Hiccup's P.O.V
The Slytherrins were a lot more arrogant that before, but that was only because they won the Quidditch House Cup. I got a lot more stares thrown my way, even with Jack by my side, but I ignored them all. Some of Jack's fangirls gave me death glares, and I smiled back at them. Hey, if you got haters, you must be doing something right!
I really expected my team to ditch me once the season was over. Not that I'm a pessimist or something, I just thought they wouldn't want to deal with a nerdy gay guy outside of the obvious reasons. But they really shocked me. I guess our team was like a family, in an odd, weird, twisted sort of way. Angel would punch my arm lightly or give me a hug whenever she saw me, and Josh would ruffle my hair and call me 'bookworm' whenever we passed in the halls. It was kind of nice to have people care, even if you didn't have anything to do with them anymore.
Like this one time, at lunch. Angel and Josh walked up to me and Jack and sat down. They smiled at us, and Angel looked like she was bubbling with joy.
"Hey bookworm," Josh said. "We wanna ask you something."
"Alright, shoot," I said.
"Do you wanna be on the team next year?" Angel asked, her eyes almost hidden because her smile was so big.
"You want me on the team next year?" I asked, blinking rapidly.
"No duh!" Josh said.
"You were amazing this year, and for being a first time flyer, it was amazing." Angel said. "We might even win next year!"
"So, waddaya say? On the team?" Josh asked, hopeful.
"Uh… yeah! Yeah, sure, definitely!" I replied.
"You'll still have to try out, but I don't think it would matter." Angel said. "No one can top you, anyway."
"Thanks!" I said.
"Well, we gotta go, but see ya later!" Josh said.
"Okay, bye!" I said. They got up and walked away.
"You think they're dating?" Jack asked, smiling at the two of them.
"Eh, most likely." I said. "I'm on the team next year… that means I got another shot at beating you!" I yelled, pointing a finger at Jack.
"You'll never defeat us!" Jack argued.
"You're the one who said that you guys won on accident!" I said.
"Oh really?" Jack asked. "Welp, I was lying. Whoops."
"You're such a dork." I said rolling my eyes.
"Look who's talking," Jack retaliated. I pushed at his shoulder lightly, and he batted me away.
Jack and I usually snuck out every night to go flying. Toothless was getting stir-crazy in the Room of Requirement, and I'm sure Bunnymund has gotten increasingly suspicious of everyone. The night flights (yes, it rhymes, deal with it) were fun. Jack always insisted we race, and when he lost, he would say some stupid excuse and "I call a rematch tomorrow!" That was fine with me though. I actually liked seeing him get mad. His face and ears got red, and it looked like he wanted to punch something with the way he clenched his hands, and that scowl he gets when he's really pissed off and he tries to hide it…
Huh? What was I talking about?
Okay, whatever. I just lost my train of thought. Way to go, Haddock.
Anyways, Lauren's been… well, a little strange, to be honest. She's had this far-off look about her, and she's off into her own little world until we have to snap her back to attention. Then she gets this smirk on her face, like she knows that something's going to happen, but she doesn't want anyone to know about it. It's… kind of freaking me out a little bit.
"What are you planning?" I asked her. She just blinked at me, as if she had no idea what I was talking about.
"Huh? I'm not… planning anything…" She said, looking away and hiding behind her hair.
"You're terrible at lying, you know that, right?" I said with a blank expression.
"I will have you know that I am not terrible at lying, thank you very much!" She said. "And look who's talking, Mr. I-Can't-Hide-Anything-From-You-Loor!"
"And you obviously suck at changing to subject," I said flatly. "You can tell me," I insisted. Seriously, it was getting on my nerves. What exactly is she trying to hide?
"I'm pregnant, okay?" she said, finally looking me in the eyes.
I just stared at her. My mouth was practically hitting the floor and my eyes were bigger then plates.
"L-Lauren, I'm…" I started to stutter. "I don't know whether I should say 'congrats' or 'I'm sorry' but… why would you-? When did you-? You and Xavier-? Oh my god…" I said, shutting myself up.
And then she started laughing. I looked at her as if she grew three other heads. She really couldn't breathe.
"I was kidding," She said. "See, told ya I could lie!" I glared at her. "And I'm offended! You really thought I was pregnant?!" She grabbed my arm and shook me a little.
"It's not that I thought you were, you just looked so serious…" I mumbled. She laughed.
"I took an acting course when I was little." She said.
"Then that's not lying," I said. "That's acting, and therefore completely different."
"Well, whatever. Acting, lying…" She said with a wave of her hand. "Practically the same thing," She gave me a smile.
