The summer is not over yet, but I'm in the mood for Snoggletog fics! What the what.

All Hiccup wanted was a normal Snoggletog. Some peace and quiet. Snuggling by the fire with Toothless, having snowball fights with his friends, maybe even dancing with Astrid at the feast in the Mead Hall (assuming she accepts the offer, of course, and doesn't punch him in the face instead). Their dragons were again gone for the holiday, but since the reason for their disappearance was already known, there was none of the stress and panic of last year, so Hiccup honestly saw no reason to expect any trouble.

Unfortunately, troubles had an annoying habit to expect him.

He kept muttering to himself bitterly as he climbed the steep slope leading to Gothi's hut with great effort, blinking against the freezing wind and clutching tightly at his fur cloak. If it was up to him, he would have never left his cozy loft, but his father had sent him to the elder to fetch some stomach medication for Gobber, who was this holiday's first victim of Astrid's infamous yaknog.

"Is he feeling so bad he can't go there on his own?" Hiccup grumbled, looking up from the numerous sketches he's been working on since early in the morning.

"Now, son, don't be so inconsiderate," Stoick scolded him. "Besides, you know it's hard for Gobber to climb all this way with only one leg."

"Ahh, Dad, I don't know if you ever noticed, but I actually have some problems of my own in the leg department..."

"Nonsense. You're much younger and quick on your feet - err, I mean... you know what I mean. Why don't you take Toothless? You'll be back in less than ten minutes."

Hiccup glanced at the sleeping Night Fury, who was curled to a tight ball by the hearth and has barely changed his position over the last couple of hours. Toothless wasn't able to fly with the other dragons to their nesting place, especially since he won't have any kind of automatic tail like the one Hiccup had built for him last Snoggletog. Instead, he preferred spending those frozen days hibernating by the fire, waking up only to eat and get some head scratches from his beloved human. Hiccup doubted he'll be able to convince the dragon to give him a ride in this weather and he was definitely not going to try. After all, he did want to keep all his bones in one place.

He sighed, stood up and grabbed his fur gloves and cloak. "Fine. I'll go to Gothi's. But Gobber totally owes me one."

"You can tell him that after he gets his head out of the bucket."

Hiccup couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. He wondered how many people Astrid will be able to poison with her revolting drink until the holiday is over.

His amusement was gone as soon as he went outside. Within minutes he was so cold he couldn't even feel his fingers, despite the thick gloves. And if that wasn't enough, the rocky pavement was entirely covered in a thick layer of ice and endless piles of snow that caused him to slip and stumble every other step. Hiccup's footing wasn't exactly great even in the days he had both his legs - he was always so painfully clumsy - but now, with a metal limb, there was absolutely no chance for him to keep upright. He kept catching himself midair, his arms flailing wildly in order to stabilize himself.

"Behold the great Viking Hero, the Dragon Whisperer, Killer of the Red Death," Hiccup mumbled through chattering teeth. "Watch him battle to the death with those deadly snow piles..." He truly hoped no one was watching him right now. But the village streets were silent and empty, for every Viking with some sort of common sense was either helping with the preparations at the Mead Hall or locked safely inside his house.

He was barely halfway up the slope when he had to stop and catch his breath, his face red and sweaty despite the frozen air. For Thor's sake, why did the elder have to live in such an isolated place? And as if to make his life even more miserable, it started to snow again. The heavy snowflakes swirled in the wind and stuck to his hair and eyes, and he knew he had to hurry or he'll be stranded in Gothi's place until the weather clears. It wasn't like he hated the old healer, but she wasn't exactly his favorite person to be stuck with alone during a snowstorm, considering her utter lack of communicativeness.

Unfortunately, the blizzard made it very hard to see what was right in front of him, and it only took one misguided step of his fake foot to cause him to lose his balance and send him tumbling all the way down the slope. He didn't even have time to yell in surprise before he was unlucky enough to land on the only piece of ground not in snow, hitting the bare ice with such force that all the air was knocked out of his lungs and his vision went black for a moment.

When he came back to his senses he found himself sprawled on the frozen ground, seeing nothing but grey skies above him. He tried to sit up, but a sudden wave of pain shot through his right leg all the way up to waist and he cried out, his body growing weak and groggy. He carefully lay back, fighting the urge to throw up. Tears of pain stung his eyes, but the air was so cold they simply froze on his cheeks before they had the chance to roll down.

