Ben held the door open for Mal and waited for her to walk through before closing the door behind him. There was no need for the whole school and their parents to hear their conversation. Heck, there was no need for his parents to hear their conversation.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Mal asked. Despite her cool demeanor, Ben could tell that she was nervous, judging by the way she was holding her hands. Ben couldn't help but feel sad—the last thing he wanted to do was make her nervous in any way; especially after watching the last bit of film.

"Mal, do you know what that lake was that we went to on our date?" Ben asked, hoping the sadness wasn't audible in his voice.

"No," Mal shook her head. "I mean, I assumed there was magic based on all the sparkles in the air."

"You could see that?"

Mal shot him a look. "Half fairy, Ben," she said, shaking her head. "Magic is a part of me, just like it's a part of Jane. We're going to have to be allowed to use our magic and not get judged for it otherwise it's not going to be pretty. But I'm getting off topic."

Ben took a deep breath, hoping that Mal wouldn't freak out when he told her what exactly that lake was. "It's known as the Enchanted Lake. It's one of the most powerful magical locations we have."

"Powerful how?" Mal asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It can wash away any enchantment, curses, or potion," Ben told her and Mal stiffened upon hearing the word potion.

"You mean?"

"Yep."

"So the rest of the date, Family Day. You weren't—?"

"Nope," Ben told her, popping the p and giving her a small smile. Mal looked at him, uncertainly dancing in her eyes.

"So what? You've just been faking it the whole time?" Mal asked and Ben could feel his heart break at the slight quiver in her voice. The last thing he wanted to do was make her feel like the relationship wasn't real. Yeah he had assumed at first that it was because Mal had a crush on him but even knowing what he knew now, he didn't mind the love potion.

Mal had an opportunity to kiss him while he was under the love potion—she didn't take it. She could have used that chance to take over the kingdom and all she did was go on a date with him.

Gently grabbing Mal's hand, Ben closed the distance between the two of them.

"I haven't been faking anything," he said, his voice a near whisper as he rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. Placing his other hand on the back of Mal's head, Ben gently placed a kiss on her lips. He couldn't help but smile after a few minutes as Mal returned the kiss.

Unbeknownst to them, a burst of rainbow light filled the room the moment Ben's lips touched Mal's.

"I love you Mal," Ben said as they broke apart. "Did I mention that?"

Mal paused as she heard that, realizing that Ben was off the love potion when he had asked if she loved him. This entire time, Ben had been off the love potion and he wasn't mad with her or breaking up with her.

He honestly was too perfect to be real—she was a villain! Why wasn't he freaking out?

"I think you're being ridiculous," Mal said with a smirk, hoping Ben didn't notice her pause, and causing Ben to groan.

"I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

"It's harmless," Mal told him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "At least you're not Chad or Audrey. I think they're going to spend their entire summers inside their castles at the rate they're going."

"True," Ben chuckled but sobered as he thought of his former best friend and ex-girlfriend. "I should have stopped Chad and Audrey's behavior toward you guys. I'm sorry Mal."

Mal rolled her eyes. "How many times do we have to tell you? We're the children of villains! People being nice just for the sake of being nice is a foreign concept."

"Well, between Kitty and Emir, you guys won't be lacking in 'nice' tutors," Ben told her with a chuckle.

"You're forgetting someone," Mal told him.

"Who?"

"You," Mal told him and kissed him gently on the cheek. "You've been genuinely nice to all of us since we've got here. I don't know if we've ever thanked you for that."

"You don't have to," Ben told her. The last thing he wanted was for someone to thank him for acting the way his parents had raised him.

Mal chuckled and then quickly changed the subject. "So, should we we rejoin the group before Queen Leah convinces them all to think I've reapplied the love potion and they break down the door?"

"I'd rather stay here with you," Ben told her, a coy smile dancing on his lips as he grabbed her other hand.

"Okay, Emir was right," Mal told him, heading for the door and gently pulled her hands out of his grasp. "Your lovey-dovey lines are nauseatingly sweet, even when you're off the love potion."

Ben let out a laugh and followed her to the door, where he once again held it open for her. The sight he saw on the other side of the door, though, was enough for him to want to yank the door back and stay in the room with Mal.

Cinderella, one of the nicest royals Ben knew, was currently busy lecturing her son while Aurora was doing the same with her mother. The only time Ben could remember Chad getting lectured in public was the time he had put a spider down Kitty's shirt when Ben and Chad were five.

"Did we go to the wrong room?" Mal asked, staring at the scene in shock.

"There was only one door," Ben told her, his voice faint with shock as well. "Let's sit down."

