The idea of Morgana kissing Draco stayed on Merlin's mind for days. It bothered him, and it bothered him that he was so bothered. He tried to figure out why he cared so much but came to no real conclusions. It was distracting and he couldn't afford distractions right now. Exams had already started and this unpleasantness made it hard to focus. Even now, as he was supposed to be studying for Arithmancy, Merlin couldn't decide if he should ask Morgana for exact details or if he would rather remain ignorant.

A snap of Morgana's fingers in front of his face brought Merlin back to reality.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Fine," he lied.

Morgana frowned suspiciously at him. "Mordred asked you a question," she said.

"Oh. Sorry," Merlin mumbled. "What's going on?" he asked Mordred.

Mordred glanced between his two friends before asking Merlin, "Do you like Ancient Runes?"

"It's alright," Merlin shrugged. "Why?"

"I was thinking about taking it next year."

"Wouldn't you rather take Divination?" Merlin asked cheekily.

"I'll pass," Mordred replied swiftly. "Morgana can be in charge of tea leaves and crystal balls."

"Ahem."

The three students looked up to find Madam Pince giving them a hard glare. "Almost curfew." She didn't need to continue, they knew they were being put out. They gathered their things and left the library.

Mordred groaned. "I've still got to study for my potions exam."

Morgana shook her head and yawned. "You need to sleep."

"Says you," Mordred shot back. "You've been up longer than I have."

Merlin frowned at them. "How long have you been awake?"

"Almost two days," Morgana said nonchalantly. "Mordred's been up since yesterday."

"Why?" Merlin asked.

"Headache." Morgana explained. "It started in my neck and it's been working its way to my eyes. This one," Morgana pointed to Mordred, "is avoiding nightmares."

Merlin raised an eyebrow at Mordred, who scowled back. "I'd rather not talk about it, thank you."

"There's a potion for that. I can make you one," Merlin offered.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Merlin nodded. "I can make it tonight and give it to you tomorrow."

Mordred smiled. "That would be fantastic."

"You know, there are potions for headaches, too," Merlin started.

Morgana sighed. "Nothing helps. You know that."

Merlin shrugged. "Yes, well, I thought I'd offer."

She gently squeezed his arm. "Thanks though. Goodnight Merlin."

They parted ways and Merlin carried on towards Ravenclaw Tower.

He was halfway up a set of stairs when they began to move. Startled, he held onto the rail until the stairs was done moving. He ran the rest of the way up and turned to glare at the stairs before heading back towards the common room. At least, he thought he was going towards the common room. The pictures on the walls weren't familiar and he could have sworn he'd walked past that suit of armor twice before…

Oh no. Panic was about to set in but Merlin forced himself to remain calm. Calm down. Do not panic. No one ever solved their problems by panicking. He turned down another corridor and, not watching his step, tripped over something rather large.

"Ow!"

Merlin stumbled and looked down to find Neville Longbottom sitting in the middle of the hallway. "Sorry! I didn't see you."

"It's ok." The Gryffindor stood and dusted off his pants.

"What are you doing out here?" Merlin asked.

"I don't know the password."

"Password?" Merlin frowned. "Password to what?"

"Gryffindor Tower," Neville answered, pointing at the painting of the Fat Lady behind him. "No one is allowed to tell me the password. I, uh…I forget things, so I make lists." He shrugged shyly.

"Nothing wrong with lists, mate," Merlin said absently, mapping out the castle in his head.

"It is if it gets Sirius Black in the common room."

"Yeah…" Merlin grimaced. "That was bad. What are you doing out here so late?"

Neville toed at the floor. "I got lost after my detention with Professor Snape. No one was around to let me in so I've been sitting here, waiting."

"Did the stairs move on you too?"

Neville nodded. "I hate it when they do that. Is that why you're here?"

"Yeah." Merlin glanced down the hall. "I think I know where to go now."

"Oh, well, that's good." Neville sat down on the floor.

Merlin looked down the hall he need to go down, but didn't move. Leaving Neville alone didn't feel right. "So… you're just going to sit here and wait?"

