Don't own anything.

1

"No, no, no, no, no," Merida whispered desperately to herself, squeezing her eyes closed. "Already? It's first thing in the gamy morning! Please don't do this to me!"

She looked up at the ceiling, hopelessly pleading with whatever powers that be that could hear her. The only response was from a painting of a Victorian style lady across from her, who looked at her strangely and held a handkerchief to her nose. As if she could smell her. As if Merida smelled. Rude. Merida glared at her from her position crouched on the floor. Thankfully, the hall was mostly empty—nearly everyone was already in the Great Hall, enjoying breakfast on their first day back at school—which meant Merida was mostly safe from passersby. Good thing, because she probably looked a fright. She had woken up far too late, her dorm had already been empty, and she had flung her uniform on before stumbling through her vacant common room and rushing down to the Great Hall. She was still used to sleeping in on warm summery mornings, only rolling out of bed when her mothered yelled up the stairs for her to get up. It would take her a few weeks to get back to the schedule of waking up barely in time to make it to breakfast before classes started.

She had hoped to sneak into the Great Hall unnoticed. Everyone would still be buzzing with the energy that accompanied the beginning of a new school year, saying hello to friends they hadn't seen in a while, stuffing their faces with the delicious foods that overflowed on the table tops. No one would even notice Merida walking by, still trying to tuck her shirt into her skirt, yanking on her tie, her unruly red hair curling in every direction and making her look like a manic lion. She most definitely had not anticipated running into Hiccup directly outside of the gaping doors of the Great Hall.

She opened her eyes and peeked around the corner again, wondering if he was still there.

Yep. He was. Crivens, this was just her luck. Chatting with Rapunzel as if they had all the time in the world. Rapunzel looked beautiful, as always. She'd probably gotten up on time, unlike Merida. Geeze, sometimes Merida was crazy jealous of her best friend—her perfect sun kissed skin and perfect dainty features and perfect wide green eyes that Merida could see shining as she laughed, even from twenty feet away. Rapunzel's long, slick golden hair was effortlessly braided, with little indigo flowers that matched her house color, and fell down her back to bump against her waist. She laughed cutely, her shoulders up around her ears, at something Hiccup had said.

And there was Hiccup, rubbing the back of his neck and smiling sheepishly, like he didn't realize how funny he was. Like he didn't realize how cute he was. Idiot. Merida wanted to smack him. And hug him. And kick him in the shins and sit and talk to him for an hour. A familiar ache in her chest throbbed as she looked at his back. His shoulders were wide. His hair was thick and longer than it used to be. He had filled out the last couple years. He wasn't the skinny, goofy kid she had grown up with. He was quickly turning into a man in front of her eyes.

Dang it. She'd known him since he'd been wiping snot from his nose and it still frustrated her that her chest hurt whenever she saw him now. Merida inhaled deeply, then straightened the long black robe that draped over her uniform. She hated the constricting robe, but for the first week of school everyone still had to wear their full uniforms. It was wrinkled, like most of her clothes since most of her things she had just shoved into her trunk a few days ago before her parents had sent her off to the train station. Oh well. Nothing to do about it now. She'd march up to her friends in all her glory, wrinkled clothes and lion hair, proud and confident, and smack Hiccup on the shoulder like she had done in greeting their entire lives.

She cracked her neck twice, pounded her fist against the stone wall, ignored the condescending look of the Victorian lady in the painting across from her, and swung around the corner.

And froze.

Hiccup and Rapunzel had been joined by a third person. She was nearly as tall as Hiccup, with dirty blonde hair knotted over one shoulder. She was slender, but in an athletic way, and there was no makeup on her refreshingly pretty face. She smiled brightly as she greeted Rapunzel, her long black robe lined with yellow that matched Hiccup's, her hand holding his lightly.

Merida felt like she had been punched in the gut as Astrid easily fell into the conversation that her boyfriend was having with Rapunzel.

Inside her head, Merida was yelling at herself, using a colorful string of Scottish swears that would have made the painted Victorian lady scoff disapprovingly.

