Chapter: Cross My Heart, Hope to Die (To My Lover, I'd Never Lie)
Pairing: Dipper Pines/Pacifica Northwest
Word Count: +4,500 words
Tags: hogwarts!au, reverse falls!au
Disclaimer: All properties belong to their rightful owners.
(Your Heart And My Heart Are) Very Old Friends
Chapter VIII
"Woah, woah, woah! Not the pumpkin pasties!"
The voice jars Pacifica awake, and abruptly, she opens her eyes in a blinking daze. There's a dainty little hand on her cheek and she furrows her eyebrows at the blonde sitting next to her.
"Wuh…Star…?" She mumbles, still half-asleep.
The girl in question gives a smug smile. "I just saved you from face-planting into a bowl of pumpkin pasties. You're welcome."
Pacifica nods. It takes her awhile to remember why she has a quill in my hand, but when she does, her eyes widen, "Shit! What time is it?"
"Eight in the morning," the girl across her answers, another blonde. But it wasn't golden or sunflower blonde like Star and Pacifica; it was short, wavy bleached blonde hair with aquamarine streaks. She chuckles as Pacifica scrambles to pick up where she left off and starts scribbling furiously.
"That means I only have two hours left until Potions. Shitshitshit," Pacifica can't swear enough as she half-asses her way through her eighth paragraph, more than a thousand words away from the minimum. At this point, she's close to tears.
"Maybe you should take a break. You haven't eaten anything," Jackie offers her a scrumptious looking corned beef sandwich. Pacifica's too afraid to look at it; the smell of sweet, savory meat alone is making her weak.
She clenches my fingers around her quill, strengthening her resolve. "Didn't you hear me? I have a four-thousand essay on how to brew Veritaserum. I stayed up all night making this, and still, I haven't finished!"
Star, on the other hand, is unfazed as she happily munches down the rest of her breakfast. "It's just a paper, Pacifica. Not the end of the world."
"Okay, Jackie can say that to me, but you can't, Miss-Straight-B student," Pacifica rolls her eyes at Star, not bothering to look up from where she's writing. "Besides, I flunked my midterms, so this is my last chance to get a decent mark."
"Hey Star, since you're done, why don't you just let Pacifica copy off of you?" Jackie suggests. "You finished your paper, right?"
Star nods happily, "And it only took me thirty minutes. I slept like a baby."
"Don't you mean it only took you thirty minutes to copy off of Marco?" Jackie smiles slyly.
"Hey, I tried for the first fifteen! But Potions just isn't my forte, okay?" She hands over the roll of parchment with a flourish. "Enjoy."
Pacifica glances from her outstretched hand and then back up to her. "Oh, I could kiss you right now," she declares joyously – and she really means it, too – but she settles for a hug instead, wrapping her arms tight around Star and squealing at the top of her lungs.
With newfound hope and lifted spirits, she begins rephrasing and rewriting Star's paper as her own. Across the table, Jackie is tilting her head to read some passages of writing from Marco's essay. "Wow. I always knew Marco was smart, but I never knew he knew so much about Potions."
"Oh, he struggles with it, too, a little. He told me there was some stuff he didn't quite get so he copied some stuff from Dipper."
Pacifica stops writing mid-sentence. "Pines?"
"Oh, no," she hears Jackie sigh faintly.
Star casts a glance between the both of them, confused. "Yeah, but don't worry. Marco tells me he's like, the smartest guy in his Potions class, so– "
Pacifica returns the paper back to her with a frown, "Yeah, no thanks. I'd sooner flunk the class on my own that get any help from him."
"Wha–? But why nooot?" She whines.
"Because as 'smart' as you say he is, he is a prick and an egomaniac, and it makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about him," Pacifica says coldly, and she makes a big show of dipping her quill in ink and starting over her paragraph.
"Pacifica, come on, this is ridiculous. You need to pass Potions and Star is giving you all the answers! So what if a tiny bit of it is from him? He'll never know anyway," Jackie reassures her.
"But I'd know! And I'll loathe myself till the day Gideon wins a Quidditch tournament if I'd owe him for passing this class."
"Stop being such a baby." Jackie pushes the parchment at her.
