December 17th

"What am I supposed to say!" Evie whimpered, bitting at the skin around one of her nails out of sheer nervousness. Mal and Lonnie both shrugged unapologetically, neither having been subjected to meeting their significant others' parents.

"Maybe stop eating your fingertips," Jane suggested sweetly from across the room. Evie groaned and threw her hands up, nearly poking Gil in the eye as he gently pushed past her into the dorm room.

Doug's parents, uncles and extended family had written to the couple and informed them they would be visiting and formally welcoming Evie into the family.

Evie, dressed in a spectacular winter design of her own creation, was stood in Jay and Carlos' dorm room doorframe, worriedly fidgeting with her long hair, dress, cloak, accessories or anything she could reach.

"Whoah, what's got you all in a tizz?" Gil asked as he sat down next to Carlos behind one of the desks. The pirate dropped an armful of folders down with a loud bang and it made the blue-haired girl refocus on her friends.

"Evie, Doug loves you, what does it matter if none of his family do?" Lonnie began and Evie's eyes went as wide as dinner plates, as though she hadn't even thought about the consequences of if she wasn't liked.

"Oh gods above," she whispered quietly.

"Nice one," Jane whispered sarcastically to a smirking Lonnie as Evie's panic visibly went up a notch.

"Yeah, I mean, if they did hate you and forbid the marriage, you and Doug could just poison the entire family and wait for them all to die," Carlos added cheekily which earned him a well-aimed slap from Jane.

"Carlos," Mal chastised but she was laughing at how worried Evie seemed to be. "E, listen to me. They will love you, I promise you. And if not, I've got a few spells that may help," Mal winked.

"Please don't use magic on my family," Doug was suddenly behind his fiancé and he kissed her cheek. "They're parking the cars so we should head down," he told her.

Evie looked both deathly pale and green at the prospect. "I don't know if I can do this. What if they really do hate me and we can't be together!" she asked, gripping Doug's arm.

Doug laughed and pulled her close for a hug which she melted into. "We will elope or change our identities or flee the city. I don't care what my family thinks of you Eve, I love you and that's enough for me and so it should be for them. Besides, we've got a very supportive family right here." Doug nodded towards the friends gathered in the room.

Evie looked from one person to another.

Mal with her glowing green eyes and crooked smile was sat on Carlos' bed, her fingers absently tracing a simple string bracelet Harry had given her as she smiled at her best friend.

Harry himself was sat on one of the window seats, the glass bottle with the Sailing Grace perched on the sill of the large windows which were dusted with snow and frost. He nodded when they locked eyes in a way that was almost encouraging.

Lonnie and Jay were laying on Jay's bed, both simply watching Evie process her emotions. Jay had an arm propped above his head and the other was behind Lonnie's head. They seemed in tune and on the same wave length as they cracked a smile simultaneously to ease Evie's nerves.

Jane was sat in front of roaring fire, laughing at something Gil had whispered to her from the desk. Gil and Carlos were sharing one chair and Carlos had an arm around Gil's broad shoulders in order to stay on the small chair. The two were attempting to go through some research for one of their shared classes but they seemed more interested in each other, Jane, and Evie's meltdown.

Evie took a deep breath and smiled at Doug. "You're right. If they like me, then its simply a bonus. We have all the support we need right here."

"Lame!" Jay called out and the engaged couple left the dorm room laughing, hand in hand and ready to face the family.

"5 coins says Doug's mother falls head over heels for Evie," Mal said and the bet was met with agreements and giggles.

December 25th

The majority of the student population left Auradon Prep over winter break to spend time and celebrate Christmas with their families. The only people who stayed behind were the VKs, Jane (as she and Fairy Godmother lived at the school) and Lonnie, who's mother was visiting some foreign delegations and had agreed that her daughter would enjoy her time more with her friends. Ben and his parents had gone to spend the holiday in one of their winter cabins.

On Christmas morning, Mal woke up in the arms of a man she knew loved her for her and she felt complete for the first time in years. The couple lazily made love until they were both hungry and felt as though they should venture out from Mal's dorm room and wish their friends well.

