AN: There are swears here. Sorry if I offended anyone.

"Again?"

Morgana sat cross-legged on the boulder. The Forbidden Forest blocked out most of the sunlight except for a spotlight that shone down on her. Her eyes had been closed when she told Merlin about the night before.

"Mmhm," she hummed. "Again."

Merlin shifted on his seat of a log. "When did it happen before?"

Morgana frowned in thought. "Draco said it happened about fifty years ago."

"And how does Draco know that?" Merlin questioned. There were rumors going around that Malfoy may be the heir of Slytherin.

"He asked his father," she said, like it was obvious.

"Oh." Merlin scratched his neck. "I heard-"

"That Lucius opened it the last time and Draco is doing it now?"

Merlin blushed at her ability to read him. "Yeah."

Morgana smiled and looked at him. "I've heard the rumors."

The first attack didn't seem so serious. Mrs. Norris wasn't exactly liked. Now that a student, Colin Creevey, was attacked people were starting to get nervous.

"Do you think Dumbledore knows who's doing it?" she asked suddenly.

Merlin shrugged. "Dunno. Sometimes I think he knows everything that happens in the school. But…if he knows who's doing this-"

"Then why doesn't he stop it?" Morgana finished for him.

"You think he'll close the school?" Merlin wondered.

"I honestly don't think so," Morgana answered. "But he should."

The morning of Merlin's first Quidditch match came far too quickly for him. He hadn't slept at all the night before and it showed. Merlin sat at the table in the Great Hall staring off into space, his leg bouncing up and down.

"Eat something," Anthony commanded, for the third time.

Merlin shook his head. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

"At least you'll have something to throw up if you eat," Anthony said. "Just try."

Merlin shook his head again and continued to stare at the table. Someone sat next to him but he didn't look up to find out whom. A moment later, he recognized the scent of her soap.

"Morning, handsome," Morgana greeted. "Actually, you look like crap."

Merlin made a face.

"He didn't sleep last night," Anthony explained. "And he won't eat."

Morgana just hummed. They sat in silence for a moment.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his thigh, stopping his leg from bouncing. Finally tearing his gaze away from the table, Merlin looked down. Morgana's hand was on his leg and she gave it a squeeze before pouring pumpkin juice into a goblet in front of her.

"Mordred isn't sleeping well either," she said conversationally. "Found him tossing and turning on the couch in the common room. He's been having nightmares."

Merlin frowned. "You say it like it's a reoccurring thing."

Morgana slid the goblet in Merlin's direction and started filling his plate. "I heard one of the first years say Mordred was crying in his sleep a few nights ago. I made him swear not to tell anyone else."

"You don't think he's worried about Slytherin's monster, do you?" Merlin asked, taking a sip of his juice.

Morgana shrugged and slathered jam on a piece of toast, placing it on Merlin's plate. "Dunno. Maybe you should talk to him."

"Why don't you talk to him?" Merlin questioned, eating the piece of toast. "You're his favorite."

She breathed a laugh. "I just thought that since the both of you are so emotionally handicapped, you'd be able to get him to talk."

Merlin shook his fork at her. "I am not emotionally handicapped." He scooped some eggs into his mouth. "I don't even know what would make you say that."

Morgana shrugged and refilled his plate. "You're right Merlin. I apologize."

He nodded his forgiveness and kept eating.

"Have you heard anything from your father?" Morgana asked. "About my little problem?"

"It's not a problem, Morgana. I've told you that." Merlin drank more of his juice. "But dad said he didn't want to risk one of Gaius' books being sent by owl, so he's going to give it to me during Christmas."

"Good." Morgana smiled, seemingly pleased with herself. "Are you full yet?"

"Huh?"

Anthony, who had remained quiet through their entire exchange, laughed loudly.

"What?" Merlin asked.

"Nothing," Morgana patted his shoulder. "Good luck." She winked at Anthony, who started laughing even harder, and stood from the table.

Merlin frowned at Anthony. "What's so funny?"

"Look at your plate."

Merlin did so, and realized he'd eaten two full plates of food.

"Feeling sick, my arse," Anthony chuckled.

Merlin turned to see Morgana sitting at the Slytherin table. She grinned and raised her goblet to him. Merlin turned back around, blushing furiously.

