The Rising of Merlin

The One With the Memories

Chapter 27 The One With the Memories

Merlin indirectly avoided Hermione the following weeks. He was with her when Morgana, Harry or Ginny was around, but he avoided being alone with her.

Something had transpired between them the day Ron had made out with Lavender. He had given her a hug, which he didn't like to do any longer, not since Arthur had died, but it was because he had wanted to comfort her and it had felt right. He saw her as a very dear friend and thought she felt the same about him but later in the 'Room of Requirement'; she had looked into his eyes with such intensity, he had had a hard time looking away. He could feel that something changed between them in that moment.

When she had asked him to go with her to the Christmas party he had first decided to say no, but then she started to ramble and he had been reminded of Gwen, and it felt bad to say no to her when she clearly wanted him to go. He just had to make sure nothing inappropriate happened.

And then there was the thing with Romilda Vane. Hermione had been right to warn him because she had turned up almost every day when he worked. She didn't stay long but she didn't exactly hide her reason for being there either. She flirted shamelessly with him but he ignored her. Mostly Morgana managed to make her go away but more often than not, Morgana was away doing other things, like training in the 'Room of Requirement' or reading up on New Magic and history in the library or their chambers.

He had also tried to talk to Ron about the whole Hermione situation but he wouldn't explain. Harry finally told him afterwards that it was because Ron had been jealous that Hermione had been with Victor Krum. Merlin told Hermione everything later, when they and Morgana trained some Old Magic.

Morgana knew that Hermione had asked him to the party, but not the part happening before, and had encouraged him to go. She had seemed a bit of but Merlin shrugged it off to her being tired after training, where she lit a hundred candles and then switched places on the flames. He hadn't told her about his confusion for Hermione, but she had noticed that something was off and both she and Aithusa had told him to get over it.

So, after two week, he decided to take her with him to the forest so Aithusa could stretch her wings a little.

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It was an early Saturday morning in the end of November so the air was cold and wet. They were both dressed in warm clothes and big hats that covered their ears. It wasn't yet cold enough for snow, but it could be felt in the air. It would only be a few days until the first snow fell over Hogwarts.

"Thank you for letting me come with you, Merlin." Hermione said as soon as they had entered the forest.

"It's no bother, Hermione." He answered back with a smile. "Aithusa wanted to stretch her wings and you haven't seen a Great Dragon before, so of course I wanted you to come with."

"What about Morgana? Doesn't she want to come?" Hermione asked just as they reached the same clearing Aithusa and Merlin had visited a few weeks ago.

"I taught her the spell to turn Aithusa back, so they were out here last weekend." He explained. Morgana and Aithusa had spent a lot of time together since she came back, but Merlin understood why. They had been through a lot together and he could trust Aithusa not to be swayed if Morgana turned dark again.

"I see." Hermione said and leaned back against a rock at the edge of the clearing. The clearing wasn't blooming any longer; instead the nearby trees had turned to a beautiful orange colour.

"Are you ready?" He asked her. "Aithusa is quite big and I don't want you to freak out or anything." He explained when he saw her confused expression.