It Ends Tonight

By: TheFifthCharmedOne

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Merlin.

Summary: Plagued by nightly visions of dragons and knights, Hermione Granger is troubled and consistently exhausted. After some investigation, Hermione discovers that a crucial event has been changed in history, and it is up to her to change it back. She just didn't intend to fall in love with a king along the way. Crossover of Harry Potter and BBC's Merlin. Arthur/Hermione. Takes place during Hermione's seventh year, post-war, and between seasons 4&5.

-X-X-X-

Chapter Four:

Meeting Merlin

It took Hermione a few attempts, but eventually she found the door that led to Gaius's chambers.

Behind this door lives the greatest sorcerer the world will ever know. She took a deep breath and just as she was going to knock, the door sprang open.

A young boy, probably around Hermione's age, with dark hair and cobalt blue eyes stumbled forward, nearly knocking Hermione off of her feet.

"So sorry!" he said fretfully, checking to make sure she wasn't hurt. "I've been known to be clumsy. Are you here to see Gaius?"

"I-I suppose so."

"I'd love to stay and talk, but I'm already late as it is. It was nice meeting you..." he started to walk away before pausing. He turned around slowly, embarrassed. "Erm...sorry. What's your name?" Hermione giggled.

"Hermione. I'm Queen Guinevere's new servant."

"Ah! It's a pleasure then." The boy made a hurried half bow and walked away.

"Can I help you?" A new voice spoke softly, and Hermione turned to face an elderly man who had an air of wisdom. He reminded her vaguely of Professor Flitwick or Dumbledore.

"I'm...well I'm here to see Merlin."

"You just saw him." Hermione had to keep her mouth from dropping open. "He's my assistant, and servant to King Arthur. That was where he was headed."

"Forgive me, but that was Merlin?" Hermione could barely believe it - the Merlin she had heard stories that told of an old man with a beard to his feet, not a young boy!

"In the flesh." Gaius bowed his head slightly, thoughtfully. "You seem confused. Why not come in?"

"Well, I have to be back to help the queen-"

"After her meal with the king, yes? Merlin has to go help the king get ready, and then they have to have their meal. There's plenty of time." Gaius smiled kindly, and Hermione blushed slightly. She hadn't meant to be rude, but she was still trying to adjust to the time period.

She followed the physician into his quarters and gasped slightly at the volumes of books that decorated the shelves around the room.

"My name is Gaius, and I am the Court Physician and have been for more years than is necessary to count."

"I know, I was told. I'm Hermione, Queen Guinevere's newest servant."

"Ah. I've been wondering when Arthur would get his queen a servant." Gaius nodded.

Hermione bit her lip slightly, unsure of what to say next. "I've never seen you in Camelot before." the older man spoke, gazing speculatively.

"I'm from a small village in the far north. Ottery." Hermione smiled nervously, almost forgetting to lie. "I was raised by the Weasley family there after my family was killed."

"I'm sorry for your loss. Have you come to Camelot alone, then?"

"My brother George is here - he's trying to be a knight."

"Best of luck in his endeavors." Gaius smiled. "Would you like to stay here with us? I feel as though Merlin could use a female friend, now that Gwen is queen."

"You are very kind, but I couldn't possibly impose in that way. Besides, I need to be near the queen, so the servants' quarters are probably best."

"Ah, yes. But you forget that Merlin is the king's servant, and before Arthur was a king he was a prince. Merlin can make it to work in plenty of time from here." Gaius decided to leave Merlin's chronic lateness out of this equation.

"Well..." Hermione tried to consider the possible outcomes. Gaius was incredibly kind and generous to offer this, and it would give her a chance to get to know Merlin, which would mean she could get to know Arthur... "If you insist." she said finally.

Gaius beamed.

When Merlin returned from his duties, and Hermione had returned from hers, they finally met and had a real conversation.

"So, Ottery. What's it like?" Merlin asked. Hometowns are apparently quite important. Hermione thought irreverently. But I suppose they work as conversation topics.

