Merlin's life of fail

by Blackthorn14

When Merlin is expelled from her small school in Ealdor, she is forced to move in with her uncle and attend Camelot high. Things go from bad to worse when she not only makes a enermy of Arthur, the mayor's son, but is also forced to tutor him.

A/N: Girl Merlin, AU Fic. Basically the first episode set in modern times.
I've put this as 'in process' rather then 'complete' because although at the moment it is a one shot, I might carry it on to cover other episodes depending on how I feel/ whether I get a lot of positive reviews. If I do carry it on I don't think i'll do every single episode, since ones like 'Excalibur' probably wont translate into modern very well. I do also have a couple of original idea's which I might just write as other one shots set in the same universe.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin and all that jazz.

If you want this to continue please remember to review :)

"This uniform is too big." Merlin complained walking down the stairs.

"Well, I did suggest you wear the girls' uniform, that was the smallest male size I could get considering your late entry into the school." Gaius replied from the top of his ladder, not looking away from the bookcase.

"Thanks, but I never did look good in skirts." Merlin replied turning up her sleeves so at least her hands were visible. "Eugh, I look like a kid playing dress up." She added fixing her hair in the mirror, not that there was a great deal left to fix. The fire had made sure of that.

"I'm sure you look fine." Gauis replied trying to put away a book that was slightly too far from his reach. Suddenly the ladder wobbled and the man began to fall.

"Ah!" Merlin said instinctively sending a couch to cushion his fall. "Are you ok uncle?" she asked running over to him once he landed.

"I'm fine, and I thought I told you not to use magic!" Gaius scolded sitting up

"It was instinct! Would you rather I had let you fall?"

"No, but you must be more careful! I told your mother I would look after you, it is no good you getting yourself expelled again."

"I know I know, no magic at school!" Merlin said having been lectured a million times before.

"Yes well make sure there isn't. The mayor has had a very low opinion of it since his wife died, he won't understand that some people can't help it. You don't want to find yourself being thrown in prison." Gaius replied. "Now we should get going before you are late."

Merlin nodded grabbing her bag and walking to the car. Gaius had been a great doctor in his day, but now he was older he had taken a job as the school physician. As they drove to school together he repeated his lecture on not using magic in school and Merlin allowed her mind to wander.

She had been in this town two weeks, in which time she had hardly left the house. After losing control of her power she had been expelled from her last school, and, due to it being the only school in her little town, found herself forced to move to the city of Camelot to live with her uncle. He was a nice enough man and had given her books to help her control her power, but Merlin still couldn't help missing her little town and her mother dearly.

"This is it, now keep your head down and be good" Gaius said as they pulled up at the gate.

"I will I will. See you later uncle." Merlin said getting out of the car and running in. As she entered the school gate she was surprised to see exactly how grand the school was. It looked a lot more like a castle then any school she had seen before and was at least twice the size of the school in her old town. As she stared at it gob smacked she barely noticed the boy walking next to her, that was until he was hit in the head by a football.

"Come on Geoffrey you are supposed to catch it with your hands not your head." A blond boy said walking over to him. Following him were three other boys all wearing jerseys that showed they belonged to the school football team.

"You are right...sorry." the boy said timidly.

"Maybe you'll do better close up." The blond said throwing another ball with such force it knocked the boy down. As the jocks laughed at his misfortune Merlin moved over and helped the timid boy to his feet.

"I think that's enough, friend." She said standing slight in front of Geoffrey.

"I'm sorry? Do I know you?" The blond scoffed.

"I'm Merlin." Merlin replied extending a hand

"Then I don't, yet you call me friend." The blond said moving forward slightly

"My mistake, I wouldn't be friends with such a prat." Merlin said squaring up to him, never being one to keep her head down too long. The blond glared and then looked back at his friends.

"Seems the shorty needs an attitude adjustment." He said tugging her jacket so that one of her folded sleeves unfolded, showing exactly how big the jacket was on her.

"And I supposed you'd be the one to give me it? Or are you going to ask the peanut gallery back there?" Merlin said.

"Naa they don't like to beat up kids." The boy said ruffling Merlin hair as you would a child, but making sure as he did to push Merlin down so she seemed even shorter.

"Get off!" Merlin barked whacking his hand.

"Aww temper temper. Here I'm a sporting guy, I'll give you one free shot" The boy said backing away slightly and opening his arms so his chest was open.

"You aren't worth the effort." Merlin said tuning to go.

"Would you prefer I kneeled down?" the blond said causing laughs from the peanut gallery. "Come on shorty, I'm giving you permission to hit me."

"You need knocking down a peg" Merlin said turning "You act like you're mayor." She added finally giving in and punching him. Unfortunately before she made contact the boy grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back.

"Maybe that's because I'm his son." The boy said smirking as Merlin struggled to get free.

"What is going on here?" A sudden voice said walking over to them.

"Nothing principle." The boy said, releasing Merlin from his grip.

"Looked like fighting to me, now who started it?" The man demanded.

"I don't know what you are talking about." The blond said looking away, his friends similarly remained silent.

"Well it seems to me that our new student is already calling problems." The principle said glaring at Merlin "And on your first day, trying to get expelled already?"

"No sir." Merlin said, rubbing her arm where the boy had held her. She vaguely realised that Geoffrey had already run off, meaning she couldn't claim she had been defending someone else.

"Well you need to learn that this sort of behaviour will not be tolerated. Three weeks detention!"

"What but-"

"Now you boys run along, I doubt your father would be happy Arthur to see you hanging around with a troublemaker."

"Whatever." Arthur said running his fingers through his blond hair as though he had been the one who just got in trouble.

"Right, now all of you get to class" The man said shoeing them away. Merlin just stood there staring as Arthur and his gang walked away, she hadn't been at the school five minutes without getting in trouble, when her uncle found out she was going to be dead. Almost on auto pilot she headed into the school, hardly noticing the girl who walked up behind her.

"That was kind, what you did for Geoffrey." The girl said once they were inside.

"Huh? Oh thanks." Merlin replied.

"I'm Guinevere, Gwen for short."

"I'm Merlin. Nice to meet you"

"Nice to meet you too. You know not many people stand up to prince Arthur."

"Prince?"

"Oh well that is sorta his nickname" Gwen said blushing a little. "Though really only the girls call him that."

"Ah, I get it" Merlin replied, although she would never admit it out loud, she had noticed he was a very good looking guy and probably wouldn't have looked out of place in a fairy tale.

"I'm sorry about your detentions, the principle tends to take Arthur side on everything. He thinks it will gain him the mayor's favour." Gwen explained.

"Yeah well it isn't the detentions I'm worried about, it's when my uncle finds out about this"

"Uncle? Not your parents?"

