Kaz and Meru (P8)

Kaz had spent a lot of time thinking recently. His unexpected relationship with Merula was troubling him. Not because he didn't enjoy it, quite the opposite.

He was really starting to fall for her.

He laid on his bed, staring at, or rather, through the bed ceiling. His thoughts were in turmoil. Whenever he shut his eyes, he could see her. Whenever he had a moment of quiet, he could hear her. His neck was still tender from where she had bitten into it.

"Are you planning to lay there all day?" He looked over to see Rowan, standing by the door. "You're going to miss dinner."

"Nah, I'm not that hungry. You go on ahead." He turned his head back to the ceiling, tuning out Rowan's response.

"Hmm. I'll see you later, then." He turned and left the room, mumbling to himself. "They're going to kill each other before they admit it."


He was tired. Tired of the arguments, tired of the insults. Being honest with himself, he was tired of their rough encounters, too. He found himself thinking about more intimate moments. He wanted to hold her hand on a summer's day or hold her close and watch the sun set.

Whenever he thought about her, he would find himself thinking of the look in her eyes, the look he had seen in the broom closet. He knew it intimately, because it was the same look he saw in his eyes whenever he saw his reflection after speaking to Merula.

'Amazing...' He mused. 'This entire situation started over ten galleons...'


Tomorrow was the start of a Hogsmeade weekend. He knew from experience that Merula would either not go or go alone. Usually, he took all his friends along with him for a day of drinking at the Three Broomsticks, or shopping at Zonko's and Honeydukes.

'Maybe she'd like to go with me?' He wondered if he could get through the entire day without her jumping him once more. 'We could have a real date...' He almost laughed as he realised he'd been having extremely rough sex with this girl for a week but hadn't been on a single date with her.

He sighed, and stood from his bed, heading out the dormitory door. He assumed Merula was at dinner like everyone else, so he decided to head for the Great Hall as he walked down the stairs to the common room. He didn't need to go that far, however.

He entered the common room and was surprised to see her sitting at one of the study tables looking out into the lake. She had her hands stuffed into her robe pockets, and her feet were resting on the edge of the table as she leaned back in her chair.

She had a pensive look on her face, seemingly lost in thought. She was frowning slightly and despite her intense gaze out the window, she didn't seem to be looking at anything. Kaz dragged the nearest chair over and sat down beside her, and she snapped out of her funk.

"Gah! Where the hell did you come from?" She jumped upon seeing Kaz sitting next to her, and her chair began to tip backwards. Before she could fall, he put his hand out to steady her. "Shouldn't you be upstairs with everyone else?"

"I wasn't hungry. What're you still doing here?"

She turned back toward the window. "Same."

The two sat in silence, staring out the window together. Eventually, Merula shifted and winced, rubbing her shoulder. Kaz looked over.

"You alright? I didn't mean to..." She shot him a look but sighed and pulled her shirt collar back to show him the barely healed teeth marks. He winced. That looked painful.

"I'll be fine. How's your neck?" She looked at him, and he was happy to see none of the lust or desire that had been clouding both of their minds.

He pulled his own collar back, revealing raw skin around the marks. She sucked a breath in, before reaching over to lightly touch the bite marks, ignoring his complaints. "That looks pretty rough."

Kaz chuckled, re-adjusting his shirt, letting out a slight groan as the fabric rubbed against the wound. "You did bite down pretty hard." He breathed out slowly, looking back out the window. "I think we both went a little crazy."

Merula laughed. "Ha. Maybe so." She crossed her arms, and Kaz noticed a bruise on her wrist from where he'd slammed it into the ground. It only reaffirmed his intentions to move their relationship past this.

"So, listen. You know it's a Hogsmeade weekend, right?" She nodded but kept looking out the window. "What are you doing?"

"Staying right here. I hate Hogsmeade, especially when you and all your little friends are there."

Kaz frowned since he'd seen her in Hogsmeade often. "I was going to ask...do you want to come with me? Just us?"

That got her attention, and she looked at him, eyes narrowed. "Just the two of us? Are you ill or something? Why would I want to go with you?"

Kaz raised an eyebrow. "You'd rather sit around here, with the first and second years?"

Her eyes darted from side to side as she answered. "Gladly."

Kaz regarded her, remembering what Snape had said about her 'tell'. "Well, if you change your mind, I'll wait around after everyone else leaves."

