Firstly, a HUGE thank you to frostystuffs. for, you know, all your lovely reviews on my asterida oneshots and everything. thank you so much.

(note: this is not a oneshot! probably. maybe a twoshot. or something.)

It's another day in Hogwarts. Sunlight is filtering in through the windows, there is a hush in the library as Madam Pince keeps her eyes out for any troublemakers, Filch is prowling the corridors with Mrs Norris, McGonagall is scolding a couple of Slytherins, Snape is breathing down the necks of a few second-year Hufflepuffs and the house-elves are scurrying about the kitchen.

"C'mon, Merida! One date!"

"I told you, Frost, I'm not interested!"

A skinny, white-haired boy with bright blue eyes in a Slytherin robe is trailing after a redheaded Scottish girl with her Hogwarts robes lined in Gryffindor colours, her arms full of books. Next to her, a blond girl with bright green eyes has to bite her lip as she shakes her head, following her friend.

"It's not going to kill you!" With lightning speed, Jack Frost darts in front of Merida Dunbroch and her best friend Rapunzel Corona, causing them to skid to a stop. He holds up the flower he's picked from one of the greenhouses. "Please? One date? We'll go wherever you want to go! Zonko's, the Shrieking Shack, the Three Broomsticks, the Hog's Head if you want – "

"Frost." Merida says the name through gritted teeth. "I. Am. Not. Interested."

"You are," he says, instantly. "You totally are. Come on, the Hogsmeade visit is coming up! We'll go together, have fun, and you'll realise and admit to yourself how much you like spending time with me – "

Merida rolls her eyes and shoves her way past him, pulling Rapunzel along with her.

"You'll say yes one day!" Jack calls after her, as she disappears around a corridor. "I don't give up so easily, Merida!"

She doesn't bother to reply.

"You know, most girls would do anything to be in your position right now."

Merida raises her head from the parchment she's scribbling on. "Doing an essay for History of Magic?"

Rapunzel scoffs, and rolls her eyes. "C'mon, Merida. Don't play dumb. I'm talking about Jack Frost!"

"Yeah, yeah," Merida mutters, bending over her parchment again and deciding to ignore the Hufflepuff girl's last sentence.

"Merida!"

"What?" her head snaps back up again. Rapunzel is staring at her with those big green eyes of her, the stare that demands answers.

"Why won't you say yes?" Rapunzel wants to know. "He is only asking for one date. And it's Jack Frost we're talking about. At least three-quarters of the girls in this school are in love with him."

Merida sighs. "You know why."

Rapunzel bites her lip, and shakes her head. She lowers her voice: "You're not really still thinking about him?"

Merida shrugs her shoulders, and doesn't say anything.

"Merida – "

"C'mon, Punz, I have to get this essay done before Quidditch practice," says Merida, and she bends down over the parchment again.

Rapunzel sighs.

Quidditch practice is draining. It's exhausting, and it's tiring, and it's raining and muddy and Merida cannot wait to get into the locker room and change out of her clothes. All she can think of is collapsing into one of the armchairs by the fire in the Gryffindor common room, possibly with Astrid, who is scowling fiercely at anything that stands in her path to the locker rooms.

When she's finally changed out, and her broom stored in the shed, she walks out to find a familiar figure just coming in.

"Hey, Dunbroch. That was some nice stuff you did out there today."

It's Aster Bunnymund, the Gryffindor Keeper, on his way to keep his own broom and lock up.

Merida feels her heart racing suddenly, thumping and hammering in her chest, and she wishes she wasn't so dirty and muddy, but really that's just completely ridiculous because Aster's seen her the whole practice flying about and getting drenched and everything –

"Thanks," she manages to say. Then she grins. "You're not so bad yourself, Bunny."

"Watch it, mate," he says, warningly, but there's a grin on his face. His hand lands on her shoulder. "Go get some rest, Red. You need it."

He nods at Astrid, who's just come out of the shed behind Merida, and mentions something to her about her own practice, and he disappears inside the broomshed.

"Your face is red," Astrid tells her, as they make their way up into the castle. "Gods, it's incredible how that guy hasn't figured it out yet."

