PLEASE READ: All right, here it goes, I can't believe I'm at the eleventh chapter already! It's really scary to think I've come this far! Anyhow, this chapter feels as if it's coated with a layer of slashiness, so be warned. That being said, this chapter is dedicated to Kiki1770 who wrote three reviews to my story all in one go an inspired this chapter's conclusion! I really appreciate all your reviews, they're always so positive and gives me a great idea of what you like and what you would like to see, I try my best to keep each review in mind as I write this story so thank you so much. Hope you enjoy and sorry if it's a bit short!
Chapter Eleven: Merlin
Merlin grimaced as he and Arthur made their way out of the History of Magic class room at the end of the lesson, the day was turning out to be a complete disaster and Umbridge seemed to be the root cause. The woman was making it quite clear that she intended to wreak havoc in Hogwarts, and so far, she was succeeding.
The day had started out with an announcement pasted on the common room notice boards, informing everyone that all school groups would be disband for the time being, and would not be allowed to start up again without Umbridge's express permission. There was no doubt in Merlin's mind that Umbridge had somehow found out about Hermione's idea to start a Defense Club and thinking back to what Harry had said, Merlin was suddenly sure that the lone witch at the counter must have been Umbridge. Merlin bereted himself for not having put a silencing charm around their group. As if that wasn't enough, Harry's owl, Hedwig, had shown up injured during their History of Magic class, causing Harry to leave the room in search of help for her. Knowing how well coordinated most owls were, Merlin doubted that the injury had been Hedwig's own fault. That left the possibility that Umbridge had tried to catch Hedwig in an effort to read Harry's mail, the scary part was that the theory was completely plausible. Clearly, Umbridge was relentless, and it frustrated Merlin to no end.
Merlin was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts when none other than Hermione's voice was heard in the crowded courtyard. Taking in his environment, Merlin came to the realization that he and Arthur were almost right behind the Golden Trio, who hadn't seemed to notice them yet.
"Well, I was just saying to Ron…what if someone had tried to intercept Hedwig? I mean, she's never been hurt on a flight before, has she?" Hermione murmured to Harry, whose eyes widened in response.
"Who's the letter from, anyway?" asked Ron taking a scroll Merlin hadn't noticed before, from Harry's grasp.
"Snuffles," Harry said. Merlin blinked, taken aback by the alias, well Merlin guessed it had to be an alias for how strange the name was.
"'Same time, same place?' Does he mean the fire in the common room?" Ron's voice was heard again as he read the note out loud.
"Obviously," Hermione hissed as she scanned through the letter. "I just hope nobody else has read this…" Merlin nodded his head in silent agreement.
"But it was still sealed and everything," Harry said though he sounded unsure. "And nobody would understand what it meant if they didn't know where we spoke to him before, would they?" It was clear he was trying to reassure himself as much as his friends.
"I don't know," Hermione admitted anxiously, "it wouldn't be exactly difficult to re-seal the scroll by magic…and if anyone's watching the Floo Network… but I don't really see how we can warn him not to come without that being intercepted, too!" Hermione sounded frustrated and Merlin couldn't blame her! Everything really seemed to be going wrong today.
Falling back slightly, Merlin turned his attention towards Arthur.
"Did you hear that?" Merlin asked, voice hushed in fear of being over heard the way Harry, Ron and Hermione had just been.
"I'm not deaf, Emerson, though I can't help wondering what kind of idiot would name himself 'Snuffles'." Arthur replied, his exaggerated tone making Merlin smile and suppress a chuckle.
"We need to find a way to stop this." Merlin murmured while biting his lip. Whomever Snuffles was, it was clear that Harry and the others were worried about him being discovered. Merlin feared that Umbridge was looking for something to use against Harry as leverage, and by the looks of it Snuffles could be just that thing.
"And how do you propose we do that?" Arthur asked, arms folded and eyebrow raised.
