Another update! Sorry this one took so long, but I had some stuff going on that took priority over fanfic. If you guys ever have questions or concerns, or are just feeling generous, review! I love reading any messages or thoughts or even criticism you guys have for me, even if it's just another 'update soon'. Sometimes, those are the best, cause they remind me I need to keep writing. Maybe that way the next chapter won't take a month to update.
Anyways, here's the new chapter. Enjoy!
Hiccup POV
We sat in the Great Hall, the large room buzzing with noise and excited chatter. Apparently, the event from this morning was still the big story, as students all around us couldn't stop talking about it.
"I have to admit, I am curious why some stuffy old officials just barged in, unannounced." Jack said, while tearing a piece of bread off with his hands, popping it into his mouth.
Rapunzel, who sat across from Merida and I, nodded.
"What if something important happened?" She asked, eyes bright with excited energy and slight undertones of worry.
"If it was important, then they would have told us." Merida said nonchalantly, clearly not all that concerned on the matter.
"Let's just hope it's not anything serious." Rapunzel said.
I nodded silently. I looked up to the teachers table, and noticed that the Guardians had returned to their normal places, including North, who looked more serious than I thought I had ever seen him. I saw him stand slowly, and plaster a joyous expression on his face, one that was tough to pull off with his size and stature.
"Attention, students." Came his booming voice, needing no volume-increasing spell to ring across the Great Hall. The crowd was easy to silence, because everyone was already anticipating news from the headmaster.
"Next task for tournament is long time away." He told us. "But, teachers have decided to hold new event halfway, which is in few nights."
The crowd, surprisingly, remained silent.
"Easter is soon, two weeks from tonight, and Professor Bunnymund would like to hold celebration. However, celebration he has suggested does not sound very... fun. Instead, teachers have agreed to hold Easter Ball in place!"
At this a chorus of moans rang out a cross the room, mixing with the excited whispers of others. I looked at my friends, gauging their reactions. Jack and Merida both looked equally mortified and appalled, while Rapunzel looked absolutely thrilled.
"All sixth and seventh years must attend." At this, a chorus of objection rose up, including two loud yells of protest from Jack and Merida. "Champions must wear traditional dress, and must be on time, because spotlight dances start the ball."
"Oh Gods." I muttered, feeling the colour draining from my face.
A dance? I couldn't dance! I could barely walk properly, and they were expecting me to be in a spotlight dance? I groaned and hung my head. I could already picture the embarrassment, and it was burning a hole right through me.
North stepped down from the podium, and the food from the tables disappeared, dismissing the students. Jack and Merida sat down heavily in their seats, and almost instantly, Rapunzel tried to lighten up the mood.
"Come on you guys." She prompted. "It'll be fun! Can't you just imagine it?"
"I can." Merida muttered. I had a feeling she wasn't imagining it the same way Rapunzel was.
"Just think of it on the bright side." Rapunzel said brightly, not allowing our heavy moods to weigh down on her.
"Yeah." Jack agreed suddenly, his face brightening. "We get to see Hiccup waltz."
Merida couldn't help but crack a grin at my expense.
"We get to see Jack in dress robes." I quipped.
At this, Merida couldn't help but laugh, and Jack's easy grin faded slightly.
"We get to see Merida in a gown." Jack said.
Merida stopped laughing and placed a well aimed punch on Jack's arm. I winced, knowing from experience that Merida's punches hurt.
"You guys are thinking about it all wrong." Rapunzel insisted, standing up from the bench.
"That's the thing, Rapunzel." We all followed suit, standing slowly from our seats. "I'm trying not to think about it."
"But it's going to be a magical night, filled with music, and lights, and lovely couples dancing into the night, the sky filled with twinkling stars. Oh, it's going to be wonderful."
"It's going to be something, and wonderful wasn't the word I was thinking of." Merida said bitterly.
We walked out of the Great Hall, and Rapunzel continued talking about the Easter ball, fantasizing about the night. Meanwhile, the rest of us were trying to drown out her bubbly words and focus on anything but the dance.
"Just imagine, the swirling skirts of girls ballgowns-oh!" She gasped suddenly. "Merida, we need to find dresses!"
"No." Merida said instantly. "I'm not wearing some frilly, too tight-"
"I can make them." Rapunzel offered. "Mother taught me to sew long ago. I'll make one for myself, and for you, obviously-"
"What about Jack?" I asked, grinning. "He needs a ballgown too."
