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!

11. Pain and Suffering in Various Tempos

Author's note:

Hi guys, I'm back :) Here's the newest chapter. I hope you'll like it.

The title of the chapter is part of a title on a Depeche Mode album.

---

As he walked back towards the Ravenclaw tower after his night flight with Toothless and wandered through the dark corridors with only the light from his wand to guide him, a soft contentment spread through him. It was amazing how flying with Toothless just made the world fade away, so nothing existed but the two of them…free and happy in the skies…away from responsibilities, from insecurities, from worries about the future. After a flight, an odd but pleasant calmness always washed over him once the adrenaline wore off…like a vital need had now been fulfilled.

The large old stone hallways were completely abandoned and the only sound in the darkness was his footsteps across the stone floors and the occasional muttering of a painting, when he passed a grumpy one who was bothered by the light. It was late at night and everyone in the castle was sleeping by now, as was always the case when he came back from his late flight with his best friend. It was a good thing that headmaster Lunar had allowed him to wander around this late without getting detention, as that was really the only way he could avoid anyone noticing that he snuck back and forth every night.

He swiftly crossed the large blue and grey common room that was drenched in darkness to reach the stairs, eager to just let his head hit the pillow and get some sleep now. He quickly found the room he and Fishlegs shared with David and Matthew. He broke the Lumos spell that lit up his wand, gently pushed open the door and the familiar sounds of snoring and loud breathing reached his ears. He slowly began removing his armor piece by piece and placed it all in the chest under his bed as usual.

He suddenly heard Fishlegs mumble in his sleep. "No…no…what's that? What…is…that?" Fishlegs said in distress, turning in his sleep.

Even though Hiccup was already aware of how this was going to go down, he still replied. "What's what, Fish?" with a smile on his face.

"Mind your own business!" Fishlegs spat. His squirming slowly ceased.

Hiccup chuckled. Fishlegs was seriously such a drama queen in his sleep sometimes.

He turned his attention to his prosthetic and quickly clicked it off and placed it on the chair next to his bed. Then he hobbled the few feet to the bed and let himself drop on to the soft mattress. He crawled under the covers and let out a content sigh as he felt his muscles relax and the tension from the strain of using them began to leave his body. His eyelids started to droop as he sank into the mattress, and he just felt so comfortable right now that it could hardly be real. As he closed his eyes he embraced the peaceful darkness and let the world fade away.

Then his eyes shot open immediately, when a familiar jolt of pain stabbed through a limb that was no longer there.

Oh no…not this…not now!

He bit his bottom lip hard to avoid making a sound that would wake up the others, as his missing limb began to throb violently, causing stabs of pain to ripple through it. Hiccup felt the frustration build up inside him and he just wanted to scream right now, letting all his anger and hopelessness regarding this pain out. It was so horribly familiar by now, because it had been a companion of his for years.

He lied motionless on his bed, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths to help him block out the pulsations that went through his missing limb, when a thought occurred to him.

Shit…

He had promised Jack, hadn't he? His friend had insisted that Hiccup let him know the next time this happened, but gods…he really didn't want to. Even though Jack had already seen him like this, it still made him feel weak and helpless.

He sighed deeply to himself, but then other zap of pain echoed through the non-existent limb and he hissed angrily in pain, clenching his fists tightly and scrunching his face.

He groaned as he rolled onto his side and reached out towards his nightstand, opening the drawer and pulling out that small object that Jack had given him. For a few moments, he just watched the item in his hand, considering if there was any way to avoid letting Jack know. Well, obviously there was but…he had made a promise, and he didn't break his promises.

He clicked the button on it and then quickly spelled out the answer to the riddle by the portrait entrance. Well…now there was no turning back. He quickly sat up and then got to his feet (well, foot), only letting his weight rest on his good leg, as those familiar, throbbing pulsations keep shooting through his non-existent extremity. Then he reached out and grabbed his prosthetic from the chair it was resting on and quickly clicked it on again, before putting on his dark green Converse shoes as well. Jack hadn't seen his prosthetic yet, and he wasn't sure if he felt comfortable showing it to him, so he just decided to conceal it as usual. He quickly bent down, contorting his face in pain, and pulled the home-made straps inside the left shoe around the end of his prosthetic, so the shoe didn't slide off but was kept in place.

Then he began to hobble towards the door, agonizing stabs tormenting him every step of the way. He tried his best to be quiet, walking slowly and carefully and biting his lip to avoid making any pained noises. He made it out of the room without waking anyone, which was a relief. He sighed a little before he began his slow, uncertain walk down the old staircase towards the common room. He used the railing to alleviate some of the weight pressing down on the prosthetic.

As he entered the familiar, large blue and grey common room with the painted dome ceiling, he limped towards one of the long, blue couches by the fireplace. Every step was horrible and he couldn't help wincing. When he was finally next to one of the couches, he gently placed himself on it and then laid down and stretched out his legs, resting his head on one of the cushions by the end of it.

He let out a sigh and rubbed his temples a little. Gods, he was so sick of this.

---

He was dreaming of playing in the snow with Emma, their happy laughter echoing through the air, as they threw snowballs at each other and built snowmen, when he was suddenly pulled out of the pleasant sleeping world by a familiar noise.

He blinked a few times, taking in the darkness of the room. He was about to close his eyes again and get back to those wonderful dreams, when his mind began to work and told him what the sound had actually been.

He instantly sat up, reached out towards his nightstand and grabbed the object on it. Sure enough, the answer to the riddle to the Ravenclaw common room was written on it, and Jack knew exactly what that meant. He felt a strong mix of concern and relief…concern because Hiccup was obviously in pain again…and relief because he had actually held up his end of their deal and let him know about it. He knew just how difficult it was for Hiccup to ask for help when he felt vulnerable.

Jack rubbed his eyes a few times, before getting up. The coldness of the wooden floorboards under the soles of his feet sent a chill through his body, making him shiver a little, as he moved towards the dresser next to his bed and took out his favorite blue hoodie. He quickly pulled it over his head and enjoyed the familiar warmth it brought. Then he took his wand from his nightstand and stuffed it in the front pocket. He didn't bother changing out of his grey sweatpants, before quietly making his way towards the door without waking any of his mates. Luckily, he was successful as he exited the room, walked down the staircase and then quickly made his way through the large Gryffindor common room. The darkness of the surroundings were only slightly broken by the pale light of the moon shining through one of the windows, letting him cross the room without stumbling or walking into something. He left through the portrait of the fat lady and began to slowly descend several of the large, moving staircases from the tower, before turning down a corridor.

He knew that he was going to be in a lot of trouble if any professors found him walking around the castle at night, so he was extra careful to peek around corners and listen intently for any sound that might indicate someone approaching. He used his wand to light his way, but kept the light dim, as to not draw too much attention if someone was in fact nearby. He had chosen not to put on shoes, but just pad barefoot down the hallways, quite enjoying the cold stone floor against his feet. He hadn't chosen to leave his shoes behind just because he really liked being barefoot, but also because he could move more silently then. He needed to get to Hiccup to keep him company while he was in pain, and he wasn't going to let anyone keep him away.

As Jack carefully and quietly made his way through the dark corridors on his way to the Ravenclaw tower, he thought about how incredibly grateful he was that he was able to be around Hiccup again without being tooawkward and nervous. Ever since Hiccup decided he didn't want to be with Astrid two weeks ago, Jack found his mood improving every day, and it slowly got easier to be around Hiccup again. Sure, he still had moments of self-consciousness and awkwardness on a regular basis, and he felt a blush creep into his cheeks, whenever Hiccup said something that his brain traitorously twisted into something else, or when his friends teased him about his crush or when he had certain…thoughts…and once in a while, he felt sad that Hiccup was probably never going to return his feelings. However, he was able to have long conversations with him again, leave friendly touches on him once in a while, pull pranks and enjoy their friendly banter and that was all a major relief.

Of course Hiccup remained completely oblivious to his crush on him. Not that anyone could blame him for that…Hiccup was incredibly smart and observant, but as far as he knew, Jack was still completely straight and hadn't even known about what happened between him and Astrid, until he told him about it that night at the Astronomy Tower. So how could he possibly put the pieces together?

Luckily, he didn't meet anyone on his way to the Ravenclaw tower and it hadn't taken him that long to get there either, despite having to be extra careful watching out for professors. As the portrait entrance came into view, Jack smiled softly to himself. He told the portrait the answer to the riddle and it swung open, revealing that impressive common room with the high ceiling painted like the night sky. He was still quite in awe of that…it really was beautiful.

He entered the common room and immediately spotted Hiccup lying on one of the blue couches by the fireplace with his eyes closed. He knew he wasn't asleep though. Not just because it was impossible because of the pain, but also because Jack could hear him deliberately taking deep breaths in an even pattern, which was one of his strategies for dealing with the pain.

"Heey Hic." he said soothingly, as he approached him.

Hiccup opened his eyes and observed him, as he walked closer.

"Hey Jack." Hiccup replied, his voice a little strained by the pain.

"Is it bad?" he asked him, his brow furrowing in concern.

"Yes." Hiccup said.

Jack nodded and then placed himself on the couch across from the one Hiccup was on.

"Is there anything I can do?" He asked, eager to help him with anything he might need.

"I don't think so…"

"Don't you have any more painkilling potion?"

"No…" Hiccup sighed. "I haven't been aware that it had already been two weeks and was about time for…this."

Jack sighed a little too. Well, that wasn't good. Even though Hiccup had made it clear that painkilling potion didn't remove his pain, he had also said that it at least took the edge off. Now though, he would have to do without it and Jack didn't like that one bit.

"Well…I'm here with you, Hic…I'll stay here." he said soothingly, hoping that having some company would at least be comforting to Hiccup…that it would help that he wasn't alone as usual with this.

"Thanks Jack." Hiccup mumbled genuinely.

Jack moved from a sitting position to lying down on the couch on his side, stretching out his legs and letting his body sink into the soft piece of furniture. Hiccup's face contorted several times, and he let out some low, pained hisses once in a while, when a particularly horrible wave of pain crashed over him. Jack really hated seeing him like this…he just wanted to chase his pain away, but he knew that he couldn't. Maybe though…he could take Hiccup's mind off it just a little by occupying him with some conversation. If he was up to it, that was.

"Can I ask you something?" he said, watching Hiccup intently.

"Yeah, sure." Hiccup replied, turning his head a little to watch Jack with dull, green eyes, but still lying on his back.

"Is it…normal being an amputee in the archipelago?" Jack asked hesitantly. He had thought about it several times during their friendship, so he might as well ask now. He wasn't completely sure if Hiccup would mind this question though.

"Yeah, it is…there are plenty of Vikings with fake limbs." Hiccup told him, not seeming bothered by it.

"Do you keep it hidden back home too?" Jack asked, as his blue eyes took in the dark green Converse shoes covering both Hiccup's one foot and the end of his prosthetic. Obviously, he didn't need shoes in here, so it was a clear sign that he didn't feel like letting Jack see his artificial limb. He didn't take it personally though…Hiccup had self-esteem issues, so it was to be expected that he wasn't eager to let people see his prosthetic, but…Jack found himself hoping that he would be comfortable enough one day to show it to him. That would be a big sign of trust.

"No." Hiccup simply said, but his green eyes didn't become guarded, so Jack felt comfortable continuing asking questions.

"Why not?" he said and watched for any changes in Hiccup's expressions that would signal if he was uncomfortable with the topic.

"Like I said…It's normal back home. Here…it's not." Hiccup explained and took a few deep breaths, obviously experiencing a nasty jolt of pain now.

Jack felt that tug in his heart that told him that he really wanted to protect Hiccup…but of course he couldn't shield him from this. After the first time he had helped Hiccup with his phantom pains, Hiccup had explained more about it to him, and told him that it was the brain getting pain signals confused and all jumbled after the amputation. There wasn't anything Jack could do, since it was Hiccup's own mind playing tricks on him, so he just had to be by his side for support.

"You don't want people staring at you." Jack replied softly. He knew just how much Hiccup disliked being observed by strangers, so it would definitely be hell for him to walk around with his prosthetic out, drawing all that attention to himself.

"Exactly…" Hiccup began and turned his gaze towards the ceiling instead of Jack. "Not to mention that…" Hiccup said, as his eyes became glazed over for a moment.

"What?" Jack asked, eager to know what was going through Hiccup's mind right now. Even though he had come to know so much about Hiccup by now, there were definitely still plenty of things that he had not discovered yet due to Hiccup's shy and guarded nature, and he always wanted to collect more of those puzzle pieces…to find out more about the guy he cared so much for.

"Some people are pretty repulsed by the whole idea and I really don't need that." Hiccup explained calmly, still observing the ceiling.

Jack immediately frowned. "Really?"

"Yeah…missing limbs aren't exactly something that people here are used to…" Hiccup began, but then hissed in pain, bit his lip and scrunched his face.

Jack watched him carefully and felt the sympathy swirl inside him. Why did Hiccup have to suffer from something that no one could do anything about? It just…wasn't fair. He didn't deserve that.

Hiccup took a few deep breaths and then seemed to be better, no longer contorting his face.

"Some find it disgusting, others are creepily fascinated by it and some like to remind me that…I'm not a whole person anymore." Hiccup then finished explaining, hesitating in letting out the last part, as if he wasn't completely sure he wanted to tell Jack.

"What are you talking about?" Jack asked in slight disbelief, his forehead creased from confusion. This really didn't sound good.

Hiccup sighed and placed his hands on his stomach. "Some people…think I'm worth less now, because I don't have a whole leg anymore."

"What?" Jack said in surprise and his blue eyes widened for a few seconds. "Seriously?" he then asked, and he knew that his voice had taken on a hint of anger now. He really couldn't help it...how could anyone seriously think that?

"Yeah…being an amputee makes me inferior in their eyes."

"That's fucking stupid" Jack instantly replied, unable to keep more frustration out of his tone. That protective instinct of his bubbled inside him now. If he ever witnessed someone say something like that to Hiccup, he would feel like punching their face in.

Hiccup just remained quiet, which made Jack feel uneasy.

"Hiccup…you don't seriously believe what they're saying, do you?" he asked, wanting to be sure that he didn't let those kinds of ridiculous comments get to him. His ego was bruised enough as it was, despite how many great traits and skills he possessed.

"No, I don't…but it's just…it's never pleasant hearing that sort of thing."

"No, it isn't…but you know what? Sure, you're missing your foot and some of your leg, but…it's not like you're that affected by it…you can do pretty much everything that you could do before it happened, right?" he said.

"Yeah, pretty much." Hiccup nodded. "The only thing that really bothers me about it is the phantom pains."

Jack nodded. "Yeah, and that's understandable." he said and then wrapped his arms around himself, snuggling a little into his soft blue hoodie for extra warmth. "Who says those stupid things to you anyway?" he asked, wanting to know who he had to keep an eye on.

"Bully types mostly…but it hasn't happened in a long time…and now it's not really likely to happen, since people seem to think I'm interesting now."

"Good." Jack replied, unable to keep that underlying anger out of his voice.

A small, amused smile tugged at Hiccup's lips and he turned his head to look at Jack instead of the ceiling.

"Jack…you don't have to worry about me. I'm not a child. I can take care of it if anything happens." Hiccup reassured him.

