A/N
Hello everyone! T here. E can't be here but sends her best wishes. We hope you enjoy the second chapter, but first:
Many thanks to our beta Tristen for putting up with late submissions and many, many chapter rewrites.
Disclaimer: This universe and these characters do not belong to us. They are the property of JK Rowling, Dreamworks, and Disney.
WE will try to update as regularly as possibly, hopefully every Wednesday evening, unless we need to put the story on a hiatus for any reason.
Thank you for reading and enjoy!
Love-T
"Hiccup. Hiccup! Hiccup!"
At the sound of his name, Hiccup peeked one eye open to find his mother's face just inches from his, almost filling his vision, a grin stretched wide across her face.
For a moment, all he could do was stare at her in half-conscious bewilderment.
Then Hiccup noted the pitch darkness in the window behind her, and he rolled over and pressed the pillow over his head. It was definitely not morning, which meant he definitely did not have to get up.
Suddenly, he felt the blankets being ripped away from him. He curled into a little ball, his skinny arms wrapped around his knobby knees, huddling for warmth.
That did no good. His mother simply flipped the mattress, and Hiccup suddenly found himself lying spread-eagled on the hard wooden floor, gasping for breath but still not quite awake.
He squinted up at his bedside clock and saw it read 3:44 am. Hiccup groaned.
"Get up, Hiccup!" Valka insisted, nudging his side with her foot.
"Why?" Hiccup moaned.
"Because it's happening!" She exclaimed, exasperated.
"It's happening?" Hiccup asked wearily, sitting up and rubbing his bleary eyes. "What's-?"
Then he remembered. The egg. The egg was hatching.
Hiccup had found the egg a little over a month ago, in the middle of a clearing only a few miles away. It was simply lying on the grass. There was no nest anywhere in sight. This in itself made Hiccup curious and a little concerned. That and the egg's color. It was black as pitch. So black it seemed to absorb all of the light around it. Hiccup had never seen an egg like that.
He had of course known better than to touch it, or even to go anywhere near it; the scent of a human anywhere close to her egg would have sent the dragon mother into a protective frenzy, or worse, driven her away.
Wondering what species would have an egg like that, and hoping for a new discovery, Hiccup had climbed a tree on the edge of the clearing and hidden himself among the branches, intending to wait for the mother to return so he could get a proper look at her. He had waited until well past nightfall, but much to his dismay, the mother never came back.
Fearing for the eggs safety in the chilly Norwegian night, Hiccup had taken it home and explained the situation to his mother. His mother had agreed with him and promised him she would help him care for the egg until it hatched.
She had also promised him that this dragon wouldn't go into the training program with the others. This one would be his.
And now the big day was finally here.
Instantly, Hiccup was wide-awake. He leapt up from the floor and dashed down the stairs, his mother hot on his heels.
The pair careened into the kitchen, Hiccup almost losing his footing on the slick tiles. Righting himself, he rushed to the fireplace.
The dragon egg lay at the heart of the fire, which crackled cheerfully around it.. The egg was about the size of a box of tissues, pitch black, and smooth to the touch - except for the cracks slowly creeping over its surface. The tongues of fire danced off the shell as the egg slowly began to rock back and forth, the tiny dragon inside struggling to hatch.
Hiccup glanced at his mother, kneeling beside him, and his mind went blank. He had watched her deliver dozens of baby dragons in his eleven years, and he knew every aspect of the process intimately, but suddenly it was as if he had forgotten everything.
There were so many uncertainties with this egg, this dragon. What species was it? What if they had blundered in their care for it, not knowing it's species? What if the long hours the egg spent in the cold had affected it somehow?
"It'll be just fine Hiccup," his mother assured him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Hiccup looked back at the egg. With all of the lights turned off, and the darkness gathered thickly outside the windows, it seemed to Hiccup as if this egg was the only important thing in the world.
His fingers tapped nervously against his thighs as he wracked his brain; what was first? What was first, what was first, what was…
And it hit him. Fish. The first thing they needed were some fish. After the egg had hatched, it was crucial to get the hatchling out of the fire as soon as possible. The flames hardened the dragon's hide and made it fireproof for the rest of its life, but the hatchling couldn't stay in there for too long.
But the hatchling wouldn't be too inclined to allow strangers to pick it up or handle it in any way. To get the dragon to trust them, they would have to feed it.
Hiccup turned back to his mother and found she had already gotten the items they needed. A basket of small fish and a two pairs of thick gloves, to protect their hands from the heat.
Quickly, Hiccup slipped a pair onto his small hands.
