Finishing the war on Voldemort, Harry finds himself landing in Middle Earth as a young Elf. His journey is filled with dangers Harry could never have imagined. Horrors hidden in Middle Earth almost break Harry. His journey towards safety eventually leads him to a new family in an Elf kingdom, but how long will it be before he trusts those who have come to love him?
Mentions of child abuse and angst.
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When Harry woke, he was surrounded by the three men who were obviously warriors. He was confused for a moment, trying to remember where he were before he remembered the day before. His wounds felt a lot better but he knew there was still a lot of healing left. His ribs were still sore but the doctor didn't notice when he was checking for the wounds. Harry was thankful that he did notice the bruise on his chest where he applied salve onto it, and the many cuts and burns he needed tending.
Harry noticed he was still in the arms of the first man. He was very comfortable there and one of the things he realized the day before was how many of his instincts felt out of sync, as though he really was the infant his body now resembled. His seventeen year old mind fought with his new infant mind, both working together but, he was feeling a loss of emotional control. It was all he could do from crying out from the healing the day before.
He could feel himself needing the care of an adult to watch over him, to watch over him and give him physical comfort. The way the man held him was such a relief to his four year old mind that his eighteen year old mind, his logical mind, gave in and let himself be the weak, needy four year old child that he had become.
When Harbarad offered to hold him the day before, it was all Harry could do to jump into his arms and hide away from the world.
Harry noticed some eyes watching him. It was the man who healed him. The man spoke to Harry with a smile but Harry just blinked back at the man not understanding the words he spoke. He had hoped that at least the language the people in this world spoke would be the same as his but the only language he heard the men speak so far was very alien to his own language or even Latin. He couldn't recognize a single word.
He hoped that with his body being that of a child, that he'd also pick up new languages as fast as children did.
The doctor spoke a bit more to him before he went and woke up the other two men. The doctor gave Harry a puzzled look but then just patted Harry's head.
It wasn't long before the men had packed up the camp into bags that hung off the horses and off their own backs. Harry was given a few moments to relieve himself, which was very awkward for him as he had never remembered having anyone watch him before but the men seemed reluctant to leave him alone for any amount of time.
As the first man brought Harry up onto the horse with him, the doctor came over and started to trim the oversize shirt he wore so it would at least be short enough that it wouldn't trip Harry when he walked.
Harry made a grabbing motion at the cut off material with his hands. The doctor spoke to him again but again, Harry didn't understand. Harry gave him another shy smile and pointed at the cloth in a grabbing motion once again.
He was handed the material and Harry wound the material up into a headband style cloth and put it over his head to cover his forehead and ears, for even though his hair was long and ruffled so that it covered his ears, he knew they had a chance of being seen. So far, the men had not noticed his ears and they didn't seem to care much about his lightning bolt scar more than any of the other scars on his body. He still didn't know what it meant to have pointed ears, just that it separated him from normal in this world.
Harry ended up enjoying the horse back riding, though it was a bit awkward for him as he was seated on the first man's lap facing behind them. It was very comforting to Harry though, and he was engulfed in warmth.
He remembered the day before when he was coming out of the river water, how frozen he was. He willed his magic to warm himself but he couldn't get his magic to respond at all. He was so thankful for the warmth they were sharing with him.
The journey itself ended up being very quiet and the men were on alert watching their surroundings as they traveled. Harry ended up sleeping on and off during the journey as the men made their way on an unseen path in the middle of a forest.
Harry was uncomfortable relinquishing his hold on the first man as they stopped for a rest at a side road. He peered up at the tall man with wide eyes as the man laughed at him softly. The man spoke softly to Harry once again before he plopped Harry down in the middle of a small field where the men begun to unload their gear for the night. The men did a quick search around the area while Harry sat with the gear and horses.
The food the men had shared with Harry were very good. It included berries that Harry had never seen before. He examined the food carefully before eating it so that he could identify the food in the woods if he ever needed to scavenge for himself. The food here, while good, included many fruits he didn't think existed back home. Plus, Harry was a little worried that the men might abandon him. He didn't think they would, because they took care of him so far, but he knew he was a burden to them.
He was still quite uncertain with them, especially since he didn't know their language. They would chuckle at him as he made a mess on his shirt when he ate the food up. He couldn't help it; the food was so good and he was starving.
Again that night, he fell asleep with the first man, feeling quite safe. Part of him wondered if this is what it would have been like to have fallen asleep with Sirius or his father.
The next day was about the same but he noted that the men gave him many snacks throughout the day – it seemed they picked up on his hunger and were making sure he was well taken care of. It helped Harry quite a bit, even though it always embarrassed him, making him blush.
Over the course of the few days, Harry got closer to them and could feel his trust for them growing, but he still didn't know where they were going or what they were going to do with him. He started learning a few words like food and water, but he was very limited. He was quite pleased to at least learn their names, even if he never used them.
On the fifth day, it was still quiet in the woods. He noticed night falling, and that the men still hadn't stopped for the night. When Harry gave the man holding him an inquisitive look, Harbarad smiled down at him and spoke words Harry couldn't understand as he pointed to off in the distance where there were some lights in the sky that Harry guessed came from a town or city.
About another hour later, Harry could see the stars get dulled out in the sky by the lights of the town they were entering. The men began chatting with themselves quietly while wandering the town. Harry watched the people of the town, noting that though they didn't quite look like the same race as the men he was traveling with, none looked anything like him.
Harry saw them exchange money with what appeared to be the host of an establishment. They were shown to a huge room with two beds in it. Harry once again spent the night sharing a bed with the first man while the other two took shifts during the night. The bed was magnificent to Harry, almost as soft as the beds at Hogwarts.
It was the most comfortable sleep Harry had since he arrived in the new land. Possibly the best sleep in years, considering the camping he did with Hermione and Ron, and the constant state of stress that overwhelmed him from proper sleep.
He dreamed of finally belonging to a family, and wondered if his new body was a blessing that would lead him to people who would love him as family.
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