Alright, sorry for being gone so long, but I don't multitask and at the moment my attention is drawn to the show Criminal Minds. Ahhh, the adventures Hermione will have with the BAU. Now, I've been waiting to do this chapter! Today my friends, we meet Lancelot! Exciting right? I'm super excited!

ENJOY!

"Italics are sign language."

"Bold Italics are Parseltongue."

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Merlin!

Chapter 10

It had only been a week since Merlin was poisoned and he was much better. He was again at Arthur's beck and call and Hermione was back to doing whatever she did. That day, they were out in the Darkling Woods, collecting herbs for Gaius. Hermione made sure to grab extra so she could do some of her own experiments. She had to separate from Merlin, though. She saw this extremely rare herb a few yards away. A few moments later, there was this terrifying screech heard through the air and Merlin and Hermione paused.

Merlin turned around just in time to see a rampaging Gryphon running towards him. He dropped his collected herbs and ran off as fast as he could. Hermione only saw Merlin run past and she knew he was in trouble. Merlin, the clumsy oaf, tripped on his own feet and fell to the ground. The Gryphon stood on its hind lion legs and Hermione was about to transform to protect her brother, but was distracted when a man ran out from the trees and swung his sword at the Gryphon!

The man was absolutely mad! He made a grab for the beast and the sword impaled it, but the creature did not fall. It did, however, give them enough time to run and that was Hermione's cue to save the two fools. She transformed into her Animagus form and let off a deathly howl.

The Gryphon stopped in his tracks and so did the two men. Merlin turned to see his sister as the Demon Dog, sizing up the beast. The Gryphon snapped his beak at her and she made a grab for the monster's throat. She missed by a hair and made to grab the Gryphon again. She didn't plan to kill it, just scare it away. The beast decided to fly off though. Hermione howled in warning to not test her again and slowly turned to the two men. She could see the man who saved Merlin as clear as day.

His hair was dark brown and was put behind his ears. It had a wave to it and fell to chin length. His eyes were also a dark brown and everything about him screamed strong and brave. His clothes were worn loose and the only weapon he had was a sword. Which was currently pointed at her. She sniffed the air and smelt the fresh scent of blood and looked at the man. He was bleeding from his left side, but was still standing strong against her. She wondered if this was to be a knight of the round table. He surely fit the description of a brave knight. She did feel threatened though. So, she lowered her head and growled. The man held Merlin behind him and raised the sword higher. His stance was perfect. Merlin pushed himself out from behind the man and just strided between them. He breathed out a sigh and said mockingly, "ladies! You don't need to fight over me."

Hermione snorted in a dog-ish way and the man gave him a bewildered look. Merlin looked to her and said, "Thank you for the save Devil, but I was in the good hands of..." Merlin looked to the man and he answered, "Lancelot."

Merlin nodded and continued, "Good hands of Lancelot." Hermione paused. Lancelot? As in Sir Lancelot? Like in the Arthurian legends? A knight of the round table! She howled excitedly and ran a circle around the two. Both of them looked confused and she stopped in front of Merlin. She laid down and she motioned with her eyes to get on her back. Merlin nodded and looked back to a pale Lancelot.

Merlin motioned him over saying, "She won't bite I promise."

Lancelot hesitantly stepped towards the large dog as Merlin hopped on her back. She was at her largest size at the moment. She found out about a month ago that her Animagus could shift sizes. She could go as small as a German Shepard and as large as a, well, as a Gryphon. She was big enough to be ridden by two people easily. Merlin helped up Lancelot and noticed the blood. He didn't call attention to it though.

Hermione raised from the ground once the two were settled and tromped off. Lancelot held on tight to the large dog. He was just so amazed by the gigantic animal that had the might to scare off a beast like that. He was also amazed by the boy that was seemingly friends with the fearsome animal. Lancelot felt a prick of pain in his side, but ignored it. Adrenaline was still rushing through him.

He asked the man that was talking to the dog, "You never told me your name."

He turned around and smiled boyishly, "I'm Merlin and this here is Devil." Devil snorted and Merlin rolled his eyes. "Don't let her looks fool you. She's a real softy. Just extremely protective." Lancelot nodded dumbly. He had now seen everything.

