The Disadvantages of Portus
Harry and Ron walked on, in dejected silence. Their legs were aching, but what was he to say?, thought Harry fiercely. Hermione will make it. The elf was leading them on faster still, and Harry even felt pity for the short folk, who had identified themselves as hobbits earlier.
Each day they stopped at midnight and rose before the sun, and Harry desperately wished that he was in a later year at school, so they could all apparate. Sadly, magic wasn't always the answer to problems.
Everything was tiring about the trip; even the bland food eaten.
Hermione was vaguely aware that she was somewhere unknown, and as she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was warm yellow light flooding through the white curtain. Not knowing where she was, her first instinct was to reach for her wand- but it wasn't there. Dismayed, she eventually found it at a side table, and tried to remember what had happened.
A blade, an elf, a horse. Pretty self explanatory. Still confused as to where she was, though, Hermione looked through her maps and found nothing of this land. A fleeting thought occurred to her, but it couldn't be true- so she dismissed the thought.
Where did Harry and Ron go? Hermione went outside, somewhere where she thought Harry would be, but as she went out, she stopped to marvel at the architecture- much, much more grand than the Hogwarts castle. Tall, marble buildings and sloping ones, some of an ancient grey stone. Black gates, and glass windows- pleasant, though it was just a window.
"Marvellous," she heard someone say beside her, and Hermione wholeheartedly agreed. Even that word wasn't enough to sum up the beauty of the place. She jumped at the voice, only to see Harry right beside her.
"Harry!" She said breathlessly. "Where have you been? Where is this? I've been searching for you for hours!"
"More like a few minutes, but just as well," Harry grinned, ignoring Hermione's, 'Oh, shut up.'
"Dunno where we are, though," he said. "I asked, and they said Rivendell. Somewhere in this place called 'Middle Earth.' When I asked, they looked at me like I was crazy."
"Because you are. Come on, let's find Ron. Any idea where he is?"
"Last time I checked, enjoying the hospitality of the elves. So, are you okay?"
"What?" Asked Hermione, confused.
"The blade," Harry explained patiently. "Poison stuff- you know."
"Fine," Hermione said, not having noticed it before. But Harry cared for her! It was a friendship thing, Hermione knew, but still. In order to prevent Harry from asking anything else, she said, "let's go find Ron."
They turned a sharp corner in the House of Elrond, which, to them, seemed like a maze. Endless corridors; they would have trouble finding any intended place.
"You'd better wear something different, though. Here, I've never seen a girl wear trousers."
"Well, I do, and I'm a girl. Anyways, I'm wearing robes, no one will notice."
They ran in silence for a while, in the House of Elrond (which Harry re-named the Maze of Elrond.) After what seemed like a long time, Harry sighed.
"You know what? Forget about Ron. Let's just go outside," he said, running straight into a corridor, bumping into someone.
"Ron?"
A grin on Ron's face told them he heard everything Harry just said.
"Forget about Ron, huh?" He said, taking a satisfying bite out of an apple he'd brought.