"I know that, Hic…trust me." Jack began, briefly thinking that he was in fact verywell aware that Hiccup wasn't a child, since he was crushing so hard on him. "But it's just…you've been alone for so many years of your life. I don't want you to fight all your battles alone anymore…I know that you're strong and tough and can handle pretty much anything, but…you really shouldn't have to do it by yourself, now that you have people in your life who care so much about you." he finished explaining, looking Hiccup in the eye. He really wanted him to understand this. Despite having loving friends, Hiccup still had a tendency to handl his problems alone.

Hiccup's eyes softened, as soon as the words had left Jack's mouth. Jack found himself smiling.

"Jack?" Hiccup asked, with a small smile on his lips.

"Yeah?"

"You're amazing. I hope you know that." Hiccup told him with fondness evident on his face.

Jack instantly felt the affection bubble vigorously inside his entire being in response, and the butterflies flapped in his stomach, when his crush told him this. His heart beat sped up and he felt a warm smile spread across his face. Geez…Hiccup had no idea what he was doing to him…the feelings he was sparking inside him.

"Thanks, Hic." he said, unable to wipe that smile off his face.

"You know…at first…I wasn't sure if you actually wanted to be my friend or if you were just…trying to use me like everyone else." Hiccup softly explained to him, keeping those green eyes trained on him. Jack could see the exhaustion in them from dealing with the pain, but he also knew that Hiccup would let him know if he was too tired to keep talking.

"Yeah, I know…" Jack replied and then lifted his head briefly to adjust the cushion he was resting it on.

"You know?"

"Of course." he said and then once again rested his head of snow-white hair on the blue cushion. "I know you by now…it would be very unlike you, if you hadn't had those thoughts."

"Yeah, that's true…" Hiccup agreed with a small smile. "Anyway…I guess I'm just trying to tell you that I'm really glad we're friends."

"Me too, Hic. Me too." Jack said and smiled. Of course he really wanted them to be more than friends, but…if it was friendship or nothing then he would definitely choose friendship any day.

As time passed, the two boys remained on a couch each, Hiccup resting and trying to deal with the pain, and Jack observing him and sometimes getting lost in his own thoughts. Once in a while they had some short conversations but they were regularly interrupted, when Hiccup told him he needed a break. Then he would usually close his eyes and use those breathing techniques of his to deal with the pain, not being able to focus properly on talking with Jack.

When Hiccup began to relax a little again after another jolt of pain, they started discussing the differences between Viking culture and modern muggle culture, as they had done several times during their friendship. It was still strange to Jack that there was a whole archipelago full of Vikings who lived without the luxuries of modern society, and he always wanted to know more about it.

"It's just still…weird to think about how you guys are like…completely isolated from the outside world." Jack told him, furrowing his forehead.

"I know." Hiccup said with a small smile.

"I mean…no TV…no internet…no phones…no electricity or modern commodities of any kind."

"Yeah, but…when you've never known anything else, it's not really a problem." Hiccup told him.

"I can imagine…do you sometimes miss modern things when you're back home?"

"Not really…I mean, sure the wizarding world is more modern than the archipelago, but it's still pretty old fashioned…and the only time I've had anything to do with modern muggle stuff is when I'm at Rapunzel's house and that's only like…a few weeks a year, so…it's not really a big part of my life."

Jack nodded. "So was it a big shock the first time you were out among the muggles?"

"Oh yeah…me and Fishlegs were visiting Rapunzel at her parent's house in the summer after our first year here. Then her and her parents actually took us shopping for clothes and shoes and such. We were not used to that kind of thing…back home there isn't that many options and suddenly we had to decide what we liked and didn't like among hundreds of things…not to mention being around all those muggles, who looked and acted so much differently than what we were used to."

Jack chuckled. "Two Viking boys…used to being around weapons and fierce warriors and dragon attacks…rendered shocked by a shopping trip."

"Yeah yeah." Hiccup said dismissively, although he couldn't hold back a small smile. "Have your fun, Snær Flekkr. You're just as bad as Flynn, when he says that we're "like people from the past".

"Oh yes…" Jack said. "But…" he then continued with a mischievous smile. "Let me tell you a secret…if you ever need some blackmail on Flynn…his real name is Eugene Fitzherbert and he does not like it when anyone brings that up. So…if you need him to shut up about something, just call him Eugene and he'll clam up instantly." Jack chuckled.

"What? Really?" Hiccup asked in what appeared to be a mix of disbelief and amusement.

"Yup."

"Why did he change his name?"

"Well…he didn't know his dad for most of his life, but when his mum finally managed to track him down and reestablish the contact when Flynn was like…9 or something, Flynn became really close with him. His dad's last name is Rider and apparently that reminded Flynn of a story he used to read all the time about this brilliant, rich swashbuckler named Flynn Rider, so he decided to change his name to that, since he'd always hated his real name anyway." Jack explained with a fond smile on his lips. He could imagine little Eugene being all excited and fascinated by the stories of Flynn Rider's amazing adventures.

"Wow…good to know then." Hiccup said. "Eugene Fitzherbert…" he then said thoughtfully, as if he was trying out what it felt like to pronounce it.

"Yeah…not the best name right?" Jack asked him and grinned. He had teased Flynn about it so many times during the years. It wasn't that the name was that bad, but Flynn's hatred for it just made it hilarious to joke about.

"Well…I'm not really in a position to judge anyone's name, Jack" Hiccup told him with a small smile, which instantly triggered a thought in Jack's mind.

"Yeah, about that…" he started uncertainly, not sure if Hiccup would want to answer this or if this would be one of those situations, where he became guarded. "When we had that first real conversation in the library, you told me that people think Fishlegs has it worse than you, name-wise…what did you mean by that?"

"You actually remembered that?" Hiccup asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, yeah. It was interesting." Jack shrugged and quickly suppressed a blush.

Hiccup hesitated for a few moments, but then spoke. "Hiccup is a name the Vikings back home give to the runts…so…you can imagine why it's not considered the best name."

"What? Seriously?" Jack asked in disbelief, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

"Yeah."

"That's just…seriously, Hiccup…" he said and shook his head. That actually seemed like quite a cruel thing to do…reminding people who are small that they aren't living up to the standards of the Vikings around them. "Again…no wonder that you're so…lacking in confidence."

"I know." Hiccup just said, but didn't really seem affected by it.

"I really hate when people put you down, you know."

A small smile graced Hiccup's lips. "Oh I know." he replied and there was a little amusement in his tone now.

"What? Is that funny?" Jack asked, unable to keep a warm smile from tugging at his lips.

"A little…" Hiccup began. "Don't think I haven't noticed that you're seriously overprotective of me."

"Well, it sort of goes both ways doesn't it?" Jack replied and raised an eyebrow at his friend. It was true though.

"Yeah, it does." Hiccup admitted. "I might be…a bit protective of you too."

"Just a tad." Jack said and then chuckled a little. He felt warm on the inside, as he once again thought about how close he and Hiccup had grown.

After a while Hiccup began to get more and more exhausted and after they had been in the Ravenclaw common room for about three hours in total, Hiccup started to slowly drift off into the sleeping world. He was having trouble keeping his eyes open and he let out some huge yawns, as they finished the conversation they had been having, where Jack had shared his theory that professor Bunnymund and the librarian ms. Wynn had unresolved sexual tension, which caused Hiccup to laugh several times. Now however, Hiccup was definitely getting too tired to continue talking, so Jack just remained quiet and let him rest.

"Jack…?" Hiccup suddenly mumbled, his eyelids drooping.

"Yeah?" he asked, watching Hiccup struggle to not fall asleep yet. He resisted the urge to coo at Hiccup for being so damn cute.

"Thanks for being here…" Hiccup said, his eyes closed.

"I'm always here for you, Hic." he said.

"Thanks Jack," Hiccup mumbled and then began to lose the fight against sleep. Even though Jack always wanted to talk more to him, he was relieved that he was getting some rest and that the pain had subsided enough for him to sleep.

---

When Jack slowly opened his eyes, he squinted as the brightness of the room flooded his vision. He was momentarily confused about why he was lying on a couch, until he spotted Hiccup sleeping on the couch across from him. He remembered that he had stayed with him to keep him company. He slowly pulled himself up to a sitting position and rubbed his eyes a little. He sat there for a few moments, just taking some time to truly wake up, and then he got to his feet.

He covered the short distance to the other couch and looked down at Hiccup.

"Hey, Hic. Wake up." he said softly and nudged the guy's shoulder a little with a hand.

Hiccup's green eyes slowly opened and blinked a few times to focus. He looked up at Jack and smiled a little, before sitting up.

Jack took a few steps back. Hiccup stretched his arms out and yawned.

"How are you feeling?" he asked him, watching him for any signs of pain.

"I'm okay." Hiccup said with a tired smile and nodded.

"No pain anymore?" he asked him, tilting his head of snow-white hair a little.

"No, but…I'm pretty tired." Hiccup replied and rubbed his eyes with one hand.

"Well, that's to be expected right?"

"Yeah, definitely…"

"Maybe you should…get out of going to class today?" Jack suggested, although he already knew that Hiccup probably wouldn't agree to that.

"Nah, it's okay, Jack." Hiccup told him and did one of those familiar dismissive motions with his hand.

"Are you sure? You've told me before that you have to relax after this sort of thing to not trigger more pain."

"Yeah, I know…I'll take it easy today, but I don't want to skip classes…I'm fine…and besides, we're going to practice the Patronus charm today. I definitely don't want to miss that." Hiccup explained and then gave him a bright smile.

"Yeah, that's going to be awesome." Jack said excitedly, sharing his friend's enthusiasm about it.

Hiccup nodded eagerly in response.

"Well, Hic…I'm going to head back to the Gryffindor tower…I want to take a shower and change before breakfast."

"Yeah, good idea. See you at breakfast." Hiccup told him.

"Yeah, see you." Jack replied. He walked a few steps towards the exit, but then had a thought that he needed to get an answer to. He turned around to face Hiccup.

"Hic?"

"Yeah?"

"Did it help that I was here?" He asked, tilting his head.

A soft, warm smile tugged at Hiccup's lips. "Yeah…it did. Thanks Jack."

"Any time, Hic." he replied and exited the Ravenclaw common room through the portrait.

---

When he sat among his friends at the Gryffindor table at breakfast, he felt less tired than usual despite not getting that much sleep today. As he cut a piece of the pancakes on his plate, stabbed it with his fork and then brought it into his mouth, he briefly considered if it was because he had been there for Hiccup that he felt revitalized.

As he took a sip of the hot tea in his mug, he listened to the conversation taking place between his three friends about what to buy their families for Christmas. It was the end of November now, so it wouldn't be long before they would go on their annual Christmas shopping trip to Hogsmeade and then go home for the holidays. Flynn, Mavis and Merida always spent a few days at Jack's house during the Christmas holidays, before going home to their own families.

However, as he kept eating his pancakes and listening to his friends talking and laughing, some unfamiliar thoughts regarding the subject entered his mind. Being away from Hogwarts would also mean that he wouldn't be seeing Hiccup for a while and that was actually going to be difficult for him. There wasn't really any way out of it though…he needed (and wanted) to go home for Christmas to see his family and Hiccup was going home to Berk. Hiccup was probably really looking forward to spending time with Toothless again.

After taking another sip of his tea, he looked towards the Ravenclaw table and his blue eyes quickly found that brown hair that belonged to Hiccup. He was keeping an eye on Rapunzel who was eagerly telling him and Fishlegs something, gesturing wildly with her hands. Hiccup smiled at her and continued to listen to her story with attentive, caring eyes, despite his obvious tiredness from lack of sleep due to the phantom pains. Jack could feel his stomach doing flips immediately.

He noticed some Ravenclaw girl sitting further down the table, watching Hiccup with adoration in her eyes. Of course Hiccup wasunaware of this. Even though Jack was a little annoyed by it, he couldn't blame her. As Hiccup had grown up, anyone could see he was a good-looking guy now. He knew Hiccup would never believe it if anyone told him, but he was in fact very attractive…and somehow, the fact that he could almost never see the good in himself, only made him more amazing. He sighed to himself as he continued to watch Hiccup, who was still listening to something Rapunzel was telling him. Jack felt a goofy smile spread across his face. Oh, how he was in deep trouble with this.

"Jackie?" he heard Flynn's voice ask, breaking his focus.

"Hmm?" he mumbled and forced himself to look away from Hiccup and turn his head to look at Flynn. His friend's eyes were sparkling with amusement and a smile was tugging at his lips.

Jack's smile disappeared. Oh great. Flynn had caught him staring at Hiccup just like that googly eyed Ravenclaw girl. Well that wasn't embarrassing at all.

"Find something nice to look at this morning?" Flynn asked and raised his eyebrows in a suggestive manner. Jack felt a blush creep into his cheeks. Mavis and Merida chuckled at the comment.

Oh god. Why did humans have the ability to blush? It was like a cruel curse that broadcast to everyone just how self-conscious you were. Like a huge sign that said "I'M NOT AT ALL COMFORTABLE IN MY OWN SKIN RIGHT NOW! LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME!"

The four of them all knew that even though Flynn would stick with Jack through thick and thin and offer his support any time Jack needed it, that didn't get him off the hook when it came to Flynn's friendly teasing…in fact, he wasn't getting off the hook with any of his three friends' teasing, now that he was no longer feeling depressed.

"Yeah…I did actually." Jack said quietly, a warm smile on his lips, not even bothering to deny it. What would be the point? Flynn had figured out that he was looking because he was…longing. Damn…how pathetic did that sound? He had almost just talked to him.

Flynn and Merida both flashed him warm, understanding smiles, while Mavis couldn't hold back an "Aww".

Jack rolled his eyes at her, but that only made her lips transform into a grin.

His friends had watched him being all confident and carefree with crushes for years, but now he was suddenly uncertain, nervous and had serious trouble controlling those blushes…especially when they made Hiccup-related comments that were meant to embarrass him. Not that he could blame them…teasing was an essential part of their friendship, but even so…he really wished that he didn't blush so easily these days.

"So Jack…" Mavis said, saving him from more of Flynn's teasing comments. He mentally thanked her, as he really didn't feel like deepening that blush that was currently warming his face. "Did you hear that the date's been set for you guys' rematch against the Slytherin Quidditch team?"

"What? No? When did that happen?" He asked and turned his attention to Merida, as she was sure to know this.

"I heard it from Astrid last night after you had gone to bed." Merida explained and then stabbed another sausage with her fork from the tray in front of her and brought it to her plate.

"Ah, okay…well, when is it then?" he eagerly wanted to know.

"Next weekend." Merida replied with an excited smile on her face. He knew that she was just as eager as he was to go up against the Slytherins.

"Great, we'll kick their asses." he told his friends confidently and then gave them a bright smile.

"Of course we will!" Merida exclaimed and then rubbed her hands together in an I-can't-wait-to-shoot-bludgers-at-Slytherins sort of way.

"And this time, you better not scare us like you did last time." Flynn said with an amused, crooked smile, but there was an underlying seriousness to the statement.

"Hey, it wasn't exactly my fault that someone jinxed that bludger." Jack said and held up his hands in a surrendering gesture.

"True…and they better not do it again, or I'm going to hunt them down." Flynn said with a smile, but Jack knew that he really meant that…that all of his friends felt that way. They were all very protective of each other and if the situation had been reversed and it had happened to one of them, he would definitely think the same thoughts.

