#klance week

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“You can’t just stare at him forever,” Pidge said, dropping her textbook loudly on the table. A few people around them glanced at her, startled, but Lance didn’t even flinch.

“I can,” He said. “There’s a difference between can’t and shouldn’t.”

Lance set his own belongings down on the desk. He dropped his quill into the pot of ink at the top and moved their cauldron so they had more room in front of them for notes. He settled onto his stool, rummaging through his bag for a roll of parchment.

Pidge sighed. She had been trying to get Lance to either give up or give in for months. “When are you going to talk to him? Really talk to him, not just antagonize him.”

This time Lance did turn to look at her, a frown on his lips. “Never? He’s the golden boy, the chosen one. He doesn’t have the time of day for me.”

“Right,” Pidge replied sarcastically, “That’s why he commented yesterday on your blue robes bringing out your eyes.”

“That is nothing more than a fact.” Lance waved her off. “You can’t fault him for stating facts.”

“I swear, I’m going to murder you one of these days.”

“You’ve been saying that for years, Pigeon.”

She grumbled at the nickname that Lance knew she hated and shoved him lightly. “At least when you dated Allura I got a little bit of a break.”

Professor Smythe walked into the classroom then, robes billowing behind him, successfully cutting off any further conversation. The class settled down, a hush falling over the room almost instantly. The stone walls combined with the location beneath the castle made the dungeons permanently cold. Lance readjusted himself in his seat, drawing his robes tighter around him.

The lecture was long but not dry like a lot of other lectures. Professor Smythe had a hilarious personality and was, honestly, one of Lance’s favorite professors, even though many other students felt differently. It was easy to get on his good side--all you had to do was laugh at his jokes, even if they weren’t funny.

All throughout lecture, Lance tried his best to keep focused, but he failed miserably. It wasn’t his fault, though. How was he supposed to be able to resist staring when Keith sat one row up and one row over? I mean, he was essentially right there. The world wanted Lance to stare at him. He was entranced by the way Keith twirled his quill between his fingers as he thought about how to word his notes and the way Keith would casually run his fingers through his hair, brushing his bangs out of his face. It was simply unreasonable to ask Lance to not be captivated.

Plus, the red of his robes just looked so good against his skin.

Suddenly a note appeared before him, Pidge’s precise handwriting scrawled across the top. ‘Could you be any more obvious?’ it read. Quickly, he wrote a response, sliding it back over to her. ‘Is that a challenge?’

Pidge rolled her eyes and shoved the paper under her book. She resumed writing, shooting Lance the occasional glare because she knew he would be studying off of her notes. He was an exceptional student in all other classes but potions was notoriously the hardest for him to master. Plus, his four-year-long crush sat nearly within arm’s reach. So basically, he was useless. With a sigh, he turned his attention back towards the front of the class.

“When you return on Friday,” Professor Smythe was saying, standing at the front of the room with a piece of chalk in his hand. “You will be learning a new potion. This is a complicated recipe and you will be working on the potion in groups of two.”

Lance glanced at Pidge beside him only to see that she was already looking at him, a smile on her face. It was only natural that they would partner up.

“However,” Professor Smythe continued, a mischievous gleam in his eye, “I will be deciding on the groups.”

A loud, collective groan filled the room, but it did nothing to deter the Professor. He picked up a list that Lance could only assume was the class roster off the desk in front of him, scanning it thoroughly. There was a smile on his face that stayed there the entire time he read off the pairs. As he moved down the list, Lance’s heart sunk. Professor Smythe was clearly pairing off one Gryffindor to one Ravenclaw which meant, no matter how much he didn’t want it to be true, that he would not be paired with Pidge.

It also meant that he could potentially be paired with…

“Lance Mcclain,” Professor Smythe was looking at him with that smile leaning more towards being a smirk. “You will be paired with… Keith Kogane.”

Lance did his best to keep a neutral face as Pidge jammed her elbow hard into his side. Keith turned around and shot Lance a wide grin, making Lance’s heart take off. Professor Smythe continued on, calling off the rest of the names and pairing the students up. Pidge ended up paired with Allura and the look on her face suggested she was less than thrilled about it.

Finally class was dismissed and Lance wanted to sprint out of the dungeons and back to the Ravenclaw Common Room but he was stopped before he even got out of his seat. Standing to his right, blocking the aisle way was none of than Keith.

“So,” He said, “We’re partners.”

There wasn’t much to say in response to that, so Lance just shoved his hands in the pockets of his robes and just responded with a gesture that was somewhere between a shrug and a nod. He immediately wished he hadn’t done that, but there was no taking it back. He could feel Pidge’s bemused grin burning into his back.

Pidge, for as good of a friend as she was, never failed to get entertainment out of Lance being forced into close proximity with Keith. From a distance, Lance was able to be cool and collected and throw some good, friendly taunts his way. But when they got physically close, well, Lance fell apart.

“I’m looking forward to spending time with you,” Keith said, clapping him on the shoulder briefly before disappearing out into the corridor.

It wasn’t until Keith was long out the door and out of sight that Lance thought to say “Me, too.”

He sighed miserably and stood up from his seat, slinging his bag over his shoulder. He hoped that the dim lighting in the dungeons masked the red tint he knew his cheeks had.

“Good one,” Pidge said, laughing quietly to herself as she trailed Lance into the hallway.

Lance groaned and turned to look at her. “What am I supposed to do on Friday? I can’t even say two words to him without falling apart!”

Pidge patted his shoulder comfortingly. “We have two days to figure it out, I’m sure we’ll come up with something.” She said before ditching off down a separate corridor to head to her next lesson.

Lance had a free period in which he had been planning to practice his transfiguration of a porcupine into a pin cushion. That or he was going to write his Charms paper so he had more time over the weekend to spend in the greenhouse tending to his Bowtruckle. Unfortunately, he was too flustered by this recent turn of events, which meant he spent the next hour sitting in the library, textbook open, thinking about Keith and only Keith.