Star shoots her an appraising look as she spreads the jelly on her toast. "What's the big deal between you two anyway? Why do you hate him so much?"
"I don't," Pacifica says coolly. "If I gave him much thought, I probably would."
The two other girls exchange knowing looks.
Just then, a dark-haired Slytherin girl shows up. "Morning, ladies."
Star hugs her in greeting. "Janna Banana is here!"
"'Sup Jan?" Jackie nods.
"Morning," Pacifica answers miserably, going back to her paper.
She sits down and scrunches her eyebrows at the blonde. "What's up with her?"
"Oh, Pacifica's just got her knickers in a twist because she's choosing to flunk Potions than copy off of Dipper."
"Oh?" Janna smirks, "Pines has your knickers in a twist?"
Pacifica blushes. "Shut up, Janna, I'm trying to concentrate."
They snicker, but she ignores it.
"I can't believe you're still on about that," Janna drinks her pumpkin juice with a bored look on her face.
"Dipper Pines is the most arrogant, entitled, bigoted, pretentious, scum of the Earth I have ever had the displeasure of meeting! He think he's hot shit, the way he struts as if he and his sister own the place, ugh! He just makes me so - so - " Pacifica buries her face in her hands and screams.
"Yeah, 'much thought' my ass, Northwest," Jackie mumbles.
Star snickers. "So when are you guys announcing your engagement?"
"Shut up, you guys! It's not funny!"
Much to Pacifica's annoyance, the teasing didn't stop until after she hurled her shoes at them.
"How can you fail Flying Lessons? Twice?" Wirt says with a twitch of his mouth.
"I don't like heights," Dipper glowers at his friend.
"So Mister Gleeful said you had to take special lessons with him every week?" Marco asks.
Dipper nods miserably, fiddling with his broomstick.
"Man, you've got it easy. If I failed a subject twice, I'd still be a first year."
"He would have if Professor Ford hadn't pulled the strings for him," Wirt smirks. "So what time did Mister Gleeful tell you you'd meet?"
"Five-thirty. But he said he'd have a student teach me instead, said he had his hands full training the Quidditch teams."
"Which student?" Marco asks curiously.
As if on cue, Pacifica taps Dipper on the shoulder and flashes him a winning smile.
"Oh, of course," Dipper moans in agony. "It had to be you."
"Looks like it's your lucky day, Pines," She gloats, but turned to nod at the other two. "Hey Marco, Wirt. You taking lessons, too?"
"Nah, I've got Divination with Professor Blendin," Marco says.
"And I have History of Magic with Professor Trembley," Wirt answers.
Pacifica nods. "Ah, well, it was good seeing you."
"You, too," Marco gives her a lopsided grin. "Wish we could stay and watch the show."
With that, the pair give Dipper a reassuring clap on the shoulder as they leave, snickering.
"This is the worst," he grumbles.
Pacifica looks affronted. "Hey! I'll have you know I am one of the best fliers Hogwarts has ever seen, let alone the best flier in the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team."
"Not exactly the humblest though, are you?" Dipper sneers.
She rolls her eyes. "Just...get on your damn broom!"
"Alright, let's get this over and done with." He reaches his hand out expectantly to her.
"What?" She asks suspiciously.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake – the broom!" Dipper answers like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Last time I checked, I didn't bloody well sprout wings, now did I? So are you going to hand it over or not?"
Pacifica looks at her broom and clutches it tightly to her chest. "No way in hell am I letting you touch my Firebolt!"
"Then how exactly do you expect me to fly?"
"On this," She hands him a dingy, rundown looking school-owned broomstick instead. "Cleansweep Five. It's ancient, but...well, it flies...somewhat..."
"You're terrible," Dipper narrows his eyes at her. "You're a terrible, terrible person."
Pacifica feigns an angelic expression.
After much slipping and cursing and fighting (against both her and the broomstick), Dipper soon learns to mount it carefully, with his hands gripping tight on the handle and his feet ready to kick off.
"You look like you've just been petrified. You're not even off the ground yet," Pacifica says, sounding more amused than she should be.
Dipper clenches his jaw, but she only gives him another insufferable grin.
"Okay, hold tight. On the count of three, you take off, alright?"