"Me too." Merida said and punched her palm with her fist. Merlin help whoever went up against her, when she was angry.

"Thanks guys, but I doubt it will happen again. It was probably just a prank gone wrong or something." He told his friends and shrugged. He wasn't concerned at all to be honest. Sure, it had been very dangerous to be hit by that bludger, but it didn't exactly seem like something that would happen twice to one person.

"Let's hope so." Mavis said and tucked a lock of black hair behind one ear.

"Anyway…it's going to be fun!" he exclaimed with a grin on his face, already looking forward to being in the air on his broom again, chasing the snitch, evading bludgers and opponents, and throwing clever taunts back in the Slytherin's faces, whenever they decided to provoke him or some of the others…which they often did. That team really enjoyed riling up their opponents, so the best way to deal with them was too stay calm and then shoot some clever wit at them.

"Yeah, it is!" Merida agreed. "It's always fun wiping the smiles off those Slytherins' faces."

"You know…they beat you guys too once in a while." Mavis told them, the ever logical, rational part of their little group.

"Yeah, but not that often. We win more than they do!" Merida insisted.

"That's true, but still…you guys always say that you hate to admit it, but the Slytherins have the second best Quidditch team." Mavis argued with a smile appearing on her lips.

"They do…but we'll still beat them." Jack said and Merida eagerly nodded with a bright smile.

"Of course you will. After all…they're only second best." Flynn agreed before taking a sip of his juice.

"And we'll be there to support you guys." Mavis told them with a warm smile.

"Well, then there's no way we can lose." Merida said excitedly and they all smiled at her in response.

---

As he was walking along the old stone corridors next to Fishlegs, and let out a big yawn due to how little sleep he'd gotten today, he found the absence of his Fishlegs' eager voice unfamiliar. They were making their way towards the dungeons in silence, since Fishlegs was in a sad mood today, so Hiccup had decided to give him some space. He knew Fishlegs was missing Meatlug every day, but today was a particularly bad one. He really wished that he could help him, but of course there was nothing he could do. Meatlug was back home on Berk. He felt a strong pang of sympathy in his chest, as he imagined the pain of being away from your dragon, and he once again found himself feeling incredibly grateful for being given the chance to have Toothless here with him.

They reached the old staircase to the dungeons and quickly made their way down the stone steps before entering the gloomy classroom. They walked to their usual workstation and both took a seat, while waiting for Jack and the others to come to class. Usually, Fishlegs occupied himself with talking to him or eagerly writing down some notes or reading in the Potions textbook, but today he was just sitting on the chair, looking depressed and wringing his hands a little.

Hiccup rubbed a few circles on Fishlegs' back to show his support. Fishlegs turned his head and looked at him, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"Is there anything I can do, Fish?" he gently asked, as he let his arm drop to his side again. He was pretty sure he already knew the answer though.

"No, I don't think so…but thanks." Fishlegs told him with a small smile. "I just want to be a little sad right now."

"Of course…" Hiccup said. "You know…people always say "oh you shouldn't be sad" or "turn that frown upside down"…that kind of thing, but…it's natural to be sad sometimes, and it's better to just express it than to push it down and pretend it's not there." he told him.

"Yeah, you're right…" Fishlegs agreed with a few nods and then his lips twitched a little.

"Just let me know if there's anything you need."

"Thanks, Hiccup." Fishlegs told him with appreciation in his voice.

Suddenly he spotted that familiar head of white hair, as Jack and the others entered the classroom and headed straight to their usual workstation. They all waved and shot smiles at him and Fishlegs, which they returned, although Fishlegs did it with less enthusiasm than usual.

He got to his feet and covered the distance to the four Gryffindors' workstation.

"What's wrong with Fish?" Jack asked, his forehead creasing in concern. Flynn, Merida and Mavis all watched him intently, as they awaited his answer, clearly also wondering what was going on with their friend.

"He just misses Meatlug." Hiccup explained, feeling the sympathy bubble inside him.

"Well, that's understandable…it's been a long time since he saw her. I'm sure you miss Toothless as well?" Mavis asked him with an understanding smile.

"Yeah…I miss Toothless whenever he's not by my side." Hiccup told her. It wasn't a lie. He really did miss Toothless whenever his best friend wasn't around, even if he had almost just seen him not too long ago. He couldn't exactly tell them that though.

As Merida began talking about how much she missed her horse Angus, Hiccup's mind suddenly wandered to Astrid. He knew that she missed Stormfly terribly as well, but she was usually better at hiding it than Fishlegs was. Still though…he really admired his two friends' ability to get through the remaining school years separated from their dragons, only seeing them when they were back home for the holidays. He definitely would never have been able to do that. He couldn't be away from Toothless for that long, so if headmaster Lunar had not agreed to let him bring Toothless here in exchange for professor Brown studying him, then he would have given up finishing the rest of his magical education to be with his best friend.

Now that he thought about Astrid, naturally his thoughts also drifted towards the separation that had taken place between them. He was still hoping they could remain friends, but in the end that was Astrid's decision. He did feel a little more hopeful these days though, as Astrid had begun to smile at him again, whenever they saw each other in class or passed each other in the corridors and such. The first week, she hadn't even looked at him at all, but now she actually smiled at him and once in a while gave him a small wave, so that was definitely progress. Hopefully it would continue to get better until they could once again spend time together, because he really missed her already.

"Hiccuuuuuuuuup." he suddenly heard Jack's voice say teasingly, pulling him out of his thoughts.

He blinked. "Yeah?" he asked, turning his head to look him in the eye.

"You were just like…gone from the world for a while there." Jack told him with an amused smile on his face.

"I was having an inner monologue. Thanks for ruining it, Snowball." Hiccup shot back and rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on…nothing that goes on in there is really that important, now is it?" Jack teased him with a challenging raise of an eyebrow.

"You're an evil snowcone…" he muttered, causing Jack and the others to instantly chuckle.

"Oh really? Maybe we should ask the other students about that? I seem to be pretty popular, you know." Jack said innocently.

"You don't need people's opinions, when it comes to the truth, Jack. Then everything could suddenly be questioned. Is water wet? Is grass green?" he said, gesturing with his hands to underline the point.

"Is Hiccup awkward when any attention is directed towards him?" Jack shot back, making the other Gryffindors giggle.

"Yes, well everyone knows that." He replied.

"The sooner you get used to it, the better, Hiccup. You're one of us popular people now." Flynn said teasingly with a grin on his face.

"You guys know that I don't want to be popular." he groaned, and as usual his reluctance towards his popularity seemed to be amusing to his friends.

"Well, you know Hic…if you didn't want to be even more popular, you kind of made a serious mistake beginning to hang out with us." Jack grinned as he gestured to himself and the others. Flynn quickly hummed in agreement.

"I know that, but I realized it too late and now I'm stuck with you." he said and sighed, pretending that this was actually a huge burden.

"Yup…you definitely are." Jack replied, a fond smile gracing his lips. "You're still a dork though. That hasn't changed." he finished in amusement and nudged his shoulder. Hiccup couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. He knew that Jack always called him a dork in an affectionate way…just like when he called Jack an idiot sometimes.

"I like being a dork…I just miss being a mostly ignored dork."

"Those days are gone now Hiccup, you might as well not reminisce about it." Flynn said with an amused smile and a dismissive wave of one hand.

"Yeah, and besides…watching you blush all the time is just too entertaining." Jack told him, Merida, Flynn and Mavis quickly humming in agreement.

His four friends were all so comfortable in their own skin and used to attention, so they took great joy in watching him being all weird about his popularity. Those evil Gryffindors…

"I swear to Thor, you all enjoy my awkwardness way too much…"

"Of course we are. It's hilarious." Flynn said with a bright grin and Jack quickly nodded.

"Well, I'm glad my suffering amuses you. You guys suck." Hiccup said and then pretended to pout a little for comic effect.

"Awww, poor Hiccy…" Jack cooed at him, tilting his head. Jack reached out and ruffled his brown hair a little, and as usual the touch was warm and familiar to him.

"No, Jack…no." he told him firmly. Jack sometimes brought up that nickname just to annoy him and he was not going to have it be a regular thing.

"You'll get used to it." Jack said with a grin. "And if you don't want us to find your suffering hilarious, then simply make it more boring." he shrugged as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You know…sometimes I wonder why we're friends." Hiccup shot back, furrowing his brow to pretend to be in deep contemplation about this.

Jack scoffed. "I'd say that's pretty obvious, Hic…you clearly need someone who's not just amazingly brave and strong and fun, but who's also cunning and devilishly handsome to look out for you."

"Really?" Hiccup asked in mock curiosity. "Then what I am doing with you?"

The others chuckled in amusement, and Jack scowled at them, pretending to be offended.

"Wow, that was cold, dragon boy." Jack told him, but was unable to keep an amused smile away.

"Hey, you walked right into it." he replied and nudged Jack's shoulder playfully.

"You totally did." Merida agreed with a happy smile on her face.

"Traitor." Jack told her and stuck his tongue out, which only made Merida smile even more.

Their conversation and friendly banter was interrupted by professor Creek entering the room, so Hiccup quickly went back to the workstation that he and Fishlegs were sharing with two Gryffindor girls that Hiccup didn't know the names of.

Their professor informed them that they would be brewing Volubilis potion today, and he explained that this potion could alter the drinker's voice or restore it if it had been lost, for example due to a silencing charm.

When professor Creek had finished a quick lecture on the potion and encouraged them to begin working, everyone started to lay out the needed utensils and move around the old, gloomy classroom in search of the correct ingredients from the dusty shelves. Hiccup had quickly found the needed ingredients and then cursed at Jack for once again nudging him in the back, making him to drop something. Of course that snow-loving idiot quickly disappeared to avoid revenge, but he was not getting off the hook that easily today. It was time for payback.

Hiccup let his eyes glide over the many containers with potions ingredients, before landing on a particular one. He smiled to himself, as he reached out, grabbed the dusty container and took the lid off. His fingers closed around one of the small vials in the container and then took it out, before putting the container back on the dark shelf. He looked at the vial of green liquid in his hand for a minute before returning to his and Fishlegs' workstation.

After working in silence for a little while, he glanced towards his Gryffindor friends' workstation to see what Jack was doing. As usual, he was helping Merida survive the class, and he actually had his back turned to his own batch, so it seemed like it was a good time to prank him now.

Hiccup quietly snuck closer and closer to the workstation, keeping an eye on Jack at all times, but Jack was still busy showing Merida how to chop the pungous onions without getting juice in the eyes. As he approached closer, Flynn and Mavis both spotted him and turned their heads slightly. They questioned him silently with their eyes, but he just gave them an amused smile and put a finger to his lips to signal that they shouldn't say anything. They both grinned at him in response, but remained quiet. They kept watching him, although trying to be discreet about it so Jack wouldn't notice, and when Hiccup was finally close enough to the cauldron, he quickly took the cork out of the vial and poured the green liquid into the batch, before retreating back to his own workstation.

As he got back to Fishlegs, they both watched Jack and his cauldron for a few moments. Hiccup had specifically chosen that particular ingredient (Armadillo bile) to pour into it, because it was not just perfect for messing up almost every potion (except the few that actually required it), it also took a little while to work, giving him time to get away and time for Jack to finish helping Merida.

When the red-head put the onions into her batch, Jack turned back to watching his own potion. He began stirring it, when it, in only a few seconds, turned into a thick goo, foamed violently and then made a loud "pop" as it burst out of the cauldron, covering Jack's face and his white hair in the slimy, green substance.

Mavis, Merida and Flynn instantly roared with laughter, and Fishlegs and Hiccup joined in right away. That look of pure disbelief on Jack's face in combination with the gross, slimy goo that stuck to him was just way too amusing.

Jack reached out and grabbed one of the towels that hung on the side of every workstation and began wiping his face. His Gryffindor friends were still trying to get their laughter fit under control, and Hiccup couldn't keep himself from snickering. Jack had pulled so many pranks on him during their friendship, that it was only fair he got some payback once in a while.

After a little while, when Jack had removed most of the slimy goo from his face and his hair, he scowled at Merida, Flynn and Mavis.

"Which one of you was it? Who is going to be subjected to a genius but brutal revenge scheme?" Jack asked them, pretending to be offended and rubbing his hands together in that familiar I'm-plotting-something-evil way of his.

"Actually..." Mavis said with a small smile and then pointed towards Hiccup.

Jack turned his head and Hiccup couldn't stop the huge grin on his face, as he waved at him.

"Oh, it…is…on, Viking boy!" Jack told him while pointing an accusing finger at him.

"Oh please…you've sabotaged my potions several times, and you can't even handle a little retribution, Frosty?" Hiccup told him, waving his hand in a dismissive motion.

"Do you really want to start a prank war with me, Hic? I'm the master of pranking, remember?"

"Jack…I'm a Viking" Hiccup shot back with a fake air of superiority. "Do you honestly think that you can beat me at anything?" he said and raised an eyebrow.

"That sounds like a challenge…I would sleep with one eye open if I were you." Jack said and narrowed his eyes at him in a mock threatening manner.

"No need to. I'll take you down with my brutal Viking wrath, if you so much as blink near me in a questionable manner."

"Psshh, like that would ever happen…you've grown too accustomed to me to ever "take me down", Hic. Just admit it." Jack told him confidently.

"Hmm…I guess you're right. I mean, I have sort of gotten used to you now…"

"That's better…"

"…the same way someone gets used to…a boil…or a mysterious and slightly worrisome lump."

"What?!" Jack said in mock outrage, while Merida, Flynn and Mavis laughed. "Hic…I'm warning you…you are so going to pay for that comment."

"What? I thought we agreed that I'd gotten used to having you around?" Hiccup said innocently and shrugged, pretending to not understand the problem. In moments like this, he realized just how much he loved their sarcastic, condescending banter…it was so much fun.

"Yeah, but you should never compare someone this awesome to gross bodily stuff, you stupid Viking."

"Then maybe you shouldn't be so damn cocky, Snowflake. You're practically begging me to take you down a peg." he shot back.

"It's not being cocky, if it's true, you know." Jack replied and smiled brightly at him.

"Sure, Jack…sure."

After a little more bantering, Jack began cleaning up the mess the prank had left, before starting on a new batch. Of course Hiccup offered to help him get it done quicker, but Jack had told him he could manage just fine, so Hiccup went back to his own cauldron and finished brewing the potion. As it turned out, he and Fishlegs both made perfect batches, as did their four Gryffindor friends. Mavis focused on helping Merida, while Jack quickly caught up now that he didn't have to keep an eye on the red-head too.

After Potions, he, Flynn, Merida and Jack said goodbye to Fishlegs and Mavis and made their way towards Defense against the Dark Arts. After a quick walk through the corridors, talking eagerly and shooting sarcastic remarks at each other, they entered the familiar classroom and took their seats.

As he sat in the large, old room with his three friends, he was briefly lost in his own thoughts again. He and Fishlegs had planned on practicing some fighting later, as they did a couple of times a month. It was essential to keep up their skills and they both really enjoyed it too, because despite the pain, it made them both better fighters and it was also nice to blow off some steam that way once in a while. Also…it sort of reminded them both of home, where they regularly did that kind of thing with the others. Even though Hiccup had always preferred weapons training (mostly because he loved using the weapons he had made himself), it was necessary for a Viking to have experience with fighting without weapons and Fishlegs was a great training partner. However…they had had to cancel it, since Hiccup had to take it easy for the rest of the day after having phantom pains.