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The dining hall was, as usual, filled to the brim with students. The Ravenclaw table was at the very right side of the hall with the Gryffindor table directly next to it. They were marked by the brilliantly colored banners floating elegantly above each. The dining tables, much like the tables in the classrooms, obeyed the unspoken seat rule. Wherever you sat at the beginning of the year was where you sat for the rest of the year and stealing anyone else’s spot was frowned upon. That was how, all this time later, Lance managed to sit at a spot directly behind Keith.

Honestly, he would’ve moved if he could have. He would’ve moved to try and give his nerves a break. But he and Keith had been sitting in these spots since their first year--before they knew each other--so there was absolutely no way they could change now. Hunk, a hufflepuff, had been sitting with them since their first year, too. He liked his own house members, but he preferred the company of Pidge and Lance and the rest of Ravenclaw loved him, too.

Pidge was explaining to Hunk what had happened in potions class while Lance spent a dedicated amount of effort eating his food as slowly as he could. The others kept their voices low but he couldn’t help but worry that Keith might still overhear them.

He had yet to ever overhear them, but that didn't mean he never would. He was usually engrossed in his own conversation at his own table, far too focused to even attempt to listen to the Ravenclaws. The Gryffindor table was notoriously the loudest. The standard was to find them hooting and hollering over the latest quidditch match or the house cup. The Ravenclaws were on the exact opposite end of the spectrum. Most of them could be found with their books and notes scattered amongst the food, quietly studying as they ate.

“So what are you gonna do?” Hunk asked, nudging Lance.

“It appears I'm going to brew a potion with him.” Lance replied, his own voice hushed. If Hunk had been in their house, he would insist that they hold off on this conversation until they were back in the common room. But he wasn't, and the few lessons they did have together this year required too much focus to be chatting in class.

“I hope it's a love potion,” Hunk teased, clasping a hand dramatically over his heart.

Pidge laughed, nearly dropping her goblet. “He's already in love! A love potion wouldn't do anything!”

“I am not!” Lance yelled indignantly. The students in the near vicinity of them fell temporarily silent, no doubt waiting to hear what they were talking about. Gossip was hands down the hottest commodity in Hogwarts and it spread faster than the awful stench from the stink bomb Pidge and Matt had set off in their second year. “I've barely even spoken to him.”

“And yet somehow he's all you've talked about for the last four years. I mean honestly, when we had to write that paper for Muggle Studies last year-”

“The one about our favorite Muggle born witch or wizard?” Hunk clarified.

Pidge nodded in confirmation before continuing, “I honestly thought you were going to write yours about him.”

“That's not funny, Pigeon. You know I wouldn't do that.”

“I'm just saying, you've been crushing on him hard for a long time.”

“It's not a crush.” Lance speared the last potato on his plate with his fork, pointing it at Pidge. “I just admire his bravery. And his quidditch strategy.”

“Don't forget to mention how much you enjoy looking at him.” Hunk added, his grin evident in his voice.

“You're welcome to go eat with your own house any time you want, you know.” With his plate clear, Lance picked up his own goblet and took a few sips.

Hunk laughed apologetically and then cleared his throat. “Really though, have you considered what you're going to say to him Friday?”

Lance, deflecting the question, reached for an apple tart. “Ugh,” He cried when the plate was empty. “Why is the best dessert always gone?”

“You took too long eating,” Pidge pointed out. “The tarts have been gone for awhile now.”

Lance crossed his arms over his chest. “Figures,” He mumbled, “The day I really need the pick-me-up.”

Pidge and Hunk immediately and simultaneously turned their attention past Lance’s shoulder, obviously looking at something. Lance turned in his seat to see what they were staring at, only to come face-to-face with Keith’s chest. Lance startled, leaning away from Keith until his back hit the table behind him. He raised his eyes to see Keith smirking down at him, his dinner plate in hand.

“Do you want mine?” Keith asked.

“Do I-what?” Keith lowered his plate so Lance could see the apple tart he had sitting on it. Lance could feel his wide eyes and blush as he responded. “No, no that’s okay! Thanks anyways!”

“Really,” Keith leaned over Lance’s shoulder, putting them closer than Lance could really handle. “I’m not going to eat it. I’d much rather you enjoy it.” He tipped his plate sideways, sliding the tart off of his own plate and onto Lance’s before pulling back.

Lance was certain he was a puddle on the floor as he stammered out a quiet “Thank you.”

Keith shot him a genuine smile, a slight tinge of pink on his own cheeks before nodding and heading out of the Great Hall, placing his plate down on the Gryffindor table as he went. Lance turned slowly back to the tart that was now sitting on his plate before looking up at Pidge and Hunk.

There was a long silence that stretched between the three of them. The rest of the Great Hall was still full of chatter and the clanking of silverware against dishes, but Lance felt frozen. Keith had heard him complain about the lack of apple tarts. Did that mean he heard everything else they had said? Lance wished that he could just chase Keith down and obliviate him quickly. That would solve a lot of his problems.

Finally, after a few more breaths, Pidge quietly said, “You know he likes you… right?”

“What? No, that’s--Pidge, you’re crazy.” Lance paused, his fork just above the tart.

“He just gave you his dessert.” Hunk pointed out.

Lance glanced between the two of them. “You heard him! He wasn’t going to eat it!”

“Nobody just gives away an apple tart,” Hunk gestured with his fork as he spoke, “Literally nobody.”

Pidge was nodding in agreement with Hunk. Lance’s heart rate had just settled down and suddenly it was spiking again. He could feel a nervous tremor in his hand, making his fork shake slightly as he set it back down on the plate. “Come on, you can’t honestly believe that.”

“He literally said he was looking forward to spending time with you.” Pidge popped a bit of cheesecake in her mouth, speaking around the bite. “I heard him say it. Those were his exact words.”

“And he did compliment your eyes yesterday.” Hunk added.

Lance sighed and picked his fork back up, digging into the apple tart. He couldn’t deny that desserts were his comfort food and right now, he needed all the comfort he could get. His best friends were filling his head with nonsense. The idea that Keith could like hm was insane. Keith? The chosen one? The Gryffindor quidditch captain? The boy everyone had a crush on?

