So this fic is proving a lot more difficult to write than I'd thought. I'm just gonna post this thought, even though I'm not a 100% happy with it. Its just one of those things where you have to stop, say okay this is good enough, and move on. So yeah, hope you like it!

(I made a few changes to the last chapter, but nothing to huge. The Ravenclaw password-blunder is fixed, among other things.)

Also thanks to my ever patient beta, Julia! You are awesome!

Sometimes Arthur likes to pretend that there are two different versions of him.
There's Arthur Pendragon, only heir of the great Pendragon family, purebloods for as long as anyone can remember and renowned for their exceptional achievements in the wizarding community with no less than three ministers of magic's to their line. Not to mention the Hogwarts headmasters (6!).

And then there is just Arthur. The 17-year old boy who really just wants to have a moment to himself every now and then, to sit on the windowsill in the Gryffindor tower and watch the sun rise on early mornings like this one. He's not usually a morning person, but there is something special about the first day of term that makes him wants to run to the highest tower in the castle and just breathe. There are, of course, plenty of towers on the Pendragon estate as well.
But at the estate there are house elves everywhere, trying to make him put on an extra jumper whenever he wants to go out. And the halls he has to cross through are filled with the disapproving looks of his ancestors, still annoyed with him after his last tantrum.

Arthur Pendragon, the head boy, does not throw tantrums at old paintings, of course.
Arthur the human, however, gets sick of their faces and their mumblings and the way they remind him that, at best, he will just be another person in a line of successful Witches and Wizards. At worst, his painting will never be hung in these halls, and his name will be deleted from the family scrolls. And maybe that is a lot to take for one person.

Arthur Pendragon, the good son, will be able to take anything thrown in his direction, no matter how difficult it is. Because he has responsibilities, and he takes pride in them. There is no need for any recognition of his talents, they are assumed to be there, and rightly so.

But Arthur, just Arthur, weakArthur, would really like someone to smile at him every now and then and tell him that'sgreatArthur!I'mproudofyou.And maybe that is what he has Gwen for. He thinks about that for a moment as he fiddles with his wand between his fingers. Dating Gwen has been the right choice, her friendly nature and beauty all one is supposed to ask for, really. And there is no denying that he really enjoys her company. Besides, his father has hinted that he wishes Arthur to find himself a steady relationship as soon as possible. It will look good, of course, for his upcoming career in the ministry. Uther doesn't even mind that much that she's a half-blood, since that, too, will look good in these brave new times. Although he has mentioned that he might want to wait before having any children until he is sure there is none more suitable (read: Pureblood) girl around, which had been a rather mortifying conversation in itself. Yes. Gwen is perfect.

He nods to himself, wondering how he ended up in this trail of thought to begin with, as he hears Percival stirring in the bed beside him.
He puts his bare feet down on the cold tiles, changes into his school robes and starts going through the day's schedule in his head, pushing the Arthur - who likes to philosophize about his life during the sunrise on windowsills - into the back of his head. Arthur Pendragon, the man, has got things to do.

"I just don't see why you hate him so much!" Gwen says as she crushes the last of the beetle eyes with a squish into the mortar. Merlin lets out a sigh and dunks his forehead against the workbench, sending some of the Rose thorns scattering to the floor.
"Merlin! We need those!" Gwen reprimands, picking up the thorns closest to her.
"Have I mentioned" Merlin says, his voice muffled by his sleeve as he rubs his eyes, "that you sound a lot like my mother sometimes?" Gwen just sighs and gives him a friendly shove, urging him to pick up the scattered ingredients.
"Don't change the subject! I have had enough of you whining about your terrible new job" she rolls her eyes at that "And no it is not slavery!" she continues, before Merlin even gets the chance to defend himself from where he is crawling around after the rose thorns on the floor.
"It's not just that okay? It's just one of those things where you hate each other on sight! Nothing personal." Gwen arches an eyebrow at her from her chair. "Okay fine I guess it is personal, but you know how it is, some people just don't get along, and that's that." Gwen thinks about that for a moment, tilting her head to the side.
"No, I don't think I can accept that explanation." She says finally, and Merlin groans.
"Look-"He starts, getting up from the floor and promptly hitting his head on the workbench(Ow!). Gwen giggles.

