Author's Note: Well, I was aiming for my next update to go through the end "The Mark of Nimueh". That was overly ambitious of me. I couldn't let Hermione's birthday go by without an update. I am very sorry for the long wait, I will try to update more often!

Merlin and Gaius returned to the chambers some time later, bringing with them another body and a bag full of various items collected in the market. Both were surprised to find no one in the room when they came back, their mysterious guest was nowhere in sight. If she hadn't left Gaius' rooms, there was only one place where she could have gone. So, as Gaius closed the door behind them he gestured towards the stairs in the back.

Merlin understood and wandered around the tables towards his room. He stopped with one foot on the lowest step. "Hermione..?" He called up hesitantly, hoping he remembered her name right. A part of him almost hoped she wasn't up there as he remembered the state he had left his room in. He didn't want Arthur seeing his room, let alone a girl.

After a moment, he heard the soft click of the door opening. In the slowly widening gap of the door, Merlin spotted bushy brown hair and doe brown eyes. "Merlin?" her voice sounded faintly relieved as she opened the door wider.

Merlin managed not to wince as he spied the mess of his room beyond the long brown cloak. He hoped that she didn't think less of him after seeing that. He also noticed that the cloak wasn't as long as it had been when they left, she had shortened it somehow so that the bottom was just grazing the floor. He would have to ask her how she did that later. "What were you doing up there?" He asked, beckoning for her to come down and join them.

"I thought it would be better to stay up there while you were gone," she said vaguely as she pulled his door shut behind her. As she came down the steps Merlin had to back into the room to give her the space to come down. "If anyone came looking for the two of you and it was just me here…"

"A wise decision," Gaius spoke up from his examination table. He had wasted no time in looking into the new body, looking it over while Merlin was fetching the girl. Presently, he was doing something to the man's abdomen, but Merlin couldn't see what past the sheet covering it. "For the time being, it would be best if you remained undiscovered. Especially with the current state of affairs." How the old man was able to carry on a normal conversation while examining a body was beyond Merlin. Soon Gaius straightened up and let the sheet fall. He was holding a vial of milky-white liquid as he came further into the room.

"What's that?" Merlin questioned, stepping away from the girl to try and get a good look at it.

"The contents of that man's stomach," Gaius answered as he swirled the liquid around.

Hermione, who had made no attempts to come closer, quietly cleared her throat. Merlin glanced back at her out of the corner of his eye and saw she had raised a hand to cover her mouth. She didn't seem comfortable with talking about what Gaius was doing with the dead men, so Merlin kept his next question simple. "Will that tell you who did it?"

"No," Gaius admitted as he began to heat the vial. "But it might tell us how it's spread." He raised the liquid to eye-level for a moment before placing it back over the flames. "One thing I do know, this is magic of the darkest kind." Merlin felt a brief chill run down his spine at that thought. Gaius glanced back at Hermione for a moment and then his voice dropped low so only Merlin could hear his next statement. "Which is why I don't think this girl is involved. Even if she had dedicated her entire life to dark magic she wouldn't be able to accomplish anything like this yet."

Merlin was relieved to hear that Gaius no longer suspected Hermione of causing the plague. He now realized that he had never really thought she was capable of spreading this disease. But that left them without any ideas of who it could be. And the fact that someone was using magic to cause others harm disgusted him at his very core. "Why would someone use magic like that?" he asked, voicing his thoughts out loud.

Gaius looked at Merlin, abandoning his investigations for a moment. "Magic corrupts. People use it for their own ends."

To Merlin, that wasn't an acceptable answer. He shook his head fiercely as he tried to deny the statement. "But not all magic is bad. I know it isn't." He put emphasis on the last statement. He may not have been learning magic for long, but he knew magic could be good.

"Magic is just a tool," Hermione spoke up behind them. Merlin turned to look at her. She looked a little embarrassed to have drawn attention to herself, but she continued on. "Magic itself isn't good or evil, but how you intend to use it can be."

Gaius was nodding in approval at her answer, perhaps he was going to say something in agreement with her, when they heard the sound of armored guards marching up the hall toward their chambers. Hermione suddenly got a look in her eyes, like a startled rabbit in the middle of a fox hunt. As the door to the room opened, she turned and ran for the stairs back to Merlin's room. Merlin could easily see that she wasn't going to make it in time.