Lancelot was starting to feel the pain of his injury and the blood loss was making him dizzy. Devil barked and Merlin looked at her confused. Then he looked to Lancelot just in time to see him faint. Merlin caught him before he fell to the ground and awkwardly held Lancelot.

"Damn it Devil hurry it up! This guy is heavy." Hermione was internally laughing, but she did quicken her pace. They got to the border of the forest and Hermione carefully shifted back. She was just in time to help support the weight of Lancelot. She huffed and stood up straighter. She was too short for this shit. She could hear Merlin snicker so she shot a stinging hex at his ass. He yelped and glared at her. She just pointed to Lancelot and off they went to bring him to Gaius. They reached the castle with many stares and Hermione was just getting more and more embarrassed by the whole situation. Thank goodness they weren't stopped in the halls of the castle. That would have been torture. They finally reached Gaius's chambers after dragging Lancelot up the steps. That was just pure agony. Damn these muscled men! They needed to lose some weight.

After setting Lancelot down on a cot, the two fell to the floor in a heap and exhaled sighs of relief. Gaius did a check of his wound and wrapped it.

Gaius told the two, "He will be fine. He just needs some rest and then will be well again tomorrow." His reply was two thumbs up from each sibling. They were in good shape, but holy cow that man was dead weight! It took them about ten minutes to get up and after, they just went about their day. Hermione went back to the woods to get the herbs back while Merlin went to clean Arthur's armor for his next knight initiation test the next day.

The next morning, Merlin and Gaius woke to see an awake Lancelot who was extremely confused as to where he was. Merlin explained that he was in the castle of Camelot and discreetly told him to not mention that he owns a Demon Dog because he could get beheaded for that. Hermione had been in the forest all night. She had gotten distracted by some rare root that she had to carefully dig up without magic. So, she came clambering into Gaius's chambers, dirty, tired and frustrated that she forgot a shovel. She did notice Merlin and Lancelot talking. Something about Lancelot wanting to be a Knight. She knew he would become one though.

Merlin turned to her walking past him and was about to say hello, but she held up a hand and signed to him annoyedly, "Don't look at me, don't speak to me, don't even breath near me until I've had a nap and a bath."

Merlin called after her retreating form, "You wouldn't miss Arthur's knight initiation test would you?" She paused and weighed her options. She decided that she had enough time to take an hour nap and then a quick shower. She shook her head and then stomped to his room and slammed the door.

Lancelot was left a bit stunned. That was not what he expected a Lady of Camelot to act like. He hesitantly looked to Merlin and saw Merlin looking at him closely. Merlin sighed and said, "Go on. Ask."

Lancelot cleared his throat and asked hesitantly, "Who is that?"

"That is the most fearsome creature known to man."

"What?"

"She's my sister."

"Sister? I don't mean to be rude or offensive, but she has no resemblance to you."

"I would hope not or that would be awkward."

"You are not clearing things up for me."

"Me and my mum found her when I was seven. Just, don't call us adopted. You may not walk away with your head if she overhears."

"But she's..."

"A girl? Yes. Don't tell her that though. Just try your best not to offend her."

"I will keep that in mind. You haven't told me her name though."

"Hermione."

"What a strange name. I have never heard it before."

"You probably haven't. Sometimes I think she just gave herself that name, but no! She assures me it's the name her parents gave her."

Lancelot stayed silent. He would need to find out more about this, Hermione. She sounded interesting.

Meanwhile, Hermione had plopped down on Merlin's bed and fell asleep for a while. She woke maybe fifty five minutes later, not feeling refreshed at all. She growled and got up. She hoped that Lancelot was away because she really needed to use the floo. Yes, she could use the spell she created, but she wanted the feel of a cold shower. It would wake her up.

It must have been her lucky day because Lancelot and Merlin were gone. So, Hermione floo'd over to the Cave and let Karma off her arm. The snake slithered to the heated rock she made for him and curled up. Hermione smiled and went to her glorious indoor plumbing. She showered for maybe twenty minutes before she got out to dress.

