AN: This chapter is... Weird. Just weird. I still like it though, and I hope you do to! Just as a heads-up to all of my awesome readers; I may be changing my posting day. If you've noticed I've been posting pretty much every Tuesday, but my schedule got moved around a bunch, so Tuesdays are kind of inconvenient now. However, this may work in your favor because it might mean that you'll get two chapters in one week. Not sure yet, still have to decide what I'm doing! Anyways, enjoy!
WARNING!: there is vomiting in this chapter, so if you're squeamish you now know.
NOTES: What do you do when you don't know what to do anymore?
REVIEWERS!:
BrawlerGamer: Yes, I've actually been having a lot of fun with Merida's character development because there's just so much of it that you can do, and I didn't even realize it myself until I started writing from her POV. I've been planning for her Divination skills since the very beginning of this series and you know by now how much a love foreshadowing, don't you? *hint,hint*. And yes, Jack and Hiccup are constantly up to something mischievous. Meanwhile, Jim will be joining the Quidditch team! However, that won't be until next year. I get ridiculously happy whenever someone says they like Jack and Hiccup's relationship because it's honestly one of my favorite parts about this series.
C: Yep! I generally try to update once a week. And just like your previous reviews this made me blush and smile SO MUCH! Thank you for being so amazingly sweet! Also, never ever apologize for a review! Even if they're kinda similar or from the same person, I still get really excited to read them and to have them! It means so much to me that you cared enough to write a second review just to make sure that I got your first one. My friend, you don't know how incredible you are, and I'm glad that I could make you happy in return! I try to respond to all of my reviewers. Sometimes there's a mix-up, but that's only happened once before. I'm super happy that you enjoy my story, and I hope that I will continue to write a series that you enjoy reading!
Chapter 8: Hogsmeade Village
A few days passed, and Merida found herself wallowing in her own self pity as the exciting day of the Hogsmeade Trip finally arrived. Everyone was going. Everyone was going to see the town, get lunch, buy a ton of candy, and have the best time ever.
Except her.
She had done everything she could think of. For weeks she had begged, pleaded, bargained, and even promised to work extra hard at her princess lessons if her mother would just let her go to Hogsmeade this one time. Needless to say, her mother had decided to be stubborn about the whole thing and had refused to let Merida go with the other students to Hogsmeade.
When her friends had found out that morning at breakfast, they had immediately started talking about staying and using the time to hang out with all four of them instead, but Merida refused to let them miss out on the trip for her sake and simply told them to bring her back some candy like they had agreed earlier.
Now, Merida watched from afar as all of the third-years and up got in line for the horse-drawn carriages that were bringing the students to the large village across the lake. She tried not to let the fact that she was the only third-year not going to Hogsmeade bother her, but she had been so excited about everything she had planned to do with her friends.
They had planned to go see the Shrieking Shack together! And the candy shop was legendary at the school!
Merida couldn't help the self-pity that overcame her as she watched the seventh-years climbing into carriages, and, by extension, the following self-loathing she felt for being so upset over something so trivial.
However, the angrier part of herself argued, lately her whole life had been made of extremes. No in-betweens, or grey areas. No average days of nothing particularly exciting happening on either side of the good-bad spectrum. It was one or the other, no questions asked. And, sadly, it seemed as if her life was, more often than not, swung towards the bad side of the pendulum.
Merida sighed, looking away from the gathering of students in the hopes of finding something else to set her thoughts on. She sat on a stone bench on the opposite side of the courtyard and on the inside of the open hall that circled the courtyard, offering a shelter from the sun, rain, or snow depending on the season, but also allowing for a lovely view of the main courtyard.
Merida knew she shouldn't be watching her friends leave without her, it would only make her more depressed, but she had nothing better to do with her time. Her mother, in the hopes of pacifying her enough to make her stop asking about the Hogsmeade trip, had given her the day off of Princess Lessons. Not that it did much at all. Either way Merida was going to be bored out of her mind while the rest of her classmates were off on another adventure.
She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard voices coming down the hallway from somewhere inside the castle. Soon enough, the small door at the end of the hall Merida was seated in was pushed open and two of her fellow Gryffindors appeared from the entryway.
"...We're supposed to be training." Talia, a girl with long brown hair that was typically pulled up into a bun and amber eyes, looked slightly annoyed with the ginger-haired male that was with her. "I thought you wanted to be a Knight."
"Oh, come on, Talia. It's just a bit of fun, and we've been working really hard the past couple of weeks." Justin, a noble-hearted boy with bright blue eyes, told her.
Talia sighed heavily. "Alright, but you'd better be ready to work twice as hard when we get back." She warned him, but her soft smile took the bite out of her words and Justin nodded enthusiastically.
"I swear it! Nothing will distract me from training. I will be one-hundred percent, completely focus -Lara!" Justin cut himself off as he looked off into the courtyard and shouted towards someone.
Merida couldn't help but look at whoever had caught Justin's attention and found Lara, a Slytherin girl. All of Gryffindor knew that Justin had an especially strong crush on the blonde-haired beauty, and watching the boy run after her, trying to gain her attention, now made Merida sigh.
