The Warlock and the Dragonlord

So, coincidentelly, the next chapter I had written happens to be Christmas break, so I figured I'd get this out a little early as a Christmas present! Finally, you can see a bit of Morgana and their relationship!
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"I asked my sister. About her owl, I mean." Arthur told Merlin as they walked home through the snow. Merlin was wearing some of Arthur's gloves and a beanie, because Arthur had been tired of seeing his friend shivering in the cold air. The snow still sunk into Arthur's shoes, and he didn't want to imagine how cold Merlin might be. The other kid had holes in his shoes, but he refused to let Arthur buy him a pair, and since he wasn't the same size, he couldn't just give him one of his old pairs.

He couldn't wait until Christmas. Merlin couldn't complain about his present, since he knew that Merlin would scrounge up money to buy Arthur something, so he couldn't say no to his own gift.

Merlin tensed beside him, and Arthur forced himself to stay casual. He was worried about how the other teen would take the conversation.

"Her—her owl?" His voice was nearly a squeak.

"Yes." Arthur avoided looking at him. "Asked about the name in one of my letters to her. Why she chose it."

Merlin bit his lips — Arthur didn't even have to look to know that's what he was doing. It was a nervous habit. "And… uh… what did she say?"

"She said it was a name that stuck to her after one of her dreams. Just said that it felt important." He tried hard not to obviously be watching Merlin, but he couldn't help but glance over.

Merlin's pale face looked even more ashen, his eyebrows furrowed. He opened his mouth, trying to respond, but obviously couldn't think of anything to say. Arthur decided to change the subject.

"Anyway, then she said how she was excited to come home for Christmas. You'll meet her, right?"

Merlin eyed him. "I don't know, I mean… It's Christmas time, and I… I don't want her to know about my…" He lowered his voice. "You know."

"Morgana doesn't know about it. I won't tell her, but I have told her about you. She really wants to meet one of my friends. She's convinced I've made you up."

Merlin snorted. "Why would she think that?"

Arthur shrugged. "She's never been able to meet a friend of mine."

"Because of her school?" Arthur wondered at the edge in his voice.

"No." Arthur looked more firmly at Merlin. "Because I've never had a friend for her to meet."

"Oh." Merlin seemed dumbfounded. Arthur smirked. It was a great look on him.

"I mean… I've had some school friends, I guess you could call them. We sit together in class. Go to some clubs or games together. Never really had any desire to meet up with anyone outside of that though, so they've always felt more like acquaintances to me."

"Oh," Merlin said again. Then he cracked a small smile. "You're one of the only friends I've had too."

"I doubt it. You're too happy. I bet you could make friends anywhere, with that smile you always seem to have going on. Downright ridiculous."

Merlin turned that smile on him. "Sure, people are fun to talk to. But as friends… well, I've only had one really good friend before. I guess I never really cared to meet up with people either. Besides, I'm too skinny and small. I made a better target than friend."

Merlin didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with the statement, but Arthur clenched his fists at the words. He couldn't imagine anyone trying to purposely hurt Merlin. Yes, he was skinny, easy to tease, his ears were a little large, and he looked as pale as a ghost all the time, but Merlin was good. Maybe sometimes naive, but good, and Arthur only wanted to protect the kid. Even from something as simple as the cold snow.

"So when is your sister coming?" Merlin looked up from where he was balancing on the curb — Arthur watched him to make sure he didn't slip or fall.

"Today." Arthur grinned. "Dad has already picked her up, or got someone to pick her up. I'd wanted to be there, but I had my last day of classes, and even though those days ought to be the most useless class of the year, I still had to show up."

"Oh." Merlin slowed. "Well, I should head home then, let you visit with your sister."

Arthur grabbed his arm before he could slip away. "Don't be ridiculous. You said you would come meet her."

"I didn't say today." The underlying panic in his voice surprised Arthur.

"What's up? It doesn't have to be today, I just…" Arthur hesitated a moment. "I really wanted you to meet her, and she you… I mean, you're my best friend, Merlin. I just…" He trailed off again, unsure how else to explain it. "But, really, you don't have to today, I'll—"

Merlin cut him off, an unsure look on his face. "Okay, I can… come for a bit. But maybe not too long?"

