28 | DORM NIGHTS

   WINTERFELL did not have an issue with Harry Hook. In fact, she quite liked him. She thought that while; yes, Harry was slightly insane, had terrible anger-management, and was very much capable of being an all-around dick — he was sweet in his own weird way.

Yes, he had his flaws, but Harry Hook was also charming, caring (in his own screwed up way), handsome, and his eyes looked as though they came from the ocean itself. Winter swore she could stare into his eyes all day if she wanted.

Not only that but everyone had their flaws, it was a part of human nature.

Winter was accustomed to blue eyes, she knew way more people with blue eyes than without. Everyone in her family for one had blue eyes. Soren, Sitara, Anna, Kristoff — hell, her parent's eyes looked as though they were forged from ice itself. Winter was the only one who had brown, something that still befuddled everyone in her family.

That was why it was so interesting that Winter was captivated by Harry's eye color. However, the blue in Harry's eyes was different from any other she had seen. Kristoff, Anna, Soren, and Sitara had eyes that were darker in color and friendly. Her parents, on the other hand, had a striking blue color. Her father even had just the tiniest bit of glow to his eyes — something that Winter had never seen anywhere else.

But Harry, he was different. Because his eyes were something that, despite being more normal than either of her parents eye color, had something about them that lured her in as though to trap her. Sort of like a fish to a hook.

And his eyes were only the topping to an entire cake — Harry was a work of art. Many did not see it, but Winter did. Despite her often clippy mood with him, he was easily beginning to scrape away pieces to a delicate wall she had spent so much of her youth building.

Winter was not sure whether he realized it or not (but she had the sneaking suspicion that he did): but he was breaking her every time they interacted. Little by little.

The school bell snapped Winter out of her daze, the girl packing her backpack. Harry had been absent all day. Uma told them earlier at breakfast that Harry was catching up on his "beauty-sleep" and would not be present at all today. Uma also added that Winter would probably be able to convince Harry to come to classes with her if she went to their dorm — it really would not take much more than her batting her eyelashes and asking in that sugary sweet tone Harry loved so much.

However, Winter was keen on allowing Harry his time to rest. It was his choice if he wanted to skip classes or not and she was not going to stop him. Besides, she knew that he had been woken up earlier than he would have liked yesterday — he deserved some sleep.

Yeah, she had been teased endlessly by the entire table after she told them that.

Gil then proceeded to say how Harry would love to hear that. Yeah, Winter tried convincing Gaston's son to not say anything to the pirate, but she knew that Gil would not be able to stop himself. He and Harry were simply too close.

Unsurprisingly, Winter had chosen to skip dinner that night in favor of studying. She ignored her phone as it constantly buzzed — deciding that she would much rather understand all the properties of quadratic equations.

She was humming to herself while sitting at her desk. Her hair fluttered around her in waves, the girl wearing nothing but a tank top and shorts. Her radio was playing music softly in the background, some country song currently on.

Country music was a guilty pleasure of Winter's, a genre of which that she would listen to only by herself.

"Southern nights. Have you ever felt a southern night?" Winter was singing along with the song, writing numbers on her paper accordingly.

Her gloves were resting on her dresser, the girl's powers for once at complete ease. She had just finished a problem when there was a knock at her door. Winter furrowed her brows, grabbing her phone and looking at the time. It was fifteen minutes after nine, who would be at her door this late?

Shaking her head, Winter pushed her chair back and stood. Walking toward the dresser, the girl hopped along to the tune while shoving her hands in the silky fabric. She flicked the radio off, causing the catchy tune to cease.

Another knock sounded from the door just as Winter started on her way there.

"I'm coming!" She called in a light tone, moving such a way that she practically danced her way to the door.

She made a face of confusion as her hip started burning exactly where her scar was. Winter grabbed her hip, her hand slipping under her tanktop and feeling the warmth that the scar was giving off. It felt odd against the rest of her cold skin.

She shook her head, taking her hand away before grabbing the door handle and unlocking the it. Swinging the door open, she was not sure who was she expecting to meet, but in retrospect, she should not have surprised to be greeted by a widely smiling Harry Hook.

His hair was damp with sweat and there was the slightest stench of salty body odor wafting from him. He was not wearing his normal ripped and chained pirate-gear, but rather the Swords and Shields practice wear he had got a few days prior.

The traditional blue and golden joggers with a sleeveless hoodie. Winter just about drooled at the sight of Harry's muscular arms shimmering with the slightest sheen of sweat — Jay must have worked the team hard that night.

Harry himself was leaning against the doorway, allowing his gaze to rake up and down her body. He took pleasure in the sight of her bare legs and the tank top that was riding up revealing a patch of milky white skin.

