Chapter Text
Alec Gunn
Years ago, Alec and Hawke had to train Eliza Ollivander - Now Malfoy - how to apparate. She’d asked how they’d learned, and Alec had given her the short, painless answer. That they had to apparate before they got crucio’d.
What he’d left out, was that once they apparated to where they needed to go, there was a second curse sent to them. And another. And another.
This helped them learned to not lose their heads while apparating. Less chances of splinching if you assumed the worst at the other end of the apparition.
Because of this, Alec had gotten good at healing splinches, both for himself and Hawke. He wasn’t a healer by any means, but he knew how to keep the splinchee’ ready for when healers finally did come.
He’d learned to stay calm, to not splinch himself as well.
So when a dire-wolf patronus threw open the doors of the three broomsticks barking an order to Alec in Sebastian’s snarl to get to the house, he was ready for whatever awaited him on the other side.
Except he wasn’t.
He wasn’t ready for a pale and lifeless form of Hawke laying on the floor. Wasn’t ready for the concentration and strain in Tessa and Sebastian’s expressions as they worked whatever magic it was they needed to do to keep him alive.
“Charlotte.” Sebastian rasped, looking to Alec for only a second, but it was all Alec needed, to see the sheer panic and rage in his expression.
Alec’s order was clear, and he ripped his eyes away from his brother to find Charlie. Eliza and Malfoy were trying to hold her down and Alec’s resolve steeled when he saw why Sebastian went for Hawke before Charlie.
Charlie would live. But if she didn’t stop fighting the Malfoy’s, it’d be without three fingers.
“Charlie, I know it’s difficult right now-” Eliza was saying, her voice business yet kind. But there was a tremor in her voice as well as Fennic tried to keep Charlie’s arm still and elevated, but Charlie was fighting with all her strength, tears running down her face, her entire body shaking from shock and fear and no doubt adrenaline. And judging by the winces of pain, she was using ancient magic to keep Malfoy from having a good grip on her.
“Theo first, help heal Theo, I need him-”
Alec was there in an instant. He knew the signs and knew this was going to have to be tough love. He straddled Charlie’s hips, using one hand to pin the one hand while Fennic and Eliza focused on the hand that needed fingers reattached.
“Alec, Theo, he’s-”
Alec cupped the back of her neck, forcing her to keep her head forward, pressing his forehead into hers. Forcing her eyes to focus on his.
“Don’t make me tell my brother his wife lost use of her good hand.” He snapped at her.
Charlie was sobbing, hiccuping, breathless sobs. “He-”
“He’ll be fine.” He had to be. There wasn’t another option. “Need I remind ya of who yer father is? Who yer mother is?”
She wasn’t able to move from beneath him, and he heard Eliza murmuring healing charms to attach her fingers back and Malfoy’s harsh breathing as he wasn’t having to struggle nearly as hard with Charlie’s panic.
An apparation crack, then “Got Levi,” Toby panted as Levi sprinted to Hawke.
“What the hell happened?!” Levi asked.
“Sectumsumpra spell,” Sebastian growled darkly. “Need you to focus on closing old wounds while I stop the curse.”
“Still breathing, but we need to hurry.” Tessa said quietly before Levi cast a muffliato around them and they couldn’t hear anything else.
“Hear that? He’s still breathin’,” Alec said calmly as Charlie sobbed.
“Alec, I’ll kill her. I’ll fucking kill her next time I see her.”
“Yer gonna have to beat me to it, lass,” Alec told her. He looked towards Hawke and relaxed only slightly. “He’s gotten his color back, whatever they’re doin’ it’s workin’, okay?” He told her and she finally relaxed beneath him, her eyes squeezing shut.
“I should have protected him, he had his shield around me, but I didn’t think.. He was behind her, I thought we’d be able to..”
“None of that,” Alec said quietly now that she wasn’t struggling. “Hard lesson, but it was learned, yeh? Tell me how ya got splinched.”
“P-panicked-” she whispered, body trembling, the shock wearing off.
“One more finger, Charlie,” Eliza said quietly. “You’re going great.”
“Panicked?” He asked. “Mid-apparation?”
“I was the one apparating,” Malfoy muttered and Alec had to fight to not look at the blond, hearing the raw emotion in his voice. “She.. Twisted when I turned.. I don’t know how to explain it, but I was more focused on not hurting Hawke, and…”
“Causin’ problems mid apparation?” Alec sighed. “That’s barefoot in the snow behavior.”
“Fuck you,” Charlie whispered, though it lacked any real heat.