She used a drying charm after brushing her damp hair and decided to wear a dark red long sleeved shirt and black trousers. They had a guest so she did wear her black boots. Hermione finally left after sliding on her gloves, putting her scarf around her neck and slipping her dagger into her belt. She still felt like she was forgetting something though. The hiss of a snake was heard beside her and she had an 'ah ha' moment. She forgot to place Karma on her arm. She smiled at the green snake and let him slither onto her arm. After he was inserted into her skin, she gave Crookshanks a hug and waved goodbye. Hermione then disappeared through the floo.

She was glad to see that Gaius's chambers were still empty. That made it easier for her to just leave with no conversations. She exited the room and swept through the halls to the training grounds. She wanted to see this new knight they were testing. Arthur had yet to let her test one of his Knights in training and she was really hoping he would. Well, if it were possible for her to be a knight, she would. But alas, that is not even close to possible.

Hermione spotted Merlin and Lancelot chatting on the sidelines and walked up to them. Merlin spotted her and smiled. When she reached them, Lancelot held out his hand for a shake and she did so.

"We have not been formally introduced. I am Lancelot."

Hermione smiled and said as clear as she could manage, "Hermione."

She released his hand and signed to Merlin, "Has Arthur already finished?" Merlin shook his head and pointed to a brute with two swords. Hermione snorted and looked at him with a face that said, "You're serious?"

Merlin nodded to her confused and she signed to him, "This Buffoon is showing off right now with his sword swings. In combat, there is no room for showcasing your skills. He's too proud of himself and just from here I can tell he needs to be knocked down a peg. Don't even get me started on his terrible sword positioning. He's not going to have any shielding or much control with two swords!"

Merlin had blinked at her and said, "Well, I thought he would be a good match."

Lancelot snorted and said, "Hardly." Hermione smiled smugly at Merlin and he threw his hands up.

"Another swordsman to correct my errors!" Neither Hermione or Lancelot could reply because Arthur had begun the test. Turned out, Lancelot and Hermione were right. The guy lasted five seconds against Arthur!

Merlin went off to go help Arthur and hopefully get Lancelot a tryout. That left Hermione and Lancelot awkwardly alone. These were times when Hermione wished she could speak. She really wanted to talk to Lancelot, but she could only say a minimum of things without butchering it up! So, she just began to walk back to Gaius's chambers and Lancelot followed.

He cleared his throat and asked, "So, Merlin tells me that you are his sister?" Hermione nodded and he looked ahead awkwardly.

So, he asked the first thing that came to his head, "Do you enjoy swordcraft?" He was mentally smacking himself for the stupid question. Women didn't enjoy swordcraft! He looked at Hermione hesitantly and was surprised to see a smile on her face. She nodded excitedly and cleared her throat.

"I find it an intere-esting sport." Lancelot watched as she winced at her messing up her own words. It was her voice that confused him. It sounded broken almost. Like it was ripped from her and she was trying to use the pieces of it that she had left over. He wondered why that happened. Actually, thinking back to the short amount of time he had known Hermione, she didn't speak much. Well, he actually hadn't heard her voice until she told him her name.

Soon, the two reached Gaius's chambers in silence and that was alright because it wasn't an awkward silence. Just two people not knowing what to say. Hermione went to the bookshelves and plucked a book from it. She cleared off a space on one of the tables and just sat there. The book was cracked open and she was lost in her own world of literature. Lancelot had watched what she was doing carefully.

She just sat….on a table? And she was reading. Hermione actually watched his reactions to what she had been doing and understood his surprise. Woman in this era were pretty much the same. They wore dresses and some were higher up in class. They did chores and stuck to their own. While, she refused to bend to the customs. She wore clothes meant for men, didn't do a lick of chores, was educated, and enjoyed knowledge. She really was a twist in the timeline.

Lancelot went to his sword and decided to sharpen it. It passed the time as Merlin was out doing chores. Suddenly Hermione dropped her book and ran to one of her potions. She had forgotten all about it until she smelled the subtle scent of burning. She turned the burner off and scooped out a small spoon. It was too thick now. She swore loudly and it made the two men in the room look up at her a bit shocked.

