hey everyone! If you didn't know, the first chapter was kind of like... an 'informant' chapter, so we could jump right in to the action. The character I've introduced in this chapter is the granddaughter of Professor Lupin. I know it doesn't really work with the Harry Potter books/movies but she has an important role in the story (plus I wanted her to be someone's descendant, y'know?) Let me know what you think of her... I like her so far, but we're going to get much deeper into her character (and all the others ;) hehe) later.
If you're worried that she's going to impose on 'The Big Four' concept, don't fret, The Big Four is still the main plot and structure of this fanfic. I'll be getting more into Hiccup and Merida in the next few chapters, so get ready, Merricup fans! :)
anyway, comment, or PM me, and enjoy!
Even though it had only been early into the AM that the three had come back, they still failed to slip into the deep sleep they were hoping to. They had been kept awake by the everlasting worry that they'd be caught, that they'd left something behind and whatever it had been was just enough to tie them to the constant 'what if's were the things that kept them up.
It wasn't until she heard her house mates waking did Rapunzel start to realize the real weight of the situation.
The Dragon could hurt someone else, could kill them and it would be all their fault. Someone was bound to go walking into those woods and fall into the path of the Night Fury they had released. Hiccup heavily stressed what type of dragon they had let out when they'd come back to the castle, mentioning more than a few times 'fire and death', but Rapunzel was too distracted with her own shock to really grasp what he had been saying.
Whatever it had been, it was dangerous and they had released it into the world.
"Rapunzel," Greta - her roommate - had said as she still lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. "You feelin' alright?"
"Ah, y-yeah," Rapunzel chuckled, sitting up, "I'm just a little tired."
There came the pensive look Greta always gave when she knew something was wrong, but she said nothing of her suspicions and only nodded. "Well, you better get ready. They're calling a meeting."
Rapunzel's heart fell into her stomach, "Who's 'they'?"
Greta pushed her black hair away into a ponytail as she talked, her straight bangs fell over her eyebrows concealing her expression, "Y'know, them. As in the head honchos. All the professors and headmistress McGonagall. Must be something big."
Rapunzel's heart began to race and she tugged at a lock of her long, blonde hair. Fear was slowly climbing its way into her chest. Her, Hiccup and Merida were going to be expelled, for sure.
"Also," Greta continued and ripped Punz out of her thoughts, "That new kid in Slytherin… John? Jason? Something like that - he's supposed to be in our Potions class."
"H-How do you know wll this?" Rapunzel questioned innocently.
"Never underestimate me, Punz," Greta said with a wink and a smirk. She turned from the mirror and lightly punched Rapunzel in the shoulder. "I can find out anything."
It was supposed to be playful banter, but at the moment it didn't seem that playful to Rapunzel.
Greta was right, however. Born pureblood, Greta Lupin was one of the smartest, slyest people Rapunzel knew - but not in a bad way. Many people mistook her for a Slytherin, but anyone who knew Greta realized that she was most definitely a Hufflepuff. She was quiet and introverted, but when she was provoked she was boundless. Punz was one of the only people she talked to, and she held a place in her heart for her blonde-haired friend.
Greta had a tendency to find out things she probably didn't need to know. She made a point to befriend Prefects and teachers for 'a future need', but secretly Rapunzel believed that Greta just liked people, as much as she didn't like to admit it. It was almost like Greta sniffed out trouble. For example, last year she'd suspected someone was sabotaging Quidditch brooms before all of the games. Her friend Albus had been hurt when his broom had thrown him into one of the Ravenclaw stands. Determined, Greta used her befriending techniques on one of the Prefects and got him to give her the Broom Room's key. Additionally she found out which students went missing every night before the competitions and which ones were receiving better scores during the plays. When she thought she'd found out who it was, the night before the games she locked herself inside the Broom Room and waited. When the suspect showed up, it went into an all-out duel.
Greta ended up with a bruised rib and the Slytherin was expelled - after he got out of the infirmary.
For these reasons, Rapunzel was afraid of what Greta could find out. The girl was ingenious and intimidating, but more than anything she was a friend and Rapunzel hoped that this fact would override any future suspicions that Greta may have - or already had.
Rapunzel pulled on her uniform and slipped on her robes. She wondered what Hiccup and Merida were doing right now, how they were feeling, if they were okay. She sure wasn't. Part of her wanted to just come clean to Greta right now, but the thought of expulsion hurt more than the guilt.
