It was a long night, Mal having to wait till Evie fell asleep before she could get out of the bed and sit on the roof outside her window. She watched the moon rise and fall, contemplating her situation. She couldn't break up with Ben without risking their lives in Auradon, but all she wanted was to fix things with Harry. To allow herself to love him and fall back into who she really was. She missed herself and she missed him even more.
When the sun rose she crawled back into her room, pausing to smile gently at a still sleeping Evie before sliding on her favorite black leather pants and acidic green crop top. She stepped into her purple combat boots and pulled on her favorite black leather jacket. It had been a long time since she'd worn something other than sweats, it felt good. She crept quietly out of the room and winced at the slight creak and clicking sound the door made as it closed. It was quiet as she strode down the hall, hair finally fully of life again and bouncing with each step. She'd come to a decision on the roof, she was done hiding who she was. She was done playing the part Auradon expected her to play.
The grass was moist, but her boots kept out the chill and her head felt much better with the fresh air as she power walked her way across the school lawns and into the woods. Her magic had been trapped inside for too long, and it needed out. It was physically painful for her to hold it inside, the power seeming to fizzle under her skin to the point where it burned. So, it would be a relief in more ways than one when she finally got to use it.
"Hey, princess! Where ye off to?" He always had been the only one able to sneak up on her.
"Harry!" She whirled around with a wicked grin. "Aren't you up early?"
"Well, pirate's life and all." His grin matched her's in wickedness and his eyes glimmered with mischief. "Yer looking a lot more like yourself now, lass. I like the outfit." She looked down at said outfit and ran her hands over her thighs to feel the buttery texture of the leather pants.
"I thought you might."
"Ye always dress with me in mind?"
"Please. Don't flatter yourself, Pirate."
"Where are ye off to so early in the morning?"
"None of your fucking business."
"Ooooo, so defensive. Lemme guess- yer off to practice yer magic somewhere no one will see." He swayed and widened his eyes as he circled her, like a panther preparing to strike at any moment. Mal spun, matching him step for step and movement for movement, the purple haired girl cursing internally. He always had known her the best.
"Why do you care so much, Hook?"
"I'm always intrigued whenever I see a little purple dragon peeking her head out, especially when she's been hiding for so long."
"I haven't been hiding!" She ground out, trying to resist the urge to punch him in his smug face.
"Whatever ye have to tell yerself, lass. Seems to me that the dragon has been hiding behind a tiara ever since she left the Isle and is just now getting her fire back. I wonder why that is?"
"I think you need to watch your mouth, pirate," Mal shoulder checked him as she walked by, heading into the woods, only to curse at the sound of his footsteps following along behind her. "Why are you following me?"
"Like I'm gonna miss the chance to see your magic come out of its shell for the first time in ages, dragon. It's going to be quite the show." And that's when she knew he'd pretty much forgiven her, when he called her dragon. She stopped suddenly causing the pirate to collide with her back, nearly knocking her over.
"Dragon?" She questioned hopefully.
"I was verra mad at you yesterday, Mal, but I love ye and that doesn't go away easily. I've seen the way ye've been suffering here in Auradon, I don't wanna make you suffer anymore." She choked back a sob and threw herself at him, hair flying everywhere and arms going around his neck. She buried her nose where his throat met his shoulder and inhaled deeply before speaking.
"I love you too, Harry." His hook clattered to the ground and his fingers tangled in her hair, pulling her face back by it. His eyes flickered over her for a few moments before his lips crashed onto hers, tongue instantly tracing the bottom one. His hand left her hair to grip her by the arse, squeezing once to signal for her to jump and wrap her legs around his waist, an instruction she followed with practiced ease.
"Fuck, lass." He groaned out, allowing the kiss to continue for a few moments more before pulling away. "We have to stop, if we don't I'll take ye right here in the grass and you won't have the chance to use your magic before class."
"You're right," she panted out, fingers desperately trying to straighten out her hair, "put me down, Harry. Let's go and see what happens."
They stood on top of a hill peering down at the trees spanning the horizon in front of them as Mal took in a shaky breath.
"Why're ye nervous, dragon?"
"What if it doesn't work," she nearly whimpered, looking down at her hands. "What if it's been so long since I've truly used my magic that I've lost it."
"Ye can't lose what ye are, love. Yer magic is in your veins, yer soul. Ye couldn't lose it without dying yourself. This horrible place might have made it out to be ugly, but dinna fear what you are, it's beautiful. Yer beautiful Mal." He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear with his hook before pressing a kiss to her forehead. "G'on, love." He took a step back and gestured forwards.
"Thank you," she breathed, shaking the nerves out of her hands. "I've got this." With one last deep breath, her eyes lit up electric green, her magic immediately rushing to the surface at her call. She let the breath out, her magic rushing out alongside it. A wave of green nearly flattened the trees as it burst from her petite form, twisting amongst the branches and rising up to meet the clouds. Everywhere that the magic touched, flowers sprouted or clouds turned grey, water falling to drench the new flora.