Mal and Harry went to Jay and Carlos' room, expecting either Jay and Lonnie or Carlos and Gil, who had slowly begun to test the waters casually.

Harry knocked on the wood, one arm slung over Mal's shoulders and his jaw dropped when Jane opened the door timidly in her night gown.

"Jane," Mal said slowly, discreetly elbowing the Pirate so that he would blink and close his mouth.

Jane's cheeks were tinged pink and she bit her lip. "Merry Christmas," she told the two. "Jay and Lonnie are in the, uh, the other room," she stammered, embarrassed and hiding behind the door.

"You okay?" Mal asked, ignoring the way Harry was craning his neck to look into the room.

"Hey guys, merry Christmas," Carlos said, suddenly appearing over Jane's shoulder. He was bare-chested and grinning widely but the smile faltered when he saw the expressions on his friends' faces. "Are you okay?"

"What's going on?" Gil's husky voice, thick with sleep, echoed from deeper in the room and that was enough for Mal and Harry to look to each other and then barge into the dorm room.

"She is a precious flower who should not be corrupted by you two scoundrels!" Mal accused, wagging a finger at the two boys.

"How did you do it? How is she here? I thought Godmother had her under lock and key? You said Godmother kept her under lock and key!" Harry said at the same time, rushing through the questions at a pace that was hard to understand.

"Huh?" Gil was snuggled up in one of the beds. It was hard to remember whose bed was originally whose as Jay and Carlos' room had become interchangeable for the friends. The duvet and bedding on the other bed was rumpled as though it had been slept in.

Lonnie, still in her pyjamas had followed the noise of Mal and Harry and opened the dorm room with a raised eyebrow. "What's with the shouting? Don't you know its Christmas?" she asked, drawing the accusatory stares from Mal and Harry to her.

Mal crossed her arms and she felt one of her eyebrows arch until Lonnie gasped.

"Oh gods above! You didn't!" she cried, calling for Jay over her shoulder.

The noise and commotion of Lonnie, Harry, Mal and Gil (albeit confusedly) shouting made Evie and Doug emerge from his room down the corridor to inspect the scene.

"Jay! You need to come and dispose of Carlos and Gil!" Lonnie called, glaring at the two boys as Evie and Doug entered the room.

"What's wrong? What's going on?" Doug panicked.

"Merry Christmas by the way," Evie added the greeting onto Doug's statements. She dropped a kiss on a confused Jane's cheek with only slight hesitation from her expression.

"Nobody needs to kill anybody!" Carlos cried, putting his hands up in defence.

"This is all just a big understanding... I think," Gil added, scrambling to move from the bed but Lonnie pointing and glared at him to remain still.

"Keep those hands where I can see them," she hissed as Jay's looming six foot figure towered in the doorframe.

"Why do they need to be killed?" Jay asked looking around the room.

"Yeah, why do they?" Doug asked, still unsure of the problem.

"Jane answered the door in her night gown," Mal began, indicating to the thick flannel dress Jane was wearing.

"Okay, that's not actually a criminal offence. Besides it being ugly, its practical because it's been snowing all night," Evie came to Jane's defence, ignoring the way Jane protested about her night shirt.

"But she doesn't ever sleep over," Doug wondered aloud. "Godmother won't let her because she thinks she-" he sucked in a breath, coming to the same conclusion as the rest. "Oh gods above!"

"What the hell is happening!" Gil snapped, flinching from the death stare Lonnie gave him.

"You've corrupted her ya tossers!" Harry was laughing at Gil's terrified expression.

"What?" Gil, Carlos and Jane said simultaneously.

"WHAT!" cried Evie and Jay, both seemingly horrified at the thought.

Jay surged froward and Carlos saluted over one of the beds to put distance between himself and the rest of the room.

