Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Merlin!

A/N: I'm sorry this is so late. This week has been crazy and the next week may be just as bad, so we'll see if I can get another chapter out next Thursday. Though after next week, my schedule will hopefully clear up considerably. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews and encouragement! They always make me smile and want to continue with the story...though life sometimes gets in the way! Hope you enjoy.

Chapter Seven

Merlin ran toward Hermione. He could sense her presence close to the rock formation near his house. He remembered what she had said about how he was part of her family now. He had missed this feeling of belonging to a family. The druids were never exactly family to him. They were more neighbors and a fragment of the once glorious past of ancient magicks, just as he was. Hermione thought he was a part of her family though, and he hadn't thought of anyone as a family member or a friend, since Arthur and the Knights had died.

He would protect her. And he wouldn't let them take her away…he wouldn't let anyone take her away, unless she wanted to leave. He felt a painful prick in his heart as he thought about her leaving. He was getting too attached, but there was no way to stop it now…and truthfully, he really didn't want to.

His feet pounded on the forest floor as he raced towards the only one alive who he was able to call family. Well, except for maybe Kilgharrah, but their relationship had always been a bit strange. And he considered him in a similar manner to the druids, a part of the past and a part of old magic, but not much more than that. He was close now. He heard voices that he didn't recognize. Hermione was definitely up ahead. It was time to save her.

Hermione walked next to Frank and Gerald trying to keep them distracted, even though she knew that it wasn't working so well. They started questioning her a minute or two ago, and they weren't stopping. Their suspicions hindered her stalling, and they looked like they had about enough of her saying "We're close. My parents should be just a little farther."

"Ok, little miss. I think we've had 'nough of your gallivanting. It's time to get you to your relatives." Gerald stated in a no nonsense tone and directed her towards where she knew the path and the campground were. She panicked.

"Oh, but it's only a bit farther. You wouldn't want to bring the wrong kid back, would you?" She inched away from them hoping that if they didn't buy her lies, she could at least run from them.

Frank stepped directly into her escape path giving her a shrewd look. She knew that he had done it on purpose. And she had thought that he was the idiot one…too bad. This complicated things.

"I swear…it's just over there." Hermione pointed toward the direction of home. They had to believer her…or Merlin had better come quickly.

Frank ran a hand through his thinning hair and sighed. "It's time to get you out of these woods. Don't you want to go home? We'll explain everything to you when we get back to the campground. You're looking for your parents aren't you? It's all going to be ok. Your Aunt and Uncle will talk to you all about it."

This did not reassure Hermione at all. She wanted to get away even more. She didn't need anyone explaining to her about where her parents were or about what's going on. All she wanted was to see Merlin and curl up with a book with him close by. She desperately wanted to feel safe and to be home.

She noticed Frank trying to herd her into the direction that Gerald had been leading her towards. "Don't worry. Everything 'll be fine." Gerald had been saying. She decided not to stick around. She bolted to the left, knowing that home was to the right, but Frank had been too close to safely run that way.

"Hey, stop!" She heard rustling and the loud thwack of footsteps on the hard ground, snapping twigs and crushing underbrush. They kept yelling at her to stop. No way in hell was she going to stop now. It really was too bad that she tripped and they caught up with her. She cursed her clumsiness as they grabbed her. 'Merlin's curse of always tripping over things must be contagious.' She thought before the fear took over her brain function.

She screamed at the top of her lungs. "Let me go. Let me go let me go let me go." She wasn't sure how long she kept it up until a burst of magic came from inside of her and pushed both of them away from her. They looked dazed, but they were still standing. Unfortunately, she felt exhausted and could barely stumble her way randomly forward, unsure of where she was going.

She felt a beefy hand grab her arm and resigned herself to being taken away. She lurched forward as the world spun. She heard a voice in the back of her head, but it was fuzzy like a radio station that you could only catch snatches of, the rest being static. The hand was gone, and she fell to her knees. She turned her head and saw Merlin. She had never seen him like this before. His hands moved in odd, but powerful gestures. His eyes flashed gold and his face was a mask of rage. He looked like someone about to charge into battle.