"Dunno," Merlin admitted. As if he'd expected this answer, Arthur tilted his head downwards and lifted his hands in a "There-you-go-then" gesture. Merlin grimaced as his mind started to wonder towards possible solutions but by the time that they had reached Snape's classroom, Merlin was still coming up blank. How was he supposed to prevent Harry from getting into trouble when he didn't even know Snuffle's real name.
Merlin was pulled from his frustrations as Malfoy's voice broke through the air and Merlin stomach did a flip of apprehension, it seemed the blonde Slytherin just loved rubbing people the wrong way and wanted to be the center of attention while he did it.
"Yeah, Umbridge gave the Slytherin Quidditch team permission to continue playing straightaway; I went to ask her first thing this morning. Well, it was pretty much automatic, I mean, she knows my father really well, he's always popping in and out of the Ministry… it'll be interesting to see whether Gryffindor are allowed to keep playing, won't it?" Malfoy sounded decidedly smug.
"Malfoy really knows when to open his mouth, doesn't he," Arthur hissed, eyes dark as he watched Malfoy. Merlin shrugged, knowing that there was no way to defend Malfoy this time round.
"I mean," Malfoy's voice rose another notch, as if to make sure that someone would hear him, but who- the thought cut off as Merlin spotted Harry, Ron and Hermione standing near the door to the Potions classroom. Suddenly Draco's loudness made sense, well sort of. "If it's a question of influence with the Ministry, I don't think they've got much chance…from what my father says, they've been looking for an excuse to sack Arthur Weasley for years…and as for Potter… my father says it's a matter of time before the Ministry has him carted off to St. Mungo's…apparently they've got a special ward for people whose brains have been addled by magic."
Merlin glared as Malfoy made a grotesque face, his mouth sagging open and his eyes rolling. Crabbe and Goyle gave their usual grunts of laughter while a girl named Pansy Parkinson, shrieked in obvious glee.
The next thing Merlin knew, a commotion had started up as Harry and Ron tried to restrain Neville from tackling Malfoy.
Merlin shot Malfoy one last glare before hurrying over to Neville. He quite liked Neville; he reminded him a bit of Lancelot simply because Neville seemed like the type who was loyal to a fault and was underestimated by those around him. "You okay?" Merlin asked Neville as he approached the four Gryffindors. Neville didn't look okay, he looked furious.
"Fighting Potter, Longbottom, Weasley, ah and the two newest additions, Messers. Pendragon. Twenty points from Gryffindor. Release Longbottom, Potter or it will be detention. Inside, all of you." Snape scowled before turning around to stalk into his classroom once more, cloak bellowing.
Harry let go of Neville, who stood panting and glaring at him.
"I had to stop you," Harry gasped in explanation as he picked up his bag. "Crabbe and Goyle would've torn you apart." Neville didn't reply, merely snatching up his own bag and trudging of into the dungeon.
"What in the name of Merlin was that about?" Ron asked while Merlin forced himself not to react at the mention of his name, instead just bringing his eyes up to meet Arthur's before they followed after Neville and the Golden Trio.
Merlin was thoroughly put off when, as he was sitting down, he noticed that Umbridge was stationed in a dark corner of the dungeon. As if reading his mind, Professor Snape spoke up.
"You will notice that we have a guest with us today." Merlin had to suppress a grin at the displeased tone in Snape's voice. "We are continuing with our Strengthening Solution today. You will find your mixtures as you left them last lesson; if correctly made they should have matured well over the weekend – instructions –" he waved his wand "- are on the board. Carry on."
Merlin was making good progress with his potion by the time that Umbridge moved out of her corner and decided to approach Snape. Merlin cocked his head as he listened in on their conversation, though Umbridge didn't make the task very difficult as she began talking.
"Well, the class seems fairly advanced for their level," she said briskly to Snape's back. "Though I would question whether it is advisable to teach them a potion like the Strengthening Solution. I think the Ministry would prefer it if that was removed from the syllabus." Merlin clenched his jaw shut to prevent it from dropping open in shock, Umbridge was being ridiculous. Snape's reaction was more controlled as he slowly straightened up and turned to look at Umbridge. "Now… how long have you been teaching at Hogwarts?" she asked, her quill poised over her clipboard.