“Those comments could mean anything.” Lance tried to wave their stares off as he took the first bite of his apple tart, but they were undeterred.

Hunk dropped a hand gently on Lance’s shoulder, “Sorry buddy, but no. Those can only mean one thing.”

“And you think that one thing is the fact that he likes me?” Lance took a swig of his drink. “That just can’t be true.”

“If you’re looking for truth,” Hunk said, a joking smile on his face, “Then just slip him some veritaserum. He won’t be able to lie then!”

Lance nearly choked on his sip. “Hunk, that’s--”

“--A great idea!” Pidge cut in, a genuine, broad smile on her face. “I saw some veritaserum in Professor Smythe’s storage closet earlier when I went in there to grab something.”

A beat passed where both Lance and Hunk just stared at Pidge. Suddenly, Lance started laughing, cutting into his tart again. Pidge frowned at him, propping her head in her hand as she watched him eat a few bites. Even Hunk chuckled slightly at the ridiculous idea.

“I’m not kidding,” She said finally. “Can’t you just imagine it? He would have to tell you anything you wanted. He wouldn’t be able to resist.”

“He would be stealing from a teacher!” Hunk retorted.

“Not to mention, the use of veritaserum is illegal, Pigeon.”

“Most fun things are,” She smiled. “But I guess if that scares you, that’s fine.”

“I’m not scared!”

“I am,” Hunk interjected. “Lance, you can’t possibly be considering this.”

“I’m not considering it.” Lance reassured him.

Pidge could not be stopped. “Why not? Just think of the possibilities! You could have him confess his love for you in front of the entire school if you wanted! And then you two would become that power couple who is stupidly in love and everyone wants to be.”

“Or,” Lance tried to reason, “He tells me what I already know, which is that he isn’t interested in me.”

“Oh he’s definitely interested in you,” Hunk said. “But you still shouldn’t break the law to prove it. You should just confess your feelings to him.”

“Nope, no, no way. I am absolutely not doing that. There’s nothing to confess. I’m in my fourth year of denial and I’m intending to keep it that way, thank you.”

“Fine,” Pidge shrugged and stood up from the table. Lance’s dessert was done so he followed. Hunk took the last bite of his brownie before standing up to follow them. “But just remember that you could be calling him yours and instead you’re choosing to continue pining and staring at his hair during class.”

“I do not stare at his stupid mullet.” Lance said, crossing his arms over his chest. “And I am not breaking the law just so I can get rejected.”

But as they walked back to the common room, he knew he wouldn’t be able to get Pidge’s words out of his head.

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The following day, Lance had run into Professor Smythe during his free period and Professor Smythe had gone off on one of his tangents. Lance couldn’t be sure exactly what the point of it had been, but he had gleaned out of the long winded story that the Potions supply closet was out of order and needed organizing. Lance had offered to spend his free hour doing what he could and Professor Smythe was very grateful.

“Okay, Mr. Mcclain, you know where everything goes by now, I presume?” The storage closet was barely big enough for two people to fit inside of it, so the Professor was standing just inside the doorway while Lance was standing on the step stool, reaching for the higher shelves. When he hummed an affirmative, Professor Smythe continued. “Splendid! I have a meeting to make right now, so I’ll be back shortly. You’re on your own!”

He could hear Professor Smythe’s footsteps fade down the corridor and then he was left on his own. He worked quietly, rearranging vials and dry ingredients and redoing the labels so that it was easy to find everything. The work was somewhat relaxing and certainly easy so Lance was able to let his mind drift as he worked. Immediately, his mind went to Pidge’s idea from the night before. Almost as if the world could read his thoughts, the next vial Lance pulled off the shelf to inspect was none other than a vial of veritaserum.

“Hey,”

Startled, Lance scrambled to put the vial back on the shelf. In his haste, his foot tangled in his robes and he tumbled off the top of the step stool. Before he even had a chance to react, he suddenly wasn’t falling anymore. Instead, he was securely supported by strong arms and flush against the chest of his savior.

His savior, who was none other than a blushing Keith.

The moment their eyes locked, Lance wished he knew a spell that would teleport him to the other side of the universe. Or a spell to shrink him so small he basically didn’t exist anymore. Anything had to be better than this.

“Oh,” Keith said, sounding a little caught off guard by the situation. “I see you're falling for me.”

Lance spluttered, cheeks aflame, and did his best to scramble out of Keith's arms. Keith went to set him down at the same time, his own face as red as his tie. The small room plus Lance's wriggling made their movements clumsy. Keith managed to put Lance's feet on the ground but they both stumbled in the process, ending up far too close for comfort.

The shelves shook and the glass vials clinked as Lance bumped into them, Keith crashing on top of him. Keith went to pull away and froze as they both realized that their faces were only inches apart.

“I, uh…” Keith was looking anywhere but Lance's eyes. The nervous energy between them was palpable. “I'm so sorry, I-”

“Did you need something from in here?” Lance impressed himself with how fluidly his sentence came out. His voice shook but he at least got through all of the words without stumbling.

“Yeah,” Keith said quietly. “You.” They both froze. “No. Shit, I mean-” Keith immediately backpedaled, but he didn't move any further away. “Not you. I just- I saw you come in here and thought you might need help.” Keith groaned as he spoke, lowering his head until his forehead was resting on Lance's shoulder.

Lance wasn’t sure what to say. He wasn’t sure this was even real life anymore. Here he was, in one of the tiniest closets in the castle, the golden boy resting his head against him. He was torn between running his fingers through Keith’s hair to see if it was as soft as it looked and shoving Keith to the opposite side of the closet and making a break for it and never looking back.

“Anyway,” Keith straightened up and backed away as much as he could in the small room. “I think I’ve messed enough up. I’ll just- I’ll just go. See you in potions tomorrow.”

Just as suddenly as he had appeared, he disappeared. Lance was left feeling like his bones had turned to jello. He was sure a spell existed for that exact thing. Maybe Keith had come in here just to hex him with jello bones and then leave. But that didn’t explain the stuttering or the clear blush that had been on his cheeks.