Hiccup knew somewhere at the back of his mind that things didn't look bright for him at the moment; that he should try and get up one more time, call for help, maybe even do the Night Fury call - perhaps this signal of distress will wake Toothless from his slumber. The snow was getting heavier by the minute, and he was going to be buried under it and freeze to death if he didn't do something soon. But the cold and pain were so overwhelming that both his body and mind went completely numb.

Besides, even if he could find the strength to call for help, no one would ever hear him in this blizzard. He was too far from the center of the village, the wind was too loud and Gothi was too deaf.

He managed to tilt his head to take a better look of his right leg. It was twisted in an awkward angle and looked considerably broken. There was no chance he could move it, not even an inch. In fact, he couldn't move any part of his body right now, and breathing also became kind of an effort.

Snotlout is going to laugh at me for the rest of my life, thought Hiccup before he finally gave in to the cold and passed out.

Rafters. His house's familiar rafters, barely noticeable in the dim light. But those weren't the rafters of his room, they were far too high. No, he had to be on the ground floor. He was on the ground floor, lying in the familiar warmth of his bed, the soft crackling sound of the fire almost lulling him to sleep again... wait, fire? He didn't have a hearth in his room. No, he wasn't in his room. But that definitely was his bed, and this was the ground floor. Why was his bed moved to the ground floor?

Oh crap!

Hiccup bolted to a sitting position with a horrified gasp, his consciousness almost slipping away from him once again due to the sudden movement, but he shook his head and fought the dizziness off. "Oh great Odin's ghost, not another one, please don't let it be another one..." he slurred in a panicked voice and tossed his blankets away to reveal his legs.

His left leg ended a few inches below the knee; as for his right leg, it was wrapped in a thick layer of bandages, which went from his mid-thigh to the end of his toes.

His toes. They existed. His right leg still existed. It was battered and broken and hurt like hell, but it was whole. He didn't lose another leg. Hiccup let himself fall back to his pillow as this realization sank in, weak with relief and seeing stars. Only then he realized that apart from the burning sensation in his leg he was sore all over, and bit queasy, too.

Something warm and wet rubbed against his cheek and he didn't have to turn his head to find out what it was. "Gross, Toothless," he said and raised a shaky hand to scratch the dragon's snout. "No tongue baths. Yes, I'm happy to see you too, bud."

"Son?" Stoick's enormous figure loomed over him. "Are you awake?"

"So it would seem." Hiccup turned to look at his father, who seemed extremely worried and relieved at the same time. A shiver shot through his body and he tugged at the multiple blankets, pulling them over his chin. "Hey, dad."

His father dropped into a large chair besides his bed, rubbing his forehead tiredly. "Thank the gods," he sighed. "It's been a stressful couple of hours."

"I'm sure it was," Hiccup said. "So, what's the damage?"

"Well, your right leg is badly broken, as you probably noticed; You won't be able to use it for at least a couple of weeks. You also cracked two of your ribs, but that's nothing to be worried about. The frostbites were already taken care of; luckily you didn't spend enough time out there to suffer permanent damage." Stoick cleared his throat. "Anyway, Gothi's orders were clear: get a lot of rest and keep warm. And don't even think about moving that leg."

Hiccup huffed. "Even if I wanted to, I doubt I'll even make it to the door." The huge relief he felt over not losing another limb started to fade and was replaced with a strong sense of frustration. How could he possibly break his one good leg? And on Snoggletog Eve, of all days? He has never felt so useless and pathetic in his life, and that included the time he accidently set all their barns on fire during one nasty dragon raid.

"How did you find me?" he asked.

"I went to look for you about half an hour after you left," Stoick said. "A quick visit to Gobber's proved that you never showed up, so I hurried to Gothi's hut. Luckily it wasn't too hard to locate you, since your hair wasn't entirely covered in snow yet."

"Yeah, sure, lucky for me."

His father frowned. "Don't be so sarcastic, Hiccup. Getting injured in this weather can very dangerous. If I hadn't reached you in time, you could have..." he swallowed hard and shook his head. "Oh, what am I saying? It was all my fault. I should have never sent you there in the first place. I... I'm so sorry, son."

Hiccup kept silent and stared at the ceiling, stroking Toothless's head absently as the dragon crooned against him. He hated to see his father so worried, but on second thought, it was kind of his fault.

"Did you get Gobber his medicine?" he asked eventually.

"Aye. Gothi brought him some after she finished taking care of you. I'm sure he's fine already, and even if he's not, I doubt it will ever stand between him and his mead tonight. Which reminds me..." Stoick got up and scratched his neck uncomfortably. "I need to get going. The feast is about to start."