Neville nodded. "Yup."

Merlin shook his head. "I'm not leaving you in the hall by yourself. You're coming to the common room with me." He offered his hand to help Neville up. "Come on."

It took some persuasion, but Neville eventually followed Merlin to Ravenclaw Tower.

"I don't think I should be here," Neville whispered as they entered the common room. "Won't I get in trouble?"

"Who would tell?" Merlin replied.

Neville looked at Merlin as if he were crazy. "It's not exactly empty in here."

The common room was full of students, many of which had their noses in books. Anthony sat with Terry and Michael by the fireplace, engaged in a game of chess.

"You'll be fine," Merlin assured Neville, and led the way to his friends.

Michael noticed them first. "Looks like Merlin brought home a stray."

"You all know Neville," Merlin said, ignoring Michael. "He'll be joining us this evening."

Michael moved his book bag off the couch and onto the floor to make room for someone to sit before going back to his reading. Merlin plopped down and dug through his bag for his Potions book.

Anthony smiled at Neville politely. "Play any chess?" he asked.

Neville shook his head. "Don't know how. I've watched Ron play. He seems really good."

"Once I beat Terry, I can teach you."

"Who says you're going to beat me?" Terry asked.

"My queen." Anthony moved one of his pieces and said, "Checkmate."

Terry grit his teeth and rose out of his chair. "Every time. Every single time."

Anthony chuckled and moved the chess pieces to their original positions. "You are getting better... you're just not as good as me."

Terry scowled. "That's it, I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

"You can't be a sore winner," Merlin told his friend.

Anthony was still laughing as Neville sat opposite him. "He is getting better, though. Alright Neville, let's go over the basics."

Merlin went to the dorm to grab his cauldron from his trunk and returned to begin brewing Mordred and Morgana's potions.

Yawning, Merlin corked the Sleeping Draught and stretched his back. The clock over the fireplace said it was just after midnight, and Neville and Anthony were still playing chess.

"Checkmate," Anthony said, pleased. "Not bad, Neville."

Despite losing, Neville smiled at the compliment. "Thanks. I'll keep practicing."

The door to the common room opened and revealed Professor McGonagall. Neville gulped in fear.

"Mr. Longbottom," McGonagall said curtly.

Neville stood immediately. "Ma'am?"

She pursed her lips and inclined her head towards the door. Neville did not need to be told twice and scurried out of the common room.

Merlin held his breath as the Transfiguration teacher turned to him. "Is it safe to assume that you brought Mr. Longbottom here, Mr. Ambrose?" she asked.

Merlin shirked under McGonagall's gaze. "Yes, Professor."

"I see. Well," her face softened a little, "five points to Ravenclaw for your benevolence."

Merlin let himself smile. "Thank you, Professor."

"Goodnight gentleman." McGonagall spun on her heel and left.

Michael exhaled loudly. "I thought she was going to tear into you mate."

"I thought I was the only one that stopped breathing when she walked in here," Anthony laughed. "That went way better than I thought it would."

Merlin sighed in relief. "On that note, I'm going to bed."

Anthony agreed. "Yeah, I'm sure Michael doesn't want anyone to bear witness to me beating him at chess."

Michael tilted his head to the side. "Did you just challenge me?"

"I believe I did."

"You are about to forget the taste of victory, my friend."

Merlin rolled his eyes at his friends' antics, grabbed his bag and headed for the boy's dormitory.

"Hey, Merlin?"

Merlin turned to find Lisa walking towards him, curiosity etched in her features. "What was Longbottom doing here?"

"Just a bit of chess," Merlin answered.

Lisa crossed her arms and gave Merlin a doubtful expression. He grinned and rubbed the back of his neck.

"He couldn't get in Gryffindor Tower so I invited him in," Merlin admitted. "I figured this was better than sitting in the hallway."

"Oh." She uncrossed her arms and smiled at him. "That was sweet of you."

Merlin shrugged. "I suppose." At her smirk, he quickly backpedaled. "I mean that wasn't my intention at the time."

Still grinning, Lisa took a step closer towards him. "I'm sure it wasn't."