He took a few deep breaths to try and steady himself, doing his absolute best to not let Pidge and Hunk’s words infiltrate his mind. This didn’t prove anything. It didn’t make them right. It was a weird coincidence that had absolutely nothing to do with Keith having a crush on him. And yet, he found himself slipping the vial of veritaserum into the inside pocket of his robes.

Professor Smythe would kill him if he ever found out.

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Pidge had practically squealed when Lance had showed her the vial of veritaserum. She immediately had out a roll of parchment, ready to write down a list of all the questions Lance should ask. He had refused, insisting that there was only one question he needed answered and he would have to find a casual way to work it into a conversation. He had, however, allowed Pidge to help him figure out how to deliver the veritaserum to Keith. Eventually they settled on water bottles.

That’s how Lance ended up sitting at his bench, two water bottles in his lap. He carefully unscrewed the cap to one, pouring just a few drops of the veritaserum into it. He secured the cap and set them on the desk, the one with the potion clearly on Keith’s side. Barely even a second later, Keith plopped down on the stool next to him. Lance had to fight from jumping out of his skin.

“You ready to brew a potion?” Keith asked, casually, not meeting Lance’s gaze.

“Sure am,” Lance replied. “You?”

Keith nodded. They lapsed into an awkward silence after that, their awkward encounter from the night before filling the space between them. Keith began to idly rearrange the things on the desk, setting the cauldron so it was perfectly centered between the two of them and opening his textbook to the last potion they had learned.

Pidge had taken the seat Keith normally sat at and she was turned fully around staring at the two of them. Lance shot her a harsh look. She pointed to the water bottles with raised eyebrows. Lance glanced at Keith. He wasn’t looking, so Lance nodded discreetly to Pidge who broke out into a huge grin before spinning around and facing forward.

The silence between them was killing Lance. He wanted to break it but he wasn’t sure how and the knowledge that he had slipped an illegal truth serum into Keith’s drink filled him with a tremendous amount of guilt. He was just about to confess to the whole thing and request the water bottle back when Professor Smythe walked in.

Without any preamble, he launched into an explanation of the potion they were brewing and listed the ingredients they needed on the board. Lance shot out of his chair, offering to go get the ingredients since he had just rearranged the closet and knew where everything was.

Keith helped him unload his arms and spread the ingredients out across their tabletop. Lance tried not to drop everything he was holding when Keith’s fingers brushed casually against the back of his hand in the process. Once his arms were empty, he grabbed his own bottle of water and took a few large gulps to try and calm himself back down.

“So,” Keith hedged, his voice sounding too casual. Lance glanced at him. “Are you ready to brew this potion?”

“Actually,” The words were out of Lance’s mouth before he even realized he was saying them. “Potions isn’t my best subject and I’m pretty nervous about this.”

“Really?” Keith was biting his lip in a way that was clearly meant to suppress a grin. It wasn’t working. “Why are you nervous?”

“Well, being this close to you always makes me nervous.” Lance clasped a hand over his mouth, staring wide-eyed at Keith.

The rest of the class was talking idly amongst themselves as Professor Smythe wandered up and down the aisles, watching everyone and occasionally answering questions. Lance grabbed the book and set it in his lap for something to do, staring intently at the page their instructions were on, even if he weren’t reading it. Keith was working diligently beside him, chopping up and weighing ingredients, occasionally tossing one of them into the cauldron.

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” Keith said after a long moment. Lance clamped his mouth shut, shrugging casually. “Oh,” Keith paused from his task, looking up from the scales, “I have to ask you a question to get an answer. Interesting, I thought veritaserum made you answer anything honestly, not just questions.”

The world crumbled around Lance. He could feel his reality splintering away, leaving him in what could only be a nightmare. “You knew?”

“I switched the water bottles.” Keith wasn’t even trying to hide his grin anymore. “I saw you pouring it in as I walked into class.”

“I’m sorry,” Lance mumbled, looking down.

“Don’t be, I’m going to have some fun with this.” The full weight of the situation really hit Lance then. Not only had Keith caught him but he had turned the tables and now he could ask Lance anything he wanted and Lance was powerless to lie or avoid answering. “Why did you do it, though?”

Lance could feel the answer bubbling up inside of him. He took a deep breath, trying to prevent it from coming out, but it slipped past his lips anyways. “Pidge and Hunk planted this stupid idea in my head and I needed to know if it was true or not.” It was the truth, but it was still vague.

Unfortunately for him, Keith also noticed how vague it was, “What idea?”

Lance pressed the back of his hand to his mouth, biting his lip. The veritaserum was powerful and he could feel the words working their way up his throat. “That you have feelings for me.”

The tips of Keith’s ears were red as he brushed a few stray pieces of hair out of his face and met Lance’s gaze head on. Lance wanted to die. “And what would you do if I told you that they were right?”

Absolutely not. Lance would not say it out loud. He sucked in a deep breath and pressed his lips as tightly together as he could, swallowing against the feeling building up inside of him. The more he fought against it, the stronger it grew, until finally the words burst out of his mouth anyways, much louder than he ever would have willingly spoken. “I would probably take you back into that supply closet and have my way with you.”

Most of the class glanced over at them. Keith ducked his head quickly, throwing more ingredients into their cauldron and stirring. Pidge was staring wide-eyed over her shoulder at Lance who was shaking his head desperately at her. He needed a new plan. If the veritaserum was going to force him to say the truth, maybe he could find a way to work with it.

“So,” Keith began again after everyone had turned back to their stations. “Does that mean you like me?”

“Yes,” Lance whispered the word as softly as he could, hoping that it was a happy medium. That way he was telling the truth but if he was lucky, he was doing it so quietly that Keith couldn’t hear. Unfortunately for him, Keith scooted closer.

“Do you want me to stop?” Keith was leaning over pretending to read the book that Lance still had in his lap. He wasn’t reading the words, of course, but from the outside that’s how it appeared. Instead, he was whispering directly into Lance’s ear.

