Hello everyone! Here's another chapter for you guys! I hope you enjoy it!
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, except for my OC's and the whole... spell thingy near the end! No spoilers though! :D okay proceed
Chapter Thirty Six: It Was You!
Hiccup's POV
"Hey Hiccup." Someone said. When I looked up, I saw Clint standing on the other side of the table, his hands on it so he was leaning on the tabletop. I couldn't look him in the eye for long, because it felt like he was staring at my soul and because I still couldn't get over the fact that he slipped onto his ass when Jack and I pranked him.
"Hey." I replied, looking back down at the lone sandwich on my plate. There wasn't much there, but I wish there was now, so I could at least poke something with a fork to look like I was mulling things over. I saw a shift of movement out of the corner of my eye, I glanced up, only to see Clint sitting in front of me now. He was so much taller than me that his feet touched mine under the table. I moved mine closer to me.
"So, where's everyone?" Clint asked, leaning over the tabletop and looking at me like I was the most interesting thing ever. I cleared my throat, hoping that I came off as clearly uncomfortable. Because I was.
"Well, Jack took the twins to the Library to look something up about the Whomping Willow, Lauren's probably doing homework, and Xavier's probably with her." I said, looking up at the clear ceiling of the Great Hall as I listed it off just so that I looked like I was actually trying to think about this.
"Leaving you to eat all by yourself." Clint stated, pouting at me in a way that would have been cute if it wasn't for the fact that he was still staring at me like that and because I had Jack, who was way better than him. And Jack didn't like him. Oh shit, would Jack be the jealous type? What would he say if I was talking to him? Oh man...
"Yup." I said, picking up my sandwich and taking a bite to hide my thought process and the suddenly slight shake of my hands. Wait, why was I shaking? Ugh, this makes no sense. I rolled my eyes at myself mentally as I chewed on my food, making the bite last as long as possible so maybe he would get bored and leave. No such luck; he was still there when I swallowed. "So what brings you here?" I asked.
"It's lunchtime." Clint answered blandly.
"No, not-" I said before looking at him. "Really?" I asked. Clint laughed. "I meant why you were here." I said, throwing my hands out and gesturing to him.
"Well I was just minding my own business when I saw this one guy eating lunch alone. So I thought I could sit with him and see if he was okay." Clint said, smirking at me and his eyes glinting with something more than a playfulness that… that was actually really unnerving.
"Oh, really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and trying my hardest to sound bored, because all I wanted to do was leave, but I knew the moment that I stood up he would be right there with me and ….
Wow, I should listen to Jack more. Now that he mentioned it, Clint was really creepy. I owe him a kiss for that.
"Yeah." Clint said. "So, you want to go do something later?" He asked, raising his eyebrows expectantly. I sighed. Well, if this guy was being direct, then so will I.
"Can't, sorry." I said giving him a look that said 'I'm sorry but I'm not really that sorry.' "I told Jack that I was going to meet him back at our room after lunch."
"Well that's a shame." Clint said, clicking his tongue like he just missed out on the greatest thing that could have ever happened to him. I lost my appetite. "Maybe I'll just have to ask you later then-"
"HICCUP!" Someone yelled from the other side of the Hall. I looked immediately, spilling my goblet of water and making a mess on the table. I flailed, shocked that it actually spilled, before looking around frantically for something to sop up the liquid. "Merlin, Hiccup, are you a wizard or not?" The voice chastised, surprisingly right at my arm this time, and when I looked, it was Lauren, the stupid little raccoon hat on her head.
"Well that's nice of you to call me out on it while you were the one who scared the shit out of me and made me do it!" I shot back, giving her a look. She rolled her eyes at me, whipping her wand out of the elastic of her knee-high socks, and casting a little spell that set the goblet upright again, the water inside safely.
"Oh shush, that's what you get for being a spaz." She said, smiling at me before tucking her wand away again.
"I am not a spaz!" I argued.
"Okay, okay, I didn't scare the shit out of you to fight you about if you were a spaz or not." Lauren said, smacking a hand lightly on my mouth and giving me a frank expression, her eyebrows raised.
"Then why did you scare the shit out of him, exactly?" Clint piped up, a smile on his face like he was very amused by this whole exchange. I shook Lauren's hand away from my face, and when she didn't move it away, I grabbed the appendage and lowered it back down to her side.
"Probably for something stupid." I muttered, causing Clint to laugh way too loud for a snarky little comment like that. Lauren clicked her tongue at me, looking offended.
"I would never scare someone for something stupid!" She gasped, before biting on her lip. "Well, not unless they deserved it… BUT HEY! That's not the point! The point is that I have to show you something! Now!" She said, grabbing onto my wrist and tugging on it a little.
"What is it?" I asked, not budging.
"It's important!" Lauren whined.
"Just go, Hiccup." Clint said, smirking a little even though I could see right through the expression; he clearly wasn't happen that Lauren interrupted… whatever the hell was going on before she came in. It was stupid of him to even try and hide the expression… or was he being transparent…?
Anyways, I didn't need to be told twice. And neither did Lauren, apparently, since she took off out of the Great Hall, my wrist still in her grip, and therefore pulling me along with her. She didn't let go or say anything until we were a long ways away from the Great Hall. Lauren checked behind her shoulder before sighing and letting go of my wrist.
"So, what was that all about?" I asked, rubbing my wrist and checking to make sure I was still getting blood to the rest of my hand. At least she hadn't cut off circulation. Lauren smiled at me, but said nothing. "What do you absolutely need to show me?" I asked, making a face at her.
"Oh, don't try to tell me that you didn't want to get as far away from Clint as possible." Lauren scoffed, brushing me off with a flick of her wrist.
"What?" I asked.
"You were obviously uncomfortable, and he was obviously ignoring that fact." Lauren said. I blinked at her. "I was just walking in to grab a quick bite when I saw you two. I wanted you out of there, you wanted out of there, so… I lied."
"Clever, Loor, very clever, I'll give you that." I said, shaking my finger in her direction with a smile on my face. I was actually really grateful that she would do that for me. Man, I had really good friends. Then something occurred to me and the smile fell off my face. "But you didn't get something to eat." I stated.
"Oh, I'm fine." Lauren said, waving me off again. "It's not like I'm starving." She said.
"Lauren."
"Hiccup."
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
"I'm not fighting with you."
"I think you are."
"Oh my god, Hiccup…"
"Does that mean that I get to drag you to the Kitchens for something to eat?"
"Nope."
"Fine, then that means we go to the Room of Requirement instead." I said, my head held high as I hooked my arm with hers and tugged her along, finding the nearest staircase and hiking up it, leaving her no choice than to follow me.
"You're cruel, Hiccup." Lauren said, pouting a little as she no longer tried to struggle out of my grip.
"I love you too, Lauren." I replied, earning a little scoff from the raccoon-hatted girl.
"Anyways, I think Jack's right." Lauren said, wiggling her arm out of my grip and no longer trying to stop me from leading us to the Room. I looked at her and raised an eyebrow in question. "About Clint liking you, I mean." She said.
"Jack didn't say that." I muttered.
"He practically did, and you know it." Lauren said, pointing at me accusingly. "Besides, its obvious that something's up with him. It's… wrong. He always stares at you like he's three moments away from jumping you and kissing you right then and there." She said bluntly. I shuddered at the thought of Clint kissing me, because Jack was my boyfriend and that would be wrong for someone else to do what Jack was supposed to do.
"I have to admit, it is pretty creepy." I said, grimacing at the marble stairs beneath my feet. "I just don't know how to get him away from me." I said.
"Well, I guess threats and beating him up won't work this time around." Lauren said sighing heavily. I blinked, and looked at her, completely baffled that she would say something like that and completely confused at the fact that there was no hint of sarcasm in her tone or in her eyes.
"What?!" I asked, nearly yelled at her as I froze on my place on the stairs. Lauren looked a bit confused at my reaction for a moment before her expression fell off like a loosely-tied mask, falling to the floor and smashing into a million pieces, a look of regret and panic taking its place.
"Nothing! Nothing! I didn't say anything!" She said, waving her hands around and I was scared she was going to hit her knuckles on the marble banister, me, or her own face. With a reaction like that, you could bet a million Galleons that she meant every word of the statement she was trying to take back.
