They Said We Would Be Stars

"Will you do it, Baz?"

"Is... something wrong?" Simon asked, then couldn't believe he'd asked it. It's not like he really cared. If Baz said yes, Simon would likely say "Good!" Still, it seemed cruel not to ask. Baz may have been the most despicable human being Simon had ever met... but he was still a human being.
     "I'm not the one pacing the room like a hyperactive madman," Baz mumbled, his elbows on his desk, his head resting in his hands.
     "You seem... down or something."
     "Yes, I'm down. I'm down, Snow."Baz raised his head and spun his chair towards Simon. He really did look terrible. His eyes were sunken and shot with blood."I've spent six years living with the most self-centered, insufferable prat to ever carry a wand. And now, instead of celebrating Christmas Eve with my beloved family, drinking mulled cider and eating toasted cheese - instead of warming my hands at my ancestral hearth... I'm playing a tortured extra in the bloody Simon Snow Show."
     Simon stared at him. "It's Christmas Eve?"
     "Yes...," Baz groaned
     Simon walked around his bed glumly. He hadn't realised it was Christmas Eve. He'd have thought that Agatha would've called him. Or Penelope. Maybe his friends were waiting for Simon to call them. He hadn't even bought the pm presents. Lately, nothing had seemed as important as finding the white hares. Simon clenched his square jaw. Nothing was as important; the whole school was in danger. There must be some pattern he wasn't seeing.
Simon quickened his step. The stone in the tower, the stained glass window, the sigil, the Mage's book...
"I give up," Baz whined. I'm going to go drown myself in the moat. Tell my mother I always knew she loved me best."
Simon stopped pacing at Baz's desk. "Do you know how to get down to the moat?"
"I'm not actually going to kill myself, Snow. Sorry to disappoint."
"No. It's just... you use the punts sometimes, don't you?"
"Everyone does."
"Not me," Simon said. "I can't swim."
"Really..." Baz hissed with a hint of his old vigor. Simon immediately knew Baz was plotting. "Well, you wouldn't want to swim in the moat anyway. The merwolves would get you."
"Why don't they bother the boats?"
"Silver punt poles and braces," Baz said almost immediately.
"Would you take me out on one?" It was worth a try. The moat was one of the only places in the school Simon hadn't searched.
"You want to go punting with me?" Baz asked.
"Yes," Simon said, tilting his chin up. "Will you do it?"
"Why?"
"I... I want to see what it's like. I've never done it- why does it matter? It's Christmas Eve and you obviously don't have anything better to do. Apparently, your parents don't even want you around."
Baz stood suddenly, his grey eyes glinting dangerously in the shadow of his brow. "You know nothing about my parents."
Simon stepped back. Baz had a few inches on him (for now anyway), and when Baz made an effort, he could seem dangerous.
"I'm... look, I'm sorry," Simon said. "Will you do it, Baz?"
"Fine," Baz said. The flare of anger and energy had already died out. "Get your cloak."