Chapter 31

Hey guys! Sorry it's been a while, I got pretty busy again so I haven't had time to write. I have a question for you in the author's notes at the chapter so for the 3 people that read these little things, make sure to leave me your opinion.

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Although the biting winter chill had begun to fade from the walls of the castle, it was still a bit brisk as Harry Potter left Merlin's office at midnight. He walked with a small spring in his step as he headed back up to the Gryffindor common room. Yet Merlin sat brooding in his office, brow furrowed and hands clasped. Harry's Occlumency had been progressing steadily over the last few months and tonight Merlin had discovered that the young boy's mental shields were nearly flawless hardening from brick to steel. They could still be chipped away from given enough time, but Voldemort only seemed to have access to the boy in his sleep. A happy side effect of his training had been a steady decrease in nightmares and those that slipped through were his own fears, not the disturbing ambitions of a dark wizard. Sometimes however, Harry admitted that he did see strange flashes of a dark hall and endless shelves filled with some sort of lights. When this happened he always woke up with a burning pain in his scar, but he hadn't reported seeing these things since the beginning of February. Still, Merlin decided he needed to look deeper into the location of Harry's dreams. Considering that he hadn't dreamt Arthur's attack but witnessed it he found it probable that the shelves of orbs and black hall were locations he should know the name of.

Yet, despite this Merlin found himself rather disturbed by how quickly Harry had managed to pick up Occlumency. As a teenager the boy's thoughts should have been especially clear to him and to Voldemort, yet Harry had managed to build up barriers at a rate Merlin would have thought impossible for most wizards. Of course, he hadn't let Harry know that he was worried, the boy's spirits seemed to be much improved as of late and his personal relationship with his student had continued to strengthen steadily since the holidays. He couldn't help but think that his bursts of accidental magic were linked to his amazing proficiency at Occlumency. Of course this could all be attributed to the 'chosen one' and defeating Voldemort and all that mess, but he hadn't ever heard anything about Harry being an especially powerful wizard. Yet Merlin could say with confidence that the boy had more magical prowess than most in Britain.

Standing and stretching his suddenly sore back, Merlin headed from his office back to the room that he and Arthur now shared. As he entered through the ancient wood door, he saw Arthur sitting at the small table they had set up in the corner, reading. He glanced up for a moment and smiled at his friend.

"I think I've gone through most of the books in this room at this point" Arthur laughed, gesturing to the large pile of muggle and wizarding books that sat next to his bed.

"I'm sorry you've been cooped up in the castle for so long mate" Merlin said, feeling guilty.

"It's alright Merlin. I get out enough when we meet with the Order or Sirius and Remus. Also you look haggard as all hell" he joked and popped his shoulders back.

"Thanks for the support. You want a cup?" Merlin asked, craving one himself. Arthur nodded enthusiastically and turned back to the book that sat in front of him.

Merlin filled a kettle with water and focused on the contents using his magic to bring them to a boil. Or, trying to at least. The water seemed particularly stubborn as it sat cold as it had been when it had come out of the pipes.

A few minutes later Arthur finally looked up to see what was taking so long and hid a snort at how intently Merlin was staring at the kettle. Though, the smile slipped from his face a but when he saw genuine worry start to spark in the other man's blue eyes.

"Everything okay mate?" he asked, once again putting his book down.

"Yes" said Merlin irritably. He looked back at the kettle and thought once more in his mind 'boil you blasted thing' although it seemed as if he put a bit more power behind this command than expected as a second later boiling water exploded from its container, soaking both them and the surrounding area.

He spent the next half hour drying their room and healing the burns on both he and Arthur.

"What in the world was that Merlin?" Arthur asked, starting to feel a bit concerned for his friend, he couldn't admit to knowing much about the man's magic, but considering he was basically immortal Arthur expected him to have no trouble trying to heat some water.

"I don't...I don't know, that sort of thing has been happening for a while" Merlin answered reluctantly, looking out the dark window as to avoid looking at his friend.

"Something wrong with your magic?" Arthur asked, confused.

Merlin's frown deepened, "maybe, I haven't been able to control my magic normally as of late. I... I don't know what's going on. I've been having little plateaus of power and sudden outbursts for months now."

"Why is this the first time you're telling me Merlin?" Arthur asked, frustration leaking into his tone.

"I thought it might go away" Merlin answered, and Arthur was taken aback by how quiet his friend's voice was. It was the first time he had ever seen genuine, raw fear in the warlock. He realized that Merlin was truly worried he might be losing his magic.

"W-well mate, why don't you start with some rest. I... I'm not sure..." Arthur trailed off, unsure of what else to say.

"Alright" Merlin said, shoulders slumping a bit.

"We'll talk about this in the morning though" Arthur continued, "don't think you're getting off that easy."

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"Come on you two!" Hermione sighed, glaring at Ron and Harry, "OWLS are in two months!"

"Hermione, no one else has started studying yet" Ron replied, "or not really."

"It's never too early to start studying, and people are so distracted by everything else that I think they've almost forgotten about the OWLS" Hermione reasoned, "the fifth years last year started studying in January and it's the middle of March!"

"I gotta say mate, she's right" Harry said with a shrug, "we need to get decent scores at least."

"Oh come on!" Ron moaned, throwing himself dramatically onto the couch.

"Mom will have your hide if you don't pass your tests Ronniekins" Ginny laughed as she walked down the stairs of the girl's dormitories.

"Shut up Ginny" Ron said, his voice muffled by the pillow his face was pressed into.

"I mean everyone knows you'll do great Hermione, but Ron and I are average students" Harry said with a laugh.