"Seriously, though. What have you been thinking about?" I asked. "And don't try lying, because I know that you've been spacing out about something."
"I've just been thinking a lot lately…" Lauren said with a little sigh.
"Thinking about being pregnant with Xavier's love child?" I asked, which earning me a punch on the shoulder and a death glare from Lauren.
"No," She said. "I've been thinking about… fate, I guess."
"Fate?" I asked. "You're telling me, that you've been spacing out about fate?"
"Think about it!" She said, turning towards me and moving her hands animatedly. "Nothing is a total coincidence! It's like, there's this cloth of destiny or whatever, and we're all woven into it! And when our destinies cross, we can a whole different pattern!"
"I'm still stuck on 'cloth of destiny.'" I said seriously. She huffed, and gave me a look. "Kidding, kidding." I defended. "I… guess I know what you mean. With the whole destiny-fate thing."
"I mean, what are the odds, of all four of us spontaneously becoming friends and hooking up all in one school year?" Lauren said loudly. I rolled my eyes.
"The odds are pretty big actually," I said.
"I'm done with you," Lauren dismissed, a smile coming across her face briefly. I laughed.
Everything seemed to be looking up. But… the gods hate me, a lot actually. I think my past life gave them hell, and now they're still trying to make me pay for it or something. I wish they would stop it. It wasn't getting anyone anywhere.
It was one of those nights where Toothless, Jack and I went flying. It was a beautiful night: full moon, clear sky, every star shining brightly overhead. I marveled at it silently as we flew, and as I looked up, Jack would fly by and plant a kiss on my cheek. I usually rolled my eyes at him, but the gesture was sweet. Toothless enjoyed the fact that we were out of the Room of Requirement, and he took advantage of that, doing all he needed to in order to wear himself out and put his heart at ease. Jack kept up with him with a little trouble, but Toothless didn't care. This wasn't a race. This was… air therapy.
When we landed, we were all kind of disappointed. Land. Pft, how boring. I'd trade it for the air any day. But we landed anyways, and I slowly started working on taking Toothless flight gear off. Jack distracted him by petted his head lightly and murmuring to him.
"What?" Jack asked, shocked.
"Huh?" I asked.
"Hiccup…" Jack said, looking up at me slowly.
"What?" I asked. Toothless let out a low growl. "Toothless, what's wrong?"
"Oi!" Someone yelled, running, or should I say hopping, out towards us.
Bunnymund came speeding at us, faster than we all could have anticipated, and whipped out his wand. Toothless knocked Jack away and launched himself on top of Bunny. Both fell with a thump! and Toothless loomed over Bunnymund, one paw on his chest, his eyes deadly. Bunny's eyes grew wide.
"Toothless!" I said, running over. "Professor, I am so sorry!" I said, prodding Toothless off Bunny. The dragon was reluctant, but he stepped off the professor anyway. He hopped to his feet and pointed his wand at Toothless.
"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing, Bitesize?!" He yelled at me. Jack and I shifted over, so we were standing right in front of Toothless… right in Bunny's line of fire. "That's a dragon, mate." He emphasized.
"I'm fully aware of that," I said as politely as I could. Toothless gave an aggressive growl and Jack gave him a look. Oh, what I wouldn't give to know what he was saying…
"Step away from him," Bunny insisted. "Step away or I'll make ya,"
"Unforgivable Curses are not allowed to be used on students, Kangaroo," Jack said with a smug smile.
"They can be used if they are protecting the students," Bunny said with a smile. "Now step away from the dragon."
"No," I said firmly.
"Why are you defending it?" Bunny asked deliriously. "They've killed hundreds of us…"
"And we've killed thousands of them!" I argued. "What he was doing… he was just protecting me! Now, you can do anything you want, give me detention, be mad at me, take it out on me. Just… don't hurt him!"
"You're acting like this thing has a right to be here!" Bunny exclaimed. "If the Ministry finds out there's a dragon at Hogwarts, we'll be done for."
"He's my friend," I said fiercely. "You'll have to go through me to get to him."
"Hiccup, you're being unreasonable-" Bunny said, trying to talk me out of it.
"And if you even want to touch a hair on his head, you'll have to go through me," Jack said lowly. His voice kind of scared me. It was lower than usual, and it wasn't a threat… it was a promise.
"You both can be in a lot of trouble," Bunny informed. "Threatening and denying a teacher, hiding a dragon…"
"I don't care," I said. "You aren't hurting him. Not while I'm around,"
"Sorry it had to come to this, mate," Bunny said quickly, and before I could process what he said, he shot three spells…
And the world went dark.