“Oi, I’m tryin’ to help you be able to give the best handjobs you can. My brother deserves that much.”
“There’s something so wrong with you, Alec,” Charlie said, a weak, watery smile coming to her face.
“Least I got all my fingers.”
“So does she,” Eliza said with a breath of relief.
Alec finally released Charlie, sitting up, but not getting off until she wiggled all her fingers and rotated her hand. Once she did as Eliza instructed, Alec lifted and she turned and sprinted to Hawke, right as Levi lifted the muffliato curse.
Hawke had all his color back, his breathing even, but still didn’t open his eyes. Charlie hugged her parents, thanking them tearfully along with Levi, who looked a bit pale, probably from the scare, considering Hawke was his best friend.
Sebastian then used the lifting spell to lift Hawke and carry him upstairs, Charlie in tow, while Tessa vanished the carpet clear of so much blood, Alec wasn’t sure how Hawke made it as long as he did.
The silence in the room was deafening now that the panic was gone, and Alec knew they were just waiting for Sebastian to come back before Malfoy would tell the entire story. Toby had gone to check on Alex and the twins, who’d evidently been staying here while Hawke and Charlie worked with Malfoy. They were sound asleep, which led Alec to believe they had been asleep when Malfoy apparated them all here.
Thank Godric.
Finally, Sebastian returned.
His expression was the farthest thing from composed. He looked like he was barely holding back from slaughtering an entire country. And Alec would have only been happy to follow and join him.
“What. Happened?” He asked, his voice low and rough as he glared at Malfoy.
Malfoy only looked exhausted, though he didn’t answer immediately, and Alec remembered why. Ominis had asked Malfoy to look into this instead of Sebastian.
Sebastian must have seen the hesitation, because his eyes flashed, more black than brown.
“Malfoy, I swear to Salazar himself, if you fucking lie to me-”
“I will not lie to you, Mr. Sallow,” Malfoy said, his voice weak. “But there are things I cannot tell you.”
Sebastian looked ready to argue, but Tessa put a hand to his chest, her eyes on Malfoy. “Speak.”
Malfoy inhaled deeply. Exhaled. Then began.
“We were investigating a group who’ve been purchasing a lot of poisonous ingredients. I want to know why, as in all, the amounts they’ve been collecting is enough to poison an entire country. I’ve dug through minds and have found no answers. Tonight, we were doing that, but there was a difference. This time, a girl watched us-”
“Who?” Sebastian demanded.
“I don’t know,” Malfoy answered, shoulders slumping. Eliza slid her hand into his, but he didn’t take it, his hand staying relaxed whereas she gripped his. “She wore a weird mask, her thoughts were.. Panicked. All she was thinking about was not giving me information.”
“So you were able to get through to her thoughts?” Tessa asked.
“Yes, the voice was not one I’ve heard before, but I couldn’t hear them at first. She knew of me being a legilimens and occluded. I didn’t realize she was there until I’d said our plans weren’t working and we needed to regroup. When we discovered her, we chased her down. I used pockets of apparition to move while keeping her stuck, but when we caught up, I suppose we let our guard down-”
He swallowed, and Alec had never seen Malfoy come undone before. Not that Alec would call this ‘undone’ per se, but Malfoy looked.. Devastated. Used to being a step ahead of anyone else, this was new territory for him.
“So, you were investigating people wanting poison, a girl was occluding while watching you, and you all found her and chased her..” Sebastian recited.
“Once we got to her, I tried to reason with her, and that was when she sent that spell to Hawke. I tried to pry into her mind, but only got the more forefront of her thoughts. She was terrified, but she knew that I could get the information she had, and that I wanted it. But she also knew exactly how much time we needed to make sure Hawke didn’t bleed out. She used our panic to the best of her abilities while also panicking herself.”
There was a silence. Then Sebastian crossed his arms. “Take me to where you found her. I’m going to see if I can find something to be a trace on it.”
To Alec’s surprise, Malfoy nodded, determined. Both men turned to say goodbye to their wives, then they were gone.
Tessa shakily went to sit on the couch, Eliza beside her in an instant as they leaned against each other. Toby was sitting in the arm chair, having been uncharacteristically silent. He was leaned forward, elbows on his knees, hands covering his face, and Levi laid a hand on Toby’s shoulder as a sign of comfort. They’d all almost lost two very important people to them and it felt like they could finally take a deep breath. Except Alec.
He slipped out of the room. Out of the house. And to the back of the house where he leaned back against the structure and slowly sank down.