The meeting was in the dining hall, which seemed fitting for the morning. Talk about a ferocious dragon of death over breakfast. What fun. Greta had offered to walk with Rapunzel, but she'd refused by making an excuse about meeting up with Hiccup and Merida. This only half of a lie, she was supposed to meet up with them but not exactly at that particular time.
Punz thought that Greta hadn't noticed her spacey behavior, but she was wrong. Lupin did notice.
Rapunzel walked slowly down the west hallway, her mind spun like a top with the negative outcomes of the incident that had occurred just hours before. She didn't like lying, she really didn't like lying, but she had to be brave, like Hiccup and Merida.
"Jack Frost!" a shrill voice screamed.
A door opened just ahead and a flash of white and green tumbled into the hall. It caught itself before the fall and turned its wide, laughing smile back to the door. A book was thrown and the flash dodged it. It clunked to the floor as another one came flying.
"Do not ever come back into this classroom, you bloody tosser!" Another book flew and at long last, a wand.
The flash (which was now evidently a boy, a Slytherin boy to be exact) caught it before it hit the ground and laughed as if it was all a big game. "Alright, alright," he chuckled as the door slammed, "Was fun while it lasted." He didn't notice the blonde-haired girl that stood just a few feet away from him and only leaned down to pick up his books. All the pages had been folded after they'd been tossed face down to the floor, with their covers spread out like wings.
It irked Punz that the pages were folding in the way that they were, books needed to be taken care of, not thrown like penniless objects. In sympathy Rapunzel drifted over and picked up one of the volumes. She delicately unfolded its inner pages and closed it.
Jack hadn't noticed Punz until he bent down to pick up another book and caught sight of her bare, pink toes. He almost laughed to himself before he lifted his face and saw a girl attempting to hand him his assigned plant Encyclopedia.
"Here," she said and offered a sweet smile.
Jack was taken aback by her gesture at first, but then smirked. "Barefoot." he said.
"What?"
"You're barefoot." the white-haired boy repeated.
In response, Rapunzel looked down to find that indeed, she was. A sigh left her lips and she smiled at him again. "I always forget my shoes."
"And socks?" Jack jested. It reminded him of himself.
Rapunzel chuckled. "Yeah, I don't get out much so I like to feel the grass on my feet."
The white-haired boy smiled and took the book from her. "Isn't it a bit dangerous to walk around without any shoes?"
Rapunzel shrugged innocently, "I'd think getting hit with a book from a teacher would be a bit more dangerous."
Jack laughed lightly as they began walking together, "Well you know, teachers don't really like it when you freeze their cats."
Rapunzel gasped. "You froze her car? That's horrible!"
Jack looked back, she'd stopped in the middle of the hall and stared at him with wide eyes. He smirked. "Well who do you think you're talking to, I'm a Slytherin after all."
Rapunzel's eyes narrowed in a pouty face. "Being a Slytherin doesn't mean you have to do bad things."
Jack's smirk fell as he looked at her, all serious and stoic. "Everyone else here seems to think otherwise."
Rapunzel softened and stared at him. She definitely would have recognized that white hair had she seen it before, but she didn't. "Are you the new student?"
Jack turned to face her fully and did a half bow with a smirk, "A pleasure to make your acquaintance." he said.
"Oh," Rapunzel said, but just as soon as it left her mouth it was followed by another, more excited "Oh!" She jumped up and down in enthusiasm and clapped her hands. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Rapunzel."
Jack watched as she raced up to him and thrust her hand forward to shake. He raised an eyebrow and shook it. She was by far… quirky. "Jack, Jack Frost."
Rapunzel looked down at his hand and her eyebrows furrowed.
"I know, I know. I'm cold. I just have… a low body temperature." he said.
Punz stared at him for a minute before she sighed and smiled. "How are you enjoying Hogwarts so far?"
"Oh y'know, besides the uptight teachers, crazy prison rules and biased students, it's pretty great." His voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Well, I for one think it's nice here," she said. "I think you'll like it more once you meet some friends."
"Yeah, I'm more of a lone wolf, if you know what I mean." Jack leered at her and showed his front teeth.
"Well, you don't have a choice here at Hogwarts." She sniggered.
"Is that so?" Jack asked.
"You'll just have to consider me your first friend - even if you did freeze Mrs. Filch's cat." Rapunzel said.