"Wha -? Justin!" Talia called after the boy, obviously not very pleased about being ditched, and crossed her arms grumpily when Justin started to strike up conversation with the other girl. "Why do I even bother?" She muttered.
"You and Justin have gotten rather close." Merida commented, walking over to stand next to Talia in the archway leading into the courtyard.
Talia glanced at her and then shrugged gruffly. "He's not a bad sort. Just a little scattered brained at times."
"I guess I'm just surprised. I never thought you, of all people, would want to spend so much time with the son of the most important lawyer in Gabylonia." Merida said slowly, not wanting to offend the other girl.
It was pretty common knowledge that Talia came from a more middle-class, like Jack and Tadashi, which wasn't very common in their currents times. Most everyone that attended Hogwarts came from high-class families that were either rich, well-known, royalty, or a combination of the three. Talia was notorious for her dislike of the Ministry of Magic and the modernism that it was spreading across all the kingdoms. Justin's father was the man who had Knights outlawed from the Kingdom of Gabylonia, gaining himself a rather high seat in the Ministry of Magic. Needless to say, despite being from the same Kingdom, Talia and Justin were a rather strange pair.
"I suppose I'm not one to talk, but you've never really gotten this close to anybody." Merida continued gently. Talia was a strange case. Merida didn't really know much about her, but she knew the other Gryffindor was nice. Talia would often hang out with Eep, Camicazi, Astrid sometimes, and even Merida herself, but she had always held everyone at arms-length until just a few weeks ago when Justin had approached her about something.
"I wouldn't call us close, really." Talia mumbled, suddenly very fidgety and awkward. "Justin... He just... Lets just say that I had given up on something pretty important, and then Justin convinced me to give it one more shot."
"There you are, lass! I was wondering where you'd gone off to with your day off!" King Fergus suddenly boomed in his loud voice from down the hall, making both girls jump at the noise.
"Hi, dad." Merida smiled lightly as her father waltzed right up to them and rested a hand on her shoulder.
"Well, I'd better get going. Justin's going to hurt himself with how hard he's trying to impress Lady Lara." Talia rolled her eyes, but gave Merida a smile as she waved goodbye.
Merida watched sadly as the other Gryffindor girl ran towards the carriages with everyone else, renewing her sense of self-pity followed by self-loathing all over again. Her stomach was all knotted and she purposefully turned her face into the slight breeze to cool her face a little and ease the stinging feeling at the back of her eyes.
Fergus seemed to notice her sudden shift in moods and frowned. He looked out at the carriages, and then back down at his daughter who had yet to look at him since the other girl had left. The King knew that his little princess wasn't very pleased with the proposal and whatnot, and the lass had been butting heads with her mother since the day they arrived. He just wished he could make things easier for the both of them, but they both wanted completely different things, and, sadly, in this situation he could not give them both.
Fergus sighed, and then steeled himself. Elinor was going to have a fit when she found out.
"Uh... Lass, why don't you go join your friends for the day?" Fergus suggested quietly, leaning down so he could be closer to his daughter.
Merida turned wide eyes towards him, disbelieving of what she was hearing. "Really?" She asked.
"Aye." Fergus nodded, then lowered his voice to a whisper as he blocked his mouth with one hand. "I'll take care of your mother, you just go have some fun."
Merida positively beamed up at her father and threw her arms around his neck, squeezing him in a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Fergus laughed as Merida released him and then ran to catch up with her friends, who were only now climbing into the last carriage as the last group to start their trip down to Hogsmeade. She shouted to them, calling for them to wait for her, and when they looked up their faces lit with bright smiles and excited shouts were returned to her.
Fergus smiled warmly as he watched the three other students greet her daughter so happily, and Merida couldn't stop smiling as her friends yanked her into the carriage with them, chattering excitedly and asking her questions. She tried to explain how amazing her father was, but she could barely keep up with the questions and her cheeks were hurting from smiling so much. She couldn't find it in herself to care, though. She felt so warm, so loved in that moment after being welcomed so happily, so brightly. It was a wonderful feeling, to know that they had missed her as much as she missed them.
As the carriage pulled out of the courtyard, Merida whipped around and waved to her father, smiling widely at him. He put a finger to his lips and motioned a key locking them. He wouldn't tell, so it was on her to not get caught.
Merida grinned and settled back into her seat, quickly explaining to her friends why she was suddenly allowed to go on the trip with them. By the time they reached the village, Merida's previous feelings were forgotten and replaced with the happiness and laughter that filled their carriage.
Hogsmeade Village did not disappoint the young wizards and witches one bit. They started with the Shrieking Shack, which was fun, but once Jack started suggesting they get a closer look, Rapunzel and Merida quickly reminded him of the the candy shop, Honeydukes, in the hopes of keeping him and Hiccup out of any trouble during their trip.
That plan flew out the window when the boys found Zonko's Joke Shop. No words were needed for them in that moment. The boys only grinned wickedly at each other before quickly disappearing inside.
Merida had only sighed, already feeling bad for poor Professor Bunnymund.
