Closed A Good Hour

[Freddie Lagowski]

Freddie peered into the courtyard fountain. There were usually a few knuts at the bottom, but today he counted twenty-two, and three sickles. Well, it was Valentine's Day. People were making Valentine's Day wishes. He stuck a finger in the water, making ripples. It wasn't very deep. If he rolled up his sleeve, he could probably reach the sickles. That seemed kinda wrong, though. He couldn't decide why it was wrong - it wasn't stealing if the money didn't belong to anyone - but the fact he was scared of getting caught told him it definitely was.

What would he wish for, if he had a coin? Hmm. He'd wish that all his History of Magic homework was done. No - he'd wish that Ruby was gonna show up. She'd said she would, but she might've forgotten, or changed her mind. Maybe someone had asked her to the dance at the last second, and she'd said yes. He glanced up at the clock behind the courtyard. Oh. She wasn't even late yet. Maybe he didn't need to get here so early.​

 

[Ruby Beese]

Ruby had liked the rose from Freddie and thought it was funny how similar their notes were. She spotted him by the fountain and crept up behind him, her hands telling her she should definitely push him into the water. No! Bad hands, interrupted her brain, which stopped her hands from doing anything so mean. Instead she jumped out from behind him and said, "Hi, how funny would it be if I pushed you in?" She asked him, wondering if it was actually a missed opportunity. "Cos I totally could have done!"

 

[Freddie Lagowski]

Freddie jumped. Oh! How long had Ruby been behind him? Did she see him itching inside his ear just now? It was just an itch - he didn't have waxy ears, or anything. He realised she'd said something funny and laughed, though it took him a couple more seconds to put it all together. "Well, my legs would have gone up like this - whee - and then I'd have kicked you in the head," he said, tugging his sweater back down where it rode up. "So it would've been pretty funny."​