Okay, here's the second chapter. I'm thinking of uploading all the chapters already written as one a day, and the others whenever they get finished. I'll warn you now, I'm not setting an update schedule, 'cos all I do is fail to meet it. It'll be updated when it is.
Thanks to bug349 for reviewing Chapter One - this chapter is now dedicated to you :D
Enjoy!
The next morning saw the Guardians gathered under the (now broken) skylight. Although North, Tooth and Sandy looked excited about what was coming, the others didn't share their sentiments. Bunny looked relatively bored, as though this happened every day. Meanwhile Jack looked incredibly nervous, although he was hiding it well.
The Guardian of Fun was stood over his image on the floor, waiting for the Man in the Moon to make him visible. Despite his nerves, he couldn't help but feel excited at the prospect of being seen. He gazed up at the moon, which was always visible from the pole, in expectation.
With no warning whatsoever, he found himself blinded by bright white light. It surrounded him in its misty glow, making his skin tingle. He was dimly aware of the others talking around him, but he couldn't tell what they were saying. Just as the light was getting too much to bear, it shut off.
"Whoa…" he muttered. "What… What just happened?"
"I think Manny just made you visible," North told him.
Jack looked down at his hands, examining them as though something must have changed. After all, being visible was a life-altering event, yet his body didn't seem any different.
"We're going to drop you off in London today," Tooth told him excitedly. "And then you can stay with the people you'll be at school with!"
The teenager felt his heart clench at those words, anticipating the loneliness he knew was coming. Although he hated to admit it, he'd become attached to the Guardians in the five months since their battle with Pitch. He found himself appreciating all their annoying habits, as though they were his family. Even Bunny – although he'd never say that aloud.
"And one of the ladies staying there – Molly Weasley, I think it was – will be able to help teach you how to read and write. Apparently she home-schooled all her children."
Looking at their sincere faces, Jack couldn't help but feel they were somehow mocking him. "I can read and write!" he objected. "Just not very well..."
Tooth's face fell. "We don't mind Jack, honestly. It doesn't make any difference to us."
He gave her a small smile. "If you say so…"
"Off to sleigh!" North proclaimed, shattering the emotional moment.
Jack felt himself being grabbed by the huge man and dragged towards the sleigh room.
"Hey!" he cried. "I can walk, you know!"
North just laughed and continued to drag the spirit down the halls. Once he reached the sleigh, he clapped for the yetis to bring out the reindeer. Snorting and rearing, the beasts were led to their places and attached to the sleigh.
"Everyone in!" he proclaimed.
Wrenching himself from North's grip, Jack jumped into the sleigh eagerly, followed by Tooth and Sandy. Bunny looked apprehensively at the sleigh.
"Uh… I'll meet you there, mate-" he began, but North's booming laugh cut him off.
"You don't even know where we going!" He reached out and grabbed Bunny, flinging him unceremoniously into the back.
Jack snickered at Bunny as he dug his claws into the woodwork. "Scared, Cottontail?"
"Ah, shut up Frostbite."
Without any hesitation, the Guardian of Wonder raised the reigns, bringing them down and sending the reindeer running down the tunnel. Jack laughed aloud as they began looping around icicles, spending more than half the time upside-down. The cold air rushed past him, forcing his permanently messy hair to smooth out across his head. Looking behind him he could see Tooth and Sandy grinning, and Bunny holding on for dear life.
All of a sudden, the rush of air stopped, accompanied by a slight feeling of weightlessness. Gazing around, Jack realised they'd left the ice tunnel, and were now soaring through the arctic air. There was no wind to so much as ruffle his hair, but he knew they were moving far faster than any airplane could.
Below him, he saw that they were now crossing the Arctic Ocean. He could make out grey shapes rising and falling from the water, and smiled. Even if he couldn't fully see them, he knew they were dolphins, like the ones Sandy's dream sand would always make for him.
After only a minute or two, land appeared beneath them. Jack recognised it from his travels as the tip of Norway. He sighed. They were nearly there. He guessed only Bunny would be pleased about leaving the sleigh.
He looked up at the morning sky as he felt them begin to descend over England. In a way, he should be excited. Not only was he going to be in England in August – which was unheard of – but people would be able to see him. He might even make friends. But he wondered whether it was worth leaving all the Guardians and Jamie.
Stop it, he told himself. You're here to protect a child. Just do your job and you can go home.
"We're here," North announced, pulling Jack from his thoughts. He looked up, past the obviously relieved Bunny, and to a row of houses. He felt a little disappointed. He was told it was a school of magic, so why did the houses look so normal? Although Number 12 did look a little creepy compared to the others.
"Ah!" came a voice from near them. Jack turned to see an old man, looking older than North, although he was fairly sure that wasn't possible, walking towards them. The man seemed completely unaware of the sleigh, fairy, giant rabbit or golden man beside them, instead focussed solely on North and Jack.
"Nice to see you again, Nicholas," he said, smiling. "And this must be Jack?"
Jack nodded. "Nice to meet you." He felt strange, being so polite, but something about the man seemed important enough to warrant it.
"I am Albus Dumbledore, a good friend of your uncle," the man told him.
Uncle? Jack wondered, but decided not to comment. If North had lied to get him in, he wasn't going to ruin it.
"But we should talk more inside. Here," he handed Jack a slip of paper. "Read this."
Jack looked down and read. The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London. He looked at it in confusion. What was the Order of the Phoenix? And why did he need to know where it was?
