Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was dark, stormy, but most days on the Isle of the lost were. The wind was harsh, whipping clothes and hair about harshly and chilling skin so pathetically protected by bedraggled fabrics and worn cloaks. Hades' cloak was long and thick enough to protect the both of them, his arm wrapped around her waist as he guided her towards the meeting point as quickly as he could, doing his best to protect the bundle in her arms from the cold as well.

Persephone hadn’t agreed to this plan, probably never would, not fully, but there wasn’t a better way. Still, she hated it, hated what it meant for them and, looking down at the bundle in her arm, a pair of bright blue eyes peering curiously up at her from the many blankets swaddled around them, hated what it meant for their daughter.

They reached the meeting point, the place Persephone was picked up from by Auradon's knights at the start of every spring in order to go back to Mount Olympus, quickly, Hades ushering them into a secluded nook and pulling away from his wife slightly so their eyes could meet. He looked no happier than she did, but where her eyes were wet with tears, his were steadfast, determined.

“I’m sorry, my love,” He pressed his lips to her temple, holding the position for a few moments before pulling away, “I wish things could be different, but this is what’s best, what’s always been best. I won’t have my daughter raised as an Isle rat.”

“Is it truly better for her if she’s raised with no father?”

“Seph, she won’t be safe here,” Hades sighed, hand running through his spiked blue hair anxiously, “She’s a godling, the first of this new age, her powers will be uncontained by the barrier, there are people on this island that would seek to exploit that. There are already rumors."

His wife, sweet natured as she was, did not have the heart to remind him that mere months ago he might have been one of those people. One of those schemers. Being a father had changed him, having the chance to know his daughter had changed him.

“But she won’t be able to come back Hades!” Persephone cried, hushing her own voice on instinct when it echoed too loudly, “You heard what King Beast said, once she leaves she has to stay in Auradon. You’ll never see her again!”

A half hearted, broken, smile worked itself onto Hades lips, “I know,” He breathed, “I figured all this was too good to last.” Stuffing his hand into his pocket he pulled out something, it was a small, colourless, crystalline stone, “This is for her,” He nodded to the bundle as he spoke, “For when she's older. She’ll need it to control her powers.”

“It’s an Ember?” Taking it Persephone scanned the stone carefully. For all intents and purposes it did look just like Hades own Ember, just smaller and colourless where his was a deep, soulful blue.

“Of sorts,” Pressing the hand holding it into the bundle slightly Hades leant down and pressed a kiss to the forehead of his daughter, brushing the scarce blonde curls upon her forehead away, “Be brave, little sunbeam,” He whispered for her ears only, “Listen to your mother, don’t give her too much of a hard time. I love you.” He kissed the top of her head again and then pulled away.

“Hades-” He shook his head, pulling Seph closer by the back of her neck and kissing her softly.

“I love you, so much,” He swore, stroking her tearstained cheek with his thumb, “Both of you, never forget that, never let her forget that.”

Somewhere in the near distance a car engine could be heard approaching, their time was up. Persephone whimpered something low in her throat, “I won’t,” She promised, “She’ll know her fathers love for her,” And then, with a sob, “I hate this.”

“I know,” A final kiss to her forehead, firm and affirming of all his love for her, “I’ll see you next year sweetheart,” With a final stroke of her cheek he pulled away, removing his cloak entirely and draping it over her shoulders to better hide the bundle in her arms as the car crept around the corner, lights shining, “Take care of our baby. All will be well eventually, you’ll see.” And he ducked into the shadows, vanishing into the night before either of them could change their minds.

Persephone watched him go, the baby clutched to her chest and heart beating itself into a million pieces in her chest. She couldn’t understand how his words could possibly be true, could possibly ever come true, no matter how much she wished they would.

There was just no hope.

But there was Nova, their daughter, and maybe she wasn’t so different.

—

Fourteen years later:

On the morning of her second year at Auradon Prep Nova wakes with images of a boy with red hair flashing behind her eyes, a storm of wind and lightning following him like a plague. His fangs glint in the moonlight, as do his dark, brilliant, eyes, and his smile is warm, kind, despite himself.

Nova cannot help but be unconvinced that he is real. She’d had dreams like this one before, dreams of the same boy, with dark eyes and a warmth meant only for her. All throughout her fifteen years of life he had followed her, it was only once the dreams became all out visions that she began to question his realness.

Her mother had always warned her it might happen, that her nature, the blood that ran through her veins, would make her different to other kids her age. It was why she was homeschooled up until last year, why her entire existence had been a closely guarded secret for the first ten years of her life and why the bracelet on her wrist, a bright blood red stone affixed to a golden chain, would glow sometimes. Her eyes and hands sparking along with it.

This boy, this dream of hers that was just as much a closely guarded secret as she had been for a long time, had no name, not one she knew anyway. He’d never spoken it in her dreams, never spoken at all, just smiled, or more accurately grinned, the lightning crackling along with him. He was real though, her mother had assured her as much. Dreams were one thing, but dreams where the subject grew, changed and matured with you, well, those weren’t dreams at all.

A knock at her door breaks her from her thoughts and her mother, blonde hair and shining blue eyes glowing softly in the early morning light, pokes her head around the door, “Wakey, wakey Supernova, I hope you’re all packed, because we need to be out of here in fifteen minutes.”

Dropping her head back onto her pillow and covering her face with her hands Nova groaned, “Noooo, mom!” Her mothers laughter followed the woman in question down the stairs, echoing around the house and stomping down on a large amount of the dread Nova had been feeling for the last few days.

She and her mother had always been close. It had been just the two of them for the longest time, or, at the very least, half of the time. Nova had never met her father, she knew who he was in the same way most of Auradon did, and though she was assured fiercely by her mother that he loved the both of them deeply, she struggled with believing it. Not because she didn’t think it was true, but because he was a Villian, and if there was anything Auradon hated more than differences, it was Villains.

Being the daughter of Hades, even if her mother was Persephone and had never actually broken any of Auradon's laws, was not likely to make her any friends. So no one knew. Not her only friend and roommate Jane, and not anyone else at Auradon Prep. No one except her family, King Beast, Queen Belle, Fairy Godmother and perhaps Prince Ben (though she couldn’t really be sure - he hadn’t said anything -)knew.

A part of her wished they did though. Every autumn when her mother headed back to the Isle to spend her six months with Hades, Nova was left with her cousin Hercules or at Auradon Prep. She’d never had a Christmas with either of her parents, never had the luxury of a thanksgiving with her whole family, and she probably never would. King Beast had practically ordered her parents to choose a life for her when she was born, either Auradon, or the Isle; once she arrived in one, she could never return to the other.

Naturally her parents had chosen the life they’d believed to be happier for her. Only it wasn’t. She’d spent her entire life without her father, and half of it missing her mother, it all hardly seemed fair. Needless to say she didn’t exactly like King Beast.

“Come on Novie!” Her mother called up the stairs as she dragged herself out from under her covers and began to get ready, “We’re gonna be late!”

“I’m coming Mama!” She called back, pulling on the white sundress and red cardigan with her worn set of red converse before heading into her en suite to wash up and style her hair. Her usual braids into a ponytail felt too eye-catching, it showed off too much of her face, of her skin, so instead she opted for a half up, half down style, still with the braids but much better for hiding her face if she so desired. And sometimes with girls like Audrey running about, there was nothing she wanted more.

“Nova!” This time her moms voice was so exasperated that she almost laughed whilst brushing her teeth, “You’re going to miss the ceremony!”

That had Nova moving.

Whilst she didn't particularly love the Beast family, there was one good thing to come of Prince Ben ageing into Kingdom, he’d made a Royal Decree to bring kids over from the Isle of the Lost. It wasn't much, but it was a start. Today was their first day too, and unlike a lot of her royal peers, Nova was actually looking forward to it. She wanted to miss the welcoming ceremony almost as much as she wanted to join the cheerleaders.

“Coming! Coming!” She laughed, running through her room and grabbing her red and gold rucksack from the hook by her door. She didn’t look back at her room, refusing to miss it despite the slight inclination to be sentimental. Her life, her world, was her mother, that was who she would miss in the interim.

The VKs were coming.

Things were about to change, she could feel it.

Chapter Text

The Fairy Godmother met them at the school's entrance, a solemn, but nonetheless, welcoming smile on her face and her hands clasped in front of her. This was a ritual of the rest of Nova's school life now, the handover of her from her mother to the school. It made her feel like a child, made her feel small, but it was necessary if they were to keep her true identity a secret.

“Hello child,” FG greeted warmly, turning to her mother with the same, if not slightly more cordial, smile, “Lady Persephone, it is good to see you.”

“Likewise Headmistress,” Her mother nodded, a hand on Nova's shoulder that had the girl turning to look at her with watery eyes, “Don’t cry darling,” She soothed, wiping the tears with her thumbs, “I’ll be home before you know it, and in the meantime you’ll be so busy with school and friends you won’t have time to miss me.”

Leaning her cheek into her mothers palm Nova sighed, “I wish I could come with you,” She whispered, even though she was certain FG could hear her, “Just once.”

And the expression on her mothers face was heartbroken, “I know baby,” She pulled Nova close, brushing a hand over her hair as they embraced, "I'm sorry. You know if your father and I could, we would.”

“I know,” They pull apart, Nova wiping her cheeks with the back of her hands and attempting a smile, “Tell papa I love him?”

“You know it kiddo,” Persephone hugs her again, pressing a kiss into her hair and caressing her face with motherly affection, “My sweet girl, I love you Supernova.”

“I love you too mama.”

And then she was gone. Leaving Nova standing beside FG, staring out into the courtyard with a far away expression.

A gentle hand to her back had her meeting FGs eyes, “I’m sorry child,” The fairy told her softly.

Stepping away from her touch Nova hardened her expression, not in anger, but in self defense. She’d learnt after last year not to let herself get too upset, it only brought questions, “It doesn’t change anything,” She said simply, the words sounding harsher than they were ever meant to, “I think I’m just going to go to my room if that’s okay?”

