Chapter Two

Louis pushed open the door of Shell Cottage, aware of a certain lack of noise. The kitchen was empty, the only movement that of the spoon stirring his mother's infamous stew on the stove. He called out softly to see if anyone was still awake and was greeted by a murmur from the living room. Following the sound, he found his sister reclining on the chaise longue by the glass double doors that let in the night sea breeze.

"What are you smiling about?" teased Dominique as her brother stepped into the room.

"Nothing," he lied, blushing slightly.

"What have you been up to?" she enquired, reading his blush with ease.

"Just at the Hall with Lux," he tried to act nonchalant but could sense the growing colour in his cheeks undermining his otherwise fairly good act. Besides, that wasn't what she meant, she knew where he'd been. Dominique raised an eyebrow and he grew even redder.

"Louis William Weasley…" she sighed, putting down her book and standing up. "Explain to your favourite sister what exactly that blush on your face is all about."

"It's nothing Dominique," he sighed, attempting to back out the room.

"He finally told you, didn't he?" she asked, a grin breaking across her delicate features. Louis froze and turned back to his sister.

"Told me what?" he asked suspiciously.

"Oh come on Louis," she sighed exasperatedly. "I've known how Pollux has felt about you for ages… It's been agonising watching you blunder on so blindly while he was pinning after you."

"You knew," his eyes widened as he stared at his sister.

"Of course I knew Louis," she fluttered her hands slightly as if he was being thick. "It was written all over his face every time he looked at you, I'm amazed it took you so long to realise it."

"Why didn't you say something?" he asked incredulously.

"Because it wasn't my place," she shrugged. "Now tell me everything… What did he say? How did he do it? Did he kiss you? What did you say to him? I guess by your smile it ended well…?" she probed. Louis could not recall the last time he had seen Dominique so animated and with a sigh he decided to throw caution to the wind and just tell her everything.

"Sit down, you're making me nervous," he snapped, slinging himself into one of the chairs as she perched on the sofa excitedly. "I can't believe I didn't realise before," he muttered, making her snort in agreement.

"Did he kiss you?" she repeated, clearly more interested in the juicy details.

"Actually… I kissed him," Louis blushed.

"What?" Dominique gasped.

"He just blurted out to Scorpius that he was gay and then he looked at me and… I don't know what came over me Dominique but the next thing I knew I was striding across the room and kissing him," he shrugged, staring out the window at the starry sky. His sister's eyes widened, that had not been what she was expecting. "For a moment nothing happened and then he was kissing me back and I swear to Circe I almost melted into the ground."

"What the hell are you doing back here then?" she couldn't help but interrupt.

"He told me to go home and think about it," Louis shrugged. "Apparently I was too calm about the whole thing, he probably thought I was in shock or-" Suddenly panic flooded through Louis and he practically jumped to his feet and started pacing. "Merlin, what if that was just him trying to be polite… Maybe he doesn't actually like me at all and he didn't want to be rude… That was just his way of getting rid of me… Oh shit, I'm such an idiot-"

"Shut up Louis," Dominique snapped. "Pollux Malfoy has been crazy about you for over four years, today you probably just made all his dreams come true and he is too afraid to believe it… He doesn't want to get his hopes up only to have you crush them," she explained. "You're a complete idiot if you think he was trying to get rid of you," she sighed. "He is just trying to make sure you have time to think it through so that if you're sure, he can keep you forever and never have to worry about you changing your mind," she finished with a wave of her hands. Louis stared at her uncertainly.

"Are you sure?" he muttered.

"Of course I am sure Louis," she snapped again and he sunk back into his armchair in relief.

"He's worried that I want to check out other guys now that I've figured out that I might be into guys as well but it has nothing to do with that… To me it is completely irrelevant that he's a guy, it's like those stories they always tell us at family gatherings about the first time Ginny kissed Harry or Hermione kissed Ron… When you know, you just know… It doesn't matter whether they are your brother's best friend, or one of your best friends, or in this case if they're male… When you know, that's just it. It just makes sense. I don't need to look at other guys in the same way I wouldn't have needed to look at other girls if he had been a girl. It's not their gender that matters it's the fact they aren't him so I couldn't possibly want them," Louis rambled, talking more to himself than to his sister, who was staring with her mouth slightly open at her younger brother.

"So you like him?" she finally managed after he had fallen silent. He just gave her a look.

"Like him?" he raised an eyebrow. "Dominique, I love him. Always have, always will… I just didn't realised that what I felt was more than just friendship but either way, I loved him as a friend and I will love him as whatever we become."

"You're sure about this?"

"Dominique," he sighed, looking her straight in the eye. "I've never been more sure about anything in my entire life."

The next thing Louis knew was that his sister had thrown herself across the room at him and was hugging him tightly to her chest, kissing his cheek repeatedly. "Oh I'm so happy for you," she smiled at last, pulling away with one last kiss on his forehead. "But what on earth are you still doing here? Shouldn't you be telling him everything you've just told me?" she frowned.

"I think I will give him a few days, let him panic for a bit," he smirked mischievously. "Besides, I know Lux, he won't take me seriously until he thinks I have actually thought about it. It doesn't matter to him that I left his house already knowing I would be back. He needs to think that I have given it logical thought or he won't let himself believe me," Louis shrugged, trying not to think about the prospect of not seeing Pollux for several days.

"Slytherins," Dominique rolled her eyes at her brother before sauntering out of the room to leave him to his thoughts. Because Pollux was right in a way, Louis did have a lot to think about.