Merry Christmas, @golden-queen-writes!
Read on AO3
*****
Flower Buds
Alec stared at the flower buds on his arm. They had been there since he was born, waiting for the day that he kissed his soulmate so they bloom. His reached up the length of his right arm, up his shoulder and crawling up part of his neck. His compared to his siblings was large, not uncommon, but most people he knew had smaller fields of flowers.
Isabelle’s flower buds spread along her left side, Max’s was only a couple on his ankle and Jace had a patch on the back of his shoulder. All small, all easily hidden.
“Thinking about your soulmate again?”
Alec jumped, not realizing anyone had walked into his office. He pulled down the sleeve of his robe and looked up to see Maia had walked in. “Kind of hard not to when a good chunk of you is covered. Did you need something?”
“I can’t find your boyfriend and I need my wolfsbane potion,” Maia replied, sitting across from him. “I thought you might know where he was.”
Alec’s cheeks turned red and he looked down at the multiple essays he was supposed to be grading. He had only gotten through three before he got distracted by his mark. “One, he’s not my boyfriend,” He said, and Maia snorted out a laugh. He looked back up at her. “He’s not.”
“I’ve caught students gossiping about you and Magnus in my class when they’re supposed to be focused on fire crabs.”
Alec sighed. “I haven’t seen him since lunch, but I’m sure he has your potion ready in his office.” He stood up and gestured towards the door. “I know his latest password.”
“And you say he’s not your boyfriend,” Maia teased.
They walked down towards Magnus’ office, which was located near the Ravenclaw tower, while Alec’s was closer to the Hufflepuff common room. As they walked together, they both spoke of their different classes. Neither of them had been teaching very long, Alec starting as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher the previous year and Maia having become the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher at the beginning of the current school year.
“I don’t think I ever congratulated you on the promotion to head of our house. Maybe you’ll even make it to headmaster.”
Alec sighed. “My parents were dark wizards at one point, I don’t think they’ll hand it over to me.”
“They gave me a job despite me being a werewolf, Alec,” Maia said. “And I think you would make an amazing headmaster.”
Alec smiled at her. “We’ll see.” They stopped in front of Magnus’ office and he tapped his wand on the brick under Magnus’ nameplate. The brick fizzled away, revealing a piece of parchment and a quill. Alec quickly scribbled ‘defender of men’ on it before parchment burned up and the door opened.
“Interesting password.”
Alec’s cheeks flushed and he walked into the office, saying nothing. There was a cauldron on the desk and some goblets. He also spotted a folded note with ‘Alexander’ written on it. He pocketed it before Maia could see it.
“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Maia said, filling one of the goblets with the wolfsbane potion. “But ‘defender of men’ is the meaning of Alexander, yes?”
Alec sighed. “Yes.” He turned towards her. “I thought you didn’t care about the soulmate thing?”
“I don’t,” Maia replied, grimacing as she took a sip of her potion. “But he’s constantly talking about you and it gets annoying sometimes.”
“I doubt he would stop if we started dating,” Alec said. He sighed again and sat behind Magnus’ desk. “It’s complicated Maia.”
She sat down on the opposite side. “Try me.”
Alec was silent for a long moment before confessing, “What if he turns out to not be the one?”
“And what if he is?” Maia smiled softly at him. “Even if he’s not. He’s a really great guy, Alec, don’t let this whole soulmate thing be your deciding factor.” She then reached out and placed a hand over Alec’s giving it a squeeze. “Just because I gave up looking doesn’t mean I don’t want to see my friends happy, and you deserve to be happy.”
Alec looked at her for a long moment before nodding. “Thanks, Maia.”
“Alright, I need to get back to my own office. I have about a million assignments to grade. You have a good night and thanks for letting me in.”
“No problem. Good night, Maia.”
Maia left the office and once the door closed Alec pulled the letter left to him out of his pocket. He smiled to himself as he looked at Magnus’ cursive writing, tracing his finger along where Magnus had written out his name. The letter was a simple apology, he had gone out to dinner with an old friend off grounds. Magnus had also sprinkled in plenty of endearments and flirtations that made Alec smile more.
He was sure more werewolves would show up for the potion and waved his wand, making the papers he had been grading from his desk appear on Magnus’. He could wait for the other wizard to come back.
A few hours later, a hand shaking his shoulder woke him and he blinked his eyes open to see Magnus standing above him. He groaned and sat up. “I’m sorry.”
Magnus just smiled at him. “Don’t be. I’m just surprised that you waited for me.”
“Someone had to hand out the potion.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t ask.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Alec yawned. “What time is it?”
“Past curfew, so if you didn’t want to get caught I could make the bed a little bigger,” Magnus said with a wink, making Alec chuckle. “Would you like me to walk you back?”
