*Dashes into the room, panting as if having run a marathon*
I MADE IT! FINALLY!
Let me tell you a little bit about my week:
I wrote a lovely new chapter and laughed gaily as I finished it, told Andy that I would be posting it later that Saturday, and then set upon a journey to my fanfiction website. I went to create a new document... AND IT DIDN'T WORK.
IT WAS SO IRRITATING.
Like, I couldn't get to the copy & pace section, at all.
GRRRRRRR
Anyways, that's why this is on so late; my fanfiction account hated me and decided to rebel.
I hope you enjoy!
As always, this Fanfic was written in honour of Andy the willow tree, who absolutely fab.
...
Aragorn couldn't help but grin when he spotted a familiar head of gold amidst the sea of students streaming into the Great Hall. The next semester was starting, and in all honesty he was looking forward to it.
More importantly, he was looking forward to not being alone anymore.
He had his dad and his brothers, and they had celebrated a lovely Christmas together… but it wasn't as if he got to spend all his time hanging around his family. There were times where he was alone and rather miserable, or not alone with rather unpleasant company.*
And that was always worse.
And so one can imagine his excitement when he spotted Legolas making his way through the crowds, waving enthusiastically at him. Then, without a glance to the myriad of weird looks he received, the blonde popped down next to Aragorn as if sitting down of at a table not of your house- and next to Isildur's heir no less- was the most natural thing to do in the world.
He couldn't help but grin as Legolas casually grabbed an orange from the giant fruit bowl in front of them.
"You do know you're not supposed to sit here, right?"
The Ravenclaw raised an eyebrow.
"Why not? These are student tables, and we're all students. Besides, I've never read anything that says that were not allowed to sit at other house's tables."
Aragorn snorted at his companion's insistence and let it slide with a shrug of his shoulders. In all honesty, he was just happy to see Legolas back to his cheerful, vibrant self; ever since the forest, the blonde had been oddly downcast and quiet.
The next person to join their little group was Boromir, who rolled eyes at Legolas- who smiled innocently at him- and then heavily sat down across from them without a word. Reaching for the chicken without further ado, he consumed the meat as if he hadn't eaten in days.
Aragorn continued to work at his own meal- he was used to the redhead's eating habits- but Legolas stared for a whole ten seconds, expression growing more and more disgusted, before delicately putting his half eaten orange down onto the table.
"Ya know? I'm not that hungry anymore…"
And Aragorn laughed, because it felt amazing to finally be surrounded by his friends once more.
When Gimli joined the group, he nodded to his fellow Gryffindors and then huffed at the sight of the blonde.
"What're you doin' here, Blondie?"
Legolas raised an eyebrow at the redhead, his expression plainly questioning the shorter's intelligence.
"Sitting? Talking? Breathing? Surely you have some sort of skill in observation…"
Gimli glared at the Ravenclaw.
"I meant what are you doing at our table."
Legolas picked his orange back up, looking down at it instead of at the Gryffindor, and absentmindedly popped a piece in his mouth, despite the claim that he was no longer hungry.
"I already told you."
Gimli's face grew redder than his hair, and it looked as if he was about to blow, but Boromir grabbed his arm and forced him to sit down, giving him a few sympathetic pats on the back and then shaking his head, informing his fellow ginger that the argument wasn't worth it.
Aragorn watched in silence, wishing the two would get along.
The group left the hall early, retreating to the library as planned; they assumed that they should share any information they gathered as quickly as possible, and away from listening ears and prying eyes.
"Well… Did any of you guys find anything?"
Aragorn started the conversation, painfully aware of the awkwardness.
Legolas piped up first.
"I talked with my dad, it seemed as if the Dark Lord was immortal, that no matter how many times you killed him, he would come back."
Gimli spoke up as well, voice gruff and with an peculiar exression on his face, as if he had just been forced to eat something disgusting. (Aragorn suspected that it had a lot to do with the fact he had been forced to agree with the blonde.)
"I got the same info. One of my uncles actually got a shot at the bastard; didn't work. Apparently he had some sort of magic that made him impossible to kill."
