Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Alright, I know it is only the first week, but I am just reminding you that you have the historical event paper due in two weeks. It is not a large one but it would be a good idea to start thinking about what historical event you want to write about.” Merlin looked around the room at the faces of his fifth year students. Some of them tried to stealthily pack up their bags without him noticing while others were practically twitching with the want to leave. Merlin took pity on them with a wave of his hand, 

“Alright, you’re free to leave. Have a good weekend everyone.”

The classroom immediately erupted in chatter and the noise of benches scraping across the floor. A few students wished him a good weekend or threw a quick goodbye over their shoulders as they left. Only three students were left in the classroom, however, two of them hung by the door and Merlin’s lips quirk in amusement.

“Yes, Hermione?”

The bushy haired girl made her way up to his desk where he was leaning against it. 

“Hi Professor. I was thinking that I would write my paper on the Great Purge and I can’t seem to find much information. I was wondering if you had any suggestions on where I can find books about it?”

Merlin involuntarily froze. He blinked a few times and tried to ease his face into something more pleasant. The opposite of how he currently felt. It truly seemed as though he could not escape his past, especially around this time of year.

“Ah, the Great Purge,” Merlin sucked in a deep breath and held it there briefly before letting it out slowly, “Well you certainly like to challenge yourself. You would be right about how few books there are on the Great Purge.” 

He glanced to the closed cabinet to the left of his desk. He continued talking to Hermione as he walked over to open it.

“It was not a well documented time in history, and a lot of information was lost but lucky for you I happen to have a book with some information that might help you with your paper.”

He plucked a worn, leather-bound book from inside and closed the cabinet doors once more, locking it with a flash of his eyes.

“If you need any more information, come see me. I’m always willing to help.” Merlin handed her the book with a small smile that he hoped reached his eyes more than he felt it did.

He must not have done a good job because Hermione took the book with a thank you but asked,

“Are you okay, Professor?” Her brow was crinkled in concern.

“I’m alright Hermione. I lost a dear friend around this time of the year and that book tends to remind me of him. I know you will take good care of it though.”

Hermione nodded frantically at that, “ Of course. You can trust me with it.”

Merlin’s smile grew more genuine with her fervid reply.

“Have a good weekend, Hermione.”

“You too, Professor. And thank you!”

With that she scampered toward the door where Ron and Harry were waiting.  

Merlin sighed again deeply and sunk into the plush fabric of his desk chair as the classroom door closed and the room was plunged into silence once again. He leaned his head down on his desk, burying his face in his arms.

It was always after his students were gone and he was left in the lonely quiet that his heart would grow heavier.

“I miss you,” he whispered reverently. 

No one replied.

“It has been so long that I don’t remember your appearance but if I saw you again, I would know you immediately. Why haven’t you come back? Please, Arthur. I need you.” 

Merlin sniffed wetly, and wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve. He raised his head and looked out the window at the glittering lake.

Oh how he wished Arthur was here with him but after over a thousand years and countless horrible events and tragedies, he had started to lose hope. 

With the resurrection of Voldemort, magic had felt out of balance and Merlin knew that he would have to do his part to restore it. He had been keeping an eye on Harry since his birth but he knew that after his encounter last year that Harry would need more help than before. In many ways, Harry reminded Merlin of himself; a child with a destiny too heavy to shoulder.

Merlin’s stomach growled, interrupting his woeful moping. He sighed before standing up, fixing his neckerchief and heading down to the Great Hall. There was no point in wallowing about the past when he had bigger things to worry about… like what he wanted to eat for dinner.

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Luna Lovegood was not quite sure why she was sitting on the banks of the Black Lake when what she really wanted to was to be eating shepherd's pie in the Great Hall. Unfortunately for her, the nargles had been jittery all day and told her that something was about to happen at the lake. The feeling in her gut told her the same thing. Her father always told her to listen to her instincts as her family line was descended from the druids and often more attuned to magic than other witches and wizards.

The water a few feet out started to ripple. 

Luna stood up and watched in surprise as a man in armour emerged from the lake with a gasp.

He sputtered and splashed his way to the shore where he looked around in confusion. His jaw dropped at the sight of the school before his eyes landed on her. He gave one last look at the school before he drew himself up and called out to Luna.

“Excuse me, do you happen to know where I am?”

“You’ve just come out of the Great Lake. You’re at Hogwarts,” she told him. She was trying to figure out what a man would be doing, emerging from a lake completely dry and wearing medieval armour, and still not know where he was.

“Hog.. warts…” the man’s blue eyes narrowed in confusion and disbelief.

Luna truly couldn’t contain herself. She had to know why this man was important,

“May I ask, who are you and how did you get in the lake? Did you manage to apparate underwater? Or…?” Luna trailed off, hoping the stranger would fill in her questions with answers she desperately wanted.

“I’m Arthur Pendragon, King of Camelot,” he said matter of factly as if she should have already known that, “I was in the lake because… I died.” He grew forlorn and turned to look back at the lake he walked out of.

Luna’s head was spinning and she couldn’t help how her eyebrows shot upward. Apparently, magic had deemed her special enough to welcome the King Arthur Pendragon of the Camelot to the twentieth century. She couldn’t wait to tell her father.

“Merlin.” King Arthur muttered, “Oh God, Merlin.”

King Arthur spun around to face her and reached out a hand to place on her shoulder. He looked into her eyes earnestly and asked,

“Please, I need to know if you have seen my friend, Merlin. He has dark hair, and blue eyes, and he always wears a neckerchief. I have to find him.”

Luna supposed that if King Arthur of Camelot was right in front of her, holding her shoulder, it wouldn’t be too far of a stretch to assume that the Merlin was also out there somewhere.