"W-W-Wait! Aren't you...Aren't you coming with me?" Dipper demands.
She laughs in disbelief. "You and I are seeing the same broom, right? Any more weight on this and it'll break in half."
"I-I don't think I'm re-"
"Okay, THREE!" Pacifica exclaims and, with a flourish of her wand, she sends the broomstick flying off the ground. She can't decide what's louder: his screams, or her laughter.
"Dipper, if you don't stop squirming, I'm going to strangle you," Mabel warns.
"Is that a threat?"
"No, it's inevitable," She swats her brother's hand away from his collar.
He rolls his eyes at his twin sister's antics. She sighs and tosses the thirteenth tie over his shoulder.
"I really don't understand why this is taking so long," Dipper says impatiently as Mabel sifts through another pile of ties.
"It's the most important day of Mum's life," Mabel sounds rehearsed when she answers. "We need to look absolutely flawless."
"Mabel, I'd hardly call it a milestone. She's gotten married twice now."
Mabel waves her hand dismissively, "That's besides the matter."
"Fine, but let's take a break." Dipper sits down and rubs the bloodshot out of his eyes. "I'm exhausted."
Mabel begins to frown, but he closes his hands around her wrists and pulls her down beside him.
"Oh, alright," Mabel concedes. She sounds more tired than angry. "All this planning is really taking a toll on me. Yesterday, Mum nearly had a meltdown because one of the flowers for the centerpiece was missing. One. Flower."
Dipper chuckles as he rubs her shoulder soothingly.
"I had to talk her off the ledge for hours and let her cry to me about how the wedding was ruined and she was never going to be happy again."
"Wow. I'd take being choked to death over being her maid of honor any day."
As Mabel laughs weakly, tucking her hair behind her ear, something from the pile catches Dipper's eye. It's made of black silk with silver pinstripes.
Dipper pulls it out. "Dad's favorite tie," he says quietly.
Mabel bites her lip as Dipper puts it on. She fastens it around his neck and smiles like her heart is swelling, "Perfect."
Dipper smiles back at his sister, looks down at his feet. Out of the blue, he shoots a look Pacifica's way, and she quickly averts her eyes. She felt like she was eavesdropping on a private moment.
It's midday on a Tuesday, and Pacifica is having Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Ford. Sitting beside her is her cousin Gideon. Gideon is in the middle of saying something (and of course, it being Gideon and all, Pacifica wasn't really paying attention) when the Professor calls her attention.
"Yes, Professor?" Pacifica says, a bit embarrassed to be caught dozing off in class.
"I said it's strange that Dipper Pines is absent today," he gestures to the empty seat in the corner. "You wouldn't seem to have any idea where he is, would you, Pacifica?"
"None at all, Professor, but let's all take the time to hope to Merlin that the giant squid ate him when nobody was looking."
The class laughs.
"Young lady, that's not funny," Professor Ford says with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Oh, don't worry Professor, I understand that you're reprimanding me." Pacifica feigns an angelic expression.
"Only officially, of course." He smiles and goes back to checking the rest of the students' attendance.
When the lesson ends, Pacifica can't help but glance at the empty seat and wonder.
Pacifica leaves her unmade bed and slips out of the room. It's the middle of the night as she walks through the portrait hole with quiet, careful steps.
Unexpectedly, she finds herself crashing into something and falling on her stomach with a loud thud.
"Son of a –" She bites her tongue to keep from making any more noise as she doubles over in the dark. Internally, she is screaming.
"Merlin's ass," someone groans beneath her. At that moment, she strings together every single curse word she knows in her head.
"Of course. It had to be you," she huffs.
"Northwest?" The unmistakable voice of Dipper Pines remarks groggily under her. He sits up and she rolls right off of him. "I swear, it's like I'm jinxed."
"Don't tempt me, Pines," she grumbles, getting up and dusting herself off. She's about to say more when he cuts her off, clasping his hand over her mouth.
"Quiet, or they'll catch us," he warns in a whisper.
She rolls her eyes but digresses. She fights the urge to bite down on his hand, and settles for slapping it away instead.
She's about to take off when Dipper picks up something from the floor and wraps it around his shoulders. She doesn't mean to, but she can't help but gaze at it in amazement a little, the way his body disappears as the fabric falls over him.
