The Fool

The Emperor

It was difficult to say who was having a worse Saturday morning: Harry Potter or Wren.

On the one hand, three quarters of the school were sporting "Potter Stinks" badges and the Daily Prophet had just published another one of That Woman's articles, this time on Harry and Hermione Granger's supposed romance.

On the other, Wren had spent most of her morning hovering outside Ravenclaw Tower, asking students to let Simon know she was out there. Each had returned with the message that her boyfriend was too busy with homework. On a Saturday.

Wren was fairly close to giving up hope that she would see him before lunch. It seemed unlikely that he'd change his mind about seeing her if he'd been unwilling to come out for even five minutes in the past two hours. Still, Wren found herself steeling herself up to ask one more student before she gave up and took out her own work to pass the time between now and lunch.

The door swung open and a trio of very pretty blondes with light colored eyes stepped out into the hall. They had just about made it past Wren, when the one farthest from her stopped, pulling back from the group.

"Wren?" Wendy Fairchild asked, a tentative confusion clear in her voice.

It was decided. Wren was having the worst Saturday in all of Hogwarts.

"Hi Wendy," Wren said, pushing her voice up into a breezy politeness despite the fact that her stomach clenched with uneasiness.

"Waiting on Simon? I think he should be about done with his chess match," Wendy said, looking over her shoulder and towards the closed door.

Wren offered a tight smile even as her heart sank. Wendy's eyes narrowed lightly at Wren as they seemed to scan her face.

"I'll go get him."

Wren shook her head. "It's fine. I can wait f--"

Wendy cut off her sentence with a hand on Wren's shoulder.

"Wren," she said, chidingly. "Pretty girls shouldn't have to wait." She withdrew her hand and turned to the door. "Especially for their boyfriends."

She was quickly answering the riddle and through the door before Wren could manage a response, let alone figure out what had just happened.

In the new quiet of the hallway, Wren's eyes slid over to Wendy's friends who, while wearing Potter Stinks badges, seemed perfectly content talking to one another and waiting on Wendy. Neither one spared Wren a second glance, and rather than having a hushed conversation, Wren very clearly heard snippets of their plans for the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend.

When the door opened again, Wendy was leading a broody looking Simon through. "You were toying with him, I had to finish it," she shrugged. "You and I both know you were only two moves away from winning when I left, and you easily could have taken his King with your Rook after he made that monstrous mistake." Simon didn't respond, but stopped a few feet away from Wren even as Wendy moved on to rejoin her friends. "Besides, it's clear you need to spend some time with your girlfriend," she said, turning to give him a significant look that had Wren feeling uneasy once more.

"Bye Wren," Wendy said, flashing her a smile.

"Bye," Wren echoed back, her eyes still on Simon as the sounds of Wendy and her friends' footsteps disappeared down the stairs.

"Really Wren? You got Wendy to drag me out here?" Simon asked, crossing his arms. His eyes bore into hers as he waited for her to explain herself, and Wren's stomach clenched at the expression.

Her eyes fell to her feet, unable to take much more. "I didn't ask her to do that," she muttered. "I just wanted to talk to you about yesterday.

A long silence stretched between them, as Wren waited for him to say something, anything to her. Some sort of sign that he was listening and willing to hear her out. But as the quiet stretched past the minute mark, it became clear he had no intention of speaking to her. Wren raised her eyes to meet his once more, and he lifted a single eyebrow at her.