"Astrid!" Merida guesses her face is probably even redder than her hair now, but she can't be bothered. "Could you be any less discreet?"

"No one's listening," says Astrid, which is true – the rest of the team's either still in the locker room or already back in the castle. "Seriously, though? The guy hasn't figured out that you're crushing on him like mad?"

Merida shakes her head, numbly. "He doesn't know," she says. "Oh, god, Astrid, he can't know."

"He's a nice guy, you know."

"It's embarrassing," Merida admits. "And, I mean, you know Aster. He's a great guy, and everything. And I don't want to ruin our friendship."

Astrid sighs, but she can respect that. She thinks of how her own friendship with Eret was nearly ruined, and she thinks that Merida has a fair point. But she still doesn't fully agree.

"All the same," Astrid says, "you can't pine for the guy forever, you know."

"Hey! I was looking for you!"

Merida slams her hand onto her forehead as a familiar, white-haired boy appears out of one of the secret passages along the corridor she and Astrid are using, on their way back to the Gryffindor common room.

"Frost," she almost growls.

He just beams at her, brightly. "Aw, don't be like that!" He catches sight of Astrid, then, and nods at her, distractedly, before turning back to Merida. "So, I was wondering if – "

"No," she says, shortly, slipping her way past him.

"You didn't even hear what I have to say!" Jack says, leaping so that he's in front of her again, his blue eyes looking into her own. "Merida – "

"Look, Frost, I'm really tired," she says. "It wasn't the best Quidditch practice, and I just really want to rest."

His face falls, but he shrugs. "Okay, then," he says. "I saw Bunnymund working you all like crazy out there."

"The boy's got a competitive streak," Astrid says.

Jack nods his head fervently, and his eyes fall on Merida again, who is determinedly looking away from him. "So – I'll see you some other time?"

"Hopefully not," says Merida, as she turns her back on him and continues down the corridor.

"You know you don't mean it!" Jack calls out, after her. "I'm still going to be waiting for you to say yes! I'm not leaving until you do!"

Merida can't help it. A small smile crosses her face.

The next day, Merida's owl drops a note in front of her. It's not in her father's messy scrawl, or her mother's neat, loopy handwriting, so she's cautious as she accepts the note and peels it open.

Merida!

Since you won't listen to me, I thought I'd write a letter instead. You know, something to treasure and all that.

Will you go out with me this Hogsmeade weekend?

Jack.

Merida looks up at the Slytherin table, where Jack is grinning at her brightly, waiting for her reaction.

She rolls her eyes, and shakes her head, and slides the note into her bag.

But Jack doesn't miss the small grin on her face.

Merida's in the Gryffindor common room with Astrid and Kristoff, sprawled in the armchairs before the fire.

"Hey, Red."

Aster drops down onto the seat next to her, and Merida suddenly feels her heart racing again.

"Yeah?" she asks, trying to get her heartbeat to slow down.

Stupid girl, she chides herself. Stupid, stupid girl. He's just a boy. Just another boy. Nothing special. Nothing special about him at all.

"I wanted to talk Quidditch with you, mate," he says. "You know, we've got that game against Hufflepuff coming up?"

Merida's face falls, but she instantly fixes her expression and grins. As long as Aster wants to come and talk to her, she can't complain, right? Not even if it's about Quidditch. Especially if it's about Quidditch. She knows the game like the back of her hand.

"Sure," she says.

"Okay, here's what I was thinking – "

When Astrid looks over next, she sees Merida's mane of wild red hair close to Aster's head as they discuss strategies and whatnot.

"He still hasn't figured it out yet, has he?" Kristoff asks her. (Astrid doesn't bother to ask him how he knows. It's not that hard to guess Merida's feeling, no matter how much she tries to hide them.)

"Nope," says Astrid.

The next day, Merida hasn't even walked through the doors to her first class when a whole bouquet of roses are held up to her face.

She peers over the roses to see Jack Frost, holding them up and looking slightly sheepish.

"No, Frost," she sighs.

Jack's face falls, visibly. "Really?"

"Really."

He pauses, and tilts his head and looks at her. "Why won't you say yes?"

Merida raises an eyebrow at him, at this cheeky white-haired Slytherin boy who has the audacity to stop her outside her Transfiguration classroom. "Why do you keep insisting on going out with me?"

