Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Muscles screaming in protest, Harry trudged down the hallway to Uma’s dorm. Tourney practice had run long and he’d barely had time to shower before their study session. Throwing open the door with a small grin he found his best friend folded over her laptop, eyebrows scrunched together in concentration.

“Hello love”

‘“Hey Harry,'' she replied as she shifted to make room for him on the bed. The room was unusually quiet, making him glance at the empty bed across from Uma.

“No Audrey today?”

Uma shook her head “Sorority meeting,” thank the gods.

Uma and Harry’s friendship was a subject that seemed to fascinate Uma’s roommate, she always caught Audrey smirking at her whenever Harry came over. She thought they were “absolutely adorable” together.

Harry felt a slight sinking feeling in his chest, Audrey knew how he felt for his best friend, had guessed it within days of meeting him. Ever since then, she had proved herself to be a stalwart ally and often tried to nag him into admitting his feelings to Uma.

“Ready to get started? It took me hours to figure out #8, I had to call Evie to help me”

Shuffling to pull papers out of his bag he groaned at the thought of the grueling material. He used to be perfectly good at math...until they added letters to it. Thank the gods for Uma who had spent countless hours tutoring him over the years because she refused to let him fail.

“Ok, so number one is basically….”

An hour and a half later and they’d both long given up, preferring instead to laze around on Uma’s bed and complain about life.

“- at 8 in the damn morning I mean who does that?” Uma ranted hands running through Harry’s hair.

Harry hummed in response, sleepy eyes peering up at her from his place on her lap. “She sounds like a real piece of work, lass, you should knock her coffee over tomorrow in revenge”.

“I just might. Anyway, how's tourney going?”

Harry groaned “Coach is working us like dogs to get ready for Friday’s game against Dunbroch University, and Chad’s been more annoying than usual now that the captain’s spot is open”

“Yeah, Ben’s had to drop a lot of clubs now that his dad wants him to get involved with the family business. Thank the gods he hasn’t dropped Student Government”

Harry gave her an incredulous look and she shrugged “What? He’s my only ally on a council riddled with idiots, besides he likes to talk so I’ve pretty much heard everything about his personal life”

“Should I be worried that you’ve found a replacement for me?”

Uma flicked his nose “Relax Hook, he’s much too posh for me. Speaking of Hooks, have you talked to your dad, is he coming to the game?”

Captain James Hook rarely visited his children, flitting from one navy base to the next for most of Harry’s life. He sat up and leaned against the wall, his shoulder pressed against Uma’s.

“He said he’d try to make it down, but it’s not like I haven’t heard that one before.”

Uma looked at him with sympathetic eyes “ I’m sorry.”

Harry shook his head “It’s not your fault, and anyway you’ll be there right?”

“I guess, someone has to make sure Gil doesn’t get himself thrown out.”

He grinned try as she might to be nonchalant about it, he knew she would be there. Uma never missed a game except of course when the team played out of state and even those she watched online. A warm feeling exploded in his chest every time he looked up to find her cheering in the stands with Gil by her side.

“How kind of you to deem us worthy of your presence, goddess”

Uma’s nose wrinkled even as her cheeks warmed. Harry had always been a flirt but lately, she found herself enjoying his attention a little too much, so much so that she had glared at the girl who’d tried to speak to him when they were studying at the library yesterday. Uma wasn’t ready to admit to herself why she’d done that just yet.

A loud buzzing sound pulled her out of her thoughts as she scanned the room for its source, eyes landing on Harry’s phone.

Harry sighed, “That’s mine, it’s probably just Gil asking what time I’ll be back.”

Uma crawled forward to grab his phone off the desk, turning it over to make the screen light up. She stared at the image in front of her, dumbfounded, for a few seconds before she managed to find her voice.

“Am I your lock screen?” she asked her voice an octave higher than normal.

Harry froze, one hand stuck in his hair to push it out of his face. He stared at her for a heartbeat, wide-eyed, before lunging towards her to grab the phone out of her hand, knocking her off of the bed and onto the floor. Uma let out a full-bellied laugh as they wrestled on the ground for a few seconds.

“You weren’t supposed to see that,” Harry said in a rush, his chest heaving with effort as he finally pinned her down.

