Warning/s: General depression and/or suicidal thoughts with contemplation/attempts of suicide.
Readers be ye warned.
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In any situation, Harry was never alone. When he was an Auror he always had a plan and the knowledge that his men would be behind him, offering support and back up. Later in his life as a Professor of DADA at Hogwarts, he had the friendship of his fellow professors, the support of his wife and the respect of the Wizarding community. Later in his retired life, he was surrounded by his many great grandchildren, old friends and colleagues.
Now Harry was utterly and miserably alone.
He was small, weakened by pain, and so very verry tired. Death, he thought bitterly, now would be a good time to show up. But just like all the other times, Death didn't appear. Harry turned his thoughts to why they would chase him in the first place. Was this Elf chasing him trying to help him? Or were Elflings sought after in this worlds equivalent of a Black Market? Or perhaps he was sought after as a delicacy for rich well to do people? Or maybe the Elf Model was just the run of the mill pervert...
Harry rubbed his eyes to stave off a building headache. Or maybe he'll just get caught and the Elf authorities would put him into an Elf orphanage. Then he'll be put into the Elf system and then be adopted by a nice Elf couple. He'll go to Elf school and then to Elf Uni, where he would study Elf studies and then graduate with Elf honors.
Or he could just try to die again. Regardless, Harry needed to come up with a plan and fast. The growing number of Elves was starting to become more of a giant flash mob than a small group of Elves. The Elf must have called for back up. Why so many would come was puzzling and frightening.
A whole bunch of Elves for little old me? I'm flattered. Harry, his blood spiked with adrenalin and his body weary and in pain, giggled from the ridiculousness of it all. Here he was, hiding behind a tree in a twisted game of Hide and Seek from lithe male models with pointy ears that called themselves Elves. It was in this lapse of attention that allowed Elladan to make his way to the tree undetected. Harry's giggle turned into a gasp as he tried to lunge and dodge Elladan's arms but was no match for the older and more experienced Elf. Elladan held Harry against his chest careful, after hearing from Thalon, not to have his hands anywhere near the small Elflings face. Elladan couldn't help but remember a time not too long ago when he had done the exact same move on a young human..except this time, instead of childlike laughter and innocence, it was an Elfling that was trying it's best to kick and thrash against him, biting his leather bracers on his forearms.
"Let. Me. Go!" Harry punctuated each word with a scream of anger as he resorted to headbutting the Elf with the back of his head. The Elf only lowered Harry so that he was only hitting his head on his chest. Harry then quickly changed tactics and swung the heel of his unhurt foot down onto a very sensitive part of the male anatomy. The Elves watching, both male and female, all winced in anticipation for the blow but Elladan was no greenhorn to his move. He had experienced it before with Estel. He suddenly dropped to a crouched position, still holding the Elfling, and let the
ground get the intended impact. Harry had been already flailing with both legs so when his uninjured foot struck the ground his injured foot also lashed out and hit the only large rock within the surrounding area with a resounding crack. The bone had been fractured earlier, weakening it and so bringing it down onto the rock completely shattered it.
Harry bit back a scream but couldn't help a mangled cry come out of his clenched teeth. The pain shot up his leg and caused his whole body to arch away from the pain that exploded. The sudden pain of it overrode all his other senses so that he didn't realized he was laying on the ground in fetal position, clutching at his ankle until he heard the Elf crooning -crooning? Is he seriously singing right now?- over him.
As soon as Harry had cried out in pain, the Elves leap forward with their hearts in their throats as Elladan quickly laid Harry down to inspect him for the injury. The little Elflings ankle was shattered. Not only was it swollen, but it was also an angry shade of red and visibly deformed. To add upon the injury, the poor Elfling was bearfooted and bore scratches and punctures from the rocks and branches he had ran on to get away. Elladan differed from his brother in that he was not one to be overly emotional and was often seen as cold and brooding yet the Elves around him would have been surprised to see his eyes cloud over in a dark flurry of emotions as he inspected the Elfling if they had not, themselves, been staring at the Elfling.
Elrohir, his normal jovial temperament push aside in worry, rushed to his brothers side and knelt along side him, his sharp eyes picking up the many cuts, bruises and hurts that the Elfling carried. "We must get him proper care, brother." Elrohir voice was soft and tinged with concern. All he got was a stoic nod from his brother but he knew that Elladan was concerned like he was. Without saying a word, Elrohir waved a nearby Elf over and dug into his satchel for some bandages. Deftly taking it, Elrohir wound it around the Elflings ankle as Elladan braced it with two branches that he had snapped in two with his strength. Efficiently stabilizing it for the moment, Elladan once more lifted the Elfling up with infinite more tenderness than he had done earlier and with a nod to the great company of Elves they ran swiftly towards their home.
