Chapter 12
“I suppose I shouldn’t be that surprised.” Elliot snickers into his fist. “After all, there are those who worship you as God.”
Merlin raises an eyebrow, “They worship Emrys as God, never Merlin.”
“No, there are definitely people out there who worship Merlin as God, too.” Severus smirks at Merlin, a warm feeling in his chest now that Merlin is starting to open up about himself.
Merlin rolls his eyes and directs his attention to the shocked trio, biting his cheek to stop himself from laughing at their faces.
Elliot straightens up, “Emrys - Father - do you still stand by wishing to hear of everything from Helena?”
Merlin furrows his eyebrows and sits beside Severus, his eyes moving between each of them. “You know, then?” Elliot nods solemnly in reply. “I would prefer to hear from Helena, however, if there is anything you think I need to hear, tell me now.”
Elliot rest his head on his clasped hands, elbows resting on his knees, in thought. His mind is clearer now, in the presence of his father. He takes a second to think carefully about everything he learnt, prioritising them in his mind. Honestly, he wishes to tell his father everything, but he also understands why it would be better to hear from Helena, who holds the final perspective in this story.
Right now, he concludes, there a three things Emrys needs to know, and a fourth someone other than him or Helena needs to tell him.
“One good news, two bad.” He says, looking up and meeting his fathers eyes through his blindfold. “Do not ask me to explain either of them.”
Merlin has a serious look on his face as he sits tall and straight, the rest looking between them quietly. He nods.
“Mr Potter possesses the Magic of the Old Religion. Mr Potter is one of many vessels for Horcruxes. Severus is a spy and needs something to prove your loyalty to him.”
Merlin closes his eyes in a show of vulnerability before squaring his shoulders and nodding his head absentmindedly. He focuses his attention on the trio as he does, narrowing his eyes at Harry who, after receiving a nod from Elliot, holds his hair up to expose his scar. Merlin’s eyes rake over it and then silently moves to look at Severus, only now allowing his eyes to land on the tattoo on his forearm.
Merlin taps his bottom lip in thought, “Before I give you anything, Severus, are you confident you can prove your loyalty to me?”
Severus nods once, staring right into Merlin’s eyes even as golden tendrils slowly start to rush around the room, picking up speed as they go and coming to a stop behind Merlin, forming into a pair of huge eyes. The eyes blink open, showing them to be Merlin’s familiar blue eyes before they shine golden. The trio gasp at the sight, realising now just what they meant when they said Mart- Merlin was worshipped as a God.
The golden eyes zones in onto Severus, who feels a bead of sweat drip down the back of his neck. The next second a sunflower materialises in Merlin’s hand, Merlin smiling softly down at it.
But before Merlin can call of the Magic, an elemental rune for Air drew itself in the air above him at the same time as a heavy sword materialised half pierced into Severus’ heart, the handle wrapped in a thin golden chain that led straight into Harry’s chest.
“…An unbreakable vow.” Merlin whispered airily at the sight.
“An Air Elemental.” Elliot said with a strained voice, electing to ignore the sword.
Severus slowly brings his trembling hands to press on his chest over his fluttering heart, the sword now protruding out of the back of his hand. His shaky eyes following the chain and moving up, up, up to meet Lily’s eyes. As if shot he snaps his eye’s away, widening them upon meeting the god-like eyes behind Merlin.
The Golden eyes look down at him as if they can see through his every defence. Suddenly, and all at once, he realises exactly what Martin being Merlin means, but when he turns his eyes down and meets the kind blue eyes that look at him in concern, he finds that he is selfish enough to not care.
He takes a deep breath and allows the air to fill his lungs, warming him up. He releases the breath with his shoulders squared and head up.
Merlin’s eyes meet his with equal determination, he winks once, instantly calming the tension in the room, “You need proof of my loyalty to you, Severus? What could be more proof than me going with you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Merlin, it’s too dangerous.” Severus said, groaning when Merlin simply smiled amusedly at him with an arched eyebrow. “Fine, Fine! But you follow my lead.”
Merlin huffed in laughter and turned to face the three children, softening when he saw them cuddled together. “I’m sure the three of you are anxious and concerned, but I promise that as soon as I can I will fix everything. Harry, I will need to discuss with my friend Aithusa, but I already have some ideas to remove the Horcrux, so please rest easy. I understand it’s been a long day for the three of you, so after dinner I suggest you lot go straight to bed.”
With a nod and murmured goodbyes, the trio left the room, Hermione handing Merlin his wand, leaving the three adults behind.