"STOP!" Jane cried, holding her hands up in front of Jay. "Firstly, nobody had corrupted me, and if I had decided to engage in such an activity, I do not need you to rush to my defence in what I hope to be a consensual and loving act. Secondly, even if we had done anything of the sort, which I will remind you, we haven't, then that is our choice and you cannot go around killing people for it!"

Harry was snickering at the way Gil blushed and he glanced at Mal whose eyes were wide from the chastising.

"So the night gown and Carlos being half-naked?" Lonnie questioned, crossing her arms over her chest.

"The fire had been roaring all night. Its bloody boiling in here," Carlos said with a deadpan expression, pointing to the flames in the fireplace.

"I came straight from breakfast with my mother. I tried everyones doors first and the boys were the only ones who answered. We've been playing snap, waiting for Gil and you lot to wake up," Jane sighed, exasperated. "I brought presents with me."

Everyone seemed to simultaneously register the sack of presents in the centre of the room on one of the desks.

"Sorry," everyone echoed, guilty at the situation.

"Why doesn't everyone get their presents and we can put this behind us?" Gil asked, prompting everyone to leave and return a few minutes later, still with guilty looks and armfuls of presents.

"We are never going to let them live this down are we," Carlos whispered into Gil's ear later that morning as they passed parcels from one to another, surrounded by their friends.

Gil grinned wickedly. "They are going to be tortured with this for the rest of their lives."

1st January

The friends enjoyed their first New Years' Eve together at the Snuggly Duckling. Ducky had generously said that any and all drinks were on the house for the friends and everyone had enjoyed themselves. Fairy Godmother had granted them the night off from the school premises and had allowed Jane to go as well, to everyones surprise.

By the time the second hand on the cuckoo clock behind the bar was counting down the last ten seconds of the year, the friends were in the arms of those they loved; happy, safe and slightly drunk.

As they and the noisy patrons of the pub cheered and wished each other 'happy new year', Jane pulled the two boys close, kissing them both to the best of her abilities. Harry and Mal kissed in the corner. Lonnie's legs were wrapped around Jay's waist and she cheered as he crowed once their lips broke apart. Evie was stood on the table, dancing against Doug who was laughing as she turned on her heel and pulled him in for a kiss.

"We graduate this year!" Jay called and the entire bar raised their glasses for the friends, wishing them well in for the following year.

"This is the year we set sail on the Grace," Harry whispered into the shell of Mal's ear as fireworks lit the pub up from through the mottled windows.

Mal smiled up at Harry, marvelling in the way his jaw and cheeks were lit by the red and green light.

"This is the year we can explore the world," she told him, wishing as the clock chimed midnight for this moment to last forever.

14th February

Jane nodded to the student sat upon a driftwood log with a harp perched precariously between his bent knees. His fingers traveled along the strings and a sweet melody began to play on the cove. He had been at a band practise not twenty minutes before and had been dragged to the beach by Harry with his hook digging in his back.

At one end of the beach that Harry has stumbled upon months previously, Doug was stood waiting nervously in a borrowed suit of Ben's. Harry patted Doug's shoulder in support. Gil, Carlos and Ben were stood a foot or two away, still intimate enough to hear Doug swearing under his breath, but far enough away to distinguish the fact that Harry was the best man. Doug's mother and father were stood close but they finished the other side of the half circle the group were stood in, opposite Fairy Godmother..

To the sound of the harp, and through the tree line, Jane and Lonnie emerged in the first dresses they had deemed suitable for the last-minute act. They walked arm in arm through the sand to stand near the boys, next to Doug's parents with wide smiles. The couple had decided to have a quiet, informal ceremony on the beach in front of their friends, Doug's parents and Fairy Godmother who was officiating the binding.

Dizzy dropped flower petals she had hurriedly picked as she closed the distance from the tree line to the congregation. She was still dressed in her sports kit as Evie had decided on the young girls' role last minute. Mal followed, dressed in a Cotillion gown Evie had made and kept from the event. She was clutching a large bouquet that sparkled with her magic, indicating that it was an illusion. She stood closest to Doug, still leaving a space for the bride.

