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"Hey!" Jace throws his hands up to defend himself in case Alec decides to send any more crumbled paper balls flying in his direction, but he still can't help but laugh at his brother's grumpy expression. "I'm just saying there are easier ways to get someone to go stargazing with you than asking them to tutor you in astronomy."
Alec doesn't respond as he keeps staring at his transfiguration homework with forced concentration. No matter how hard he tries not to react to Jace's teasing accusation, though, he isn't able to hide the blush that spreads across his neck and his cheeks.
“I don’t want him to stargaze with me,” he replies as he closes his book and shoves it into his bag along with the parchment and quill he has just been using. “Magnus is quite magical, you know… he’s, he’s smart.” Jace barks out a laugh at his brother’s words. “He’s not head boy for nothing!”
With that he sends Jace irritated look before turning around and heading out the door. He hurries to the basement of the castle to get back to his dorm. Magnus has asked him to meet with him by the entrance to the tower at eight o’clock, which gives him about twenty minutes to get his things from his room.
It’s not that Jace is completely wrong. Well, he’s not exactly right either. Alec didn’t ask for Magnus’s help just to stargaze with him. He actually needs these tutoring sessions if he wants a chance to convince his mother that astronomy isn’t just some flimsy subject that’s nothing more than a waste of time.
That however doesn’t mean that he’d mind stargazing with Magnus, no. Not that he would ever admit it out loud, and especially not to his siblings. They have plenty of fun teasing him every time the other boy is as much as mentioned, and he really doesn’t want to encourage them any further.
It doesn’t take long to find his telescope and star chart, and he’s just about to head out when he stops. He turns to look at himself in the mirror. It could be worse.
Not having the time to really do anything about his appearance, he runs a hand through his hair a few times before straightening the yellow and black tie around his neck. Somewhat satisfied, he leaves the dorm and heads towards the astronomy tower.
Thanking quidditch practice and him generally being in good shape, he isn’t too out of breath when he takes the last few steps and turns into the corridor where he’s supposed to meet Magnus. He quickly realises that him being in good shape makes no difference as his eyes meets Magnus’s and his breath gets caught in his throat.
The other boy is leaning against the wall beside the entrance to the tower, the lights from the torch on the wall above him spilling over his skin, making it appear almost golden. He’s dressed in his regular school uniform but the summer holiday has done his body wonders.
This means that his shoulders and arms now fills out the white dress shirt in an entire different and much more distracting way, his waist coat sitting tight around his torso. He has an unrecognisable piece of dark fabric in one of his hands. “Good evening, Alexander.”
Alec tears away his gaze and swallows before looking back at Magnus’s face. There’s a small, crooked smile on his lips. Afraid of getting too caught up in thinking about them if he kept looking for too long, his eyes dart around the corridor for a few moments. “Hi.”
Magnus pushes off the wall and turns around to open the door beside him. He gestures for Alec to go first, and a few moments later they’re both climbing the stairs to get to the top of the tower. It’s dark, the stairwell only lit up by the light coming from the tip of their wands.
“I didn’t think the tower was open to students outside of class,” Alec says, looking over his shoulder at Magnus, when they are halfway up the stairs.
It’s almost too dark for Alec to see his face but there’s definitely mischief written all over Magnus face as he replies with a cheeky line about head boy perks and winks at him. Alec looks away, grateful for the darkness as he blushes slightly at the words, unable to fight a smile of his own.
When they reach the classroom at the top, Magnus swiftly waves his wand, lighting the room up with ease. After getting his school work from his back, Alec settles at one of the tables, Magnus joining him a moment later.
As they look over the assignment, Alec can’t help but feel the strangeness of being in an almost empty classroom so late at night. Sure, astronomy class always takes place late in the evening but being here with Magnus is different. Good different. Like being let in on a secret, like this is something special, something not many get to have.
Alec is highly aware of how close Magnus is, the warmth radiating from his body making it hard to concentrate. It’s... nice. But he also knows that he’ll get nothing done if they remain in this position for too long, so he’s only a little sad when Magnus interrupts the silence. “Wanna get started?”
Alec blinks a few times, shaking his head to clear his mind before he looks a Magnus. “Yeah, sure.”
Magnus gets up and grabs the fabric Alec had seen him carry earlier and swings it over his shoulders. A cloak. Of course, how could he not have realised that they were going to be outside if they were going to look at the stars? Alec doesn’t say anything as he slips out into the cool night air to set up his telescope.