Winter was snapped out of her brief daze at the sight of a paper brown bag in the pirate's grasp.

Food.

And like that, reality hit Winter.

In seconds, she had tried closing the door in Harry's face. She succeeded in closing the door, but could not manage to lock it as Harry was holding down the handle. Winter grunted, trying to pull the handle up and lock the door, but Harry was way stronger than her.

"Duckling, are you serious right now?" Harry chuckled, easily pushing the door open a crack — laughing once he saw her trying to put all of her weight against it to keep him out.

She said nothing causing Harry to growl, and in seconds Winter had lost the battle and the door swung open. She squealed in shock, hurriedly looking around her room to see if she had to hide anything. Luckily, she was a very organized person, so she had no reason to be afraid.

"Get away right now, Harold!" Winter demanded in a stubborn tone, her eyes widening when Harry only kicked the door closed behind him in reply.

Her heart pounded when she realized she was in a room alone with Harry Hook.

Harry himself took a look around the room, not all that surprised by the unnatural cleaness of it. Even the bed was made despite the late hour. However, the one thing that struck him the biggest was the fact that there was not a second bed.

Her room was slightly smaller than the others he had seen (still big as it was Auradon though). No pictures hung on the walls, but there were posters and awards for academic achievements Winter had won over the years. Harry noticed that there were about five awards for "student with the highest grades" posted in a line, each coming the year after the previous.

Her computer was closed on her desk with some homework papers located just in front of it. The door to her bathroom was open a smidge, but enough that Harry could see a bathroom that was just as clean as the bedroom.

But again, Harry's mind fell back to the fact that there was only one damn bed.

"Ye don't have a roommate?" Harry tilted his head, taking a step closer causing Winter to immediately shift back by five steps.

"Oh my God, this is so inappropriate," she said, shaking her head causing her hair shift everywhere.

Harry eyed it, his eyes darting to the bed that Winter was standing next to. Despite her room being smaller than his, Winter's bed was a bit larger.

"Ducklin'," Harry lulled taking another step closer causing Winter to hold her hand out as though Harry was an actual curse.

She knew well enough that nothing good could come out of them being alone in a room with a bed together. This was how it started in all the romance novels Winter read, one moment they were talking and the next they were wrapped up in each other... canoodling!

"Stay back, pirate!"

Harry held up his hands with a smirk, setting the brown bag down on the desk.

"No roommate, duckling?" He slowly crossed his arms, once again looking around the room.

"No," Winter admitted in a low tone causing Harry's smirk to broaden.

"And why am I just now finding out about this? We could have had a lot of fun," Winter blushed at that while Harry looked over her in a lustfully predatory manner.

She was much smaller compared to him, something that turned him on greatly. That along with her outfit — he had never seen her in such little clothing on her!

"My circumstances are..." Winter trailed off in an almost embarrassed manner, Harry cocking his head in reply, "...special..."

Subconsciously, Winter played with her glove covered fingers. Harry noticed the small gesture, pursing his lips at her gloves. He understood why she did not have a roommate now.

"Ye wear yer gloves in here too?" Harry scoffed with disbelief.

Winter shook her head, mumbling her answer quiet but loud enough that Harry could still hear her.

"No, I just put them on since someone was at the door," Winter shook her head furiously, before pointing an accusing digit at him, "What do you want? You are not supposed to be here past nine o'clock!"

Harry took two quick steps forward with the intention of trying to corner her, but like a little bird — Winter leaped onto her bed, standing in the center of it. Harry burst out laughing at her antics, not believing what she did just to avoid him.

"Yer real funny,"

"Haha," Winter laughed sarcastically, "now what do you want? You missed classes today, you should be catching up on your work!"

"Oh?" Harry mocked with a frown before grinning once more. "Did ya' miss me? Didn't have yer footsie buddy to play wit' ya?" Winter both hated and loved how Harry said that — why did half the stuff that came from his mouth sound like an innuendo?

"Harry, you're sweaty and—" Winter tried a different tactic, being taken by surprise when Harry lunged forward and grabbed her ankle.

She cried out when he pulled causing her to fall on her back, but her landing was soft as she landed with an "oof" on her mattress. In moments, Harry crawled on top of her, laying over her but making sure to keep his weight in his arms.

The stench of salt odor became stronger, but Winter ignored it as her eyes widened at the pirate's close proximity. He was giving her a mad grin, his eyes swirling with his slight insanity as their noses brushed against each other — as though they were giving each other a butterfly kiss.

