Chapter Twenty-Seven

Jack Frost-

Jack felt a slight rush of nerves when he woke that Saturday that was completely unlike him. He took deep breathes and got ready slowly, trying to erase the nerves from his stomach. He thought of what lay ahead and for a moment he thought he might be sick. Taking a moment to sit on his bed he contemplated the events of the summer. Every game with Drake, every practice with Alex. He went over every turn, every swoop, and every move he could remember. By the time he was done, he felt much more confident, more like himself.

"You ready Jack?" Bounder asked.

"You bet," Jack grinned. Together they headed out of the Slytherin common room and down to the Great Hall. It was practically empty except for those trying out for the Quiditch team. To Jack's displeasure Jasper was there.

"Hey Jack, Bounder," Sarah greeted them as they approached. She was a seventh year and was a chaser on the team. "I'm the new team captain this year. What positions are you trying for?" she glanced down at a clipboard in her hands.

"Beater," Bounder answered.

"Seeker," Jack added. She nodded.

"Good luck to you both," she smiled brightly then walked over to the rest of the team.

"She's hot," Bounder whispered. Jack rolled his eyes.

"I guess that should give you good reason to get on the team then. You'd get to see her every practice," Jack pointed out. Bounder grinned.

"Oh yeah! I can't wait for practices now!" Jack shoved his friend to the side. Bounder pushed him back. "You were thinking it too," he laughed. Jack shook his head. In all truthfulness he really wasn't. Sure Sarah was pretty, but he had his eyes on another blonde.

Still joking, both friends sat down and ate a warm breakfast. Outside the sky was still dark and over laced with clouds.

"Time to head down to the field," Sarah announced. Jack gulped the rest of his breakfast the jumped to his feet. As one the group of Slytherins made their way down to the field. Most of them had to choose brooms from the school's supply, but Jack had his own. Alex bought it for him for his birthday. It was a Lightning, one of the fastest models yet. After everyone was ready, Sarah stepped forward to explain the rules.

"At the moment all the spots on the team are open. That being the case we need two chasers, a seeker, a keeper, and two beaters," she started.

"I thought you said all the spots were open," someone said. Jack didn't know their name, but he recognized them from classes.

"I'm a chaser," Sarah rolled her eyes in explanation. The kid blushed.

"Oh yeah," they muttered.

"Anyways," Sarah returned her attention to the rest of them, "I've decided that the best way to decide who wins what position is to perform several mock games. Just enough people have signed up that it's possible for us to do. For the first game, the places will be ask follows; Jasper as keeper, Pacson as a chaser, Lexi as another chaser, Maya as the third, Shade as a beater, Luke as another beater, and Jack as the seeker. The other team will consist of Sasha as keeper, Marcus as a chaser, Beatrice as another chaser, Ted as the third chaser, Bounder as a beater, Dryer as another beater, and Twillian as the seeker." The named people separated into two groups. Jasper smirked as Jack.

"Too bad we're on the same team," he whispered. Jack held his tongue. "I would have liked to beat you."

"Mount your brooms," Sarah ordered. Jack swung his leg over his Lightning and rose into the air so he hovered with the rest of the students. Sarah approached a large trunk that held the required balls. She released the buldgers, the snitch, and carried the quaffle forward. "Play like it's a real game," she told them before she threw the quaffle into the air.

Pacson caught it then headed towards the other goal. Sasha waited for him. It was an easy throw and she blocked it without really moving. "I said play like it's a real game," Sarah shouted. Beatrice took the quaffle next. She soared towards Jasper at top speed. Jack moved closer to watch.

The older Slytherin girl flung the quaffle as hard as she could. After a moment's hesitation Jasper jumped into action. He moved his broom to the side and kicked the quaffle towards Lexi's waiting arms. She swung her broom around and headed back to Sasha.

Jack felt a small bite of disappointment. A large part of him wanted Jasper to lose. It would suck to have to play Quiditch with him.

As the game wore on Jack began to search for the snitch. He had almost forgot about it, enjoying watching the game and not actually participating, but now he had a job to do. His eyes scanned the air for any flash of gold that would betray the tiny gold ball. He noticed Twillian looking in a different direction from him. He glanced over, but saw nothing. Shrugging he turned back his way. As he sat there something buzzed in his ear. Jack swatted his hand at it without looking. To his surprise, something small and solid hit his hand.

"Ouch," he yelped. He turned his head in just enough time to see the snitch whizzing towards the ground. Without a pause he dove down on his broom after the little golden ball.

