Dear readers, I'm back! finally... I have a new house but the internet connection wasn't there... I have a few stories ready for this story (the only one I hadn't stored online... I'm going to update today and tomorrow. after that I'm going to focus on my main story for a month to get some chapters ready there. I'll come back here soon...

Okay this chapter is about introducing Ginny to Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli...

6. Companions.

Ginny had another restless night. Gandalf's explanation of having no choice but to fight if she wanted to be able to live and her desire to die and join her family fought a heavy battle inside her head and heart. Apparently there was still a part inside her that wanted a chance. That wanted to survive to see what life would offer her.

It made her dreams erratic and disturbing. She woke up twice by the screams coming from herself. Twice more she woke up, bathing in sweat and whimpering against the pain these dreams created. Her dreams were plagued with visions of Harry's death but the setting wasn't always Hogwarts. Sometimes it was a strange fortress or a damp and dark forest. She didn't even see her family, only Harry. Always Harry, going from a perfectly happy moment to what seemed like the darkest of horror stories. Blood, pain, death everywhere.

Gandalf had been there every time, soothing her, whispering calming words. He had been like a grandfather. Later in the morning after they got ready for the day he had offered her a chance to talk about it again. He told her that once his companions would arrive time to talk would become less but Ginny couldn't. It had not been even three days ago that her world broke into pieces, it was still too fresh.

"We should get ready." Gandalf murmured as he extinguished his pipe. Ginny nodded.

"Somebody is here. Close by." She whispered. She had been feeling an extra presence in the woods. Somebody with some sort of magic flowing from him or her. "I can feel at least one new magical being in the forest. His or her magic flows through the forest. It's so easy to feel it in this world."

Gandalf nodded. "Let's meet them. The sooner we are on our way the better." Gandalf walked forward slowly. "Stay behind me."

Ginny didn't need to be told that twice. Somehow the air of the forest started to get tense. It felt like the trees started to get angry. The trees were creaking, they gave a warning. She didn't like the feeling much.

As she followed Gandalf she heard sounds a little bit further away of people talking. She pulled her wand out of its holster and raised it. She saw that Gandalf was summoning some of his magic. His aura started to glow. His pure white light was illuminating the dark forest around them.

Again the sound of people speaking reached her.

"Do not let him speak, he'll put a spell on us." She heard a man say.

Gandalf stepped forward to confront the speaking man. In the light the wizard was emitting Ginny was able to make out the speaker. He had his sword raised. He looked ready to strike. Suddenly she heard the sound of something flying towards them and in an instinctual reaction she wrapped a shield around her and Gandalf. With a bang she saw an axe bounce of the shield and shatter. A second later it was followed by an arrow that met the same end.

Gandalf showed his real magic for the first time. The sword of the man in the front turned red hot. Like an extreme heating spell. The man quickly dropped it to prevent that his hands were burned severely.

She looked around, the blonde still had his arrow tight on his bow and the small one had his next ax ready. Deciding that they were still a threat so she kept her shield up. Though it was with difficulty. She tried to pull from the magic that flowed through the earth to keep her shield steady and was surprised that it worked so easily.

"You are tracking the footsteps of two young hobbits." Gandalf spoke, his voice vibrating with magic. "They passed this way, the day before yesterday. They met someone they didn't expect, does that comfort you?"

Ginny was sure that this wizard was Dumbledore reincarnated, his feeling for drama and grandeur was just as weird and impressive. As were his riddles.

"Who are you!" the man in the front demanded. "Show yourself."

With a smile that Ginny knew was mocking them Gandalf released the magic and dimmed his light.

"It can't be." The man whispered. "You fell."

"Through fire and water." Gandalf answered, an experienced story teller he told the men about his journey. Ginny had heard this story before and took her time to look at the three travelers. The man who had spoken was probably Aragorn. She hadn't been wrong about him. He had something regal about him. With a stab of pain she realized he looked a bit like Sirius. Roughish look, long dark hair, strong face and sad eyes. She wondered if he was just as nice as Sirius.

