Chapter Three: Edges
Hiccup would have been glad to say that he and Jack kept their friendship even after they parted ways in different houses. That they hanged out whenever they could and were like the best of friends through everything.
Only no.
They became as far and as different as two people could get.
Hiccup was pretty much the abort of Gryffindor. Yep, that was his identifier. Hidden beneath mountains of books, Ravenclaw clearly written all over his face. Still scrawny and small, as it always had been.
And as lonely as ever when Jack made his new friends at his own house. Smart enough, sassy and with the word FUN written all around him, Jack was doing just fine on his own. If Hiccup had to be completely honest now, he didn't really care. He was upset that Jack never went to talk to him again, even though he winked at him a couple times whenever they saw each other in the halls, but they hardly shared any class, and Jack was always surrounded by people, something Hiccup always ran away from.
The news that he was sent to Ravenclaw did not go well with his dad's wishes. In fact, the first letter he ever received was his mother's alone. It took Stoick a big time to talk to Hiccup when he came back home for Christmas, and then again for the ending of first year.
And then, the Second year.
'I am all I have', Hiccup thought to himself, 'As it always has been, it'll be fine.' He repeated that to himself again and again. He could do just fine on his own. He was smart, and ingenious, always finding something new to work on, or to study. Brilliant but lonely. He convinced himself that he was okay with that.
"…And son, remember to try and have fun," Stoick's words followed Hiccup's steps, both of then two years older. Hiccup was going to his third year now. "If you want to know what I would do in your age-"
"I am pretty aware of what it would be, thank you." Hiccup would cut him mid sentence again, not wishing to listen to any more of that.
"Don't you use that tone with your father!" Valka raised her voice.
Hiccup simply ignored his mom's hiss, and no other word was said after that.
That was Hiccup's routine, basically. Hidden from everyone's eyes, smart as he was, he could manage at least one hour of spare time before dinner and even two after it. That was how ignored he was. Enough so he could sneak into the forbidden forest and search for creatures.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was his project at third and then fourth year. So far, he had managed to befriend a centaur - one that has gotten as far enough to break his people's rule to don't befriend humans; found an egg of Occamy - which was surprising, due to the fact that such creature was native of North America; an injured Billywing and a strange duck-like creature with blue feathers and sparking gold eyes which he had absolutely no idea what its name was.
If not just the search for the creatures, Hiccup had grown an obsession for mapping the places he went. First, a detailed sketch of his common room. Then Ravenclaw Tower. Then he had to add an extension to his parchment when he decided to go further down the halls, corridors, and exploring new shortcuts. By the fourth year, he had not just Hogwarts grounds, but as well as its secret passages, the forbidden forest, the secret entrances.
The trickiest part was the Homonculous Charm. Trick and nearly disastrous (since he nearly set his whole work on fire), but as soon as he had it, every single living soul at Hogwarts appeared on his paper with neatly done calligraphy.
He'd find out much later that year that he wasn't the first one to do his map (which he so affectionately named the Labyrinth), but that was indeed the closest version, and most extensive in detail that any Hogwarts map has ever gotten.
Countless times Hiccup's eyes would follow the small name written Jack Frost, usually surrounded by the names of other people that he actually knew, some of them villagers from Berk, for crying out loud. But sometimes he would find Jack alone in some strange places in random times, like at the Astronomy Tower, or wandering around the corridors on the higher floors. He hardly ever was predictable, but Hiccup tried not to focus on that too much. Stalking wasn't exactly his favourite hobby.
Getting beat up by his own cousin on the other hand wasn't exactly his idealistic sport either. Snotlout and Hiccup had their mutual dislike for one another since birth in Valka's words, but even she could not predict how much that dislike would soon turn Hiccup into Snotlout's hex target. The boy had already attended Madam Pomfrey at least three times only in his fourth year, when the taller boy had turned his teeth three times larger than they actually were. The boy had tears in pain as the School Nurse took care of his wounds.
However, even that was turned into an advantage once Hiccup's creatures would create inexplicable superficial wounds on his skin. "What were you trying to do, boy, wake a dragon?!" The witch would scream horrified as Hiccup walked into the Hospital Wing with smoke creeping up the edge of his trousers.
"Snotlout," The boy would reply simply. Dragons were impossible to tame, but firecrabs, however…
Snotlout got a three day detention for presumably setting fire to Hiccup's robes. If only all of the excuses Hiccup blamed on Snotlout were actually lies. More than once he had found himself with a black eye. Lonely-scrawny-scaredy Hiccup who could barely stand up for himself, befriend a unicorn and perform advanced spells at the age of fourteen.
Nevertheless, not even that was distraction enough when fifth year came.
Nothing would ever be the same after that year.
"Are you excited son?" His father asked as he led Hiccup to the platform 9 3/4. This time, only the two of them.
No Valka to listen to Hiccup's whispers.
"As much as I can ever get, I think." Hiccup replied.
Their father and son relationship was… interesting, to say the least. No, they weren't happy. They weren't okay. And they wouldn't forgive anything any time soon. But they hid it all even so, because sadly, they were all the other had.
Stoick stared at his shoes. He did that a lot nowadays. He was still the gigantic man that lived up to his title of The Vast, but now he was bent, the dark marks beneath his eyes and the whole in his chest asked for their appearance. Stoick was now a tired man.
Hiccup had grown a bit that summer, but the hollow from his mother's death also took its price. Where there used to be a sarcastic, witty, lonely but welcoming boy made room for a closed guy, the careful looks turned into cold and menacing stares. He was still a very attractive boy, even though he tried not to recognise it. Nobody else did anyways.