"No...I sorta live with him now, my mom is back home."

"Sorry I shouldn't have asked."

"It's fine don't worry about it" Merlin said, and she meant it. There was something about Gwen she felt she could trust, it was like talking to an old friend rather than someone she just met.

"So um..do you know where your first class is?" Gwen asked blushing again slightly, which Merlin just decided to put down to weird a trait of hers.

"Um...let's see." Merlin replied pulling a crumpled time table out from her pocket, she had never been one to keep things neat. "Looks like I have science in N0.02"

"Oh..."

"Why oh?"

"Um well..I happen to know that is Arthur's first class too."

"Oh great..."

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Gwen said, not sounding very sure at all.

"Maybe you should just show me where it is before I'm tempted to skip." Merlin replied. Gwen nodded and walked her down the hall, pointing out where to go for later classes as she did. By the time they reached the science room it was almost time to start.

"Thanks for showing me the way. I hope I haven't made you late." Merlin said, half watching people enter her first class room.

"Oh don't worry I'm only over there." Gwen replied pointing to one of the doors on the other side of the hall. "Maybe I'll see you after class." She added.

"Oh that would be nice." Merlin replied deciding it would be best to hold on to the first decent person she had found. Gwen blushed again and nodded, heading to her class room. Merlin stood there for a second slightly nervous and then turned and walked into her own class room.

"Ah you must be the new student." The man at the front of the room said, obviously her new teacher. He was a young guy, only a few years older than the students he was teaching, and would have probably been good looking if not for the scar on his face.

"Oh yes...I'm Merlin" She said trying her best not to stare. She quickly skimmed the class noticing Arthur sitting in the middle of the room looking mildly annoyed.

"I'm Mr Muirden" He said smiling and there was something in it that creeped her out. "Here is a workbook. Now let's see, ah there is a seat next to Morgana free." added gesturing at the class. As Merlin turned to look the girl sitting next to Arthur raised her hand. She was an incredibly beautiful girl with long brown hair and fair skin.

"Oh god I'm gonna look like a troll next to her!" Merlin thought despairingly. As she walked over she was sure she heard a few mumbles about her earlier encounter with Arthur, looked like more people had seen that then she thought. Hopefully having someone sitting between them would be enough to stop an encounter like that happening again. As she sat down, the girl turned and smiled at her.

"Hello, I'm Morgana." She said.

"I'm Merlin."

"You don't need to look so nervous Merlin, everyone here is very friendly."

"Um right." Merlin replied noticing Arthur scoff behind her.

"Oh don't mind him." Morgana said glaring slightly at the blond. Somehow Merlin thought that was going to be easier said than done.

"Alright, settle down class!" Mr Muirden said "You'll all be glad to hear we are going to have a test today." He added to an audible groan.

"Now now we have to make sure you are learning. Certain people choose to sleepwalk through my lessons, so why don't we call this their wake up call?" He said looking directly at Arthur.

"That son of a-" Arthur said angrily, as Mr Muirden began passing out tests. "He is doing this on purpose! He knows if I fail two more tests I'm off the football team!"

"Not everything is about you, Arthur." Morgana replied. As Mr Muirden walked over to them the two fell silent and looked away. The man didn't seem to notice, paying more attention to Merlin.

"Don't worry too much if there is stuff on here you don't know, it will give me a good idea of where you are." He said handing Merlin the test.

"Oh thanks." Merlin replied noticing that same creepy smile reappear on his face. She hoped he was just being friendly since it was her first day, but there seemed to be something else there that she couldn't quite place. As the man moved on he seemed to smile smugly at Arthur, gaining a glare from the blond.

"You have the rest of the lesson. Anyone caught cheating will get a week's detention." He said still locking eyes with the blond. Arthur scoffed and ran his hands through his hair. Soon after the class was silent, everyone concentrating on the test. Merlin finished the whole thing pretty quickly, having been in a small school most of her life had meant the teachers had had a lot more time to help individual students, so everything on the test had been gone over with her a few times. The rest of the class passed slowly and Merlin began drawing idly to pass the time. When the bell finally rang she almost jumped out of her seat hoping not only to dodge Arthur but the teacher as well. Unfortunately for her Gwen had other ideas.

"Hey Merlin." She said catching her as soon as she left the classroom.

"Oh Hi Gwen, so where do I have to head now?" Merlin replied

"Oh I'll show you, but I need to wait for my friend first." Gwen said gesturing towards the room Merlin had just left.

"Ah ok." Merlin replied.

"Though...she might be with her cousin." Gwen said suddenly worried, Merlin just looked at her curiously, until she noticed Arthur and Morgana heading towards them and realised the problem.

"Hi Morgana, have you met Merlin yet?" Gwen said as the two got nearer.

"Oh we've had the pleasure." Arthur answered smirking. Merlin just glared and decided to ignore him.

"Yes we met in science, hello again Merlin." Morgana said

"Hi." Merlin replied.

"I thought I would just show him to a few classes." Gwen said, Merlin putting down the wrong pronoun to her just misspeaking.

"Well that is probably a good idea, this school is pretty big." Morgana said.

"Yeah and you know how easily children can get lost." Arthur said smugly.

"So um where do I have to go next?" Merlin asked decided it was best to leave before she lost her temper again.

"Aww don't run away." Arthur said putting an arm around her "Maybe I should walk you hmm? Wouldn't want you to get squished." He added. At this point there were a few people gathered around mumbling.

"Arthur leave him alone, it is his first day." Morgana scolded, pushing Merlin to wonder if pronoun problems were common in this school.

"Aww you are right, the first day at school is a big step. Maybe next he'll master potty training."

"Arthur!"

"Poor little guy, you gotta be what? 6?"

"I'd tell you but i'm pretty sure you can't count that high." Merlin said on the verge of losing her temper.

"Ah it speaks! I was worried I had to pull a string in the back." Arthur said smirking again.

"Well I'm sure you have lots of experience pulling on small things." Merlin retorted starting to move away "Now if you wouldn't mind I don't think being late due to douchiness is gonna go down well with the teachers."

"Here I'll show you." Gwen said quickly, deciding it was probably best to separate them before a fight broke out.

"Arthur can you take one day off from being a jerk?" Morgana yelled annoyed. She then turned around and linked arms with Merlin. "Come on, I believe it is my duty to show you not all Pendragons are complete asses."

"Oh come on I was just messing with him. Not like I would actually hit him, I'd take him apart with one blow."

"Would take me less than that." Merlin mumbled, but unluckily for her it was a little louder then she meant it to be.

"Oh really? Then why don't we test that theory." Arthur said obviously finding the whole thing hilarious.

