Ancient Help (A Harry Potter and Merlin Crossover)

Chapter Twenty-One: The Great Escape

Her footsteps seemed to alarm the immortal knights, but Hermione held her head high and kept her resolve. If she wanted to do this plan of hers smoothly, then there was no room for fear or anxiety.

She lifted her chin and tightened her grip on the plate she was holding while descending down the stairs towards the dungeons. One of the immortal knights already drew his sword out and menacingly pointed it towards the brunette.

With a sigh, and a silent curse for their constant vigilance ('Oh, Moody will be proud,' she told to herself), she finally stepped down the last steps of the stairs and gestured at the food on her plate.

"Let me through," she calmly ordered. "I brought food for the prisoner."

One of Cenred's knights sneered. "We were under strict orders to never allow anyone to visit the prisoner except the Queen Morgana and Morgause."

"I was ordered by the Queen Morgana to bring this food, all right?" she snapped, annoyed at their obedience. "No need to be so rude."

She saw the hesitant looks that the immortal knights shared. Hermione once again sighed exasperatedly. "Listen, I was also under the strict orders to bring this food to the prisoner by the queen. We don't want to infuriate her now, do we?" she asked, raising an eyebrow to further prove her point.

The knight bristled and gradually placed his sword back into his sheath. Hermione bit her cheeks to stop herself from smiling triumphantly and followed the knight as he led her deeper into the dark dungeons.

The smell and the ambiance instantly hit her and warily, she remembered her same, old prison cell back in the Castle of Fyrien. An unwanted shiver ran down her spine and she had to take deep, calming breaths to keep her nerves at bay.

Finally, they arrived at their destination. Inside, an exhausted, yet spiteful Sir Leon stayed and he eyed the new arrival with wariness in his eyes.

The guard then stopped Hermione for a while and grabbed the plate from her. Hermione bit back a protest as the immortal knight inspected the food. When he saw nothing, he sneered and harshly gave it back to Hermione.

He then opened the prison cell and ushered Hermione inside. Tight-lipped, she turned back at the knight and said, "Leave us."

With a defeated sigh, the immortal knight left, leaving Hermione and Sir Leon alone.

Hesitantly, Hermione looked back at the furious knight and stepped forward. "I brought you food," she whispered, but was stopped when Sir Leon raised his right hand.

"Leave," he spat, eyeing Hermione with disgust.

The brunette worried her bottom lip and took a cautious step forward. "Listen, Sir Leon, I - "

"You don't have to explain," he said, tiredly rubbing the bridge of his nose. "You made your choice. You chose your side. You wanted to live." He darkly glared at Hermione and scowled. "And here I thought you were different, Hermione. I thought your loyalty lies to the king, who took you in, gave you work, and provided you shelter."

Hermione scowled in annoyance and purposefully walked a few more steps forward. "Will you just shut up and listen to me?" she furiously whispered, darting furtive looks at the knights outside the prison cell. One of them was already eyeing them suspiciously and Hermione suck a deep breath, returning her gaze back at the Knight of Camelot. A dumbfounded look was seen on his face, surprised with Hermione's sudden outburst, and Hermione knew that she already had his full attention.

"I volunteered myself to stay behind to spy on Morgana," she continued under her breath. She was afraid that her voice was too soft for Sir Leon to hear, but seeing how his eyes widened and his jaw dropped was enough indication that he had perfectly heard her. "It's been two weeks now and I think I already have enough information to relay onto Prince Arthur and the others."