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!

12. Only You

Author's note:

Hi everyone :) Here's the newest chapter where some major mutual pining is going on, as well as a little sexual tension, heh. I hope you'll enjoy reading it :)

THANK YOU to everyone who leaves reviews, I really appreciate it :)

---

These last few days had been horrible. There was no other way to describe it. As he sat with his friends at the Gryffindor table at breakfast, he didn't feel like eating anything. He felt sick to his stomach, tired and sad like he had done for the last two days and it was all because Hiccup. Ever since Hiccup had taken some time alone to think, after he'd cleaned him up after the fight, he had been isolating himself. Hiccup hadn't come to dinner later that day and neither Jack nor the others had seen him for the rest of the night. For the two following days, Jack only saw him at meals and even then, it was not a comforting sight. Hiccup looked exhausted, and he seemed melancholy. He didn't talk to anyone, not even Fishlegs and Rapunzel, but sat by the Ravenclaw table in silence, pushing his food around on his plate or eating a few bites but then leaving the rest of it alone.

That exact thing was happening right now. Hiccup pushed his fork in and out of a pancake repeatedly, his eyes staring blankly into the air, deep in thought. Jack's focus was drawn towards that red bruise that still marred one of Hiccup's cheeks. The fact that Hiccup hadn't even bothered to cover it up with a concealment spell was a clear indication that he was in a terrible mood. Usually, Hiccup would avoid anything that drew attention to him, but now it seemed like he just didn't care. As Jack continued to look at the bruise, he felt quite satisfied by the fact that McGowan and Levin had both been expelled, so Hiccup wouldn't have to deal with them again.

He and the others had spent a lot of time together by the lake as usual for the last two days, since it was the weekend. Hiccup however, was nowhere to be seen. They were all very concerned about Hiccup. Rapunzel told him and the others that it had been a long time since Hiccup had isolated himself without being able to tell them why. That it was a bad sign. Hiccup didn't want to talk about his problems very often, but he usually gave her and Fishlegs an idea of what was going on with him. Now though…they were completely puzzled and this filled them all with worry. Jack had felt his stomach turn to knots in concern as his two friends told him this. What could possibly be so horrible that Hiccup couldn't even tell Rapunzel and Fishlegs?

Now it was Monday and as Jack stabbed his fork into some of his food but without eating it, he thought about how much he was longing to just talk to Hiccup… To be near him. The fact that he hadn't interacted with him at all for two days, except for those few attempts he did after a couple of meals to get Hiccup to talk before he disappeared to be alone, was strange and unpleasant. It was like something familiar and vital was missing. It would be a relief to be around him in classes today as that would put an end to his isolation, but at the same time he was kind of dreading having to watch Hiccup be all melancholy without being able to do anything about it.

He took a swig of his juice as he tore his eyes off Hiccup, turned his head and sighed to himself. Mavis, Flynn and Merida were all watching him with sympathetic looks, as they quietly ate their breakfast. They knew just how much he was worrying about Hiccup right now. That he was pretty much driving himself crazy.

Since Hiccup had become depressed and isolated almost right after having that fight…somehow the two things had to be connected. How though, was very difficult to figure out. He had had the thought that maybe Hiccup felt bad for having to hurt someone, but he had pushed that idea away, because it didn't seem very likely. He had still asked Fishlegs and Rapunzel about it to be sure though. They quickly dismissed the thought and told him that Hiccup had hurt people before in self-defense and he had never felt bad about it, because it was necessary.

Jack sighed to himself, as he pushed his plate away, still not feeling like eating anything. He was back to square one…which meant having no fucking clue what was going on with the guy that meant so much to him. It was making him fret that Hiccup was guarding himself and putting up those emotional walls of his. Hiccup had opened up to him more than he could have ever imagined during their friendship…and Jack really didn't want him to start closing himself off again. All he wanted was to break those walls down…smash through them and just crumble them to dust and soothe the pain that lied behind them, whatever it might be. That would be easier said than done though…Hiccup did not appreciate when people tried to force themselves in, and Jack had promised him early on in their friendship that he would never do that.

If only Hiccup would at least talk to Rapunzel and Fishlegs…

"I wish we could help him somehow." he heard Mavis said. She was watching Hiccup with concern.

"Yeah…me too." he said and ran a hand through his hair.

"There's not really anything we can do, when he won't tell us what's wrong." Flynn said with a sad expression on his face.

"Yeah, but…it has to be connected to that fight somehow, right? I mean…it happened almost right after, that can't be a coincidence." Merida argued before taking a sip of her juice.

"No, but...none of us have any ideas on what it could be." Jack said and once again felt the concern turn and twist inside him, making him feel slightly nauseous.

"None of it makes sense…Hiccup wouldn't feel bad about defending himself and…what else could there be to it?" Flynn asked and shrugged.

"I have…absolutely no idea." Jack said honestly and sighed. God it was so frustrating…he just wanted to go over there and pull Hiccup into a tight hug and tell him that he was always there for him, but that wasn't exactly possible right now.

"Ugh…" Merida suddenly groaned. "Why can't they just leave him alone?" she said in frustration, as she watched something, her forehead wrinkled in disapproval.

Jack turned his head and saw two Hufflepuff guys approach Hiccup, Fishlegs and Rapunzel. Hiccup watched them with a tired and slightly annoyed expression before Fishlegs seemed to tell them to go away and they once again retreated, looking fairly disappointed.

"Yeah…either people just don't see that he's uncomfortable with that kind of attention or they just don't care because they're too curious." he said, unable to keep that hint of annoyance out of his voice.

After the fight Hiccup had had with McGowan and Levin people seemed to be even more curious about him than they already were, which made Jack incredibly frustrated because Hiccup disliked the attention so much and he just wanted to shield him from it. He understood why people were curious…Hiccup had always kept up that dorky, sarcastic, bookworm image and suddenly he was not only a dragon trainer but knew how to fight as well. He had hidden his Viking side and his dragon trainer side so well during the years, that no one had ever expected anything unusual from him. Now though, the perceptions that people had previously had of him had been completely shattered, so of course they were drawn to him. That didn't mean they should just approach him whenever they felt like it though. It was intrusive and shallow.

"I definitely think it's the last option." Flynn said and Mavis and Merida both nodded with frowns on their faces. Jack knew that they also felt protective of Hiccup and wanted to spare him from things that made him uncomfortable.

"Yeah, I do too…and it seems to have gotten worse now after the fight." Jack told them.

"Yeah…I heard from Jim that all kinds of gossip and rumors are going around about it and that some guys were considering asking Hiccup to teach them self-defense." Flynn said before taking a bite of the eggs on his plate.

"Pfft…he won't want to do that." Jack said. There was no way Hiccup was going to teach a bunch of strangers who never gave him the time of day before. He was sure of that.

"No, he definitely won't." Flynn agreed with a few nods.

"Well, it's not just the guys Hiccup's going to have problems with…Liam told me that plenty of girls are swooning over him even more, now that they know he has fighting skills." Mavis told them before furrowing her forehead a little.

"He won't like that at all." Jack said and if he was honest with himself, neither would he. It was bad enough as it was, watching girls approach Hiccup, flirt with him and give him notes….and now it might get even worse? That was going to annoy him to no end.

"No, I think that's safe to say." Mavis agreed with a small, sympathetic smile. "And…sorry Jack." she added and lowered her voice so no one would accidentally hear them.

"Yeah…" he said and sighed. "But there's not really anything I can do about it."

"Jackie…are you sure you won't just…consider telling Hiccup about this?" Flynn whispered to him so only the four of them would hear it and watched him with those warm brown eyes.

"Yes, I'm sure. That would just make everything worse." he told Flynn, before he sighed a little and took another sip of his juice.

He wanted to tell Hiccup about it instead of just bottling it up inside…he wanted to hope there was just a tiny chance that Hiccup might feel something for him too, but that wasn't very realistic and he certainly couldn't risk messing up their friendship over it.

The rest of the meal went by mostly in silence between the four friends, as they were all feeling rather gloomy by the current situation. The next time Jack glanced towards the Ravenclaw table, Hiccup, Fishlegs and Rapunzel were gone.

---

The sound of his charcoal pencil scraping across the paper and the familiar presence of Rapunzel sitting next to him were both a little soothing for his mind, but still didn't manage to quell the depressing feelings that were infecting his entire being with their unwelcome presence. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop thinking about Jack and his complicated feelings for him for more than a few brief moments at a time and it was exhausting that his mind couldn't just rest.

He sat by one of the dark wooden desks in the old Transfiguration classroom next to Rapunzel. He had taken out his sketchbook from his satchel and had begun working on a new sketch of Toothless to at least tryto occupy his mind with something. Rapunzel didn't attempt to strike up conversation, which he was grateful for, since he didn't really feel like talking. She was obviously trying to give him some space, although he knew just how difficult that was for her, because of her incredibly caring nature. During the last two days he had come to a sort of acceptance of his feelings, but unfortunately that didn't stop the following depression, because he knew that nothing could ever happen between them.

When he spotted movement and a flash of white in his peripheral vision, he knew it was Jack and Flynn without having to look closer. He kept his eyes trained on his sketch.

"Hi Hic…" he heard Jack's voice say, a lot more quietly than usual, and Hiccup knew it was because he was worried about him.

"Hey Hiccup." Flynn said and the concern was also evident in his voice.

"Hi Jack." he replied without looking at them. "Hi Flynn."

Jack sat down in the seat next to him. Hiccup kept focusing on his drawing, gripping his charcoal pencil a little tighter than before, as he continued to trace lines across the paper to eventually form a representation of Toothless.

Just having Jack near him right now was… Comforting and yet unpleasant. He had missed him this weekend but at the same time it was making him depressed to have to interact with him again, because everything had become so complicated. He was used to their friendship being so easy and simple but now everything had been turned upside down.

He put down his pencil, before rubbing his eyes in a frustrated gesture and then letting out a deep sigh. He could sense Rapunzel turning her head and observing him with those loving green eyes, but he didn't look at her. Somehow, avoiding eye contact was a little comforting. It made him feel a little less exposed.

When Rapunzel turned her head again, he could still feel eyes on him and he knew it was Jack. Hiccup didn't have to look at him to know that he had that concerned, caring expression in his blue eyes that he had come to know so well. He felt a tug of guilt in his heart for making Jack worry about him, but he didn't know what else he could do right now.

Suddenly Jack reached out and rubbed some slow, soothing circles on his back and the touch was warm and familiar as usual but the feelings it was sparking inside him were not. He felt his heart beat faster, as he both savored and disliked the feel of Jack's hand on his back. It was…weird and unnerving having all of these conflicting emotions but he couldn't help it. Jack's touch was gentle and reassuring…affectionate and familiar…and yet…it made him feel horrible at the same time, because he knew that he could never have more than this. Nothing could ever happen between them. These friendly touches were all he was ever going to get from Jack.

Jack retracted his hand and despite the depressing thoughts it had been sparking, Hiccup missed the contact. He could still feel Jack's eyes on him, but he didn't meet his friend's blue gaze. He just felt…weak…vulnerable. Being around his friends again like this after two days mostly filled with isolation was comforting but unpleasant all at once. Now that he had had some time to sit down and think about his feelings by himself, it was kind of nice to be close to the people he cared about again but at the same time he was well aware that they were all extremely worried about him, and he really didn't like the eyes burning into his skin, the concerned questions or the pang of guilt that followed for making them worry.

He sighed a little to himself once again, as he took out his Transfiguration textbook from his satchel and began flipping through the pages before he landed on the page needed for today's lesson. If these feelings continued, he knew he would have to tell Rapunzel and Fishlegs about it at some point. He had briefly considered telling them yesterday but somehow he just wasn't ready to talk about it yet except with Toothless. He needed more time to process this by himself.

He grabbed the charcoal pencil again and kept his head down, as he began working on the drawing of Toothless once more. Drawing was familiar…comforting…a way to be distracted for a little while. He gently moved the pencil, shaping Toothless' large, black wings, making sure to draw them in just the right proportion, while trying to ignore that continuous feeling of eyes on him.