"An invisibility cloak," she says breathlessly.
In the dim low light of the passageway, she can see him eyeing her skeptically. There's a beat, and then, "You can admire it better from here." He holds out his arm, motioning for her to come under the cloak with him.
For a moment, she forces herself to forget that he is the unbearable, insufferable Dipper Pines, and simply, nods. They set off towards the castle grounds, careful to avoid any professor or ghost or portrait along their way.
As they're walking through the halls into the doorway where a patches of grass lay beyond, Pacifica eyes Dipper curiously. "Am I dreaming right now," she says before she can stop herself, "Or did you just interact with me in a way that wasn't even remotely spiteful?"
He scoffs, but there's a glint in his eyes that's halfway teasing, and still, she is in disbelief. "Maybe if you weren't such a loud mouth all the time, you'd actually notice when stuff happens around you. I'm nice to everyone. You're no exception."
She laughs at that, maybe a little too loudly. He pretends to trip her in retaliation. She steps on his foot.
"Maybe if you tried being a little nicer every once and a while, you might actually have people who cared about you."
Dipper shrugs, "I don't have to be nice to do that. I already have people who care about me, the real me. And stop smiling, Northwest, it's unnerving."
"You can be mean to me all you want, Pines, but I know your secret," she singsongs, wiggling her finger at him cheerfully.
"Oh really?" He raises his eyebrow at her in a challenge.
"Yup. You see, I know that beneath that cold, brooding facade you put on –"
"It's not a facade," he deadpans.
"You actually have a heart. You're every bit as human as the rest of us." she declares happily, adding, "With a few...er...missing ingredients here and there."
He lets himself chuckle at that one.
She tries not to feel too good about it.
"Like what?" He asks.
"Emotion. You have too little."
"I show too little. There's a difference."
"Some girls like that, you know. The aloof, cold-hearted bad boy. Is that why you do it?" There's a teasing smile there, and he loves it. She can tell by the way he's smirking at the floor.
"Why? Is it working?"
She laughs in surprise. "Not on me, it isn't. Come on, we're here."
They find a comfortable spot to sit in on in the open grounds, away from any prying eyes. He spreads out the cloak on the grass and she empties the contents of her bag between them. Out flows an assortment of food: mashed potatoes, treacle fudge, Yorkshire pudding, and of course, a half-gallon of butterbeer Pacifica had planned on drinking all by herself.
Dipper sits up quickly. "That's a lot of food," he says almost in reverence.
"I have a hearty appetite," She grins. "Eat up."
Treacle tart in his hands, he shoots her a questioning look. "How often do you steal from the kitchen?"
"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to obliviate you," she answers seriously.
He shrugs and bites into his food, "Fair enough."
The pair waste no time digging into the tooth-rotting goodness in front of them.
Sometimes, Dipper Pines is a giant thorn in Pacifica's side. And Pacifica knows for a fact that she's no cherry sundae for him, either. It's never exactly been a walk in the park for the two of them, but in moments like these, they were okay.
Possibly even more than okay.
"Chance," Pacifica says with steely concentration.
Dipper picks up his piece slowly, eyes skimming across the board. A smirk dances on his lips. "Check mate."
"WHAT? I call bullshit!" Pacifica stands up in outrage.
Dipper's hands twitch, a learned reflex after Pacifica's less-than-great bouts of sportsmanship. Nonetheless, he smiles. "Face it, Northwest, I won."
"Run it through me again!"
With a sigh, Dipper complies, and when his knight takes her king, Pacifica sinks into her seat with a moan. "Damn it!"
He laughs triumphantly. "I win!"
"No, not yet!" She says quickly. "I demand a rematch. I demand a rematch right this instant!"
"Pacifica, this is our sixth rematch."
"Then a seventh won't matter then. Clear this up, we're starting over."
"How long has this been going on?"
Pacifica checks her watch, "Four hours and counting. Why?"
"Nothing," the corners of his mouth quirk up. "We should keep playing. God forbid, we'd find some other way to spend our time together."
"I know. We were coming deathly close to having an actual conversation awhile ago," she bites back her smile, moves her pawn. "Your move."