"Earth to Hiccup, what's going on in there?" Jack suddenly said and knocked on the side of his head a few times, interrupting his thoughts.

"I was just thinking…" he said and turned his attention to him.

"No kidding. Once again, you're like…completely lost to the world. What were you thinking about?" Jack asked him, tilting his head in that familiar way of his that indicated curiosity.

"That it's too bad me and Fishlegs had to drop practice later." He explained and shrugged.

"Oh? I didn't know you had planned that."

"What kind of practice?" Flynn asked, training his brown eyes on him.

"Fighting." Hiccup replied. Jack was the only one of the Gryffindors who knew that he and Fishlegs did that once in a while, though he hadn't told him much about it.

"You and Fishlegs practice fighting?" Merida instantly interjected, sounding quite excited about that.

"Yeah, we kind of have to…you know, to maintain our skills." He explained to the red-head.

"That is so cool!" Merida exclaimed happily and her blue eyes lit up. Flynn and Jack both chuckled, while Hiccup observed her with a warm smile. He really liked her enthusiasm.

"Thanks I guess?"

"Maybe I could see you guys practice sometime…or you could give me some lessons?" Merida asked eagerly with her blue eyes a little wide, almost seeming ready to squeal with joy. She really would make a great Viking, since she was getting so excited over this, Hiccup thought to himself.

"Uhm…I'm not sure if that's such a good idea" he replied uncertainly.

"Why? You're uncomfortable having an audience?" Merida asked him, tilting her head a little, causing that massive mane of wild curls to sway just a bit.

"Not really, it's just…this isn't like the time you saw us play around with wooden swords. This is a lot more serious." he explained, gesturing with his hands.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked, furrowing his forehead a little.

"It gets…pretty violent."

The three Gryffindors watched him in silence for a few moments, their eyes conveying the surprise they felt inside, and he could tell that they had a little trouble fully comprehending what he was telling them.

"Are you saying that…you and Fishlegs actually…beat each other up?" Flynn asked in disbelief.

"Uhm…yeah, kind of?" Hiccup said sheepishly. He knew it was not a normal thing to do for people here, but they were Vikings…it was normal for them to practice like that.

"Why do you do that?" Flynn then asked in curiosity, leaning forward a little in his chair.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Like…why do you have to actually beat each other up just to practice?"

"Because practice is supposed to prepare you for the real thing…" Hiccup began to explain. "If we're just smacking each other around a little but not actually getting hurt, then how is that going to help us, when we're being kicked in the stomach or punched in the face in a real fight?...The more you get used to it, the better. We're Vikings, guys…we need to be prepared for that kind of thing."

"That makes sense." Flynn replied and nodded.

"Do you and Fishlegs have any rules when you practice?" Jack asked in curiosity.

"Only three: no broken bones, no permanent maiming and nothing in the groin."

"Geez Hic, why even bother then? You might as well just braid each other's hair and pick wildflowers." Jack replied with a challenging smile, obviously trying to bait him. Merida and Flynn both snickered at that comment.

"Oh really, Snær Flekkr? I don't think you would last long in one of our fights." he told Jack and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh please…" Jack said dismissively and waved one hand a little, as if banishing Hiccup's objection. "I could defeat you both with one hand tied behind my back."

Merida and Flynn both chuckled at that.

"You think so, huh?" Hiccup replied with an amused smile tugging at his lips.

"I know so."

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"How much experience do Fishlegs and I have with fighting?"

"Quite a lot?"

"Yes…so…Maybe you can see why it wouldn't be the best idea to challenge us?"

"That's just a minor detail, Hic. No one can beat a ninja."

"For the hundredth time Jack, you are not a ninja." Hiccup told him, but was unable to keep a smile from appearing on his lips. He had lost count of how many times Jack had insisted that he was a ninja or had "ninja reflexes" or "the stealth of a ninja" or some other variation of that theme.

"You know, Hic…denying the truth doesn't change it." Jack told him with one of those amused smiles.

Hiccup rolled his eyes in response and shook his head.

"How often do you guys fight?" Merida then said, observing him with genuine curiosity in her blue eyes.

"Usually about…twice a month, depending on when we feel like it."

"Aren't you walking around with bruises all the time then?" Jack asked, furrowing his forehead, indicating that he didn't like that idea at all.

"No, we make sure to get some healing potion, which helps the bruises heal faster, so they're usually gone in a few days." He explained.

"Does Rapunzel watch you fight then?" Merida asked him.

"No…I mean, she's seen it a few times, but she prefers not to watch it, because she doesn't like to see us getting all bruised."

"Well, I would like to see that." Merida grinned. "Pleeeeeease, Hiccup. Can I come sometime? And can I get some lessons?"

"I don't know…." He replied hesitantly, briefly considering the pros and cons.

"Pleeease" Merida said and it was so unusual to hear her say that word that it spoke volumes of just how much she wanted him to say yes.

"Wow, Hiccup…I don't think I've ever heard Curly use the P-word more than once." Flynn said with an amused smile and Jack chuckled.

"Shut it, Rider." Merida said and narrowed her eyes at him.

Hiccup sighed. "If it's okay with Fishlegs, then…I guess you can come next time." he told her.

"Great!" she said, her eyes conveying the joy she felt within.

"Yeah, well…we're coming too then." Flynn said and motioned to him and Jack.

"Uhh…what's that now?" Hiccup asked them.

"Come on Hic…if the evil Scot gets to see Viking fighting, then so do we." Jack said.

Hiccup sighed once again. "Fine, fine…you can all come then."

---

Jack and his friends had really been looking forward to this Defense against the Dark Arts lesson, as they were all excited to learn what their Patronuses were. That is…if they would actually manage to cast them properly.

The first half of the class consisted of another lecture on Dementors and Patronuses which he was very interested in. However, he couldn't stop himself from glancing at Hiccup once in a while. Hiccup seemed to be getting more and more tired. After all…he hadn't gotten much sleep and he had been exhausted already from dealing with the phantom pains. Despite his tiredness though, Hiccup had still managed to participate a little during the class, raising his hand a few times to answer professor Bunnymund's questions, although with less enthusiasm than usual.

As Jack tore his eyes off Hiccup, his attention was drawn to Flynn, who was taking out a new sheet of parchment and beginning to write on it. It quickly became apparent to Jack that Flynn was not writing notes, so due to his natural curiosity he leaned over and observed the words being written on the page. Flynn was writing a flirty note to Ashley, who was sitting by the table next to theirs and who he had been interested in for a while and flirted with a few times. Jack smiled in amusement, as his eyes glided over the message. Geez…Flynn really was smooth. He knew exactly how to get girls to swoon.

Flynn eyed professor Bunnymund, clearly waiting for a good moment to send the note towards Ashley, but their stern, Australian professor didn't turn around for quite a while. Jack smiled when Flynn sighed as a show of impatience, but then the blue-haired professor turned his back to them to illustrate something on the blackboard. Flynn quickly enchanted the note to make it fly towards Ashley, but almost as soon as the little piece of paper had taken off and was floating through the air, professor Bunnymund chose to turn around, so Flynn instantly broke the spell. The note glided downwards and landed in Hiccup's hands.

Jack was already chuckling, as Hiccup unfolded the note and read the words. A tiny ghost of a smile tugged Hiccup's lips, as he grabbed his quill and wrote something on the note. When professor Bunnymund focused his attention on the blackboard again, Hiccup made it fly back to Flynn.

As Flynn unfolded the note, Jack leaned in and watched the words written on the paper.

"Look Flynn…You're a great guy, but I'm only interested in friendship…Thanks for the comment on my 'kissable lips' though. I guess it is one of my best features."

Jack and Flynn both almost choked on their own laughter and professor Bunnymund spun around and sent them a stern look, so they immediately tried to get it under control. Jack looked at Hiccup and gave him a bright smile.

When professor Bunnymund continued his lecture, Jack did his best to scribble down some notes on this, because it was a fairly complicated subject. When he had finished writing a particularly long sentence down, he looked at Hiccup again. Hiccup was too occupied with writing down notes at a fast pace and listening to their professor to notice. Jack smiled a little to himself. Hiccup bit his bottom lip, something he had a habit of doing whenever he needed to concentrate.

Suddenly he could see Flynn lean in next to him in his peripheral vision.

"You know, Jackie…if you keep staring at him like that, he might actually begin to notice." Flynn whispered.

Jack broke his focus on Hiccup. He definitely didn't want Hiccup to notice. Jack did his best to focus on only listening to their professor's lecture and nothing else for the next 10 minutes. Then professor Bunnymund wrapped it up, and walked to the middle of the classroom, eyeing the students sitting around him.

"Okay. Now we're going to practice the Patronus charm. As I've told you before, it is a very difficult spell to cast, so not all of you will succeed today. We will practice it more in the following lessons, until everyone here has successfully cast a full-bodied Patronus. To cast a Patronus charm effectively you need to think of the happiest memory you can…and by the happiest, I don't mean the time you got to eat a whole cake by yourself or when you received a great Christmas present" their professor told them, making the last sentence sound quite stern to emphasize that this was not going to be as easy as some students may be expecting. "You need to think of a memory that fills you with genuine happiness and focus intently on that one memory…Now…pair up in groups of four and begin practicing and remember…if anyone casts any other spells, there's detention in it for you" professor Bunnymund reminded them and then crossed his arms.

The scraping of chairs and shuffling of shoes across the stone floor could be heard all around them, and Jack quickly got to his feet, eager to try to cast a Patronus. He knew it was probably more likely that he wouldn't be able to do it right away, but he was still excited about it. He briefly wondered what sort of animal would appear to him. He was quickly pulled out of his thoughts though, as he watched Hiccup slowly get to his feet. The guy seriously needed rest. Flynn and Merida also left their seats and the four of them walked a short distance away from their table to get some space.

"Hiccup, are you sure that you're not too tired for this?" Jack asked.

"I'm fine, Jack." Hiccup said, but Jack managed to say it with him in unison. Hiccup lifted an eyebrow, and his lips moved in a small smile.

"Come on Hic, that phrase is like your motto by now." he grinned, earning him an amused smile from Hiccup. It was true though…If Hiccup belonged to some ancient noble family, their coat of arms would be a Viking rolling his eyes and the words: "House Haddock: We're Fine". Jack snickered at the thought. Hiccup shot him a questioning look.

"I just imagined something funny." he explained. Hiccup's eyes brightened slightly at that.

"Okay, are we going to do this or what?" Merida asked, rubbing her hands together.

"Sure, you go ahead, Red." Flynn said and gave her a nod of encouragement.

"Okay." Merida quickly agreed, as she grabbed her wand from one of her pockets. Then she took a few deep breaths to prepare herself and held out her wand in a straight, extended arm.

"Expecto Patronum." she said confidently and did a flick with her wrist. Nothing happened though. She groaned instantly in disappointment.

"Expecto Patronum." she tried again, but still no white light appeared. She tried a third and a fourth time.

"Okay, next person" Flynn interrupted, causing Merida scowl at him.

"Fine Rider, you go" she said stubbornly and crossed her arms.

Flynn got his wand out from a pocket and held out his arm with the wand gripped tightly in his hand.

"Expecto Patronum" Flynn spoke and did a quick movement with his brown wand. No white light appeared. He waited a few moments before trying again, but it didn't work that time either.

Jack glanced at Hiccup as Flynn tried to cast the charm a few more times. Hiccup was observing Flynn with interest but his eyes were dull from tiredness. Jack was hoping he wouldn't put too much pressure on himself now. Hiccup had told him that he would take it easy, but he had still been active in all his classes. He really needed some more sleep. Not that Hiccup would see it that way, he mentally snorted.

After several tries Flynn told Jack to try. Merida snickered in triumph and shot Flynn a gloating look.

"Yeah yeah, Red you couldn't do it either." Flynn told her.

Jack took out his wand and held out the pale piece of yew wood with the phoenix feather core. He closed his eyes for a few moments and thought back to the time where he, Emma and his biological parents had been playing in the snow almost all day. They had been so tired and cold, when they'd come back inside, and they had snuggled up next to the fireplace with hot chocolate and cookies. Emma had fallen asleep on his lap, as they watched a Christmas movie together, and when his parents tucked them in, they both kissed his forehead and told him they loved him. That was a few days before they died. Jack took a few moments to just let the memory fill him like professor Bunnymund had said, and then opened his eyes.

"Expecto Patronum" he said and a white light briefly emerged from his wand but then disappeared before creating any shape.

"Wow!" Flynn said happily and practically beamed at Jack. "You almost had it, Jackie!"

"Yeah, that was awesome, Snowflake" Merida agreed and Hiccup hummed in agreement while watching him with a bright smile.

"Yeah, that was pretty close." he told his friends as a grin spread across his face. Maybe it wouldn't take him long at all to cast a real Patronus, and that thought filled him with anticipation and eagerness. He really really wanted to be able to do that.

"I'll try again." he said. He once again closed his eyes, thought of that particular memory, letting the pictures associated with it surge through his mind, as he focused even more intensely on it than before. He remembered the smell of hot chocolate…the warmth of Emma sleeping in his lap…the soft feeling of a kiss being placed on his forehead…the crackling and the warm glow from the fire…

"Expecto Patronum" he said in determination and opened his eyes. A white light once again appeared from the tip of the wand, slowly ascending towards the ceiling. This time it didn't disappear, but just kept drifting upwards to begin forming some kind of shape.

Merida and Flynn were gaping in shock, and after smiling at them, Jack looked at Hiccup. Hiccup's eyes were bright with excitement and…pride? Jack thought. He felt those damn butterflies flap violently in his stomach, and he forced himself to break eye contact with Hiccup and focus on his Patronus. He was beyond happy and excited that he had actually managed to do it, and he felt his stomach tingling in anticipation to see what sort of animal would appear.

The whole room had now gone quiet, every student in the room observing the gentle, white light floating upwards and assembling itself into something.

His eyes widened as he saw the white light form into a gleaming, arctic fox that began to run excitedly around the room in the air, leaving long, wispy traces of white light behind it. He couldn't stop the bright grin that spread across his face as he watched his Patronus playfully dart around, rolling and jumping once in a while. Well, it fit his personality that was for sure.

"That's definitely you." he heard Hiccup say in what sounded like an equal mix of affection and amusement next to him and he felt his grin widen even more.

"Well done, Mr. Overland. It's very rare for a student to cast a full-bodied Patronus that quickly." Professor Bunnymund spoke in a raised voice from the front of the class. Jack nodded his thanks at the professor. It was rare for him to hear praise from the stern DADA professor, and he felt a little surge of pride within him.

His Patronus then faded and disappeared, leaving only a few wisps of light, before they dissolved as well. He turned his attention to his friends once again. Merida and Flynn both still looked shocked, but they were currently recovering from it. Hiccup was observing them with amusement evident on his face.

"How did you pull that off?" Merida asked in disbelief, and Jack couldn't stop himself from chuckling at her completely puzzled expression.

