━━━━  · 。ﾟ☆ .☽ .* ☆ﾟ. ━━━━

( def stole ao3's layout bc i love it sm )
rating: general audiences
fandom: harry potter
relationship: louis/draco malfoy
additional tags: lovers go swimming, the great lake turns into a sauna
stats ━━ published: 1/7/21 — word count: 1129 — parts: 1/1

━━━━ · 。ﾟ☆ .☽ .* ☆ﾟ. ━━━━

summary:
the one where louis and draco
go swimming in the great lake

━━━━ · 。ﾟ☆ .☽ .* ☆ﾟ. ━━━━

𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑,     with not much snow left to fall, when Louis suggested that he and Draco go swimming in the Great Lake. The two were taking up space on the same couch in the library, the one that sat itself in front of the fireplace, Draco an octopus with the way he was clinging on to Louis, their legs tangled together, and his head buried in Louis's chest before he raised it to look at his boyfriend with puzzled eyes, wondering if he had heard him correctly.

     "You wanna do what?" Draco asked, just to be sure. Louis set the book he had been reading aloud to the side so he could look at Draco properly, his once perfectly coiffed hair now a mess of platinum skewed this way and that after he had fallen asleep and woken up. Louis laughed, a small smile pulling at his lips as he messed with Draco's hair even more, never having really seen it that way before.

     Draco swatted Louis's hands away. "Answer my question."

     "I want us to go swimming in the Great Lake," Louis repeated himself, playfully bopping Draco on the nose with his finger, Draco scrunching his nose in response.

    "Yeah, that's what I thought you said. It's practically the middle of winter. Lou, are you mad?" Draco rested his head back down in hopes it would pin Louis to the couch to keep him from moving and doing anything stupid.

    "I think the lake's managed to turn itself into some sort of hot spring and I wanted to check it out and see for myself."

    "And you thought dragging me into this would be a good idea because. . ." Draco trailed, hoping Louis would finish his sentence with a logical reason as to why he would want to do such a thing, feeling his lullaby of a heartbeat beneath his ear, putting him very close to sleep again.

     "Because I love you and I want to experience everything with you, no matter how ridiculous or mad they may be."

     That seemed to have gotten Draco to quieten before he brought himself up to press a kiss to Louis's mouth, pulling back, and smiling. "And I, you." His eyes then flicked down to Louis's lips before leaning in once more and tugging him into another kiss. Louis responded just as enthusiastically, sitting up and cupping Draco's face to kiss him properly before he realized what Draco was doing.

    "You can't kiss your way out of this one, Draco," Louis said, trying to his best to not get so caught up in it, pressing a solid kiss to Draco's mouth before moving away.

    Draco ducked his head into Louis's chest once more before grumbling, "Worth a shot."

"I sincerely regret your roping me into this." Draco took a look around the lake, the steam rising up off of the water, swirling up in curls and dissipating into the air above. Louis was already in the water, his shirt and pants discarded to the side on the shore as he indulged in the warmth surrounding him, relaxing his muscles and letting out a sigh of content.

    "You're really missing out," Louis responded, looking over to where Draco stood, hesitant, "aren't you freezing?"

     "I'm not the one who's half naked in a magicked hot spring."

     "But you are the one standing in shorts in the middle of winter." Louis only shook his head and waded over to Draco until he was fully standing. He held out his hand for Draco, who finally relented and took it reluctantly, letting himself be pulled into the lake.

    "See? It's not so bad." Louis then pulled Draco into him, who went willfully, letting himself be embraced by light embodied.

    "You don't think we'll get caught?"

    Louis raised his eyebrows mischievously at Draco's query. "What's this? Draco Malfoy's actually scared about getting into trouble?"

    Draco rolled his eyes, vexed, splashing the boy in front of him. "Yeah, I suppose dating you has instilled a few morals in me."

    Tilting Draco's chin with his finger, Louis asked, eyes faux doleful, "I'm not that bad, am I?"

    Draco shook his head in rejection to that, steely grey irises softening. "No, you're far worse."

    Louis brushed his nose against Draco's before he went to rest his forehead against his. "That so?"

    Before making the last move and kissing Louis once more, Draco nodded but Louis moved away before he could. "Wait. Let me look at you."

    Draco fought the urge to roll his eyes. "You see me almost every day, Lou."

    "I just want to take this in for a moment, okay?" There was that look in Louis's eyes that made Draco believe he could see the cosmos through them and to know that Louis was the only one who ever looked at him like that made his chest constrict and heart twist, the same way it's done for many months on end. It never got old.

    Hands were languidly coming up, tracing Draco's spine and resting around his upper and lower torso before one of them moved to embrace the base of his neck as Draco wound an arm around Louis's neck, holding the side of his face with the other. It had been a while since the two were able to get lost in the other the way they were doing now, steam curled around them and created a translucent cloud above their heads.

    Slowly, Louis leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Draco's forehead before moving on to his nose, and then both cheeks before pressing the slowest, softest kiss to Draco's mouth, taking his time in taking him apart. With a sharp intake of breath through his nose, Draco reciprocated, tugging Louis closer until there wasn't much space between them, not that there was any space between them to begin with.

    "Amor meus," Louis whispered, pulling away.

    Draco looked at Louis, eyebrows creased in confusion as it wasn't the first time he's heard Louis call him this. "Are you ever gonna tell me what that means?"

    "It's Latin," Louis explained, "it means 'my love'."

    "Amor meus," Draco repeated, as though he were tasting it, nodding. They stood in the steaming water just gazing at the other for a moment, falling in love all over again.

When the two returned to the library, trying not to track water all over the floor, they found themselves in the same exact spot they were in before they left, coming full circle, the fire still crackling.

    Draco wrestled Louis into the couch so he could nestle his head into his chest, his ear over his heart. Like reflex, Louis's hand was in Draco's hair and combing through it, lightly scratching at his scalp the way he liked it.

    "I love you," Draco mumbled, tightening his grip around Louis, already beginning to doze off from all of the sensory pleasures.

    "And I, you."