~The Big Five at Hogwarts~

Chapter 15

Merida

My turquoise eyes meander across the yellowing pages, not really registering what they say. I blow a red curl out of my face before slamming the book closed.

        "Obviously this isn't working. There must be some other way," I groan. Elsa bites her lip.

        "We can't give up that easily. Cribrune must be here somewhere," she says as she runs her slender fingers through her pale hair. She looks stressed; like it's the end of the world if we don't find this information now. Jack rests a reassuring hand on her shoulder, whispering,

     "We'll figure it out. Don't worry." It's about the tenderest thing I've seen him do this entire time. That’s when something catches my eye that I think might cheer Elsa up. A crisp small white book with a silver snowflake emblem on the cover is lying on top of a pile. After flipping through it a little, I slide it over to Elsa and give her a small smile. She takes it and peeks at the cover page, returning the smile. And then a gasp escapes her mouth.          

       "Oh, my favorite! Ice spells and legends!" She exclaims. Jack leans over her shoulder to take a look at the small pages she's so eager to read.                                                                               "I haven't even heard of some of these!" He happily joins her in poring over the pages. For a moment Elsa  gazes at him from beneath her bangs, but when he notices this, she quickly glances away. As they start to chat about spells and ice and other junk, I lean over and whisper to Rapunzel.                                                                                                                                           "Do you think we should give them a little alone time?" When she notices the two of them, she giggles and nods silently. As we begin to tiptoe away, Jack stops us with a question:                                        

      "Hey Red, where you guys off to?"

      "Um, we think there might be something in the Ministry of Magic History section," Rapunzel answered for me. I could hear them continue talking when Jack turned around again. Quick as a flash, I pulled Rapunzel around the corner behind a bookcase. Once we were there, I pulled a single book out so I could see Jack and Elsa through the crack.

       "Are you sure we should spy on them?" Rapunzel whispers.

       "Don't think of it as spying, think of it as secret observation," I reassure. She rolls her eyes, but squeezes her blond head in  next to mine to peek through the space anyway. Now we can hear what they're saying. Elsa is pointing at a certain page of the white book.   

        "Why, look at this," she smiles and raises her eyebrow towards him, "the legend of a certain spirit of winter. I wonder who that could be."

         "Aw, you don't wanna read that old legend. I'm really not that interesting."

         "Nonsense," Elsa responds. But as her eyes dance across the page, I notice the humor leave her face and be replaced with sadness. I can tell that Rapunzel noticed to, and Jack seems suddenly uncomfortable.

         "Jack I had no idea--" Elsa started, before he cut her off.

         "Just do me a favor Elsa."

         "Yes?" I almost don't hear him, his next answer is so quiet.

         "Don't pity me." Hesitant at first, the Ravenclaw reaches over and clasps his hand in hers firmly. And before I can tell what they are even talking about, the doors of the library burst open loudly. Elsa quickly releases Jack's hand when the now-familiar click clop of Hiccup' s mechanical and regular foot reach us. I guess his entrance surprises Rapunzel so much that she drops a book onto the floor, the sound drawing everyone'sattention to us.

          "Uh, Whatcha doin'?" Jack says to us in mock friendliness.

          "Nothin'," My blond friend and I mutter nervously.

          "Were you spying on us?!" Elsa appears to be getting angry now.

          "I guess you wanna know about the whole back story thing, huh?" Jack rubs the back of his neck.

          "Actually," Rapunzel steps out from behind the bookcase, "that's okay. You can tell us when you're ready." Jack grins gratefully, as opposed to Hiccup who looks completely lost and really frazzled.

         "Would someone please tell me what's going on?!" he groans.

         "Later," I say, walking over to stand next to the table, "we want to know how you're little punishment went." Hiccup sighs, plops into a chair, and smacks his head face-down onto the table.

         "That bad, huh?" Elsa asks.