"No problem." Arthur quickly replied, relieved. "Anything you'd like."

Merlin resumed walking at his normal pace, causing Arthur to have to speed up again — he didn't mind though, he'd always tended to walk quickly as well, and he was excited to see his sister.

"So what did you do at school today?" Merlin asked after a long moment, and Arthur quickly jumped into the topic, explaining again how pointless it had been, practically a party, with people talking about what they'll do on their breaks and such.

"But, of course, they all gave us a million pounds of homework." Arthur grimaced as they entered the elevator.

Merlin laughed all the way up.

Arthur was already grinning at Merlin's amusement, but when Merlin stopped laughing as the door opened, and Arthur saw Morgana waiting for him, her arms crossed and her eyebrow arched, his grin widened further.

"Well, if it isn't my brother, at long last. You know how long I've been here?" Her stern look was broken practically immediately as Arthur jumped out of the elevator and dropped his bag on the floor.

"'Gana!" He enfolded her in a hug, right as she dropped her arms and grinned at him, squeezing him back tight. They held for a long moment, and Arthur felt grateful to have her here again.

Morgana finally pulled away, hands on his shoulders. "Man, Arthur, you shot up, you're taller than me!"

Arthur grinned. "Am I really?" He straightened to his fullest, paying more attention now. His sister was a little taller than average for a lady.

"Definitely." She smiled at him. "It's so good to see you." Her eyes flicked behind him and she squeezed once before letting go and weaving around him. "And you must be Merlin. Arthur has told me a lot about you."

Merlin gave a nervous look to Arthur, but the smile on his face was convincing enough that Morgana might not have caught on. Merlin held out a hand as she approached, aiming for a handshake, which Morgana reluctantly gave into. Arthur knew she'd wanted to sweep him into a hug, that was just like his sister. She'd gotten into Ravenclaw, but he wondered sometimes if she couldn't be suited into Hufflepuff with how loving she was. Granted, he didn't actually go to school to know how it truly was, and besides, she had a terrifying side to her too.

Internally he flinched at the reminder that he wasn't able to be with his sister, but he didn't let it show. By the quick look from Merlin, he realized that he'd caught onto the emotion, surely through that magic of his that Arthur still could swear he felt most of the time. Arthur didn't understand how that magic worked, but it had been quite brilliant to feel it over him whenever Merlin was near, and cool to feel it even during the day when they're separated at times. He wondered if it actually did stay in him, and if so, how and why.

He wished he could talk to Morgana about it. She might be only a teenager, but she was a Ravenclaw for good reason. She read, studied, and learned everything she could get her hands on. But he'd made a promise not to tell, and he refused to break it. Merlin's friendship meant the world to him, even above figuring out why he could feel his friend's magic.

"He's told me a lot about you too," Merlin agreed, voice quiet, but smile sincere. "He's happy to have you back in town for the holidays."

"I'm glad to be back." She turned back to Arthur. "I love my school, but I always miss my brother and father when I'm gone."

"I couldn't imagine being sent to a —a boarding school." The catch in Merlin's sentence made Arthur think he'd been about to say something else. "I mean… being away from my Uncle for that long would be too hard. I'd want to be able to leave and, you know, visit and such."

Morgana nodded in understanding. "Yeah, but it is great too. I learn a lot."

Merlin stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I bet."

"So do you go to the same school as Arthur, no offense meant, but you don't necessarily look the same age, though you do have some height on you." Morgana cringed slightly.

Ah. Just like his sister, to say something out of curiosity, even as she recognized that it wasn't the kindest thing to say.

Merlin looked uncomfortable, so Arthur jumped to his defense. "Nah, he's been home schooled, huh, Merlin?"

Merlin sent him a look, and Arthur could swear he felt that little bit of magic in him swell.

"Yeah. My Uncle, he helps me learn. In between his job. I do a lot of reading from the library. I have been looking into going to school this next year though."

"Man." Morgana shook her head. "I love learning and reading, but I have to say at times, being home schooled would be hard. Having to have the dedication to work on something every single day…"

"Yeah, but I get more freedom to study whatever book I want that comes my way," Merlin argued, smiling slightly.