"Dragon hatching is really very easy Hiccup," his mother said, with a twinkle in her soft green eyes. "You know that. The dragon most of the work."
Hiccup nodded. He felt calmer knowing his mother would be here to help him. Then he heard a faint crackling sound coming from the fireplace.
Turning quickly, Hiccup saw a little claw poking its way out of the eggshell. Followed by a small foot. This was the moment the dragon would finish cracking the egg, and finally be born.
Except the hatchling's foot appeared to be stuck. The little dragon yanked at its limb, the tiny claws waving to Hiccup as if to say hello. The egg began to rock faster, and then to shudder as the hatchling struggled even harder to get out.
Then, rather abruptly, the egg was still. The foot and claws went limp.
Hiccup glanced hesitantly back at his mother, wondering if he should reach forward and help the dragon finish breaking the shell. She nodded quickly, encouraging him. Hiccup turned back to the egg, and that was when he noticed something odd.
There was an ethereal blue light filtering through the cracks in the eggshell. And along with it a low screaming sound, which rapidly grew louder and louder until it filled the entire kitchen.
Hiccup threw himself to the floor and covered his head, his mother following suit, just as the egg exploded. CRACK! Jet-black egg shards flew everywhere as the shell shattered. Hiccup could hear the quiet tink tink tink sound as they bounced against the hard tile of the kitchen floor.
After a moment, the tinking sound faded. The room quieted.
Apprehensively, Hiccup sat up and peered into the fire.
Where the egg had once been was a little dragon hatchling, its black scales shining in the firelight. The flames danced off the hatchling's wide head, and its long, thin tail. The dragon's wings were tucked tightly against its lithe little body as it surveyed its surroundings with beautiful, piercing green eyes.
Those eyes fell on Hiccup with narrowed distrust, and the little dragon's lips peeled back to reveal two rows of sharp white teeth as it growled at him.
Hiccup gulped. Dragon's didn't imprint, he knew. Even newborn hatchlings knew the difference between Mom and Not Mom. If he didn't want to lose a finger, he would have to do this carefully.
Slowly, Hiccup reached behind him and picked up one of the smaller fish from the basket his mother had brought him. Then he held it out with both hands towards the hatchling. A peace offering.
"You hungry Bud?" he asked, working to keep his voice level.
At the sight of the food, the dragon's lips lowered, and its pupils dilated.
Cautiously, it hopped out of the fire and onto the cool tile, steam curling from its skin as it slinked towards Hiccup, and then stretched its head out towards the fish, its mouth open. Hiccup frowned as he saw the dragon's empty gums.
"Toothless?" he muttered, leaning in to get a closer look. "But I could have sworn you had—"
His speculation was cut off as, with a distinct schick, the little dragon's teeth popped out of its gums, and the fish was snatched from his hands. The dragon devoured the morsel in a matter of seconds and licked its lips. Then it nuzzled Hiccup's gloved hand, looking for more.
Hiccup's mother burst out laughing. After a moment, Hiccup laughed too and gave the dragon another fish. This one too was devoured in the blink of an eye.
"What is it?" Hiccup wondered aloud. He had never even heard of a dragon with retractable teeth.
His mother's brow furrowed as she considered. "I think," she said, slowly "that it's a Night Fury." her voice held a tone of awe.
Hiccup frowned, keeping his attention fixed on the dragon. "A Night Fury?" he asked. "I've never heard of a Night Fury."
"They're supposed to be extinct. Not a one has been seen in years," his mother explained as she reached forward to caress the Night Fury. The hatchling leaned into her glove and rumbled deep in its throat. Its eyes half closed in pleasure as she moved to scratch under its chin.
"I've only read about them," she continued. "And those books were always very vague anyway; the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself, never approach this dragon. Bah, a whole load of dragon dung."
Glancing down at the little Night Fury, Hiccup slowly retracted his hand. His mother noticed.
"Oh, come on Hiccup, does he look dangerous to you?" she scoffed.
Hiccup considered the way the hatchling had blown its egg apart. "Yes," he answered.
She chuckled. "Only if he doesn't like you."
Hiccup yawned. By this time, it was nearly dawn. He could see the faint lightening of the sky through the windows above the sink.
Dad will be up soon, Hiccup thought, surveying the mess the exploding egg had left in the kitchen. Dark egg shards littered the floor, and a good portion of egg fluid had managed to get on the walls and the fridge. The gooey substance was beginning to shine in the predawn light. His mother followed his gaze.
"Best get this cleaned up," she said, a bit reluctantly.