I opened my eyes a bit groggily, and I was in my room. Memories caught up with me, and I launched myself out of my bed, stumbling a lot. Once I was really up, I started running. A cold sweat was running down the back of my neck.
They have Toothless, oh gods, they have Toothless!
I ran as fast as I could to the Headmaster's office. I needed to talk with North. I needed to explain that Toothless wasn't dangerous to anyone. I couldn't let them take away the single most important thing in my life (other than Jack, but that's so not the point).
I guess my fear and adrenaline were good fuel, because I made it to the Headmaster's stairs before I knew it, without breaking a sweat. But, to get up there, you needed the password. I almost cried. I stared at the phoenix statue harshly, thinking about a password North would set.
"Candy canes?… cookies? Fruitcake? Christmas?" I suggested. The phoenix stayed stone cold and unmoving. It probably wasn't the best idea to kick at it, but I did. I didn't register the pain like I should have, I was too angry for that.
"ARGH!" I yelled. "They have my freaking best friend, and they're probably going to ship him off to Bulgaria or something! And all you freaking do is sit here like some sort of GUARDIAN!"
I stopped my rant in shock. The statue started moving. I revealed a spiral staircase, and I hurried up it, my heart in my throat. Please don't let me be too late, please don't let me be too late…
The Headmaster's door was extraordinary, but I didn't pay attention to it. I beat on it wildly, pushing all my weight into it, trying to get it to open somehow.
"Headmaster!" I screamed. "Professor North! Please, just open-!" the door gave way from under me, and I nearly fell to the floor. I looked up, and Professor Tooth was looking down at me.
North and Bunny looked like they were talking animatedly, and Sandy looked like he was mediating.
"Professors!" I said. "Please, I can explain!"
"Hiccup, what did you think you were doing?" North said, walking towards me. "You could have killed people!"
"Toothless isn't a killer!" I yelled. "He's my best friend! He can't live without me! He'll die if we're separated!"
"Don't you think you could've talked to us first?" Bunny asked.
"I know you would have said no!" I yelled defiantly. And then I realized I was talking to actual professors, and I toned it down a bit. "Toothless isn't a danger."
"Hiccup, we had to repair Bunny's rib and his arm." Tooth said, placing her hand on my shoulder. "We can't just overlook that."
"He… he was only protecting me," I said. "I'm sorry that you got hurt, Professor," I apologized, looking at Bunny but not being able to hold his gaze.
"Done and over with now, Bitesize," He dismissed. "If the Ministry catches wind of this, we'll get our heads lobbed off."
"The Ministry doesn't need to know!" I insisted.
"How did you sneak it through the gates, anyways?" Tooth asked.
"Well, I found this spell that changed an creature's appearance to a household pet." I admitted. "Toothless just happened to be a cat, and that was how I snuck him in."
"Ingenious…" Tooth said. "How did you do magic outside of Hogwarts?"
"I… um, well, I sort of… overrode the system for maybe ten seconds. Maybe, I didn't time it or anything."
"You're telling us that you overrode a system that no fully-trained wizard has ever cracked before, just to change a dragon into a cat?" Bunny asked, incredulously.
"Yes…?" I said, a bit unsure. I didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing, but then Bunny started laughing.
"That's bloody insane, mate…" He breathed. I glanced around, and Tooth had an expression as if she didn't know if she should be happy or serious, and North just looked baffled. Sandy caught my eyes, floating a few inches off the ground and his arms crossed in front of his chest. He gave me a smile, and sand created pictures over his head. A golden dragon and an arrow pointing to the right.
I glanced over, and saw Toothless. He looked like he was sleeping, but he was in restraints.
"Toothless!" I said, running over to him in an instant. The moment I touched him, he looked up, his eyes alive and bright. So maybe he wasn't sleeping. "Hey, bud!" I said, petting his ear fins and his nose. He licked at my face. I laughed. "Oh, bud… I'm so glad you're okay." I said, hugging him. His huge head rested heavily on my shoulder. "I'm so sorry…" I said into his scales. There was a deep, resounding purr in his chest, and I took that as a 'you're forgiven.'
"This is nice and all, but… Hiccup…" Tooth said. "He can't stay."
"He…. He has to!" I said. Toothless growled, and I put my hand on his head silently. "He can't go with my dad, he's always working! And… and you can't ship him away… he'll die out there."
"I'm sure he'll do fine, mate," Bunny assured.
"No, no he won't." I said, my voice turning hard. "Toothless is missing half of his tail. He can't fly on his own, he can only fly with me, because I made him an artificial tail. He'll die out there. I won't let you take him."
