There's Always More

by AlicevsWonderland

Hogwarts AU. When Hiccup's secret of being the first to train a dragon is revealed, he struggles to handle his new popularity among the other students. Jack decides not to bother him like many of the others, even though he is also curious about the whole story. Despite this, an unlikely friendship blooms between the two boys and eventually turns into something more. Rated M!

7. Protective Instinct

Author's note:

Hi everyone! :) This is the newest chapter.

Hiccup and Fishlegs have fighting skills in my story. They obviously aren't some kind of super warriors, but they know how to use weapons and how to handle themselves in a fight, because that just makes sense, when they're Vikings. Despite Hiccup being scrawny and clumsy in the first HTTYD movie, he clearly grew out of that in the second one, and that's how he is in this story :) I don't like fics where Hiccup is portrayed as completely weak and cowardly, always needing someone to save him while he cries in a corner. That's not the Hiccup I see in the movies. Despite his lack of physical strength in the first movie he still risks his life several times, the last time to save the people he cares about. That's not the actions of a weak coward. People should give him more credit. Also, he is the kind of person who would want to be able to defend himself, if he should somehow lose his wand or have it taken from him in a fight, not only to protect himself but also those he cares about.

Enjoy!

---

It was cold. It was dark. And he was scared.

The icy water invaded his skin. Excruciating arctic fire burning, seeping into every pore, making his whole being constrict in agony and shock.

Nothing existed but darkness and cold.

An unknown force pushed him, shoved him away from the dark depths.

The brightness of the light hurt his eyes. The sharp aches stabbed through his limbs.

His lungs gasped for air, instantly hurting.

The sound of ice cracking, budging, had never been so terrifying.

It was the sound of death.

The screams of his parents sliced through the silence of the crisp air, as they were flailing around in the freezing, deadly water, desperately trying to escape its fatal grip. Their eyes wide with fear of the approaching darkness.

His sister's brown eyes brimmed with horror and unshed tears.

Ripples in the traitorous water. Remnants of his parents.

Then nothing but cold.

Comforting, drowsy, shielding cold that made all terror disappear, replacing it with the urge to sleep, to lay down his weary head and give up. To end everything.

Darkness had never been so comforting.

Jack woke up with a start, his covers and his clothes clinging to his sticky skin. He was bathed in cold sweat. He was stuck between wanting to kick off the covers and take off his clothes and wanting to crawl further underneath them, looking for that familiar safe warmth. It'd been a long time, since he had had this nightmare. Five months, maybe? As the years went by, they became less and less frequent.

He ran a hand through his drenched hair and dried off his hand in his pajama trousers to get rid of that clammy feeling on his palm. The nightmares always seemed so real. It was like reliving it all over again. That horribly familiar swirling of guilt and grief squirmed in his gut. He turned on his side and reached out his hand to grab the small object laying on his nightstand.

As his hand closed around it, he considered, whether he should do it or not. Right now, he didn't feel like it, but he had to keep his promise if he expected her to keep hers.

He pressed the button and put it down on the nightstand. Jumped out of bed and grabbed the clean, dry T-shirt from the chair next to his bed. He pulled off his sweat-drenched shirt, put the new one on, and enjoyed how that unpleasant stickiness disappeared.

Whenever he had one of these dreams about his parents' death, he was emotionally drained and fragile. Now was no exception. He was already mentally exhausted.

He walked down the creaking staircase towards the common room. When he got there, he instantly spotted Mavis sitting on one of the red couches by the fireplace. The flames bathed the stone room in a warm glow, the only light in the darkness.

Mavis smiled at him, as he approached her, his bare feet padding across the colourful rugs. She was still wearing her sleeping clothes, black and red striped pajama bottoms, and an oversized black T-shirt, as she sat on the couch with her legs crossed.

"Hey," she said softly, the corners of her lips tugging upwards. Her eyes watched him intently like she was trying to determine, how he was feeling.

"Hey," he said and slumped down on the soft, red couch. He pulled up his legs and crossed them.

"It's been a while," Mavis said, her voice gentle. She tucked a lock of black hair behind one ear.

"Yeah, like… five months now," Jack said. He fiddled with the hem of his T-shirt.

"That's something… at least more and more time passes between them."

"Yeah… What about you?"

"Come on, Jack… You know when the last time was. I keep my promises," Mavis said, shooting him a look that told him he should know better. The warm light of the flames swirled in her eyes.

He smiled and it was a fragile little thing. "Yeah, I know… That was a stupid question."

"So… Tell me about it," she said, resting her elbows on her knees.

In the dark common room, among the squishy armchairs and the portraits and the dancing flames, Jack once again told Mavis about his recurring nightmare.

She listened attentively with sympathetic eyes, nodding or humming once in a while to let him know she understood.

He'd told her about this particular nightmare so many times over the years that she knew it all too well, but she still insisted he talked about it in depth every time. It was unpleasant, but he had to admit he always felt a little lighter afterwards. He knew that Mavis understood. Her mother had died in a fire, when she was six years old, and she still had nightmares about that once in a while.

When they'd found out they were both plagued by the past at night, they'd made an agreement. They'd wake the other one every time it happened and meet up in the common room to talk about it and find some peace of mind again. It definitely helped having someone, who knew what it was like, and who also leaned on him for support in return.

When he finished telling her about the nightmare, Mavis pulled him into a tight hug.

She rested her head on his shoulder. Jack leaned his face on the side of Mavis' head and breathed in the familiar scent of her coconut shampoo. There was comfort in the familiar warmth of his friend, but unfortunately, her affection didn't quell the grief and guilt within him. Once again though, like so many times before, he found himself appreciating Mavis' friendship and her kind nature.

"You know I love you, right?" her gentle voice whispered.

"I know… I love me too," he said, trying to lessen the solemn mood.

Mavis hit him on the arm but didn't break the hug.

"Sorry. I love you too, Mav. You know I do," he said and smiled into her hair.

He squeezed her tighter for a few seconds before letting go.

When Jack was lying in his bed again, he was disappointed he didn't have any more Dreamless Sleep lying around. He made a mental note to get some extra vials as soon as possible. It was a good thing to have in his nightstand after a nightmare.

He tossed and turned in his bed for a while, his mind occupied with thoughts of his parents, Emma, and North and Anna, despite feeling better after having spoken to Mavis. When he finally managed to fall into a deep slumber, he had pleasant dreams of deep green pine forests.

---

Despite the usual ungodly noise in the Great Hall, Hiccup found himself feeling refreshed. He'd actually gotten more sleep than usual between his nightly flight and his morning flight with Toothless. His eyelids were less droopy, and he didn't have the same strong urge to smack his head down on the table.

"This is great," Rapunzel said and took some tubes of paint out of the package, she'd just received from her parents. "I really love these paints and you can only get them at this one particular shop!"

He ate his eggs and toast, while watching Rapunzel go through the rest of the stuff in the box.

"Ooh, and look at this," Rapunzel said, pulling a big, new sketchbook out of the package. It was purple with a sun emblem on the front.

"Very nice," Fishlegs said and stuck a piece of sausage into his mouth.

Hiccup smiled at her, before taking a sip of his juice.

His thoughts drifted to Merida and the bow he was making for her. He had Building, Managing and Repairing Magical Objects later today, where he could stay after class and finish up the last touches. He wondered what she'd think of it. Hopefully, she'd be happy with it. He'd gotten to know her better during the past couple of weeks and Merida reminded him a lot of Astrid… strong, confident, fiercely loyal and protective of those she cared about. All good qualities in a friend.

Rapunzel squealed and pulled him out of his thoughts.

She took out a book from the package and showed it to them. It was a big, leatherbound book about magical creatures with a detailed illustration of a hippogriff on the front.

"I need to borrow that!" Fishlegs instantly said, his eyes huge.

"Yeah, yeah, let me read it first, okay?" Rapunzel said and grinned.

Hiccup smiled at them and took another bite of his toast.

He spotted Flynn, Merida and Mavis heading towards the Gryffindor table. But Jack was nowhere to be seen.

He frowned. That was strange.

He watched them take their seats and begin pouring food onto their plates. They didn't talk at first. Merida shoved pie onto her plate with agitated movements. Hiccup was reminded that Jack and Merida and the rest of the Gryffindor team had a Quidditch match against the Slytherins later today. Maybe this was somehow related to that?

Jack being absent from breakfast was very unusual. He loved those damn pancakes too much despite his disdain for getting up in the morning. Hiccup found himself reflecting on how strange it was that he had gotten so used to him and Jack exchanging smiles and waves at every meal that it just seemed weird that Jack suddenly wasn't here.

He pushed the eggs and toast around on his plate with his fork, having lost his appetite. He glared at the food like it was to blame for his current situation.

Fishlegs and Rapunzel kept talking about the book on magical creatures with excitement in their eyes. He tuned out their conversation and the loud sounds of clinking cutlery, plates scraping across tables, and excited chatter from the other students.

Hiccup lifted his mug and took a sip of his juice, enjoying the fresh, tangy taste of fruit despite his loss of appetite.

"Hiccup, what's wrong?" Fishlegs said.

"I'm just a little worried," he said, putting his toast back on his plate, not wanting to take another bite of it.

"Why?" Rapunzel said, putting the book back in the package.

"Well… Jack isn't here… and he's always at breakfast," Hiccup said. It would probably sound strange to them that his mood was so affected by this.

Fishlegs and Rapunzel both shot a quick glance at the Gryffindor table, where Flynn, Merida and Mavis were eating and talking. They seemed less cheerful this morning than usual, but Hiccup had no idea if it was because something had happened to Jack, or it was just because Jack was so good at spreading joy all around him that his absence would always cause a little drop in the mood.

Rapunzel's lips lifted into a small smile. "I'm sure he's fine, Hiccup," she said and reached her arm across the table to give his hand a squeeze.

"Yeah, it's probably nothing," Fishlegs said and shrugged.

"Yeah, I'm sure you're right. I just worry too much. You know… Thinking something might have happened," Hiccup said.

"We know," Fishlegs said and smiled. Rapunzel nodded.

"You're going to see him in class in a little while," Rapunzel told him, before taking a sip of her tea. Her bright eyes conveyed that optimism of hers that always seemed to make him feel better.

Of course, she was right. And then he could see Jack for himself and confirm that nothing was wrong… That he was just being too paranoid as usual, whenever something happened that was out of the ordinary.

"Yeah…" Hiccup said and nodded. "You're right. I should just relax."

"You definitely should," Fishlegs said with a teasing smile.

"Hey, I can't help it that I'm such a good friend that I worry about all of you," Hiccup shot back, a smile straining his lips.

"No, but you should take it easy sometimes, Hiccup. When something unusual happens, it doesn't have to be because someone's been kidnapped, or they've just discovered they have six months to live," Rapunzel said with fondness.

Fishlegs chuckled next to her.

"I know that," Hiccup said. "But point taken."

His friends' reassuring words had eased Hiccup's mind a little and he found himself enjoying the rest of breakfast. They quickly became engulfed in discussion and when Rapunzel made him spit out a little fruit juice because of a witty comment, he found himself feeling a lot less worried.

---

Hiccup took a seat by one of the tables in the classroom and rummaged through his satchel, before pulling out his textbook, some parchment and a quill. He flipped the book open to the pages needed for today's lesson and quickly scanned the words on the pages to refresh what he'd already read yesterday. He liked being prepared and it never hurt to revisit your homework before class. It also didn't hurt to keep his mind occupied until Jack got here.

As the minutes ticked by, students began filling the classroom. Hiccup waved and smiled at Astrid, who gave him a bright smile in response, before taking her seat by a table a few rows back. He turned his attention back to the large black textbook, but he was only able to read for a few minutes more, before his focus was pulled towards someone who sat down next to him.

Jack gave him a strained smile and said "Morning, Hic," as usual.

But Hiccup noticed the difference from the other mornings. Jack's eyes were dull, a huge contrast to the usual spark they held, his white hair was disheveled like he had just woken up, and he had dark circles under his eyes, marring his usually flawless skin. Hiccup didn't need to ask him what was wrong. He recognized the signs of nightmares.

"Good morning," he said and tried to give Jack a warm smile, despite his concern.

Jack nodded before rubbing his eyes with the sleeves of his robe. He let out a long yawn, before rubbing his entire face quickly with his palms in a gesture that seemed both frustrated and impatient. When Jack let his hands drop to his sides, he sighed deeply and glared at the table.

Hiccup chewed on his lip. Based on Jack's behavior, he was guessing his nightmares were recurring ones… The kind that popped up once in a while, reminding him of something horrible that Jack couldn't do squat about. Hiccup had recurring nightmares himself, so he could relate. And this wasn't what Jack needed today of all days… He had a Quidditch match later.

Hiccup glanced at Merida and Flynn, who were having a discussion with Jim about the Irish Quidditch team. They shot concerned looks at Jack once in a while.

