Chapter 4 – Tourney
-:-:-
"Have you chosen your electives?" Lonnie asked the next day at lunch, the lot of them closing ranks to eat at one of the smaller tables. Ben couldn't join them because he had to sit with his girlfriend, who seemed to detest everything Harry stood for, so they were down to the six of them, which was fine with Harry. Less people to keep track of.
"I'm still looking through the catalogue," Harry admitted, feeling overwhelmed after a morning of aptitude tests. "I'm not sure what everything is yet, and Fairy Godmother said I have some mandatory stuff I have to take before I can get to the fun stuff."
Things like keyboarding, which- after that disastrous test, Harry didn't mind taking. That would be combined with 'Internet Safety' or whatever, leaving Harry with three empty class slots. She'd suggested one of those be a language while another be reserved physical education, which left Harry searching through a baffling list of sports to determine one he could suffer through.
Lonnie made a face. "That's right. A lot of us got that stuff out of the way last year. What language are you going to take?"
"Dunno," Harry admitted. "I wish they had DunBroch. I know- well, I'm not fluent, but my dad used it enough that I'd at least know something."
"You could take an online class," Lonnie offered. "Make a request to Fairy Godmother and she might allow it. I mean, you're pretty much starting from scratch for everything else, so it wouldn't be unreasonable for her to try and give you a leg up where you can."
"Which just leaves your PE credit and a fun thing," Aziz cut in. "Which I guess will be sewing."
"Hey, maybe you'll get added to Jane's class," Lonnie chirped. "She's taking sewing too."
"That could be fun," Jane said, and she didn't even seem to be lying, her smile slightly less shy than it had been the day before.
"You could join the Tourney team for your PE credit," Chad offered, squeezing Harry's fingers. He'd claimed the seat next to Harry as soon as possible, seeming bashful but hopeful when he'd reached for Harry's hand.
Though Harry had been testing all day, he'd caught the blond moving about the halls with the others through the window of his testing room, and every time he saw them, they had some kind of physical contact with the blond who had been seemingly starved of it. Part of Harry thought it was weird to see Aziz casually holding onto Chad's hand, but the other part of him was awed by the easy comfort the Auradon kids offered each other, amazed at how quickly they had moved to boost Chad up, to change their treatment towards him without even a second of hesitation. It was true kindness, and he supposed this was the land for that, but still, it was odd.
"I think I've been shoved around enough in my life," Harry murmured as he tried to picture himself playing Tourney. The prospect didn't seem like a fun one, and if he had to change with a whole group of people he didn't know-
Forget it.
"What about sailing?" Aziz offered. "You lived on a ship, right? We have a sailing team here, and it's a totally no-contact sport. You could put your nautical knowledge to work!"
"And make Aziz look bad," Lonnie giggled. "As he is the worst member of the sailing team."
"But admittedly the most enthusiastic," Aziz countered, making the others laugh while Harry thought that over.
Despite being a pirate, the prospect of spending any amount of time in open, unclear water didn't set well with him. He was happy being on land where it was safe, where there were no risks of alligators or sharks.
"I'll think about it," Harry said, getting a solid whoop from Aziz and a smile from the others.
It wasn't a bad letdown. They'd probably understand when he picked something else, like fishing. Harry could fish, he was a natural at it.
He wondered if they had a team for that.
-:-:-
"Aziz mentioned you were thinking about joining the sailing team?" Ben said when he and Harry were waiting on his test results that afternoon, the prince freshly showered from Tourney practice.
"I was considering it," Harry allowed, a spike of anxiety going through his stomach.
"I think it's a great idea," Ben chirped, smiling wide. "You don't have to worry about people drawing a connection between you and your dad. You can sail if you want, we all totally support you."
He seemed so enthusiastic, so earnest with that meaningful gaze again, and Harry, he didn't want to sail, but Ben was important and he seemed to think this was a good idea and-
Uma said it was okay to give a bit more than he was comfortable with. She'd said that. She'd said that she loved him.
It was stupid for a pirate to be afraid of the ocean anyway.