"Oh gods," Doug said through a sigh as the bride appeared through the trees. She was smiling broadly with her long hair lifting in the sea breeze. Out from the coast, dolphins clicked and the waves crashed onto the sand with her every step.

The train of the baby blue dress created a strange pattern in the sand as it dragged behind her but nobody cared that it was dampening with sea water. Evie had been creating the dress for months, adding to it every few days or so and she had finished sewing it that morning.

"It's done," Evie sighed, almost shedding some tears as she set down her needle.

Mal put her book down and came to stand next to Evie, breaking into a soft smile as she took in the details. Mal had not payed the garment much mind over the months in stood on a mannequin in the centre of their dorm room as Evie seemed to add and change the design in a matter of moments.

"It's beautiful," Mal hugged her friend into her side.

She wasn't lying. The spells Evie had asked Mal to cast had added to the threads, making them glow bright in the sunlight and shimmer under inspection. There was a fitted bodice made of power blue lace with strategically placed boning, jewels and shells to hide Evie's breasts but Mal imagined that in the sunlight, Evie's tanned torso would be easily visible. There were also short lace sleeves that ended with brilliant detail at the elbow and a skirt of material that flowed into a modest train. Evie had left the back of the dress open and so Mal had suggested a sticking spell to keep the sleeves on the edge of the collar bones.

"Choose a dress from the rack that fits you and then you need to get everyone into smart clothes," Evie ordered, already pulling off her uniform.

"Huh?" Mal stuttered.

"Its finished so this afternoon I am getting married," Evie said, reaching up to unpin the dress from the mannequin. "You're going to be my maid of honour."

"Of course I fucking am!" Mal kicked into gear at the title. "What about class? We have biology in twenty minutes?" It was the final class of the day.

"Skip it, go tell everyone and tell Doug he's getting married tonight!" Evie ordered, pushing Mal from the room. "Make sure he calls his parents. I think they might murder us if we got married without them being at the ceremony."

So Mal had grabbed the first dress she saw from Evie's rail and tugged it on as she hurried out of the dorm to find her friends. She cast several cosmetic spells from the top of her head so that she looked presentable enough for the sudden wedding.

Mal stopped Jay and Gil going to the gym and sent them to help Evie get changed. She then found Doug and told him he was getting married and the man had jumped into action right away, as if he had been expecting Evie to decide today was the day.

"Jane!" Mal had shouted across the main corridor, alerting everyone to her appearance.

"You look very dressed up for algebra," Lonnie had said from her locker and Mal dragged her to meet Jane halfway.

"Evie and Doug are getting married this afternoon. You need to go and get ready and help set up whatever they have planned," Mal wheezed as she had been running around looking for everyone.

Lonnie squealed and rushed off, elbowing students so she could make it to the staircase leading to the dorms. "I can get my Mom to officiate!" Jane cried, also running through the stunned crowd of students.

"Has anyone seen Carlos or Harry?" Mal used her hands to make a megaphone and several students pointed to several classrooms.

"What's going on? Why are you dressed up?" Ben asked from over her shoulder and Mal whipped around quickly.

"Go and put on a suit. Actually, I think you may have to lend Doug a suit. He's getting married this afternoon so you need to skip whatever class you're heading to."

"Obviously," Ben said, a little dazed at the onslaught of information. "Right. Sure. Of course."

Mal pushed him in the direction of the staircase and then she put her head in every class, including the biology lesson she was supposed to be in. At the back Harry was sat with a scowl at being the only VK in the room. He usually had the class with Evie and Mal.

"Mal?" Mr Thatcher prompted at her appearance in his doorway. "Are you going to sit down or are you off to the ball?"

"I need Hook. We're going to a wedding," was all Mal said and Mr Thatcher nodded as though this was expected.

"Well Mr Hook, it seems you are needed," he said.

"Whose wedding?" Harry hissed as he stalked out of the room. "Ours?"

"No! Evie and Doug," Mal replied as they left the room. "Just need Carlos now. Hey! Carlos!" she cried, spotting him turning the corner.

"What?" Carlos called, looking sketchily at the couple.