It's Saturday morning, and Pacifica is drying her hair in the bathroom when Jackie comes in to brush her teeth. They exchange a noncommittal "hey" before getting back to business, both too tired from yesterday to say much else.
Jackie is about to leave when she notices something in the mirror, pauses. "Fun party last night, huh, Paz?"
Pacifica shrugs it off, "Guess so. Honestly, after that legendary Hufflepuff victory party last year, all others pale in comparison and – You're looking at me weirdly."
She smirks, "You're wearing the wrong tie, slut."
Pacifica looks down at the blue and bronze tie she has on, clothes still unchanged from last night, and her eyes widen like saucers.
From the bedroom, Star squeals and comes bounding in. "Oh my gosh! Pacifica Elise Northwest, who did you snog last night?"
"N-no one! I hope! Oh god." Pacifca's face burns as she makes a run for it, but the two chase her outside the bathroom.
"Ooh la la, a Ravenclaw! Miss Prissy Northwest has a thing for the nerd herd!" Jackie cooes, howling with laughter.
"Girl, spill!" Star squeals.
"I-I can't! I don't remember!" She stutters with shame.
This only makes Jackie laugh even harder.
"Jackie-Lynn Thomas, I swear to Merlin, I –" Pacifica attacks her in the face with a pillow, but Jackie retaliates with her own blows. Pacifica dives to the floor to avoid it.
Above her, Star is bouncing up and down on her bed, giggling. "Who could it be? Ooh, Wirt Edlewood maybe?"
Jackie shakes her head, "Nah, too weird."
"Raya Rousley?"
Jackie scrunches her nose. "Too goth."
Star sighs dreamily, "Oskar Greason? Ooh I hope it's Oskar, just so I can know how it'd be like when I finally do kiss him."
"Star, you've barely even talked to the guy," Pacifica resigns from the floor.
"Yeah, but yesterday he asked me for directions and made" – she squeals – "eye contact with me!" She falls to the bed with a happy little plop.
"Racy," Jackie snickers. "But my money's on Diaz. You two seemed a bit too chummy to me, Paz. And I heard from Janna that he's a great kisser."
"Marco? Really?" Pacifica says in a tone Marco would find offensive.
Star stops dancing and makes a face. "Ew, Jackie, no! Get that mental image out of my head!"
"What, Marco and Janna kissing? They never actually –"
"No, just – Marco kissing anyone. Gross!"
With that, Jackie roars, "Too late, Star! Marco's a total babe now and girls are definitely starting to notice. Hell, even I want to stick my tongue down his – "
Star covers her ears and sings at the top of her lungs, "Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, LITTLE LAMB!"
Amidst all their singing and laughing and jumping, Pacifica shuts her eyes and tries to erase her memories of hands tangled in chocolate brown hair and warm lips pressed against her collar and sharp shallow breaths and oh god, what have I done?
Her face burns so much it makes her want to cry.
Wendy bangs the side of the tree with her fist, but the noise in the common room hardly settles. Today is Friday, and that means it's time for the weekly inter-house auction Wendy usually holds, where she makes a fortune selling smuggled goods from Honeydukes down in Hogsmeade Village where only a few people were allowed to go.
"Alright, alright,everybody settle down!" she yells at the bustling crowd of students. "We got a good stash this week. Now, first off is..."
She swings the bag off her shoulder and reaches into it. Jackie bangs her and Janna's wands against the benches to provide a drum roll.
"Ah! A chocolate cauldron!" Wendy announces. Murmurs break out instantly. "One lush, delectable box of sweet, sweet chocolate cauldrons! Do I hear any bids?"
"Five knutz!" Pacifica calls.
Instantly, all the other bidders put their coins away in defeat. Everyone knew by now that if Pacifica was bidding on something, they should all just back down. No ration is worth suffering her poisonous glares and jelly-legs jinxes.
"Five knutz from the lovely lady," Wendy winks at the blonde. "Going once...going twice..."
Pacifica giggles, giddy with excitement.
"Ten knutz!" A voice from the back challenges.
Small gasps break out and Pacifica whips her head around and narrows her eyes to face her competitor.
The crowd parts like the Red Sea as Dipper steps through. There's a defiant glint in his eyes.