"No, you look, you clumsy, clumsy person you. I'm not saying you have to be best buddies with him, but just- try to get to know him without thinking about his enormous fortune or status or whatever. He's actually really sweet when you get to know him!" And it might be temporary insanity brought by the impact but he feels a bit guilty at that. He of all people should know not to judge based on background. With his mother a muggle and his father unknown he might as well be a muggleborn to some of the resident prats. And to his credit, Pendragon had never held his blood status against him.

MaybeIshouldgivethebuggerachance, Merlin thinks as he stirs the potions carefully counter-clockwise according to Gwen's instructions. TheremustbesomethingabouthimthatmakesGwenlovehimsoblastedmuch.

Merlin thinks of sweet, clever Gwen with her heart of gold and her silly giggle at Merlin's rubbish jokes. He thinks of how she smiled at him during that miserable first potions lesson in their first year, when he had dropped all his glass vials on the floor, drenched his textbook in some kind of purple goo andfallen on his face into a tray of leeches. She'd removed a leech from his nose, handed him a towel and let him read from her book for the rest of the year. Gwen, who didn't give a shit that he liked blokes just as much as she did. Gwen, who had arrived to their potions-class one morning last February, cheeks bright red and happilyinlove written all over her face. She'd admitted that morning, after excessive prodding, that she had a date with ArthurfuckingPendragon.

But then he thinks of said Pendragon, laughing louder than the rest of the guys as one of the Slytherin brutes locked Merlins legs together, causing him to fall and break his jawbone on the hard rock of the astronomy tower.
The Quiddich captain who acted like he'd earned his right to fly when other great players hadn't even been considered because ArthurfuckingPendragonapplied.
The daddy's boy who got all the cool friends, the good looks, hot girls, top grades and all the sports achievements, and still got to act like a prat!

And okay maybe that is jealousy talking, Merlin thinks as he absent-mindedly drops the dung beetles into the cauldron. He is, after all, a scrawny, pale Welsh boy with a small acne problem (that has improved a lot over the summer thankyouverymuch) and hair that never does what he wants it to. Not to mention that he is rubbish at sports, has only had one girlfriend in his life (and hadn't thatbeen a disaster), and yeah okay his grades are good but since when has that made anyone like him popular?

Still, there iss always the bloody choice isn't there? Just because you are popular and rich and sexier than the wizard-of-the year in Witches Weekly (The magazine that Merlin will never ever admit to reading) doesn't mean you have to be a dick about it.

He was just about to explain these reasons to Gwen when he accidentally tipped two drops of dragons blood too many into the cauldron, causing the whole thing to crackle, convulse, and shower both of them in grey goo.

The lunch tastes wonderful, of course. Arthur makes a mental note to let some of his house elves come to Hogwarts to get some tips. Even the asparagus, which Arthur usually finds absolutely vile, tastes decent when prepared by the Hogwarts elves. They tend to be a stingy bunch though, the Pendragon house elves. This might call for some carefully chosen words of diplomacy. Maybe he can pretend it's like a holiday. He snorts at the thought. No that will probably be the worst thing he can possibly offer them. Strange creatures. He is pulled from his thoughts by suddenly getting an armful of Gwen in his lap; smiling and smelling like she'd just taken a dive into a field of daffodils. When she leans up for a kiss she tastes even more like flowers, and the sensory overloud makes him pull away and cough, his eyes watering. Gwen immediately looks worried and apologetic at the same time.
"Sorry! Sorry! It's the perfume isn't it?" Arthur coughs in what he hopes is an affirmative way.
"Merlin made some potion explode on us and I really didn't want to smell like dung beetles when I met you… I'm sorry, I must have overdone it." Arthur can't help but laugh at that.
"Emrys? Again? Hahah I may have to find another assistant after all if that keeps up. Not sure I want him in the common room even! He might blow the place up." He adds, deadpan. Gwen gives him a playful slap on the back of his head.
"That is mean! Merlin is a great person, who just happens to be a little clumsy that's all." Arthur looked at her incredulously.
"A little? This is the 7th time in two years! And the term has barely started!" She hits him again and laughs, and Arthur thinks that yes, yes, this is how relationships are supposed to be. All laughter and teasing and smiling. And then she looks at his mouth again, and he wonders if she's going to kiss him again. Oh.That's a yes then.

So… not that Arthur will ever admit it to anyone, but he doesn't really like kissing. There's just so much to think about – Should I move my head this way, am I doing this right, is this where there is supposed to be tongue involved and should I stop now or- there simply are no answers and Arthur hates the feeling of not being good at something. Half the time he's convinced Gwen's just too nice to tell him what a rubbish kisser he is.