"Holy shite," he shouted out, crowing in joy at the beautiful sight as they both got soaking wet. "Holy shite, Mal! Yer amazin.'" He crowed once more as he swept her up, spinning them around in a circle, water flinging from their hair with each turn. They laughed, pulling back to gaze into each other's eyes. "I do love ye."
"I know. I love ye too." She chuckled, mocking his accent. The two looked around one last time at the, literally, magical sight, before agreeing they should probably head back to their rooms and change before breakfast. Luckily they had another week before classes started again so that was one less thing to worry about.
"Shame it got all wet, I liked that outfit."
Mal snorted out a laugh, pushing her hair from her face with a flick of her fingers. "Don't worry, Hook, it'll dry and I'll wear it again."
"Can't wait," he smirked, "and 'M excited to see what you put on for today."
"Well, you'll see when I meet you in the cafeteria for breakfast, but you're going to have to behave yourself. My friends will be eating with us, and they don't want a show; not to mention the room full of Auradon kids we'll be surrounded with."
"Aye, well, a bunch of spoiled students is far from the worst thing we've been surrounded by."
"True!" She laughed out, nose wrinkled in amusement.
"Don't worry, love." He crooned out. "I'll be on me best behaviour." He bent down, sweeping her hand up in his own before pressing a sweet kiss to her knuckles. She quirked a brow at his usual overdramatic behavior before letting out a snicker.
"You don't even know what that means, pirate."
"And ye love me for it, dragon." He pressed a solid kiss to her lips before skipping backwards, saluting her once before turning and bolting up to his room. She watched him with a smile before heading off to her own room, grinning brightly and drenched to the bone. Which is how Evie saw her when she attempted to sneak back into their room.
"Where have you been?!" Mal let out a startled shriek at the sudden sound of her best friend's stern voice.
"Oh, um-"
"I've been worried sick! You can't just wander off like that twelve hours after being knocked unconscious! And... why are you dripping wet?" The anger in her voice melted away to confusion at the end as she peered out the window and saw no sign of rain.
"Evie! I'm okay. I was in the woods practicing my magic with um… with Harry." Evie squealed and jumped up and down, zooming to hug her best friend.
"You were with Harry! Of course you were, I should've guessed. Tell me what happened, leave out nothing!" Mal laughed as Evie dragged her over to her bed draped in purple sheets and tugged her down. The blue haired girl listened incredibly attentively as Mal told her the morning's events. She played the part of best friend perfectly, ooing and ahing at the right moments, squealing with every kiss she was told of.
"Okay, stop." The purple haired girl laughed, pulling away from her best friend. "We have to get down to the cafeteria before all the food is gone."
"Let me guess, a certain pirate is waiting for you there?"
"Shut up before I make you."
"Ooh, threats, I must be right." Mal ignored Evie as she jumped up and moved to her wardrobe. She pulled on another pair of black leather pants but topped it off with a purple tank this time around, keeping her combat boots and deciding to forego her jacket.
"C'mon, Evie, let's go."
"Hold on, hold on!" She held the curling iron in her hair for a few more seconds before pulling it out, revealing a perfect curl.
"Your hair looks fine, E. Let's go!" The two girls grumbled at each other the whole way down to the cafeteria, teasingly pushing each other's shoulders as they exchanged jabs. "I love you, you know that right?"
"Awwww," the bluette squealed, wrapping an arm around Mal's neck. "I love you too!"
"Hey! What about us?" The two girls turned around at the sound of Carlos' voice. The son of Cruella de Vil was a few paces behind them, Jay at his side. The four friends grinned at each other, three of them just thrilled to see their friend back to normal, and rushed to hug. The group hug was full of laughter and so was the walk following, the two boys shooting Evie a questioning look at Mal's high spirits only to be answered with a 'not now' look.
Harry Hook could hear the group from what seemed like a mile off, their laughter and banter accompanied by Mal's voice causing him to smirk. His girl was back. He was leaning against the wall next to the entryway to the cafeteria when they rounded the corner, his eyes immediately finding Mal's, blue meeting green perfectly insync.
"Hey, Hook!" She called, a fiery grin spread across her face. "You gonna join us or do you like leaning there?"
"Don't fret, sweetheart, I'm gonna join ye." He pulled his hat off and placed it on her head, falling into line as they walked by. "I know ye miss me when I'm gone."
"I think what you truly like to do is flatter yourself."
"I like to do you."
"Harry!" Evie gasped, stretching across Mal to whack him in the chest. It was bad enough Mal wearing his hat in front of everyone (she was hoping that Auradon kids wouldn't know just how serious that was), they didn't need him blurting out that he's slept with the witch in front of the whole school. "You can't say things like that where just anyone can hear you! If Ben or Audrey hear that, or one of their friends, our lives here are over."
"A tragedy to be sure." Mal shushed him and rolled her eyes, choosing to completely ignore her boyfriend's(?) and friend's conversation in favor of scouting out the food bar.