"Oh~ no. No, no, you're telling me about this." I said, smiling at her and I took one of her still-flailing hands and pulled her up the rest of the way. She wrestled out of my grip once more as he came across the seventh floor landing and took the halls necessary to reach the blank expanse of wall that signified the Room of Requirement. I closed my eyes and thought hard for a second or two, before Lauren surged forward caught the door's handle that suddenly appeared on the door, grabbing my shoulder and pulling me inside.
I stumbled inside the Room, and looked around. It was cozy enough, almost like a small living room, but you would never expect it in a place like Hogwarts. Huge windows let in plenty of light, the curtains that framed them billowing slightly even though the windows were closed shut. The rug that was thrown on the floor was a cream-type color, clashing terribly with the rest of the place, but it couldn't be helped. There was a huge couch, that looked a bit worn and broken-in, but it also looked perfectly comfortable. There was also a coffee table in front of the couch, filled with a variety of food that you would expect to see in the Great Hall. Lauren shot me a look when she saw the food. She said she was hungry, and I wasn't even nearly done with lunch, so of course there would be a spread here!
"I hate you sometimes, you know that?" Lauren said.
"Wow, you know, one day I might actually start to believe you on that." I said, grabbing her shoulders and steering her over to the couch, making her plop down and look at the food before her. She pouted before huffing, leaning forward and grabbing a huge muffin from the edge of the table.
"I couldn't hate you if I tried." Lauren said through a mouthful. "And besides," she swallowed, "if this is your plan to butter me up so I can tell you that whole backstory thing to the thing I said that was absolutely totally one hundred percent false, then this isn't going to work."
I laughed at her. She really was a terrible liar, and then I smiled, because I finally realized that I could read her now better than she could read me. I moved from behind the couch and sat next to her, grabbing a can of soda and popping the lid open before taking a sip. "Denial gets you nowhere, Cannonblast." I said with a smirk.
"And so does using my last name." She said sourly.
"Fine, Lauren." I said, stressing her name more than I really should have. I know I was probably being super annoying, but I guess Jack was rubbing off on me and okay yeah I really want to know what she meant when she said that one thing about beating people up? "Now tell me," I said, turning towards her a little bit and taking another sip of my soda, "why did you say that and why don't you want to tell me?"
"Okay, okay, fine, I'll tell you. But you have to promise me not to freak out." She said, pointing a finger at me and narrowing her eyebrows. I rolled my eyes, wondering if it was really that serious, before nodding and looking at her so she could continue. "So Xavier told me and Liliana that Sammy was beating Jack up, and so we sort of dragged her here and beat her up before erasing her memory and getting her expelled."
Did I hear that right?
"WHAT?!" I practically screamed, leaping to my feet before I even knew what I was doing. Lauren was on her feet in an instant, too, putting her hands on my shoulders and looking me in the eyes.
"I said don't freak out!" Lauren said, and this time, she was the one steering me to sit back down on the couch.
"So you're the reason why Jack doesn't know what the hell happened to her!" I said, finally putting all the pieces together. Jack told me what felt like a million years ago that Sammy beat him up using all sorts of nasty spells, and that's why Xavier forced me to go to the Hospital Wing with him and the twins but… we never really knew why she got suspended. But now it all made sense. Lauren and Liliana took care of her, wiped her memory, then told the Headmaster about all the evil things that she's done and… instant expulsion.
"Yeah, we're the reason why." Lauren said. "I think it's better that way honestly. I know he would have stayed with her if we hadn't have done something, but I don't want him knowing that we got rid of her for him. I don't think he would take it well."
Take it well? What was that supposed to mean?
"I would think he would be happy that you guys cared so much about him that you put your own reputations on the line." I said.
"That's a possibility, but… I can't explain it! I just think his pride would be hurt… at least a little bit! You know, because of the fact that he needed help and that he actually didn't get out of that situation on his own."
"That makes sense, but I really don't think Jack would be the most prideful person…" I said, trailing off because I realized how wrong that statement was. And besides, telling him that Lauren and Liliana did something about Sammy would benefit absolutely no one, and just bring him back memories of that horrid chick. "Right, okay, I won't tell him." I said, nodding at Lauren.
"Good." Lauren said, nodding. "Wait… aw, shit, you need to go to practice, don't you?" she asked, smacking her forehead dramatically.
"Practice was cancelled, the last time I heard." I said with a shrug.
"Really?"
"Yeah, apparently the Syltherrins are getting some extra field time because they asked Pitch about it so..." I said, trailing off deliberately and shrugging.
"Wow. Alright then." Lauren said, shrugging along with me because, actually, what could we do about our spot being taken? Absolutely nothing. "How's everything?" she asked, looking at me. I gave her a look. "You know what I'm talking about! Like, Jack and everything." She said.
"Jack's good." I said, nodding. "Great, really. It's… amazing. But…" I said cutting myself off before I could finish what I was about to say. 'But the bad part is that my dad hates his guts and he hates mine too.'
"But?" Lauren prompted. "Hiccup, if something's wrong, you know you can tell me, right?" She said, concern lining her voice as she leaned forward and put a hand gently on my shoulder. I glanced up at her, and when I met her eyes, I knew that she could still read me like a book.
"I took your advice and told my dad and now he hates me and never wants see me again." I said quickly, shifting my gaze to anything other than her. I couldn't escape the look in her eyes though when she put all the pieces together; hurt, then realization, then remorse, then something that I couldn't identify so I just took it as pity.
"And that's why you…" She breathed, almost like she was talking to herself and I wasn't supposed to hear a single word she said. "Hiccup…" she said, leaning forward and pulling me into a hug. I hugged her back. "I'm so sorry…" she said.
"I thought I was over it." I said, my voice breaking and I was sniffling a bit, trying hard not to cry on her shoulder. "I thought that it was done and over with and there was nothing to say or do about it but….. it hurts." Lauren hugged me tighter as my voice broke again. The hug was almost painful, but I didn't complain.
"I know it does." Lauren said quietly. "Sometimes it's harder to get over some things than you might think it would be but we're here for you, okay? You don't have to bottle things up all the time and think everything will be just dandy. You've got me, and Jack, and Xavier, and just about everyone else you help you through this, alright?"
She was right. I knew she was right but it was so stupid, because I didn't want to ask anyone for help or even say anything to anyone because there was nothing anyone could do! There was nothing I could do, so I just tried to forget about it. But I ended up losing a Quidditch match and shutting everyone out and making them all think that everything was fine when it wasn't and gods, I was such an idiot.
"Okay…" I said into her shoulder, not looking up, not yet. I felt the hug slacken a bit, but I held on just a bit longer, because I knew that once I let go she would see the tears shining in my eyes.
Turns out it didn't matter, because Lauren looked at me with the same watery smile that I had.
Jack's POV
"Jack!" Someone yelled and when I turned around, Xavier was banging through our dormitory door, panting like he just ran a marathon. "Wait, stop… hold on…" He said, walking in and shutting the door behind him before bending over, hands on his knees, and taking in gulps of air.
"Wow, someone's out of shape." I mused, grinning at him. He flipped me the bird and I chuckled a bit. "What's up, Mr. Huff-and-Puff?" I asked.
"Shut… the fuck up…" He said, still slightly out of breath as he stood upright and took in some more air. "I only came to tell you… that practice is cancelled." He said with a heavy sigh, glad to get that off his chest.
"You've got to be kidding me?!" I exclaimed, completely scandalized. We lost last game! If anything, we should be practicing more, not cancelling out spots! "Why?" I demanded, heated. This was absolutely bullshit. Alex must be out of his fucking mind-
"Syltherrin's got Pitch to sign so they can take our slot for tonight." Xavier reported. "There's nothing we can do about that, and you know it." I clicked my tongue and looked at the floor. Stupid Pitch, he knows that we need to practice more, and yet he does this shit to us. Asshole.
"Yeah, I know." I said, running a hand through my hair just to clear my thoughts. I looked up at Xavier, only to see him sitting on the windowsill next to Toothless, petting the cat like the stereotypical evil mastermind that you see in cheesy movies. Now that I think about it, Toothless has been really silent lately… "So, where've you been?" I asked Xavier as I threw everything back into my trunk. (I was preparing to go to practice before he barged in here, because I was bored and I had nothing else to do, but since I didn't need to anymore, all of it was useless.)