"True." Morgana put a hand on his shoulder, patting quickly. "Well, come on in. I want to talk to my brother and his friend." She slung her arms through both of theirs, dragging them to her room. "Father's gone, so we have some time before he'll be back for dinner."

Merlin cast Arthur a look, once again on the verge of panic as Morgana practically marched them to her 'chambers'. She could definitely pull off a threatening march, especially to someone who wasn't used to it. Arthur just shrugged at him, smiling slightly and shaking his head in a, 'just go with it' or 'what can you do?' fashion. Merlin's shoulder's relaxed slightly at the look, and when Morgana let them go in the room, he allowed himself to sit on the couch she pushed them to.

Arthur lounged back, hands behind his head as he grinned. "As controlling as ever, sis."

"Gotta keep you on your toes." She beamed back at him. "Okay, you've got to tell me everything new. How is school going? How did you guys become friends? Did you get the classes picked out for next year already?"

Arthur chuckled at her interrogation, leaning forward to begin the answers.

Morgana slowly stared unwrapping the present in her hands, tearing the tape and opening the edges meticulously, without looking down. Her gaze was focused on her brother, who had taken a break from his own present opening to respond to a text message. Uther had stepped out to get another trash bag, and it was a rare moment that she was able to just sit on Christmas mornings without another present being shoved in her hands. She loved Uther, but he always seemed super excited to watch her open gifts.

And she wasn't blind, the gifts she got were always more personal and caring than what Arthur got. Arthur usually ended up with books or some new button down shirts, or occasionally a suit. He'd of course been given a game set a few years ago, but since then it had been more bland. Granted, Morgana was always gone, so Uther probably liked buying things for her over Christmas since he didn't get to do so for the rest of the year.

Arthur probably was able to get whatever he wanted whenever.

Her brother met her gaze after he finished texting, giving a little smile. "What?"

"Oh, nothing." Morgana smirked. "Just glad to see that you actually can make friends, that's all."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "I'm not completely helpless, Morgana."

"Hmm." She looked down at her present, as though she was putting more focus in opening it. "Could've had me fooled, all these years."

Sighing, Arthur reached into his pile for the next gift with no enthusiasm. Interesting. He definitely had a lot more eagerness in answering a text than he did opening any of the presents.

She winced as she saw the white button-down he opened. Yeah, she wouldn't be excited to open a whole bunch of meaningless clothes either, especially if that was all she ever got.

She opened her own present, feeling the cashmere quality of the scarf. It truly was beautiful; Uther knew that she loved beautiful and soft things.

How was it that he knew her tastes better than Arthur's, when she was gone most of the year?

"Do you like it?" Uther's voice startled her. She hadn't realized that she'd been so into her thoughts as she stared at the scarf, but she glanced up at her father.

"Yeah, father, it's beautiful." She smiled warmly at him, relishing in the hand that went to her shoulder. Uther wasn't very tactile, only rarely giving her hugs, but she'd take what she could get.

Uther moved to his seat and settled, throwing away any wrappings near him before turning his attention to Arthur. "That fabric is one of the nicest fabrics, I think you'll like the way it feels."

"Yeah." Arthur looked up at him, something like a polite smile on his face, that had Morgana grimacing. He never smiled anymore. Well, not until Merlin came along, which might be the number one reason she was grateful to the other, admittedly kind of dorky, teen. "Thanks. It feels soft."

Uther nodded, sitting back in his seat to watch them open the rest of the stuff.

It was mostly silent as they opened, a stark difference of when they were younger. She remembered Arthur and her always comparing their gifts, laughing, arguing, and tossing crumpled wrapping paper at each other. Most of the sound now came from each present carefully being opened, and then throwing it away, with only the occasional comment. Uther himself didn't have many gifts to open and was already sitting beside his small collecting from Morgana and Arthur. He was munching on some of the treats Morgana had brought home with her (only the more normal ones, so as to not freak her dad out).