She continued to mutter swear words loudly as she disposed of the potion manually. Merlin entered and heard her swearing.

He whistled and said, "Mum's going to kill you if she hears that mouth of yours!" Hermione growled and threw the potion cauldron at his head. He expertly dodged it and the remaining potion spilt on the floor.

merlin tsked at her and said mockingly, "Temper!" She just crossed her arms and sat angrily on a stool. Meanwhile, Gaius had looked on with a disapproving eye and Lancelot had stared at the whole thing wide-eyed. That was sibling rivalry? It was a bit violent.

Merlin walked up to Lancelot and he rose from his seat, expecting news on if he was allowed to try out to be a knight or not. Merlin got a down look and sighed.

"I talked to Arthur and….." Merlin looked at him sadly and Lancelot's hopeful smile dropped. That is, until Merlin smiled and said happily, "He would love to meet you!" Lancelot laughed breathlessly in amazement. His dream was coming true?

Merlin then asked as almost a side note, "You don't happen to be a nobleman do you?"

Lancelot scoffed and replied, "Me? A nobleman? Heavens no!" Merlin got a sort of nervous look.

Behind him, Gaius said, "Well that will be a problem then." Lancelot's happiness deflated and he looked towards Gaius. "To be a knight, you need to be of noble blood. Anyone with a blood status lower would be considered unworthy. It is the first rule in the knight's code." Lancelot completely deflated in his happiness. He spotted Hermione beside him and saw the anger on her face. In an unexpected moment of anger, she grabbed her dagger and threw it at the wall.

It stuck into the wood and Gaius shouted, "Stop putting holes in my walls, young lady! That's the third time this week." Hermione just growled and collected her dagger and left. Lancelot blinked at the transaction.

He then asked Merlin, "What was that for?"

Merlin looked to Lancelot sadly and responded, "Blood status is a sore subject for her." Lancelot gave him a confused look and he continued with, "When she was younger, she told me that where she lived, her blood was considered 'dirty.' So, she was prosecuted and labeled as a life that was worth less than everybody else's. So, when Gaius said only noble blood could be knighted, it kinda brought her back to that whole situation." Merlin looked to Lancelot with determination and said, "You will be a knight. I promise you." Then, Merlin left with his face of determination.

It was a while later when Merlin came back with a smile on his face. Hermione still wasn't back, but Merlin wasn't worried. She could take care of herself. He walked up to Lancelot and handed him a scroll of paper happily. Lancelot took it hesitantly and opened it.

Merlin then said, "Ladies and gentlemen! I present to you, Lancelot fifth son of Lord Eldred of Northumbria!"

Lancelot was a bit amazed at the forgery, but he couldn't. Lancelot handed back the scroll and said, "I can't."

Merlin looked at him confusedly and asked, "why not?"

"Because it's a lie!"

"Yes, but only the fact that you're not a nobleman."

"Lying would be breaking one of the most important rules in the Knight's code!"

"Fine. Then I guess you don't want to be a knight of Camelot."

"I want to!"

"Then do it! The rules are wrong! You could probably beat all of Arthur's Knights! This is just you getting into the test and then the rest of it will be all you."

Lancelot thought about it. He wanted to be a knight of Camelot. He wanted to protect people whatever it took! Lancelot looked at Merlin and snatched back the scroll.

"I want to be a Knight of Camelot."

The next morning, Hermione could once again not be found. Merlin was a bit more worried, but he was busy with Lancelot. He had Lancelot measured for his cloths with the noble crest of Northumbria and he was going to meet Arthur in a few hours. They made sure Lancelot looked the part, but he still felt the guilt in his stomach for lying. It was starting to weigh him down and he felt wrong wearing a crest that did not belong to him.

While he was preparing for his try outs, Hermione was walking back to the castle from the woods. She felt refreshed and anger free. What she did was spend a night enjoying the silence and severely damaging a good couple of trees. One of the trees was set on fire, some were blown to bits, others were just punched until they fell. Her knuckles were bleeding, but she didn't care. It felt good to let out her pent up anger. She let Karma do some hunting, did some hunting herself and then slept under the stars. She was back to see how the progression on Lancelot's knighting process was going. She knew Merlin probably thought of some half baked scene that was foolish. The idiot boy would need some help on being sneaky.