"The Library with Lauren." Xavier practically grumbled, almost like he wasn't too happy about the prospects of that. I kept in my chuckle. "She helped me get started on Sandy's essay about…. Uhm…" He said, trailing off.
"The fundamentals of rudimentary charms, right?" I asked, remembering that essay.
"Yeah, that!" Xavier said, snapping. "She ditched me to go to lunch though, but that's when Alex came and told me that practice was cancelled." I opened my mouth, and was about to say something, when Xavier cut me off. "Liliana found out about it earlier and told Hiccup, so there's no need to get your knickers in a twist." Xavier said, shooting me a smirk.
"Asshat. How did you know I was going to ask that?" I said.
"Because I know you, Jack." Xavier said, rolling his eyes. "You always ask about Hiccup, like I know more about him than you do." He scoffed at me, before petting Toothless a bit more thoughtfully because the black cat was getting a little bit demanding. (It was weird, I could practically feel what Toothless was feeling, but it was just that... no words were coming through. Either there's something very very wrong here, or Toothless doesn't want to talk. Hmph…)
"That was before we got together, Xavier." I said.
"Yeah, well, old habits die hard." Xavier shot back
"You know, I could push you out the window." I suggested.
"One: the window's closed. Two: I'll pull you along with me."
"One: I can open the window. I'm not three. And Two: I'll take my staff so I could save myself and not you."
"…That's cruel, dude." Xavier said, stunned into silence for a bit before shaking his head at me. "I would at least think that the Headmaster would order you to scape me off the ground after I splattered into a million pieces down there."
"There's something called 'magic' have you heard of it?" I asked.
"You're just an asshole." Xavier said, rolling his eyes at me and giving Toothless a final scratch before standing up again. I chuckled at him, rolling my eyes because I didn't know if he was seriously angry or just slightly irritated.
"Sure, I'm an asshole, okay, fine." I said, agreeing with him because I knew it would piss him off a bit more. "But besides me being an asshole and having practice being cancelled, what's up?" I asked.
"Well, I've been trying to piece together a theory behind a perfect spell that would render anyone speechless for the rest of their life." Xavier drawled, walking around to sit on the top of his trunk and smile at me. "But so far, I think it's impossible. And I think I'll just leave the spell-making up to you and Hiccy."
"Oh, come on, it's not like it's all that hard." I said, rolling my eyes. "It's just a fact of getting the incantation right along with the wand movement. And since there's already a Silencing Spell, I guess all you would have to do is alter that a little bit and poof! You've got yourself a Permanent Silencing Spell." It didn't seem that hard, not to me at least. I mean, I had to come up with the incantation myself for the Frost Spell, so taking one and modifying it didn't sound all too difficult at all.
"I was kidding, you big nerd." Xavier scoffed, laughing lightly because I actually took him serious
"I'm not a nerd." I protested. "I just know my way around magic, unlike some people." I said, widening my eyes in his direction, putting emphasis on the last words.
"Hey, give me something practical, I'm fine with it. Don't give me logistics and theories and all that other crap." Xavier said, putting his hands in the air and not rising to the bait. "What's up with you?" He asked.
"Well, I've been thinking of ways to get rid of Clint and then there's that letter that still tripping me the fuck up…" I muttered, biting my knuckle. "Oh, yeah, and Toothless is awfully silent and I want to know what's up." Our gazes both shifted to the cat, but Toothless only continued to stare out the window like he couldn't hear us.
"Maybe he's depressed." Xavier said. "You know, from staying inside all the time. Maybe he just wants to… go. You know?"
"You'll have to tell Hiccup that, because he'll rip my head off if I do." I said. Seriously, if I even mention flying, Hiccup will get super irritated or ignore me. I know he missed flying too, probably just as much as Toothless did, but he's super careful. He wouldn't risk Toothless being seen just to make them both happy. But now… hmm…. Maybe he might do it if he sees Toothless like this.
"Fine, I will, since you're being a baby about it." Xavier resolved. "And wait. What's this about a letter?" He asked, raising his eyebrows. I looked at the floor and he gasped. "Wait, you're not talking about the one letter Hiccup got before the game, are you?!" He asked overly-excitedly, his eyes turning orange (?) and his hair streaking itself with a neon blue.
"Okay, first off, calm the hell down." I said, making small movements with my hands towards him.
"Nope!" Xavier said. "What was it about?"
"Well, I knew it was about his dad before, but…" I said, biting my lip. "I was curious, okay? He hadn't been talking about any of it, and he was acting like he was fine even though he really wasn't… so I looked for the letter and read it and now… I don't know how to help him."
"Well, what did it say?" Xavier prompted.
"His dad basically kicked him out and disowned him all because he was dating me." I answered. He whistled lowly.
"Ouch."
"Exactly." I said. "And I feel really fucking guilty about reading it because he just hasn't come to terms with it or something or maybe he's trying to think about what he should do and-"
"I'm not your fucking therapist, you know that right?" Xavier asked, making me come up short and blink in surprise at him. "You're rambling like if you talk enough you'll come up with a solution somehow. It's kind of annoying."
"And you're listening so you're being a good friend." I shot back.
"No, a good friend would give you advice, so shut the hell up so I can give you that advice, got it?" He asked. His voice sounded hard, almost like steel as he spoke, and I wondered if I just pissed him off or if he was just fed up with my so-called issues. So I shut my mouth and looked at him stubbornly. "Good. So. Maybe going through his things wasn't the best idea, and maybe reading the letter and not telling him was stupid, but you can let that go. You did it. Meh, it's done and over with. Now that you know, maybe you should drop hints about it. Don't ask him directly. Let him open up. Let him talk to you about it."
I looked down at my feet as my hands started getting colder. I don't want to wait it out, I want to talk to him, I want to help him. I don't want to act like I don't know. I've done enough acting around Hiccup for my lifetime. I sighed as I ran my fingers through my hair. He'd only get mad at me if I told him anything. And then I'd ruin everything. And its better that I wait for him to become comfortable enough with the issue before I start talking to him about it. And maybe he doesn't want my help at all and….
"You're right." I said, finally looking up to see Xavier looking back at me. "You're right…" I said a second time, like I was checking to see if the words tasted right in my mouth. They didn't. They tasted like vinegar. The smile he gave me was like salt on an open wound.
"Well, finally he says it." He says proudly, grinning from ear to ear and tapping his toes on the floor. "Glad to see you're finally coming to sense." I rolled my eyes at him. "Anyways, you said something about Clint. What's with that?"
"I thought you said you weren't my therapist?" I shot sarcastically.
"Nope, I'm just a nosy bastard looking for something to talk about. So shoot." Xavier said.
"I think he… has a thing for Hiccup." I said.
"Who? Clint?" Xavier said, looking at me. "Well of course he does. Even I know that."
"Well, thanks for your honesty." I said blandly. Seriously, he was being of absolute no help to me right now. It was almost infuriating. "But he knows that I'm his boyfriend and… I don't know. I don't know what to do."
"Well, you could go with the old-fashioned way and duel him away…. Or just punch him in the nose. You've already proved you could hurt him by that one prank." Xavier said, shrugging.
"Violence isn't always the answer, you know?" I said, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Yeah, but you'd do anything to have him back off of your man, right?" Xavier said bluntly.
"Why'd you have to go and say it like that?" I asked. "That sounded so dumb."
"Just answer the fucking question."
"Yeah, I would do anything. But its not like I'm just going to walk up to him and punch him in the face!" I said exasperatedly.
"Well, you did walk right up to him and made him slip onto his ass." Xavier reasoned. "How is that any different?"
"Shut up…" I said, stuttering a little bit. He was right with that, too, as much as I hated to admit it. I did want him to step off, because after all this time Hiccup was mine and there was no way that I would give that up. Not that he would leave me for him, anyways… right? No! Right! Why would I doubt Hiccup? There's not a chance that he would leave me. I glanced up and Xavier was smiling at me. "We should probably go find him." I said.
"Who? Clint?" Xavier asked for a second time today, looking at me and tapping his toes on the floor excitedly, almost like he was a little puppy.
