Author Notes: Originally written for hd_fan_fair 2010. Thank you to emerald_dragon8 and aigooism for the beta. Thank you to scarletladyy for Brit-picking and marguerite_26 for a quick Merlin!verse beta! Any remaining mistakes are entirely my own.

A thousand years or more ago, in the era of the four great Hogwarts founders, there was a great battle between magic and ignorance. The battle was fought over many years and both sides believed that it was they who were right, true and just. In the middle of this battle was Uther Pendragon who sought to eradicate magic from his land, and in doing so changed the course of history...

It was generally agreed that the Department of Mysteries was a mysterious place. Objects would vanish from its hallowed halls and often people would as well. Sensible commentators said that the people simply ran off to escape debts, but others claimed that mysterious forces were at work.

Harry tended to think that the latter were a bit crazy and undoubtedly subscribed to The Quibbler. Still, he had to admit that there was something odd about the place, something about the atmosphere. Every time he visited, he was reminded of the night that Sirius had fallen through the Veil. Even though he was going into a different area of the department, the decor around him was still the same. It was as though the same colour-blind person had decorated the entire building.

The few people Harry passed in the corridor sent him dirty looks. That was certainly a change, Harry thought with a sigh. He almost preferred the dirty looks to the looks of adulation, though. His boss had told him when he had signed up for the job three years ago that the nasty looks came with the territory. "Nobody likes Internal Affairs," his boss had said cheerfully. "I've been here for seven years and I haven't made any friends outside of IA yet!"

Nobody had expected Harry to stay long. After all, he was The Boy Who Lived. He was the golden child of the wizarding world. Everybody expected him to end up in the glamorous side of the Auror Programme, but Harry'd had enough of that side of chasing bad guys. He had seen enough of the corruption inside the Ministry to know that Internal Affairs needed all the help it could get. Hermione had been very supportive of his decision.

There were very few perks to his job. Sure, he could poke his nose into the affairs of any department, but people hated that, and Harry always had to be careful to tread the thin line between catching the wrongdoers and not ripping apart the delicate alliances between departments. The downsides to his job were multiple. His friendship with Ron was rocky for a few months, while IA had investigated Ron's team. Ron had never been under suspicion and in the end, his entire team had been cleared, but the damage was done. Harry had considered quitting, but deep down, he knew he wouldn't. He was doing the right thing.

Harry consulted his map as he walked. He was investigating a relatively new section within the Department of Mysteries. Over the last few months, there had been some mysterious artefact disappearances within the section. Richardson was the main suspect, but Harry had some suspicions about some of the other staff as well. The artefacts were all unknown and potentially dangerous. In the wrong hands, some of them could be possibly life-threatening. If somebody from the section was selling or using the artefacts, Internal Affairs wanted to stop them.

"Excuse me," Harry said as he pushed open a door. He could see a rather familiar figure standing next to a mirror. As the person turned around, Harry could feel a familiar curl of anger in his stomach at the look of superiority on that pale, pointed face. He blinked quickly and looked back down at his notes. He wasn't at Hogwarts any more. "Draco Malfoy," Harry said flatly.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm from the Auror Office," Harry said. Even after so many years, there was something about Draco that rubbed him up the wrong way. There were many things that rubbed Harry up the wrong way, but Draco Malfoy was top on that list. Perhaps it was that permanently arrogant expression on his pointy face. Or perhaps it was simply the fact that there was a leak from the Department of Mysteries, and Harry had a bet going with his co-workers that Draco Malfoy was the source of the leak.

"I know that," Draco said. "One could hardly miss the giant ad the Auror Office took out in the Daily Prophet the day you joined. They must have been ecstatic." He sounded light-hearted, but Harry could hear the underlying snide tone.

Harry narrowed his eyes. Obviously Draco hadn't grown up at all over the last five years. "They were," he said sharply. "I'm here on behalf of Internal Affairs." He looked down at his folder. "I'm supposed to talk to a Mr Richardson."

"Tony's away."

Harry waited for Draco to continue, but it was obvious that was all the git was going to say. Most of the time, people were rather reticent to talk to him. It was no wonder, given that Harry had the power to get them fired or put in Azkaban. But they were generally more communicative than this. "And when will he be back?"

Draco looked at his watch. "After lunch," he said. "He usually takes about an hour for lunch, so ... in an hour."

Harry gritted his teeth. "I'll wait for him then," he said. "Please, continue whatever you were doing. I wouldn't want to disturb you."

"How considerate," Draco said. There was an amused look on his face. "I take it you're here on behalf of IA because of the recent disappearances."

Harry nodded. "The Minister asked us to take a look into it."

"Not all the disappearances came from this section, you know," Draco pointed out.

"I will not discuss the particulars of the investigation," Harry said. It had become one of his favourite phrases nowadays and it was trotted out at almost every investigation. Invariably, one or two employees wanted to talk about what was happening. They claimed it was due to curiosity. Most of the time, this was true, but once in a while, it was the wrongdoer attempting to ascertain how much knowledge he had.

Draco snorted. "Perfect bureaucratese."

Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Looking around, he grabbed a chair and sat down. "Please let Mr Richardson know that I'm here when he comes back from lunch."

Draco shrugged. "Of course."

Harry looked down at his notes and began to flick through them. He hoped his face was a mask of unconcern. It wouldn't do to have Draco realise how uncomfortable this entire situation was for him. He never liked investigating people he knew, and in a perfect world he wouldn't have to. Unfortunately, the wizarding world was small and IA was even smaller. Harry hadn't investigated the case involving Ron's team, but that was only because of the closeness of their friendship. However, there was still tension between them, despite the fact that Harry hadn't directly investigated the case.

After a few minutes, Harry looked up to see Draco studying the mirror. Harry had barely noticed the mirror when he had walked into the room, but now he looked at it properly. It was quite an intricately designed mirror with faint gold markings around the edge. It wasn't the kind of thing Harry would ever want in his house, though. Even though it was obviously well-crafted and well looked after, there was something oppressive about it.

"Interesting mirror."

Draco looked over. "It is, actually," he said, without a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "It dates back almost a thousand years."

Harry lowered his notes. "Magical?"