Pacifica groans inwardly. Of course it would be him; Dipper's only vice was chocolate pudding.
"Ten knutz from the Ravenclaw Prefect himself!" Wendy exclaims with evident surprise.
Everyone's attention then shifts to Pacifica, waiting. She rises to the challenge and levels Dipper with a stern look. "Fifteen knutz."
"Fiftee-"
"Twenty," Dipper retorts coolly.
Whispers run through the crowd, and Pacifica clenches her fist. "One galleon!" She says proudly. Pacifica sincerely hopes Dipper would accept defeat already, seeing as how that was all the money she had left.
But of course, like the little prick he is, he smirks. "One galleon and a half."
Someone from the back murmurs, "All for a box of chocolate cauldrons?"
Pacifica bites back a growl.
"One galleon and a half!" Wendy says almost half-heartedly. "Going once..."
Dipper cocks his eyebrow at her.
"Going twice..."
She glares daggers at him.
"Sold to the gentleman in blue!"
"Sorry," Jackie mouths to her friend before tossing Dipper the prize. Pacifica presses her lips together but says nothing as Wendy pulls out something else from her bag. She stays quiet for the rest of the auction.
Later, as the auction ends and the crowd disperses, Pacifica is making her way to her friends when Dipper catches up with her and stops her in her tracks.
He hands her a plastic spoon. She simply stares at it.
"What's this for?" She asks in irritation.
"We're going to share," he answers, and there's frankness in his tone, as if this was something they did every day and she was the one acting weird.
"And why is that?" Pacifica takes the spoon with an appraising look.
He peels off the lid and eats his first spoonful, shrugging. "No chocolate cauldron is worth suffering a bat bogey hex from you."
Without another word, she scoops into it gratefully.
Marco sits down at the Ravenclaw table and elbows his friends playfully. "So either of you got a date for the Winter Formal yet?"
"No," Wirt sighs miserably, casting a glance at Beatrice from Slytherin. "Haven't gotten around to it yet."
"Well, you'd better hurry up or all the good ones will be taken," Dipper says matter-of-factly as he digs into his poached eggs.
Wirt frowns at him. "Says the guy who's had a date for every single ball the moment he was born."
"Oh, I'm not going with Mabel this time," Dipper interjects nonchalantly.
"Dude," Marco says, "You can take a break from whatever it is you're working on for one night."
Wirt nods. "Yeah, whatever it is, it can wait. Come to the party and have some fun for a change."
"Honestly, these two," Dipper huffs under his breath. "I never said I wasn't going to the ball. I only said I wasn't going with Mabel?"
Marco blinks. "What, you mean like, with a date?"
Dipper nods without looking up from his breakfast.
"What? WHO?!" The two demand.
"Pacifica," Dipper declares promptly, without a trace of embarrassment.
"WHAT?!" exclaims Marco, half-amused, half-confused.
"You've already asked her?" Wirt says in disbelief.
Dipper pauses. "Good point." He calls over the girl in question. "Say, Paz, would you go come to the Winter Formal with me?"
Pacifica pauses, then shrugs. "Yeah, sure." She smiles and waves goodbye.
Wirt lets out a sputter of indignation.
Hello, my lovely readers! It's been tooooo long! I have missed writing these. Before anything else, I'd like to thank everybody who helped me and filled out the survey for me, you're all so so wonderful! I was overwhelmed by the support. A thousand times over, thank you thank you thank you. Now, as promised, here's a new chapter!
In case you hadn't caught on, this is a Reverse Falls!AU as well as a Hogwarts!AU. I liked writing the first one so much, I made this! Once again, Pacifica is a Gryffindor and Dipper is a Ravenclaw. I also included characters from Star Vs. The Forces of Evil and Over The Garden Wall for supporting characters aka Dipper and Pacifica's friends. I personally think Star and Jackie would be Gryffindors, Marco and Wirt are Ravenclaws, and Janna and Beatrice are Slytherins. Oh, and ofc Mabel is a Hufflepuff (jeez, I really need to include Mabel more in these stories).
Anyway, thanks for reading! Please leave your thoughts down below for me to know, I love hearing from my readers. Reviews fuel my muse! 'Till next time! Lots of love!
xoxo Amaya