"Wedding in twenty minutes, need to get changed," Mal didn't stop walking, she simply grabbed his wrist and dragged the two boys to their dorms to change.

"We need someone to play something as she walks down the aisle," Jane decided as everyone hurried around for last minute things.

"Band practise is on right now," was all Harry said and he left with a promise to be at the beach on time.

Doug's parents were at the school in record time and his mother was already crying as the rest of the boys besides Jay left to find a nice place on the beach, with Fairy Godmother leading the way.

In the setting sun, jewels in shades of blue sparked and refracted light onto Jay's suit as he walked the girl who was practically his sister to her place in the wedding party. He gave her cheek a kiss and placed Evie's hand in Doug's and joined Mal at the circle around the couple.

They exchanged vows and simple rings and sealed the bond with a kiss as the sun set and their friends and family cheered for them.

"Who thought we'd be at a wedding when we were eating lunch earlier?" Gil joked and the wedding party stayed on the beach, dancing around a bonfire and paddling in the sea until it was well into the night and they remembered it was only a Thursday and they still had classes the next day and needed to attend them if they wanted to graduate on time.

4th August

Mal fidgeted with the ratty string that was looped around her wrist. The red colour from the yarn had faded and bleed over the several months she had worn it and it was now a faded and dirty pink but she refused to cut the knot.

"Here," Evie handed a garment bag to her best friend. Her modest wedding ring glinted and she pushed Mal into the nearest cubicle in the bathroom they had locked with a spell.

Jane and Lonnie were also dressed in designs of Evie and they were finishing their hair and makeup in the large mirrors, singing along to the music playing from one of their phones.

"I can't believe today is the day we leave her," Lonnie said as she filled in her eyebrows.

"I know what you mean. It feels like it was yesterday we even arrived here," Evie laughed as she sipped on the straw in her wine glass that the girls had snuck into the school.

"Who would have thought we'd all be here this time two years ago," Jane looked at her friends through the mirror in front of her.

Mal emerged from the cubicle in a short pale purple silk dress. As her hair and make up were already done, the girls realised what was about to happen.

They left the bathroom, depositing their makeup bags and hair accessories back in Mal and Evie's room with the cases and trunks for the schools staff to move once the ceremony was over.

The four girls walked arm in arm to the main ballroom and meet their significant others and the rest of their friendship group. Jane was on the verge of tears and Evie sniffed every so often as the graduation ceremony began. It wasn't until Ben finished his speech that Mal and Evie began to cry properly.

Mal had one hand in Harry's and the other in Evie's as Fairy Godmother began to call their names. Unlike normal graduations, the class of the year was only small, nearly thirty students and so everyone was given an everlasting rose and yearbooks on the stage that had been erected at the front of the ballroom.

"And finally, the last student to graduate from Auradon Prep this year is Mal," Godmother beamed proudly as Mal, sniffing to halt her tears, joined her friends and classmates up on the stage.

She hugged Godmother as the headmistress passed her a scroll, amulet, the yearbook and the everlasting rose.

"I'm so proud of how far you have come," Godmother whispered into Mal's hair and the purple haired girl sobbed for a moment before she joined her friends, squealing into the group hug and the parents laughed.

Ducky and the usual rag-tag bunch of regulars from the Snuggly Duckling were stomping their feet and shouting for the patrons that had become regular fixtures to the usually quiet pub. The pub felt like a second home to most of them by now.

Doug's parents, David and Diana, had taken the rest of the VKs under their wing after the wedding and Mal could hear David and the rest of Doug's family whooping and whistling for the group. Everyone of Doug's uncles was shouting the entire groups names with pride and joy as those in the room clapped for their children and their achievements.

"To the first day of the rest of their lives!" Godmother called out and the ten friends hugged and tried to hold back the tears as they threw their graduation caps into the air.

They celebrated that night at the Snuggly Duckling and woke up to a cooked breakfast from Ducky.

5th August

Harry rolled the neck of the bottle between his thumb and forefinger, anxious about what they were about to do.