If he was just a normal guy then maybe…maybe…he could actually man up and confess his feelings to Jack at some point, even if he would definitely just get hurt anyway. That wasn't in the cards though…his future was anything but normal and so was he and that was the main reason why he and Jack could never be more than friends, even if Jack some day actually shared his feelings. Which he wouldn't, since he was straight…so why was he even tiring himself by thinking about this all the time? It didn't matter in the end.

He put down the pencil and crossed his arms while just observing the sketch in front of him for a moment, as the thoughts continued to rush through his head.

Jack didn't even know that he was the future leader of a whole Viking tribe. All he knew was that he had a fairly awkward and previously tense relationship with his dad, because he had certain expectations of him and that his future was pretty much planned out. He briefly wondered how Jack would react if he actually knew the whole truth about it…except for extreme surprise. Not that he was going to tell him…he was not in any way ready to share that. Even though he trusted Jack completely by now, this wasn't just about trust. It was also about how relieving it was that people in this castle didn't know about it, except for Rapunzel, Fishlegs and Astrid…that people here didn't see him as the chief's son, a future leader, but just as another normal teenager. Well, normal was probably a bit of a stretch, but they didn't know about his future responsibilities and that made his time at Hogwarts much easier because at least he wouldn't be labeled based on it.

He sighed and rubbed his eyes in a few frustrated movements. Even though Jack was keeping quiet right now, just having him sit next to him was putting Hiccup on edge and causing the depressing thoughts to swirl in his mind. He knew that he had to figure out some way of handling this, unless his and Jack's friendship was going to be completely broken. He could not let that happen, so he would need to pull himself together soon…to find some way out of this depression. Why did he have to realize that he had feelings for the guy? Everything was a lot easier in the land of denial. He wished he could have stayed there.

At that moment professor Hyde entered the classroom and walked along the tables until he reached the big wooden desk at the front of the class and gently placed his books on it with a light thud. All the students in the room stopped talking and focused their attention on the professor.

Professor Hyde told them that they were going to begin on human transfiguration today, which caused excited whispers to echo through the classroom, but those quickly died down, when their professor explained that today's lesson would only be a lecture. They needed to get a lot of theoretical knowledge in place, before beginning to handle the practical aspect of it, which they would be doing next time. Hiccup found himself being a bit disappointed by that, but on the other hand…it was definitely better to be properly prepared before dealing with this kind of advanced transfiguration. They were actually supposed to have begun on human transfiguration last week, but professor Hyde had been ill, so they'd had a substitute, who was not supposed to let them start on this complicated subject.

Hiccup kept himself busy throughout the whole class, writing notes and listening to anything their professor said that could come in handy later. At least this served to distract his mind temporarily. Next to him, Rapunzel was doing the exact same thing, her neat and beautiful handwriting filling the parchment quickly, as her attentive green eyes darted back and forth from their professor to the paper. In most classes, they were pretty much the same…both eagerly paying attention to soak up more magical knowledge, quickly writing down useful information and tuning out distractions.

When Professor Hyde briefly turned his back to make an illustration on the blackboard, Jack slipped him a note. He quickly unfolded it and took in the words on the crinkled piece of paper.

"I know you don't want to talk about whatever's wrong with you Hic, but just know that I'm here for you if you ever need anything, even the smallest little thing. Just name it! I want to see you smile again, you dork."

Without being able to hold it back, he gave Jack exactly what he wanted, as a small smile tugged at his lips. How did Jack have that amazing ability to always be able to make him smile no matter what? He felt a tug of affection in his heart as he thought about how it was sometimes difficult to comprehend just how kind and caring Jack really was. Even back when they didn't know each other that well yet, he had been incredibly concerned every time Hiccup was in a bad mood and willing to cheer him up and help in any way he could. Jack was always there for him and he truly appreciated it.

It was in that moment that he made a decision. He could either wallow in depression and self-loathing or he could pull himself together and just…try to enjoy the time that he actually had with Jack until he had to go back home to Berk in a year and a half, when their education was finished. Would it hurt unbelievably when he would have to say goodbye to him? Yes. Would it hurt even more if he hadn't made the most of their time together? Yes, definitely.

He smiled a little to himself, as he still watched the note in his hands and thought about how that snow-loving idiot had really just…slipped through his defenses in a way no one else had ever done. He took out his quill and began writing on the piece of paper, before sliding it across the table to Jack.

"Thanks Snowflake. You're great."

Jack gave him a bright smile that made a fluttering sensation appear in his stomach. Jack wrote a reply on the note and slipped it back to him.

"I completely agree, dragon boy."

Hiccup smiled and shook his head a little. At least their familiar banter would be comforting to him. He quickly wrote a retort and thus a small conversation continued between him and Jack for the rest of the class, making his mood improve drastically.

"Wow, not even a tiny bit of fake humility? Your ego seems to be growing every day."

Jack chuckled at this before writing his answer.

"Why would I pretend to be humble? Anyone who is this amazing need to share it with the world without restraint, you know."

"Right…I'm sure the rivers would run dry, the birds would stop singing and the grass and trees would wither and die if you toned down that ego of yours. Better safe than sorry."

"I knew you'd see things my way, Hiccy."

"Stop that annoying nickname, Frosty."

"Never! It's too much fun watching you get all irritated about it."

"You're devil spawn, you know that?"

"Oh please. Vikings don't even believe in the devil."

"No, we don't…but if he was real, you would be related to him."

Jack chuckled once again and then began to write his retort on the note. Hiccup found himself just watching him for a little while…taking in that smooth, pale skin, those piercing blue eyes, that snow-white hair…Gods, he really wished that he could just pull Jack closer to him and feel those soft looking lips brush against his and just let his hands glide through those snowy locks.

No no no…don't go there. Don't even think about that. It's seriously risky emotional territory.

Jack smiled at him as he passed the note back.

"Pfft…as if. You always hear about the devil but never about his relatives. I don't need the hassle of someone overshadowing me like that."

Hiccup laughed a little at that, but made sure to keep it quiet enough to not draw the attention of their professor. It felt really good to laugh after several days of depression and self-loathing. Jack's whole face lit up in response and this only made a warm smile tug at his lips.

He really shouldn't be surprised that Jack was the one to make him feel better about all of this, even if he was the cause of it in the first place. Jack always seemed to be able to chase the darkness inside him away and replace it with warmth and light.

He shook his head a little to himself. Gods…how sappy was that? You're a Viking, Hiccup. Pull yourself together. Vikings feel things strongly, but they are not sappy. On the other hand… It's not like you were ever a normal Viking anyway, so who cares? Be sappy if you want.

---

He didn't see Jack until later that day (except for very briefly at lunch), since they had different classes. In Herbology, he, Rapunzel and Fishlegs had to handle Snargaluff plants, where they needed to extract its pods, which were bright green and each the size of a grapefruit. Unfortunately, once again the plant they were dealing with in Herbology was not defenseless, so they had to work together in order to overpower it. The Snargaluff looked mostly like a gnarled wooden stump, but inside it there were several thorny vines that could spring out of the top and grab whoever tried to take the pods. Needless to say that by the end of the class, Hiccup's hands and a little of his arms were completely covered in red scratch marks. Oh well…at least this time the plant wasn't venomous too. Rapunzel and Fishlegs both told him how happy they were that he was in a better mood and Hiccup had replied that he was sorry for making them worry. As usual, his two friends were nothing but completely supportive and told him not to feel bad about it at all.

After Herbology, he and Rapunzel walked through the corridors to get to the art room, while Fishlegs had Ancient Runes. They kept up conversation about human transfiguration and how excited they both were to practice it in their next Transfiguration class, Hiccup quickly noticed that people were staring at them and whispering. Not that that was surprising. It had been happening ever since the day the fight happened, but gods…he really wished that the other students would just stop being so curious.

"Maybe you should do something about that bruise if you want to draw a little less attention." Rapunzel said.

"Oh right…I'd forgotten all about that." he replied. It probably didn't help with the attention to have a large, dark bruise on his face.

He took out his wand from one of the pockets in his school robes and pointed it at his face before mumbling the correct words to place a concealment spell on the bruise, so it would no longer be visible. Then he tucked his dark brown wand back in the pocket. At least his face wouldn't look all damaged now. Maybe that would lessen people's curiosity just a little bit.

"We should see if we can find a spell for healing bruises the next time we practice." Rapunzel said, as she reached out her hand to her shoulder and petted Pascal a little.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." he agreed. Unfortunately, healing wasn't taught at Hogwarts except for a few minor healing potions and such, so he and Rapunzel had both agreed a year ago that they would start practicing together a little once in a while, since they both wanted to know more about it. Knowing healing could make a big difference back home in the archipelago but unfortunately he and Rapunzel could only teach themselves basic healing spells, as the more advanced ones would require much bigger risks to practice, since something could so easily go wrong when you were dealing with that kind of magic.

When their professor arrived, they were told to pick up where they left off in the last class, so Hiccup continued to work on that painting of Berk that he had spent time on in the last few lessons. Of course his thoughts kept drifting to Jack and what he was doing right now, which was ridiculous since there was no way he could actually find out, so why spend time thinking about it? He couldn't help himself though…Jack was pretty much on his mind constantly, except for those few brief moments that he managed to distract himself. That was the consequence of having such a major crush…not really being able to focus properly on other things.

During the class, Rapunzel managed to finish her painting of a lot of lit lanterns floating upwards into the night sky while Mavis kept working on the painting she was doing after a picture of her, Jack, Flynn and Merida in front of the Shrieking Shack. Apparently they had taken that picture after one of their Christmas shopping trips to Hogsmeade and it was a fond memory for all four of them. They kept themselves busy throughout the class, painting, talking and laughing and Hiccup was relieved that his mood had improved so much thanks to Jack.

When he and Mavis observed each other's paintings and gave some friendly feedback on them, he also found himself thinking that he really appreciated his friendship with Mavis… It was nice to have another artistic friend that he could share that hobby with, not to mention all her other great qualities like her sense of humor, her intelligence and her incredible kindness.

When their teacher dismissed the class, they put away the art supplies, placed their paintings in the corner to dry along with the other students' paintings, before washing their paint brushes and then their hands by one of the stone basins in the room, cleaning their skin of dried paint.

As the three of them walked through some of the old stone corridors towards one of the exits of the castle to go to the forest area by the lake and meet up with the rest of their friends, Hiccup listened to the conversation between Mavis and Rapunzel about Mavis' overprotective dad. It was common knowledge in their group of friends, that her dad had some trouble letting her grow up, and apparently he had once again practically interrogated her in his latest letter on whether she was eating right, if any boys had tried anything with her, if something dangerous had happened in any classes and so on. Mavis' dad still sometimes treated her like a child and she was not happy about that in the slightest. However, she knew that he meant well and that softened the problem a little bit.

He once again thought about Jack and felt a slight tingling of happiness in his stomach, because he was about to see him again. They hadn't been away from each other for very long, but he already missed him…which was pathetic, but he just didn't care right now. He was finally in a better mood and he didn't want to spoil it by thinking depressing thoughts.

---

A few grey clouds drifted lazily across the blue sky, while the brisk November wind swept through the treetops, rustling the leaves. Lately the temperature had dropped a lot, and as Jack exhaled after filling his lungs with the refreshing, cold air, he could see his own breath form wispy, white mist. After their last class of the day, he, Flynn and Merida walked side by side towards the forest surrounding the lake. They were heading to a particular place in the area, where Merida and Hiccup practiced archery, so they could all hang out together, while the two of them shot some arrows. Their footsteps flattened the soft grass, while Jack listened to Flynn's and Merida's banter and bickering, although slightly absent-minded, because his thoughts were occupiedby Hiccup.

He was feeling that familiar excitement spread inside him because he was going to see Hiccup again in a minute. Even though they'd only been separated for a few hours, it didn't make a difference at all. Every time they were apart, he wanted to see him again. It was actually almost bordering on being obsessive, he had to admit.

They approached the lake and began walking through the trees in the forest, the dry autumn leaves making crackling sounds under their feet. The foliage of the trees was beautiful in its red, yellow and orange nuances and once in a while a few leaves gently drifted from their previous places on the branches down to the ground, signaling that soon it would be winter and all the trees would be left bare.

