A/N: Okie-dokie, here's chapter 2. Again, sorry for all the OOC-ness. I can only throw up the phrases 'fan fic' and 'AU' in my defense, so please don't hurt me. :D

Many thanks to all who are reading this. And even bigger 'thank you's to everyone who's reviewed, or added the story to your alerts or favorites. You're all personally thanked on my profile. :D.

Now, onward, to chapter 2!

"Why was Marlet their target, anyway?" Merlin asked the next day at breakfast. "Who is he?"

Lancelot looked up from his porridge. "He's a magic-user. And Arthur's father is known to hate magic. Since he's king, his ideas sort of spread around, and now almost everyone has a similar outlook."

"Do you?" Merlin asked carefully. If his new ally hated magicians, he'd be in serious trouble.

Lancelot eyed him, and grinned. "I'd have chosen a strange person to befriend if I did, don't you think?"

Merlin blinked, surprised. "You knew? How?"

Lancelot shrugged. "There's just something about you."

"Is it obvious?" he asked, now worried.

"No." Lancelet said reassuringly. "It isn't. But I knew another magician once, and you remind me of him."

"A resemblance?" Merlin asked in disbelief. "You knew I had magic based on my resemblance to some other person?"

"Well, you confirmed it."

The magician cursed under his breath and Lancelot laughed.

"I'm glad I amuse you." Merlin muttered.

Lancelot patted him on the back. "It's all about having fun, Merlin. With all these rich buggers running the school, personal entertainment is about all we've got."

Merlin just sighed. "Wonderful." Then he noticed Marlet grabbing his lunch and not sitting, instead looking around anxiously, as if any step forward would be the wrong one.

"Do you want another friend?" Merlin asked Lancelot.

Lancelot frowned, confused.

"Yes or no." Merlin added.

"Yes?"

"Good." Merlin nodded. "Marlet!" he shouted, his voice carrying over the buzz of the banquet hall.

The other boy jumped, startled, and looked over at him.

Merlin pointed to the empty seat across the table from himself and Lancelot, ignoring the looks the other students were giving him.

Marlet looked around, frightened. Then he looked back at Merlin, who simply pointed at the empty seat again. The younger boy scurried over and sat down with them, and Merlin smiled.

"There," the wizard said, "Isn't that better?"

Marlet hesitated, then nodded. "…Thank you."

Several long moments passed in silence and then….

"You're new here?" the younger boy asked timidly.

Merlin nodded. "I just enrolled yesterday."

"Liking it here so far?" Marlet asked in a disinterested tone, as if he were asking 'What color is that tapestry?'.

Merlin snorted. "Not really, no."

Marlet nodded, and continued eating his breakfast in silence.

It gave Merlin a chance to better catalogue the other boy's appearance. His shoulder length hair was a deep dark brown, almost black, and his skin was lightly tanned, like someone who spent time outdoors. He also had bright green eyes, and dark lashes, longer than a girl's. Add in his high cheekbones, and he was probably some girl's ideal man.

"How old are you?" Merlin asked suddenly.

Marlet looked surprised, but answered. "Seventeen. You?"

"Eighteen." The wizard looked over at Lancelot. "Care to add in?"

"I'm eighteen, too. Arthur's nineteen." he added.

Marlet snorted. "Who cares?"

Merlin smiled. "My thoughts exactly."

An hour later, Merlin was sitting in the library, trying to find the books needed for his classes on Monday. Lancelot had left because of a jousting club he was a member of, but Marlet had accompanied Merlin, and the two were becoming fast friends. Without other students around to potentially bully him, Marlet seemed to relax and open up.

" The 10 Proper Ways to Address a Lord," Merlin read off from his list. "A History of Fallen Dukedoms and Why They Failed…you actually read this nonsense?"

"We're tested on it every Thursday." was the prompt answer.

"Ugh." Merlin held the book as if they were diseased. "Unbelievable."

Marlet gave an impish smile. "Ah, but we must learn all about the nobility of the past and how awful they are. That way we're already prepared when today's nobles repeat the same idiocies."

Merlin snorted. Then something occurred to him.

"Do they have books on magic here?" he asked.

Marlet looked over at him, startled. "Why do you ask?"

Merlin shrugged. "No reason."

"You had to have had a reason, otherwise you wouldn't have asked."

"Mm."

"Is this your way of baiting me into admitting I'm a magician?" Marlet asked, starting to become angry. "Because you could just ask! I'd be happy to tell you."

"I'm not asking because you're a magician." Merlin assured him. "I asked…because I am."

The younger boy was rendered speechless, eyes wide. "You?" he breathed, once the worst of the shock had passed.

"Me." Merlin confirmed, turning to blow the dust off the cover of a long-abandoned book.

"You?" Marlet repeated in disbelief.

"Yeah. Me." Underneath the dust the book seemed to be a strange gray color. Frowning, he peered closer at it.

"You?"

"Still me." Merlin affirmed, then held up the book. "This book used to be green. Can you believe that?"

Marlet blinked. "What?"

"I know. It's ridiculous." Nonetheless, he added the book to his stack. "So, where were we? Oh, right. Me, you, me, you. Well, just to make it perfectly clear, yes, I'm a wizard. But don't go advertising it." he added hastily.

Marlet snorted, rolling his eyes. "Because I'm very much with the in-crowd."

Merlin grinned. "Just making sure."

"I'm a magic-user. What possible good could come from my turning on you?" He looked thoughtful. "You're the only one to be nice to me." Then he blushed. "That was stupid, never mind."

Merlin smiled. "It wasn't stupid. So," he continued, clearing his throat, "where can I find some magic books around here?"

"This way." Marlet said eagerly, grabbing his by the elbow. "They have some at the back; they're trying to keep students from finding them."

Unfortunately, as soon as they rounded the corner they crashed into Arthur.

A/N: I know, I know, it's a cliffhanger, I'm sorry! But I just couldn't resist. XD.

If it's any consolation at all, I'll have the next chapter up really soon. Like, really really soon. I just need to do some writing for my other fics, especially for my adopted one. It's very interesting, I've discovered, writing four fics at once. XD. In any case, reviews, please! I love reviews, they brighten my day considerably. Also, anyone who reviews or adds the story to their alerts or favorites gets a personal thank you on my profile. I do this for all my stories, though, so you'll need to scroll down a bit. XD.

Looking forward to hearing from you all!