"Fourteen years," Snape replied, his expression unfathomable.
"You applied first for the Defense Against the Dark Arts post, I believe?" Professor Umbridge asked, look towards Snape for confirmation.
"Yes," was Snape's quiet response.
"But you were unsuccessful?"
"Obviously," Snape's lip curled in distaste.
Umbridge's quill met with her clipboard once more. "And you have applied regularly for the Defense Against the Dark Arts post since you first joined the school, I believe?"
"Yes," even though Snape's reply remained quiet, it was clear that he was extremely angry.
"Do you have any idea why Dumbledore has consistently refused to appoint you?" Umbridge asked.
"I suggest you ask him," Snape said jerkily.
"Oh, I shall," Umbridge assured, her smile to sweet.
"I suppose this is relevant?" Snape asked, eyes his eyes narrowed.
"Oh yes," Umbridge said, "yes, the Ministry wants a thorough understanding of the teachers' – er – backgrounds." Merlin got the feeling there was more to it than that, then again Umbridge didn't seem the type to do something for no reason.
Without another word, she turned around and went over to Pansy Parkinson's desk seeming quite keen to hear her opinion on the lessons.
"Things just keep getting better and better," Merlin said, keeping his voice light as he widened his eyes, pressing his lips together as he tilted his head.
"Why not just do what the Ministry always does when they get scared?" Arthur whispered rather suddenly, throwing Merlin completely of track and causing him to frown in confusion. "Just cut off all access to the school's Floo Network." Arthur suggested trying to look nonchalant about it.
"Your brilliant, you know that, right?" Merlin questioned, his signature large grin blooming on his face as he stared at his husband.
"I don't believe you admit that enough," Arthur said airily with a cocky smirk in place, but Merlin could clearly see the affection in his lover's eyes.
"Pendragons, back to work!" Merlin and Arthur jerked in shock as the sound of Snape's sharp voice shattered the atmosphere that had started to build between the two of them. Watching as the professor stalked past them on his way to his own desk, Merlin waited a few seconds before addressing Arthur once more.
"We can do it when we go to the Room of Requirements tonight," Merlin murmured as he turned his attention back to his potion that looked like it was about to go bad. Springing into action Merlin quickly went about repairing the damage his absentmindedness had caused.
He and Arthur had been spending quite a lot of time in the Room of Requirements this year so far; first because of their make out session, then because Merlin had had to do the protection spell over the school and now because they needed to fix the room so the Defense Group would be able to find it and use it for the practices as well as cutting of the Floo Network. Merlin had a feeling he would be tired again tonight.
"Better make it quick, the others might get suspicious if we show up late for dinner," Arthur said later that day as they made their way towards the seventh floor.
Merlin nodded his head in agreement, if the Golden Trio were to ask him where they'd been, Merlin didn't know what he'd say. Pulling his thought away from that, Merlin instead decided to focus on their current mission. Merlin was quite looking forward to doing the spell for the Room of Requirements since he'd never been quite satisfied with how he'd left it the first time. He couldn't believe that anyone had actually been able to find it considering that you had to pass the wall three times while thinking about what you needed, for the room to reveal itself to you. Hopefully, once the spell was done, the room would be able to sense if someone was in true need of it and would then proceed to sub-consciously lead the person towards the seventh floor and consequently the room itself. So now the room could reveal itself without preamble and only to those with no I'll intent.
"You know of course that once we give Harry and the others access to the room we won't be able to use it?" Arthur pointed out, causing Merlin to roll his eyes. Still, he had to admit that he'd miss the small moments of peace the room offered.
"Guess we'll just have to be more careful in the future… maybe we can use one of the vacant teachers' rooms." Merlin pondered as he began his routine pacing in front of wall. 'I need a room with a fireplace that's connected to the Floo Network.' Merlin thought, repeating the thought over and over as he went.
Soon the large oak door appeared making Merlin smile as he pulled it open and moved inside regarding the empty room as well as the pale grate that held no fire. Looking over his shoulder at Arthur, Merlin smiled and moved to the center of the chamber.