The eyes, rune, sword and sunflower promptly vanish as Merlin slumps in his seat, sighing to himself, “Oh, Helena.”
~~~~~~~
Later that day at dinner, Harry, Ron and Hermione, sit quietly together having already detailed their days to each other. Each of them struggle to fully wrap their minds around what they learnt, now completely different people compared to when they sat for breakfast just that morning.
Harry feels tired in a way he doesn’t remember ever feeling, his shoulders free of a weight that had previously held him down. He thinks back to the first day he met Mar- Merlin, when he hadn’t fully trusted the man. Back then he was suspicious of his friendship with Snape; paranoid that he like every other professor would end up hurting Harry. Merlin had, instead, did everything he could to help Harry, keeping every promise he mad.
And Harry was sure he would keep the promise he made today as well.
Just then, from the high table, Merlin stands and draws the attention to him.
“Good evening, students. Some of you may have noticed that Kilgharrah, the Dragon, now has his eyes open. This signifies multiple things - firstly, that my friend Aithusa, another Dragon, is close to Hogwarts. Please rest assured that she is friendly and it is completely safe to play with her. Secondly, it means that Kilgharrah can now be awoken, in the right circumstances. Which includes if he senses any hostile intent towards Hogwarts or her people, or if I call him. It has recently come to my attention that there exists a threat outside of our walls, it is my earnest hope that this information helps calm you. In other news, coming Wednesday I will be holding a History lecture, all of you are required to attend. And with that, I wish you all a very good night.”
~~~~~~~
Merlin stretches widely as he yawns, yesterday’s events keeping him awake until the early hours of the morning resulting in only a few hours of sleep. “I’m too old for this!” He whines sat in his armchair in the staff room.
The majority of the room look at him with fond, amused eyes, Elliot and Severus alone snickering. He sticks his tongue out at them, biting his lip to hide his satisfied grin when they turn to each other to make a joke about him.
Elliot looks happier here, in a place where he can learn whilst being surrounded by like-minded people. Merlin’s glad Elliot took his offer this time, he’d always known Hogwarts would be the best place for him. Merlin too feels lighter back in Hogwarts, the Magic he once filled the Castle with long ago making it easier to ignore his emptiness, absentmindedly he rubs at his chest.
He glances back up at Severus and smiles, mind halting at the others gorgeous smile and healthy eyes. He hates himself for not noticing how much Severus had been hurting before.
Severus looks up and meets his eyes, tilting his head to the side as a silent question. Beneath his hand, his heart skips a beat.
Shaking his head in both answer and realisation, Merlin snaps out of his trance, ruffling his own hair and calling out, “Harley!”
He waits a second and then two more, but to his confusion Harley doesn’t answer his call. “Harley, is everything alright?”
“Ah- yes.” Elliot stammers out, “Harley is helping me with something, Emrys. You know he is the best at finding… things.”
“…Yes.” Merlin agrees, “I was hoping to enlist his help with finding a… thing.”
“Well, Harley is busy. Perhaps Harvey might help you.”
Squinting his eyes at his son, Merlin nods his head, calling out instead for Harvey, “bring me my Signet Ring, please, Harvey. Although I dislike using the students like this, if we are right, I will have to flaunt my Lordship soon.”
Harvey blinks, “ I’m joining you, right? I love flaunting your Lordship!”
“That would make one of us.” Merlin rolls his eyes good naturedly, “Prepare yourself then.”
As if on queue Severus clears his throat and nods his head to his arm, cautious to not attract anyone else's attention after nodding to Albus. Merlin jumps to his feat and follows Severus out of the room, the walk to the end of the Hogwarts wards silent. Just before Severus apparates them away, Harvey pops beside them and solemnly gifts Merlin his Signet Ring that proudly displays a dragon mid-flight and exudes raw power. With the ring on Merlin’s hand, Severus twists and follows the connection of the Dark Mark, systematically pulling his defences up.
At the sight of the familiar manor, different from the last manor, Severus stops and frowns, “Malfoy Manor.” He explains to Merlin, continuing his fast pace, grumbling under his breath at he goes. “Remember: follow my lead, Martin.”
Merlin yawns once before pulling himself up, straightening his posture and matching Severus’ pace.
Inside, they are met by a haggard house elf, the poor girl twisting a thin drape nervously as she waits for them. Merlin clenches his jaw at the sight, twisting his ring once, twice, until the girl snaps her attention to him and widens her eyes, dropping to her knees and pressing her forehead to his feet.