When she was heading into the castle, she passed the training grounds and saw the figures of Merlin, Gwen and who she assumed was Lancelot. Why was he dressed in the crest of Northumbria? Merlin! The idiot! How could he think the plan would work for longer than a day or two! Didn't he know that King Uther and Lord Eldrid are old time friends? He could have at least picked a lower class nobleman! Hermione was too late to stop him though.

Arthur had already taken the seal of nobility and read it. She was coming up to them and saw Arthur slap Lancelot and the man stumbled to the ground. He was testing Lancelot's reflexes and he failed. Hermione kept walking though.

Lancelot rose from the ground and she was close enough to hear Arthur tell Lancelot, "Well then. Go clean out the stables." He then turned to work with his knights. Lancelot looked let down and confused while Gwen and Merlin were smiling for him.

Hermione slid up beside him and whispered, "You're ma-aking pro-ogress." Lancelot jumped in surprise and she just smirked. She said clear as day, "get to cleaning stable boy!" Hermione then silently laughed and walk away. She could hear Arthur snickering and she turned her eyes to him. He stopped his amusement and turned back to his men.

Hermione walked up beside Arthur and he nodded to her. She pointed to one of his Knights that she noticed was doing better than the rest and whispered, "He needs to be on the fro-ont li-ines."

Arthur watched the man train and whispered back to her, "I was thinking about it." She smirked and nodded. What she was really doing was trying to get him to listen to her. She cleared her throat and used a trick for speaking clearly that she had learned. If she used her magical vocal chords from her canine and snake ones and mixed it with her damaged ones. She could talk a bit longer.

So, she cleared her throat once more and asked, "Sire?" He looked to her and she asked, "Can I test Lancelot for his final test?" Arthur could tell that she really wanted to. She had said the sentence croakily, but clearly and he could see the desperation in her eyes.

He sighed and whispered to her, "I'll think about it." She smiled brightly and gave him a swift hug and then skipped off happily. Arthur shook his head and thought to himself, 'Where on earth is this girl from?'

Hermione had slipped to the stables and watched as Lancelot began his work. She enjoyed tormenting Merlin when he worked, so maybe it would be fun to torment Lancelot. So, she just sat there staring and on occasions would secretly conjuring more mess for him to clean up. It was fun watching him look confused when he saw another mess that he was sure he had already cleaned. Since he was getting frustrated on this one stable and it was just too fun to mess with him, she cleaned the other stables with subtle magic.

She finally let him finish when it began to get dark out and he sighed in aggravation. He stumbled out of the one stable and looked at the others one by one. He had the most confused face and she couldn't help, but let out a snort of amusement. He turned to her before she could run away and she instantly put on her most innocent look. It didn't look like he believed her.

"Hermione" he drawled suspiciously. She looked at him and pointed to herself as if asking if he was talking to her. He rolled his eyes and stepped closer to her and asked, "Did you do this?" She shrugged and decided to change the topic quick. She took a large step back and pinched her nose while fanning the air in front of her.

"Yuck! Bathe Sir Stinks-a-lot!" She cackled and skipped away.

Hermione reached Gaius's chambers first and disappeared through the fireplace before Lancelot could come back. She greeted Crookshanks and headed straight for bed after changing into her pajamas. She let Karma off her arm and snuggled up in bed. When she was all settled, Crookshanks curled up by her stomach and Karm decided that her leg was a great place to coil around and sleep. She huffed and closed her eyes. Two animals was more than enough.

It was a good night for her. She only woke up from one nightmare and was able to sleep in. She remembered that Arthur was going to test Lancelot again and didn't want to miss his test, but she knew she would be late. She scrambled from bed and had Karma place himself back in her arm. She skipped the shower and opted for her homemade cleaning spell. She slid on a dark blue longsleeve shirt and another pair of black trousers. She slid on her brown belt and brown boots.