Jack shrugs. "I think you're amazing."

I think you're amazing.

Merida knows her face is turning red, blush seeping up and across her cheeks as she absorbs his words. Nobody's said anything like that to her before. Nobody. Merida is loud, and brash, and careless and rude and confident.

Nobody's ever told her that they think she's amazing.

"If you won't say yes," Jack tells her, "at least keep the flowers." He grins. "You know I'll be back with some other way to woo you, anyway."

"You can keep trying," says Merida. "My answer will still be no."

But she takes the flowers.

"I'll wear you down eventually," says Jack. "I don't give up so easily."

Merida walks into Transfiguration with a bouquet of roses in her hand and a small smile on her face.

It's dinner time when Merida walks into the Great Hall with Astrid and Rapunzel, and when she sees Aster Bunnymund with his arm around Elsa Arendelle, who is laughing at something he is saying, Aster grinning and smiling like he's just discovered the most wonderful thing on earth.

For Merida, it feels like everything is breaking apart around her.

Merida thinks she can feel something clench inside her chest, before it lets go and something is shattering around her, falling and crashing and toppling to the ground, breaking into millions of pieces and it hurts, it hurts so badly –

She clenches her hands, shuts her eyes, takes a deep breath.

"Meri," Rapunzel murmurs, and they steer her to the opposite end of the Gryffindor table, away from Aster and his head leaning close to Elsa's and the smile he is giving her. "Meri, it's okay."

Astrid doesn't say anything, just places a hand on her friend's shoulder comfortingly.

Merida feels weak. She feels stupid, and weak, and just so angry at herself for feeling this way. Because her heart hurts, so badly. It hurts and it aches and it stings and it feels like it's hardly even there anymore, just millions of tiny pieces that have fallen apart.

And Aster – Aster doesn't know. He is just a stupid boy, and it is so wrong that he should affect her so badly and so much, but he is, and she feels so weak and stupid because her stupid emotions are running wild and she doesn't know what to do and she shouldn't even feel this way, not when Aster doesn't even see her as anything more than his fellow Quidditch team member, than the wild Scottish fifth-year who makes a great Beater –

Her heart hurts.

She doesn't want to stay here anymore. She doesn't think she'll be able to stay here anymore.

She's about to rise to her feet, mutter an excuse and stumble back to the common room and away from stupid Aster and his stupid smile and that annoying Little Miss Perfect Elsa –

But then there's someone standing in front of her, holding a huge bowl of chocolate pudding in his hands and blocking her way.

It's Jack Frost.

"You look like you need comfort food," he tells her. He sets it on the table, and, ignoring every single conventional rule, the rules that practically make up Hogwarts, the Slytherin boy slides into a seat and plants himself firmly at the Gryffindor table. "Bad day?"

"Something like that," Merida somehow manages to say, and her gaze flickers towards the chocolate pudding apprehensively.

Jack notices her gaze, and he says, "Don't worry, it's not poisonous. It won't kill you. I got the house elves to help me with it." Then he scratches the back of his head, and admits, "It was actually part of my plan to get you to say yes to go out on just one date with me, you know, but you look like you really need something to brighten up your day right now."

The ache in Merida's chest lessens slightly. She's touched, touched by this annoying blue-eyed Slytherin and his words, by his persistence and his specially going out of his way for her. It makes her feel as if the tiny million shattered pieces of her heart might just slowly be gluing itself back together.

"I'm guessing this isn't the best time to ask you if you wanna go out with me?"

He grins at her, an awkward, half-embarrassed grin.

"Never stopped you before," Merida manages a smile.

"Good point," Jack says, cheerfully. "So will you go out with me? We can do whatever you want to do, the Shrieking Shack, the Hog's Head, the Three Broomsticks, whatever – "

Jack's rambling a bit, now, but Merida raises her head and she catches sight of Aster, his arm still around Elsa, smiling at her, murmuring something to her.

Something snaps in her.

She turns to look at Jack.

He's looking at her, hopefully.

"So," he says. "Will you go out with me this Hogsmeade weekend?"

Merida looks at him.

"Yes," she says.