"I'm just that good" he replied, giving her an amused smile and a wink. She groaned in response and rolled her eyes.

"That was wicked, Jack." Flynn said in genuine excitement.

"Thanks." he said with appreciation.

"Yeah, that was great." Hiccup agreed and Jack gave him a bright smile in response.

"Your turn Hiccup." Flynn said. Jack doubted that Hiccup could cast a Patronus right now…or any other demanding spell. He was very talented with magic, the best in their little group of friends, but his lack of rest would probably affect him right now.

Hiccup found his wand in one of his pockets. "Expecto patronum." he said as he held out that dark cherry wand of his. No white light emerged. He tried four more times but nothing happened. A look of disappointment crossed his face.

"My turn." Merida said, eager to get another go at the spell.

"No wait…one more try." Hiccup said, as if he'd come up with some idea that could help him. Merida nodded in agreement, a rare show of patience from her side, and Jack watched Hiccup curiously. Hiccup closed his eyes for a minute as Jack had done himself before casting the Patronus. What was he thinking?

Hiccup then opened his green eyes. "Expecto patronum." he said confidently, and this time a white light emerged from his wand, drifting upwards. Jack's eyes widened at the sight, and Merida's and Flynn's jaws dropped once again.

All sound instantly died down in the classroom, everyone observing this new Patronus take form above them. The white light gathered itself slowly into a figure, while everyone watched in eager anticipation.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me…" Jack said in surprise, as he watched the spell form a recognizable shape. "Your Patronus is a goddamn dragon." he continued in disbelief as the large white dragon began flying majestically around the room, once in a while opening its mouth to spew flames or let out a loud roar. It was…beautiful. The other students around them observed it with wide eyes or spoke to each other in hushed, excited whispers.

He tore his eyes off the Patronus. Hiccup was grinning triumphantly, his pure joy shining in those vibrant green eyes.

"It would seem so." Hiccup said, unable to hide his bubbling excitement. Jack felt a bright smile creep across his own face at Hiccup's obvious happiness. He liked seeing that look of pure elation light up Hiccup's face.

He turned his attention back to the white, soaring dragon as it flew past Astrid, who seemed captivated by it. She was following it with her gaze, a soft gentle look in those blue eyes and a faint ghost of a smile on her lips. She looked almost…proud? Jack thought…almost as if Hiccup had achieved something that she had known was inside him all along.

"That's like…fate or something." he heard Flynn say, still in slight disbelief. He turned his attention back to his three friends, as Hiccup's Patronus vanished, leaving only a faint trace of white wisps hanging in the air, before they slowly disappeared as well. A low buzzing of noise filled the room once again, as the other students began practicing the charm themselves.

"I doubt that." Hiccup replied with obvious skepticism in his voice.

"What are you talking about? You're a dragon trainer, the first one to ever train a dragon, and your Patronus is a dragon…That's hardly a coincidence?" Flynn argued and Merida hummed in agreement.

"No, it isn't…but the shape of the Patronus is significant to the caster, and since my best friend is a dragon and I deal with dragons all the time, of course they're important to me" Hiccup argued.

"Yeah, but it also says something about the casters personality." Merida said with a smile on her lips.

Hiccup shrugged at that, and Jack knew that she had him there.

"Face it Hic, you're part dragon." he said affectionately and nudged the other guy's shoulder, causing that familiar spark of electricity that made him feel warm inside.

The statement made Hiccup's face split into a huge grin.

"That's probably the best thing you could have ever said to me." Hiccup said, his eyes gleaming with appreciation and Jack couldn't hold back the huge smile that spread across his own face.

For the remainder of the class, Merida and Flynn continued to try and cast their Patronuses, while Jack and Hiccup watched with great interest. A few other students in the room had managed to pull off the spell, and besides Jack's and Hiccup's Patronuses, they had seen a hummingbird, a crow, a cat and a red panda.

When there was about 10 minutes left of the class, Merida's wand let out the familiar white light and it floated upwards.

"Yes!" the red-head exclaimed in excitement and did a little jump, as she kept her eyes on the white light that was slowly turning itself into an animal shape.

"That's very fitting." Jack said and Flynn quickly agreed, as they watched Merida's light take the shape of a large bear swinging its paws and roaring once in a while.

Merida was practically over the moon, watching the white bear with joy in her eyes.

A little while later, Flynn also managed to pull of the charm, his Patronus taking the shape of a dolphin swimming around happily in the air, doing elaborate acrobatic jumps and making excited clicking noises. That definitely made sense too…dolphins were extremely social as well as joyful, adventurous, and protective. Just like Flynn, Jack thought to himself with a fond smile as he observed the Patronus do another air jump.

Jack suddenly spotted a Patronus running past him, leaving a mass of white traces in its wake, and he didn't even have to look to confirm who it belonged to. The proud lioness that was currently roaring towards the sky could only belong to Astrid.

After Defense against the Dark Arts, Jack and Merida had Quidditch practice, so after a quick, excited talk with Flynn and Hiccup about all of their Patronuses, they went back to the Gryffindor tower to change into their red and yellow Quidditch uniforms, before the two of them walked towards the Quidditch pitch, engaged in even more eager conversation about the class they had just had.

Astrid turned out to be a true slave driver today, working them extra hard to prepare them for the match against the Slytherins. No one complained though, as everyone was eager to win and willing to put in a lot of effort to achieve that. Luckily it didn't rain today, which made it a lot easier to stay focused and pull off the drills Astrid had planned for them. Jack really enjoyed being in the air on his broom, doing awesome maneuvers and yelling taunts at Merida as usual. Astrid remained concentrated throughout their practice and expertly led them through different scenarios that they needed to be prepared for, and once again Jack actually found himself admiring her natural abilities as a leader.

He still found it a bit…strange to be around her though, since things were now a little tense between her and Hiccup. Well, tense wasn't the right word…more like…weird. However, he was also relieved that he had no reason to be jealous of her anymore. Hiccup didn't feel that way about her and that actually made him like Astrid better than he had before.

After practice, he was not just sweaty and dirty from the intense training but also feeling sore all over, his muscles aching from use. Many people probably didn't know it, but Quidditch was actually a lot of hard work, especially when you had to go at it for hours.

After saying goodbye to the rest of the team, he and Merida walked side by side, brooms in hand, back towards their dormitories. Their sweaty clothes began getting cold and clingy on their skin from the chilly autumn wind, and while he wasn't that affected by it (as usual), Merida began shivering a little.

They made their way towards the castle with brisk steps, both eager to get out of their wet, sticky clothes and get a nice, refreshing shower. When they reached the castle entrance, a gentle drizzle of rain had begun, and Jack found himself grateful that it was only starting now.

They quickly walked down the corridors, eagerly discussing Quidditch strategy and their expectations for that rematch against the Slytherins. When they reached the common room and entered, they split up and headed towards their separate dormitories to get cleaned up.

As he was standing in the shower, the warm water softly trickled down his skin, making his muscles relax. He closed his eyes and leaned his head under the running water, letting it soak his snow-white hair and trail down his face, leaving its warm, gentle touches on the skin. Then he leaned his head back again, quickly rubbed his eyes to remove a little water that was irritating his vision and then began focusing on washing his body. He grabbed the bottle of liquid soap and squirted a little of the fluid into his hands, before rubbing them together, creating soft white bubbles. As he gently moved his hands along his skin under the pleasantly warm water, his thoughts once again wandered to a certain brunet Ravenclaw. Not that that was unusual...he was thinking about Hiccup almost constantly these days.

Even though he still enjoyed his Hiccup's company immensely and wanted to be near him all the time, it was sometimes really difficult to be around him, because of those thoughts that kept popping into his head. Ever since Hiccup had turned Astrid down and Jack had been pulled out of his depression and gotten...somewhat back to normal, he had begun to get these...urges. He had had plenty of thoughts about kissing Hiccup, holding him, running his fingers through his hair and such, since he realized how he felt about him, but this was different. These new thoughts and sensations weren't just about his feelings, but also about his strong attraction to him...like how he sometimes found himself thinking about what it would be like to let his hands slide under Hiccup's clothes and allow his fingers to glide across that smooth skin, touching and exploring every single part of him.

He felt his heart beat faster at that thought. Why did he have to have such a hopeless crush? It was frustrating that he couldn't do anything like that. It left him tense and dissatisfied. As the warm water kept running gently down his skin, he couldn't stop thinking about what it would be like to just corner Hiccup somewhere secluded and kiss him deeply over and over, their mouths melting together, the wet, warm, sweet sensation making them both lose their minds, as they eagerly pulled each other's clothes off. He looked down himself and sighed. Well, that was just great...now he would need to take care of...that.

When he had tended to his 'problem', he finished his shower and then quickly dried himself off with a soft towel and began putting on some dry, clean clothes.

This wasn't the first time he had had this particular...issue in the past two weeks. In the beginning he had just tried to ignore it, because he felt so embarrassed about it, but then...he began to give in. The first time he had done something about it, he had cringed so much afterwards and felt his face heat up from the utter shame. He had been horrified that he had just done...that...by thinking of his friend.

He really shouldn't have been surprised that these new thoughts began to enter his mind more and more though. After all...he had feelings for Hiccup and he was a 17 year old boy filled with hormones. It only made sense, even though he still felt really embarrassed by it...but it helped him deal with his emotions as he felt a lot calmer afterwards, because he was no longer quite as frustrated.

At least that was something.

---

Hiccup had a headache and felt quite tired as he was making his way towards the Ravenclaw tower to change out of his school robes and into something more comfortable. He was meeting his friends by the lake, and he was really looking forward to being around them and getting some fresh air. Both of those things would definitely help with his headache and fatigue.

It had been a nice although fairly uneventful day today, and his last class had been Building, Managing and Repairing Magical Objects which he loved as usual. He had stayed a while after class and worked on the bow he was crafting for himself. He was almost finished with it and he was really looking forward to practicing archery side by side with Merida, where they could both shoot at the same time instead of taking turns. Now that he knew that Astrid and Merida both had weapons successfully hidden here, he didn't hesitate to have one too. It would be nice to have the option to just retreat into the forest and fire arrows, if he needed to get his mind off something. It was soothing for him just like sketching was.

As he walked down the corridors among a lot of other students, either on their way to more classes or finally enjoying some time off after a long day, a lot of people greeted him, waved at him and smiled. He returned the greetings politely, even if the attention still made him uncomfortable. It was true what Jack had said a few days ago. It seemed that ever since he had begun hanging out with Jack and his friends his popularity had increased even more.

When he turned a corner and continued along another passageway, a person suddenly stepped in front of him, stopping him dead in his tracks. He observed the girl who had interrupted him and recognized her although he didn't know her name. From the look of her school robes, she was a Slytherin, and she was quite pretty, with pale skin, long, wavy dark brown hair and green eyes. Hiccup remembered having seen her around in classes and such, but had never had anything to do with her.

"Hi Hiccup." she said with a friendly smile. He still wasn't used to people knowing his name. It took him by surprise every time.

"Uhm…hi." he replied, shifting his weight from one leg to the other.

"Sarah." she said and smiled, having obviously picked up on the fact that he didn't know her name.

"Nice to meet you." he said politely, although it wasn't quite true. Sure, she seemed friendly but…he really wasn't too fond of being approached by strangers.

"How are you?" she asked, observing him curiously with those quite green eyes, as she adjusted her bag to hang more comfortably on her shoulder.

"I'm okay." he replied casually and shrugged.

He definitely wasn't. Quick emotional status update: how was he feeling? Awkward? Check. Anxious? Check. Self-conscious? Check. Great…so just like any other time this sort of interaction had ever happened. Ever.

"Can I ask you something?" Sarah said and a smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

No.

"Yeah, sure?" he ended up saying. He wasn't rude after all. He was just hoping that it wouldn't be about dragons…or himself…but that was a slim chance.

"I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me some time? There's a trip to Hogsmeade this weekend, so if you want, we could spend some time together?" Sarah asked rather confidently. She didn't seem shy or nervous like most girls who approached him these days.

Unlike Sarah though, he was definitely feeling shy now. No matter how many girls passed him notes, smiled at him or asked him out, he would never get used to it and that feeling of self-consciousness and embarrassment would never cease to pop up in these situations.

"Uhmm…" he said hesitantly. "Thanks…you seem like a nice person, but…I'm not really looking to date right now." he finished and gave her a small smile, doing his best to let her down gently.

"Oh…okay." Sarah said, obviously disappointed by his answer. "Well…if you change your mind, come find me." she then told him and smiled warmly, before winking at him and turning around, walking away down the corridor.

He felt a blush creep into his cheeks. Girls should never be allowed to wink at him…that was like…one of the ultimate awkwardness triggers.

He looked at Sarah walking away for a few moments, before pulling himself out of his own weirdness. Just as he decided to continue on his way to the Ravenclaw tower, he heard a familiar, very angry voice behind him.

"Haddock."

He sighed and turned around to face McGowan. What did he want? He was already feeling the annoyance swirl inside him, because he now had to deal with this jerk. That was never good.

McGowan was standing a little distance away from him with Levin by his side as usual. The large Gryffindor's body language was very tense. His fists were clenched, his eyes were narrowed and his forehead furrowed. Hiccup had obviously done something to piss him off, but what? They hadn't even interacted in any way since that potions class on their first day of classes after the summer and thank Thor for that.

"What?" Hiccup asked impatiently, crossing his arms in a defensive manner. He didn't want to play games and he didn't care about being polite in this situation.

McGowan took a few steps towards him, slowly and menacingly. Hiccup wasn't intimidated though and he kept his cool, neutral facial expression in place.

"Why were you talking to Sarah?" McGowan demanded to know, his voice laced with annoyance. The large guy was observing him with those narrowed eyes that were currently filled with anger.

Ah, okay…

Great…jealousy. Just what he needed. A large brute of a guy with a temper problem, who apparently thought he was hitting on the girl he liked. Well…this encounter just got unpredictable…if there was something that could make people lose their mind it was jealousy…and revenge.

"She came over to talk to me." he explained calmly, not breaking eye contact with the big guy in front of him. He refused to back down first. He hadn't done anything wrong.

"You stay away from her, Haddock. I'm not kidding." McGowan spat and crossed his arms.

"Okay…not really a problem, since I'm not interested in her?" he replied casually and shrugged. McGowan could have Sarah all to himself. He didn't even know the girl, so why would he care?

"Do you think I'm stupid?" the large Gryffindor growled at him.

Yes. Definitely yes.

Despite his thoughts, Hiccup chose to remain silent, not wanting to escalate the situation. As usual, he would try to stay calm. If there was going to be some kind of conflict, he was not going to be the one who started it.

The air was thick with tension between them, but Hiccup just watched the two Gryffindors with neutral eyes, waiting for them to decide if they wanted to move along or keep bothering him.

"Just don't ever talk to her again, or we'll have a real problem." McGowan sneered, his nose wrinkling in disgust as he chased the quietness away.

Hiccup felt the irritation grow inside him at that moment. Of course he didn't plan on spending any time with Sarah, but he really didn't like being threatened and especially not over something this stupid.

"And what if she talks to me again? Is that somehow my fault as well?" he asked the large, annoyed guy in front of him and tilted his head a little in a questioning and irritated gesture.