Merida was supposed to be used to this. She'd watched Hiccup and Astrid become friends, watched how Hiccup's face had changed over the years when he looked at her, watched them laugh and fight and work together. Merida was only a childhood friend. She knew her role. But it didn't change the sting of pain she felt on occasion when she saw how cute they were together, or the uncomfortableness she sometimes had when she had to talk to them by herself. Normally, Merida brushed off her feelings and tried to interact with them as she would anyone else, and only Rapunzel knew that there was anything different going on under the surface. But every once in a while, Merida was caught off guard, and her heart would take over momentarily.

This was one of those moments.

She stood frozen to her place, watching for the thousandth time as the boy she had fallen for years ago talked to the girl he loved right in front of her. The mixture of rejection and resignation sat in her stomach like a bad bout of potion.

She should move. She should walk up to them and greet them like nothing was weird. She hadn't seen them all summer, after all. In fact, this was the first time she hadn't seen Hiccup all summer since she had been four years old. She had decided that it was time she begin distancing herself. She had to let Hiccup go. Yet she couldn't make herself move forward. She'd probably hide instead. She'd spend the rest of breakfast with the Victorian lady and her stupid handkerchief, and then she'd make her way to her first class.

Rapunzel was facing her direction, and her eyes landed on Merida. She smiled, but after a second her eyebrows drew together. Oh no. Don't look over here, Rapunzel. Any second Hiccup and Astrid would turn and see her, too, and smile all friendly and Merida would feel her life burning away in humiliation inside of her.

Then everything went black.

Merida blinked a few times before she realized that her robe had flown over her head from the back, leaving her in the dark.

"What the…?" she muttered. Just then, a familiar laugh sounded a few feet from her. All her heartache and fear vanished at the sound, and she grit her teeth together, struggling her way out of her dark robe and mess of hair. She whirled around, her hair in her face, spotting the culprit.

The tall Slytherin boy was still laughing. His wand was in his hand, the offending weapon that had probably caused her robe to float over her head. The shock of white hair on his head stuck up in several directions, only adding to the mischievous and impish look of his sharp features and strong jaw. She had heard him described by other girls as "devilishly handsome", but, really, he was just more devilish than he was handsome. His crooked, smug smile was turned toward her, his blue eyes laughing even in the face of her most murder scowl.

"Frost!" she growled. "I'll snap that wand of yours right in half, I swear it!"

"Oh, you will!" He put his hands on his hips. Completely unafraid, he crossed the space between them to look down at her. "You know, Dunbroch, you've been throwing that threat around since first year. I've yet to see you follow through."

Merida put her hands on her hips as well and looked up at him with a defiant look. "Well, I didn't want to embarrass you in front of your mates when you started crying, Frost, but keep pushing me and I might do it anyway."

"Oh, really?"

"Aye, really."

"Ahye, rehlee," he repeated, mimicking her accent. Then he grinned. "You know, I'm always surprised by how much I miss your calming presence. There's just something about that melodic, angry Scottish accent that lulls one into a peaceful trance, you know?"

"Is that so? Gosh, Frost, if I'd known you felt that way I would have sent you a few nice howlers over the summer."

"That would have been lovely. Keep that in mind for next year. Speaking of, did you get my letter on your birthday?"

"You mean the letter that turned into a wee troll and ran around my house stealing all the sweets it could find until my younger brothers managed to trap it and feed it to the cat? That letter?"

He snapped his fingers. "That's the one!"

"Nope. Didn't get it."

"Shame." His grin widened and her lips twitched. She didn't mention that she had laughed hysterically when the troll had swung from the chandelier and landed in her birthday cake, splattering blue frosting all over the faces of her mother and father, or that she had encouraged it running away as her triplet brothers dove after it with a broom. She didn't tell him that she really wanted to know how to do magic like that. She looked away from his eyes to keep from smiling. Her sight landed on the shiny pin stuck to his gray sweater.

"What the bloody hell is that?" she asked.

"Oh, you're using English swears now? Are you sure you're really Scottish?"

She ignored him, grabbing him by the front of his robes to yank him closer so she could see the pin up close. He let her pull him, chuckling as she gaped at the silver lettering—Prefect.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS THAT?" she all but shouted, her voice echoing off the stone walls. She was vaguely aware of the Victorian lady shaking her head with a frown.

"That's right, Dunbroch," he said, "I made Prefect this year."