Acting on pure instinct, Merlin called on his magic. He hadn't done this in some time, ever since Gaius had given him the book he had tried to use only incantations with his magic. This time, he didn't know the words that would help him. It was just like on the day he had arrived in Camelot, but he could feel more control over the situation. Everything around Merlin started to slow, and then stopped altogether. Everything except for Hermione, who was quickly disappearing from view. It was hard, holding this spell. He was also afraid of getting caught, it was very possible that whoever was coming in would realize that he was using magic right now.

He held everyone else in place until he heard the door shut safely. It was a relief to let the magic go, it felt like huge weight had suddenly left his shoulders, but he didn't get to enjoy that feeling for long. Free of his spell, the door crashed open behind Gaius. The two of them turned to see several guards followed by Prince Arthur entering the study.

"Over there," Arthur directed one of his guards to a side area of the chamber before turning to the two of them. "Sorry Gaius, we're searching every room in town."

"What for?" Gaius demanded. His eyes briefly met Merlin's - did he know what he had just done? - before following Arthur around the room.

"A sorcerer," Arthur said as he walked around, giving things a general look over.

"But why would he be here?"

"I'm just doing my job," Arthur insisted, turning to continue his check.

"We've nothing to hide. Go on, then. Search," Gaius said, looking at Merlin again. Merlin's eyes slid towards the stairs, knowing full well that they did have something, or rather someone to hide.

At least Arthur didn't seem to be paying them much mind. The guards certainly weren't as they touched almost every item in the room. The Prince himself started looking through the items on one of Gaius' tables. "All of these books and papers?" he asked, clearly not planning on reading them all through himself.

"My life's work dedicated to the understanding of science," Gaius said with a little pride. Merlin wondered if that was entirely true, Gaius did seem to have a few books that weren't strictly for science purposes around his study. He was a little concerned that Arthur would find them, but apparently Gaius wasn't because he offered, "You are quite welcome to read through them if you wish."

Merlin might have laughed at the look on Arthur's face. The old man had been trying to get Merlin to read something that wasn't the magic book, Arthur was far less interested in reading much of anything, especially not books on science. He flipped the cover closed, suddenly even more unconcerned with the pile. As he looked around the chamber, Merlin vaguely hoped that searching just around here would be enough, but as Arthur's eyes landed on the back stairs he realized that was far-fetched.

"What's up there?" Arthur asked, pointing toward the stairs and turning to the two of them.

"Just my room," Merlin said dismissively. Don't go up, don't go up… Merlin silently pleaded. If Arthur could hear his silent pleas, he ignored them and immediately walked toward the stairs.

Gaius was also concerned at the thought of Arthur going up there, "And what do you expect to find in there?" he asked in a raised voice. If his question didn't deter the prince, it would at least warn their guest someone was coming her way.

Arthur continued on his way, calling over his shoulder, "I'm looking for material or evidence suggesting the use of enchantments."

Merlin was already concerned about what would happen when Arthur entered the room to see a person there. He turned to face Gaius, about to ask what he should say, when Gaius leaned in to ask, "What've you done with the magic book I gave you?"

Merlin knew his worry was painted all over his face. A girl he couldn't explain and a book that would incriminate all three of them if it were found, both would be in plain sight in his room. Arthur was going to find at least one of those things, and Merlin had no idea what would happen next.

"Merlin, come here," Arthur's voice drifted down the steps. Merlin felt his heart thud in his chest at the summons. He certainly couldn't put this off for long. Fearing the worst, Merlin headed up the stairs to his room.

Hesitantly coming through the open door, Merlin found himself staring at Arthur's back. The prince was standing at the corner of the bed, and past his blonde head Merlin could see Hermione. She was looking down at the floor in front of her, looking much like a child that had been caught doing something they had just been instructed not to do, but when Merlin entered the room she glanced up and caught his eye. She was trying to hide it, and was doing a rather good job at doing so, but Merlin could see she was a little scared.

Arthur glanced over his shoulder to see he had entered the room. "Merlin," he started, turning and taking a step toward him. "...There's a girl in your room." he said simply.

Well, so far it wasn't as bad as he had thought it would be. At least Arthur was giving him the chance to explain things. Uther certainly wouldn't give them that chance. "Yes, yes there is," he said, keeping his answer simple for now.

Arthur folded his arms over his chest and lowered his voice a little so that the conversation was private between the two of them. "And are you two, ah...?" he started to ask.