"Thanks but I'm busy." Merlin said about to walk down the corridor.

"Um actually Merlin...your time table says you have a free period now." Gwen said shyly, Morgana shooting her a 'why-did-you-say-that?' glare.

"Oh." Merlin replied.

"Well then you aren't busy!" Arthur said grabbing her arm "Unless you are scared of course."

"Scared of you? Hardly." Merlin sneered back.

"Good, so why don't we take this outside." Arthur said pulling her along.

"Fine!" Merlin snapped. She would make sure to teach this prat a lesson, he might be twice her size but she had her own trump card to play.

Meanwhile, as Arthur was dealing with Merlin, his father was dealing with his own problems. A mine on the edge of the city had collapsed. There had been warning signs for a while and there were plans to close it the next day, unfortunately that was one day too late.

"How many workers were down there?" Uther asked

"Not many, most of them evacuated before it happened." His aide said

"As those who didn't?"

"Injuries, though none too severe. Unfortunately there was one...casualty."

"I see...we should inform his family immediately, make sure his pension if paid to them in full."

"There is...one other thing sir." The aide said, suddenly nervous

"Oh?" Uther asked

"The um...man in question...it was believed that the collapse was caused by him...using magic to mine faster." the aide replied.

"...I see." Uther said, his face going suddenly cold. The aide stepped back slightly, knowing from experience what happened when magic was brought up in front of Uther. Luckily, just then there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Uther said darkly.

"Sir, the family of the man who died are here..." A young woman said, hiding slightly behind the door.

"Show them in." Uther replied, turning to sit at his desk. The woman nodded and then exited the room. She returned a moment later with an elderly woman. Uther looked at her for a moment and then began to speak.

"Mrs Longfield, I can't express how sorry I am for your loss."

"Thank you sir. The older woman said, crying slightly. "Do you know...what caused the accident?"

"Yes...it seems your son was practising magic." Uther said his face darkening again. "It seems he used a spell which caused the mine to collapse on top of him. Unfortunately we have a no tolerance policy for this sort of thing." He added, standing. "Your son's pension will be voided, as will any benefits you would normally receive."

"What...but I am an old woman. I can't work!"

"That is my final decision."

"You..." The woman said her face darkening "This is your fault! You should have shut that mine ages ago!"

"Your Son was the one who used magic! He brought his death upon himself."

"That mine would have collapsed either way! He was probably just trying to protect himself!" She screamed.

"Please calm down Mrs Longfield." The woman who let her in said "Maybe you should get some air."

"Murderer! I swear Uther Pendragon! I will not be the only one to lose their son! When we meet again you will have your own son's blood on your hands as well as mine!" She screamed and in a puff of smoke disappeared.

"I guess we know where he learnt the magic from." The aide said coughing slightly. Uther just stared at the space where the woman used to be.

"Call the high school. I want it made clear that no one other then students and teachers are allowed in until further notice. She is hysterical, I don't wish to take the chance that she may harm Arthur."

"I understand sir." His aide replied reaching into his pocket for his phone. Quickly he scrolled down the list of names and work numbers until he found the one for Arthur's school.

"Ow ow ow!" Merlin said as Gauis placed an ice pack over her eye.

"I can't believe you could be so stupid! What part of keep your head down did you not understand?" Gauis scolded. "And of all the people you could pick a fight with you choose the mayor's son? What if he had noticed one of those little magic tricks you were using?"

"I just moved a couple things so he tripped." Merlin said smiling slightly at the memory of Arthur falling flat on his face.

"Magic isn't for your idiot pranks! It is to be studied! Mastered! Used for good!" Gauis scolded.

"What is there to master? I could use magic before I could crawl!"

"Then now you should know how to control yourself! I thought I was clear when I said no magic at school. And keep that ice pack on your eye! Honestly hitting a girl, I have half a mind to call his father!"

"It is fine...leave it." Merlin said looking away. Gaius' face softened.

"I know it is hard, but you need to be careful." He said touching her shoulder gently.

"Yeah, wouldn't be good if everyone found out I was a monster."

"Merlin! Don't ever say that!"

"I can play normal all I like but we both know it." She said getting up. "I've got get to class."

"Merlin..." Gauis said worried, but she had already left the room. As Merlin walked down the hall she could tell everyone was talking about her. Whenever she walked past a group of people they would stop and begin whispering.

"That's the new guy right?"

"Yeah I heard Arthur was being a jerk to some guy and he tried to stop him."

"Really? I heard he caught him flirting with Morgana and taught him a lesson."

"Who does he think he is fighting with our prince like that?"

"Yeah! The jerk!"

"I don't know...he is kinda cute, and Arthur does tend to pick on the other guys..."

The comments flooded over Merlin as she ran down the hall. She wasn't sure what was worse, the fact that the whole school was talking about her or the fact that they all seemed to be referring to her as him. Seems even without magic Merlin was a freak.

"Aww look, shortie looks all flustered." Said a voice just ahead of her. As she looked up she relied the peanut gallery from earlier had moved to block her way in the hall.

"Well wouldn't you be embarrassed if Arthur just handed your ass to you in front of half the school?" One of them said smirking.

"Well maybe he will have learnt his lesson this time" One of the others said. "Arthur isn't someone you mess with."

"Maybe, but perhaps we should beat it in to him just to be sure." The one who spoke first said, cracking his knuckles. Merlin took a step back, all three of these guys where huge and could squish her easily. Quickly she looked around for something to help her escape, as her eyes settled on the fire extinguisher she wondered how she would explain away the fact it was about to explode. Luckily she didn't have to think up an excuse, as a moment later a voice behind them stopped the boys in their tracks.

"Leave him." Arthur said moving past the boys so he was directly in front of Merlin. Oh his cheek was a plaster from where he cut his cheek after Merlin tripped him.

"There is something about you Merlin...I can't put my finger on it" Arthur said leaning in "I'll be keeping my eye on you." He added turning and leaving, peanut gallery in tow. Merlin took a deep breath and then sighed. Somehow she doubted this would be her last run in with Arthur, but at least it looked like he wouldn't let anyone else bug her.

After that, not much happened the rest of the day. She headed to her classes, did the work and then tried to hurry through the halls without getting into any more trouble. This turned out to be pretty easy for her since she didn't see Arthur again. Apparently the blond had been voted student president a week of so before and was in meetings helping plan some big event the second half of the day, meaning Merlin could walk with Gwen and Morgana without fear of him popping up at any point.

"Well...this is it" Gwen said having just walked her to her last room of the day which, unfortunately, happened to be for her first of many detentions.

"It's unfair for you to get detention on your first day! Especially since Arthur provoked you!" Morgana complained.