As if on cue, the hatchling sneezed, shooting a concentrated stream of blue fire across the kitchen floor and leaving a long, dark scorch mark on the tile.
His mother sighed and brought out her wand.
Even with magic, it had taken almost an hour for the kitchen to be completely cleaned, and by that time the fire had died down to mere embers. Hiccup and his mother sat on a blanket by the remains of the fire, the little dragon curled up against Hiccup. The hatchling's belly was practically bulging with all of the fish it had eaten, and it's lids drooped sleepily. Hiccup stroked it's side gently, marveling at the supple warmth of the dragon's hide.
"You said it was a boy, right Mom?" Hiccup asked.
"Yes," his mother replied absentmindedly, glancing up the stairs as she did so. All was quiet. Hiccup's father wasn't up. Yet. His mother refocused on her son. "What are you goin' to name him?" she asked.
Hiccup shrugged. He'd been trying to think of a name since he'd first laid eyes on the dragon. But none of the names he'd come up with had seemed right. He mentally ran through his list of favorites once more:
Midnight. Blatantly obvious. Next.
Darkclaw. That one wasn't too bad. It sounded cool anyway. But Hiccup couldn't quite imagine himself calling the dragon by it. Darkclaw? Darkclaw! Daarrrkclaaaaawwww!
Silently, Hiccup sighed. Next.
Deathbringer. He glanced down at the gentle creature beside him. No, definitely not. Next.
Sharpteeth. Well, the hatchling's teeth were certainly sharp - and retractable... Hiccup suddenly recalled the brief moment when he had thought his dragon was toothless.
Toothless.
That was it.
"Toothless," Hiccup whispered aloud. The dragon instantly responded to his new name, looking up at his human with a gummy smile. Hiccup couldn't help but laugh.
That was when he heard the clamorous ringing of his parents' alarm clock from upstairs. He shared a glance with his mother as the noise continued. Who knew how Dad would react to yet another dragon in the house?
Abruptly, the ringing cut off with a metallic clang. Hiccup heard heavy footsteps on the stairs. And Stoick entered the kitchen.
Hiccup's father was a giant of a man. Easily seven feet tall, and half as wide, he took up half the kitchen, his currently unkempt red beard spilling down his chest. Stoick's head was a bit small compared to the rest of him, and he had a rounded nose and ruddy cheeks. His eyes were the same piercing green color as Toothless's, but at the moment, they were bloodshot and bleary. Stoick was not a morning person, and couldn't function without his daily jug of coffee. Even then, the fog that seemed to surround him didn't lift until almost noon.
Hence, Stoick trudged right past his son and his new dragon without a single comment, except for the single grunt that passed for Good Morning on his better days.
Then he poured himself a huge mug of black coffee and leaned against the sink to slurp from it, his eyes half closed in pleasure.
Aroused by Stoick's rather loud entrance, Toothless lifted his head and narrowed his eyes at the strange creature invading his territory. He growled.
That got Stoick's attention. He glanced up from his coffee to find a the little dragon glaring at him suspiciously with his teeth bared and a growl rising once more in his throat. Toothless had moved in front of Hiccup and spread his wings protectively.
Carefully, Stoick set his coffee down on the counter. His eyes flickered from the dragon to his wife and back to the dragon.
"Valka?" he said warily.
"Stoick, you remember the egg Hiccup found?" Valka smiled brightly as if everything were fine.
"Yes," Stoick said slowly.
"Well…" his wife trailed off and looked meaningfully at Toothless.
"That was today?" Hiccup's father said a bit stupidly, still trying to penetrate his morning fog.
"Yes, it was," Valka said as she slowly got to her feet and went to stand beside her husband. "Stoick, meet Toothless."
Toothless growled again. Hiccup placed a hand on the dragon's back, trying to calm him. Toothless turned his head and gave him a questioning look. Hiccup shook his head.
"It's okay Bud," he said soothingly. "That's just my dad."
The dragon glanced at this giant of a man, then back at the scrawny boy that was Hiccup. He cocked his head to one side. Really? His expression said clearly.
"Hey!" Hiccup protested indignantly. His mother chuckled. She could read the dragon just as easily as her son.
"He is my dad," Hiccup said pointedly to the dragon, "And he isn't dangerous. Dad," he said, addressing Stoick. "Give him a fish."
Stoick wasn't afraid of dragons, not anymore. But he wasn't as skilled with them as his wife, or even his son, and he knew to be wary. Cautiously, he crouched down and offered the Night Fury a small fish.