Merlin understood what he was getting at before Arthur finished his question. "No!" He quickly said, barely thinking about the answer. "No, it's not like that at all." Despite his denial, he could feel a grin unintentionally forming on his face.

Arthur looked him over. Merlin could see the wheels turning in his head. By all rights he should be taking Hermione in for questioning, Merlin knew that, but it seemed like he wanted to hear them out. He lowered his arms, letting his right hand rest on the hilt of his sword and turned back to Hermione. "Who, may I ask, are you?"

Merlin was surprised Arthur hadn't asked this of her already. Had he called for him to come up as soon as he saw Hermione standing there?

Hermione didn't seem ready for this question, even though she had to know it had been coming. "I...uhm…" she was floundering for an answer under Arthur's expecting gaze. "I'm…" her voice trailed off again, she had nothing to say.

"My sister," Merlin suddenly jumped in, hardly thinking about the words until they were out of his mouth. Arthur half turned around to look at him again, he didn't look like he believed him. Behind the Prince's back, Merlin saw Hermione's jaw slacken, as if she couldn't believe he was saying it either. Well, now that he said it he had to stick with it. "She's my little sister," he stated again, although this time he said it calmer and in firmer tone, hopefully more convincing. He wished he could go and stand beside Hermione, but with Arthur standing between the corner of his bed and the cupboard the only way to do that would be to walk over the bed. So he instead gestured over Arthur's shoulder in an attempt to introduce the two. "This is my sister Hermione," as Arthur turned in her direction, Hermione straightened up a little and wiped any disbelief off of her face, "Hermione this is Arthur."

"Arthur?" Merlin watched Hermione's eyes widen at the name. "Prince Arthur of Camelot?" She asked, sounding both amazed and in awe at the title Arthur held.

"Yes," Arthur conceded to his identity. He didn't show much of a reaction to the statement but Merlin was sure he stood a little straighter after being named.

Realizing who was standing in front of her seemed to help Hermione get her act together. "Oh, forgive me, uhm, my lord." She dipped into what Merlin thought was a curtsey, but she didn't bow low enough for her cloak to open, keeping her clothes hidden. "I'm so sorry, you must think I'm a fool."

Arthur stood there for a moment, silently considering the girl in front of them. Merlin held his breath, waiting for the prince to say something. "I don't believe it," Arthur finally spoke as he turned to face Merlin again. "I simply can't believe that the two of you are related."

Merlin felt his jaw slacken slightly. Behind Arthur, Hermione had straightened up and was looking terrified. Arthur didn't believe him? Merlin had nothing now, no ideas on what to say that would help explain the situation. "Wh-"

"She is far too polite to be your sister," Arthur continued before Merlin could say anything.

After a second of pure disbelief, Merlin let out a laugh. Hermione looked like she was about ready to collapse with relief. "What can I say?" Merlin said, giving Arthur a smirk. "She inherited all the good manners of the family."

Arthur nodded, as if that explained everything. "So tell me, Hermione," he turned back to the girl. "When did you arrive in Camelot?"

"Just this morning," Hermione answered, trying not to hesitate in her response. Merlin gave her a nod of encouragement behind Arthur's back, it would be better if she stuck to the truth for at least some of these questions.

"You came to visit your brother, I'm guessing?" Arthur continued with his questions. Hermione kept this answer to a nod, waiting for the next question on the list. "Will you be staying long?"

"Uhm…" Hermione caught Merlin's eye, she was looking for some kind of cue to help her answer this one. Merlin could only give her an open-armed shrug, how was he supposed to know what to say? "Merlin and I haven't had a chance to talk about when I'll be leaving yet."

"I see." Arthur didn't immediately ask his next question. He looked as if he were trying to choose his next words carefully, but when he spoke his question was still to the point and not very tactful. "So Hermione, do you practice any sort of magic? Spells? Enchantments?" Despite the seriousness of his question, Arthur appeared very calm about it, loosely folding his arms over chest and sounding as though genuinely interested in the answer she would give.

There was the big question that he had been expecting. Merlin hoped this girl was smart enough to know what the right answer was. Just in case, behind Arthur's back Merlin started shaking his head and mouthed the word 'no'. He couldn't think of an easier way to get the message across. All he could do was hope she understood.

