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ALBANY WALKED THE WINDING PATH TO Hogsmeade with purpose in her stride. The village was always a little colder than the castle, being higher up in the mountains, and so she had her green and silver scarf hiked up over her ears. The odd fashion statement also helped her tune out Merlin and Arthur's incessant attempts to talk to her, as they refused to leave her alone.

She had quickly figured out that nobody else could see or hear the ghosts; they were a little unlike those who haunted the castle, such as the Bloody Baron and the Fat Friar. Merlin and Arthur held much more colour to themselves, and weren't as transparent. And were far more annoying.

"Albany. Albany. Albany," Arthur had taken to repeating, not unlike a broken record.

"She's not listening, don't bother," Merlin had tried to interrupt.

"At least I'm trying, unlike a certain someone."

"That certain someone is sick of listening to your voice. And so is she."

Albany continued to ignore the two of them. Truth be told, her head still spun if she properly acknowledged what was actually happening to her. The whole situation felt completely surreal; and though she knew they were itching to tell her more and more, she didn't know if she was ready to hear it. It was all a little overwhelming, and while she wouldn't wish for them to go away forever, she was realising that she might have undervalued the simplicity of her daily life. Now it felt as though she'd been plunged into cold, unfamiliar waters, and she couldn't swim back to the land she knew.

Not to mention that she really had been looking forward to putting her plans into action, and wasn't about to let this - however important they insisted it was - stop her.

The little village in the mountains was such a happy area, always bustling during the school year. A thin layer of snow had begun to dust the rooftops already; there was almost always snow when Albany visited. She walked down the main street with a small smile; each open doorway was warm and inviting, music and chatter reaching her covered ears. Students were everywhere, laughing with their friends, pressing their noses against the windows or gorging themselves on sweets. Honeydukes was probably the most crowded shop in the village at weekends, and for good reason.

Albany reached her destination quickly, slipping past groups of other students and a few older witches and wizards who permanently resided in the village. She stood before the bright red store front of Zonko's Joke Shop, and realised she'd never stepped foot in there in her life. The window was filled with all sorts of colourful products and moving displays, and as she pushed open the door a little bell rang above. The inside sounded like a cuckoo clock on drugs; everything seemed to have its own unique sound.

It wasn't quite as crowded as Honeydukes or the Three Broomsticks, but there were still numerous students making their way around the shop, laughing and waving products at each other. Most of them were younger students; plenty were third years, who were experiencing Hogsmeade for the first time.

She spent a moment browsing the wares with curiosity; some she was familiar with, having seen them with students in the school. Others were completely new to her, and while she wouldn't have much use for such things as Frog Spawn Soap or Nose-Biting Teacups, her interest was piqued as she examined them.

"Well, well, well," chimed an all-too familiar voice.

Albany felt her eyes rolling by default as she slowly turned around to acknowledge the grinning faces of the Weasley twins. They had their arms full with the amount of gag products they had purchased.

"Fancy seeing you here, Bertha," the other one said smugly.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "My name's not-"

"You did say guess," he said with a shrug and a smile.

She felt slightly horrified at the thought that she looked like a Bertha, but kept her expression neutral.

"What brings you here?" said the first, and she decided that he was Fred and his twin was George.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Albany replied drily.

"Yeah, I would. I did ask."

Albany rolled her eyes, and then let her gaze drift fractionally to the shelf behind him. "Sugar quills," she said, and squeezed between the twins to grab a handful, casually slipping two dungbombs into her bag as she did.

"Oh really?"

"No other reason?"

Albany raised an eyebrow at the pair. "You really take me for the joking type?"

Fred smirked. "You never know with you Slytherins," he said. "Snakey things, you are."

"It's part of the brand," she informed him. "I don't suppose I have to ask what you two are doing here. Who's your next victim?"

"That's confidential," said George.

"Private business matters," said Fred.

"Business?" Albany echoed, and glanced between them. "You're joking."

"Yeah, usually," George said with a grin.

"The business is, by definition, a joke," Fred added, and copied his brother's wide smile.

Albany stared. "So what are you doing in here? Stealing ideas?"

"Just supporting a fellow company."

"They as good as raised us."

"How do you do that?" she asked them suddenly, narrowing her eyes at the pair.

"Do what?" they asked in unison.

Albany shivered. "Speak so... in sync."

"Do we?" said Fred.

"I hadn't really noticed," said George.

They turned to look at each other as if seeing the other for the first time, eyebrows raised and hazel eyes wide.

"Wow, that's wicked!" they said together, and snickered.

Albany made a face. "That is incredibly creepy, not gonna lie."

George grinned good-naturedly at her, and bumped her shoulder with his own as he and Fred went to leave the shop.

"See you around, Gertrude," he said cheerily, and followed Fred's lead for the door.

"Still wrong!" she shouted after him.

"Well," said Arthur, and his sudden presence beside her made her jump. "Quite the pair, aren't they?"

"Quite the pair indeed," Albany mused drily. She made her way to the till, piling on the sugar quills and pulling the two dungbombs out of her bag.

"That's a lot of sugar quills," the man behind the register noted, amused.

"And I have a lot of homework," Albany replied, wondering why she had never bought any before. Faith used them regularly, always nibbling on the end of her quill as she made up answers for her Divination assignments.

She left Zonko's with her messenger bag a little fuller than it had been.

"I'm glad you paid for those dungbombs," Merlin said as she returned to the streets, cheeks turning rosy as she was hit with a chilly breeze. "I thought you were going to steal them."

Albany shot him a glare. "Hey, I don't stoop that low," she said, a little surprised that he had gotten such an impression from her.