"Hey…" Hiccup said, lowering his voice to a whisper, watching Jack for any changes in expression. "Are you okay?"

Jack met his eyes again. A tiny flicker of a smile settled on his lips. "Yeah… I'll be okay," Jack said softly.

Hiccup nodded. "If you want to talk about it some time, I'm here… I know what it's like to have nightmares. Even recurring ones."

Surprise flashed in Jack's eyes, confirming Hiccup's guess. Jack watched him intently for a few moments in silence.

"Thanks, Hic," Jack said. "How did you know?"

"I can just tell… You know… By the way you look, the way you're acting," Hiccup said. It probably sounded strange, when he put it like that.

Jack shook his head to himself, a small smile sneaking onto his lips. He was clearly amused by Hiccup's answer. That was good. He wanted to cheer Jack up.

"You're too observant for your own good."

Hiccup smiled. "Well, one of us has to be."

Jack scoffed. "I'm observant."

"Sure, you are, Snow-White," Hiccup said condescendingly, trying to push Jack's buttons to distract him from his current problems.

"Hey, don't be like that just because you're envious of my youth and beauty," Jack shot back with amusement in his tired eyes.

"Right… Nothing gets past you, Eagle Eye," Hiccup deadpanned.

Professor Bunnymund made his way towards his desk, and everyone became quiet. Their Australian professor scratched his head of blue hair and sat down on top of his desk instead of the chair behind it.

"Today we're going to focus on the Levicorpus spell. I'll be giving a lecture on the history and the practical uses for this particular spell, and then you'll be pairing up and practicing it on each other. And as usual… No other spells besides this one or it's three weeks detention," Professor Bunnymund said with his usual air of authority.

During the lecture on the Levicorpus spell, Hiccup used his great multitasking skills to scribble down notes on his parchment, listen to all the information, their professor told them, and keep an eye on Jack. He was actually a little proud of his abilities in this area. It had often proven very useful to him to be able to do several things at once.

Jack didn't seem to be paying much attention to the lecture, which was to be expected. He regularly rubbed his eyes and covered his mouth with a hand and yawned. Hiccup wished he could help him.

When Professor Bunnymund finished his lecture, he told them to pair up with someone and begin practicing the spell on each other. As they had gotten used to doing over the past weeks, Hiccup and Jack quickly paired up together.

They got to their feet and the noise of students suddenly talking and chairs scraping across the stone floor echoed all around them.

Hiccup shot Jack a worried look. "Jack, are you sure you're up for this?" he said. Jack shouldn't strain himself right now.

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine," Jack said and gave him a small but genuine smile.

The two of them took their places in one of the corners of the large classroom, not too far away from Merida and Flynn, who were already eying each other in an obvious challenge, competing as always to see who could get the upper hand.

"Okay, well… You want to start?" Hiccup said and pulled out his wand from a pocket in his robes.

Jack quickly did the same. He still wasn't sure if Jack should even be practicing magic right now. He was not only exhausted but also distracted and that could sometimes cause unexpected results. After all, magic could be temperamental.

"Yeah, sure," Jack said without much emotion and raised his wand towards Hiccup. He tried casting the spell a couple of times without result.

Jack took a few moments to concentrate. "Levicorpus," he said confidently despite his exhaustion.

Hiccup was instantly lifted up by his feet and suddenly, he was hanging upside down in the air, facing away from Jack.

He could hear Jack chuckle and he found that comforting.

"That's a good look on you, Hic."

"Really? I've never actually considered adopting the whole upside-down look… being a little impractical as it is, you know?" Hiccup deadpanned.

"Well, you should think about it. This way no girls can see your face. That should be a definite plus for you," Jack said in a teasing tone and Hiccup was kind of relieved that he was in a better mood.

"Right now, I can't see your face either, so I guess there are certain advantages to this."

Jack scoffed. "Like you wouldn't miss my face like crazy."

"Hmm… I guess you're right. After all, it's nice to be reminded that someone's worse looking than me," Hiccup said, trying to rile Jack up.

"What?!" Jack said but he couldn't help but chuckle a few seconds later.

"Hey Frost, looks like you've caught a Viking?" Merida said from somewhere.

"Yeah, I'm thinking about keeping him, actually. Maybe he can be trained?"

"I'm definitely not trainable, Snow Cone," Hiccup said, now beginning to feel a little nauseous from hanging upside down for a while. The blood was rushing to his head, making dizziness tug at the corners of his mind.

"Did you hear something, Mer?" Jack asked her innocently.

"No, I don't think so, Snowflake… It was probably just the wind," Merida said, sounding just as innocent.

"Heeey!" Hiccup said in protest, making Jack and Merida laugh heartily. Apparently, Flynn joined in too. Hiccup recognized his laughter by now, even though he couldn't see him.

Suddenly, Hiccup was flung through the air and into one of the stone walls of the classroom, before he could even comprehend what was happening. A jolt of pain shot through his back. He slumped down on the floor. His body ached from the impact and he couldn't contain a pained groan. He rolled onto his side, so he wouldn't be lying face down.

"Hiccup, are you okay?" he heard Astrid's familiar voice say.

He lifted his head to meet her eyes. She looked him over for injuries.

"Yeah…" he said hesitantly. What had happened?

Astrid closed her hand around his arm and pulled him up. He appreciated that, especially since he was a bit dizzy.

When he was on his feet again, although a little unsure, he noticed Jack, Merida and Flynn standing in front of him, all looking shocked and concerned.

"Hic, I'm so sorry!" Jack blurted out, his eyes wide.

Ah, okay. Jack had accidentally done something to send him flying through the air. That made sense, considering Jack's current state.

"It's okay, Jack," Hiccup said, now beginning to feel a headache approaching.

Astrid's hand squeezed his shoulder in a comforting gesture, and she let her hand rest there.

"But what happened?" he asked, even though he already knew the basics.

"I'm not sure. We were just kidding around and apparently I did something with my wand that caused this," Jack said quietly and looked at the floor.

"Don't worry about it," Hiccup said and rubbed his forehead. His head was throbbing now, an incessant ache pulsing through every vessel of his brain. His back was very sore from hitting the stone wall. He decided to push it down though. He didn't want to make Jack feel even worse.

"Are you sure, you're okay?" Astrid said, not sounding completely convinced. She removed her hand from his shoulder. "Maybe you should go to the hospital wing to get checked out, just in case."

"I'm fine, Astrid," Hiccup said and waved a hand dismissively. He didn't want to go to the hospital wing for something as minor as this. Yes, his head ached right now but it would go away soon.

"Hic, maybe you should-" Jack said uncertainly.

"Jack, no. I'm fine, okay? Don't worry."

"Okay…" Jack said, seeming very hesitant. His worried eyes watched him intently. Merida and Flynn did the same thing, but they were trying to be more discreet about it.

"Anyway… Let's just get back to practicing," Hiccup said, not wanting to spend more time dealing with this. He rubbed his forehead, trying to soothe the headache.

"Are you sure?" Jack said.

"Yes, I'm very sure."

He and Jack took turns lifting each other up using the Levicorpus spell. Luckily, the rest of the class went by without any more accidents. His headache slowly subsided and now there was only a faint, dull ache left, reminding him of what had happened. He and Jack shot sarcastic comments at each other as usual, but with a little less eagerness, because Jack was still exhausted and now also feeling guilty and Hiccup was dealing with the aches in his head and his back.

When Professor Bunnymund dismissed the class, they all quickly packed their stuff into their bags and made their way out of the classroom.

Jack sighed next to him, as they walked comfortably next to each other on their way to their next classes. Hiccup had Building, Managing and Repairing Magical Objects next, which he was really looking forward to, despite his current state after being slammed into a wall. Jack and Flynn had Care of Magical Creatures while Merida apparently had Astronomy.

Jack sighed again and ran a hand through his hair. Flynn gave Jack's shoulder a comforting squeeze.

"You can get a copy of my notes by the way," Hiccup said, trying to cheer him up. He'd noticed Jack hadn't written anything in class, so he would probably need some notes for later.

"Well, thanks, Hic, but in case you didn't know, I can't read runes."

"I know that… which is why I wrote them in plain letters this time," he said and nudged Jack's shoulder playfully. As soon as he noticed in class that Jack wasn't able to pay attention, he decided to help him out.

"Thanks," Jack said with genuine appreciation in his eyes.

"No problem, Frostbite."

"Frostbite, huh?" Jack said and raised his eyebrows.

Flynn chuckled.

"Yeah, you know… because you're a pain to be around," Hiccup said, gesturing with his hands.

"Is that so?"

"Oh yes…"

"You know… You could have fooled me, Hic. You seem quite fond of me, actually."

"Yeah, well… I needed to gain your trust in order to lure you into a trap, you know," Hiccup said with an evil smile, rubbing his hands together slowly in a menacing gesture.

"So, you're actually just trying to rob the world of this magnificence?" Jack said and gestured to himself.

"Yes. I was paid handsomely by one of your enemies to get rid of you," Hiccup said and shot him a grin.

"… It was Merida, wasn't it?"

"Oh yes. She's finally had enough of your smug attitude," Hiccup said.

"I knew, I shouldn't have trusted that crumb-spitting Scot," Jack said and threw his hands up in mock frustration, making Flynn chuckle. A grin spread across Hiccup's face.

They continued on their way through the old passageways of the castle and several students threw greetings at the three of them, which surprised Hiccup. Sure, people were approaching him a lot these days, but he wasn't used to being greeted this much while he was just on his way to classes. Maybe it had something to do with being next to Jack and Flynn?

Jack and Flynn needed to head outside for Care of Magical Creatures, so they split up by one of the exits to a courtyard. They agreed to meet up after classes by the lake and spend some time together before the Quidditch match later today. Because of the match, they only had a few classes today, but Jack explained that he and Merida definitely still needed to relax a little, before having to deal with the Slytherins on the Quidditch pitch.

Hiccup made his way towards Building, Managing and Repairing Magical Objects, lost in his own thoughts. He adjusted his satchel on his shoulder to let it hang more comfortably, while thinking that his back was still quite sore from the impact with the stone wall. Jack really shouldn't have participated in the class, but on the other hand… No one could have known what would happen and it wasn't like Hiccup was seriously injured or anything.

He was pulled out of his thoughts, when he overheard some giggling girls walking in front of him, two Gryffindors and two Hufflepuffs from the looks of their uniforms. They were a few years younger than him, so he didn't really know any of them. Usually, he didn't focus much on other students' conversations in the hallways, but these girls' exchange of words caught his attention.

"- so cute that it's almost unbearable," a light voice said.

"Yeah, and that snow-white hair… It's beautiful," another girl's voice said. A sigh of adoration followed.

Hiccup chuckled discreetly. Sure, he knew Jack had fangirls, but it was still amusing listening to giggling schoolgirls talking about his friend like he was the only person that existed in the world.

"One time he actually talked to me," one of the Hufflepuff girls told the others, "And I felt butterflies in my stomach."

Hiccup shook his head and continued to walk behind the group of girls. Their long hair flowed down their backs and swayed with every movement.

Gods, he hoped he would never overhear a conversation like that about himself. He wasn't sure he could handle that amount of awkwardness all at once.

"I think if he ever talked to me, my ovaries would explode," a red-haired Hufflepuff girl said, making the other girls giggle loudly.

Hiccup burst into an uncontrollable coughing fit, and he stopped in his tracks.

The four girls froze and looked over their shoulders. The redhead, who had made that particular comment, was clearly in shock, her eyes wide in silent mortification. They all turned to Hiccup and continued to stare at him. The redhead put a hand over her mouth.

She probably knew that he and Jack hung out now, since everyone seemed to have noticed that, and was worried she would end up being completely humiliated in front of her crush.

He got his coughing under control. Well… This was awkward.

The redhead's cheeks flushed. "Oh god… Please don't tell him," she practically begged him.

He immediately felt sorry for her. She was obviously very uncomfortable, and he didn't like making people feel anxious like that.

He gave her a small but genuine smile. "Don't worry about it. I won't tell him."

All the tension went out of her body. "Thank you, Hiccup," she said, using his first name despite them being strangers, relief spreading across her face. He still had a little trouble getting used to everyone knowing his name now.

"No problem," he said in what he hoped was a casual tone, before brushing past the group of girls, who still hadn't moved.

Despite his amusement, he could definitely understand her. He'd be beyond embarrassed if he'd talked about a crush, and one of their friends had overheard it, so he wanted to ease the girl's troubles. He wasn't going to tell Jack about it, despite knowing Jack would never do anything to humiliate someone who liked him.

The familiar scents of sawdust, wood and paint filled his nostrils, when he got to the workshop. The smells were soothing for him, because they reminded him of the joy of building and mending things. Sometimes he got a few flashbacks to Gobber's workshop. He really missed it, when he was away from home.