“Of course,” The same soft voice, the same carefulness, but for all the adults in Nova's life cared, they couldn’t seem to do the simplest thing for her. They couldn’t give her her whole family, even though both her parents were alive, she could never have them both, not really.

She got her mom for half the year, and the odd letter from her dad when her mom came home.

And none of it, none of it was enough. It never could be.

—

The limo with the Villain Kids in it arrives promptly and without any real fuss until the time comes for the kids in question to actually exit the vehicle. Then, when the door is opened and the fanfare her peers at school have decided to put on has ended, two boys fall out of the space the door had once been, tumbling into the asphalt almost painfully and rolling about for several long seconds as the world around them falls into stunned silence.

Nova almost wants to laugh when they look up and freeze at all the eyes on them but her attention is quickly overtaken by the three other VKs exiting the limo. Two girls, one in purple with short purple hair, a calculating expression and genuine disgust for everything, one in blue with hair, kind eyes and excitement thrumming under her skin and a third boy.

It’s the boy that stops her in her tracks.

His hair is red, not naturally or anything, but blood red with the sides and several other sections breaking just a little closer to his hair's natural brown than they were probably supposed to. His skin is tanned, his clothes a patchwork of tie dye, rips and zips in red, silver and black with a longer jacket over the top, the sleeves pushed up his elbows. And his eyes… Oh Gods, his eyes.

She knows his eyes!

They’re the same eyes from her dreams, her visions.

Because he’s the same boy.

Her breath catches, and impossibly, as if he had heard the hitch despite the crowd and the commotion in front of him, the mystery boy's eyes snap over to hers.

The world around them freezes.

—

Or maybe it doesn’t, Nova doesn’t know, too distracted by the recognition that sparks behind his eyes as he looks at her. At the smile that alights his face when he sees the same reaction in her.

“It’s you!” She mutters, mostly to herself because there is no way he can hear her.

Only for the same words to be echoed by his lips, “It’s you!”

An incredulous laugh breaks from her chest, loosening the anxiety that had been bubbling there in spite of her lingering sadness and anger at the world. Around her the world moves on Fairy Godmother speaking words she cannot hear and Prince Ben introducing himself as Audrey smiles her way through every interaction. Nova misses all of it, her eyes never leaving the boys.

It is only when Ben introduces himself to him specifically that the mesmerised eye contact breaks. Nova watches, lips still upturned in a smile, as he shakes himself somewhat awkwardly and accepts the prince's hand, “Victor,” He introduces with a devastatingly charming smile, Nova feels her heart stutter. His name just seems right, it suits him, suits the boy she had grown up beside without ever knowing.

Though maybe that wasn’t entirely true, because in many ways she did know him, better than anyone around them could have. She’d seen every stage of his growth, even if it was in her dreams, in her visions, she’d seen it all. The awkward long haired faze, the not so recently let shaggy cut faze, the period of time when he’d pull the most obnoxious of faces at her instead of his usual smile, just to get her to laugh.

Nova just looked at him and she knew all these things about him: like that he was an artist despite denying it to anyone who’d ever cared enough to ask, or that he would drag his hand through his hair and mess it up accidentally when he was stressed, and even that he loved to trace the constellations in the nights sky, but hardly ever got the chance because of the cloud pollution over the Isle. She knew all of it, and yet she knew nothing.

The crowd around them begins to disperse, students heading for their dorms as the VKs are guided away by Doug for their tour but Nova's eyes don’t leave Victor and she doesn’t move. Not at first anyway.

It is only once FG comes rushing up to her, Doug and the rest of the tour group stalling across the courtyard, that Nova snaps out of her stupor. The headmistress looks a little frazzled, “Ah, Nova dear, just the person I was hoping to see,” She begins, her perky voice grating a little on Nova's frayed nerves, “Jane was supposed to be helping Doug with the tour but she’s currently running an errand for Audrey, I wonder if you wouldn’t mind filling in for her?”

“Giving the tour?” Nova asks, not sure she heard the older woman correctly.

“Yes dear,” FG beams, “You only started her last year, so I’m sure a fresh set of eyes and an unbiased introduction to the ground would be greatly appreciated.”

“Uh- sure, yeah- I can do that.” She’s still not entirely sure what she’s just agreed to. It wasn’t like she was on the student council or any committee within the school, not for lack of want but from the desire to stay under the radar, so she wasn’t entirely sure why she’d been FGs first port of call to fill in. Needless to say she’d be having words with Jane once she got back to their dorm.

FG clapped exuberantly, a bright, pleased, smile filling her features, “Oh thank you my dear! That’s just wonderful of you!” She motioned to the group that was still waiting, the five VKs and Doug watching the slightly awkward interaction with barely concealed interest and amusement, “Run along then dearie, Doug will fill you in on everything you’ll be doing.”

And who was Nova to argue?

—

Doug shot her an apologetic look as she walked over, doing her best not to look over at Victor despite the fact that she could feel his eyes burning into the back of her head, “Hey Nova,” He greeted somewhat stiltedly, they weren’t exactly friends, not with Doug being two years older than her, but he hung around with Jane occasionally, so they knew each other well enough.

“Hello Doug,” She smiled, clasping her hands, “Mind filling me in on what we’re doing?”

“What are you supposed to be?” A voice cut in before he could respond, hard and meant to provoke despite the otherwise relaxed climate they were in, “Some kind of princess?”

Nova turned her head to meet the eyes of the person who had spoken, the purple haired girl, presumably the ringleader, that she’d been too distracted by Victor to hear the name of, levelly, “Not quite,” She replied, smile never faltering, “And you might be?”

This seemed to throw the group. The purple haired girl frowning slightly, the calculating look never leaving her eyes as they narrowed, “Mal, Daughter of Maleficent.”

“I see,” Nova smirked back, “I should have guessed, what with all the purple and greens,” She turned to the others, the faint sound of voices and names from before returning to her, “That must make you guys Evie, Jay, Carlos and Victor,” She listed off, pointing to each of them as she said their names. The nods and slightly surprised smiles she got were just more evidence of her triumph, “Great, well, my name is Nova Bright and I will be the other half of your tour guide today.”

Her eyes meet Victor's accidentally, the smile that breaks onto her face at the contact isn’t accidental. He grins back, lopsided and easy, “Bright?” He asks curiously as Doug begins to shepherd them towards the school building and they fall into step beside one another, “Is that like a family name or something?”

“Not quite,” Nova laughed, “It was chosen by my mother, but I’m the only one that uses it.” She didn’t know why she was telling him this, the others weren’t paying them any mind but that didn’t mean it was safe to spill her guts to some boy she’d just met. Dream boy or no, “Do you have a last name? Or are all Isle kids just first names?”

It was Victor's turn to chuckle, his eyes never leaving her even as they walked into the school and the hustle and bustle of students and teachers alike stole whatever quiet there had been before, “The kids with evil enough parents are, but I’m not one of them thankfully, my last name is Barton.”

Most definitely not a villain's last name, “Barton? Really?” At his questioning look she quickly added, “Sorry, it’s just, it doesn’t seem very villainous."

Victor shrugged, “Not all the people on the Isle are villains,” He pointed out, no hit of distance of irritation at her lack of knowledge, “The original settlers on the Isle were never moved before it became a prison, so loads of the residents are just normal people.”

“But that’s barbaric,” Nova spluttered, she’d been against the Isle for as long as she’d known of its existence, for various reasons, and Victor was not finding any lost love of hers for the place, “I mean, trapping people, Villains or not, on a tiny island is bad enough, but innocents? That's awful.”

“If it makes you feel any better, my family could probably be classed as villains.” Victor told her with a wry smile that immediately had Nova smiling back at him, “You know the Vampire Brothers?”

“Yeah?” She’d heard of them at least, they mostly kept to Halloweentown because it was darker and the nights were longer there, making it easier for them to be out and about, but they weren’t what Nova would have considered Villains, just misguided.

“Well, my aunt is their sister,” He deadpanned, though Nova could tell it was the truth.

“But the brothers aren’t on the Isle,” They followed behind the group at a leisurely pace towards the dorms, “I didn’t think they were considered villains.”

“Oh, they aren’t,” Victor shrugged, seemingly unphased, “But my auntie?” He blew out a long breath, “She wasn’t too happy about Halloweentown changing its tune, she and my mom caused quite a few problems if I remember correctly.”

That, to Nova at the very least, didn’t really seem fair. Causing a little trouble was not the same as taking over kingdoms or sentencing babies to eternal sleep simply because you weren’t invited to a party. Then again King Beast had been the one to give her parents the ultimatum on where she was raised, so she wasn't really surprised.

“So what, you're like half vampire?” She asked, changing the subject purely to prevent herself from giving in to the rage that had bubbled up in her gut.

“Pretty much,” Victor grinned again, this time flashing pearly white fangs that Nova was sure hadn’t been there before. She bit back a squeak of surprise, staring for just a little too long to just be curious as Victor retracted them and smirked knowingly at her, “Pretty cool, huh?”

Swallowing, Nova nodded, rendered momentarily mute.

Smirk deepening Victor bumped shoulders with her, nodding towards Doug and the rest of the group, “Come on princess,” He teased, playfully, narrowing his eyes in mirror to her responding scowl, “Aren’t you supposed to be guiding us?”

Nova's face flushed a brilliant red, her face hardening into a not quite stern glare as she elbowed him none too gently in the ribs and then scurried to the front of the group with Doug, resolutely refusing to meet his eyes for the rest of the tour. In any other situation it might have seemed like she was mad at him, but the constant twitching of her lips was a dead give away of her true feelings on the matter.

Chapter Text

It is several days later when Nova finally catches up with Victor again, not for lack of trying or anything, she’d been seeking him out as best she could all week but they’d both been so busy with classes and settling in that it’d seemed impossible to take even a moment to just talk. And really that was all she wanted, just a moment to talk.

