Merlin woke up the next morning with a groan as the memories from the night before came rushing back.

It was almost a relief for him not to be the only one who knew anymore to be able to share. A small blessing that came along with the pain of remembering.

He was the first one up the house was silent. He sat down at a small table after starting an old kettle for tea.

"Morning Lance…. Merlin I mean"

"Morning Hermione."

"Lance Du Lac, Lancelot… you took the name of one of the Knights of Camelot"

"A great knight." Merlin remembered fondly

"Didn't he betray Arthur? Him and Gwen"

"Your history did not tell the full story. In fact there are a lot of things that it got wrong." Merlin said a bit protectively.

"Tell me about Arthur. Was he all they said he was?"

Merlin smiled in both joy and sadness. Arthur; his wonderful and amazing Arthur. He missed him more than anything. "Not at first, but he grew into it."

"Was he handsome?" Ginny joined them at the table

She had arrived later that night along with the other weasley's. Dumbledore had decided to extend Christmas Vacation sending all the students home for the time being. It was the only thing he could do to keep them safe.

"Quite." Merlin sighed a bit "He had golden hair and blue eyes. He was strong and proud, but he had a good heart and cared greatly for the people."

The girls giggled. The boy in front of them looked smitten.

"If I didn't know better I'd say you were in love" Tonks said from behind them startling the three. She grabbed the pot as it began to whistle and made tea for the four of them.

Merlin's face turned pink all the way to the tips of his ears "Oh no... No not at all. I just really respect him… and we're really close… but not that close! I mean… UGH" Merlin hit his head against the table and the others giggled

"Good Morning" Harry greeted them all. "What's wrong Lan…Merlin?"

"I'm being ganged up on" He said gesturing to the girls

"That's rough sorry mate" Sirius said coming up behind Harry and ruffling his godson's hair.

The girls all laughed. "Sorry Merlin" Ginny winked "Your secrets safe with me" She said

Merlin almost grimaced at her chose of words. Morgana had once said something similar about his love for Gwen. "He's dead now anyway" Merlin said softly standing up from his chair.

"I'm going to go for a walk."

"It's dangerous out there now" Mrs. Weasley cautioned

"Thank you for your concern but I'll be alright." He reassured her. Mrs. Weasley watched him go. The boy looked so sad; he seemed only a child it was hard to believe he's been alive for centuries.

"Poor boy" She whispered "He seems so sad"

"Can you blame him" Sirius replied "He's had to watch his family and friends all die. Everyone he's ever cared about is gone. An existence like that has to be difficult."

No one could quite imagine how that might have felt.

"Then it's decided" Dumbledore said and everyone nodded he turned to Merlin "Can you take us to Excalibur?" Merlin nodded.

"It's near Lake Avalon"

"Lake Avalon!" Hermione was beside herself with excitement

"Calm down Hermione"

"Honestly Ron think of the history. Where is it?" She asked

Merlin couldn't help the small smile. "It's near Hogwarts"

"You don't mean the school lake."

"The exact one"

"Really all this time, first we've been living in Camelot and now our lake is /The/ Lake Avalon."

"Places long forgotten" Merlin said

"We can apperate to Hogsmeade and walk from there" Dumbledore said

The journey was short. Merlin walked along the edges of the lake staring into its endless blue depths. The others followed each having a million questions to ask but none wanting to break the sad atmosphere that surrounded the sorcerer.

Merlin stopped half way around and veered off the path and down into the far end of the dark forest. They followed as he walked through the trees. Many things had changed but Merlin still knew just where to walk.

He ducked into a small alcove, and held out his hand as the others gathered behind him. His eyes flashed gold and the air around them seemed to ripple revealing a large stone in the center a sword sticking out. The stone had vines wrapped around it but the sword looked no older than it had all those years ago.

"Only the True king of Camelot can pull the sword from the stone"

"So Morgana can't pull it, can she?"

"No, her heart is shrouded in evil and darkness."

"Still we should put up a few protective wards and spells at least something to alert us in case she comes searching for the sword."

"That's a good idea" Merlin conceded "She knows it's the only thing that can kill her"

"I brought lunch" Molly smiled "Let's have a picnic"

"Mum its December"

"That's what magic's for" Tonks smiled already helping to set out the blankets and food.

"Are you sure this is a good idea mum, I mean with Morgana and you know who" Ron asked

Molly smiled at Ron "Don't worry I think we're safe for now. Besides I think your friend might need a bit of cheer in his life." Ron looked over at Merlin. He was sitting at the water's edge staring into the abyss.

They all sat down to eat at the edge of the lake. Spells cast to provide warmth. It was almost like it was summer inside the magic bubble.

"Would you tell us more about your time in Camelot? You said the History books were wrong" Hermione asked curiously

"Sure. Hmm… Well I'm not an old man to start off with; although it was a guise I sometimes used. I was only a few years older than I am now when I first got to Camelot. Magic was still banned at that time and King Arthur was still just a prince. Prince Prat he was."

"Really I thought he was great and noble"

"He was, it was just hiding behind a layer of arrogance and stupidity. He was quite the Royal ass. But I turned him around" Merlin smiled fondly at the memories.

"I thought you were supposed to be friends" Remus asked looking astounded

"We were, we were more than friends, we were two sides of the same coin." Merlin said "But then he had to go and die." Merlin stood up stalking toward the edge of the river. "I tried to save him. If he had only held on a little longer I could have saved him! The stupid good for nothing arrogant toe rag!" Merlin yelled.

"Are you done?" A cocky voice sounded from behind him. Merlin froze... that voice… he knew that voice. He turned slowly. The others were on their feet wands out. But Merlin barely noticed them his eyes focused on the man in front of him.

He smiled arrogantly at him wearing his normal armor and Pendragon red looking every bit the handsome king he was known for and Merlin felt himself begin to shake. "I forgot clot pole" He choked out

Arthur rolled his eyes. Merlin walked forward slowly trying not to blink afraid that if he closed his eyes even for a moment that Arthur would vanish. He reached out a hand placing lightly on the man's cheek. He was real. Arthur was really there in front of him.

Arthur looked at Merlin with sadness in his eyes. He had watched Merlin from Avalon for a long time now, had seen the pain his friend had gone through had watched him suffer.

Merlin lunged at Arthur hugging him tightly and sobbing. He didn't care who was watching Arthur was alive! He was back!

Arthur wrapped his arms around Merlin tightly he had tears in his eyes too but struggled to keep them from falling.

Harry and the others looked away slightly embarrassed they felt like they were intruding on something private.

Merlin pulled away sniffing slightly looking up into Arthur's eyes cementing it in him that this was truly Arthur. "Are you done being a girl merlin?"

"Shut up you prat" Merlin wiped his eyes.

He looked past Arthur and smiled happily when he saw Gwaine, Percival, Lancelot, and Leon.

Arthur was back.