November ended as quickly as it had arrived and then suddenly it was December and the end of term. Jack honestly couldn't believe it. Of course, with Quidditch and everything, time started to seem more scarce. And even though he was sad to leave the castle, he was starting to feel homesick, not that he would admit it out loud.

Jack packed a few of his belongings into a bag, but noticed that while Nott, Crabbe, and even Horace had already left, Flynn hadn't started packing.

"Better hurry, or you'll miss the train."

Flynn sort of laughed. "Ah, well, I'm not getting on the train, so it all works out."

"What?"

"I..." Flynn hesitated. "I don't really have a family. I grew up in an orphanage, so I'm not really itching to go back."

Jack didn't know what to say and eventually settled with, "I'm so sorry..."

Flynn waved his hand. "Don't be," he said casually. "I'll have more fun here, anyway." His voice dropped to a whisper. "Plus, I hear Jasmine is staying, so maybe I can make my move."

"She has a boyfriend, you know. And she's a fifth year."

"Ali?" Flynn snorted. "I can handle him. I've never not gotten a girl with my famous smolder."

Jack didn't know if he was serious or not, so decided to pat him on the back and wish him good luck.

"You too. Have fun in the Muggle world."

"Yeah. I think I will."

There was so much snow outside it was difficult to walk. Jack found Hiccup in a compartment that was also occupied, to his surprise, by two familiar girls.

"Hey Zel. Merida."

Rapunzel smiled brightly at him and Merida managed a less intense glare than usual.

"Excited to see your family?"

Jack nodded and sat down. "Yeah, I really miss my mum and sister."

"Aw, you have a sister?" asked Rapunzel. "What's her name?"

"Rosie."

"That's a pretty name! Isn't it a pretty name?"

Merida rolled her eyes. "Very pretty. Why am I here again?"

"Because you complained about Snotlout hitting on you and the wrestling match, or something to that effect, and I, being the gracious cousin that I am, invited you here."

"Thanks, Hiccup," muttered Merida. "Looking forward to seeing your dad?"

"No." said Hiccup, looking at her strangely. "Looking forward to seeing your mum?"

"Of course not."

Rapunzel watched their exchange with some confusion. "Well, erm, I'm sort of excited to see my mother. I mean, I know she misses me, but she never lets me out of the tower when I'm home..."

"You live in a tower?" asked Merida.

Rapunzel nodded earnestly. "Oh, yes. It's a very tall tower in a field surrounded by trees. Very hard to find."

"Well your mother must want you all to herself, huh." said Jack, arching his eyebrows.

"I suppose so." said Rapunzel. "But it's alright. She nice most of the time."

"My dad's nice some of the time. Not much though. Well, hardly ever, but hey! I don't live in a tower!" said Hiccup. "Just a really gloomy island with dragons."

Merida turned to him. "Speaking of Berk, I think I'm making an appearance for New Year's."

"Oh." Hiccup didn't sound as upset as he might have. "Well, you get to keep me company, then. Unless you wanna hang out with Astrid."

Merida sighed. "Don't tell her I told you this, but Astrid has the sense of humor of a dead turtle."

"What funny about a dead turtle?"

"Nothing!"

Jack snickered. "I don't know, that was pretty funny. Can't you imagine a turtle on it's back, legs just awkwardly there."

"No, I agree with Merida." said Rapunzel. "Dead animals aren't funny."

Jack leaned in towards her. "What about...a dead squid?"

"No, that's not-" Rapunzel stopped, eyes twitching as she imagined it, before a giggle escaped her. "A dead squid?"

"A dead squid."

Rapunzel giggled again before stopping herself. "Why do I think that's funny?!"

"Because it's so ridiculous that we're talking about this, you can't help but laugh." said Hiccup, trying to contain his own grin.

Jack gave a bark of laughter and the rest of the train ride continued in that fashion, until they arrived at the station and had to part ways.

"See you later!" yelled Jack, before spotting a small girl with brown hair looking nervously around.

"Rosie!"

"Jack!"

He ran up and hugged her tightly. "Gosh, I missed you."

"We missed you too!" said Rosie happily. "Mum's got tickets for the train back home."

"Another train ride? My lucky day!"

Rosie laughed. "It's good to see you again! Now, tell me all about it!"

The brother and sister walked across the station, already in conversation about flying and magic wands and moving portraits.