She had all these questions, despite their little introduction to one another on the first day, that were just begging to be answered. Did he have the dreams, the visions, too? Had he felt the same pull as she did when they first saw one another? Did he feel like he knew her, even though they had just met? So many questions.

Though ultimately it isn’t even during the day that they meet again. It is some time in the early morning, curfew be damned, when Nova slips from her dorm window and up onto the roof above. It's her favourite hiding spot, mostly because the majority of the kids at Auradon prep are too prissy to even consider scaling the side of the castle and are even less likely to take any notice of her doing it in the dark. In her experience, the people in the school saw what they wanted to see, nothing more.

Flipping herself up onto the ledge she usually sits on, she masks her surprise well when Victor is already settled there, knees pulled up to his chest and dark eyes on the stars with a wonder she hadn’t seen before behind them. He’s in his pjs too, a ratty t-shirt with a silver insignia printed on the front and some red shorts that look like they have seen better days, though he’s had the foresight to bring a jacket out into the chilly night, the black, red and silver material draped over his shoulders as opposed to being worn properly.

Settling into the space beside him Nova knocks his shoulder, “I’m fairly certain you’re not supposed to be up here. Fairy Godmother will have both our heads if we get caught.”

Victor only smirks, waggling his brows mischievously, “But that’s all the fun of it, Princess, not getting caught.”

Crinkling her nose at the nickname, Nova rolls her eyes, “Speaking from experience are we?” This kind of conversation, the easy teasing and playfulness they seem to fall into without a fuss, is so natural, so normal for Nova when Victor is around, that she doesn’t even think to worry about his reactions. She knows he knows what she means, every time.

“Nah, I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’ve never caused trouble a day in my life,” He looks back to the stars, a far away expression on his face, “You can’t really see the stars from the Isle. There's too much cloud, but I know all the constellations, I had a book on them back at my aunties.”

Following his gaze Nova picks out with her eyes the few constellations she knows before sighing slightly, “I’m more of a daytime kinda girl myself. My mom used to joke that I was solar powered, cause I’d get really energetic when it was sunny, she calls me supernova.”

“That makes sense,” Victor hums, eyes back on her face once again, his gaze almost reverent in a way that has her breath catching in her chest, “You’re like sunshine incarnate, you know? You brighten any space you're in.”

They stare, eyes locked, for what should probably be an uncomfortable amount of time, but Nova doesn’t feel any discomfort, doesn’t sense any from Victor, just contentment, as if they were always supposed to be here. Side by side. Something soft, almost fond, works its way onto his expression and sticks there, Nova knows she looks the same, probably a little lovestruck if she’s being honest. And for the first time in her life the idea doesn’t fill her with embarrassment. She wonders if the visions have something to do with it.

Instead she smiles wider, brighter, and lays back against the cool stone of the roof, pulling Victor down with her, “Will you teach them to me?” She asks, a little suddenly, before remembering that he likely needs more context than that and adding, “The constellations, I mean. The ones you know.”

So he does, laying back with her, his hoodie folded up beneath their heads as their fingers trace invisible lines in the sky where stars become pictures. Nova is not the least bit ashamed to say she spends over half the night looking at Victor, studying his face, his freckles and beauty marks, over the stars she had asked to learn.

—

“Escort to class milady?”

Nova jumps as Victor appears, leant against the wall by her dorm room door with his arms crossed lazily over his chest and his hair gelled back attractively, a sly smirk on his lips as he watches her surprise, “Jeez Victor,” She glares, “A little warning next time?”

But he only laughs, straightening once she has the door locked and offering his arm to her, "Where's the fun in that?” He’s been walking her to class more and more often since their impromptu rendezvous on the roof of the dorm building, they didn’t have any shared classes, what with Nova being a year younger, so they really only got to see each other between classes during the day. It was as if the pair of them were being drawn together like magnets, and every second they spent apart was filled with the desire to be close again.

“No fun,” She says bluntly as she links her arm through his and begins walking towards her post lunch algebra lesson, “But my heart stays in my chest, which I do prefer. What have you got next?”

The answering grumble is enough of a clue as to what his response is going to be, but Victor treats her to the full explanation anyway, "Remedial Goodness,” He grouches, “Which is ridiculous, cause I haven’t broken any rules or stolen any candy from any babies but everyone is still assuming I need to be told not to cause trouble.”

With a laugh Nova narrows her eyes playfully, “Just last night I found you on the dorm roof again.” She points out.

“And what does it say about you that you were heading up there yourself?” The wry smile on his lips gave away his amusement at the situation.

“That great minds think alike?” She shrugged, “Ooooh, have you got an outfit sorted for the coronation yet?”

It was all anyone could talk about these days. Well, the coronation and the fact that Ben had asked Mal out in front of half the school before even breaking up with Audrey, which in Nova's opinion seemed wildly out of character for him but she figured he probably had a reason. After all, he was soon to be king. The coronation was a little over two weeks away, three days after family day, and the school was buzzing with excitement over it.

Beside her Victor stiffened slightly, invisible to the human eye, his strides remaining even and relaxed, but Nova felt it. Still, he answered just as easily, "Evie's making all our outfits,” He revealed, smirk sliding back onto his face but not quite disguising the odd look in his eyes, “I told her she doesn’t have to do mine but she insisted,” He pulled a mock terrified face, “Quite firmly.”

“I can imagine," Nova laughed, ignoring, for now, his strange reaction to her question, "Evie's good for it though, the stuff she makes is beautiful.” They were inching steadily closer to her classroom, the desire to skip just to spend more time with him itching in the back of her mind. Hey, perhaps he was a bad influence. Either way she didn’t think she minded.

“Yeah, but white collar isn’t really my style,” They stopped outside her classroom, the warning bell hadn’t rang yet, so they had a little time before Victor would have to all out sprint to not be late to his lesson, “I’m more dark and mysterious.” He raised his arms, waggling his fingers in a motion that was probably supposed to be scary back actually just made her laugh.

“Sure Fangs,” She giggled, patting his chest consolingly, “You’re terrifying.”

Tipping his head to the side slightly Victor’s eyes narrowed playfully, “Fangs, huh?”

“Well, you’re always calling me Princess,” Quirking a brow she added, “Which is inaccurate, by the way.”

“I stand by what I say, you look like a princess to me,” Leaning closer so that their noses are almost touching his eyes warm, "Especially more than any of the actual princesses around here.”

Enraptured by his eyes, their deep dark depths, their subtle flecks of blood red and the stars that seemed to shine within them, Nova leaned closer, their breaths mingling, the corridor and students around then lost to the background. She’d never felt like this before, never had to cope with her heart feeling like it might simultaneously explode and tear through her chest into his just to be closer to him. It was the most wonderful and most terrifying feeling she’d ever felt.

It was soon, too soon she was sure, but she was certain she didn’t want to live a life without Victor in it. She’d never met anyone like him before. Never met someone so carefree but sensitive. After spending her life surrounded by adults who were always worried about something or other, even when they tried to pretend for her sake that they weren’t, it was refreshing to be with someone who felt as free in her company as she did his.

Leaning closer still they were jerked from their reverie by the bell ringing, Victor's eyes blowing wide as he realised he was about to be late to his lesson. A hot flush spread up Nova's neck as she took the smallest step back, searching his face and seeing the same warmth in his cheeks.

“FGs gonna kill me,” He’d gone pale except for the embarrassed blush on his cheeks, a loom of real horror colouring his expression.

Nova laughed, hoping up onto her toes to press a kiss to his cheek, “Better run then Fangs,” She breathed, flattening down a few curls that had revolted in their travels and smiling back at him warmly, laughing loudly when he nodded frantically and turned on his heel without so much as a goodbye in all his panic. He was down the hall and out the wing of the school a few seconds later.

Yeah, Nova thought, certain about something for once in her life, This is good.

Some might even have said too good to be true.

—

“-So you divide by that number and then multiply the two figures you end up with,” Nova explained, leant over Victor's math homework in the library as the older boy listened earnestly.

Brow furrowed he nodded, expression more serious than she’d ever seen it. It was adorable how hard he was trying, “Okay,” He said slowly, completing the problem she was pointing to, “What about when there are brackets?” He gestured to the problem below the one he’d just completed, eyes blowing wide, “I thought this was maths, not english!”

Giggling slightly Nova nabbed the pencil off him, writing down the method her old algebra tutor had taught her when she was first learning the same thing, “Actually I think this is algebra,” And upon seeing his blank, if not mildly alarmed, expression, adding, “Don’t panic Fangs, it’s not too tricky. Look, you just-”

“Victor!” A sharp, demanding and, unfortunately if you were Victor, familiar voice called from the opening into the little nook they were working in. Mal cast a shadow over their table, her glare hard where it found the duo, “You were supposed to meet us an hour ago!”

To his credit Victor grimaced, looking truly apologetic as he scrambled to pack his things away, hands patting over the table for the pen he’d tucked behind his ear, “Sorry Mal! Where is my stupid-”

Pulling it out from behind his ear and handing it to him Nova smiled, “Here Fangs, I’ll see you later okay?”

With a lopsided grin Victor nodded, slinging his bag over his shoulder, “Of course Princess, don’t have too much fun without me now.” And then, seemingly without much thought as to what he was doing, he leant down and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, offering her one final wink as he swept out of the room with a gobsmacked Mal in toe and leaving an equally stunned Nova in his wake.

“I- wha-” She muttered into the silence left behind.

Oh yeah, she was definitely falling for him.

Now though it looked like she might not be the only one in that boat. Of course she couldn’t be sure Victor had actually noticed.

Chapter Text

The morning of Family Day rose with a bad feeling coiling in Nova's gut. She’d had no visions, no dreams of what was going to happen, but still the bad feeling was there. Actually she’d had no visions at all since Victor and the other VKs had started at Auradon prep, which was something she didn’t know how to feel about, she was mostly functioning on the hope that the absence had nothing to do with them.

