AN: Sorry there was no update last week! Life has been pretty busy as of late! But hopefully you all will enjoy this little piece until I return next week with another chapter! Enjoy! :)
REVIEWERS!:
Eris: Always happy to hear that! And just wait, that's coming very soon! :)
Acecove: Aw, yes! Jack is very confused... also; *panicked and pained groaning through entire review!*
Guest: Thank you! I'm having a lot of fun with Rapunzel's story right now because I get to explore her adventurous/action side and also draw inspiration from her TV show. I feel like most Big Four series don't give much spotlight to her, so I'm happy to give Punzie some love! :)
yaoiprincess101: That's honestly one of the best compliments ever. Like, who? Me?! You like my writing that much? That you would binge read a series about a fandom you're not really into? You have no idea how much confidence this comment sparked in me as a writer. Seriously, I'm currently trying to expand my Original Works and I was feeling pretty down about my lack of education in creative writing, but this comment gave me so much hope, so thank you so much! (officially; there's gonna be two more books after this. (unofficially; and possibly some off shoot series after that.))
Music: "Voices of Spring" by Johann Strauss
NOTES: Live and Love while we're Young...
Chapter 17: The Champion's Ball
The emptied study hall was packed full of sixth-years from every house, everyone whispering and gossiping as they waited for Professor Edna to explain what was going on. The small Professor, though, was preoccupied by the technical difficulties occurring with a music box that she and Mr. Crood were huddled around, speaking to each other in hushed tones.
Rapunzel was seated on the left side of the room with all the girls, sitting towards the center of the room with Merida beside her. Meanwhile, Jack and all of the other boys had been instructed to sit on the opposite side of the room. Rapunzel was perfectly content to spend her Saturday afternoon laughing and talking with her friends, but she really should have been thinking about that little wood box she'd gotten from the second task. Not that there was much she could do as this gathering had been made mandatory by the teachers, so she ignored the feeling and focused on Merida discussing the progression of some of the younger students that they allowed into the dueling club.
The conversation didn't last, however, as Edna finally straightened and turned to address the whole class.
"The Champion's Ball," She began without pretext. "Has been a tradition of the Tri-Wizard Tournament since it's inception. The evening before the Final Task, all three schools shall gather together at the Great Moor for a night of Well-Mannered Frivolity. As representatives of the Hosts for this years tournament, Professor North expects each and every one of you to place your best foot forward! And, trust me, my darlings, he means this literally, because the Champion's Ball is first and foremost a Dance!"
Immediately, all the girls turned to each other, whispering and giggling excitedly while, at the same time, the boys groaned and called out complaints that had Edna Mode grinning wickedly at all of them.
"Silence, silence!" She called out, waving her arms as she marched to the center of the room. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has commanded the respect of the Wizarding World for nearly ten centuries! We have held the title of top Wizarding School for just as long! Professor North has entrusted me with the task of ensuring none of you besmirch that name in a single evening by behaving like a babbling, bumbling band of baboons!"
"Try saying that five times fast." Ruffnut leaned close to Rapunzel to snicker in her ear, and if Rapunzel were to guess by their movements alone, she'd say that Tuffnut had done the same thing to Fred who responded by actually trying to say it five times fast.
"Now," Edna continued. "To dance is to let the body breathe!" She gestured grandly before turning to the girls side. "Inside every girl, a secret swan slumbers, longing to burst forth and take flight! Inside every boy, a lordly lion prepared to prance," She turned to the boys and scanned their ranks before her eyes finally stopped on Snotlout. "Mister Jorgenson!"
"Yes?" Snotlout mumbled as she walked over and held out her hand expectantly.
"Will you join me, please?" She asked, but the tone of her voice left no room for an alternative. The teen viking slowly got up and followed Professor Mode out to the center of the floor as a murmur of encouragement went through the boys. "Now, place your right hand on my waist."
"Where?" Snotlout asked, utterly confused.
"My waist, Mr. Jorgenson." Professor Mode said after rolling her eyes.
Jack let out a wolf-whistle when Snotlout complied, and the viking turned with a glare and his hand coming up with what looked like it was going to be a rather crude gesture, but Professor Mode caught his wrist and placed his hand back on her waist. A chuckle went through some of the boys, and Ruffnut and Astrid seemed to be smirking to themselves.
"Now, extend your other arm, and Mr. Crood, if you please?" Edna shook out her short hair primly as Mr. Crood tapped the music box with his wand.
An elegant waltz began to play from the extravagant horn as Professor Mode counted along with the three-four melody. The other guys were grinning and swaying in a joking manner as Snotlout stared down at his feet, seemingly not understanding anything about what was happening. Rapunzel felt a nudge on her arm and looked over at Merida, who nodded at the viking girls beside them before leaning over.
"Oi!" Merida whispered to Astrid and Ruffnut, getting their attention. "You're never gonna let him forget this, are you?"
