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It’s a curious arrangement.
Peculiarly, sometime between third year and fourth year, Merula had turned less acerbic and started acting like a decent human being. She’s still rude and abrasive and difficult to get along with, but she seems better.
It starts with grunts in the hallways, being partnered for Care of Magical Creatures, until perhaps—if Merula let you—you could call yourselves acquaintances. (You would never venture friends.)
The dueling comes after that. Merula corners you everywhere and anywhere she can, snarling, eyes dark: “let’s duel.”
You brush her off at first, but the requests are so persistent, so consistent that even Rowan gets annoyed.
“Just duel her.” They say one day.
“Are you kidding?” You ask as you take a bite of sandwich.
Rowan shakes their head. “Just once. Tell her if you win then she has to promise to never ask to duel you again.”
Bits of crumbs fall on the table, magically disappearing, as you laugh. “She’d never agree to that.”
“Try it.” Rowan presses and you hum your acknowledgement.
You don’t think about it too seriously until later. You’re walking down the corridor when you see Merula striding up to you, effectively stopping you from walking forward.
That’s when you decide that maybe Rowan is right (they usually are) and that you should really put a stop to this.
Merula opens her mouth to say something, but you silence her with a finger. “Yeah, okay. I’ll duel you.” Maybe your stomach flutters when her eyes light up, but you choose to ignore it. You stop her from pulling out her wand before she can actually do any damage. “On one condition.”
Merula arches an eyebrow. “I’m not helping you with potions.” She says definitively before you can open your mouth.
You let out a short burst of laughter. “What? No. I have Penny for that.” You say, waving her off. Maybe it’s your imagination, but Merula seems hurt by your blatant dismissal. “If I win, you have to kiss me.”
Everything is silent, before Merula steps back. “Is this a joke?”
You try not to laugh, that’ll only confirm her suspicions, and shake your head instead. “I mean it.” When she looks at you like you’ve sprouted two heads you add, “no kiss, no duel.”
Merula is still staring at you incredulously, but then she squares her shoulders and stands ready. “Fine. But if I win, you do anything I say.”
You shrug. “Alright.”
You are very pleased when you win, even more so when Merula keeps her side of the deal. She pecks your cheek as quickly as she can and wipes her mouth furiously, cheeks flaming, spitting on the floor as she storms off in a huff.
It becomes a routine. Merula comes over, snarling a “let’s duel.”
“Gimme a kiss.” You reply, blowing one at her for good measure.
And surprisingly, she complies each time. It’s only on the cheek, but the way she turns crimson afterwards makes up for it. She exaggeratedly gags and wipes her mouth afterwards, but you can tell most of it is for show. At least, you hope it is.
Once or twice it looks like she’ll throw her wand down and give up, but fact is, Merula really wants to beat you. These small bets seem to fuel her even more.
And perhaps you exploit that fact much more than you should, but who can blame you? (Actually, Penny blames you, but you’re never going to get a chance as good as this one.)
By the end of fifth year, Merula has stopped wiping her mouth afterwards.
You are sitting in the grand hall, enjoying another humongous sandwich when Merula comes over. It’s been a year, and you’re starting to think that one kiss isn’t enough.
“Let’s duel.” Merula says angrily as you polish off the last bits of your sandwich.
You make sure to swallow before answering. “I require a down payment.” You say, brushing the crumbs off your hands and standing.
“A what?” Merula asks as she trails after you, walking towards the doors of the Great Hall.
“Two kisses up front.” You explain, and honestly, you think you might get away with it.
This stops Merula in her tracks, and she has to run to catch up.
“That’s ridiculous.” She snaps. “Just duel me!”
Penny gives you an inquiring look when the two of you pass her in the hallway. “Kisses first.” You insist.
Merula stomps her foot and you stop walking. She pulls out her wand and opens her mouth to cast a hex, but you’ve got your wand out too.
“Expelliarmus!” You shout and her wand goes skidding.
By the time she’s scurried after it to retrieve it, you’ve passed the corner and gone.
She comes up to you three days later, looking very pained. “Fine.” She says. “Two kisses.”
You try not to seem too gleeful as she quickly pecks you on both cheeks before pulling out her wand.
“If I win,” you say just as you’re about to start, “you give me three kisses.”
A beat of silence.
“What.”
“My fee has gone up,” you say a bit too cheerfully.
Merula flushes, her knuckles a distinct white against the dark mahogany of her wand. She seems to contemplate the repercussions and you both stand in silence until you lose your patience.
“Well?” You prompt.
“Fine.” She snaps, though there’s no bite to it.
“Alright then.” You say as you pull out your wand.
You’re sitting in the courtyard when Merula finds you. It's near curfew so the rest of the students have headed back to the dorms. You're stargazing when Merula waves her wand in your face.
“Let’s duel.” She demands.
You’ve been steadily building up the number of kisses over time, and you’ve made it all the way up to seven. You were planning on making it eight today, but you’re feeling lucky so you hold up ten fingers instead.
It takes a minute for her to understand the implications. “Ten?” Merula cries, loud enough to cause a passing second-year to turn his head. “I don’t have time for that.”
You’re starting to think ten was a little too ambitious, but you feign nonchalance and shrug. “Then you don’t have time to duel.”
She looks at you helplessly and you stare back. Her features seem softer in the pale glow of the moon. Neither of you say anything before she breaks eye contact and mumbles. “Can I just give you one long one?”
Usually, you would say no, but she looks kind of cute the way she is now: bashful, (okay, not really) and almost shy.
“Alright.” You reply after a second.
Merula leans forward to press her lips to your cheek. Neither of you close your eyes so you end up awkwardly looking at each other, noses bumping. She stays there for five, maybe six seconds before she pulls back and spits out, “we’re not doing that again.” Her voice cracks in the quiet but you’re too frazzled to notice.
“Quite right.” You agree, hoping she won’t notice how red you are in the dark.
Merula comes up to you, like every other time, but today her eyes are blazing with purpose. The way she calls your name is challenging, but not in a malignant way. “Let’s duel.” She says firmly.
You open your mouth to set your fee (15 kisses; you might even make it to twenty by graduation) but Merula cuts you off.
“If I win,” she pauses for dramatic effect, “you have to kiss me.” The statement is bold enough that other passerby have stopped to watch the commotion.
You glance, astonished, at Rowan whose surprise mirrors your own.
“Okay.” You say, still a little stunned as you get ready.
Maybe you miss her a couple times on purpose, and maybe you’re too busy thinking about kissing Merula to focus. Either way, it’s obvious you’re distracted and you end up losing.
Even so, Merula seems incredibly pleased with herself when she finishes you off. She marches over triumphantly, and doesn’t even wait for you to stand up before she cups your face in her hands and plants a kiss right on your mouth.
You hear someone who sounds suspiciously like Penny hoot in the background, but you’re too preoccupied to care.
Then Merula is pulling away, looking flushed and content and you have an overwhelming urge to kiss her again.
“I thought I was supposed to kiss you.” You point out, and Merula crosses her arms and rolls her eyes.
“Then do it.” She says.
And you do.