He felt his mind buzz, his ears ring, and he felt nauseous, so he tucked his head between his legs and squeezed his eyes shut.
“I don’t understand what the hell is taking him so long.”
“He’s got classes,” Alec frowned, glaring at the pacing man with loathing.
“He’s lucky I allow him-”
“If ya want him to learn the basics of magic but don’t wanna teach ‘im, he’ll stay.”
Podex froze and glared at him. “Mind your tone, Alec.”
“I am mindin’ it, use yer damn brain.”
Podex’ eyes narrowed. “Very well. You’ll be teaching him apparation once he gets here.”
Alec stiffened. “He’s thirteen, they don’t learn that-”
“See that he does.” Podex snapped. “And find that new bloke who said he could heal splinches easily, make sure he’s with you. Knowing him, he’ll panic and cry,” Podex muttered, rolling his eyes. “And when he does, tell him to thank you, since it’s your shit attitude who got him into the situation.”
“Alec?”
His head jerked up to see Sebastian crouched in front of him, expression concerned.
“You alright?”
“Yeh, course,” Alec grinned. “Find anythin’?”
“No,” Sebastian sighed, running a hand through his hair, his expression turning dark. “Not a trace of her. Not a hair or a footstep. And she apparated so it wasn’t like we could trace her. I’d have to get a hold of her magical signature but with Tessa and Theo’s ancient magic that worked through his body, it burned that away as well, and from what I understand, that was the only spell she used that I would have been able to get a tab on.”
Sebastian looked livid but there was the underlying exhaustion as well. Exhaustion of almost losing someone who he considered a son, and then his daughter had been splinched.
Sebastian shook his head. “Thank you. For coming as quickly as you did.”
“Course,” Alec frowned. “Not somethin’ to thank me fer.”
Sebastian only shook his head. “I know we’ve talked a lot since you’ve come into our family, but.. Tessa and I.. Family was hard for us as kids. We were let down quite a bit. So to know that we have people who we consider family we can actually rely on..” There was a pause. “It means a lot more than we could ever show.”
Curiosity sparked in Alec, but he knew now wasn’t the time to ask. Like most of the men in this woven together family, Sebastian didn’t do ‘vulnerability’ easily. And so Alec merely shrugged.
“Just happy to be here, sir.”
The thought of Max telling him that Sebastian and Tessa might be a good pair to confide in flashed through his mind, but he shoved it away when Sebastian gave a lopsided smile that didn’t reach his eyes before standing and offering a hand.
Alec took it - without freaking out, which he was proud of himself for - and allowed him to pull Alec up. “Staying the night? You could sleep in Levi’s old room.” Sebastian offered.
But with how his thoughts were going and his recent mattress-shredding tendencies.
“No sir, thank you. I’ll be back in the mornin’ though.”
Sebastian studied him, concern still evident but then he sighed. “Alright. See you in the morning then.”
—x—
Breakfast?
He stared at the text from Maleah as he stood in the Sallow’s entry room. The door was closed, the house quiet, though he could hear a faint scrubbing. Tessa was probably stress cleaning again, considering he could smell a light floral scent.
It was only six in the morning, and she’d already texted him that. If he remembered correctly, it was the beginning of Eric’s week with Maleah, so he wondered what she wanted to see him for? Was it to discuss Hogwarts?
Is everything okay?
He sent back instead, before pocketing his phone and walking into the house. He went to the kitchen first, where sure enough, Tessa was scrubbing the counter tops, yellow rubber gloves on with a sponge, and the floral scent was stronger in the room.
She turned as Alec answered and gave a weak smile. “Good morning, Alec.”
“Mornin’, Tessa. I was wonderin’ how everyone is?”
“Still sleeping,” she answered, pulling her gloves off to swipe at her forehead. “Seb stayed up all night, and I kept waking up to check on all of them. Charlie and Theo are sleeping in Omi and Anne’s old room, if you wanted to check on them.”
Alec nodded but hesitated. “Did ya need anythin’? Help or..?”
Tessa laughed softly, if he could call it a laugh, the smile of it not even reaching her eyes. “No, Alec, but thank you. I would like a normal morning, where all my children are safe and not risking themselves.”
Alec’s lips pressed into a line. She was speaking proper, a tell he’d picked up long ago that he wasn’t even sure Charlie or Toby knew about.
Sebastian certainly did, because he was always trying to get her to laugh or tease her when it happened.
It meant she was upset. Sad, angry, stressed.. Not happy.
