Simon Snow and the Perfect Match

Baz had just drifted off to sleep when he heard the door open. Was Snow going somewhere? He peaked one eye open to discover that the boy was still in bed. No, it was Bunce, sneaking in somehow. It was only my curiosity that prevented me from getting out of bed and spelling her the hell out of here (that, and I was wearing a tee shirt and boxer shorts to bed, and I sure as hell wasn't about to cast a sleep wrapped in a blanket).

Bunce must have woken Snow, because soon I heard his sleepy voice: "Penny? What the hell? Baz will--"

"Shh, then don't wake him."

I heard stirring, and I opened my eyes again, just enough to watch Simon pulling at a strand of curls with two fingers. "Are you okay?" he asked, this time in a whisper.

Penny plopped herself on the end of his bed. "I couldn't sleep."

"So you decided to break into Mummers and make sure I couldn't sleep, either?"

"Well, I tried Agatha first, but she refused to get up." Penelope paused. "Actually, she hit me with a pillow and called me something I'm not sure I want to repeat."

Baz was wondering what Simon saw in Agatha, which is what he always wondered when her name came up, when Bunce pretty much voiced his thoughts.

"You know, if you're going to marry her someday, you'll have to deal with that," she told him, and Baz smirked to himself.

"I might hit you with a pillow now, too," Snow muttered.

"I'm just saying. I know I've said this before, but you should really reconsider if you guys are right togeth-"

Snow interrupted her before she could launch into full lecture-mode. Bunce would make an excellent professor someday. "Penny."

"Sorry," she sighed.

"You know, I'm not a fan of long-distance relationships, but you don't see me lecturing you about Micah," Snow reminded her.

"That's different," she countered, although she offered no evidence.

They were silent for a moment. Baz had almost begun to fall back to sleep, somehow, when Penelope quietly asked, "What kind of person did you think you were going to end up with?"

"Hmm?" Simon murmured. It sounded like he may have slipped back into sleep as well.

"Like, I always thought I'd end up with someone really into politics. And, like, social justice. What about you?"

There was silence for a little while after that. Baz couldn't tell if Simon was sleeping or thinking, but Baz wanted to hear his answer more than he would admit to himself.

Finally he heard Simon's whispered response. "I've always wanted to be with someone smart. Like, smarter than me. Brilliant. And better than me at doing magic."

That isn't hard, Baz wanted to interject, but he kept it to himself.

"Someone really passionate," he continued. "Who never accepts things as they are. Even if they have to be rude about it."

He was silent for a moment before he added, "Someone who... I don't know, can understand what I've been through, not having... not having parents. Someone who's been through stuff."

After a while, Baz heard Bunce say, matter-of-factly, "That doesn't sound like Agatha, you know."

"Shut up."

"Actually... Now I think of it..." Bunce started giggling, and continued for a while despite Snow's best efforts to shush her. "It sort of sounds like Baz."