"So?" Ben prompted, wagging his brows.
Harry swallowed, waited a moment before he could muster a small grin. "Um- yeah," he said. "I think I'll join up after all."
"Awesome," Ben chirped, and then they were getting called into Fairy Godmother's office, into the unknown.
-:-:-
Harry tried to hold onto the minor victory that was Ben's approval, but it seemed to fade with horrible abruptness when Fairy Godmother finished reviewing his test results.
"I think a private tutor would be best for now," she explained. "Just to ease you into things, and once you get more comfortable with our educations system, you can join in some of the normal classes. I'll have a schedule sent to you late tomorrow after I finish interviewing candidates – just take the day to explore the school's amenities."
"Thank ye," Harry said, accepting her smile and Ben's quiet condolences and trying to hold onto the fact that no one seemed outwardly mad at him until they were walking down to dinner.
"So?" Aziz hummed as he strolled into view, hands shoved casually in his pockets as he bumped elbows with Chad, who was holding Lonnie's hand that evening. "What'd Fairy Godmother have to say? Can she get you into any of our classes?"
Harry felt his cheeks heat with an intense humiliation. "She says I'm not ready for that, yet."
"What does that mean?" Chad asked, genuinely confused, and Harry didn't hold it against him but damned if it didn't feel like salt getting rubbed in the wound.
"It means I'm not smart enough," Harry said, ducking his head in embarrassment. "So I have to get a private tutor until I am."
Ben blinked at him, as though finally realizing something was wrong, a frown tugging at his lips. "Sonny, she doesn't- she wasn't saying you were dumb. You just haven't been exposed to most of the subjects we teach here – that's not your fault. She wanted to make sure you were prepared instead of throwing you into situations you weren't ready for."
"Aw, I'm sorry, Sonny," Chad said, detaching from Lonnie so he could curl around Harry's free arm. "If it's any consolation, I'm dumb too. We can be dumb bros!"
"No one here is dumb," Ben snapped.
Chad gave Ben an innocent look. "Yeah, but I've actually been to school and I still get bad grades, so I'm pretty sure I am."
"You didn't have a support structure before," Doug said gently, his brows furrowed in concern. "You do now."
"And that support structure's going to help you," Lonnie declared. "Just like it will help Sonny, because you guys aren't dumb, you're just behind. That's it. Together, we'll help catch you up."
It was, without question, an entirely Auradon thing to say. Too nice and too thoughtful. It was strange to have them indulging him like this, but it… it helped. He was glad his partners weren't here to witness his fall, could only hope that his deficiencies weren't broadcasted on the propaganda channel. That would be entirely humiliating, for his home to realize their representative was an idiot, that he'd failed Uma before he'd even gotten started.
"What's with the face?" Aziz asked, squinting at Harry with a concerned look. "I don't like that face."
"Just." Harry tensed. "I don't want to make the other Isle kids look bad."
They seemed surprised by this, though Ben's surprise almost immediately melted into fondness. "Sonny, you couldn't do that if you tried," he declared. "You're too kind."
"I am not," Harry insisted, his cheeks darkened in a flush. "I'm just decent."
"Agree to disagree," Lonnie hummed, and then she was snagging his free hand, tugging him and Chad along towards the dining room, like this was their new normal.
Maybe it was.
-:-:-
It took three days for Chad's grandfather to be arrested on grounds of abuse, neglect, and endangerment of a minor, as well as treason towards the crown of Sardinia. The day it happened, Fairy Godmother had Chad hide away in Ben's suite with Harry, letting them take their respective lessons from Harry's private tutor while the entirety of Auradon shook with the implications that one of its royals could be less than good.
'Wicked Grandfather?' seemed to be the common running theme the few times Harry had switched the news on (always out of Chad's hearing range). They wanted interviews with Chad, but Fairy Godmother was insistent that no media personnel be allowed on school grounds, and that Chad deserved space and time to recover from his ordeal.
"It's weird," Chad murmured, showing Harry her announcement on his phone during one of their breaks. "To think of my entire life as an 'ordeal'."