The Hogwarts workshop was a large oval room with a high dome ceiling. It had large square workstations scattered throughout the room in no particular pattern, and every workstation had a vast array of tools. Along the grey stone walls, there were shelves and large dark cupboards filled with different containers and stacks of various materials like wood, leather, fabrics and paint. In the back of the room, there were rows of more unusual tools hanging on the wall, only needed for special projects. There was also a blackboard and a huge mahogany desk for their professor.

There were only two other students present right now. Liana Hayes sat at a workstation with her nose in a book, eagerly scanning the pages. She was a skinny girl with long ash brown hair in gentle waves and plenty of freckles. She had a quiet, shy demeanor and usually kept to herself in classes, and for that reason, Hiccup had always felt a certain sympathy towards her. In some ways, she reminded him of himself. Stephen Lock was busy at another workstation, scribbling down notes on some parchment and flicking through the pages of his textbook. Hiccup didn't really have anything to do with him, and only knew that the Slytherin was quite talented at building things.

He took a seat by the workstation he preferred, placed in the back of the class with as much distance as possible to the other students. Hiccup liked his privacy, when he worked on a project. His concentration would easily be broken if he found people observing him or somehow invading his personal bubble.

He pulled out his sketchbook and began working on that sketch of Rapunzel and Fishlegs studying in one of the courtyards that he had sort of neglected lately. As he worked on the shadowing of Fishlegs' face, the rest of the students took their places at the workstations. They were only eight students in this class, and it was nice, because it gave the professor plenty of time to focus on every student, and it made the class a quiet, concentrated one.

Professor Cooke took a seat by his desk. He was in his 40's with dark brown, slightly curly hair and wise blue eyes that seemed to convey knowledge beyond his years. Professor Cooke was definitely Hiccup's favourite professor. He was passionate about building and mending things, he was never too busy to help a student, and he was a good teacher, able to explain even abstract concepts in ways everyone could understand.

After class, Hiccup asked Professor Cooke if he could stay a while in the workshop and work on a project, and the professor agreed without any hesitation. After all, it wasn't the first time Hiccup did that, and Professor Cooke always approved of his eagerness and love of building things.

All students in this class had their own locked cupboard, where they could keep their projects between classes, and Hiccup quickly found his and took out the bow.

He let his palm glide across the bow, enjoying the smooth feel of the reddish brown wood. He was almost done with Merida's bow, and he was more than happy with how it had turned out.

The bow was constructed in red oak wood with tips of darker cherry wood, and it had engravings of Celtic symbol patterns in a lighter nuance. Merida hadn't told him about any specific design that she wanted, just that she'd like a recurve bow, but he'd decided to make it a bit more personalized. He knew that Merida was very proud of her ancient Scottish heritage, so he'd decided to do some research on ancient Celtic symbols and design a pattern out of some of the more well-known Celtic knot symbols. It had taken a long time to carefully carve them into the bow, but he was really pleased with the result. He'd also fashioned some arrows out of the same red oak wood. Now all he needed was to fit the leather grip on the bow, so it'd be nice and comfortable to hold with a tight grip, increasing the accuracy.

Hopefully, Merida would like it. It was always kind of exciting to give someone a homemade gift.

When he was about to leave the workshop, satisfied with his finished work on Merida's bow, he spotted two items out of the corner of his eye.

He stopped in his tracks. They were almost hidden under a piece of cloth. He'd seen them lying there several times, but he hadn't paid them enough attention to actually notice, what they were.

A playful smile spread across his lips, as he had an idea. When he left the classroom, he clutched the two objects in his other hand and grinned to himself.

---

Jack and his friends were sitting by the lake and just taking time to enjoy each other's company. He and Merida needed to unwind a little before their Quidditch game against the Slytherins, and they expected their Ravenclaw friends to arrive any minute now. Jack enjoyed the gentle, crisp autumn breeze, as it ruffled his white hair and left cooling touches on his pale skin.

Mavis was showing some of her newest sketches to Merida, who was watching them with genuine interest, while chewing bubblegum. Jack and Flynn were relaxing, leaning against a massive oak tree and discussing Emma's latest letter, in which she'd told Jack that she had once again gotten detention at school. This time though, it was because she had stuck up for someone who was being bullied and had apparently kicked the bully hard on the shin. Jack couldn't keep the pride out of his voice. Sure, it wasn't a good thing that Emma got detention, but she'd defended someone, who needed it, and that made him very proud of his sister.

Their attention was drawn towards the sound of feet running through the grass.

Two familiar guys came racing past them at full speed, their laughter echoing through the air. Jack saw the backs of Hiccup and Fishlegs, as they ran towards the lake.

They all stared in confusion. Rapunzel appeared shortly after with Pascal on her shoulder. She had a fond smile on her face.

"What's going on?" Jack asked. What in the world were they doing?

Rapunzel sighed, but there was amusement in her eyes. "They're fighting with wooden swords," she said. "They've been chasing each other around the grounds for 20 minutes now."

They all chuckled at that.

Okay… He certainly wasn't expecting that. He turned his attention to Hiccup and Fishlegs again. They ran back towards them, Fishlegs still chasing Hiccup. Jack could actually see them holding the wooden swords in their hands now.

"Where did they get those?" Merida said, sounding like she wanted to join them. She probably did. Anything that entailed some kind of weapon, even a wooden one, was attractive to Merida.

"Hiccup stole them from the workshop. He said he and Fishlegs hadn't had a good sword fight in a while, and he wanted to change that," Rapunzel said and smiled. She petted Pascal.

"What? He stole them?" Jack asked in disbelief, while he stared at Hiccup and Fishlegs, who were still running around.

Hiccup had just taken them? That sounded like something he would do. Maybe he was having a mischievous influence on Hiccup.

"Well, he said that technically he "borrowed" them… But he can actually be a real troublemaker, when he wants to be, Jack," Rapunzel said with fondness and crossed her arms. Jack briefly wondered, what else Hiccup had done over the years.

They continued to watch Hiccup and Fishlegs chase each other back and forth across the ground by the shimmering lake.

They moved without difficulty, jumping over logs, dodging larger rocks and in general making good use of the terrain around them.

It was truly heartwarming to see the playful, childish smile on Hiccup's face and hear his laughter echo through the air, as he ran away from Fishlegs, who was beginning to get a bit out of breath, his steps seeming more and more heavy and strained. Hiccup was definitely faster and in better shape.

"Hiccup!" Fishlegs yelled and stopped running. Hiccup froze in his tracks, a fair distance ahead of Fishlegs, and turned around slowly with a grin on his face.

"No more running. I challenge you!" Fishlegs shouted. His brow furrowed, and he held out the wooden sword in Hiccup's direction, before he yelled something with mock aggression.

Jack really wished that he understood Old Norse right now. Well, to be honest, he'd wished that several times, since he started hanging out with Hiccup and his friends.

Hiccup's face split into a huge grin, before he managed to put it in serious folds. Jack smiled at Hiccup's joy.

Hiccup held out his own wooden sword, pointed straight towards Fishlegs. He narrowed his eyes and shouted something in an authoritative, threatening voice that was deeply out of character for him.

It was strange to hear Hiccup speak so much Old Norse, but not in a bad way. It was impressive, how easily the ancient, complicated language flowed from his lips. Like it didn't require any effort at all.

Fishlegs couldn't contain the huge grin on his face, and it quickly turned into laughter.

Jack wondered what Hiccup had said that was so funny. He'd have to ask, when they were done fighting. He didn't want to interrupt their playfulness. They were clearly enjoying themselves, and it was pretty amusing to watch. Hiccup was showing a completely new side of himself. He was playful during their banter, sure, but Jack hadn't seen this child-like side of him before, and he was really enjoying it.

"Seriously, how do you come up with that shit?" Fishlegs asked Hiccup in a rare use of swears, breathless from laughter.

Jack couldn't keep the bright grin off his face. Hiccup's and Fishlegs' laughter and smiles were infectious.

"I'm just that awesome. Now… Come on, you bacraut!" Hiccup shouted in a challenge, and Fishlegs instantly charged towards him and lunged an attack on him.

Hiccup blocked with his sword. A loud noise of wood clashing against wood filled the air. They began fighting each other now, eagerly stepping around their surroundings to dodge each other's attacks and thrusting their weapons forward in forceful strikes, trying to take down their opponent.

"Do you understand what they're saying?" Flynn asked Rapunzel.

"I only know some words… The ones they use the most. Bacraut is an asshole," she explained, saying the swear word quietly, like she was a tad uncomfortable with it.

Jack chuckled at the explanation and filed the information away in his brain for later use. He definitely had to use it against Hiccup at some point.

Hiccup's and Fishlegs' wooden swords smashed together in loud "thlacks", echoing all around them. Their fighting almost resembled a dance. They sidestepped and dodged each other's attacks and lunged at each other with speed. They made good use of their surroundings, moving swiftly and effortlessly on the wet grass.

It quickly became clear to Jack, that even though this was just a playful fight, both Hiccup and Fishlegs were skilled fighters. He could tell by their maneuvers and fluidity that they knew, what they were doing as a result of experience. Jack wondered if any of them had actually fought someone for real.

Fishlegs dodged one of Hiccup's attacks by quickly stepping sideways.

There were definitely massive differences in their fighting styles. Where Fishlegs relied on his strength and his bigger size to mainly deliver brutal direct attacks, Hiccup used his quick reflexes, speed and creativity to dodge Fishlegs' attacks in smooth and unpredictable movements, but also put in some rather powerful strikes of his own. Hiccup obviously knew how to use his leaner frame to his advantage. Where Fishlegs was strength, Hiccup was grace, and Jack found it impressive that Hiccup could move so swiftly with his prosthetic.

Jack couldn't take his eyes off him, as he stepped effortlessly around the terrain, his movements confident and quick like this was somehow second nature to him.

Fishlegs stuck his sword straight ahead with full force. Hiccup ducked and rolled to the side to avoid getting smacked hard in the face.

Rapunzel gasped, and Merida laughed heartily, enjoying watching the fight.

Wauw. They could actually get some serious bruises out of this, if one of them got hit. Oh well… They were Vikings, they were used to getting injured in one way or another.

"Good move, Hiccup!" Merida yelled.

Hiccup got to his feet in seconds, before Fishlegs could launch more attacks.

Hiccup spun around and Fishlegs moved towards him. Their wooden swords clashed against each other again.

While they were close to each other, Fishlegs kicked Hiccup in the stomach.

Hiccup groaned and fell backwards, landing in the wet grass.

Jack winced. That looked like it hurt.

Fishlegs pointed his sword at Hiccup's chest.

It seemed like Hiccup had lost. Good thing this wasn't a real fight.

"Do you surrender, Hiccup?" Fishlegs said with a grin on his face.

"Nice going, Fishlegs!" Merida yelled.

Flynn whistled loudly.

A small smile settled on Hiccup's lips.

Ah. He had a plan. Jack smiled. This should be interesting.

Hiccup lifted his hand in one quick move and threw some dirt in Fishlegs' face.

Fishlegs got distracted, his vision blinded and irritated.

Hiccup swung out his leg in a forceful move and kicked the legs out from under Fishlegs, who tumbled down and landed on his back.

Hiccup quickly jumped up, covered the few feet between them and pointed his wooden sword directly at Fishlegs' neck.

"Do you surrender?" Hiccup said, a bright grin lighting up his entire face in one of those rare cases of self-satisfaction.

Jack loved seeing that look on his face. It was so nice to watch Hiccup actually being confident and a little proud of himself.

"Fine, you win this round, Burlufotr," Fishlegs said with a smile and held his hands up.

Jack couldn't stop grinning, as he recognized the Old Norse word as Fishlegs' nickname for Hiccup: Clumsy foot.

Hiccup reached out his hand to Fishlegs and helped him up.

"Yeah, Hiccup!" Flynn cheered and Jack quickly joined in with a few "whoos" and whistles, while Merida and Mavis clapped with huge smiles on their faces.

Hiccup and Fishlegs slumped down on the blanket next to each other. Fishlegs panted and tiny drops gleamed on his forehead. He rubbed his eyes with one of his sleeves, and Jack assumed they were probably still irritated from the dirt Hiccup had thrown in them. Hiccup seemed less affected, but he was still out of breath.

"That was great! You guys are really skilled," Merida said, her eyes wide with excitement.

"Yeah, it was awesome!" Jack said.

"Well, that's one of the things you learn, when you live on Berk," Fishlegs said and rubbed his eyes again.

"Hey Fish, are you okay?" Hiccup said.

"Yeah, fine, fine. It just itches a little," Fishlegs said, dropping his arm again.

"Sorry," Hiccup said sheepishly.

"Come on, Hiccup. You know all tricks are fair game. I kicked you, after all," Fishlegs said with a smile.

"True," Hiccup agreed and smiled fondly.

"What were those words you were yelling at each other?" Jack said.