"Yes, but it seems a bit odd." Draco ran his fingers against the edge of the frame. "There's something strange about the magical signature. I haven't had the chance to study it closely though. We only got this in today."

Harry stood up and put his notes down on the chair. "Mind if I have a look?" All those years of friendship with Hermione had piqued his interest in this kind of thing. Plus, it never hurt to ensure co-operation in whatever section he was investigating, and there was usually no better way to ensure co-operation than to show interest in their work.

Draco snorted, but nodded anyway. "Sure."

Harry bit back a sharp retort. "I presume the magic doesn't match other magical signatures of that era."

"That's what I said, yes."

Harry let out a long sigh. He looked at Draco. "Do you have to be so ..."

"Abrasive?" Draco said with an ironic smile. "Do you expect us to roll out the red carpet when you're investigating us?"

"We're doing the right thing," Harry pointed out. "We're eliminating corruption within the Ministry."

"Still the same Harry Potter," Draco murmured as he leaned over to run his fingers over the back of the mirror. "Always wanting to do the right thing."

Harry stared. Somehow Draco managed to make that sound like a bad thing. "Is there something behind the mirror?"

"I don't know," Draco said slowly. "It feels like there's some sort of catch behind here. It's rougher than the rest of the backing." He brushed his hair away from his face as he leaned forward. Harry stepped forward and held the mirror. "I think I have something."

The mirror wobbled. "Careful," Harry warned. "These magical artefacts can be rather dangerous if they break."

"I know that," Draco said sharply. "It's not like I haven't been working around these artefacts for years."

Harry's hands were steady as he held the mirror, but somehow, the surface of the mirror appeared to be shaking. It seemed to be rippling, almost as though the mirror was wobbling, but Harry knew he was holding it steadily. "Stop doing that!" Harry suddenly said. Something was obviously happening. Something magical.

"There's some sort of hidden compartment here," Draco said, as if he hadn't even heard Harry speak.

"Don't open it," Harry said quickly, but it was too late. He heard a small sound as a piece of wood fell away from the back of the mirror.

Draco stepped backwards. He was holding a small jewel in his fingers. "This looks valuable."

"Give that to me," Harry said. Draco looked startled as he grabbed the stone. It felt warm in his fingers. The bright redness caught the light as Harry turned it over and over. "There was something happening with the mirror."

"Don't be ridiculous," Draco snapped. "Look at it. It looks fine."

Harry was about to protest, but when he looked over, the mirror did look completely normal. "It was rippling. Shaking."

"You weren't holding it properly," Draco told him. "Now, obviously that ruby is some sort of talisman."

"Obviously," Harry muttered as he looked at it. There was something about it. Something not quite right. "Now what was it doing at in the back of the mirror?"

Draco shrugged. "No idea."

Harry felt a shiver down his back. He quickly handed the ruby back over to Draco. "Let me know what you find," he said as he turned around. Harry stopped and stared. "I put my notes on that chair, right there!"

Draco frowned. "Maybe they fell down on the ground." He took a step towards the chair.

"They didn't," Harry said, pointing towards the ground. It looked dirtier than he remembered, almost as though he was looking at a dirt ground. "Somebody must have come in to take them."

"Nobody came in," Draco said decisively.

Harry scanned the room and as he looked back towards the chair, he stared. It was no longer there. "Wasn't there a chair there before?" he asked.

"Yes," Draco said slowly.

Suddenly, Harry could feel a cold wind on his face. "What the...!" he said as he looked over at Draco.

Draco's eyes were wide. "Something tells me we're not in the Department of Mysteries anymore," he said slowly.

Harry blinked rapidly. The world around him seemed to be melting. It was going hazy, blending into itself and he could have sworn that he was seeing trees, no, a forest around him instead of the room within the Department of Mysteries. A bright shaft of sunlight hit his face and a cold wind whipped his robes around. Slowly, Harry lifted his hands up to his eyes and rubbed them. When he lowered his hands, he found himself standing in the middle of a forest.

"This is ... unusual," Draco said faintly.

"What did you do?" Harry turned around and glared at Draco.

"What did I do?" Draco spluttered. "What makes you think I had anything to do with this?"

"It was a Portkey, wasn't it?" Harry accused. "You were behind the disappearances in your section and now you're trying to get rid of the investigator."

Draco snorted. "As I told you, there have been random disappearances from all sections in the Department of Mysteries lately. And I have absolutely nothing to do with them. Even if I did, don't you think I'd be smart enough to not make the assigned investigator from IA disappear?"

"Then why are we in a forest?" Harry demanded.

"Why are you looking to me for the answers?" Draco shot back. "Do I look like I know why? Does this look like the kind of place that I'd know?"

Harry looked around at the arching trees overhead and the bright autumn foliage. "Wait a minute..."

Draco rolled his eyes. "I didn't grow up in a forest. I grew up in a lovely manor."

"Not that," Harry said resisting the urge to hex Draco. He thought he was doing quite well so far in stopping those urges. Draco was really quite annoying. "Look at those leaves. This looks like autumn."

Draco's mouth opened, undoubtedly to make some sort of retort, and then he closed it again. "That's funny," he said quietly. "Last time I checked, it was spring."

"Yeah," Harry agreed grimly. Random changes in seasons were never good signs. "I think that mirror of yours was cursed."

He hadn't meant to sound accusing, but Draco glared at him anyway. "That wasn't my fault."

"Oh really?" Harry snapped. "You were the one who dislodged the ruby. I'd say it's squarely in the territory of being 'your fault'. Where is it anyway?"

Draco pulled the shining stone out of his pocket and toyed with it. Out here in the open, it looked brighter, more noticeable. "It's not magical," he muttered as he turned it over in his fingers. "There's no residue of enchantment or anything. It's just a pretty stone."

"It's obviously more than that," Harry said. He ran a hand thorough his hair. "Look, we need to get out of this forest."

"If you're going to suggest Apparating away, think again," Draco told him

"'As a matter of fact, I was," Harry said, annoyed. It was the perfect idea. He didn't want to walk in this forest for hours with Draco until they got to the edge. Portkeys could be complicated to enchant. They could easily Apparate away.