"Never." Ruffnut confirmed with a wicked giggle and Astrid grinned even wider. Rapunzel winced for Snotlout, but couldn't help her own smile and quiet laughter that bubbled up as they watched Snotlout dance with their very short, very confident teacher.
"Everybody come together!" Professor Mode called out, unaware of their amusement.
Rapunzel stood up with the rest of the girls through varying degrees of interest. Some were extremely excited and giggly, others like Astrid or Merida seemed to be more of the opinion that the sooner they started the sooner they could finish, if their expressions were anything to go by. Rapunzel landed somewhere in the middle, always happy to dance, but also remembering the small box that was in need of her attention.
"Boys! On your feet!" Professor Mode snapped.
The other side of the room, however, was reluctant. Many of the boys slid down in their chairs, ducked their heads, or hid their eyes. A couple groaned and a few others whispered back and forth with pale and frightened complexions. Whether they were terrified, or just embarrassed, Rapunzel assumed there must have been a range of emotions, just as it was with the girls, though Rapunzel was glad that some of the boys actually looked happy and excited.
That specific waltz remained stuck in all of their heads for the next week as Professor Mode held multiple dance classes for all the students by year. A week later and everyone was completely saturated in everything to do with the Champion's Ball. The girls talked about what dresses they would wear, and boys compared dress robes in an effort to figure out what the heck was appropriate for such an event. There was plenty of discussions about makeup and flowers and ties and proper shoes.
But absolutely nothing exceeded the sheer amount of talk over who was going with who.
Everyone was talking about finding a date to the Champion's Ball. The first ones to get dates were those who already had some form of relationship beyond friendship, like Mavis and Johnny, or Justin and Lara. Couples that everyone already knew would be going together and someone simply had to ask for the sake of confirmation.
It was only two days after their first dance lesson that Rapunzel found out her friends considered her to be among those ranks of "safe" couples. She was sitting in the Great Hall, discussing the issue with Jack and Merida, when the subject of Eugene somehow came up.
"Oh, come on! You can't tell me you don't want to go with him!" Merida grinned, speaking quite loudly in her amusement.
"No! I -I mean, Yes?! I mean, well, I don't know! I shouldn't just assume that Eugene wants to go with me!" Rapunzel had said in return, but Merida rolled her eyes as Jack leaned his weight forward onto his staff even from his seated position.
"Punzie, I don't think you've got anything to worry about in that department." He said, and the way he and Merida smiled at her made Rapunzel's face heat up considerably, so she tried to turn the tables of the conversation.
"Well, what about you two? Who will you be going with?" She wanted to know.
"Not a clue." Merida answered with an easy shrug.
"The Champion's Ball is still months away. The only people freaking out about it right now are the third and fourth years." Jack agreed.
Rapunzel had been a little disappointed that she didn't have anything to tease them about, but she figured there would be plenty of time for that later. Besides, from there the topic turned to classes and the little box in Rapunzel's bag, so the talk of relationships and dating didn't come up again through their lunch hour.
A week after their first dance class found Rapunzel in the library with Eugene. Their winter break had just started, and Rapunzel would be going home for the holidays two days later. Before that, Rapunzel had decided to use her free time to try and figure out the little box clue, and Eugene joined her, saying he had some studying that he wanted to catch up on while he had the chance.
"Hmmm," Rapunzel hummed after nearly three hours, pursing her lips and rubbing her chin as she stared down at the little wooden box on the table before her.
The decorative silver was dull, the wood finely crafted and of high quality. There were no seams, no holes, no nothing. As far as Rapunzel could tell, it was just a wood cube with some metal slapped onto it.
She threw her hands up with a frustrated groan and then flopped forward onto the table. The sound of her head thumping the table must have caused Eugene to look up from the text book he'd been reading because he cleared his throat and Rapunzel tilted her neck so that she could look at him, her chin on the table now.
"Why don't we take a break, Blondie? Get outside? Stretch! Breathe some fresh air!" Eugene said, standing up as Rapunzel straightened in her own seat.
"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea." Rapunzel sighed, giving him a soft smile and then standing to walk with him. They packed up their things and left the library with no particular destination in mind, and after a few moments of walking, Rapunzel sighed. "This clue is a lot harder than the last one."
"Don't worry about it so much. You know, it's a known fact that the best solutions come when you're not even thinking about the problem!" Eugene said matter-of-factually.
"Is that so?" Rapunzel asked.
"It is, indeed! I'll have you know that I've traveled near and far over my many years, and I've got a lot of wisdom stored up here!" Eugene grinned, pointing to his head, and then he smiled at her. "Trust me on this one. Besides, if anyone can figure this out, it's you."
"Thanks, Eugene." Rapunzel felt her cheeks heat up a little as their eyes locked for a heartbeat, but then she looked away, reaching up to grab a long lock of hair only to be reminded that it wasn't there anymore, so she dropped her hand to rub her arm.
