Guys I am experiencing feels at the moment.

I made the (un-regrettable) mistake of looking up DOS spoilers. And then I looked up the soundtrack.

And we wept, preciiooousssss...

Thorin's hair was a black mane that fell in perfect curly locks around his angular face, not too many curls, but not entirely straight either. He wore a loose, navy t-shirt that revealed his muscular arms, and tight, dark grey jeans complete with black converse hi-tops. His striking, familiar ice blue gaze swept the dorm, and eventually landed on Bilbo, who suddenly felt extremely self-conscious.

"Sorry I'm late," His voice was deep and rich. "I was studying in my dorm on the floor above this one.

"Theo!" Darcy pushed Bilbo aside and hugged his best friend. "No doubt you could hear us!"

"Indeed," Theo pushed himself away from Darcy. "I'm Theodore. I'm basically the leader of this friendship group."

"I see," Bilbo's voice came out as a squeak. "I'm Bill."

Theo studied him. "Do you have any martial arts training?" He began circling Bilbo like he did at Bag End. "Karate? Taekwondo?"

"I can use a sword," he blurted out, and suddenly clamped a hand over his mouth. Theo raised an eyebrow.

"Not that it's necessary," he said quickly. "But I can defend myself if I want to."

"Sure," Theo said. "Whatever you say." He gave him a long look, and then went to sit down at the long table, where the dwarves had situated themselves as he and Theo were speaking. Bilbo felt hot in his cheeks as he sat down next to Kyle and a chubby boy with a tuft of ginger hair on his head, wearing an olive coloured sweater.

"Bruno- Bruno Lewis," He introduced himself, shaking hands with him. "Theo has that effect on people. Don't let him intimidate you."

"Right," Bilbo mumbled. Thanks a lot, Bombur.

"He is good fun, once you get to know him." Kyle whispered to him on his other side.

"Okay," Theo clasped his hands together. "Since we're in the dorm of a stranger who probably doesn't know our names, let us all introduce ourselves."

"Darcy Walker." He cracked his knuckles as he stared at Bilbo.

"Bailey Walker." He gave Bilbo a friendly wink.

The next dwarf bent his head and muttered something incomprehensible. He had a shock of scruffy black hair, and he wore a yellow hoodie.

"That's Boris." The dwarf sitting on Theo's right spoke up. He wore a funny shaped hat, and a mustard coloured t-shirt. "He's a bit shy. I'm Blake- Blake Lewis, the charming brother of the ginger sitting next to you." he added. Bilbo was comforted by his familiar, Irish accent. "Nice to meet you."

"Boris has autism," Bruno whispered in his ear. "He's a bit shy, but he'll eventually warm up to you."

"Oscar Moore." A boy with curly, mud brown hair tipped his head.

"Flynn Johnson." The blonde boy waved lazily.

"Kyle Johnson."

"Bruno Lewis."

"Oliver Wright."

"Dominic Wright." To his surprise, there was a friendly twinkle in his classmate's eye, as he reached over the table to shake Bilbo's hand. "Sorry for being rude to you in Biology."

"Nathan Cooper."

"Geoffrey Moore." The speaker was a boy with wavy, fiery red hair that clashed with a blood-red shirt he was wearing.

"And I'm Theodore Johnson, but you can call me Theo," The dwarf turned his clear gaze onto Bilbo. "And you are?"

Damn it! Gandalf hadn't included a last name in his memories. He was going to have to improvise. "Bill Ba-"He choked.

"Yes?" Darcy looked at him doubtfully.

"Baker," he managed to say. "Bill Baker."

"Now, down to business," Theo said. "Bill, did Mr Grey tell you why we came today?"

He shook his head in denial.

"Okay," he said. "We're here because we are victims of bullying in the school yard."

"Hence, the martial arts question." Bruno murmured in Bilbo's ear.

"And…Mr Grey can't do anything about this?" Bilbo quipped.

To his surprise, Theo shook his head. "Teachers aren't allowed to directly interfere with student affairs. This is why we have a student council to sort this kind of issue out."

"However, in the social class ranking, we're somewhere at the bottom." Oscar said, who Bilbo had identified to be Oin. "So being in our group is something like committing social suicide."

"Plus, all the popular people are on the student council," Darcy added in. "They hate our guts."

"Especially Thomas Green." Theo growled. "He's watched us with an upturned nose and done nothing to help us. His cousin, Leo Green, continues to antagonise us with his smugness."

"So that's why there is a very nice loophole in the teacher-student rule," Flynn said. "Though they're not allowed to interfere directly, they're allowed to give us help to solve our problem."

"So that's why we need you!" Bailey pointed at Bilbo, who flinched away slightly.

"Ummm…" Bilbo said awkwardly.

"He…doesn't really fit what we're looking for." Geoffrey peered at him owlishly.

"Are you saying you don't trust Mr Grey's judgement?" Dominic challenged, getting out of his chair to lean across the table towards Geoffrey.

"Guys!" Theo shouted. "Settle down!"

With some dark mutters, Dominic sat down again.

"Anyway, our bully goes by the name of…" Theo paused. "Alan Davies."