Merida and Rapunzel decided to just let them have their fun and wait for them by the front of the shop. Jim, Tadashi, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon happened to walk by the shop and spot them in the window. The older students gave them questioning looks through the glass window that separated them, but the two girls simply pointed at Jack and Hiccup who were so incredibly excited about everything in the shop they couldn't be bothered to notice their older friends outside.
Upon seeing the two boys, Jim started laughing so hard that Merida could hear him through the glass, Tadashi dropped his face into his hand, Wasabi looked a little nervous, and Honey Lemon looked just plain worried.
After spending more than an hour at the joke shop, Merida and Rapunzel managed to get the two boys to leave. However, they did insist on making a few select purchases, most of which they didn't show anyone. Something about it not being fun if it wasn't a surprise.
Eventually the four made it to Honeydukes, the infamous candy shop that was adored by all Hogwarts students. They all made plenty of purchases there, and they each left with their own bag full of different treats and goodies and such. Hiccup was excited to get a small box of cauldron cakes for himself, Jack bought as many packages of Every-Flavored Beans that he could get, Rapunzel picked out several different candies from lollipops to chocolate, and Merida favored the chocolate frogs not only because of the chocolate but because of the cards that came in every package.
They strolled along the streets of the village, looking at all of the different shops and places as they munched on barely a fraction of all the candy they had bought. They moved from window to window, taking peeks and gaping in amazement at everything around them.
"This place is so incredible!" Rapunzel exclaimed as they all walked side by side.
"I don't think it would've been this fun if we weren't all together," Jack said, giving Merida a light punch on the shoulder, to which she responded with a grin and a playful shove.
"Hey, Hiccup, what are you looking at?" Merida called as she and Jack chuckled at their short scuffle.
Noticing that the shortest of them had separated from the group, Jack and Rapunzel quickly scanned their surroundings until they followed Merida's gaze to where the Ravenclaw had gone. Just a few strides off to the side to look in the window of a little shop that was much quieter than any of the others.
"Tomes and Scrolls, huh?" Jack said as he walked up to stand next to Hiccup, reading the sign above the door.
"Sorry." Hiccup apologized, turning away from the books that had been put on display in the window. "I know a bookshop isn't much different from the library back at the school, but we don't have many books back home, and these look so much newer than the ones at school..."
Jack opened his mouth to say something, but the words died in his mouth as he was cut off by an all too familiar voice.
"Your Highness!"
Merida groaned, turning around to see all three of her suitors walking over to them. Macintosh looked rather confident, strutting about as if he owned the place while Dingwall looked as far away as ever, and MacGuffin looked nervous and a little shy.
"What do you want? Can't you see I'm trying to enjoy my freedom?" Merida demanded, wanting them to go away very, very quickly.
"But, your Highness, if we're to be engaged then shouldn't we be seen together in public?" Macintosh smiled dashingly and kissed her hand, but Merida yanked her hand away as her face burned with shame more than anything else.
"Now, hold on just a minute, you haven't won the competition yet! And who says you're gonna win?" Dingwall suddenly focused in more on what was happening around him, seemingly only interested if the affairs included him.
"Don't even try it, Dingwall! I'm obviously the best of the suitors. I'm surprised the King didn't hand choose me for the Princess." Macintosh bragged as Merida pretended to gag behind him, making Rapunzel giggle quietly.
MacGuffin jumped into the conversation, but no one understood a word he said, so Dingwall decided to continue on as if he'd been on his side the whole time.
"Yeah! What he said!" Dingwall shouted.
Soon all three of the Lords were arguing endlessly over who would win the Princess's hand, as if Merida wasn't even there. Her stomach tightened painfully, and suddenly she felt as if she were going to throw up.
She didn't want this. She didn't want any of it.
Merida slowly began to back away from the Lords, keeping quiet so they wouldn't hear her. Maybe she could dash into the alley behind her and find somewhere quiet in the village where she could let her stomach settle, maybe she could escape passed the Lords back the way they had come and go back to the Shrieking Shack where no one would bother her at this time.
Before she could do any of that, she felt a hand rest gently, comfortingly, on her shoulder. Looking to her right, Merida found Hiccup looking at her worriedly and Jack glaring at the Lords, looking more than a little peeved. Rapunzel came up on her left and wrapped her arm around her shoulders, steering Merida down the path that would lead them back to where the carriages were waiting.
After about eight or nine strides, the Lords started shouting after them, now noticing that Merida wasn't there, but her friends ignored them and kept walking away, taking her with them. Her friends stayed with her, silently comforting her as they walked. When they reached the forest line where the carriages were waiting, Merida couldn't hold it in any longer.
She ran ahead of her friends and emptied the contents of her stomach into the bushes. It was violent, painful, and one of the worst feelings she had ever felt. It was so horrible. Merida was mortified as sob escaped her throat in between her retching. She screwed her eyes shut tight, refusing to cry, especially not in such an open place. She was a Gryffindor. She was Brave. She wasn't afraid of this. She wasn't going to cry.
She wasn't going to cry.
Suddenly she wasn't alone. Rapunzel's gentle hands pulled back her mess of hair, Hiccup placed a steadying hand on her shoulder, and Jack rubbed her back between her shoulder blades as she continued to gag and vomit into the bushes.