Admiration rose in Jack's gut. "Okay then, Rapunzel. You're my first friend… but just so you know, I did unfreeze her cat before she - y'know kicked me out."
"Why were you in there anyway?"
"She was helping me with my new schedule. Potions is my third period but I've heard the teacher is a jer-"
"That's my third period too!" Punz said with excitement.
Jack chuckled. "Cool."
Rapunzel grinned and they continued to walk. She mentioned something half to herself about how similar to him Hiccup had been when she'd first met him. How he considered himself to be alone, but was one of the nicest people she'd ever met.
"Hiccup?" Jack asked in interest.
Rapunzel's eyes lit up as she remembered her friends. "Yes, Hiccup. He's my best friend. He's super smart and likes dragons and invents things, Oh! And Merida she's really good at archery and she plays Quidditch and-" she remembered last night, and Mistress McGonagall's meeting with all the students. The guilt and worry started coming back again.
Jack noticed her sudden change in attitude and became concerned, "You, okay?"
"Ah, y-yeah I just… there's a meeting with all the students today at the dining hall so we should probably get to it."
Jack grimaced, "With all the students?"
Rapunzel nodded and began to walk in the direction of the dining hall. Jack followed reluctantly. So much for the lone wolf title.
"So… do you know what the meeting is about?" Jack asked as he picked up the pace.
Punz felt the air leave her lungs and she looked away, "No, but my friend Greta thinks it's something big."
"Sounds like you're a popular person, with your friends and all."
She chuckled nervously, "I guess you could call it that. Everyone here is wonderful." her eyes twinkled as she grinned, "It's beautiful here. I like the sun, especially at the beginning of the year. When it shines through the Forbidden forest it's amazing. I especially like watching the moon at night. Seeing it from the towers is my favorite thing."
Jack smiled at the mention of his dear old friend Manny.
"When it snows though," Rapunzel drew in a breath, "It's so gorgeous outside. I love everything about this place."
Jack was almost surprised at the way she talked about snow. He liked it too and he'd been here a few times before to deliver the snow package - he'd never seen her before though. He was sure he'd notice someone with such long golden hair.
"Yeah," he said, "I'm not much of a summer person."
"I like the spring." Rapunzel said giddily, "All the flowers and the green grass. The animals too, just wonderful. I have a chameleon - Pascal - I bring him with me to a lot of places, but I'm not allowed to bring him to class." she frowned.
"A girl with hair to her ankles who owns a chameleon. You really are weird Rapunzel."
Punz chewed on her lip as they made it to their destination. Students stood around anxiously in the dining hall - having yet to take their places at their tables. As Rapunzel and Jack made their way through the crowd, the voices that had been loud just moments before turned to whispers.
Jack was new, so he was immediately subject to things like that. Moreover, he was a Slytherin. To the students of Hogwarts, that was like candy.
A smirk appeared on his lips as he watched their eyes and reactions. Kids. He thought to himself in annoyance.
"Rapunzel!" Merida bounded up with Hiccup close behind her, the looks on their faces turned to fear when they witnessed Jack standing behind her. "Who's tha'?"
"This is, um," Punz glanced back nervously, "This is Jack. He's the new student."
Merida glowered at the site of his black and green robes, "An he's ah Slytherin?"
Jack looked down at his clothes and then back at the fire-haired girl. A tinge of annoyance shot through him. How could someone as nice as Rapunzel be friends with this girl? She didn't even try to talk directly to him either, she just growled something passive at Rapunzel as if he wasn't there.
"He's nice," Rapunzel said in defense, "Slytherins can be nice."
Hiccup tried to break the tension building between Merida and Jack by introducing himself. "I'm Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, it's nice to meet you."
"Cool name." Jack said with a smile as he shook his hand.
"I'm straight from viking descent. Best dragon fighters around." Hiccup beamed as he jabbed a thumb at himself.
Jack already liked this kid. He was a nerd, but the best kind of nerd. Despite what he'd thought before these kids seemed alright - except for the redhead.
"Rapunzel," Merida whispered to her golden-headed best friend as the boys continued to talk. "We need tah discuss theh issue with theh' Night Fury."
A shiver ran down her spine. "Er, I'm um, sure it can wait. We should befriend the new kid first before we-"
"Och! Rapunzel I'm not havin' thes with yeh toda-"
"Everyone take your seats!" A fairly angry Professor McGonagall shouted.