Toothless gave him another once over; then, deeming him safe, the dragon slinked forward, stretched his neck out, and snapped his mouth shut.
"OOOWWWW!" Stoick yelled. Toothless had bitten down on his finger instead of the fish.
Valka and Hiccup could only gawk and try to contain their laughter as Stoick jumped around the kitchen, trying to dislodge the little black dragon from his finger, cursing the whole time.
Finally, after making at least two rounds of the kitchen, Toothless lost his grip and was flung across the room and into Hiccup, knocking him to the floor.
Toothless shook himself and hid behind Hiccup, who was looking on with startled expression as Stoick waved his finger around and cursed a little more. Valka couldn't help it. She burst out laughing.
Stoick looked offended, but he couldn't say anything, as he had his injured finger in his mouth. Valka saw his expression and quickly collected herself.
She opened her mouth, possibly to apologize, possibly to start laughing again, but was interrupted by an insistent tapping at the window.
Tap. Tap tap, tap. Tap. Tap.
Bjorn, the family owl, hovered just outside the window. He was a midget of a screech owl, his feathers patchy and ragged with age. He clutched at least half a dozen envelopes in his beak.
Quickly, Valka opened the window and let him in. Bjorn dropped the post onto the table before perching on a chair and tucking his head under his wing, exhausted from his journey.
"Get yourself a bandage Stoick," Valka said as she sat down at the table. Hiccup scrambled up from the floor to sit at the table. Toothless followed him, perching on the back of the chair next to Bjorn's. Both watched intently as Hiccup's mother began going through the mail.
There was a letter from Hiccup's Aunt Hildegard and Uncle Spitelout.
A bill.
A coupon for a month subscription to The Daily Prophet. Valka took one disgusted look at this one and threw it into the fireplace.
Another bill.
And, a heavy yellowed envelope, with their address written in emerald script.
Mr. H. Haddock
The House
Haddock Dragon Training
Berk
Norway
Valka froze, and her eyes widened. Hesitantly, she turned the letter over, to find a purple seal bearing a lion, a raven, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter H.
"Stoick," she said.
Her husband ignored her, engaged as he was in bandaging his finger. Toothless's teeth had sunken fairly deep and left red divots in the flesh.
"Stoick," she repeated, louder this time.
"What?" he asked without looking at her. He had part of the bandage in his teeth as he tried to wrap it around his finger..
"It's from Hogwarts!" Valka said, her voice beginning to rise with excitement.
Still Stoick refused to look at her.
To fix that, Valka swatted him on the arm.
"What?" He said, finally sparing her a glance. Then he saw the letter in her hand, which his wife was currently waving under his nose.
"Oh," he said.
Valka rolled her eyes and handed the letter to Hiccup. He took it cautiously, as if it was liable to explode.
He couldn't have gotten into Hogwarts, could he? There was no way. But here was the evidence right before him. Hiccup couldn't help but hope.
Carefully, he broke the seal and opened the envelope, his heart pounding with trepidation.
Unfolding the letter, Hiccup read:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
Of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Nicholas North
(Order of Merlin, First Class, High Wizard of The Northern Pole)
Dear Mr. Haddock ,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl no later than July 31.
Yours Sincerely,
Bunnymund E. Aster,
Deputy Headmaster
Dumbstruck, Hiccup looked up from his letter to his parents expectant faces.
"I got in," he said in disbelief.
Stoick let out a whoop. Valka hugged Hiccup and kissed him on the cheek. His father came around the table and gave him a pat on the back that almost knocked him from his chair. Toothless tried to eat the letter.
"What's today's date?" Valka asked suddenly.
"The seventeenth, I think," Hiccup answered a bit distractedly. He was a bit busy trying to prevent his dragon from shredding his letter.
"We've got plenty of time, Val," Stoick assured her. He glanced at the weary screech owl. "Let Bjorn have his rest."
Valka nodded, reassured.
"We'd best head to Diagon Alley soon to get Hiccup's school supplies," Stoick continued thoughtfully.
"In a few days," Valka said, watching her son and his dragon. Toothless had moved past craving the letter and was now trying to chew Hiccup's fur vest. Gently detaching the Night Fury, Hiccup offered Toothless another fish instead, which the dragon, of course, wolfed down immediately. Hiccup laughed as the dragon climbed onto his shoulders, sniffing his hair, hoping to find more fish there.
"They need to bond a little," she continued. "After that, we can leave Toothless with Cloudjumper for a few hours with no problems."
"What about when he goes off to school? Will the dragon miss him?" Stoick asked.
His wife frowned. "That might be a problem."