Their four friends came into view. Jack noticed that Hiccup was sitting behind Rapunzel, in the middle of braiding her incredibly long, golden hair into one thick braid, while Fishlegs was sitting next to Mavis and seemed to be reading something to the others from a book. There was something very tender about the whole thing and situations like this reminded him of just how close of a sibling relationship Hiccup and Rapunzel and Fishlegs had.

"Is he…braiding her hair?" Flynn suddenly asked with a wrinkled forehead as they kept walking next to each other towards their friends.

"Seems like it." Jack shrugged.

"That must have taken a long time. Looks like he's almost done though." Merida commented.

"Yeah, but at least it's possible to actually do something with Rapunzel's hair…unlike that massive lion mane of yours, Simba." Flynn said teasingly.

Merida scoffed. "As if I would ever want to do something about my hair. It's just fine like this."

"Yeah, sure…if you like the whole escaped mental patient look." Flynn retorted with an amused smile.

"Oh, shut up Rider. Just because you're a pretty-boy, doesn't mean the rest of us have to spend so much time on our looks."

"Oh, I don't spend much time on it, Curly. I'm just naturally this handsome. It's one of nature's miracles." Flynn said and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Merida merely snorted in response and rolled her eyes, while Jack couldn't hold back a small chuckle.

Shortly after, they were by their friends' sides.

"Hi guys!" Jack said happily and Merida and Flynn quickly greeted them as well. Their four friends all returned their greetings with warm smiles and a few waves.

Jack sat down close to Hiccup and Rapunzel, while Flynn and Merida placed themselves by Mavis and Fishlegs.

"So Hic, you're braiding hair now? Kind of girly for a Viking, wouldn't you say?" he said teasingly and raised an eyebrow. The fact that it was a touching sibling gesture didn't change anything…he was still totally going to tease Hiccup about it.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "First of all, I'm not braiding girls' hair in general, I'm just braiding one of my friend's hair…and second of all, I'm man enough to be comfortable braiding someone's hair. You obviously aren't."

"Hey, I've braided my sister's hair plenty of times!" he objected.

"Oh? So it's just me who's girly for braiding someone's hair then?" Hiccup asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, obviously the same rules don't apply to you." he shrugged.

"Of course not. How could they? You're obviously superior to me." Hiccup deadpanned.

"Finally you realize it!" Jack exclaimed happily and Hiccup shook his head.

"Don't tease Hiccup too much, Jack. I asked him to do it." Rapunzel told him with an amused smile.

"Why?"

"Vikings make the best braids, didn't you know that?" She said, as if it was obvious.

"No, can't say that I did…but I'm learning a lot about Vikings these days." he said.

He had actually never thought he would know quite so much about Vikings as he did now. Right from the beginning of their friendship, he had been interested in learning more about Viking culture, but now that he had feelings for Hiccup, it made him soak up every single piece of information on Vikings he heard, like a sponge.

"Well, it must take ages to braid all of Goldie's hair." Flynn said to Hiccup.

"Goldie?" Rapunzel asked with a furrowed brow.

"A new addition to the nickname club, huh?" Jack asked Flynn with a grin.

"It was about time." Flynn shrugged. "I mean, Fishlegs is called Fish, and Hiccup…wait a minute…I don't have a nickname for you either, Hiccup."

"That's okay." Hiccup reassured him, seeming more than happy about that.

"No no no…I'll figure something out. None of my friends go without nicknames." Flynn insisted and Jack smiled at that. Flynn was definitely a huge fan of nicknames, although Merida was the one he had given the most of them…mainly to rile her up.

"Oh joy." Hiccup said sarcastically. "I can hardly wait."

They all chuckled in response to that, even Flynn.

"Aaaand we're done." Hiccup then told Rapunzel, who glanced behind her and smiled.

"Great! Thanks Hiccup." She said, and grabbed the long braid and swung it over her shoulder, so it rested on her chest.

"Ready to shoot some arrows now, Hiccup?" Merida asked, having waited for Hiccup to be done with this. Jack found himself thinking that Merida was actually more patient with Hiccup than she was with the rest of them and he briefly wondered if it was because she had finally found someone to bond with over weapons and such things…and because Hiccup had already done quite a lot for her in their brief friendship, like make a bow and arrows for her, helping her train so she can get better…and even said that she could come and watch him and Fishlegs fight the next time and maybe get some lessons.

"Yeah, sure." Hiccup replied with a happy smile and got to his feet.

His two friends walked towards that hollow tree where Merida had her bow and arrows hidden. "It's going to be great when you're done making that bow of yours, so we can shoot at the same time." Merida said.

"Yeah." Hiccup agreed. "I'll probably be able to finish it the next time I'm in the workshop."

"Wicked." Merida replied with a happy grin, which Hiccup returned. Then the two of them began training, taking turns to use the bow. Throughout, Hiccup gave Merida useful tips on how to improve and once in a while adjusted her grip on the bow or the arrow.

As time went by, Fishlegs entertained Mavis with more knowledge on dragons and she eagerly asked questions and listened him rant off long, excited answers, while Rapunzel and Flynn talked about Pascal. Jack kept his eyes on Hiccup and Merida practicing. Merida had begun complaining about her mother to Hiccup.

"A lady doesn't stuff her gob. A lady doesn't raise her voice. A lady always strives for perfection. Ugh!" Merida exclaimed, quoting her mother and releasing an arrow that landed in one of the painted targets.

"Yeah, your mum really likes her rules, doesn't she?" Hiccup said and Merida made a grumbling noise of agreement in response. Then she handed him the bow and an arrow. He drew the bow and let the arrow fly into a target, landing perfectly in the center.

Jack continued to just observe his two friends practicing, while he tuned out Flynn's and Rapunzel's talk as well as the dragon conversation going on in the background. Usually he would be very interested in learning even more about dragons, but first of all he could always ask whatever he wanted to know at another time and second of all he kind of wanted to just…watch Hiccup be all amazing at shooting arrows. He and Merida practicing archery had become a fairly regular sight to him now, because he and the others had begun to hang out here as well and somehow he just didn't get tired of watching Hiccup do this. It was oddly fascinating to watch him draw the bow and then release an arrow, making it hit the target perfectly almost every single time. He made it look so incredibly effortless.

Hiccup held an arrow in place and drew the bow. The arrow whooshed through the air and landed dead in the middle of one of the painted targets. Jack was sort of reluctant to admit it, even to himself, because it made him feel like he was no better than those girls swooning over Hiccup, but it was attractive that he could fight and use weapons. That combination of his awkward, shy, sensitive side and his tough, experienced Viking side was perfect. He felt a blush creep into his cheeks, as he found himself suddenly thinking some not-very-innocent thoughts about him. It was moments like this that required him to really focus and hold himself back so he wouldn't end up just grabbing Hiccup and snogging him right into the ground.

Hiccup handed the bow back to Merida, and she drew the bow and let an arrow fly. It landed on one of the targets on the tree, but not very close to the center.

"Ugh, I wish I could just like…turn her into a bear or something!" Merida said in frustration as she drew her bow once more. Hiccup quickly moved in and adjusted her grip on the weapon, before taking a few steps back again.

"What would that accomplish?" Hiccup said.

"I don't know! Maybe she could get a dose of reality. You know…having to sleep outside, catch her own food, all of that stuff." Merida explained, as she released another arrow that landed in the tree, this time a little closer to the middle.

"And she would need to be a bear to do that?" Hiccup said in amusement, raising an eyebrow.

Jack chuckled at that and Hiccup turned his head and gave him an amused smile, before training his eyes on Merida again. Jack found himself thinking that he was incredibly happy that Hiccup had so easily made friends with Merida, Flynn and Mavis. It meant a lot to him that they all liked each other so much…and Rapunzel and Fishlegs too of course.

"Look, I didn't say it was a perfect plan, okay?" Merida replied, lowering her bow and looking at Hiccup now.

"I don't even think it qualifies as a "plan", never mind a perfect one." Hiccup shrugged.

"Oh shut up, Hiccup." Merida said and rolled her eyes before being unable to hold back a small smile.

"A bear would also be a sort of inappropriate choice don't you think? Considering how your dad got his leg bitten off by one?" Hiccup asked her, tilting his head of brown hair.

"Who cares? He loves to tell that story to anyone who'll listen."

Hiccup nodded and then turned his head and looked at their targets for a few moments.

"You know…maybe I should build some actual targets for us."

"Yeah, that would be great." Merida said with joy in her blue eyes.

Hiccup nodded. "I'll do that."

Hiccup walked towards the trees with the painted targets on and began to pull the arrows out. Merida quickly followed him to help and afterwards they placed the bow and arrows in the hollow tree as usual, before joining Jack and the others.

Hiccup slumped down on the blanket next to him and gave him a fond smile, which made Jack feel all bubbly inside. A warm smile tugged at his lips in response.

"So…what are the strengths of the Gronckle then?" Mavis asked Fishlegs with genuine interest, tilting her head.

Fishlegs' face lit up at that question. "Oh, there are so many strengths!" he began, "The Gronckle have a devastating fire attack and even though it has a six shots limit like most dragons, it can quickly refill them by eating rocks and then melting them in its stomach. It's a strong dragon and they have extremely tough scales, some of the toughest of all the dragons and that makes them able to withstand a lot of damage. It functions pretty much like armor. They can also hover which some people might think isn't worth much, but it can actually be quite dangerous for someone to be up against a Gronckle who simply hovers out of reach whenever they try to attack and then releases its flames. They have very sharp teeth too and they can use that club tail of theirs as a very powerful weapon," Fishlegs finished explaining, almost breathless from speaking so eagerly.

Jack smiled. Fishlegs' enthusiasm was definitely one of the best things about him.

"Gronckles are seriously underrated!" Fishlegs then said and Hiccup chuckled. Jack felt his smile widen. He was so incredibly happy that he had managed to cheer Hiccup up and pull him out of that depression he'd been in for the last couple of days.

"What? Do you disagree, Burlufotr*?" Fishlegs asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not at all." Hiccup said but didn't stop smiling.

"He's laughing because every single time you talk about Gronckles, you say how underestimated they are." Rapunzel explained and then smiled fondly at Fishlegs.

"Well excuse me Hiccup, but we can't all ride the rarest dragon species on earth." Fishlegs said and crossed his arms, pretending to be a little offended, even though he clearly wasn't.

"Of course not. Then it wouldn't be the rarest now would it?" Hiccup replied with his usual sass.

"Wait…Toothless is the rarest dragon species?" Jack asked. Hiccup hadn't told him that.

"Yeah. Well…at least from what we know so far. He's the only Night Fury we've seen."

"Wow, that's really cool." Flynn said, sounding a little impressed.

"Do you think he misses being around his own kind?" Mavis asked.

"It doesn't seem like it but…I would like to find more Night Furies sometime…if they're even out there somewhere." Hiccup told her.

"Isn't it enough that Toothless has to suffer being around you? No need to bring other Night Furies into it." Jack asked, wanting to rile Hiccup up a little for fun.

"Please." Hiccup said dismissively. "Toothless loves my company."

"Sure he does." Jack said sarcastically. "Who wouldn't love being around a sarcastic, brainy, dorky know-it-all"?

"You obviously do, Snowcone." Hiccup told him with an amused smile.

Cheeky Viking… Jack grabbed his wand from his pocket and mumbled a spell, as he pointed it towards Hiccup. Instantly a blue spark shot out of the tip of his wand and flew towards Hiccup. The second after, Hiccup's hair and eyebrows were covered in white, sparkling frost.

"Oh I really wish I had a camera right now!" Jack chuckled, unable to hold it back.

Hiccup scowled at him and then brushed the frost out of his hair before rubbing his eyebrows and making the ice disappear there as well.

"What was the purpose of that?" Hiccup asked him, pretending to be annoyed.

Jack shrugged. "What better way to take you down a peg and say: "Jack Frost was here" all at the same time?"

"Why would you even need to say that?" Hiccup asked with an amused smile.