"Don't sell yourself short Harry, we all know you're smarter than you let on" Ginny interjected, "you've had to fight a bloody Dark Lord every year since you were 11, but I don't think you've ever done that poorly on your tests."

"She's right Harry" Hermione added with a shrug "you're a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for.

"What, so I'm the idiot of the group?" Ron moaned through his pillow, but the other three ignored him.

"Thanks Ginny" Harry laughed, his cheeks a bit pink, "but I'd say that applies more to you then it does to me. You went through that bloody mess with the Chamber your first year and still managed to make top ten in your class. That's what I call impressive." The two looked at one and other and smiled until Ron groaned into the pillow again, shattering the atmosphere.

Ginny looked down awkwardly, "I'll see you at dinner then."

Harry watched her leave, a small frown playing on his lips. He turned to Hermione who simply rolled her eyes and tried to focus back on the Ancient Runes book she was studying. Ron sat up suddenly and sent a glare at Harry.

"I really wish you wouldn't do that in front of me mate" he said angrily.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, completely confused.

"Flirting with my little sister!" Ron yelled, "right in front of me!"

Harry looked physically taken aback by this, "we're not flirting!"

"You two have gotten a bit more...familiar in the last few weeks" Hermione chimed in, looking up at the two boys.

"Well I'm not trying to Ron, and we've always been friends!" Harry said, glaring at his friend for making a scene in front of the other Gryffindors that, as he looked around, were suddenly all very interested in everything in the room but Harry.

"I'm tired of it Harry. She's my sister and I thought you were my friend!" He yelled, obviously not sensing Harry's growing frustration.

"What the bloody hell are you on?" Harry yelled, standing up suddenly to raise himself up to Ron's eye level. Hermione also rose, sensing the aggressive air between the two boys.

"Stop it you two!" she yelled, taking both boys by surprise. Glancing around, she saw most the other lions not so subtly glancing out at the boys from behind their books. She grabbed Harry and Ron and pulled them through the portal to get some privacy from the other Gryffindors.

"What in the world is wrong with you two!" she finally yelled, turning to face her friends angrily.

"Hermione you know it's weird! She's my bloody sister!" Ron shouted again, sending another glare at Harry.

"Ginny is a person too Ron, she has an identity outside of 'Ron's sister'" Hermione replied, taking on a much calmer and more reasonable tone.

"You're taking his side?" Ron yelled, even louder this time. His face was beginning to turn red with rage.

"They're both their own people Ronald! Harry and Ginny can date who they like, no matter how stupidly immature you want to be about everything!" Hermione finally yelled back, balling up her hands and facing Ron. His mouth opened and closed a bit but no retort came out. After a few seconds he glared at his two friends one last time before storming past them and down the hallway.

Hermione glared after him angrily, but Harry was left in a fair amount of shock.

"I just... I cannot believe him!" Hermione finally huffed, her voice shaking a bit as she took a deep breath.

"Ron's just... ugh" Harry huffed and sat down on the stairs in front of the fat lady. He said a silent prayer that she was off hanging out with the other paintings so she couldn't comment on the current situation.

"He's Ron Harry, you know how he is" she replied with a sigh taking a seat next to him.

"I know but... why does he have to get so worked up over this!" Harry exclaimed, "who cares who I date!" Even as he said it however, he seemed to lose conviction in his own words.

"If I'm being honest here Harry, the best way to avoid all of this would be to not date Ginny" Hermione said, "you know how Ron can be, if he decides to get caught up on this it may be more trouble than it's worth."

"I don't even know if we're ever gonna get together!" Harry exclaimed, "I know there's other things I need to be focusing on other than dating."

"Oh Harry" Hermione sighed, placing a hand on his arm, "you still need to be a kid, you can't give up everything to go after Voldemort."

"And let's be honest Ginny is gonna make her own decision and nothing any of us say will do anything to change her mind" Harry said with a small smile, "still, Easter break is going to be insufferable this year if Ron loses it every time Ginny and I exchange niceties."

Hermione giggled at that, "very true. I'm not sure I'm entirely looking forward to next week."

"So what about you and Ron?" Harry asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"R-Ron and I?" Hermione sputtered, suddenly turning a bit pink.

"Merlin you are awful at hiding your emotions" Harry laughed.

"Y-you're one to talk!" Hermione huffed.

"But really" Harry continued, "what are you going to do?"

"I...I don't know Harry, I don't even know if he feels the same way" she put her head in her hands, "and I've seen him speaking to Lavender Brown a lot more recently."

Harry scoffed at this, "Hermione Ron has had feelings for you since we were 12." Hermione just sighed at this, looking over at her friend.

"Although I'm not sure even he knows how he feels completely" Harry admitted with a shrug.

"He does have the emotional intelligence of a goldfish" Hermione giggled and Harry smiled at her.

"You said it yourself Hermione, we don't always have to grow up as fast as we can."

Hermione smiled at her friend and leaned over so her head was resting on his shoulder and the two sat in silence until it was time for dinner.

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Hey guys, so I'm really sorry for the long wait. It's been a bit crazy with finishing high school and whatnot. I know this chapter is a bit short, but the next few chapters are going to get a little crazy. I have maybe 10 more chapters planned for this story (maybe a bit more) but it's crazy that this might be coming to a close at some point soonish. Because fits about to hit the shan I may be writing one or two short filler chapters to hold you guys over (chapters are about to get really long and you know how long it takes me to write like short-medium length chapters). Let me know if you'd like that in the comments because I want to do the end of this story justice but I don't want to leave you guys hanging for too long.