SIMON

We hit the Great Lawn running. And then something niggling at my brain clicks into place.

"Penny! Agatha! She's still in there. Can she get out without you?"

Penny's face goes pale. "I'm not sure, actually."

"Right. You go back for her and I'll…" I glance at the Woods. I don't know what I'll do. Keep running, never to return? Vanish into the ground? I still wish there was a spell for that. I'd use it, I think, right about now. "I'll… I don't know. I'll lie low for a bit. In the Woods. Bring me some trousers, yeah? And a shirt too if you can manage it. But don't risk your life if Baz, you know…. "

Penny's nodding. "I'll do what I can."

"Thanks."

"And then, Simon… you're going to tell me what happened in there."

"Shoes too, if you get a chance." I call, setting off across the lawn.

BAZ

"What have you done to him?"

Agatha Wellbelove, of all people, is standing in my room, golden hair flowing, honey-brown eyes staring daggers at me.

"What spell have you put on him, Baz? It isn't funny." Crowley. She sounds like she can't make up her mind whether to shout or cry. Her hands are balled in fists at her sides.

I'm at a definite disadvantage here, seeing as how I woke up apparently in the middle of the golden couple having a lover's quarrel. In my room.

I stand up, so I can tower over her, and point at the door. "Out."

"I came in to kiss him." She has the decency to blush. "And when I did, he kissed me back and said your name!"

"Clearly, you misheard."

"He did it three times!"

I thank my lucky stars she can't hear the way my heart is suddenly pounding in my chest. I narrow my eyes and aim my coldest glare at her. "Agatha Wellbelove, I am going to get dressed…" I see her eyes flick down in the direction of my pyjama bottoms. "…in the en suite," she flushes even further, "and when I am done, you will be gone. Do. You. Understand?"

She crosses her arms and, with what appears to be tremendous effort, says, "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what you've done, Basilton Grimm-Pitch."

My uniform is folded over the back of my desk chair. I grab it and stalk into the bathroom. I dress quickly, barely taking the time to fix my hair. Then I magic open the window, climb out onto the narrow ledge, cast float like a butterfly on myself, and leap across the moat and out over the Great Lawn. That will sap my magic for a bit, but I'd rather recover quietly by myself in the Woods—it's a Saturday, I won't miss any classes—than have to deal with Agatha again today. Or Snow. What in Merlin's name happened with Snow?

Aside from taking a great deal of magic, the one problem with float like a butterfly is once you've launched yourself you do, indeed, float. You can't do much to change direction mid-course. I've never had a problem with it before, but of course I'm not so lucky today. As I near the ground, I realize there's a figure running across the lawn beneath me. I also realize that if the figure keeps up its present course, I am going to land directly on top of it. As I'm preparing to call out a warning, an early ray of sunlight illuminates the bronze curls on the head below. Of-fucking-course. I'm about to land on Simon Snow.