"You? A Prefect?" She let go of his robe, looking up at him in disbelief. His clothes were nicer than usual—they looked pressed and clean, and his tie was tied perfectly. She shook her head. "No, no, no, this must be a mistake. Where'd you get that tatty pin? Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes? Is it some sort of new prank? What are you up to?"

"I'm not up to anything. I'm a Prefect," he repeated amusedly.

"Right, and I'm the Minister of Magic. You know Professor Tallen won't let you get away with that for even a day, right? He'll hide you, first."

Merida paused when she heard Hiccup calling, "Hey, Jack! Merida!"

She turned with a little skip of the heart to see that Hiccup was looking in her direction. Behind him the chatter from the Great Hall was beginning to enter the hallway as students began meandering out of the room, heading to their morning classes with books under their arms. First years wandered by, looking up at the waving portraits in awe and down at their schedules in confusion.

"What are you two doing?" Hiccup continued. "Getting into trouble already?"

"I'm certainly not," Jack called back, heading toward the group. Merida hesitated only a second before following after him. "I can't speak for this wee lassie Gryffindor, though. She seems to be loitering, and I may need to report her," Jack suddenly turned around, addressing Merida, "And why's that?" He dropped his voice to a whisper, "Because I'm a Prefect."

She rolled her eyes. "The day I have detention and you're not sitting next to me, Frost, I'll eat my tie."

"Ooh, I'll hold you to that, Dunbroch! Watch yourself!"

She gave him a pouty glare that turned into a smile before she could stop it. He looked satisfied at getting her to break out in a smile finally, and turned back around just in time to throw an arm around Hiccup's shoulder.

Jack seemed to make it his personal goal in life to annoy her, and she made it a personal goal in her life to make sure his egotistical head didn't get too big, but she was rarely actually mad at him. They always made each other laugh before a real fight could go down. And besides, right this second she was glad he had shown up when he did—without realizing it, he had made a way for her to join her friends without making a total fool of herself pining over Hiccup. She wouldn't tell Jack that, though. He'd hold it over her head like he was some sort of savior, and although she thought he might have an inkling that she had feelings for Hiccup, she didn't really want him to know. He'd probably laugh at her until he turned blue.

"Friends!" Jack said, gesturing to the walls around them and capturing the attention of a few students wandering by. "Welcome back for your sixth year at Hogwarts!"

"Why, thank you, Sir Slytherin Prefect," Hiccup replied dryly, "What an honor it is." He turned to share a smile and roll of the eyes with Merida. Merida smiled awkwardly back, trying not to be obvious when she tucked a stray curl behind her ear. It immediately sprung back to where it had been.

Jack patted Hiccup's cheek. "You are welcome, little Hufflepuff." Hiccup waved him off with a grin.

"I hardly saw you at all last night," Rapunzel said to Jack, stepping over to stand beside Merida, "I wanted to see you in Prefect action."

"What?" Merida turned to Rapunzel incredulously, "Is this loon seriously a Prefect?"

"Well, sure," Rapunzel said.

"What slackery hogwash." Merida narrowed her eyes and looked Jack up and down. "Are we sure this is the real Jack?"

Jack snorted and slid his wand into his sleeve, where it vanished. "Yeah, it was a bit crazy after the sorting ceremony and everything. I nearly lost two first years on the moving stairs on the way to our common rooms. They wanted to see if they could surf on them. Were we that stupid when we were first years?" he asked Hiccup.

"Stupider, probably," Hiccup admitted.

"Definitely," Astrid said, crossing her arms with a grin. "The first time I saw you two, you were hightailing it away from the lake because you'd upset the merfolk by turning all the seaweed neon pink and flashing. You could see the lake glowing from every window in Hogwarts."

"That was all Jack's idea," Hiccup immediately said.

"My idea?" Jack put a hand to his chest.

"Yes, it was," Merida jumped in, raising her eyebrow at Jack. "Yet I was the one who was left on the shore, completely soaked and being yelled at in merfolk-ish."

"It's those cute little legs of yours. You can't keep up. Do they work like normal humans?" Jack said, leaning back to look at her bare legs under he knee length skirt.

"Cute little—!" She punched his shoulder, but he just laughed. "I can outrun you any day, any time, Frost. 'Sides, I was taller than you in our first year!"