"Oh, they have waffles! C'mon, Harry! You have to try waffles, they're amazing." She dragged him by the hand and into the line, cooly pointing out different good foods after her embarrassing display of dragging him. He casually piled four waffles and two parfaits onto a tray, his eyes telling Mal that the tray was for them to share in that silent way of his. She rolled his eyes at his obvious possessive play but chose to go along with it as she guided him to the VKs' usual table. "You're ridiculous."
"Says you." She huffed at his childish response but said nothing, shooting Lonnie an annoyed look. The daughter of Mulan was gaping at the pirate, eyes wide with a mixture of fear and awe from seeing the pirate as himself rather than a panicked lover that made Mal want to run her through.
"Lonnie! You're a princess, shouldn't you have been taught that staring's rude?"
"Mal," Evie chided gently as she slid into her seat to the girl's right, giving Lonnie an apologetic smile as she comfortingly patted her best friend's thigh. "Lonnie, Jane, Dougie, you remember Harry Hook? Mal's boyfriend?"
"I thought Ben was Mal's boyfriend?" Jane questioned in that soft voice of her's.
"Ben thinks he's Mal's boyfriend," Jay ground out, "after everything that's happened, the rest of us disagree."
Harry let out a snort and slung his arm over Mal's shoulders, only for Evie to let out a panicked whisper of "No!" before she pushed it off. "You can't forget that Ben is still under the impression that him and Mal are together, if someone here sees you and her all over each other they're going to report back to him and everything we've worked for will be ruined."
Mal turned to him with sad eyes. "I'm sorry Harry, but Evie is right. If Ben finds out about us before we're ready it could cause some major problems. I know subtlety and patience aren't your forte, but just try okay?"
"Yeah, alright then love. I'll try for you and Gil."
"That's my pirate." The purple haired girl cooed patronisingly, causing the pirate to pinch her thigh in punishment and their friends to all laugh at the two lovers' interaction.
"You two are gross in the weirdest way." Mal rolled her eyes at Lonnie and Harry narrowed his, the daughter of Mulan shifting uncomfortably under the feeling of both VKs' ire.
"Let Mal be happy, Lonnie. Besides, you and Jay make me throw up in my mouth at least twice a day." The table laughed at Carlos' words as he set his tray on the table, Jay sliding in next to him. Mal raised her eyebrows as she scooped another bite of parfait into her mouth.
"Please, Carlos, Jane turns scarlet everytime you so much as look at her. Like you two are any better." Said girl flushed a vibrant red at Mal's words, ducking her head to shield her face with her hair. The group of friends bickered back and forth as they ate, the occasional chunk of food flying through the air as it was thrown by one VK at another.
"So, who's this?" They grew silent and still at the sound of Audrey's hated voice, the rogues waiting for Mal's reaction before giving their own while the two pirates at the table immediately turned, tense and already angry. Audrey stood above them, hands on her hips and eyebrows raised as she checked over Harry inappropriately. The Rogues winced as Mal's face twisted in annoyance at the way Audrey was looking at her pirate.
"Uh oh." Evie hissed out.
"What." Mal spat out, but it wasn't a question, it was a statement of annoyance.
"Aren't you going to introduce me to the newest villains, Mal? As Lady of the Court, surely you would've received lessons in manners."
"Being raised a princess, I would've thought the same about you, ye wee foul bitch." Mal, Jay, and Carlos all snorted, the last coughing when the snort caused the milk he'd been drinking to go up his nose.
"Excuse me?!" Audrey shrieked, Harry slamming his hook into the wood of the table hard enough it stuck there as he stood up.
"Ye called me a villain, and while Auradon might have mildly tamed my dragon and her crew, I'm fresh off the Isle and ready ta live up ta the title." His speech was rugged, his brogue thick, as he leaned over Audrey threateningly with Mal tugging warningly on his arm.
"Hook! Shut up and sit down. She's not even close to worth it."
"Someone needs to put her in her place."
"You think we haven't tried? Her superiority complex is endless."
"Those are some big words there Mal. Impressive, really. Auradon must finally be giving you the education you so desperately needed."
"That's it." Mal slammed her hands down harshly on the table and leapt up to stand shoulder to shoulder with Harry, their friends scrambling to their feet but standing back indecisively as they fluctuated between helping and restraining. "Watch your mouth, Audrey."
"Mal!" Evie finally surged forward, the rest of the VKs following her lead while their Auradon friends hung back. "Mal, Harry, it's not worth it. You know what'll happen if you do something to Audrey."
"The bitch needs to learn a lesson."
"We'll all get detention at the best or sent back to the Isle at the worst if you lay a hand on her."
"Fine," Mal snapped, yanking her arm from Evie's grasp. "Just know, Audrey, that one day we might decide it is worth it, and then you'll see what a villain really is." She shoulder checked the princess as she strode by, Harry snapping his teeth threateningly in the Auradon girl's face as he followed behind his girl, absolutely thrilled to see her returning to herself. The VKs and their friends all filed out of the cafeteria behind their leaders, each one shooting Audrey a dirty look as they passed her, the girl still standing frozen in shock