Hmm…maybe because he felt a slight sting of possessiveness once in a while?

"Why not? The whole world's my playground, you know." he replied casually and shrugged.

"Right. How could I forget? You're the guardian of fun."

"Exactly, my awkward Viking friend." he told him with a grin. Then a thought occurred to him.

"Hey, by the way…we've been meaning to ask you guys if you wanted to come along on our Christmas shopping trip to Hogsmeade?" Jack asked them.

"Yeah sure, that sounds great." Hiccup said with a few nods.

"Yeah, I'm in!" Rapunzel exclaimed happily, her green eyes a little wide with excitement.

"Me too." Fishlegs agreed with a warm smile.

"Great!" Jack replied. He was very happy with those answers. Sure, it had always been his and his three best friends' tradition, but they had all agreed that it would only be even more fun, if their three friends came too.

"Speaking of Christmas…" Merida said happily. "I can't wait to see my brothers!"

"I'm really looking forward to seeing my dad...and Wayne and Frank and Griffin and Murray." Mavis said with a smile and tucked a lock of black hair behind one ear.

"Who are they?" Rapunzel asked in confusion.

"They're Mavis' dad's weird friends, who are sort of like uncles to her." Merida replied with a crooked smile.

"Hey, they're not weird." Mavis protested.

Jack chuckled. "They're weird…but in a good way."

Which was true…they definitely had some quirks but they were nice guys and Mavis meant the world to them.

"Well…that's better, I guess." Mavis replied with a small smile.

"I can't wait to go to your house again this year, Jackie." Flynn said with obvious excitement in his brown eyes.

"Yeah, it's going to be wicked as usual!" Merida exclaimed.

"I think North and Anna are really looking forward to it too…and Emma of course. They probably already have tons of stuff planned for us." he told his three friends. He could just imagine North now coming up with all sorts of fun activities. He really was a child at heart and that was one of the things Jack appreciated most about him.

"As usual." Mavis said with a bright smile. "It's never boring."

"What about you guys? Are you all excited about going to Berk?" Flynn asked.

"Yeah, it's going to be so amazing seeing Meatlug!" Fishlegs said excitedly and hugged himself a little.

"Yeah, and it's going to be fun to see Rapunzel meet the dragons and the other Vikings." Hiccup told them.

"You must be really excited about that, Goldie? I wish I could see dragons and all the Vikings." Flynn said, voicing something that Jack definitely agreed with. He really wished that he could go to Berk and see all of that…that would be amazing.

"Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it! But…it's also going to be a bit strange being away from my parents at Christmas." Rapunzel replied and then placed Pascal in her hands and stroked him a little.

"Yeah, but at least you won't have to put up with that frustrating aunt of yours." Hiccup said.

"That's true." Rapunzel agreed with a few nods.

"What aunt?" Jack asked curiously. He hadn't heard Rapunzel mention an aunt before.

"My aunt Gothel. She isn't too…fond of Hiccup and Fishlegs." Rapunzel replied and then put Pascal on one of her shoulders.

"That's a fair summation." Hiccup deadpanned.

"Why?" Flynn asked.

"She can't get past the whole Viking thing…she thinks we're some insane psychopaths." Hiccup explained. "She even called us ruffians and thugs at one point." he finished explaining and rolled his eyes.

Laughter emerged among his friends.

"She called you…and Fishlegs…ruffians and thugs?" Jack asked in disbelief, a grin on his face. "You…and Fishlegs?"

"Yeah. She seems to think we're going to hurt Rapunzel or put her in danger somehow. She's seriously paranoid." Hiccup told him and Jack could sense the underlying irritation in his voice of being accused of something like that.

"Yeah, she's quite…overprotective." Rapunzel said sheepishly and wrung her hands.

Fishlegs huffed a little. "That's an understatement. Remember when we wanted to sleep in a tent in your backyard and she wouldn't let you sleep in the same tent as us? Apparently there was a very real risk that we might murder you or something." Fishlegs said and Hiccup hummed in agreement.

"I know, I know…she's not very understanding about my friendship with you." Rapunzel said with an apologetic look on her face.

"Yeah…let's just say that she does not like us and the feeling is mutual." Hiccup told Jack and the others and shrugged.

Rapunzel nodded. "Yeah, it's too bad that she can't really accept you guys."

Hiccup let out a small sigh. "The worst part is probably that she keeps trying to fill your head with all those paranoid thoughts. I remember when we first got to know you…you were afraid of everything because of her."

"Yeah…" Rapunzel said sheepishly. "But…it could have been worse?" she said a bit hesitantly, as if she didn't really believe it herself.

"Rapunzel, the first night Fishlegs and I spent at your house, you knocked me unconscious with a frying pan in a paranoia fit!" Hiccup protested and then chuckled at the memory. Jack and the other teens all laughed at that, although they didn't know the story behind it. He could just imagine it now though.

"I thought you were a burglar!" Rapunzel exclaimed defensively.

"Yeah, well…serves me right for trying to go to the bathroom, huh?" Hiccup replied with a tiny amused smile tugging at his lips.

"Sorry." Rapunzel said and her cheeks were now a faint pink color.

"Come on, it's fine...it's just…she can't stop trying to make you afraid of everything and putting you down and disguising it as praise. You're not a "sapling" or a "sprout" or her "fragile flower." Hiccup said and Jack could sense the protectiveness coming from him. He knew that Hiccup was always looking out for Rapunzel and was ready to defend her against anything.

"Yeah, she doesn't really have much faith in me." she said and sighed.

"No, she doesn't. If it was up to her, you would probably be locked away in some tower like a fragile princess." Fishlegs said, gesturing with his hands.

"Yes…she practically thinks you're made of glass, but we know you're much stronger than that." Hiccup said and now there was an underlying warmth and reassurance in his voice.

Rapunzel smiled at him with appreciation in her eyes. "Thanks." she then said. "Growing up with two Viking boys as your best friends toughens you up a little." she added and smiled brightly at Hiccup and Fishlegs.

"If it hadn't, we obviously did something wrong." Fishlegs said with a toothy grin.

---

Sometimes it was difficult being away from Emma for most of the year. It wasn't just because he missed her so much, but also because it made him feel like a lousy brother, whenever something was troubling her and he couldn't be there to help. He leaned back in his chair in the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom, still waiting for the class to begin. He sighed to himself. He had received a letter from Emma about an hour ago at breakfast and apparently she was having nightmares about their parents' deaths and hadn't gotten much sleep at all for the last couple of days. Luckily it was a rare occurrence for her to have nightmares about that day, maybe because she had been so young when it happened, but it made him feel absolutely horrible to know that his sister was suffering now and that he couldn't even be there to give her a hug or stroke her hair to bring her some comfort or let her sleep in his bed beside him for support.

He remained quiet while listening absent-mindedly to the conversation taking place between Flynn and Merida about their next Quidditch match against the Slytherins. Thoughts of Emma kept whirling in his mind.

Hiccup was sitting next to him and had so far been writing notes, but now he had obviously figured out that something was off, since Jack could feel his eyes observing him.

"Jack…is something wrong?" Hiccup asked him, almost whispering to avoid drawing attention from Merida and Flynn, who were now arguing about who the best professional Quidditch player was.

He turned his head to look at Hiccup. "Yeah, I just…Emma sent me a letter and told me that she's having nightmares about the day our parents died." he explained and then sighed a little.

"Oh…I'm so sorry." Hiccup told him with that familiar concerned look in his eyes.

"I just wish I could be there for her. Sometimes I feel like the worst brother in the world, because I've left her behind." he explained to Hiccup, wanting to share his thoughts with someone right now.

"You haven't left her behind. You're separated for most of the year, but you haven't left her. You're always there for her. You make sure to know what's going on in her life, you let her know that she can tell you anything and I know you would drop everything if she needed you." Hiccup said softly and gave him a small, reassuring smile.

"Of course I would…" he replied quietly. There was almost nothing he wouldn't do for his sister.

"And she knows that, Jack. You're not a bad brother. In fact you're one of the best I've seen."

"Really?" he asked hesitantly. He knew that he was very good at blaming himself whenever Emma was feeling down, because he couldn't be there by her side most of the time, so it was nice and comforting to hear Hiccup say those words.

"Really. You're always doing everything you can to make sure she's happy and safe and she can always count on you for support. That's what makes a great brother." Hiccup told him with a fond smile.

"Thanks Hic."

"Anytime, Snowflake." Hiccup said with that familiar warmth and affection in his eyes that made Jack's heart skip a beat. Damn, how did Hiccup manage to do that?

Their Defense against the Dark Arts class went by very quickly, as they once again practiced the Patronus charm and Jack really enjoyed watching his arctic fox run around excitedly in the air leaving those long trails of light behind it. Not to mention that he could observe Hiccup's dragon Patronus as well, as it glided through the air and spewed flames, much to Hiccup's delight. Jack hadn't noticed it the last time, but Hiccup pointed out that his Patronus looked a lot like Toothless, which was kind of fascinating.

Merida and Flynn managed to produce their Patronuses too and Merida's bear Patronus even took a playful swing at Flynn's dolphin Patronus at one point, as it quickly swam by and made joyful clicking noises, much to all of their amusement. Jack hadn't even known that Patronuses could interact with each other in any way, but similar situations kept happening during the class. He felt a combination of embarrassment and pure joy when he saw his arctic fox trying to play with Hiccup's dragon Patronus by running next to it and jumping over it several times, which caused the white dragon to do some pretty amazing maneuvers to evade the smaller fox, and thus a short, playful chase began between the two Patronuses. Hiccup seemed incredibly amused by this and they both laughed a lot by the fox's attempts to catch up with the dragon, until it gave up and resumed darting around randomly and joyously in the room.

The rest of his classes that day went by quite slowly and Jack suspected it was because he only had that one class with Hiccup, so they were separated for the remainder of the school day.

As he sat next to Mavis in Arithmancy and tried to listen to Professor Keller go on and on about some number charts that he couldn't care less about, thoughts of Hiccup filled his mind as usual. Next to him, Mavis was eagerly scribbling down notes. He knew that he should be paying attention, especially since he wasn't doing very well in this class because he had come to find it so excruciatingly boring, but he just couldn't bring himself to care right now. It was much more pleasant to lose himself in thoughts of Hiccup… Thoughts about his green eyes that reminded Jack of thick, lush forests, his dorky smile with the little gap between his front teeth, that little scar he had on his chin, his soft, messy brown hair, those few discreet freckles he had on his cheeks…

He blocked out the sound of Professor Keller's voice, as his mind began to run through images of Hiccup biting his bottom lip when he needed to concentrate in class, scrunching his face slightly when he was sketching, being all vulnerable when he opened up about another secret of his, shooting arrows like it was second nature to him, being a wonderfully sarcastic, quick-witted shit when they were bantering, the way his green eyes would sometimes soften with fondness and make Jack want to kiss him so badly.

He pulled himself out of his trance. Bloody hell Jack…at least try to resist these thoughts just once in a while. It was seriously dangerous to go down that road. He couldn't help it most of the time though...it was like Hiccup had invaded his mind.

Mavis nudged his shoulder, disturbing his thoughts. She pointed to one of the large arch windows with a warm smile on her face. He followed the direction and saw thick, white, delicate snowflakes falling outside from the grey skies. His face lit up in a huge grin and Mavis chuckled at his reaction. She knew how excited he got when the first snow fell. Now he was even more impatient to get the rest of his classes over with. He wanted to go outside in the snow, watch it shimmer in the light, let those snowflakes leave cooling touches on his face and land in his hair, build snowmen and start snowball fights.

He smiled a little as a thought entered his mind. He was definitely going to get Hiccup involved in a snowball fight.

---

The chilly winter air nipped at his skin, as he sat in one of the courtyards on a bench with his Herbology textbook. He adjusted his blue and white striped Ravenclaw scarf to cover a small piece of exposed skin that was getting touched by the brisk breeze. It had been his plan to study in the library, but Jack had insisted on dragging him outside because of the snow and he would not take no for an answer. Not that Hiccup actually wouldsay no…Jack's childish excitement was like a secret weapon and it was seriously endearing how snow and winter in general made him so genuinely happy.