The air was cold and it stung his face. His goggles kept his eyes from watering, but that was it. His robes whipped around him and his exposed finger tips felt numb. Still he kept going. So focused on the snitch he hardly noticed Twillian had joined the chase. All his attention was on that blasted gold ball.

The ground was quickly approaching and Jack began to wonder if the snitch would stop. Perhaps it was planning on hitting the ground and then burrowing under for protection. Jack shook the thought away. It was a ball, it didn't have a mind.

At the last moment it switched directions and started going up instead of down. Jack tugged up on his broom and hurried after it. Twillian fell back after the sharp turn, but Jack didn't notice. The stadium fell away behind him, but Jack didn't notice. He was practically in the clouds, but Jack didn't notice. He had almost reached the snitch by now. Cautiously he reached out one hand towards it. For a moment he thought the snitch would put on a burst of energy and speed away. To his extreme luck it didn't.

Instead its little wings shivered from the chill in the air and it fell backwards just slightly. That was all Jack needed to grab the thing. He let out a relieved sigh and leveled his broom. After he regained his breath, he headed back down to rejoin everyone else.

"Jack caught the snitch," Bounder let out an excited shout as Jack reappeared from the clouds.

"Jack's team won," Sarah announced. They shouted and whooped in victory. Most of them hugged Jack and shook his shoulder and such to congratulate him. In the midst of his fellow Slytherins he heard a familiar voice.

"Go Jack! Go Jack!" He glanced at the stands to see Hiccup, Rapunzel, and Merida holding a large banner with his name painted across it. "Jack for seeker, Jack for seeker," Rapunzel cried out. Jack grinned. He waved at them and they waved back. Before he could go visit, Sarah ordered new teams and set them up for a new game.

Rapunzel-

Rapunzel watched with interest as the game continued in front of her. Jack was on Bounder's team now, but Jasper was still their keeper. Their team seemed to be fairing pretty well. Shade and Bounder worked well together as beaters, the buldgers never touched their team mates. Their chasers were good too, but Pacson was by far the best and he was on the other team.

"Who do you think will make it on the team?" Rapunzel asked Merida.

"Shade will definitely be a beater, Bounder or Luke will probably join him. I'd say Jack's pretty much got the seeker's spot filled, and of course Pacson will be a chaser. Other than that I'd say it's fair game," Merida answered.

"What about Jasper?" Hiccup asked.

"He's good, but Sasha isn't bad either," Merida said. They grew silent and turned back to the game.

Bounder sent a buldger flying towards Lexi, who was now on the opposite team. She dodged it and glared at him. While her attention was turned the quaffle was flung at her. It hit her head then fell towards the ground. Ted caught it and made a goal at Sasha's posts.

"Way to go Ted," Jack congratulated him. Ted acknowledged him with a nod then returned to the game.

"Do you think Jack gets too involved in the game?" Hiccup pondered.

"If I were Sarah I would tell him to focus more on the snitch than the game, but I don't think it really matters as long as he catches it in the end," Merida explained. Hiccup nodded thoughtfully.

"Maybe if we taped it for him he wouldn't have to get so involved in the game and could focus on the snitch. Then after the game's over he could watch it," Hiccup suggested.

"That would be really cool," Rapunzel said excitedly.

"Either of you have a camcorder?" Merida asked. They shook their heads. Rapunzel's excitement faded. "Didn't think so," Merida rolled her eyes.

"Do you?" Rapunzel asked. "You do live in the muggle world," she pointed out.

"Yep. I'll have to write to my mum to send it here," she answered. Rapunzel's excitement returned.

"Yayyy," she squealed. "Now Jack can really be a good seeker."

"If he approves of our idea," Hiccup added.

"Of course he will," Rapunzel said. Hiccup shrugged. Just then Jack caught the snitch. It wasn't as daring a feat as his first catch had been. This time the snitch was hovering close to the middle of the field. After he caught it Sarah called them all to the ground. She talked to them for a while then they broke up and left the field.

Jack hopped on his broom and soared up to them. "Hello there adoring fans," he smirked. "and Merida." She grinned.

"You got that right!"

"So Jack, did you make the team?" Rapunzel asked excitedly.

"Dunno yet. Sarah said she'd let us know by next Saturday. Guess I'll keep my fingers crossed," he smiled.

"I will too," Rapunzel promised.

"I doubt you'll need to, you were pretty good out there," Merida admitted. Before they could give her weird looks she added on a three more words. "For a Slytherin."

"For a moment there you had me worried that you were actually giving me a complement," Jack grinned.

"Me? Never," Merida teased.

"So who wants to get lunch?" Jack asked.