Lance felt the response jump to the tip of his tongue immediately and knew he was powerless to stop it from coming out. He took a moment to steady his nerves before answering as quietly as he could, knowing Keith would hear it since he was so close. “No.”

It was humiliating and embarrassing that his plan had backfired but he had already spilled the secret of his crush so it wasn’t like any further harm could come from this. Plus he and Keith had never talked this much, no matter how bad he’d wanted it. He was willing to let his ego take a few dings if it meant getting to spend more time with Keith leaning so close he might as well be in Lance’s lap.

“Good,” Keith murmured, “I don’t want to stop either,”

With a smirk, Keith pulled away from Lance and poured the next ingredient into the potion. Lance honestly had no idea how Keith was still brewing it. He’d lost track after step two and was far too flustered to even attempt to pick it back up. He envied the way Keith’s hands were steady as he poured exactly three drops into the pot while Lance’s own hands were trembling as he gripped the textbook in his lap.

“You can’t- you can’t just say stuff like that.” He said.

Keith shot him a grin. “Why not? I thought we were being honest with each other.”

“That’s not funny!”

“I happen to find it very funny,” Keith replied smoothly, a timer in his hand. He twisted the dial and set it down on the tabletop. “And now we have to let it boil for eight minutes so we have some time to kill. What would you like to do with that time?”

“Disappear from existence.” Lance murmured bitterly.

Keith laughed and the sound was pure happiness. Lance felt his cheeks flush at the sound and the subsequent thought about how he had always wished to be the one making Keith laugh. “I would prefer if you didn’t.”

“What do you want to do?”

Keith raised his eyebrows, smiling, at Lance’s tone. “I would love to ask you a few more questions.”

“You mean you’d love to torture me?” Lance slouched lower on his chair.

“Well,” Keith puffed out a breath. He propped his elbow on the table and settled his chin into his palm, still looking at Lance with a smile. “I wouldn’t put it that way.” Lance opened his mouth to say something else but Keith cut him off. Lance closed his eyes, preparing for whatever was about to happen. “So, how long have you had a crush on me?”

Lance wasn’t even trying to fight the answers anymore, it was a lost cause. “Since our second year. The first time we had flying class with Mister Shirogane.”

“Why then?”

“I don’t know, Keith! I don’t know how crushes work! It’s not like I walked out of there thinking ‘wow, I really should have a crush on that guy’. I was just really impressed by your natural flying abilities and couldn’t really ever get you out of my head after that.” Lance was pleased to find that he was still able to express bitterness and exasperation as he spoke. He may not be able to control what he said, but he could control how he said it still.

“‘Natural flying abilities?’ Couldn’t get me out of your head? Sounds like you’ve been gone on me for a really long time,” Keith teased, his grin stretching across his entire face.

“You can’t just say shit like that,” Lance grumbled, crossing his arms.

“Tell me more.”

“Sorry, buddy, I don’t have to answer unless you ask me a specific question.”

Keith pondered this. “Okay,” he said after a minute, his grin turning almost wicked. “How about this? I’m thinking of tying my hair up for quidditch matches, what do you think?”

Lance was incredulous. Of all of the things Keith could ask, he goes for that? Still, the answer that forced its way out was embarrassing. “I think that would look unfairly hot.”

“Unfairly hot?” Keith echoed, “Really? You think my hair looks that good up?”

“I’ve never seen your hair up,” Lance countered, “but I think it would look good up.”

Immediately Keith was pulling his hair back, running his fingers through the strands until it was casually disheveled. He pulled the sleeve of his robe up, then, revealing a hair tie around his wrist. He tied his hair back with a practiced hand before dropping his arms back to his side and looking back at Lance who felt like he was slowly burning from the inside. “Well, now you’ve seen it up. What do you think?”

Seeing it up was something Lance never knew he needed until he was looking at it. Now, he couldn’t decide if he wanted it to stay up or if he wanted to pull it down and run his fingers through it in a passionate frenzy. Maybe both? “Unfairly hot,” Lance admitted, the words nearly getting stuck in his dry throat. He swallowed. “You look like the kind of bad boy that would pin me to a wall.”

Keith’s eyebrows shot up, but he looked pleased. “Is that something you want me to do?”

“Unfortunately.” Lance sighed.

“That still doesn’t answer my original question,” Keith said, bemused. “Should I tie my hair up for quidditch matches?”

“I mean, are you trying to kill half the school?” Lance responded. “We already have to watch you straddle the broom in those tight pants. Now, you want to add this?”

Lance had hoped that this would fluster Keith, but it didn’t. If anything, it seemed to thrill Keith. “You would be checking me out in my quidditch outfit.”

“I’m not the only one! The entire school is doing it!”

“I don’t care about the entire school. I just care about you.” Keith said lowly. “And now I’ll be distracted next quidditch match thinking about you staring at my ass from the bleachers.”

“I swear to god, next time we’re alone, I’m going to kill you.”

“Really?” Keith reached out and hooked a finger under Lance’s chin. “I have other ideas for what we could do next time we’re alone.”

Lance could feel his entire face flush red. He ducked his head, pulling the collar of his robes tighter around him, hoping it helped hide his blush. The other students had been glancing at them occasionally since his outbreak earlier and the last thing he needed was for them to get an idea of what was going on between them. He was a part of it and he wasn’t even sure what was going on between them. All he knew was that he liked being this close to Keith.

“I’m sorry, do you want me to stop?” Keith asked again. Lance just shrugged. The timer Keith had set suddenly went off. “What do you want, then?” Keith brushed a hand across the top of Lance’s thigh as he flipped the page in their textbook, actually looking up the next steps of the brew.

Lance took a breath. “You,” he said after a moment.

Surprisingly, that was enough of an answer. The veritaserum didn’t force him to specify what about Keith he wanted and he was thankful. The answer was muddled, at best, and he’d already done enough talking to last a lifetime. Normally what he wanted was Keith’s companionship, or his attention. He wanted to be the one Keith was smiling or laughing at. He wanted to run his fingers through that mullet, or to feel Keith’s fingers in his own hair. But, as Keith’s fingers slid up the inseam of his pants before he pulled his hand back to his lap, he wanted Keith in an entirely different way.