At the sound of her voice, everyone was shocked into action. Students spread out like mice. Jack waved a goodbye to Rapunzel and headed for the people dressed in his robes, Hiccup awkwardly stalked over to the Ravenclaw's table and Merida shot Rapunzel a frustrated look as she bounded off to the other Gryffindors.
Rapunzel walked over to her table and was quickly waved over by Greta. A look of vexation tensed her eyebrows just behind her bangs. Rapunzel figured it was just due to the students calling her a Slytherin again, but as she got closer she realized that it was more of a look of worry than discontent. Punz was too afraid to ask what was wrong.
"As some of you may know, last night a Dragon was let out of the arens." McGonagall was angry - very angry actually. Almost shaking.
Murmurs erupted into the dining hall, rippling through the house tables.
"The dragon that has been let out is dangerous, the Monstrous Night Fury."
Gasps leapt into the air.
"This particular dragon was being held in the arena for further study. But the students, we believe to be two or three in number, let it go."
Rapunzel's eyes met with Hiccup's across the room, and then with Merida's.
"If anyone, knows anything about the culprits we order you to come forward. This matter is life or death, and the people responsible will be expelled immediately."
Rapunzel curled her hand into a fist and stared at the food on the table. Life or death?
"Teachers are working on finding the beast and capturing it as soon as possible, but for the time being anyone found in the Forbidden forest will lose house privileges and points automatically." McGonagall paced the floor, her robes flowing behind her as she walked. Her hat tipped elegantly over her hair. She watched the students for a guilty or afraid look. She waited for someone to come forward, when no one did she spoke. "Very well. All houses lose thirty points. Curfew starts at six o'clock PM now, and anyone found violating these rules will be punished appointedly."
An uprising of yells and groans erupted from the audience. Students screamed vulgar language and pushed food off tables. Kids started throwing accusations at each other and someone whipped out a spell, It sent a bowl of potato chips flying into the crowd. One kid from Slytherin threw a shoe at a Gryffindor. Teachers shouted and tried to rangle the kids to stop. Prefects tried to calm their houses but failed.
Rapunzel looked at Greta, who merely watched the crowd stoically.
In in instant there was a great light that exploded into the room. Many students had to cover their eyes to avoid the blinding white that expanded in such an intense second.
Minerva Mcgonagall stood, her wand poised straight up into the air as if she shot the ceiling with Stupify. Her eyes narrowed as the silence crept across the room. She trembled with fury.
"I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in my school!" she screamed.
Everyone was in shock and only looked at each other in nervousness.
After a tense minute with just her eyes glaring into the souls of her pupils, she spoke. "There will be no Hogsmeade trips this weekend. No one is to leave the school unless accompanied by another student or teacher, you will only leave the castle to get to your classes, no exceptions."
"This is bad." Hiccup whispered as him, Merida and Rapunzel walked passed the men's bathroom and slid into the woman's. Nobody came in here, because of Moaning Myrtle. Everyone just used the boy's, so the trio came here to be alone on the regular.
"Och! Hiccup this is all yer fault!" Merida spat.
"My fault? You guys should've shut the door!" Hiccup snapped back.
"Guys stop!" Punz pushed herself between them. "Okay you need to keep your voices down, and now is not the time for us to be arguing about this. Besides, maybe he won't attack anyone?" she said hopefully.
"Rapunzel yer an airhead." Merida stated in annoyance.
Hiccup looked puzzled, "No, I think she's right. I got it with the net, and if it's all caught up like that it's not going to be rushing to attack anyone."
Rapunzel gave Merida her winning face.
"For now we've just got to lie low." he said.
"Well thas not gonna be easy." his fire-haired best friend stated.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Are yeh forgettin' that Punz is roommates with Greta Lupin? As in Broom Room Greta Lupin? Knowin' her she's probably already on to us." Merida crossed her arms in defiance and looked to Hiccup for an answer. He had none.
"Greta is my friend," Punz said sternly, "She'd never do anything to put me in a bad position."
"Och please Punz, theh girl might as well be a Slytherin. She does things fer herself and you know it."
Rapunzel looked at Merida and then back at Hiccup, "Slytherins aren't bad people." she said.
Merida and Hiccup rolled their eyes. "We know." they said in unison.
"For now, let's just enjoy the time we have with each other." Rapunzel stated.
"What time? With all these rules we cannae do anythin'. Ah want mah freedom." Merida hissed as she gazed through the window and into the woods with her intense blue eyes.