Hermione looked confused for a moment, although Merlin wasn't sure if it was the question or his own gestures that were confusing her. "No, of course not," she said, looking away from him and back to Arthur. "I would never even think about turning to witchcraft for anything."

"Okay," Arthur said, nodding at her answer. Merlin noticed that his stance loosened slightly after her answer. Was he relieved that she had given the expected answer? He turned and started to walk about Merlin's room. Arthur was now returning to his original goal and was looking around for anything suggesting the use of magic. "I don't need to tell you both how suspicious this looks, a girl showing up on the day a plague strikes Camelot," he said as he briefly looked under Merlin's bed.

Now that Arthur had stepped out of the way, Merlin moved to stand closer to Hermione. "She has nothing to do with this, I promise you that." Hermione also moved, stopping so she stood just behind his shoulder. She was just a little shorter than he was, so now she was partially hidden from Arthur's view.

Merlin watched Arthur straighten up and look over to them. "I believe you," he said, sounding as sincere as Merlin had ever heard him. He started walking towards the door. "But I will do what I have to in order to keep Camelot safe." Merlin only nodded as Arthur paused at the door to take a last look around. He seemed like he was going to say something, possibly about the state of Merlin's room, but then changed his mind. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Hermione."

Behind him he heard Hermione quietly say something about the pleasure being hers, but Arthur was already heading down the steps to rejoin the guards in their search.

Hermione relaxed a little with Arthur out of the room. She was embarrassed that she had been seen by someone else. That was three people who had seen her. What was this going to do to the future? Would she go back to find that half of her friends had never been born?

She realized that while she was worrying Merlin had said something and was patiently waiting for a reply."Sorry, what?"

"I asked if you were okay," he said with an understanding look. "I know Arthur can be a bit much sometimes."

"No, he's fine. I'm fine." Hermione insisted, not wanting to worry him. She forced a small smile on to her face, as if it would make the statement more sincere.

Merlin nodded, although she wasn't sure he believed her. It seemed like he suddenly remembered something and walked over to his bed. He started picking up discarded clothes and blankets, picking apart the messy pile, as if looking for something. "Have you seen a book in here?" he asked, dropping everything he had picked up and moving on to another messy area to look in.

"This?" she asked, producing a leather-bound book with metal clasps from the folds of the brown cloak. She was so used to carrying around books on a normal basis she had nearly forgotten she had been holding it. She had been hugging the book tightly since Arthur had entered the study downstairs, and it had been something of a comfort to her while the prince was interrogating her.

When Merlin turned around, he seemed almost shocked to find Hermione holding it. "You had this?" He asked, walking up to her. She only nodded in response, wondering if she had done something wrong. "You could read it?" He held his hand out, a sign that he would like it back.

"I read a few pages when you and Gaius left earlier," Hermione answered as she relinquished her hold on it. It made her glad she had decided to take Ancient Runes this year. Despite only having a few months of learning, she had been able to understand a lot of what was written and she was proud of that. "Why? Is there a reason I shouldn't have?"

"It's just, most girls I know can't read," Merlin said with an absent-minded shrug. "I think Morgana can, but she's a noble so that's to be expected…"

"Oh…" She had barely thought of how the world treated women in this time period. Merlin was right, most girls were never taught how to read in the past. Did that mean she wouldn't be allowed to read any books while she was here? While she wasn't planning on staying long, the thought of not being able to touch any books was mildly upsetting.

Her feelings must have shown on her face because Merlin spoke up again. "I wouldn't worry about it," he offered as he tossed the leather-bound book onto his bed. She wasn't really sure what he was telling her not to worry about, but it seemed like he wanted to get her mind off of whatever was troubling her. "Come on, let's go back downstairs."

Hermione nodded, letting him go on ahead. There was really no point to hiding in Merlin's room now that Prince Arthur knew she was here. She was sure he would have to inform appropriate people that there was another resident in Camelot, even if it was only temporary, and people talked. At this rate, the whole town would know she was here within a few days… She set off on a slow pace after Merlin, who was already in the main room again.

"And what did you tell him?" she heard Gaius ask as she reached the bottom steps.

"I uhm… I told him that she's my sister…" Merlin said somewhat sheepishly.

"Your - …" Gaius cut himself off, seemingly at a loss for words. He glanced over Merlin's shoulder, spotting Hermione on the bottom step. "You two look nothing alike," he finally said walking over to a table to retrieve the vial he had been holding before. Merlin had nothing to say to that statement, probably because Gaius was right. "The book?"

