Castle Fever

Summary: When a snowstorm confines the kids of Enchancia to their castle for a few days, they have to come up with creative ways to keep themselves entertained…and not drive the staff crazy in the process.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sofia the First or snowstorms! :)

A/N: Well, as the near impossible is supposed to be happening down here in the south (we're likely to have ice/sleet/hail/temperatures below 30 degrees this week), I've decided to "celebrate" the rare occurrence by making this random story. :D Granted, we're used to "bad weather" like thunderstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc. But icy occasions are strange for us, and people already don't know how to drive. And as it turns out, we are out of school today (Monday), so yippee! Lol. Enjoy!

"Ugh, James!" Amber yelled in frustration as her brother stole her tiara and ran down the hallway. She jumped up from her spot on Sofia's bed before grabbing her sister's hand. "Come on, Sofia!"

"Wait, why am I getting pulled into this?" the younger girl asked, getting dragged out of her own room.

"Because I'm going to need all the help I can get to stop him." She whined when her hair began falling from its usual more elegant style down past her shoulders in messy waves. "Ooh, he is so in trouble."

The three Royal Prep students were out of school for the day. Actually, they'd already been out for the last two. As it turned out, Royal Prep was pretty much frozen over at the moment, and Enchancia (plus other kingdoms) weren't that much better off. Instead of attempting to hold school, for the safety of the students, they'd cancelled classes for the time being, promising to send a decree when the closure was lifted.

Of course, their being home during the day might have been wonderful for the prince and princesses, but sometimes their games and mischief (especially regarding the twins) caused a bit of havoc in the working environment for the castle staff. Baileywick had instructed them to stay clear of the workers, but with situations such as now, it was kind of hard.

"James!" Amber snapped, getting her brother's attention as he jumped in surprise at the tone of her voice. She smirked as he tripped over his own foot and fell, losing his grip on her tiara, which skidded to a halt directly in front of him. The blonde girl released her sister and marched over to the fallen boy. She picked up her tiara, fastened her hair back into place, and placed the tiara on her head again before folding her arms and glaring at her brother. "Serves you right for stealing my tiara."

He scoffed before laughing and pulling himself into a sitting position. "It's not like you don't have a hundred others," he reminded her.

"Yes, but this one is my favorite."

Sofia giggled at the situation. "I think staying inside all the time is getting to you, James."

He sighed and nodded in agreement while standing. "Definitely. I mean, don't get me wrong. I love not having to go to school for a few days, but being stuck in here is starting to drive me crazy."

Amber laughed, turning and leading them back down the hallway. "Sounds like you may have a case of castle fever, dear brother. We could always just shove you out into the snow and let you build a snowman or something."

"Uh, have you seen what it looks like outside, Amber?" He gestured toward the window, through which they could see snow pouring down furiously. "I'm not that desperate to get outside."

"Maybe we should just get some hot cocoa and play some games," Sofia suggested with a bright smile.

Amber nodded enthusiastically. "All right. Let's get Baileywick to fix us some, and I know just the game we need to play." She smiled impishly.

"Uh-oh," James muttered to Sofia when the blonde princess turned and headed toward the kitchen to find the steward. "I don't like it when she gets that look on her face."

"No one likes that look, James," Sofia agreed as they reluctantly followed Amber.

A few minutes later, the trio settled back into Sofia's room, all resting on her bed. They'd played several games so far: Go Fish, makeover (which James made them promise never to tell anyone about), and others. They were currently playing a game known as "Inkling," in which they had to offer their suspicions of who committed petty crimes.

"I think it was Harriet who stole a rose from the garden," Sofia suggested after gathering her evidence.

Amber blinked and shook her head, realizing she had the 'garden' card. "Sorry, Sofia. Not quite."

"Why would anyone steal a flower?" James asked with a scoff. "I mean, unless you're Miss Nettle or something."

Sofia shot him a look. "Mm."

"Ha, sorry, Sof." He put his cards down and yawned, stretching. "Not that this isn't fun, girls, but I'm hungry."

"Supper should be served soon," Amber reasoned as she placed her cards on the covers as well. "I doubt they'd let us have anything right now."

"But I'm so hungry…"

Sofia brightened. "I bet Mr. Cedric has some Fly Cakes."

"Fly Cakes," the prince laughed. "I remember he used to feed us those when we were little so we wouldn't tell Dad on him if one of his spells went crazy and caused problems. Ah, those were the good old days."

