A Time For Dying
Gaius's eye flew open when he heard a crash beside him. Before he could even register he was awake, he was being shook awake by Merlin.
"Gaius please wake up! It's Hermione she's hurt!" Merlin yelled. Gaius leapt down from his bed and looked down at Hermione who was unconscious on the floor, her wand clutched in her hand and Arthur pressing hard on her chest. Gaius bent down and brushed away Arthur's hands and revealed a gaping wound that was bleeding profusely over Arthur's hand. He gently placed a hand on her forehead and wiped away some of the cold, clammy sweat that was peeling down her face. He turned to Merlin and shook his head.
"Merlin, theirs nothing I can do. The wound is too deep, if she doesn't die from the blood loss then infection will take hold and then she will die" he got up from beside her and motioned for Arthur to lift her up. Arthur gently took her in his arms and being careful not to rock her too much carried her over to Gaius's bed and placed her down onto it. Hermione groaned and whimpered and her eyes scrunched up in pain. Merlin and Arthur both bent down beside her, Merlin grabbed hold of her hand and held it tight and Arthur gently placed a hand on her head and began to stroke back her hair.
"Merlin?" Hermione croaked. Merlin leant down towards her face.
"What Hermione?" he whispered. A faint smile travelled across her face. "I did it" she said quietly, "I killed him, for good. 16 years of pain and suffering for my best friend and he's gone". Hermione winced as another racking cough tore through her chest. Merlin stiffled a sob and his face fell into Hermione's hair.
" Please, don't cry Merlin" she whispered, sounding on the verge of tears herself. "I'm ready to… die. My friends are waiting for me".Suddenly Merlin was furious. "
What about me!" he cried, tears pouring down his face. " For once I have something good in my life and now its snatched away from me… it's not fair. All this crap that I'm put through and I cant even have one little shred of happiness? Not fair… its not-" he crumpled onto the floor beside groaned and more blood spurted out from the wound in her chest. Merlin and Arthur eyes both flew to her as they heard her breath weaken and watched as her face grew pale. Gaius placed a finger on her wrist and felt her heartbeat weaken under his grip."She's going" he whispered, moving away as both boys moved to her side and gripped her hands.
"I don't want you to go" Merlin said, his lips pursed and his eyes failing to hide the tears that were streaming down her face. Hermione gave another groan and turned to Arhur, she gently placed a bloodied hand on his face and ran a finger over his lips
."Your- name will live on Arthur… forever, you will be remembered as one of the greatest kings of England of all time" she said, her voice weak from the loss of blood and the lack of energy that she felt. She turned to Merlin. She raised her head to his ear and gripped him around the back- his arm automatically came up to link around her back and support her.
"Merlin, you will have to tell him, one day about your magic. Together you make the England that will go down in history and you open up so many oppurtunities for people like us" she whispered into his ear, careful that Arthur didn't hear what she said.
She gently kissed him on the cheek and tears flowed down her face as he bent his face up to meet her lips. His lips moulded against hers and a smile fixed itself on her lips. Another racking cough spread through her body and he clung to her for support for himself and for her. "I- love you Merlin" she whispered, her voice now no stronger than wind blowing through the tree's. Merlin tears splashed on Hermione's cheek and he felt her shudder under his grasp and become motionless. He let her body fall back into the crook of his arm and her head flopped backwards as the muscles relaxed for the last time. Merlin ran a finger across her blood stained face , already robbed of it's natural heat- it still felt soft and smooth, she was still beautiful and she allways would be. She would never age, never smile again, never laugh again … the woman he loved, the woman who he would always love was - dead. And he had never got to tell her how he he shook her body and called her name, still convinced that she would sit up and smile at him, reach up and kiss him again.
"Hermione! HERMIONE!" he hollered as the reality set in. With the woman he loved in his arms, the boy who was to become the most powerful warlock in the world, bent his head back and screamed in despair, grief and pain as the realisation punched a hole where his heart had once been.