"Girls and their persuasive magic," Anthony commented.

Grant's pregame speech was completely lost on Merlin. Morgana had been able to get him to eat, but his nerves were still pretty bad.

Inglebee pulled Merlin to the side as everyone else stood to leave the locker room. "Look, I can take care of the team. Just look after Cho; she's got to catch the Snitch."

Merlin nodded. "Look after Cho. I can do that."

Inglebee smiled at him. "I know you can. You'll be great, Merlin. Grant wouldn't have put you on the team if he didn't think so himself."

Merlin nodded again, not feeling as confident in his abilities as everyone else.

"Ready?"

"Nope." Merlin grabbed his bat. "But let's get this over with."

He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he stepped on the field. The crowd got even louder as the Hufflepuff team joined them around Madam Hooch. She directed the team captains to shake hands and Merlin climbed onto his broom.

The whistle blew and Merlin kicked off from the ground. He rose into the air quickly and felt absolute elation…until a Bludger flew past his face.

'Move it, Merlin!'

Merlin did as Morgana told him, chasing after the Bludger as quickly as his broom would let him.

"And they're off!" Lee announced. "Burrow with the Quaffle and it looks like he's trying to make the first point of the game."

Merlin was only halfway paying attention, striking the Bludger in the direction of a Hufflepuff Chaser. Another Bludger zoomed off nearby and Merlin belted off after it.

"Block by Fleet! And Hufflepuff's got the Quaffle."

Merlin flew past Inglebee, who gave the young Ravenclaw a thumbs-up. Out of the corner of his eye, Merlin saw Cho zooming across the pitch.

"Was that the Snitch? Chang seems to want to end this early!"

Merlin changed directions and went towards Cho, knowing what would happen next. Sure enough, one of Hufflepuff's Beaters sent a Bludger at her. Merlin managed to get in front of it and knocked it away.

"Nice save by new Ravenclaw Beater, Ambrose, but it looks like Chang lost the Snitch."

Merlin turned to Cho and gave her a sad face. "Sorry."

She laughed at him. "It's fine, Merlin." She flew high over the pitch, scouting out the Snitch.

"Strenton with the Quaffle, - oh nice steal by Applebee."

Merlin chased off after another Bludger.

"Applebee to Preece, Preece back to Applebee, Applebee to Macavoy!"

As hard as he could, Merlin hit a Bludger towards the Hufflepuff Chasers.

"Macavoy to – oh! Preece blocked by a Bludger and the Quaffle's back in Ravenclaw hands."

"Nice swing, Ambrose," Roger Davies shouted as he flew by.

Ravenclaw scored three times after that and Merlin was starting to relax a bit. That, unfortunately, didn't last very long.

"Chang's after the Snitch again! And Diggory's on her tail!"

Along with everyone else, Merlin stopped flying to watch. Cho was in front, but Cedric Diggory was quickly catching up to her. A Bludger was headed straight for her and neither Seeker saw it.

Suddenly everything seemed to have slowed down. Merlin could almost see the flight path he needed to take. He flew straight down, heading for the nearest Bludger and hit it straight at Cho. Time sped back up to normal as the Bludger whizzed off through the air.

Diggory, as Merlin expected, dodged the ball he had sent, leaving Cho without competition. She reached forward and closed her hand around the Snitch just as the two Bludgers collided behind her with a loud crack. She screamed in surprise but it was drowned out by cheering from the crowd. Merlin let out a sigh of relief, and briefly wondered what the hell he'd been thinking.

A pair of arms snatched him off his broom and into a hug. "That was bloody brilliant!"

Merlin held on for dear life as they landed and spun around to see Inglebee laughing his head off. The rest of the team landed nearby and Cho ran up to Merlin, throwing her arms around him.

"That was amazing!" she cheered. "Don't ever do that again."

In the second week of December, Professor Flitwick collected the names of those who would be staying at the school for Christmas. Merlin questioned Anthony, who quickly signed up.

"My parents are going to Italy to visit my great Aunt."

Merlin made a face. "Why aren't you going?"

"Her house smells like sour milk." Anthony shivered. "I'd rather not deal with that."

Morgana signed up to stay as well. Consequently, Draco signed up after Morgana did.