"Feast?" Hiccup blinked in confusion. Only then he realized that it was already dark outside. "Wait - you're going?" he struggled to sit up again, leaning on Toothless for support. "You're going leave me here all by myself?! Dad, you can't be serious!"

"Of course I don't want to leave you alone, Hiccup!" His father burst out. "But I have to be present at the main feast! A Chief cannot miss his people's most important holiday. Please, son, try to understand."

Hiccup opened his mouth but no words came out. Really, what could he possibly say? Of course his father had to go to the feast. Hiccup knew he was being childish; after all, he was not a little kid anymore, he was almost seventeen. But the thought of being left in his house with no company but his dragon, confined to his bed while all of his friends are drinking and eating and celebrating with the rest of the village, made him feel incredibly rotten.

His father approached him and put one meaty hand on his shoulder. "I'll send the cooks with some food for you," he said.

"Fantastic," Hiccup muttered.

His father sighed again, patted his shoulder a few times and turned to Toothless. "Don't let him do anything stupid," he ordered the dragon before heading to the door.

"Like what?" Hiccup said bitterly. "Endangering myself with some crazy crawling exercise?"

Stoick chose not to answer as he placed his hand on the handle. "Oh, and one more thing, son," he said, not looking directly at him. "If you need to - um, you know, if you need to... err, relieve yourself, I put the chamber pot right under your bed, so you won't have to - "

"Okay, Dad, I got this, thanks!" Hiccup called, going very red in the face. He refused to look at his father as he went out and shut the door after him, probably unwilling to continue this conversation as much as Hiccup was.

Hiccup sank back to his pillows, the sudden silence almost deafening in his ears. "I guess it's just you and me, bud," he told Toothless. The dragon's ears flattened and his huge green eyes stared at him gloomily.

"Oh don't give me that look," Hiccup grumbled and snuggled deeper under his blankets. A small cough escaped his throat and he still felt slightly cold, despite the fact he was rescued from the snow hours ago. He wondered if he was going to get sick because of this incident. Oh, wouldn't that be perfect? As if he wasn't feeling like crap already.

All he wanted was a normal Snoggletog, for once in his life. Was it too much to ask for?

Hiccup was just starting to doze off when he was startled by loud noises from outside. Toothless, who was back at his regular spot by the hearth, lifted his head and looked at the door with alert.

"Step aside, you moron, my ass is freezing - "

"Don't push me!"

"Why don't you just open the damn door?!"

"In case you haven't noticed, my hands are kind of full - KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF OR I'LL RIP THEM OFF, I SWEAR TO ODIN - "

"Chill ou', babe, dontcha have any holiday spirit?"

"Your 'holiday spirit' smells like dragon piss! How much have you been drinking, exactly?!"

"Guys, keep your voices down, he might be asleep and you're going to wake him up - "

"Err, Duh, that's the whole point - "

The yelling and rustling continued for a few moments, then the door burst open and all of the dragon riders spilled into the house, carrying what looked like half of the food supply for the Snoggletog feast.

"Hiccup!" Astrid beamed at him, placing a large wooden tray (which, judging by the smell, seemed to contain several tankards of handmade yaknog) on the table. "You're up! How are you feeling?"

"I - I'm fine," Hiccup stuttered, still shocked at the sight of his friends. They were all wrapped in furs, hair disheveled and cheeks flushed from the cold wind. "Can't really get out of this bed, but I'm fine. What... what are you guys doing here?"

"Well we couldn't jus' let ye starve to death, could we?" Snotlout slurred. His eyes were slightly unfocused, and Hiccup suspected that the cold wasn't the only reason for the crimson shade of his face. "How much did he drink already?" he asked Astrid.

"Too much," she sighed. Toothless came to sniff at her, and she laughed and gave him a loving head scratch. "Don't you worry, big boy, we didn't forget you." She gestured at the barrel that Fishlegs was placing carefully at the corner, which was full of different kinds of fish. Toothless bounced in excitement and began attacking the barrel, almost knocking Fishlegs off his feet.

"And somehow he managed to smuggle a whole barrel of booze from the Hall," Tuffnut added, tapping his chin in appreciation. "Right under the Chief's nose. Very impressive, I must say. I'm deeply ashamed that my great mind hasn't thought of such clever plan."

"Just wait until Stoick finds out and kicks his drunk ass all the way to Valhalla," Ruffnut said with a devious smile.

"Hiccup, dude!" Snotlout stumbled to Hiccup's bed with a new tankard in his hand, nearly falling straight on him. "How the hell did ye manage to break yer one an' only l-l-leg?!" he squeaked right at Hiccup's face, making him turn his head away from his foul breath. "That's like... 'is like... I mean, you've always been useless, but that's like a whole new level of useless! It's a friggin' Snogg-e-tog miracle!" he started to giggle hysterically, stopping only to take another mouthful from his tankard.