Draco snorted. "You don't know where we are. Hell, we might not even be in England any more, given the climate. If you want to splinch yourself, go right ahead!"

"Of course," Harry said slowly, "we could always just walk in that direction until we figure out where we are." He pointed off in a random direction. "We wouldn't starve or die of thirst because we could always change rocks into bread. It might take a few days, but I'm sure we'd enjoy each other's company."

Draco stared at him.

Harry was quite enjoying himself. He suspected that the longer he spent with his boss, the more he caught some of his boss's mannerisms and speech patterns. Sarcasm was apparently also a bonus. "Well, come on then."

"On second thoughts, I think I'll risk it," Draco said.

Harry bit down on his tongue to stop himself from laughing. The look on Draco's face was priceless. He obviously knew that he'd been played. Reaching into his pocket, Harry pulled out his wand.

"If we're too far, we might not get to London," Draco warned.

"I know that," Harry told him. "But I was thinking of aiming for something like Hogsmeade. Less people. Plus, this place feels like it's in Scotland somewhere."

"Or Wales. Or Europe. Or Australia," Draco said. "But obviously you're well-versed in this particular genus of tree to know that it must only grow in Scotland."

Harry glared. "Oh shut up."

Closing his eyes, Harry concentrated on Hogsmeade. He thought of the streets and the pub and the sweet shops, until he'd formed a perfect picture of Hogsmeade in his head. He waited for the familiar warming feeling of his wand in his fingers and the tingling that would indicate that he'd reached his location, but it never came.

"What the...?" Harry opened his eyes to find Draco staring at him.

"It didn't work, did it?" Draco asked. There was an odd look on his face. If Harry didn't know better, he would have thought it was fear.

"Maybe we're not in Scotland then," Harry said quickly. "I'll just try to Apparate to over that ridge there."

"I've got a better idea," Draco said. Before Harry could say anything, Draco had pulled out his own wand and was pointing it at Harry.

"That won't help things," Harry said carefully. He could feel his heart pounding. What on earth was Draco doing? "Hexing me won't help." He really didn't think that Draco was the type to do something this stupid.

"Well, if I'm right, this won't hurt you," Draco said. A smile ghosted across his face. "Stupefy!"

Harry could feel his muscles tensing in anticipation for the strike, but nothing happened. He flexed his arms tentatively. "I think you're a bit rusty."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Try to do magic. Anything."

Harry was beginning to get an inkling of what Draco was on about. Slowly, he lifted his wand. "Lumos!" The tip of his wand didn't even glow. "Something's happened to my magic." Harry felt a sinking feeling. He was stuck in the middle of some unknown forest with Draco Malfoy and he had no magic to defend himself with.

"Mine too," Draco admitted.

"Great. Just great." Harry looked over at a fairly large oak tree and contemplated slumping down underneath it. He really hadn't signed up for this.

"So," Draco said after a long pause. "I suppose we'd better walk in that direction then." He pointed in the direction that Harry had earlier indicated.

Harry nodded.

They'd been walking for what seemed like hours when Harry began to feel thirsty. At first, he tried his best not to think about it, but that just seemed to make it worse. The more he tried not thinking about it, the more the whispering of the leaves began to sound like a babbling brook. Even the dappled light through the trees reminded him of a waterfall.

"We're doomed to wander these forests until we die of hunger or thirst," Draco declared as they passed yet another large oak tree. "For all we know, we're going around in circles.

Harry wished that he hadn't mentioned food. He hadn't had lunch yet, and right now, it was probably far closer to dinnertime. "There's plenty of food we can eat," he lied. One of them needed to stay optimistic.

"I can't eat leaves," Draco grumbled.

"Neither can I," Harry said through gritted teeth, giving up on the optimism. "Although, if you keep on complaining, I could quite possibly cook and eat you."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Why, I never knew you were into that!"

Harry resisted the urge to bang his head against the nearest tree. His stomach growled and he could almost feel it churning. "We'll get to some sort of town soon, I'm positive."

Draco smirked. "I'm sure that positive thinking will help us."

Harry stopped and turned around. He really was sick of Draco's attitude. There was absolutely no reason for him to be acting like some sort of spoiled brat. He wasn't fourteen any more. "It's not like you're doing anything to help!"

"Like what?" Draco demanded. "Look around. We're in the middle of some unknown forest and we don't have magic. Unless you have some sort of heretofore unknown gift for foraging for food, I suggest that we're royally screwed. What'd you want me to do? Start digging for edible roots with my wand?"

"If you think that would help," Harry muttered. Draco just glared at him.

"For all we know, the nearest town is several hundred miles away! We'll die before we get there."

"That's no reason to sit down and give up," Harry pointed out. Inwardly, he let out a long sigh. There was nothing more his legs wanted to do than to simply give up. Over the last half an hour, they'd been steadily climbing up some sort of side of a hill, and Harry was exhausted. He wasn't a teenager anymore and he wasn't used to this kind of exercise. When he first joined the Ministry, he had all these goals of getting enough exercise and eating healthily, but over time, the long hours had eroded that away.

"Sitting down and giving up doesn't sound like a bad plan," Draco remarked. He rearranged his robes around him and sat down on a particularly green looking patch of grass.

Harry couldn't help but notice that there were no other even remotely green patches of grass. There were simply straggling bits and pieces on rock hard dirt. "Fine," he said as he sat down as well. A rock dug into his bum, but he ignored it. "We'll sit here and wait to die, shall we?"

Draco's eyes narrowed. Harry suspected that if they'd both been younger, Draco would have stuck his tongue out. "Or at least we could rest..." Draco trailed off.

"What?"

Draco held up a hand. "I think I hear something."

Harry frowned as he listened. The only thing he could hear was the rustling of leaves and the faint sound of a bird chirping. "You're imagining it."

"I'm not," Draco insisted. "It sounds... like horses."

"Well, I don't hear anything." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Harry suddenly could hear something a long way off. It was coming closer - and Draco was right, it did sound like horses. "It sounds like somebody's coming," Harry amended.

"Told you," Draco muttered, but Harry ignored him.