"Hermione had it." Merlin's answer caused Gaius to look up curiously at Hermione. She avoided his gaze, staying where she was on the bottom step. She felt very out of place as Merlin assured Gaius that Arthur never saw the book. She watched their disagreement slowly start to escalate, and couldn't help but wonder if it would be any better, or even worse, if she wasn't here. Did they temper their words with another presence in the room? Or would a witness embolden the two to use harsher words and criticisms?

"What do you think, Hermione?" Merlin's voice suddenly brought her back down to earth, and she saw he was looking toward her.

"Don't drag her into this," Gaius said in a stern voice, folding his arms across his chest.

She realized she had missed most of their conversation while she fretted about disturbing what should have been. "Sorry?"

"Do you think we should be using magic to cure people?" Merlin was looking at her expectantly, "Or should we let more people die while we try to create one?" He looked as though he was seeking an agreement with his own thoughts and not her own opinion.

"I...uhm…" she looked between the two of them. It wasn't really her place to say, and her answer could very well change what happens next. What could she say that would stay neutral between the two? "I… I think that you can cure the disease any way you want, but if you don't find the cause it will keep coming back."

Her answer made Merlin stop and think. It seemed he hadn't thought beyond the immediate future in his solution. Gaius, however, was looking at her with a note of approval. "She's right, you know," he said as he returned to his work. "If the source of this disease is indeed sorcery, we need to find the cause and stop it."

It had seemed like the neutral thing to say at the time, and her words left Merlin and Gaius in the same situation before she had spoken up, but she still felt uneasy. She sat down on the stairs, a quiet and out of the way spot where she couldn't possibly have an affect on the goings on of this time period.

Hermione's chosen spot turned out to be the best place to observe what Gaius and Merlin throughout the day. Gaius was completely in his element, examining each and every body that was brought into his study. If he was disturbed by the corpses that found their way to his tables, he didn't show it. He dug into each one, examining their innards and extracting their juices. Sometimes Gaius would ask Merlin for help, rarely he would ask for Hermione's aid and she was happy to stay as far from the corpses as possible. He came out of his concentrations only twice, to eat and question where Hermione was going to sleep. Before she could speak up on the topic, Merlin offered his own bed until they could get another. Gaius mumbled something of an agreement and went back to work.

Merlin was quick to come to Gaius' side whenever it was asked, although it was clear he was still unhappy that Gaius wasn't letting him use his powers to help people. Hermione found she agreed with his views, it was hard to watch people die while you had the power to stop it, but all the same she knew that the Ministry of Magic had enacted several laws discouraging the use of magic in front of Muggles for very good reasons. She was sure that the King and his knights wouldn't hesitate to pass swift and harsh judgement if they were found. That applied to her as well as Merlin, she realized. As Merlin passed her by to give his room a "quick cleaning", she pulled her wand from the folds of her cloak. The wood was warm and familiar, the quiet power of the dragon heartstring within providing some comfort to her. She would have to get used to not using it, maybe not even carrying it with her.

She continued to watch Gaius perform his examinations well after the sun had set. Gaius' requests for help became scarcer as the night wore on. Just as Hermione found herself starting to doze off to the sound of Merlin's yawns, Gaius told the two of them to get some rest. At first Merlin tried to protest being sent to bed, but Gaius insisted that they leave him to his work.

Hermione felt terribly awkward, taking Merlin's bed for the night, but the young warlock was insistent. At least he didn't seem too uncomfortable on the floor, falling asleep almost instantly in his nest of spare blankets. Hermione was finding it impossible to rest. The unfamiliar room was uncomfortable enough already, in the darkness all of her fears about being here in the past seemed one hundred times worse. She needed to take her mind off of things...

Her hand closed around her wand again. Maybe she could practice a spell or something? But she didn't want to disturb Merlin's sleep by muttering incantations. Perhaps she could try casting without speaking? She had seen adults use spells without words before, and she was almost certain Hogwarts taught the technique above Ordinary Wizard Level classes. Why not try now?

She lifted her wand, flicked the top of it, and focused on the word Lumos. ...Nothing happened. Frustrated, she repeated the process. Still her wand tip didn't light like she wanted. It couldn't be that hard, she told herself as she tried again and again. She continued to repeat her attempts until she finally fell into sleep's welcoming arms.