"That's enough, Snotlout," Astrid pulled the drunk teen from Hiccup and dragged him by the ear to the other side of the room.

"They should totally write new holiday songs 'bout this useless - "

"That's ENOUGH, Snotlout!"

"Hiccup, do you want some of those yak pies? My mom made them," Fishlegs suggested kindly.

Hiccup blinked. "Ahh - I mean, yeah, sure, thanks," he said. He stared in confusion as his friends started to settle around the room, making themselves at home. "Wait, you guys aren't going back to the Hall?"

"Of course not, silly," Astrid said and released Snotlout, dropping him to the floor. "Why do you think we brought all this food? We're having our own feast, here, with you."

"Yeah, without our dragons it's just a bunch of old people getting drunk in the Mead Hall," Tuffnut said and grabbed a chicken leg. "It's much more fun to get drunk here. No parents!"

"What Tuffnut meant to say," Astrid said with emphasis, approaching the bed and smacking Tuffnut's helmet on the way, "is that there's no chance we're going to leave you alone on Snoggletog Eve. What good are the holidays if you can't spend them with your friends?" she sat on the bed and squeezed Hiccup's shoulder sympathetically. Hiccup felt himself blushing.

"Mo' like, what good are the holidays if ye can't spend them with yer mead?" Snotlout waved his tankard triumphantly, spilling some of the liquid on the floor.

"I think you two might have spent a little too much time together," Fishlegs said.

A warm wave of gratitude started spreading in Hiccup's chest and his face lit up with a huge smile. "I don't know what to say, guys, that's really - "

"So when do you start working on a new peg leg?" Tuffnut asked as he took a large bite from the chicken.

Hiccup wrinkled his forehead. "I - I don't need a new peg leg, Tuff. It wasn't damaged when I fell."

"No, dummy, a new peg leg!" Tuffnut repeated, waving his arms.

"You know, for your other leg? The one you broke?" Ruffnut explained, looking at Hiccup as if he was slow witted.

Hiccup just stared at her for a second. "Um, Guys, my leg is not gone, you know." he said. "It's broken, but it's still there."

"But you can't use it, can't you?!" Tuffnut called with his mouth full and pointed the chicken at Hiccup, spitting all over the place. "So how do you expect to walk without a prosthesis that will do the walking for you? Huh?!"

"Just ignore them," Astrid said as Hiccup slapped his forehead in desperation.

"Hiccup's gonna look s-so stupid with two prosthe... pres... pretheses-s-s," Snotlout blabbed, swaying dangerously in his place.

"Can we please talk about something else?" Hiccup begged.

And so the night went on and on, until every last bit of food was consumed (the yaknog remained untouched, to Astrid's dismay) and even the mead barrel stood completely empty. The twins took over it and soon they were able to compete Snotlout in their level of drunkenness. They even coaxed Fishlegs into drinking with them at some point, so that by the end of the party the four of them collapsed in an unconscious pile by the stairs. Toothless gave them one scornful look and curled around himself, covering his face with his tail.

Astrid went to sit by Hiccup, pulling her legs to her chest and leaning her head on his shoulder. "How are you?" she asked quietly.

Hiccup grinned at her. "Never been better." He really meant that - even the pain in his broken leg was forgotten for the time being. "Honestly, Astrid, thank you so much for this. I thought this holiday was going to be so depressing."

"That's what friends are for." She rubbed her eyes. "Although I was kind of hoping you'd ask me to dance tonight."

"Y-you were?"

"Yes, I did." She turned to look at him sleepily. "Would you do that?"

Hiccup felt his ears growing hot. "Y-yeah, sure, of course I would." He smirked. "Although I have to warn you, My coordination is pretty lousy, even with an unbroken leg. I would probably step on your toes at some point."

"And I would punch you in the nose."

"Sounds fair."

Astrid's eyelids started to droop and her head sank deeper against Hiccup's shoulder. "You owe me two dances next year, then," she yawned. "Try to keep yourself in one piece this time."

"I'll try my best, Milady, but I can promise nothing."

It wasn't exactly what one could call a "normal" Snoggeltog, Hiccup thought as Astrid fell asleep in his bed, her breath warm and sweet against his neck, but it was definitely one of the best holidays he has ever had.

Boy, that was LONG.

I put my heart and soul into this story, so please, take a minute to drop a review. It means the world to me. :)