"They should be able to help us. Point us towards the nearest town. Give us some water. Things like that," Harry said. He could already imagine the cool feeling of the first gulp of water sliding down his throat. They'd be back in London in no time and he'd be sleeping between his own crisp sheets tonight.

"Unless, of course, they're not friendly," Draco pointed out.

Harry glared at him.

Draco shrugged. "I'm just pointing out a possibility."

"They'll be friendly," Harry said decisively as he pushed himself up off the dirt. "They have to be," he added underneath his breath. Draco was right about one thing. They really couldn't just continue traipsing through the forest. He was already feeling somewhat lightheaded with hunger and thirst. They wouldn't last long like this.

Looking over at Draco, Harry noticed him fastidiously brushing down his robes.

"What if these are Muggles?" Harry suddenly exclaimed. "They'll think we're loonies."

"Or they'll think we're in fancy dress," Draco said smugly. "You're not the only one who knows about Muggles."

As the sound of hooves neared, Harry held his breath as he peered through the trees, trying to spot who the riders were. He really hoped they were friendly and that they had plenty of water to spare. If they were magical, it would be a bonus, but he wouldn't mind a friendly Muggle. As Harry squinted, he could see a bright glint through the trees. "What the..."

"That's a 'no' on the friendly then," Draco said quietly as the riders came in view.

Harry stared as he watched two men rise into the clearing that he and Draco were standing in. One of the men was wearing some sort of metal armour with a helmet. He reminded Harry of those old movies that Dudley used to watch about the knights. The man even had a sword strapped to his side. The other man was dressed equally oddly, but in a different way. His clothes looked worn and old. Harry wasn't particularly knowledgeable about clothing textures, but his clothes looked rough as well. They both got off their horses and walked towards where he and Draco were standing.

"Who are you?"

Harry cleared his throat as he looked at the armoured man. "Me?"

The man made an annoyed sound. "Yes, you."

"Harry Potter," Harry said. He wasn't sure what he expected from the two men. He was just so used to having people almost fall over in shock when meeting him that it was anticlimactic to see absolutely no reaction.

The man swung around to stare at Draco. "And who might you be?"

"Who's asking?" Draco countered smoothly.

As Harry looked over from the corner of his eyes, he could see Draco giving them a haughty look. It was obvious that Draco was hoping to bluff their way out of this situation. Harry crossed his fingers. It was unlikely that anything else would work, especially since they didn't have magic.

The armoured man seemed surprised. "You don't know who I am? My name's Arthur Pendragon."

It was obvious from the way he said it that he expected some sort of reaction from them. Harry couldn't seem to muster one though. The name was vaguely familiar. He thought he might have heard it before in some History of Magic class. Beside him, Harry heard Draco cough. When he looked over, he could see Draco's face turn pale.

"Are we far from Camelot?" Draco asked in a neutral tone.

Arthur chuckled as he took off his helmet, shaking out his hair. "I was beginning to think we'd stumbled across several idiots who didn't even know where they were. I already have one idiot to look after." He pointed towards the man standing behind him. "Merlin's enough of an idiot for anyone."

Harry smothered a gasp. Merlin? As in the Order of Merlin? Surely it was somebody with the same name. Surely this scrawny young man couldn't be the actual Merlin? Harry scrutinised his face, but couldn't see any sort of resemblance to any of the pictures of Merlin he'd seen. Then again, most of the pictures he'd seen had come from Chocolate Frog cards, so they probably weren't that accurate.

"Arthur and Merlin," Draco muttered to Harry. He turned and bowed. "It a pleasure to meet you, your highness."

Arthur fixed him with a steadfast look. "And who might you be?"

"Lord Draco Malfoy," Draco drawled. "My manservant and I were journeying to Camelot when we were beset upon by robbers."

Harry almost choked. "Yes," he managed to get out after Merlin looked at him strangely. "Robbers. Lots of them. Brandishing..."

"Swords," Draco continued, giving him a glare. "Undoubtedly stolen, as I do not know where robbers would have learned such fine swordcraft. We lost most of our belongings and have been lost in this forest ever since. If your highness had not discovered us here, we'd have surely perished."

Harry nodded. He damn well hoped that Draco knew what he was doing and what kind of lies he was spinning. From what he remembered, Merlin lived over a thousand years ago, around the same time the founders were building Hogwarts. If they had somehow travelled that far back in time, they were in serious trouble. One of the few times Harry had bothered to listen to History of Magic was when Binns was droning on about time travellers. Once he had cut through Binns' waffle, Harry deduced that there had only been a couple of time travellers in wizarding history who had travelled over any significant length of time. And most of them had, according to Binns, 'snapped quickly and painfully back to their correct time'. Harry had no idea what that meant, but it didn't sound good.

Arthur nodded curtly.

"If your highness could spare some water..." Draco said politely. "We have been walking for most of the day."

Arthur turned around. "Merlin, get the water flasks."

Harry watched as Merlin reached into the saddlebags. This was Merlin? This was one of the greatest wizards of all time? Harry could see intelligence in his eyes, but he was just a manservant. He didn't seem like a great wizard at all. "Thanks," he said as Merlin handed him the flask. Harry opened it and drank deeply, letting the cool liquid slide down his parched throat. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Draco doing the same thing.

"What business do you have in Camelot?" Arthur asked politely.

Harry was about to open his mouth when Draco surreptitiously jabbed him in the ribs. "I have heard much about the Knights of Camelot and I wished to join."

Harry spluttered and then hastily disguised it as a cough. Draco wanted to join the Knights of Camelot? From what he knew about them - Harry readily admitted that he didn't know much - they were powerful warriors who knew their way around a sword. Somehow he doubted that Draco knew how to wield a sword.

Arthur arched an eyebrow. "I don't think I've heard of the Malfoy family before."

"We've travelled very far," Draco said casually. "I'm not surprised. My family's land is very far north from here."

"I see," Arthur said. Harry could tell that he was still rather suspicious. "We can escort both you and your manservant back to Camelot. After that, you will have to go through the normal process of becoming a knight."

"Of course," Draco said, nodding.

Arthur turned away, back towards his horse. "Your manservant will have to walk, of course."