"Sounds good," Hiccup said. "We can tell you about our idea on the way there," he added. Jack raised his eyebrows, but the refused to tell him until he had taken a shower, put his broom away, and was ready to eat. Shrugging, Jack flew to the locker rooms while they climbed down the stadium stairs. He met them as they were entering the castle.

"That was a quick shower," Merida commented.

"You guys were leaving me," Jack exclaimed.

"You smell good," Rapunzel sniffed. He smelt like shampoo and soap, a good combination. Jack grinned and swung his arm over her shoulders. He put his other one around Merida's shoulders. Surprisingly, she let him. In turn she put her arms around Hiccup. Rapunzel was reminded of the snowball fight they had last year. After it was done they walked into the Great Hall in the same fashion as they were now. Something about it wasn't quite the same though. She wasn't sure why, but something felt…wrong.

"Something wrong Punz?" Jack asked as they walked down the halls. One of the school ghosts gave them a weird look, but they ignored him.

"Oh nothing," Rapunzel lied.

Merida-

Merida felt a rush of excitement as she rushed on to the Quiditch field. She clutched her brand new Nimbus 2020, their new model. The only other broom to rival it in speed was the Lightning, Jack's broom. She gave the broom a slight squeeze, confident she could go faster than him even if she was on one of the school's old brooms. It will not be a repeat of last year, she vowed.

"Ready Merida?" Ferris asked. He was the new Quiditch captain, uncommon for a beater, but he had real skill at all the posts and could switch if necessary.

"I was born ready," she grinned.

"That's the spirit!" he exclaimed. He looked at Blake and Liam who stood next to Merida. They too were trying out for the team, Blake a beater, and Liam the keeper. "What about you two?"

They nodded excitedly. Merida glanced around at the others who were trying out. For the most part they all looked excited, not nervous. We got that Gryffindor bravery! She thought absentmindedly.

When they reached the middle of the field Ferris started to divide them into positions just as Sarah had done with the Slytherins. "Liam as the keeper, Merida as a chaser, June as another keeper, Stacy as the third keeper, Rueben and Johnson as beaters, and Florence as the seeker. The next team will be as follows; Tori as the keeper, Dorian as a chaser, Broan as another chaser, Michelle as the third chaser, Inen as a beater, Darwin as the other beater, and Bowen as the seeker."

They divided into their two teams and moved into a circle around Ferris. He opened the large trunk that contained the correct balls for the game. After a moments pause he released the two buldgers, the snitch, and carried out the quaffle. Slowly those on the brooms rose into the air and waited for Ferris to start the match. Merida tightened her grip on her broom and felt her heart accelerate from excitement and anticipation.

Ferris let the quaffle fly and Merida sprung into action. She pushed her broom forward, but June beat her to it. The former Gryffindor chaser caught the red ball in one hand and tucked it under her arm. Before anyone could attempt to steal it she rushed towards Tori and flung the quaffle at her. Tori reached for it, but the quaffle just made it past her fingertips and through the circle. Their team let out a small cheer. June grinned and waved like she was someone famous. Merida laughed.

Then the quaffle was returned and the game was back in motion. This time Broan got the quaffle. He sped towards Liam, but he never made it. Rueben sent a well aimed buldger towards him and knocked his broom off course, causing Broan to drop the quaffle. Before anyone else could act Merida swept down and grabbed the quaffle.

She turned her broom away from Liam and instead went towards Tori. Dorian moved in on her to steal the ball, but Johnson and Rueben sent her away with two buldgers flying after her. In turn, Blake tried to knock her away with his own hit at a buldger. Merida dodged it on her own accord and continued towards Tori.

When she deemed herself close enough, she stopped her broom and prepared to throw the quaffle. Tori readied herself as Merida reared back her arm. She thought of Simpion and the stupid acorn. She would not miss this as she had that acorn. Taking a deep breath she let the ball go as she exhaled. For a fleeting moment it soared through the air. Tori moved her broom towards it, arms outstretched. Merida's heart seemed to slow as they ball moved closer and closer to the goal. Come on, come on!

"Way to go Merida," Rapunzel cheered loudly as the quaffle flew past Tori and into the goal.

"That's my Gryffindor," Jack shouted.

"Lion power," Hiccup finished their cheer.

"Nice fan club," Blake teased as he flew by.

"You're just jealous you don't have one," Merida shot back.

"That's because my fan club is flying," Blake smiled at Dorian. She had her back to him and was hovering close to where Ferris was retrieving the quaffle. "Her support is all I need." Merida's first response was to make a jest at his affections for their bubbly blonde friend, but she decided not to. It looked like Blake really liked Dorian, that was nothing to joke about. She glanced at Jack and Rapunzel. Unless it's them! she giggled silently at the idea.