She probably hadn’t felt relief and wouldn’t until Hawke and Charlie woke up.
“Gram?”
They both turned to find Alex peeking into the kitchen, bleary eyed. “Where’s mummy and daddy?” He asked, rubbing at his eyes. “Hi, Uncie Alec.”
“They’re still sleepin,” Alec answered for Tessa, sending a wink to his nephew. “They stayed up too late last night readin’.”
“Daddy doesn’t like to read,” Alex frowned. “Daddy said swimming today..”
“I’ll take ya swimmin’,” Alec shrugged. “We’ll go to the beach. Go get dressed.”
Alex needed nothing more before turning and racing up back towards the staircase.
Tessa hummed in something just short of amusement. “I suppose I should start breakfast.”
“I would ask to help, but-”
“No thank you, Alec.” Tessa finally gave a real smile. “From what I’ve heard from Charlie, you’re about as good at cooking as Sebastian.”
Ah. The one thing someone wouldn’t wanna be similar to Sebastian with. He gave a mini salute before ducking out of the kitchen.
Alex came downstairs, dressed in a single rainboot, a cowboy boot, green swim trunks, but with a neon orange swim shirt that made Alec’s eyes burn.
“Alright, we are gonna go back upstairs and try again, and we’re not gonna tell Auntie Fern about any of this, yeh?” Alec told him and Alex giggled before running back upstairs to try again.
The second time he came down, his swimsuit matched, however, the boots had stayed the same. While Alex sat at the table and dangled his legs, Tessa cast a spell to make the cowboy boot turn into a matching rainboot without him noticing.
“I’ll send word since they wake up,” Tessa was telling Alec as both he and Alex ate their breakfast. A fry-up that made Alec believe he wouldn’t be hungry the rest of the day.
His phone buzzed, and he winced, realizing he’d completely forgotten about the messages.
I’ll take that as a no, then?
Well, if she had, she wouldn’t have put a question mark at the end, but he felt it best not respond with that.
Want to go swimming instead?
Dots. Then nothing. Then dots. Then nothing.
Finally;
Now??
Alec grinned and glanced up at Alex. “Hey kid, do ya mind if we bring a friend along?”
“It’s it Nala?” Alex asked, tilting his head.
“No, it’s her ma.”
“Oh, okay.” Alex nodded, taking another bite.
“Tessa, would ya mind if I brought her back here?”
Tessa shook her head. “No, I don’t mind. She’s welcome, as is Nala, any time.”
Alec grinned before sending Maleah a heads up that he'd be there in a few seconds.
“Be back,” he winked to Alex before apparating to the floo flame nearest them and then floo’d to their fireplace.
Maleah gasped and whirled, clutching a towel to her chest, her hair done up in that little magical towel thing girls were able to do. Alec grinned, putting a hand over his eyes.
“Slow reader? Or did I misinterpret your offer for ‘breakfast?’” He asked, listening to her scramble past him towards the back of the house.
“You sent the text half a second ago!” She protested over her shoulder before he heard a door closing. She didn’t bother answering the second half of the question, which only made Alec grin wider as he let his hand fall.
Since he didn’t have time to really look around the last few times he was here, he did so now while waiting for her. The decor in the house, much like the house itself, was cramped and yet it worked. One wall looked like a collage of photo frames with pictures of Emma, Maleah and Nala, all at random places and different ages.
One picture of Maleah, smiling brightly into the camera with a small Nala, chewing on her fist. Maleah looked young, face flushed, positively beaming, and he wondered if it were Eric holding the camera.
It was such a bright show of emotion that Alec hadn’t really been able to see yet. All he’d seen from her was frustration, fear, and curiosity. And judgement.
He huffed before moving towards the rest of the house, where more decor hang, though not just pictures. Signs with puns on them, such as a picture of a cup on it saying “You’re my cuppa tea” in the kitchen. Another picture that had a beet on it, and it said ‘let the beet drop.’
Alec wanted to roll his eyes, but they somehow fit into the home.
He wandered to the front door, where he was a side door he hadn’t seen before. He pushed it open and found a room with a table and a computer on it, and boxes full of journals and papers. The trash can was full of crumpled papers, overfilling to the ground.
There was very little decor in the room, just a house plant on the window sill, but otherwise empty. No decor, no photos. Just deep blue painted walls, a wooden floor, the computer, desk, and all the strewn about paper.
“What are you doing?”