"At least you won't have to deal with him on your own," Merlin told her.

"Yeah," Mordred laughed. "I'll protect you."

Mordred signed up to stay in order to practice his magic. Merlin couldn't figure out why Mordred insisted on pushing himself so hard.

"He's going to wear himself out," Merlin commented.

Morgana shrugged. "It makes him feel closer to his parents."

"His adoptive parents are important too," Merlin argued. "I'm sure they miss him."

Morgana shook her head. "You wouldn't understand."

"Understand what?"

She sighed. "If there was only one thing connecting you to your dead parents, wouldn't you want to hold onto that?"

"Well…yeah. But I wouldn't lose sight of what I already have." Merlin, of course, couldn't imagine his life without his parents and, quite frankly, he didn't want to. But if Mordred wanted to excel in his magic to feel closer to his parents, then Merlin was going to teach him as much as he could.

When word came around that there would be a dueling club, Merlin insisted that they attend.

"Could be useful," Merlin reasoned.

"Yes, because Slytherin's monster knows proper dueling etiquette," Morgana said sarcastically. Despite her lack of enthusiasm, she agreed to go.

The three met outside the Great Hall, where students were already crowding into the hall.

"It smells like people in here," Morgana commented.

Merlin snorted. He had no time to reply, as Professor Lockhart stepped on the stage, silencing the crowd.

"Oh no," Merlin whispered.

"Can everyone see me? Can everyone hear me? Excellent!" Lockhart fixed the crowd with his trademark smile.

Merlin felt Morgana boring a hole into his head. 'Merlin-'

'I didn't know,' he apologized. 'I'm sorry.'

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape." Lockhart flashed another smile and Merlin was sure he heard someone swoon. Snape's lip curled into a snarl.

'The only way this will be worth it is if Snape knocks Lockhart flat,' Morgana thought, making Mordred snicker.

The two professors faced each other before bowing and held up their wands.

"On the count of three," Lockhart announced, "we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."

The look on Snape's face said otherwise.

"One-two-three-"

"Expelliarmus!" Snape shouted. A flash of red light came from his wand and knocked Lockhart off his feet. The defense teacher flew into the wall and lid down to the floor.

Merlin looked to Morgana and she could barely contain her smirk. 'Worth it.'

'But he wasn't flat,' Merlin thought.

She smirked. 'Close enough.'

Merlin bit his lip to keep from laughing as Lockhart scrambled to his feet and righted his clothes.

"Yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do."

Snape looked murderous. Lockhart must have noticed, because he quickly suggested that the students pair up and practice disarming each other.

Merlin and Morgana were paired together and Mordred was paired with a first year girl from Hufflepuff.

"Face your partners!" called Lockhart. "And bow."

Merlin and Morgana bowed to each other.

"Wands at the ready!"

Morgana's mischievous grin caught Merlin off guard as he held up his wand.

'Up for a bit of fun?'she asked.

Merlin narrowed his gaze. 'What do you mean?'

"ONE!"

'Morgana?'

"TWO!"

'Morgana?!'

"THREE!"

"Expelliarmus!"

Morgana's spell shot past Merlin, disarming an older Gryffindor and caused him to fly into a nearby Ravenclaw. They landed in a heap on the floor.

Morgana grabbed Merlin's arm to steady herself, she was laughing so hard.

"That wasn't very nice," Merlin frowned. "You could have hurt someone."

"They're fine," she said, waving off his concern. "At least they aren't bleeding…like your friend."

Merlin followed her gaze to Terry Boot. He had been paired with Anthony and something had clearly gone wrong as Terry was pinching his bloody nose and Anthony was apologizing.

Merlin winced. "Walk it off, Terry."

"I think I'd better teach you how to block unfriendly spells," said Lockhart, standing in the middle of the hall. Several students had injuries and a few had yet to get their wands back.

Lockhart suggested Longbottom and Justin Finch-Fletchley demonstrate blocking but Snape recommended Draco and Harry.

"Still worth it?" Merlin whispered to Morgana.

"Consider me highly entertained."

Lockhart counted the two rivals down and Draco immediately conjured a snake. The nearby students in the crowd screamed as they quickly backed away.

Harry froze, staring back at the swaying snake.