“Does your family really never come to these things?” Victor asked as they walked out into the courtyard where the festivities were set up, parents and children alike milling about on the grass. He was dressed as smartly as she’d ever seen him, a deep red shirt and black trousers replacing his usual patchwork of worn reds, silvers and blacks. Over the top he wore a clean cut leather jacket with silver decals down the seams and around the wrists. He looked offensively handsome.

To make matters worse they’d accidentally matched, Nova wearing her favourite red mesh sleeve top and a white skirt that had golden decals printed across the fabric in such a way that it caught the light wonderfully. Her top layer was also a leather jacket, white with red decals and a golden flame embroidered on the back, her name in runes within it.

“My mom probably would if she could but,” She sighed, uncertain of how much to tell him. She’d never talked to her mother about this, and as much as she trusted Victor the general consensus of her family was that no one could know, “Well, it’s just better if she doesn’t.”

Victor's aunt couldn’t come, still trapped on the Isle, though he didn’t seem particularly bothered by it. He’d told her a bit about his aunt and Nova swore to herself, quietly and secretly, that if she ever got her hands on the woman that had raised the boy beside her she’d have some very un Auradonian things to say - and possibly some things to set on fire threateningly.

“Still, you talk about your mom all the time, that’s gotta be hard,” He was watching her with so much concern that it almost made her want to cry. He was just too darn sweet.

Nova shrugged, letting him link his fingers with hers as much for her own reassurance as it was for his, “I don’t love it,” She acknowledged, enjoying the heat generated by their joined palms, “But it’s not like I can do anything about it, besides, this year I’m not alone.” Grinning at him she tugged him over to the food tables, “Which means you can be a guinea pig in discovering what some of these foods are!”

Groaning theatrically Victor tipped his head back in dramatics as she laughed. She was telling the truth, at least in the last part. Things were better this year, now she had Victor to make even the dullest of situations fun, like a breath of fresh air. Things had been so much easier since they’d met; she hadn’t missed her mom as much, hadn’t felt so homesick or lonely. He’d made everything better.

—

Looking at all the happy families around her, Nova did wonder briefly whether she should be missing her mother more than she was. For last year's family day she’d spent the majority of it in the library, catching up on homework and assignments, but this year she’d actually had people to spend it with.

Here, surrounded by Victor, Jay, Carlos, Mal and Evie as the boys argued over the best desert on offer, she didn’t feel so alone. There was laughter, camaraderie and joy to spare.

“-No, no, no!” Jay objected loudly, drawing the curious glances of a few nearby royals and their families, “You have to dip the strawberries in the chocolate! They’re better that way!” In hindsight, introducing them to the chocolate fountain had been a mistake, an amusing one sure, but a mistake none the less.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Victor fired back, clearly partaking in the good natured argument mostly for the fun of it and not actually because he was invested in it, his eyes alight with mirth, “Why ruin a good thing! Just drink the chocolate!”

Between them Carlos’ eyes lit up, “Drinking chocolate?” He breathed, sounding astonished at the idea, “That’s brilliant!”

“Yeah, and it also already exists.” Nova laughed, meeting Evie's eyes over the white haired boy's shoulder and pressing her lips together to avoid dissolving into uncontrollable giggles with her, “Ever heard of hot chocolate? That delicious warm drink you guys were absolutely guzzling at dinner the other night?”

With wide eyes Victor stared at her, the other boys gaping also, “That’s what that was?” He almost sounded offended that he hadn’t known before this moment, “Princess, you’ve been holding out on me!”

“I didn’t realise you guys had an obsession with chocolate!” Throwing her hands up in surrender she shook her head fondly, “Otherwise I would have made you aware. Ooh, actually, my home town has some really nice chocolate coated fruits that you guys would probably love.” Noticing she had the attention of all five of them she continued with barely concealed laughter, “They’re called bloodfruit.” Their expressions of interest quickly morphed into horror, “There’s no actual blood in them, obviously, but they are high in iron. When I was little my doctor had me on a meal plan that included them because I was anemic.”

The boys and Evie agreed excitedly to her offer, but Mal was too distracted with watching her carefully, eyes narrowed, “I’ve heard of bloodfruit,” She said slowly, pale face suspicious, “Isn’t the only place that can grow it, Mount Olympus?”

Eyeing her back cautiously, Nova nodded, “Er, yeah, the concentrated cosmic energy from all the gods in one place makes the soil more resilient, because bloodfruit is usually a pretty hard crop to grow.”

“So you live on Mount Olympus?” Mal continued on her line of questioning, though even before she’d finished Nova could see exactly where it was going, “Wouldn’t that make you related to one of the gods?”

With a huff of laughter, and a panicked spiral of thoughts, Nova shook her head, “No, I don’t think that’s how it works. Since all of Auradon was united, anyone can live anywhere,” Not technically a lie, “Besides, I wouldn’t know if I was related to one of them, they don’t exactly have the best track record on claiming their kids.”

Victor choked on a snigger, both Jay and Carlos biting back smiles as Evie smirked, all of them watching for Mal's reaction. The purplette eventually just scoffed though, rolling her eyes, “Fine, whatever,” And then, “Keep your secrets, Bright.”

The laughter that followed was something Nova joined in on, but mentally her thoughts were elsewhere. Did Mal know something? Had she been too obvious? What even was there about her that pointed towards godling, and not just normal human?

She was going to have to write a letter to her mother at the rate things were going. If Mal really was suspicious of her, and not just testing her, then they were likely to have a problem on their hands before too long. A problem that, frankly, they couldn’t afford with all the turmoil around the VKs coming to school. They needed the program to work if they ever wanted the rest of the Isle kids to be free.

—

Naturally something had to go wrong. It was almost infuriating how little Nova had expected it, despite the feeling she’d woken up with or the impending sense of dread that had been creeping up on all of them since the school year had started. Family day had been going well, she was enjoying it for the first time and the VKs had seemed much more at ease than they were at the beginning of the day.

Of course Audrey had to go and ruin it. Talk about a buzzkill.

When the altercation had first started, she hadn’t even been with the group, having left to dispose of their plates moments before. Upon coming back to a small crowd and raised voices, she’d been more than certain something was wrong. It wasn’t all that surprising to find the VKs in the middle of it, the entire school had been bracing for something like this to happen, but Chad squaring up to them did surprise her. Not because he was particularly kind or clever, but because he tended not to expose his douchieness to the public if he could help it.

“Come on Ben!” He was saying, scoffing at the VKs as if they were nothing more than dirt on the bottom of his shoe, “They’re villain kids! What do you think their parents taught them?” His tirade, targeted or not, had Nova's hackles raised. She didn’t like the look on his face, the almost proud bravado that was sitting there, as if he was doing them all a favour by saying what he was saying.

“Chad!” She snapped, marching over to stand beside Ben, a quick look back at Victor and his friends to confirm they were all right, before she glared back at the blonde prince before her, “That’s enough!”

“Oh don’t you start Bright!” Chad sneered, getting in her face so that she could smell his lunch on his breath and prodding her harshly in the chest, “It’s no wonder you have a hard time making friends if they’re the company you keep!”

“Better their company than the likes of you,” She shot back, unshaken by his harsh words, “At least they don’t go around using, or manipulating people into doing their dirty work cause they’re too stupid to do it themselves!”

“Nova!” Victor's voice was low and urgent, a warning, his hand closing gently around her wrist and tugging her backwards.

The previously flabbergasted expression on Chad's face turned malicious, “Yeah Nova, listen to the little freak!”

“I mean it Chad,” Ben was cutting in before Nova could follow her instincts and launch herself at the prince in front of her, the powers she had that were supposed to be a secret not even springing to mind as she thought of the best takedown to use on vindictive bullies, "Leave them alone! They’ve done nothing to you!”

Now as much as, out of all of the royal family, Ben was Nova's favourite and probably the only one she’d ever consider holding an actual conversation with if she could help it, his statement didn’t exactly help. Really it seemed only to give Chad ammunition, because he began listing off all the VKs faults, as if his perceptions of them were proof enough that they were evil.

It probably all would have ended there regardless, if Chad hadn’t tried to do to Evie what he’d done to Nova. It then became very clear that Jay wasn’t about to let Chad touch any of them, not again. His usually cool expression morphing into one of protective rage as he shoved Chad away from his friends and the courtyard descended into chaos.

Seconds were all it took for Chad to be sprawled unconscious on the grass, due to a potion Evie had hidden in her bag not Jay's defense of her, and the VKs running off in the opposite direction together. Victor's grip on her arm being dragged away as Mal and Evie tugged him along after them, Jay following up the rear to stop them being followed.

As they disappeared around the corner she caught Victor's eye, his expression one of true sorrow, eyes wounded and raw as he let himself be pulled away. It had Nova feeling like she might cry, right there in front of everyone, a stinging sensation burning behind her eyes as she surveyed the muttering crowd.

This is their fault, She thought bitterly, watching from the corner of her eye as King Beast blamed Ben for all that had happened, If they could just see past their prejudices this never would have happened.

She watched Ben slump as his parents walked away, suddenly feeling sorry for him. It wasn’t his fault, he was one of the few people actually trying in this situation, and he was trying hard. But minds weren’t changed overnight, and Auradonian minds took even longer. Nova hated it, but that was just the way things were.

Pressing a hand to his arm she tried for a reassuring smile as he looked down at her, even if her eyes were red rimmed with the threat of tears, “It’s not your fault,” She promised, no matter how weak it sounded, “You’re trying. The VKs appreciate that, I know they do.”

Ben sighed, scrubbing a hand down his face, “I should go find them.”

“Want a hand looking?”

An olive branch, Nova decided, was something she could extend to the likes of Ben. Even if talking to his parents right now was liable to have her yelling in their faces.

And Ben smiled, relieved, “Yeah, please.”

They walked out of the courtyard together. Not as friends, not exactly, but as allies in the same battle regardless.

Chapter Text

“I’m sorry,” Nova says, after the longest silence that has ever sat between them, “About what happened earlier. You didn’t deserve it, none of you did.”