"Look, it's very simple…you stay away from her or you get my fist in your face." McGowan told him and now his demeanor had changed. He practically seemed bored, as if he had made that kind of threat a million times in his life…which he probably had. He was a bully after all…well known for bothering other students on a regular basis.

"You know…I'm my own person." Hiccup stated, remaining calm and collected, although his voice had taken on an icy tone now.

"Are you seriously giving me shit right now? Are you that stupid, Haddock? Don't you remember what we did to you in our second year? Do you really want that to happen again?" McGowan immediately spat, narrowing his eyes threateningly.

"I remember it vividly. I just don't appreciate being threatened." he replied coolly.

Hiccup glanced to his side and noticed that several students had now stopped in their tracks to observe his discussion with McGowan. Great…Just what he needed right now.

"Oh really?" McGowan sneered and then took a few more steps towards Hiccup in another attempt to intimidate him. It didn't work though. Levin was still standing a little behind his friend for obvious goon-support.

Hiccup still made sure to not break eye contact or back down in any way. He was so sick of dealing with these kinds of people for years now. They always thought they could just get anything they wanted through threats. Well, that was not going to work with him.

The adrenaline began shooting through his body, as he mentally prepared himself for what was probably about to come, if McGowan's body language was any indication. He could instantly feel the quick bursts of energy that spread through him, causing his heart to beat faster and his senses to become hyper-aware. His mind quickly flipped through different scenarios of how this could play out.

"Yes, really." he said icily, keeping his collected demeanor in place, although the adrenaline surges were making his body feel restless from the excess energy. He instinctually placed his feet so it would be easy to dodge an attack. If they were going to do something, he would be prepared for it.

McGowan's face contorted in rage and Hiccup's assessment of the situation was confirmed. Thank the gods that he was used to fighting people bigger than him. He would need that experience now.

The large Gryffindor lunged at him. A fist swung towards him. Hiccup jumped to the side. The punch meant for his face came rushing through the air next to his head in a blur of knuckles.

Gasps and hushed voices erupted all around him.

McGowan charged towards him. He attempted to land a blow on his head.

Drop to one knee. Jump to the side. Get up. Don't let him get close enough.

McGowan turned around, and Levin came lunging at him all of the sudden.

A fist came flying towards him. He jerked away to avoid a hard smack in the face.

Right after Levin had tried to hit him, Hiccup moved in and kicked him hard in the stomach. Levin had the air knocked out of him and stumbled back a little.

McGowan once again threw himself at him trying to get a hit in.

Hiccup sprang to the side and whirled around. Then a force from behind slammed him violently into the stone wall. A jolt of pain shot through his spine. McGowan turned around and planted a fist in his face.

The pain rushed through Hiccup's nose and cheek. He saw spots. His mind temporarily went blank.

He was grabbed by the shoulders, spun around and shoved brutally against the wall face first. Sharp jabs of pain rushed through his nose and mouth. Warm blood seeped from his nose, leaving a wet trail down to his chin. A familiar metallic taste spread through his mouth.

His mind refocused. He shoved his elbow backwards brutally into McGowan's gut, while stepping hard on one of his feet. The grip on his shoulders was instantly released.

He whirled around. A fist shot through the air heading for his face.

Hiccup ducked, air rushing through his hair.

Drop down. Grab his legs. Knock him off balance. Get him down.

McGowan crashed to the stone floor. The air was knocked out of him. A pained hiss escaped the large boy.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Levin moving. He turned. Levin moved his arm to start a punch. Hiccup quickly evaded the larger boy and then kicked him on the kneecap with full force. A cry of agony came. The large boy's legs wobbled.

Hiccup launched a fist hard on the guy's nose. A cracking sound. The feel of knuckles breaking hard cartilage. He kneed him in the gut, shoving his kneecap into the skin and organs. Levin stumbled backwards, gasping for air, his eyes wide and his legs even more unsure now.

A sharp pain spread through Hiccup's knuckles. His heart pounded in his chest.

The sound of footsteps.

He turned his head. McGowan had recovered and came towards him, his face scrunched in rage. He swung his fist and tried to hit him.

Hiccup ducked and the fist met the stone wall instead. An angry, painful shout erupted. Hiccup wrenched himself upright and whirled around the large boy. He shoved McGowan brutally into the wall face first.

He glanced at Levin, who was now moving again. Before Levin could swing a punch or a kick, Hiccup planted a fist in the guy's face. More pain surged through his knuckles. Levin staggered back and swayed and his mouth and nose were bleeding, leaving crimson trails down his face.

Hiccup watched him for a few moments, waiting for the guy to make a move or give up. He didn't want to fight unless he needed to. He was breathing heavily. His heart was beating incredibly fast. The adrenaline and the anticipation of more fighting streamed through his body.

"You fucking little shit" he heard McGowan say in disgust. He turned around. The big Gryffindor quickly closed the distance between them and lunged at him, eager to bash his face in.

Before McGowan was close enough to do anything, he surprised him by suddenly jumping towards him and then kicked him hard in the stomach. The large boy stumbled into one of the stone walls. Hiccup used this to his advantage. He shoved the guy into the wall once again, and then swept one foot behind McGowan's legs and knocked him off balance.

McGowan landed hard on his back and grunted in pain.

Levin had had time to pull himself together, while Hiccup dealt with McGowan. He came towards him. A punch was launched, aiming for his nose, but the guy's injuries left the fist less powerful. Hiccup grabbed the hand in a tight grip. He was fighting two enemies, he needed to incapacitate one of them. He pulled the fingers back in one forceful move. The sound of bones breaking filled the air. Levin howled in pain and slumped down on the floor instantly.

More gasps and scattered outbursts from all around him reached his ears.

"You broke my fucking fingers!" Levin shouted in what sounded like equal amounts of rage, pain and disbelief.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw McGowan getting up from the floor. After a brief moment of steadying himself, the large boy ran towards him, roaring in anger, his hand clenched tightly.

The large boy took a few steps back, unsure on his feet, and then Hiccup saw the opening to end this. He sprang into action and kicked McGowan hard in the ribs. A loud, sickening cracking noise erupted. A pained scream escaped the large Gryffindor, echoing through the corridors. He instantly dropped to the floor like a limp puppet.

Hiccup glanced at Levin whose narrowed eyes and wrinkled noise was clearly conveying the rage he was feeling on the inside, but he was not moving to get up.

Hiccup took a deep breath and was relieved that this was over, although he really didn't like having to fight someone like this…and especially not in the middle of the goddamn hallways.

He was breathing heavily and erratically from all the fighting and his body was feeling sore, but the surges of adrenaline hadn't stopped coursing through his veins, so he was still restless and hyper-aware. The taste of blood lingered in his mouth and the wet sensation under his nose and from his lip to his chin told him that he probably had quite a lot of the crimson liquid on his face.

His green eyes quickly began to dart around his surroundings and took in all the students who had been watching his little…encounter with the two Gryffindors. They were now gaping at him in shock, some of them whispering to each other, other's just staring at him with wide eyes. He began to feel extremely self-conscious, as he was practically being studied by all of these people.

"What on earth is going on here?!" professor Bunnymund's voice pulled him out of his thoughts, and he snapped his head towards the sound. The stern, Australian professor was standing next to some of the students with his arms crossed, eying Hiccup intently. He did not look pleased at all.

Hiccup sighed. Great…now he might be expelled because two jerks decided to attack him in the hallways.

---

After classes Jack and his three friends had gone to their usual spot by the lake. A blanket of clouds in different grey nuances was spread across the autumn sky, and the air was getting chillier each day, signaling the coming of winter, much to Jack's delight. His friends had all worn coats outside for a long time now, but Jack had only recently begun to put on his black jacket when he left the castle. Sure, he had a very high tolerance to cold, but he wasn't immune to it and the temperature had dropped a lot in the last week.

As he sat on one of the blankets they always brought with them down to the lake, he and his friends were discussing the newest homicidal plant that Flynn and Mavis had had to deal with in herbology.

Suddenly Merida's and Flynn's heads snapped towards something, causing Jack's and Mavis' attention to be pulled towards that direction as well. A person was approaching them, running across the moist grass, brown jacket flapping in the wind. Jack instantly recognized Jim who was obviously in a hurry to get to them. He had no idea what to expect from this. What was going on?

When Jim was by their side, they all looked at him expectantly in silence, eager to hear whatever it was he had to tell them. He was panting from running and took a few moments to catch his breath before he spoke.

"Guys, I think you should go find Hiccup." Jim told them quickly, still slightly breathless.

Jack instantly felt concern turning his stomach to knots.

"What? Has something happened to him?" He blurted out, unable to keep the worry out of his voice.

"Well" Jim began to explain, his eyes darting back and forth between them. "He was attacked by McGowan and Levin in the hallways, but-"

"What!?" all four of them exclaimed in unison, interrupting Jim, who shut up immediately. Jack felt the anger roil violently in his gut and he clenched his fists by his sides.

"But" Jim tried again. "Apparently he managed to take them down. The whole school's talking about it." He finished and now he almost seemed a little giddy by this.

Jack instantly turned his head towards Mavis, Flynn and Merida. "We need to go." he told them and they all nodded and quickly got to their feet.

The five Gryffindors ran towards the castle, wanting to get to Hiccup and find out everything that had happened. Jack asked Jim if he knew if Hiccup was okay, but Jim told him that he had no idea. Jack felt the hostility and the worry thrash inside him. He really really hoped that Hiccup wasn't hurt…and if those idiots weren't expelled for this, then he would make damn sure that they never touched him again.

When they reached the castle entrance, Jack stopped and turned to Jim.

"Do you have any idea where he is?" he asked.

"I heard that professor Bunnymund took him to see professor Lunar, so I guess he's at his office?" Jim replied.

Jack nodded. "Let's go" he told the others and they all walked briskly through the corridors towards the headmaster's office in silence. Jack's thoughts were swirling in his head and he was impatient to see Hiccup to find out if he was hurt.

They moved down more hallways and up more staircases until they reached the third floor. The familiar gargoyle entrance to the headmaster's office came into view, and as they approached, Jack spotted Rapunzel and Fishlegs waiting next to the entrance. He picked up the pace, eager to get to them and find out if they knew anything. His friends followed his increase in tempo.

Fishlegs and Rapunzel turned their heads towards them, when they heard them approach.

"You guys have any idea what happened?" Jack quickly asked the two Ravenclaws, when he and the others were standing in front of them.

"We heard from some other students that Hiccup was attacked and that he defended himself against McGowan and Levin." Fishlegs quickly explained.

"So you haven't seen him? You don't know if he's okay?" Jack asked, not bothering to hide the concern he was feeling on the inside.

"No." Rapunzel replied and her green eyes conveyed that she was just as worried as he was. "From what we've heard he isn't badly hurt, but we're not allowed to go in there." she added and glanced towards the entrance to the headmaster's office. "Apparently professor Bunnymund and headmaster Lunar are talking to Hiccup and some of the students that saw the whole thing."

"Do you know where McGowan and Levin are now?" Flynn asked the two Ravenclaws, voicing something that Jack also wanted to know.

"No." Fishlegs replied.

"They're in the hospital wing" Jim then said, causing everyone to turn their heads to look at him. "Apparently Hiccup hurt them pretty badly."

"Good." Jack said in satisfaction.

"Yeah." Merida quickly agreed.

"Did you guys know that he is like…good at fighting?" Jim asked them curiously, his eyes a little wide with excitement now.

Jack chuckled. "Yeah…we knew that."

Jim nodded. "Although I'm pretty sure everyone's exaggerating…you know how it is with gossip. They're practically making him sound like some kind of ninja."

"He's not a ninja, Jim…he's a Viking." Jack said. He felt a tug of affection in his chest as he said those words.

"Huh…Well, I never expected him to be able to do something like that…" Jim replied and now he had a thoughtful look on his face.

'There's always more' Hiccup's words echoed in his mind.

"Trust me, Jim. He's full of surprises" Jack said and a fond smile graced his lips, as he briefly thought about all the times in their friendship when Hiccup had surprised him in some way.

They waited close to the gargoyle entrance for about an hour, trying to pass the time by talking, although they were all pretty impatient to see Hiccup for themselves. Jack and his Gryffindor friends were sitting on the floor, leaning against one of the stone walls, while Fishlegs and Rapunzel were standing in front of them, apparently not wanting to sit down. Jack and the other Gryffindors had taken their coats off and thrown them in a pile next to where they were sitting.

Suddenly their attention was pulled towards the gargoyle entrance, as that circular staircase behind it began to move and a very familiar brunet Ravenclaw descended the stairs.

"Hiccup!" Rapunzel exclaimed and immediately rushed to his side with Fishlegs right behind her.

As Jack took in Hiccup's appearance he felt a strong mix of anger and relief. Hiccup was obviously not seriously injured and he was very relieved by that, but a large, angry, dark red bruise marred the right side of his face, from under one eye to most of the cheek, he had dried blood caked under his nose and his lip was split, a fairly deep looking wound that appeared almost black with dark blood, leaving a red trail down to his chin.

Hiccup smiled fondly at Rapunzel and Fishlegs as they approached, but he immediately winced and hissed a little when Rapunzel threw herself at him and wrapped her arm around him.

"Sorry." Rapunzel instantly said, regret evident on her face as she took a few steps back. "What's wrong?"

Jack and his four friends had also reached Hiccup and were standing in a half-circle in front of him.

"I just…have some bruises on my back and you kind of…put a lot of pressure on them." Hiccup told her with a small smile.

"Sorry." Rapunzel repeated sheepishly and wrung her hands a little.

"Hic, are you okay?" Jack asked, looking him over for any injuries he might not have discovered yet.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Hiccup replied, sounding quite calm, as if this whole situation didn't really affect him that much. Fishlegs gave Hiccup a gentle squeeze on one shoulder and Hiccup rewarded him with a small smile.

"I guess your theory that bullies were at least smart enough to not attack someone out in the open was sort of shot down, huh?" Fishlegs then told Hiccup.

"Yeah, well…usually they are, but…jealousy makes people do insane, irrational things." Hiccup replied and then shrugged.

"Jealousy? What happened?" Jack asked, wanting to hear Hiccup's side of the story and get some answers.

"Some girl asked me out and apparently McGowan has a thing for her or something…I don't even know what the story is there…but anyway, after she left he began threatening me and telling me that if I ever talked to her again, he would bash my face in…I tried to keep myself calm but I told him that I don't like being threatened…so him and Levin decided to come at me." Hiccup explained, gesturing with his hands.

"Those jerks" Jack said, narrowing his eyes. His friends muttered annoyed words of agreement form all around him, everyone irritated that those idiots had bothered Hiccup.

"Yeah, they really are." Hiccup agreed and nodded.

"Well, we're really relieved you're okay Hiccup." Flynn said and everyone nodded eagerly to show that they agreed.

"Thanks." Hiccup replied, as he looked at Flynn with appreciation in his green eyes.

"You're not going to get in trouble because of this, are you?" Rapunzel asked Hiccup uncertainly, shifting her weight from one leg to the other.

"No." Hiccup shook his head. "There were a lot of witnesses and they told headmaster Lunar that it was self-defense. It seems like McGowan and Levin are going to get expelled though."

"About time." Jack said and Flynn quickly muttered a "Yeah."

