Disregarded plans (Graas' by choice, Merry)

[Rister Graas S6]

Rister jumped over a fallen tree without even breaking his pace as he and Morgana slunk through the Forbidden Forest. After the tension from last full moon, when Ashlyn was told of Morgana being a born werewolf, they had all felt a need to get out of the room. Almost on it’s own it had turned into a simple game of hide-and-seek. Or perhaps tag would be a better example. In werewolf form, Morgana was fair runner and so he and Rister had slunk away from the rest, leaving them the part of hunters. Rister was the only one who could currently keep up with Morgana in her werewolf form, thanks to his own training of tracking down animals in the forests and her rampages through the Forbidden Forest during school-time. Leandra was a forest-romper of her own right as well and would surely be invaluable to the rest tracking them, but she didn’t frequent the Forest as often as Rister did. Ducking under a low branch, Rister glided forward, into the little clearing, before stopping and peering around. Noticing that he had stopped, Morgana peered back at him over her shoulder in silent question.

Rister crooked a finger towards her and Morgana bounded over without a moment of hesitation. Bowing lightly, Rister wrapped his palms around Morgana’s ear and whispered: “It’s much easier to whisper, if your ear isn’t this furry.” Morgana let out a half-yelp, half-yowl and snapped her teeth towards, Rister who snickered quietly. Raising his voice slightly, so that it would still carry to Morgana, who had jumped away, Rister stated: “The Shrieking Shack is near-by. Let’s circle around to the back and the creek there.” Morgana made a sound at the back of her throat and slunk away into the shadows. Peering around for one more moment, Rister bent his head slightly and set off again. They had been at it fro a couple of hours already, so he didn’t look immaculate anymore. There was mud and grass splattered around the legs of his pants, a branch had caught on his hair and mussed up his pony-tail, and his shirt under his dragon-scale jacket had came out of his pants. But while Rister was breathing deeply and evenly, he was far from panting as he loped on with slightly bending knees of the untiring step of the wolves.

Morgana was somewhere out of sight, but that wasn’t surprising. With her four legs she was faster than Rister and her black coat would blend easily into the night. But Rister knew that she wouldn’t stray far from her. On a full moon night there were scarce creatures more dangerous than werewolves, so everyone else in the Forbidden Forest would be staying away from Morgana. But she wasn’t as familiar with the Forest and wilder paths people didn’t frequent on, so she probably felt more comfortable with Rister being the one orientating. Weaving his own way between trees, Rister arched his path around the Shrieking Shack – that never really even came into view – before reaching the creek he had been meant before. Smiling lightly, Rister leaned one of his feet on a higher rock near-by, as he stopped again. There was a light wind here at least, that stirred his hair a bit and pleasantly cooled his forehead. He’d wait here until Morgana would appear in the sight to see what she thought. Would they stay out for longer or would they go and meet up with the rest again and return to Hogwarts? They were used to not sleeping for the night, but his siblings weren’t that used to spending the night romping out in the woods.

A sense of danger flashed through him and Rister tensed, half-way whirling around. But it was too late. He hadn’t picked up on the soft steps of padded feet. Morgana wasn’t a big girl and as a werewolf she wasn’t any larger than a regular wolf yet. But it was a strong body of a wolf, all muscle and strength, which had launched itself at Rister. He stumbled backwards under the weight, only to have his hand slip on the rocks. Morgana let out a victorious yelp as she landed softly on her paws, whereas Rister wasn’t so lucky. Landing hard on a shoulder, he didn’t even have time to hear a crack as he fell down the slightly higher bank. The world flashed white as Rister saw as his foot got stuck under a tree half-way in the water and bent to an awkward angle before snapping. The only thing that kept him from loosing conscious was probably the shock of having water, suitably icy for October, flashing up to meet him. Pushing himself into a seating position, Rister helplessly gasped for air.

[Morgana Graas S2]

Morgana yelped merrily, doing as much of a victory dance on spot as she could. The body of a werewolf wasn’t really built for dancing. It was very rare to be able to sneak up to Rister with him unaware. But she had did it this time! Granted, the soft padded paws of a werewolf gave her an edge, but she had still did it! Morgana wheeled around to gave her wolfish grin to Rister, only to have her joy evaporate. Rister was rolling down the bank and his leg that got stuck under the half-rotten tree half-on the bank, half in the water didn’t look to be in the correct angle. Morgana didn’t even think over her reaction as she rushed forward, pushed, and landed on all fours in the wide creek or a small river. Her thick fur would protect her from the cold, but it was October. The water would be feeling icy to Rister. And he had hurt himself.
Padding over, she offered her body as support to Rister as he shakily rose to sit. Whining softly, Morgana saw as well as Rister that his leg was stuck and there was blood slowly seeping into the water from where his leg had broken. Touching her head to Rister’s cheek, Morgana gave out an as apologetic whine as possible.

“Dislocated my left shoulder too,” Rister grounded out and there was evident pain in his voice. Rister fished out his wand from his sleeve and Morgana watched in horror at the short piece that came out. His wand was shattered as well. Rister panted and Morgana could almost feel the pain his brother was in. “It was an accident. Wasn’t balanced correctly,” Rister rasped out in comfort and Morgana felt shamed. She had caused hurt to her brother and he was the one attempting to comfort her? “You have to go find the others. I’ll be alright in the water. It’s cold enough to keep me awake,” Rister continued with a couple of gasps and Morgana slowly manoeuvred her body so that Rister wasn’t leaning on it anymore. She didn’t want to leave Rister, but she couldn’t help him much in this way. She would have to go get help. Touching her nose to Rister’s cheek lightly, Morgana turned and used every bit of muscle and strength in her to run. She jumped up the bank easily enough and then ran as she had never run before, a black shadow flashing through the darkness under the trees.