Then, on went her light fabric gloves and her beloved scarf. She did put her hair up that day, which she hated doing. It exposed more of her scars. It was hot out though. Hermione left the Cave closer to noon and as soon as she stepped in on the other side, she heard the warning bells.

What happened?! She could hear panicking screams and Gaius was gathering potions. She grabbed her own bag and then some potions and then Gaius briefed her on what happened. A winged monster had attacked a village? He told her that it took no livestock, only people. She shivered. This sounded like one distressed animal. She knew they would try and kill it, but she really didn't want to see the animal die. She just wanted to know what had caused it to become so violent!

Hermione and Gaius rushed down to the town square and saw the mass of people coming in the gates of Camelot. Most of them were burned and had gashes.

Hermione told Gaius quickly, "I'll get the childre-en first, then get the adu-ults." She rushed off and Gaius did as she said. She narrowed down her search of gravely injured children and went to them first. She healed babies with smoke inhalation and broken bones. Some were burned and others were already dead when she got there.

She reached one little girl that was sitting on the ground, huddled in a ball and sobbing. She had seen Lancelot and Merlin come into the square and greet Gaius, but she was focused on this little girl. She was badly injured with burns and some broken bones. Her parents must have been killed.

Hermione slowly walked up to the little girl and talked in the softest voice she could manage, "Hey there, sweetie." The little girl who couldn't be more than seven years old looked at her with frightened grey blue eyes. She tried to move away from Hermione, so Hermione did the only thing she could think of. She needed to make herself look less intimidating. She slowly sat on the ground and took off her scarf and gloves to reveal her scars. She was trying to appeal to the frightened girl by showing her that she had been hurt too. The girl stopped moving and stared at her scars. Hermione looked back and forth and then made her eyes go their comforting red color that had calmed Merlin all those years ago.

The girl's eyes widened, but didn't look away. Hermione said softly, "I know how you feel sweetheart. I won't hurt you." Her voice was becoming harder to use and the girl sensed her pain. She hesitantly came closer to Hermione and Hermione smiled softly. "I ju-ust wa-ant to help you." The girl had reached Hermione and the girl raised her hand to Hermione's neck scars and touched them.

The girl asked frightened, "Were you scared?" Hermione nodded and held the girl's hand.

"I wa-as." Hermione cleared her throat and was determined to say what she wanted to. "But this nice woman he-ealed me and took care of me. You see-e him," Hermione pointed to a starstruck Merlin and turned back to the girl. "He was the son of the wo-oman that healed me and no-ow, we are siblings."

The girl looked at Hermione with tearful eyes and said desperately, "I want to be healed."

Hermione nodded and whispered, "I will heal you i-if you let me." The girl choked out a sob and jumped in Hermione's arms. Hermione held the little girl as she cried and made healing magic flow into the girl, making her pain dim. The girl released her and Hermione still held her on her lap. Hermione grabbed her medicine bag and took out her very own recipe for burn paste. She dabbed it on the burns that were on the girl's arms and face.

She needed to tell the girl, "I am go-oing to he-eal your leg. It will hurt." The girl whimpered in fear, so Hermione held the girls had and whispered, "sque-eze my ha-and." The girl did so and Hermione used her magic to numb the pain as she snapped the girl's leg into place. The girl cried out and squeezed Hermione's hand.

Hermione smiled at the girl and brushed her golden hair away from her burnt face. Hermione whispered painfully, "Wha-at is your na-ame?"

The girl whispered, "Lily."

Hermione smiled and said, "Such a beautiful na-ame."

The girl giggled and asked Hermione, "What's your name?"

Hermione answered, "Hermione."

The girl looked at her with adoration and stated, "That is the prettiest name I have ever heard." Hermione smiled and brushed the girl's tears away. Her throat was absolutely on fire, but she continued to talk as her magic slowly healed the girl. "Are you're pa-arents here?"

The girl frowned sadly and tears gathered back in her eyes. "I don't know."

Hermione held the girl closer and she asked, "Where are your parents?"

Hermione smiled sadly and whispered, "Gone." Lily wiped a tear off of Hermione's face and Hermione smiled.

The girl asked another question. "Why are your eyes red?"