“I am tired, but I don’t really want to walk all the way back.”
“You’re the head of your house, you need to be close to it.”
“I have my own system to be reached if I’m not there,” Alec said. “Unless you don’t want me to stay.”
Magnus was silent for a moment before smiling softly at Alec. “What will the students think if they see you coming out of here in the morning?”
“According to Maia, they already talk about us.”
“You’re very bold tonight, Alexander,” Magnus said before turning away to tap a couple times on a brick, causing the wall to disappear and reveal his bed. “Apologies for the mess, I wasn’t expecting company.”
Alec just smiled and sat down as Magnus went to the dresser and pulled out two sets of pajamas. Magnus set a black pair next to Alec, keeping the blue one for himself. “It might be a little short on you.”
Alec smiled and slipped off his robe, folding it and setting it next to him. “That’s what magic’s for right?”
Magnus smiled and turned away from Alec, giving him some privacy as they changed. Alec did his best to not look, but as Magnus removed his shirt, Alec couldn’t help but to notice the buds on Magnus’ arm reaching up towards his neck. He had seen glimpses of Magnus’ soulmark poking out from his robes before, but never once seen how far it extended. It looked identical to Alec’s own. The only difference being it looked scarred.
Magnus seemed to sense Alec’s eyes on him and turned around, pulling on his shirt which dipped almost down to his belly, leaving much of his chest exposed. “See something you like, Alexander?”
Alec blushed and quickly looked away. “I was just looking at your mark.”
Magnus was quiet for a moment before sitting down next to Alec. “It’s not pretty, I know.”
Alec looked up at him. “I didn’t say that. It’s just..it looks a lot like mine.”
Magnus raised an eyebrow. “Oh?” Alec nodded and pulled off his shirt to show Magnus his whole mark. Magnus looked at his arm in awe and reached out, tracing one of the buds. “They do look the same, don’t they?”
Alec’s heart raced as Magnus continued to touch, fingers moving up to trail along the buds on his neck. Alec dared to reach up and push part of Magnus’ shirt off his shoulder to reveal part of his mark again.
He ignored the scarring, instead focusing on the buds, his mind wondering what they would bloom into and if those flowers would match his own. He looked up at Magnus again, sucking in a breath when he realized how close they had gotten.
Magnus reached up and caressed Alec’s cheek. “Alexander,” he whispered, and Alec’s heart pounded impossibly faster. He wanted to close the distance between them. Just a few more inches and-
An incessant knocking broke them apart and Magnus frowned, dropping his hand away from Alec. He started to get up, but Alec wrapped his hand around Magnus’ wrist stopping him for a moment.
“We’ll talk when I get back, Alexander,” Magnus said and Alec reluctantly let go of him, watching him walk towards the door. There was a Ravenclaw prefect on the other side of the door, talking in a hurried voice and Magnus left the office with an apologetic glance towards Alec.
Alec sighed and threw on his shirt before lying down on the bed. It was a poor choice as he fell asleep before Magnus got back, only waking up briefly when the bed dipped and an arm wrapped around his waist.
“Go back to sleep,” a voice whispered in his ear and he had no urge to object.
The next time he awoke, he could feel someone’s fingers carding through his hair and could hear a soft humming. He let out a yawned and slowly turned over to face Magnus was was sitting on the edge of the bed, already dressed. “What time is it?” He mumbled, feeling Magnus’ fingers move along his shoulder and down his arm. Even with all his conflicting feelings, he felt comfortable in Magnus’ bed and had no desire to move.
“Halfway through breakfast,” Magnus answered.
Alec groaned. “Now people will definitely be talking.”
“They already do, Alexander.”
Alec sighed and was quiet for a long moment before saying, “We should talk.”
“And we will,” Magnus said. “But right now, we need to eat and get ready for our classes.”
Alec nodded. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.” He sighed again and sat up, looking at his clothes that were folded in a pile near the bed. “Think I can borrow something to wear again?”
Magnus smiled. “Of course.” The Ravenclaw stood up and pulled out a dark blue button up and a pair of pants, waving his wand to make them Alec’s size. “Here, these should look good on you.”
“Thanks, Magnus.”
Once Alec was dressed, they walked down to the great hall together. “So what happened last night when you got called away?” Alec asked.
“I had to give out detention to two students who decided to wake up the whole house by having a duel because of a small disagreement,” Magnus sighed, shaking his head. “And I nearly got hit with a jelly leg curse when I walked into the common room!”
“Is everyone alright?”
Magnus nodded. “Those two will be spending their weekend cleaning out the potions room with me.” They stopped at the bottom of the stairs and Magnus turned to face Alec, placing a hand on the Hufflepuff’s arm. “Alec, about last night-“
“I thought we were going to talk about this later?”
“And we will,” Magnus answered. “But I just wanted to say one thing.”