Hiccup and Fishlegs both beamed.

"Well…" Fishlegs said. "Vikings like to throw insults at their enemies in the heat of battle. I told Hiccup: Prepare to die, you heap of shit," he explained, making them all smile.

"But he sort of put me in my place by yelling: "Gaze upon your destiny: with this sword, I will cleave your lying maggot mouth from your swine head," Fishlegs said and chuckled at the words.

Jack, Flynn and Merida roared with laughter, while Mavis grinned and shook her head.

Rapunzel just smiled fondly. She was obviously used to this kind of thing.

"That was like the best insult ever," Flynn said, breathless from laughing.

"Thanks. I have my moments," Hiccup said dryly but his eyes twinkled.

"I heard from a reliable source that you stole those swords," Jack said and grinned.

"Borrowed," Hiccup said and rolled his eyes. "What don't you understand about the word borrowed?" he asked Rapunzel, who just shook her head.

"I didn't know you were such a troublemaker, Hic," Jack said and leaned back against the massive oak tree, he and Flynn were sitting by.

"Oh yeah, I'm a true rebel," Hiccup said with a half-smile.

"Apparently," Jack said. "After all, not everyone steals weapons from the workshop and challenges another Viking to a fight."

"Borrowed," Hiccup said, slowly and deliberately like Jack was a child. "But point taken… Oh, that reminds me, I just need to grab something," Hiccup said, got up and walked away briskly, leaving everyone to look at each other in confusion.

While Hiccup was gone, Merida and Flynn got sucked into a discussion about the Slytherin Quidditch team and what sort of weaknesses they had, that she, Jack and the other members of the Gryffindor team could take advantage of in the game later today. Fishlegs informed them that Terry Keaton seemed to have trouble writing in Magical History and that his strained movements could indicate a damaged wrist. He would have trouble with his grip on the broom, making him easier to push in another direction. Jack was impressed with Fishlegs' sharp observation. He wasn't sure, if he would have noticed something like that.

Somehow, the conversation ended up with him and Flynn teasing Merida relentlessly, trying to push her buttons.

"Look, Red, I'm just saying that a delicate flower like you needs to be protected. We can't just have you flying around beating bludgers and potentially getting hurt," Flynn said with his face in grave folds, even though he was clearly loving this.

Merida's eyes narrowed. She tightened the grip around the Gryffindor scarf lying in her lap. "Don't go there, Rider. I don't need to be protected by anyone."

"Jack?" Flynn asked for support and raised his eyebrows.

"Hmm… I don't know, Mer. I mean… Quidditch is a dangerous sport. I'm not sure a fragile princess like you has a place on the pitch," he joked, trying to say things that would annoy Merida to no end.

"It's for your own good, Curly. We're just shielding you from the pain of the outside world," Flynn said, closing his eyes for a few seconds like he was pained by this necessity.

"Oh, please… I don't need protection and least of all from a Snow Queen and a guy, who thinks he has a magical dating move."

Jack flew to his feet and took Merida's Gryffindor scarf in one swift movement.

"Hey, give it back, Frosty!" Merida said.

"No, I don't think so, Mer. You need to acknowledge that we're superior to you," he shot back and grinned at Flynn, who had nothing but approval on his face.

"Never!" Merida said and scowled at him.

"Well, then you can't get this back," he said and winked at her.

"Then I'll just get yours," Merida said and reached out to grab Jack's scarf that was lying on the blanket.

"Oh no, you don't," Flynn said and grabbed her arm, holding her back.

"You've both just made a powerful enemy," Merida said, her eyes drifting between them.

"Oh, I doubt that," Jack said. "After all, you're just-"

A loud "whoosh" and then a thud, as the scarf was ripped out of his hand.

All of them turned silent.

Jack looked behind him. An arrow was imbedded in the massive oak tree, pinning Merida's scarf to the tree trunk.

What the…?

Jack looked around him and quickly spotted Hiccup in the distance with a huge grin on his face, holding a bow.

While Jack processed the fact that he'd just shot a bloody arrow at him, Hiccup approached them.

"Hi again," Hiccup said with a smile, obviously proud of his achievement.

"Did you just shoot an arrow at me?" Jack said, still in slight disbelief.

Merida and Flynn laughed at the absurdity of the situation.

Hiccup chuckled. "Yeah? Well… not at you, but at the scarf you were holding."

"You could have hit me, you mental Viking," Jack said and crossed his arms, but he couldn't keep the smile off his face from this surreal moment.

"Don't be silly, Jack. I had everything under control," Hiccup said with a wave of a hand.

"That's not really reassuring."

"Hiccup knows what he's doing," Fishlegs said. "He's really good with the bow."

At Jack's raised eyebrows, Hiccup said: "Come on, you know I'd never actually hurt you."

"Fine… You're still mental though," Jack said and stuck his tongue out.

"I'm comfortable with that."

"Is that…?" Merida said, her eyes fixed on the weapon in Hiccup's hands.

"Yeah, this is for you," Hiccup said, his eyes excited, as he handed the bow to Merida.

She eagerly accepted it and began running her hands over it and examining the carvings on it.

Hiccup pulled the arrow out of the tree, took the scarf and quickly mended it with his wand before tossing it in Merida's lap, while she was still busy looking at her new bow.

"This is… amazing," Merida said.

Jack had to agree with her. Granted, he didn't know anything about weapons, unlike Hiccup and Fishlegs and partly Merida, but the bow looked amazing. Its smooth reddish wood gleamed in the sunlight and the lighter carvings trailed along it, standing out with their beautiful patterns.

"You did these carvings?" Merida asked in awe.

"Yeah," Hiccup said and slumped down on the blanket.

"It must have taken ages," Mavis said, her eyes fixed on the symbols.

"It took a long time, but I had fun doing it," Hiccup said and shrugged with a small smile on his lips.

Sometimes he and Hiccup had very different definitions of fun. Who had fun doing wood carving? Well, obviously Hiccup, but man… He was such a dork sometimes. A dork that not only knew how to make weapons but also how to use them. The other students in the castle would be shocked to know that in a one-on-one fight without magic, Hiccup could take them all down. Especially considering that witches and wizards tend to not care about practicing other kinds of self-defense besides magic.

Hiccup being good at fighting strongly contradicted the whole quiet bookworm appearance, he liked to keep up. And it was kind of the same thing with Fishlegs too. The guy seemed so shy and afraid of conflict and yet a moment ago, he was fighting Hiccup like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"This is just… Thank you so much, Hiccup," Merida said softly. Her eyes shone with gratitude.

"You're welcome... You can start training now," Hiccup said with excited gestures. "I could even give you some tips, if you want."

"Yeah, I'd like that."

Jack's heart was soft, while he watched Hiccup and Merida.

The seven of them stayed by the lake, enjoying each other's company and the mild autumn sun and crisp chill in the air. Jack briefly thought about how well they all got along, and how it was quickly becoming a habit that Hiccup, Rapunzel and Fishlegs hung out with him and his friends. It was like their two groups were slowly merging and Jack was very pleased with that. Not only did he consider Hiccup his friend now, but Fishlegs and Rapunzel were slowly getting there as well.

The time for the Quidditch match was drawing nearer and that meant he and Merida had to get ready.

"We should probably get going. Astrid won't be happy, if we aren't there at least 15 minutes early," Merida told them.

"True," Jack said with a nod. Astrid always insisted that everyone should be there early to avoid someone ruining their chances against the other team by being late. "But Hiccup could always calm her down for us."

"No, Jack. No. Just because we're friends now doesn't mean you get to use my friendship with Astrid to your own advantage," Hiccup said and smiled, while he pointed a finger at him.

"Aww, I would never do that, Hic."

"You totally would," Merida said and nudged his shoulder.

They made their way back towards the castle, Jack and Merida needing to change into their Quidditch uniforms and everyone else wanting to change out of their school robes and also grab some flags and other stuff to show their support of Gryffindor in today's game.

"So, are you going to be all red and yellow like Flynn and Mavis to show us how brilliant we are?" Jack said to Hiccup.

"Not really, I don't have anything red or yellow in my wardrobe. Not really colours, I usually wear" Hiccup said and shrugged.

"No kidding. Almost all your clothes are either green or black or brown."

"I like those colours."

Jack had noticed that Hiccup especially liked to wear green, and if he had to guess, he'd say that was his favourite colour. But it definitely wouldn't do that Hiccup didn't have anything red and yellow to show his support for their brilliant team.

Jack had a thought. He took off his Gryffindor scarf and wrapped the red and yellow striped scarf around Hiccup's neck in a few quick movements. The chilly air felt nice on his bare throat.

"There. Now you look like a true Gryffindor," Jack said and beamed at Hiccup, who was eying him skeptically.

"Except that I'm a Ravenclaw?" Hiccup said and raised his eyebrows.

"Minor detail. Just for today's game, you're a Gryffindor," he said and grinned.

"Fine. I'll betray my House just for today. Thanks, Jack."

"No problem, Hic. You need to show those Slytherins that you're on our side."

"I don't think they care too much."

"Well, they would if they knew you and Fishlegs are actually dangerous, brilliant Vikings and that we've recruited you," Jack whispered like he was revealing a secret.

Hiccup shook his head in amusement. "Maybe."

"Definitely. By the way, why haven't you tried out for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team? You'd be really good with those quick reflexes?"

Not to mention… It would be a lot of fun to go up against Hiccup in a Quidditch match.

"Well… I have other things to spend my time on," Hiccup said and looked ahead.

"Better things to do than swoop through the air, doing awesome maneuvers and getting surges of adrenaline?" Jack asked him and threw his arms up in an excited gesture.

He needed Hiccup to understand just how much fun Quidditch was.

Hiccup just smiled knowingly to himself, but didn't reply.

What was going on there?

Once again there was something, Hiccup was keeping to himself and right now, Jack wished he was a less curious person, but he just couldn't help it.

He wanted to figure Hiccup out… Wanted to find out, what the hell was hidden underneath those knowing smiles and guarded eyes.

That would take time though. He would have to be patient.

---

The Quidditch game was a real nail-biter. Currently, the score was 60-70 in Gryffindor's favor.

Hiccup, Rapunzel and Fishlegs were with Flynn and Mavis in the stands, eagerly cheering for Jack, Merida and Astrid. He and Rapunzel held up a red and yellow banner they had made during art class yesterday. It featured a detailed Gryffindor lion as well as Jack's, Merida's and Astrid's names. Fishlegs and Rapunzel had a few streaks of red and yellow facepaint on their cheeks, while Hiccup still had Jack's Gryffindor scarf around his neck. Flynn and Mavis had gone all out with red shirts and yellow trousers under their cloaks, facepaint, and yellow and red striped flags, waving them in the air to show their support.

Astrid swooped by in a blur past the stands, where they were standing, holding the Quaffle under one arm, while gripping the broomstick tightly with the other. Her red and yellow Quidditch uniform flapped violently in the wind. They all yelled and cheered as loudly as they could.

Astrid approached the Slytherin's keeper by the goal posts. She maneuvered around a few Slytherin Chasers, who tried to get the Quaffle from her. She was too swift though. With a few evasive maneuvers, she made them fly straight into each other instead of her.

She came closer to the goal posts. Merida sprang into action nearby, using her Beater's bat to hit a Bludger, so it flew in the other direction instead of hitting Astrid.

Astrid got close to the Keeper. She threw the Quaffle through the air with all her strength. It rushed straight through the goal without difficulty. That Keeper really didn't stand a chance.

The students supporting Gryffindor roared with joy and clapped their hands, drowning Hiccup's ears with noise. He and the others cheered and yelled, holding up the banner and waving the colorful flags.

Astrid flew past them in the stands again, this time slower and closer to them. Hiccup waved at her with a huge grin.

"Yeah, Astrid!" he yelled as loudly as he could.

Astrid beamed at him and eagerly waved back, before taking off again, trying to get the Quaffle back.

Hiccup smiled. It felt good to be here to support Astrid as well as Jack and Merida. He'd been to all of Astrid's Quidditch games, since they became friends about two years ago. She was incredibly talented, and it was no wonder, that she'd been made captain. Now though, it was even more fun watching the games, since he also cheered for Jack and Merida.

Rapunzel tugged on his sleeve. She smiled and pointed towards something, so he followed her line of sight and found Jack, who was quickly and attentively flying towards something.

"Hey, Jack might have found the Snitch!" he said to Flynn, Mavis and Fishlegs.

"Woooo!" Mavis shouted and held up a red flag.

"Go, Jackie!" Flynn said.

Jack rushed through the air, changing directions rapidly and climbing up and down in the sky, eager to get that elusive Snitch that no one else could see from down here.

A Bludger shot past Jack at lightning speed. He only just managed to avoid getting hit.

Hiccup's stomach dropped. Mavis gasped next to him. Rapunzel's hand gripped his shoulder tightly, but he kept his eyes trained on Jack. That was a close call, but luckily, Jack was a very talented flyer.