Mal and Ben quickly made their way back to their group of friends; no one noticed them as they were all staring at Cinderella and Aurora.

"Mal!" Evie exclaimed when she finally noticed her best friend.

Okay, so Mal poking her in the back might have helped.

"What did you guys talk about?" Evie asked, pulling Mal off to the side; Ben not even noticing as he stared at the melee with rapt attention in case he needed to step in as a representative of his parents and as the future king.

"Sorry, Evie, not going to spill," Mal told her with a smirk, causing Evie to gasp in shock.

"Secret secrets are no fun! Tell me know or else we're done!" The blue haired girl pouted but Mal looked nonplused.

"Really? Hadie's little saying?"

"What?"

"You'll have to do better than copying my little br-bother of a neighbor," Mal told her, quickly correcting herself before anyone overheard her.

"Nice save," Evie told her with a smirk.

"Shut it," Mal muttered and the two of them moved back to the rest of the group. "So, what exactly happened to make the two nicest princesses in the room go berserk?"

"Oh," Evie shrugged. "Chad."

"What did he say?" Mal sighed, running her hand through her hair.

"Made a comment about my magic mirror. Said I should have been expelled for having it and that Mr. Deley favored me by giving me the B+."

"But that's generic Chad," Mal said, but still turned to glare at the prince. That's when she noticed Dizzy sitting next to Kitty, Melody and Grace; the red haired girl clutching what looked to be an ice pack.

"Evie?" Mal asked as she got up, her voice flat and yet cold as ice. The only other time her voice had ever gone that cold was when she had to deal with Uma back on the Isle.

"Chad didn't watch his hands during his rant and accidentally backhanded Dizzy when she was getting some more food," Evie told her, getting to stand next to her. "The boys were ready to kill—Cinderella was lucky she got to Chad before we did."

"And the reason the wicked witch is getting chewed out is?"

"She said Dizzy deserved it," Evie told her, her voice near a whisper but still filled with more loathing than Mal thought her best friend was capable of. Mal whipped her head around toward Evie, her green eyes glowing.

"What?"

"Uh-oh!" Carlos exclaimed and dove behind Jay.

"Aurora's handling it," Evie told her. "If it helps, even Audrey seemed shocked by the comment."

"It doesn't," Mal growled. While she wasn't as close to Dizzy as Evie was, she still cared for the younger girl. There was an innocence in Dizzy that Mal wished someone had protected in her and Evie and Carlos and Jay. "Where's her food?"

"It scattered all over the floor," Jay told her, getting up and standing next to the girls. "Jasmine stopped her from putting it back on the plate and some of the other royals cleaned it up. At least some of the other kids will get something decent when it ends up on the Isle."

"So Dizzy has no food?"

"Unless Kitty or the other girls got some, no she doesn't," Carlos said, joining the rest of the squad. Mal took a deep breath and started to dole out responsibilities.

"Alright, Jay and Carlos. You're on food duty—if you guys can remember what was on her plate before it spilled, all the better. Get a nice big plate full. Evie, go help Kitty, Melody and Grace. Dizzy could use a familiar face right now. Knowing Leah from my mother's stories, she didn't just end with saying Dizzy deserved to see the back of Chad's hand."

"What about you?" Evie asked.

"I'm going to go stand in that corner over there until the urge to beat that pampered prince and the gormless grandma into next week subsides," Mal said, pointing to the corner behind them. "If I rant or do anything untoward, that will only help Leah's stance against us."

"You're sure?" Evie asked.

"No, of course I'm not sure!" Mal snapped. "I want to pummel Chad into the ground. But you don't have magic Evie. You don't know what it's like, feeling the magic threatening to overspill every time you get a little bit annoyed or frustrated. Being around Chad and Leah and Audrey has made it like a ticking time bomb."

"Do you want me to get Jane?" Evie asked.

"Why?"

"She might know some stuff that could help," Evie pointed out. "She's half fairy after all."

"Oh, like she and her mother helped at Family Day when Leah was spouting off that anti fairy nonsense?" Mal scoffed.

"You're being stubborn," Evie told her but Mal shot her a look, causing Evie to sigh. "Jay, Carlos, you heard her."

"Food, right," Jay nodded and the two of them made their way to the food table while Evie made her way over to the group of girls. Mal planted herself in the corner and tried to calm down but every time she thought she was calm, the thought of Chad hitting Dizzy entered her head and it made her so mad.

"The trick is to face the wall," Jane's voice entered her thoughts and Mal looked to see the smaller brunette girl standing next to her. "I had to do it earlier."

