Simon sat at Penny's table, bouncing his leg nervously. He was chewing his lip to the point it was starting to turn red. He glanced over at Baz's still form on the couch and once again, his heart clenched. He was surprised it hasn't exploded yet. He forced his gaze back to the screen before him. His own laptop was sleek and modern, though now it felt as though it were slugging along at an inch an hour. A small circle moved slowly around in the center of his page before finally opening a page. The top was labeled 'Dark magic' in a dark, curly print. A golden W was at the top left corner of the page. The Watford logo. He bit his lip again, worried about what he might find.

"Calm down, Simon. Just log in with my mother's account. As headmistress, she isn't blocked from any files!"

"Yeah Pen, but that's what I'm worried about! What if I find something I wasn't supposed to? There's a reason why your mum is the only one with unrestricted access" he had shot back. Penny rolled her eyes and, sighing, pulled Simons computer towards herself, typing rapidly. With a final click she angled it back and stood, smoothing out her skirt.

"Don't look up anything you shouldn't" she said before grabbing her purse and walking swiftly out the door. Simon groaned now, stomach twisting itself into knots. Slowly he scrolled down until the first paragraph was visible.

'Dark magic is by far the most dangerous form of magic we know of. When cast, it has an awful tendency to backfire on the caster, often resulting in death. Though not much is known on this topic, one thing is sure. Do not, under any circumstance, attempt dark magic'
Simon took a breath to try and calm his rapid heartbeat before reading on.

'Dark magic is any magic used to tamper with the natural order. This can be anything from trying gain more power to killing'
At this Simon took a sharp intake of breath.

'Trying to gain more power'...

The Mage had done that. Somehow he had been trying to absorb first Ebb's, then Simon's own magic. Then his stomach clenched more as he read on, skimming the line 'previous experience in with dark magic will later be more susceptible to its negative impacts'. His mind raced. Had he accidentally made Baz sick? Scanning things that apply as dark magic, he read the sharing or transfer of magic. He thought back to his final year at Watford, when the Humdrum had sent a dragon. When he had given, poured, giant amounts of magic into him. And then later that year they had done it again, somehow sitting in space, surrounded by stars. Twice. He and Baz had done dark magic, -twice-.

And Penny. At least once, he had given her some of his magic, though it was brief. Just a moment of contact that couldn't have possibly left any lasting impacts, right? Simon shook his head. Thinking that he could've hurt Baz in any way hurt so bad. It made his heart clench and burn for the umpteenth time that day. He bit his lip and kept reading, skimming things on necromancy. He sighed, not seeing any new information. He scrolled down past why you shouldn't do black magic to a tiny footnote at the bottom.

'The only known way to combat dark magic is with light magic'

The words 'light magic' were a different color, which Simon recognized as a link. His mouse flew to it, clicking hard. A short page of simple notes that had been scanned into the page.

'Light magic: possible combatant to dark magic? Possible cure?'
And in all caps: 'INVOLVES LOVE'

Simons eyes shined in the faint light from the computer screen. For once in a long while, he felt something other than pain and emptiness. Now he felt a flicker of hope as he watched Baz shift slightly, the first signs of life in a long time. Now he felt something in his heart, filling him with warmth. Hope. Could there actually be some way to reverse this?

"Simon" Baz rasped from the couch. The weakness in his voice scared Simon, and he was beside him in a flash.

"Simon, I'm thirsty" he said, eyes uneven. His forehead and black hair were matted down with sweat.

"I know, love. It's okay, we'll get a cure for you" whispered Simon, trying to keep panic out of his voice. "You won't die" he said in a firm tone, but his voice cracked at the end. Now it was Baz's turn to seem worried. He lifted a shaky hand and placed it on his shoulder. Simon practically lunged forward and wrapped Baz in a tight embrace, a tear making a slow, shaky path down his cheek. And they both fell asleep right there, just holding each other, as if worried the other might slip away and never return. And they could've stayed that way forever, if Penny hadn't slammed the door open in her excitement.

Simon sat bolt upright, wincing as his back adjusted. He rubbed a bleary eye and looked at Penny, who was standing in the doorway. Her skirt was torn and her arm had a bit of dried blood on it, but what worried Simon most was the crazed gleam in her eye. She walked into the apartment, shutting the door behind her. Panting slightly, she managed out four words that Simon wanted to hear most.

"I found a cure"

A/N: Sorry, long wait and short chapter! But there is some new shat going on! I've had this idea for a while and I'm glad I finally got to add in light magic. I think the next chapter is going to be what Penny did in this chapter while at Watford. It'll probably be a bit weird though, so yeah. I also may get a Youtube account soon, so let me know if you'd like to see that! If I get to 2,000 views, I'll make one. Thanks guys! This means a lot!