Jarida Drabbles

Saying Yes {Part2}

Spending the day with Jack Frost isn't actually that bad.

Merida has rejected every article of clothing that Rapunzel has thrown at her, telling the Hufflepuff that if Jack really wants to spend time with her that badly, she can wear her normal clothes and do what she likes.

Astrid gave her an approving punch on the arm for that.

So she's dressed in her usual jeans and a shirt, and she's walking next to Jack Frost as they tumble out of Honeydukes, trying to control their laughter and clutching at bags of candy. A couple of students give them strange looks, but Merida hardly notices them because she's too busy trying to make sure she's not collapsing onto the ground from laughing.

They've gotten strange looks all day, Jack knows, from plenty of students around Hogsmeade and even some of the people who work in the shops here. No one expects a Slytherin and a Gryffindor to be out on a date together.

But whatever. He can't care less.

He is here, strolling through Hogsmeade and collapsing with laughter with Merida Dunbroch, of all people, and he can't be happier. She's always been a wild card, he knows, strong and reckless and brave and pure crazy, and really all the qualities of a Gryffindor. But there is just something about her crudeness and her bright outlook on life and her ferocity and her emphasis on her own independence that just makes her magnetic, a bright flame he can't draw his eyes away from.

And she's here. With him.

"The owner's never going to let you in again," Merida snorts, through her chortling laughter.

"You'd be surprised," Jack tells her, but his words are hard to make out through his laughter: "I'll be back the next Hogsmeade visit and they'll welcome me with open arms."

"Someone's sure of his persuasive skills," says Merida.

"It's my natural charm, you see."

She laughs again.

They shove at each other's shoulders as they continue their way down the street. They've already been to the Shrieking Shack, and to Zonko's (where they both got chased out), so Jack suggests the Three Broomsticks and Merida agrees. He tells her he'll pay for the Butterbeer and when she protests, he gives her no room to argue, telling her she can buy it the next time round.

"You sure there's gonna be a next time round, Frost?" she asks him, raising an eyebrow.

He grins at her: "Of course. Admit it, you like going out with me, don't you?"

She rolls her eyes and tells him she's not admitting anything, but she grabs a table while he goes to get the drinks, and he can see the slightest smile on her face.

She finds a table in the corner, and slips into the seat, and she smiles vaguely at the crowd of students milling about her, the noisy chatter and the loud laughter.

Maybe Jack Frost isn't so bad after all.

When Aster steps in through the door to the Three Broomsticks, he's not sure what he expects to see, exactly. He expects, of course, to see Mdm Rosmerta behind the bar, and Hogwarts students filling up the tables, and he expects to hear the loud laughter and conversations floating across the air.

What he's not expecting to see is a familiar redheaded Gryffindor girl sitting with a white-haired Slytherin boy, and he's certainly not expecting to hear them laugh loudly and talk endlessly as they gulp down mouthfuls of Butterbeer.

He stands, frozen, as the door swings shut behind him.

"Aster?" Elsa prompts, from next to him. "Are you okay?"