The earth was quaking, and his voice rose above the noise, cutting through the fuzziness of her brain. She couldn't understand the incantation, but she knew that whatever spell he cast, it was ancient and deep. She tried her best to keep her focus on him, but her eyes drooped and her exhaustion caught up with her as one thought coursed through her mind – "I'm safe".

Hermione slowly woke up confused and disoriented wondering where she was. She tried to remember what happened. Her eye lids were thick, and her brain felt like it was mush. She tried to blink. Her mind moved slower than the sap of the allusive Weeping Willow, cousin of the volatile Whomping Willow, until it reached its usual pace. It was then she realized what had happened. She lurched up and groaned allowing herself to fall back on the pillows. The world was spinning. She must have done something when she threw those men away from her.

"How are you feeling?" She heard Merlin's quiet voice murmur. "You're suffering from magical exhaustion. Can you sit up and drink this?" Her eyes cracked open and saw that he was sitting next to the bed, holding a foul smelling potion. She grimaced, but dutifully albeit reluctantly made a grab for the potion. Merlin held it out of her reach before she was able to wrap her hands around the cup. He shot her an amused look.

"You need to sit up first. I won't have it spilling all over you and the bed. It would be a pain to clean up." Hermione's lips drew down into a frown at Merlin's smirk. Her mind jolted as she suddenly realized that he was right. Her cheeks flushed red, and the frown lifted into a pout.

"Of course." She mumbled and struggled to sit up. Merlin decided to take pity on her and help her into an upright position. He handed her the potion.

"Drink up." He gave her an upbeat grin, but she could see the lingering worry in his eyes. It was a little touching…knowing he cared enough to worry, not that she'd ever admit that she found it touching. She eyed the potion with distaste. This was going to be horrid, wasn't it? She glanced over at Merlin again. He watched her in anticipation. "Come on…we don't have forever. We need your magic reserves back to normal if I'm going to teach you defensive and offensive magic."

Her heart leapt. "You're going to teach me more magic?" She asked, hoping it wasn't too good to be true.

"Yep, after everything that happened, you're going to need some training, though I don't plan on only training you in that branch of magicks…there are others that you would benefit from that after your recent display of power, you are about ready for."

She frowned. "I wasn't able to do anything, and I only pushed them back with my magic. It really wasn't powerful at all. Wait…does that mean I'm really not ready for training?"

Merlin blinked at her and chuckled. Hermione's gut twisted in anger. He was making fun of her! Merlin noticed her expression and tried to muffle his laughter. "You have no idea what you did, do you?"

She glared at him angrily. "I have no idea what you're on about," she spat, annoyed with his apparent amusement at her failure.

His face masked into a somber expression when he saw how hurt she was over his amusement, though a hint of his mirth could still be traced in his eyes. "You really don't, do you? Well then…you'll be happy to know that your magical outburst did a lot more than push back those men."

"What?" Hermione asked with a mixture of shock and curiosity. "But they were able to grab me. I wasn't able to incapacitate them in any way."

Merlin shook his head. "That's where you're wrong, Hermione." He smiled, his eyes coming alight with his mirth. "Your magic altered their minds. You or rather your magic erased any memory of ever meeting you. It was strong enough that I highly doubt that they even remember that they were supposed to be looking for a missing girl. And even when told of you by others, it is likely that their mind will make them forget any information about you too. Those two will never remember you."

Hermione was shocked. She performed mind magic accidentally? Well, her magic technically rose up and did it, but still, how was that possible?

Merlin replied to her unspoken question with an open expression and a smile. "Your magical power is growing and with that your ability to use more powerful magic. And that's not mentioning your brilliant and highly organized mind. This was only possible because of these things. Also, knowing how to mind speak helps exponentially with any sort of mind magic." He grinned cheekily at her. "Now, no more stalling and drink that potion, young lady."