"Maybe..but there isn't much I can do about it. At least I can get my homework done" Merlin said trying to stay cheery about the whole thing.

"Still...I hope you understand not everyone in my family is such a jerk!" Morgana said huffing slightly.

"Haha I know" Merlin replied smiling. This day might have started crappy, but Merlin was happy she had at least made some friends. "I'll see you guys tomorrow ok?" She added about to enter the room, but before she could she was stopped by a voice behind her.

"Merlin Emrys. I need a word with you." The voice said, Merlin turned to see it was one of her teachers, Mr Kilgharrah, standing behind her.

"Gaaa what have I done now." Merlin thought to herself. She had been in Mr Kilgharrah's history class earlier that day and had actually gone away thinking he was a pretty good teacher.

"Don't worry you aren't in trouble." He said smiling. "I just need to see you about something."

"Um...alright." Merlin said wondering what on earth it could be.

"Let's talk somewhere more private." He said turning and walking down the hall. Merlin followed waving goodbye to the girls who looked just as confused as she did. They walked for a few moments before entering what she thought was an empty class room, but once she was inside she noticed that not only was Arthur there, but also Mr Muirden and the Principle too. Merlin gulped slightly, wondering if she was going to be made to sit through a lecture on how fighting was wrong and that her and Arthur should be the best of friends.

"Sit down Merlin." Mr Kilgharrah said gesturing towards a chair. Merlin did as she was told, noticing Arthur glare at her as she did.

"No way, not that guy." Arthur said annoyed.

"Merlin here over doubled your score on the test, and hardly seems to be a slouch in any other subject either." Mr Muirden said obviously enjoying the blonds annoyance.

"Bet you haven't seen him in P.E. yet." Arthur mumbled.

"Yes well lucky for you that happened to be the only course you aren't failing." The principle said sighing "You know if this continues we won't be able to allow you to stay on the football team until your grades are up."

"Why? I'm the best player! My grades have nothing to do with that!" Arthur snarled.

"I'm sorry but those are the rules. Your father would kill me if I didn't uphold them." The principle replied. "I'm sure you will be able to get your marks up. With a little help." He added looking at Merlin.

"Um...me?" Merlin said, having been completely confused by the whole conversation.

"Merlin, you seem to be a little...ahead of most of your class mates. So we thought it would be good if you could give Arthur a little tutoring until his grades are up." Mr Kilgharra explained.

"I'm not sure that is a good idea..." Merlin said, able to see the grand disasters that would happen if she and Arthur were forced together on a regular basis.

"Let me make this easy for both of you." The principle said "If you refuse, Arthur will be kicked off the team and I will double Merlin detentions."

"That isn't fair!" The two teenagers said in unison. The principle gestured for them to calm down.

"But if you two do accept I will allow Arthur to stay on his team until report cards are given out, and then only remove him if there is no improvement, as well as getting rid of the 3 weeks of detention Merlin has." He added once they were quiet. The two looked at each other for a moment and then sighed.

"Fine. I guess I can put up with him for a while." Arthur said sighing

"Beats detention I guess, if only slightly." Merlin said pouting.

"Good. Now because of Arthur duties as Student president it will be easiest for you two to study if Merlin is around as a ...helper of sorts." The principle added.

"What you mean like his servant?" Merlin asked horrified.

"Or slave." Arthur said, suddenly finding the whole thing very amusing.

"Helper." The principle repeated. "Just help him out with his student council work and tutor him along the way."

"Not like I have much of the choice..." Merlin mumbled deciding whatever Arthur could do wouldn't be as bad as explaining to Uncle Gauis that she now had 6 weeks worth of detention.

"Well then it's settled. You two may go home." Mr Kilgharrah opening the classroom door for them.

"Good luck, you'll need a mallet to get anything through that thick skull." Mr Muirden whispered to Merlin as she stood up making her smirk slightly. Arthur glared at them and then walked out the room, Merlin following close behind.

"You should stay away from that guy." Arthur said once he was sure the teachers hadn't followed them out.

"Who? Mr Muirden? That's gonna be kinda hard considering he is my teacher." Merlin replied.

"Just do what everyone else does, sit down and try not to stare at his scar. If you give him any ammo he'll hold it over you for weeks." Arthur said.

"Why do I get the feeling the only reason you don't like him is cause he doesn't kiss your ass like everyone else at this school?" Merlin teased

"Whatever. I've given you fair warning shortie." Arthur said "Make sure you are here bright and early tomorrow." He added headed down the hall and out of the school. Merlin took a deep breath and sighed. Something told her her life here was going to be more eventful here then back home.

Meanwhile, at the hotel on the other side of town a woman was lying in wait for the missing piece of her plan for revenge.

"This is like totally the place right?" A young girl said walking into the hotel lobby. She had long blond hair and was dressed completely in blue.

"Yes Lady Helen, we'll be staying here while you play Camelot stadium. Now remember you also have a press conference in the morning and you are having an experience at the high school to promote your new album." A tall man wearing sunglasses and a black suit told her, obviously her manager.

"Like whatever. Not like I don't have you to remind me." She said checking her phone at the same time.

"Right...why don't you head up to the room? I'll get everything sorted down here." The manager said handing her the room key. She took it and headed for the lift without looking up from her phone.

"Eugh. I need a strong drink before I have to deal with that spoiled brat again." The manager said once she was gone, taking his own key from the receptionist, who just smiled politely and pointed him to the bar. As he walked past Mrs Longfield smirked and followed him into the bar. She had been practising magic since she was a child, long before it was made illegal, and considered herself one of the most powerful around. Though she was older now, and most spells took more energy then she could spare, shape shifting had always been her speciality and even if she couldn't hold the forms as long she could still change as quick as a flash. As she walked into the bar her body began to change, the years dropped away from her and her clothes changed into a long red dress. To any onlooker she looked like a woman straight off the cover of Vogue. Not someone who had just celebrated their 70th birthday.

"Hi handsome. Can I buy you a drink?" She said sliding onto the stool next to his. The man looked up and seemed taken aback for a moment.

"Oh, allow me" He replied calling the bartender over and ordering two drinks. Mrs Longfield just smiled and slowly began moving her purse so that something would 'accidentally' drop out.

"Oh my phone!" She said in mock shock as soon as the drinks arrived.

"Oh, I'll get it" The man said bending down to pick up the fallen phone. The moment he took his eyes off his drink the woman went into her bag and pulled out a small vial of liquid. It was a very powerful potion, which had cost her every cent she had to purchase, but no matter- it would be worth it in the end. Quickly she poured the contents into his drink and swished it slightly so that there was no miscolouring in the drink.