“Can I ask you something?” Magnus says when he joins him a moment later. He eyes Alec for a second before swishing his wand through the air, letting a rush of warm air surround them. Alec sends him a grateful smile as he gestures for Magnus to go on.
“How come you chose astronomy for your NEWTs if you only just barely passed your OWL?” He adjusts the telescope so it’s pointing in the direction for them to see the right part of the sky. It’s surprisingly clear out and now that the cold is no longer seeping through Alec’s thin shirt, it’s actually not so bad out here.
"I might not be very good at it but I like it," Alec says as he looks down the telescope. He jots down a few things, letting Magnus double check as he goes. "It’s just… the stars are so… incredible.” Magnus hums in agreement beside him.
They work mostly in silence for some time, the peace only interrupted a few times when Magnus has to explain something to Alec. "You know what else is incredible?" Alec doesn’t move away from the telescope, just keeps his focus on the night sky as he answers the question without much thought.
"You?" It sounds like a mix between a question and statement, and the silence between them is deafening.
Before it can stretch on for too long and become awkward, however, Alec decides that now that the damage is done he might as well try and play it off as if his little slip up was done on purpose. He slowly steps away from the telescope, a single eyebrow raised as if to say hmm? as he waits for Magnus’s reaction.
At first the other boy simply stares at him, a look of utter disbelief on his face, but it only takes a couple of second for a smile to replace it as a soft laugh leaves him. Alec can see Magnus’s eyes shining in the dim light coming from inside the tower, and he can’t help but let a self-satisfied smirk spread a across his face.
They fall back into their little work routine after that. From the outside, it probably doesn’t look like much has changed but Alec is all too aware of how Magnus suddenly seems to be standing a little closer, how his fingers brush against Alec’s when he takes the quill to correct something on the star chart, how the smile on Magnus’s lips never seems to leave.
Working mostly in silence, the distant noises from the castle’s surrounding becomes clear. It wasn’t enough to distract them, but inside their little bubble of warmth, the howling from the forbidden forest and the occasional splashing from the great lake is almost soothing.
It’s a little past ten when they are done, and Alec is already rambling about curfew and getting into trouble when Magnus tells him not to worry because head boy perks remember? The remark is once again accompanied by a wink, but this time Alec refuses to look away and instead just smiles widely at the other boy.
It only takes Alec a moment to get his things into his bag when they get back inside, but neither of them seems in a rush to get back. Having no excuse to stay, however, they reluctantly start walking towards their dorms. They are both going to the basement and the silence that settles between them as they descend the many stairs are comfortable, pleasant even.
They agree to meet up again the next week for another tutoring session, even though Magnus points out that he is pretty sure Alec could ace astronomy even without Magnus’s help.
Magnus insists on walking Alec back to his dorm, and soon enough they reach the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room but instead of knocking right away, Alec turns to look at Magnus. For a moment he considers what to say, how to phrase his next words. “Thank you, Magnus.” There’s a look of wonder on the other boy’s face as he says it. “I know you said I could easily have done it alone, but you being there really helped… and it did make a difference… so thank you.”
“It was no trouble at all,” Magnus says, the sincerity in his voice clear. “In fact,” he continues, “I quite enjoyed spending my evening with you.” He reaches up, long fingers playing with Alec’s tie momentarily before smoothing it out against his chest, all the while his eyes were trained on Alec’s. “I was actually wondering if you would accompany me to Hogsmeade next weekend?”
“Next weekend?” Alec vaguely remembers a conversation about celebrating his 17th birthday with his siblings, while trying to get his heart to stop trying to beat out of his chest. Jace and Izzy can wait. It’s not like his birthday is on the day of the trip anyway, and he’s spent plenty of days in Hogsmeade with Izzy and Jace already. Not to mention Izzy’s reaction if she finds out he turned down Magnus Bane, after crushing on him from afar for what feels like years. “Next weekend… yeah that’s sounds fun.”
“Great.” Magnus sends him a blinding smile as if someone had given him an early Christmas gift. “I’ll see you next week then.”
“Yeah.” His voice is low as he watches Magnus slowly starting to back away from him, not breaking their eye contact. “Good night, Magnus.”
“Good night, Alexander.”