This is the natural successor to A Little Bit of Magic but it can stand alone so you can read that thing or not it doesn't matter x I would though it's very good apparently

The smell of plastic and toffee and cold hung in the air as Phil made his way down the street, every other step turning into an involuntary excited jump. "Oh my God. It's everything I dreamed of." The riot of colours around him was so bright it was almost offensive; all around him, people stared up at the set, everyone in the same trance.

Dan grinned, pushing his hands deeper into his pockets to protect them from the chill. "I know. Where do we start? Ollivander's? The apothecary?" He screwed up his nose happily. "I thought I peaked at eleven, man, but this is the best birthday present ever."

"It's not weird for us to be here, right?" The rest of the group shook their heads. "Cool. I was just checking they're not going to throw me out for being a weird twenty one year old." He ran his hands across one of the storefronts, and tried to bite back a giddy smile, because he was actually in Diagon Alley. Well, the studio tour, which took away a little of the magic, but not enough to keep a stupid smile off his face. "Hey Dan? Happy birthday."

Dan grabbed his hand, dragging him into the joke shop. "Shut the hell up and let me look at magic stuff." Phil followed willingly, a faint pink colour in his cheeks, that was totally just due to the cold. Nothing else. Nope.

The heat of the crowded shop forced the air out of his lungs, as he darted around barrels of Extendable Ears and tiny, plush Pygmy Puffs that vibrated when you hugged them. Dan held up a screaming yoyo, laughing when it made a surprisingly lifelike wailing noise, and Phil felt his insides doing that twisty thing he'd been noticing a lot more recently. Because, damn, six years had worked wonders on Dan Howell. Phil half thought he had magic of his own. Cute chubby features had been replaced by cheekbones and perfect golden skin, drawing attention to deep chestnut eyes. He was tall and slim and Phil couldn't keep his eyes away as Dan ran tapered pianist fingers through his hair. Except when you noticed this on your best friend… sucky didn't cover the half of it.

You were supposed to be fond and endeared when your friend laughed, or said something nerdy and adorable, not attracted, if that's what Phil was (and he was beginning to think it was the best word for it). When they called you saying they'd hooked up with a guy at a party, you were supposed to be happy, not carry around a sick, jealous feeling. He wasn't supposed to fall in love with Dan, but that didn't stop Phil from desperately wanting to wrap his arms around Dan's waist and press his own chapped lips to Dan's very, very kissable ones.

"Phil? You okay?"

He blinked, zoning back into the real world to find Dan staring at him with concern. "Yeah, I'm good. I'm fine. I'm good." Phil cleared his throat, frantically trying not to focus on how close together their hands were. Dan narrowed his eyes, holding Phil's gaze.

"It's pretty warm in here. How about we go get a drink by ourselves, give you a minute?" Phil nodded distractedly.

"Yeah, that'd be cool, actually." Something to focus on. That was what he needed. Something… else. "Hey, what're you getting?" He nudged Dan's shoulder in an attempt at playfulness, his heart skipping a beat when Dan blushed and averted his eyes.

"Oh, nothing. Just, like, a Fanged Frisbee, some Fever Fudge, just…stuff." He fumbled with his wallet, and Phil noticed a tiny purple bottle hidden beneath the pile of plastic toys. He made a grab for it, but Dan quickly paid and shoved it into his coat, shuffling his feet. "Let's go." He didn't take Phil's hand this time, and the disappointment he had to swallow was more than a little worrying. "Looks like we lost everyone else."

"They'll catch up to us," Phil said hurriedly as he squinted against the cold, selfishly wanting to be alone with Dan. They dodged a large group of eight year olds and an overexcited looking parent to get into the makeshift Three Broomsticks, which Phil guessed was the source of the toffee smell from earlier. Taking two frothing Butterbeers, they huddled in the furthest corner of the bar, rubbing at their hands to fend off the cold.

"It's funny, isn't it?" Dan mused, shrugging off his jacket. "Loving these books, these films, it never really stops. Guess love is kind of like that." He was speaking faster than his brain could keep up with, cutting himself off with a gulp of his drink.

Phil smiled, equal parts love and resignation. "What, makes you look like a childish idiot?" He sipped the beer too, the caramel warmth of alcohol soothing him. Dan shook his head.

"No, as in you can never really get over it, however much of a idiot it makes you seem… however much you try to." He leant his chin on his hand, staring at Phil. "Do you remember my eleventh birthday?" Phil nodded- how could he forget? His hands had ached for weeks and he'd ruined a really good pair of shoes climbing the hill to Dan's house, but he hadn't cared at all, because Dan had been happy. Maybe I was screwed earlier than I thought, Phil wondered distractedly.

"Of course I do. I wrote you a Hogwarts letter and posted it through your door." They both smiled fondly at the memory. Dan's hand lay across the sticky wooden table, and it took an extraordinary amount of Phil's self control to not take it there and then.