Rapunzel watched them go, a smile playing on her lips. Then, suddenly, a hand appeared on her shoulder and she jumped.

"Oh, darling, you're a bit nervous?" It was her mother, looking as imposing as ever. Her mouth was curled in an expression of displeasure, clearly from the Muggles around.

"Mother!" Rapunzel tried to give her a hug.

"Oh, dear, please be careful with mummy's coat. It's very expensive."

"Right, sorry." Rapunzel tried to smile, but it didn't feel right anymore.

Her mother didn't notice. "I wish they would clean this place up, my goodness. Well, what did you think of that dreadful school? I don't know why I thought you would be in Slytherin, but I was rather disappointed you weren't. They care much more about blood purity in that House than any of the others."

"Right, well-"

"And I do hope you made respectable friends, although I don't see anyone who looks terribly respectable around here. Then again, First Years are always sort of scrubby, don't you think? Either that or pompous asses, oh pardon my language. I know Hufflepuffs take great pride in being kind to everyone, but you do need to be aware of the real world."

"Mother, I-"

"Please stop interrupting, dear. It's unladylike. I am pleased you're home, don't get me wrong, but I was rather keen on finished some renovations. Goodness, first term is always so much shorter than second. Unless, of course, you come home for Easter-"

The ride back to the tower went on the same way. Rapunzel didn't know how it was possible that someone could have so many negative things to say: they just kept piling on and on and on. Insulting Gryffindors and Muggles and foreigners and slow walkers and nearly everything she saw. If Rapunzel had a different temperament, she would've exploded long before, but she didn't. She couldn't.

Rapunzel didn't realize how much she loved Hogwarts until she was without it for those couple of weeks. While Christmas was ordinarily one of her favorite holidays, she found that her favorite soup only made her sad that she couldn't share with her friends. She missed people so much, her heart actually hurt.

On Christmas day, however, she put that behind her and managed to send three packages of chocolate frogs and one of chewing gum to Jack, Merida, Hiccup, and Tooth. Loading down her owl might not have been the best idea, but it meant that her mother couldn't stop her once it had left.

OoO

"Look! We got stuff from Rapunzel!"

Merida groaned and squinted and didn't remember where she was until seeing Hiccup's face looming over her's. "Ah!"

"Oops, sorry." Hiccup took a few steps back. "We got chocolate frogs from Rapunzel!"

"What from who?" asked Merida sleepily.

"Chocolate frogs. Our friend Rapunzel."

"Right...she's the one with the pretty hair."

Hiccup gave his cousin a strange look and threw the frogs at her. "Yeah. Pretty hair." A sudden rumbling made Merida sit right up.

"What was that?"

"Oh, probably a dragon attack. They tend to come a lot during the winter."

"Dragon attack?! Here?! Now?!"

Hiccup laughed. "Well, you're awake, at least." He patted her hair. "Don't worry, it'll be sorted out in no time. Hope they don't burn down the house though: all of my homework would get ruined."

"You are such a Ravenclaw."

"We've got presents in the living room, if you want." said Hiccup, leaving the guest bedroom. "Happy New Year's Eve, by the way."

"You too." said Merida, waiting until he was gone before getting out of bed. She put on her favorite dark green dress and crept out of the room, used to having to be quiet. It appeared, however, that no one on Berk seemed to know the concept of quiet.

There was a group of men Merida had never seen rowdily singing Auld Lang Syne, small boys running around with her brothers, no doubt up to mischief, and people generally in good cheer. Merida assumed the dragons had been stopped successfully, and she was right.

"Afternoon, missy," said her mum as soon as she walked in. "You slept mighty late."

"Sorry, mum." grumbled Merida, taking a seat at the rough, wooden table and yawning loudly. Her mum frowned but didn't reprimand her in front of her sort-of relatives.

"It was very nice of your friend to send you gifts."

"Yeah, she's really sweet." said Hiccup.

"Is she Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, son?" asked Stoick, proving he was paying some attention to the conversation.

"Neither, she's in Hufflepuff."

Stoick looked surprised. "Oh, well that's alright then. As long as she's not a Slytherin."

Hiccup bit his lip, exchanged a look with Merida, then made sure he wasn't facing his dad. "Actually, one of my best friends is in Slytherin."

Silence. Then, "Oh?" from Elinor, who noticed the tension in the room increase.

"His name is Jack. He flies for the Slytherin Quidditch team as Seeker." said Merida very quickly. "And Uncle Stoick, he's not half-bad."