He keeps kissing her for what he deems an appropriate time, before pulling back with a smile. She looks happy, so he assumes it wasn't too early to pull apart at least.

Relief.

Merlin is barely clean from the goo when he arrives at the Hufflepuff table for lunch, and is about to go into an annoyed rant about the properties of Dragons blood when mixed with dung beetles when he is thrown off by the smiling boy sitting next to Gwaine.
"Um, hello?" He says. It should be impossible, but the boy smiles even wider. Gwaine groans.
"Hi! I'm Kaye, and I want Gwaine to join the Hufflepuff quidditch team" he says, sounding like he's rehearsed that sentence all morning. "And I will stay by his side until he does!" he continues cheerfully, as Gwaine stares at the transparent Orange-juice pitcher as if he is considering drowning himself in it.
"Your head's too big to fit in it" Merlin says to him pointedly, taking a seat and picking up his fork. ItsPancakeday!Gwaine groans and mumbles something about deficient pitchers and sending a complaint to the bloody house elves.

There had been a few raised eyebrows when he'd first started taking his breakfast at the Hufflepuff table, but it was worth not having to try to join in the academic discussions of the other Ravenclaws.

It's not that he has that much against his housemates, it's just…
They tend to be a little too competitive for Merlin's tastes. And the fact that he can best them all in magic has not made them like him either. There is nothing more annoying to academics than someone with a natural talent. Same thing applies to people with natural talent to people with academic skills. Yeah he's not that popular with the Gryffindors either.

Merlin takes a bite out of his pancake and hums happily, his eyes darting from the cheerful Kaye to the annoyed Gwaine.
"…So you're Quiddich captain then, Kaye?" He says between chews, trying his getting-out-of-awkward-pauses-tactic number 4, statingtheobvious.

"Yes, and you are Merlin Emrys, the homosexual Ravenclaw who has the best grades in school, but is not related to theMerlin." Kaye answers matter-of-factly, still sounding terribly rehearsed.
"…yes. Right." Merlin says wearily, not sure if he should be feeling insulted, praised or none of the above. He looks at Gwaine for help, but he's still contemplating suicide-by-citrus.

"You know what else is yellow?" Kaye says suddenly, gesturing at the pitcher. "The Hufflepuff Quidditch robes!" Which causes Gwaine to let his head fall to the table with a loud THUMP. Merlin shakes his head tiredly.
"It's Orange juice, Kaye, it's- it's not yellow. "Kaye arches his eyebrows at him as if he has no idea what he's trying to say, and Merlin gives up. He glances at his watch, discards the half eaten toast and walks around the table to get Gwaine to his feet.
"Come on Gwaine, let's go, your transfiguration class starts in a minute." He turns to Kaye "It was nice to meet you K-" and finds himself staring right into the forehead of said boy.
"I want Gwaine to join the Hufflepuff quidditch team, and I will stay by his side until he does" Kaye repeats, smiling almost sadistically.

"Don't you have like classes or something?" Gwaine mutters as they leave the great hall with Kaye skipping happily two steps behind them.

"Yes, but I signed up to all the same classes you did! Great, isn't it?"

After lunch, Arthur has Arithmacy with the Slytherins. Wonderful.
He can almost hear his father's voice telling him off for starting yet another calculations-induced fight with Cenred. At least he has quiddich practice afterwards. That should get his mood back to neutral by the time he has to meet Gwen's clumsy potions-partner for the paperwork. He'll probably need it.

"I don't see why you don't just indulge the poor guy" Merlin says to Gwaine five hours later as they meet in the library and Kaye has been momentarily distracted by one of his quiddich players asking for advice. Gwaine has just told Merlin of three lessons with Kaye saying things like "You know what else should levitate? You!" in Transfiguration class, or "Girls love Quidditch-players!" when one of the Slytherin girls laughed as Gwaine tried to give her a conjured-up flower, or "I'm not an expert, but I do think your ass would look great in quidditch-gear." (To which Gwaine had finally snapped and asked the boy if he was trying to get into his pants. To which Kaye had simply answered "No, but I would like to change them into quidditch pants.")
"Just show up to the trials" Merlin continues, "and botch it up completely! Fall off your broom a few times, and that will be the end of it." Gwaine makes a pained expression.
"I caaant" He whines, putting his head into his hands, before continuing in a more serious voice, "dad would hear about it…"
"Oh. Right." Smoothone,Emrys!Merlin tells himself,youaresupposedtothinkbefore youspeak,remember?
"He tends to conveniently remember me whenever I do something disgraceful." Gwaine says with a sad smile. Merlin sighs and pats his shoulder in what he hopes is a sympathetic gesture.