"No, Hiccup." I said, not a trace of sarcasm in my voice. "I kind of want to tell him about Toothless first, and see if we can convince him to take him flying tonight. I think he'll be more receptive to that than if I told him that I had detention for punching Clint's brains out." Xavier shrugged, and hopped to his feet.
"Right, right…" He said, running both hands through his hair and shaking it violently, his hair turning back to the blonde and spiky style that it usually was. When he opened his eyes again, they were back to brown. I rolled my eyes at how good he was at hiding it, and how easy it was for it to change when he was excited. He really was a puppy.
"Toothless, you want to come with us?" I asked, looking at the cat who was still fixated on the window. There was no verbal reply, but Toothless flicked his tail almost like he was irritated. "Alright, fine, you big baby boo. But if he says yes, you owe me big." I said, pointing at him even though he wasn't looking. He could probably see my reflection in the window, so I didn't feel as stupid.
"Don't goad a depressed cat, what's wrong with you?" Xavier said, smacking me over my head.
"Ow!" I said, ducking away from him. "Well, you didn't have to hit me!" I said indignantly.
"Who's the big baby boo now?" Xavier shot at me. I rolled his eyes and stalked out of the room. Xavier laughed, and followed me out, hesitating before shutting the door behind him and shutting Toothless in. I slide down the stairs' railing while Xavier hopped down two at a time. There weren't many people in the common room because it was actually a really great day outside.
We sauntered through the halls a bit before checking the Great Hall and then the Library. It worried me a bit that I had no idea where he was, and to come to think of it, we didn't see Lauren either. It was highly unsettling and I was about to suggest that we hunt down Clint and demand that he tell us where he hid them or some demented shit like that before we saw them rounding a corner.
"Oi!" Xavier yelled, sticking his arm in the arm and waving like a maniac. The two of them looked up from their conversation and spotted us, smiles breaking out on their faces. We all walked a bit faster so that we met in the middle of the hallway. I immediately pulled Hiccup into a hug, swinging him around a bit, while Xavier pressed a kiss on Lauren's cheek.
"Where've you guys been?!" I asked, squeezing Hiccup a bit harder for emphasis.
"J-Jack… air…" He stuttered, and that's when I decided that I should loosen up a bit. He gasped for air, but didn't pull away from the hug; instead he wrapped his arms around my waist. "We were just talking." He said quietly, putting his head on my shoulder.
"Yeah, I found him in the Great Hall and we just got caught up, I guess." Lauren said, smiling. "Why?" She asked.
"Oh, no reason, only the fact that we've been looking for you guys everywhere." Xavier said, rolling his eyes and waving it off like it wasn't important.
"We're sorry." Lauren said, pouting. "What are we supposed to do? Make it up to you guys?" It was a joke, even I could smell that a mile away. Hiccup laughed into my shoulder at her sarcasm and broke the hug. I popped a kiss onto the side of his head before he moved too far away, though.
"Yes. Yes you should." Xavier said, crossing his arms over his chest and standing a little bit taller. Lauren snorted at him and rolled her eyes.
"Well, tough nuts, X." She said, smiling.
"You know I could make so many jokes right now, right?" Xavier said, his shoulders slumping a bit and he looked like he was on the verge of laughing. "So many dirty, off-hand jokes that you would probably smack me for, and I could say them, right here, right now."
"That's what she wants you to do." Hiccup said, rolling his eyes at him.
"Thank you, Hiccup." She said, smiling innocently at him.
"I'd rather not get slapped, thank you." Xavier said sulkily.
"There we go. One good choice in history." I quipped. "You guys, we should feel honored." I touched my chest, a spot near my left shoulder, while Lauren and Hiccup snickered and Xavier glared at me.
"C'mon, dorks." Lauren said, grabbing Xavier's hand. "Dinner's going to start in a bit and we're pretty far away from the Hall." We all agreed and started walking towards the Great Hall.
"Hey, Hiccup." Xavier said casually.
"What, Color Wheel?" Hiccup asked, looking over slowly at Xavier like he was bored.
"You should take Toothless flying tonight." Xavier said casually, not even looking at him as he strolled along like he just suggested that we should go to The Three Broomsticks during the next Hogsmeade trip. Hiccup was sputtering something that sounded like a refusal, but Xavier just continued. "Jack says he's not talking and he just stares out the window sadly like he's depressed or something." He said. Hiccup clamped his mouth shut and thought.
"He's not saying anything?" Hiccup asked, glancing up at me. He was worried, I could see that, but he was also skeptical. I nodded at him.
"It's not like he's gone." I said, trying to explain it all. "I just can't hear him say anything. It's like he wants to, because I can feel how he's feeling, but he can't make the words come out, you know?"
"No, but I'll trust you on this one…" Hiccup said. "I'll take him out flying later on tonight. And hopefully we won't get caught."
"Well, you guys haven't gotten caught before, right?" Lauren said, looking at him with a little smile on her face. "What makes you think you'll be caught now?"
"We haven't gone flying since someone spread around that a dragon's in the castle." Hiccup said, sighing.
"That long?" Lauren gasped. "No wonder he's depressed…"
"I just didn't want to risk it." Hiccup explained. "I don't know if they have more guards around or if more people are watching the skies or if they set traps or whatever! I don't want Toothless to be hurt, and I don't want him killed but…" He sounded like he was working himself up into a rant, and he took a deep breath before continuing. "I don't want him depressed either. It's better to just risk it. I got you guys to understand why I smuggled him in, I'll just convince the Headmaster too…. If we get caught."
"Which you won't." I said, speaking up and snapping him out of whatever funk he got himself into. "He's a Night Fury, Hiccup, and like Lauren said, you haven't been caught before! If anything, we'll just cozy up in the Cove for a while until they stop looking and then we can mosey on back to the castle."
"We?" Hiccup asked. "Who said you were going to?"
"Well, I'm not about to let you go flying on your own, now, am I?" I asked.
"Jack!" He said, actually sounding offended. "I'm already taking a shot in the dark, here! I don't want you to be in trouble if we get caught."
"Well, I'm not letting you go alone." I said, arguing back. "When Toothless was seen, he told me about it, he knew that something bad was going to happen. If the same thing happens again, you'll never know until it's too late. I'm not letting you go alone." I stated it like it was a fact, and I wasn't trying to put up a front; I really won't let him go alone. Even if he forbids me, I follow them from behind or something. I'll make sure he's okay. Hiccup deflated, seeing my logic and knowing it was pointless to try and fight it.
"Fine." He said like it pained him to agree. I slipped my hand into his and held onto it as tight as I could without cutting off his circulation.
"Was that a fight?" I heard Lauren whisper to Xavier, a little worried.
"I would call it a squabble session." Xavier shot back lowly, and they both chuckled a bit. Hiccup squeezed my hand back, and then we all sort of picked up the pace from the leisurely walk we adopted from our conversation so we could get to the Great Hall before all the good food was gone.
"Oh, there you guys are!" Cee chirped, skipping over to us as we all looked up from our pie (Lauren found it from two tables down, and snagged it because it was actual German chocolate cream pie). Jay was walking behind her, making no effort whatsoever to keep up with her. She put a hand on my shoulder and beamed at all of us. "We were wondering where you guys were, and we didn't see you so we sat somewhere else, I'm sorry!" She said, pitting the words out hurriedly like someone was going to cut her off.
"It's not like they're going to hate us forever because he didn't sit with them one time, Cee." Jay said, giving her a look as he made his way over. Cee rolled her eyes and reached over to pinch his arm, but he just leaned back a bit to evade her fingertips.
"Why were you guys sitting all the way over there?" Lauren said, chuckling a bit at their exchange and taking a glance to the front of the Hall, near the teachers' table.
"Oh, well, Jay wanted to-" Cee started explaining before Jay pounced, smacking a hand over her mouth and maneuvering her into a sort of chokehold in less than a second. We all blinked.
"I said to shut up about that." Jay whispered through gritted teeth to Cee, who struggled out of his hold and danced a couple feet away. Hiccup and I shared a look, eyebrows raised and the corners of our mouths upturned. "No reason." Jay said casually. "They have the best food over there and I wanted to see if they had any Jell-O for dessert." He shrugged. Cee glowered.
