The Gathering: The New Order of Merlin Book 1

72. Partner up

       Last night, Jack barely got any sleep in. McGonagall told him that Merlin wasn't well and was in the Hospital Wing, and so for the first time in months, Jack slept alone. He forgot how lonely it felt to not have another person gently breathing next to him, to not hear anything other than the swish of his bedsheet. It brought back the memories of when Mother used to punish him by separating him from Elsa. And when he fell asleep, he dreamt of darkness.

He woke up too late to visit Merlin, so he planned on it right after lunch. So now as he came down to the Great Hall, he was taken by surprise when he found Merlin fast asleep at the Gryffindor table with his head resting on his arms, gently snoring into his sleeve. And he felt different. There was a hint of different magic around him, something that reminded Jack of the fairy he'd met in the greenhouse.

Jack nudged his arm. "Merlin? Are you okay?"

Merlin raised his head. His eyes were half-closed and there was a red imprint of wrinkled robes on his face. He looked around at the amused faces of other Gryffindors who were whispering and pointing at him.

Familiar click-clacking of McGonagall's heels approached them. "Mr. Ealdor, what is the meaning of this?"

He rubbed his eyes. "What now?"

"I was told you were in the Hospital Wing. But you're here, sleeping?"

Merlin scratched his head and yawned widely. All the eyes were on him, but he didn't seem to mind. "I was too tired to get up all those stairs to the Gryffindor Tower. And then I was hungry but too tired to make it all the way to the kitchens. So I settled on waiting for the food here." He noticed the food in front of him and woke up a little more. "Yes!"

He immediately dug in and didn't even check how McGonagall reacted to his explanation. She opened her mouth and closed it a couple of times, uncharacteristically speechless, then she addressed Jack. "Jack, would you kindly ensure Mr. Ealdor makes it to your dorm after lunch? If he can't make it, then he needs to go back to Madam Pomfrey."

"I'm fine," Merlin said with a full mouth, "just hungry. Fast metabolism. I need to eat more often."

McGonagall sighed so loudly, it sounded more like a growl.

"I'll take care of him," Jack confirmed, and she finally walked back to her seat.

Jack watched him eat and wasn't sure what to do. McGonagall wasn't clear when describing Merlin's health issue last night. "So, are you really okay or you just wanted to get rid of her?"

"I'm fine, don't worry yourself."

The way Merlin devoured food as if he hadn't eaten in weeks didn't look 'fine' despite his assurances.

He grinned and some food escaped his mouth and landed on his robes, reminding Jack of the food fight they'd had at this table with Colin. They were having so much fun and accidentally attracted Peeves, and he made the fight even messier. A fight like that wouldn't have been the same without Colin.

Merlin followed his eyes to the stain on his shirt and tried to rub it off.

Jack looked away and caught Elsa's eye as she walked up to the Ravenclaw table. She raised her eyebrows and gesticulated a question, and he guessed she wanted to know when they'd try to look for the mirror again. Clearly, not now, he tried to convey with his expression. She huffed and turned away from him to sit at her table.

"That's the almost-telepathy you spoke about," Merlin said, studying him. "That definitely looked like a conversation."

Jack stirred the food around on his plate, not interested in commenting on how he communicated with his sister. Knowing real telepathy would have been nice, though he worried that she'd constantly bug his head if she could.