry into the coven, raise your hand.” This time all three raised their hands quickly, and with a growing smile, Louis did too.
Zayn led a rousing cheer, then stood and lifted his glass. “To Harry!”
The others followed his lead. “To Harry!”
〰〰〰
Louis grabbed a few bottles of cold water from the refrigerator. He shut the door with his hip and passed by Zayn in the hallway on the way back to his room where Harry was waiting.
“He okay?” Zayn asked.
“Nervous, I think, a bit. Mostly excited.” Louis shrugged. “I’m going to do what I can to make it a peaceful transition.
“I know you will.” Zayn patted him on the shoulder. “Let us know if you need anything. We’ll all be here for you two.”
Louis nodded. He really hoped that he’d be able to do it successfully. Zayn had explained it to him multiple times and he understood it theoretically, but he still had never done it before.
He knocked gently and waited for Harry’s soft “come in” before he opened his door. As he walked in, he saw Harry laying in the middle of the bed, holding his phone up in front of his face.
“Ready?” Harry asked.
“I was about to ask you the same thing.”
“Great minds…” Harry joked.
Louis gave him a lopsided smile. “Want to go over it all again?”
“Not for my peace of mind; think we’ve talked it over enough times. But, I’m willing to bet you do.”
“Asshole,” Louis said fondly. “But you’re right. Lay there and pretend you’re listening for my sake.”
“I’m all ears.”
Louis set the bottles of water down on the nightstand and crawled into bed with Harry. “Okay, so I’m going to bite you like I always do.” He ran a finger down the side of Harry’s neck and tapped once in his dip of his collarbone.
“Rwar.”
“That’ll feel like it always does.”
“Will we have time for a quicky?” Harry asked.
Louis laughed. “Sure, if you want, the bite can be while we’re doing it.”
“That’d be great, because I kinda always want to be doing you.”
“You’re insatiable.” Louis gave him a quick kiss. “That’s fine, but I can’t get too lost in it because after your blood’s had a chance to get all…”
“Vampire-y?” Harry could be such a little shit, but yes, he was right even if he wasn’t using any of the technical terms Louis had taught him.
“Yes, vampire-y, then I’ll bite you again, maybe on the other side, keep you from getting too many bruises, and my fangs will inject the blood back into your bloodstream.”
“And even though you pissed yourself and cried like a baby it doesn’t hurt?”
“There’s not a day goes by that I don’t regret telling you that. No, it doesn’t hurt. I was far more scared of what I thought was going to happen than I should’ve been.”
“And the screaming.”
Louis flicked his nose. “Yes, thus the screaming, so my mom came running and apparently found me naked and nearly dead on my bed. I’m still not sure how Zayn got out of there fast enough to not get caught.”
Harry giggled again. “Sorry Lou, I know it’s not really funny, but the idea of you screaming like a child getting a shot.”
“Enough out of you or I’m going to bury you alive.”
Harry gasped. “You wouldn’t!”
“No, I wouldn’t. Even with Zayn waiting for me when I got out, that sucked a lot.”
Harry took his turn giving Louis a moment of comfort. “Okay, so, we’re not going to be interrupted and I’m not going to scream like a toddler, so…”
Louis continued, “So, you’re essentially going to fall asleep as your heartbeat slows down, then your whole body will basically shut down as it deals with the invading ‘disease’ and then after a few days you’ll come to, still with slower body functions, but your mind intact. Oh, and you’ll be thirsty. So fucking thirsty. So we’re fully stocked with the best blood bags money can buy.”
“Easy-peasy.”
“Then you’ll be stuck with us for eternity.”
“Think of all the sex we’ll get to have.”
“Oh my god!” Louis laughed. “Yes, we’ll get to fuck for eons. You’re still interested? It’s okay if you back down now.”
“I’m good. Let’s do this! I’m ready to vamp.”
Louis laid on top of him, pulling him into a deep kiss, and rolling his hips once. “Let’s get started then.”
Once Louis finished the ritual, he didn’t want to leave Harry’s side. He laid next to him keeping watch for nearly twenty-four hours straight until Zayn finally came in and made Louis get up and shower. Louis still didn’t want to leave his side and was, for the first time, actually thankful that he now had super speed and could shower in record time. After leaving him the first time, the next few days were a little easier to leave his side for moments at a time, leaving Zayn or Liam or Niall to watch over Harry’s body while he was gone.