He had pulled his legs up on the bench and had his back against one of the armrests, while letting the heavy book rest on his thighs, as he tried his best to focus on his current task of studying. But Jack was making it difficult.

As he once again heard Jack's bubbly laughter, he lifted his eyes from the pages and watched him. That laughter always made him feel warm inside.

Jack was trying to start a snowball fight with eight first year students and had sorted them into two teams of four. Then he made them pick team names, which was why he was currently laughing. Apparently the names the children had chosen were very amusing. Jack ruffled the hair of a small brunet boy and then directed the two teams to their starting positions and explained that he would throw at both teams, because it was clearly unfair if one team had all the advantages that came with his "pure awesomeness".

As Jack's blue eyes became wide with excitement and he gestured eagerly as he explained this to the first years, Hiccup could feel those tiny Terrible Terrors spread their wings inside his stomach and his heartbeat speed up quickly.

Gods…why did he have to be so amazing?…and attractive…and funny…and…okay Hiccup, stop that train of thought right there. Get a grip.

But really…why couldn't he have some kind of major flaw that Hiccup could focus on? That would make things a lot simpler. He wasn't that lucky though. Jack was amazing.

He lowered his gaze to his textbook again and tried his best to just focus on reading about the Chinese Chomping Cabbage, even though he would much rather just watch Jack. He kept his eyes trained on the book though. He needed to get this done and also…he couldn't just openly stare at Jack. That would definitely draw attention. He sighed a little to himself, as he read the same sentence for the fifth time, trying to get it to stick in his brain. By Thor, if these feelings lasted, his impressive grades would probably suffer and become a lot less impressive, unless he got better at pushing thoughts of Jack out of his mind.

As if trying to taunt him with his hopeless crush, his mind began to show him images of Jack's face lighting up when he was laughing his ass off after a successful prank, of him hilariously and adorably whine and pout over something, of that incredibly caring and warm expression in his blue eyes when they were having a heart-to-heart, of his infectious child-like excitement over seemingly small things like snow or winning a game, of the way he raised one eyebrow when he teased someone, of him running through the hallways laughing like a happy maniac, of him slinging his arm around Hiccup whenever they walked together, of his amusing arrogant and smug attitude when they were teasing each other, of his bright, confident and mischievous smiles that made Hiccup feel weak in the knees and gave him the sudden urge to kiss him…

He shook his head to himself. Oh come on, Hiccup…don't do that. You're just torturing yourself now.

Without his permission, his eyes drifted away from the book. Jack was running around excitedly, laughing and gathering snow to form snowballs and throw them at the first years. Hiccup smiled warmly to himself. He loved Jack's playful and child-like side. It made him feel genuinely happy inside. He was also very relieved that Jack was in a better mood now. It was awful to see him be affected by guilt and grief and feel like a lousy brother because he couldn't physically be there for Emma right now. Hiccup had decided then to cheer Jack up by letting him in on another secret later.

Jack was hit in the face by a snowball and chased after a little boy with blonde curls to get revenge on him. After having simply grabbed an armful of snow and thrown it at the boy, covering him in the soft, delicate powder, Jack quickly retreated and ran around the courtyard in search of new victims. The first years were eagerly throwing snowballs through the air, running after each other and crouching down to pick up more snow to form into ammunition. Their joyful laughter and squeals were echoing through the air, and most of their clothes were now covered in snow. Some of them had been smart enough to build a few snow walls that they could use to duck behind for cover once in a while.

Jack had made his way around the whole courtyard by now, shooting snowballs and ducking once in a while to avoid getting hit, and he suddenly turned towards him and waved at him.

"Come on, Hic. Join in!" Jack yelled to him with a bright smile.

"I can't Jack, I need to study." he told his friend, although he couldn't exactly tell him how distracted he was making him.

"Awww, you stupid Viking." Jack pouted before turning back to the snowball fight, eagerly ducking and jumping to the side to avoid that snowy ammunition being thrown through the air, and quickly forming more snowballs to launch at everyone else.

Hiccup turned his attention back to the book and actually managed to focus for a little while now. That was quickly ruined though, when something cold and wet suddenly landed on his face and slowly slid down the skin, leaving freezing wet trails. He wiped his face with his hands and looked at the remaining wet pieces of the snowball on his jacket, before he put his textbook down and got to his feet. He didn't even have to look to know who just did that, but when he did look, his suspicions were confirmed, as that pale snow-loving idiot was grinning widely at him.

"I challenge you, dragon boy!" Jack yelled with a huge smile and pointed at him.

"Oh, it's on, you devious Snowflake!" he shouted and crouched down to collect some snow for ammunition. He formed the snow into a firm, dense snowball in his hands and ignored the cold wet sensation spreading through his fingers.

Screw studying. He needed to wipe that smile off Jack's face.

"Bring it, Hic! You're no match for me!" Jack said confidently and lowered himself to the ground to get some snow for a snowball as well. Behind him the first years were still in the middle of a snowball war, happy laughter, shrieks and battle cries ringing through the chilly winter air.

"Oh really!?" Hiccup yelled before he quickly launched a snowball and expertly hit Jack right between the eyes.

Jack groaned, dropped the snow in his hands and wiped the snow away from his eyes. Hiccup quickly collected more snow and formed another snowball, which he threw through the air. It hit Jack in the face again.

"Aww man!"

"Still think I'm no match for you?" he asked Jack in amusement.

"Psshh, I was just letting you get a few hits in, so you won't feel so bad when I destroy you."

"Yeah right. I'd like to see that, Frosty." he replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Well…" Jack said as he crouched down and picked up some snow. "Prepare yourself, Viking boy. You're going down."

That was how he and Jack ended up sprinting around the courtyard, throwing snowballs and arms full of the white powder at each other, laughing and yelling insults. Like it was the case with that waterballoon fight they once had, he was a lot better at this than Jack. Jack managed to get some pretty good hits in too though and soon they were both almost completely covered in snow.

When three of the first years suddenly surrounded Jack and knocked him off his feet before stuffing a snowball down his jacket, Jack shrieked from the sudden chill. The kids ran way laughing their asses off, and when Jack got to his feet he scowled at them. Hiccup was unable to contain a chuckle.

"Hic, I suggest an alliance." Jack told him in mock seriousness and crossed his arms.

"I'm listening." he replied casually.

"Those rebellious children need to be taught a lesson." Jack said and motioned with his head to the first years running around in the snow.

"I agree. They need to respect their superiors."

"That settles it then."

"Yeah, you're right. It's a deal." Hiccup agreed and lowered himself to the ground to begin forming a snowball.

"Oh wait…we can't be a team without a team name!" he heard Jack say.

He stood up straight again. "Okay…any suggestions?"

"Hmm…" Jack said, furrowing his forehead in contemplation. "Oh I know! Hijack!"

"What?" he asked, "Did you just…mix our names together like some uncreative first year?"

"Well, we can always go for my second choice: the electric ninjas!" Jack said proudly.

"…Okay, Hijack is fine." Hiccup replied. "But wait…why do you get your entire name in there, while I only get two letters?"

"Well, obviously, your part is first, so I have to be compensated somehow."

Hiccup shook his head. "Fine. Now, let's take down some first years."

"Yes!" Jack agreed with a huge smile and then ran to the nearest snow wall. Hiccup quickly followed and then they both started to form snowballs and launch them at the children, who quickly became aware that the two of them had teamed up against them.

It didn't take the first years long to make their own alliance and suddenly he and Jack were fighting eight children at once. Luckily the kids weren't nearly as good at throwing and hitting their targets, so that made it easier, but still…they were two against eight.

Jack was suddenly tackled from behind by four children at once and he fell backwards into the snow. The children were all sitting on him or pinning him down somehow, while Jack struggled and laughed. One of them squashed a snowball in his face and they started to cover him completely in snow.

Hiccup turned around and began launching snowballs at them, hitting them expertly in the faces, which quickly caused them to retreat and seek the safety of the rest of their team.

"Jack, are you alive down there?" he asked with an amused smile, as he watched the pile of snow, where only a little bit of Jack's face and hair was sticking out.

"Hic…I'm dying." Jack wheezed dramatically.

"Really? Any last wishes?"

"Only one." Jack said. "Avenge me!" he then shouted in mock anger.

"No problem, Snowflake." Hiccup said and then turned around and began throwing snowballs at the children at a fast pace. Unfortunately they had had time to form a lot of new ammunition and they were eight against him. He crouched down behind one of the snow walls and continuously formed snowballs, peeked over the wall and then threw them accurately.

Apparently the children soon decided that they should put up a united front to beat him, which was bad news. They all approached the snow wall together at once, when he suddenly heard a voice behind him.

"I'M ALIIIIIIVE!" Jack yelled dramatically and practically shot out of the snow and on to his feet. "I'M ALIIIIIIIIIIVE!" he shouted again, his arms extended in front of him, as if he was a corpse being brought back to life.

"If you could just tone down your dramatic flair for a moment, I could use some back up, Frosty!" Hiccup said.

"You got it!" Jack said and saluted him, before sprinting over to him and ducking behind the snow wall as well. His hair and clothes were completely covered in snow but that didn't seem to faze him the slightest. Jack peeked over the snow wall and saw the eight first years approaching.

"Okay, Hic. We're in a tough spot here…we're outnumbered and we're almost out of ammunition." he told him seriously, as if they were at war.

Hiccup put his face in grave folds. "Yes, it's not looking good. Any ideas?"

"Yeah." Jack replied with a knowing smile.

Jack took out his wand and pointed it at the ground while mumbling a few words and suddenly a bunch of snowballs appeared.

Hiccup grinned. He knew that Jack had practically taught himself every snow-related spell there was.

"Great! You keep supplying ammunition and I'll fire at them." Hiccup then told his friend. That would probably be effective enough to secure the victory for them.

"Sounds like the perfect plan." Jack agreed with an evil smile and then began conjuring more snowballs.

That was how he and Jack ended up winning a snowball fight against eight first years. They worked together as an efficient team, Jack kept producing snowballs and sometimes firing a few too, while Hiccup was releasing the snowy pieces of ammunition at a very fast pace, hitting the intended targets without much difficulty. In the end the first years surrendered and admitted that he and Jack were superior to them, much to Jack's delight.

Currently the first years were brushing off all the snow from their clothes and hair, some of them looking quite cold and wet now, but with smiles on their faces nonetheless.

As Hiccup brushed some snow out of his hair as well, Jack appeared before him after having thrown a snowball at Jim, who was walking past unsuspecting. This earned him a promise of revenge, but Jack only laughed in response.

"That was fun!" Jack exclaimed happily, his blue eyes a little wide with excitement. His white hair was filled with little snowflakes gleaming in the light, his pale nose and cheeks had that faint pink color from being outside in the brisk air and a bright smile lit up his entire face, making him look like he was practically ready to burst with joy. In this moment he was so mind-blowingly gorgeous that Hiccup wanted nothing more than to just pull him in by the collar of his shirt and crash his lips against his and it took some serious self-control on his part to not give in and do just that. It was so tempting. He felt a blush spread through his cheeks, but luckily Jack probably wouldn't notice since his cheeks were most likely already pink from the cold air.

He smiled warmly at Jack's enthusiasm and Jack's smile seemed to widen in response.

"And we won! We showed those kids who's boss!" Jack said happily and did a little jump.

"Of course we did. Those puny children didn't stand a chance against a Viking and the guardian of fun." Hiccup replied and motioned to him and then Jack.

"Finally you recognize my title!" Jack exclaimed and gave him a little playful shove.

"Well…I can't really deny that you are fun to be around, Snowcone." he shrugged with a small smile.

"Likewise, my dorky Viking friend…now, maybe we should get inside. It's getting dark soon and we could probably use a change of clothes before dinner."

"Yeah, you're right about that. Come on." he agreed and began to walk towards one of the entrances. Jack quickly caught up and then slung his arm around him, as they made their way across the courtyard together.