Why did it feel so dang awkward in this home anymore? She shook her head. She was so used to being in Hogwarts, that the castle honestly felt more like a home to her than here. Not that she didn't miss her brother and father, but she'd become good friends with people there, people who seemed to be a second family to her. Morgause, Gwen, and Leon were her best friends, and she missed them a lot when she was home.

She felt bad about it, but it's true. This penthouse no longer felt like home anymore. It was where her brother was, and her father was, but the place itself, and the tension that seemed settled here ever since she got her Hogwarts letter sometimes felt stifling.

She couldn't wait to go back, even as she was glad to catch up with her brother.

It wasn't until Uther was called into an emergency at the office that Arthur seemed to perk up. "Hey, 'Gana, Merlin and Gaius invited us over to their house, if you want to do some Christmas over there?"

"Sure." Surprised that they would be okay with them, especially Morgana herself, as she was a practical stranger. But she'd dragged Arthur to enough of her friends house randomly, she figured it was bound to be her turn.

Arthur literally bounced to his feet. "Great! I'll go get ready."

Shocked at the sudden exuberance, Morgana nearly cried. That was a piece of her brother that she hadn't seen since… well, since he didn't get his letter. Yet, she hadn't even realized that until this moment. She'd been gone, and the change had been gradual enough, she'd assumed it was just a part of him maturing.

She hadn't realized that it was actually due to something else. Something that Merlin seemed to cancel out. How'd she miss it? Granted, she hadn't missed everything, she'd been aware that he didn't seem to have friends, but she had always just figured he was a bookworm and introvert, and she knew plenty of those, so she didn't think much of it. She'd been aware that Arthur didn't seem to smile as wide, but she knew he'd probably been receiving some training from their father. Uther had always boasted how Arthur would take over the company, and Uther himself was always a stoic man. She figured he was probably teaching Arthur to be the same. But when she saw glimpses of Arthur the way he used to be whenever he was with Merlin, or even the brief moments with herself, she knew that she'd been missing something important, and wished she knew exactly what it was.

And it was on the walk over to Merlin's house that Morgana saw a bit more of rambling Arthur.

"—And their house is small, well it's an apartment, not a house. It's super small! Like, they only have one bedroom, but part of the family room is curtained off for Merlin. I honestly don't even think they have four chairs in the kitchen, and it's honestly disgusting. I mean, I try not to be like that, ya know? But it is. I swear there are rats in the walls and cockroaches in the bathrooms. Merlin even said he tried scrubbing the wall in the kitchen, but the spot he swore he cleaned didn't look different from the rest of the wall, so I have my doubts as to whether it was actually cleaned. But hey, maybe spraying it and endeavoring to clean it at least got rid of some bacteria, right? Even if the grime and food and stuff is still on the wall? At least that's what merlin thought, and I figure there has to be at least a little bit of truth to that."

And Morgana was floored. She hadn't heard him talk like that in years.

Oh, Merlin, thank you. She shook her head softly, grateful for this random kid to show her that her brother truly is still there. She didn't realize how much she'd missed this.

And sooner than she expected, they were at Merlin's door holding two presents and being ushered in by a beaming Merlin.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas to you," they responded in kind.

After Merlin dragged them further into the tiny apartment — Arthur hadn't been exaggerating — Morgana saw who she assumed was Merlin's uncle sitting on the couch. There were mugs on the coffee table, and the TV was on an paused.

"You're right on time." The man stood, holding his hand out for Morgana to shake. "I'm Gauis, Merlin's uncle."

"Morgana." She shook his hand, smiling warmly at the man.

"You two are welcome to sit. We're going to play the movie. We've got hot chocolate and popcorn. We're watching the Grinch. It's a pretty much a tradition, as it's Merlin's favorite Christmas movie."

"Sounds great." Morgana settled on the couch furthest from where Gaius had been sitting, barely noticing the fact that Arthur and Merlin had started teasing each other.

As Arthur sat, he leaned forward to give one Christmas present to each of the other two. "Here. I got you guys these. It's not wrapped the best."

And that was true. Morgana knew that Uther hired someone to wrap all the presents he bought, but she had watched Arthur wrap these himself, and he honestly wasn't very good at it. But that's not what matter anyway, and at least he covered the entire thing.