“Me?” Keith repeated, clearly eating it up. “You want me?”

“I do,” Lance replied, almost breathless. “But I’d also like to throttle you.”

Keith laughed, a hand slipping onto Lance’s knee. “I don’t know about the throttling,” he said, giving Lance’s knee a squeeze, “But I happen to want you, too.”

“Wha-”

“Professor Smythe?” Keith’s hand was already in the air and their professor was crossing the room to them. “Lance doesn’t appear to be feeling very good, I think he needs to go to the hospital wing.”

“He does look rather red, doesn’t he?” Professor Smythe leaned in close once he reached them, placing the back of his hand against Lance’s forehead. “And he’s warm.” Lance truly wanted to dissolve. “Mister Kogane, please escort him to the hospital wing.”

There was no need to tell Keith twice. He popped up from his stool instantly, dragging Lance up with him. He took a moment to snag the water bottle off the desktop, shoving it in his bag and shooting Lance a smile as he did so. Professor Smythe took over their station, turning off the burner and putting their unused ingredients away. Keith had a firm grip around Lance’s upper arm as they walked out the door and into the corridor.

As soon as they were out of earshot of the others, Keith spun Lance to face him. “Tell me more about this broom closet idea you had.”

“You can’t be serious.” Lance replied, taking a step back. Keith took a step forward, keeping them close together. “You must be kidding.”

“I’m not Peeves,” Keith said. “I don’t make jokes. And I didn’t just listen to you tell me how nice my ass is for you to do nothing about it.”

Lance squawked and crossed his arms over his chest. “I did not say anything about your ass! That was all you!”

“You didn’t disagree with it,” Keith’s flirty smile nearly did Lance in. Honestly, he was impressed that he hadn’t died of embarrassment already. “Now, are you going to tell me about this idea or not?”

In an insane moment of courage, Lance pulled Keith close so he could whisper in his ear, “Why don’t I just show you?”

Keith was all too happy to follow Lance down the hallway and around the corner. Lance paused in front of the first broom closet he found, looking both ways to ensure the corridor was empty. Once he was confident that nobody would see them, he opened the door and took a step inside. Keith followed him in, pushing the door shut behind them.

The door hadn’t even clicked fully shut before Keith had Lance pressed up against the wall, one hand slipping inside his robes to rest comfortably on his hip, the other cupping his cheek and guiding their mouths together. The closet, like the rest of the dungeons, was chilly but Lance didn’t notice. He couldn’t feel anything other than the heat that was Keith Kogane, golden boy, heartthrob of the entire school, pressed firmly against him. The thought wouldn’t process in his mind, but it didn’t matter. His body reacted on instinct, grabbing fistfulls of Keith’s robes and tugging on them until there was no space between them at all.

Keith huffed out a soft laugh before capturing Lance’s lips in a second kiss. Lance reached up and yanked the hair tie out of Keith’s hair, feeling the way it tumbled back towards his shoulders. He laced one hand through the silky locks and the other came up to ground himself against Keith’s shoulder.

“So,” Keith said breathlessly, pulling away for a second, “You like it better down?”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Lance answered, giving the fistful of hair a tug, “I’ve just always wanted to do this.”

“Yeah?” Keith moved his hand off of Lance’s cheek and placed it on his other hip for a moment. “I’ve always wanted to do this.” He said and those hands slipped back behind Lance, pulling their hips together by his ass.

The feelings of their crotches grinding against each other was something Lance didn’t think he could ever describe. He wasn’t inexperienced, but that didn’t seem to matter. The friction of Keith grinding his hips into Lance mixed with the breathy way he whispered ‘fuck’ in Lance’s ear was enough to unravel him at the seams. He pulled Keith’s face back in for a kiss, slipping his tongue into Keith’s mouth.

Keith lifted his hands briefly, just long enough to slip them down the back of Lance’s pants so his hands were gripping bare ass and no clothing. Lance couldn’t stop the groan that followed. His grip was strong and it pulled Lance away from the wall, so he stumbled back until they were pressed firmly against the wall again. His legs were starting to shake and the familiar feeling was building up in his stomach, telling him that he was close.

He didn’t have time to think about the fact that he was ready to finish with his pants on. He didn’t have time to think about anything other than the way Keith nipped gently at his neck before murmuring, “Fuck, I’m close.”

“Me too.” Lance managed to pant out, moving his own hips roughly against Keith’s.

Before anything else could be said between them, there was the sound of footsteps approaching the door. Without even breaking their bodies apart, Keith managed to whip his wand out of his pocket and point it towards the door. Lance could barely hear him cast Colloportus, but he could hear the distinctive sound of a lock latching before Keith murmured, “I’m not done with you yet.”

Lance lost himself at those words, leaning into Keith as he came in his pants. Keith leaned back into him, his grip on Lance’s ass so tight it almost hurt. They pressed their foreheads together, both with their eyes closed, breathing in sync.

It could have been a sweet moment if it hadn’t been interrupted by the voice of Professor Smythe clearly casting Alohamora and the door clicking open. Keith jumped back as far as he could, practically crashing into the opposite wall. Lance, for his part, hastily tried to pull his robes together in front of him to hide the mess that was his pants.

“What are you two doing in here?” Professor Smythe opened the door and peered inside.

Lance could feel the honest answer to that rising up his throat unbidden, realizing that the veritaserum hadn’t quite worn off yet. He caught Keith’s eyes with a panicked expression. Keith rushed across the room to Lance’s side.

“Lance was feeling nauseous, Professor,” Keith spoke over the beginning of Lance’s sentence, clamping a hand firmly across his mouth and muffling the end of the sentence. “So we came in here to see if maybe there was a bucket or something since there are no bathrooms nearby.”