She raced past the Shrieking Shack, praying to all and any gods that she would find the rest soon. Rister would need help. She saw and heard someone coming down the path past the Shrieking Shack before she could even start hoping of reaching the rest of their siblings though. Well, it wasn’t that late. Barely after 11 PM probably or somewhere the likes. Crouching down under a bush, Morgana flattened her ear and waited to see who the girl was. Rister was in pain and it was because of her. If there was any chance at all that this person could help, she wouldn’t hesitate a second to reveal that she was a werewolf, no matter the consequences to her. The person came into sight soon enough and Morgana whined lightly to herself. She recognised her. Merry Garwin. She had been in Rumour Has It with Rister twice and his brother seemed quite fond of the girl. Jumping on the path, Morgana twirled, wondering how to approach it. But Rister needed help.

Most people were afraid of werewolves – last month Ashlyn had reminded them of that – but it was dark outside. Perhaps she couldn’t quite distinguish right now who she was, or would think her a big dog. Morgana could play a big dog. Or she could perhaps scare the girl into coming with her. With a sound somewhere between a whine and growl, Morgana hopped to the girl, her teeth grabbing the girl’s pants and pulling strongly as she heard the fabric ripping. But just as soon she let go of the pants and pounded away, twirling around desperately. Alienating between tugging on the girl’s pants and cloak and running ahead of her, Morgana started back towards the creek, once she was sure the girl was following her, for whatever reason. She didn’t really pay attention to her words, other than yipping nervously as the girl took too long to get through the undergrowth of the forest that Rister had slunk through without barely distracting a branch. But they got to the creek and Morgana launched herself back into water, gently touching her nose to Rister’s cheek again. The sensation made Rister open his eyes warily and Morgana let out a relieved whine. At least his brother hadn’t died yet. Wheedling her body behind Rister again, Morgana felt like crying when Rister groaned as she touched his dislocated shoulder.

[Rister Graas S6]

After Morgana had gone, Rister closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing. It was cold and while the dragon scale jacket with the silver-fox fur padding would keep him from getting hypothermia. But it was hard to breath. He had broken bones and dislocated limbs uncountable times before in his life. As he had just a month ago revealed to his siblings and Lita, he had even been placed under the Cruciatus curse once, but it never made it hurt any less. The side he had landed on first felt like a big swollen bruise, his shoulder was shooting out sparks and his jammed broken leg… His entire body felt like one aching wound right now. It was easier to just concentration on attention to breathing in and out and taking even breaths. He would have to last for a while for Morgana to find the rest, who would surely be using different paths and tricks of their own. And then they would all have to get back here. Without being able to send a help request in the air for his siblings, Rister estimated that he had at least a couple of hours to stay in the water and ache.

Hearing a splash of water and a cold nose touching his face, Rister opened his eyes warily. He attempted to smile at Morgana, whose whole posture radiated worry, but the smile turned out more of a pained grimace. It was only then that his eyes fell on Morgana’s company. It was a relatively dark night, but the full moon and starts gave enough night for him to recognise her. “Are you an idiot?” Rister asked wonderingly, not sure if he was talking to himself or Morgana or Merry. Her sister was supposed to bring their siblings, not Merry. This would be a large sodding mess, if Morgana’s werewolf nature became public. Rister threw an incredulous glance, far too weak to be considered an efficient glare, at Morgana as he wondered over it, but left it be for now. “And you? Don’t you know that following strange animals into the wood in the dark of night is dangerous?” Rister rasped out snappishly, his green eyes landing on Merry, with his brows furrowed in a deep frown. He wasn’t sure if he should thank the girl or attempt to shake some sense into her.

Before he could make up his mind though, Merry had pointed her wand at her. “Don’t try,” Rister commanded with all the authority in his body. He had to pause to catch his breath after it, but at least Merry had stopped mid-spellcasting. Turning his head lightly, Rister let ripples carry some water into his mouth before leaning a bit firmer against Morgana. It was a relief to not have to strain himself to stay upright. “I’m only conscious due to shock and cold. You can’t handle it if you take away one of those factors and have me pass out,” Rister slowly managed to wheeze out an explanation, “The log is blocking blood-flow to my leg. You can’t hold the log and pull me out at the same time. Send something up. My brothers will see it and come.” He hadn’t even spoken much, but it had taken quite a bit out of her. Closing his eyes Rister concentrated on brething fro a few moments, before forcing his eyes open again, even though his eye-lids seemed to be pulled down by wagon-loads of iron. “The colour of the sparks won’t matter,” Rister snapped, even if his voice held a hint more pain rather than snark in it.

[Merry Garwin H6]

It was nearly winter, so Merry had chosen to switch her usual shorts or skirts for trousers. They weren’t nearly as comfortable for a girl who had spent her childhood with the majority of her legs bare as she skipped along after her elder brothers and she despised the formality that they represented. But she had ripped her last pair of jeans in a play fight with Pip during the summer and had neglected to replace them so trousers it was. Kali, still clothed in a skirt and short-sleeved blouse, had laughed at her but Jake had shared her miserable smile as they both suffered through plans for the wedding. Apparently it was her duty as bridesmaid to sit through all the major decisions and contribute. As much as she loved Jake and Kali, Merry couldn’t help but to wish that the wedding was over and done with. If one more seamstress poked her with a needle then she would not be held responsible for her actions. It was going to be incredibly expensive as well, Merry fretted. Kali had told her not to worry, that they were keeping within the budget they had set for themselves, but Merry knew her eldest sister. Kali didn’t know when to stop spending. Jake was a lot more practical, but completely unable to say no to his fiancée. Therefore, it was Merry’s role to worry and force Kali to stop whenever she felt like the cost was rising too high. It was those worries that had her still walking around idly, notebook and quill in hand as she jotted down figures with a skill that came from years of tracking her sister’s spending habits. The light was too dark to make out the notebook any longer and still Merry continued. There was just too much to be planned.