"So, uhh, h-how are classes going? Must be hard, keeping up with school with so many responsibilities," Eugene asked, scratching the back of his head as he waved his other hand about a little more than necessary.
"Oh, they're good," Rapunzel said, clearing her throat lightly. "I guess homework and studying is something I've always been good at, so it hasn't been too hard getting everything done. I've forgotten a few things here and there, but the teachers are usually pretty nice about giving me an extension."
"Wow, really? Man, what teachers do you have, I wanna take their classes!" Eugene said, and Rapunzel laughed.
"They'd be nicer to you if you tried a little harder." Rapunzel informed him. "They know you can do better."
"I do try! Just the other day I applied our Charms lesson to help me, ah, Liberate the butter-beer Lady Tremaine confiscated from a group of poor, poor fourth-years." Eugene explained.
"I don't think Stealing is quite the application they had in mind." Rapunzel replied. Eugene put a hand to his chest and gasped.
"I cannot believe my ears! That you, Blondie, would accuse me of breaking rules? What kind of a man do you think I am?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Well, considering the trouble you and Jack have gotten yourselves into over the years..." Rapunzel sang, skipping along their path.
"Hey, I will have you know that for most of those times I was just along for the fun!" Eugene argued, but they both dissolved into laughter as they continued walking out into one of the courtyards.
"What about you? How does it feel? Getting ready to graduate and all..." She asked once they quieted down, looking up at him curiously as his smile faded to something more serious, his eyes moving towards the distant sky.
"I don't know. Feels like yesterday that I was seeing the castle for the first time. Now it's almost time to leave, and besides helping in the war efforts, I'm not really sure what I want to do with my life afterwards." Eugene told her.
Rapunzel nodded. She'd never given much thought to what she would do after she finished school. When they were younger, she'd talked with her friends about going on grand adventures. But she was older now, and she had responsibilities. As much as she may like to runaway on an epic journey, she knew her people would need her. She supposed that meant she'd go back to Corona after her own graduation to begin her official training in preparation for taking the throne. It made her wonder what would happen to the friendships she'd made in school, and how she would balance her duties as a Guardian. Could she be Queen and still manage to protect the world?
"Anyways," Eugene said, and Rapunzel looked up at him to find he was smiling at her. "I don't have the typical skill sets or the desired background for most jobs, so I guess I'll have to work on that. Maybe I'll be able to get an apprenticeship somewhere. I'm going to stick to magic though. I spent all this time getting this education, may as well use it. Besides, wizards might be a little more forgiving about my rule bending throughout my troubled childhood." He waved his hand as he grinned, and Rapunzel laughed a little.
"Seems like the future has finally caught up with us, huh? We're not kids anymore..." She sighed, looking up at the cloud-covered sky.
"Maybe... But I think it suits you," Eugene said, and Rapunzel felt her cheeks heating up again.
"You think?" She looked at him again.
"Are you kidding? You used to be so scared of everything, and now look at you! You're fighting Krakens!" Eugene exclaimed, making the both chuckle. But then his smile turned soft and warm. "I think this tournament is really helping you to shine."
"Eugene," Rapunzel felt the corners of her mouth turn up on their own and she felt her heart give a twirl. And then a thought crossed her mind.
"What? What's wrong?" Eugene straightened, and Rapunzel realized she hadn't noticed how close they'd gotten. "Is it my breath?"
"I think I just thought of how to unlock the next clue!" Rapunzel said, jumping on the balls of her feet. She popped up onto her tiptoes and kissed Eugene's cheek before darting back the way they had come from. "Thank you! You're a genius! I'll see you at dinner!"
"Wait! Rapunzel, I wanted to ask..." Eugene called after her, but she had already disappeared into the castle, not hearing his half-hearted attempt to get her attention.
The girls' bathroom was neat and clean and smelled subtly of coconut. Rapunzel grinned as she watched the multiple spouts filling the giant tub full of steamy water. She normally didn't take baths right in the middle of the day, but she was too eager to wait until after dinner. She turned the knob to turn off the water and then stepped into the tub, taking the little wooden cube along with her.
After settling down, Rapunzel cupped the cube in both hands and took a deep breath, dropping into the water. Under the waters surface the dull silver started to shine and sparkle the way it had when she'd first found it in the lake. Rapunzel struggled not to grin for fear of releasing the air stored in her puffed up cheeks and inspected the cube.
A very fine line, indicating a seam, appeared in the center of the cube. Rapunzel held the top and bottom and gently pulled them apart, opening the box to reveal a small slip of water-proofed paper nestled in the bottom half of the box.
Excited, Rapunzel shouted and a rush of bubbles surrounded her head as she pushed herself up out of the water. She quickly set the two halves of the box on the edge of the tub and unrolled the tiny scroll.
"The Key is Water." Rapunzel read, her expression twisting with confusion.
That was all it said.