"It's not the first time they've been starting fights…and it's always with people smaller than them" he added, remembering the times he'd seen them threaten other students or hearing that they'd been involved in a fight.

"I know." Hiccup told him, now sounding quite tired. He rubbed his eyes for a brief moment.

"What? You know?"

"Yeah..." Hiccup said hesitantly. Jack did not like where this was going.

"What are you not telling us?"

Hiccup sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I probably shouldn't have said that…anyway, you might as well know. Twice in our second year McGowan and some of his friends beat me up…and I don't mean like a single kick or punch, but really…beat me up."

"What?" Jack asked in disbelief, furrowing his forehead. He felt the anger swirl inside him.

"You heard me."

"How did they not get expelled for that?" Mavis asked, unable to keep the irritation out of her usually kind and gentle voice.

"They got some of their friends to cover for them and tell the professors that they'd been with them all night. There was no proof." Hiccup shrugged.

"Except for Hiccup's blood and bruises!" Rapunzel said, surprising everyone with her sudden hostile outburst.

Hiccup's eyes softened. "I'm fine now" he said, squeezing her shoulder.

"I know, I know…" Rapunzel said, sounding more resigned than angry now. Fishlegs gave Hiccup's shoulder a small squeeze, mirroring Hiccup's action towards Rapunzel. Jack felt renewed fondness towards Fishlegs and Rapunzel. They were great friends.

"There was actually blood?" Merida asked with a confused look. "How come no one saw or heard anything?"

"It was in an isolated place. I'd gone there to think some things over, and they sort of ambushed me".

"Cowards" Jack muttered angrily. He still felt the violent waves of anger and hostility crash inside him. It was a good thing that it seemed like they'd never have to deal with those morons ever again.

"Yeah, they were…" Hiccup agreed.

"Well, it's great that you managed to kick their asses now, Hic…Now people know not to mess with you." he told him with a small smile.

"Yeah, that's good." Merida agreed and nodded.

"That's not good." Hiccup told them.

"What? Why not?" Jack asked, tilting his head a little. Why wouldn't that be a good thing?

"Now people know that I can handle myself in a fight, so if anyone wants to mess with me they'll be prepared for that…it's always better to have people underestimate you."

Jack nodded. "That makes sense…" he said. He didn't like that it made sense though, as that meant someone who might potentially bother Hiccup would know what to expect from him.

"How did you even manage to win, Hiccup? Those two are huge." Jim asked in curiosity and with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, they're big guys…and they're definitely a lot stronger than me…but they don't have any real experience. All they've done all these years is beat up people smaller than them, who didn't know how to fight either." Hiccup explained.

"Yeah. The size of an opponent actually doesn't matter that much, if you have experience and they don't." Fishlegs said, gesturing eagerly with his hands.

"Well, it's impressive nonetheless." Jim told Hiccup with a certain respect in his voice.

"Thanks…although I wish it could have been avoided." Hiccup replied and Jack could see the conflicted emotions in his green eyes.

"Jim told us they're in the hospital wing. How badly hurt are they?" Merida asked, tilting her head in curiosity.

"Uhm…well, they're not that hurt, but they're definitely going to need some healing, because I broke a few bones."

"You broke bones?" Flynn asked in disbelief, expressing the surprise that Jack also felt inside.

"Yeah, well…they were two against one and much bigger than me, so I needed to incapacitate them somehow…it had to be enough to make them stay down."

"Well who cares if they're hurt?" Merida said. The others seemed to quickly agree. Jack understood Hiccup's conflicting emotions, but he also didn't care much about McGowan's and Levin's wellbeing.

"Come on guys…Even when it's in self-defense and they're jerks, I don't like actually hurting people, so…I did what I needed to end the fight but nothing more." Hiccup told them.

"Yeah, we know, Hiccup." Rapunzel said softly and words of agreement were uttered among the others.

They stayed there by the entrance to the headmaster's office for a little while longer, as they asked Hiccup more questions about what had happened. Hiccup explained everything that occurred between him and McGowan and Levin, like how he'd gotten that bruise and the blood on his face. Jack felt incredibly grateful in that moment that Hiccup knew how to fight and defend himself…if he hadn't, he would be seriously injured by now instead of having the fairly limited damage he currently had. He still felt worried about him though…there was bound to be pain from all of this and once again in his life, Hiccup had had to deal with jerks who wanted to hurt him somehow.

---

Hiccup walked along one of the large stone hallways, feeling the bruises on his back protesting from any kind of movement. He could definitely use some sleep right now. His mind was still swirling with thoughts and images about the fight. McGowan and Levin hadn't left him a choice, but he still really wished that it could have been avoided. He didn't like fighting people when it was serious and not just practice.

He had let his friends know that he was going to get a change of clothes and then rest a little, as being in a fight had been exhausting. Now that he was calming down from all the adrenaline shooting through his body and the aftermath of the whole thing, he was sensing the tiredness taking over him. Many people didn't know that even a short fight would drain almost anyone, because of the combination of hard physical activity and adrenaline bursts that stresses the body.

He had left his friends by the entrance to headmaster Lunar's office. They were apparently going to spend some time together, probably by the lake as usual, and were beginning to head out, when he said goodbye to them and went in the other direction towards the Ravenclaw tower. He hadn't gotten far down one of the corridors though, before he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Hic."

He stopped in his tracks and then turned around to face Jack, who was standing a little distance behind him.

"Yeah?" he asked, not sure what Jack wanted, since they had just seen each other a few moments ago.

"You need to get cleaned up." Jack said, observing his damaged face with worry in his piercing, blue eyes.

"Yeah, I know…I'll take care of it." he told him and shrugged, not wanting him to be concerned. After all…the damage was minor.

"Come here…I'll help you" Jack told him with a small smile, motioning with his hand.

"That's okay, I can do it myself" he replied, not wanting to be a burden. After all…he'd cleaned his own wounds many times during the years, so it was no big deal.

"Hic, just…let me help you, okay? I want to do something to help." Jack said insistently, and Hiccup recognized that feeling from himself…whenever one of his friends was hurting somehow, he wanted to do something to help too…no matter how small a thing it might be.

"Okay." he replied softly and nodded a few times. If it would make Jack feel better, then he would let him clean his wounds, even though it wasn't really necessary.

A fond smile spread across Jack's face and Hiccup was happy that he was already feeling less worried, now that he had agreed to let him help him. It warmed his heart that Jack was this concerned about him, and it reminded him that Jack really was one of the kindest people he knew.

"Come on." Jack said and motioned with one hand for Hiccup to follow him, as he turned around and began walking down the corridor.

He followed Jack along the hallway for a few moments, before they came to the door of one of the bathrooms. Jack opened the door and they both went inside. It was one of the larger bathrooms in the castle, with plenty of stalls, a few large stone pillars and a lot of sinks placed in a circle in the middle of the room. Behind the sinks, large arch windows let sunlight stream through, illuminating the room in a warm glow, making the fairly cold stone surroundings seem less dull and uninviting. Underneath the windows there were several low, stone window sills and Hiccup approached them and then sat down on one of them and pulled his legs up, sitting cross-legged.

He turned his head and watched Jack, who was standing by the sinks and had taken one of the little bowls the soaps were placed in. Jack removed the soap and rinsed the bowl under the running tap, before filling it with clean water. Then he carried the bowl towards the window sill where Hiccup was sitting, put it down and then walked away towards one of the little, brown cupboards in the corner of the room, where the bathroom supplies were stocked. He opened it and pulled out some tissue paper, before closing it again and approaching Hiccup.

Hiccup watched as Jack placed himself in front of him on the low stone windowsill, also sitting cross-legged. Jack met his eyes and Hiccup smiled softly at his friend even though the action hurt a little due to the damage on his lip. Jack ripped out some of the tissue paper from the packet, crumbled it into an uneven ball and dipped it slightly in the water in the small bowl.

Jack scooted a little closer and then extended his arm towards him with the paper in one hand. Hiccup felt the wet, paper leaving cooling touches on his skin, as Jack slowly began to scrub gently under his nose to remove the dried blood that had caked there. Jack went through several of those wet, crumbled pieces of paper, forming a small pile of red stained paper next to them, before he had successfully cleaned all the blood off from under Hiccup's nose.

"One down, two to go." Jack told him with a gentle smile on his lips.

Hiccup nodded in response and returned the smile. Despite the fact that this wasn't really necessary, it was a nice, heartwarming gesture that Jack was cleaning him up. It spoke volumes of how close they'd really grown and how much Jack cared about his wellbeing.

Once again Jack pulled out some paper, crumbled it and then dipped it in the cold, clear water, before he reached out his hand towards Hiccup again and swiftly removed the trail of blood his split lip had left down to his chin. As Jack removed the paper again, the air coming into contact with the remaining water lingering on his skin, made him feel a little tingling chill.

Jack briefly got to his feet and grabbed the small pile of bloodstained paper next to them. He briskly walked towards the bin and threw them out, before once again placing himself in front of Hiccup. He took the packet of tissue paper again and pulled out more clean paper.

The only thing left for Jack to clean up was his damaged lip, which was an actual wound and not just dried blood. As soon as Jack placed a touch on the split lip, he winced a little because of the sharp sting from the wound.

"Sorry." Jack said apologetically, furrowing his brow in concern and temporarily retracting his hand.

"It's fine." he reassured him.

Jack nodded in response and then once again reached out and placed the cold, wet paper against his wounded skin. The stinging sensation was immediately back, but he restrained himself and avoided wincing, now that he was prepared for it. It wasn't that bad and he didn't want Jack to worry.

He scratched the back of his head a few times, while Jack removed the paper from his lip, to get some new, clean paper once again. They were going through quite a lot of paper doing this.

Then Jack carefully leaned in towards him, his forehead creased in concentration, as he began meticulously cleaning the wound, doing it very slowly and gently, obviously to avoid causing him more pain. Jack bit his lip as a result of his focus on his current task. His eyes were observing the wound intently, as he continued to move the paper softly across it to rinse it.

When Jack leaned in even more to get a better look at the damaged skin, Hiccup realized just how close their faces were to each other. Jack had never been this close to him before.

His heartbeat sped up rapidly. He stopped breathing for a few moments. Something fluttered in his stomach, making nervousness and excitement flow through his entire being, as Jack continued to remain so close to his face and placed soft, caring touches on his lip. This was so…strangely intimate and gentle. As he began breathing again, he inhaled and exhaled a little erratically, and some kind of anxious but bubbly anticipation began spreading inside him, making his entire body restless and nervous.

His heart beat faster and faster in his chest, and suddenly all he could think about was how close Jack was to him and how easy it would be to just…get rid of that annoying distance between them and…

His green eyes widened in sudden and anxiety inducing realization. No…no no no….not that…anything but that!

An anxious, sharp intake of breath from this shocking revelation drew Jack's attention.

"Sorry." Jack muttered, still focusing on cleaning his damaged lip, having apparently mistaken his panic as pain, which he was incredibly grateful for.

He felt the anxiety churn inside him, spreading through his body, making the nausea rise inside him, invading his stomach with its uneasy, horrible presence. He sat still to not alert Jack that anything was wrong, even though his heart pounded so much in his chest from the stress of this epiphany that it threatened to jump right out…but he forced himself not to react outwardly in any way.

His mind, however, was racing now. Scattered, confused, panicked thoughts whirled through his head at incredible speed, and he tuned out the feeling of Jack's touch on his wound.

How…how had this slipped past his defense mechanisms without him even knowing? How could he not have seen this coming?

It all made sense now…

Gods, it was so obvious! All those…weird moments with Jack, where he'd felt something that he couldn't quite explain but then just dismissed it as a result of his awkward personality…all those times Jack had touched him and it had left that comforting, lingering warmth…the way his heart would feel a tug of affection whenever Jack gave him one of those soft, caring smiles…the way he would feel all happy and warm inside whenever he heard his bubbly laughter…the way he wanted to be around him all the time…

The anxiety streaming through every cell in his body increased and the nausea in his stomach sank its claws even deeper into him.

Okay…

He really needed to calm down. Now. He needed to think rationally about this and he also couldn't let Jack see that he was currently having an inner freak out.

He closed his eyes for a few moments and just tried his best to relax and will the panic away. He focused on steadying his breathing to calm himself a little and opened his eyes again. Even though the confusion and the anxiety were still roiling inside him, he felt the panic lessen. It was a good thing that he was used to self-control…if not, he might have just run off right now to get as far away from Jack as possible.

Jack was still occupied with cleaning the blood away and apparently hadn't noticed the turmoil Hiccup was currently going through. Thank the gods for that! He didn't need any questions right now...He had enough trouble with his own thoughts.

He had no idea how to deal with this…

He began to wring his hands a little to keep himself occupied with something, while his thoughts were rushing through his mind and his heart was still beating rapidly as a result of this sudden realization.

The more he thought about it, the more he got a sinking feeling in his stomach.

This was horrible…this had the potential to completely destroy their friendship, if he wasn't careful. This was…really dangerous emotional territory.

Why did this have to happen? This was…this was...not supposed to happen!

Jack had apparently finished cleaning his split lip without him even noticing as he was too occupied with the confused thoughts and feelings raging inside him. Jack leaned back once more, creating distance between them. Hiccup was incredibly relieved about that.

"Hey, are you okay?" Jack asked him, tilting his head a little and furrowing his brow.

No. In no way whatsoever…in no possible definition of the word.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he replied, making sure to keep his voice steady, covering up the anxiety that still hadn't subsided completely. He couldn't really meet Jack's eyes though. "I uhh…just…need some time to think." he finished honestly, but naturally Jack had no idea what he needed to think about. He was probably going to assume that it was about this whole fighting thing.

Jack nodded, a small smile gracing his lips. Hiccup knew that just like Rapunzel and Fishlegs, Jack didn't like it when he isolated himself. Right now though, he didn't know what else to do.

"Okay…that's fine" Jack said. "I'll see you later then, Hic".

Hiccup got to his feet quickly, eager to leave and be alone with this. He met Jack's eyes briefly.

"Yeah, see you…and…thanks Jack" he told him before turning away from him and walking briskly towards the door.

He hurried down several corridors as fast as he could without running, not looking anyone in the eye or returning any of the greetings that were spoken to him. He just needed to get away from here. Right now. The more he thought about this new situation, the more horrible he felt inside, because of the hopelessness of it all.

As he made his way outside the castle from the main entrance, the anxiety had melted away and was replaced with sadness and anger bubbling inside him. He clenched his fists as he kept walking in a fast pace across the grass. He was so angry with himself right now that he couldn't even begin to describe it. His mind began to scold him, as it always did when he got that sting of self-loathing. This was an awful situation and he had put himself in it.

Gods…really, Hiccup? Really!? that angry voice in his head said to him.

This is what you do? You let your guard down so much that something like this grows inside you!?

Sure, why not? I mean…it's not like you're the future leader of a Viking tribe and live in another country…and your life is just so easy and casual that you obviously need more complications in it, right?

Wrong!

How stupid was this? How could he have let this happen? He should have seen this sooner…should have done something to keep it away…should have kept up his walls somehow…

The last thing he needed was to have unrequited feelings for one of his closest guy friends and end up getting hurt. He did not need more hurt.

He should have broke-

He stopped that thought before finishing it.

Maybe…no…he couldn't have done that no matter what.