After graduation, only Jane could remain at the school as her family lived there, but the rest (and Jane by default) were now effectively homeless as their dorm rooms now belonged to new students.

"We don't have to if you don't want to mate," Doug reassured Harry but the pirate shook his head and handed the bottle to Mal.

"We need a place to live an' if I don't get that fucking ship out of that bloody bottle in the next five minutes I think am gonna go insane," the pirate growled, folding his arms and tensing his jaw.

"You know, we could just find a cottage somewhere," Lonnie suggested but Harry held up his hook to silence her.

"We've been through all of this. It's a massive ship and the four of us won't be able to sail it without a crew," Evie said. "Looks like you're stuck with us."

"Oh gods, what a shame," Gil had an arm around Carlos and he threw the other around Harry's shoulders. "Who on earth would like being stuck with their best mates for weeks at a time as we sail around the world."

"Not the world," Harry mumbled as Mal gave the bottle to Jay.

"Just throw it as far that way as you can," she instructed him, pointing in the direction of the end of the reef. Jay nodded and took a small run up to lob the bottle into the waves. The group watched as the bottle, now a tiny speck, bobbed in the surf far out from the cove.

Mal took a calming breath and chanted the reversing spell she had researched, throwing her hands out and sending her green magic across the waves in the direction of the bottle.

Everyone watched with bated breath as they lost sight of the bottle and Mal's magic simply faded.

"Oh fuck," Harry swore, balling his fist and hitting the back of his hook.

Nobody spoke for serval moments until a mast rose from the waves and the Sailing Grace emerged from the waves, her sails completely dry as she seemed to expand in size until she was a fully fledged vessel off of the coast.

"Oh fuck!" Harry cried, rushing forward to press his lips to Mal's.

Everyone stood in shock at the size of the ship. It was a magnificent 40-gunner with ruby red sails with a elaborately carved naked woman holding a golden cup aloft as the figurehead. The group had placed all of their belongings (which Mal had shrunken down) into a knapsack on Doug's back.

"Come on, she's not anchored," Gil called out to the rest of the friends from the side of a small wooden boot with two oars. He restored to whistling when he realised Harry and Mal had not broken apart from their kiss.

"Hook! She's not anchored!"

"What the fuck are we waiting for then?" Harry replied, helping Mal into the boot and then pushing it from the sandy beach. He and Jay then began to row through the waves to the side of the Grace.

Gil talked Jane through and the pair tied the lifeboat to the vessels side so that they could climb up to the deck. Harry went first as everyone else' request as it was his ship and he should be the first to set foot on her.

Once on the deck, Harry went straight for the ship's large mahogany wheel as the wind whipped around his coat and through his hair. The other eight slowly made their way onto the starboard side of the deck with dazed eyes. The two pirates had been teaching their friends basic seaman skills since the New Year and they were confident that the nine of the could sail from the cove they had found near the Duckling.

"So Captain, what do we do now?" Gil called up from the deck.

Harry had been pouring over star charts and maps and had a predetermined course in mind. He grinned as Mal joined him at his side, settling a pirate's hat with a single red feather upon his curls. She smiled at him and he gave his crew the orders.

"Lower the main sail!"

As the friends set about following Harry's orders, using the knowledge that had gained over the months, Harry wrapped one arm around Mal's waist and sets the other on the wheel before him with a smile.

"Thank you," he whispered into her hair.

"This is our home Harry. We belong here," was all Mal said as she cast a spell and figures of green appeared and helped with the numerous tasks to get the ship sailing. One of the green figures helped Carlos tighten ropes and another set about with Jay in hauling the lifeboat up from the waters.

From the crows nest, Lonnie whooped and hollered as the wind caught in the sails and the ship began to glide through the waves, out towards the open ocean.

"We'll need to pick up more crew members. I can't keep this magic up for long, but for now, this is perfect," Mal told Harry as she went to help down on the deck.

"I love you," Harry told her and he saw the corner of her mouth quirk up.