Uma looked at the phone in question, helpless to stop the wide smile pulling at her lips. “Well, at least the picture’s cute.”

The photo was one of many he’d taken of her on their beach trip a few weeks ago. It was of Uma playing in the waves, her teal braids streamed around her as she faced the camera in mid-laugh.

Harry pressed his face against her shoulder, cheeks burning as he muttered a long string of curses at the universe.

Uma nudged him to let her up and he scrambled off of her, his phone now securely in his hand. Silence fell over them as they locked eyes, each wondering where to start.

“It’s Gil, he wants to know what time the game starts,” he said hands fiddling nervously with his phone.

“Tell him to meet me in front of Charming Hall at 5:30, that way we won’t miss a second of you guys getting your asses kicked,” she teased.

Harry’s eyebrows raised, the tension dissipated.

“Why don’t we have ourselves a little wager, love,” he leaned towards her “if we lose, I’ll finally go skydiving with you.”

Uma copied his movement and narrowed her eyes, she’d been badgering him to go with her for years “And if you win?”

Harry’s grin was slow and wolfish “If we win then you owe me a date.”

Uma tilted her head, deep brown eyes alight with amusement as she pretended to think it over.

“You got yourself a deal, Hook.”

Chapter Text

Uma stared at the chair in front of her, completely ignoring Professor Verity’s lecture. She did not have the energy to listen to the woman drone on and on about the intricacies of moral philosophy today. After last night’s lock screen fiasco, she and Harry had stayed up late alternating between their grueling math homework and listening to Audrey’s sordid gossip.

A nudge against her arm pulled her out of her thoughts, “Hey,” Ben whispered, “all set for the meeting tonight?”

“To listen to Chad whine about how no one takes his proposals seriously? Sure, can’t wait," she drawled, sarcasm dripping from her words.

Ben coughed in a poor attempt to cover up his laugh, he’d never been intimidated by Uma’s sharp comments and wry demeanor it’s why they had become friends in the first place, Ben was one of the few who appreciated her bluntness.

“You what?” Audrey shouted, eyes wide with excitement. A few looks of reproach made her wince as she remembered where they were. Maybe the library hadn’t been the best choice of venue for this conversation.

Harry grinned, “We made a bet that if I won the game, she owed me a date.”

She raised a hand to her chest and collapsed against the back of her chair, “I can’t believe I missed that!”

Harry couldn’t help himself, he threw his head back and laughed at her antics. He and Audrey’s friendship meant more to him than he cared to admit, and she’d always had his back when it came to Uma.

‘Wait so where are you taking her? What are you going to wear? Are you thinking a d-”

“Yeah, about that,” he bit his lip “I kind of need advice. Uma’s different, I’m not going to treat her like I would anyone else, so I need to plan something special for her.”

Audrey nearly cooed, “Well, of course, I’ll help you! But you know Uma better than anyone Harry, I'm sure you can plan something amazing.”

“I just don’t want to blow this," his voice muffled as he laid his head against the desk.

“Oh you won’t, I've waited far too long for this to let you ruin it now,” she teased.

“I’m serious.”

“Harry, of course, it’s not going to be perfect! Nothing ever is, but that’s okay. No one really needs perfect, they just need real.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,'' he said matter of factly.

She ignored his comment and patted his head condescendingly.

“Are you going to help or not?” he huffed.

“Okay first, tell me what you have so far.”

Harry pushed his hand through his hair, “I was thinking we’d do an early date, maybe take her out for an early lunch and then do something after.”

She nodded, “That works, she’s a morning person anyway. What restaurant did you have in mind?”

“That greek place she loves on North street.”

“They’re not open Saturdays though.”

A groan pushed past his lips and he buried his face in his hands. Why was this so difficult? “There goes that plan, then.”

Audrey pursed her lips and leaned back, deep in thought. As a child, she’d always loved fairy tales of handsome princes that swept maidens off their feet. That romanticism had bled into her own relationships but none had ever come close to a happy ending. Nevertheless, she took great pride in being the go-to person for love advice in her circle of friends.

“Just," she said softly, "just take her somewhere with meaning, someplace that’s yours."