"Well, that's rational." Xavier said, snorting before coming up short. "Wait, what's Jell-O?" Lauren sighed, and put her face in her hands, looking about ready to smack her head on the table and groan. I mean, I didn't know what the heck Jell-O was, but I guess it sounded pretty good… and they did associate it with dessert, so…
"Oh my god!" Cee said. "How can you not know about Jell-O?!"
"We'll have to show you guys later." Hiccup said.
"Definitely." Jay said, nodding. "Well, we should really be going." He said, slinging an arm around Cee's shoulders and smiling at us. "Night." He said.
"Good night!" Cee chirped, plucking his arm off her shoulders so she could hold his hand instead.
"'Night redheads." Hiccup said, saluting them a little as they retreated the rest of the way out of the Great Hall. "Well then…" He said, smirking. I kicked his leg under the table, and he stepped on my toes and left his foot there in retaliation. I pouted a bit, and Hiccup didn't meet my eyes (I think he did that on purpose that little shit…)
"That was definitely interesting…" Xavier said, looking at the huge open double doors of the Great Hall. "What do you think that was all about?"
"There's obviously something going on, and Jay doesn't want to talk about it." Lauren said. I laughed.
"It's none of our business anyways but…" I said, laughing a little. "Man, would it be funny just to read their minds once and see what that was all about."
"I'm sure asking them about it is out of the question." Hiccup said. "But whatever."
"Yeah…" Lauren said. "I'm sure it'll come up sometime." Hiccup fished his wand out of his pocket and twirled it in between his fingers, the neon lights showing up and telling the time. "Oh, shit, already?" Lauren asked, looking warily at the glowing numbers. "I should really… get to bed. Or get going, at least." She said regretfully, looking down at the pie she still had on her plate. I smirked as she picked up her fork hurriedly, shoveling the rest of it onto her fork, and taking the biggest bite of pie I 've ever seen someone fir in their mouth.
"Oh my god, Lauren." Hiccup said chuckling.
"You know you could have just taken that to your room." Xavier said, pointing at her plate. "The elves would have brought it back to the kitchens while everyone was sleeping." Lauren slumped, wiping some whipped cream off of the corner of her lips.
"Well sorry! I'm still not used to the fact that little people can clean up after me!" She exploded, a smile and a blush spreading across her face, one of the two out of embarrassment.
"Um… it's been five years." I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "I think that's enough time to get used to the concept…"
"You guys suck." Lauren said, sticking her tongue out at us as she stood up from her seat. "Good night." She said, saluting us.
"Wait, I'll walk you!" Xavier said, springing to his feet, the previous conversation and his pie forgotten. Lauren smiled at him and held his hand as the two of them walked out of the Great Hall. Hiccup and I looked at each other at the same time. I wrinkled my nose, almost like I was disgusted, and he stuck out his tongue like he was going to puke. I was the first to break out in laughter, but he wasn't too far behind me. He leaned on my shoulder, well, it was more like he nudged me more than anything, his foot finally coming off mine and hooking our ankles together quickly before pulling away. His eyes were huge, worried, and the greenest I've ever seen them.
"We should get back to the Tower." He said, his hand coming up and cupping my elbow. I pouted a bit. "I don't want to leave Toothless alone more than necessary, and if we're going flying tonight, I want it to be worth it." He explained quickly and quietly even though it was likely that no one could hear us.
"Oooooooh… alright." I said, finally understanding. I nodded, leaning forward slipping a hand onto his cheek, pulling him in for a kiss that was so short, he didn't even have time to react. "We better hurry up, then, huh?" I said, standing up and moving away from the table. Hiccup blinked like he woke up from a dream, before getting up too.
"You enjoy making me forget what I was doing, don't you?" Hiccup asked me, crossing his arms over his chest and walking next to me as I strolled out of the Great Hall. I chuckled, because he already knew the answer, and threw an arm around his shoulders.
"It's not like I did it on purpose." I said innocently, trying to keep the smirk out of my voice, but I'm sure I failed miserably. Hiccup's shoulders jerked a little as he let out a little huff of a laugh, no doubt rolling his eyes at me and I could feel him shaking his head at my stupid comment.
"You're impossible." He muttered.
"And you two are disgustingly cute. Have I said that before?" someone said, making me jump and turn around on my heel, stepping in front of Hiccup and staying ahead of him instinctively. I should have known that it would be Clint standing there, a little ways behind us and smiling sweetly.
"What do you want?" I practically spat, glaring at him and trying to stop myself from slicking the whole hallway with ice and making him fall down right on his ass again.
"Just wanted a word with Hiccup, no need to get all worked up." He said, still smiling but no longer looking at me, instead looking straight at Hiccup. I wanted to snap right in front of his face, to get his eyes off Hiccup, to get him to stop looking at him like he was a piece of meat, but suddenly Hiccup was speaking so I couldn't do anything.
"What's there to talk about?" Hiccup asked, his voice light and conversational like we never pranked him, like he was genuinely curious about what Clint had to say. It was fake though, I could tell it was forced because of the half-glazed over look in his eye and the obviously fake half-smile on his face
"Well, I actually just want to talk to you." He said, rocking a bit on his heels and coming a bit closer so that we didn't have to speak so loud and that our voices wouldn't carry. But never mind that, because there was no way that this little creep was going to be "talking" alone with my Hiccup-
"No." Hiccup refused, squaring his shoulders and looking Clint straight in the eye. "Whatever you have to say you can say it with Jack here." He said. I nodded, because it was true and I had no intentions of leaving them two alone.
"Fine, like it matters anyways." Clint said, looking up at the ceiling like he was asking for strength from some higher power. "You would probably tell him about it later anyways." He said, almost accusingly as he looked at Hiccup.
"Well yeah, he is my boyfriend." Hiccup shot back. "I don't keep secrets."
"Oh you don't?" Clint asked. "So does this count the dragon, or doesn't it?" He countered. I could feel the tension and confusion rolling of Hiccup in waves.
"How in the hell do you know about the dragon?" I growled, taking a step forward menacingly, but Hiccup only grabbed my wrist and held me back from doing anything dangerous. Clint didn't even flinch, he just smiled at me.
"Well, I saw it, of course."
"You!" Hiccup said. "You were the one that told everyone in the castle that there was a dragon loose!"
"And I thought there was and I thought I was doing Hogwarts a bit of a favor." Clint said. "What exactly would happen if that dragon got loose in the castle, Hiccup? How many people would it hurt? How many people's lives would be lost because of one little unconventional pet?"
"You know nothing about any of this, you got that?" I yelled.
"I know enough to tell North and get the both of you expelled!" Clint answered.
"You wouldn't dare!" Hiccup said.
"Try me!" Clint said. "I don't know how you managed to sneak him into the castle, and I don't know where that creature is now, but I assure you, I will tell North about it, and I will tell him exactly who are the ones that snuck it in."
"What do you want from us?" Hiccup asked after a while.
"I'm glad you asked." Clint said, crossing his arms over his chest and smirking at us. "I need you to lose your guys' next matches."
"What?!"
"Oh, and break up."
"No way!" Hiccup yelled. "You're out of your mind!"
"Well, I guess I should go to the Headmaster and tell him that I know where the dragon is." Clint said. I smirked.
"But you don't know where he is." I pointed out, finding it funny. He was trying to be intimidating, I knew that, but there was no way that he could break us up. There was just no way! We slept in the same room, we had the same classes, we had the same friends, and most importantly, I already had one asshole keep me away from Hiccup this year, and I wasn't about to take shit from another one.
"It's not that hard to figure out that you're hiding him somewhere on campus." Clint said. "And if I tell the Headmaster, he could force you to tell the truth and reveal the beast. Your choice."
"Why do we have to lose our next matches?" Hiccup demanded.
"Simple." Clint said. "Ravenclaw needs to win the House Cup and you guys are in the way. So throw all your games down the drain and Ravenclaw wins the next couple rounds and the House Cup is ours."
"So you're one of those Quidditch fans, I get it now." I nodded, smirking a bit and looking at Clint with narrowed eyes. "All manipulative and greedy to win when you aren't even out on the fucking pitch!"