Merlin laughed. "Better than we can do, huh Gaius?"

Gaius rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Yeah, we both aren't claiming any awards in that topic."

Merlin was already tearing into it, laughing, then beamed when he came to a box that obviously held a new pairs of shoes. "Hey, sweet, thanks!"

"Yeah, so can you please stop wearing the others? I swear I can see your toes sticking out of them."

"Maybe I like them that way," Merlin shot back. "Keeps a lot more airflow, you know?"

Arthur snorted. "I don't think airflow in winter is a good thing. Maybe bring them back out when it's summer. They can act as your sandals."

Morgana exchanged a look with Gaius, unsurprised to see the fond exasperation in his eyes. He was using the distraction of his nephew and Arthur to open his present quietly, and he smiled gently when he noticed what it was.

Arthur noticed his look, suddenly seeming to get nervous, which Gaius picked up on easily. He smiled warmly. "Thank you, my boy." His words were smooth. "I've been needing a good new coat."

Arthur looked uncomfortable. "Well, you know, it's winter. I don't think you can ever really have too many coats, right?"

Morgana could have teased him, but Arthur looked so unsure, that she was glad when Gauis just reached over and patted his hand.

"I definitely couldn't. I'll wear it well." He pulled it up to look at it, smiling. "It does look pretty nice, doesn't it. It'll probably be the nicest I've ever worn. Can't wait to wear it."

"Alice would probably love it on you." Merlin smirked as he spoke.

"Merlin!" Gaius looked sharply at him, a slight glare that seemingly didn't do a thing to stop the other teen, though Morgana herself probably would have been nervous to keep it up, and she wasn't intimidated often. How was it that this man could be as sweet as a teddy bear in one moment, then make her fear for her — well, Merlin's — life the next?

"Fine, fine, Dr. Kenzy," Merlin corrected. "You know it's true."

Gaius didn't deem to answer, turning to the side and pulling out presents. To Morgana's surprise, she also received a parcel.

"Oh." Morgana stared wide-eyed. "I wasn't expecting anything."

"I know." Gaius told her. "It's not much, I'm afraid. Go ahead and open it." She gestured for the both of them to do so.

Arthur moved quicker than her, quickly unwrapping a book. But unlike the textbooks and other books his dad seemed to have bought, Arthur grinned. "Hey! I didn't realize the next book was out already." And she realized that it was actually a fun fiction book that looked like it was about knights, which Arthur didn't read often since he was always so busy, but obviously had liked whatever book that was.

"Came out yesterday." Merlin nodded. "Had to wait in the freakishly long Christmas lines for that thing, hope you like it."

"Yeah, I do." Arthur was already flipping through the pages. Morgana finished opening hers up. It was a wooden box, which honestly looked gorgeous. It had to have been hand-made.

"Wow, this is beautiful." Her heart felt warm as she ran her fingers down it, rather impressed by the workmanship.

"Open it up," Merlin insisted.

There's more? She knew that they wouldn't have much money, so that surprised her that they would spend what seemed like a lot on someone they didn't know.

Inside there were bottles, and before she could pick them up, Gaius was explaining. "I have a weird liking to apothecaries, and I heard that you are prone to nightmares. There's no saying that any of these will help, however, there are some oils in there that can at least help relax you. I figured you could give it a go. There's a handful of different ones, some for pain, some for relaxation, some for focus. I thought maybe you'd appreciate something like that."

"Yeah." Blown away by the fact that this random uncle seemed to not only know about her nightmares, but remembered and wanted to help, she smiled shakily at the man. "I love it. And the box is amazing too. Thank you."

Gaius waved his hand and leaned back. "Of course. Come on, let's grab our hot chocolates and get this movie playing."

Not one to say no to that, Morgana respectfully put the box on the coffee table, then grabbed her cup. As she sat drinking hers and staring at the TV, while also smiling at the commentary Merlin made throughout — he couldn't seem to stop talking for more than a couple minutes at a time — that made Arthur laugh more times than not, she felt welcome into a home in a way she hadn't in a long time. Not a home that was anywhere other than Hogwarts anyway.