They are on the dorm roof again, just the two of them, the chill of the wind, the twinkling of the stars and the pale glow of the moon. It would almost be peaceful if she wasn’t so full of anxiety, of fear. Not of Victor, never of Victor, but instead of what he might think of her now. Of what he might think of Auradon. She’d only ever tried to be kind to the VKs, it just felt like it hadn’t been enough.

“Why are you apologising, Nova?” He asks softly, eyes trained firmly on the stars above, still glittering with a hurt he hadn’t been able to shake. Nova, not Princess, Nova. He was definitely still upset, “You didn’t do anything.”

He’d been understandably tense since the day ended, his shoulders hunched and his face shuttered. It was what had convinced Nova to give him space up until night fell and they could meet in true privacy. Only, there was something more to him now, something purposefully detached, as if he were bracing for something, as if he was preparing to lose her.

She didn’t know what it was about, and didn’t have the heart to ask.

“I didn’t do enough,” She rebuffs, irritated at her own failure to shut Chad up, “Chad was being awful to you and I couldn’t stop him. I should have been able to.”

“It’s whatever,” Although he doesn’t look at her, Nova knows this could not be further from the truth by the subtle tremor in his voice, “I’m used to it.”

“Well you shouldn’t have to be! You’re still just a kid, like the rest of us. The only difference is that you weren’t born into privilege,“ With a heavy sigh she flopped back against the roof and glared up at the stars, “Sometimes I think all the people here care about is being perfect.”

“Should be pretty easy for you,” Settling back into the spot beside her, Victor tries for a joke, his lips quivering with a half smile. Ultimately though the thought just makes her feel sick.

All the secrets she was keeping. All the lies she’d told and enforced in order to keep King Beasts Auradon perfect. In the end it wouldn’t matter, the truth would always come out and the explosion, Nova was sure, would be uncontainable. Gods, after all, were not the best secret keepers.

“It doesn’t feel like it,” She admitted quietly, “It feels like a lie.”

Victor doesn’t respond immediately, he just rolls onto his side and searches her face curiously for a few moments. Then he says, “I don’t think you’re a lie,” So earnestly that tears spring to her eyes, “I think you’re wonderful. Not many people would go nose to nose with Chad Charming without a second thought.”

There was, of course, always the chance that his opinion of her wouldn’t change should she tell him the truth. And, honestly, there was no one else Nova would rather have had knowing about her true parentage, however, as much as she trusted him, having kept the secret for so long made her nervous to start living her life a different way. Still, if anyone was going to understand why she’d lied, it would be Victor.

With a wry smile she rolled onto her side to see him properly, “You’re a real charmer, you know that?”

“So I’ve been told,” He smirks, though it quickly falls, a shadow falling across his face.
“Hey,” Brow furrowed, she leans closer, concern racing through her, “What was that?”

“What was what?” He actually looked a little confused, it almost would have been cute if Nova wasn’t sure he was hiding something.

“That look, on your face. You looked worried, scared. Why?”

He floundered for a few seconds, mouth opening and closing wordlessly, “It’s- it’s nothing, Princess, don’t worry about it.”

But Nova didn’t believe him. She didn’t like to think it, especially not about a group of kids she’d come to consider friends, it was just that on their first night in Auradon the museum had been broken into and whilst no one was caught there were rumours throughout the school over who was involved. He was lying to her now, worried about something, something big. She just hoped it didn’t have anything to do with the break in, or the impending coronation.

“If something's bothering you, you can tell me,” She tried, gentle and encouraging, "I won't think less of you for it.”

“What, like you’ve told me whatever it is that you’ve so obviously been agonising over?” Victor scoffed harshly, evidently a self preservation instinct, before pressing his lips together and squeezing his eyes shut with regret, “Sorry,” He whispered after a stunned silence from Nova, “Sorry, that wasn’t fair. I just-”

“It’s alright, Fangs,” Shooting him a smile, Nova rolled onto her back to look back at the sky, reaching down to link his fingers with hers and squeezing to prove there were no hard feelings, “I get it. We don’t have to talk about it tonight.”

It didn’t matter that Nova got the impression there was a time limit on the conversation, or that if she didn’t figure out what the issue was soon she would lose him. Nothing was about to convince her to push him into telling her when he wasn’t ready. To betray his trust like that would make her just as bad as the villains everyone was so afraid of.

—

“You should probably apologise,” Nova said gently, running a brush through the short strands of dark hair brushing Jane's shoulders. It had taken longer than she would have liked for her to realise just how much she’d been neglecting her friend and roommate in her excitement around Victor and his friends.

Naturally the thing that had her remembering was something awful, like Jane falling prey to Audrey's tendency to peer pressure. It was unfortunate, but was also something that could be rectified with a little good natured scolding and a friendly face.

Jane sighed, eyes wide and doe like in the vanity mirror, “I know,” She huffed, “I just don’t know what to say to them. Not that anyone would take me seriously now.”

“Hey!” Shoving her friend's shoulder in warning, Nova went back to her brushing, beginning to section out the hair for two french braids, “Don’t say that. Anyone who thinks you aren’t gorgeous is blind! I don’t know why you let those other girls get to you.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” Was Jane's sullen response, “You don’t care what anyone thinks, and you don’t have to. If I looked like you I’d ignore them too.”

“It’s not that I don’t care, Janey,” Nova uttered, voice soft, “I just- I don’t see the point in letting them win, and if they can see they’ve upset me then that's exactly what they’ve done. They’ve won.” Tying off one of the braids she continued, “As for you, you’re pretty enough that you shouldn’t worry about them, even without Mal's magic. I know it’s hard, but the alternative is letting them change you, and I much prefer this Jane to the one I met on Family Day. I know Mal, Evie and the boys do too.”

Though Jane didn’t look entirely convinced, she nodded, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, “So do I.”

—

“So…” Victor had never really been one for tact, at least not in Nova's very Victor oriented opinion, but even for him the casualness of his tone was pushing it.

Realising he wasn’t going to continue Nova huffed, flicking a screwed up sketch at him from across the table, “So?”

A hidden fact about Victor was that he was ridiculously good at drawing, or - well - art in general. It was the kind of thing that, when brought up, made him blush prettily and duck his head in a way that was offensively endearing. He didn’t seem to realise how good he actually was, but Nova had stolen his sketch book more than a few times just to flick through it and it was breathtaking how detailed he seemed to be able to draw things.

Well, she says things, most of the sketches were of her. A fact she totally wasn’t egregiously pleased about. It also absolutely wasn’t her favourite thing to tease him about, it was just a coincidence that the teasing and the pretty blush were linked.

“So,” He rolled his eyes, which was honestly rude considering he’d started the damn conversation, before sobering, “I’m sorry about how sharp I was with you Family Day, you were just trying to help and I snapped at you.”

Unbidden Nova smiled, eyes crinkling at the sides as she reached across the table to squeeze his hand, “Victor, that day was horrible for you, I couldn’t have held your reaction against you even if I’d wanted to,” Then she leant back, glancing momentarily to the History of Auradon assignment in front of her and then back up to him, “Which I don’t, by the way.”

“I know,” He sighed, dragging a frustrated hand through his hair, “I just didn’t want you to think that I was upset with you.”

Chest panging Nova looked down again, this time for a different reason. She couldn’t exactly tell him that she had been worried about it, especially not when she’d already talked herself down. There was no point in refreshing old wounds and she knew he’d never really been mad at her. Didn’t she?

Did she?

“See!” Victor exclaimed, hand hitting the table with a bang and causing the librarian to glare at them from across the room. He took no notice, too consumed with his self loathing, “This is what I was worried about! You totally thought I was mad at you and that couldn’t have been less accurate! I was just-” He struggled for the words.

Nova did not, “Grappling with the fact that you came to a place you thought would be better than the Isle when in fact 90% of the population is actually worse?” She asked with a wry smile, enjoying the way his face slackened in surprise a little too much.

“Well, I wouldn’t have put it like that,” He muttered, shoulders slumping.

“That’s because you’re too nice.” She told him with a despairing shake of her head.

“And you’re not?” He fired back, an uptick to his lips.

“Not like you are, no.”

For some reason he looked shocked again, “You can’t believe that! You’re the best person I’ve ever met!” He didn’t even seem to realise she’d talked him out of his anger, too consumed with defending her honour, it was stupidly sweet.

“Victor, we grew up with each other in our heads,” She reminded him dryly, fighting off the flutter of butterflies in her gut and bringing up their shared visions for what was probably the first time since they’d met. Silly, perhaps, but it had never really been something they’d needed to talk about, “I’m pretty sure you’re predestined to like me.”

“Doesn’t make it any less true,” He tipped his head to the side, quirking a brow.

Quite suddenly Nova remembered why she didn’t tend to argue these things with Victor.

She huffed, scowling across the table at him as triumph broke out across his stupidly handsome features, “You’re welcome, by the way.” He teased.

“Shut up,” She grumbled back with no real heat behind it, focusing back on her assignment before she could say or do anything more incriminating. There was no need to look up to hear his laughter anyway.

If she had to spend the rest of her life a certain way, she was pretty sure she would pick this. This easy laughter and the natural camaraderie that came with it. He’d apologised, because he was a good person at his core, but he hadn’t needed to. It hadn’t been something she’d be waiting for or had even necessarily wanted, that made it all the more special. It was nice to know he cared for her as much as she did him.

Now if she could only figure out what was bothering him.

—

“I swear to the Gods that if Audrey gives me one more ‘really important’ errand to run for her I’m going to light her gown on fire,” Nova growled, storming over to Victor and the other VKs without preamble and interrupting whatever hushed conversation they’d been having.

Seeing the stormy look on her face Victor only laughed, looping an arm across her shoulders and pulling her into his side, “Easy tiger,” He chuckled, fingers tracing soothing patterns across the bare skin of her upper arm, “If she comes back I’ll protect you.”

“Don’t.” She warned darkly, glaring holes into the tile, pointedly ignoring all the suppressed laughter around her, “She came charging into my dorm earlier stating that because Jane is caught up helping FG, I now have to help her prepare for the coronation!” She scoffed, “As if she has anything to prepare for. It’s not like she’s dating the future king.”