Alec turned to find Maleah was dressed.. In what he assumed was a swimsuit beneath a short cover dress. She also had a straw hat on her head, her hair swept up beneath it, along with some bright yellow flip flops.
She carried a bag over her shoulder, holding it with both hands and her chin was raised, as if expecting… Alec didn’t know what. An argument? He wasn’t sure.
“What’s in the bag, red?” He asked, his hands slipping in his pockets. He had an absurd desire to putting his hands on her hips. To see how the dress would move over her body, to tell if she was wearing a one piece or two.
“Sunscreen and a spare change of clothes.”
He blinked, remembering that he had, indeed, asked her a question.
“Right. We’re gonna go grab Alex from Sebastian’s house-”
“Why do you call him Sebastian and not ‘dad’?”
Alec stared at her and tilted his head. “Because he’s more of an adopted da.”
Her eyes widened for a moment before narrowing. “So he’s not your real father?”
“Did he give me life lessons and help take care of me when no one else did, startin’ in my early twenties? Yes. Did he pump me into my mother? No.”
She winced at his crude word choice and sighed. “Okay.. So then, who raised you before Sebastian?”
“Alex is waitin’ for us.” He said, gesturing for her to leave the room and head for the fireplace. She stared at him for a moment.
“It’s not like you to avoid a question.”
“I will answer in my own time, but as of right now, there is a little boy, who is waiting to go to the beach.
“... The beach??”
—x—
“HURRY UP, UNCIE ALEC!” Alex cried as they appeared in the fireplace at his home. Maleah stepped out, looking around, eyes widened.
“You live here.”
“Nothin’ gets past you,” Alec grinned. “Alex, you stay inside until we’re all ready to go out, understood?”
“Yes, sir!” Alex called, and Alec knew he was already in the sunroom, staring out the windows at the water.
“Take a look around if ya’d like, I’m gonna go change,” Alec told Maleah before slipping into his bedroom and closing the door behind him.
He quickly grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling it over and off his head, tossing it to the hamper. He traded his trousers for some swim trunks and slid on flip flops himself before heading out to the sunroom again.
Both Alex and Maleah stared over the shore and water and Maleah turned. “You actually live on the be-”
Her voice cut off mid-sentence and her eyes widened as she took him in.
He grinned. “I know. The view’s great.”
She flushed. “What?! I wasn’t - I’m not-” She began to sputter and Alec gestured out the window towards the beach.
“Oh!” She huffed, whirling to face the view again. “Right.. Yes, beautiful..” She turned to peek over her shoulder at him.
He cocked an eyebrow and smirked.
“You’re doing this on purpose.” She muttered.
“And havin’ so much fun. Alright Alex, water first or sand?”
“WATER!” His nephew cheered and took off out the back door, Alec and Maleah in tow.
“What’s yer plan?” Alec asked, casting a spell over Alex that put a pocket of air around his mouth. Alex knew how to swim, but Alec didn’t take any chances. “Sun or water?”
“Er.. I didn’t realize we’d be going to a beach, so I’m not really dressed for the beach. More for a pool.”
His grin grew wider. “I can transfigure a bikini for ya-”
“I don’t know what that means but absolutely not.” She glared.
Alec shrugged. “Suit yerself.” He said, going to get in the water with Alex.
The sun was hot, perfect for a beach day. Once Alex finally grew tired of the water, Alec and he came back to the shore.
Alec was doing his best to shove his worrying thoughts of Hawke and Charlie to the back of his mind, reminding himself of Tessa’s promise to call for them once the two woke.
Alec noticed that Maleah had taken off the bathing suit cover. She was wearing a black tankini top with some kind of water skirt as bottoms, hiding her stomach and thighs.
She sat in the sand, building some type of sand castle, but Alec grinned when he realized she was using magic to do so.
“I was wonderin’ when I get to see ya in action,” Alec grinned, coming to sit beside her, while Alex sat across and began to try to gently push sand to help build it. He looked a bit nervous and before long he began to make his own, not as careful, and the castle not as kept. But he beamed with pride, his tongue barely poking out as he concentrated.
Alec leaned back on his hands as he watched the both of them before breaking the silence.
“Why’d ya wanna have breakfast anyway? What’d ya wanna talk about?”
Maleah’s posture stiffened only slightly, and she didn’t look away from her castle.
“Oh, just.. Wanted to talk. About getting to.. Know you better, maybe, I don’t know.” She was trying to keep her voice nonchalant, but the pauses between sentences had Alec tilting his head. Why was she nervous?
“To get to know me better? Why?”