"Why did you do that?" Dan set down his almost-empty glass and stared straight at Phil. "You could have come up with some other explanation. It's not like I actually believed in it all, but you still went to all that trouble. For a while now, I've wondered why."

Phil ran his hand through his hair, making it stick straight up. "I don't know. I didn't want you to be disappointed, I guess. I didn't want you to be sad. You're my-" the word friend was definitely going to come out broken and strangled, so he changed tack. "You're important to me. You deserve to be happy."

Dan smiled, but there was an edge of bitterness to it. "Damn, that was a good answer. I was hoping you'd make this easier for me." He took a deep breath. "Um. You make me happy. Like, r-really happy. And I don't want to make this weird for you but I- er, I…" He glanced at Phil, a blush spreading across his cheeks. "All my life I sort of took for granted- no, that's the wrong word, I'd never take you for granted. I just, I never really realised, how you made me feel, but then recently, I, er, oh god."

Phil could see stars dancing around the edge of his vision. How I make him feel? "Dan, calm down. You're not making sense." Dan made a little frustrated noise.

"Because this doesn't make any sense! Except it does, when I think about it, it really really does, and I shouldn't feel like this, but I do, and-" he let out another shivering breath. Phil noticed he had a smear of foam on the corner of his mouth. "Actually, forget I said anything. This was s-stupid, I'm stupid," he trailed off, looking flustered. His hand still hadn't moved from the table.

"Dan," Phil said again, because he didn't know what else to say. Because he didn't know how to react to what he thought Dan was suggesting. Instead, he gestured to his mouth. "You've got some…"

Dan blinked. "Oh, ah, thanks." He lifted a hand to clean it away, but Phil caught it before he knew what he was doing.

"Actually, I've got it." Raising his free hand, he brushed his thumb across Dan's lips, removing the foam. He kept the hand in place, his heartbeat drumming too loud in his ears, because Dan looked so beautiful, looking up from under his lashes in the bar's weak half-light. "Dan, I-" he whispered, just to fill the silence, but then he didn't speak anymore because Dan was leaning forward and kissing him and kissing him and kissing him. Phil's eyes fluttered shut as he melted into him, feeling Dan's arm hold onto his waist and his heartbeat fast next to his own. His lips parted a little, welcoming the taste of toffee and winter. Whatever he'd been going to say, that would have been the moment he completely forgotten it, because for the minute, the age, the second they were kissing, everything was right.

"I'm sorry," Dan gasped, pulling away. "I'm sorry, I just thought here goes nothing, but that's so silly, that was everything, oh god." He looked at Phil desperately. "Please, can we get back to how things were? I couldn't bear to not be your friend."

Phil hesitated. "But I don't want to."

"Look, Phil, I know you don't feel the same way- hold on, what? You don't…" Dan swallowed, and Phil reached out and brushed his cheek again. He noticed that their hands were still together, and smiled nervously. The taste of caramel still lingered on his tongue.

"I don't… want to go back. I want this. Or did you skip the part where I kissed you back?" His smile widened as he saw Dan slowly realise what was happening. "What you feel, is the same for me. Except, well, for you." He was tongue tied now, tripping over his words. "I, um, don't know if I made this obvious, but I think I might like you. A little bit. Or a lot." Dan was still staring at him, speechless. "Please say something before I cry."

The word Dan chose gained him a lot of dirty looks from surrounding parents. "Phil. Oh, my God, this is happening. The thing is happening." He looked down at their interlaced fingers. "Phil, are you saying that we could maybe… not be friends?"

"I think… yeah, I am. I'm saying that I'd like to go out with you, some time, as not-friends. If, um, you'd like that." His heart wasn't fluttering. That's what the hearts of teenage girls did- and apparently, twenty-one year old nerds, because cut the crap, that thing was fluttering like a baby bird. "You're my constant, Dan. And I'd quite like you to be my boyfriend, too."

Dan bit his lip, grinning. "I think I'd quite like that." He hesitated. "I sort of got you a present. In case… yeah." He pulled the tiny purple bottle out of his coat- the label read love potion in an elaborate, swirling font. "And I know that it's probably just grape juice but, I don't know. Sometimes I think we need a little more magic in the world. If you think it's lame, that's fine."

Phil rolled his eyes, uncorking the miniature bottle and downing half of it. "Guess you're stuck with me forever, now," he teased, smiling as Dan drank the rest and pressing their lips together again because damn that felt good.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Dan murmured around the contact, and sighed, because of all the sorcery in every wizarding school in the whole world, there could never be anything quite as magical as this.

Hello friends it's 3 AM and I'm so tired and so bored of writing this so sorry for the ending :D

Thank you for reading xxx Please review to save me from the swirling abyss that threatens to engulf me at any given moment if I get to distr-

I also have a tumblr (also called uhnonniemiss), where I'm taking part in the Phandom Big Bang 2k14 which is very exciting and stressful and may result in slightly less regular fics but I promise what will happen at the end will be v cool. Maybe. I hope.

Ok I''ll shut up and sleep ily guys :)