Merlin smacked his head down on the book. Nothing. Not one word about the Philosopher's Stone. Not one word about Nicholas either. A last name would have been handy, but without it he was lost. A search on Gringotts had turned up that it was a bank, run by what seemed to be goblins. And there was not many books left for Merlin to read that might help.
"You look like you need a hand," whispered Gwen, eager to avoid the wrath of the librarian. Merlin slammed the book shut and added it to the pile of over thirty books that now sat useless on the desk.
"A hand? Gwen, I need a miracle. There is no book in this library that has anything to help me, and I am reaching my wits end," he responded, standing from the table.
"Then let us help," said Gwen, reaching out a hand to Merlin. He smiled, and quickly glanced around.
"Not here," he whispered back and together they moved out of the library. It took all of two minutes to track down Gwaine. He was bold, and hard to miss. They each grabbed an arm and dragged him away, until Merlin found a quiet corner.
"What is it that you need to tell us?" asked Gwaine, glancing around, taking on a part of Merlin's nerves.
"I was walking back from talking to Hagrid, and I overheard something. I am not sure what, but it was Dumbledore, talking to a man named Nicholas. They spoke of a Philosopher's Stone. Said it had been moved from Gringotts to here, and was hidden safely," Merlin continued to keep his hushed tones, desperate not for anyone to overhear him. If they did, well, he did not need more attention.
"I've heard of that before…." Muttered Gwen, turning in circles. She did this, rather frequently. If you posed a question of knowledge to Gwen, she took it as a challenge. Once Professor Geoffrey asked a question regarding the origin of the Wingardium Leviosa charm, and not even Gwen could answer. He had a four page hand written essay on his desk the next morning. "I need to think," she added, rushing off.
"And there she goes," responded Gwaine, waving her off. "Our Gwen, why did you have to give her a challenge?" asked Gwaine, slightly shoving Merlin. He smiled, and started to drag Merlin towards the Gryffindor common room.
"Have you got something in mind to kill the time?" asked Merlin, laughing as he raced up the stairs with Gwaine. After a petition, sent through Gaius, Merlin had been granted permission to move into the spare bed in Gwaine's room. Once past the fat lady, who mercifully had decided it was not a convenient moment to show off her operatic prowess, they reached the room with no sight of Gwen sitting in an armchair studying. She was either already at the library, or enclosed in pages in her room.
"How about a little flying?" asked Gwaine, tossing Merlin his broom. Despite every inch of Merlin's body wanting to soar through the skies on his new broom, he had resisted so far. He did not need the attention something like that would draw. But perhaps, now that the air between him and Arthur had cooled, it would not end in a disaster.
"Why not? Gwen will undoubtedly be thorough in her work, so I'm sure we have a bit of time," Merlin responded with a smile. Gwaine quickly returned it. Despite there only being a year between them, Gwaine had turned into the older brother that Merlin had always wanted. But had also turned into the best friend Merlin had never had. They raced back down the stairs, rushing to the pitch, eager to get up in the air and fly. Merlin had missed the rush that came with flying. It was something that could not be matched, an adrenaline thrill that coursed through his whole system, making him scream with joy.
"And it does appear that we have luck on our side," proclaimed Gwaine, spinning around in the empty arena. From the pitch it seemed so strange, that these stadiums filled with people, cheering and screaming. Merlin closed his eyes, trying to imagine what it would be like to have the crowds screaming his name, cheering him on for victory. It had some appeal, offered a small adrenaline rush. But it provided a sense of fear as well, pressure to achieve the results needed. That was a lot of pressure on a 12 year old boy. They both smiled at each other, mounting their brooms, and taking to the air.
"Woohoo!" yelled Merlin as the wind propelled him once more. But this time it was different. The broom last time was, well, terrible. The fireball felt like an extension of Merlin, twisting and bending to fit how Merlin rode. Gwaine tried to catch him, but he had no chance. Merlin took to the air like he had been riding his entire life, it seemed to be in his blood, in his bones. This was a boy destined to be in the air.
"Slow down!" yelled Gwaine as Merlin let out a loud cheer once more.
"No way!" screamed Merlin back with a wide smile on his face. He raced around the stadium, looping between the large hoops, darting in and out of the stands. And then he froze. He was sitting in the stadium, staring straight at Merlin. When their eyes met, he stood up.
"Merlin," whispered Gwaine, pulling up beside him. "Any idea what he is doing here?" he continued, and Merlin gave a small shrug.
"Knowing Arthur, I would guess he is here to talk to me," Merlin responded.
"And will you talk to him?" whispered Gwaine back.
"Depends how stupid I'm feeling today," he smirked, and flew across towards Arthur, who had not moved since standing. Merlin jumped down from his broom and stepped slightly closer to Arthur. "Do I need to protect myself?" he asked, knowing that there was every chance this would end badly.