"Excuse me?" Harry mouthed to Draco as soon as Arthur's back was turned. "When'd we decide that I was your manservant?"

Draco smirked. "That's not a problem. Potter has been my servant for many years. He's a bit dim at times, but I find that he does the job. He's excellent at walking."

Harry spluttered.

Arthur turned around and grinned. "Good, intelligent servants can be so difficult to find, aren't they?" He easily mounted his horse and patted it on the neck. "I find that Merlin is often too sparing with the polishing. I found a mark on my armour last tournament."

Harry was amused to see Merlin rolling his eyes behind Arthur's back.

"Draco, feel free to take Merlin's horse," Arthur said. "We'll ride slowly. Camelot isn't far away from here. It's about half a day's ride."

Harry stared. That wasn't supposed to be far? He didn't want to know what Arthur's idea of far away was. Merlin wasn't looking that particularly happy about it either. No wonder, since his master had just given away his horse to some unknown person presupposing to be a nobleman. "Not far. Right."

Draco shot him a warning look as he mounted Merlin's horse easily. It was obvious that he'd had horse riding lessons before, undoubtedly, in between eating caviar and being waited on hand and foot by house elves. "Lead on."

Harry felt like his feet were about to fall off. They were aching like they had never ached before. His throat was parched even though they'd had regular stops for food and water. Of course, the water tasted rather funny and the food might have been slightly off. His stomach had been churning for the last half hour. He glared up at Draco who was looking quite calm and collected on his horse. Glancing over at Arthur, Harry noticed that he seemed to be staring off into the distance. Taking opportunity of the moment, Harry muttered, "Think we could stop for a rest soon?"

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Really, Potter? We only stopped an hour ago."

"Easy for you to say," Harry hissed. "You're on that horse. You didn't have to walk!"

"You really shouldn't allow your servant to talk to you like that," Arthur called over his shoulder. "Merlin gets a day in the stocks if he speaks to me like that."

Harry was rather amused to see Merlin hide a smile behind his hand. He had his own theories about how Arthur's and Merlin's relationship worked. He very much doubted that Merlin was as subservient as Arthur seemed to pretend he was.

"My servant can be rather pert at times," Draco drawled. "But this time, he may be right. The sun is almost set. Perhaps we should retire for the day."

Arthur tilted his head. "Perhaps," he said, sounding neutral. Harry suspected that Arthur was disappointed in their lack of stamina. "We can bed down here for the night."

Unhappily, Harry stared down at the cold, hard ground. It didn't look like a very good bed. His joints ached at the very thought. He was about to sit down when he saw Merlin gesturing at him. "What?" Harry said as he wandered over to where Merlin was tying Arthur's horse to a tree.

Merlin gave him an odd look. "We need to brush the horses down."

"Oh," Harry said as he stared up at the horse. "Of course, we do." He had no idea how to brush a horse down, but it didn't sound too hard.

"Here," Merlin said as he handed Harry a stiff-bristled brush. He had a small smile on his face.

"Thanks," Harry muttered. Gingerly, he reached up and brushed it across the horse's flank. The horse harrumphed at him and Harry winced. He was probably doing something majorly wrong here, but he wasn't sure what it was. It wasn't as though anybody had ever expected him to brush a horse down before. He glared over at where Draco was sitting a few metres away with his feet propped up, talking to Arthur.

"You might want to brush in the other direction."

Harry jumped as he felt Merlin's breath on his ear, but by the time he'd turned around, Merlin was back next to his horse. "Of course," he said. "I know that. I was just... testing the brush."

Merlin turned around and raised an eyebrow.

Harry turned away and began brushing the horse down in earnest. It was quite hard work, much harder than he would have ever imagined. It was either that or he was absolutely exhausted from the day. Harry hoped that he and Merlin weren't expected to cook. The only things he knew how to make were his Aunt Petunia's favourite dishes and somehow, Harry didn't think that either Merlin or Arthur had caviar hidden away in one of their knapsacks.

Harry was relieved when he saw Arthur pulling out a small bag that seemed to contain bread, cheese and meat. He obviously didn't need to demonstrate his culinary talents. As he walked over to where the others were sitting - Merlin had finished brushing down Arthur's horse quite a while ago - Harry heard Arthur saying, rather arrogantly.

"Of course, we will be happy to share our food with you."

"Thank you," Draco said, sounding like the perfect gracious gentleman.

Harry bit back a snort as he sat down. He only just hoped that the food tasted nice. His stomach felt like it was eating him from the inside out. He hadn't been this hungry since before he went to Hogwarts. Back then, he was starved for longer, but at least he wasn't expected to walk through a forest for half a day.

Merlin handed him a chunk of bread, and Harry took it gratefully. "Thank you."

Merlin gave him an odd look. Harry was suddenly alarmed. Merlin didn't know who they were, did he? He'd never heard anything about Merlin being able to read minds, but then again, he had spent a lot of History of Magic napping. It was a great way to catch up with lost sleep. His stomach churned as he swallowed the first bite of bread. It was heavily spiced and filled with nuts. Normally, Harry would have hated the taste, but he was so hungry that he didn't care.

He saw Draco's nose wrinkle as he took his first bite.

"Merlin forgot to pack the good food," Arthur drawled as he put his feet up on a stump.

"You said to get the food in the purple knapsack," Merlin protested, his brow wrinkled.

Arthur waved a dismissive hand. "I meant green. Sometimes Merlin, I wonder why I keep you around."

"And obviously, I was supposed to read your mind," Merlin said, sounding amused.

Harry was surprised when Arthur flinched lightly. "It is the sign of a good servant," Arthur said after a moment's pause. "You should be able to."

Harry frowned as he bit into his slice of cheese. He almost spat it out. It tasted strong. Very strong. Draco took one look at his face and put his cheese down. "Delicious," Harry managed to get out. "Simply delicious."

Arthur raised an eyebrow at Draco. "Your servant has no taste."

Draco leaned back against a tree and grinned. "Father keeps on telling me to replace him, but I'm used to his idiocy."