"It's a small town, but very quaint. I loved growing up there."

"Sounds like Ealdor." Merlin smiled at the mention of his hometown. "So, your brother is trying to be a knight?"

"He's always had high hopes, always been courageous and true." Hermione answered. "I sometimes think he's rash, which gets him into trouble."

"I can understand that. He's better now, but when Arthur was a prince...we always got into trouble." Merlin chuckled.

"Really?" Hermione asked, interest piqued. "What's he like?"

"He's grown up a lot since I first came to Camelot. I like to think I had an influence on him, but I can't take all the credit." Merlin reflected. "Gwen's kindness and good nature definitely had an impact. Though there were things that happened that would have destroyed anyone other than Arthur."

"What do you mean?"

Merlin opened his mouth to speak, but Gaius spoke over him. "I think that's enough talk for the night. Both of you need to get up early to serve the king and queen. It's best to get some sleep."

Though Hermione still had questions, she supposed Gaius was right. "Merlin, I assume you've set up your spot on the floor?" Merlin started to nod, but their guest interrupted.

"The floor?" Hermione spluttered. "I couldn't take his bed!"

"No, no it's quite all right." Merlin smiled at Hermione. "I'm happy to offer my bed to you."

"No, no. I'll take the floor." Hermione insisted. "You're both kind enough to let me stay here as it is, I won't take what isn't mine." She stubbornly argued both Gaius and Merlin, and eventually won the argument. "Lead the way."

The next morning, Hermione was up with the sun. She woke Merlin and they went to the king and queen's chambers, arousing them both with little trouble.

"Did you sleep well, my lady?" Hermione asked Gwen. She realized that she hadn't had a nightmare the night before, and that was interesting. Could it be because she was here, setting up to fix what was causing the nightmares in the first place?

"Very well." Gwen answered with a kind smile. "I'd like to go out of the city today, ride on horseback. The castle can get stuffy sometimes. What do you say?"

"I'd like that." Hermione replied. "My lady."

"Guinevere is going out of the city today." Arthur said gruffly. "With her new maid. What do you know about her, Merlin?"

"Not much." Merlin said as he helped Arthur into his armor. He would be training and choosing new knights today, so he had to wear his chain mail, armor, and crest. "I know that her brother George is vying to be a knight."

"Yes, I met him yesterday at the gate, with Hermione. The guards were hassling them."

"Why do you think that was?"

"Boredom, most likely. The guards work hard, but they are only human." As an afterthought, he added, "I've never heard of Ottery."

"From what Hermione said last night, it's a small farming town like Ealdor."

"Ah. Explains why I don't know of it. The north would be Odin's territory. Interesting that they've left."

"Not really. You've always said Odin was a tyrant. Maybe they just wanted to move on." Merlin finished with the armor and presented Arthur's prized sword, Excalibur.

"Very true." Arthur responded. "All right then, let's go." There was a light in Arthur's eyes that Merlin hadn't seen in quite a while. He smiled as the king left his chambers, and followed him like he always would.

As Hermione readied the horses, she heard something rustle behind her and was instantly on alert. Her wand was hidden in her sleeve, though she knew better than to whip it out without cause. Performing magic in Camelot was grounds for execution, as her visions had warned.

The quiet rustle happened again, and she whirled around to face a tall, dark, ghost-like figure with no visible face. The stables grew ice cold and suddenly, she couldn't breathe. She grasped for her wand, her worst memories coming in from the recesses of her mind.

"Look at the freak!" A girl pointed nastily, and Hermione hid her face. Another boy shoved her into the mud.

"You've never fit in here. Don't try to deny it." He spat.

"You'll never fit it anywhere." The girl added.

"You'll always be alone..."

"Expecto Patronum!" she cried out, summoning her happiest memory; becoming friends with Harry and Ron. A playful, shimmering, blue otter shot forward from her wand, chasing away the dark creature. Hermione fell to her knees, gasping.

Her worst memory had always been her Muggle school experience - from five years old until nine, she had been bullied relentlessly. After that, she was sent to a private school, and after that, Hogwarts.

