Hello, people. I'm starting to let my chapters get longer because people seem to be liking it more and more.. I mean, I get more favourites and views, but I've gotten zero reviews for the last couple chapters, and those are the kinds of things that keep me writing and steer me down certain roads, let me know how I'm doing, y'know?.. Soooo.. yeah. I'll leave that up to you.
Enjoy this for now, though!
Hermione sighed leisurely, and rolled to the edge of the bed and sat up. If only I was part of this time, and didn't have so many people waiting on me 1,000 years from now and many kilometers from here, this might just be the best day ever! But she wouldn't have traded her life as Hermione Granger for the world. Brightest witch of her age, top of the class. But none of it would matter unless she succeeded in getting home. She got onto her feet, and took a deep breath. She walked over to the chair where she had tossed her belongings and felt around in her bag for her spare shampoo and other necessities before making her way to the bath..
She saw the basin, but nothing around it or near it that would suggest how to draw water, or heat it for that matter. She felt rather ashamed at her lack of knowledge on the matter, so she pulled her wand out of her bag and whispered "Aguamenti" and heated the water to just over body temperature. She spent about 10 minutes washing, and a half an hour playing with soap bubbles and thinking about life. She had to reheat her water twice afterwards before she finished her bath. She went to put on a fresh set of clothes, but it was hard, she owned nothing that suited the day they were in that wouldn't be completely overdoing it or unrealistic. So she decided on plain black slacks, a faux-fur lined sweater, and her Gryffindor scarf from earlier. She peered in a nearby mirror and was pleased with how sharp she looked. But she didn't leave right away, she stalled for about 5 minutes. She didn't want to look too eager.. Not that she thought Merlin would really care, he'd just be happy that she showed up. Hermione laughed, he was just like a dog that way.
She folded and tucked her little beaded bag in her coat pocket, not wanted to risk leaving it behind, with everything she owned safely concealed inside. She left the room almost exactly the same as she had found it, sad that she could not enjoy it to its fullest potential. She scurried down the corridor towards the stairs, as instructed and got strange glances from nearby guards. When she reached conversational proximity, one of the guards said,
"No leaving the castle after curfew, Miss." He eyed her clothing.
"Oh no worries, I'm not leaving, just meeting a friend." She sounded convincing enough, clearly, because they looked at each other briefly before letting her pass. What was so curious about her? She looked like any other modern woman-
Ohhh... Right, women don't wear pants... Oh well, Merlin already thinks I'm strange. Best to act the part. She was starting to feel like Luna in this place. She continued to trot down the hallway before reaching the supposed living space of Merlin and the ambiguous Physician. She stopped, took a big breath, and wiggled the last minute jitters out of her system before knocking on the door. She barely got through the third knock when Merlin, who appeared to be waiting right at the door for her, opened it embarrassingly fast to greet her. Out of sarcasm she let her face go blank and continued to leave her hand suspended in the knocking motion. Merlin became embarrassed, realizing his mistake, and Hermione started laughing at him.
He looks like he's about to start pouting! she thought, still smiling.
"Hi." Merlin nervously mumbled.
I'd put money on it that this is the first time he's had a female present in his living quarters. Hermione mused.
"Hey." She chimed before striding inside and looking around. She was plagued with a sudden itch upon noticing the wall of books available to prying eyes. I wonder if he'd let me read some of those.. But Merlin didn't strike her as a reader. Maybe a researcher, but not a reader. I bet they belong to-
And then a man, clearly in his 60s or 70s came bustling down a set of stairs off to the side of the room, and with a quick glance up, Hermione noticed yet more books on multiple shelves in the upper story of the house.
"Hello there. Sorry to keep you waiting. I was uh.. putting some things away." He smiled brightly at her.
Well that's ironic. Hermione stuck out her hand for a shake. "Nice to meet you, I'm Hermione Granger."
He looked a little confused, but shook her hand nonetheless. I guess women don't do that either.
"Gaius," He replied. "Merlin's had a hard time shutting up about you, no matter how many times I've tried to make him." He smiled sweetly, but she knew it was his intent to embarrass Merlin for his incessant babbling. Hermione laughed and turned to Merlin to smile at him. Once again he flushed and looked away. Hermione was immensely entertained by the darkly humorous relationship the two men had, they had a deep friendship that ran farther than Hermione cared to fathom at the moment. "Merlin, be useful and help me start chopping vegetables, will you?" Gaius glared down at him, still standing awkwardly, looking like he was trying to remember sentences he had made the previous night that he thought would impress Hermione. He snapped out of it quickly, and ran over and grabbed a knife to help cooking. She enjoyed the scene, they were making a kind of stew thing, and Hermione remembered how much she enjoyed improvisational cooking. It almost reminded her of potions class, and how both relied heavily upon using sight, smell, and even taste to decide when things were ready.
She watched them prepare multiple bunches of things to put in at the right time, and she suddenly became nostalgic of her mother teaching her to cook. Being a witch, she never thought it'd be overly necessary, and attending Hogwarts, where food is always magically placed before you whenever you needed it didn't exactly help that notion. But her mother thought it would be a good idea, and a good bonding opportunity. Hermione couldn't understand why she did that at the time, but she had grown to appreciate the time spent gruelling over something difficult, and how it had always been more rewarding in the end.
"Honest, hard work, will always get you farther in life, and will always have more rewards to reap than lies and falsities." Her mom would tell her. And she was right. Muggle or magickal, those words had been true, and had gotten her through some of her hardest experiences so far. Her parents were decent, simple, hardworking people, and she felt great remorse at never being able to share those moments with them again.