"Really?" Mal asked.

"Yeah," Jane nodded. "Since mom doesn't really allow magic, I haven't been trained as I should be so my magic spikes sometimes. It's why I was so timid when you first met me—it's easier to tamp my magic down when I was scared than when I was happy or excited."

Mal looked at her. "So, I just need to face the wall?"

"Pretty much," Jane nodded. "I don't know why but it works."

Mal paused for a minute and then proceeded to turn toward the corner and closed her eyes. She didn't see Jane stand in front of her back to prevent any attacks, she didn't see Ben getting into an argument with Chad. She didn't see Dizzy's eyes light up as Jay and Carlos brought her a huge plate of food and she didn't see Queen Leah stalk off as Aurora finished her rant.

All she knew was that for the first time in a while, her magic felt calm instead of like an ocean in a storm. Mal opened her eyes and knew, without even looking, that the glow had vanished.

"You good?" Jane asked, giving her a smile.

"All good," Mal said and returned the smile. "You want to sit with us?"

Jane looked at Mal in shock. "You're asking me to sit with you guys?"

"Why not?" Mal asked. "We seem to be bringing new people in with every viewing. Sides, it'd be nice to have a fellow magic user around."

"Hey Mal?" Jane said as they turned to walk toward the group. "I'm sorry for what Chad did....and how he's been treating you guys. He used to be my best friend growing up but now it's like I don't know him at all."

Mal turned to Jane. "Chad's not your responsibility. He's not Ben's responsibility and he's not Audrey's responsibility. The only one responsible for him is Chad—and maybe Cinderella but since she raised Kitty as well, I'm going to keep responsibility on Chad."

"Thanks Mal," Jane said with a smile.

"What is with people today wanting to be responsible for Chad?" Mal asked, shaking her head. "First Ben, now you. Last I checked, Chad was a big boy so he should be responsible for himself."

"Sometimes it's hard to forget that," Ben said as he walked up to his girlfriend. "Evie told me what happened."

"How's Dizzy?" Mal asked, looking for the young redhead.

"Surprisingly okay, after Kitty, Melody, Grace, and Evie took care of her," Ben said with a chuckle. "Though I don't think anything could keep her down for long. I need to remember to write to her mother and send an official invitation for Dizzy to come to Auradon Prep."

Mal stared at Ben in shock. "Really?"

"Of course," Ben told her. "The whole idea was to bring more children from the Isle after the first four. Dizzy would be a great candidate for the second wave of students, and if you know anyone else let me know."

"Evie and I will get you a list, Ben," Mal said after shaking off the shock. "Thank you Ben. We can handle going back to the Isle but I don't think Dizzy could, not after getting a taste of the sun."

Ben frowned. "What do you mean go back to the Isle?"

"For the holidays," Mal told him. "I assumed the school closed and everyone went home. The Isle is home."

Now it was Ben's turn to stare at his girlfriend in shock. "You actually think that after what we've seen of the Isle, we'd just send you back?"

"You locked us up there in the first place and all we did was be born," Mal reminded him.

Ben sighed, knowing she was right. "Mom and I have had several families inquiring about what we were doing for foster placement for you guys for the holidays. I made it so that if the child wants it, we could set something up. I'm not separating a child from their parents."

"Parent," Mal corrected. "Most, if not all, of us have one parent."

"Then I'm not separating them from their parent unless they don't want to go back," Ben told her, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. "Mal, I promise. The only reason you'd ever go back to the Isle is if you wanted to."

Mal stared at Ben, unsure of what to feel. It was like a dream, but in dreams you wake up. In dreams, you learn that your reality is the truth and you wake up back on the Isle.

"We should get back," Jane said, shifting awkwardly from her spot behind Mal. "I don't think the Blue Fairy will allow us to pause for very long."

"Right!" Mal nodded, quickly going to her spot.

"Jane, are you joining us?" Ben asked, shooting a smile to the headmistress's daughter.

"Mal invited me," Jane told him, as she sat next to Emir. Dizzy was already sitting down next to Kitty, and Melody and Grace had made their way toward the edges of the group though Evie was trying to convince them to move closer in.

"We don't want to intrude," Melody said.

"But you helped Dizzy," Evie told her. "You wouldn't be intruding—Dizzy and I invited you to sit with us."

Mal sighed and shook her head. They'd move in closer at some point. She sat down next to Ben.

"Are we ready to continue?" The Blue Fairy asked, and Evie scrambled to her seat.

"Yes ma'am," Ben nodded.

"Very well," the Blue Fairy smiled and waved her wand for the film to resume.