Dumbledore, seeing that he had finished, took the paper off him. "Now we can go inside."
Jack and North were led to Number 12, the others following behind. Taking a quick look to his companion, Jack was somewhat relieved to notice that he looked as confused as Jack felt. He had to niggling feeling that they weren't supposed to be able to see the house until they read the note, but that just led to more questions.
Dumbledore pushed open the door, motioning for them to be quiet. They tiptoed along the corridor – or at least, tried. North more shuffled along, attempting to be quiet.
They had almost made it to the single black door at the end when it happened. North sidestepped to avoid a coat hook on the wall, and stumbled back into a cabinet, making it knock into the wall loudly, the sound echoing through the house. Almost immediately, the curtains over a portrait near Jack's head flew open. An inhuman screeching filled the area, and Jack clutched his ears. He didn't know whether it was just his proximity, but he couldn't make out a word it said. All he could hear was the noise. He felt a hand on his shoulder, gently pushing him out the way, and then it stopped.
He looked up to see a man with messy black hair panting, a wooden stick in his hand pointed at the now closed curtains. Someone said something to him, but his ears were still ringing. After a few moments, his hearing seemed to clear.
"Are you alright?" A woman was stood in front of him. Something about her had a motherly feel, and he assumed this was the Molly Weasley Tooth had mentioned.
"Yeah," he gave a grin. "I'm fine. What was that?"
"Nothing important," she told him, obviously relieved. "Come and sit down, and we'll get you a drink."
He found himself being led into a kitchen with a huge table in the middle. At the woman's gesture, he sat himself down on the wooden bench. If the sudden bending of the wood underneath him was anything to go by, North had just sat beside him. Dumbledore sat opposite, and about four other people sat around them. Tooth, Bunny and Sandy had seemingly realised that they couldn't be seen and stood awkwardly in the corner.
"What drinks would everyone like?" probably-Molly-Weasley asked the group.
"Just a coffee please, Molly," Dumbledore said, and everyone nodded.
"Can I just have water, please?" Jack asked.
Molly looked at him in surprise. "But it's so cold this time of year! Are you sure you don't want a hot chocolate?"
Jack inwardly shuddered at the mention of the hot drink. "No thanks."
As Molly turned her back to them to begin preparing drinks, Dumbledore turned to Jack and North. "I believe introductions are in order. As you know, I am Albus Dumbledore. This," he gestured to Molly, "is Molly Weasley."
The man with shaggy dark hair from before took this as his cue. "I'm Sirius Black." Jack exchanged glances with North at this. Black, as in Pitch Black?
The person next to him, a man with scruffy clothes looking almost as pale as Jack, but without the abundant energy, went next. "I'm Remus Lupin."
A third man curled his lip when it was evident it was his turn. "Severus Snape."
The last person left, a cheerful looking woman with bright pink hair smiled at them. "And I'm Tonks."
Jack wondered why she only had one name, but, then again, he used to have two surnames, so he couldn't really comment.
"Well I'm Nicholas North," said the booming voice beside him, only stumbling slightly on the missing out of the 'Saint'.
"Uh…" began Jack, aware that all eyes were on him – and very uncomfortable about it. "I'm Jack Frost."
"Like the myth?" asked Lupin curiously.
Jack attempted a grin. "Yeah." He held his breath, waiting for someone to become suspicious, but they just shrugged it off.
"Cool name," said Sirius.
Molly came over with the drinks, and handed them out. Jack took a quick sip of the water, cautious not to hold it for too long. He didn't need a glass of ice right now.
Dumbledore looked round at his group's faces before turning to North. "I think it would be useful if you explained why Jack and yourself are here to the others. Now, however, I must take my leave."
"Aren't you staying for lunch?" asked Molly.
Dumbledore smiled. "I'm afraid not. I have a lot of preparing to do for this year."
After the man had left, everyone's eyes turned to North. He sighed. "A few days ago, my sister told me that she wanted to send Jack here to a better school. I already knew Dumbledore, so I asked if Jack could go to Hogwarts, and he agreed. We were told that Jack could stay here until school began to get used to England."
"Ah, yes," Molly said. "Dumbledore told me that there was a new student in Ron's year. He also said I was to give him lessons?"
Jack's cheeks turned slightly blue. "Uh… yeah."
"Don't be embarrassed dear," Molly told him.
"Well," North coughed. "I'll be taking my leave now as well." He turned to Jack. "Goodbye, I'm sure I'll see you for the next holiday."
North turned around and began to leave, the other Guardians following. Before they reached the door to the corridor, however, Jack called after them.
"Bye!"
They turned and smiled. Tooth gave a small wave before they walked out to the corridor, considerably more cautious than before.
As the door swung shut, Jack resumed his seat at the table. For some reason, he felt a pang of loneliness with their absence. Don't be silly, he told himself. You've been without them for centuries; a few months won't make much difference.
As much as he wanted that to be true, he knew that he'd bonded enough with the Guardians that these next months would be worse than the past three hundred years. That is, unless he made friends with some of the kids – who could see him! – at this school.
Lupin glanced at the clock. "It's nearly ten o'clock. The kids should be down soon."
Jack felt nervous. He wasn't exactly used to meeting new people – most of the time they couldn't even see him anyway.
"I'm sure you'll all be good friends!" Molly told him cheerfully.
He could hear the thundering of footsteps on the stairs now, no doubt eager for their breakfast. Then the twist of the doorknob, and it swung open.