Out of nowhere, the bludger shot through the air towards Jack again.

Jack swerved and flew away as quickly as he could. But it soon became clear that whenever Jack changed direction, the Bludger quickly followed, chasing him around the Quidditch pitch to hit him.

"Shit," Hiccup said to himself.

He felt the eyes of the others on him, looking for answers.

"It's jinxed," he said.

Mavis' and Flynn's eyes widened and they immediately turned their attention back to Jack.

"Oh no," Fishlegs said and gripped the railing tight.

Rapunzel's hand dug into his shoulder.

Gasps and hushed conversation broke out in the stands. Everyone seemed to have figured out that something was wrong.

Hiccup's stomach tightened and the nausea bubbled in his throat. He kept his eyes on Jack. Fuck. What if something happened to him?

Luckily, Jack was fast and agile on his broom. He managed to avoid getting hit quite a few times, dodging with creative evasive maneuvers, like suddenly diving straight down, changing directions at random and out of nowhere, and swinging down from his broom, so he was hanging upside down from it.

Jack sped around one of the large wooden Quidditch towers and the uncontrollable Bludger smashed straight through it, sending splinters and large chunks of wood flying through the air.

Hiccup's eyes darted back and forth all around them to see if he could spot the culprit, who had jinxed the bludger. He had to try to stop this. Had to help Jack somehow.

A sea of different faces, different expressions, different demeanors flashed through his vision, as his eyes scanned the crowd. His heartbeat raced behind his ribs.

Everyone was completely focused on Jack and his struggle to evade the dangerous Bludger. Hiccup glanced at the professors, who were speaking to each other frantically, trying to find a solution. But they couldn't interfere. They might accidentally hit Jack instead of the Bludger.

Mavis, Flynn, Fishlegs and Rapunzel were talking in utter panic next to him, trying to brainstorm, how they could help Jack, but they were coming up empty. They had no way of doing anything without endangering Jack too.

Hiccup looked for Jack again. He changed directions rapidly to throw the Bludger off course for as long as he could.

Hiccup's mind was desperately trying to come up with some kind of solution. He scanned the crowd again for any kind of behavior that stood out somehow. Someone here was responsible for this, and all he could do for Jack was try to find out, who it was.

He took in all the faces around him again, trying to decipher their expressions and what they meant.

There.

Hiccup recognized him. The shoulder-length black hair, the angled face. The familiar guy was mumbling words to himself, while staring at the scene unfolding before him.

Hiccup couldn't see, if he had his wand out, because of the many students blocking his view, but he was certain that this was the guy.

He clenched his jaw from the instant surge of violent thoughts in his head. Without a word to the others, he started pushing through the crowd to get to the Hufflepuff.

The sound of Mavis' panicked voice made him freeze on the spot.

"Jack!" she screamed.

Hiccup instantly looked across the Quidditch pitch to find him.

Jack fell from his broom, his unconscious form dropping through the air at massive speed.

Hiccup's chest constricted. He couldn't breathe.

Jack hit the ground and rolled onto his back, not moving.

"Jack!" he shouted and rushed through the sea of students in the stands. He had to reach him. He had to find out, if he would be okay. He heard Flynn, Mavis, Rapunzel and Fishlegs following him.

He pushed students out of the way and almost tripped down the last few steps from the stands in his hurry.

He ran out into the Quidditch pitch, and saw Merida in the distance, already kneeling next to Jack, and several professors standing around him.

The jinxed Bludger raced towards the ground. Professor Lunar raised his wand and destroyed it with a single flick of his wrist.

Hiccup heard the soft sounds of running feet behind him. His heartbeat pounded in his head. The adrenaline surged through his veins.

When he finally reached Jack and looked him over, the nausea roiled in his gut.

Jack was still lying completely motionless with closed eyes. But that wasn't the reason Hiccup's stomach felt like a bunch of tree roots twisted into a tight lump.

Jack had a headwound from the Bludger, and even though Hiccup couldn't see the wound, it was bleeding, staining the green grass around his head with a horrifying crimson colour. Merida had a tight grip on Jack's shoulder. She said his name over and over, like it could wake him up.

The others caught up to him. He couldn't take his eyes off Jack and the precious blood seeping out of him. This was bad.

"Jack," Mavis said from somewhere next to him. Her voice sounded strained, like it was about to break.

Professor Lunar knelt by Jack's side next to Merida, and gently asked her to hold Jack's head up carefully.

She lifted Jack's head, her eyes brimming with worry. Their headmaster pointed his wand towards the back of Jack's head and swirls of blue and white emerged from the tip, drifting towards the wound.

Hiccup let out a sigh of relief. Jack wasn't out of the woods yet, but the most important thing had been to stop the bleeding as soon as possible.

The gentle light of blue and white subsided. Professor Lunar nodded to Merida, and she lowered Jack's head again with the slowest, most careful movements Hiccup had ever seen her make.

"Professor Bunnymund, can you please take Mr. Overland to the hospital wing?" Professor Lunar said.

Professor Bunnymund nodded and scooped Jack into his strong arms, keeping one arm under Jack's knees and one under his upper back. Professor Bunnymund wasted no time and headed towards the castle with brisk steps.

Hiccup and the others followed them. He wasn't going to be separated from Jack right now. He had to keep an eye on him. Had to be there for him.

The trip to the Hospital Wing was fast, determined and utterly silent. No one wanted to speak, and Hiccup suspected they were all playing 'worst case scenarios' in their heads, freaking themselves out even more. The damn nausea sloshed around in his gut.

Rapunzel slipped her hand into his and gave it a gentle squeeze before releasing it. He appreciated the gesture, but unfortunately, her affection didn't quell the sickening feelings pulsing through him.

At the Hospital Wing, Madam Whitley jumped up from her desk and took in Jack's appearance with concerned eyes.

"Please put him there, Professor Bunnymund," Madam Whitley said and pointed towards one of the hospital beds. She rushed towards a cabinet, flung it open and took out different vials with potions in them.

Professor Bunnymund gently lowered Jack onto the bed and stepped back.

Hiccup and the others kept their distance. They needed to give Madam Whitley her space to help Jack. But it wasn't easy. Hiccup's fingers twitched by his sides. He chewed on his lip. He wanted to be by Jack's side, but that wasn't possible right now.

Madam Whitley nodded once to Professor Bunnymund, who took that as his cue to leave. He gave them a small, sympathetic smile, before he disappeared out the door.

Madam Whitley pulled a screen in front of the hospital bed, hiding Jack from view. Hiccup didn't like not being able to keep an eye on Jack, but there was nothing he could do. Madam Whitley had to do, whatever she needed in order to fix Jack.

A heavy silence descended on them, while they waited for Madam Whitley's verdict.

Flynn stared blankly into space, hugging Mavis tightly, her face buried in his chest. Merida had slumped down on the stone floor, leaning against the wall, pulling her knees to her chest and hugging them. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears, but she rubbed them with the red sleeve of her Quidditch uniform, staining her cheeks with dirt.

Hiccup began pacing back and forth, not knowing what to do with himself and all his restless energy. He couldn't bear standing still right now, he needed to do something, even if it was something as stupid and useless as pacing. He shot a quick glance at Fishlegs and Rapunzel, who were watching him with concerned eyes. Fishlegs had a comforting arm around Rapunzel.

Hiccup focused on the simple act of walking back and forth. Somehow, the simplicity gave him the tiniest comfort. It was easy. It was familiar. Not like the situation he was finding himself in, his friend being seriously injured. He tugged on Jack's scarf, still wrapped around his neck. Jack was going to be okay. He had to be.

Hiccup clenched his fists, turned around and walked back towards the other end of the room. He had a word to exchange with a certain Hufflepuff, when this was over…

The time passed excruciatingly slowly, and none of them said a word to each other. Hiccup was lost in his own thoughts, as he continued to walk back and forth and back and forth over and over again, almost obsessively. He'd really like to see that bright grin on Jack's face right now. Hear his bubbly laughter. See him raise his eyebrows in a challenge during a banter battle or tilt his head, when he was curious about something. His stomach clenched, and the nausea was right underneath the surface, threatening to make him vomit.

Madam Whitley approached them from behind that annoying screen that separated them from Jack.

Merida jumped up from her position on the floor, and Mavis and Flynn pulled apart.

"Mr. Overland is going to be okay," Madam Whitley told them with a kind smile.

They all breathed sighs of relief.

The nausea and the tightness in his gut loosened their grips on him. Thank the gods. Jack would be okay.

"He's still unconscious, but I've managed to heal his injuries. When he wakes up, he'll most likely still experience a little pain, but it should be gone by the end of the day," Madam Whitley explained and they all eagerly nodded. "You can stay with him, if you want, but try not to wake him up. He needs his rest," she said, before she disappeared into another room.

Hiccup sighed deeply and enjoyed the tension seeping out of his muscles. Fishlegs gave him a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder. Rapunzel pulled him into a tight hug, and the familiar warmth covering him like a soft blanket was lovely. He rested his chin on Rapunzel's shoulder and watched Mavis, Flynn and Merida all hug each other with huge smiles on their faces. Mavis had a few tears of relief trailing down her cheek and Flynn gently wiped them away.

Hiccup pulled out of Rapunzel's arms. "Thank the gods, he's okay," he said, letting his relief seep into his voice and his smile.

Jack was going to be fine. Hiccup would see that stupid playful smile and those amused blue eyes again soon. That was a major comfort to him.

"Yeah, I was so worried, he might have been seriously hurt," Merida said and hugged herself.

"Or worse," Mavis said quietly.

"But he's not. He's going to be fine," Flynn said softly and wrapped an arm around Mavis' shoulder for comfort.

"I want to be there, when he wakes up," Mavis said and nodded to herself.

"Yeah, me too… We'll wait by his side, Mav," Merida said and pulled Mavis into a quick hug.

"Would it be okay, if we stayed too?" he said, looking between them for any change in expressions. He didn't know Jack as well as they did. Maybe they just wanted to be alone with their best friend right now?

"Of course, you can stay, Hiccup," Flynn said with a warm smile. "You're Jack's friend too, and I could tell you were all really worried about him."

"We were. I'm so glad, he's going to be okay," Hiccup said and sighed.

He met Mavis' eyes and she gave him a fond smile. He found himself feeling closer to Jack's friends in this moment.

"Yeah… Us too," Merida said, a tiny smile tugging at her lips.

They gathered by the hospital bed, where Jack was lying completely still, eyes closed, with a peaceful expression on his face. They all grabbed a chair and sat around the bed.

They stayed like that for about two hours and tried to keep themselves occupied with friendly discussions and even a little banter, now that they were all certain, Jack was going to be okay.

At one point Jim stopped by and told them everyone was really worried about Jack, but Professor Lunar had told them all to stay away from the Hospital Wing. Their headmaster had allowed Jim to find out, what had happened to Jack, and inform the other Gryffindors. The match had ended up getting cancelled due to Jack's injury, so there had to be a rematch at some point.

When Jim left, they became occupied by a discussion on which House Quidditch team was the worst.

Jack's forehead suddenly furrowed and he began mumbling something. All six of them became quiet and leaned forward in their chairs to watch him.

"What's he saying?" Merida said and glanced at the rest of them.

"I don't know," Flynn said and shrugged.

Jack continued to mumble something that none of them could understand. In Hiccup's opinion, it didn't even seem like words as such, but just strange sounds.

Jack's eyes slowly opened, and he squinted a little, getting used to the light. He blinked a few times to focus his vision.

Even the small action of Jack opening his eyes, left a wonderful light energy spreading through Hiccup's veins. His lips stretched into a smile.

"Jack… How are you feeling?" Mavis said and leaned in to squeeze Jack's hand.

"I have a serious headache," Jack said with a flicker of a smile.

"Well, that's to be expected," Flynn said.

"What happened?" Jack asked, his face scrunching in confusion.

"You were hit in the head by a Bludger… Someone jinxed it," Hiccup said and tugged on one of his braids.

"Oh right…" Jack said with a tiny nod.

"But… who would do something like that?" Rapunzel said.

Hiccup stayed silent. That was all, he could do right now. He would take care of it later.

"I don't know," Flynn said and shook his head.

"You haven't pissed anyone off recently, have you?" Merida said.

"Just you," Jack said with amusement in his voice.

It was amazing, how Jack was always able to lighten the mood, no matter the situation. Even now, when he was injured, he was more concerned with making his friends smile than being tired and in pain.

"Yeah, you're always pissing me off, Snowflake," Merida shot back, but there was a fond smile on her lips. She reached out and squeezed Jack's hand in a rare display of affection.

Hiccup's chest felt warm and bubbly.

"When can I leave here?" Jack said.

"Whenever you're ready," Mavis said.

Jack nodded. "Maybe in a little while… Who won the game?"