The short man was the dwarf, Gimli. He had a long reddish brown beard and hair. He wore heavy armor, multiple axes and a helmet that looked very heavy. Besides that Ginny thought he had a friendly look to him. He was definitely not as scary as she expected him to be from Gandalf's stories about dwarves.

To the far left stood the Elf. Her jaw dropped as she looked at the beautiful being. He was definitely not a house-elf! His blond long hair, his fair perfect skin, sea green eyes and muscled body were stunning. Surely Veela's are related to them, she mused. Legolas, as Gandalf had named him wore a dark green cloak, green breaches, leather boots and a darker green tunic. Ginny could see it was decorated but she wasn't close enough to see the details.

As their stance turned less offensive Legolas lowered his bow and Gimli kneeled. It was for her enough to lower her shield. She did so with an exhausted sigh. Keeping up that shield was very draining even with the aid of the energy around her.

"Gandalf." The man said. The others followed in a whisper.

"Gandalf?" The wizard asked. His expression was comical. Like he just heard that name for the first time. It almost made Ginny laugh. It was all a part of coming back to the world of the living and introducing himself for Gandalf. There was no doubt left in her, this was Dumbledore in a new body. "Yes, that was my name, Gandalf the Gray. I am Gandalf the White and I come back to you at the turn of the tide."

Ginny listened to the power that resonated from the wizard. This wasn't the Gandalf she had come to know over the last two days. Perhaps this was his face towards the outside world. To her he had seemed more a grandfather but now she realized he was also a figure of power, a leader. She really liked the old man, his sense of humor and antic but also his wisdom and kindness.

After their initial greetings Gandalf turned towards her and smiled.

"Come here, my dear, I'll introduce you."

With her head held up high and a deep gulp of air she stepped out of the shadows. She felt a bit nervous to meet these new people. She wondered if they were different than the people back in England but she knew she had nothing to fear. Either they would accept her as Gandalf's friend or they would see her as a traitor or something dangerous and kill her. She could agree with both options.

She watched as all three men's eyes widened at her appearance.

"This is lady Ginevra, though she might correct me to name her Ginny." Gandalf said with a wink towards her. "She is an Istar."

At his words all three men immediately bowed to her. She knew from Gandalf's stories that all races of Middle Earth honored the Istari but this was a bit too much. The bowing and the submission were just weird. She wasn't any better than a man or elf.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, milady." Aragorn said with his head bowed. A bit uncomfortable with these formal greetings Ginny glanced at Gandalf. He smiled and nodded. She took another deep breath and stepped towards Aragorn. She held out a hand and placed it on his shoulder. At her touch he looked up in surprise.

"Please do not bow to me. The pleasure is all mine, Aragorn." Ginny whispered. His eyes widened a bit when he heard her saying his name but he stood up and nodded at her with a smile. Ginny smiled back, there was so much kindness in this man's eyes, she felt slightly overwhelmed by it.

When the others kept their heads down she moved towards Gimli.

"You too, Gimli, please do not bow for me."

The dwarf harrumphed and a small chuckle escaped from him. "Okay, lass. As you wish." He got up and shook her hand.

With another deep breath she turned to the elf. She felt different when it came to the elf. She wasn't sure but somehow she desired his approval the most.

"Legolas." She said softly. He looked up at her and met her eyes. The force of the depth and emotion in them nearly knocked her of her feet. They were even more stunning as she initially thought.

As she got closer she felt a soft energy coming from him. This man, elf, was the source of the magic she had felt before. A kind and loving magic but strong. Very strong. "Like I said there is no need to bow for me. I feel I should be the one to bow to all of you." Her voice was shaking slightly.

Legolas got up and nodded at her.

"The Istari are seen as a very powerful race of people. It would only do you good to treat them with the same respect as you treat a king." Legolas explained.

