Professor Merlin Emrys

Honest!

Ron didn't mean to hear. Honest! It was more of a wrong time, wrong place situation that led him where he was. With Professor Emrys raising a knowing eyebrow at him and Aithusa's judgemental stare.

"I didn't mean to! Honest!" he repeated, hoping if he said it enough times they would believe him.

"Didn't mean to what, Mr. Weasley?" Emrys asked, somehow raising his brow even higher. Gulping, Ron explained that he was just making his prefect rounds when he heard the professor speaking. He had thought it was a student making trouble in one of the classrooms.

"I crept up to the door and it was you. I was about to turn back but...but Aithusa spoke. I didn't know familiars could speak, you know, I was curious," Ron shrugged his shoulders and gave a sheepish smile, not really sure what to do in the situation he had found himself in.

"And then..." the professor encouraged him to continue.

"And then... then she said your name, but... not your name? Or is it your name? Anyway, I figured the dragon was just using Merlin's name as a curse, you know. But...It didn't make sense, it was just Merlin. Not Merlin's Beard or Merlin's pants, but like she was saying your name," Ron bit his bottom lip as he struggled to explain what he had witnessed. The professor... or Merlin? He still wasn't sure, did not say anything for what felt like forever. It was already late and he could feel himself getting sleepy as he waited for his teacher to say something.

"What do you think is right?" Emrys asked, jolting Ron into alertness once again. Ron licked his lips as he thought of what to say. If his defense professor really was The Great Merlin, then how was he still alive? Why was he alive? Why was he at Hogwarts? But at the same time, his professor being Merlin was ludicrous. Maybe his mother gave him the name, not caring that anyone called Merlin after The Merlin was considered an insult to the Merlin of old. Maybe he changed his name so no one would know.

The trouble was Emrys was expecting an answer and Ron didn't have one. Too many thoughts interrupted one track, crashing into another before he could finish it.

"I...I don't know," Ron admitted, shoulders hanging in defeat. He didn't know what to think. He didn't know what was right. What was wrong. He didn't know why it felt that the name Merlin fit his professor better than Myriddian ever could. Wait...where had that thought come from?

"That's alright, Ron. Come back in a day or so when you feel like you know, alright?" Emrys said, corralling him towards the door as he spoke. Ron nodded mutely, still reeling from the possibility that his professor was not who he thought he was.

Strangely, the thought doesn't put him on edge; doesn't make him want to shy away from the man. Was he a man? It didn't matter.

The door gently shut behind, leaving the prefect alone in the dark hallway to make his way back to his room. He knows he probably won't sleep well, mind racing to make some sort of sense of the strangest hour of Ron's life. Which is saying something as being Harry Potter's best friend leads to very strange things.

Sighing, Ron made his way to the portrait of The Fat Lady that hid the Gryffindor common room. He mumbled the password and practically sprinted up to his room that he shared with the other fifth-year boys. He changed into his sleepwear and flopped onto his bed, not thinking about brushing his teeth, even though he should. He was much too exhausted, both mentally and physically. Still, if his earlier thought about not being able to sleep proved true, he should brush them anyway. Begrudgingly, Ron made for the bathroom.

A knot settled in his stomach as he realized Emrys was still expecting an answer. It made him sick to his stomach. What if he said the wrong thing? Would 'Merlin' laugh at him if he said he did think his defense professor was the greatest wizard of all time? Would he get offended and smite him if he said he didn't believe him? He spit out his toothpaste as the minty flavor turned spicy at the thought, not helping to settle his upset stomach.