The Rising of Merlin

The One With the Mind-Talk

"So Marcus," Ginny said. "I heard that you have never watched a Quidditch game in your life. How come?"

"I guess I never had the opportunity. Both my mum and my uncle lived in the muggle world and we mostly watched Football instead." He shrugged.

"What's Football?" Ron asked.

"It's a game muggles play, where they run around after a ball and try to make goals. It's a lot like Quidditch but on ground and they only use one ball." Hermione said before Marcus had a chance to.

'I wonder if he has played Football himself. He does look fit enough to have done some athletic sports.' Hermione thought. And when she realized what exactly she had been thinking, she ducked her head to try and hide her incoming blush. 'Well, I'm not the only one that thinks he's good looking. Ginny can barely keep her eyes of him.' She couldn't help but giggle a little when she saw Ginny looking at him when he bent down to pick up his broomstick.

Ginny heard her giggle and turned her head towards her. When she realized that Hermione had caught her looking she gave her a scowl and tried to get Marcus' attention again.

"Marcus, have you actually flown a broomstick before?" Ginny asked him.

"Of course I have, it's a great way to transport yourself. It wasn't always used for games you know." He said with a huff. 'I was actually there when they were invented.' Merlin thought a little irritated. 'Just because I'm old doesn't mean I don't follow the times. But of course they don't know that.' He said as an afterthought.

"So you can fly?" Ron asked.

"Yes."

"Then show us." Ginny said.

So Merlin mounted his broomstick and kicked off from the ground. He flew a few laps around the Burrow and then made a steep nosedive towards the others. In the last minute he pulled up and landed gracefully on the ground. 'Say what you want about me being clumsy, Arthur. You have never seen me fly.' Merlin thought happily.

"Wow, that was amazing mate."

"Thank you." Merlin said with a grin.

"I guess you were right." Ginny said. "You truly can fly."

"Yeah well, I told you. You need to start trusting me more." He said with a wink. He only got a glare in return.

And so they spent the rest of the day playing Quidditch. Ron and Merlin were in one team, and Hermione and Ginny in the other. Merlin and Ron shifted their positions in half-time so that Merlin could try to be a chaser and a keeper. He was good at both, but thanks to his heightened reflexes that come with being a creature of pure Magic, he was a little better at being a keeper.

"You should try playing seeker when we're back at Hogwarts." Ron said to him as they headed back in after the game.

"You really think so?"

"Yeah, with those reflexes you'd be great at it. But you can't play for the team if you get sorted into Gryffindor, because that's Harry's position."

"I'm not sure I even want to play for any teams. But I will definitely try playing a seeker for fun." He told Ron and that was the truth. He didn't want to get distracted with other things while at Hogwarts. He needed to be prepared.

And with that they sat down to eat dinner.

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Merlin lay in his bed that night; just thinking about everything that had happened during his stay at the Burrow. He had gotten a real friend in Ron. 'I friend I can't be honest with.' He thought sadly with a hint of anger at himself for being a coward. He decided not to dwell on that for now and instead think about something funny, which led him to Fleur. 'It's time I do something about that.' He thought. So he decided to contact Ron.