The Warlock and the Dragonlord

It was late that same night when Harry came back. This time, Gaius was with them, Arthur having firmly kept his promise to the old man. Father, of course, wasn't home. Arthur was pretty sure he was out with his secretary or some other lovely lady and would probably stay the night with whoever it was. Uther would say it was just some important meeting or whatnot, but Arthur wasn't necessarily an idiot. A light night meeting might be believable occasionally, but staying the night was something else. Arthur wasn't blind nor stupid—nor was he sleeping as early as his father presumed he probably was.

Uther didn't even know that Morgana was home at the moment since he'd been gone all day and had yet to return, which Arthur was relieved by. Uther wouldn't understand the desperation Arthur had to save Merlin. He wouldn't understand why Arthur had skipped classes for three days.

He would definitely want to be here for Morgana though.

"I'm surprised dad's not home," Morgana said, as though sensing Arthur's thoughts.

Arthur had to hold back a snort. Morgana only knew what their father was like when she was in the house, which was only summer time and for Christmas. He wasn't the same man that loved and doted on Morgana, trying to spend as much time home as possible when she was home. Arthur doubted he loved anyone or anything else besides his daughter.

And maybe his work.

But definitely not Arthur. Or if he did, he had a weird way of showing it.

"He said he had a work meeting late," Arthur said casually. Maybe too casually, by the side eye he was receiving from her. Or maybe his face was showing some of the bitterness he felt.

Gaius sat silently, but his searching stare directed to the both of them seemed to say a lot. Arthur just wasn't sure exactly Gaius was trying to get at, but he had a crazy eyebrow arch that seemed to take apart anyone. Arthur felt like squirming each time he saw it, even when he told a truth. Even Morgana seemed to respect him, cowed by his look.

Arthur kind of wanted to see him and McGonagall face off. He had no doubt that Harry would also humble right under his watchful eye.

The thought nearly had Arthur chuckling, probably would have if he didn't feel the undercurrent of Merlin's fear. It had been active for the last three days, ever since Merlin had been taken, always reaching and swirling in angst. Arthur wished he had the ability to reach in himself and calm it. Or better yet, make Merlin appear beside him to get him away from whatever he was experiencing.

They have all been waiting to hear back from Harry and McGonagall, but he wasn't sure how they would get the information back. He didn't even know for sure if the information would come back tonight. Harry said he'd look into it tonight, but he didn't say anything about coming back to tell him about it.

Just when he thought for sure they would be waiting until the next day, and about to suggest Gaius just got home for the night, the green flames flared again, startling him. He could see Gaius' hands tense just slightly on the chair as well, though he didn't show any other sign of startling. The concern for his Nephew was still most prominent in his eyes. And, of course, Morgana didn't even blink, just let out a low "finally."

Harry took a step out of the flames, his glasses askew on his face and hair disheveled, and stopped a moment in surprise at seeing Gaius, then continued on without concern. "You're Merlin's Uncle, I take it."

"Yes." Gaius nodded. "Gaius. What have you heard about my nephew? Did you figure out who took him?"

"Hold on," Harry told him, gesturing behind himself as the flames flashed again. A younger lady with thick, wavy, dirty blond hair came next, then McGonagall walked out gracefully.

"I'm Harry," Harry said for Gaius's benefit. "That's the Headmistress of the school, Minerva McGonagall. And Hermione there may be the smartest person you'll ever meet."

Hermione snorted and waved a hand, but didn't exactly deny it. "Pleasure to meet you guys. Wish the circumstance was better."

"So, have you heard anything?" This time it was Arthur who pushed to continue the conversation.

"Well, we've talked to a few people. Most just presumed that Oliver Weston—the man who took Merlin in for questioning—did as he said, releasing him the next morning and taking him back to school. I talked to one, however that told me that Weston had seemed off… a little twitchy and nervous. And now he hasn't been seen for a few days, along with one other lady who was essentially his partner."

Gaius was eyeing him, noticing something, and only a pause later he spoke. "Was his partner? You found her, didn't you?"

Harry winced. "Dead. Killed."

The room became icy at the words, then Arthur found himself standing quickly, pacing again. "We've got to get Merlin out of there," he muttered to himself, then;"Do you know where he might have taken him? Have you checked his house?"

"We did," McGonagall spoke this time, watching him carefully. "No sign of him."

Arthur cursed, running a hand through his hair without meeting any of their eyes.

"We do have a theory though," Harry added. Then chuckled slightly. "Well, Hermione does, anyway."

"What's that?" Gaius leaned forward in his chair as Arthur turned back to them.

Hermione opened her mouth, but before she could speak, Arthur was hit with a flare of agony in his gut so intense it had him gasping and falling to his knees. He grabbed his stomach, hand digging into his skin, while his other hand kept him from keeling over.

As soon as he got an inkling of breath, he cried out. The shaking and writhing of the magic inside him made him nauseous, and the pain he felt in his gut… well, he somehow knew that it was only a small piece of what Merlin was feeling.

It almost felt like Merlin's magic was fighting against… more magic, and Merlin's was taking a beating.

It hadn't been the only thing he'd felt over their connection the last few days. The magic had never stopped moving in it's anxiety, and many times Arthur had thought he'd felt brief moments of pain or… well, he wasn't quite sure on all the feelings, to be honest. But this was the first time it was bad enough to really draw his attention fully to it, crippling. And it was terrifying.

Heavens… Merlin. Jeez, please, we've got to help him. Arthur tried to unfold himself, but he couldn't move, and he felt tears of agony and frustration roll down his face. He needed to get his friend out of there, but if the man didn't stop hurting Merlin, Arthur himself was going to be less than useless.

He wasn't sure how long it lasted, but by the panic in Morgana's voice as it finally settled down, the sweat dripping from his brow, and how practically everyone was surrounding him now, all told him it had probably been at least a minute.

"Arthur, please. Please, say something," Morgana was saying, voice pleading, the tremor in it obvious.

"'Gana." Arthur's back trembled, nearly a spasm, as he grabbed onto her hand. Morgana squeezed back, just as tight, her other arm having been wrapped around Arthur's shoulders in a sort of hug to hold him up.

"Are you okay, my boy?" Gaius asked. His voice held worry, yet a warmth and calmness that told Arthur that he obviously had a great bedside manner.

Arthur took a few shuddering breaths before he managed a small nod. "We need to get to Merlin."

They didn't keep pressuring Arthur about how he was feeling, luckily, but Hermione moved closer. "My theory, Arthur, is that as you are connected to your friend's magic, you may be able to use said magic to locate Merlin."

Arthur looked up at her, a little surprised at her tone, confident even though this situation was so unusual. "You think so? How can I do that?" He slowly sat back so he was sitting on his feet, one arm still wrapped around his stomach. He ignored all their worried gazes, but kept Morgana's hand in his.

"We will try to guide you in ways we think might help." Hermione put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "As soon as you try and succeed in that, Harry and I will go gather some more people to help. Then tomorrow morning we can get your friend home."

"Why wait until tomorrow?" Arthur demanded.

"Because, one, we need more people. Two, you'll need your rest, after all that. Three, it will give us more time to plan once we know you can even tap into where Merlin is." Harry's points made sense, so Arthur forced himself not to argue, even though—especially after that pain—he wanted to protest.

Arthur let out a sigh. "All right. What should I do?"