"Here you go" The manager said putting her phone on the bar in front of her.

"Oh thank you, you are really kind." Mrs Longfield said, drinking from her glass. The man smiled and picked up his own.

"Cheers" He said, downing the smaller glass. Alcoholic, Mrs Longfield thought to herself as he did. As soon as he finished the drink, the man's eyes went blank.

"Did you enjoy your drink?" She said smirking evilly "Its effects are very powerful, it will make you obey me until the day you die, or I do. Of course, the strong willed would be able to break out of its control, but I doubt a weakling like you will be able to resist." She added chuckling to herself slightly.

"Now, take me to your little singer." She ordered. The man nodded and stood up taking her hand and leading her to the lift.

"Get me inside and I'll do the rest" She said, changing her form again, to that of a hotel staff member.

"Of course mistress." The manager said blankly. Once they were on the right floor they walked out and headed towards the correct door, where the manager knocked three times.

"Like whaaat?" The teen singer yelled through the door, not bothering to open it.

"It is me Lady Helen. The rooms on this floor have been having problems with their plumbing. Someone has come to check yours." The manager yelled back.

"Eugh fine!" Lady Helen said opening the door like it was the biggest inconvenience in the world. The two walked in, her manager shutting the door behind them and locking it.

"So like are you going to check the plumbing or what?" the teen asked picking up her phone again. Mrs Longfield snatched it instantly.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Lady Helen asked looking up at the taller woman.

"I thought that would get your attention. Now, sleep!" Mrs Longfield said, her eyes flashing red for a moment. A second later the teen collapsed into her manager's arms.

"Put her on the bed" She ordered, the man obeying instantly. As he did the woman began to change shape again, this time to look like the teen singer.

"Like, don't I look totally cool?" She said mockingly.

"Yes mistress" The manager replied.

"Good answer. Now I want you to cancel that little press conference and anything else this spoiled brat is supposed to be doing. The only thing you need to keep is the promotion at the school!" Mrs Longfield ordered. The man nodded and pulled out his phone, beginning to make the calls he needed.

"And as for you. I'll be needing that pretty little voice now" She said turning to the sleeping girl, her eyes turning red once again.

"It isn't fair!" Merlin complained on the way to school the next day "I do well in school and I end up serving prince dollop head! How is that justice?"

"I'm not sure justice comes into this Merlin. You never know, you and Arthur might get on once you get to know each other. I've been friends with his father for years. You might even have fun" Gaius replied, having finally gotten the reason she had been sulking all night out of her.

"No way! I'd never be friends with such a prat." Merlin said slumping down in the passenger seat. "And how is teaching him going to be fun? Never mind what other jobs he makes me do!"

"We all have jobs to do Merlin, even Arthur will be working hard."

"Oh yeah I'm sure that Mr Mega Popular has such a crushing work load. Oh his life is so hard what with being handsome and good at sports and who knows what else!"

"Handsome hmm? No wonder he has got so under your skin"

"Huh? Ah whoa! No way! Not in a million million years would I ever like him! I just meant objectively handsome! Objectively!"

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks" Gaius replied laughing to himself

"Don't quote Shakespeare at me old man! Seriously? Who does that?" Merlin yelled a blush crossing her face. Gaius just smirked and chuckled to himself again.

As they pulled up to the school gate, Merlin noticed Morgana and Arthur getting out of the car in front of them.

"Not getting out?" Gaius asked "I thought you wanted to be dropped off out front so I don't embarrass you."

"Oh you don't mean it like that! I just think walking in with the school doctor is a little...weird." Merlin replied keeping her eye on Arthur. "I'll get out in a second."

"Merlin, you'll have to see him eventually. It might as well be now." Gaius said, leaning over and opening the car door so she fell out and straight onto her face.

"Ow! Thanks a lot!" Merlin complained as he threw her her backpack.

"Have a good day now" Gauis said shutting the door and driving off to the teacher car park. Merlin stood up and began to dust herself off. Luckily for her she had righted herself before Arthur finally spotted her.

"Ah shortie!" He said wrapping an arm over her shoulder. "Good, I've been looking for you!" He added smirking.

"You are cheery this morning. What happened? Get a prize in your cereal?" Merlin replied.

"Sorry kid, I have a grown up breakfast" Arthur replied ruffling her hair. "Now here, my homework. Make sure it is done by lunch time."

"What? I'm not going to do your work for you! I need to teach your how to do it."

"Oh come on Merlin, there is no point in having a dog and getting the stick yourself. No offence. Now are you going to do it or do I have to turn you upside down until your homework falls out?" Arthur said smirking evilly. Merlin just stared back defiantly and was about to talk again when Morgana interrupted.

"And what exactly are you planning to do next time we have a test on this stuff? Hide Merlin under the desk?" Morgana scolded standing behind them.

"Not like he wouldn't fit" Arthur replied, leaning his elbow on Merlin's head.

"Merlin said he would tutor you to help! Not to do your work for you and especially not to be tortured by you!" Morgana said.

"Fiiiine we'll play nice" Arthur said running his hands through his hair.

"Good, now Merlin did you understand the last question? It was the only one I couldn't do..." Morgana said showing him her own work sheet.

"Oh um yeah..see here you need to carry the remained over and um..9+9+9 is 27 not 21..." Merlin explained.

"Oh of course! I see now, sorry Merlin. If someone's music hadn't been so loud I might have been able to concentrate!" Morgana replied glaring at Arthur.

"Hey it was better than that crap you were listening to!" Arthur huffed.

"Lady Helen isn't crap! And if you think that why are you setting up for her visit?" Morgana asked.

"Because I am student president, it is my job!" Arthur retorted "Anyway she is good looking even if her music sucks."

"You are such a royal ass!" Morgana snapped. "What do you think Merlin?"

"She is ok..not really my style though." Merlin replied.

"Which is just a polite ways of saying she sucks." Arthur stated smugly. "Come on kid, let's get out of here before she infects you with her horrible taste." He added pulling Merlin inside the school. The two walked in silence for a moment, before Merlin decided to break the silence.

"So you and your cousin seem...close" She said.

"Hmm? Oh yeah she lives with me. Has since she was a kid." Arthur explained.

"Oh I see. So you are kinda like siblings?" Merlin replied.

"Well she is as annoying as I would imagine a little sister to be yes." Arthur said.

"Must be nice...I never had any siblings"

"Trust me you are better off as an only child."

"Aww you care about her really."

"True. Which is why if you lay one hand on her Merlin, I'll snap your tiny neck" Arthur said, hitting his forehead as he did. "Now, let's find you some work to do 'helper'." He added smirking. Merlin gulped slightly but didn't have much choice but to follow him.