Hermione smiled again and answered, "because I like the-em that color."

The girl gasped. "You can change your eye color?" Hermione nodded and made her eyes turn a vibrant purple. Then pink, then green and then the color of Lily's eyes.

Lily giggled and Hermione's eyes turned back to red.

Lily whispered to Hermione, "Do you have magic?" Hermione nodded and the girl gasped. She leaned closer to Hermione and whispered, "I won't ever tell. I promise." Hermione grinned and looked at the girl's burns. They were looking a lot better. Hermione couldn't leave her there. So, she would take her with her until they knew if her parents were alive or not. Hermione told the little girl just that and she nodded. Lily handed Hermione back her gloves and scarf and watched as her eyes changed back to brown. Hermione stood up and held her hand out for Lily to hold. Lily took her hand and walked with her. Hermione had healed her leg completely so she could walk fine.

Hermione lead Lily over to Merlin and Lancelot and Lily hid behind Hermione as they reached them. Hermione got down to Lily's level and whispered, "Thi-is is my bro-ther. Watch."

Hermione raised her hands and signed to Merlin, "This is Lily. She's frightened and you need to take care of her while I help more people." Lily seemed amazed when Merlin nodded and knelt down to Lily.

Lily hid behind Hermione again, but Merlin told her softly, "I'm Merlin. You saw what Hermione did with her hands?" Lily nodded and Merlin continued. "That's a way for me to talk to Hermione without hurting her voice. Would you like me to teach you?" Lily looked wide-eyed at Hermione and Hermione nodded.

Lily squeaked out a "Yes" to Merlin and hesitantly stepped towards him.

Hermione signed to Merlin, "Tell her I'll be back."

Merlin looked at Lily and said, "She said she'll be back. Can you wait with me while she helps the others?" Lily hesitantly nodded and released Hermione's hand. Hermione went off to help more people and Lily sat in front of Merlin while he taught her sign language.

Merlin and Lancelot had seen Hermione's kindness towards the girl. They watched as she removed her scar coverers and watched her hold the girl. She was so sweet and gentle with her and Lancelot wondered if she was like that for Merlin when he was younger. It was just unexpected coming from a person that he had only seen the emotions of anger and hilarity from.

Merlin was just amazed at how loving his sister was. He knew how caring she was, it's just that he missed it. It had been years since he was small enough for her to hold him and it was just bringing him back to earlier years.

He and Lily practiced sign language with Lancelot added to the group. He wanted to learn what it was all about. Lancelot and Merlin weren't the only ones to watch Hermione's kindness towards the girl.

Gwen and Morgana had been helping the injured as well and had seen Hermione with the little girl. They were also amazed to see her take off her scarf. They had never seen her without it and were horrified to find what lay beneath. Lancelot, Morgana and Gwen had seen the ghastly scars on her neck and all held pity for the sweet and strong willed Hermione. Merlin was just grateful that they hadn't seen Hermione's eye color changing trick.

Hermione soon came back with a bucket of water and a rag. Lily hopped from her seat on the ground and hugged Hermione tightly. Lily released her and Hermione lead her back to Lancelot and Merlin. Sometime during her trip, Gwen and Morgana had joined the group of learning sign language.

Hermione was surprised and completely amazed when all of them signed to her, "Hello." She had smiled brightly and waved back to them. It was odd, but there the group sat. Hermione sat Lily down in front of her while the rest of the group chatted. She held out the rag and began to clear the dirt from the girl's face with utmost care. Hermione smiled as Lily's skin was cleaned inch by inch. Then, she washed the girl's arms and hands and her face especially.

When she was done, she said softly, "And what a beautiful li-ittle girl, Lily Flower." Lily blushed and the group was still amazed by Hermione's softness towards the girl. None of them besides Merlin had seen Hermione's soft side.

When all the dirt and soot was removed from Lily's skin, it was clear at how beautiful Lily was. Her hair curled down to her shoulders in soft golden waves. Her skin was tanned and her freckles were clear. Her eyes were a captivating shade of greyish blue. She had soft pink lips and button nose. The burns were disappearing due to Hermione's magic and the girl just looked like a ray of sunshine. Hermione looked to her bag and then opened it. She pulled out a silver clip that her mother had worn once and looked at it. It was shining silver with jewels that formed the shape of a lily, very fitting. Hermione took a piece of Lily's hair and clipped it back with her mother's clip. She looked at the girl and stroked her hair.