"We will keep him on grounds." North said with finality.
"What?" Bunny and Tooth asked. Sandy had a big, golden question mark over his head.
"Toothless has done no harm." North said. "We will keep him in Forbidden Forest. There, you will take him food, but only if homework is finished. Yes?"
I couldn't believe it. I… I was keeping him here?!
"Y-yes, Headmaster." I said shakily.
"Good." He said. "Bunny, set Toothless free." Bunny shot him a look, but did it anyway. Toothless bounded toward me, and knocked me over. I laughed.
"C'mon, bud…" I said, I stood up and fished my wand out of my boot. I did the spell, and Toothless was a cat.
"No wonder this little bugger followed you everywhere…" Bunny muttered.
"Thanks, Professors." I said, taking my leave.
"Welcome, Hiccup." North said.
Toothless and I walked down the spiral stairs and wandered around aimlessly in the halls until we were near Ravenclaw Tower.
"HICCUP!" Jack yelled. I flinched, and looked down the hall. Jack, Xavier and Lauren were rushing towards me. "Thank God we found you! We've been looking everywhere!" He grabbed me, and hugged me furiously, one of his hands clutching the back of my head, the other on my back. I slipped my hands around his middle and smiled.
"Really?" Jack asked suddenly, putting his hands on my shoulder and holding me out at arm's length. "Toothless can stay?"
"How you two communicate, I will never understand," I said, rolling my eyes. Toothless circled between my ankles.
"That's great Hiccup!" Lauren said, smiling like mad and bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"Excellent, really," Xavier said, smiling.
Dinner that night was crazy. Toothless ate on the table with us, and a lot of people just stopped and stared as the cat dug into a raw fish. We all laughed, and ate. It was a feast for Toothless, his last feast in the castle. And it was amazing. After dinner, I waited in Ravenclaw Tower until it got really dark. I slipped on Toothless' gear and we flew out the window.
Jack met us halfway to the Forbidden Forest. We all flew there together, and we landed at the Cove. A smile grew on my face as I remembered the last time we were here. I laughed a bit.
"What are ya thinking about?" Jack asked, smiling too. I rolled my eyes at him.
"You know…" I said. "Last time we were here, you asked me out."
"Aw… being sentimental, Freckles?" Jack teased. He hugged my head, my face being smushed to his chest. "That's so adorable!" He said.
"I can't be adorable if I can't breathe!" I protested. He let go of me and pinched my cheeks instead.
"Don't stop… breathing~" Jack sang. I batted his hands away.
"Actually I think it's believing, not-" I protested.
"Hold on to that feeling~" Jack sang, drowning me out.
"I don't wanna hold on to this feeling…" I said.
"Street lights~" He sang. I smacked my hand on his face. "Okay. Got it. I'll stop." I moved my hand and looked at him, sort of scared that he'll break out in song again.
"Don't go all Journey on me, okay?" I said, smiling a little bit.
"Okay… I won't." He replied with a smile. "Really, I won't."
Toothless nudged my side and I petted his head.
"I know, I know, we should be going…" I muttered. "Aw… shit…" I said, slapping my forehead.
"What?" Jack asked.
"I have to walk back to the castle…" I said. Toothless sounded like he was laughing at me. I shot him a look.
"You don't have to walk back…" Jack said, gesturing to his staff that was in his hand.
"No." I said. "No, absolutely not. There is no way that you are flying me back."
"C'mon, don't you trust me?" Jack asked, pouting.
"It's not that I don't trust you, it's just-" I started to say, when Jack wrapped his arms around my waist and shot off into the air.
"Night Toothless!" He shouted at the dragon. Toothless roared playfully.
"Oh my gods!" I yelled. "Jack what the hell? Put me down!"
"Do you want me to drop you?" He asked me.
"JACK!" I yelled. Only being held up by his arm around my waist scared the hell out of me, so I wrapped my legs around his and hugged his torso. "You're an asshole you know that?!" I yelled.
"Eh, I'm sure it's an understatement," Jack said. "But you love me anyway, right?"
"That's debatable at the moment!" I said back at him.
"Stop being such a baby!" Jack said. "Look, we're here." He deposited me in my window. "Good night," He said with a smile.
"Night," I said. I shut the window, changed into some pajamas, and crawled into bed.
Right before I fell asleep, I heard one of my roommates mutter, "Faggot."
So... this is the start of something big. Remember this.
And, yes I did just reference Brave (inaccurately, but still) and Don't Stop Believing by Journey. I just had to :)
I hope you love this a lot! I love you all! Leave a review!
-HB