"To be fair, Mer," Hiccup interjected before the two could start another squabble, "You were the one leaning over the water to see if you could catch one of them."

Merida scoffed, turning her glare on Hiccup and poking him in the chest. "You were the one who dragged me out to the lake in the first place, Mr. Must-Meet-Every-Magical-Creature-Even-If-It-Kills-Me!"

"Ah ha, well," Hiccup pulled her hand away with a sheepish smile, and she felt her glare relax automatically. "I did drag you around a lot in my monster hunting, huh? Sorry, Mer."

"Don't apologize, Hiccup," Rapunzel waved him away. "Because if you weren't like that, then Merida never would have asked for my help in catching those stray ragglesnorts for you in the flowerbeds that spring, and we wouldn't have become best friends." She put an arm around Merida, giving her a little squeeze and Merida returned her cheerful smile.

"The ragglesnort infestation? You could catch those? Not even Hagrid could catch those!" Astrid said in surprise.

Merida said dryly, "Told you, Punz can literally do anything. She had them eating out of the palm of her hand, literally."

"They liked my homemade gingersnaps." Rapunzel gave an innocent smile and a little shrug.

Astrid continued, "That's amazing! They were impossible! They were crawling all over the Hufflepuff dorms, and no one could catch them, not even Hiccup, with all his bizarre, homemade traps. I kept accidentally setting them off, it was driving me crazy!"

Hiccup chuckled. "Ah, yeah, sorry. I almost thought you kept setting them off on purpose because you didn't like me."

"Ha, I didn't like you. I thought you were purposely putting them in places where I would run into them."

"You like me now, though, right?" Hiccup asked.

Astrid gave him a sly smile, bumping his shoulder with her own. Hiccup grinned. Rapunzel shot a worried glance at Merida, and Merida looked away.

"So, Punzie," Jack suddenly said to Rapunzel, "Did you get my letters this summer? Merida didn't seem to get mine." He gave Merida knowing smile, which she responded to by sticking out her tongue.

"Hmm? Ah, yeah. Sorry I couldn't respond to them all. You know how my mom is." Rapunzel smiled, but it was more of a wince.

"No worries, Punzie," he said, "I was just bored, especially with Hiccup off at camp dragonland and Merida playing wild child up in Scotland."

Merida elbowed him lightly, which he reacted to dramatically and she ignored.

"Camp Draconia Langortica," Hiccup corrected. "And I'll have you know, that since I was working there this year I got to see all the magical creatures that came through, and there were six Hungarian Horntails. Six." Hiccup's eyes lit up and his gestures became bigger. "All owned by the same crazy warlock from Scandinavia. Can you believe that? He just waltzed into the bazaar with six Hungarian Horntails. It was incredible! Right, Astrid?"

"It was quite amazing, yes," Astrid agreed, watching Hiccup with a fond expression that Merida was sure was on her own face.

"It was! Like, wow, what is his life, and how do I live it. And he let me watch the feeding, it was incredibly bloody, my dad was freaking out that I was there, ah, but then Merida's dad showed up, and he talked the guy into letting us go with him to the appraisal, and whoa was that so cool, or what, seriously, Mer, your dad is my favorite. You really missed out this year, Mer, you would have loved it."

Merida shrugged, trying not to let her heart beat painfully at the thought that he might have missed her. "Ah, yeah, I was…busy." She certainly hadn't turned down her father's invite to go with him to the bazaar during the summer for the first time in her life in order to avoid Hiccup. Certainly not.

"Really a bummer, Mer, it was incredible," Hiccup said, then immediately launched into, "There was this other group of gypsies, these strange little witches, and they had dragon eggs for sale, and I dunno if they were real or not but—"

"Ok, ok," Astrid said, laying a hand over Hiccup's mouth, "If you let him keep going he won't ever stop."

"Glad you had a good time with the dragons in Romania while I was freezing my butt off logging in the Arctic with my uncle," Jack said sarcastically.

"It must have been a rough summer," Rapunzel said sympathetically, "You're even paler than usual. Did you get a snow-tan?"

Jack looked down at his hands and everyone looked at him again. Merida squinted at him. Jack was already a pretty pale boy, about as pale as she was beneath all her freckles, but after looking again Merida thought that Rapunzel might be right. He did look paler.