Once the fifth day passed and Harry could get up at any time, it was impossible for them to get Louis to move from Harry’s side. He insisted on being there the moment Harry started to wake up and wanted to be the first person Harry saw when he opened his eyes.
After what felt like a lifetime, finally Harry’s eyes started to flutter open. Louis was there to stroke his face and pepper him with butterfly kisses and ease his transition back to the living.
“Ow, Lou,” Harry started scratching at his throat.
“Zayn!” Louis shouted. “The bags! Harry’s up!”
Zayn and the others were there by his side in a moment, puncturing a bag with a straw and passing it over to Harry. After he had emptied one, and then another, all with Louis keeping a steady hand on his thigh, he finally tipped his head back and let out a long sigh.
He smirked at Louis, then looked around at everyone else. “What’s the plan for tonight? I’m kinda sick of just lying around.”
Louis tackled him and couldn’t resist pressing their lips together. After a quick moment of just feeling Harry under him, knowing that he had made it through, that he was safe, Louis kissed him deeper. He had missed the way he tasted, the way his tongue felt against his, the sound of his moans.
“Alright,” Niall said. “Guess we know what you’ll be doing tonight.”
“Maybe we can all go out tomorrow night, if you’ll be done by then,” Liam suggested.
“Okay. Okay.” Zayn started to corral the others out of the room. “Let’s give them some privacy.”
And Louis was more than okay with that.
〰〰〰
“Tonight’s winner is…”
After Harry was turned, their trivia team did a major turn around and on the last night of the season, were close to catching the Kardashian Clan in the standings.
Zayn, Niall, Liam, Louis, and Harry were all sitting around their table, hands clenched in a tight pile on top.
“Drum roll please,” The Quizmaster always had a flair for the dramatics.
“Whatever happens, I’m really proud of all of you,” Zayn said.
The others all cooed at his unusual burst of sentimentality.
“The Malik Clan!”
Everyone at their table burst into cheers and applause. Liam was fist pumping into the air and Niall was doing an odd hip thrust thing that had Zayn laughing. Louis, of course, had immediately turned and kissed Harry.
“Which means, this season, for the first time ever, we have a tie for the league champion. In order to break the tie, we will go into sudden death. I’ll ask one question. You’ll write your answers down, and the first team to get it wrong, will lose. We’ll continue until we have a clear winner.”
Someone came around with extra scraps of papers for both teams while the Quizmaster got himself sorted. Finally everyone was ready. The bar was nearly silent with all eyes focused on the bar.
“Alright, are you ready?” He was answered with a roar from the spectators. Both Zayn’s team and the Kardashians nodded. “This musician was born Farrokh Bulsara.”
“I know this,” Harry whispered excitedly. “Gimme the pen.”
Louis looked around, it looked like a good portion of the bar was deep in thought.
“Are you sure Harry?” Zayn asked.
Harry finished writing and put the pen down. “I’m sure.” Louis squeezed his knee and hoped that his nerves weren’t showing. He desperately wanted Harry to get this.
Zayn picked up the paper and shouted “Done!” while folding it in half.
They waited a few more seconds until the other team had submitted their answer.
“I’m happy to announce that we now have this season’s winner! The correct answer is Freddie Mercury!”
Zayn’s team all leapt to their feet and started celebrating. Louis was filled with pride when the other three enveloped Harry in a hug. He pushed his way into the huddle, not content with just throwing his arms around their backs, he wiggled his way between their arms so that he could wrap both arms around Harry. Now that he’d helped them win the trivia season for the first time ever, Zayn was going to be in a great mood for the next few months.
“So glad you worked your way into my life,” Louis whispered to Harry amongst the commotion.
“So glad you let me make up my own mind about joining the coven,” Harry answered with a smile.
“So glad you’ve won us free beer for the year!” Niall mocked them.
“Yeah, that’s a nice prize too,” Louis said.
Louis waited as long as he possibly could for the public celebration to be over, but he finally pulled Harry off to the side. “Want to go home and celebrate by ourselves.” Louis licked his lips at the way Harry’s eyes dilated at just the suggestion. He couldn’t wait to see Harry’s excitement over his other prize, round-trip tickets for them to spend the summer in London.
“Come on, H, let’s get home. We have forever to celebrate with them.” Harry followed quickly behind, as Louis walked them out into the loud city night.