He sighed deeply to himself and continued to walk with angry, brisk steps towards the forest area around the lake. He had a specific destination in mind, and the longer he walked, the more the sadness and frustration built up inside him to the point where he thought he might actually explode from all these horrible emotions streaming through his entire being. His mind continued to yell angrily at him for letting this happen and he just…let the awful thoughts continue, because he definitely deserved all of it.

You couldn't just have feelings for Astrid or some other girl back home like a normal Viking, could you Hiccup? That frustrated voice said.

You just had to go and develop feelings for a guy…who's not just straight and could never actually return your feelings, but even if he did, you couldn't do anything about it, because you're the future chief. By Odin, you really are an idiot. You've just opened yourself up to more emotional damage. Well done.

You know…I thought you were supposed to be intelligent? Isn't that what you always comforted yourself with, whenever people called you useless and made you feel like you weren't even worth the dirt under their fingernails? That at least you were smart and observant…at least you had brains. Well, apparently you don't even have that anymore, since you weren't even aware of what was going on in your own damn mind.

He reached the forest area and walked through the trees, the dried leaves and twigs cracking and snapping under his frustrated footsteps. After walking for about 10 minutes, letting his mind continue to fill him with horrible thoughts and clenching and unclenching his fists, he found the spot, where he and Merida practiced archery. He quickly located that hollow tree, where Merida hid her bow and her arrows, and he crouched down, took them out, walked a few steps away from the tree and immediately started to fire arrows into a nearby, large oak tree.

Every arrow launched from the bow and landing in the tree with a loud "thud" was a show of his hopelessness and depression and frustration and with each arrow he fired the amount of force he put behind it increased. Every time he drew the bow, his back protested from the use of muscles for this act, as he was still damaged from the fight, but he really could not bring himself to care.

Gods, he was so stupid!

*Thud!*

This was just…

*Thud!*

Unbelievable!

*Thud!*

How was he even supposed to be around Jack now?

*Thud!*

This might actually ruin their friendship.

*Thud!*

This was going to hurt.

*Thud!*

This was going to complicate his future even more.

*Thud!*

*Thud!*

*Thud!*

*Thud!*

He wasn't sure how long he spent just firing arrows, retrieving them and then firing them again, but it had to have been over an hour, as it began to get dark in the forest. He put away the bow and the arrows in their usual place in the hollow tree and decided that after a quick stop by the dormitories to leave a note for Fishlegs and Rapunzel, he would head straight to Toothless. He was going to skip dinner…in fact, skip any social interaction for the rest of the day to just be around his best friend. He didn't want Fishlegs and Rapunzel to worry when they couldn't find him though, so he needed to leave them a note saying that he was okay but needed some time alone. He wanted comfort right now, but he did not want to be around people. As usual, he needed isolation to deal with his thoughts. It was a good thing that it was the weekend now…he didn't actually have to interact with Jack until Monday, unless he chose to do so…and right now…he wasn't at all sure that he would choose to do that.

As he walked past the Quidditch pitch and towards the castle, he began to feel the exhaustion seep into his very bones, making them feel heavy inside him. His whole body was tired, sore and aching from not just being in a fight earlier, but then straining himself even more by launching arrows for so long. He still didn't care though…At least physical pain was something that was…familiar…easy to understand and grasp…unlike the confusing emotions swirling inside him, making him feel sick to his stomach.

He had quickly made his way back to the dormitory and left a note on Fishlegs' bed, before returning outside again. Luckily he didn't meet anyone he knew on the way, which he was grateful for. He didn't have the energy to pretend that everything was okay right now.

A little while later, as he sat inside the cave with Toothless by his side, the Night Fury was extremely worried about him. Hiccup had made a small fire that the two of them sat by, and he had just stared into the bright, orange flames for a long time…probably hours…trying to make sense of all the thoughts whirling in his stressed out, tired mind. Toothless stayed patiently beside him, waiting for him to be ready to share his thoughts. Hiccup stroked him and scratched him once in a while, wanting to reassure his best friend a little, as he continued to attempt to understand those confusing feelings he was experiencing.

"Toothless, I have a serious problem…" he then sighed and rubbed his eyes with one of his sleeves. His scaly best friend observed him with deep concern in those vivid green eyes and let out a small, grumbling sound that indicated discontent.

"I've realized that…I like Jack…a lot. I have feelings for him." he told the Night Fury. It was so…strange and depressing to actually say it out loud. Somehow it made it more real.

Toothless' large green eyes narrowed slightly in confusion for a few moments, before he nudged Hiccup's shoulder, flattened his ears and let out a low, whining sound. Hiccup knew that he had understood and that he was conveying his sympathy and concern.

"Thanks bud….I have no idea what to do with this".

Toothless butted his muzzle against the side of Hiccup's head gently a few times as a reassuring gesture. Hiccup reached out his hands and stroked the black dragon a little, feeling those rough scales against his fingertips and taking comfort in the familiar act and the closeness of his best friend.

"It's just…how the Hel* am I supposed to handle this, Toothless? How am I even going to face him now? This is going to mess everything up…I think it might actually break our friendship, unless I find some way of being around him." Hiccup explained.

Toothless sat down on his hind legs before tilting his head and letting out a specific warbling sound that Hiccup had come to know through the years as encouragement. He knew what it was Toothless was trying to tell him. In moments like this, he felt grateful for their close bond that always seemed to make them understand each other.

"I can't tell him about it, bud…You know as well as I do, that we have to go back home….when I'm done with school here, we need to go back to Berk."

The Night Fury let out a deep sigh to indicate that he indeed knew this but didn't like that it was complicating things for Hiccup now.

"This…these new feelings, they just…they don't fit into that. It's not just a question of liking someone who will never like me back…I'm the chief's son, Toothless…I need to take over when my dad dies or decides to step down and…I'm supposed to find a girl to settle down with and have children to continue the bloodline….and…you and me are going to study dragons and explore the lands and help protect them…together. We belong in the archipelago and Jack…he doesn't. He belongs here…in between the wizarding world and the muggle world…he has a family and friends that he loves and needs to stay with. He's not a Viking or a dragon rider."

Toothless continued to watch him with worry and sympathy evident in those green eyes that Hiccup knew so well.

"But…it's not like it really matters anyway, since he'll never see me that way…and that's probably for the best. At least that way only one of us is hurting."

His scaly best friend let out a whine once again and then rubbed his head against Hiccup's shoulder a few times in a comforting gesture.

"Thanks bud…I can just imagine now how disappointed my dad would be, if he knew I have feelings for a guy."

He was fairly certain that his father wouldn't be very understanding. The most likely scenario would be that horrifying look of disappointment to reappear in his eyes, whenever he looked at him.

It was also very likely that the tribe wouldn't want him as their next leader, if they knew the truth about his sexuality. Only straight relationships were accepted back home. A Viking was expected to settle down and produce children to help the survival of the tribe. But if Hiccup continued to have feelings for Jack, he couldn't exactly just find someone to settle down with and have children with in good conscience.

He felt the approach of a serious headache, as he found himself dreading the future even more than he usually did. He rubbed his temples a little and sighed deeply to himself. He briefly looked at Toothless, who was still observing him with obvious concern, the flames of the fire reflecting in the dragon's caring, green eyes.

It seemed very likely that his sexuality would probably become a problem sooner or later…especially if he ended up falling in love with a guy and wanted to settle down with him. Gods, he hoped that would never happen…Of course there was also a chance of him falling for a girl, but…it had been a long time since he considered a girl anything more than friend. The last one had been Astrid, when he was younger…by Odin, why couldn't those feelings just have lasted? Then he could be happy with Astrid now and that would just be so much simpler than this…

He shook his head a little to himself and watched the dancing, crackling flames of the small fire for a little while, his dull green eyes filled with the hopelessness of this whole situation.

Shouldn't he have the right to be himself and be accepted by the people he loved? He hadn't even told Rapunzel and Fishlegs he was bisexual, but he was certain that they would accept that side of him without hesitation. Wasn't it fair to expect the same from his own father? From Gobber? From all the other Vikings back home?

He'd often pushed down any thoughts about his sexuality, because it complicated his future so much. Now though…he couldn't push it down any longer…it was impossible to ignore it now that it had all come rushing to the surface like this. He definitely had feelings for Jack…his heartbeat quickened and it felt like dozens of tiny tiny Terrible Terrors were flapping their wings inside him when he thought about him.

He placed his face in his palms for a few moments, taking comfort in the peaceful darkness. When he lowered his hands and lifted his head again, he sighed to himself.

He was a logical person. He knew that Jack would never see him like that, but even in the impossible case that Jack for some strange reason returned his feelings, they could never be more than friends…They had different directions in life that they needed to follow. The thought hurt him, made his stomach almost bubble over with nausea, but he needed to be realistic about this. Hope was a dangerous thing, so he needed to squash any stupid thoughts about him and Jack possibly being together and just…find some way of dealing with this and move on.

As he kept watching the flames in the small fire, he thought about the future. Once they graduated, he'd see less and less of Jack. Sure, they could write each other and visit, which he really hoped they would, but it wouldn't be the same as now. He felt his stomach clench tightly at the thought and the depression sank it's sharp, horrible claws deeper into him, as the nausea intensified and swirled unpleasantly inside him.

He cared so much for Jack…until today, he hadn't realized just how much but he wanted to be near him all the time. Jack made him feel happy and happiness just wasn't something that he'd had a lot of in his life. Jack brought so much laughter and joy and fun into his days that it brightened his life just to know him. Not to mention that Jack was always there for him. Unconditionally. He was there by his side when he needed help or just company when the phantom pains crashed over him, he was there to listen and try his best to understand when something was bothering him even when he couldn't fully tell Jack everything about it, he defended him fiercely against anything that might bother him even if Hiccup could take care of himself, and Jack was always there with supportive, caring words when he doubted himself or let the many years of people's condescending, horrible words still get him down once in a while…he could actually make him feel better about himself and the way Jack genuinely saw so many good things in him was heartwarming.

It would hurt him so much when the time came for them to split up and not be a part of each other's life on a daily basis anymore. He would miss him beyond what words could really express, he knew that now. He felt a strong pang of sadness in his chest and his breathing became a little strained for a few moments.

He pulled his knees up and wrapped his arms around them, still staring at the dancing flames intently, as thoughts of Jack wouldn't leave his mind, no matter how much he tried to stop thinking about him.

It was true what he had told Jack a few days ago, when he had helped him with his phantom pains. He really was amazing. He lifted the spirits of everyone he knew with his cheerful, child-like personality, his infectious smiles, his bubbly laughter and his playfulness, always able to make people laugh or cheer them up whenever life had knocked them down. He was fiercely loyal and protective of everyone he cared about, not ever hesitating in protecting them against anything that might potentially hurt them and always being supportive no matter what. He was incredibly kind and caring even to people he didn't know very well, and was always ready to help anyone who might need it. He just wanted everyone around him to be comfortable and happy, which was such a heartwarming trait…He was comfortable in his own skin, able to talk to anyone and make them feel good about themselves, no matter if they were one of the popular kids or an outcast…and he was smart and quick-witted as well, able to shoot those hilarious retorts back in Hiccup's face when they were bantering.

And then there was his past, where he'd rescued his sister but lost his parents and the guilt and grief of their deaths still haunted him. As a result he was doing everything he could to be the best big brother he could possibly be to Emma.

It was no wonder that he had developed feelings for the guy…he really was incredible. Hiccup wouldn't change a single thing about him and that thought was actually a little frightening.

Toothless had lain down on the ground and lifted one of his wings up. Hiccup knew what that meant and he appreciated the comforting gesture from his best friend. He got to his feet and approached Toothless, before lying down next to him against his side. Then Toothless lowered his wing, shielding him from the rest of the world.

As Toothless wing lowered above him, the darkness took over and somehow he found the lack of light a little comforting right now. He felt the warmth radiate off Toothless' side as he lied next to him and felt grateful that at least he had his scaly best friend to always be there for him no matter what.

"I love you bud." He told Toothless and he heard a warbling sound from the dragon in return.

As he laid on the ground, lost in his own thoughts, one thing was clear. He could never be with Jack, no matter how much he wanted to, so he was going to have to suffer in silence. At least he was good at that. He knew that he could do it, despite how horrible it was. He was just going to have to…find a way of being around Jack without ever telling him about this or somehow show it…He just had to pretend, like he had done so many times in his life…push down the pain and pretend that everything was fine. At least that was familiar.

He felt a few tears stinging in the corners of his eyes and his vision went blurry, but he quickly willed them away. He absolutely refused to cry, no matter how much the depression and hopelessness was crashing its waves inside him…no matter how much it felt like he had a huge hole in his heart…no matter how sick to his stomach he felt that he might screw up his friendship with Jack…

Crying would hurt the small amount of pride he did have, despite his bruised ego. He really didn't need tears reminding him how weak and vulnerable he was right now. At least he could cling to that…that he did not cry.

All those horrible things people had told him over the years somehow echoed in his mind. He sighed deeply. He was such an idiot to have put himself in this situation.

"Do yourself a favor Hiccup…don't ever let someone new in again…It just brings you pain." he muttered to himself as he continued to lie under his best friend's wing in the darkness, trying desperately not to think about Jack but failing miserably.

Author's note:

So... let the mutual pining begin! :P

I was so excited about letting Hiccup kick some ass and show off his fighting skills in this chapter, and I hope you liked it :) Now...I've never written a fight before and I haven't been in a real fight myself, but I tried my best to make it realistic and I hope you think I succeeded in that.

Regarding their patronuses, I chose an arctic fox for Jack, because they're playful and mischievous, energetic and obviously his patronus would also have to be something living in cold conditions among snow and ice. Hiccup's patronus couldn't be anything BUT a dragon in my opinion, so that one was fairly obvious :) Even though a Patronus is very difficult to cast, Jack and Hiccup are both able to do it fairly quickly, because first of all they are both talented in magic and second of all, they have both been through traumatic experiences, which makes the memories they choose to use extra powerful for them.

*Hel: The underworld in Norse mythology and also the name of the keeper of the underworld, who is Loki's daughter. Hel should not be confused with the Christian idea of hell, as it's not a place of punishment and suffering. It's a place where everyone goes when they die, except for the few who die honorably in battle. They are either brought to Freyja's place, Folkvangr, or to Valhalla to dine at Odin's table every night and fight every day until Ragnarok, where they have to help the gods in the battle.

Regarding Vikings and homosexuality, their relationship with it was a bit complicated. Vikings didn't actually mind homosexual sex, but only if you were topping. It was considered extremely shameful to be the submissive part, meaning that the submissive part would be considered weak and worthless and no better than a slave. It was shameful because Vikings thought that if you were submissive in sex, you'd also be submissive in other areas of your life, so you'd be weak and need protection, you'd be afraid of voicing your opinions, you'd rather follow than lead etc. It's also strongly connected with misogyny, since being submissive in sex meant playing the "female part" in their opinion and even though women had certain rights in Viking society, they were still considered to be worth less than men, unfortunately. Vikings had a lot of slurs for being submissive in sex and they also had slurs for people who didn't get married and have children, so an actual gay relationship wouldn't be accepted in Viking society.

Hiccup's whole "You don't need people's opinions, when it comes to the truth," thing is inspired by something I once read, but I can't for the life of me remember where it was.

So... what did you think? :)