---

The night air was refreshingly chilly and a barrier of grey clouds drifted across the dark blue sky, obscuring the stars and the moon from view completely. Jack was currently finding himself in a very strange situation: following Hiccup out into the dark woods in the middle of the night. The snow was cracking under the pressure of his footsteps and every single branch and leaf in sight was covered with a soft layer of the white powder.

When he and Hiccup had gone inside after their snowball fight and needed to part ways to go to their own common rooms and get some dry clothes, Hiccup gave him a note with a strange, amused smile on his lips, before turning around and walking away without offering any explanation whatsoever.

As he had continued to walk along the corridors on his way to his own common room, he unfolded the note and took in the words. Then he smiled to himself in a mix of confusion and excitement. The note told him to sneak out and meet Hiccup at midnight by the castle entrance. Of course he had been intrigued by it and he spent the rest of the evening wondering what on earth Hiccup had in mind.

That's how Jack now found himself in the middle of some small forest about 10 minutes away from the Quidditch pitch in the dark. He had never been here before and as he kept trailing behind Hiccup who was obviously hiding something from him, all kinds of strange scenarios about what this could possibly be about were going through his mind. The tip of Hiccup's wand glowed in the dark, bathing them in a faint light, so they wouldn't stumble over roots or rocks on their way to…well, wherever they were currently going, and the soft blanket of white snow all around them helped illuminate the surroundings further.

Jack suddenly chuckled to himself. "Hic, is this the part where I'm going to get brutally murdered in the middle of some strange forest?" he asked his friend.

"Oh yes." Hiccup said, his back still turned to Jack, walking ahead of him. He could hear the amusement practically seeping from Hiccup's voice.

"It's always the shy ones that you should be wary of, isn't it? The one's that seem completely harmless and trustworthy."

"I'm not harmless, Jack." Hiccup said and it sort of sounded like an objection but at the same time there was an underlying amusement present.

"Oh please…you blush if a girl so much as looks your way."

"Yeah, true…but I can also kick your ass without even trying" Hiccup argued and Jack could almost sense the self-satisfied smile on Hiccup's face, despite not being able to see it. He couldn't really argue with that though…but he wasn't about to admit it.

"Psshh…I've just been holding back, so I wouldn't damage your ego." he said.

"Sure…Keep telling yourself that, Snowflake."

A few moments of silence passed as Jack continued to follow Hiccup towards their strange, unknown destination. The night air was chilly but his black jacket, his scarf and his unusually high tolerance of cold kept him warm and comfortable.

"So…where are we going, Hic? I'm not exactly used to being led out into a dark forest without even knowing where I'm going or why."

"Well…consider this a kind of friendship test." Hiccup told him, still walking in front of him.

"What?" he asked in confusion, furrowing his brow. What on earth was he talking about?

"As I said…a friendship test." Hiccup replied, not offering any kind of explanation at all.

Okay…

To say that Jack was curious now was an understatement. He was brimming with curiosity and anticipation. What the hell was Hiccup talking about? What kind of friendship test could there be out here in the woods in the dark? Jack briefly revisited the whole serial-killer scenario and chuckled to himself. He had the feeling that Hiccup was just loving this…making him all curious and confused.

Suddenly they walked into a clearing and Hiccup seemed to slow down a little so he did the same, since he had no idea what to expect from all of this.

"Jack?" Hiccup asked.

"Yeah?"

"No matter what happens, don't take out your wand, okay?" Hiccup told him.

"Seriously Hic, are we going to die or something?" he asked Hiccup with an amused smile.

Hiccup chuckled. "Of course not. Just do what I say, okay?"

"Okay…" Jack said uncertainly. This was just getting weirder and weirder.

Hiccup stopped walking, as he reached the middle of the clearing and Jack halted his steps as well. Hiccup's Lumos spell illuminated their surroundings in a faint white light and as Jack looked around the clearing, he spotted a large cave. Huh...he would have to go exploring in there sometime. His natural curiosity prevented him from leaving such things alone.

"Come out, bud." Hiccup suddenly said.

A large, black mass came out of the cave and bounded towards them at massive speed. Jack stopped breathing, quickly took some steps back and felt his heart practically jump right into his throat.

The large black animal stopped in front of Hiccup and pushed its snout against his forehead a few times. It almost looked like some kind of greeting.

"Heey bud." Hiccup cooed as he began to stroke the side of the animal's head in slow, affectionate movements.

Jack's eyes widened so much they might have popped out of his head, and he just stared at the massive creature standing in front of Hiccup. He recognized the dragon. No way…no…fucking…way. Toothless is here!?

"Jack?" he heard Hiccup's voice say, but he was still just staring at the fucking dragon in front of him! The dragon who was currently being petted by Hiccup!

Toothless turned his head and watched him curiously for a few seconds, before he suddenly narrowed his eyes in an instant. He began growling at him, a low, animalistic sound that made Jack's heart almost stop in fear.

"Jack." Hiccup said firmly, pulling him out of his trance and he snapped his head towards his friend. His blue eyes were still wide in shock.

"Put down your wand." Hiccup said calmly, observing him with his green eyes.

Jack lowered his eyes and found out that he was actually holding his wand tightly in his hand, his knuckles almost turning white from the firm grip. Apparently he had pulled it out on instinct, despite Hiccup telling him not to.

He slowly put his wand back in the pocket of his black jacket, while watching Toothless intently. Even though he was standing in front of a dragon and he would now be completely defenseless, he trusted Hiccup completely.

As soon as the wand was gone from his hand, the black dragon's eyes turned from angry slits to friendly, round black pupils, almost making it resemble a happy dog. Toothless tilted his massive head and observed him from in front of Hiccup with obvious interest.

Jack let out a sigh and felt the worry subside. Of course he knew that Toothless was friendly…being Hiccup's best friend and all…but it was pretty intimidating standing in front of a growling dragon.

"Okay." Hiccup said calmly. "Jack, come here" he finished and motioned with one hand.

Jack slowly and carefully stepped closer to Hiccup and Toothless, watching Toothless in case he did anything else that might cause a change in the dragon's mood. When he was standing right next to Hiccup, he was only a few feet away from the Night Fury.

"Jack, this is Toothless…Toothless, this is Jack. Remember how I told you about him?" Hiccup said casually, as if he was just introducing a couple of friends, when in reality, Jack was meeting a bloody dragon!

Toothless tilted his head in curiosity and then slowly covered the few feet between them and started carefully sniffing at his hand. He could feel the brush of scales against his skin, but he just stood still for a while, not completely sure what to do right now. How do you act around a dragon?

"You…told him about me?" he asked Hiccup, feeling quite happy about that.

"Well, yeah. I tell him almost everything that goes on in my life."

Toothless had stopped smelling his hands and just looked at him, as if waiting for him to do something. Jack then decided to reach out a hand towards the black dragon. He gently began to stroke the top of Toothless' head, feeling the rough black scales against his pale fingertips. The dragon was quite warm to touch, which made sense when he thought about it…after all, he could breathe fire.

"Hi Toothless." he said to the black dragon and gave him a smile, wanting to make friends with him, but not exactly knowing at all how you gained a dragon's trust.

The Night Fury began to make low purr-like sounds, leaning into the touch, and Jack was unable to hold back the huge bright smile that spread across his face. Toothless actually seemed to like him!

He continued to pet Toothless and used his other hand to scratch under the dragon's chin, which was apparently delightful for the Night Fury, as he closed his eyes and continued to let out those low sounds of contentment.

After a little while of stroking and scratching Toothless to bond with him, Jack retracted his hands and then crouched down in front of the Night Fury, looking him right in the eye now. He was no longer feeling intimidated by Toothless, so he wanted to take a closer look at him. The dragon was observing him with friendliness evident in his large, green eyes and that made Jack feel almost giddy inside.

"You're incredible…" he told Toothless in awe, and the black dragon warbled in reply, sounding very pleased with that compliment. In fact, Toothless looked almost proud, as he lifted his head up in the air a little. Jack grinned at the Night Fury in response. This was actually going pretty well…and Toothless was amazing. He seemed almost…human in his expressions.

He continued to sit in front of Toothless and then decided to talk to him a little to get the dragon used to him.

"I've never met a dragon before, Toothless…so this is really exciting." he told him, unable to keep the bubbling joy out of his voice. He quickly glanced at Hiccup, who was watching him and Toothless with a soft, fond smile.

As he trained his eyes on Toothless again, the dragon tilted his head and his tongue lolled out one side of his mouth, once again reminding Jack of a happy dog. He laughed a little at the joyful dragon and started to scratch under his chin again. Toothless seemed very pleased with that and closed his eyes as an expression of delight.

He was unable to wipe the grin off his face. This was just…unbelievable. He was talking to a dragon and petting it! He would never have imagined that in his wildest dreams.

"You're pretty great. I think you and I could become good friends." he told the black dragon and Toothless opened his green eyes and let out a strange, low sound that he didn't know what to make of.

Jack quickly looked at Hiccup for an explanation. Hiccup grinned at him. "He agrees."

Toothless suddenly moved closer and gently bumped his snout against Jack's forehead before turning around and walking away.

Jack watched the dragon go to Hiccup, where Toothless stopped and warbled.

He got to his feet and turned his head towards Hiccup, who was watching him with fondness in his green eyes while he had begun petting Toothless with one hand.

"This is…that was…it…" Jack said, struggling to find the words to express just how much he appreciated that Hiccup had actually let him meet Toothless. "This is just amazing, Hic" he told him, and a bright smile spread across Hiccup's face.

"I'm glad you think so. I thought it was time you met my best friend."

Jack nodded. "Thanks…I never thought I would get to meet a dragon!"

Hiccup chuckled at his excitement. "Well, Toothless seems to like you."

"I like him too, he's great!" he said. Toothless seemed happy with that compliment. The dragon gave him what could only be described as a toothless smile. He remembered that Hiccup had told him that Toothless had retractable teeth.

Hiccup smiled and turned to Toothless. "Are you ready, bud?". Toothless lowered his body closer to the ground in reply.

Hiccup quickly got on the dragon's back in a few swift movements, while Jack just stared at the whole interaction, still finding all of this quite surreal. Was Hiccup about to fly off now?

"Well…are you coming?" Hiccup asked him with an amused smile.

Wait…what?

"What?" He asked Hiccup in disbelief, his blue eyes widening.

"Haven't you ever wanted to fly on a dragon?" Hiccup asked him with a grin.

"Yes!" he blurted out, unable to stop himself. Of course he wanted to fly on a dragon!

"Then come on." Hiccup encouraged him with a smile and motioned with one hand for him to come closer.

Jack's face split into a huge grin. Wow, this was actually happening?

"Really!?" he asked, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice.

Hiccup chuckled. "Yeah, otherwise I wouldn't have said it. Come on, Snowflake."

Jack approached Toothless and Hiccup and looked at the dragon for a brief moment.

Then he grabbed the side of the saddle and heaved himself up on the dragon's back, behind Hiccup. It was easier said than done, and the fact that Hiccup could make it look so effortless spoke volumes of his experience with this. There was a little room between them on the saddle, and Jack preferred to keep it that way. Otherwise he might just get…certain thoughts or reactions. He definitely didn't want that.

"Put that harness on." Hiccup told him and pointed towards a harness attached to the saddle.

Jack did as he was told and wrapped the harness around him and then clicked it into place. He definitely felt a little safer now. He was all for adrenaline rushes and excitement, but falling out of the sky would perhaps be a bit too much.

"Okay…now…grab those two straps on the sides and hold on tight." Hiccup said calmly.

"That feeling that I might die today is slowly coming back, Hic."

Hiccup chuckled. "Don't worry, Snær Flekkr. I would never let anything happen to you."

Jack felt reassured by those words. Of course he hadn't actually thought that Hiccup would take risks with his safety, and of course Hiccup knew exactly what he was doing, but…Jack had never been on a dragon before, so this whole situation seemed quite unpredictable to him.

"Good to know."

"So…are you ready?"

"Yeah, I think so." he replied and tried to mentally prepare himself for what was about to come, although that would probably be impossible.

He heard a clicking noise and he knew that it was Hiccup clicking his prosthetic into place, so he could control Toothless' tailfin. He didn't lean over and look at the prosthetic, because first of all he didn't know if Hiccup would be bothered by that and second of all it was too dark to see it properly anyway.

