Ancient Help (A Harry Potter and Merlin Crossover)

Chapter Fifteen: Gwen's Choice

"Tell me about this Kingdom of Hogwarts of yours, Hermione."

The brunette froze, her hand still mid-air. Slowly, she turned back around and saw a nonchalant Gwen picking some flowers in the forest ground and placing it inside her basket. "Umm..." Hermione started.

The tone of her voice caught Gwen's attention and upon seeing her expression, the future queen's eyes slightly widened and lightly blushed. "Oh no," she said. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have intruded. If you don't want to talk about it I'd just..."

Hermione released a soft chuckle and waved a dismissive hand. "No, no," she said. "I would like to talk about it with you, Gwen. I was just surprised you suddenly asked. That's all."

Gwen gave her an uncertain smile. "Well, I've always wondered how your life was back in Hogwarts," she started. "Merlin's awfully interested, too, but Gaius warned us that, you know..."

"I might breakdown again?" Hermione quickly added, slightly amused.

Guinevere nodded her head, prompting Hermione to softly chuckle. "Gaius and the Court Physician in him," Hermione said, sighing as she sat down on one fallen log. Gwen smiled and walked towards her, opting to sit beside her on the fallen log. "So, what do you want to know?"

"I don't know," Gwen said, shrugging. "Maybe how you lived your life there generally?"

Hermione blinked and frowned. 'That was actually a hard question,' she told herself, absentmindedly twirling a loose strand from her dress. She contemplated, thinking of something that was still partially true about her life but not exactly revealing to her new friend about her real life back in Hogwarts.

"Well, I was still... studying," she started. She saw Gwen's confused look, and quickly added, "You know, sewing, poetry, languages..."

"A lady's work?" Gwen asked, astonished. "You were a lady back in your kingdom?" She gestured at Hermione. "How come you're working as a servant here in Camelot if you were actually a lady?"

"No, actually, I am not," Hermione said, sighing in exasperation. Telling, or more fittingly making up of her life back in Hogwarts was harder than she thought. "Our King, King Albus... he somehow started taking care of me when my parents died. They died because of the Dark Sorcerer and the king promised me he will provide everything that I will need." She swallowed and looked down at her lap. Talking about her parents was something that still brought pain in her heart. "And besides, I was best friend to his adoptive son, Prince Harry."

She looked up at Gwen and saw the sympathy in her eyes. "I'm all right," she said, placing a hand on top of Gwen's. "Just talking about my parents still brings back vivid memories."

"You know, my mother died giving birth to me," Gwen softly said. "And my father... well, he was wrongly accused of doing sorcery. If you think about it, you lost both of your parents and one of my own to sorcery, Hermione."

Hermione smiled at her, grateful of her effort to make her feel better. "Does sorcery, I don't know, scare you?" Hermione asked.

A look of confusion appeared on Gwen's face. "Hmm," she said, contemplative. "That's actually a hard question."

The brunette softly chuckled and lifted her eyes back in the sky. "I'm not really opposed to it," Hermione said, answering her own question. "In our Kingdom, magic can be freely used. I've seen how some others used it for good." She looked back at Gwen and smiled. "You know, if Uther was not blinded by his rage for her queen's death due to magic, then I am sure he will be able see that magic in itself was not exactly that bad. That the good or evil with regards to magic depends of how it is wielded."