"I'd rather be doing better things than fly a broom and chase after a couple balls. Not that you two have a problem with it." Clint added snidely, snorting to himself. "But our captain's got a little wager running, and he can't afford to lose. So… you WILL lose your next rounds, or else the Headmaster will know everything."
"Right, right, we get it." I said, waving my hands around to shush him up. "We wouldn't even dream going against your little deal. Can you shut up and can we go now?" I asked, giving him a frank look.
"Fine. But I'll be watching. If you two aren't broken up, I'll make sure you are." Clint said, glaring at the two of us before spinning on his heel and stalking away. I could practically feel the anger rolling off Hiccup in waves, and I held his forearm until I was sure Clint was out of hearing distance. Once I dropped it, he exploded.
"Who does he think he is? There's no way that I'll break up with you because of some stupid ass that decided that he wants to win the House Cup. Jack, I'm sorry, I should have trusted you, I should have known he was bad, and yet… UGH! What are we going to do? He'll tell North all about Toothless if we don't do what he says! He'll be thrown into Romania and then I'll never see him again and… he could die! He can't fly on his own and other dragons will think he's weak and-"
"Hiccup, calm down." I said, shutting him up with a hug that pinned his wildly-gesticulating arms to his sides. "That asshole isn't breaking us up and he isn't telling the Headmaster about Toothless." I assured, trying to calm him down. He wiggled a bit, almost like he wanted to get out of the hug and changed his mind about it at the last second. When I looked down, he was looking up at me.
"How do you know that? He could do whatever he wanted to and then-"
"Hey." I said sternly. "He's not going to do shit, okay?"
"But-"
"Okay?"
"Okay…"
"Good." I said, kissing his forehead and breaking the hug. "Now let's get back to the Tower. We've got some skies to explore." Hiccup looked at me and nodded, and he started walking back to the Gryffindor Tower before he stopped right in his tracks to look at me.
"Are we really still going flying?" He asked dryly, giving me a look. "After all this, we're still flying?"
"Animals can die of depression, Freckles." I said, grabbing his hand as I walked past him, and it literally felt like I was dragging him along as I marched up the stairs. He was like a rag doll until my comment sank in finally, and then he was the one dragging me up the stairs, eager to get up to our dorm and make Toothless feel better. He didn't even need to say anything for me to know that's what he wanted to do.
When we finally got to the Portrait Hole, Hiccup practically yelled the password ("Flabbergasted Phoenix") in his haste to get in. The Fat Lady tried scolding us, she really did, but it all honesty, she couldn't yell at us if she tried. She was too much of a fangirl to annoy us properly. Hiccup dropped my hand when we ducked into the common room, running past everyone that was there and ran up the stairs as fast as he could, skipping every other step and nearly tripping.
"What did you do this time, Frost?" Someone jeered from one of the loveseats.
"Well, that's a list for some other time." I replied, jokingly. There was a splash of laughter, and I hiked up the stairs after Hiccup. I got to our door and opened it, only to see Hiccup sitting on the windowsill, cuddling Toothless as tight as he could without hurting the dragon-cat and muttering things I can't quite hear. I shut the door behind me as I walked in, and Hiccup looked up at me expectantly.
"Hey, reptile." I said bluntly, catching the cat's attention and getting him to look at me. "Stop sulking, will ya? We're going out." I said, grabbing my staff from the side of my bed, threads of frost traveling up and down it immediately. Toothless' ears perked up at what I said, and he wrestled out of Hiccup's grip. He hopped to the floor and ambled towards me, a daring look on his face. I could feel the words bump around in his head before he finally uttered them.
"What did you just say?" He asked, his voice harder than I last remembered it. I laughed.
"I said we're going out. All three of us." I said, smiling. Hiccup was scrambling to his trunk, looking around frantically for something… something that I knew was Toothless' flight gear. The cat looked over at Hiccup, confusion ingrained in his bright green orbs as he watched Hiccup wrestle something out of his trunk.
"Well… it might take a while to get it in working condition but…" He said, hauling the contraption out of his trunk.
"You should have said that we were going flying, Frost!" Toothless yelled excitedly, meowing loudly as he ran over to Hiccup and nearly tackling him in his excitement.
"Whoa, bud, okay, yeah I'm happy too." Hiccup said, trying to hold in his laugh as he petted Toothless quickly and then set him on the floor. "Jack." He said.
"Huh?"
"If I tell you the incantation, will you turn Toothless back for me?" He asked. I blinked at him, baffled.
"You would let me know your super-ultra-mega secret dragon spell?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and looking at him, surprised.
"Well, yeah. I need you to make sure that he's alright and feeling okay while I make sure his fake tail is working like it should." Hiccup said, focusing his gaze on the contraption as he spoke, but he looked up at me sheepishly afterwards. "And I don't need you accidentally breaking this while I get Toothless all settled. No offense.
"None taken." I said, waving the issue off and smiling at him. Honestly, I wouldn't trust myself with that hunk of wiring and metal anyways. And… this was a big step, Hiccup letting me know Toothless' spell; before he wouldn't let anyone know and now… wow…
Hiccup fished through his trunk some more, pulling out a scrap piece of parchment and one of those Muggle-quill things. He scratched something out before handing it to me. "Here." He said, smiling. "Just say that with the littlest amount of wand movement in Toothless' direction as possible, okay?" He said. I nodded, and looked down at the paper. I muttered the incantation under my breath quickly, the words rolling off my tongue easier than I thought they would have. I smirked, knowing I could get this right for my Hiccup, before fishing my wand out of my pocket. Toothless ambled towards me, looking up at me with a bored look in his eyes. I could tell he was hiding his excitement.
"You better not mess this up. I will eat you alive if you do." He said, trying to be menacing but the bubbly anticipation in his voice ruined the whole façade.
"Trust me, reptile. I got this covered." I said, grinning as I checked the paper once more. I heard Hiccup chuckled under his breath a little. "Okay…" I said, taking a deep breath. "Dragori Encantantum Maximus." I said, flicking my wrist a little bit just like Hiccup told me to. There was a flash of light and the spell hit the cat straight in the chest. Not a moment later, a Night Fury stood in the middle of our dorm. "I did it…" I breathed. "I really did it!"
"Nice!" Hiccup said.
"I AM BACK TO BEING MYSELF AGAIN!!" Toothless roared, trying with all his might to be quiet as he pranced around the tiny room, spinning in circles to eye his wings and tail, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he grinned gummily at anything and everything. I chuckled, shaking my head at him, and Hiccup let out a small yell of delight as Toothless sidled up next to him and licked his face.
"Aw, c'mon! You know that doesn't wash out, bud!" Hiccup complained, but a laugh broke his sentence and made the complaint useless. Toothless only wiggled, shaking his tail excitedly before running around again.
"Hiccup, you know there's not a stain that the elves can't get out, right?" I asked, giving him a cocky grin. He returned my look with narrowed eyes and a stuck-out tongue. I laughed as he went back to checking the tail. "How're you feeling, Toothless?" I asked, putting my attention back on the dragon.
"Never better!" Toothless said. "I never realized how much I hated being a feline until I was stuck like that for who knows how long. But thank you, Frost, for getting Hiccup to agree to this."
"I didn't want you feeling down." I said, shrugging. "It was the least I could do." I barely got the words out before Toothless tackled me. "Toothless, Toothless! No-!" Too late, the dragon was already dragging his wet tongue across my face, making me cringe and cry out in disgust.
"Look who's making snarky comments now." Hiccup remarked, smiling at me.
"Ugh, just get him off me!" I groaned, trying to paw at my face but my arms were pinned to my side because of Toothless. "I can't breathe!"
"Toothless, come here!" Hiccup said. "Your tail's ready." Toothless bounded over to him in an instant, letting me sit up and breathe and wipe off the thick dragon saliva off my face. The substance stuck to my fingers as I spread them apart.
"Ew..." I complained
"Told ya." Hiccup chimed, getting Toothless set up. I wandered over to my bed, wiping my hands on my pants for a lack of anything better to clean them with and grabbed my staff, before kneeling down and helping Hiccup in any way I could to help hook Toothless' fake tail on. Hiccup ended up sitting on the dragon's tail, opening the fake leather tailfin as much as it could go and looking down on it. He fiddled with the straps lightly and looked at it some more.