She wasn't sure how long she had been there, but she was terribly embarrassed when the king found her that way.

"What are you doing on the ground?" he asked, rather rudely.

"I-I fell." she replied, unsteadily getting to her feet, her mind whirling with questions. Why was a Dementor here? She supposed it was possible they had existed in medieval times, however what worried her was that they were in Camelot, and that one had come out in broad daylight. From what she remembered from classes and her own research, Dementors existed in the darkest corners of the world, and Camelot hardly seemed dark enough.

A new worry entered her mind - had the king seen her magic? "S-sorry, my lord. I'll just be on my way."

"Make sure Guinevere returns before sunset." Arthur ordered.

"I will." Hermione curtsied and led the two horses away. Surely if the king had seen her magic, then he would have called for guards. She let herself breathe a sigh of relief.

Hermione's excursion with Guinevere was peaceful. She learned more about Camelot and the king, and tried to keep her facade going. She realized it was quite difficult to lie all of the time, especially when she was asked direct questions.

"...I think everyone has a secret or two, don't you?" Gwen asked, and Hermione nodded absently. The Darkling Woods, as she had learned they were called, seemed darker today then they had before, despite the sunlight pouring through the treetop canopy. "Are you all right? You've gotten quiet."

"I'm okay. Just thinking." she smiled. "I hope things go well with George. He's wanted to be a knight for quite some time."

Ginny grunted as her sword slammed against the king's, her brow streaked with sweat. She parried his next attack and jumped over the counter with a skill she didn't know she possessed.

With a quick swipe of her limbs, she had knocked Arthur over and had her blade pointed over his heart.

The knights who were watching collectively gasped - apparently defeating the king in combat was a big deal.

"Stand down." Arthur commanded, and Ginny stepped back. "Well done."

"Thank you, sire." Ginny bowed. "I have heard of your prowess as a knight, so I trained to beat the very best."

"You've done well, then." Arthur responded. "Men, we're done with training for today."

Just as the sun began to sink below the horizon, Hermione and Gwen returned to Camelot. As they crossed through the gate, Hermione heard a swooshing sound and whirled to see another Dementor flying toward the castle.

"No!" she called out, jumping off of her horse. She had no idea if she could do anything, but she had to try. Dementors haunting Camelot was definitely a bad sign. Just as quickly as it had flown in, the Dementor disappeared.

"Hermione?" A knight helped Gwen from her horse. "What's wrong?"

Could only Hermione see them? Was it possible that they were cloaked?

"N-Nothing." Hermione stammered. "L-Let's go inside."

"Dementors? Here?" Ginny asked incredulously as they met in the town square that night. "That's...that's not possible. Is it?"

"Anything is possible, really." Hermione said solemnly. The fact that she had seen two Dementors in one day unnerved her and made her wonder if dark magic was at work. She wasn't sure if those creatures could be controlled, but they could probably be coerced. "So how did training go today? Did you impress the king?"

"I did better - I beat him." Ginny grinned proudly.

"Really? How did he take it?"

"Pretty well. Probably would have been worse if he knew my secret."

"Probably." Hermione nodded. She frowned again. "I wish there was a way to contact Professor McGonagall."

Ginny thought for a few minutes, scratching her chin and ruffling her hair. Hermione couldn't help but chuckle at how mannish she seemed, even though she knew perfectly well that Ginny was a woman.

"What about a two-way mirror? Like the one Harry's dad used to use to talk to Sirius?"

"Or the D.A coins." Hermione thought. "But that would mean we'd have to enchant something that both myself and McGonagall would have."

"Good point." Ginny conceded, puzzled.

They walked in silence a few more minutes, and Hermione realized that Ginny had yet to meet Merlin.

"Hey George..." she grinned as Ginny glared playfully. "How would you feel about meeting Merlin?"

A/N: Chapter 4 done! Hope you guys liked this one - it's a bit longer than the others, but works to evolve the plot. Please review!

-Charmy