Amber smirked. "True. Now we don't stand a chance with Sofia defending him." She giggled as the other girl shrugged sheepishly. "Still, I have to admit… He's actually gotten better."

Sofia smiled. "Well, let's see if he may have any. By the time we finish, supper may be ready."

"Okay, seriously," Cedric told the three royals a few minutes later. "You've come to me for school supplies, a spell to make an outfit, and now pastries?"

James grinned. "Yep! What can we say, Cedric? You have the most random stuff we need."

"I'm a—"

"Royal Sorcerer," the twins finished with smirks on their faces, making the Sofia laugh.

Cedric gave the blonde siblings a deadpanned look. "I'll remember that," he warned them with an eye twitch. "The next time you two cause trouble, you'd best seek out Baileywick instead."

"Aw, come on, Mr. Cedric," Sofia pleaded gently, taking his hand and tugging lightly on it to get him to cheer up. "They didn't mean anything by it. Besides, maybe they're cranky because they're hungry."

"I don't get cranky when I'm hungry," the sorcerer returned with a huff.

The auburn-haired princess raised her eyebrows at him. "Yes, you do."

"You're losing my support, Princess Sofia." He smirked down at her, hearing her giggle. "Oh, very well. Three Fly Cakes coming right up." He used his free hand to grasp his wand, waving it and producing the pastries for the children. "Don't say I never do anything for you."

James grinned happily as he munched on his treat. "Thanks, Cedric!" he exclaimed with icing coating his mouth and cheeks…and nose.

Amber rolled her eyes and took a smaller bite from her Fly Cake. "Yes, thank you," she echoed soon after.

Sofia tugged on her mentor's hand and smiled when he leaned down toward her. She whispered something to him, making him chuckle.

"Very well," he relented, tapping the Fly Cake she held and turning it purple. "Happy?"

"Very!" She smiled in appreciation and munched on her own cake.

"Well, then, as you three have now surely satisfied your hunger until supper is served, I really need to get back to work." He nodded toward Sofia. "We'll pick up with a new spell tomorrow; how does that sound?"

"Okay." She hugged him gratefully. "Thanks, Mr. Cedric."

"How come she can get away with hugging you when no one else can?" James wondered as he smirked at them.

"Because I'm his favorite," Sofia responded for her friend as she released him and smiled, skipping toward the door. "Bye, Mr. Cedric!" She pulled her siblings out the door and down the stairwell.

Cedric shook his head in amusement and started to head back to work…but first, he treated himself to his very own Fly Cake. Hey, even Royal Sorcerers needed desserts every now and then.

Later that night, the fire was roaring in the hearth in the common room, where the siblings sat to warm up and relax. They had already eaten, told stories, played more games, and talked. Now, they were growing sleepy.

"I can barely keep my eyes open," Amber acknowledged as she yawned and leaned back into a pile of pillows. "Today has been busy…"

Sofia smiled sleepily and followed suit, wrapping a blanket around herself and lying next to Amber as she stared up at the ceiling. "Yeah… It's been fun though."

James sighed. "We're probably going to have to go back to school tomorrow, huh?" He pouted. "Why did the snow have to start melting?"

"Because the sun came out," the blonde princess replied obviously and sarcastically at the same time. "And it's fine, James. It's not like we're going to have a whole week of school now."

"I know, but still… I don't want to do homework!" He yelped when Amber yanked him down and tossed a blanket over him.

"Hush and go to sleep. You'll wake up Sofia." She gestured toward the other princess, who was somehow already fast asleep.

"Wow, she really must have been tired…" He finally felt sleep overcome him as he yawned as well before settling down. "You know, sleeping in our own beds would have made more sense."

Amber ignored him as she closed her eyes and faded into the realm of sleep, her brother not too far behind.

About half an hour later, Roland and Miranda paused at the doorway to the common room and smiled at their three children, all of whom were fast asleep and huddled closely together for warmth.

"Should we get them to bed?" Roland wondered as he wrapped an arm around his wife.

"No, let them sleep," she suggested. "This was always the fun part about childhood for me—a pallet party with friends and family. It's different and exciting… And plus, if we try to move them now, we'd have to face the wrath of Amber."

He laughed. "Good point." He gathered a larger blanket and draped it over all three children before taking Miranda's hand and leading her out of the room as the siblings slept more comfortably than they had in a long time.

The end