"Something wrong?" I asked, a grin on my face as I propped my staff across my shoulders.
"It'll work… I mean, it works, but it could be better, but…" Hiccup was muttering to himself, obviously lost in thought until Toothless lunged forward, sending Hiccup sprawling over his tail. "Toothless!"
"Let us go! I need to be in the skies with the wind underneath my wings before I die of boredom!" Toothless exclaimed, wiggling more as he looked over his shoulder at Hiccup and me.
"Fine, fine, let's go!" I said, laughing a little as I stood. Hiccup got to his feet and rolled his eyes, pretending to be annoyed but I could tell he was just as elated as Toothless was. I walked over and threw the window open as wide as I could, and I slipped out, one foot on the windowsill and a hand gripping the underside on the windowpane. I hung there for a bit before I felt something push the back of my leg, and when I looked, Hiccup was there, smirking at me.
"Make some room for the all-powerful Night Fury over here." Hiccup said, shoving me again, and this time I let him, falling off the window and letting myself drop a couple meters before I called the wind to help me out, my grip on my staff making my knuckles even whiter. I was immediately caught by a gust of wind, and when I looked up, Toothless was hanging on the edge of the Tower, Hiccup climbing on his back and hooking his foot into the contraption. Then both of them fell backwards. My heart skipped a beat, and all I could think about was that they were going to fall to their deaths. Then, right before they hit the floor, Toothless flipped right-side up and pulled out of the fall as quick as lightning, climbing into the sky as if they weren't about to die if that wasn't executed perfectly.
"OH! IT'S SO GOOD TO BE OUTSIDE!" Toothless yelled, his voice pounding against my ears.
"Woo hoo!" Hiccup cheered as they climbed higher into the sky.
"You guys are so crazy!" I yelled, propelling myself forward and catching up with them in no time. Hiccup just looked over his shoulder at me at beamed, and Toothless ignored me. Instead, he tucked his wings in tight and began spinning. Hiccup pressed himself close to Toothless' body, laughing his head off as they both fell out of the sky, spinning like a top.
"Well, at least we aren't dead!" Hiccup declared after Toothless threw out his wings yet again, letting the wind catch them and save them from falling. I flew over to them yet again, circling Toothless and tickling his belly. The dragon aimed a kick at me with his back leg, and I barely dodged it as I resurfaced and suspended myself above Hiccup's head.
"Don't you even dare joke about that." I said, smiling a bit as I reached my hand down and ruffled his windblown auburn hair. He ducked a bit under my fingers, and he smiled back at me.
"Sure Frosty, I'll listen just this once." Hiccup said.
"You two sure are sappy." Toothless said, breaking out of the almost leisurely glide into something a hell of a lot faster than that. "Have you fallen into a tree, yet, Frost?" The dragon chided.
"Are those fighting words, reptile?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Toothless…" Hiccup said warningly.
"Are they?" Toothless asked.
"I think they are!" I said.
"So what if they are? I would only defeat you in any fight or competition that we had, so you might as well not even try it." Toothless said cockily.
"Oh? Wanna bet, reptile?" I asked
"What is the wager?" Toothless asked.
"You two are not betting because of this." Hiccup said, sounding more like a mother chastising two of her kids rather than a dragon-riding kick-ass boyfriend.
"Fine! Then there shall be no wager!" Toothless declared, and he must have done something to tip Hiccup off, before he was muttering "uh oh" and holding on tighter to Toothless' harness before the dragon shot off.
"Hey!" I yelled, clicking my tongue and darting off after the dragon. "That's no fair! You had a head start!"
"You're the one that challenged him!" Hiccup quipped, looking at me and smiling as he flicked his ankle and maneuvered Toothless into a tight turn. Toothless made a face at me as they flew past (YES THE DRAGON MADE A FACE AT ME, DON'T ASK ME HOW OR WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE, BECAUSE IT WAS A FACE AND I WAS SHOCKED AND OFFENDED AT THE SAME TIME OKAY?), narrowly missing me in the process. I hooked the crook of my staff on Toothless' back leg at the last second, jerking me along with them and slowing them down a little bit. Toothless roared indignantly, twisting to look at me, and I unhooked myself and flying front of them.
"Look who is cheating now!" Toothless said, growling a bit, but I knew he meant no harm (or at least I thought he didn't, because that would have been scary if he meant it, I mean, I was right in front of his mouth!).
"I don't cheat!" I said, smiling. "I only use my resources!" then I dove gracefully under them and looped so that I was above them again. I blew some frost into Hiccup's hair, and he only clicked his tongue and brushed it out of his hair quickly. I laughed loudly.
The moon was high in the sky and the stars were shining brightly when we decided that we had enough of racing. Toothless looked a little tired, but he was also elated and excited and running off energy he didn't know he had cooped up in him and- oh, right, he was stubborn and didn't want to go back inside. Hiccup looked windswept and a little cold, but he refused my offer to take off my sweater for him. I guess I wasn't much better than those two, but hey, when you're in the air for a long period of time, you tend to have really messy hair and heavy breathing.
"So." Hiccup said as he laid out across Toothless' back, his ankle still hooked into the fake tail contraption and his arms folded over his chest. I looked over at him, an eyebrow raised, and flew in a little closer. (Even Toothless' ears perked up at this.) "I actually wanted to talk to you about something." Hiccup said.
"Oh?" I asked, curious.
"I never told you what that letter said, did I?" He said, turning his head to look at me better. If the wind whipping my face and the lower air pressure didn't make my cheeks flushed, I was a giant ass tomato now. It was like all the blood in my body decided to rush to my face as I remembered that I pillaged his things to know what that stupid letter said.
"No, you didn't." I said, hanging on the edge of lying and telling the truth. It wasn't technically a lie, right? He did never tell me what it said… I figured it out without him, but he never told me. My mind pulled a blank, almost like it was shrugging for me because I couldn't do it physically since it would tip him off.
"I knew that." Hiccup said. "Jay didn't tell you either." He propped himself up on his elbows before he sat up fully, running both hands through his hair nervously before patting Toothless' head reassuringly (probably more for him than the dragon, but Toothless was still sort of worried). "My dad…. Didn't take…. Us, very well." He said bluntly, but I understood because there was no other way to describe it. "He practically kicked me out and he never wants to see me again and… I was upset about that so I wasn't my best during the game. And so I talked to Lauren again and she made me realize that keeping it all to myself was going to do absolutely nothing for me so… I think you have the right to know. And I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. Sooner." He said, on the verge of a monologue, and when he looked up at me, the amount of uncertainty in his eyes clouded out the brilliant green that was supposed to be there. I huffed, and flew over, settling myself behind him on Toothless' back. I weaved my staff around Hiccup's waist, letting it settle on his lap so that I effectively hugged his middle while doing so. "Wha-? Jack-?" He stuttered, and I put my chin on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry too." I said.
"What the heck are you sorry for?" Hiccup asked, turning his head and trying to look at me, but all he got was a mess of his hair in my face. I resisted the urge to laugh because it tickled and because this was a serious subject.
"Oh, and the truth finally comes out." Toothless narrated to no one but me. I tried my best not to make a witty comment to him about something or other before deciding to ignore him and take a deep breath.
"I was worried about you." I started out, trying to build my case so that he wouldn't throw me off Toothless the moment the words came out of my mouth. "I knew you were upset about the letter, and I didn't know why, and obviously it was something huge if it screwed you up enough to throw you off during the match. And… after the match you never talked about it. I could see that you were trying to act like nothing happened and everything was fine but… I don't know. It bugged me, I guess, that you were acting like you never got that letter, so… I sort of… found it. And read it."
"You went through my stuff?" Hiccup asked, a bit more surprised than angry, but the anger was still there, don't get me wrong. My arms around his waist tightened a bit, not enough to hurt but just enough to bring him down with me if he decided to fling me off. I didn't want him to be mad at me. I just wanted to be close to him, like this, forever, and I don't care if he never talked to me again because of this, as long as I could be like this forever that…. That wasn't enough, but I'll tell myself that it is for now.