"Well, it's over now," Harry said, his chest tight. "It's not happening anymore."
Chad had only touched briefly on the others things his grandfather had done to him in addition to the neglect, his gaze weary after he'd finished his interview with Detective Basil – the representative from the Inspector's office.
"It's not like he hit me that much," Chad explained, tugging nervously at his sleeve. "And the getting locked in closets thing – like, that wasn't the end of the world. And who needs food all the time? It was fine."
"No, it wasn't," Harry would growl, and then he'd drag Chad into a hug, which the blond just about always reciprocated.
"What do you think's going to happen now?" Chad asked when the school day was done, when the others were going to Tourney practice that he'd been excused from that day. "They say my dad's parental rights are going to be stripped until he can prove himself capable. That means I don't have a family."
"Sure, ye do," Harry insisted, dragging Chad into his lap. "Ye got us. Ye got Fairy Godmother and Jane. They're not going anywhere, and they're not going to hurt ye."
"It just seems too good to be true," Chad murmured, curling comfortably against Harry's chest.
"Well, it's not," Harry said, leaving that at that.
They took dinner in Ben's room, because when you were the prince of Auradon, you could arrange for those kinds of things. It was afterwards that Chad got antsy, tugging at his sleeves with renewed nerves.
"Something wrong?" Harry asked, knowing that something obviously was. "Do ye want me to walk ye back to your room?"
"Can I stay?" Chad blurted, flushing when he realized what happened. "I mean- can- just the night, I promise I'll be quiet-"
"Of course, Chad," Harry cut in, realizing that the blond was pretty much his Auradon version of Gil, and once Harry had accepted that he could love Gil, he could deny the second mate nothing. The same seemed to go for Chad. "Ye can borrow some of my stuff to sleep in if ye want."
"Yes, please," Chad sniffed, slipping his hand into Harry's.
It was deceptively easy to guide Chad to his room, to find him some spare lounging clothes and set up a spot for him on Harry's stupidly large bed.
"What's that?" Chad asked when Harry was going through his drawers, looking for a spare pair of socks in case Chad was one of the people who liked sleeping in those.
Harry paused, flushing when he realized the blond had found the heart-shaped purse Evie had snuck into his luggage as a joke, likely thinking herself smug.
"A gift from a friend," Harry said, refusing to sputter because if he didn't act weird, it wouldn't be weird. "To remember her by."
"It's pretty," Chad chirped, dropping the matter at that, further proving he was the best person in all of Auradon.
Later, Chad would finish situating his pillows while Harry selected an outfit for the prince to borrow the next day, and it was then that Ben appeared in the doorway to his room, the other prince looking tired.
"What's up, guys?" Ben asked by way of introduction, his expression neutral but interested.
"Sonny's letting me spend the night!" Chad chirped, his smile wide and brilliant. "If um- that's okay, Ben."
"It's okay," the other prince assured, making Chad somehow happier. "Are you doing alright, Chad?"
"I'm even better now," Chad declared too easily, too generous for someone like Harry who honestly didn't deserve it, but there it was, and that-
Well, Harry may as well enjoy it while it was there.
-:-:-
"We usually dress up in school colors for the Tourney game," Lonnie explained to him Friday during lunch, which explained the school's sudden predilection towards blue and yellow. "It makes the crowd seem more spirited or whatever. It's fun, though. Are you coming to watch the game?"
"You can see me, Ben, and Aziz play!" Chad chirped. "And Doug performs with the marching band and Jane's the mascot, so…"
"So you'd keep me from being alone," Lonnie cut back in. "Not that I can't handle it."
"Yes, we know." Aziz grinned. "You're a strong, independent lady."
"And don't you forget it," Lonnie said, offering Aziz a wink that had him swallowing a laugh.
"And this is an Auradon thing?" Harry asked. "Ye all watch each other play sports?"
"Play Tourney, at least," Doug said. "Do you guys have anything like it on the Isle?"