"Toothless…Jack has never been on a dragon, so don't do anything too wild, okay? Just take it easy." Hiccup told the Night Fury and Jack appreciated that. Just being on a dragon's back and about to fly into the sky was surreal and exciting enough.

Toothless warbled in reply.

"Good, thanks bud." Hiccup said and stroked the top of the dragon's head.

Jack smiled and shook his head a little. It was cute how Hiccup was actually able to communicate with Toothless. It was like it wasn't a challenge for them at all to be two different species.

"Okay…let's fly!" Hiccup said happily.

Toothless crouched down and then took off from the ground, spread his massive black wings and began climbing upwards into the sky. The sudden movement of being shot through the air instantly made surges of adrenaline burst through Jack's entire body, making every nerve and vessel seem like it might pop with the pure thrill and excitement. He had stopped breathing, his stomach tingled vigorously, his heart pounded in his chest like it might jump right out of it, and his knuckles turned white from holding on to the straps so tightly.

Suddenly Toothless leveled out and they began simply gliding through the sky slowly instead of flying upwards at a fast pace. As he began breathing again, he inhaled and exhaled erratically because of the massive shock and adrenaline bursts, but he was unable to keep a huge grin off his face.

"That was awesome!" he exclaimed happily, wanting to express the major joy and thrill that was bubbling inside him right now. He heard Hiccup chuckle in front of him.

"I'm glad you think so." Hiccup replied, sounding quite calm…but that wasn't so strange. He was used to this after all and Toothless was obviously holding back for Jack's sake.

Jack began to look around them now that he wasn't holding on for dear life and thinking he might die from an excitement overload. The brisk night air was rushing past him, leaving cooling touches on his pale skin. There was a heavy blanket of grey clouds above them that looked soft and wispy. He wished he was close enough to reach out and touch them.

As he simply took in the surroundings and tried to mentally process the fact that he was currently on a dragon, he began to relax and his heart stopped pounding in his chest.

Everything up here in the sky was peaceful and dead quiet except the wind and the soft sound of Toothless flapping his large black leathery wings once in a while. It was oddly calming.

He looked down and the massive magical castle was so small in the distance, it was unbelievable. Hogwarts was huge but right now…it looked like a small toy castle. He couldn't believe that he was this high up. The entire world below was covered in snow and it was such a beautiful sight…hills, rooftops, trees…all sprinkled with a layer of that soft, white powder that seemed to almost shimmer.

"Are you okay back there?" Hiccup suddenly asked him.

"Yeah, just fine, Hic…this is just…amazing." he replied not knowing how else to describe it. It all seemed so unreal…he was flying on a dragon…he was looking down at the world below.

Hiccup gave him a warm smile, before once again looking ahead. Jack felt those damn butterflies flap their wings in his stomach again.

He heard Hiccup's prosthetic click as Hiccup shifted the position of the tailfin and then they began slowly gliding downwards. The world below them once again came closer, as they neared the large lake where they often spent so much time together. Usually the lake would be dark in the night, but it was completely frozen and the pale ice glistened as they flew along the lake, right above the surface.

Jack watched the trees of the forest surrounding the huge body of water just fly by next to him, and even though he was no longer getting those shocking adrenaline bursts and despite the fact that Toothless was holding back and not flying that fast, he still felt a tingling in his stomach from the speed and movement. Being on a dragon and flying, even steadily and at a fairly even pace, was a bit like being on some kind of ride…it made you feel bubbly and excited.

As they reached the end of the massive lake, he heard that familiar clicking sound again and Toothless flapped his large black wings faster and began to once again ascend into the chilly, dark night sky. This time though, the dragon wasn't climbing upwards almost vertically, but was slowly increasing the distance between them and the ground and Jack knew that it was once again for his sake that Hiccup and Toothless were taking it slow…which he really appreciated. He watched as the pale icy lake and the snow-covered treetops became smaller and smaller below them, as they continued to fly higher.

Hiccup made Toothless turn around and then they began to fly towards the castle, although high enough into the sky, so the school looked fairly small. As they glided over the building that had become like a second home, it was just incredible to see it from above like this.

When they had flown passed the large, magical castle, Jack could see that they were heading for the mountains surrounding the school. He smiled softly to himself. He had always liked watching the view of the mountains that stretched all around Hogwarts. They weren't as tall as many other mountains and they didn't have sharp peaks. On the contrary, they were fairly smooth-looking with rounded tops. Usually large patches of them were covered in green moss, but with the recent snowfall, they were powdered with the white, delicate substance that currently appeared blue in the darkness of the night.

As they reached the mountains and began flying along the snow-covered tops, Jack felt quite grateful that he got to experience something like this. How many people could say that they had flown on a dragon and watched the world from above this way? Not many.

He and Hiccup didn't really speak, but it wasn't an awkward silence at all. It was more like they both wanted to just enjoy the view, the air against their skin and the feeling of freedom that being in the skies brought. Jack was perfectly comfortable and happy just like this…sitting on Toothless' back behind Hiccup, taking in the breathtaking surroundings and the tingling feeling of flying through the air.

When they had glided across the mountain tops for a while in peaceful silence, Hiccup made Toothless slowly turn around and then fly higher into the grey heavens. That blanket of clouds above began to come closer and closer. Now he might actually get to touch those soft, elusive clouds, Jack thought to himself with a small smile.

The soft sound of Toothless flapping his massive wings continued to reach his ears, and his nose began to feel the chill of the brisk night air. Not that he minded. He lifted his head to keep an eye on the clouds becoming larger and larger, until everything around him went grey and white as they gently passed through the soft barrier and they were completely surrounded by endless feathery-looking clouds as far as the eye could see.

Jack stopped breathing for a few moments and then couldn't stop looking all around him. He extended his arm to the side and let his hand drift through the grey and white bulbous marshmallow-resembling clouds. Of course you weren't actually able to grab hold of a cloud, so all he felt was a slight cold and damp sensation on his hand. Still though…not everyone could say that they'd touched a cloud.

Hiccup continued to guide Toothless upwards through their soft, white and grey surroundings. Jack heard the clicking of Hiccup's prosthetic once in a while and once again found himself thinking that it was amazing that Hiccup had actually been able to design a tailfin that he could control with his artificial limb.

As they continued to float higher into the sky, Jack stroked Toothless on the side a few times and then once again fixed his eyes on the clouds encasing them all around like a bubble of fluffy snow.

When they suddenly broke through the highest clouds, the dark night sky was revealed, filled with thousands of bright, white stars shining their pale light down on them. The crescent moon shimmered, surrounded by a white glow and being this high up in the dark heavens right now was like being wrapped in the night itself. It was such a stark contrast to the endless fluffy clouds they had just been enveloped in, but it was nothing short of breathtaking and Jack felt his jaw drop.

"Wow…" he managed to say. It was just…beautiful. Amazingly, unbelievably beautiful.

"Yeah…" Hiccup agreed quietly.

As they softly drifted through the cool night air, surrounded by all those amazing bright stars against the dark blue sky, it was like time stood still. It was like he and Hiccup were the only people in the world and he felt a soft sensation of utter contentment spread inside him. He looked down and watched that blanket of grey clouds below them, covering the world underneath from view. He briefly thought about how strange it was that their entire lives…Hogwarts, their homes, their friends and family, everything…were under that barrier. It was like this was a whole other world up here, separated from the reality they knew so well.

He watched Hiccup's slightly long brown hair being ruffled by the brisk wind. He felt his fingers itching to just reach out and touch it…feel that familiar softness…or play with those two braids. He had to hold himself back though.

He lifted his head and looked at the bright, glowing moon. That large white orb had always managed to somehow calm him, soothe his mind, and he suspected it was because of the story of the man in the moon that his biological dad had told him, when he was little. He let out a small sigh.

"Are you okay?" he heard Hiccup's voice say from in front of him.

"Yeah…I just thought of a story my dad used to tell me about the moon."

"Oh? Can I hear it?"

"Yeah…when I had nightmares when I was little, my dad used to bring me to my window and we would just look at the moon for a little while. It was so big and so bright that it chased the darkness away…and when it did, I wasn't scared anymore. He told me this story of how the moon was actually a guardian…a sort of silent protector who watched over all the children of the world and their hopes and dreams to avoid them being overtaken by dark creatures. Sometimes the dark creatures would succeed and that's when children had nightmares…and fears…but in the end the man in the moon always managed to chase them away and bring the light back." he told Hiccup, thinking about all the times he and his dad had sat on the windowsill watching the moon and its light.

"I like that story." Hiccup told him, which made him feel kind of happy.

He briefly lifted his head again and looked at the bright moon and the stars surrounding it.

"Do you have something similar…in Norse mythology?" he then asked Hiccup and pulled his scarf a little tighter around his neck.

"Hmm, sort of…not about the moon protecting children but about someone being in control of it…in Norse mythology, a man named Mudilfari had two children, a boy and a girl. He thought his children were so beautiful that he named the boy Máni which means moon and the girl Sól which means sun. The gods didn't like this, because they believed it was an expression of arrogance, so as a punishment they threw Máni and Sól into the skies and gave them the job of guiding the sun and the moon across the skies, pulling them in two wagons with horses in front. They both constantly hurry in doing this, because later on, giants in the shape of wolves were born by one of the giants in Jotunheim* and two of these wolves gained the ability to hunt in the skies. One of them constantly chases after Máni, while the other chases after Sól. When Ragnarok* is set in motion, Máni and Sól are both eaten by the wolves chasing them and the sun and the moon go dark." Hiccup told him and once again Jack really enjoyed hearing stories from Norse mythology. He had learned a lot about it since he made friends with Hiccup and Fishlegs.

"Wow…not a good ending for Máni and Sól." he replied with a small smile.

Hiccup chuckled. "I guess not…but a lot of stories in Norse mythology don't exactly have happy endings."

"What happens after Ragnarok?" he asked curiously.

"Well…after the world has ended, a new world rises with only a few gods and humans to have survived Ragnarok." Hiccup explained to him.

"Huh…so it's not the end of everything like most people think."

"No…although most of the gods and almost every single human and creature will die."

"That's kind of depressing." Jack chuckled in response.

"Yeah, it sort of is." Hiccup replied and Jack could hear a little amusement in his voice. "but…a lot of religions have some kind of 'end of the world' scenario."

"That's true…"

After a while they once again became silent and went back to just enjoying being in the air and watching the amazing surroundings. Hiccup then shifted the position of the tailfin and they began to descend slowly through the sky. As they once again drifted through the airy barrier of clouds, Jack couldn't resist reaching out and touching them once more. It was so incredibly beautiful and peaceful being in the middle of hundreds of large fluffy clouds that surrounded them and reminded him of endless hills of soft cotton.

Then the grey and white softness all around them gave way to the world below and he could now see the castle again, mostly dark but some windows illuminated with warm, yellow light. It was still tiny in the distance.

Suddenly Toothless dived down a little and Jack forgot any previous reservations he had about the distance between him and Hiccup and just flung his arms around the guy and held on tight. He dug his fingertips into Hiccup's brown jacket and he didn't really have time to be embarrassed, but he felt that familiar bubbly, nervous energy spreading inside him. Right now though, he was just focusing on the sudden shock he got from the unexpected, speedy movement.

When Toothless quickly leveled out again, he kept his arms around Hiccup and now the embarrassment and awkwardness began, as he felt his cheeks blush and his heart beat faster in his chest. Luckily Hiccup didn't say anything.

Even though Toothless was flying slowly and steadily again now, he decided to keep his arms wrapped around Hiccup. Just for extra safety of course…not because being this close to him was practically addictive and felt right in every way, no of course not.

---

O-kaaaay…Jack has his arms around me now. That's an… Interesting development. It had taken him by surprise that Toothless suddenly dived and that Jack threw his arms around him like that. Now he was being distracted by Jack holding him tightly. The butterflies were spreading their wings in his stomach. Being distracted was not a good idea when flying, but he really couldn't help it right now. The guy he was crushing on was holding on to him like it might kill him if he let go.