As the day wore on she wished more and more that she had decided to run instead. Whenever something needed carrying, Merlin would do it. Whenever a message had to be sent to someone on the other side of the school, Merlin would do it. Whenever something boring, embarrassing or just sorta annoying needed doing, Arthur would make darn sure that that was a job given to Merlin. It got to the point that Merlin couldn't wait for the time when they would have to go back to class and she could finally stop following Arthur's orders like a dog.

Unfortunately class didn't turn out to be much better. Since her schedule matched up with Arthur's exactly, it had been decided that the two should sit together in every lesson so that Merlin was on hand to help with any problems. Which meant that whenever Merlin had to switch places with a 'prince' Arthur fan girl, she was on the receiving end of a glare that made her blood run cold.

"There is no need to look so scared Merlin." Arthur mocked. "I'm sure the girls won't beat you up."

Merlin just glared at him, too tired to think of some kind of clever retort. It was just her luck that being forced to hang out with the most popular boy in school would cause her own popularity to drop so much. It didn't help that Arthur seemed to have no interest in actually learning what she was trying to teach him, finding it much more amusing to just comment on her size and altogether just torture her in any way he could.

"All you need to do is find the X. It isn't that hard!" Merlin said trying her hardest not to lose her temper.

"Arr alright, captain." Arthur replied pulling out his red pen and drawing a big circle around the X on the page. "X marks the spot."

"Not...like...that."

"Really? You need to be much clearer Merlin, or else how am I going to learn anything?"

"Maybe if I put in language you would understand. Arthur find X. Arthur Get Banana. Now do you at least remember how to do that or should I write it on your arm?"

"Oh, I'll show you were you can write it!" Arthur growled, and then the next five minutes were spent with them rolling around on the floor as he tried to draw on her face.

"I can't do this anymore!" Merlin complained, having retreated to Gaius' medical room to scrub off the marks that had been made during her scuffle with Arthur "I should just take the 6 weeks detention! What do I care if he can't play his little game?"

"Oh? And which one of us exactly is going to explain to your poor mother how you ended up with 6 weeks detention before even finishing one week of school?" Gaius said putting some containers away.

"Couldn't we just not tell her? It isn't like she is here." Merlin replied.

"You can't ask me to lie for you Merlin. I do enough of that already. Anyway, it will show up on your school report." Gaius said

"Well then I'll just explain it was all Arthur fault!"

"And make her worry herself sick that you are being bullied? No Merlin, you just need to give this another chance."

"I have tried!" Merlin snapped. "And look what happened! He drew on my face! And after I spent all day doing his work for him! Gaaa why won't this stuff come off?"

"Merlin calm down. Perhaps if you tried a different tack." Gaius said

"Like what? Beat him with a text book and see if that makes something go in?" Merlin said, finally giving up and just magicking the marks off her face.

"Well maybe if you fed his ego a bit instead of insulting him. Or if you didn't respond to his insults he might get bored and actually decide to listen to you." Gaius suggested.

"And let him win? No way! Everyone kisses his ass around here!"

"Well maybe that is because that is the best way to deal with him." Gaius said. "Look Merlin, you don't have anything to lose and you have to spend the whole day with him tomorrow to get everything set up."

"But cough cough I think I might be coming down with something" Merlin said fake coughing a few more times for good measure.

"Nice try Missy, but I'm not buying it. Of course if you really are feeling ill, I'm sure I have something here to heal you." Gaius said holding up a bottle of the most vile tasting medicine Merlin had had the bad luck in taking when she had last been ill when Gaius was around.

"I'll be good." She said backing away from the bottle slightly.

"Good girl, now run along or you'll miss your last class." Gaius said smirking and putting the bottle back on the shelf. Merlin turned and headed out of the room. She walked down the hall taking deep breaths, trying to make sure she was calm enough for her next class. It had almost worked, she really thought she could go through with it, that was until she spotted Arthur waiting outside the class room door. Red pen in hand. And that was when she lost it, She wasn't really sure what came over her. All she knew was that she looked at Arthur and then at the fire alarm a little ways down the hall, and before she could even take another step the glass smashed and the whole school had to be evacuated.

After that she just went on auto pilot, following everyone else out into the playing field and then, when it was realised there wasn't a fire, only half listening to the principles speech about how stupid it was to pull the fire alarm as a prank. After that it was decided that it wasn't worth marching everyone back inside and the school finished early. Merlin breathed a sigh of relief and prayed that no one would connect the incident to her or her magic.

Since Gauis normally stayed late at the end of the day, to catch up on paper work or just be around in case someone broke something in one of the clubs, Merlin walked home by herself. It was pretty far but her Mother had never had a car in Ealdor so she was used to walking long distances. Once she was home she threw her bag on the floor and changed into clothes that actually fitted her. Eventually she would have to start on her homework and make sure that dinner was ready for when Gauis got home, but for right now it was laptop time. Switching it on she signed into instant messenger and was happy to see a familiar name appear in her online list.

MagicGirl:

Will! I need you to shoot me!

Wonderboy:

Alright. Can you wait till I can catch the train to Camelot?

MagicGirl:

No that's too long. I'll just throw myself off a bridge.

Wonderboy:

Bad day?

MagicGirl:

The very definition! Remember I told you about that Arthur guy?

Wonderboy:

The one you had a fight with? Yeah. What did the prat do now?

Magicgirl:

He drew on my face! Among about a million other things! Like using me as his personal dogsbody!

Apparently my tutoring him also includes carrying boxes everywhere for him.

Wonderboy:

He sounds like a real dick. Why don't you just turn him into a frog?

Magicgirl:

Tempting. But if I did I think they'll be like a million girls lining up to try and kiss him.

Wonderboy:

So...he is good looking?

Magicgirl:

And rich and athletic. If he wasn't an idiot he'd be what mom would call the 'whole package'

Wonderboy:

But he is an idiot right? So he definitely isn't your type.

Magicgirl:

Right! Though I don't think he is actually stupid. It's like he just can't be bothered to learn. If he listened to me he might actually learn something.

Wonderboy:

Oh

Magicgirl:

Still would be a prat though.

Wonderboy:

Right! A complete prat! So have you made any other friends yet? Like...girl ones?

Magicgirl:

I don't really consider Arthur my friend. But yeah I've been talking to this girl called Gwen, she seems cool. Oh and Arthur's cousin Morgana, who is pretty much the only other person to not kiss the guy's ass.

Wonderboy:

So you are doing ok then...

Magicgirl:

I guess, though most of the school turned against me after my fight with mr popular. I thought I could get away from people about me here :(

Wonderboy:

Well if it is so bad, why don't you just come home?