"Not that I wasn't trying to be nice," Merlin quickly added, afraid he was being taken the wrong way. "It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time."

"Just at the time?" Lisa asked, taking another step.

"Not just at the time," Merlin stammered. "Just, ya know, the right thing to do."

Without warning, Lisa leaned forward and kissed Merlin's cheek. He immediately felt the blood rushing to his face and his ears got hot. Lisa blushed, a grin on her face.

"Goodnight, Merlin," she said softly.

Merlin had to clear his throat before he could properly respond. "G'night."

She was still grinning as she returned to her seat at one of the tables. Merlin slowly made his way up the stairs, unable to ignore the butterflies in his stomach.

The headache that had kept Morgana company for the past few days had evolved over night. Instead of a throbbing pain, it felt as if her brain was splitting in two. It didn't help that her dorm mates were making a ridiculous amount of noise this morning. Every rustle of clothes and every tap of shoes made things worse. Even the subtle sound of the curtains on her bed being pulled back made her cringe.

"Headache?" Daphne whispered cautiously.

Only slightly relieved that her best friend had good enough sense to whisper, Morgana mouthed, 'Please kill me.'

"Sorry," Daphne whispered, "but you've got to tough this out. Our last exams are today. Just a few hours and you can lay here as long as you want. I'll even make sure no one bothers you."

Morgana groaned, and the sharp pain that came with it made her wince. 'I don't want to,' she mouthed.

Daphne slowly pulled back Morgana's covers. "Me either, but come on," she encouraged. "Nice and slow."

Knowing Daphne was not going to let up, Morgana groaned again and carefully got out of bed.

Going to breakfast had helped with Morgana's splitting headache. Merlin, despite knowing it would do little to help, had brewed a potion for her pain.

'I thought it might help some,' he explained. 'It's not going to make it worse, so you should at least try it.'

It hadn't worked completely but Morgana was grateful for the dull throbbing in her head. She managed to get through all but her last exam just fine. However, the closer she got to Trelawney's classroom, the worse her headache got. Everyone was sitting on the spiral stairs, getting in a last minute study.

"She's seeing us all separately," Morgana overheard Neville say.

Morgana groaned and rubbed her temples. "Can't I just fail and go back to sleep?"

"No." Daphne pulled her down on the stairs to sit. "No you can't."

By the time Morgana's name was called, she was thoroughly put over with this whole charade. Trelawney was a fraud and probably wouldn't know a real prediction of the future if she heard one. Morgana was determined to have a vision, just so Trelawney could know what a real Seer could do.

She sat across from her professor, a crystal ball sat on the table between them.

"Gaze into the Orb," Trelawney said in a misty voice. "Tell me what you see."

Morgana took a deep breath and began her usual routine for meditating, keeping in mind to keep her eyes open. Her vision became blurry and unfocused as she felt the familiar pull of oblivion. She let herself go, and was not prepared for what she saw.

There was a graveyard…tombstones everywhere…

"Kill the spare."

"Avada Kedevra!"

TOM RIDDLE etched in stone...

"Bone of the father…flesh of the servant…

Blood of the enemy…you will resurrect your foe…"

A figure rose out of a cauldron…his eyes the color of blood…

A curse of green and a spell of red collided in the dark…

"HARRY!"

Morgana stood abruptly, tipping her chair over, and gasped for air. What the hell was that? Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest and she could hear her blood rushing in her ears.

Trelawney was looking at Morgana in awe, "Goddess..."

Morgana rushed from the room, speeding down the spiral staircase. She reached the bottom, caught sight of Harry Potter and grabbed him by the front of his robes.

"Hey!" he protested.

She ignored him, and shoved him into an empty alcove away from everyone's earshot. "He's coming," she whispered urgently. "He's going to kill you."

Harry stared at her, first in fear, then in anger. "Is this some sort of sick joke?"

Afraid to speak, Morgana shook her head frantically. She felt a warm gush from her nose a reached up to touch it. Her fingertips were red and without giving Harry another thought she hurried off to the nearest bathroom.