Something jumped out onto the path and Merry screamed in surprise, nearly tripping over as she scrambled backwards. The dog – was it a dog? It seemed unusually large for a dog – tugged at her pants and Merry scowled, annoyance shoving her fear into the background, when she heard her trousers rip. She would be up for at least another half hour now, just to fix the large tear in the fabric. The dog seemed quite intent upon her following it so Merry bit her lip, cast an unsure look around and then proceeded to make her way through the undergrowth without anymore delay. She wasn’t quite sure what had the animal so alarmed but she knew that it wasn’t natural for an animal to act in such a manner. Maybe another dog was injured. After all, Merry reasoned to herself as she struggled to follow, she knew plenty of healing spells so she could only be an asset. And she could hardly leave an animal to suffer. It simply wasn’t humane.

“Rister.” Merry blinked slowly, eyeing the boy oddly before shaking her head as if to bring herself to attention. Rister was obviously hurt. Now wasn’t the time for questions. Nor was it the time for her to start panicking. Panicking never helped anything. Yet she was flustered and her brain wasn’t working properly. Merry turned away slightly, closing her eyes and concentrating on her breathing. She needed to calm down, to think clearly. Rister’s voice interrupted her and Merry’s eyes snapped open as she instinctively turned back to face him. “Actually, no,” she answered honestly. “I live in the city so my parents never felt the need to teach me about the dangers of following animals into the forest. I guess it’s a good thing for you that they didn’t, hm?” Merry arched an eyebrow sharply, her tone pointedly reminding him that, other than the animal, she was the only person currently there to help him. “If you would prefer for me to leave, I can do so,” Merry offered with a cheerful grin, masking her concern well. After years of tending to her brothers and sisters grazes, broken bones and sprains, she was an expert in keeping a smile on her face even as her eyes scanned the most obvious injuries.

First of all, he must be freezing. The water was most certainly cold. Thoughtfully, Merry drew her wand and pointed it at him but stopped immediately when Rister snapped at her. The explanation made sense and Merry nodded and shrugged, giving a wry smile as she acknowledged his superior knowledge. “Dislocated shoulder, probably broken leg, numerous bruises,” Merry noted quietly, frowning suddenly as she raised her head to catch Rister’s eyes. “Your brothers?” She echoed disbelievingly. “Is this some sort of party in the forest? Something that you do for fun?” She had been right. Rich purebloods were insane. Why couldn’t they just play a nice game of Monopoly when they were bored? Her breathy laughter was incredulous as Merry raised her wand, shooting out bright yellow sparks. She figured that Rister wasn’t the type of guy to favour yellow and, by using that colour herself, his brother would realise that something was wrong and make haste to get to him.

“This wasn’t what I expected to do this evening, you know,” she told him conversationally. “The first part of my plans went fine. I saw Rosa and Pip in Hogsmeade for a few hours, had dinner with Kali and Jake, made wedding plans and nearly fell asleep out of boredom, got attacked by a seamstress and then wandered back to Hogwarts about half an hour ago after nearly falling asleep in Jake’s apartment.” Merry grinned wryly, running a hand through her long hair. Unconsciously, her eyes ran over Rister once more, checking how he was faring, before she continued. Talking to distract him, to distract herself, just to fill the silence. “I was meant to go back to my dorm, finish off my homework and then wake up early tomorrow so that I could go to work. I work during the weekend, you see. Instead, I felt compelled to follow an animal and got led to a damsel in distress who needed me to save him. I think that our roles have been somewhat reversed. Isn’t the girl meant to be the one in need of saving?” The sound of footsteps caught her attention and Merry nodded slowly, turning to the direction of the footsteps. “I guess your brothers have found us then. Either that or a savage animal wants to eat us.”

[Rister Graas S6]

Rister was surprised to see Merry. But well, Morgana could have made a worse choice, so he suppressed a sigh. Perhaps he could reason with Merry to keep this a secret. She would probably get her back up if offered money for being discrete, but he would have to think about it. Or let Damon think about it. His head as hurting too much to think clearly. “You’re too sodding noble to walk away,” Rister muttered, “My injuries aren’t enough to kill anyway.” Rister smiled faintly at Merry’s incredulous tone. His brothers. And his sisters, even though Morgana was already there in a way. “It was fun,” Rister countered with the faint ghost of a smile still visible on his face. He was notorious for his romps out in the Forbidden Forest. Everyone in the school knew he went there and he occasionally appeared at breakfast looking mussed with some scratches on his body, his clothes torn and muddy, and a leaf or a branch stuck in his hair. But he hadn’t been caught in the Forest since he was a third year. “It is fun,” he specified, as memories of the scenes in the forest flashed through his mind. He had been hurt and wounded numerous times before, but he was always back as soon as he felt his body would handle it.