Across from her Mal's eyes went wide with panic, “Should I be preparing?!” She nearly squeaked, sounding about as unprepared for a situation as Nova had ever seen her, though she’d heard from Evie that the first date between Mal and Ben had been interesting to help her prepare for.

“Oh,” Evie laughed, a placating hand on her friend's arm, “No honey, your dress is done and you, Nova and I are getting ready together tomorrow morning, remember?”

This did seem to calm Mal down a little, though she still had a mildly frantic look in her eyes that Nova figured was more because of all the eyes that would be on her than the idea of actually getting gussied up for the coronation. She could sympathise with that, one of the perks of being raised a secret was that she’d avoided all of the publicity her cousins had had to suffer through as she was growing up. No one knew Persephone and Hades had a daughter, so she’d been protected.

Evie set her sights on Nova once she was sure Mal was calm, her gaze accusing in a playful way, “Though I hear someone didn’t need me to make her a dress,” She sniffed in feigned offence, “Too good for me now, are you Miss Bright?”

“More like I didn’t want to give you more work,” Nova rolled her eyes in retaliation, leaning a little more heavily into Victor's side and letting herself relax surrounded by friends, all thoughts of uncertainty and worry momentarily vanishing, “Besides, my mother helped me pick a dress out months ago, she was borderline obsessive about it.”

That much was true, her mom had been anxious to find the perfect gown for Nova to wear to the coronation simply because, at least this was her daughter's running theory, she felt bad that she wouldn’t be able to be there with her. The shops on Mount Olympus did tend to lean slightly more into Ancient Greece's various fashions, which Nova wasn’t exactly mad at, though it was a step outside of her usual outfits.

“And what colour would this dress be?” Evie prodded, eyes flickering onto Victor for just long enough that Nova caught the double meaning behind her question.

“Well that would be telling,” She teased, squeaking when Victor dug his fingers gently into her ribs in retaliation for her sarcasm and spinning out of his arms, “It’s red!” She giggled, swatting his chest none too gently, “You traitor!”

“Is it now?” Evie waggled her brows speculatively at Victor before grabbing Mal's arm and marching off in the direction of their dorm as Nova and the boys watched them go, laughing.

“Well she's about as subtle as a bull in a china shop,” Jay snorted, pinching the bridge of his nose with a little too much fondness to actually be annoyed.

“And on that note,” Carlos whistled, Dude coming bounding around the corner from whatever chaos he’d been up to whilst waiting for his master, “We have practice. See you guys later?” He shot Victor a meaningful look, which the red haired boy returned with a short nod.

“Bye guys,” He waved as they went, watching them turn the corner before spinning round on his heels to look directly into Nova's eyes, expression open and surprisingly vulnerable as he asked, “Fancy a walk?”

Tilting her head to the side slightly as she looked at him, Nova nodded, “Of course.” And accepted the hand he offered her as they began their travels.

—

They get about halfway to the tourney fields before Victor breaks the comfortable silence that has settled between them, anxiousness and dread bleeding into his voice as he asks, “Hey, Nova, you trust me, right?”

In her mind Nova tries to figure out where exactly he could be going with this as she nods, “Of course, you know I do Fangs, with my life.”

Perhaps it was a drastic leap to make. It was certainly a big thing to be telling him, but it was also the truth, she did trust him, deeply and intrinsically. He’d given her no reason not to and in the short time they’d known one another she’d felt closer to him than seemed possible. There was no telling if it was the visions or just the fact that they fit despite all the things different about them, but they did. So of course she trusted him.

Only, this assurance didn’t seem to make Victor feel better, in fact, he visibly got more nervous, pulling her to a stop below one of the oak trees surrounding the field, “So, if I asked you to do something, you’d do it? No questions asked?”

Anxiety panged in her gut, the same kind that she had woken up to on Family day, the same feeling that had been following her around since long before that, “I don’t know Victor,” She tried to keep her voice even, unpanicked, “That probably depends on what you’re asking me to do.”

His face didn’t change, but his demeanor did, stiffening slightly, “Ok,” He nodded, not meeting her eyes. The anxiety in Nova's gut formed a pit that grew with every second that passed by in silence.

An inner battle seemed to be waging within Victor, his eyes flickering all over the place but refusing to settle as his lips formed unspoken words and he dragged the hand not secured in hers through blood red strands of hair. Everything about it was unnerving, as if he was trying to decide the best course of action for a conversation he couldn’t see going well.

Finally, with a heavy release of breath, he said, “Don’t come to the coronation.” And the pit in Nova's stomach became a gorge.

Chapter Text

“Excuse me?”

Victor's eyes snapped to meet hers as she spoke. His usually confident brown orbs a shadow of their former selves, dimmed by some crushing weight she couldn’t see or understand, “Please Princess,” He begged, voice breaking, “Just- Pack your things tonight and get as far away from Auradon Prep as you can.”

Her first instinct, and it isn’t one she’s particularly proud of, is to snap at him that she won’t be doing that under any circumstances, she’d been expecting something like this for some time now but it actually happening seems to have caught her off guard. She’d figured he would break their friendship off, not ask her to leave.

Fingers beginning to tingle in the way they always did when she found herself in over her head in a situation, Nova dropped the hand she’d been holding, trying her hardest to ignore the flash of hurt on Victor's face at the movement, “I- I can’t.” She tells him honestly, chest panging when his face morphs into pure desolation.

Any other student in the school could have gone home if they’d wanted to get away from the festivities of the coronation but Nova couldn’t, she couldn’t go home at all until the school year ended. Both her parents were on the Isle. Of course, Victor didn’t know this, which is probably why he’d even asked in the first place.

Either way he recovers quickly enough, “Well you can’t come to the coronation, it isn’t safe.” As if that explained anything.

“It’s the highest anticipated event in years,” She deadpanned back at him, a failed attempt to bring some levity into a situation that was beginning to feel a little hopeless, “The security is going to be insane, I’m pretty sure there will be nowhere safer.”

Still, Victor responds with a weak smile, “I know,” He sighs, shoulders slumping, “I just- I don’t know, I’d be happier if you weren’t there.”

Nova stares at him for a few moments. Nothing about his expression or the slouch to his posture tells her that he is trying to hurt her, actually all of it points to the complete opposite. The problem with that is that what he’s just told her does make her chest pang with hurt, poisoning the trust and love she has for him despite the reasonable part of her brain knowing it’s not what he meant.

Seemingly realising what he had said before she can speak Victor's eyes blow wide, almost doe like, and he splutters, “Oh, Gods, no! I didn’t mean it like that! I just meant that I- That you-” He deflates a bit, and in a quiet voice, says, “I just need you to be safe.”

The knot in her chest loosens but the pit in her gut only expands, “Why wouldn’t I be safe at the coronation?” She asks softly, reaching out to take one of his hands in both of hers.

“I can’t tell you,” He shrugs helplessly.

It is evident, at least to Nova, that if he thought he could tell her what was going on, he would. As it stands, she has her theories, none of them good, and all of them involving a certain group of villains back on the Isle. Well, one villain. She’s pretty sure she knows who the ringleader is.

“Okay,” She says slowly, keeping her voice low despite them being alone, “Could you tell me how dangerous you think things will be? I might be able to get help.”

Again he shakes his head, braced for her anger or scolding, both of which he isn’t about to receive. Nova would rather burn off her own hair than ever yell at Victor, especially for something like this. She’s never seen him so scared.

Though it’s probably for the best that he can’t tell her, considering the only people she could think to go to for help are currently out of her reach. She doesn’t trust King Beast or his family, has a flimsy respect for Ben, and a slightly despairing fondness for Fairy Godmother, none of which help in this situation.

She could probably go to one of her uncles, or her cousin Hercules, but the risk that they would go to the King and get the VKs sent back to the Isle, even as just a precaution, is too high for Nova to want to risk it. She doesn’t even want to consider it.

The only people, really person, that she would willingly tell are her parents, her mother, because she knows despite everything, that they’d help if they could. Her mom had always said that her fathers one exception to every rule about villainy had been his daughter, Nova herself. He may not have particularly cared for Auradon, but he cared for her and that was more than enough to work with.

An idea springs to mind, “What if I stay by you tomorrow?” Not exactly a fool proof plan, not by any standards, but at the very least if she is with him, with the other VKs, she can help them to stop whatever is coming, if it comes to that.

Something deep within Victor snaps at her question, relief flooding his pale face as he seemingly comes to the same conclusion, eyes brimming with tears as he nods furiously and pulls her into a bone crushing hug, “Yes please,” He mumbles into the crook of her neck, “I’m sorry.”

She hugs him back, fingers bunching in the rough fabric of his coat, “Don’t be,” He smells like the wind, like petrichor, like a damp autumn day when she presses her nose into his collar. All of it is familiar and calming, “I’m with you, okay?” She tells him quietly, firmly, “No matter what happens tomorrow, or after that. I’m with you. Always.”

Feeling it through the hug when he nods, Nova just pulls him tighter against her. A somewhat naive hope that if she held him for long enough like this she might be able to protect him from whatever it is that’s to come.

—

Once she is sure Victor is settled and asleep, his breaths deep, even and calm, Nova slips out of his dorm room and takes her phone from her pocket, pressing it to her ear as it begins to ring. There is no guarantee what she is about to do will even change anything, but it’s worth a try.

The line picks up, her mothers voice on the other end questioning, their scheduled monthly call isn’t for another week.

“Hey mama, can you put dad on the phone please? It’s important.”

She was breaking several rules. Rules that, if found to be broken, could get her sent to the Isle for good and her parents into a whole world of trouble. King Beast had a number of conditions to her being raised in Auradon and one of them was that she have no contact whatsoever with her father, hence the scheduled calls whilst her mother is on the Isle.

Needs must though, and this is important enough that she’s willing to take the risk. Besides, should the worst happen, a few broken rules won’t exactly matter.

