The Mourning Man

Chapter 2: The Search for Answers

Much of the dialogue for the scene of Arthur's death (the one from the show) in italics come directly from the show Merlin. I do not own those scenes. 

Arthur only sort of registered the man sitting across from him now. Calvin's voice shakes him out of his head.

"You seem to be thinking real hard about this lad." The man pointed out, Arthur nodded,

"I was just wondering, if maybe there was anything in the legends or the stories about the one he's waiting for." Arthur told him, hoping for an answer,

"Ah, well laddy. There are plenty of theories, but nothin' we can guarantee as fact."

"And these theories are?" Arthur insisted,

"Well, everyone agrees that they were most likely lovers. Soulmates even. Some say that the other half was a knight, others believe he was a prince or a king. Some think that if the Other Half does return that he'll have been reincarnated and won't be able to remember anything from his past life, and that he won't remember until he comes face to face with the man. Others think he'll never return. Some say that the Other Half will return but won't save him." The man said, and Arthur nodded. "But I'll tell you this much, it's best to avoid him. The shore where he usually is seen is maybe a mile into the woods, following the lake." The man smirked, Arthur nodded again. He thanks the man for his time and the four friends continue on their way. They walk into Honeyduke's as well as many other kids, he can see his friends glancing at him worriedly. Arthur spends some money on Chocolate frogs and the friends leave.

Upon reaching their favorite hangout spot, an empty classroom by the astronomy tower, the twins and Lee jump on him.

"Okay, what is going on with you?" Arthur could tell they were serious as it was George who asked that question and the twins weren't doing their twin speak thing.

"Honestly, I don't know."

"Well what do you know?" Lee demanded, Arthur thought about it for a moment, deciding how best to answer the question.

"It's like, for as long as I can remember, I've felt like something was missing. Like there was something extremely important just out of reach, but I have no idea what it is." Arthur began, "When McGonagall first showed up and told me I had magic, I thought that maybe that's what had been missing, but knowing it didn't ease it at all. But when we were on that boat, and I saw the castle it didn't hurt as much. It felt like a huge piece of what I was missing was there. It felt like I knew the place, like I had been here before but just couldn't remember. The great Hall, when we went in there the first time, it felt like everything was wrong. Like when you come home after a few years to find that your room has been completely changed or wrecked." Arthur looked at them, they were staring at him incredulously, "And when that man, Calvin, was talking about the man with gold eyes, it felt like I should know who he is, like he's super incredibly important." Fred and George shared a look with each other,

"That's crazy." They said simultaneously. Lee nodded in agreement. Arthur shrugged.

The conversation turned towards other things. The twins and Lee planning another prank. Arthur couldn't sit still, he stood and left the room. He walked, not paying attention to where he was going. He allowed his feet to guide him as he debated with himself. Eventually he came to a stop in a corridor. He was at the end of the corridor, but there was nothing there. He turned to his right, half expecting to see a large double door. But the wall was well... a wall. Logically Arthur knew that it must've always been this way, but every instinct in his body screamed at him that there was something there. Something he could not remember for the life of him. He turned away and began walking again.