Merry sent off sparks before lowering her wand. Well, Rister was thankful for the detractiong talking would generally offer. But currently the slowly flowing water would be able to keep him awake. He would have been thankful for silence too that would allow him to close his eyes and concentrate on breathing evenly. Yet, good manners dictated that he listen and pay attention. “I heard of the engagement in the papers,” Rister muttered faintly, wondering why he felt dim… satisfaction?... somewhere in the back of his mind to hear Merry had been coming from seeing her sister. “Fair Rosalind has sent me a couple of letters. Apparently you weren’t an adept enough informant when it came to me,” Rister murmured. It had been a bit of a surprise to receive a letter one morning form an owl that almost screamed postal office and then read Rosalind’s chatter. But Rister had politely answered and when his own regal eagle-owl had returned the following morning after he had sent her off, she had been carrying a new note from Rosalind. They didn’t exchange mail daily, but Rosalind wrote to often enough, even though now she dared to use Rister’s own bird. Rister wasn’t entirely sure how the bird knew when to return to Rosalind – did she tell the eagle-owl when to return for a letter? – but the letters did come.

“If the girls are always so fragile and tender, then why am I always the one being hurt if I take some of them out to the Forest?” Rister muttered moodily. Even though he knew well enough that he generally made sure to present himself between a girl and danger. It was easier in a way to be hurt yourself than to watch a girl aching and weeping. “There’s nothing dangerous enough in the Forbidden Forest to approach tonight,” Rister remarked with some exasperation of his own. The smell of blood would have attracted predators generally. But Morgana still had the scent of a werewolf and a werewolf was a more dangerous beast than the regular predators. Rister knew that he was more familiar with the night in the Forest, but didn’t the girls realise the night lacked any of its regular purring and growling and whining and yipping and all the other numerous sounds? And then his brothers were there. Rister sent a grateful mental thank to Lady Luck as they burst out from between the treess, taking barely seconds to assess the situation. Damon put a hindering arm before Leandra - they didn’t need her catching a cold in the water – as Gabriel and Jared jumped into the water with any disregard to their, at Gabriel’s case very expensive designer made clothesshoes or the cold. The eyes of all his brothers had suspiciously lingered on Merry for a moment, but Rister heard Leandra speak up, as she thanked Merry courteously for sending up the sparks with a tone that would generally be used while thanking your host fro a cup of tea. “Shoulder, leg. How’s your head and you’re breathing evenly enough so ribs aren’t cracked?” Gabriel questioned and Rister nodded. “Leg’s worse. Head’s exploding but I can remember things so I doubt I have a concussion. Didn’t loose too much blood. The log is partially in the wound at my leg and it stopped the blood-flow before it would get critical.” They didn’t’ need more words. They had patched each other up often enough, so they fell into position without words. It was obvious Rister would need to be out of water first.

Damon raised his wand to cast hoist the log up with magic, Jared settled next to the log to guide it out of the wound, and Gabriel stayed by his side to support his weight and pull her out from under the log. Once Rister’s leg was in the clear, he was gently hoisted onto the bank as his brothers bent over his wounds again. “Found the shoulder, but I don’t have the strength to push it back,” Leandra commented and Jared turned to him, letting Leandra guide his fingers to the popped bone, even as Rister let out a string of quite expressive swear-words in numerous languages. He was fluent in only three languages, but he spoke numerous more at basic level. “We’ll need to fix the leg too. I have Skele-Gro that will be ready after the last ingredient and simmering back in Hogwarts,” Damon added, even as he waved his wand towards Rister as he cast a Silencio. Morgana settled on Rister’s stomach as if to keep him put, and Rister to glanced at her with a slightly pained expression. “He ate before we came out and I don’t’ want him to throw up over me,” Jared reminded softly. Morgana looked slightly sheepish at that. Or at least as sheepish as a werewolf could look but removed herself. Jared leaned on of his knees on Rister’s chest and Damon settled at his foot, motioning for Merry to hold Rister’s hip at place. “I’ll count. On three,” Gabriel offered and sneered at Rister’s look, “Of course we won’t pull fix it on two. Three.” Rister’s back arched as blinding pain seared through his body, making his breath hitch, but the Silencio at least kept him from screaming, even as all the muscles of his body were taught as wire.

When the pain had subsided back into agonising, but bearable, level Rister allowed himself to be helped to sit up again. “Can you make it back to the castle?” Leandra questioned worriedly and a breathy burst of laughter escaped Rister. “It’s not a question of whether I can or can’t, is it?” he responded sharply. They had all been trained. They had been pushed to their limit and then beyond, so that they would know themselves. Know every part of their body, fingers, cells, and muscles, the limits of the reserves of magic in their blood. Rister had about a mile to walk now with a broken leg fixed only in a cast, but he would know how to go over his limit without pause. Noticing the glances his brothers turned to Merry in unison, made Rister scoff, which ended in a bout of coughing. “She’s a Hufflepuff, not an idiot. There has been enough light for her to realise it’s an uncommonly friendly werewolf leaning against my leg rather than a dog. And none of us has cast Obliviate on a person before and I don’t’ feel like starting to learn the finer points of the spell now,” Rister pointed out dryly, reaching his well arm towards Merry, who stepped forward after a moment of hesitation. She did seem wary, which was smart of her. The Graas’ were all a force to be reckoned with separately, but together they would be an army of its own right. She would probably feel safest next to Rister, as she knew him at least a little bit. “Damon, get the potion and pain-killers and figure out some door. I won’t be climbing back in from a window,” Rister rasped and Damon turned and jogged off towards the castle. Gabriel, as the strongest of the brothers, slipped his arm around Rister’s waist as he and Merry helped Rister to his unsteady feet so that he would start the trek back to Hogwarts. Jared and Leadnra would bring up the rear as they would make sure everything would look normal as if no accident had taken place.