Professor Smythe looked closely at both of their faces, clearly suspicious. His eyes lingered on Lance, almost as if he were seeing through him. Lance attempted to nod in confirmation of Keith’s story but the awkward position he was in with Keith’s hand over his mouth made it difficult. With a knowing glint in his eye, Professor Smythe backed off.

“Well, if you’re feeling better you should get going. You need to get to the hospital wing as soon as possible.” He said, his words sounding like they had a different meaning.

“Thank you, Professor.” Lance said as Keith finally dropped his hand, “And I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused.”

“Well, we can’t help how we feel, can we, dear boy?” Professor Smythe smiled knowingly at him then. “Now, move along. I have to go back and finish this lesson.”

Without further ado the boys scrambled out of the closet and back into the corridor, panicked messes. Professor Smythe lived up to his word and retreated back to the potions classroom, leaving them alone in the dungeons again.

“I can’t believe that just happened.” Keith sounded exhilarated.

Lance rested his flushed face against the cool stone wall. “I can’t believe any of this happened. You know we have to talk about this, right?”

“Of course we have to talk about it,” Keith said, placing a hand on the small of Lance’s back. “I’m not trying to get out of that, but can we at least go clean up first?”

“Fair enough,” Lance said. “Let’s go clean up and we can meet out on the grounds after. Okay?”

Keith nodded and they headed their separate ways.

--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|

Lance stood in front of the eagle shaped knocker, exasperated. He was a flustered mess and the only thing going through his mind was Keith and the way he had felt pressed up against Lance. And now he was expected to answer a riddle, as if he had any functional capacity to think clearly.

“When you need me,” The knocker repeated, “You throw me away. When you’re done with me, you bring me back.”

“I don’t know,” Lance groaned.

“I can’t let you in without the answer,” The knocker replied.

Lance gave up and wandered miserably away from the Ravenclaw tower. He had agreed to meet Keith out on the grounds but he didn’t want to go outside until he got a chance to clean up. With no other option crossing his foggy mind, he changed his route and headed towards Gryffindor tower. He was halfway up the staircase of the tower when he ran into Keith who had changed out of his uniform and just had his robes thrown over a pair of sweats and a dark gray shirt.

“Lance? What’s wrong?” Keith quickly descended the remaining few stairs until they were standing next to each other.

“I got locked out of the common room,” Lance answered, realizing that he had answered it voluntarily and the veritaserum had finally worn off. “I couldn’t answer the dumb riddle.”

Keith tried kindly to stifle his smile. “C’mon,” he said, heading back up the stairs. “Come with me, I’ll get you something to wear.”

They walked together up the staircase and stopped in front of a picture. Lance watched, captivated, as the picture swung open after Keith muttered a certain phrase. He had never been inside a common room other than the Ravenclaw one and was surprised to find that it looked so different. The Ravenclaw common room was filled to the brim with bookshelves and tables to study on. The Gryffindor one, besides being different colors, was filled with comfy furniture to sit and socialize on. The Gryffindors sitting on the couches greeted him casually as he passed by.

“Guys dormitories are this way,” Keith said, leading him up a spiral staircase.

The staircase opened up into a large room filled with beds. This, at least, looked exactly like the Ravenclaw dorms. Keith crossed the room to the bed which must’ve been his, opening the trunk at the foot of it. He rummaged around before pulling out another shirt and pair of sweats as well as a pair of boxers. Lance felt his face go red at the sight.

“Thanks,” He murmured, taking the clothes. Keith pointed him in the direction of the bathroom and he hastily changed into the fresh clothes.

When he emerged from the bathroom, he found Keith lounging on his bed, looking out the nearby window. Lance glanced out the window himself only to see the Hufflepuff quidditch team practicing. He smiled a little to himself, thinking about how obvious it was that Keith loved flying and how sweet that was.

“Better?” Keith was looking at him, his eyes fond.

“Much,” Lance said. What he didn’t say was that he was dying on the inside because these clothes smelled like Keith. “So, what now?”

“I have an idea.” Keith stood from the bed, bringing his pillow up with him. He tossed it across the room to Lance, who scrambled to catch it since his arms were already full of his dirty clothes. Keith tucked the second pillow under his own arm and pulled his blankets off bed. “Follow me.”

Keith led them to the base of third and final tower of the castle--the astronomy tower. Lessons for the day were over and the tower appeared to be deserted. Lance began to ascend the staircase but he only got a couple of steps up before realizing that Keith was no longer moving. “Are we not going up here?”

“We are,” Keith said, setting down the blankets and pillow he was holding. “But I have one more stop to make. Can you get this stuff up there and spread out? And I’ll be back in a few?”

It briefly crossed Lance’s mind that Keith could just be setting him up. That this entire day could be a joke to him. He was easily the most popular guy in school, he could have anyone he wanted. “Yeah, sure.”

“Hey,” Keith hopped up the three steps between them quickly and planted a kiss on Lance’s lips. “I promise I’m coming back, okay?”

“Okay,” Lance said, but Keith was already halfway down the hall.

He did as he was asked and moved all of the pillows and blankets into the astronomy tower. He spread one blanket out across the floor and piled the pillows and second blanket on top, tossing his own clothes off to the side. He settled into the blankets, looking out over the grounds as the sun was setting.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Keith came clattering up the ladder to the very top of the tower, a basket floating just above him. He came and settled in next to Lance, opening the basket to reveal food from the Great Hall. Lance smiled at the sight.

“What? You didn’t expect me to skip dinner, did you? Quidditch captains need to stay strong!” Keith laughed, nudging Lance with his shoulder.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Yeah,” Keith said, taking a bite of the food, “But you like me.”

“I don’t know about that,” Lance teased, pulling out a sandwich.

“You can say that all you want, but I already know the truth.”

They ate quietly, both looking out over the grounds. The sun was just beginning to kiss the horizon, painting the sky a beautiful array of pinks, oranges and purples. This time of day had always been Lance’s favorite time of day. The light was soft and hazy and it made him feel like he were viewing the world through rose-colored lenses. As if there were a certain magical quality to the world that even he, a wizard, wouldn’t be able to explain. This time of day made him feel like anything was possible.

