Snow Falling

6: Scholarly duties

Baz

I had never used my power like that. I had a strange strength over the mind, and when I used it to exert my domination with will, I could get carried away.

But I could hear Simon groaning, and whispering my name like a little prayer under his breath.

It made me blush a solid pink. I didn't even wonder what he was doing that would cause him to make such noises, especially this early.

I tried to push out what I did to him out of my mind. I hoped he didn't mind the blood I left on the carpet; I couldn't get it all out, even with the bleach.

I sighed heavily, then got up and decided to go to the library. I wouldn't leave a note; He didn't need to know where I was going. I took my backpack and put a few papers and pens in there. I also decided to go to the breakfast hall, to get a cinnamon roll or two and some milk.

I walked down the steep steps of the Tower, and crossed the lawns between my dormitory and the main part of Watford College. I knew most of it like the back of my hand, and I could never get lost. I had spent most of my freshman year here wandering through the place, mainly in the dark of twilight hour, and was accustomed to hunting through the labyrinth of the forests beyond.

My breath didn't come out in fogs as I walked through the cold of early morning. It was because my body was chilly, and accustomed to freezing. When I walked into the Main Hall, then went into the eating area, I saw that the place was packed, though it was maybe six am.

Then I remembered: It was exam day.

I silently cursed myself, and Simon, for distracting me and allowing me to forget. Simon didn't have exams until the next day, even though we had been mostly in the same classes since freshman year, when the Crucible had put us together as roommates. First, I had thought that was a curse. But now I would give anything, even my lifeforce, to see Simon again, to be even close enough to touch his soft blonde hair like duckling feathers.

I bit my bottom lip, then continued inside. I sat down at the table, and tried not to hear the conversation of the two girls next to me. I vaguely recognized them as Wellbelove and Bunce, but I didn't care. I didn't even care that Bunce had been waiting for Simon, and I had taken his spot at the table next to her. I saw her purse her lips out of the corner of my eye, and suppressed a smirk.

I ladled pumpkin soup into a bowl, grabbed two cinnamon rolls, and hightailed it out of there. I easily kept the two items (counting the cinnamon rolls as one) separated, and I went off into the library. Even though it was early, it was open, and thankfully, quiet.

I sat in a secluded corner, near the Magical Arts and the History of Magic books. I wrote in my notebooks, as I studied each subject for the exams that would take place today and tomorrow. After a moment of eating and writing, my eyes glazed over as I just listened to the world outside the library. I hadn't blinked for a while, when I saw someone dash in front of my line of vision.

Blonde. Long blonde hair.

Ugh. Wellbelove.

Short, dark-skinned girl with Dutch braids.

Bunce...?

I expected to see Simon with them, but they were alone.

And were they...

Holding hands?
I grumbled, and quietly slammed closed my book. My study time was ruined; good thing I was almost done with the Runes translation. I would just finish it up in the Tower. Maybe Snow would be there.

I shoved the last piece of the cinnamon roll I had left and got up from the chair. I shoved my writing material into my backpack and began to walk, hoping not to be noticed by either girl. They were too interested in themselves, obviously, and I left unnoticed.

When I got out of the library and down the hall, the bell rang. I cursed silently to myself and began to run top speed down the hall, my sneakers making loud noises on the waxed floors. I felt a few cracks underneath my feet, and I looked back to see that my footprints were embedded into the ground where I had stepped.

I flushed and went into my first class: Magickal History. I took several breaths and my eyes scanned the room. Simon was there, staring at me blankly, obviously wondering why I was panting so hard.

My own eyes narrowed, and I sat down at the spot, next to one of my only friends, Antony. He was a quiet kid, so I wasn't going to be able to speak for a better part of an hour. Not like we were going to do much talking on an exam day.

I sighed, and got out my notes, preparing to spend all day in a hellish trance of writing and answering questions; but mostly writing.

The exact length of each exam was maybe fifty minutes, so I had to sit still for...

Quick, what's 50 times 6?

However long that is.

I ended up just winging it, like how I saw Snow doing it. I was just staring at him at this point, a gaze like a cold but loving puppy.

Simon

Uhh. Why was Baz staring at me? Every time I looked up, he was just glaring at me coldly. There was something else underneath that cold stare, but I couldn't pinpoint it. Besides, he looked like he wanted to do me serious harm, and didn't even try to look away when I caught him in the act of staring.

What was wrong with him?

I swallowed hard, and attempted to focus on my assignment. It was a hard task, as I couldn't have been less prepared. Penelope, the usual know-it-all of the friend group, was nowhere to be seen, as was the same with my ex, Agatha.

I sighed and messily wrote down all the answers from the top of my head. I could still feel Basilton's eyes on me, but I managed to ignore it until third class.

That class, we had to sit near each other, and I mean near.

I grumbled, but Baz didn't seem to take notice. He was so close as to the fact that I could feel his thigh against mine, pulsing slowly from the lack of normal blood in it.

He retrieved a hip flask from the inside of his school uniform and took a pull from it. I blinked, astonished that he had the audacity to do that in class, in front of the praectors, no less!

His head turned, his gaze meeting mine, and he smirked as my heart raced, and my pulse sped up with it. All the blood was flowing into my cheeks, reddening them and making them look like strawberries.

"So..." He whispered. "You started the watching game, too?"

I swallowed, and turned to break the contact of our gazes. He laughed softly.

"Someone's panicky all of a sudden." He taunted me.

"Oh, shut the hell up, Grimm-Pitch." I muttered, starting to move away from him, little by little. I scotched on the bench until -

A firm hand was on my thigh, stopping my motions. I looked down and saw the pale hand, and the black ring that had a peculiar engraving on it. I stiffened at the sight, and at the touch. He immediately removed his hand, almost recoiling from it.

"Sorry." He replied, just as softly as he began the conversation. I bit my bottom lip and turned away, not exactly being on excellent terms with him at the moment anymore. He sighed, a caution wind of air.

"Don't talk to me." I said, going back to writing. When I got to the deciphering runes part, I stumbled and looked confused down at the paper. I sighed. "Do you have the -"

"Notes for decoding the Samilarian Runes? Yeah, I do." Baz said, pushing his runes notebook in front of my eyes, right next to my paper. He did so carefully, as though not to startle me. I took the book and placed it on my other side, so it wouldn't come in between my writing hand.

"Thanks." I said, my eyes not lifting from the exam paper. I felt something stir next to me, but I thought it was my imagination, as I felt Baz, stiff as a statue, next to me the entire time.

I shook my hand and began to decipher the finicky pictures and text.