[Merry Garwin H6]

Merry had been expecting a wounded animal, not Rister. “Noble?” Merry laughed quietly. “No, I’m not noble. I’m just an older sister.” It was the simplest, most basic explanation she could give him but she reckoned that he would understand. Rister was an older sibling too. Of course, Merry was a younger sibling too. She wasn’t just used to protecting, but also to being protected and helped. Tyler, Kali and Reid would never have even considered letting their little sister be in more trouble than she could handle – Reid had disliked even watching her struggle for anything. Admittedly, Merry had been sheltered for the entirety of her life. Yes, she had worked and lived through hard times but there had always been people there for her. So no, she wasn’t noble. She was just very much an older sister, someone who couldn’t watch someone suffer and walk away without a second glance. “Your injuries wouldn’t kill you, but hypothermia would. And I’m guessing that the water is bordering on freezing temperatures so hypothermia wouldn’t take long to develop.”

For a moment, Merry turned away, covering a yawn with her hand. She had, at the urging of her sister, skipped her classes to spend the day in Hogsmeade and that had included waking up even earlier than she was accustomed to. She was used to working long hours and pushing herself beyond her limits but this was just ridiculous. She was a fighter, but mainly an archer and therefore most of her strength was in her arms. Fighting her way through overgrown undergrowth wasn’t an activity that she was used to. Merry knew that she would be practically useless at work the next day. There wasn’t enough hours left in the night for her to fall into a deep enough sleep so she would just wake up with her body aching and protesting the rough, careless treatment. But she was familiar with staying awake for forty-eight hours so it was best to just not sleep. She would just finish off all of her homework for the weekend, work her shift and then drag herself back to Hogwarts so that she could sleep through dinner and only wake up to drag herself back to work. It was a hard cycle, but one that she had put herself through before so she knew that she could manage it. Hawthorne was her first class on Monday; a thought which made Merry grimace. If Hawthorne noticed her looking fatigued then she would be sure to pick Merry to demonstrate some new spell. The DADA professor never took inattention kindly. “The ‘Rumour Has It’ journalist is a friend of Kali’s,” Merry added absent-mindedly, “so she asked Kali if she could use the news about the engagement during a slow news week. Jake wasn’t happy but he’ll have to adjust to Kali’s tendency to do anything for her friends.” It helped that Kali liked the attention, Merry added silently but kept her mouth shut. No matter how annoying Kali could be, she was still her sister and she loved her. Family loyalty had been ingrained into all of them.

“Rosa thinks you’re charming,” she grinned light-heartedly. Her little sister was truly charmed by Rister and even Reid and Pip, the most protective of the brothers, found it amusing. It hadn’t been so amusing when they thought that Rister had been interested in Merry though. She rolled her eyes. Her brothers, even Tyler who was usually more laidback than Reid, had been determined that Rister not come anywhere near their sister but now that Rosa was childishly adoring of Rister, it was entertaining? Pip still took some personal offence to it though. “The Forest isn’t really the most romantic of places to take a girl for a date,” Merry pointed out diplomatically. “So I’m not surprised that you would get slapped for taking girls here. Though I did think that you had better taste,” she added teasingly. Then three boys and Leandra burst out from behind the trees and Merry fought back the urge to shrink back as they exploded into action. All of them were obviously experienced and Merry’s eyebrow rose slowly as she wondered just how often one or more of them got hurt while exploring the forest. Leandra had offered gracious thanks in a tone that informed Merry of just how usual of an occurrence this was for them before she shrugged it off with her usual unassuming nature. She had done no more than what anyone else would have done. Except perhaps being foolish enough to follow an animal into the forest. Not many people would be reckless enough to do that.

W-W-werewolf. Merry’s eyes flickered from Rister, still in pain, to Damon and Jared and Gabriel and Leandra, all trying to help him, to the werewolf, which seemed to be watching the proceedings anxiously. Well, Merry didn’t know much about werewolves – other than her childhood stories about the cruelty of them and her more advanced studies into the reality of what being a werewolf meant – but she knew that they didn’t keep the entirety of their human mind while transformed. So that werewolf was unusually sociable and protective of Rister, as proved by the way it had tugged Merry toward him insistently. Hmm. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she gazed at the Graas’, trying to figure out what was missing from the picture. There were three things missing, she concluded triumphantly, and all of them girls. Another sister, the brown-haired girl who had visited her at the café with Leandra and who was almost always with at least one of the Graas’ and the blonde that had started dating Damon, if the rumours were true. Five Graas’, one werewolf and three possibilities. Because Merry had no doubt that the werewolf was one of them. No other explanation was probable. Not the blonde. She decided after a few moments thought. The Gryffindor had only started being friendly with the Graas’ recently and their movements were too skilled to have developed over only a few weeks. So...Merry gulped apprehensively as her mind came to a conclusion. The werewolf was most likely either Lita or Morgana. Which made sense, she supposed. After all, the head of the Graas family was a werewolf and it only took one absent-minded moment for an accident to occur. Lita was close to the Graas family and Morgana belonged to the family so either of them could have been bitten. For a moment, Merry felt a rush of sympathy for Kris Graas. If she was right, then his guilt must be overwhelming. His youngest daughter or his eldest son’s best friend. Neither was an attractive prospect.

“I’d rather if you didn’t practice a memory-altering spell on me,” Merry declared boldly, her eyes fixed on Rister heatedly. He was the eldest, the heir. It made sense that the younger ones would let him be the one to make this decision. “If you practice it until you have it mastered, I’ll allow you to wipe my memory,” she told him with a sigh. The thought of someone tampering with her mind wasn’t a pleasant one, but some secrets needed to be kept. The Graas’ didn’t know her well enough to trust her and, as Merry proved with her wary hesitation before stepping closer to Rister, neither did she trust any of them. She would keep her silence, but none of them knew that. Taking this memory from her was simply the easiest way to ensure that their secret would be safe. She would do the same thing for her own family. Merry shifted in place slightly, allowing Rister to lean more of his weight on her and balance himself out. She was used to carrying heavy things. Rister could be considered light when compared to some of the things her bosses had required her to lift and transfer to a different building.