Now it was Merida's parent's turn to be surprised, though they responded in different ways.

"You're friends with a Slytherin?" asked Fergus at the same time Elinor asked "A First-year on the Quidditch team?"

Merida didn't really know what she thought of Jack; good arguing partner sounded more accurate than friend to be perfectly honest, but she nodded anyway.

Elinor looked pleased. "Both of you making friends in other houses sounds wonderful. It's good to know people of different temperaments. Wouldn't you agree, Stoick?"

Stoick just sort of grunted, but that was better than yelling in Hiccup's opinion.

They then started opening gifts which wasn't as fun as one might think: Elinor was good with appeasing people but sort of bad with children. It got better later, though, when Merida participated in the annual Berk snowball fight. Astrid may be pretty humorless, but she was very good at molding snow together and shoving it in people's faces.

By the end, Merida was cold and wet and tired, but extraordinarily pleased at the way things turned out. Her mother turned up her nose a bit at the unladylike way in which she entered Hiccup's house, but she didn't care. All that mattered was she was finally having fun.

OoO

Up until his mother shrieked that there was a live owl in the house, Jack's break was going well. Their small house was decorated in it's finest Christmas glory, complete with a grand pine tree, candles, and garland. Both he and Rosie had received a hand-knitted sweater with their initial on it, his in pale blue and hers in pink. They all sang carols loudly and made cookies and Jack told them both wonderful stories.

"There's an owwwwwllllllll!"

Jack came running and saw his mum wasn't kidding, there really was an owl that looked quite alarmed at the situation it found itself in. "Hold on, hold on. It's got a package!"

"A package?!" yelped his mother, looking frantically around to see if any of the neighbors had noticed they had an owl (!) flying around. "Why would an owl have a package?!"

"Wizards use them to send things." explained Jack, while calming the owl and relieving it of its burden.

His mother straightened herself up. "What's wrong the post, eh? The post is perfectly capable."

"I dunno." shrugged Jack, noticing with amusement the way the box was addressed (Jack Frost, A town called Burgess, Probably England).

He opened it and smiled. Written in loopy handwriting was a sweet note from Rapunzel and a package of chocolate frogs. "Rosie! Come over here! I want you to try these!"

Rosie came running and shrieked with delight at the sight of chocolate that jumped around. "Can you really eat them, Jack? Really and truly?"

Jack laughed. "Yes, and they're really tasty! Save me the card though, I've got a collection."

"Who're they from, Jack?" asked Mrs. Frost, watching her daughter eat the treat warily.

"My friend Rapunzel. She's really nice."

"Tell me about the friends you've made." Mrs. Frost settled down on the couch and looked expectantly at her son.

"Well, there's Rapunzel. She's got really long, blond hair and likes drawing. Then there's Hiccup, who helps me with homework and Flynn and Horace, who are in my dorm. And then sort-of Merida."

"Sort of?"

Jack frowned. Were he and Merida really friends? He wasn't really sure (Girls were weird) but they did spend the whole train ride together. "We argue a bunch, but sometimes she tells good jokes and I think she was happy when I flew well in the Quidditch game, even though it was against her House."

Mrs. Frost smiled knowingly. "Well, then I think she is your friend. Did you want to send them Christmas gifts?"

"I don't know. Probably not."

"Well, we do have those extra gingerbread cookies." said Mrs. Frost, standing up and walking towards the kitchen. "Why don't you bring some to school with you? I think that would be nice."

Jack wasn't sure, but he knew he liked his mum's cookies so at least Hiccup would enjoy them. Giving cookies to girls might be a little weird though. Then again, Rapunzel had given him cookies. But girls liked giving out sweets...He shook his head. He was overthinking this.

"Alright, mum."

Mrs. Frost beamed and went to the kitchen, more in her element than with all this magic stuff.

Jack watched her go, not really sure what to feel, but glad to be home. It was warmer than in the stone-walled rooms of Slytherin and much cozier than his dorm. The only thing he really missed was, well, flying. But he'd be able to do that soon enough. At that moment, he was content to be spending time with his mum and Rosie by the Christmas tree.

OoO

Wow, sorry for delayed update. I'm kind of lame. Also have an injured hand, but mostly just lame. Hope you enjoyed! Every two weeks seems to be more doable...

owlgirl16

PS Also Merry late Christmas :)