Hermione hadn't realised it but she had dropped into a stupor. She was sitting in front of Gaius's work bench, watching them cook. She had her head resting on her fist with her elbow propped up on the table. She was kind of glad neither of them fancied to ask her anything because she probably would have been too deep in thought to register them. The air smelled thickly of spiced meat, of which she guessed Merlin had ran out and purchased for the occasion. He's quite thoughtful actually, contrary to what Arthur says. She smiled inwardly.
Gaius dipped the ladle into the pot and brought it to his mouth to test the creation. He seemed relatively pleased, but Hermione couldn't help herself. She stood up and held her hand out.
"May I?" The first words spoken in a while came out kind of awkwardly, but Gaius was happy that she wanted to participate. She tested the substance, and was surprised by its flavour. Note to self; never underestimate medieval food, it has its qualities. But it was missing something. She pursed her lips and looked around. She glared at the shelf behind Gaius at all the labelled vials of spices. It was a good thing she had studied her Futhark runes, along with Latin and Welsh, or they would have been a complete mystery to her. She had gotten pretty good at using just her nose though, so she set the ladle down and walked over to the shelf.
Both men seemed kind of put off at her random act of asserted leadership but complied in the end. She picked off a peculiar bottle labelled Za'atar, popped the cap, and smelled it. It was a blend. Oregano, basil, thyme, sesame and salt. She took a big pinch and crushed in the palm of her hand before dropping it into the pot. She stirred it more, tested it again, and looked up at Merlin and Gaius, thoroughly pleased with herself. She motioned for them to try it, as they both looked disbelieving. She laughed and began to dish herself up some, and they were soon to follow. It was served with bread, and the evening was mostly spent making jokes, particularly about Merlin. But as the end of their visit grew solemn, Gaius began to ask Hermione questions of her past, and how she came to Camelot. Unfortunately Hermione hadn't thought out a valid excuse that wouldn't involve divulging the fact that she travelled through time.
"So I heard in the court room that you are from beyond the realm of the Five Kingdoms, how does that work? Not a man alive that we are aware of has left these lands and returned to tell of it." Gaius picked her brain.
"Well, to start, I am no man." She winked "Secondly, these lands were not mine to leave. I became lost here after an.. expedition." It was partially true. "Not to mention I was being hunted.. My friends and I, were the only ones capable of defeating certain.. evils in our realm, and quite accidentally, I stranded myself here alone with.. well, Buckbeak the hippogryph." It sounded ridiculous coming out of her own mouth that way, especially to those who knew nothing of the severity of the situation. She started to feel herself running on again.. "There's an evil man where I come from, he uses dark forms of magick to kill and maim societies of people into performing his will. He kills without regard for innocent life, and seeks world domination. Adamantly." She cut herself off. Trying very hard not to spill her life's story in one go. She had extended beyond the necessary answer to Gaius's question, and couldn't bear to look up from her folded hands in her lap.
"I'm sorry for the loss. Do you know a way of getting home?" Merlin spoke up, but his words sounded strangled, as if he was suppressing a sob.
"I think so, but it's insanely difficult."
"Is there any way we can help?" Gaius interjected.
Hermione's voice got caught in her throat, behind the stiff lump of frustration that threatened to bring her to tears. She laughed forcefully. "I don't want to put you in a position like that, and risk you succumbing to the things I have experienced." She subconsciously ran her hand over the scar on her arm that read "mudblood". It had become itchy after the mention and recollection of her torture at Malfoy Manor. If there was something she could itch to satisfy the discomfort in her soul from the "Crucio" that Bellatrix had cast upon her, she wished dearly to scratch it.
Merlin put a hand on her knee, and urged her to look him in the eyes. He was devastated that anyone could be so vile as to want to do something like that to anyone, much less a young woman like her. She looked at him, and he was surprised to see she wasn't crying, she just looked very sad. When Gaius got up to return the dishes to be washed, he patted her on the shoulder and said,
"If there is anything we can do to help, you let us know right away, okay?" Gaius assured in a fatherly tone.
"I will." She continued to look into her lap, sad that she couldn't ask them for help even if she wanted to. She couldn't risk disrupting history any more than she had. Then it dawned on her; she still needed to speak with this supposed great Dragon under the castle! If it even existed of course. Her spirit dramatically lightened after that revelation, and she was able to look Merlin in the face again. She smiled gingerly, and placed her hand on his, which was still resting on her knee. He seemed to blush a bit, before getting up to help Gaius with the cleaning. Hermione went back to her spot at the work bench, and couldn't help but let out a big, lion-like yawn, complete with sound effects. Both Merlin and Gaius smiled, and after a brief exchange of glances between them, Merlin offered to walk Hermione back to her room.
She agreed and they strolled together, simply admiring each other's company, and the peace of the warm silence between them. They reached her room, and Hermione scrunched her nose and yawned again. Merlin suppressed a chuckle, and bid her safe dreaming. But before he could walk away, she had pulled him into a hug. She was tired beyond belief, but she couldn't help feeling gratitude towards him, for his time and support. She was to start her sentence tomorrow, and didn't know when she'd see him again... And she wanted him to know she appreciated what he'd done for her, with as little words as possible. It took him all of half a second to hug her back, her warmth making him sleepy as well. What a sweet kid. Hermione thought, dazed. She nuzzled his shirt and let him go. She knew she'd feel embarrassed, and regret it by tomorrow, but at the moment she didn't care in the slightest.
"Good night." He whispered.
"Mmf.." She was too tired to formulate words. Merlin slipped out the door, and left without a sound.
Tomorrow.. The last thing she thought before climbing into the bed. Tomorrow I will try and find the Dragon.