"It did look a bit dodgy when you put them into your bag like that," Arthur added.

Albany huffed, her breath visible in the cold air. "I had to hide them from those two idiots," she said. "If they saw me buying dungbombs, they would know straight away, and then it would all be over."

Arthur smirked. "You're fairly dedicated to this, aren't you?"

"Yes, I've been informed."

She had been intending on returning to the castle straight away, and maybe joining Faith in getting some study done. What happened instead was she turned around to find that Merlin could pull off the greatest puppy eyes of all time, the real sorcery in question.

"Albany," he began, and she let out a long sigh, aware of what he was going to say before he opened his mouth again. "If your afternoon is free...."

"Merlin," she interrupted, though her tone was nearly genuine for once. She lowered her voice as a group of students passed her, though they seemed too caught up in their own conversations to notice. "Look. This is all still very new, and very strange.... I don't know if I understand it. Or even believe it. It's really... hard to come to terms with, but I know you want to tell me more. And I get that you're Merlin...."

He seemed to deflate a little bit, knowing that his requests to speak with her were going to be postponed even further. He'd waited this long, he supposed, though exchanged a depressed glance with Arthur.

"...so if you insist that we really have to discuss these things so soon, then they must be important." She swallowed hard, and bit her cheek. She would never admit to feeling nervous about something that nearly seemed trivial in a certain context, but her heart was pumping a little harder already. "So if you seriously, legitimately, really need to spill... I'll listen."

And that was how she found herself sitting at a small table in the back corner of the Three Broomsticks Inn, hoping she could drown her nerves in butterbeer as the two ghosts sat opposite her. Both were staring at her intently, and she hadn't felt the atmosphere so serious with them before.

"Are you sure about this, Albany?" Merlin asked.

"Well fuck, don't make me change my mind now," she said grumpily; she was willing to lend them her ears, but that didn't mean she would be happy about it. "I've already bought my butterbeer."

Merlin rubbed at the bridge of his nose for a moment, and glanced up at her again. "First of all, you must have questions."

"Loads," Albany said, gulping down a mouthful of butterbeer. "You want them alphabetically or categorically?"

Arthur snorted.

"Whatever you want answered," Merlin said.

She sighed, supposing "Are you really, actually, like one hundred percent sure I'm descended from you?" was probably not a great start. Just denial talking.

"Why me?" she asked instead, and continued upon noting their baffled expressions. "I mean, if I'm directly descended from you," she elaborated, nodding at Merlin, "why not go to my parents? And what have you come to haunt me for anyway-"

"Woah now, one at a time," Arthur said quickly, before she could continue.

Merlin shot him a grateful glance, and turned back to Albany. "I could have gone to your parents," he admitted. "But certain things might have been a bit more... awkward, with them. And you're a little more central to why we're here."

Albany raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean... awkward?"

Arthur was trying not to grin as he took over from Merlin. "Albany... we're here to find your soulmate."

She stared, dumbfounded, and it took her a hot minute to remember how to speak. "My what?!"

"Your soulmate," Arthur repeated, and had to focus hard on not laughing at the girl's expression. "They can be platonic, or non-platonic, boy or girl-"

"You do realise how dumb this sounds."

Arthur rolled his eyes in amusement, shooting a pointed glance at Merlin. "Believe me when I say, I do."

Albany's blue eyes shifted between the two suspiciously, quickly putting two and two together. "And you two... are soulmates."

"Yes," Merlin said drily.

"Destined for each other," Arthur added, and appeared to be just as unenthusiastic as his companion was about the matter, as if the notion were ridiculous. Albany certainly thought it was.

"Which is, unfortunately, the point," Merlin continued, in a more serious manner, "because your soulmate is Arthur's descendant."

Albany could not have looked less impressed if she tried. "You're shitting me."

Merlin sighed. "Trust me, I know the feeling."

"So since I don't want to do that," Albany piped up again, "what's option two?"

The two young men exchanged glances, and she groaned.

"There is no option two," she said, and they nodded. "Okay, so why do I need to 'find my soulmate'? Like, what's in it for me?"

"I mean, your soulmate, for starters," Arthur said with a snort. Albany shot him a dead stare.

"Truth is," Merlin said, and Albany turned her attention back to him, eager to hear what exactly the truth was, because this could not be it. "We've never asked this of anyone before. Every one of our descendants has a soulmate, but we decided not to enforce it, to let them have free will."

"Oh great, and I don't?"

"No, that's-" Merlin sighed. "I could have phrased that better. Your soulmate is, by definition, the person who complements you best. The person you will be happiest with."

Albany had to stifle her own laughter as Arthur muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "yeah, right.".

Merlin shot him a glare. "Your soulmate will bring out the best in you and your magic," he continued. "And as my direct descendant, Albany, you have a lot of very powerful magic." He paused, looking sheepish. "Not to sound egocentric or anything. But if you meet your soulmate, it would unlock a large part of yourself that's hidden away."

Albany frowned, sensing she knew where this was going. "So what do you need me for, then?" she asked, mood falling. "Obviously, you want my 'strong magic' for something."

Merlin exchanged a nervous glance with Arthur.

"There's a war brewing," he said tentatively, concern heavy in his gaze. "And we need you on our side."

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❃ a/n:

this chapter was kind of hard to write?? but it's done and now i'm looking forward to what's coming next :)

i also just had a thought that quite a lot of the people who read this are harry potter fans and not so much bbc merlin fans?? and i have strongly based merlin and arthur's characters off of their characters in the show, which is absolutely brilliant, highly recommend watching!

so here's a video which is essentially a summary of the show and gives you a better feel of their characters than my writing can lmao

;)

- A x