"It was cancelled, so there's going to be a rematch," Merida said with a satisfied smile.

"Good… So, I didn't blow it by falling victim to a diabolic bludger."

"You know, you really had us worried there, Jack…" Hiccup said and

"Well… You're not getting rid of me that easily. It takes a lot more than a Bludger to take down someone this amazing," Jack said with that familiar smartass smile on his face that Hiccup had longed to see.

The warmth in his chest grew.

"Oh, I know that," Hiccup said with a smile of his own. "Unfortunately, we're stuck with you."

"Definitely," Jack said and grinned at him.

Hiccup couldn't stop himself from grinning back.

"Well, thank god for that," Flynn said. "What would we do without you, Jackie?"

"Lose all sense of purpose in life," Jack said.

Merida and Flynn chuckled.

"Ever the humble one, Snow Cone," Hiccup said with fondness squeezing his heart.

"Of course. You know me, Hic. I'm practically the essence of humbleness."

"You're the essence of many things. Humbleness is not one of them."

"Aww, come on, Hic… I'm injured. You should be extra nice to me."

"I probably should, but… Where's the fun in that?" Hiccup said with a half-smile.

Jack grinned at this, flashing those straight white teeth. "Now, you're finally getting it."

The seven of them stayed in the Hospital Wing for a while, before they agreed that Jack should go to Gryffindor Tower to get some sleep before dinner. He needed his rest, and Jack didn't object to that, being quite exhausted after this whole ordeal.

---

Hiccup walked down one of the old corridors with determination in his steps. He had a pretty good idea, where he could find the person, he was looking for, and the closer he got to his destination, the more the frustration roiled inside him, leaving its aggressive ripples through his entire being. He took some deep breaths and hoped he could contain his anger enough to not punch the guy.

After a few minutes of walking along the hallway, he spotted that familiar head of shoulder-length black hair. He grinded his teeth and picked up the pace. Luckily, Wallace was alone, so Hiccup didn't need to wait or find some kind of excuse to get him by himself.

The Hufflepuff was strolling along one of the rarely used corridors with a couple of books under one arm. The privacy of this area of the castle was the exact reason why Hiccup had chosen to seek him out here, away from prying eyes. Hiccup knew Wallace was often here, because he'd seen him in these parts of the castle a lot a few years ago, when Hiccup would often go here himself to find that particularly quiet study room that most students didn't even know existed.

He followed Wallace at a fast pace and made sure to move silently. When Hiccup was close enough to touch the guy's back, he grabbed his shoulders and spun him around.

"What the hell are you doing, Haddock?" Wallace said, his blue eyes narrowed.

Not that Hiccup cared, how inconvenient or unpleasant this might be for Wallace. He needed to know that he should never mess with his friends.

"Shut up and listen, Wallace," Hiccup said and glared at him. He kept his firm grip on the guy's shoulders to keep him in place. "I know what you did. I saw you jinx that Bludger."

"I don't know, what the hell you're talking about," Wallace said and rolled his eyes.

"Don't… even try that whole innocent act with me. I saw you. I know," Hiccup said and dug his fingers into the guy's shoulders.

"Whatever, Haddock," Wallace said, his nose wrinkled.

Well, denying the whole thing was definitely only going to piss Hiccup off more.

"Not whatever. You hurt Jack," Hiccup said and tightened his grip on Wallace's shoulder even more, the soft fabric of the Hufflepuff's robes against his fingertips.

"Oh, boo hoo… So, Jack Frost got a little injured. Big fucking deal," Wallace said and scoffed.

Hiccup took a deep breath and suppressed the urge to slam a fist in the guy's face. He was fiercely protective of everyone he cared about, but he was also very good at restraint. Violence was never the answer, except in self-defense.

"It is a big deal," Hiccup said, lowering his voice to a hostile tone. He needed to get his point across.

It seemed to work. Wallace hesitated for a few moments, doubt evident in his eyes.

"Just mind your own business, Haddock," Wallace said, but his voice had a hint of uncertainty now.

"This is my business. Jack's my friend. Why were you trying to hurt him?" Hiccup said, keeping his face close to Wallace's. He needed answers. Now. Playing games would only piss him off more.

"I don't have to tell you anything," Wallace said and scowled at Hiccup.

Hiccup clenched his jaw. He wasn't going to let Wallace go, until he told him the truth. He needed to know, why this guy was so intent on hurting Jack, so he could prevent something like this happening again in the future.

He let go of one of the guy's shoulders, pulled out his wand from his pocket in a swift move and dug it into the soft skin right under the Hufflepuff's chin.

Wallace flinched.

"You're sure, you want to test me right now?" Hiccup said, pouring all his anger into a hard glare.

If Wallace thought, he could hurt Jack, and pretend nothing had happened, he was seriously mistaken.

Wallace's eyes widened, but he remained silent.

Hiccup dug the wand a little more into Wallace's skin.

Wallace winced.

Hiccup wasn't going to seriously hurt him, but Wallace didn't need to know that. Hiccup wanted the truth from him, and if Wallace had to believe that he would harm him to get it, so be it.

"Fine," Wallace spat. "I'm just sick of Jack fucking Frost, okay? Everyone adores him, everyone thinks he's so great and funny. The girls talk about him all the time, hell, everyone does, and I'm sick of it."

Hiccup sighed, lowered his wand and took a moment to consider that.

There was definitely more behind that statement. No one would seriously hurt Jack out of general annoyance. It didn't make sense. It had to be personal somehow… and if Hiccup had to guess… There was probably a girl Wallace really liked, who had feelings for Jack, and Wallace blamed him for it. That would definitely be the kind of thing that could be used as a sick excuse for hurting someone.

But the consequences Wallace's little stunt could have had… Hiccup clenched his fist as tightly as he could, focusing on the strain.

"You could have killed him, you idiot!"

It was pure luck that Jack wasn't dead. That thought sent crackling flames through his blood.

Wallace's eyes widened in horror and his whole demeanor shifted from annoyed to panicked. Before he even opened his mouth, Hiccup had figured out, what was happening. Oh gods, he was so tired of idiots.

"W-what?! Kill him? I wasn't trying to kill him!" Wallace blurted out, his eyes filled with shock. "I just… wanted him to get hurt a little… like, break an arm or something," he said, suddenly eager to share his motivations, so Hiccup wouldn't think he was some kind of psychopath.

Hiccup's thoughts had been confirmed. He sighed deeply to try to calm himself down. Something dark was rising inside him, crashing its destructive waves in his gut. Apparently, he was not just dealing with a huge asshole, who'd hurt his friend, but a bloody moron as well.

"Are you seriously that stupid?" he said, his grip on Wallace's shoulder tightening. "Did you honestly think you could jinx a Bludger and control it perfectly, so you'd hit a fast moving target just in the place you intended!?"

Wallace's silence and breaking of eye contact was all the confirmation Hiccup needed. By Yggdrasil*, he needed to calm himself down, before he broke the guy's nose or something. Yes, due to his Viking background, he'd had a lot of actual experience with how difficult it is to hit a moving target, but anyone with a brain should be able to at least think that thought.

"You idiot. If that Bludger had hit Jack just a tiny bit differently, he could have been killed instantly!"

Wallace squirmed under Hiccup's intense gaze.

Hiccup took another deep breath to quell those raging waves inside him. Calm, calm, calm. He had to restrain himself.

"If you're going to tell on me, just do it, Haddock…" Wallace said, suddenly sounding tired. His eyes held a certain acceptance. He was clearly intimidated and wanted this unpleasant conversation to be over as soon as possible.

Well, that wasn't going to happen just yet. Hiccup was calling the shots, and he didn't care just how uncomfortable Wallace was.

"Oh, I'm not going to 'tell on you'. You know why?" he said.

Wallace remained silent, but his blue eyes showed uncertainty. Maybe he was confused and had an inner debate on whether it was in his best interest to reply or stay quiet.

"Because there's no proof, so it would be word against word, and I know Professor Hyde* would never punish you anyway, because he plays favourites constantly, and he's always liked you. So… It wouldn't make any difference, except be a huge bother for me. But don't think that gets you off the hook for a second. I promise you this… if you ever try to hurt Jack again in any way… you'll be dealing with me. And I won't hesitate to shove your wand down your throat," Hiccup said, spitting out the words as sharply as he could.

In this moment, he was particularly grateful for his growth spurt. He was a good deal taller and stronger than Wallace. It would probably have been a lot harder to warn him effectively, if he'd still been short and scrawny.

Wallace nodded mutely with shock in his eyes.

Good. Ugh, Hiccup didn't like being so aggressive, but Wallace needed to take this seriously. No one hurt his friends, and even though he and Jack hadn't known each other for long, he'd already become important to him. And because of Wallace's lack of ability to actually use his brain, Jack could have died.

"And if you somehow get the stupid idea to try again anyway, it won't just be me you'll have trouble with. Jack has a lot of friends in this castle, and every single one of them would love to get their hands on you, if they found out you hurt him. Keep that in mind."

Wallace gulped, much to Hiccup's satisfaction.

"Now… Get out of here, and remember what I said. You don't hurt Jack ever," he said, wanting to burn the words into Wallace's memory.

He released Wallace from his tight grip.

Wallace stared at him for a few seconds before scurrying down the corridor, shooting glances at him over his shoulder.

When Hiccup made his way towards the Great Hall to meet up with Rapunzel and Fishlegs and have some dinner, he didn't feel much like eating anything.

Gods, how he hated having to deal with people's stupidity and violent nature. It brought out a side of him that he didn't like at all, despite its necessity. He couldn't just let Wallace go free, the guy needed to know that his actions had consequences. But Hiccup didn't like the fuming anger, the violent thoughts, the need to smash something. He was usually a calm and collected person, who tried to avoid conflicts. It was one of his personality traits that he was quite fond of.

He sighed to himself and grabbed one of his braids, as he continued on his way to the Great Hall. After that emotional encounter, his mind felt stretched too thin and his bones were heavy.

Was it wrong of him to keep this whole thing to himself? He didn't have any proof, so nothing would come of it anyway, and Jack's friends were so protective that Hiccup wasn't entirely sure, what they might do, if they knew. Mavis could probably be calmed down. But what about Merida? Could her temper be contained, or would she beat Wallace to a pulp and get herself expelled? And what about Flynn? Sure, he didn't seem to have the same temper, but he thought of Jack as his little brother and that kind of relationship came with some serious protectiveness.

It was probably better that he'd kept it to himself and taken care of Wallace alone.

He wouldn't be hurting Jack again.

---

It did wonders for Jack to get some sleep in the dormitory. His headache had subsided and he actually felt pretty good despite the soreness in his muscles. Now, he was on his way to the Great Hall for dinner with his three best friends by his side. He'd told them several times that he was okay, but he could still feel them shooting glances at him, when they thought he didn't notice. But they were just keeping an eye on him, being caring friends as usual.

Jack was approached by a lot of other students in the Great Hall. Some were people he knew quite well, others he'd only spoken to a few times, but they all asked him, how he was doing and expressed their relief and joy when he told them that he was okay. That warmed his heart. Apparently, a lot of people had been worried about him.

When he sat down by the Gryffindor table, Liam, Harry and Jim all smiled brightly, telling him how happy they were that he was already feeling so much better. When Jack briefly met Astrid's eyes from further down the table, she gave him a happy smile.

Jack shot a glance at the Ravenclaw table and found Hiccup already looking at him with a smile. Hiccup waved at him and he returned the gesture with a grin on his face.

He'd woken up with a growling hunger in his belly, so when the food appeared on the table, he piled lots of it onto his plate and dug in. He probably looked like Merida, chomping through his food with the eagerness of a hungry lion. But he couldn't help it. He was starving.

After people's initial curiosity had died down, Jack could spend dinner with his friends as usual. They discussed the rematch against the Slytherins in the future, before they moved on to a seriously dangerous topic: Whether the red panda or the black and white panda was cuter. It was a very important discussion, and Jack had burst out laughing, when Merida became annoyed that he couldn't see that the obvious choice was the black and white panda. Merida's ability to take any topic of discussion incredibly seriously, as soon as people disagreed with her, was an endless source of entertainment

When they left the Great Hall, he spotted Hiccup leaning against a wall, holding his sketchbook with one hand and a pencil with the other, tracing lines across the paper. Hiccup met his eyes, before putting the sketchbook and the pencil in his black satchel.

"Hey guys," Hiccup said, smiling. "Jack… Do you have some time to hang out?"

Jack's curiosity stirred. He and Hiccup usually didn't hang out in the evening, because he often went to the common room to hang out with his friends and the other Gryffindors, and Hiccup would spend time with Rapunzel and Fishlegs in Ravenclaw Tower.

"Sure. How could I ever say no to my favourite Viking?" he said and grinned. It was true though. He'd never say no to hanging out with Hiccup, unless he had a really good reason.

Hiccup smiled at him.