[Rister Graas S6]

“You may be an older sister, but I’m no one’s little brother,” Rister countered swiftly. But to an extent he understood. He would stay to take care of a young sibling without the briefest hesitation. Or if the young sibling had been a fool and needed to learn their limits, he wouldn’t help but he would be here and keep an eye on him to make sure no further damage was done. But he was the heir and one day would be a head of a large family tree. He was the one who had to carry the responsibilities always. Even if he was wounded. But it suited him. It it his character and if he wasn’t the heir who had such a responsibility? Well, then he wouldn’t be the smart sort of person either really. “I’m wearing a dragon-scale jacket,” Rister murmured, letting his eyes slip closed again, “It’s enchanted and magical enough to save me from hypothermia. Dad isn’t that much different from me for him not to know what sorts of clothes are suitable for a night out in the forest.”

Morgana made a sound at Merry’s statement about Rosa. His siblings were protective of him too, Rister thought with some amusement. Apparently Morgana found it lightly offensive that Rister was considered anything else but heaven’s gift to Earth or a hint that he might perhaps not be the most utterly charming gentleman. “I am charming,” Rister translated the sound Morgana had made with a faint smirk curling his lips at the moment, “And I never took girls on a date to a forest. That’s too special for anyone but the closest, so that has only happened to women related to me or close friends.” But then everything sorted out and he was on his feet and starting the slow painful drudge back to Hogwarts. He could feel Merry shifting under his arm as if offering more support, but Rister didn’t pay any heed to it, preferring to lean on Gabriel’s shoulder rather. He was hurting and tired and irritable. But manners had been breed and rose into him and a broken leg wasn’t enough for him to make him forget them yet. “Obliviate would be easiest if we could use it,” Gabriel murmured thoughtfully when already half the way towards the Hogwarts. The first reaction Merry’s bold – and appreciated – statement received.

Rister didn’t answer as he knew just as well as Gabriel the reasons why they couldn’t do it. Merry, however, didn’t and Rister could feel the tenseness of her shoulders. He patiently suffered through the fidgeting for a good five minutes, before finally nsapping at the girl: “Est Sularus oth Mithas.” Merry let out a half-way unintelligible mutter and Gabriel chuckled quietly, even if he looked mildly surprised someone wouldn’t be able to translate it on the top of their head or wouldn’t know their family motto. But now that Rister had spoken, Gabriel quite graciously took upon himself to explain. “Est Sularus oth Mithas. My honour is my life. It’s a sort of family motto. But my siblings and I are all bound by a code of honour so to say to not use Obliviate,” Gabriel explained vaguely, making Rister smirk wryly. “A bit too late to worry about family secrets,” he rasped out, wincing painfully as his broken leg hit a rock relatively painfully. Gabriel shrugged and continued: “I suppose my this week’s drama for gossip was lame too anyway. Leandra doesn’t have any of her memories since before she was eight. Sort of puts a hamper of wanting to cause an effect like that.”

Not much else conversation took place after that, even as they slipped into the Hogwarts – Rister with a relative amount of difficulties – and into the room set aside for Morgana’s transformations. Damon tossed Gabriel a thick sweater and Gabriel helped the dry piece of clothing onto Rister, being mindful of his dislocated shoulder. With a slight smirk towards Merry, Gabriel charmed the sweater to be chicken-yellow. Evne if it looked better than it should have eon Rister. The innocent colour and the baby-ish softness of the sweater contrasted quite interestingly with Rister’s black pants and dark hair. Rister was helped into the bed Morgana usually transferred in and Damon shoved a goblet into his hands. Skele-Gro would taste disgusting, but it would be a small price to pay for lack of pain, so Rister drained the goblet without any questions. Which was probably a mistake as he immediately felt his grasp on his self-control slipping. He faintly caught snippets of words directed to Merry “..sleeping potion, he wouldn’t have taken it otherwise anyway…” by Damon and “…get behind Rister and catch some sleep. You’ll be safer there than anywhere else tonight…” from Gabriel. Then everything turned black and Rister was lost to the world.

-------------------------
He came too slowly, which was unlike himself. But his mind could work well enough as memories of the previous night came back to him. His leg was feeling better. It would be sore for a couple of days, but as he tentatively shifted it, it seemed to be back in one piece. And the pain in his shoulder had dulled into an ignorable ache. The whimpers he could hear weren’t coming from him then. Opening his eyes blearily, Rister was slightly surprised to see Merry sitting next to his head. Merry who was staring over him to where Morgana was slipping back into human form with a drained face. It would do good for her to see it, Rister told himself calmly even as his hand snapped up to catch Merry’s as she made a move as if to move. Rister wasn’t even sure what she had wanted to do. Flee? Not likely with what she had just learned. Go and help Morgana? His siblings nor he himself would look kindly at someone approaching Morgana right now. The transformation to human was at least slightly less painful than that into a werewolf. Even so Rister watched with an impassive face as Leandra stepped forward, adjusted the blanket under which Morgana was now sleeping, and gently wiped away traces of tears from her cheeks.