She blushed brightly, unable to look away from his captivating eyes. There a fire in the pit of her stomach that suddenly lighted as feeling Harry's lower body dug into her own. He was so much bigger than her that it was not even funny.

"Hello, lovely," Winter huffed as Harry buried his face in her neck, wrapping his arms around her body.

Winter subconsciously brought her arms around his upper half, accidentally pulling him even closer in the process. She should really care that his body was sweaty and warm from practice, but she could not bring herself to care. No, her focus was more on the fact that she was in some weird embrace-cuddle position with Harry Hook on her bed.

She was right, canoodling!

"NO!" Winter screamed in such a loud tone it had Harry jumping away from her in shock. "You cannot con me into..." Winter had used the wind, literally flying so she was sticking to the ceiling, "...into canoodling!"

"Canoodling?" Harry asked in a tone of bemusement, looking up at the girl who looked as though she was stuck to the ceiling. "Duckling, come down from there."

Winter glared at Harry, pursing her lips stubbornly. The pirate rose a challenging brow, jerking his head in the direction of the brown paper bag.

"I brought ye dinner okay, ye weren't answering any of the others texts or calls at dinner..." Harry scowled, "yer lucky I didn't come force ye to eat at the time. Honestly, you can't be skipping meals like ye do!"

Winter growled but begrudgingly gave in. However, an idea occurred to her causing her to smirk slightly. In seconds, Winter allowed herself to drop from the ceiling, acting as though she was actually falling.

She let out a scream for dramatic effect, Harry himself yelling with a curse leaping forward to try and catch her. He was not nearly fast enough though, but Winter only landed on the bed softly — laughing at the look of terror etched on Harry's face.

Harry grunted when he realized what happened, the pirate narrowing his eyes. "Think that's funny, do ya?"

Secretly, Harry was impressed, Winter did not come off as one to play a prank — even if it was a weak lighthearted one. Then again, Harry remembered how different she had acted in the forest.

"I think it's hilarious," Winter giggled, hopping off her bed.

Harry surged forward suddenly, grabbing Winter by the waist and forcing her back down on her bed. Winter cried out, trying to fight against Harry who easily held her back to his chest. Winter could not believe this was happening again.

"Harry—!" She tried wiggling against him. "Stop it!"

She went rigid when his breath fanned across her ear, the pirate's lips centimeters away. "I would stop all that wiggling if I was you, ducklin'," he cooed in her ear, his warm breath causing goosebumps to rise on her arms and her face to turn red, "because with the way yer moving against me body..." he chuckled, Winter freezing on the spot when she realized what he meant.

Winter said nothing, only letting out an odd sound that was a cross between a whimper and a breath. She shrunk in embarrassment when she realized what she had done, Harry only keening at the soft sound she made.

Harry could feel his lust rising by the second, the pirate wanting nothing more than have his way with her. If this were a few months ago and they were on the Isle, Harry would have not held himself back — he would have made her putty in his hands. Unfortunately, this was not the Isle and Harry found it rather unsettlingly that he had too much respect for her to simply act like any other barbarian pirate — as much as he wanted to.

Instead, he settled on nibbling at her ear lobe, smirking when he felt her relax into him with a breathy lament. He hummed in response, tightening his grip on her waist, moving from biting teasingly at her ear to peppering kisses down the side of her neck. Winter fidgeted against him, unsure of how to respond, but his grip stayed strong.

Winter had never felt this way before, no one had done anything like this to her. Sure, she had read about it plenty of times, but never had she imagined it to actually feel so... so good.

Her breathing picked up when Harry's light kisses turned to a suckle, the pirate easily sucking hard enough that a hickey would no-doubt be left if he did not stop within the next few seconds.

Before a lasting mark could be left from Harry, Winter moved in such a manner that made her accidentally kick her dresser. While the kick did not hurt her, it was hard enough that a certain book fell off of it and onto the floor.

Both of them jumped at the sudden thud, Winter taking that moment to slip away from the pirate's grasp as it had loosened. Harry cursed, running a hand through his messy dark hair that was now even more messed up from the recent interaction. Winter — who looked even more flustered — grabbed the book from the ground.

She could not believe she just allowed that to happen. What the hell happened to ignoring any advances from the pirate? Now here they were canoodling in her room!

Shaking her head, Winter looked over the cover of the book — her eyes widening at the title. Suddenly she was no longer a flustered mess, instead, she was quickly hiding the book behind her back, trying to subtly make her way to her backpack to hide it in there.

Sadly, Harry immediately noticed what she was trying to do. He may not have not been the brightest when it came to schooling, but he was definitely not stupid.