Taking a deep breath, Merlin looked straight ahead, not really seeing the wall in front of him as he reached towards his magic, the words spilling naturally from his mouth. "Hogwarts hieran min giedd. Awendan eower betimbran fore min beþurfans. Lædan eall in beþurfan, to seo herig her ac forgiefan hwa man beþurfan." Merlin could almost hear the castle groan as it adjusted to his requirements, these were the first changes Hogwarts had seen in the past ten centuries.
Merlin's vision of the room seem to brighten for a moment before it returned back to normal and Merlin felt his shoulders sag a bit as he lowered his chin to his chest, giving himself a few seconds to recover. There was the faintest sound of Arthur's foot falls as he approached Merlin, not touching but hovering close enough for Merlin to know he was concerned.
"Okay! Glad that's over, next part," Merlin exclaimed, wincing when he realized that his voice had come out overly cheerful. Never the less, he ignored it and strode over to the unlit fireplace.
Thinking back to when Merlin had first arrived at Camelot, he would never have imagined that he would on day create a place like Hogwarts, he sometimes still had trouble believing it. But that wasn't the only thing he wouldn't have been able to imagine, Merlin mentally added as he glanced towards Arthur who had a worried frown, marring his face. Chastising himself for being so easily distracted Merlin spoke the words needed to shut down all the school's Floo Networks before turning back to Arthur. "Great, now all we have to do is come back tomorrow so we can reconnect the Floo before anyone starts to investigate!" Merlin grinned feeling quite pleased with himself. Feeling happy and quite mischievous, Merlin spun around.
Arthur made an indignant squawk of surprise when Merlin suddenly threw himself at Arthur, laughing as they both collapsed to the floor.
"A little warning would've been nice," Arthur grunted as he moved out from under Merlin who still couldn't stop smiling as he got up, offering Arthur his hand.
"You know you love me," Merlin grinned.
"Yes, though sometimes it's a mystery why," Arthur sulked as he took Merlin's hand and heaved himself up.
"Must be my charm," Merlin said seriously before bursting into laughter which soon had Arthur laughing as well.
"Come on, let's go," Arthur said when they finally managed to stop laughing, both still wearing ridiculous grins on their faces as the exited the room.
"Trelawney was absolutely batty today," Ron announced at dinner that night, spearing his sausage with his fork as he did so. "Recon it's because Professor Umbridge put her on probation. If we're lucky Professor Snape'll be next!" Ron continued, becoming quite excited by the possibility of Snape being sacked.
"Ronald!" Hermione exclaimed though though she couldn't seem to muster the right amount of disapproval.
"Like you aren't glad that Trelawney might be sacked!" Ron accused.
"I don't like Trelawney but that doesn't mean I want her to be sacked," Hermione defended glancing towards Merlin with an almost apologetic smile. He smiled back. Merlin really liked Hermione and was glad that she seemed to have reconsidered her opinion on seers; at the very least she didn't have such a harsh attitude towards Trelawney anymore.
"She's beautiful don't you think?" Merlin blinked surprised by Arthur's sudden question. Looking towards Arthur, Merlin gave his husband an inquiring look.
"Who, Hermione?" Merlin asked with a confused smile. Arthur looked annoyed as he replied.
"Don't be an idiot Emerson, I'm talking about Liliana." Arthur stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Who the heck was Liliana? Puzzled, Merlin followed Arthur's gaze in an effort to find whomever Arthur was taking about. His gaze soon landed on a brown haired Ravenclaw who was staring at Arthur with satisfaction colouring her face. Okay, so he'd found her and she was rather pretty, but what had she done that had suddenly drawn Arthur's attention towards her. Especially considering how infatuated he sounded.
"What do you mean?" Merlin asked with a weary frown as suspicions started to rise.
"She's absolutely beautiful, Emerson. The love of my life, I'm sure of it!" Arthur exclaimed as if making a proclamation to the entire world. Merlin felt dread starting to pool in his stomach.
Not again.
"What's he talking about?" Ron piped up, it seemed their conversation had drawn the trio's attention.