"Not really." Harry shrugged. "Until six months ago, a crowd was the last place ye wanted to be." He frowned. "Then again, being alone just makes ye a target, so ye kind of had to find a middle ground."
Like any other time he talked about the old Isle, the others adopted sorrowful looks on their faces for a moment before Lonnie pushed on.
"Well, now would be a good chance to experience new things!" she cheered. "With excellent company."
He supposed if she was offering, he shouldn't turn her down. There were no bad networking opportunities, according to Evie.
"Alright," he decided, getting bright smiles from the others. "I don't have anything yellow, though."
"You could wear my letter jacket," Chad said. "It's in the school colors."
"What's a letter jacket?" Harry asked, blinking in confusion.
"See that?" Lonnie said, pointing to a jacket hanging off a chair on the table next to them. The torso was Auradon blue and the sleeves were yellow, making it a bit of an eyesore, but now that Lonnie had pointed it out, Harry realized he'd seen a couple of other kids wearing similar coats. "Letter jackets are coats students can earn by 'lettering' in certain activities – which basically means doing well."
"Aziz and I got ours for getting to the finals with the Tourney team," Chad chirped. "Doug has his for marching band and academic decathlon. Jane has hers for being the mascot and on student council."
"I have mine for making the podium at Archery finals last year," Lonnie declared with a proud grin. "If the sailing team does well this year, you could potentially letter in that, Sonny."
"But for now, you can stick to wearing our coats," Chad chirped. "I'll drop mine off at your suite before I head in for warmups."
"Ben's suite," Harry corrected, feeling his cheeks flush. "It's Ben's suite, I'm just using the spare room."
He'd tried to get a room away from the future king of Auradon – there was getting close and then there was living with him, but Ben and Fairy Godmother were stubborn in their placement, forcing Harry to throw in the towel.
"Your room," Aziz countered. "And if you have a room, you claim part of the suite, making it-"
"Ye guys are relentless," Harry muttered, earning a round of soft laughter from the others.
That was how Harry came to stand next to Lonnie in the stands, watching the others play Tourney up close. It wasn't uninteresting, by any means. Harry could see how people who had no regular outlets for violence might find some kind of appeal with it, but he found himself spending most of the game feeling worried, his hands curled into tight fists and hidden in the soft pockets of Chad's coat. He winced every time Ben, Chad, or Aziz got knocked about, biting at his bottom lip at a few near misses.
"Are you okay?" Lonnie asked after Chad had taken a hit that left him stumbling to the ground.
"Fine," Harry murmured, feeling embarrassed. "They have padding, right? It- they're not really going to get hurt?"
Lonnie's usual smile seemed to fade away into something more serious. "Extreme injuries are rare," she said. "They have rules in place to prevent them, but accidents do happen."
Just his luck.
It was a relief when the marching band came out to perform their show, and even though they were all dressed alike, it wasn't hard for Harry to find Doug in the sea of trumpet players.
"There," he said, pointing him out to a confused Lonnie. "Right in front."
"Hey, there's our Doug-o," she cheered, and they spent the rest of the show keeping an eye on him, watching him as the band moved through intricate formations.
It was a brief reprieve, though, because then it was back to the game, back to his growing anxiety – but they had padding, they would be fine, Lonnie said so.
And then Aziz went down.
He'd fallen before, they all did from time to time, but this was the first instance where he didn't immediately get back up again.
"Fuck," Lonnie muttered, Harry's heart squeezing in his chest while the medics and coaches surrounded Aziz's fallen form. "He'll be fine, I'm sure."
"I hate this," Harry muttered, trying to stay calm. Aziz was an ally; Harry was allowed to care about his allies. He was funny and cheerful and willingly held Chad's hand even though the blond had been an obnoxious shit the week prior. "Maybe I should join the team."
"What, and protect them?" Lonnie asked, sparing Harry a quick look. "That's sweet, but I don't think you've got the constitution for Tourney. Just watching it has you on edge."
"I just…" Harry trailed off with a swallow. "I wish I could help."