Winter barely made it three steps before Harry had pounced from the now messed up bed and took the book from Winter.

"Hey! Give it back, Harold!" Winter tried as Harry only snickered while holding it above her head.

Looking at the cover, Harry squinted while reading the title. Harry may have not known how to properly count — and was not the best reader either — but he could read enough to just barely keep him afloat.

"The Legend of Peter Pan?" Harry's mind clicked as the pieces fell into place. He smirked down at Winter was who was blushing and doing everything in her power to not meet his gaze.

Putting a finger under her chin, Harry tilted her head up to meet his gaze. Winter blushed even harder at the look he was giving her, the messy-haired boy motioning to the book in his grasp.

"Now, why would ye be readin' this ole' thing, aye? Wouldn't be because 'o me..." Harry innocently tilted his head, "would it?"

"Of course not, that's ridiculous," Winter tried scoffing, jerking away from Harry and going to the paper bag. "It was for, uhm..." she was a terrible liar sometimes, and she was struggling to think up an excuse, "History! Yes, History, what's in here?" She was suddenly really interested in what food was inside of the bag.

Harry snickered, not believing her horrible lie one bit. "We have the same History class, duckling."

"It's for my other one!" Winter practically shouted, pulling out chicken strips.

She did not realize it before, but she was actually really hungry and seeing this food only had her stomach growling. Loudly.

Harry scowled, crossing his arms when he heard just how hungry she was.

"Now, look at tha'! Had I not brought ye food ya would have been starving all night!" He exclaimed as Winter only shrugged, biting into one of the chicken strips with a blissful sigh.

Harry shook his head, taking a deep breath to calm himself. It was no use getting angry, Winter obviously did not care but he sure did. He would be damned if he let her bad eating habits go unchecked, he had seen first-hand just what starvation could do back on the Isle.

He looked back at the book, deciding to push her for answers even more, "how about you tell me why you were readin' this—?"

"Is it a crime to read?" Winter huffed, after swallowing part of the chicken strip, sitting at her desk. She had swiveled her chair around to face him, Harry casually leaning back against the wall, facing her with a look of interest. "I was interested okay, it's not like your origins are boring. The legend of your father and Peter Pan is one of the most engrossing ones there is!"

Harry smirked as the words fell out of her lips, the pirate preening under the comment.

"I know, me father told me how awe-inspiring his story was," Harry said causing Winter to bite her lip.

It was obvious she was dying to know the details from Harry, and Harry chuckled seeing this. Sometimes Winter was hard to read but other times she was like an open book to him.

"Will you tell me about it? What was growing up like?" Winter hesitantly asked, finally giving in to her curiosity and thirst for knowledge.

Harry smirked, crossing his arms. Some VKs may have had a hard time talking about what life was like on the Isle, but Harry did not. The Isle was and always would be his roots, he also did not have an issue talking about himself. It was not everyday anyone was as interested in his story as Winter appeared to currently.

The way her big brown eyes were wide and wavering with curiosity nearly sent Harry over the edge.

"I have two sisters, an older one and a younger one," Winter's eyes lit up.

"You're the middle child?" Winter asked causing Harry to chuckle and nod.

"Aye, we're all about a year apart, well CJ is a bit more than a year younger than me I suppose..." Harry mumbled in thought, rubbing his chin.

"CJ? That's your younger sister's name?" Winter questioned.

"It'a short for Calista Jane, me older sister's name is Harriet." Harry explained.

"Oh?"

"Yeah," Harry seemed sheepish, scratching the back of his neck — an action that was not at all like him, "da' wasn't exactly the most creative with our names..."

Winter laughed lightly. "And your mother?"

She paused, a pit filling her stomach when she saw Harry drop his gaze to the floor as if saddened. "Yeah, uh, she didn't make it through CJ's birth, lived long enough just to name her da' said."

Winter felt bad — terrible really. Sometimes she really forgot how good the people of Auradon had it, the Isle did not have any medical treatment for themselves, so it was no wonder Harriet, Harry, and CJ's mother did not survive her third child. Having more than one child was a huge risk on the Isle because of that fact.

"Harry, I'm sorry—" Harry cut Winter off shaking his head.

Winter did not know what else to say other than give condolences.

"Don't say it, I don't need pity," she shrunk at his words, though they were not as harsh as they could have been, "besides, I don't even remember her, I was only one when it happened," he explained with a nonchalant shrug.

While the thought of a mother that he never even got the chance to know saddened him to a degree, being raised on the Isle toughened him up to thought.