"Hey!" Rapunzel gasped in excitement, making the other two jump. "Speaking of Slytherin, we should invite Jack to have lunch with us."
Merida grimaced and looked away, stating she would never 'have lunch with a Slytherin'. This received the same words Punz always used whenever someone said anything bad about that house.
Hiccup shrugged, "He seems pretty cool."
Merida laughed, "Well of course yeh like someone like him. Yer all… This." she waved her hand in his direction.
"You just gestured to all of me." he said in response.
"Awe, wee lamb." Merida pouted sarcastically, as if she'd hurt his feelings. She threw her arm around him and nudged him with her hip. "Theh weakest of all theh best dragon fightin' vikings is our best friend."
"I'm going to take that as a compliment." he said.
"Eh, it wasn't one." Merida retorted as Hiccup placed his arm around her shoulders.
As the silence crept in, they only stared at each other with smiles on their faces. After a few moments they turned and looked at Rapunzel, who's grin had stretched from ear to ear as she looked at them so close together. Her hands were stuck as if she was clapping and Merida instantly knew what she was thinking.
She shoved hiccup off of her and sent him to the floor with a great 'oof'. She brushed herself off and shook her hair in an attempt to conceal the redness on her cheeks. "Let's get inside." Merida said as she cleared her throat and left the restroom, Hiccup still laying with his back against the tile floor.
Rapunzel walked over to him as he stared up at the high ceiling.
"Hi, Punz." he sighed.
"Don't worry," she laughed a little, "She'll come around."
Rapunzel helped him up.
"Thanks," he said with a groan as he walked ahead, "and…" he added as he turned back to look at her, "Don't say anything to Greta that might get us caught. I… I don't want to get expelled."
Rapunzel looked at her bare feet. "Don't worry," she said, "My lips are sealed."
"Thanks." Hiccup said again and ran to catch up with Merida.
Jack Frost held his hands in his pockets as he sauntered his way down the west hall. It was empty, as everyone was probably in their rooms or hanging with friends on a Saturday such as this one. Jack took this free time to explore the castle, after all the place was huge.
He was supposed to be keeping an eye out for anything sinister, anything that could have to do with dark magic. It was just him and Bunnymund here, the others had spread out to a number of locations across the world. Tooth was in France (the lucky duck) and North was in Russia. Sandy was god-knows-where.
He sighed.
How much longer was he going to have to deal with all these rules and obligations? At least Bunny was a teacher, he got to do whatever he pleased. I'd make a wonderful professor. Jack thought to himself as he placed his hands on the back of his head. He couldn't even use his staff, how was he supposed to find out what was going on if he didn't have his staff? He had a pathetic wand, and that was all.
'Why Manny directed us to the wizarding schools, I don't know,' Jack remembered Bunny's words as if he'd heard them a million times before, 'But it's something big, something bigger than before.'
Jack closed his eyes and relaxed his shoulders. He was supposed to blend in, like a student. If he caused any of the pupils to panic, there'd eventually be disruption of order - and after order is lost, chaos. The Dragon incident two days ago was enough to make the tension rise, now he was on ultimate restriction. Do nothing to give away your cover and all will be fine.
Jack opened his eyes at the sound of faint voices that were headed toward him down the hall. In the heat of the moment, he slid into the doorway of the men's bathroom and listened intently. In truth he had no idea what it is he was doing, he was a student after all, he didn't need to hide - yet here he was… hiding.
'... that Scorpius kid is so dead!'
'... Look at the bloody knocker he gave me!'
Jack knew those voices. He'd heard them the night before in the common room. It came from Simon Willing-stead… he was the kind of kid that bragged about death threats and bad grades. Frost didn't like him, in fact a lot of people didn't. He also knew who the 'Scorpius kid' was that they were nagging on about. The kid was a quiet, introverted student that spent most of his time in the corner of the common room. He never spoke a word.
'... Did you see the look on Broom-Room's face when I snapped her wand? Bloody priceless.'
Frost furrowed his eyebrows and stepped into the hall as they passed. 'Snapped her wand'? What kind of kids were they? He clenched his teeth together and continued his way down the hall. Those kids were the reasons why people thought Slytherins were evil.
Rapunzel's words echoed in his mind, 'Not all Slytherins are bad'. She seemed like a sweet person, so did that other kid, Hiccup. The Redhead annoyed him. She always gave him sideways glances like he was a villain. He'd had lunch with them two days in a row now, and Merida's attitude to him never changed. It made everything a bit awkward.