"Marry me Hook," Mal replied as she descended the stairs.

Five year later

Mal climbed out of the wooden lifeboat with an intricately carved wooden box in her arms and her hand in his. She shook her head as she readjusted to the stillness of the earth under her feet. She heard the other two clamber out of the boat but she was too excited to turn and look.

She trudged up the small bank of sand and across the uneven pebbles until she was walking through a familiar forest and stood on the edge of a property she hadn't seen in in years.

Evie, with her swollen stomach was sat on a patio furniture set and the blue haired woman screamed when she saw who was come through her front gate.

"DOUG! They're here!" she cried, awkwardly coming to a stand from her previously reclining position. The two women rushed forwards and embraced as best they could around Evie's large pregnancy bump.

"I missed you so much! Seven months was too long!" Evie said as she pulled back only to hug Mal close again.

"We miss you too! Couldn't stay away much longer though, not with the baby nearly here," Mal told her best friend, dropping her free hand to the swell of Evie's stomach.

"Any day now," Doug said, emerging from the house they had stayed at as teenagers in which Evie and Doug now lived. "Everyone is inside waiting for you."

The two men hugged and took the luggage into the house with loved-up looks for their wives. Gil followed behind after he greeted Evie himself.

"Tell me about the Island then. Is this the new paradise?" Evie linked her arm through Mal's, glancing not so subtly at the box.

"It's for the baby and yes, I think it is," Mal laughed and began to tell Evie about the Island herself and Harry had sailed to since she had last seen the woman. "Anyway, I want to hear about you lot and the business. There's only so much video messaging will show me."

Inside the house, Harry was accepting a drink from Doug and saying hello to their friends who had journeyed back to celebrate Evie's baby shower and the imminent birth of the couple's first baby.

Jay and Lonnie, still together after all the years, were both travelling around Auradon and the surrounding kingdoms as they were now famous sports stars in their own rights. Both had decided that marriage was just a concept they didn't feel necessary and were as good as in the eyes of the law. They had also decided against having children, or at least having children at the ages of twenty four and twenty three. They were however, loving parents of three large mixed breed dogs who substituted as the couples children.

Jane was also in the kitchen welcoming her old friends. She was now an in demand advisor to both King Ben and numerous other celebrities. Jane exclusively managed all of her friends professional careers flawlessly. She was no longer the shy girl. She was now confident and a force to be reckoned with. Jane had also come into some small magical abilities; simple spells like ones to conjure heat and water, but when she had not been taken seriously in meetings at the beginning of her career, she had accidentaly set her hand alight in a faux-threatening manner and she had secured a massive deal in a matter of minutes.

Gil was Harry's second-in-command and first mate and had remained with the couple since the moment the Sailing Grace had set off. He was invaluable to the ship and the crew they had amassed over the years. He edged past Harry and greeted the others with the same enthusiasm he always had. Gil quietly said hello to Jane, despite their romantic relationship having never gone very far. He, along with Mal, was hoping to reignite the flames as this was the first time the pair had been together for more than a day or two in years.

"Gil!" Carlos called from further in the living area. The two men rushed together and into each others arms. Like Jane and Gil's relationship, Carlos hadn't gotten much further with the pirate as he was constantly at sea and Carlos had based his life on land after several months of sailing with the crew.

Carlos had left the ship at one of the docks further south of Auradon and he had registered for a university placement which he had just graduated from six months prior. Carlos was now a qualified vet and he was in the early stages of setting up his own practise with a couple of other vet students who had been in his class at the University of Auradon.

"Hey," Carlos was blushing slightly.

"I'm back," Gil told him at the same time as Jane made it to their sides with two cups of drinks.

"For how long?" Jane asked him.

"Mal and Harry are buying a house a few miles away in the forest and they aren't going on another voyage for a year or so," Gil said in a rush.

"So..." Carlos said, holding back his enthusiasm incase something had changed.

"I'm yours if you'll have me," Gil told the pair. Jane and Carlos shared a shy smile.