“I’m sorry,” Lance broke the silence, glancing over at Keith. “I really shouldn’t have tried to use the veritaserum on you. That was pretty uncool.”

The look Keith gave him was nothing short of fond. “I’m not mad about it,” He assured, “But you could’ve tried just asking me anything you wanted to know outright.”

“Can I try that now?” Lance asked.

“Absolutely.”

Lance thought for a moment, his gaze fixed on the sunset in front of them. There were so many things he wanted to know about Keith but he didn’t know where to start. Things were a little strange--they had skipped a few steps, and he felt like he had missed out on a lot. That thought gave him the idea to start simple. Start as he would have if he had bothered to get to know Keith in the last four years. “What’s your favorite color?”

“Red.”

“Your favorite…. dessert?”

Keith paused. Lance turned away from the sunset, looking at him quizzically. Finally, he smiled sheepishly and responded. “Apple tarts.”

“What?” Lance turned his entire body in his spot to look at Keith, “You gave me your favorite dessert?”

“You wanted it! I heard you say you needed a pick-me-up!”

Lance wasn’t sure what to say. As silly as it seemed, that might have been the nicest thing anyone had ever done for him. It was little things like this that tugged on his heartstrings and made him fall even deeper for the boy. “Thank you.” he said sincerely.

“I should also tell you,” Keith’s sheepish smile remained, “I heard most of your conversation at lunch. And I was just outside the Great Hall when you walked out with Pidge and Hunk, so I heard that, too.”

“That’s why you asked me about tying your hair up!” Lance accused, his face turning red again.

Nodding, Keith added, “I really have been considering tying it up for games, though.” He reached up and ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it back the way Lance loved. “And your response earlier convinced me.”

“Glad my sheer embarrassment was helpful to you,” Lance took another bite his sandwich and leaned back on his pillow.

There was another momentary pause before Keith leaned back next to him. “Can I ask you something?”

“Haven’t you asked me enough things today?” His tone was teasing and the look Keith shot him indicated that he understood. “Of course.”

“This is more of a favor than a question. Or more of a ‘would you do this’, I guess.” He was holding his own food in front of him but not taking a bite out of it. Lance looked at him curiously, waiting for him to continue. After a deep breath, Keith glanced over at him, but wouldn’t hold his gaze for long. “If I gave you my backup jersey, would you wear it to games and cheer for me?”

There weren’t words to explain how Lance felt. He had been crushing on Keith for four years and in those years he had managed to keep it to just that--a crush. And suddenly, in the expanse of one evening, he had gone from a crush that he could manage to falling head over heels for the boy next to him and he knew there was absolutely nothing that could break his fall. “I would love to.”

“Really?” Keith perked up next to him. A grin broke out across his face when Lance nodded in response. “I would really like that.”

“I can even make a super lame sign if you want.” Lance offered. He sat up and rummaged through the basket and pulled out two drinks, offering one to Keith with a wry smile, “I promise I didn’t slip anything into this.”

“But are you sure that I didn’t slip anything into them?”

“Honestly, would it matter? You already made me spill my secrets.”

Keith took the drink from him and stared at it thoughtfully. Lance watched him, intrigued by how clearly he could see the wheels turning in Keith’s mind. “I guess this is probably really obvious but I feel like I should actually say it out loud. I really like you, Lance. I’ve liked you since you mastered Wingardium Leviosa on the first day of class, leaving Professor Holt speechless.”

“So what you’re telling me,” Lance rolled onto his side on the blankets, “is that we have both liked each other for four years and done nothing about it?”

“Sounds that way.”

“Why did this happen now, then? What changed?” Lance readjusted his pillow so he was comfortable on his side, looking at Keith. “You never seemed like you liked me before and then suddenly you did. I mean, it took Pidge and Hunk pointing it out to me, but they never pointed it out before.”

Keith followed suit and flipped onto his side, grasping Lance’s hand between them. “I just couldn’t really take it anymore, I’m not sure why.” He shrugged. “I knew that I had to tell you eventually, so once I built up the courage to do something about it, I knew there were two options. Either it worked out, or I could try to get over you.”

“Well, you better not get over me now.” Lance said with a small smile.

“I have no intention of ever getting over you,” Keith said, his face vulnerable. Lance reached out and brushed his fingers across Keith’s cheek gently, relishing in the way Keith closed his eyes at the touch. He attended a school where he learned the ways of magic, and yet, nothing had ever been as magical to him as this simple moment.

A cool breeze blew through the open windows of the tower then, making Lance shiver slightly. Keith noticed immediately and moved the basket out of the way before picking up the second blanket and wrapped it around the two of them. He scooted closer to Lance until they were laying back on their sides, so close their noses were nearly touching.

“Anything else you wanna know about me?” Keith asked, his voice quiet,

“Just, you know, everything.” Lance responded just as quietly, letting their hushed voices turn the moment even more intimate.

He was surprised when Keith started talking then, telling him any and every story of his childhood that crossed his mind. They laid that way, tangled in each other, until long after the sun dipped below the horizon. They swapped stories of their lives long into the early hours of the morning until they fell asleep, still wrapped up together.

--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|

Lance woke up the next morning, the sun just starting to rise and filling the astronomy tower with the soft, hazy glow that he loved so much. Keith was pressed against his side, one arm thrown across Lance’s chest. He took a moment to simply look at Keith, reminding himself that yesterday hadn’t been a dream. He brushed a few stray pieces of hair out of Keith’s face.

Keith stirred then, blinking lazily up at Lance. He smiled. “G’morning.”

“It’s a good morning indeed.” Lance replied with a soft laugh.

Keith leaned in and captured his lips in a soft, sleepy kiss, his fingers threading gently into the hair at the base of Lance’s neck. Lance placed his own hand against Keith’s chest, feeling his heartbeat through his shirt.

“Did last night really happen?” He said softly, his lips barely leaving Keith’s.

He got a hum in response before Keith added, “All of yesterday was real. Even the part where you got me to open up without the use of a super illegal potion.”