Harry resisted the urge to throw the rest of his cheese at Draco. What on earth was Draco doing? How was this act going to help them get back home? As far as he could tell, they were over a thousand years in the past. This was unprecedented. Time Turners could only take people back a couple of months, tops. Any longer and people tended to get repetitive strain injuries from the repetitive motion of turning the hourglass over and over.

Arthur ate the last piece of meat and then stretched. "It's getting dark. We have an early ride tomorrow morning if we want to get back to Camelot before lunch. I, for one, don't want another meal like that."

"Neither do I," Draco said, with feeling.

Harry wasn't feeling the slightest bit sleepy. It was barely dark. The sun had set, but there was still a red glow at the horizon. It was a ridiculous time to go to sleep, but it was obvious that Draco was playing along with it. He watched as Merlin pulled out a couple of bedrolls and set them up. Harry sighed. Apparently, he was going to have to make do with the hard ground.

Harry settled down and tried to pillow his head in his hands. It didn't seem to make the ground any softer. Harry closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep, but it didn't seem to be working. The snoring coming from the general direction of Merlin and Arthur wasn't helping either. He wondered which one of them it was. Probably Arthur, Harry thought with annoyance. It made sense that a prat like that would snore.

Turning over, Harry opened his eyes a crack. Through the dim light, he could see Draco watching him. Harry sat up and glared at him.

"That was Merlin?" Draco asked softly, ignoring his dirty look. "That was who was declared the Greatest Wizard of All Time?"

Harry shrugged. He was having a hard time believing it as well. He glanced over at Arthur and Merlin. "We're going to have a talk about this whole servant thing," he muttered.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Out of both of us, who do you think has a better chance of convincing Uther Pendragon that he's a nobleman? Certainly not you!"

Harry ground his teeth. "We could have both been nobleman."

Draco yawned lazily. "I think you make a much better servant."

To Harry's annoyance, Draco seemed to just roll over and go to sleep. After staring daggers at the back of Draco's head for a few seconds, Harry settled back down on the hard ground and used his hand to pillow his head yet again. He was just glad that it wasn't that cold. This would be far more miserable if it was cold or wet. As his eyelids drooped, Harry hoped that once they got to Camelot, they'd figure out how to get back to the future. At least, even if they didn't figure that out, they'd probably get a square meal and a bed. It was better than being lost out here in the forest.

And then they would find their way back to the future. Harry was positive about that.

"So that's Camelot," Harry muttered as they went through the gates. He couldn't help but feel relief wash over him. His legs felt like they were about to fall off at any minute. If he thought that it was going to be easier the second day, he was sorely mistaken. From the minute he woke up, his entire body had been aching. Sleeping on the cold, hard ground obviously hadn't helped things.

"That's Camelot," Merlin confirmed.

Harry squinted at him. How dare Merlin look so refreshed? He had been doing just as much walking and sleeping on hard ground as Harry had. Yet, he looked like he had spent a comfortable night sleeping in a soft bed. "It looks nice," Harry said neutrally. He could see Draco's upper lip twitch.

Looking around, Harry yawned. Camelot looked quite a bit like Hogwarts. He suspected that he would have enjoyed the sight a lot more if he hadn't been so tired. From what he knew of Camelot it was the pride of these parts of England. Too bad it didn't smell that good. Harry sniffed; he could smell the pungent odour of people and food. Did people shower in this era? Harry wasn't sure about that. Arthur and Merlin had both smelled rather sweaty, but Harry had just thought that was because of their hard couple of days. He hadn't realised that everybody here didn't seem to have standards of personal hygiene. Then again, Harry suspected that he and Draco weren't smelling that nice either.

"It would be nice to freshen up," Draco remarked. It was obvious that he was thinking the same thing as Harry.

Arthur's forehead creased lightly. "You may use one of the palace baths," he said finally. "Then we will see my father. I would not bring you before him in your current state."

Draco looked put out.

Harry choked back a laugh. Draco obviously didn't like his physical appearance commented on. Especially when it was a negative comment. "Arthur's right, you know," he said lightly, trying to sound like a concerned servant. "You should wash before seeing the king."

The look that Draco shot him burned. "You're smelling rather ripe too," he snapped.

Harry grinned. He'd got under Draco's skin and he knew it. It was a rather satisfying feeling.

From the expression on Arthur's face, Harry suspected that he'd just written both of them off as being very odd. "Merlin will show you where you can bathe," Arthur said. "I will come and find you in an hour and take you before my father."

Draco nodded. "Thank you," he said.

Arthur nodded before walking off in the direction of the palace. Merlin turned towards them, an intent look on his face. He looked like he was studying them, so Harry put his best dumb servant expression on his face. "Please," Merlin said, "come this way." He began walking across the town square after Arthur.

Draco shrugged. "I guess we'll follow then."

"After you, my lord," Harry muttered as he gestured for Draco to go.

Draco rolled his eyes. "You're really terrible at that, you know."

"It's not like I've had much practice," Harry retorted as they walked. People bustled past them as Merlin seemed to lead them straight through the busiest part of the crowd. "If you know so much, then maybe you should have volunteered to be my servant. It's not exactly difficult acting lordly."

"It's harder than you think," Draco told him.

Harry snorted. He very much doubted that. He could stare down his nose at peasant folk as well as the next person. He stared at Merlin's back. Perhaps he ought to be trying to get to know one of the greatest wizards of all time. After all, Merlin was going to make some of the most innovative magical discoveries during his lifetime. Surely, he would be brilliant, even though he was simply a servant. Quickening his stride, Harry caught up with Merlin. "How is it working for the prince?"

Merlin shrugged. There was a guarded expression on his face. "I imagine it's similar to you and Lord Malfoy."

Harry was careful to keep his expression neutral. "I guess so."

"How long have you been working for him?" Merlin asked.

"Sometimes it feels like I just started," Harry muttered. He couldn't see how people lived in this era. He had no idea how anybody could be a servant for somebody as arrogant as Draco Malfoy.

They walked in silence for a few minutes. Harry was beginning to get an idea of the size of Camelot. It was quite large for a medieval city and very busy. Merlin stopped next to a small door on the outer wall of the palace and opened it. "This is the servants' entrance," he said as he gestured for Harry to enter. "My apologies," Merlin said to Draco. "This is the quickest way into the palace."