“The Great Lord Emrys, sir! Pipsy didn’t knows youse be coming, sir.”
Merlin avoids meeting Severus’ eyes and kneels down, gently pulling her up. “Hello, Pipsy. There is no need for any of that, please treat me as any other guest.”
“I- I-” Pipsy stammers and then lights up at the sight of Severus, eager to change the subject. “Master Snape! Pipsy is to take you and your g-guest to the dining room, sir, right this way.”
Pipsy leads them to a dimly lit room, a dining table capable of seating 32 placed in the middle of the room. At one head of the table sits a man who looks horridly reptilian, blood red eyes tracking their moves. For a second, the man is unable to hide his primal reaction to Merlin’s presence, as if sensing something predatory. Merlin hides a small grin, turning to face the two sat to the left of the man.
Upon meeting his eyes, the Lady gracefully stands up and bows deeply to him murmuring a small, “Lord Emrys.” She seats herself, chin up and back straight.
Opposite the Malfoy pair, the table has been set up to seat two more, as soon as Merlin acknowledged it however, Pipsy once again bowed deeply, thankfully staying on her feet this time. “Lord Emrys, please forgive Pipsy!” She snaps her fingers and sets up the second plate at the other head of the table.
Mentally sighing, Merlin concedes to Severus, allowing him to take the lead. “Elf, Martin is my guest, he will sit wherever our Lord wishes.”
Their Lord chuckles, the sound deep and chilling. He stands and saunters up to them, as he gets closer Severus drops to one knee, bowing his head, Merlin, however, stands tall and meets his eye, forcing himself not to pull Severus up or even look at him. The Dark Lord stops when he reaches close enough to tangle his skeletal fingers into Severus’ hair, petting it absentmindedly and openly smirking at the tense Merlin.
Merlin repeats Severus words in his mind and waits until the Dark Lord speaks first. “Martin, was it? Welcome to my manor.”
“Of course… my Lord, the pleasure is all mine.” He makes a small gesture with his right hand, Harvey silently appearing on queue. Harvey holds out a Velvet pillow upon which a thin leather bound tome rests. “A small gift from the Emrys family to… you and yours, my Lord.”
The man finally releases his hand from Severus, allowing Severus to stand once again. The two of them peer curiously at the gift, the Dark Lord’s face moving as if to raise an eyebrow at the clothing Harvey wears. With slow movements the Dark Lord picks up the tome and opens it, reading, Merlin knows, the only English phrase in the tome. “The Dragon Lord’s duties and abilities.” He leafs through the tome, silently.
“The Emrys family gift, My Lord.” Merlin explains simply.
The Dark Lord hums, “This language…”
“The Language of the Old Religion.”
The man glances at Merlin, his reptilian eyes giving Merlin a once over, taking in his dull, ratty scarf but then surely stopping at the gleaming ring. “Nagini.” He calls, a snake slithering up to him, stopping to scent the air around Merlin before continuing it’s journey to it’s master. “Take this to the Library.” He places the tome onto the snakes head and waves them to the dining table, ignoring Nagini as it disappears once again.
They sit, Merlin beside Severus who sits at the Dark Lord’s right side, before Pipsy can attempt to bring Merlin and Severus their breakfast, Harvey fills their plates. The Dark Lord says nothing and merely smiles amusedly, taking his first bite and signalling the start of their tense breakfast.
~~~~~~~
Elliot sits alone, now in his fathers armchair, drumming his fingers restlessly on the arm rest. He is spaced out, not noticing when the rest of the staff leave to their offices to complete their markings
As he waits, his mind moves between regret and determination, unsure of whether he made the right decision to act without telling his father when he had the option to. Emrys, he knows, would both wish to know immediately but also from her lips.
He groans, standing up to pace not unlike his father did weeks ago. Just as he comes to the decision of waiting for his father to return, a pop signals the arrival of Harley.
“Young Master, I have found them.”
Elliot slightly wilts and turns to face the demonically grinning Elf, “you work quickly, Harley.”
“Indeed. I can take you to them right away, should you wish.”
“Yes. Yes, we should go now.” Harley reaches out and gently grasps his wrist, swiftly taking them outside of Hogwarts.
Elliot blinks up at the huge tree they landed behind, peering out his eyes immediately catch sight of the smoke wafting up into the air, he slumps into the treen, raking his fingers through his hair.
“Young Master,” Harley starts, “If what you said is true, than I’m afraid Lord Emrys’ heart will break more than we think.”
“That’s what I’m worried about, Harley. That’s exactly what I’m worried about.”