"Aye, you're right," Merida said, "Trying a new look, Jack? Prefect isn't good enough for you, you want to apply for House ghost?" She reached out to poke his hand, only to be surprised when he quickly withdrew. He slid his hands into his pockets, and she looked up to see him smiling down at her. But it was…strained. Strained? Merida had never seen such a smile on Jack.

He looked back at the group, his smile widening to look more normal.

"It was a long summer, let's just say that," he said.

"Jack!" A voice called out. Jack turned and looked for the source and everyone followed his gaze. At the top of the stairs was a beautiful girl with blonde hair nearly as white as Jack's, pulled into a tight bun, and almond shaped eyes in a heart shaped face. The deep emerald green lining of her robe framed her curves, even inside of the thick gray vest and shapeless skirt that everyone wore.

"And so, the lovely lady calls," Hiccup said with a smirk at his friend.

"Prefect partner, actually," Jack returned the smile. "Until later, mates." He stepped back from the group into the thickening crowd of students. They watched him bound up the stairs to join Elsa Arendell, who greeted him with a small smile before they turned and walked side by side down the hall.

"Well," Astrid said, with a sigh, "I guess we should follow the example of the Prefect and head off to class."

"This year I have double Care of Magical Creatures," Hiccup happily informed Rapunzel and Merida, "Finally all that lobbying that me and Hagrid did the last couple years has paid off, and Professor McGonagall said I could do it."

"That's great," Merida said with a smile, "Finally get to live your dream of dropping Potions and Charms and just taking care of potentially homicidal animals all day long."

"Ah, not quite," Hiccup's smile quickly turned into a grimace.

"Professor McGonagall said he has to take Potions and Charms at night," Astrid said with an amused look, "He gets double Care of Magical Creatures in exchange for his free Friday and Saturday nights."

"Crivens," Merida said with a disgusted and sympathetic look.

"I think I'm going to die, Mer, honestly," Hiccup told her. "When this mental girl is trying to kill me with Potions and Charms homework, it's up to you two to come save me, ok?" Her looked between her and Rapunzel.

"You got it," Merida said, looking up at his brown eyes that were only fixed on hers for a moment. Then Astrid shook her head with a laugh and Hiccup turned to her.

"Come on, beast boy," Astrid said, taking Hiccup's arm and pulling him into the flow of students. "We'll see you two later! Merida, you better be on your game this year! I'm not going easy on you just because we're pals. We're grounding you like last time!"

"What jiggery pokery, you scaffy witch! Last year was your lucky year! We'll knock you right off your brooms this time round!" Merida shouted to her as they disappeared into the crowd.

"I look forward to seeing you try!" Astrid said, pumping a fist in the air and chanting loudly without any concern about the people around her, "Hufflepuff! Hufflepuff! Hufflepuff!"

Merida turned back to Rapunzel, the same grin plastered on her face. "I hate my life."

Rapunzel's shoulders slumped and she rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "Oh, Merida."

"What?" Merida dropped the grin and pushed her way against the crowd to enter the Great Hall.

Rapunzel followed close behind. "I thought you said you were doing better. Weren't you doing better?"

"I am doing better, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to punch myself in the face every time I feel my gamy heart beating around over his stupid freckles."

"Your freckles are cuter."

"The freckles aren't the point, Punz!" She passed the ghost of the Fat Friar, who greeted them cheerfully and warned them that class was starting in five minutes. She stopped in front of the Gryffindor table, which was nearly empty, except for a few slacking seventh years and a first year who looked like they'd gotten up late and was panicking trying to grab a few things to eat before running out. The platters of breakfast foods had already disappeared and Merida groaned.

"Come on," Rapunzel pulled her around the room to the empty Ravenclaw table, where she taped her wand against the table top in a funny rhythm. A few platters popped into existence with breakfast foods. "There you go. It's a little charm that's been there for years."

"You Ravenclaws and your puzzles," Merida said, snatching a couple muffins and an apple.

The two girls turned and hurried out of the Great Hall, Rapunzel waving at the Fat Friar as he told them to hurry along. They found the crowds again, walking among them as Merida shoved the muffins into her mouth. Around them students greeted paintings like old friends, called out to each other and asked about their summers, and laughed at the suits of armor, who saluted each girl that passed and scolded the boys.