"Don't move, Potter." Snape stepped forward, a smirk on his face. "I'll get rid of it-"

"Allow me!" The Potions master was cut off by Lockhart. At his wand waving, the snake flew a few feet in the air and landed with a loud smack.

The snaked hissed furiously and slithered straight toward Finch-Fletchley. The snake rose on its tail, poised to strike with its fangs exposed.

Harry marched forward. He didn't raise his wand to it, but rather he spoke softly to it. At least, that's what it sounded like to Merlin. It wasn't until Morgana gripped his arm that he realized Potter was hissing, not speaking.

Harry Potter was hissing at a snake. Merlin would have found it comical if not for the horrified faces of most of the students in the crowd.

"What are you playing at?" Justin demanded.

Ron grabbed Harry and made their way out of the hall, Hermione right on their heels. Hushed muttering broke out as soon as the three were gone. Merlin picked up on words like 'Parselmouth' and 'Slytherin'.

Merlin looked to Morgana, completely confused. She must have registered this, because she took his hand and led him from the Great Hall. They left the chattering behind as they headed for the library, Mordred jogging to catch up.

"What just happened? Merlin asked.

"There's no way," Morgana muttered to herself. "He can't be-"

"Morgana!" Merlin's voice echoed off the walls of the empty corridor. "Will you please tell me what's going on?"

"Harry Potter can talk to snakes," Morgana responded.

"I can talk to snakes too," Merlin said sarcastically. "I can also talk to cats and dogs. So what?"

"No. No no no no." Morgana shook her head. "Potter can speak the snake language. He's a Parselmouth."

Mordred frowned. "What's a Parselmouth?"

"Someone who can talk to snakes, apparently," Merlin deadpanned.

"Merlin? Shut up." Morgana snapped. "Honestly, do I have to teach you two everything? It's not just talking to snakes. He can command them to do what he wants."

Merlin still didn't understand why that was such a big deal. "So? My dad commands dragons, you don't see people freak out about that."

Mordred slowly turned to him. "I'm sorry, did you just say dragons?"

"Yeah." Merlin shrugged. "He's a Dragonlord. So what?"

Morgana stared at him for a long time. Long enough to make him feel uncomfortable. "What?"

"Your father is a Dragonlord?" she asked.

"That's what I said, yes."

"Like…a real Dragonlord?"

"Yes."

"Holy shit, Merlin."

"What?"

"Holy shit."

"What?! What's the big deal about talking to dragons?" Merlin demanded. "What's the big deal about talking to snakes? And what's it got to do with Slytherin?"

Morgana squinted at him and held up one finger. "We're coming back to the Dragonlord thing, just so you know."

"Please," Mordred added.

"Seriously, Morgana-" Merlin started.

Morgana cut him off. "Seriously, do you know why Slytherin house's symbol is a snake?"

Merlin shook his head.

"Salazar Slytherin could talk to them. He was a Parselmouth." Morgana paused. "So were his heirs."

Merlin remembered the writing on the wall. "Enemies of the heir, beware."

"So…Harry's the heir of Slytherin?" Mordred asked.

"There's no proof," Merlin quickly rebutted.

Morgana agreed. "Plus, there's no reason for him to attack Muggleborns. From what I know, he's a Halfblood and he's best friends with Hermione Granger."

"But he could still be Slytherin's heir," Mordred said.

"Maybe." Morgana crossed her arms. "We could find out."

"How? Slytherin lived a thousand years ago." Merlin pointed out.

"If only there was some kind of archive that went back that far." Morgana tapped her chin with her finger. "Oh wait, there is," she deadpanned.

"What are you talking about?" Merlin asked.

"Seriously, do you think the LeFay's stayed Pureblood without due diligence? There's stuff in my family's vault that pre-dates the Great Purge."

Merlin smiled brightly at her. "You're brilliant. You know that, right?"

"Yes, but it's nice to hear every once in a while."

"Uh, Morgana," Mordred said carefully. "If you're going to investigate Potter's lineage, won't you have to go home for Christmas?"

Morgana sighed deeply. "Yes." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Stupid Christmas party."

Feeling guilty for Morgana's ruined Christmas plans, Merlin touched her shoulder. "Morgana?"

"Hm?"

"You're still brilliant."

"Shut up, Merlin."