Right. "That…doesn't sound very scary."

"Well, you should be!" Darcy growled across the table. "Just imagine a boy, bigger than me, with extremely pale skin and blonde hair like white fire!"

"He's like a…" Blake struggled to find words. "…like a very macho vampire."

Bilbo would've laughed, if the others hadn't been looking so serious.

"The name of Alan strikes fear into the hearts of the lower class people in the social status ranking." Theo said. "It wouldn't for you, since you've such a pampered life somewhere up the top."

Bilbo felt a bit guilty at that statement. Though he wasn't at the top, he was rather respected by his classmates and other students. No one bothered him and his friends at lunch.

"Keep a low profile," Harry had instructed. "A very, low profile. That way, Alan will leave us alone."

"Anyway," Bailey said, cutting through the awkwardness. "Mr Grey chose you to help us…so, I think you will."

"Well said, Bailey." Flynn muttered.

"So as you've probably guessed by now, Alan is popular," Theo said briskly. "Only due to his cruelty and menacing presence."

"He surrounds himself with pathetic followers," Darcy said, crossing his arms. "They're small, but vicious. They will follow his orders without question."

"He flatters them, and softens them up," Geoffrey said. "Then when they think he's their friend, he abuses them, and puts them down."

"Which gives us a small advantage," Oscar said. "No one likes him."

"But why don't his current friends abandon him?" Bilbo asked, perplexed by this problem.

"Alan sort of gives them protection, in a way," Theo explained. "The friends he makes are right at the bottom of the social ladder. So joining him seems like the most logical option for them. So even though he's popular, not many people actually agree with him."

"If they have the courage to disagree." Dwalin said bitterly. Just as he said that, Bilbo suddenly noticed cuts and bruises on the others, on Flynn's arms, Darcy's face…

"Alan uses force and brute strength to get what he wants." Dominic explained.

"That's why we need someone to help overthrow him!" Oliver piped up.

"Alan may be strong, but he's got no brains," Bailey said. "We were thinking of humiliating him so badly, even his followers would scatter."

"And how would you do that?" Bilbo asked. He was met with silence, and awkward stares. After a long hesitation, Theo spoke.

"We don't actually know," he confessed. "But Mr Grey said you were an excellent problem solver."

Bilbo snorted. "Yeah, if you want me to bore Alan to death with a couple of maths equations."

"He told us there was something within you," Geoffrey said. "Something that you couldn't even see."

"How flattering."

"Mr Grey's never been wrong before," Oscar was looking serious. "So you should trust him."

"Whatever." Bilbo hated giving these one-worded answers. I know how this is all going to end!

"It's getting late," Kyle checked his watch. "I think we should all get going. I've got to do some homework."

"But there is much, much more to discuss!" Blake protested. "Stuff the history homework I have to hand in tomorrow! This is much more important."

"Kyle's right," Theo stood up. "We should get going. I have a Business Management essay to be handed in tomorrow."

This was followed by a chorus of shouts about how they all had to hand something tomorrow.

"Okay, okay!" Bilbo put his hands up in resignation. "How about I come sit with you guys tomorrow."

Instantly, Theo shook his head. "No."

"Why not?" Bilbo was confused.

Dominic sighed. "We already discussed this!" he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Do you want to commit social suicide?" Geoffrey hissed. "Do you even know what the feeling of losing all your followers on Facebook feels like?"

"No," Bilbo said pointedly. "I don't have Facebook."

"Stop trying to sass-mouth me! It feels horrible!"

"Guys! What I'm trying to say is…I already have." This seemed to quieten down the loud dwarves.

Darcy looked at him with incredulity. "What?"

"If I'm seen helping you guys, well…" Bilbo trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"We could meet secretly in one of our dorms or something." Oscar suggested.

Bilbo shook his head. "It'll be too hard. Just too much running around and confusion. Plus, with our VCE exams coming up-"

"Okay." Bailey cut through Bilbo's babbling. "We'll do it your way. But are you sure?" he added hesitantly.

Bilbo nodded firmly. Jeez, guys! Why can't you get my point? "Very sure. I'll have all night to think about it anyway."

"Plus, at least one person gonna see us leaving Bilbo's dorm, and then they'll know he's with us then," Kyle pointed out. "News spreads around this school like wildfire."

"Even if we leave now, everyone's gonna know by the morning." Blake agreed with Kyle. "Well, Bill," He clapped him on the back. "You're stuck with us now."

"Yep," Bilbo replied. "Totally," He went to the door and opened it. "Go out one by one." he said. "And slowly."

His new found friends began filing out. As they did, they said their goodbyes.

"Bye Bill!"

"See ya tomorrow!"

"Good night!"

Finally, the last person to come out was Theo. He had loitered around the back of the room, until the last person, Oliver, had walked out.

"Very brave, what you're doing," he remarked. "Do you think you could handle it?"

Bilbo nodded.

Theo smiled, a very rare occurrence with Thorin. "I'd hoped you'd say that," Just before he went out the door, he whispered in Bilbo's ear.

"Welcome to the Company."

Comments? Criticism? Both are welcome!