Harry snorted. Of course, there had to be a servants' entrance. Draco would feel right at home in a place like this. Malfoy Manor probably was structured just like this place.

"No problems at all," Draco said as he waved a hand regally.

"There is a bathing chamber just around the corner," Merlin said as he walked. "It is one used for guests. I'm afraid that it's not very well equipped."

Draco smiled politely. "My servant and I are very appreciative of this. Please convey our gratitude to your master."

Merlin stopped by a door and opened it. Harry was immediately hit by a blast of hot air from inside. "You may use that bath," Merlin said as he led them into the small, heated room. He pulled out a couple of towels from a cupboard and handed them over. "Water restrictions, so I'm afraid that you'll have to share." He left the room and shut the door behind him.

Harry stared. They had to share a bath? He wasn't going to share a bath with Draco Malfoy in any way. He shook his head slightly. Of course that wasn't what Merlin meant. Merlin meant that they were going to have to use the same water, but not that they had to bathe at the same time. He looked at the tiny bathtub. It wouldn't fit two people anyway and there was barely enough water in there to wash one.

"Well," Draco said, "of course, I'm going to take the first bath."

"I don't think so!" Harry exclaimed. He wasn't going to have a bath in Draco's dirty bath water either!

"Well, you're welcome to join me in the bath if you wish," Draco drawled. His face was perfectly straight.

Harry had no idea whether he was serious or not, but he suspected that Draco just wanted to bathe in clean water. "Fine," he snapped. "But I'm getting the next one first."

"I believe that nobility gets baths first," Draco said. He stared at the small amount of not-so-clean water at the bottom of a tiny bathtub. "Not that it'll be fun and games trying to bathe in that."

Harry crossed his arms over his chest. It would be far more fun for Draco than it would be for him. The idea of bathing in Draco's bathwater turned his stomach, but it was probably better than smelling like this. He had smelled his underarms before and almost choked.

"Are you going to watch?" Draco asked.

Harry gave a start. "No," he said quickly. "Of course not!"

"Then maybe you should turn around?" Draco suggested. "Or even better, leave the room." He pulled off his shirt.

Harry coughed and spun around quickly, but not before he caught a glimpse of Draco's pale skin. It was creamy white and looked soft. Nothing like Harry's own skin, which had bumps and calluses from childhood incidents. "Right, well, I'm going to leave then," Harry said awkwardly. He walked towards the door and pulled it open.

"Don't forget to close the door!" Draco called.

Harry could hear splashing from behind him as he stepped outside. He closed the door firmly behind him and leaned against the wall. Here they were, stuck a thousand years in the past, in some strange city, and somehow, Harry found himself thinking about Draco's offer to share a bath. He shook his head quickly. Draco didn't mean anything by it. Besides, he wouldn't want to share a bath with Draco. He wasn't attracted to scrawny young men.

Sure, Harry had slept with men before, but none of them had been like Draco. Plus, at the end of the day, Harry was positive that he preferred women. But then why was the image of Draco's creamy skin distracting him? Obviously, Harry decided, it was hunger. That and tiredness. With a full stomach and a good night's rest, he wouldn't be thinking about things like this.

With a sigh, Harry settled down on the ground to wait for Draco to finish his bath.

Uther raised an eyebrow slightly as he seemed to look Harry and Draco up and down. He pursed his lips and looked down at them. Harry couldn't help but think that he looked a bit like Lucius Malfoy. He certainly had the arrogant expression down pat. "Arthur tells me that you are looking for work as a knight," Uther said, giving the impression that he didn't believe them at all.

Draco gave a rather elegant bow. Harry wondered rather absently where on earth he'd learned how to do something like that. "Yes, my lord."

Harry bit his tongue. Draco sounded ridiculous.

"We were attacked by thieves on the way to Camelot, sir," Draco continued. "My servant and I have lost all of our belongings except for the clothes on our back, which the thieves were kind enough to leave us."

Uther looked them up and down. "I see," he said. "I suppose that explains the unusual nature of your clothing?"

Harry gulped. He'd forgotten that they were wearing robes.

"Yes, my lord," Draco said politely. "It was either these clothes or I would have had to journey to Camelot completely bare."

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see Merlin hiding a smile.

"I suppose that you have proof of your nobility?" Uther asked carelessly.

"My lord," Draco said, bowing again. Harry couldn't help but think that he was taking unctuous a bit too far. "I'm afraid that my papers were stolen along with all of my other belongings. I can certainly send for the necessary seals; however, that will take at least a moon. We have travelled very far."

Uther gave them a long look. Harry had to take a deep breath in order to stop himself from fidgeting uncomfortably. Uther beckoned a finger and an old man came forward. "Gaius, you will confer with Geoffrey of Monmouth to confirm their story."

Gaius nodded. "Certainly, sire. It may take a day or so as he has been ill lately."

A look of irritation briefly passed over Uther's face before he nodded.

Harry gulped. He was about to step away when Draco cleared his throat. "Are you trying to imply that I'm lying?" he demanded. His tone was imperious as it had been every time he had faced Harry down at Hogwarts. Looking at him, Harry wouldn't have found it hard to believe that Draco was nobility.

"One must always be careful," Uther said mildly, but there was a note of warning in his voice.

Draco pulled a ring off his finger. "Look at that," he said sharply as he put it down on the table in front of Uther. "Is that a ring that a commoner would wear? That's the Malfoy seal, right there on the ring."

Uther's eyes flashed. It was obvious that he didn't like being challenged, even though there was nobody else in the room except them. "You dare to talk to me like that?" he demanded.

Harry bit the inside of his cheek. From what he knew of this time period, they could do terrible things to people. Like beheading them. Or burning them to death. He considered taking a step away from Draco. Maybe if Uther didn't think he was in the same boat as Draco, then he'd be safe. Uther could just burn Draco at the stake. Harry wouldn't mind that too much.

"My apologies, my lord," Draco said smoothly. His face was the picture of contriteness. "I did not mean to be rude. Of course you would wish to check out my story. My father would do the same in your shoes. I would be happy to co-operate with Gaius." He smiled politely in Gaius's direction.