"I would wave a white flag if I owned one," muttered Arthur, raising his hands as a sign of innocence. Merlin nodded, and together they sat down to talk. "Look Merlin, I do not like you. You showed me up, ignored the social structure of this school. And I am not okay with that. But I can concede where I must," said Arthur and Merlin raised a confused eyebrow. "You can fly, and well," said Arthur plainly.
"Thank you, I think," replied Merlin, waiting to see where this was going. Cause right now he had no clue.
"I don't like you," repeated Arthur. "But I respect natural talent, and you have. The Gryffindor team needs a seeker, and you are the only one I have seen after endless trials who even has a shot of helping us. Look, no one believes I can captain. Thing is, no one else wanted the job. The Gryffindor team is a joke. We haven't won a cup in ten years. I think you can help me change that," said Arthur, and for the first time Merlin found himself appreciating Arthur. He was passionate about this, and had something to prove. Whether it be to his father, to his team, to the school or to himself, he had something to prove.
"Say I did join the team…" started Merlin, gripping onto his broom. He was unsure. On one hand, the team could help the social situation, and it would give him the chance to fly more, something that he was quickly developing as a passion. But it would mean more attention. Something he did not need. "I don't want to be treated as I have been the past couple of months Arthur. I understand we got off to a bad start. Both of us have blame. However if we can move past that," continued Merlin as the internal debate inside him was finally won out. "I would be honoured to accept your offer. But make no mistake, I won't forget what happened between us," Merlin added. And Arthur smiled.
"Training starts tomorrow morning, and I will not go easily on you," Arthur laughed. And for some reason so did Merlin. He mounted his broom and flew up into the air.
"Oh Arthur!" yelled Merlin, looking back. "I don't really know the rules of Quidditch," he continued and they both smiled once more.
"Tell Gwaine he has some work to do before tomorrow morning," Arthur yelled back as he headed down the stands. Merlin for some reason felt happy.
"What was all that about?" asked Gwaine, racing over to Merlin.
"You have a day to teach me all the rules of Quidditch. Oh and what time does practice start?"
By the time Arthur blew the whistle to let them all go, Merlin fell to the ground, and could not move. His entire body hurt. He had never been a sporty kid, never been in a sports team before. And man, did it show. He thought that practice would be a bit of flying about, getting use to the air and the team. Nope. Instead it was running laps, racing to brooms, seeing who could race from one goal to the other, who could dodge the most bludgers, and especially for Merlin how fast can you catch the snitch. Merlin could hardly breathe during the fifth time, and by the sixth giving up seemed plausible.
"Not dead yet mate?" asked Gwaine, offering him a hand up of the ground.
"No thank you," muttered Merlin. "If I die, I'm quite comfy here," he added and Gwaine laughed.
"Well," yelled Arthur wondering over. "I'm impressed," he said, pulling Merlin up from the ground.
"Most of us don't make it through our first trainings," added Leon walking over to see Merlin collapse once more. Leon was great, he was someone who prided himself on honour and loyalty. Once he had chosen a side, he stuck to it. Plus he seemed to be a fantastic keeper.
"Gwaine over here made it about ten minutes before he crash landed into the pitch," teased Percival. Percival was the big guy of the group. For being twelve years old, he was already like a mountain of muscles. Merlin dreaded to think of what he would look like later on in life. Inside though, he seemed to be soft and warm, and he laughed a lot. With a bat and a bludger, Merlin would hate to be the opposing team.
"Ignore them," said Lancelot wandering over as well. Lancelot had immediately clicked with Merlin. "You did well, better than all of them expected," he whispered, pulling Merlin up once more and steading him. "After class, ice and lots of it," he quietly added and Merlin smiled.
"Thanks Lancelot," he whispered. He and Arthur worked well together as chasers. Finishing up their trio was Elyan, the older brother of Gwen. Merlin had met him a couple of times before, and thought he was a nice enough guy, rather protective of Gwen. Merlin was surprised at the fact that this team had not won. According to Gwaine, last year was the closest they had got after Hogwarts had removed the rule that first years could not be on the team. Slytherin though had beat them to it once more. And now Gryffindor was out for blood.
"See you all Thursday morning, same time. And Merlin," said Arthur turning to face him. "I promise it won't be that hard the second time," he said with a smile. Everyone else slowly wandered off, and Gwaine walked across to Merlin.
"I have no idea what you did, but you and Arthur seem to be getting along fantastically. That is kind of scary Merlin. Promise me you didn't enchant him," whispered Gwaine, and Merlin punched him. They both looked up to the stands to see Morgana standing there, a devious smile on her face. "She'll report back to her team captain, Morgause. Morgana and you will get to know each other well on the pitch," he added, as Morgana began to walk down the stands and back towards the castle. "She is the Slytherin seeker, and damn good. You've got a challenge…"
"I found it!" yelled Gwen, running over to them and they both turned. "I found the Philosopher's Stone," she whispered more quietly. "And you are not going to believe it."
So sorry for the long wait, I struggled with where to take the story but have figured it out and know where I want it to go in the next couple of chapters. You will get some Morgana soon, and Merlin's first year will soon reach its climatic end...