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During the run to Rivendell, Harry arched, kicked, flailed, bit and even managed to give a handful of the Elf's dark hair a good yank before he was carefully wrapped in a blanket that was brought by one of the Elves in the group. Harry was effectively bundled up like a burrito but they couldn't do anything to stop him from yelling obscenities and screaming out to be released. He only started taper off when his voice started cracking from the constant abuse he was putting his vocal cords through.
"Put me down!" Harry spat out, his voice cracking at the end and glared at the Elf holding him. "Pointy eared goblin!" Elladan looked sharply down at the small Elfling that dared to call him such a thing. How could he be compared to such filthy and disgusting creatures? But more importantly, who was this Elfling to have caused the trees to react in such a way? Where had he come from?
"Do not fear is, little one. We are bringing you to safety." Elladan, not known for his bedside manner, tried to sooth the Elfling with his soft words.
"I. Don't. Care." Harry growled out in rage, forcing the words out from between his clenched teeth like venom as he bared them and tried to headbutt the Elf. Then, to the horror of the Elves, Harry proceeded to unleash every curse word, any profanity, foul expletive he had ever learned in his very long life.
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Elrond, in all his 6000 years of life spanning all four ages, had never seen the forest act in the way that it had. He had been in his study managing his work as Lord of Imladris when a wave of panic and horror swept over him. A sudden cold sweat made his clothes stick to his body as he fumbled with the inkwell almost spilling the entire bottle of it on his desk. Gasping in shock he clutched the sides of the desk to steady himself and quickly stood up to look outside. The trees were screaming in terror. He turned suddenly as the door swung open and Lindir rushed in, his eyes wide in panic. "Lord Elrond, the forest!" He squeaked as he clenched his hands, the same chilling sweat clinging to him. Glorfindel followed soon after already armed with his sword, Laurë, at his hip and waited for his orders.
"Gather all of the warriors. Have them armed and ready as there may be evil awaiting them." Elrond said grimly, his hands unconsciously gripping the air for a phantom sword at his hip. Glorfindel nodded once, his blonde hair brushing his Elven armor, and quickly made his way out of the room. Elrond started to make his way towards his armor and sword but was stopped by Lindir. "My Lord, if I may." Lindir hesitantly started. "Perhaps it would be best if you were to stay and help prepare the healers for any wounded Elves." Lindir was becoming more mother hen-ish with each passing decade. Elrond arched one eyebrow in irritation but quickly saw the wisdom in his words. He, as Lord of Imladris, must care for his affairs at his home rather than fight an unknown enemy and possibly fall in battle. Not that any mortal could possibly stand against him. But he was a great healer of his people and his talents could be used as such. He inclined his head and walked out of the room and headed to the House of Healing, his mind already whirling with the various preparations needing to be done in order to accommodate any incoming wounded.
As he knelt and carefully laid out the herbs and bandages, he sent out a silent prayer to Eru for his sons and for his people to come back safely. He could not bare to lose a child.
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"They are back!"
Elrond quickly made his way to the door and saw that the great number of Elven warriors were, indeed, coming home. They are back much too quickly, he thought as he scanned the group for any injuries and searched for his sons when he noticed the shock on all of the warriors faces. The tension in the air was tight as a string in a bow. He stared in concern as Elladan sprang up the steps to him, grief and worry written plain on his the face, as he held a small bundle in his arms. "Father..." Elladan said tightly as he reached the top. Elronds heart thudded painfully in his chest as he caught sight of what was in the bundle. With a strained look, Elohir finished, "It was an Elfling."
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Oh goodness. This chapter felt like pulling teeth. Actually, I've never had teeth pulled so it was more like a painfully long paper cut that didn't kill me but still hurt like crazy while it happened. Pain. Full.
I want to have a fantastically good reason for not posting anything but I don't really have an good excuse. I pretty much just moped around and watched Netflix's Lost in Space..
Ugh, I feel like this was terrible. Writing is hard y'all. Don't even know why I do it. Oh yeah. I do it for y'all. Cause I care for you. Yes, you. Lady with the messy hair. And you, girl with the freckles and the braces.
Currently writing the next chapter so, hopefully, you won't wait too long.