"I have no idea," Merlin lied, eyebrows drawn together as he stared at his husband. "Armand, can I have your goblet please." Merlin held his hand out for Arthur's goblet. Not even looking at Merlin, Arthur passed the goblet towards him. Arthur's eyes were filled with adoration as he continued to stare at Liliana, who was staring back without hesitation.
Merlin didn't recognize her at all, which meant that she couldn't be a fifth year student.
"Emerson?" came Hermione's hesitant voice and Merlin looked up at her.
"Armand's ingested a love potion," he whispered in explanation, not wanting Arthur to hear. Love potions were always unpredictable so one never knew how the victims of the potions would react to being told that they were under a spell.
Hermione's eyes widened in surprise while Harry and Ron didn't seem to know how to react. "How do you know?" Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Because his in love with me-Melissa, his, um girlfriend," Merlin stuttered but tried his best to recover from his slip up. Hermione folded her arms looking decidedly skeptical but Merlin ignored her, lifting the cup to his nose. The smell of trees, dirt, apples and Arthur wafted into Merlin's nose, causing Merlin to jerk back in shock.
Amortentia.
Of course Arthur would attract the attention of a Ravenclaw who knew how to make Amortentia and who was actually willing to do so just to get Arthur to like her.
"But no students are allowed to brew that!" Hermione objected and Merlin grimaced as he realized he must have said it out loud. Still, Merlin snorted once he processed Hermione's objection.
"Yeah, like that ever stops anyone."
"Hey, Armand, Lilian wants to talk to you," Merlin turned his words towards Arthur not giving Hermione any chance to reply.
Arthur managed to drag his attention away from the girl long enough to ask, "Who?"
"Liliana," Hermione whispered to Merlin.
"Um…. I mean Liliana wants you to go to the dungeon and wait for her there." Merlin quickly corrected, ignoring the suffocating feeling he experienced at the completely adoring and smitten look visible in Arthur's eyes.
"Really?" Arthur's glazed eyes brightened with excitement.
"Yep, she's super excited to see you. Let's go, we don't want to keep her waiting!" Merlin forced himself to sound cheerful as he faked a smile.
"You're right, Emerson your right." Arthur agreed shooting out of his seat and Merlin had to scramble to keep up as Arthur rushed out of the Great Hall. Catching up with Arthur, Merlin led him towards Snape's class room and quickly started rummaging around in the cupboards, praying to Avalon that Snape would have the cure stashed somewhere in his classroom. "Emerson, what are you doing?" Arthur asked, sounding bewildered and almost suspicious.
"I'm just… uh… looking for something. Just sit somewhere, she'll be here any minute." Merlin said, picking up one bottle after another as he tried to figure out how Snape's sorting worked. Dammit, where was it, where was it?
"Are you looking for something Mr. Pendragon?" Merlin nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden sound of Snape's voice coming from behind him.
"Professor I-" Merlin started floundering before he was interrupted by Arthur.
"Yes, I am seeking my other half. Liliana! Have you seen her?" Arthur demanded, sounding half drunk.
"What's the matter with him," Snape did not look pleased as he glared at Arthur.
"Amortentia, sir. One of the Ravenclaws drugged his goblet with it," Merlin was quick to explain, feeling quite nervous about how Snape would react.
"And am I to assume that you're looking for a cure?"
Merlin gave a mute nod, fearing he'd already pushed the professor too far.
"Close those," Snape ordered as he stalked over to a row of cupboards near his desk. Merlin hurried to comply closing the three cupboards he'd opened. Turning he quickly placated Arthur some more before making his way towards Snape. "Interesting that you should recognize Amortentia so easily when we here at Hogwarts only cover it in the sixth and seventh year." Snape observed over the faint clinking of glass bottles.
"It's happened before." Merlin blurted before quickly adding. "I mean, he's been fed a love potion before and I had to figure out how to undo it, in the process, I learned about Amortentia as well." Merlin finished, feeling quite pleased with himself since his story was only a half lie.