Magicgirl:

If you haven't noticed Will, I was kinda expelled from the only school for miles over there.

Wonderboy:

But that wasn't fair! You wouldn't have lost control of your powers if it wasn't for that jerk! He is still mouthing off you know! I had to kick his teeth in!

Magicgirl:

Will! Don't get into trouble over me!

Wonderboy:

Why break the habit of a life time? ;)

Magicgirl:

Oh har har! Seriously though, it is no good you getting expelled over me.

Wonderboy:

He was asking for it! You should be here!

Magicgirl:

I wish I was Will. It isn't for that long though... once I graduate I'll come back or we can head off to some university away from everyone.

Wonderboy:

With no royal ass or the jerks from Ealdor. Just you and me right. Like when we were kids.

Magicgirl:

Right so make sure you keep your grades up! Speaking of which I have a ton of homework. I'll talk to you later ok? And this time no ranting about my day! Promise!

Wonderboy:

I'll hold you too that ;) Talk to you later Merlin.

Magicgirl:

Bye Will.

And with that she logged off. Will always made her feel better, even when he was thousands of miles away. It wasn't the same as when she could see him everyday, but I was enough to keep her from going insane at the hands of Arthur. Taking a deep breath she shut off her laptop and started on her homework, whizzing through it now that she was in a better mood. She wasn't going to let Arthur beat her, she decided. If he didn't want to learn that was his problem, she would just keep trying to teach him and then when he failed everything lord it over him like there was no tomorrow. As for all the student council work well, there wasn't much she could do about that. She guessed she could refuse to do things but whenever she did that before the whole council glared at her as though she had just told them she kicked puppies for a living. Not that she didn't want to carry five boxes to the other side of school. No, the only thing Merlin could do was keep calm and carry on. Once the singer had gone she was sure that the amount of things Arthur could ask her to do would decrease. So as long as she could make if through these next few days she was sure she could handle anything else he decided to throw at her.

The next day, all of Merlin's optimism dropped out of her like an anvil. The moment she walked through the gate, Arthur had grabbed her and marched her to the main hall to help set up for the singer.

"I thought she was coming next week?" She asked as Arthur dragger her along.

"She was, but she asked if she could move it forward so we have to set everything up for this afternoon" Arthur replied, seeming as annoyed by this developments as Merlin was about being dragged about. "So I need you to help set everything up." he added.

"And what will you be doing?" Merlin asked.

"Supervising." Arthur replied smirking. Merlin just sighed and began to wonder how many times she could set the fire alarm off without it becoming suspicious. The next few hours were very similar to the ones the previous day, with Arthur ordering her about constantly while doing very little work himself.

"Seriously Merlin, how hard is it to carry boxes?" Arthur said after she managed to drop the stack of three boxes he had piled on top of her.

"Well evidently it is something you are incapable of doing since you've just been standing there all day." Merlin retorted, glaring at him.

"I thought I told you? I'm supervising." Arthur replied, the same condescending smirk on his face as always.

"Well why don't you supervise yourself taking this box over there!" Merlin said shoving a box into his hands.

"Because you obviously need practise at it" Arthur said shoving the box back at her. What followed was 10 minutes of them shoving the box between each other until the thing finally broke and its contents fell all over the floor.

"Oh well done Merlin! Pick that up!" Arthur scolded, throwing the broken box at her and then turning to leave before she could tell him to do it himself. Unluckily for him he wasn't fast enough to avoid Merlin magic, and with a well placed chair movement found himself falling flat on his face.

"Seriously Arthur, how difficult is it to walk?" Merlin smirked as she stepped over him to finally move the box to where it was needed.

A few hours later the room was finally set up. The plan was to throw a sort of impromptu dance for the students with Lady Helen taking the place of the music. But since the event had been moved ahead a week the decorations and food on order had to be cancelled and replaced with a collection of whatever was around at the time. Even so Merlin thought they had done a pretty good job, the hall was much grander than anything back in Ealdor and considering they were old, the decorations didn't look half bad.

"This will have to do." Arthur said not sharing Merlin's opinion. "Now come on."

"What now? I thought we were done" Merlin said

"We are, but I have to stand up and introduce Lady Helen and the other council members are supposed to sit either side when I do." Arthur explained. "But a couple of guys are off sick so I need you to fill a seat. Let's hope you can at least handle that" He added pushing Merlin down into a chair so that she almost toppled backwards.

"At least I get to sit down" Merlin mumbled glaring at the blond, only half noticing the girl entering at the back of the room.

"Wow, like this like place looks like totally great." The blond girl said looking around like an excited child.

"Well everyone has been working hard to get it ready for you. Though if we had had more time it would look better..." Arthur explained walking over to her, quickly followed by most of the student council.

"You must be Uther's son.." The blond replied with a smile that made Merlin's blood run cold. "How nice you are following in his footsteps."

"Well it is just student president. I wouldn't really call that following him into politics" Arthur replied "So, um we have the mike set up over here and-"

"Actually I thought it would be kinda cool to walk around the room while I sing, you know mingle. Don't worry I have a headset that will work." The fake lady Helen interrupted. "So I was thinking I could start by walking in from the back. Which means we'll be in direct sight of each other after your introduction." She added winking.

"Oh...ok." Arthur said smirking. Merlin just rolled her eyes and suddenly noticed the man standing slightly behind Lady Helen. He seemed slightly in a daze and when a fly landed on his cheek he did nothing to swat it off. Merlin was about to ask if he was ok when Lady Helen started talking again.

"Well then why don't we like get totally started?" She said turning to the man behind her "Go inform the principle we want to start."

The man just nodded and walked off with the same blank stare on his face. Merlin watched him go but decided he was probably just really tired. Lady Helen was supposedly a real spoilt brat behind the scenes.

A few moments later people began to file into the room and Arthur and the others retook their position at the front. There was a lot of excited chatter amongst the crowd which, to Merlin's amusement, managed to drown out most of what Arthur was saying.

"And because none of you are listening to me. I'll just go ahead and introduce the lady you came here for. Lady Helen." Arthur said jokingly, but Merlin noticed the slight tinge of annoyance in his voice. Almost instantly, music began to play and all heads turned to Lady Helen who had slowly started walking from the back of the room. Her singing was beautiful, Merlin noted, the ballad she was singing sound more operatic then any pop song she had heard before. It was a very soothing song, and the young witch didn't realise exactly how soothing until the first person collapsed.

"What...?" Merlin said to herself, covering her ears quickly as more people began to fall asleep.