"It was my mo-other's. You look as beautiful wi-ith it on as she di-id."

Lily softly touched the clip and looked at Hermione with wide eyes and asked quietly, "You want me to have it?" Hermione nodded and Lily pounced on Hermione in a hug. Hermione laughed and hugged Lily back. The group around the two were almost melting with the sweetness of it all. Hermione looked at Merlin and he smiled. This all reminded him of their first meeting. Hermione had given Merlin her father's neckerchief which he wore everyday and now her mother's clip had gone to another little girl she felt a connection with.

Merlin sighed and told her quietly, "I bet you do this to all the little kids you meet." Hermione rolled her eyes and flatted out Merlin's neckerchief with care. She really was just a big softy.

Morgana and Gwen left and it was then just Merlin, Lancelot, Lily and Hermione. Lancelot had fallen asleep and Merlin sat beside Hermione. Lily was napping on Hermione's lap and Hermione was stroking her hair. It was only a little later when Gaius came up to them, followed by a man and a woman. Hermione blinked and could guess what they were there for.

The woman had her hair tied back, but Hermione could see the golden curls. Her face was kind with a bit of chub to it that made the woman seem all the more kind faced. Her clothes were tattered and ruined, but she stood tall with dignity even when her height was short. Hermione looked into her eyes and saw a sparkling blue.

Hermione looked at the man and saw that his hair was cut close to his head, but was still blonde. He stood tall and strong beside the woman who was obviously his wife. When Hermione looked in his eyes, she saw a replica of Lily's greyish blue colored eyes. Hermione looked down at a still slumbering Lily and felt a bit selfish.

She wanted to keep the little girl, but Hermione knew that she couldn't. Gaius motioned for Hermione to come over and she did. Hermione managed to move without waking Lily up and shifted the girl to her hip. Gaius left with a pat on Hermione's back and she smiled at him sadly.

The woman held out her hand and said with a soft melodic voice, "I'm Amora."

Hermione shook her hand and then shook the man's outstretched hand as he greeted her as, "Elfric."

Hermione released the man's hand and introduced herself softly as, "Hermione."

Amora looked to Hermione with tear filled eyes and said, "We thank you so much for taking care of our daughter. We don't know what we would have done if she were gone." Hermione smiled softly and nodded. She gently woke Lily and pointed to the girl's parents. Lily jumped out of Hermione's arms into the outstretched ones of her father. Hermione watched as the family hugged and cried and she slowly moved away. She was stopped when she felt a tug on her hand.

She looked down to the desperate eyes of Lily who whispered, "Please don't go." Hermione could feel tears coming from her eyes as she picked up Lily and looked at her teary eyed parents. She walked over to them and handed Lily to Amora after a tight hug from Lily.

She looked to the group and said as best she could, "I wa-ant you to go to the village of Ealdor in the land of Essetir and find a wo-oman named Hunith. She will give you shelter for as lo-ong as you need. Te-ell her that her daughter Hermione sent you." The family looked to her with the most thankful faces. Amora spotted the clip in Lily's hair and then looked to Hermione with wide eyes.

"You gave this to Lily?" Hermione nodded and kissed Lily on the forehead.

"A beautiful cli-ip for a beautiful girl." The family was beyond grateful and amazed with this kind girl. Elfric enveloped Hermione in a tearful hug. As did Amora and the family soon left. Hermione said one last goodbye to Lily.

"Goodbye my Lily Flower." Lily waved to Hermione and they left.

Hermione sniffed and felt arms wrap around her.

She looked up to see Merlin's concerned blue eyes. He asked her softly, "Will you be alright?" Hermione nodded and turned around and hugged Merlin. They stood there in each other's embrace for a while and Hermione was finally released Merlin.

She signed to him, "I love you."

Merlin kissed her forehead and said back to her, "I love you too."