"This is a bad idea," muttered Hiccup as he, Merida, and Rapunzel walked down from the Great Hall to the Quidditch pitch.
"Hm? Come again?" asked Merida, turning her head towards him. The wind blew her hair in front of her eyes, and so she brushed aside a few tendrils as her blue eyes looked at him. Hiccup gulped, and wasn't sure he really wanted to repeat himself.
"He said that this is a bad idea," Rapunzel proclaimed, smiling slightly.
"Huh," laughed Merida. "You don't need to worry, Hiccup. I was basically born with a bow and arrow in my hands."
"Why?" asked Rapunzel, genuinely curious.
"Dunno why, but my parents have a lot of old artifacts around our house," answered Merida, shrugging. "Some of 'em are weapons. We almost have a complete armory in our basement. Bows and arrows of every size. I didn't really do a lot of… er, socializing, and I wasn't into readin' or nothin, so I messed around in the armory a bit."
"Didn't you almost cut your hand off or something?" asked Hiccup, eyes wide.
"Nah, my ma or pa was always there. And besides, when I turned nine or so I could handle myself," Merida said. She stopped suddenly and smiled. "Look, over there!" she yelled excitedly. Not too far away from them was Jack with just one Slytherin boy. She started to walk quite a bit faster, leaving Hiccup and Rapunzel standing and looking at each other in slight confusion.
"She's… excited?" Hiccup stated.
"That does seem to be the case," replied Rapunzel, staring at Merida quizzically.
After a moment, Hiccup inquired, "Why?"
Rapunzel shrugged and began walking again. "Come along, dewberry," she said, grabbing Hiccup's arm and pulling him along. "It is time to see Merida make a fool of someone. Either herself or that Slytherin."
"I do hope it's that Slytherin," remarked Hiccup.
Merida had already reached the Slytherin duo and was discussing how to measure out ten meters. "Not that it matters much," taunted Merida, leaning back and crossing her arms. "Ten meters or twenty, I could still hit whatever that rotten potato you have."
"Really, now?" scoffed Jack. "Shall we make it twenty meters, then?"
"The original terms should stand, it's only fair," replied Merida. "Besides, then we'd have to change the prizes to compensate. And I do want to hear your screeches as you clean the bathroom."
"Just as much as I want to kiss you," teased Jack in return.
"I genuinely hope you don't," muttered Merida, glowering at him.
"Not to interrupt the happy couple," Rapunzel interjected. "But I measured the ten meters." The whole group turned at looked at a glowing line stretched out in the air. Rapunzel walked to the end of the line farthest from the group. "Jack, you need to stand here and throw your potato straight up. Merida, you move to the other end and shoot."
"Need to warm up or anything, Merida?" suggested Hiccup.
Merida stretched her arms out, cracked her knuckles (an obnoxious habit, in Jack's opinion), and shook her hands out. "I'm all good," she stated. She took the bow off her shoulder and grabbed an arrow from the quiver on her hip. Looking at Jack, she asked, "You ready?"
He had moved himself to the other end of the line already. "I'll count down from five," he stated, smiling.
"Don't throw it stupidly, alright?" Merida reminded him. "Just straight up. I won't hit ya."
"Five," he yelled back. Merida moved her legs into a wider stance and bent her knees slightly.
"Four." Merida nocked the arrow and lightly held it between her three middle fingers.
"Three." She raised and drew the bow back.
"Two." She exhaled and kept her eyes on the potato in Jack's hand.
"One." Jack threw the potato straight up into the air, as promised. Merida took aim and relaxed her fingers, causing the arrow to be released into the air. All eyes watched as the arrow shot through the air and straight through the potato.
The potato with the arrow lodged in it landed about a foot away from Jack. His eyes had widened and he was looking at the fiery-haired girl, who stood staring at him defiantly.
"I reckon you should go have a little chat with Filch," she said, looking at him with a fairly emotionless expression. Then she started hooting with laughter and bent over. "Oh, your face! If you could see it!" she laughed.
In spite of himself, Jack was smiling. "I thought you were all talk," he admitted.
"I don't ever claim to do what I can't," she chided, wiping her eyes. She began to laugh again and began to walk away towards Hiccup and Rapunzel, who were cheering for her.
"I'll get you back for this! Next bet, I'll definitely win," Jack called after her. She turned to glance at him for a moment and laughed.
"Bad luck, mate," said Flynn, walking up beside Jack.
"A bit," Jack conceded. He looked at Flynn with a glitter of excitement of his eyes. "Plenty of mischief to be done in a bathroom, though. Just imagine!"
"Making it so the water runs too cold in the sinks," Flynn proposed.
"The floors slippery to walk on!"
"Leave food in the corner so rats will come to nip at people's toes!"
"Doesn't matter that if I'm there to clean," remarked Jack. "It'll all be so subtle that Filch's old eyes can't see the little pieces of havoc at work!"
"While I'm certain it'll be fun, I will not be joining you," Flynn informed him.
"No," gasped Jack, widening his eyes. "You don't want to clean the bathroom that's known for its inch of grime that covers anything?" He smiled and winked. "No worries, mate."
Flynn flung his arm around Jack's shoulders. "I'm sure you'll have all sorts of stories about your exciting excursion into the awfully smelly world of the third floor boys' bathroom." Jack laughed, and the two of them walked off the Quidditch pitch.