"It must be magic! But why put everyone to sleep?" She thought to herself, as cobwebs began to form on the unconscious students. Watching Lady Helen, her eyes fixed on the blade being pulled from her sleeve, and suddenly she realised why it had been so important for her to have Arthur in view. As the woman raised her arm, ready to throw the blade, Merlin's eyes darted around the room. There had to be something she could use, some way for her to stop this. Eventually her eye targeted the hanging light fixture above the singers head, and without a word she sent a blast of power towards it, breaking it from the ceiling and causing it to fall on the woman, knocking her down and silencing her.

"Phew..." Merlin said allowing herself to catch her breath which she hadn't relied she was holding. Around her the students began to wake up, confused, with many of the girl freaking out about the fact they were covering in cobwebs.

"No!" A voice shrieked, silencing everyone. All eyes turned to the woman crawling from beneath the light fixture. The once beautiful fake Lady Helen now all wrinkled and grey, stood to her feet and glared directly at the blond standing a few feet away from Merlin.

"I will have my revenge! Uther Pendragon will pay! Even if it takes my life!" She screeched raising a hand above her head and channelling all her power. Quickly a fire ball began to form in her hand and the students began to panic, many running towards the exits. Amongst those who didn't were Arthur, who seemed rooted to the spot, either out of fear or some part of the spell.

"Die!" The old woman screamed finally, sending the fire ball directly towards Arthur.

"Look out!" Merlin screamed, power flowing from her again. Time slowed, if only for a moment, but it was enough for her to clear the distance she needed and grab Arthur, shoving him out of the way of the fire ball. If she had been a second later, the blond would have been toast. Unfortunately she was slightly too slow to completely save herself, as she felt the flames burn through her uniform and onto her back.

"Merlin! You idiot you could have been killed!" " Arthur said, hitting her back to put out any lingering flames. Behind them Mrs Longfield collapsed. Dead.

"Are you two alright?" The principle said running over to them.

"I'm fine, but Merlin is hurt" Arthur said, Merlin surprised to realise he actually seemed a little worried about her.

"I'll take her to Gauis." Mr Kilgharrah said helping her stand up. "I think it'll be best to send the rest of the students home. I'll call the police and tell them what happened." He added. The principle nodded and began giving orders to the students who were more than happy to get out of the hall. As Merlin and Mr Kilgharrah left, she couldn't help but notice the man from before standing in the middle of the room, looking a lot more active and very very confused.

"That was very brave of you, to protect him like that." Mr Kilgharrah said as they walked down the hall.

"Yeah well I'm his 'helper' right? So I helped him" Merlin said, wincing a little from the pain.

"Haha I guess so. Still it was lucky that light fell or you wouldn't have been awake to save him."

"Yeah. Really lucky."

"Strange, since it has never shown any signs of being close to falling before. Almost like magic wouldn't you say?" The man said, smirking slightly at Merlin "Ah here we are. Gauis! Patient for you."

"Merlin? What on earth have you done to yourself now?" Gauis said helping her into the room. Once she was sat down Mr Kilgharrah explained what had happened. Merlin watched him the whole time, wondering exactly how much the man knew about what really just happened in the hall.

"Well, seems you are a hero." Gauis said, once Mr Kilgharrah had left to call the police.

"Yeah, who'd have thought it eh?" Merlin replied smirking slightly.

"I did. You did save me from falling the other day remember."

"Yeah but...that was with magic..."

"Yes, and maybe we have finally found a use for it. Now take off your shirt, I have a salve that should get help the burns on your back, it will get rid of the pain at the very least." Gaius ordered. Merlin nodded and took off her blazer and under shirt so she was just in her bra.

"So what? I'm supposed to protect blond idiots from fireballs? Cause I kinda doubt that situation comes up much." Merlin replied.

"No, but not everyone with magic in this world is as kind as you Merlin. There are a lot of evil people out there. Now this might sting a little." Gauis said applying the salve to her back.

"So what? I should put on a mask and fight crime?" Merlin said, hissing slightly at the pain.

"I wouldn't go quite that far. But this isn't the first time Arthur has been targeted and I doubt it will be the last. His father is a very powerful man. He hasn't been out of office in over ten years and he has many friends in high places. Undoubtedly his influence was what got magic banned so quickly throughout the country." Gauis explained.

"Guess that would make him kinda unpopular with people with magic." Merlin said "But it's not fair to target his son. I mean Arthur is a jerk but he didn't do anything!"

"Arthur is an easier target. And what better way to wound a man than to take away his son?"

"I guess but-" Merlin started, but was interrupted by the door opening.

"Merlin..I just wanted to.." Arthur began, walking in and then stopping as he took in the scene before him. His eyes fell on Merlin and then down to her chest.

"M-merlin your a-a"

"GET OUT PERVERT!" Merlin screamed throwing the majority of Gauis' room at the blond's head. Luckily for her Arthur was too stunned to realise that very few of the projectiles had been thrown by hand as opposed to magic.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry!" Arthur yelled through the door. "But...you're a girl?"

"Oh really I hadn't noticed! Of course I'm a freaking girl you...clotpole!"Merlin yelled back

"But...you dress like a boy and...I...we..." Arthur said trying to get head around all this. He had been sure Merlin was a guy, he never would have been such a jerk if he had known she was a girl. He definitely wouldn't have hit her.

"Merlin...look about everything..."

"Yeah?" The now fully dressed Merlin said exiting Gauis' room.

"..None of it would have happened if you just dressed like a damn girl!" The blond finished.

"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't think my not wearing a skirt to school would be so confusing for you!" Merlin snapped.

"It isn't just the skirt! This shirt is what? 3 sizes too big for you! You look like a little kid!" Arthur said pulling her shirt slightly.

"This was the only size left ok!"

"Whatever. Not like those mosquito bites would show up if you wore a shirt that fit anyway."

"Arrgh! Just forget you saw anything! And learn to knock!" Merlin yelled, blushing.

"Nope. I think I'll just keep this little mental picture for the next time you annoy me." Arthur said smirking.

"You...ass hat!" Merlin spat, kicking him in the shin.

"Ow! You kicked me! I can't believe you just kicked me!" Arthur said rubbing his shin.

"I'll do worse if you don't forget what you saw!"

"Fine! Not like they were that great anyway!"

"Why the hell did I even bother saving you?"

"No idea. Maybe you are in love with me"

"In your dreams!"

"More like nightmares shorty!"

"I am not short!" Merlin screamed, wondering how much trouble she would get in for choking the blond. "I'm going home." She added storming off.

"Fine, see you tomorrow shorty." Arthur said watching her go. "Oh and Merlin. Enough with the heroics. It doesn't suit you! A kid like you might get hurt." He added smirking, but underneath his arrogance, Merlin was sure she heard a note of concern. Maybe Arthur Pendragon wasn't that bad after all...

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