“Morgana is a born werewolf. Probably conceived after dad was bitten and before his first shapeshift,” Damon was the one to break the silence in the room, “She retains human way of thinking during full moon, even if she can’t help the transformation herself. Perhaps being able to think clearly just makes it more painful. A wizarding oath. That you will tell no one of what you know unless it’s an immediate and 99 per cent probability of a fatal threat to your or your immediate family or Morgana. That you do not even let anyone guess that you might know something, unless given permission to do otherwise by the head or heir of Graas family line and Morgana. With me, Gabriel and Jared as witnesses to it – it generally requires only one magical witness -, the oath would be fatal or maddening to you before you can break it,” Damon summarised his idea and after a moment of consideration Rister nodded. It wouldn’t break their code of honour and would guarantee Morgana’s secret being safe. “In return you get the oath that this knowledge will not be used against you by any Graas and we will do our best – physically, financially, psychologically – to prevent any harm to you or your immediate family due to what you have learned today,” Rister stated slowly, before five pairs of eyes – Morgana was sleeping – turned to wait for Merry’s reply.

[Merry Garwin H6]

“Even older brothers need help sometimes,” Merry responded mildly, barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes. The arrogance of believing that he didn’t need to be taken care of must be a pureblood thing, she concluded exasperatedly. Neither Tyler nor Reid were ever so adamant about carrying all of the responsibility by themselves. Pip, on the other hand, could be rather stubborn and determined to do everything by himself and without assistance. Kali often wryly commented that it was their mother’s pureblood genes showing up in at least one of the children. “Well then, I guess I’ll just leave you here and refuse to help you. Your magical jacket can help you get back to the castle,” Merry muttered irritably. “Are you always so gracious or am I just unlucky enough to catch you on a bad day?”

The werewolf made a sound and Merry shifted uncomfortably, reminded of just how vulnerable she was right now. Only an idiot would follow a strange, unidentified animal into a dark, dangerous forest, discover an injured acquaintance and then stay to see him back to the castle safely. Why didn’t she possess enough self-preservation to have just walked away when the werewolf had first tried to get her attention? “You’ve never been that charming to me,” Merry huffed disbelievingly. But she had seen girls flirting with all of the Graas brothers at some time or another so she guessed that there was some charm hidden somewhere. Or maybe it was just the good looks that Merry herself saw and appreciated. Being attractive wasn’t everything but it certainly didn’t harm anything. She didn’t want to be obliviated – it was too risky and she considered some of her memories far too precious to be put in such danger - but Merry bit her tongue and gritted her teeth to make herself remain silent. She had suggested it and it was the simplest solution to a bad situation. She wouldn’t begrudge the Graas’ peace of mind about their youngest sister. How could she when she herself knew the protectiveness of an older sibling? There was the desire to shelter, to protect, but also to let grow and learn. A complicated mix, but one that suited her well and one that she enjoyed. Rosa and Pip were important to her; life wouldn’t be the same without them. She would never permit either of them to be endangered by someone knowing a secret of such importance. Yes. She was an older sister and she would make the sacrifice of her memories for other older siblings. She understood.

Rister snapped something meaningless at her and Merry sighed impatiently. “Rich bastards,” she grumbled under her breath. Always presuming to think that everyone had nothing more important to do than learn languages other than their native one. Merry glowered at the two boys unconsciously. Just because she was lacing the pureblood knowledge that was their heritage, she was somehow lesser than them in the eyes of wider society. It didn’t matter how prosperous or influential her mother’s family was because they were now Garwin’s. Lacking in status and purity. The wizarding world was so prejudiced that Merry had more than once considered returning to the muggle world to finish her education. It would certainly make her father happy. But she loved magic and her friends and Hogwarts itself. The muggle world seemed lacing in colour after the vividness of magic. No, she could never leave. It didn’t hurt to dream of a better type of world though. “I don’t know anything about your sister’s situation,” Merry told them without hesitation, “but surely it’s not the same circumstance. You don’t know me enough to trust me and, quite frankly, I’m still wondering where you’re going to hide my body after murdering me.”

She was scared, Merry admitted to herself. She was downright terrified. A werewolf of one side and Rister and Gabriel on the other. Yes, Rister was injured and Gabriel was two years younger but the fact that they hung around with a werewolf every full moon hinted at the fact that they were a lot stronger and more resilient than her. And she was outnumbered three to one. Considering his injuries, Rister would be fairly easy to get away from – Merry was fast and agile when she needed to be – but Gabriel not only had the werewolf to aid him but also knowledge of the forest that she didn’t have. Tears burned in her eyes but, with the castle in her line of sight, Merry forced them back and remained silent as the boys took care of their eldest brother and even after she curled up behind Rister. Sleep evaded her that night. Her mind was too active to calm long enough for her to even close her eyes for more than a few minutes. With terrified eyes, Merry drew her legs up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees as she watched shadows flicker long into the night and through the dawn.

The night brightened into sunrise and Merry rubbed at her sore eyes childishly, suspecting that dark circles were already forming to prove her lack of sleep. She’d have to go to Madam Pomfrey and plead bad dreams to get a Pepper Up potion so that she wouldn’t fall asleep in the middle of class. Skipping wasn’t really an option; it wasn’t in her nature to not go to class unless she had a valid reason. Since she could have slept if she had managed to calm herself enough, this wasn’t a valid reason. Whimpers broke through her reverie and Merry’s head snapped up instinctively, her eyes fixing on Morgana as she changed back to her human form. Learning about werewolves in DADA was one thing; seeing someone change back with her own eyes was something completely different.