Merida wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. "I'm doing better, I just…wish I was already over all of it. I just want to go back to being his friend like I was before, and I want to be mates with Astrid without having this little annoying pain of rejection in the back of my mind every time I see how beautiful and perfect she is. Of course he'd pick her over me, I shouldn't be so butthurt about it, it's been years. Ow!" She rounded on Rapunzel, who had just smacked her upside the head with her Charms textbook. "What the hell?"

"Don't you 'what the hell' me, you know how many times I've told you not to talk like that. People fall in love, it just happens, it has nothing to do with you being good enough or not good enough."

"I know, I know, sorry, crivens. Let's talk about not me. Let's talk about you and your lover boy. You didn't talk about him in any of your letters, which I assume was because you were worried your mum would see it. Did you see him this summer? Eugene Fitzwhatsit?"

Rapunzel's face flushed, and Merida smirked, glad that she was finally able to turn the tables on her friend. For years it had been Rapunzel teasing Merida about Hiccup, but finally, the summer before fifth year, Rapunzel had met someone.

"I, it's, it wasn't anything," Rapunzel said, ignoring Merida's snickering. "We might have met once or twice when I snuck some sleeping potion into my mum's tea. Innocent stuff, of course, don't you look at me like that! We just talked mostly, about his life and our dreams. He held my hand." Rapunzel sighed, her face lighting up as her eyes lost focus, losing herself in memory.

Merida chuckled. "Aye, sure, it wasn't anything. Just you mooning after the boy with, and I quote, 'the most beautiful eyes in the universe'."

Rapunzel smacked Merida's arm, and she flinched away. "Oh, stop!"

"Never. Girls in love love to be teased about being in love. Your words, not mine."

"I was thirteen when I said that! I take it back."

"Too late. Consider it payback. I'll be teasing you about beautiful Eugene and his universe eyes up until you get married and have kids and probably even longer than that."

"Oh, stop," Rapunzel said again, but her tone was suddenly sad. "That's not going to happen. He's a muggle, you know."

"So? You're muggle born, and Hiccup's a halfblood, and I'm Scottish, which more than one Slytherin pratt doesn't like. Who cares?"

"My pureblood foster mother," Rapunzel answered quietly.

Merida snapped her mouth shut at the look on Rapunzel's face. She didn't need to launch into a spiel of how much she hated Rapunzel's foster mother so early in the morning. She'd have plenty of time to do that later.

They walked another hall in silence, only listening to the happy noises of Hogwarts around them. Rapunzel perked up after a couple minutes, which Merida expected. The girl could never stay down for long, and always sprung back to her sunny self. She greeted friends down the hallways and chatted to Merida about the new riddle to the Ravenclaw common rooms, which she wasn't exactly allowed to do. Merida crunched into her apple and listened, glancing longingly out the windows at the warm day and wishing she could be riding Angus in the sun rather than heading to a lecture from Professor Flitwick on wrist movement and meditation.

The halls were quickly emptying and the girls picked up their pace. Rapunzel parted with an admonition that Merida actually try paying attention in classes this year. Merida groaned, turning down a side hall as a shortcut. The laughter of two younger Gryffindor boys floated after her, but in the hall the only sound was her echoing footsteps and the crispy crunch of her apple. She paused mid chew when she noticed someone else was at the end of the hall. Jack was leaning against the wall, looking like he didn't care that he was about to be late for his first class of the year. She snorted. Some Prefect he was. She chewed quicker, swallowing fast so she could call out to him and rib him for it.

Her words died in her throat.

He didn't look normal. One hand gripped a fistful of sweater at his stomach. Jack had always been thin—lanky and tall, although still handsome now that he had grown. But he was still mostly bone, and the muscles and tendons stuck out on his forearm and hand. He must have been clutching that sweater for dear life. He was staring at the ground in front of him, his expression hard and stoney, his breathing uneven.

With a frown, she wondered what was wrong. She continued forward a little quicker, her steps startling him when he heard them. He looked up at her with wide eyes, then quickly pushed off the wall and smoothed out his sweater.

"You alright, there, Jack?" Merida asked, stopping beside him. "You feeling sick?"