"What was that dive all about, bud?" he asked Toothless, who let out a very familiar warbling sound that Hiccup knew as laughter.

He rolled his eyes. Oh, for Thor's sake…that useless reptile had done that on purpose! Just to get him and Jack closer together.

"Toothless…" he said in warning tone to signal that he better not do that again, and Toothless grumbled in response to let him know that he had understood but wasn't happy about it. Not that that surprised Hiccup…Toothless may be a fierce, dangerous dragon but he was mischievous and playful as well and he enjoyed teasing Hiccup. In that way, his scaly best friend and Jack actually had quite a lot in common.

Jack continued to cling to him, his arms wrapped tightly around his waist. Hiccup's heart was pounding in his chest from this close contact and he tried to ignore the warm sensation spreading inside him from the touch, but failed miserably. Right now he really wished he had worn his armor instead of his normal clothes and jacket…that way he wouldn't be able to feel Jack's touch quite as much as he did currently.

By Freyja*, did Jack have any idea what he was doing to him? Having Jack hold on to him like that was almost driving him crazy. He couldn't exactly tell him to stop though…he was obviously a little nervous about Toothless potentially pulling another stunt. Not that he wanted Jack to let go, even though it was distracting him. Having him this close was…amazing. He just wanted to pull him closer and never let go, but obviously he couldn't do that.

He shifted the position of the tailfin once more and began to guide Toothless towards the small forest. He tried his best to just focus on the act of flying and the wind against his face and not his crush clinging to him like this, causing his heart to beat rapidly and a bubbly sensation to spread inside him. He gripped the leather and metal steering rods attached to the saddle tighter, his knuckles almost turning white. He seriously needed to focus now.

His thoughts were interrupted, as he heard what sounded like a content sigh escape Jack.

Okay…

Why did Jack have to throw his arms around him? Why did he have to sigh like that? It was doing unfair things to him. It was just his luck having a crush who was perfectly fine with being all touchy…knowing Jack, he was probably completely comfortable with this situation and would laugh and tease him if he knew just how awkward Hiccup felt right now.

Okay, well…they were landing soon, so he really had to concentrate now. He blocked out the closeness between him and Jack and just focused intently on steering the tailfin. The small forest slowly came closer and closer until they could practically touch the white treetops, and then they glided into the clearing by the cave.

As Toothless landed on the snow-covered grass with a firm "thud", Jack retracted his arms much to Hiccup's relief. He clicked his prosthetic out of the saddle and then removed his harness from around his waist. He jumped off his best friend's back and landed on his feet on the ground. Then he quickly began to put his shoe on his prosthetic again.

Jack had removed his harness too and happily jumped off Toothless to the other side.

"That was awesome!" he heard Jack yell, unable to keep his bubbly joy in.

Hiccup chuckled. "I know, right? Flying is amazing."

"It really is! I can't believe I've actually gone flying on a dragon!" Jack said, throwing his hands up in the air to express his happiness.

Hiccup couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. This was exactly why he had chosen to introduce Jack and Toothless today…to make Jack happy after the problems he had with the guilt of being away from Emma. It made him feel warm inside that he had actually succeeded in that.

"Maybe you can fly with us again sometime, Snowcone" Hiccup told him with an amused smile.

Although next time, Jack better not wrap his arms around him like that…or he might not be able to restrain himself.

"As if you could ever keep Toothless away from me…we're like best buds now!" Jack said and moved towards Toothless, before petting him on the side of the head, stroking the black scales gently. His best friend let out some low, content sounds and closed his eyes in response to the touch.

Hiccup smiled warmly and felt the affection bubble inside him. He felt even closer to Jack now. It meant a lot to him that Jack and Toothless already got along so well.

"Nah, the position as Toothless' best bud is already occupied by me."

"I could easily change that." Jack said with an amused smile.

"Right." Hiccup drawled. "Of course you could."

Jack stopped stroking and scratching Toothless and approached him, the snow cracking under his footsteps. Jack brushed the snow off a big rock and sat down on it. Hiccup quickly followed and placed himself on another rock across from Jack. He took out his wand and murmured "Lumos" and the wand lit up their surroundings. Toothless moved towards them and then laid down next to him and let out a content sigh. Hiccup knew that his best friend also felt that pleasant calmness after a flight.

"So…how exactly did you decide to bring Toothless here?" Jack asked him, tilting his head in curiosity.

"Well…after everything with the Red Death I didn't want to be separated from Toothless. Ever. So I refused to return here unless I could bring him with me." he explained, gesturing with his hands.

"And what? Headmaster Lunar agreed to it just like that?" Jack asked skeptically.

"Not exactly…it took some convincing. You know, I had to persuade him that Toothless wouldn't be a danger to anyone and that we would actually be able to keep it a secret, so it wouldn't cause panic, and so the professors wouldn't get in trouble with the parents for knowing there was a dragon on the grounds…and also…I kind of had to promise him some things in return too."

"What kind of things?" Jack asked, furrowing his brow.

"I had to let Professor Brown meet Toothless and study him, and also let him pick my brain a little about dragons."

"What, really? That's why he's on leave?" Jack asked in disbelief.

"Yup."

"But…I thought you wanted to keep all that dragon knowledge a secret?"

"I'm not telling him anything that could be used against us or the dragons in any way…like how to train them or the strengths and weaknesses of the species. I let him know from the start that it was only certain things I could share with him and he accepted that." Hiccup explained and began to gently rub Toothless on the side of the head. The Night Fury had closed his eyes, but cracked one of them open a little and let out faint purring sound before he once again had both his eyes closed.

"Isn't professor Lunar worried that some of the other students will find out about this?" he heard Jack's voice say.

"No, not really." he shrugged. "I've had Toothless here for two school years now, so I've proven to him that it can be done, even though I have to sneak out twice a day."

"Bloody hell, Hic." Jack said and then shook his head with a smile on his face. "You've been going out here twice a day every day to fly on a dragon and no one except your friends and the professors ever knew about it."

"I'm good at keeping secrets." he replied with a small smile and shrugged again.

"I know you are, but still…" Jack replied. "So…that's why you didn't want to join the Quidditch team, even though I tried to convince you it would be fun?"

"Yeah. I get plenty of adrenaline surges and time in the air with Toothless."

"No kidding…You guys were holding back up there for my sake, right?"

"Yes. We usually do a lot of different drills and maneuvers, but that's not something I would ever do, when we have someone with us, who's not used to that."

"No, I can imagine that would be quite…overwhelming."

"Definitely" he quickly agreed.

"You know, Hic…you could have told me that we were going to see Toothless instead of just throwing me into the situation completely unprepared." Jack told him with an amused smile.

"And miss that hilarious look of disbelief on your face? I don't think so." he retorted.

"Wow…and you're always going on about how evil I am?" Jack asked him and gestured to himself.

"I'm not evil. I just have a great sense of humor." he replied with his usual sass.

"Sure you do, Hic." Jack told him and looked at Toothless, who was still relaxing on the ground.

"He's really amazing…" Jack said quietly, observing the content, relaxing dragon.

"Yeah, he is." Hiccup agreed with a fond smile.

"Can I tell the others that he's here or do you want it to stay between us?" Jack then asked and met his eyes.

"You can tell them. I trust them by now…but no one else of course."

"Of course. I would never do that."

Hiccup nodded with a smile tugging at his lips. He trusted Jack.

"You know…I'm really glad you chose to share this with me. I know these things aren't easy for you." Jack told him with that familiar, soft, caring expression in his blue eyes that had the ability to make Hiccup feel weak in the knees.

"Actually…this time it was." he replied softly.

"What do you mean?"

"I trust you, Jack and…I'd been thinking about letting you meet Toothless for a while now, but I wasn't sure when the time was right…but then you were in such a bad mood this morning, so I really wanted to cheer you up."

Jack's eyes softened at those words. "Thanks Hic…it definitely helped, I still haven't completely calmed down yet!"

Hiccup chuckled at that.

"By the way…I assume that Rapunzel and Fishlegs and Astrid all know that Toothless is here?"

"Yeah, of course. They come along with me sometimes to say hi to him and even fly with us once in a while." he explained.

It didn't happen that often, but Toothless was always happy to see them and especially Rapunzel was eager to come along and talk to Toothless and pet him. She also liked flying with them, as long as they took it easy and didn't do anything too fast or risky. Fishlegs and Astrid liked to see Toothless as well, but Hiccup suspected that their joy of seeing him was also a bit diminished by the fact that it reminded them of their own dragons that they missed terribly.

Jack nodded. "Well, I want to see Toothless again sometime too." he said and looked at Toothless with a bright smile.

"Hmm. Better be nice to me then, Snowball." he told Jack, pretending to be a little reluctant to let Jack come along again, when in reality, he wouldn't mind at all.

"I'm the essence of niceness." Jack replied confidently with one of those teasing smiles.

"You know, you can't be the essence of niceness AND a ninja. You have to choose one or the other."

"That's just not correct, Hic. Someone like me can easily be nice and still be able to kill someone with my thumb." Jack told him, still with that mock arrogant attitude in place.

"Like you could ever kill someone with your thumb." he replied and rolled his eyes.

"Of course I can…I just usually choose to use my powers for good." Jack said and shrugged casually.

"If you had powers, you definitely wouldn't be using them for good."

"Be careful Hic, or I might just challenge you."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You'd just end up scarred for life." he retorted with a fake air of superiority.

"I'm already scarred for life, I'm friends with you." Jack shot back, and Hiccup couldn't stop the laughter from escaping his lips.

They remained in the clearing for a little while, talking more about how he managed to keep Toothless a secret from the other students and how his meetings with Professor Brown had gone. Jack was just a tad envious of learning that he was allowed to wander around the castle at night without risking getting detention.

When they had said good night to Toothless and were walking back through the small forest in the darkness next to each other, with only Hiccup's wand and the white snow all around them to illuminate their surroundings, he felt content. He was happy to have shared this with Jack and that everything had gone so well. Jack and Toothless obviously liked each other and Jack had been so excited and happy to have gone flying. He would definitely bring him out here again sometime.

"Thanks, Hic" Jack suddenly said softly from next to him. "For just… being you."

Jackshouldn't say things like that to him. Nope. It made him feel all tingling and bubbly inside. Hiccup could feel his heart beat faster and he couldn't stop the bright smile that spread across his face, as the guy he had feelings for said those heartwarming things to him. Gods, he was crushing so hard on that snow-loving idiot.

Author's note:

Explanations:

Ragnarok: A series of different events that leads to the end of the known world and the rise of a new one. These events include natural disasters and a large battle between the gods and the giants (and several other creatures like the wolf Fenrir and the giant serpent Jormungandr) where most of the gods will die (including several of the most well-known ones like Odin, Thor and Freyr). At the end of the battle, the whole world is burning, the stars have vanished and the sun and moon have been swallowed by wolves. Then the world will sink and be submerged in water and then emerge as a new fertile world, where the few surviving gods and humans will live.

Freyja: An important goddess in Norse mythology. She is the goddess of love and fertility, but she was also associated with death, wealth, and magic. She is a wielder of seiðr – a powerful magic that gives the wielder certain powers like shapeshifting, gendershifting, healing powers, control over nature and divination. This magic however was only acceptable for women to use. It was taboo for men to dabble in such things, except Odin who ended up becoming the most powerful sorcerer of all once Freyja taught him seiðr. In general it was considered feminine to use magic to achieve one's goals, particularly because of the nature of the powers given to the wielder such as the shapeshifting and the gendershifting, which meant that the sorcerer could transcend boundaries that Viking societies wanted to uphold (like gender roles).

Jötunheimr: In Norse mythology, this is the place where the Jötnar live. The Jötnar are creatures closely related to the wild forces of nature. Some of them are as big as towers, some of them are ugly, some are beautiful, some are born in shapes of animals, some with wings. Jötunheimr consists mostly of forests and rocky terrain. Jötnar are often portrayed in the sagas and myths as being in opposition to the Norse gods, causing trouble for them in different ways, and the relationship between the gods and the Jötnar is a tense one.