"Hiccup, son…" Stoick began, his eyes wandering sideways to find the words. "I, eh…"
Hiccup looked at him for a while, and when their eyes met, he saw a glimpse of his childhood through his father's eyes. A glimpse, and then it was gone.
"Just make the most of your year." He said finally. Hiccup only nodded.
Stoick wanted to say some more to his son, some comforting words, but Hiccup already had turned on his heels, heading straight for the Hogwarts express, all the words he had to hear left behind in his dad's sadness.
Whether people would mock at Hiccup for being the typical nerd, his back bent and curious glances, it all stopped the moment he entered the train.
His posture was straight, along with his stare. His wondered yes now were as cold as ice, his awkwardness exchanged for indifference. His steps mostly, once stumbled and uncertain, now would not give a hint. They knew exactly were they were going.
"Oh look who it is?" He heard his cousin, Steven. "Our little Messcup," His joke was supposed to be hilarious.
Hiccup could ignore that. He did that his whole life anyways.
"Tell me, Hiccup, how heavy is that trunk of yours? I mean, those toothpicks for arms haven't fell yet, it must be quite light." A few laughs erupted from some of his peers. People did not really like Steven, but he was number one at Defence against the Dark Arts. If anything, they called him his childhood nickname Snotlout, but only behind his back.
Hiccup was walking forwards when he actually heard it.
"Shame your mommy won't be around to pick it up for you anymore."
Hiccup could hear the oohs and the cheering, claiming for a duel right there from the Slytherin students. Hiccup stopped dead on his tracks.
"I'll remember telling you that if your mom ever ends up missing." Hiccup said the words. "Let's see how funny it'll be then."
He actually said it. He actually responded to his cousin's bullying. And he did not stutter. But Snotlout liked playing the villain. He liked to seem heartless.
"Well, my mom is alive, safe and sound. Unlike yours. I mean, it's not like mudbloods get to live too long now, do they?"
Nobody cheered for him. He knew he went too far. However, he liked the feeling. Preppy teenage boys can be stupid after all.
Perhaps less stupid when Hiccup's sly hand pulled out his wand, pointed it straight at his cousin's face and casted his spell.
"Redactum Skullus!"
Snotlout still had his hand half-way after his wand when Hiccup's hex hit in the face. A loud crack was heard, and after a few agonizing seconds, Snotlout's head was the size of a tennis ball.
Now to that people actually laughed.
"What are you guys doing?! Attack him!" Snotlout yelled, but his shrank head left a minimalistic sound, as thin and ugly as a poorly played violin. Hiccup had already disappeared to his empty compartment.
Hiccup knew that the rumours would spread to every Hogwarts student before they even got out of the train. It has been a while since a Ravenclaw had stood up against a Slytherin. Especially when it was the abort of Gryffindor they were talking about.
Some people actually went as far as to peek into Hiccup's compartment, only to find the boy reading, buried in his books like he always was. He hated the attention, but what could he do about it anyways? It was done now, and personally, he thought Snotlout deserved it.
One time, his door actually slid open. A beautiful dark-skinned girl from the sixth year walked in, sheepishly, as if stepping on a mine-field. "Excuse me," she said, coughing. "You are Hiccup Haddock, right?" She did not wait for his answer. "It's professor Slughorn, he is inviting you for a tea in his compartment in ten minutes." She said very quickly, before turning on her heels as if to leave, before turning back to the boy. "And by the way, thank you for what you did to Snotlout." And just like that, she closed the doors, nearly running out of his view. The boy only shook his head, pondering whether he should warn that he was not going or simply ignoring the invitation. Hiccup only slumped back on his seat for the rest of the trip, ignoring any curious pair of eyes that tried to peek in through the curtains of his compartment.
But among all those people, the one he actually wished to see was exactly the one who never came. He didn't really expect Jack to appear to see him.
On the contrary of Hiccup, Jack had friends.
Only a couple wagons from there, Jack was trying to enjoy himself among his Gryffindor friends. Not that he didn't like them, nor that they did not like him. If anything, the girls were head over heels for him.
Jack had grown taller since last year, being nearly six-foot tall, his spiky white hair was now even messier than before, but strangely enough it was charming. It did go well with his pale skin and icy blue eyes.
It was no mystery why people called him Jack Frost.
But it was also not a secret that Hiccup had his identifier, the Messcup, the useless, Fishbone was the less harmful of them. And Jack was aware of the names. And he hated every single one of them. You could not tell, but secretly Jack would steal galnces from the freckled boy, when he was sure no one was looking, hoping that one day they'd be returned. He was indeed ashamed that he never got back to him after the Sorting, but that was five years ago. People mocked at Hiccup whenever they saw him, and even though he was shocked at first with such harsh words, he did not stop them. It is not like he did not have his own things that he would never share. But his eyes pictured Hiccup in such a beautiful way, much – and he meant much - different than the way everyone else did.
So when the news came that the "Mistake of Ravenclaw" had jinxed the bully of Slytherin, every teenage in his compartment stared gaped open in shock.
"I think maybe he finally grew a pair." Samantha Kingston said, her feather-like blonde hair floating above her shoulders.
"Yeah, but now he's not just a weirdo, he's a freak." Joey Abbington, the tanned skin guy next to her agreed.
"Nah, he's just weird." Astrid Hofferson said, her usually uninterested blue eyes still not focusing on anything but her chipped nails. "What'd you think, Jack?"
Jack's eyes found their way to hers. The girl was the only soul to ever catch Jack staring at Hiccup "I don't know," he said, actually uncertain, but then he added "I don't care."
Astrid only smirked. "Bollocks."
