Morgan had been up to the astronomy tower before, of course, since it was a required course. He had even been in the middle of the night, when they had to do observations of various celestial bodies in motion. Regardless, this felt different. Maybe it was that it was only the two of them coming up here, and not a whole group of students trudging up from the common room in a herd. Maybe it was that all the lights were off and Basil had to use a spell to unlock the door. Maybe it was the champagne he was still a little tipsy from. In any case, it felt like they were doing something exotic and daring — at least as new and exciting as sneaking into the Bartonburg party earlier tonight.

"It's delightful," he pronounced, unlinking his arm from Basil's so that he could take a turn around the empty space. He flung his arms out dramatically, making a show of how alone they were. "But by now we must have nearly run out the clock on curfew," he pointed out. It had taken some time to walk from the castle door to the top of the astronomy tower, particularly given that they'd slowed down a few times to avoid being seen by anyone who might ask them where they were off to.

"Are you offering to break the rules to stay up with me?" he asked with a grin. His tone was teasing, but actually he was a little bit touched. Breaking curfew together might have been no big deal for some people, but from Basil he recognized it as a mark of a particularly strong friendship.

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