Merry continued her silence through Damon’s explanation about Morgana’s transformation and the proposal of a possibly suitable solution to their problem. If she opened her mouth then she might not be able to hold the tears back any longer and she stubbornly refused to break down in front of anyone but herself. It had been a long, terrifying, sleepless night and her nerves were frayed from the stress. “You’ll do nothing for any of us financially,” Merry insisted flatly, barely holding onto her composure as all five people turned to gaze at her but automatically keeping her voice low since Morgana was sleeping. “You can entertain my sister in her ideas of childish infatuation by sending her little gifts and trinkets and flowers; she’s only young and it’s harmless. But the Garwin’s aren’t your little charity case. We don’t – I don’t – want anything from any of you.” Drawing from the last reserves of physical and mental strength, Merry rose to her feet and crossed her arms with an expectant look at Damon, Jared and Gabriel. “I’ll swear the oath. But I’m guessing that you already knew that. If I was willing to let you mess with my mind for your little sister then I’m not going to refuse to swear a damn oath.”

[Gabriel Graas S4]

It was quiet. Usually full moons were full of voices and even laughter, games and Jared playing his guitar or harmonica. None such things disturbed the night tonight. Morgana and Leandra had curled up on the couch together. Leandra had leaned her head on Morgana’s back and was whispering into Morgana’s ear. Most likely spinning another of her stories that came so easily to her. Damon had fished out potions equipment and was brewing something. Jared was writing away, possibly working on the lyrics of some son or another. And Gabriel himself was simply sitting on a chair and staring pensively at a drawing. He wondered about classes, werewolves and vampires, yellow sweaters, Merry, about everything and anything. Morning arrived both too early and too late for all of them as no one had gotten a wink of sleep. With the exception of drugged Rister. Merry was even acquiring a nice pair of black eyes from lack of sleep. A problem neither he nor any of his siblings had, being used to staying up a night during the month since they were small children.

Morgana shifted back into human form under a blanket and Gabriel watched with a blank face how Leandra gently wiped away traces of tears from her cheeks. But he didn’t have much longer to stay in his almost meditative state of mind as Damon started speaking and Gabriel shifted lightly to pay attention. A wizarding oath. Well, it would certainly give them a graceful way out of this mess. Merry immediately got her back up at Rister’s elaboration. Merry had been upset when Rister hadn’t explained their family motto earlier and now she was upset because Rister explained further what the wizarding oath would entitle, so that Merry wouldn’t feel any danger to her family. Well, in his head Gabriel could understand pride Merry displayed and appreciate it. All of them could. But Rister was irate as it was and sent a mildly irritate glance towards Merry, so Gabriel decided to spare the girl the need to face Rister’s glare today. “Rister didn’t entirely mean any harm. Any and all sides of support to assure the oath-taker wouldn’t feel pressured into a situation where she might need to blurt out the secret is just part of the wording, which is quite medieval. None of us was planning on starting to throw money towards you nor your family,” Gabriel explained calmly, even as they all reached for their wands, only to discover that Rister came up blank.

“I’ll manage, my strength restored slightly,” Rister muttered moodily as Jared absently stepped forward and helped him sit up. His brothers and Gabriel nodded in understanding as Rister turned his attention to Merry. “Do you know the incantation?” Damon questioned and when Merry wordlessly shook her head Rister took over. “Remember when you bought your wand and it gave some sort of an effect. Call that same raw magic forth right now but only so it glows at the tip of your wand,” Rister instructed and once Merry had succeeded, Rister sighed. Gabriel observed with a blank face how his oldest brother closed his eyes and concentrated before a similar dim glow as was present on the tip of Rister’s finger. Touching his lowing finger and Merry’s wand-tip together, Rister smiled wryly. Gabriel could understand why. Letting the magic in a person touch someone else’s was an extremely intimate sensation. For a moment you opened yourself fully to someone else. “Repeat after him,” Gabriel murmured as Rister broke the incantation into parts that Merry to could repeat. Rister’s hand was shaking lightly by the time they had finished and Gabriel hurried to raise his wand. Muttering the appropriate witness incantation – luckily a short one – he watched how a burst of something golden slipped out of his wand-tip and snapped into place around the wrists of Merry’s and Rister’s hands. Jared cast the same incantation and Damon, the oldest of them after Rister, finalised it. Pulling his finger from Merry’s wand-tip, Rister let the glow die and slumped slightly. Wandless magic always took a lot out of everyone and Rister was currently weakened.

“Come,” Gabriel told Merry, as he put his wand away and held out his hand to Merry, volunteering to take her out to a part of castle she’d recognise. “It’s a glamour potion I made. It’ll hide the circles and add some shine to your eyes again,” Damon remarked and Gabriel nodded. Fishing out a clean vile, Gabriel ladled some of the potion into the vial and handed the vial to Merry. It would be her choice to decide whether she’d drink it or not. “If you look worn out your friends will start asking questions and we don’t want that,” Gabriel offered for explanation, before unlocking the door and gesturing for Merry to step out of the room. Gabriel wordlessly helped Merry through the wards guarding the room and it wasn’t until they were nearing the Great Hall entrance that Merry obviously recognised that he took hold of her elbow and brought Merry to a stop. “My oldest brother is quite something, isn’t he?” Gabriel ventured lazily, even as he smiled at Merry. Rister had refused to consider obliviate. And Merry had stayed with him and a werewolf in the dead of the night, had helped them get back to the castle, she had curled up as if seeking comfort at Rister’s side. Gabriel had thought about it, even if no one else had. “He will give you free choice now whether to keep your distance from the family or possible become a friend or something more,” Gabriel simply looked at Merry, absently wondering if the girl would be a fool enough to let his brother go or not. Tilting his head in a polite gesture, Gabriel turned to return to his siblings.