An Unexpected Turn

Chapter 10

The next few weeks went by rather uneventfully, much to the VK's delight. Since the incident with Captain Hook, Hades decided to take up housing arrangements with Fairy Godmother. After a lot of discussion, they both agreed that, with Captain Hook still alive somewhere, Mal was safest with Harry. Hades wasn't too keen on the idea of his daughter sharing a room with her pirate boyfriend, but her safety was his top priority. He'd almost lost her too many times. He would do anything to make sure it never happened again. He knew Harry felt the same way. The way the young pirate looked at Mal, it was obvious that he'd never let anything happen to her again.

Mal's spirits seemed to lift immediately when Harry gave her the spellbook. Since that day, Mal made it her goal to learn a new spell, each day. Of course, the first one was to ward off any unwanted visitors from their room. She'd never admit it, but the incident with Captain Hook scared her. The feeling of not being in control, tied up and thrown into a closet to await her inevitable death, never seeing Evie, Jay, Carlos, or Harry ever again. She wouldn't let anything like that happen, and even if she let her guard down for a moment, she knew Harry wouldn't let any other pirate go near her for the rest of their lives.

Before she got too lost in her thoughts, Evie walked in through the open dorm room door. "Hey..." she said cautiously. After accidentally nearly getting her head blasted off last time she came over unannounced, due to Mal's new paranoia, Evie liked to play it safe nowadays. When Mal turned around with a smile on her face, Evie sat on the edge of the bed and pulled out her sketchbook. "So this year's cotillion is coming up and I was thinking we could brainstorm some ideas. Before I start anything, Harry wouldn't wear this, would he?"

The drawing on the paper was a classic-looking pirate captain's uniform, frills and all. As much as Mal would love to see Harry in something so ridiculous, she wasn't going to lie.

"Definitely not. Gil might, though. Harry's style is a lot more...simple."

Evie nodded. "That's what I figured. I'll get Gil's measurements for it, then. As for you, Miss Dragon Pirate Princess..."

Mal raised an eyebrow. "Miss Dragon Pirate Princess?"

"It's a nickname. I mean, you can't deny that it's you, in a nutshell. You can turn into a dragon, your boyfriend is a pirate, and your dad is a god. Dragon Pirate Princess."

"I think I preferred my nickname in middle school, despite it using my full given name."

"Ah, Malevolent Maleficent."

"My mother was seriously narcissistic to name her kid after herself, especially when she didn't exactly like me."

Evie shrugged. "None of our parents liked us. Honestly, I think that's a compliment. Anyway..." she flipped through her sketchbook and handed it back to Mal. "I wasn't exactly happy about your last dress being all about Ben's family colors, plus blue and yellow don't exactly mix well with your hair color."

The dress was perfect. It was a dark purple a-line dress with a tulle skirt and small black and silver rhinestones and gems creating the bodice.

"This seemed a bit more 'you'." Evie said, worried about her best friend's reaction. "But I can change-"

"It's perfect, Evie." Mal said with a smile, leaning over to wrap her arms around her best friend. "Thank you so much!"

When Harry came into the room, he immediately worried. "Everything alright in here?" He asked.

Mal pulled away, nodded. "Yeah, of course. Evie was just showing me her sketches for our outfits for cotillion. Don't worry, I reminded her that you love your frills and buckles." She teased.

"Oh, did you?" He chuckled, tossing his jacket onto one of the chairs. "You should know that I'm more of a fan of ropes and-"

Evie stood up, "I'll see you guys at dinner?" She said quickly, not wanting to hear the rest of Harry's sentence. "The guys and Uma wanted to go to the new pizza place near the dress shop."

Mal nodded, holding back a laugh. "We'll be there."

When the door was closed behind Evie, Mal raised an eyebrow. "Where did you run off to this morning? I woke up and you were gone."

"Jay and I went for a run, that's all. Nothing eventful. He and I just needed to check the perimeter of the school."

Mal let out a sigh. "You know you don't have to do that. I can take care of myself."

"I'm aware. I just like to be sure. Not just for your safety, though. Who knows who could come and cause trouble? Plus, FG told me I'd get a few extra perks if I do the perimeter a few times a day."

"Extra perks?"

"Random vacation days, beach days, hall passes for when I screw up. The woman knows how to strike a deal, I'll tell you that."

Harry walked over to the bed and laid down, Mal soon joining him. "Everything alright, love? Something seems wrong."

Mal couldn't help the smile on her lips at his words. He always knew how she was feeling, no matter how little or hard she tried to hide it.

"I'm just getting lost in my thoughts again." She said with a shrug. "What do we do if he comes back? What if someone gets hurt? What if you get hurt?"

Harry chuckled, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "He will come back, I know him well enough. But we can't live every day, worried about when that moment will be. We just have to be prepared, which we are. Jay and I have made sure the security around campus is at the top of its game, and Carlos has been installing new cameras and alarms, just to be safe. Relax, love."

Harry's words helped a little bit. They didn't completely erase Mal's worries, but nothing really would until Captain Hook was dead in the ground. Not a lot scared Mal, but her boyfriend's father was definitely one of the only things that she truly feared.

"I won't let anything happen to you."

Mal looked up at him and pressed her lips against his for a moment. "I know you won't, but I can handle myself."

Harry let out another chuckle. "You definitely can, but it doesn't mean you should have to. Come on. Let's get some food and try to get back to normal."

Mal nodded, sitting up and walking to the door with him. On their way towards the dining hall, she couldn't help but worry about the future. She could feel something coming, something coming soon. She just has to be prepared for whatever it was.