Good day beautiful people! On this random, really great day, I bring you a new chapter!
Thanks to those who have reviewed. And if you have any ideas or requests, please leave a review or PM me.
Exams were coming up. And Jack wasn't ready. He'd spent most of his study time working on Quidditch instead of homework.
"I did tell you." Hiccup shrugged at breakfast the Saturday morning before exam week. "You should have done more studying."
"Thanks for reminding me." Jack groaned.
"Et's gonna beh torture!" Merida dramatically crumpled on the Ravenclaw table.
"I'm sure we'll all do fine if we try our best." Rapunzel said encouragingly.
"You'll do fine Punzie. But I'm going to have to cram to get all the ridiculous random facts in my head. Not to mention somehow have it makes sense." Jack imitated Merida's dramatic crumble.
"Have fun with that." Hiccup stood up. "I'm going to go study more. I want to be able to show my dad I got perfect marks."
"We're studying with Anna right?" Rapunzel asked Merida.
"Yea." Merida looked sympathetically at Jack. "Have fun on yer oown."
"Probably for the best." Jack shrugged. "I'll only distract you guys."
"You can come with us if you want." Rapunzel offered. That was so classic of her.
"Nah, it's fine. I'll do better on my own, I have more to catch up on anyway."
"Okay. Remember, doing your best will get you farther than a textbook." She reminded him.
"I'll keep that in mind." He chuckled.
Jack went down to the Slytherin common room. He muttered the password: "Salazar". Honestly, Merida sometimes talked about the Gryffindor passwords, they were much more interesting than Slytherin's.
Jack gathered all his books on a couch in the common room and attempted to focus on his Defense Against the Dark Arts homework. DADA was his favorite subject, and he wasn't that bad at it either. But he knew the only reason he was good at it at all was because Professor Sandman taught it. He was by far the best—not mention Jack's favorite—professor. He was one of the few professors who believed in him.
When he finished that he moved on to Potions. He wanted to get good marks in Professor Black's class. If he could do well, Black might forgive him for being disruptive at the beginning of the year. He doubted it of course, but he had his hopes.
But Jack couldn't keep track of everything. There were too many potions and way too many ingredients. He needed help. How was he expected to make a potion of Black's choosing from memory this next week if he couldn't even remember which ingredients did what?
Jack sighed in exasperation. He slammed his forehead into his Potions book. Maybe if he hit it hard enough, the knowledge would break into his brain.
"You're going to give yourself a concussion doing that."
Jack looked up to see Mavis. She was staring at him concerned.
"It hurts less than if I was trying to read it." He said.
"You should ask a Ravenclaw to tutor you." Mavis suggested. "They're always looking for someone to "help"." She used finger quotations. "But some of them are actually good teachers."
"I'll keep that in mind." Jack's eyes lit up. "Actually, I can think of the perfect person to help me. Thanks Mavis!"
"No problem." She barely had time to say the two words before Jack was out of the common room.
He ran for the library. He figured she'd be there. But he was distracted by the smell of food when he passed near the Great Hall.
"Don't tell me it's noon already." Jack gaped. He'd hardly gotten anything done.
"Oh, there you are Jack!" Rapunzel came up beside him. Merida and Anna were talking a little bit behind her. "Did you get anything done?"
"Not much." Jack admitted.
"Well, maybe I can help you a bit more after lunch?" Rapunzel asked shyly.
But Jack wasn't paying her any attention. "There she is!" He ran after a figure leaving the Great Hall. "Belle!"
She turned around. Her eyes scanned the crowd until she saw Jack.
"What can I do for you Jack? Need to find Hiccup again?" She laughed.
"No, I was actually wondering if . . . you would help me study?"
She looked surprised. "Really?"
"Yeah." Jack blushed. "I'm not really good at it. I thought you'd be good at explaining things to me. I've also heard you've helped Adam Beastmen. People say he's one of the best in the Gryffindor fifth year class because of you."
At the mention of Adam, her face flushed. "I don't know if I can explain it in ways you'll understand. Adam is the only one I've ever helped."
"We're both Quidditch players, so I'm sure our minds work similar. Please Belle? Anyone else wouldn't be good enough."
She looked slightly touched. "Well, I guess if you want my help that bad."
"Really? Thanks!" Jack beamed.
"Just let me grab some of my books. I'll meet you in the library, okay?"
"Sure thing."
Belle briskly took off for the Ravenclaw tower. Jack stood there grinning, he'd gotten her to say yes.
"Did you just flatter her into helping you?" Rapunzel asked behind him.
He shrugged. "Flattery is a Ravenclaw's greatest weakness. And I really need her help."
"That was really impressive." Anna said in admiration. She and Merida had joined Rapunzel. "You, a first year, flattered a Ravenclaw prefect into helping you study."
"More than tha'." Merida huffed. "Don'cha know Adam an' Belle are together?"
"I had probably heard it somewhere." Jack smirked.
Rapunzel and Merida rolled their eyes. Jack ran off for the library. But he quickly doubled back.
"I think I should grab some food first." He decided. Causing the girls to laugh.
Anna randomly gasped. She pointed. "Merida look there he is! I wanna talk to him, walk over with me."
So Anna dragged Merida away to go talk to Hans Southland.
"You might want to eat fast, Belle won't take too long." Rapunzel suggested.
"Yeah probably. You wanna walk to the library with me?" Jack asked.
"Sure." Rapunzel chirped.
Jack took a second to grab a roll and some cheese from the Great Hall, then he and Rapunzel set out for the library.
"So," Rapunzel started, "do you know which electives you want to take next year?"
"I won't have time for electives. I'll be too busy with Quidditch." Jack said through a mouthful of bread.
"You do realize you're not on the team yet." She giggled.
"But I'll make it. I'm going to practice all summer. Hiccup is even going to visit in July to help me." He grinned.
"Do you think Hiccup will tryout for Ravenclaw's team?" She inquired.
"Nah, he doesn't want to. He'd rather take Care for Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes." Jack shrugged. "It would be fun to play against him for real though."
"Oh, Jack." Belle called from a distance. She was walking over to them. "I didn't know what you wanted help with, so I brought all my first year books."
"Have fun. I'm going to save Merida." Rapunzel joked.
"See you at dinner." Jack paused. "Or maybe at breakfast tomorrow. This could take a while."
Rapunzel laughed. With a swish of her golden hair, she turned back.
Jack watched her go. He gazed as her hair danced above the floor.
"Ready?" Belle asked beside him.
He blinked back to attention. "Ready."