“And what’s that?”
Magnus took a step closer and smiled at Alec. “I enjoyed being able to wake up with you next to me, Alexander, and I hope that perhaps it doesn’t have to be a one time thing.”
Alec felt himself smile as well and leaned down to press a soft kiss to Magnus’ cheek. His lips lingered for a moment before he pulled away. “I do like you Magnus.”
“And I haven’t exactly been shy about how I feel about you.”
Alec opened his mouth to say something but at that moment his stomach chose to growl making both of them laugh. “Let’s get some breakfast, Magnus, and we’ll talk later.”
Hours later, Alec was in the middle of teaching a class when the door opened. Alec paused momentarily, confused when no one came in until he spotted Chairman Meow walking down one of the aisles towards his desk, with a rolled up piece of parchment in his mouth.
The students started whispering as the cat jumped up, set down the letter and curled up on his desk. Alec sighed and tapped the board bringing their attention back to him. “Yes, that is Chairman but right now you should be focusing on the lesson. This will be on your next test.”
The students grumbled and Alec continued his lesson. Once he was done and had given them all homework to work on, then he sat down at his desk and pet Chairman. “Let’s see what your owner has sent me today.”
He opened the letter and continued to pet the cat, ignoring the students that were whispering. He dropped the letter when they became too loud, giving a stern look two two Slytherins and a Hufflepuff in the back row.
Alec looked back down at the letter and grabbed his quill. Magnus had asked if they could meet by the lake after dinner, and Alec wrote that he can’t wait to see him before rolling the letter back up and tucking it into Chairman Meow’s collar once more. He gently lifted the cat and set him back down on the ground, the cat immediately scampering out of the room and back to Magnus.
“Professor Lightwood?”
Alec looked up at the Hufflepuff boy that had spoken, his hand held in the air. “Yes?”
“Are you and Professor Bane a couple?”
The whole room went silent and Alec sat there for a moment, watching the surprised looks on everyone’s faces at the student’s question. Alec sighed and looked at the clock which told him there was only a few more minutes of class left.
“I think you should focus more on your classwork and less on the private lives of your professors,” Alec replied. “Class dismissed. Have a good weekend and don’t forget that your assignment is due Monday.”
At dinner, Alec couldn’t help but to keep glancing down the table at where Magnus sat between Raphael and Catarina. He was both nervous and excited about their meeting later. Perhaps tonight was the night that they finally found out if they were soulmates or not.
Dinner wasn’t quite over yet when he excused himself. He decided to make his way to the lake early, needing a few minutes of fresh air before he spoke with Magnus. His thoughts were racing inside of his head. There was part of him dreading the meeting, a voice whispering that Magnus wasn’t his soulmate, but he shoved those thoughts down. He liked Magnus, and he kept telling himself over and over again that he didn’t need a mark to decide who was meant to be with.
He heard the soft crunching of leaves as someone approached and he stopped his pacing. He looked up to see Magnus holding out his illuminated wand in front of him making Alec realize how dark it had grown since he left dinner.
Magnus stopped in front of him. “You look nervous, Alexander.”
“I am nervous.”
Magnus smiled, taking a step closer. “Don’t be. It’s just me.”
“I know, but that’s also why I’m so nervous,” Alec said. “I really, really like you, Magnus.”
“Are you worried about the possibility of not being soulmates?”
“Kinda, but mostly because I have never been in a relationship,” Alec replied. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, looking towards the lake. After a moment he turned towards Magnus again. “I do like you, Magnus. I’ve liked you ever since the day you helped me find the Charms classroom during my first year.”
Magnus smiled. “I ended up late for Care of Magical Creatures.”
Alec let out a surprised laugh. “You never told me that.”
“I didn’t want you to feel bad,” Magnus replied. “Plus I had the highest marks in the class, so I had a little leeway.” He stepped even closer to Alec and Alec could feel his heart beat even faster. “I have always like you too, Alexander.” He placed his free hand on Alec’s arm, his fingers gently curling around it. “Alexander, I want to kiss you.”
Alec let out a shaky breath, letting an arm snake around Magnus’ waist, pulling the Ravenclaw flush against him. “I don’t care if you don’t end up being my soulmate, Magnus.” His other hand gently cupped Magnus’ cheek. “I want to kiss you too.”
They stared at each other for a long moment, Alec feeling like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. He didn’t know who moved first, but suddenly Magnus’ lips were on his and they were kissing.
His head felt like it was spinning and he could vaguely feel a tingling on his right arm. He briefly wondered if it was his soulmark blooming, but pushed the thought of his mind when Magnus slightly parted his lips to deepen their kiss. It felt too good to kiss Magnus and he didn’t want to stop anytime soon.
Later they would discover that their soulmarks had turned into roses.