She seemed lost for words, still avoiding looking at him, still keeping her expression neutral, almost bored, and then his eyes widened.
“Like a date?” He asked. A slow grin spread across his face as her face began to flush. “Awh, ya wanna date me?”
“Well!” She huffed. “You don’t even act interested and- and, it’s the twenty-first century, so I could make a move if I wanted to, and I..”
“Do we kiss on the first date?”
“Alec!” She huffed. “Frankly, I still dunno if you’re even interested, I’m really putting myself out here right now, and you making jokes about it isn’t help-”
He reached over, cupping her jaw and turning her face towards him, her flush growing as red as her hair.
“I’m no good at datin’.” He told her, letting the grin fall so she could see his seriousness.
Her eyes were wide as they flicked between his.
“What makes you say that?”
“I have a million things goin’ on. Between myself and my family, my job-”
“Yet you still made time for me this morning. You make time for Nala when she asks..”
Alec had no response. She was right.
“Uncie Alec hasn’t had girlfriends.”
“Oi,” Alec frowned, releasing Maleah. “Listen to kid stuff, ya sneak. And what do ya know about girlfriends?”
“All the grown ups talk too loud, and mum likes to tell dad things from her girl nights-”
“Ach,” Alec sighed before casting a charm so that no matter what, Alex would float in water. “Go find me the best sea shell.”
Alex brightened with his new task and stood to run and find one, kicking up sand as he went.
Maleah gave a soft laugh and looked at Alec again.
“No girlfriends, huh?”
“I’m no good at datin’.” He repeated with a shrug. “I’m no good at textin’ back, no good at askin’ out-”
“Yes, I noticed that.” She rolled her eyes. “But.. Are you interested in me? I mean, you fixed my front porch, you.. You check me out every chance you get.”
“You have very nice legs. And arse. And-”
“Okay,” she said, leaning over to clamp a hand over his mouth again, her face flushing.
He hummed in amusement before pulling her hand away. “Frankly, I never thought about it. I didn’t think I’d be yer type.”
Her brows furrowed. “Why not?”
“Well, I’ve seen the mouse of a man that impregnated you.”
She let out a long slow sigh, tilting her head back slowly. “That… Is incredibly fair.”
Alec laughed outright before he noticed Alex return with a giant conch shell.
“Uncie Alec, I found the best!”
“Ya sure did!” Alec said, grinning, going to stand but then Maleah let out a scream. Within a second, he’d snapped his hand out, grabbing her wrist and yanking her to him, while Alex had immediately scrambled to Alec, scared after hearing her scream, but when Alec went to assess the threat.
Sebastian’s patronus dire wolf stood there, panting, tongue lolling, head tilted.
“Fuckin’ hell, Red,” he muttered, releasing her and running a hand through his hair.
“What is that!?” She asked, still pressing against him.
“A patronus.”
“Seanair!” Alex said happily.
The dire wolf’s ears perked as it stepped forward, Sebastian’s voice coming from its panting mouth.
“Theodore and Charlotte are awake. Tessa said to send word.”
Once the message was relayed, the wolf seemed to shatter and evaporate in a mist.
Maleah’s mouth was hanging open and he noticed she hadn’t let go of his arm.
“Daddy and mummy’s awake! Can we go home?” Alex asked, jumping up and down still clutching his shell.
Alec glanced up at the sun, realizing it was past noon and nodded. “Aye, if ya’d like. Red, you comin’ or do ya need a floo home?” He asked as Alex took off towards the house.
She released his arm before shifting from foot to foot.“I.. I would like to come, and get to know you better. My bag is inside your house, I can change-“
Alec flicked a hand towards her and her swimsuit turned into a black short sleeved shirt and some denim shorts. Maleah blinked in surprise, looking down at herself.
“You did that without being perverted.” She said flatly.
Alec scoffed. “Why does everyone assume I’ma pervert?”
“You.. Don’t have a filter.” Maleah pointed out.
“And?” Alec asked.
She sighed. “I don’t know, maybe the other day when you talk about.. When I said you were too big?”
He frowned. “That wasn’t perverted, I was only about to speak the truth.”
She rolled her eyes. “Arrogant.”
“Confident,” He corrected with a frown, not appreciating how he’d had a similar correction with Eric. “No one seems to know the definition anymore. Good thing yer gonna start gettin’ to know me better,” Alec grumbled, gesturing her to the house.
“I’ve got to change again, then we’ll get goin’ and you can meet my brother. One I actually grew up with.”