Ferris released the quaffle and the game wore on. Merida made two more goals, and June made three more. Dorian managed to score a few points for her team, but Liam was an excellent keeper and he kept out most of the attempts. All the while Blake protected his team from the two buldgers that flew around.

"Game over," Ferris called out unexpectedly. Merida looked around in confusion, who had caught the snitch?

"Well done Florence," June congratulated the little nerdy Gryffindor, also answering Merida's question.

"It's time for new teams," Ferris said. He divided them up again, this time Blake, Dorian, Merida, and Liam were all on one team with June and Florence. "Ready?" Ferris asked. They nodded. He threw up the red ball and the game started.

Hiccup-

Hiccup found his eyelids drooping from fatigue as he sat in charms class with Jack. Normally he wouldn't be so tired in class, but he had been training last night with Simpion. They were all trying to work on ice spells, something Jack excelled at. Hiccup wasn't sure why Simpion was so eager to train them with ice, but he pressed the matter until they were all able to at least half way turn a tree into ice. Jack was the only one to completely transform a tree into ice though.

Professor Moor asked a question and several students raised their hands. Normally Hiccup would have too, but he didn't even know what the short wizard had asked. Professor Moor ended up choosing Allison, another Ravenclaw, then went back t teaching. Hiccup let his mind drift again.

Next to him Jack was passed out cold. He had his head buried in his arms on the desk with his wand still clutched in his hand. As Hiccup watched a slight sprinkle of snow shot out from the tip and then fell to the ground.

"Mr. Frost," Professor Moor turned to him. Jack let out a small snore. Bounder and hiccup looked at each other then at Jack. They nudged him awake together. Jack rubbed his eyes and glared at them.

"What?" he growled. They nodded towards Professor Moor. "Yes Professor?"

"Please don't be using magic in my class unless directed to do so," he explained. Jack looked confused.

"But Professor, I didn't use any magic," Jack argued. Professor Moor narrowed his eyes.

"You made some snow," Hiccup whispered.

"Oh really?" he looked at Hiccup. Hiccup made a face then nodded towards Professor Moor again. Jack turned back to him. "Sorry Professor, it won't happen again," he promised.

"See to it that it doesn't," he snapped then once again returned to teaching. Hiccup felt a strong wave of relief when he ended the class. His next class seemed to drag on, as did the next one, and the one after that. When all was finally over and done and he dragged himself into the Great Hall for dinner, he was totally exhausted.

He sat next Pally and Mason and halfheartedly started to pick at his food. Mason gave him an odd look. "What's wrong Hic?" he asked.

"I had a late night last night and I'm just tired," he shrugged.

"Well cheer up bud, I made the Quiditch team," Mason grinned. "You're looking at the youngest beater from Ravenclaw this year."

"Congratulations," Hiccup smiled at his friend. Just then Jack, Merida, and Rapunzel arrived.

"Guess what Hiccup," Merida said excitedly.

"You made the team?" Hiccup asked.

"Yes," Merida squealed and gave him a hug, acting a lot more like Rapunzel than herself. Hiccup laughed and hugged her back.

"What about you Jack?" Hiccup asked after she pulled back. The Slytherin boy looked down sadly. "Oh I'm sorry," Hiccup apologized. Jack looked back up and grinned.

"My too, but only for Twillian, because she didn't make it, I DID," he exclaimed. Hiccup stood up to give his friend a proper hug, not like the neck squeezing one Merida had given him. She had almost made him fall out of his chair!

"Congratulations, to both of you," he smiled. Rapunzel squealed excitedly and nodded. "Mason made the Ravenclaw team too," Hiccup informed them. Merida and Jack plopped down in front of his friend and they all started a conversation about the tryouts. What part was the hardest, who played the best, and such.

Rapunzel and Hiccup sat on either side of them, listening to them talk, but not joining. Rapunzel watched them with a thoughtful expression, her eyes slightly out of focus. Hiccup wanted to ask her what she was thinking about, but decided not to. That was her private business, not his.

A/N:

This chapter was surprisingly hard to write. I didn't really know how to describe Quiditch or how to write it, but I really wanted them to be on the team so yeah. Well, this was a bit of a filler chapter, but I hope you liked it anyways. It's kinda crappy, but that's okay since it's not that important. The next chapter has some very crucial information though. It should be a fun one to write! Well thanks to ImagineDragonz7 and KairaB for reviewing. Please keep up the good work you two, love ya. Some of you other readers need to join them! Please?