“I haven’t seen anyone–” she cut herself off mid-sentence. She was going to say that she hadn’t seen anyone like that but she actually had. Almost every day. She wondered…

“Actually, it is probably best if you see our headmaster. He might be able to help better. You can follow me if you’d like. We are just going to the castle.” 

Luna turned and beckoned the King of Camelot to follow her. She walked up the grassy lawn towards the gates, the slight clanging of chainmail and metal following behind her. Luna felt a grin spread across her face. If she was right, this evening would be one to remember. She supposed this was quite a bit better than shepherd's pie.

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Merlin had been to Hogwarts countless times both as a student and professor, but one of his favourite things about Hogwarts had never changed – the food. 

He wished the founders were still here to congratulate them, yet again, on the magic that is the Great Hall. Sure, he helped build most of Hogwarts and breathe magic into it, but the meals were the hard work of the elves and the invention of the founders.

He shovelled more mashed potatoes into his mouth. 

What he truly wanted was to shove mashed potatoes into his ears to drown out the incessant yammering of the pink toad a few chairs down whose shrill voice seemed to slice through everything. 

He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the food.

When he opened them, he noticed Luna had approached the professors table and was speaking quietly to Dumbledore. The grey haired man tilted his head in question and both Luna and the headmaster looked over at Merlin. 

Merlin straightened up out of his slouch and set his fork down. 

Dumbledore waved Merlin towards him, 

“Myrddin, come here please.” the headmaster asked.

“Yes?” Merlin asked as he got closer to both the aged wizard and Luna.

“Miss Lovegood has informed me that there is a gentleman waiting outside who is looking for someone of your description. Would you mind going with her to investigate?”

Merlin felt his heart thump in his chest. Who would be looking for him? He left all of his affairs in order before he moved to Hogwarts.

He smiled politely and nodded, walking to the other side of the table where Luna stood patiently. Her hands were clasped behind her back and she had a barely contained grin on her face. Merlin smiled at her, puzzled.

“He’s just there,” she pointed towards the large open doors where an imposing figure clad in grey and red stood, half out of view.

The air seemed to freeze and sound seemed to vanish. Merlin’s stomach swooped and he inhaled with a gasp. He raised a shaking hand to his mouth and whispered, 

“...Arthur?”

It was as though he had heard him because the figure turned around and wide blue eyes met. 

Merlin saw lips form his name, and the figure stepped fully into view. 

He looked no different than the day Merlin held him in his arms over a thousand years ago. His straw blonde hair, his strong jaw and playful smirk, excalibur gleaming proudly from his hip, the armour Merlin polished every day for close to a decade covering muscles Merlin had forgotten, and the bright red cloak of Camelot draped across his shoulders.

Tears immediately sprung to his eyes and Merlin cried out, louder this time,

“Arthur?”

The figure had already started moving toward him and Merlin was close enough to hear his name leave Arthur’s lips,

“Merlin!”

That was it. Merlin ran towards him, his vision blurry with tears. 

At last, two halves separated by time finally collided in an embrace. 

If you had asked the students present at the time, they would all tell you that they have never seen an embrace more full of longing, passion, sorrow, or joy than this one.

Merlin felt cold, solid metal pressed against his chest, but the arms bracketing his shoulders and grasping the back of his head were warm, and solid. He could feel himself openly weeping and frantically muttering the other’s name into his neck,

“Arthur, Arthur. Arthur. You’re here. Oh my god, Arthur.”

The voice he had forgotten muttered reassurances into his ear,

“Merlin. Merlin, I’ve found you. I’m here, Merlin.”

Merlin tried to cling onto the man longer but a hand gently tugged his face away from where it was buried in Arthur’s neck.

He finally got his first good look at the face that haunted his dreams and waking hours for hundreds of years

“Please- Please tell me I’m not dreaming again. Please tell me this is real. Are you really here?” Merlin choked out.

Despite his hands being firmly clasped in Arthurs cloak and feeling the warmth of calloused hands on the back of his neck and waist, he still couldn’t believe that he didn’t fall asleep eating his dinner and this was all just some vivid dream.

Arthur’s lips curled into a smile, his blue eyes watery as he gazed into Merlin’s eyes fondly.

“I’m real, Merlin. I’m back for good,” he spoke softly and raised his other hand to cup Merlin’s face. Merlin choked out a wet laugh of disbelief. “I never told you before I…” he trailed off, “But Merlin, I love you.”

They gazed at each other and Merlin let out another laugh for incredulity, 

“I love you too, dollophead,”

Neither was sure who moved first, but their lips met and they poured thousands of years of longing into that kiss.

They only pulled away from each other after they heard a throat clear for the third time. They looked at the shocked faces of the entire Grand Hall and the severe eyebrow Dumbledore had raised at them.

Merlin winced and whispered quietly to Arthur,

“His disapproving eyebrow is almost as bad as Gaius’, isn’t it.”

Arthur chuckled quietly and casted a fond look at the man in his arms,

“How are you going to fix this one, Mer- lin?”

A devious glint filled the warlock’s eyes.

“So,” his voice echoed around the near silent hall, the eyes of every student and staff member present glued to him and the blonde he still had not released, “uhm, the Once and Future King of Camelot, Arthur Pendragon has risen once again and I’m Merlin. Surprise?”

The Great Hall erupted in a roar of noise but the two men ignored it. Arthur stared at Merlin with an exasperated smile and adoration in his eyes.

“I’m so glad your back, Arthur,” Merlin felt tears rise in his eyes once more.

“I’m never leaving your side again…”

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From the professors’ table where she still stood, Luna smiled,

“I knew it.”