"I'll see you guys later," Jack told his friends, who went in the direction of the Gryffindor tower.

"So… Where are we going then?" he asked Hiccup.

"Follow me," Hiccup said with a smile and started to walk down one of the passageways.

"Where are we heading, Hic?" he said after a few minutes of walking in comfortable silence.

"You'll see."

"Come on, Hic," Jack said and pouted. Damn, his curiosity. It was rare for them to hang out inside the castle, when they weren't in classes, and he didn't know there even were any good places to hang out in this part of the castle.

Hiccup suddenly stopped, so Jack did the same and observed him.

"We need a place to hang out," Hiccup said without looking at Jack.

"Yeah, well, I know that?" he said and wondered if Hiccup was having a meltdown or something.

Suddenly, a huge door appeared in the empty wall.

Well… This was interesting.

"What's this?" he asked Hiccup.

"The Room of Requirement," Hiccup said with a self-satisfied smile.

"Really?" Jack said, observing the massive door that had appeared. He'd heard about that room before, but he'd never been inside it. As far as he knew, most students had no idea, where to even find it. Huh. Yet another one of Hiccup's surprises.

When he stepped foot inside, he was already comfortable. The room was warm and welcoming with a huge lit fireplace with golden details on the mantelpiece, four big soft armchairs, two blue ones and two red ones, around a square wooden table. The carpet was soft and dark red, while the walls were a rich dark blue and there were several large bookcases lined up along two of the walls. The colour scheme in the room seemed like a mix of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw colours.

He slumped down in one of the squishy armchairs by the fireplace, sighing, as he put his feet on the table.

Hey, this was the Room of Requirement and he was hanging out with Hic, so he didn't need to follow particular rules of social politeness here.

Hiccup plopped into one of the other armchairs across the table. He rummaged through his black satchel.

What was he looking for?

Hiccup pulled out a bottle and put it on the table. There was an amber liquid in the bottle and it seemed to almost glow in the golden light from the fireplace.

Well, well, well. What's this now?

Hiccup grabbed two glasses that were already on the table and poured some of the unknown liquid into them.

"Are you going to poison me, Hic?" Jack said with a grin.

This whole scenario definitely seemed like something out of a movie, where one of the characters are poisoned by someone they thought they could trust.

Hiccup smiled in amusement and met his eyes. He put the bottle down on the table. "Please" he said, waving a hand dismissively. "If I wanted to poison you, you'd never see it coming."

"Well, that's reassuring."

"Isn't it just?" Hiccup said with a happy smile.

Jack chuckled. "You totally have a dark side, don't you?"

"Definitely."

"So, what is this?" Jack said and motioned to the bottle and the glasses.

"Mead," Hiccup said and leaned back in his chair.

"Seriously?" Jack said, staring back and forth between the bottle and Hiccup. "You have alcohol inside the castle?"

"Yup," Hiccup said, his lips curving into one of those self-satisfied half-smiles. He didn't elaborate.

How the hell did he get his hands on alcohol? And why? It seemed so out of character for Hiccup, but then again… Hiccup was a surprising person. He'd stolen the wooden swords from the workshop, and now he was breaking the rules by having alcohol in their school. Hiccup definitely had a rebellious, mischievous side.

"How?" he said.

"Fishlegs' parents sent us some," Hiccup said, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Okay, he definitely hadn't been expecting that answer. "His parents… sent their teenage son and his friend alcohol… at their school?" he asked.

"Yup. Viking parents," Hiccup said and a huge grin spread across his face.

"That's awesome!" Jack said and wriggled in the squishy armchair. "Viking parents are great!"

Hiccup smiled in amusement. "They really are."

Hiccup slid one of the mead-filled glasses towards Jack's end of the table. It had a warm amber colour, and Jack was eager to know what it tasted like.

He took the glass and raised it to his lips. The taste of alcohol and a hint of honey coated his taste buds. This was definitely strong booze… but it was delicious.

"Wow… That tastes great!" he said and took another sip.

"I'm glad you like it," Hiccup said and drank some of his own mead.

"It's kind of like a sweet wine. Definitely sweeter than I imagined."

"Well, it is made from honey," Hiccup said.

Jack nodded. "So, this is the stuff you Vikings get drunk on… I can see why."

"Yeah," Hiccup said and chuckled. "Just be careful, Snowflake. You're not used to it."

"Oh, come on, I've had alcohol before," Jack said and took another sip.

"I'm sure you have, but this mead is strong, okay?"

"Pssh, I can handle anything," Jack said and waved a hand.

Like a little booze was going to knock him out. He'd had alcohol several times before. A little mead was nothing, he couldn't deal with.

"Sure, you can," Hiccup said and pressed his lips together, like he was trying not to laugh.

Oh, that little shit.

Hiccup obviously disagreed with him. Well, he was definitely going to prove him wrong.

"So, you and Fishlegs have just been sitting on this great stuff?" he said and drank from his glass again.

"Not really. We've drunk the other bottle," Hiccup said and shrugged.

"And I wasn't even invited? The audacity!" Jack said and clutched his chest dramatically, pretending to be hurt.

"Well, me and Fish needed some quality Viking time together," Hiccup said and leaned back in the armchair. "So, we went down to the lake late in the afternoon, when everyone else was gone, drank mead together and talked about fighting techniques, weapons and dragons."

"That sounds so bloody manly," Jack said and grinned.

He hadn't failed to notice that Hiccup had mentioned the dragons willingly, and he was delighted that he was opening up to him more and more.

"Of course," Hiccup said. "Me and Fishlegs are like the essence of manliness."

"Sure, you are, little Viking," Jack said and laughed.

"Little Viking? Seriously?" Hiccup asked and raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, absolutely."

"You know that I'm taller than you, right?"

"Yeah, but that hardly matters."

"And I'm older than you?"

"Yes, I know that, Hic, but it's about wisdom."

Hiccup laughed at that.

And there was that familiar warmth in Jack's chest that he'd gotten so used to. It really was something special to make Hiccup genuinely laugh. Jack considered if he felt that way, because he knew Hiccup had a painful past.

"Riiiiight," Hiccup drawled. "Wisdom… How could I forget?"

"Well, you aren't the brightest, that's for sure."

"Unlike you, of course?"

"Naturally, but don't worry. You have me to enlighten you."

"Thank the gods… I'm obviously completely inferior to your massive intellect, Snærflekkr."

Jack chuckled. It was great that the nickname had become a regular thing by now.

"Of course, you are," Jack said and winked.

Hiccup rolled his eyes, but he had that faint trace of a smile on his lips.

A few moments of silence passed, while they both took another swig of their drinks.

"So… Why did you want to hang out now?" Jack said.

This was a break in routine and Hiccup didn't do that kind of thing without a reason. So, what was going through his mind?

"Well… I guess I just figured that after all the drama today, it would be nice to spend some time together and have a drink," Hiccup said, gesturing with his hands in that familiar way of his.

Jack nodded. "You were right about that. It's certainly been an… eventful day."

That was putting it mildly. It wasn't every day he sustained a serious head injury and was rushed to the Hospital Wing.

"Yeah…" Hiccup said and looked into the flames dancing in the fireplace. "You know, you really scared me for a moment."

"Awww… You do care," Jack said and savored the bubbly warmth he felt from Hiccup's words.

"Did you ever doubt it?" Hiccup said, looking at him with soft eyes.

"Of course not, Hic," Jack said.

Despite only having hung out for about three-four weeks, Jack didn't doubt that Hiccup cared about him a lot.

He took another sip of his mead. This stuff really was yummy. "Sorry, I scared you."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. It wasn't your fault."

"No, it wasn't… I hope whoever decided to mess with me at least got a good scare out of it, so they won't try something like that again," Jack said, leaning back in his chair, enjoying the softness of it.

He definitely didn't want to experience a jinxed Bludger again, but he wasn't too concerned. It was probably a prank gone wrong or a one time thing to get him to lose the match.

Something flickered in Hiccup's eyes, but Jack couldn't decipher it and that bothered him. What was he thinking about?

"I'm sure they did… It looked pretty horrible, when you were bleeding from the head," Hiccup said, holding both of his hands around his glass, rotating it slowly.

"Yeah, it probably did…"

"You could have died, Jack," Hiccup said, his eyes solemn.

Jack didn't like it, but he'd feel the same way, if Hiccup was the one, who'd been seriously injured.

"Yeah, I know, but I didn't," Jack said and gave him a warm smile. Hiccup's words were touching. He took another sip of his drink and emptied the glass.

"No… Luckily, you didn't," Hiccup said and grabbed the bottle, before leaning across the table and pouring more mead into Jack's empty glass. "But are you okay?" Hiccup said, putting the bottle down.

"Yeah, I'm okay. No harm done."

"Okay, well… If you need to talk about it some time, I'm here."

"Thanks, Hic… You're a good friend," Jack said. It was touching that Hiccup was offering to be there for him. They hadn't even been friends for long.

A thought occurred to him, but he hesitated to ask. He looked into Hiccup's soft eyes and decided to risk it.

"Have you ever… been close to dying?" Jack said. He wanted to know more about the deeper layers of Hiccup and in light of today's events, the question seemed fitting. Hopefully, Hiccup wouldn't be uncomfortable with it.

"Yeah, I have," Hiccup said and turned his glass in his hands.

"Oh?" he said. That was… concerning. From all that Hiccup had told him about Vikings and the archipelago, Jack knew it was a pretty dangerous place to live, but still…

Hiccup stayed silent and broke eye contact with him to look into the fire.

"Do you remember it?" Jack said.

"Most of it…" Hiccup said, his voice soft. He seemed to be in thought, his eyes unfocused for a moment.

Jack decided to wait a little before speaking, giving Hiccup some time to process his thoughts.

"After the encounter with the dragon queen, I fell into a sea of her flames, and I was in a coma for two weeks," Hiccup said. When he looked at Jack again, his eyes were guarded.

"A sea of flames? And you were in a coma for two weeks?" Jack said, trying to imagine it. Hiccup must have been seriously injured for something like that to happen. Shit. That was a horrifying thought.

"Yeah…" Hiccup said and seemed to be contemplating something.

Jack fiddled with the sleeve of his hoodie, waiting for Hiccup to decide, whether he wanted to share more or not. It was actually quite difficult for him to be so patient, but somehow, it didn't bother him with Hiccup. He wanted Hiccup's trust and with someone that private, it had to be earned, so he'd happily wait, even if he was brimming with curiosity.

He took another sip of mead and watched the warm light from the flames dance across Hiccup's face.

"That's how I lost my foot and some of the leg," Hiccup said, a tiny smile appearing on his lips before it vanished.

Jack gaped at him for a few moments, processing what Hiccup had just told him. "You actually lost your foot defeating the dragon queen?"

"Yeah," Hiccup said and stared into his glass.

"Wow, Hic. I had no idea your missing limb was actually a cool battle injury. You're like a real Viking warrior," Jack said, his lips splitting into a bright grin.

Hiccup smiled, but it was a tiny little thing. "I wouldn't say that."

"Of course, you wouldn't. You're way too dismissive of yourself to ever say something like that," Jack said and bloody hell, his chest was tight with a sudden surge of fondness.

Hiccup shrugged.

Jack shook his head. How typical. Despite their short friendship, it hadn't taken Jack long to figure out that Hiccup had self-esteem issues. Which was completely ridiculous, because he had so many great traits and skills and accomplishments that he should be proud of.

"Seriously, you need more confidence."

"Yeah, I know, Jack," Hiccup said without shooting any sarcastic remarks his way. He was clearly in a pensive mood right now.

A few moments of silence passed between them.

"Hic?" Jack said, digging a nail into his thigh. He wasn't sure, how much he could ask about this near death experience, before Hiccup would become closed off.

"Yeah?" Hiccup said with curious eyes, taking another sip of the mead. Apparently, he'd emptied his glass, because he quickly poured some more mead into it.

"When you woke up from the coma and discovered… everything… What were you thinking?" Jack said softly and wondered if it was a stupid question to ask. But so what? He wanted to know.

Hiccup thought about it for a minute, staring into the crackling fire that bathed his face in a soft, warm glow.

Sometimes it was so strange to think that Hiccup was indeed a Viking. He was such a calm and gentle person, and yet he'd grown up in such a brutal place in a very tough culture. It seemed to contradict his personality.

"It's… I was relieved that I was alive and that everyone was okay, but… something important had been taken away from me, and it took some time to fully accept that," Hiccup said, tearing his eyes off the fire to look at Jack again.

Jack nodded. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"Why are you sorry? You had nothing to do with it."

"I know, I know, it's just… It doesn't seem fair that something like that had to happen to you."

Hiccup shrugged. "I sometimes wish my missing limb was back, but… life isn't fair, so it's better not to dwell too much on these things."

"I guess, you're right," Jack said and emptied his glass of mead.

Hiccup didn't move to pour more of it.