"I was worried about you, Freckles." I said lamely, still defending myself. "I'm sorry, and I swear I'll never do it again, but I really was worried and I wanted to know if I could help you and-"
"How long ago?" Hiccup asked, and I blinked a bit in surprise, not really knowing how to answer.
"I… have no idea to be honest." I said.
"And you're being honest?" Hiccup asked.
"I'd never lie about something like this and you know it!" I said, nearly shouting in his ear. I guess it was necessary since the wind was howling loud enough, but it really wasn't necessary.
"I know you wouldn't." Hiccup said, leaning into me. I let out a sigh that I didn't know I was holding in. "I forgive you." He said, finally. "If I just stopped being a prick for about three seconds and told you about what happened, you would have never had to do all that just to know if I was okay."
"And if I would have just calmed my ass down and stopped worrying for about five minutes you would have told me what was wrong anyways." I said.
"I like the fact that you worry." Hiccup said, making me blink yet again and come up short. I guess he could hear the question ringing through my thoughts, that, or the dragon learned how to read my mind and figured out how to tell Hiccup, because Hiccup was chuckling at himself. "I don't know, I guess that it shows that you care and… I don't want you to stop caring." He said.
"Then I won't." I said, hugging him tighter from behind. "Never, ever, ever!" I declared, nuzzling the side of my head on his cheek before I ditched that and decided to kiss his cheek over and over and over again until he was laughing and Toothless was groaning.
"Jack, Jack, Jack, stop!~" Hiccup said, trying to get away from me, but I had a hold of him and I wouldn't let go. I laughed, and so did he, until I finally stopped and unwound my arms from his waist, hopping back up into the air and falling for about a foot before the wind caught me.
"You two," Toothless said, rolling his eyes at me, "are acting like lovesick hatchlings." He said, and I laughed at the dragon' slang, because it sounded so weird.
"Well, thank you, Toothless!" I said, flying over and poking his nose before flying out of his reach so he couldn't chomp down on my arm and maim me forever. Instead, the dragon just rolled his eyes at me and dipped down in a tiny graceful arc, making Hiccup scramble to properly hold onto his harness and make sure he doesn't fly off. I laughed, before trying to imitate him as he twirled slowly in his descent. Hiccup pressed himself as close as he could to Toothless, positively grinning, and I was pretty sure he closed his eyes more than once to just feel.
"As much as I hate to admit it, we need to be getting back. And soon." Toothless said, sounding almost depressed as he pulled out of the dive, with Hiccup's help, and angled himself into some bizarrely weird turns.
"Why do you say that?" I asked, the wind failing me for a couple seconds in my moment of not being focused. I panicked for a second, letting out a little yelp, before I started flipping for the fun of it as I called the wind back to help me up. When I looked back, Toothless and Hiccup were suspended in the air, looking at me like I was going to die.
"Don't do that, you scared the shit out of me." Hiccup said, clicking his tongue.
"Blame your dragon, Frecks, he's the one that caught me off-guard." I said, smiling and bolting up in front of him, only to poke his nose before moving away again.
"It is late, and I am most certain that people are starting to notice two dark masses out in the night sky on the grounds of Hogwarts." Toothless said. "Paranoia sets in quickly for you humans, does it not?" He asked.
"True." I said, nodding.
"Plus, I need to urinate."
"Oh my fucking gods."
"What is it this time?" Hiccup asked, blinking at me as I started to deteriorate into a laughing spree. I ran my free hand through my hair and tried my hardest to suppress my smile and laughter but… it wasn't working all that well and I knew that if he stayed out here for long, I'll wake up the whole castle with my laugh.
"Toothless says its time to go back." I said, trying to keep a straight face even though it was nothing to be smiling about. Hiccup sighed, looking in between me and Toothless, before patting the dragon's head.
"Alright, bud." He said, sounding a little bit resigned. "First one back to the room is one of Bunny's rotten eggs!" He said, as fast as lightning, before shooting off with Toothless like they planned this whole thing.
"Hey!" I yelled, forgetting totally that people could possibly be looking, and know that Clint may full well be watching, but it's not like I care about what that douchebag is doing anyways. Instead, I just followed them as fast as I could and urged the wind to push me faster without making me lose control.
Toothless slid through the wide open window first, both he and Hiccup barely squeezing in at the same time without hurting or breaking anything. They landed noisily, and when I gracefully hopped through the window and settled on my toes on the windowsill, Xavier was stirring in his sleep, muttering something about steamed corn. Hiccup hopped off Toothless' saddle fluidly, and I worked with him to detach all the equipment that Toothless had laced onto his body in order for him to fly. The moment all that metal was off him, Toothless started wiggling around like a puppy that needed to be let outside, and I could tell this wiggling was different from excitement.
"Wow, you really do need to pee, don't you?" I asked.
"Undo the spell!" Toothless said. "Do it! Please! I will not beg you, but for the love of Odin, undo the spell!"
"Uh, Hiccup?" I asked, catching the auburn-haired boy's attention and pointing at Toothless.
"Oh, right." Hiccup said, pulling his wand out from his boot and flicking his wrist a bit, muttering the counter spell and turning Toothless into a cat once more. Once Toothless was furry and one his own four paws, he darted off to the bathroom, standing on his hind legs and pushing the door shut behind him with a click! "What the-?" Hiccup asked.
"Do you really think-?" I asked.
"I mean, no, but it's not like-"
"The shower, maybe?"
"Ugh, gods I hope not, so that only really means that-"
"Tell me I'm not losing my mind, but are you trying to say that Toothless potty-trained himself, as a cat, to use the toilet?" I asked, incredulously. Sure, Toothless was smart enough, but the view of a cat sitting on the toilet and actually using it was insane.
"The only other option is that the house elves rigged this place so that when pets go in, there's like a litter box or newspaper or something there that they can clean up easily but…" Hiccup said rationally before trailing off, and that actually made sense, but I could never see Toothless succumbing to use a litter box. Ever.
"Oh well. The world will never know." I said, sighing as I helped him get the flight gear into his trunk once again. He then stripped himself of his harnesses and put them away neatly too.
"Yes, the world will never know, so open this door for me." Toothless said, his voice a little muffled, but also extra edgy, almost like he was shouting but from a distance. I laughed, before walking to the bathroom door and cracking it open for Toothless to slide right out.
"Well, if you didn't close the door, you wouldn't need my help." I said smartly, and Toothless gave me a small hiss, his little nubs he called teeth bared. "I'm so scared." I said sarcastically. Toothless rolled his eyes.
"C'mon, don't egg him on." Hiccup said as Toothless walked over and hopped onto his pillow. How he changed into his pajama bottoms and an overlarge t-shirt that fast the world may never know, but it was weird how attractive he looked in it and- nope, wrong direction. Will not go there. It's bedtime.
"Fine, fine, I'll save it all for tomorrow." I said, yawning to emphasize the fact to my own brain that yes, it was, indeed, time for sleep. I looked through my trunk before realizing that I really didn't care if I fell asleep wearing my clothes. I closed it just as-
"Jack?" Hiccup asked.
"Yeah?" I answered.
"Are we really going to throw our Quidditch matches and act like we broke up?" He asked, and I could see that his eyes shone extra bright because of the light from the still open window. I crossed the room and walked over to him, pulling him into a brief hug before gripping him lightly by the shoulders.
"We aren't breaking up." I said. "We aren't even going to act like it. Clint will have to deal with it. But Quidditch…" I said, sucking in a breath.
"Alex will kill us if we throw any of the matches." Hiccup noted. I nodded.
"We'll think about this later. You know, weigh the pros and cons better when we're fully awake, okay?" I said
"Okay." He said, leaning up and kissing me. "Good night."
"Night, Freckles." I said, smiling at him before we both went to our own beds.
The last thing I heard was Xavier mumbling, "oh no, please…. No, don't steal my legwarmers…" before falling asleep.
Okay so apparently I have a thing for feelings that aren't yet resolved and the mystery of how characters hold in their pee/writers forget that characters have bladders too. Okay! yeah!
So, I've been feeing like my characterization has been off... again. So any feedback/criticism/words in general about it would be highly appreciated!
Thank you so much for reading, and I love each and every one of you!
Keep your head high, keep living , and know that I'm here for you!
-HB