Legally Auburn (HTTYD)

Part 9

Chapter 9

The next few months settled into a pattern of lectures, reading, assignments and time in the study group. Hiccup started to settle in, finding his way around the Hall, wandering around the town and going for walks along the river and thinking about what things would be like back in Berk. He and Cami skyped at least once a week. She was practically foaming at the mouth when Hiccup told her about Heather and her engagement. On one of the days she and Hiccup would talk she relayed to him that Throk had finally asked her out and Hiccup was so happy for the new couple. He knew the two would get together, if they stopped dancing around each other. Cami's mother might have even won the bet the street had on how her daughter and the Throk would get together in the end. At least that was how it sounded from the story Cami was relaying to Hiccup. "I'm telling you Hiccy, Mom was practically skipping through the house while shouting 'IN YOUR FACE STOICK! I WIN!'." Hiccup remembered from the conversation and while it was an odd sight to see the serious Berta skip he was wondering what his dad had bet.

Back on campus Hiccup liked to take long walks, just to get the stress from classes out of his shoulders and imagine how his parents and his hometown were doing. He would often close his eyes, feeling the damp breeze on his face and imagining the frost edging the grass and the fir trees in the parks. He could see his father's face, red with the cold and his mother swathed in her ultra-long brown woollen scarf, laughing as she walked alongside her husband, holding hands as if they were still a young couple. At home he imagined his father trying to feed the ficus his mother's cooking while Gobber would barge in with an extra large pizza and his ukelele like a godsend. Music nights were always fun and Hiccup wondered if his mother would ever find out the cause of all their houseplants dying so quickly.

Back in his room, Toothless had settled in, marking his preferred spots and getting Hiccup to move his litter tray four times before having it put back in the original position. Hiccup carefully worked his way through his jobs and wondered idly if he would see Astrid again.

Classes were difficult but Hiccup realised he was scoring above average in his marks and found that thinking around legal processes wasn't that far off the problem solving he was used to in his Engineering studies. Certainly, he was doing very well in Professor Queen's class and pretty well in the others-with one exception. Professor Grimborn's class was difficult for everyone and though Hiccup was scoring on average a B-, he was joint top in the class, not managing to move from the hot seat and finding himself in the firing line every time. He had taken to revising before the next day's class so he could manage to answer at least one of the questions Professor Grimborn fired at him.

One day, Professor Grimborn paused at the end of the class, after setting them another fiendish assignment that had everyone groaning and moaning over their laptops. Clasping his hands behind his back and sweeping his icy brown gaze across the assembled class, he gave a small smile.

"I am happy to announce that at the end of the year, I will be offering four student internships in my firm. I invite you all to apply and I will be assessing your performance through the rest of the year. Please submit your resumes if you are interested." He looked around. "Dismissed."

Hiccup stared at him as the students filed out, many approaching the Professor to verbally indicate their interest. He knew it would be a good opportunity but did he want to spend his summer with Professor Grimborn? The man was snide, sarcastic and enjoyed making whoever he was speaking to feel stupid-but he was brilliant and Hiccup knew he could learn a lot from the man. If he could win a place.

Who am I kidding? he thought defeatedly. How would I win a place anyway? And then he looked up and saw Heather laughing with Fishlegs. Determinedly, he got up and walked down to the Professor, who was gathering up his books. Grimborn looked up and actually managed a small smile.