She stuck out her tongue, but hurriedly gulped down the foul smelling potion, all while holding her nose. The taste was just as bad as the smell…like dirty socks and moldy decomposing food with a hint of something she couldn't even describe because it tasted that nasty. She choked it down. It did not help that it was chunky as she forced her gag reflex under control. Merlin thrust a glass of water into her hands after the potion was gone, and she didn't even have time to contemplate how it had seemingly appeared from thin air before she was gulping the water down greedily. She desperately wanted the taste in her mouth gone.

"Easy there…we don't want you to drown." Merlin patted her back as she coughed up a bit of water that she had forced down too fast. She nodded and sipped at what was left at the water. The potion's taste still lingered in her mouth, and she really wished she could find a way to get rid of it.

Merlin took the glass from her and held out a hand. "Let's get some food in you and then see how you're feeling. Maybe we can practice some magic…or at least do some theorizing if you're up to it." He eyed her critically noticing her pale, drawn face. "Though we may have to wait 'til tomorrow. You don't look so good."

She rolled her eyes at his worry. "I'll be fine. I am starving, so food would be good. It'll help me regain my stamina. At least, I think it will." She wobbled precariously as Merlin pulled her to her feet. He steadied her and then led her to the table holding onto her in order to make sure she didn't fall. She sank into one of the chairs as he plopped a plate down in front of her loaded with food. A bowl full of the grayish lumpy liquid that had a similar look to porridge sat next to the plate.

"Eat the pottage first. It'll give you the right nutrients and will help with your stamina," he said as he set a glass of something she could not identify on the table and pushed the bowl of 'pottage' toward her. She reached for the glass and sipped. Her brows furrowed. She'd never tasted anything like this. The liquid warmed the back of her throat pleasantly, but the bitter taste was not so great, though it did help with the lingering nastiness of the potion. She took a spoonful of whatever it was in the bowl. The 'pottage', as Merlin had called it, was very plain and didn't really have much favor, but it wasn't too bad. She scarfed it down quickly and took a long drink from the liquid. Her nose wrinkled as her throat burned again.

"Slow down, Hermione." Merlin watched her bemusedly. "The food won't disappear." He handed her a scrap of cloth to wipe her mouth on.

She snatched it and wiped her mouth. Her face grew warm with embarrassment. She tried to distract herself by asking a question. "So what's this drink? I've never had anything like it before."

"For real? It was a staple for me when I was a kid." He frowned in confusion. She nodded and waited for him to continue his train of thought. His mind wandered to his childhood and his mother. A small smile formed on his lips as he remembered all the good times. They were poor but happy.

Hermione hated to interrupt his musings, but was too curious for her own good and wasn't sure when Merlin would surface again, so she poked him in the shoulder and said, "So what is it?"

He jumped about a foot and realized that he had forgotten where he was. He berated himself internally for his inattention to his surroundings. If something had happened, Hermione would have been in serious danger. "Sorry…got lost in my thoughts. It is ale weakened with water. Drank it all the time when I was your age…for breakfast when we had it, dinner, and supper."

"Ale? That's odd. No child drinks that. Why would you?" Hermione wondered not for the first time about Merlin's upbringing.

"Is that not the common norm anymore? Do people drink wind instead now-a-days? Only the wealthy drank wine where I grew up, but I guess things are different. The ale has been on the table every meal; since you came here…I'm surprised that you haven't mentioned it before now, since apparently it's not so common." Merlin scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Ah, I always drank water from the pump. I never even thought about the pitcher on the table." She thought carefully on what he had said. "We don't drink alcohol until we are eighteen. Is it different elsewhere? Perhaps it is different among wizards." She looked expectantly at Merlin.

He sighed and averted his eyes to the ceiling. "I'm not sure about the wizard norm. They do have a different culture than non-wizards, but I have not been among them in a long while. Truthfully, I tend to avoid wizard society. It's too painful. The last I remember was the statute of secrecy being passed, and then I couldn't handle watching anymore. I still go check up on them every so often, but I don't really participate in their culture much."

Her eyes sized him up and appeared cold and calculating. He shivered. What was she thinking? He soon found out…

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