He pushed his chair back and stood, turning back toward the dorms. Right as he reached the threshold, she called over without turning. "Just you? No one else?"

"That's a promise." He continued up the stairs, leaving her alone with her thoughts.


Kaz leant against the courtyard wall. He watched as Rowan left with Barnaby, Penny and Tonks. Looking around, he saw Bill and Charlie Weasley, talking excitedly to Tulip Kurusu. He couldn't quite make out their conversation, but from what he'd heard, Bill and Charlie's younger brothers were becoming notorious pranksters. Given Tulip's own propensity for pranking, he imagined they would get along great.

One by one, the groups dispersed, ambling toward the wizarding town of Hogsmeade. Soon, only Kaz was left, still leaning against the wall. He waited another five minutes, before sighing and standing straight. It looked like she wasn't coming after all.

Just as he began to head toward the castle gates, hoping he could still catch up with Rowan and the others, he heard someone running up behind him. He spun around, a bright smile on his face. Before him, bent over with her hands on her knees, was Merula. She was breathing in and out heavily, clearly out of breath.

He gave her a minute to recover. "I thought you were content to sit around with the kids?" She glared at him, but he could see the hints of a smile on her face.

"I wasn't going to miss a chance to make you spend money on me." She stood up, placing her hands on her hips. "Not having to deal with your annoying friends is a benefit, too."

"Well then...shall we?" He offered his arm to her, and despite her glares, she smiled warmly, linking her arm with his.

"We shall."


Honeydukes was the prime supplier of confectionary and sweets to students of Hogwarts. The shop always smelt like chocolate and vanilla, and during Hogsmeade weekends, students would spend a large amount of time there, not just to stock up on Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans for the coming months, but purely to soak in the cheery atmosphere.

Kaz pushed the door open, finding what appeared to be half of Hogwarts inside. He sighed, but pushed his way inside regardless, Merula shoving people out of the way behind him. "So, what do you usually get from here?"

"Hmm..." She looked around, before pointing to a section of the store with a sign proclaiming 'UNUSUAL TASTES' hanging over it. "I'm a big fan of the blood-flavoured lollipops."

Kaz frowned, looking over at her and rubbing the bite marks on his neck. "You didn't turn me into a vampire, did you? I don't think I'm ready to sleep in a coffin."

She grinned, showing off her sharp teeth. "It's a joke, idiot. Imagine if I had to spend an eternity with you." She pointed again, thankfully toward a normal section this time. "I do actually like those, though." Kaz wandered closer, bending down to read the label.

"Fizzing Whizbees, huh? Good choice." He put his hand out and plucked the levitating sherbet balls from the air. "I love these, too." He threw a bunch of the confections into a bag. "Anything else you want?" He asked as he loaded the bag with several other goods, replenishing his stock of sugar quills.

Merula rubbed her chin, thinking. "No, I think I've got all I need." She ambled over to him, pushing through other students.	"Let's get out of here before we get crushed." Together, they pushed their way to the counter and paid, before leaving the store.

Kaz sucked in a breath, glad to be free of the overpowering sweet smell, along with the crush of students. "It's packed today..." He looked back to Merula. "I was going to suggest The Three Broomsticks, but I don't think we'd even get a table."

"Let's try again, later. With any luck, I'll miss your friends while I'm at it." Merula crossed her arms and looked toward the pub. Looking closer, Kaz could see Rowan sitting by a window. For a second, he thought he saw Rowan's eyes looking at him, but the moment passed immediately. He shrugged and turned back to Merula.

"Alright then. What do you want to do?" For a moment, he was concerned she might drag him off into the woods for another violent romp, but she instead looked up and down the rest of the main street.

"Hey, what's that place?" She pointed toward a small teashop that Kaz had never noticed before. "I don't think I've ever seen it before."

"Want to have a look?" Even as Kaz said it, he felt a sense of icy fear grip his heart.

"Yeah, sure." Together, the two headed inside the small building.

The interior was cramped, a tiny place that just managed to fit a small number of patrons. It was hot and steamy, and Kaz was already starting to sweat. Half of the tables were occupied with couples who seemed content to do nothing but hold each other's hand and try to suck each other's faces off. Every table, wall and counter was decorated with frills and bows in every shade of pink imaginable. Kaz and Merula stood at the entrance, shoulder to shoulder, and stared.

"This is horrific."

"I couldn't agree more."