"Supporting them's a big help," Lonnie declared, tugging at his wrist until she pulled his hand from his pocket, and then she was sliding her fingers into his, offering him a comforting squeeze. "And this isn't going to happen every time. Just wait, I bet anything Aziz got dazed for a few seconds but had to stay down because the medic told him to – that's just basic protocol. He'll be up in a second and they'll bench him, and when we see him after the game he'll be all grumbly and annoyed but fine. Guy's head is a brick."
Harry was caught off guard for the last part, enough so that a laugh startled out of him, one that had Lonnie grinning.
"See, even you know it's true," she murmured. "And look, he's getting up now."
Harry turned to confirm that Aziz was, indeed, getting off the ground, seeming almost bashful under the crowd's applause. Chad and the coach helped him back to the sidelines where he was immediately subbed out. The Agraben didn't go back in for the rest of the game, which the team did end up winning.
"Hey, we did it!" Chad cheered when Lonnie dragged Harry down to the field, the prince's helmet tucked under his arm to reveal a jubilant grin and sweaty hair. "Even without Aziz, and he's one of our best players!"
"Yeah, rub it in why don't you?" Aziz grumbled when he joined them, looking entirely put upon.
"Are ye alright?" Harry asked, looking the Agraben over. "Does your head still hurt? Any nausea?"
"I'm fine, Sonny, I promise," Aziz assured him, giving Harry a small grin. "The medics already checked me over."
"It doesn't hurt to be careful," Harry murmured, running a distracted hand through his hair. "Had a crewmate take a blow to the head a couple years ago. He seemed fine, 'cept he went to sleep and never woke up again, and…" He swallowed. "Just- maybe ye should see a doctor?"
"Sonny," Aziz began, looking sad. "I'm so sorry that happened."
"What?" Harry blinked. "Oh, that's- that wasn't your fault. Ye didn't hurt him, but thank ye."
"I promise what I have isn't nearly that bad," Aziz pressed. "I was just a little dizzy. I'll have Genie check me out if it makes you feel better."
"Oh good, you're not going to fight me on it this time," a jovial man in blue Agraben wear chirped as he approached the group, Sultana Jasmine and Lord Consort Aladdin grinning on his heels. "Usually he makes a big fuss about it, like it's hard for me to do a quick magic scan."
With that, a flash of blue light seemed to trail over Aziz, starting from his feet and going upward until it focused on his head, dissipating in the next second.
"Good news – there's no permanent damage," the man who Harry supposed was genie declared. "Bad news, he's still dumb as a rock."
"You take that back," Aziz sniffed. "I'm at least as smart as a lizard."
"Fine, I'll give you lizard," the genie chirped. "But anything up from that we'll have to negotiate."
"Guys, this is Genie," Aziz declared after he finished laughing. "And also my parents. Hey mom, dad."
"Hey you," Sultana Jasmine greeted, reaching forward to cup Aziz's face between her hands before pressing a kiss to his forehead. "I would appreciate it if you were more careful."
"I was just a little dizzy!" Aziz insisted. "I turned too fast."
"And gave Sonny a heart attack," Lonnie muttered.
"You need to keep your head safe, Aziz," Chad added solemnly, providing a lovely distraction when Aziz seemed inclined to stare at Harry. "It's precious to us."
"Aw, thanks guys," Aziz murmured, bashfully running a hand through his hair.
"Hello, everyone," a new voice said, and the group turned as one to see Fairy Godmother approach them with a careful smile.
"Hey, Fairy Godmother!" Chad chirped, grin stretching across his face. "What are you doing here? I think Jane's still in the locker room."
"I came to watch you play, Chadwick," the principal informed him, prompting the blond's cheeks to flush with embarrassed warmth. "And to share the good news. As of this morning, I have been appointed your guardian while Queen Snow will take over as Steward of Sardinia until your father gets the treatment that he needs."
"You…" Chad blinked, seeming overwhelmed. "But you're alone too," he murmured, flinching when he realized what he'd said. "I mean- you'll probably be busy; you already have Jane-"
"I'll never be too busy for you, Chad," Fairy Godmother said simply, giving him a small grin.
