A/N: Hello everyone, I apologize for the delay on my other stories, but I have to wait for my mom to figure how to e-mail me the first parts of the chapters of my other two stories before I can update them, as I only have the parts I continued in my notebook (knowing her, it could take a while…). I started this here in Brazil after watching the season 2 premiere of BBC's Merlin. This will most likely be an Arthur/Gwen and either Merlin/Hermione or Merlin/Morgana. The characters never let me do what I want, so I've decided to give them the liberty of deciding how that pairing's gonna go. As if I could do something to stop them…
A huge thanks to EusouoPumbaa for her patience when I asked for feedback every five sentences, putting up with my horrid chicken scratch, and allowing me to use her idea for the name of the translation spell.
Disclaimer: Roses are red, Violets are blue, I do not own, so do not sue!
It was a cold midwinter day in December. Most of Hogwart's occupants were bundled up even inside the castle, as the winter chill seemed to seep through the stones, reaching out to envelop anyone who stayed too long away from the warmth of one of the castle's many fireplaces. Few strayed from the comfort of the fire and a comfortable seat, no matter what activity they had immersed themselves. Students did homework, chatted, and caught up on their studies. Hermione Granger, best friend of The-Boy-Who-Lived and a powerful witch in her own right, was one of the few brave souls to venture away from the comfort of the fires and the presence of her friends. Although usually seen on one of the couches in the Gryffindor common room buried by books of all shapes and sizes, today she could be found slowly trudging through a darkened corner of the library, looking intently at the volumes she passed by.
She slowed down as she came to the end of the aisle. Hermione bent down and looked at the books at the bottom, searching for anything that seemed promising. Skimming through the titles, she stopped when she came across a thin, titleless book. Stuck between a thick old volume entitled A Detailed Historie of Magick and Legendary Wizards of the Ancient World was a small brown book. Compared to the other books found in this section, it was very thin, no bigger than a thick muggle textbook. Pulling it out, Hermione realized it was obviously very ancient. The cover was made of very worn light brown leather, and was held closed by two rusted iron latches.
Sitting on the ground, Hermione carefully opened the latches. The book was hand written, and filled with detailed pictures of magical creatures and plants. The writing was, for the most part, a simple, yet elegant script, meticulously written. The margins however, were often filled with a scratchy hurried letters, and once or twice with a curvy fancy writing. Whoever had owned the book had clearly put it to good use. Some pages had stains on them, and a couple were even singed at the edges. The book, despite its age, reminded Hermione of Harry's and Ron's textbooks. The book was written in another language, most likely Old English, considering how old the volume was.
Hermione pulled out her wand, pointed at herself, and murmured "Traduzium". She watched as the words morphed into English. As soon as they did, the book began to glow softly, and before Hermione could do so much as scream, the glow grew to an intense blinding light, which enveloped girl and book. As soon as it had come, the light disappeared, leaving the aisle empty, with a small brown book opened on the floor.
The day was hot. Really very, very hot. Merlin would have much rather stayed by the castle, working in the shade then trodding through the forest after Arthur. Of course, the prince had seen the weather as a chance to go hunting, and, instead of hiding from the heat, he had dragged Merlin with him.
"Merlin!" the aforementioned monarch whispered exasperatedly,"stop being so lazy and get a move on! We'll be lucky to catch a squirrel at the rate you're going!"
Sighing, the young warlock pulled the bag he held further up over his shoulder and picked up his pace to catch up to Arthur. Just after reaching his side, a twig snapped loudly to their left.
Arthur immediately raised his bow, pointing it to the area the noise had come from. Motioning to Merlin for silence, he slowy started to edge towards the source of the noise. As he moved closer, a figure appeared, fighting its way through the bushes. As it won its fight against the shrubbery, Arthur realized it was a young woman, no older than himself, perhaps even a couple years younger.
She had short light brown hair, fair skin, and hazel eyes. And was dressed quite indecently, but by the look of her clothing she was likely foreign, so the indecency was understandable. She wore a thin white shirt that looked like it was made of similar material as that of a nightdress, but of a finer make. The shirt had short elbow-length sleeves and a collar. It had buttons down the front, all the way to her hips, where the shirt ended. The shirt was untucked, and rested over a short gray skirt that reached just over her knees, with meticulously pressed folds all around it. Her knees were bare, but she had socks that matched her skirt, with plenty of twigs and leaves caught on the material. As she came slowly and warily into the trail, Arthur noted her shoes were made of an uncommonly shiny black leather, and she had her hair tied back messily with some odd ribbon, scarlet and golden yellow in colour. In her hands she held a black bundle, and a smooth polished stick.
"Erm, hello," the girl said uncertainly, "this might sound a bit odd, but, where am I?"
Arthur raised his eyebrows, "you don't know where you are?"
"I – I've… been traveling for some time, you see, and its been a while since I've come across anyone who could tell me where I was."
"You've been traveling, in this forest, by yourself?" Merlin asked incredulously.
"I can take care of myself," the girl replied indignantly.
Merlin gave her a questioning look.
"I can!"
"Well, of course you can," Arthur said seriously, trying not to laugh at the thought of the slight, weaponless girl defending herself against thieves or some beast that roamed the forest with nothing but her glorified twig, "but since we're all going in the same direction, would you give us the honour of escorting you to Camelot?"
"Er… I guess that'd make sense," The girl acquiesced uncertainly, "I'm Hermione, by the way. Hermione Granger."
"Pleased to make your acquaintance Hermione Granger. I'm Prince Arthur Pendragon of Camelot, and that's my manservant, Merlin."
Hermione smiled and blushed, giving out a squeaky, shy "Hello" and proceeded to stare intently at the ground. The three started to make their way across the forest path, and as Merlin was oddly quiet, Arthur turned to Hermione, curious about the odd wild-looking girl.
"So, Miss Granger -"
"Hermione."
"Hermione. Where are you from?"
"Hogsmeade. It's a tiny village very far from here. I doubt you've heard of it, hardly anyone knows it even exists."
"It must be very far indeed. Your clothes are very different from the way women in Camelot dress. It might be wise to buy something… local when we arrive into town. How much money do you have to spend?" Arthur asked kindly.
"I was actually hoping to find work somewhere, I don't have any money anymore…" Hermione said somewhat embarrassedly.
"I'm sure we can find some kind of work for you at the castle. If Merlin here was able to get a job as my manservant, I'm sure you can at least get a job as a maid." Arthur assured her cheerfully.
Merlin flushed at the mention of his name, and quickly intervened to defend himself. "I got that job for saving your life! You'd be dead if it wasn't for me."
"And you've been late to work, insubordinate, and whiny ever since. The worst servant I've ever had."
The two continued bickering animatedly, while Hermione watched on, laughing at their antics. By the time they were within seeing distance of the castle, she had relaxed considerably…
A/N: Well, there's chapter one. I hope everyone likes it… Next chapter: They reach Camelot and Hermione meets the rest of the Merlin cast… oh, my. I'm already hard at work on chapter two, so it shouldn't be too long before I can post it.