"You're not going to give me more?" he said and eyed the bottle. He definitely wanted a refill.

Hiccup smiled. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"What? Why?" Jack said and pouted.

Hiccup's smile turned into a grin. "I don't want to get you drunk, Snowball."

"What!?" Jack said in a high-pitched voice. "I won't get drunk."

"You will," Hiccup said and took a sip from his own glass.

Jack grabbed the bottle with the speed of a ninja and poured more mead into his glass. He shot Hiccup a smile, challenging him to try to stop him. If Hiccup wasn't going to give him a refill, he would take it himself.

"Seriously, Jack? You're going to be hungover tomorrow," Hiccup said, an amused smile tugging on his lips, but he didn't do anything to stop him.

"No, I'm not," Jack said. He wasn't even feeling tipsy yet. There was no way, he was going to be hungover. Silly Viking.

"Well, don't come whining to me, when you feel like a pile of dragon dung tomorrow."

"Oh, I won't… but you'll have to admit that I was right, when I feel perfectly fine tomorrow."

"I don't mind that, since it's never going to happen."

Jack took another sip of the mead, and Hiccup did the same.

He pushed the bottle on the table towards Hiccup, encouraging him to fill his own glass again. Hiccup didn't need to think twice about that and grabbed the bottle.

---

As he and Jack continued to talk and laugh in the soft armchairs by the fireplace, covering all kinds of topics from Pascal's human-like behavior to previous pranks that Jack had pulled, Hiccup could not only tell that Jack was experiencing a slight buzz from the mead, but also felt that familiar warmth spread through his own body.

He decided not to drink that much more. After all, he still needed to take Toothless flying later tonight, and he definitely shouldn't be drunk for that. He also didn't want to be hungover tomorrow.

"You know… I've been taking a break from pranking her, but now that I'm friends with you, I'm bound to have some kind of immunity," Jack said with sparkling eyes.

"No, Jack, no," Hiccup said, trying to suppress a smile but failing. "Like I told you earlier, you can't use my friendship with Astrid to your own advantage."

"And you should definitely help me, Hic," Jack said, like he hadn't even heard Hiccup's words. "If we work together, we could do an awesome mind-blowing prank!" Jack said, the words quick and eager like his gesturing hands.

"Oh no, there's no way, I'd ever do that. Astrid might kill me… and I don't really feel like dying right now," Hiccup said. Sure, Astrid had a good sense of humor, but pranks were not always her thing.

As soon as the words left his mouth, something flickered in Jack's eyes. What was that? Jack watched him intently, like he was studying him.

Why had Jack gone quiet all of the sudden? And why was he watching him like that? That wasn't like him. What was he thinking about? Had Hiccup accidentally reminded him of something unpleasant? He hoped not.

Jack continued to watch him with those piercing blue eyes that seemed to be looking him over, like he might have some kind of injury. What in Thor's name was going on with him right now? It was getting worrying.

"Jack, seriously… What's wrong?" he said.

"Do you… you know… do you ever feel like…?" Jack said, his usually cheery voice suddenly so subdued. His blue eyes were shining with concern, and he clearly wasn't sure, how to phrase his question.

But Hiccup had understood immediately.

He stared at the glass in his hands. Well, this was… surprising. What could he say to that? Jack wasn't supposed to take his little joke seriously, but now he'd once again brushed the subject of Hiccup's childhood. Hiccup was no stranger to darker thoughts, especially before he met Toothless and everything changed. Being all alone with no one to turn to, no one to truly talk to, no one who wanted to spend time with him and everyone constantly putting him down, making him feel worthless… Most people would probably have those kinds of thoughts at one point or another.

"Hiccup!" Jack's voice sliced through his clouded mind.

He jumped in his seat.

"Sorry," he mumbled and scratched the back of his head. He looked at the fire and found a little comfort in the swaying orange flames and the gentle crackling sounds.

"Hiccup, answer me," Jack said and it was so rare for him to sound so serious. He wasn't kidding around.

"Don't worry. I don't have those kinds of thoughts," he said, still watching the mesmerizing flames.

Jack sighed softly in relief.

"Anymore," Hiccup said, before he even had a chance to think about it.

He kept watching the fire, as a heavy silence descended on them. Hiccup didn't really mind… Sometimes silence could actually be comforting, because he could just retreat into his own thoughts.

He probably shouldn't have told Jack those things. Why had he let it slip? He was an expert at guarding his secrets, and so far in his and Jack's freshly formed friendship, he hadn't revealed anything truly personal about himself. Sure, he'd told Jack about some of his romantic experiences and a little about his missing foot and the pain caused by it, but that wasn't personal in the same way that this was. This was something only Fishlegs, Rapunzel and Astrid knew about.

"Hic… I'm so sorry," Jack said, his voice all soothing and soft.

A tiny fond smile on Hiccup's lips. He tore his eyes off the fascinating dancing flames and looked at Jack again.

Jack was watching him with concerned eyes. It was touching that he was so worried, but he didn't need to be.

"Come on… I understand, what you mean, but… you have nothing to be sorry for," he said.

Jack didn't seem too comforted by his words though. He kept looking at him with that worried gaze, his forehead wrinkled.

"Do you… want to talk about it?" Jack said, leaning forward in his chair. His eyes were uncertain. He was probably wondering, whether he was crossing some kind of line.

Hiccup shrugged. "Not really. I think you're more affected by it than me right now," he said and raised his glass to his lips to take another sip.

"You're not affected by it?"

"Not as much anymore… I'm okay now," he said and waved a hand in a dismissive gesture.

It wasn't completely true, but he was more okay now, than he'd ever been before.

Jack gave him a small smile.

Hiccup felt a burst of that soft, friendly affection in his chest. It really was strange, how close he and Jack had gotten in such a short time, despite Hiccup keeping him at arm's length. There was still a lot that Jack didn't know about him… things that were essential to who he was as a person. He wasn't ready to share those though. That would take time, so it depended on, whether Jack decided to stick around or not. Hiccup hoped, he would.

"Good. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone… You can trust me," Jack said softly and leaned back in his chair.

Despite not knowing about his past and his other secrets, Jack definitely seemed to have a lot of knowledge about how he was as a person. That he had trust issues. That he would think about that after sharing something personal.

"It's just…" Hiccup said, trying to find the right words. He sighed. It was best to just be truthful with Jack. He was pretty sure he would understand. "Can I be completely honest with you?"

"Of course. I don't want anything but honesty," Jack said.

"Okay…" Hiccup said and nodded. "It's not that I think you're some kind of twat, who'll just pretend to be my friend and then stab me in the back. I already know you too well for that."

Jack smiled at him, and it looked warm and happy.

"It's just… I have a lot of things, that I'm not ready to share any time soon. Some things I might not ever be ready to share," he said.

It was better that Jack knew, how he felt about this, instead of just beating around the bush every time some subject, he wasn't comfortable with, was brought up. Everyone had secrets, and that was okay.

Jack nodded. "That's okay. I understand," Jack said with a flicker of a smile. "You shouldn't tell me anything, you're not ready for. I get that you have some painful stuff in your past… and the whole dragon thing, of course. So, just… take your time, and whenever you feel like sharing something, I'll be here. And the things you don't feel like sharing, you can keep to yourself. I won't try to push you," Jack said with a calm voice. There was nothing but certainty on his face.

Hiccup breathed in, savoring the relief. Exhaled slowly. "Thanks, Jack. You're a good friend."

"So are you, Hic," Jack said and smiled at him.

After hanging out, drinking mead and talking and laughing for hours, the bottle was empty. Hiccup had definitely not drunk as much as Jack, and that became evident, as time passed, and Jack's voice began to slur and his eyelids started to droop.

"You're drunk," Hiccup said in amusement, watching Jack try to say the alphabet backwards, after having insisted that he could. He failed miserably.

"No, I'm not!" Jack said and crossed his arms.

"Come on, I'll take you back to Gryffindor Tower," Hiccup said and got to his feet. He put the empty bottle in his satchel.

"Aww, come on, Hiccuuuuuuup," Jack whined and closed his eyes for a few seconds, curled up in the armchair.

"No, you need to sleep it off," he said and slung his satchel over one shoulder.

He grabbed one of Jack's arms and pulled him to his feet.

"You're so boring, you dumb Viking," Jack said and swayed a little.

Hiccup laughed. Jack was seriously amusing, when he was like this… all child-like and discontent.

"Sure am," he said and guided Jack towards the door.

As they slowly walked towards Gryffindor Tower through the deserted corridors, Hiccup noticed just how unsure on his feet, Jack was right now.

He put an arm around Jack's waist to keep him steady.

Jack instantly grinned at him.

It was late at night, but not beyond curfew, so they wouldn't get detention for still wandering around the castle.

Well... Hiccup wouldn't get detention no matter what, because he had permission from Professor Lunar to wander about at night, since he had to leave the common room very late to go fly Toothless, so no one would notice. Jack didn't have that same freedom though, and they didn't have that much time to spare.

"I should get you drunk some time," Jack mumbled and leaned into him for further support.

Hiccup felt his Jack's warmth envelop him in a nice, comforting way. He shook his head in amusement and kept guiding Jack through the corridors with an arm around him.

"I really don't think that's a good idea," he said, suppressing a chuckle.

"Yeah, it totally is! It's like… the best idea ever!" Jack said with huge eyes.

"It really isn't."

"You bacraut [asshole]," Jack muttered and pouted afterwards.

Hiccup laughed and tightened his grip on Jack. How on earth Jack had known and remembered that Old Norse insult, he didn't know, but it probably had something to do with Rapunzel.

Jack beamed at him and seemed to take great joy in making him laugh. Which wasn't such a big surprise… Jack loved to make everyone laugh, and it was one of the things he did best.

As the portrait to the Gryffindor common room came into view, Hiccup asked Jack for the password, and Jack didn't hesitate to share it.

He followed Jack inside the common room to make sure he actually went to bed and didn't start any trouble, like suddenly deciding to pull some of his 'mind-blowing pranks'.

There were only two students, two guys Hiccup didn't recognize, in the common room. Everyone else had apparently gone to bed and that was a relief. People shouldn't know that he and Jack had had alcohol. That might get them in trouble.

The Gryffindor common room was kept in warm red and golden colors. It was filled with soft red couches and comfortable chairs, a huge fireplace, dark bookcases and tapestries and rugs in rich colors. It was cosy and warm… more so than the Ravenclaw common room that always had a more airy quality with its huge dome ceiling painted like the night sky.

The two Gryffindor guys eyed him with curiosity, as he followed Jack towards the staircase. They were probably wondering what on earth he was doing here.

Much to Hiccup's relief, Jack merely waved at the two guys and continued on his way to the dormitories with Hiccup following behind him.

They walked up the old creaking stairs and found the door to the room, Jack shared with Flynn, Harry and Liam. When they got inside, Hiccup heard snoring and loud breathing.

Jack walked to his bed on unsteady feet and threw himself on it. Sprawled out, Jack's eyelids began to droop. He didn't even bother to change or crawl under the covers.

"Well… Good night, Snow Cone. Sleep it off," Hiccup said with a fond smile, turning towards the door.

"Hey, Hiccuuuup," Jack said, sounding like he was barely conscious but definitely still drunk.

Hiccup smiled at the way Jack said his name. "Yeah?"

Jack had rolled onto his side, eyes still half closed.

"You're like… totally great," Jack mumbled and it sounded so genuine despite his current state.

Hiccup smiled at his drunk, almost sleeping friend.

"You're pretty great too, Snærflekkr [Snowflake]" he said softly, before leaving the dormitory and heading towards Ravenclaw Tower to grab his armor and go flying with Toothless.

Author's note

Translations and explanations:

Yggdrasil: The tree of life in Norse Mythology. With its roots, trunk and leaves it goes through all three 'planes' of existence (the sky, the earth and under ground). It's placed in the middle of the world as a sort of center, and it's a symbol of keeping order in the world, avoiding chaos. Three of its roots ends in three different 'worlds' (in Norse mythology the world is divided into nine 'worlds', each one the home of a different kind of species/creature) and there is a fresh water spring with a different property or meaning by each of these roots: one spring granting wisdom and knowledge (placed in Jotunheim - the home of Jotunn - creatures that are often portrayed as the enemies of the gods) , one spring that is the gathering place of the gods when they need to discuss, make decisions or give a collective verdict on something (this spring is located in Asgard - the home of the gods), and one spring is by the root that leads in to the underworld and that spring is the home of the dragon Nidhoggr that is constantly gnawing on the root.

Snærflekkr: Hiccup's nickname for Jack. Means a speck of snow/snow flake in Old Norse.

Professor Hyde: Hiccup mentions him to Wallace, because professor Hyde is the head of Hufflepuff house in this story, and therefore the person responsible for punishing students of this house. Of course the headmaster can expel someone, but without any proof that would never happen.