Harry raised his head and smiled slowly, a faint blush coloring his cheeks “I know just the place.”

“Then I guess you just have to win the game to get your girl.”

Friday Night

“Hurry up Gil! I want to get good seats,” Uma said as she pulled Gil away from the concession stands towards the rows of seats in the large stadium. Friday night was finally here and Uma was more than ready to win their bet. It wasn’t that Uma hated the idea of going on a date with Harry, in fact, she liked it more than she cared to admit. It was simply that her competitive streak was far too wide for her own good.

As usual, the stadium was ridiculously full, Auradonians took college sports way too seriously. Scanning the bleachers she spotted Audrey waving to get her attention and began to make her way up the stairs.

“Finally! I was starting to think you’d miss kick-off.”

She rolled her eyes, “Sorry, Gil basically bought out the snack bar.”

Gil tore himself away from the hot dogs in his hand and shrugged an enormous shoulder “I haven’t had dinner yet!”

“Uma! I haven’t seen you in ages.”

Uma whirled around to find Evie making a beeline for them while Mal trudged up the stairs behind her.

“Hey” she called out, slightly taken aback at her enthusiasm. She and Evie had never been hostile towards one another, but Uma tended to limit their interactions on account of her friendship with Mal.

“I didn’t know you were coming!” Audrey gushed as she pulled Evie into a hug, “Come sit with us!”

“Well with the boys on the team and Doug in the band, we had to come support," Evie replied.

Audrey nodded sagely and gave Mal a hesitant smile. Uma snickered quietly, Audrey had started to soften towards Mal the last couple of weeks. Still, she couldn’t seem to shake the lingering spike of resentment she felt when Mal was around. Rightfully so, in Uma’s opinion, Mal hadn’t even bothered to apologize for what she and Audrey referred to as the 'Great Split of 2018.'

Evie stopped in front of her and leaned in to whisper, “Don’t be mad, but Ben told me about the bet you and Harry have going on. It’s so adorable I couldn’t miss it!”

“Did he now?” her eyes narrowed, she was going to kill Ben.

Evie smiled sheepishly and greeted Audrey and Gil before sitting next to the former, Mal to her right. Just as she was compiling a list of all the ways she’d get revenge on Ben for spilling her business, the P.A. system turned on.

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen! And welcome to the showdown between Auradon State and Dunbroch University! Now, let’s give a warm welcome to our very own Fighting Knights!”

Uma stood and cheered with the rest of the crowd as the entire tourney team ran onto the field. Her eyes immediately searched for Harry. Spotting the telltale number 1 jersey she grinned and waved emphatically to catch his eye. But of course, she didn’t need to, Harry’s attention was, as always, fixed on her, his roguish grin apparent even from the distance.

The game progressed with varying degrees of intensity that had Uma gripping Gil’s arm to an almost bruising degree, for all of Harry’s confidence the teams seemed to be evenly matched. Two hours later they were down to the final 5 minutes, Auradon trailing just one point behind Dunbroch. Down on the field, Ben stood in the middle of a team huddle planning their final play.

“Come on, Hook,” Uma whispered, her hands curled into fists. Audrey shot her a smirk but didn’t comment, oh these two were going to kill her.

The team broke from the huddle and took their places, and then they were moving. Ben scooped up the ball and dashed across the field, Jay, and Chad clearing the way in front of him. Suddenly, a Dunbroch player built like a bear slammed past Jay, Ben pivoted right and scanned the field for an open teammate. His gaze locked on Harry who stood a mere 10 feet from the goal box, wide open. He brought his arm back and catapulted the ball forward. The entire stadium held its breath as the ball arced up, soared high over the heads of the Dunbroch players, and fell straight into Harry’s crosse. Everything slid back into focus as Harry dodged player after player, swerving out of their grasps as he ran forward and swung the ball right past the outstretched arms of the goalie and into the net.

“Yes!” Uma shouted punching her fists through the air. Gil pulled her into a hug, his breath tickling her ear as he laughed brightly. A hand gripped her shoulder and spun her around.

“Oh, my Gods! Uma do you know what this means?” Audrey half-shouted her eyes wide with excitement.

A slow grin spread across Uma lips, “It means I've got a date with my favorite idiot.”