"Oh." It was a simple offering, and yet Chad seemed to tear up anyway, stupidly pleased by a small offering of attention. "I… thank you."
"I think this calls for a celebration," Lord Consort Aladdin spoke up, graciously pulling the focus off the blond. "Would you guys like to come to dinner with us? You're all invited, our treat."
"Oh, hell yeah," Aziz chirped, getting an exasperated look from his mom. "We can introduce you guys to real Agraben food."
"Oh, wow," Chad sniffed, rubbing at his eyes with one hand, the other firmly in Harry's. "I've never done that before. I've never had anyone come to my games before."
"And now you'll have that all the time," Fairy Godmother murmured, running a hand through his hair. "I promise."
Chad's only response was to try and swallow down his tears, but Harry and Fairy Godmother were there for him, which was hopefully enough.
"Could you guys let Jane and Doug know they're invited too?" Aziz asked when he and Chad trucked off to go get changed. "Ben could come, but I bet anything he's being held hostage by Audrey."
"He's not a hostage if he's with his girlfriend, Aziz," Sultana Jasmine reminded him in a weary tone, like they'd had this conversation many times.
"Spoken like someone who's never met Audrey," Lonnie muttered, earning a smirk from Aziz before he was completely out of sight. "Come on, let's go tell Doug and Jane."
"Meet us in the parking lot in thirty minutes," Sultana Jasmine requested, and just like that they had dinner plans with actual royalty that literally waved them off, leaving Harry confused as to how it had all come to be.
"I've had dinner with Aziz's family a few times," Lonnie explained. "They'll usually take me and Jane out with them. My parents visit when they can, but it's hard to make frequent trips from Imperial City without the help of magic, so we settle for a lot of video calls." She offered Harry a grin, and belatedly he realized they were holding hands while she tugged him through the crowds towards the band hall. "They're very nice, and I'm sure your protectiveness of Aziz will earn you brownie points."
Harry tensed. "I'm not protective, I was just-"
"Being decent," Lonnie finished. "Yes, I've heard the spiel, but your decency falls under the definition of generous kindness, and you haven't really hesitated to extend that to any of us, which sort of makes you the best."
"Hardly," Harry murmured, cheeks flushing hot. "The best are back on the Isle, I was just the best option that they could spare."
"Sonny, I'm sure there's some amazing people back on the Isle," Lonnie said, locking gazes with him. "I know this because that's where you're from, and you're amazing. So please, don't let someone else's awesome cancel out your own, because it doesn't work like that. You can all be great."
"Just- comparatively though," Harry muttered. "There's a lot better-"
"I will tell Ben about this conversation if you don't agree you are at least great," Lonnie chirped. "And you know he will be a lot more relentless than I am assuring you otherwise. Probably cuddle you too."
Harry's face flooded with heat at the very thought of it. "F-Fine, I'm… I'm good."
Lonnie offered him a brilliant grin. "I'm glad to hear you say so."
Auradon people.
He'd never get used to them.
-:-:-
Endnotes:
Lonnie has got Harry's number now. Like, maybe not enough to do him any good, but there's certainly enough to make some decent headway. You've got no chance, dear Harrison ;)
Story notes:
Do schools have sailing teams? Auradon Prep does, because I said so.
Fairy Godmother – doing her job for once and making sure the paparazzi don't swarm school grounds because these are minors and they deserved to be protected, damnit.
Detective Basil is borrowed and human-ified from 'The Great Mouse Detective'.
So Charmington and Cinderellasburg are right next to each other, according to some of the fanmaps I've seen of Auradon. Because of that, I think it's believable for Queen Snow to have a strong friendship with Ben's parents, and that friendship and comradery was strong enough grounds for King Adam to place Snow as Sardinia's steward, since she already helped out with inter-kingdom politics between Sardinia and Hanvover – my names for their kingdoms.
I'm using the Will Smith version of Genie from the live-action Aladdin, which seemed like a great idea before the whole Oscars thing.
Until next time