Her mother doesn’t argue, calling for her husband and handing her phone over with little argument. Apparently the tone of Nova's voice is enough for her to do as her daughter asks without any objection. There will be questions later, certainly, but as of right now Nova hears her father's voice for the first time.

“Well hello Sunbeam,” He drawls down the line, voice warm and affectionate and snarky somehow all in one, “This is a surprise.”

Sunbeam, he’d called her Sunbeam. Love blooms in her chest, familial and raging with the desire to know him better.

“Hi papa,” She responds shyly, battling over the urge to tell him all the things she never got to. Like that she loves him, misses him even though she’s never met him - the parallels to Victor, in that respect are startling. Nevertheless she pushes through, focusing on what was more important in the moment, “I need you to do something for me.” She tells him, “And I need you not to ask questions.”

A pause over the line, and then, “Tell me what you need.”

—

By the time she has asked all she needs of him the sun has well and truly set, curfew creeping up on her. Her voice is raw, her emotions even more so, as the conversation comes to a close, both her parents waiting patiently on the other side of the phone for her to end it.

She can’t do it.

Everything hits her at once. What she is asking of her parents, of her father. The danger she has put them all in simply by calling. The chance she is taking on this. It might not even work and if they get caught the VKs won’t be the only ones thrown back on the Isle.

Her hand shakes violently as she presses the phone to her ear, “I’m sorry,” She whispers eventually, voice wobbling dangerously, “I’m sorry, I’ve put us all in danger by calling.”

“We are in no more danger now than we would have been if you’d left tomorrow up to chance, Sunbeam,” Hades assures her firmly brokering no room for argument but not becoming harsh, “You were right to call. It’s not your fault the adults over in Bor-adon can’t be trusted.”

He doesn’t use her name, she’s noticed. Not even in passing. She’s always Sunbeam to her father, not Nova. It's something that, were he anyone else, would probably irritate her to no end. Even Victor calls her by her name occasionally, though that’s usually reserved for when he’s worried or upset. Perhaps it is just because he is trying to make use of the nickname for the first time in her life, to really hit home that he loves her.

He needn’t worry, she already knows.

The assurance settles over her like a blanket, “I didn’t know who else to go to,” It’s a sad fact of Auradon that her way of helping would have been seeing as aiding the VKs master plan - not that she knew what it was - or at the very least would have gotten them into trouble when they had done no wrong, “But I knew you’d help, if you could.”

“I can, and I will,” In the background she can hear her mom saying something, and then, “Alright Sunbeam, we’ve got to go, but your mother will ring you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay,” Nova's reply is meek, subdued, she doesn’t want to say goodbye.

Hades chuckles lightly, apparently hearing this in her voice, “Don’t worry sweet daughter, things will work themselves out, they always do. In the meantime, you have your mother and I’s love.”

“I love you, and mama,” Tearfully, “So much.”

“We know that baby,” Her mothers voice, equally as emotional, “We never doubted it for a second.” The curfew bell rang, breaking their reverie, “You better go Novie, keep that boy of yours and his friends out of trouble.”

“I will,” With a sniff, Nova steels herself to end the call, “I love you guys. Talk to you tomorrow mom.”

“Tommorow baby.”

“Love you too Sunbeam.”

And the call ends.

Nova has to bite down on her knuckle to keep from sobbing. There is every chance that she has spoken to her father for the first and last time. It will be worth it, if that is the case, but the pain of knowing what she is missing seems to drown whatever feelings she’d had about not knowing him before. None of this is fair, it never has been.

When Ben becomes King she’s going to have to have a serious talk with him about his fathers manner of rule. For now though, Victor is waiting for her.

—

She slips into the bed next to Victor, burrowing into the warmth of his side and tucking her head under his chin like it’s the most natural thing in the world. His arms wrap around her, even in sleep, unconsciously and he pulls her impossibly closer. It shouldn’t be this easy. They’ve never been in the same bed, or even room, to sleep before. Their firm status as ‘just friends’ keeps a marginal distance between what they considered normal and just a step too far.

Nova is in the dark in all this. She doesn’t know what’s going to happen, just that something is. And whilst she understands the inclination Victor has to keep whatever the VKs plan is a secret, Mals sitting up front during the ceremony so she has some inkling that has something to do with it, it is less than ideal in her desire to help.

It’s like trying to break the surface of dark water. She doesn’t know how deep she is, how hard she has to work, or whether she can even do it, and she won’t know till it’s done.

Slumping further into Victor she tries not to think about tomorrow. No good would come of it, worry usually only meant you suffered more and though she hoped no one would suffer at all, she didn’t want to start the torment early if she could help it.

Beneath her Victor hummed, roused slightly, either sensing her presence or feeling the bed dip as she settled in next to him, “Mh- Princess, you okay?” He breathed, surprisingly coherent for a boy Nova wasn’t entirely convinced was actually aware of the room around him.

“Yeah Fangs, I’m okay.” She shifted, wrapping an arm across his chest, fingers bunching in his shirt.

He hummed again, pressing his nose into her hair and sighing with content, a contrast to the terrified mess he had been hours earlier, “Good,” And then, sleep drunk and slurred, “Love you.”

Nova tries not to freeze, her breaths hitching as he falls back into sleep below her without any thought to the turmoil he’d awoken within her. It wasn’t as if friends couldn’t express their love for one another, platonic love tended to be just as powerful as romantic when it came to breaking curses and defeating evil, but she got the impression that Victor didn’t mean it platonically.

Which… wasn’t exactly a bad thing.

The timing was off. Actually the timing was horrendous, something that could be chalked up to him being barely half continuous when he said it. Everything else though, well, it had all pointed towards that conclusion.

That they loved each other.

It wasn’t even really something Nova could argue with. Not that she had any inclination to in the first place. It was just unexpected.

What was more unexpected was the way the growing anxiety within her settled at his drowsy words. A balm against even the worst fears. Quelling her hurricane thoughts into something easy, something she could fall asleep to.

His chest rising and falling beneath her, the movement repetitive and familiar, Nova felt settled for the first time in forever, matching her breaths to his as her eyelids began to get heavy. It felt right, being with Victor had always felt right.

It was just the natural conclusion that they love one another, wasn’t it?

She loved him and, should they survive the coronation, she was going to tell him.

Chapter Text

Nova wakes the morning of the Coronation to the fading sounds of her own bloodcurdling screams. She jerks from the images of fire, blood and desolation that try to follow her out of her sleep and falls into Victor's waiting arms with an exhausted sob.

Goosebumps rise on her arms and the searing heat of flesh burning bubbles across her skin with such horrifying speed it momentarily chokes her. It’s gone almost as soon as it happens, an after effect of her nightmare, her skin smooth and unblemished where she drags her hands down her arms and legs in a frenzy of panic and despair.

Wailing probably doesn't cover what she’s doing, but she can’t breath, can’t calm herself down enough to take in her surroundings beyond the arms encompassing her in a hold that should probably be suffocating but isn’t and the overwhelming feeling that she needs to get away. To run as hard and as fast as she can away from the fire and the devastation.

The scent of invisible ash and burning flesh clogs her sinuses and she chokes again, pressing her forehead into Victor's neck and letting the feel of his pulse on her skin bring her slowly back to reality. She’s snotty, tear stained and sweaty by the time she can make out the dozens of sketches and paintings across the room by his desk, a number of them of her. It’s almost enough to snap her from her shock, but the tears don’t stop, she’s not sure she knows how to make them.

To his credit Victor does not freak out, holding her to his chest and rubbing soothing circles into her back through her sleep shirt, his face pale, eyes wide, but his presence steadfast, “It’s okay,” He murmured into her hair, pressing his cheek into the top of her head, “You’re okay. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”

Any other day might have seen his words helping to calm her down. Today was different. Today things were practically predestined to go wrong. It was as if even Victor knew he was lying to her when he told her everything would be okay. His heart wasn’t in it.

“It’s not,” She cried, dampening the material of his shirt with her tears, “It’s not okay.”

Beneath her Victor shuddered violently, his grip on her tightening, “I know,” He pressed his lips to her hair, “I know. I’m sorry Princess.”

The honesty of his words, of his tone, settled something within her despite the general hopelessness of them. It was better, Nova reasoned, that they were honest with one another about how scared they are. At the very least it made her feel better.

After several long minutes in silence, the only sounds of their varied breathing and the occasional sniffle, Nova pulled ever so slightly apart from her human pillow, searching out his eyes, “I’m sorry I woke you.”

Which only made Victor smile ruefully, “Don’t be,” With gentle fingers he brushed a few blonde strands of hair from her face, “I’d much rather you not be alone in your nightmares. Though I was surprised to see you’d stayed.” He nods purposefully to his chaotic mess of a room.

A hot blush colouring her cheeks Nova ducked, huffing a laugh that almost felt real, “I was just taking advantage of your private room.” She teased, “You know the rest of us commoners have to share.”

“Well apparently no one wanted to room with a VK, and I was not rooming with Jay or Carlos,” The horror from when they’d first woken up returns to his face, this time playful in nature, “Both of them snore like trucks.”

“Do they now?” She leaned in closer, arching a brow in question.

“Uh huh,” Eyes widening he added hastily, “But you didn’t hear that from me! Jay will kill me if he gets out.”

Together they laugh, a little of the tension brought upon them by her nightmare and the impending coronation easing, and flop back onto his bed, “Why? Does it ruin his perfect playboy image?”

“Hardly,” Victor scoffed, pulling her a little closer so they could settle comfortably with her head on his shoulder, “He’s got half the girls in this school eating out the palm of his hand.”

“Jealous, are you?”

“Oh, yeah, because I really want that kind of attention along with the general disdain of classmates,” Rolling his eyes Victor tickled her sides gently, “Besides, I already have the attention of the person I like.”

Something stirred in Nova's gut at his statement, was it excitement or dread, she didn’t know. Peering up at him from his shoulder she smirked, trying to play it off, “Do you now? Pray tell, who’s the lucky girl?”