"You wouldn't be upset if I ran far, far away, would you?"

"I'd be right behind you."

"Let's do that, then."

And so, they turned and fled from the nightmarish coffee shop.


"What kind of person do you have to be to enjoy a place like that?" Kaz massaged his temples. "We were there for about 20 seconds and I've got a headache."

"Ugh..." Merula rubbed her face. "That's the kind of place those Hufflepuffs enjoy." She shuddered, straightening up. "Hey, The Three Broomsticks looks emptier. Let's see if we can find a table."

"You could have asked me to go to the Shrieking Shack and I would have said yes." He muttered, following her as she headed for the significantly nicer pub.

The Three Broomsticks was known throughout Wizarding Britain to be one of the cosiest pubs around. The young and attractive barmaid, Madame Rosmerta drew the attention of students from all over Hogwarts, and they flocked to the bar to drink and eat. As a result, it was one of the most popular hotspots in Hogsmeade while Hogwarts was running.

It was still packed inside, but Kaz spotted an empty two-person table near the wall. He pointed it out to Merula. "You go grab that spot, and I'll get drinks. Butterbeers?"

She nodded. "Sounds good."

Merula made it to the table and sat down. Before long, Kaz joined her with two mugs of butterbeer.

"Cheers." He held up his mug, and she clinked hers against his before they both took a swig.

They sat for a moment. Finally, Merula broke the silence. "Hey, Reeds?"

Kaz looked up. She had an uncertain look on her face, like she was confused. "What's up?"

"Why are you doing this?" She looked down at the table.

"Doing what?"

"Inviting me out today. All of this?" Her voice wavered slightly, and Kaz wondered what her problem was.

"Are you not having fun?"

"No, no, it's not that..." He had seen her smile a lot today, and it had given him a warm feeling inside each time. "It's just...we've done nothing but-" He cut her off.

"Fight and fuck?" He smirked when she blushed and pouted. She really did look cute like that...

"Yeah. That."

"Honestly?" He sighed, putting his mug down. "I'm sick of it." Merula's head snapped up to stare at him, a panicked look on her face.

"S-sick of what?"

"The fighting. The constant arguments. I guess I'm also sick of waking up in pain because we couldn't control ourselves too." The expression on her face lessened somewhat. "I don't know how much longer I can let this go on..." He sucked a breath in, before deciding to just go for it. "Merula, I-"

He found himself cutting off when he saw tears appearing in the corners of her eyes. "So that's it, huh?" She looked up, and he was shocked to see her face twisted in anger. "You're just gonna screw with me for a while and then piss off?"

"Huh? Wait a minute, Meru-"

"I really liked you..." The anger had been replaced with abject sadness, and he saw tears dripping onto the table. He couldn't let this go on, so he reached across the table and gently grabbed her hand.

"Merula, look at me." She refused to look up. "Please." He pleaded. She looked up, trails of mascara mixed with tears running down her face. At that moment in time, Kaz thought she was the most beautiful person he'd ever seen. "I...I love you."

She froze. Her thoughts ground to a halt. She had been sure he was about to tell her he was done with her, that she could go rot. "Y-you..."

He nodded. "I don't want to let you go. I don't want us to just be in this...this cycle of arguing." He moved his hand from hers and raised it to her face, tenderly wiping away a tear.

Merula raised her own hand to her face, resting it on his. "Reeds..."

He smiled. "I think we're past a last name basis, don't you?"

She laughed despite the raging emotions inside her. "K-Kaz." Wiping away more tears with her other hand, she spoke. "I...love you too."

Kaz's face split open in unbridled joy. He slowly leant forward, bringing Merula's face closer to his. Finally, they kissed. Unlike their other kisses during their more violent encounters, this one was tender and loving. He wasn't sure how long it lasted, but when they finally broke apart, he could see nothing but happiness in her eyes.

She punched him in the arm. "That's for scaring me like that, dumbass." By her standards, it had been a very soft punch.

They drained their mugs and stood, getting ready to leave. He offered her his hand and she took it, intertwining their fingers as they left the crowded pub.

Rowan sipped his butterbeer, watching them leave. He smiled to himself. He hadn't been sure if the two idiots would ever sort themselves out and finally admit how they felt about each other, but they had finally pulled through. He ordered another butterbeer, giving himself a celebratory drink. Hopefully, this would give him some peace and quiet to study for his exams.