Gwaines father is, to the rest of the world, the star seeker of the Wimbourne Wasps, the great-looking millionaire on the cover of WitchWeeklyand Britain's great hope for the world championships. To Gwaine, however, he is just the absentee father who likes to cheat on his mother whenever he gets the chance.

"Speaking of idiots…" Gwaine says, nodding to a scene that looks like it has been taken directly from an old black-and-white muggle movie, where the heroine sees her loved one for the first time in years, and casts herself into his arms, spinning around as they both laugh. With the exception that the heroine (Gwen) and her loved one (Pendragon) has only been apart for about two hours since their snogging over lunch (Which Merlin most certainly hadn't eyed in annoyance. What Gwen and her prat of a boyfriend like to do on their free time has nothing to do with him.) Gwaine, however, said exactly what he was thinking.
"Makes you vomit, doesn't it?"
"Eurgh yes. But she's… She's happy at least." Merlin motions to the smiling girl as she giggles against Pendragons neck. Gwaine gives an exasperated nod to that. It is about as easy to dislike Gwen as it was to like Pendragon, which is not very easy at all.

They watch as Pendragon says something, and Gwen changes her smile into a slightly tired one. Pendragon gives her a very pleading look that Merlin has to admit would probably work on anyone - except himself of course, he'd see right through that one any day- and then there is a sigh from Gwen and she turns to stomp over to the two of them.

"Hi guys!" She says, her cheeks still flushing a little as she reaches them, "Had a good summer?" to which they answer diligently with a yes, all right, you?
"Yeah yeah it was lovely. I, I went to France." She draws a breath. "AndthenIvisitedthePendragon-Estate" she says in one word as her cheeks redden again. "Only for a few days though! Did you know that Morgana lives there too? She's sweet, once you get to know her. And- and they have dogs!"
"Right, right. Sounds fun!" Gwaine says, rescuing her from her flustered babbling "Me and Mer went fishing! You should have seen the size of the eel he got. Too bad he dropped it when it bit him."
"Hey they have really sharp teeth!" Merlin exclaims, and Gwen giggles. "It's not like I would have managed to eat it anyway. It's like a snake! Who eats snakes?"
"I do!" Gwaine retorts, licking his lips. "Delicious!" Merlin makes a disgusted noise and Gwen holds up her hands before it can turn into full-scale bickering.
"Guys guys, I don't care whether eel is the most wonderful dish on the planet" she makes a face here that clearly shows that she does not think that possible, "and I really have to get going again, I just dropped by to give you a message, Merlin." Merlin stops his disgusted noises at that.
"What?"

"From Arthur."
"…Who?" He repeats, feeling a bit slow on the uptake.
"Pendragon, of course! Really, Merlin, how many Arthurs do you know?"
"Well there's this old bearded guy back-"
"Merlin." She says warningly, so he shuts up. "Anyway, so he just wants to make sure you haven't forgotten your meeting tonight?"
"Oh. Yeah no I haven't- haven't forgotten it" Merlin lies, trying not to look too guilty. He had, indeed, forgotten it in the midst of all the first-day excitement and Arithmacy calculations and then there had been the whole Kaye-business. Gwen gives him a look that tells him that she doesn't believe him one bit.
"I'll come get you outside the common room, yeah? You can find your way right?"
"It's not that well-kept a secret that the fat lady guards it, Gwen. I'll be there."
"Okay, great! I'll see you then, Emrys!" Gwen says, waving as she leaves.

"But" Merlin says to Gwaine as he sees Gwen returning to Pendragon, getting welcomed by a hug.

"Why on earth couldn't he just have told me myself?" Gwaine shrugs as Pendragon asks Gwen something, to which she nods, and as they walk out, his arm over her shoulder, Merlin can swear that the head boy is staring at him over his shoulder for a second before disappearing out of view. Huh.Weird.He leans back into his chair, trying to bury his mind in books and forgetting about the fact that he is due to meet up with Pendragon in a bloody hour. FlaminghippogriffsIammeetingPendragoninabloodyhour!