“Not lucky,” He narrowed his eyes, though the usual mirth wasn’t there, the weight of the day pushing on them both, “More like pushing her luck.” He tickled her again, a full smile breaking out across his face at the sound of her laughter.

It was kind of an unspoken thing, whatever they were to one another. So unspoken in fact that Nova couldn’t have said she was sure.

She loved him, she was sure of that. Just like she was sure the love she felt was very much romantic and deeply ingrained into the person she had become since meeting him. The person that went toe to toe with Chad Charming, of all people, and openly called out her friends for being rude, the person she hoped he liked.

Still, it felt dishonest, on her part at least, to enter into a relationship with him whilst hiding who her parents were. If only because, should everyone suddenly find out, it would be a pretty big deal.

Victor called her princess as a joke, an affectionate but still teasing nickname, but were it to be revealed she was Hades daughter, the title would very much stand. Technically she was Princess of the Underworld. She’d been queen if anything happened to her dad, not that Gods often had to worry about that. And Victor knew none of it.

There was also the chance that Victor didn’t feel the same as her, as well. Despite what he had just told her, circumstances were everything - her parents would never have fallen in love if they hadn’t been forced together - and in the circumstances they were currently in, it was doubtful he was worrying about love.

A knock at the door interrupts any chance they have to discuss it, Evie's voice echoing through the wood, “Victor? Is Nova in there with you? It’s eight am, we need to start getting ready if she wants to be at the coronation on time!”

Pressing her face into his chest with a heavy groan, Nova squeezed her eyes shut, “If we stay quiet, maybe she won’t know we’re here. What part of getting ready even takes four hours?”

“Yeah, she’s here Eves!” Victor laughed, pointedly ignoring the betrayed glare Nova shot at him, “Give us a minute, then she’s all yours!”

“One minute Barton!” Evie warned, “Then I’m coming in there to get her myself!”

That made the pair move. Practically throwing themselves off the bed, with Nova pulling on her discarded jumper and slippers to make the trek back to her room. Her hands were still shaking from her nightmare, the adrenalin not quite having worn off despite the laughter Victor had so easily brought about, so she was glad that she didn’t have any laces to do up. It almost made her want to stick close to him, he made things better, even just in feeling. She certainly had felt safer, waking up and seeing him there.

“Hey,” Warm hand found hers and she looked up to see Victor watching her carefully, his brow furrowed but a reassuring smile on his lips, “Okay?”

“Yeah,” She breathed, giving in to the urge to lean closer to him and barely resisting the contented sigh that fought to escape when he pressed his lips to her forehead. Instead she leant deeper into the motion, letting her eyes flutter shut for a few seconds and taking a moment to just be.

With what felt like the end of the world catching up to them, it was nice to just take a moment to be at peace.

“Ten seconds lovebirds!” Evie yelled through the door, breaking the moment.

“Go,” Victor chuckled, scrubbing a hand through his hair in a way he probably didn’t realise was as attractive as it was, “I’ll meet you for lunch before we leave, okay?”

Nova just nodded silently. Now that the calm between them was broken she could feel her nerves creeping back in. Something Victor noticed immediately, “Stop worrying Princess,” He told her softly, “Go enjoy some pampering with the girls and I’ll be back with you before you know it.”

So Nova went. Uncertain if Victor knew just how much she needed his assurances in the moment.

—

“You have such amazing hair,” Evie sighed as she curled another strand of Nova's hair, eyeing up the golden blonde mane that waterfall down the younger girls back with only the tiniest bit of envy, “Your parents must have killer genes.”

Across the room Mal snorted, as pale and taut as she was she appeared unable to miss out on a chance to tease her friends, “Wow E, I didn’t know legwear had anything to do with a person's appearance.” To which Evie only rolled her eyes fondly.

As well as both girls were doing a good job of acting naturally, Nova could tell there was something big on their minds. Something that only seemed to get more and more bothersome for them as the minutes ticked by. It was getting hard not to bring it up, but considering she didn’t know how much they knew she knew, the boys at the very least seemed aware Victor planned on telling her something, it was impossible to mention without arousing suspicion.

“Well, thank you,” She smiled up at Evie through the vanity mirror, “But it’s really not that special. Lot’s of girls at the school are blonde. Can’t say a lot of them have blue or purple hair though.” She looked back to her reflection, frowning, “I’ve never really understood what all the fuss was about when it came to having the perfect hair or face.”

“My mother would say it’s the way to a prince's heart,” Evie told her sagely, before shrugging loftily, “I suppose in some cases she’s right, but Chad isn’t exactly the type of prince I’m after.”

“A good thing too, since he’s entangled in Audrey's web of awfulness,” Nova remarked as Evie finished curling her hair and set her loose on the rest of the room, “You can do so much better. For example,” She struck the bluette with a devious grin, “Theres a glasses wearing half dwarf that would sell his family's mine to go out with you.”

“Most boys would sell their fortunes to date Evie,” Mal commented dryly, brow arched.

Evie, on the other hand, was quiet, her lips turned down in a pensive frown that only deepened with time. There was conflict in her eyes, and hurt, "I don't know Nova,” She said, meeting the blondes eyes cautiously, “I thought there was something between us, he was so sweet to me in class, but at family day-”

“Boys can be pretty stupid, when it comes to girls they like, and peer pressure situations,” Nova cut in, picking up Evie's brush and waiting for the girl to settle in the seat in front of her before beginning work on her hair, “But I’ve known Doug for a couple years now, and if I know anything, it’s that he regrets how he left things. He’s pretty shy, generally Eves, but he was willing to come out of his shell for you.” She huffed a laugh and shook her head exasperatedly, “Now I'm not saying you should forgive him if he doesn’t say sorry, but I do think you should give him the chance to explain.”

“Wise words from someone who hasn’t bucked up the courage to ask Victor out yet,” Mal taunted from her bed.

Spinning around and brandishing Evie's brush at the other girl, Nova tried to ignore the hot flush filling her cheeks, “Well excuse me if I’m waiting for him to make the first move! We can’t all have songs written in our honour you know!” And grinned triumphantly when Mal's cheeks warmed at the comment, “Some of us have to wait for the boy to realise we’re in love with them.”

“Oh honey, I think he knows!” Evie laughed, “The heart eyes on that boy when you’re around are almost offensively obvious.”

“Not really,” Nova mumbled, cheeks heating even further.

“Yes really,” Mal grumbled, giving her a pointed look, “From day one, you two were enraptured with one another. It was honestly sickening. I thought maybe you’d both been spiked with a love potion or something.”

It was said with the kind of careless teasing of someone who had no reason to worry about such a thing actually happening, but from the way Evie stiffened out of the corner of Nova's eye, and the mildly calculated look behind Mals, she knew there was something more to the statement. What exactly that was didn’t click until a few moments later.

Nova didn’t react to the realisation that they had love spelled Ben, mostly because Evie had told her during Ben and Mal's date exactly where the soon to be king had taken their friend, so she had no reason to be worried any more. If there was one thing everyone did when they visited the Enchanted Lake, it was swim.

“Cause that makes sense,” She drawled in response instead, “We’d have had to be dosed seconds before seeing one another for that to work. And with all the other students milling around we’d have had just as much chance at falling for literally anyone else. Not to mention the fact that magic is banned in Auradon.”

Mal's pointed gaze turned sheepish, “Yeah,” She grimaced, “Fairy Godmother definitely mentioned that in her briefing when we arrived. I just chose to ignore it?”

With a snort, Nova went back to styling Evie's hair, “As long as you’re not hurting anyone, which I know you haven’t done by the way, I’m not particularly bothered.” At the girl's surprised looks she continued, “It’s a stupid rule anyway. Forcing someone to deny their nature. If you ask me, it's a recipe for disaster.”

“You’re pretty open about all of this, despite being raised to hate Villains,” Mal noted, for just a moment looking genuinely confused as to why.

“Well, yeah, you guys are my friends,” Nova shot a smile back at her before focusing back on the task before her, “And I don’t know about you, but I didn’t have a lot of those before you guys came over from the Isle. Your use of magic, just like your being the children of villains, is not and has never been a big deal to me.”

It would be slightly hypocritical if it was, Nova thought bitterly, considering who my father is.

“You’d be the only one Princess,” Mal snorted, fumbling with a few hair clips and decals like they might jump out and bite her.

Scrunching her nose up at the nickname Nova chuckled, “Still not a princess,” Before noticing exactly what Mal was doing and shooting her a look somewhere between sympathetic and amused, “Need a hand?” She asked, pinning back the last strand of Evie's hair and squeezing her shoulder to tell her she's finished.

Mal looked from the clips, to Nova, Evie and the vanity with obvious contempt, “Maybe,” She groused, reluctant to admit defeat.

Used to her antics Evie just giggled, ushering Nova towards the bathroom to get changed and dragging her best friend towards the stool, “Put your dress on Nova, I’ll sort this one out.”

“Only if you’re sure you can manage,” Nova teases, already moving towards the en suite with her dress bag and beat up red converse in her hands.

“I’m pretty confident I can,” Evie giggles at Mal's affronted expression before zeroing in on the shoes in Nova's hands and narrowing her eyes, “Do not tell me you are wearing those under your dress!”

“If I don’t tell you, will I get away with it?” The blonde calls from the bathroom as she hangs her dressbag on the back of the door and pokes her head back around it to waggle her brows at her friends, “Because I’m not about to be wrangled into heels.”

“Nova Bright! You are not wearing those scruffy things!”

“That’s funny,” She laughs, shutting and locking the door, “I could have sworn I am!”

“Nova!”

Laughter was Evie's only response. All three girls feeling truly carefree for the first time that morning.

Nova hadn’t forgotten her conversation with Victor the day before, or his sleep drenched words to her that evening. She couldn’t shake the nightmare from her mind, no matter how much she tried, nor what she had asked of her father, but for the moment she wasn’t haunted by any of it.

Sometimes it was nice to remember that they were all just teenagers.