He scratched his eyebrow, not looking her in the eye. "I'm fine. You're late for class, you know."

She snorted. "Well, if you think that bothers me, then being a Prefect must have messed with your head already." She cocked her head. His breathing was normal now, and the stoney expression was gone, but his usual cocky smirk was nowhere to be found. "Has it…messed with your head already? The pressure getting to you? Is working with your girlfriend hard?"

He let out a breathy chuckle. "No. I'm fine."

"Alright, if you're sure. Well, if you need any stress relieved, you know where to find me. I still owe you a butt-whooping from our last broom race around Hogwarts, you rake." She raised a fist to clock him lightly on the shoulder, but before she made contact his hand shot out and grabbed hers, stopping it midair. He looked just as surprised by the action as she was. He let go of her and turned around, heading toward the stairs.

"You should head to class, Merida," he said without looking back. And then he was gone.

She blinked after him, wondering what on earth that had been about. In all her years of knowing Jack, which were many, she had never seen him like that. Once he had the flu, but he'd joked about spewing into Professor Tallen's slippers and laughed it off. What could possibly be causing the roguish boy to be like this? She didn't like it.

It had been a long time since Jack had touched her like that. Not since they were kids. Not since before Elsa. She looked down at her hand. Her skin was a bit cold.

She nearly jumped out of her socks when a painting of a medieval wizard said kindly to her, "You should run along, now, miss. Class started five minutes ago."

She didn't see Jack the rest of the week. Well, she spotted him once or twice across the Great Hall, standing beside Elsa or making first years laugh by doing little tricks with his wand that they were overly impressed by. But she never got close enough to talk to him. She supposed that was to be expected. He was busy being important now. The traitor. He used to be a trouble making slacker, just like her. They had joked about the detention room being their second home. Hiccup and Rapunzel had always shaken their heads, although they had always been a part of the same schemes and mischief. They just managed to be good students and weasel their ways out of punishment, unlike Jack and Merida. They usually got caught by Professor Longbottom, head of Gryffindor House, who would shake his head and laugh at them every time before giving them a few days sitting in detention. The worst was when they got caught by Professor Tallen, head of Slytherin House. Long hours in the cold dungeon writing over and over that they would never do it again still gave Merida nightmares.

Ever since the beginning of their fifth year, when Jack had begun spending more time with Elsa, he had spent less time with the rest of their friends. It was understandable, they had all said. That's what happens when you get a girlfriend, Hiccup had added with a smile at Astrid. Good riddance, Merida had lied. He had still popped around now and then to laugh with them, but as a Prefect now, who knew if he'd have the time anymore.

When Merida did see Jack, she saw him smiling his usual smile. Good. She hoped he wasn't sick anymore, or that he had resolved whatever had been bothering him a few days before. She shrugged and let it go.

Classes were the same as usual for Merida. She had never been very good at Charms or Defense Against the Dark Arts—she didn't have the finesse for delicate magic spells like those. History, Astronomy, and Herbology were ok but not her favorite, and although as a sixth year she could branch out and take more specific electives, she wasn't much interested. She preferred quidditch to any of it, and all she had to do was keep her grades up enough in every class to make sure Professor Longbottom let her stay on the team. She loved the hours she spent flying around the field, the late summer sun on her shoulders, the wind tangling her hair until it was an even wilder mess. Soon it would be winter, and then practice would be a lot less fun. She had always hated winter.

So, when she saw the light snowfall on her way back to her dorm one night, she threw her books to the ground in frustration. She was coming back from the library, where her friends usually spent their evenings. It was hard finding places to hang out late at night for students from different houses, but the library was always a good cozy place, even if Merida only ever pretended to study. When it was almost time for curfew, Hiccup and Astrid headed off to the kitchens. Rapunzel had walked with Merida a ways until they reached the stairs up to Ravenclaw tower, where Merida had continued on her own, opting to take the outside corridors to enjoy the warm nights while she still could. At first, she had thought the gently falling white flecks were flower petals. She had poked her head free of the arched roof to see where they were coming from, only to feel the cold flecks landing on her nose and cheeks.

Snow. It was snowing.

