Prince hummed to himself, not really carring that the music was making the flowers bloom as he wandered the palace garden, admiring the new plants Sarah had planted. The sweet smelling herbs making the walk more enjoyable than before.

"Princy! Princy!"

"Hello, Nuisance." Prince said, the flowers seeming to pout as he stopped humming.

"A birdy has a letter for you!" Nuisance announced, holding it up with pride.  Usually Prince, or more recently Sarah  would rename Goblins that Jareth renamed in a fit of annoyance at but Nuisance had decided he liked his new name and kept it.

Of course, Jareth regretted naming him that eithin a week as the small creature lived up to its new name.

Prince raised an eyebrow. "And where is this bird now?"

Nuisance shuffled his feet. "Nuisance ate it."

Prince sighed. "And the letter?"

Nuisance handed it over. It was a bit soggy and had a few feathers on it.

Prince was rather sad it hadn't gotten away. He liked any animal clever enough to find their way to the Underground.

But then again, most mortal animals small enough to fit into a goblin mouth ended up in a goblin mouth down here. Best leave the owls to Toby and the above ground goblins. He would have to be content with Frankie.

A spell dried the parchment and he popped the seal on the front, reading through it quickly.

"A date?" He read. "To the Yule Ball. Mandatory attendance, Champions will be performing the opening dance. Lessons avalible."

He already knew how to dance, and he had formal clothes. If nothing in the closet worked the seamstresses in Applewood could make something with ease.

So all he needed was a date.

He considered inviting Jackie, as she was the only fae that resembled his age and would be game enough to attend a mortal ball but discarded the idea, as Selkies tended to be uncomfortable around large groups of mortals, even with a powerful freind with them. Their long history of being trapped by any who held their coat made them rightfully nervous.

He then considered Ginny but remembered who her brothers were. Best not to do anything that could be construed as more than friendship. They would find a way back to the Underground through pure spite if he angered them.

Prince sighed. "I don't have many humanoid freinds do I?" He asked the tree to his left.

Luckily this was a normal tree and not one of the talking ones (which were having a party in the north gardens) so his question remained unanswered.

Prince sighed and summoned a crystal, deciding to check in on Toby.

In the crystal, Toby looked up, sensing that he was being watched, but quickly went back to his work, knowing that if his watcher was malicious, one of the Labyrinth rulers would have appeared by now.

"Hey, Toby?" A voice called out and Prince expanded the view.

Toby was in some sort of cavern, decorated with fluffy couches in black and yellow, the walls decorated with plants that danced in an unfelt breeze. The Hufflepuff commonroom maybe?  Around him we half a dozen kids his age, all in either causal clothes or the hufflepuff uniform.

"Did you find that potion book?"

Toby dug in a stack of papers on his table and extracted a potion book. "Yeah. I had to bribe a Ravenclaw for their personal copy so be careful. I can't believe they only have one copy in the library.."

"My sister says that upper years get first dibs too." A girl said. "That's why we haven't been able to get a copy until now."

"Millie says the Slytherins have a private library." The first boy said. "I asked if she had this book but she laughed at me. Snakes only apparently."

Toby grinned, having come up with an idea. "What if we made our own library?" He asked. "It won't be as extensive as Ravenclaw or as expensive and rare as Slytherin but we won't be fighting the upper years for texts. If we all pitch in, and maybe get our older siblings to help we could do it."

Prince let them get on with it, vanishing the crystal and making a mental note to ask the surface goblins to gather any books Toby and his freinds may require.

Now, back to his problem.

Maybe...that could work.

He cast a glamor, disguising himself as a random Hufflepuff first year. He doubted anyone had memorized the faces of all the new hufflepuffs so he was confident he wouldn't be discovered unless they had true sight.

He stepped, feeling the Hogwarts Wards strain against him but unable to keep him out as the Fae Invitation magic (and really fae magic in general) trumped anything mortals could whip up.

He appeared on the lake edge, and he stopped to admire the Scottish moor.

"Hello, your majesty. Are you looking for crumplehorned snortlacks?"

Prince turned around to see a blonde witch with eyes so blue they looked silver. "I'm afraid I left them all in the Apple Courts."

The blonde sighed. "What a shame. I was hoping you would bring one with you. You may call me Moon."

"Moon?" Prince asked, feeling amused.

"Yes. Papa says I should never give a faerie my name or I'll be late to tea."

Prince laughed. "They you may call me Prince."

Moon sat down at the lake edge. "Would you like some biscuits, Prince?"

Prince shrugged and summoned a blanket, one of the few things he could do without crystals, and sat down next to the witch. 

Moon didn't jump when it appeared under her, only smiling and unthinking the basket in her pocket. "I also made some peach cobbler and Rainbow Cake."

"What's it made of?"

"Rainbows of course. What else would you make Rainbow cake with?"

Prince laughed as Moon handed him a slice of cake with icing drawn pictures in the frosting.

"I was hoping I could give this to your crunplehorned snortlack." Moon said. Her tone wasn't accusatory, more disappointed than anything else.

"Perhaps you would be interested in making a deal with me then." Prince offered.

"I already have a dress on the way. I expect to see you here with Frankie in 24 mortal hours."

Prince grinned. He always did like the seers. "It's a deal, Moon."