Winter nodded at him, deciding not to say anything else on the matter. Winter may have had her own problems, but she could not relate to how Harry felt. Winter has been spoiled all her life in Auradon — she had two loving parents, a full family, and anything she could ask for. She did not grow up with the struggles that Harry and her other VK friends had.

And sometimes she honestly forgot that — they were stronger than Winter ever thought she could be capable of.

"Da' went back to Neverland, ya know..." Harry mentioned off-hand, squinting his eyes.

Winter looked at him with surprise. "Really?"

She supposed it should not be that surprising seeing as what else was Captain Hook supposed to do with his newfound freedom.

"Yeah, he set sail a few weeks ago, asked me and me sisters to come, but we wanted our own lives," Harry smirked. "Besides, I've got the Lost Revenge — Harriet has her own ship, and CJ," Harry scowled as though the thought disgusted him, "...has guys, whatever that means. Told her if I ever saw her hangin' around some loser guy here, then I'd beat the daylights out of em',"

Winter smiled at Harry's protectiveness, finding that his story brought a light feeling to her chest. She ate another chicken strip, humming at Harry who was now eyeing her.

"Have you ever read it?" Winter motioned to the book causing Harry to shake his head. "You should, I think you'll like it, your father had some pretty epic tales in there," Hary smiled at Winter nodding his head.

"Ya sure lass?"

"Of course," Winter waved it off, "just don't lose it since it's checked out to my name," Harry smirked tucking the book under his arm.

"Ya know, yer story is pretty well-known too. Daughter of Jack Frost and Elsa, ice powers, hmm...?" Harry cooed, as though trying to lull out any sort of story from Winter.

Winter blushed, shifting uncomfortably. She never knew why, but she always hated talking about her home and her family at school. Maybe because it reminded her of her fear of her own powers.

"Yeah, but not that interesting," Winter played it off causing Harry to frown.

He was hoping he could get her to share something with him as well.

"Come on, duckling. Ye don't have one story—?"

"Uma mentioned something about you, her, and Gil going to get phones tomorrow?" Winter was quick to change the subject, remembering something Uma had brought up over breakfast.

It was true, the Sea Three did not have cellphones — most of the new VKs did not. However, considering Uma was soon to be an official member of Ben's council, one of his top advisors at that, Uma had to have a cellphone. Once Uma was officially sworn into the council, she had stated multiple times that she would be bringing Harry and Gil as her "assistants" just like Evie brought Jay and Carlos.

Winter was a part of the council as well since she was the official messenger between Arendelle, Ahtohallan, and Auradon.

Harry rose a brow, recalling that Uma had said something about it. "Yeah, Ben and Mal are goin' te be taken us into something called a..." Harry squinted his eyes as though trying to remember something, "...a shopping mall, I think? Why? Do ya' want me number as soon as I get it?" Harry smirked, and despite his flirtatious tone, he sounded quite excited about the aspect of his own phone.

He never had anything quite so expensive, after all.

Winter rolled her eyes, finishing the last chicken strip. However, there was a plan whirling deep inside her. She had a shit ton of money and Uma, Gil, and Harry could use some new things. Winter definitely did not forget how good Harry looked in Ben's clothes yesterday — she was willing to bet the three would not mind some fresh clothes.

A plan unraveled in her head, the girl debating on how to go about getting them to allow her to pay for their shopping spree.

"Well, thank you for dinner, Harold," Harry rolled his eyes at the name, but he was growing used to it.

Even his own family did not call him by his full name, so the fact that Winter did was slightly unnerving.

"I think I am going to go to bed now," Winter wasted no time in opening the door, motioning for the pirate to leave.

She had a night of planning and banking ahead of her. Harry frowned but motioned to the bed.

"Aw, duckling, can't I sleep in here with you?" Winter's eyes widened and her face flushed at the thought, "I can shower in here and then we can have some fun tonight..." Harry waggled his brows suggestively.

"No," Winter breathed, standing her ground and pointing out of the room, "I really appreciate the food but I am tired and you, quite frankly, need to take a shower," she said firmly causing Harry to snicker but walk toward the door anyway.

"Of course, goodnight, duckling," he smirked before leaning down and leaving a kiss to her cheek causing Winter to blush all the more.

He swaggered out of the room with a cocky expression having saw Winter's flush. Shaking her head, Winter quickly shut the door, having a feeling if she left it open for too long that Harry would take it as an invitation to come back in.

Slamming the door closed, Winter quickly locked it and walked to her desk. She moved the math work out of the way, knowing she still had a few days to complete it. Instead, she grabbed her wallet and started looking through her many different cards, counting her cash, and making sure her checkbook was relatively full.

With that, she sent a text to Mal, ready to start putting her plan into action.