Merida kicked the textbooks that she had just dropped, furiously speechless about the bizarre weather. So far the snow wasn't sticking—it melted as soon as it landed—but if there was still snow on the ground in the morning, she would be livid. She'd make sure everyone in the Great Hall would know how upset she was. She couldn't believe this! Snow in August! The air was still warm, too. How was it even bloody snowing?

She leaned over the stone wall, looking up at the sky with a squint as snow gently landed on her eyelashes and cheeks. The sky was black, with thousands of stars twinkling down at her. There were no clouds in sight. Where was the snow coming from? Was it some sort of magic? Who was good enough to cause something like this to happen?

A wind picked up, blowing another flurry of snow towards Hogwarts, and Merida looked in the direction it had come from. The Forbidden Forest. She searched the dark trees, grumbling to herself in annoyance. There. Someone was standing at the edge of the woods. Who on earth was it? She was too far away to see anything more than a figure. Whoever it was, she was reporting them immediately to their Head of House. No way in hell was she allowing this snow-thing to continue, and they should know better than to be out by the forest this late. Merida herself had received detention for doing the same thing her third year.

She pulled out her wand and taped her temple beside her eye. "Visus procul," she said aloud. The air in front of her eyes began to sharpen, and suddenly far away details became very clear to her. It was one of the few spells she was proficient at—it was extremely useful for watching quidditch matches. She blinked a few times before she got used to the difference in vision, then turned to look at the figure by the forest. It was as though she were now standing twenty feet behind him, looking at his back.

It was Jack. It had to be Jack. Who else was that lanky and tall with that mess of white hair? Merida didn't know whether to laugh, or march over and yell at him for the snow. That idiot, sneaking around after dark by the Forbidden Forest. She snorted and shook her head. She knew it—they could make him a Prefect all they wanted, but he was still more trouble than he was worth.

She held out a hand, feeling the snow on her palm. Had he made it snow? What sort of magic was that? How had he done it? She wanted to ask, but of course he would boast about it if she did. Jack had always been good at delicate spells that required a lot of finesse. The opposite of her. She wiped her hand on her skirt, thinking she would go down and meet him. She wanted to lie in wait and scare the daylights out of him. Or maybe he was up to something fun that she could join in on. It had been a long time since she had gotten in trouble with him, and she kind of missed it.

She paused when she saw the wind and snow pick up around Jack, blowing through his hair and robe. There was…something in the wind, she could almost see it. She squinted, stepping forward and almost toppling over the top of the stone wall in front of her, which she couldn't see properly now. The wind picked up even more, and after a second Merida could feel the chill when it reached her all the way back at the castle. Jack didn't seem bothered by how bitingly cold it was. He stared ahead of him, unflinchingly.

There was something there. A humanoid shadow. Two shadows. Tall and thin and purplish in color. As she watched they solidified, although they didn't gain any more shape. They had a head and two arms and two legs, but there weren't any other features that Merida could see. One was easily seven or eight feet tall, and made Jack look like a small child in comparison. The other looked to be about his height. But the shadows looked…not right. Merida's breath had caught in her chest, her heart beating a bit faster. What were those things? Creatures from the forest? Were they dangerous? Was Jack in trouble? Why was he just standing there, staring back at it? Jack and the creatures looked at each other, and after a moment Merida wondered if Jack might be talking to them. The taller one's head bobbed, like it was nodding or looking down at him, and when it seemed to finish it stepped back. Then the smaller one extended a long arm with a shadowy hand toward Jack. Jack hesitated, then stepped forward and reached back.

"What are you doing, Frost, don't touch it! Keep your head, you numpty!" Merida shouted, forgetting she was too far away for him to hear.

Jack touched the thing's hand, his fingers barely brushing across the shadowy ones. Then the shadow pulled back, turning with the wind and the snow to follow the larger creature. They walked toward the trees, but with each step they became more transparent until they were suddenly gone. The wind died down and so did the snow. It fell on Jack's head and shoulders, melting immediately. Then it stopped. Jack remained in front the creaking trees of the Forbidden Forest for another minute before he turned back toward the school. The same hard, stoney expression Merida had seen earlier was on his face again. She watched silently as he headed toward the far east entrance, where he slipped quietly into the school.

The wind picked up again, blowing through Merida's curls. It was warm and dry, like a summer wind should be.

So, there it is. Let me know your feels. Luv.