Jack recalled the way Rapunzel always stood up for him whenever Merida said something mean. It felt good, to have someone believe in you like she did. He remembered how she was barefoot when they first met, the way she talked about the moon. She seemed so filled with wonder and happiness, but any mention of her hair and she immediately shut down. Jack eventually stopped talking about it, but there was something about her that intrigued him, something mysterious. It was like she was hiding something, and he noticed it when she talked about her friends. During lunch, he saw the way they looked at each other every once in a while.
What was it she'd said about Hiccup? He liked Dragons.
Jack almost bumped into someone who was walking particularly fast. They mumbled a small 'Excuse me' before continuing on. He watched them go and looked around. Now that he thought about it, there were quite a few kids coming his way. They were buzzing about something important he guessed.
"Jack!"
Frost spun around to face a panicked Rapunzel, she panted heavily.
'Speak of the Devil…' he thought.
"Have - you seen Merida - or Hiccup?" She gasped in between words.
"Well, no," he said, confused. "What's wrong?"
Punz looked at him with her big green eyes, worry had taken over them. They looked glazed over. "Some people got hurt, over in the courtyard."
Jack tensed. Ever since he'd become a guardian, he'd always felt an obligation to protect kids. These students weren't any different. "Show me."
Rapunzel took his hand and led him down some steps, through a hallway and finally to a courtyard crowded with students. Even when they had stopped, Punz kept his hand in hers. She was afraid, worried.
Prefect Hugo Granger-Weasley had dashed passed them in the hall, in his arms he carried a bloodied and battered Scorpius Malfoy. It was quite an incredible amount of blood, enough to stop both Jack and Punz in their tracks.
"Rapunzel!" Shouted Hiccup, Merida just on his heels as they ran up their best friend.
Punz gasped and let go of Jack so she could wrap her friends in a hug. "You guys! What happened?" she said, panicked. "Was that Scorpius?"
"Yeh," Merida said as she caught a glimpse of Jack and scowled, "Him and Greta were in the courtyard when something attacked them."
The three shared a nervous glance with each other.
"Is Greta okay?" Rapunzel asked quickly.
"Yeah, she's right over there. Won't say a word about what happened." Hiccup gestured to the black haired girl who leaned against a wall to watch Malfoy be taken away.
"She apparently saved his life by fending it off of him. That's all anyone has gotten from the situation."
Jack saw the blood that dripped from the gash on her forehead beneath her bangs and into her eyes. She wiped the scarlet that trickled from her nose too. Her face lifted and she made eye contact with him. Frost started to walk over to her, but before he could even get close she turned the corner and walked away.
"Greta is just…" Rapunzel placed a hand on his shoulder when she saw him, "She likes to be left alone."
Jack smiled at her, "Didn't I say that when we first met?"
Rapunzel looked at the ground, "Greta isn't exactly like you, Jack."
"Then what's she like?"
"Th' girl is a connivin', little devil is wot sheh is. Only does things fer herself. Ah swear she's a Slytherin." Merida snarled.
Jack clenched his jaw. He was tired of her judging people based on their houses, she judged him and everyone else, even if she didn't know them. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were one."
"Wot did yeh just say to me?" Merida stomped up to Jack until they were nose to nose.
Rapunzel looked from person to person. She knew this was going to happen eventually, it was just a matter of time.
"Forget to clean out your ears, hot-head? Or are they always filled with steam?" Jack scowled and stared into her rage-filled eyes, almost like a challenge.
"Hey guys," Hiccup said awkwardly, in an attempt to stop the fight. "You want to know something cool? My Viking ancestors lived on an island called Berk and-"
Merida silenced him as she placed her hand on his face and shoved him away. "Slytherins are bad, nasty people."
"Well if the shoe fits." Jack growled.
"Alright then, Jack Frost. Ah challenge you to a race. Tomorrow mornin', on brooms."
Jack laughed, "Alright, I'll take that challenge Hot-head."
"Oy," Someone shouted from the crowd which no one seemed to notice had gathered around them, "You don't wanna race Merida, mate."
"...She's the best around." said someone else.
"...She's the Quidditch Seeker."
Jack looked back at Merida, who crossed her arms smugly. "The winner gets what, exactly?"