"Oh, ha ha Haddock." Jack grumbled.
"I think you'll look great in a ballgown, Frosty." Merida sided with me. "They suit your feminine form."
At this we both began laughing, unable to keep straight faces any longer. When I finally caught my breath, I looked over to see Merida still laughing.
The way the torchlight illuminated her hair, and her smile brightened her face, she looked absolutely beautiful. I became caught in the moment, it being too good to be true. Before anyone caught me staring, I tore my gaze from her and looked straight ahead, so as not to be distracted.
Rapunzel gasped yet again, looking both excited and panicked.
"What's wrong Punzie?" Merida asked her when she finally stopped laughing. "The image of Jack in a ballgown too terrible for your innocent mind?"
"She was probably picturing you in a dress." Jack returned the jab. "Daintily dancing away through the night-"
Jack was cut off by a quick kick to the shins courtesy of Merida.
"Ow! Why do you always find the need to-"
"We have to find dates." Rapunzel said to Merida.
I stumbled, forgetting to walk for a moment. Right. Dates. I had almost forgotten about that part...
There was only one person I could possibly think of going to the dance with, and at the moment she was walking next to me. I couldn't tell what Merida was thinking at the moment, as her fiery mane of curly red hair hid her face. I looked away, feeling heat rushing up to my cheeks.
"Of course." Jack said weakly.
I cast a glance at him, and I saw him looking down at Rapunzel, appearing both terrified and hopeful. He quickly tore his gaze away from her and pulled up a few steps, turning around so he could walk backwards while talking. This way, he could face us while speaking.
"It shouldn't be too hard, right?" He asked.
I couldn't tell if he was trying to reassure us, or looking for reassurance. Still, ever the jokester, he tried to keep the mood light and free of worry, by cracking a joke at my expense.
"Except for you, Hic." He told me, clapping a hand on my shoulder. "Sorry, buddy, but I don't think there's anything even I could do to get you a date."
"Don't call me Hic. It sounds wrong." I told him, shaking his hand off of my shoulder. Despite his joking manner, I couldn't help but worry a little.
I wanted to ask Merida, that much I knew, but what if she didn't want to go with me? I knew she hated the idea of a dance, but would that really affect her decision? What if she decided to go alone, or just not go at all? It wouldn't surprise me, it was nothing short of what everyone else expected her to do.
When we finally reached the Gryffindor common room, we noticed that the Fat Lady was missing. That was the second time this month. What was going on? I knew that the paintings occasionally reported to the Guardians, but this was a little much. That must mean something important was happening. I knew it had everything to do with the ministry officials arriving.
I quickly looked around me, and noticed that many of the other paintings occupants were missing, either not in the right frame's or just not there at all. There was definitely something going on deeper inside the castle, most likely in the headmasters office, where the Ministry Officials more than likely still sat, discussing whatever it was that they had come here to...well, discuss.
"Where's the Fat Lady?" Rapunzel asked the obvious question.
I had my suspicions, but decided not to voice them, and instead opened the door with an unlocking charm. The door swung open beneath my touch and we all walked inside to see a nearly empty common room.
"Where's everyone else?" Jack asked, looking around the room, confused.
"They probably couldn't get in." I explained. "The Fat Lady wasn't in her portrait."
"Works for me." Merida shrugged, and went to go sit down in her usual couch in front of the fire. "Less noise and annoying chatter."
"If I wanted less noise and annoying chatter, I'd ask Jack to leave the room." I teased.
"You are just full of punchy one-liners tonight, aren't you Chief?" Jack demanded, perching himself on the arm of a red loveseat.
I grinned and walked over to sit beside Merida, while Rapunzel took her own seat on either side of us. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Rapunzel spoke up.
"So, what are you guys going to wear to the ball?" She asked Jack and I, desperately searching for a topic of discussion.
Jack groaned comically, and flopped off of the armrest, onto the seat of the chair, an arm draped dramatically over his eyes. I rolled my eyes and decided to answer first.
"I guess I'm supposed to wear traditional clothes, but..." I trailed off.
Traditional Viking dress wasn't exactly... a good idea for a ball. It mostly concerned more extravagant armor and decorative pieces of metal, furs draped across the shoulders and rough fabric cut into extortionate pieces of clothing. It also weighed approximately a ton, and I had no desire to wear any of it.
"What is everyone else supposed to wear?" Merida asked, her tone laid back. I had a feeling she wasn't particularly interested, but was asking merely for the sake of conversation.
