A Love Mess At Hogwarts

Chapter 36

Zayn sat by himself, on the stairwell right outside the Great Hall. He could hear the music streaming out from inside, and he could feel the joy and excitement.

Still, he was in no mood to go in.

He had no idea why he snogged Liam. He hadn't planned it or anything, it just happened.

When he was heading to breakfast earlier that day, he had still been hurt over Louis. Seeing Liam not only reminded him of Louis, but it also reminded him what Niall said. That he thought Zayn liked Liam.

Why am I so stupid, Zayn ran his hands through his dark hair, and adjusted his tie. Lying back on the stairs, he noticed a girl standing by herself outside of the hall.

Deciding he might as well make himself useful, he rose from the stairs and walked towards her.

She was rather good-looking, with dark, wavy hair and had on a pretty blue dress. He thought she might have been a Slytherin. "You alright?"

Startled, the girl looked at Zayn and smiled, obviously recognizing him. "Yeah. I just don't know if I can go in."

Leaning against the wall, Zayn asked. "Why is that?"

"I don't know. These balls aren't really my thing."

"Yeah, they aren't mine either actually. What's your name by the way?"

The girl almost looked offended that Zayn didn't know, but she smiled. "Scarlett. You're Zayn right?"

He nodded. "Tell you what. I'll go in if you do." He held his arm out, looking at her.

She hesitated for a moment, then took his arm and walked in.

Zayn was taken aback by how wonderful the Hall looked. He glanced at Scarlett, whose eyes were dancing.

The first person he spotted was Louis, standing by himself in a corner. He was relieved to see that he wasn't with Harry. Maybe Louis liked Zayn after all.

"Excuse me, Scarlett. But there's something I need to do." He walked away towards Louis, who's face lit up a bit when he saw Zayn.

"Hey."

"Hey."

By Louis's tone, Zayn could tell he was still down. He studied Louis, remembering when they were together. He had seemed happy, but lonely at the same time.

"Want to dance, Louis?" it was the only thing Zayn could think of saying.

Louis looked back, surprised. However he then grabbed Zayn's hand, and led him to the dance floor.

The song that was playing was an upbeat, wizard-rock song. It made things easier, drowning out the awkwardness between them.

Zayn smiled, when he saw that Louis began to enjoy himself. He loved watching Louis dance. Louis would throw in all these crazy dance moves, and his smile-the smile that Zayn fell in love with-slowly was coming back.

They had a good time dancing. And Zayn felt happy again. The song ended and a slower one came on, but Zayn wasn't going to let Louis get away. He pulled him close, and held his hands in his.

Louis smiled, and swayed along to the music, looking around at all the couples. Zayn noticed Liam and Niall together, which made him feel bad. He liked having Niall as a friend; he hadn't meant to hurt him by kissing Liam. He just hadn't known. But thankfully, everything seemed to be fixed between them.

Zayn then spotted Harry Styles, sitting at a table by himself, glaring at him with Louis.

Louis looked over too, and his face dropped.

Zayn felt the need to hold on to Louis tighter, but he couldn't. He saw Louis looking at Harry, not being able to take his eyes off him.

"Louis, don't do this to me." Zayn dropped his hands from Louis's. He took a step back. "It's not fair."

Louis's eyebrows narrowed. "Zayn, I didn't...I'm not."

"Yes, you are. You can't be with me; you can't make me feel like you like me. We all know who you like."

"Zayn, I'm not." Louis struggled to find words, but he couldn't. He then started to come closer to Zayn, but Zayn pushed him away.

"I can't do this anymore."

Zayn walked away from Louis, and sat at the closest empty table, fighting back tears.

He loved Louis, he really did.

But he couldn't be treated like this.

 It hurt so much, knowing that Louis would never love him. Sure, Louis was happy with Zayn, but he knew that Louis would always feel lonely. He would always look over at Harry.

And Zayn couldn't take it.

He was never the one to let someone treat him like this. He would never let anyone treat him like this.

Not even Louis Tomlinson.