Gaius's face was impassive. "It will take me a day or so to get the records in order, sire."

Uther seemed to be studying the ring that Draco had placed on the table. A frown creased his forehead. "That is indeed not a ring that a commoner would wear," he said finally.

Harry spotted Merlin whispering something into Arthur's ear. They were out of view from Uther. Arthur looked pensive before he stepped forward and cleared his throat. "Father," Arthur said. "I would be happy to vouch for them to stay at the palace while Gaius checks through the records."

Harry blinked rapidly. Why on earth was Arthur vouching for them? What had Merlin told him? It seemed like Merlin had an uncommon amount of influence over Arthur, which was also odd.

Uther's frown deepened. "Very well," he said. "You may stay for the next few days. But if I discover that you have lied to me, you will be thrown into my dungeons."

Harry swallowed hard.

"Thank you, my lord," Draco said. "I assure you that we are not lying to you."

Harry couldn't help but think that Draco sounded as smarmy as the used car salesmen that his Uncle Vernon used to buy cars from. Vernon always came home beaming about the new deal he'd got, but half a year later, the car would break down completely and he would be out of pocket at least several hundred pounds.

"You," Uther said, gesturing towards Merlin. "You show them to a spare room."

Merlin nodded.

Draco bowed smoothly and then followed Merlin towards the door Harry was about to turn around, but then realised that he probably needed to bow as well. Awkwardly, Harry bent over into what he knew was a terrible semblance of a bow and then hurried after Merlin and Arthur. He could feel Uther's eyes boring into his back on the way out.

"Do you know how hard it is to brush down a horse?" Harry grumbled as he threw himself onto the bed. "It's bloody hard!"

Draco smirked. "But you're so good at it."

Harry glared up at him. "We're leaving right now and we're going to the next city. That way I'll pretend to be the nobleman and you can be the servant. That way you can brush down horses and sleep on cold hard ground and walk a thousand miles."

"Oh stop whining," Draco said irritably. "Isn't this better than starving in the forest?"

Harry had to concede that point, but not by much. "It isn't like being here is helping us get home," he snapped. "We can't just laze around and pretend to be part of this world. We need to get home!"

Draco's eyes flashed. "Don't you think that I know that? You're not the only person who wants to get back! I too have a life to get back to!"

Harry felt a small flash of guilt but he ignored it. He wanted to get back as well and he hadn't pretended that Draco was his servant in order to make it happen. Arthur had managed to convince Uther to give them a room for the night in preparation for Draco trying out as a knight tomorrow. Uther was already suspicious that he had never heard of the Malfoy family before. He might have accepted the Malfoy seal for now, but Harry had no doubt that Uther was checking out Draco's credentials as they spoke.

"Not to mention that I'm the one who has to pretend to be a knight tomorrow," Draco continued. He picked up a bowl of food off the table that a servant had dropped off earlier. "I can't decide whether this is better or worse than what we had last night."

"Worse," Harry said without looking over. He'd tasted the slop earlier. It tasted remarkably like what he'd always imagined pig food to taste like. "And that's your own fault. You said you wanted to be a knight!"

"To stop us from starving in the middle of the forest," Draco protested. "And I'll have you know that I have taken fencing lessons. I'm very good with a foil."

"I'm sure you are," Harry said cheerfully as he pushed himself up to a sitting position. He grinned. "You can show them your talent tomorrow."

It was Draco's turn to glare at him. "Shut up, Potter. I know you're enjoying this."

Harry took a deep breath. "We could always tell them the truth."

Draco stared at him. "Sometimes, I wonder if we went to the same school."

"What?"

"Did you pay attention in class at all?" Draco asked. "No wait, don't bother answering that. I remember how you were in Potions. Look, if you had paid attention in History of Magic, you would have realised that the situation here is volatile. Uther Pendragon hates magic. Imagine all the hatred of the Dark Lord focused upon magic instead of Muggles."

Harry's eyes widened. That didn't sound good. He wasn't sure how he could have missed that in school, but then again, History of Magic was really boring. "Then shouldn't we get out of here?"

Draco shrugged. "We should be fine if we pretend to be Muggles."

Harry stared. "And you think that's going to work? I can't see that working even if we were in our own time!"

Draco's upper lip curled. "Of course it wouldn't work in our own time. I know nothing about Muggles in our time. However, I got an Outstanding in my History of Magic OWLs. This is a vital time in our history and I do know about this era. We'll be fine."

"Until you have to pretend to be a knight," Harry pointed out.

"Stop harping on that," Draco said wearily. "I'll deal with that when the time comes."

Harry couldn't help thinking that Draco was being rather blasé about it. After all, it wasn't something that was happening in six months. He was going to have to do something knight-ish the next morning. Harry didn't think that fencing was going to cover it. He didn't know much about knighthood, other than the fact it involved lots of valour and bravery. It sounded kind of like being a Gryffindor, actually, but with swords. "You should eat if you're to keep your strength up," he said with a straight face.

Draco gave him a sweet smile. "But you've been walking all day. You must be tired and hungry. I wouldn't be a very good master if I allowed you to go hungry. After all, I've spent my day relaxing on a horse. No, I believe you should eat."

Harry thought he'd rather starve. He hoped that all the food in Camelot didn't taste like this. From the fruits in the marketplace that they had passed, he didn't think it did. Perhaps it was just the cooks in the palace that were terrible. "I'm not hungry," Harry denied. His stomach took that opportunity to grumble loudly.

Draco smirked. "Certainly doesn't sound like you're not hungry."

Harry rolled his eyes and lay back down on the bed. "Oh shut up," he said.

Draco was silent for a few minutes. Harry almost thought that he had shut up when Draco remarked, "You do realise that's my bed. Yours is over there."

Harry turned his head to see Draco pointing towards a very hard looking pallet on the floor. Was he serious? That was a bed? "I don't think so!" he exclaimed.

"You're the servant," Draco told him grinning.

Harry threw a pillow at him. Hard. Draco glared at him as he picked it off the floor. "I'm not sleeping on that," Harry said flatly.

Author Notes: Next part will be posted tomorrow!