"Hmph," Snape didn't sound impressed, but Merlin was starting to realize that Snape didn't really show any positive emotions. "And when was this exactly?" Snape continued his interrogation.
"A, um year ago," Merlin replied, relieved that his voice was remaining steady.
Snape raised one dark eyebrow. "It seems you're just as keen as Mr. Potter when it comes to getting into trouble," came the withering remark.
"It just finds us," Merlin shrugged, a grin stretching across his lips. Again, Snape seemed unimpressed but said nothing more of the subject as he handed over the small bottle containing the cure.
"I want you out of my classroom in two minutes." He said before moving past Merlin and presumably leaving.
Merlin turned around and almost fell over in surprise when Arthur was suddenly in his face. "Emerson, what's going on? She's not coming is she? You lied to me!" Merlin's eyes widened at how quickly Arthur's mood escalated from excited but suspicious to absolutely furious. Feeling slightly panicked, Merlin did the only thing he could think of. Pinching Arthur's nose shut, Merlin thumbed open the corked potion and drained it into Arthur's open mouth. Arthur looked about ready to spit it out so feeling rather desperate, Merlin pushed his lips against Arthur's, creating a seal that prevented Arthur from spitting out the potion. There was an audible gulp and Merlin could only guess that he'd swallowed the potion out of pure surprise. The next thing Merlin knew, he was sprawled out on the ground, Arthur having shoved him away quite harshly.
"EMERSON! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU-" Arthur's shouting suddenly cut off and Merlin watched with light joy as Arthur's eyes seem to clear and he immediately rushed towards Merlin.
"Me-Emerson, Emerson, I'm so sorry," he apologized enveloping him in a hug as soon as Merlin found his feet. Merlin paused for a second, trying to recover from everything that had happened in the past few minutes. Relaxing, Merlin patted Arthur's back, pressing his nose into Arthur's neck and being assaulted by the exact same smell he'd experienced not fifteen minutes ago when he'd sniffed at Arthur's goblet. "That's alright, 'm just glad your back to normal," Merlin smiled, his words muffled against Arthur's skin.
"You act like it's been months," Arthur's voice was teasing but Merlin could feel his lips brushing over Merlin hair. He hid his unease well, but Merlin knew it was there. Arthur hated being out of control, and having a love potion fed to him, was definitely out of his control.
Merlin's heart felt almost too big for his chest as he pulled back and looked up into Arthur's eyes. "You just can't stay out of trouble, can you." Merlin said, a fond smile pulling at his lips as he watched the corners of Arthur's eyes crinkle with happiness.
"Wouldn't have met you if I did." Arthur stated simply and Merlin felt his smile broaden. Arthur gave a small smirk of his own before leaning in and brushing his warm lips against Merlin's own.
Snape's warning of being out of his classroom, was completely forgotten as Merlin's focus shifted completely towards Arthur's lips and the sensations they were creating. Not giving Arthur time to pull away, Merlin leaned in and deepened the kiss. Merlin's arms came up to wrap around Arthur's neck while Arthur pulled Merlin closer by his hips. Merlin moaned as Arthur's tongue traced his lips. Merlin's fingers twined into Arthur's hair in an effort to either urge him on or to make sure Merlin's legs didn't give out from under him. This was heaven in its purest form.
"BLOODY HELL!" A horrified voice pierced the air, interrupting Merlin's bliss.
Well there you go! Any ideas on what happened at the end? I bet everyone can guess, still this chapter was so much fun to write. Sorry about Arthur punching Merlin but it just seemed like the type of think the old Arthur would do, I mean, look at what Arthur did when Merlin "called" Viviane a maid. Also, on the Wikia page, Amortentia's is also described as causing the victim to become wither excited or aggressive. Anyhow, I really hope you enjoyed it and that you'll review! Thanks again for reading.
Spell Translation:
Hogwarts hieran min giedd. Awendan eower betimbran fore min beþurfans. Lædan eall in beþurfan, to seo herig her ac forgiefan hwa man beþurfan. - Hogwarts hear my word. Change your build for my needs. Lead all in need, to this sanctuary here and give what they need.