Jane's broke into a grin. "Okay, but we take it slow. Romance each other alright," she proposed. The three moved to one of the sofas in the living area to catch up properly as Mal and Evie entered the house.

"Mummy! Mummy!" a small voice broke through the adults chatter. "Look, a fish with legs!"

"Where baby? Can you show me?"

"Here," the little boy said holding up his muddy hands to show an annoyed looking frog clutched between his small hands.

"Oh gods Finn," Mal bit back a laugh as Harry surged forward to steer the child back out of the house with the frog. Harry was especially conscious of the white and expensive fabrics Evie seemed to have decorated the home with, a far cry from the living quarters of the Grace.

"This is why we're enrolling him in primary school on dry land," Mal told Jay and Lonnie who were cooing at their godson.

At the ages of twenty, after they had been sailing around the globe and had collected the perfect crew, Mal and Harry found out they were pregnant. It was certainly a surprise and they had debated their options one night for hours and when the sun had risen, Harry and Mal decided to have the child aboard the Grace and continue to sail for the first few years before settling on dry land.

Finnlay Douglas Hook had been born a healthy 7 pounds exactly on Halloween in the Captains' quarters of the Grace surrounded by Gil, Evie and Doug, who had journeyed across the oceans to be there to welcome their godchild. Doug had cried when he heard the name Mal's heart had swelled with love the instant she saw her son in the arms of his father.

Five days later, when Mal felt strong enough, Gil (acting as the second-in-command) married Mal and Harry on the deck of their ship with their son in their arms and their two best friends on either side of them. As Finn grew, he became infatuated with the forests they would explore when they docked and the couple decided it best to continue raising their son on dry land.

"Its a frog kiddo," the pirate said as he turned Finn around. "Keep a good grip on him and we will put him back," he told his son as Mal and Doug howled with laughter at the pirates panic. "He's slimy like a cod so keep a good grip."

"Okay Daddy," Finn said, squeezing his small three-year old fingers until the frog croaked. The toddler squealed and instinctively dropped the animal which landed with a muddy thud on the carpet.

"Bloody fucking hell," Harry swore as the frog hopped around the kitchen to Finn's delight and Evie's horror. Eventually, all the adults bar Evie who was too pregnant to be chasing the animal, were on their knees or crouching in an attempt to herd the frog back out of the front door.

Finn was sat on Mal's lap, her arms encircling his body as he clapped and laughed at his dad and godparents chasing the frog which was leaving muddy stains on every surface.

"Go left!"

"No, he's going to you Jane."

"Shit, he hopped over me!"

"Quick!" Harry gently booted the frog towards Gil who had a wooden spoon in his hand and he sent the amphibian towards Doug who squealed as he pushed the frog out of the front door so Lonnie could close it.

"It's always something with us isn't it," Carlos laughed, clapping Jay on the back.

"Oh shit," Evie cursed, her fingers on her eyebrows.

"It's just mud Eve, it'll wash out," Jane said as the friends collapsed around the living area. Finn clambered from his mother's lap, across his father's to stand on Jay's.

"Not that. My water just broke," Evie said and the entire room was in a state of panic in seconds. Only Mal and Harry remained calm, as they had been through a pregnancy and subsequent brith before. The couple looked at one another.

"Love you," Mal said and Doug dropped to the floor in a dead faint.

"Love you too," Harry told her as Finn was deported in their arms as Jay rushed to kneel between Evie's legs, as if he was needing to catch the baby that very second.

So here it is...

I may change this epilogue and I will go through and correct some mistakes, maybe fill some gaps in the next few weeks but for now, Hooks and Horns is done!

Thank you for being patient with me as its been a long haul writing this chapter. I was not truly happy with it for a while but as I say, I may change it.

Please keep an eye out for the other Harry/Mal fics I have coming soon (one will be posted this November)

Anyway, as always, I cannot tell you how much I appreciated ever hit, follow, favourite and reviewer. I am floored by the amount of love this fic has received and it is all down to you and you lovely reviews that I have completed it in under three months!

All my love, until next time, Pops XOX