More Hogwarts!AU Merthur Headcanon things
Arthur is muggle-born. When Morgana gets her Hogwarts letter, her father disowns her and she goes to live with her half-sister Morgause. When Arthur gets his Hogwarts letter, heās so scared of showing his father that it takes Professor Gaius (the Potions Master) showing up at their mansion for him to admit that he has magic. His worst fears are realised when his father disowns him too. Leonās parents (also muggles with a magical child) immediately decide to adopt him as a second son. Itās not like Arthur doesnāt spend nearly every day there during the summer anyway.
Merlin is very nearly a Hat-Stall. The Sorting Hat sits for ages debating whether to put him in Slytherin or Hufflepuff. It eventually settles on Slytherin and Merlin doesnāt know whether to be relieved or not. His father was magical but he died when Merlin was really young, so all he has to go on are his motherās vague memories of things she and his father used to talk about and the stories from Uncle Gaiusā brief and infrequent visits. Uncā Professor Gaius smiles proudly at him as he jumps off the stool to join the Slytherin table though, so he decides it canāt be that bad.
Arthur quickly makes friends with his fellow Gryffindor dorm mates: Elyan, Lancelot, Gwaine, Percival and of course Leon. Theyāre his favourite part of Hogwarts. Well, them and flying. He doesnāt care much for the rest of his lessons, but always feels a little thrill of excitement when he realises that his next class is flying. Realising how important it is to him, Leonās parents have already told him that theyāll look into getting him a broomstick for second year if he keeps his marks up in the rest of his classes.
Merlin is in the year below Arthur, but heās so naturally gifted that he breezes through the first term of his first year, achieving full marks in everything except flying. Professor Gaius suggests to Professor McGonagall that after the Christmas holidays, he be bumped up to second year, providing Merlin with extra lessons to catch him up on anything heād need catching up on. Merlin handles the transition with ease and begins winning academic awards left, right and centre.
Leon and Arthur get new brooms over the summer holidays and all the Gryffindor boys decide to try out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Only Arthur and Lancelot make it onto the actual team (as a Chaser and Keeper respectively) and Leon gets a spot as a reserve Beater. Arthur quickly finds that Quidditch is what he was born to do and with the strong side Gryffindor have that year, they manage to win the cup for the first time in five years. Itās the first time heās felt truly happy since the day his father found out about his magic.
In fifth year, Merlin gets made a prefect. Heās nervous about it at first, given that heās younger than the rest of the Slytherin fifth-years, but most of them seem to admire his tenacity and drive and donāt really question his authority too much. Night-patrol duties are a drain, but Merlin finds that when heās assigned with Gwen, one of the Hufflepuff prefects, he doesnāt mind that much. When heās assigned with Arthur, however, it seems to become twice as draining. Bizarrely though, after a while he finds himself looking forward to his duties with Arthur far more than his duties with Gwen. He tries to tell himself that it has nothing to do with how infuriatingly good-looking and annoyingly charming the prat is and fails miserably.
Arthur is surprised and confused when he discovers the Head Boy badge in his Hogwarts letter the summer between sixth and seventh year. He was so sure it would go to Merlin āI Got āOutstandingā On All My O.W.L.s And Looked Completely Adorable While Doing Itā Emrys. Muggle as they are, Mum and Dad (as Leonās parents now insist he call them) are beyond proud. Leon canāt stop grinning and clapping him on the back every five minutes. Heās just so damn proud of his little brother. Arthur tries not to think about the fact that this might have been the one achievement in his school career that his father might have understood. Several attempts to contact him over the years have been enough to teach Arthur that Uther really doesnāt care about him or his achievements.
Merlin spends most of their final year with his nose buried in various library books, studying, only surfacing to eat, sleep and to try to work up the nerve to ask Arthur out like Gwen (now his best friend) keeps telling him to. When Merlin sees Arthur snogging Mithian outside The Three Broomsticks one Hogsmeade trip, he ignores the bitter disappointment that settles in the pit of his stomach and tries to convince himself that he would have been far too busy for any kind of real relationship anyway.
Gryffindor win the Quidditch Cup and Slytherin win the House Cup in what Arthur could only describe as a the most fitting end to his and Merlinās school careers. Merlin has secured a pretty high-ranking job as a Ministry Unspeakable, and Arthur has been offered a position as a Chaser for the Tutshill Tornadoes. The only thing that would make it more perfect is if Gwenās hint about Merlinās feelings towards him turned out to be right. As thereās only one way to find out, he pulls Merlin aside just before he climbs into one of the Thestral-drawn carriages down to Hogsmeade Station. He decides to just go for it, pressing his lips to Merlinās for the briefest moment before pulling back, smirking at the giddy smile on Merlinās face. For the first and last time, they share a compartment on the Hogwarts Express, their fingers tangled and silly grins on their faces the whole way to London.
Arthur realises, for the first time in almost seven years, that heās never needed Uther. He has everything heās ever wanted and more.
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