"Oh, yeh'll know wot the winner gets when th' day comes, Frost-bite. It's wot the loser gets thah should be worryin' yeh." she responded with a smirk.
Jack smiled and nodded to her. "Guess you should be worrying then, eh Hot-head?"
"Guys, can't we just get along?" Rapunzel said hopefully. She smiled at both of them, her eyes puppy-like.
Jack immediately felt bad. He couldn't imagine how awkward it was for Rapunzel and Hiccup to be in the middle of this. He opened his mouth to say something like 'Yeah, you're right this is totally dumb haha' but he took one look at Merida and changed his mind.
"You're on." he said, finalizing the bet.
Punz and Hiccup groaned in response.
Both Merida and Jack stomped away in different directions, angry, excited and frustrated all at the same time.
"You know for complete opposites, they're pretty similar." Hiccup said.
"Tell me about it." Rapunzel said. She looked around and her eyes stopped scanning the courtyard when she saw a drop of blood on the pathway. It was Scorpius', from when he'd been carried away. She frowned and tugged at a loose lock of hair.
Hiccup saw.
"We should, um, visit him tomorrow. Y'know? I don't think he'll have many visitors." He smiled at Rapunzel in an attempt to console her. He knew that Scorpius wasn't much liked by people, only because his dad was Draco. He wasn't one to judge (after all he had his fair share of people who didn't like him because he was a nerd), but he thought it would make Rapunzel feel better.
"Yeah," Rapunzel smiled back at him, "You're right. He'd like that."
With that, the two best friends went their separate ways. Though the students were still buzzing about the attack, news of the Broom Race had spread like wildfire. The students gulped it up like Sunday Dinner. All the way back to the dorms Rapunzel could hear talk of Merida's big challenge in the courtyard. It irked Rapunzel that she had to hear them talk about it, she didn't want her friends to fight - but they weren't the priority at hand, not now at least.
Rapunzel entered Hogwarts' kitchen corridor, tapped on the barrel two from the bottom to the rhythm of 'Helga Hufflepuff' and the lid of the Barrel swung open. Rapunzel crawled inside and made it into the common room. It was the coziest place Punz would ever go.
The yellow sunlight let in through the high windows that had a ground-level view of the lush green grass outside. They flooded the room with a beautiful copper color that complimented the plants and rugs that were placed aesthetically throughout the room.
To her surprise it was almost empty, except for one person.
It was Greta.
"Greta." Rapunzel said and walked over to the couch where she sat.
Greta looked at her. "Hey, Punz." she responded.
She was still covered in blood - though dried now - and her shirt had been torn at the bottom. Her eyes just stared into the fire, a pensive look pressed into her forehead from beneath her bangs.
"Greta," Rapunzel repeated as she picked up a tissue from the coffee table and handed it to her. Her friend wiped the blood from her face with it, but only succeeded in smearing the dried and cracked scarlet across her cheek.
"What happened?"
"It was, um," Greta's brown eyes flashed to the common room entrance. "The Dragon." It was a lie and she didn't like it, but it was what she had to do - even if it was just Rapunzel.
Rapunzel felt her heart do a backflip and bury itself into her belly. The Dragon that they had let out did this… and her friend was hurt because of it.
Greta caught the fearful look on Punz's face and narrowed her eyes as she turned back to the flickering flames of the fireplace. Something was definitely off and she was going to find out what it was. Instead of saying anything, Greta crumpled the tissue in her fingers.
"Scorpius is hurt really bad."
"You saved him." Punz said and offered a comforting grin.
"He almost died. He's my friend, Punz. He almost died."
Rapunzel furrowed her eyebrows. "You did too."
Greta sighed and slumped down in her spot.
Punz did the same. She had been a few feet close to the Night Fury's fire blast, yeah, but to be mauled by one? She couldn't imagine it. She thought that the beast couldn't do anything… all caught up in that net. Finally, she sighed and turned to Greta.
"This is why you're a Hufflepuff," she said, "You protect your friends. You fight when provoked, just like a badger."
Greta smiled at her friend's words. "Thanks, Punz."
Everything seemed so surreal, to sit there with a blood-covered Greta and talk about a dangerous dragon. In all honesty she felt lightheaded and afraid, but she pushed it away. She had to be brave, like Merida and Hiccup… like Greta.
She took that moment to decide something, something more for herself than for anyone.
She decided that tomorrow, she'd heal Scorpius.
She'd heal him with her hair.