"Traditional dress robes." Rapunzel answered.
"What are those?" Jack asked. He hadn't been raised by a wizard family, and had only known that the wizard world existed a year ago. It wasn't much of a surprise that he didn't know what traditional dress robes looked like.
Rapunzel apparently knew a lot about dress robes, and traditional outfits, because she was more than happy to jump into a lengthy explanation.
"Well, normally dress robes are fancy robes with golden accessories. They have collars with frills, and long sleeves. Most of them are black, with white undershirts, but you can have all sorts of colours too. If you ask me, black and white are boring, but-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Jack held up a hand. "A little too much information all at once, Punz."
"Sorry." Rapunzel answered, blushing slightly. "It's just all too exciting! The first ball Hogwarts has ever had, and it's going to be held during Easter, one of the best celebrations of the year!"
"What do people normally do on Easter?" I asked.
Rapunzel and Merida had explained it to me several times over the years, but Vikings celebrated different events. I found wizard and European celebrations confusing, because most of them lacked purpose. For example, Halloween. Why would you celebrate an entire day designed to scare people? It was literally a celebration of fear. It was a terrible idea, if you asked me.
"Haven't you ever done an egg hunt?" Jack asked me, frowning a little.
"No." I said. "Eggs aren't hunted. They don't move."
"Really?" Rapunzel asked. "I thought you did one two years ago."
"No." I said. "It was Thrimilci on Berk, a required festival."
"Three-mill-key?" Jack said slowly.
"No." I sighed. "Three-meal-si. It's the ending night of the Wild Hunt. The festival of Thrimilci signifies the beginning of Summer. It's basically a festival of joy and fertility, with lot's of feasting and ale."
"Easter's kind of the same." Merida noted. "It's supposed to be joyful, and fertile, I s'pose."
"It signifies a new beginning, full of hope and happiness." Rapunzel continued.
"And you represent all that by not-really-hunting colourful, hollow eggs and chocolate?" I asked, the disbelief and sarcasm evident in my voice.
"Yes." All three of them chorused, completely ignoring my sarcasm.
"Right." I noted, before standing. I looked out the window, and noticed that darkness had descended upon the school grounds. It was the perfect time for a flight.
"I'll see you guys tomorrow. I'm heading back to the common room." I lied out of habit.
"Bye." Jack said, with Rapunzel answering only a moment later.
"Why so early?" Merida asked, suspicious.
"Oh, well, I didn't get much sleep last night." I answered feebly. "Have to catch up if I'm going to, you know, make it through tomorrow. Yeah, well, goodnight."
I left quickly, the door swinging closed behind me silently before Merida could answer. Why was I still lying? They knew about Toothless, they knew about the shadows, so why did I feel the need to continue to keep secrets.
Was it because I had spent nearly a year alone, with only Toothless and vicious shadow creatures as my companions? Had I fallen back into the pattern of keeping everything to myself, unused to having anyone to share my thoughts with?
I realized suddenly that it wasn't because I didn't want them to know, or that I wasn't used to sharing the truth, but because I wasn't going to ride Toothless tonight. I was going to fly on my own.
It was a secret that merited my right to lie.
I sighed as I made my way through the halls silently, very few students straggling before curfew began. I was grateful for this, because it would mean less people seeing me hanging around late at night, and less people to notice me slip outside.
I took a deep breath as I stepped outside and took fast-paced steps towards the forbidden forest, forbidden to everyone but myself. It was almost a part of me now, as much a part of me as Berk was, and as Hogwarts is. I was free here, and I couldn't wait to get inside before transforming.
The moment I hit the treeline, I changed into the elegant dragon that was now my second identity. I felt the power ripple through me, and took off almost immediately, soaring gracefully through the black sky, unseen by anyone save for one.
Those one persons eyes tracked me as I continued gliding through the air, my wings flapping soundlessly against the strong spring breeze. I was unknowingly being watched, and unknowingly, I had revealed my biggest secret to one of the many people who would use it against me.
I landed back in the forest, almost an hour later, and transformed back, right in front of that mysterious persons eyes. I didn't know I was being watched, and I didn't know who was watching me.
I was oblivious to the person hiding in the shadows, and oblivious to the trouble it would cause me. I was careless, and that would be my downfall. As I entered the school, there was a deep laugh, one cold and heartless, bent on destroying me and everything I cared about.
I was oblivious to it as well, and fell asleep dreaming of nothing but darkness.