"There is no such need, Gandalf told me a lot about you all. Friends of Gandalf are friends of mine. You should not fear me nor treat me different." Ginny answered with a smile. She was happy that the three men accepted her so easily. She could only hope that when it came to using her magic in front of them they would still be so easy.

Gandalf nodded and place a hand on her shoulder.

"We should move." He told the group. He softly steered Ginny in the right direction. "One part of your journey is over, an other begins. We should travel to Edoras with great speed."

"Edoras? That's no short journey." The dwarf muttered.

"We heard rumors, that it goes ill with the king." Aragorn said as he walked next to Gandalf. "Yes, Saruman's hold on Théoden is strong, I feel it." Gandalf nodded, "We should make haste."

"What about the hobbits!" Gimli asked. "We can't leave them in this dark damp tree invested…" the air in the forest tightened and Ginny felt seriously threatened. "oh, charming, quite charming forest."

"It was more than mere chance that brought Merry and Pippin to Fangorn. A great power has been sleeping here for many long years. The coming of Merry and Pippin will be like the falling of small stones that starts an avalanche in the mountains." Gandalf said to Gimli.

"In one thing you haven't changed my dear friend." Aragorn said with an amused smile. "You still speak in riddles."

Ginny looked over her shoulder to see how Gandalf would react. Would he explain? With a sense of loss she remembered how Dumbledore used riddles to get Harry ready for what he needed to do. It learned them to really think about the words and not just trust what is being said.

"A thing is about to happen that has not happened since the Elder Days. The Ents are going to wake up and find that they are strong." Gandalf said with a smile.

"Strong?" Gimli asked. To Ginny the dwarf almost sounded scared and she couldn't blame him. She had seen Treebeard, she could imagine the destruction a whole bunch of such trees could create.

"So stop your fretting, Master Dwarf." Gandalf reprimanded the dwarf, "Merry and Pippin are quite safe. In fact, they are far safer than you are about to be." Gandalf was laughing at the dwarf and winked at Ginny as she followed him through the trees. The dwarf behind them was still muttering.

"Have you ever traveled by horse, Ginevra?" Gandalf asked as they made their way through the forest.

"No, but I have traveled on Thestrals before. They are similar to horses." She answered. Again the memory hurt, she winched slightly and fought against the tears that were threatening to rip her heart in two. "Will we travel to Edoras by horse?"

"Yes, it's the fastest way to cross the country."

Ginny nodded. She had always loved animals, horses in particular but by means of transport, she considered broom and apparition a far better idea. With a sad sigh she realized that they were a part of her past. No magical brooms here and the others couldn't apparate. She wasn't even sure if she could here.

While they walked back to the plains Legolas couldn't help but stare at the young woman that accompanied Gandalf. She was different from anything he had even encountered before. Her flaming red hair, her pale freckled skin, even her eyes were different. They were deep, full of fire but veiled with hurt and sadness. The soul behind them looked very old.

Her clothes were different too. It wasn't what a woman should wear but somehow it fitted her. Her tight breeches wrapped around long slender legs. The way-too-short tunic showed even more female features. Many women would feel very uncomfortable in those clothing but she didn't, she moved with confidence.

As an elf he had always been in touch with the flows of the Earth. He felt the power of Arda flowing through him constantly but she emitted something stronger. Even stronger than the magic he felt flowing from Gandalf. He knew she is a force to reckon with and maybe even fear.

He listened to her talk to Gandalf, she spoke to him with a familiarity that indicated they were old friends but she couldn't be older than seventeen summers. The words she used were different too. They weren't without respect but differently. Even when she had spoken to them her words had been respectful but not formal.

He hadn't been surprised that she knew their names, Gandalf would have told her but he was surprised that she the way she greeted them. Like she didn't realize how powerful the Istari were.

She was a mystery and he couldn't help but feeling drawn to her. In some strange way.