Legolas frowned.
"What sort of magic could possibly be strong enough- oh."
The blood rushed out of the his face, far paler than anyone should ever be.
Aragorn, concerned, placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Legolas?"
The blonde shook his head, flashing a small, shaky smile to the brunette before leaning in closer to the other boys.
"In my library, there's this really big book. My father said that I wasn't allowed to read it, but… well, I read it. It was a book about dark magic, and their was a section about this magical implement called horcruxes... Basically, to make a horcrux you have to split your soul into pieces and then place those pieces into an object. And as long as a horcrux exists you just… you don't die."
Silence.
"Well that's not creepy."
Boromir was the breaker of said silence, and his face stated very plainly that it was, in fact, very creepy.
Legolas laughed, except it was more strangled and terrified than anything else.
"But you're missing the point, those… creatures were searching for something. They could sense it… And that means whatever they sensed had to be some powerful magical artifact. And anything related to those creatures can not be good…"
The blonde looked around, blue orbs pleading that his friends would not come to the same conclusion as himself. Pleading that he was wrong.
Aragorn's eyes widened when he realized just what his friend was implying.
"You don't mean…"
Legolas bit his lip and nodded, causing Aragorn to close his eyes and pale as well.
"Well!? Spit it out!"
The two redheads glared at the enlightened members of their group, their lack of comprehension making them frustrated.
The brunette was the one who responded.
"Horcruxes are created with incredible dark magic, right? And those creatures were in the forest, searching for something…"
Gimli huffed, but there was fear in his eyes when he finally spoke up.
"You're not actually suggesting that…"
"There might be a horcrux hidden in Hogwarts? That's exactly what we're suggesting."
Legolas spoke up as well.
"And if the horcrux belongs to the Dark Lord… then the Great Peace may be coming to an end very, very soon…"
...
Boromir leaned closer to Aragorn, speaking quietly in hopes that the Professor Dwalin wouldn't notice their subtle conversation.
"So… What are we going to do?"
"Tell an adult."
Boromir frowned, leaning in closer.
"That's it? We're just… going to give the information up and let someone else handle it?"
Aragorn finally looked up from his diligent note taking, annoyance clear in his expression.
"You're right; let's just not say anything about the possibly crucial information that may or may not hint of the Dark Lord's return and keep it to ourselves, four eleven-year-old untrained kids. That will go extremely well. Of course we're going to go to someone about it!"
"Well-"
It was then the boys heard a loud clearing of throat behind them, and they both froze.
"Having a nice… chat, boys?"
The young Gryffindors sheepishly turned in their seats, innocent smiles plastered on their faces. They knew it was a hopeless cause, but still… perhaps faking sincerity would keep them in the professor's good books for just a little longer.
"Uh, hi sir! We were just discussing the best way to grind the porcupine quill…"
Besides him, Boromir felt Aragorn wince.
"And why would you be doing that, lad? We're currently not even making a potion. We're taking notes. Independently. Silently."
Boromir chuckled, voice strained and high pitched underneath the leering gaze of the intimidating professor, and besides him Aragorn buried his head in his hands, refusing to look; the whole situation was getting out of control, and the entire class was in titters at the duo's misfortune.
A few desks ahead, Boromir spied Gimli hunching further over his scroll, shoulders shaking in silent laughter.
Revenge was required over the little incident, but it would have to be dealt with at a different time, for now there was an angry adult looming over him, enchanted tattoos swirling across scarred skin.**
"Ummm… I was curious?"
Aragorn released a groan, muffled by his hands.
Professor Dwalin stared. And stared. And stared.
Boromir leaned slightly away from the Potion's Master, a bead of sweat dripping down the side of his face.
And then the professor laughed, long and hard, and slapped the ginger on the back once before heading to his desk, deep chuckles still reverberating around the room.
The brunette peaked out from underneath his fingers, releasing a huge breath of relief once it was revealed that there would be no punishment; Professor Dwalin was like that. He was strict, blunt, and at times downright terrifying, but he was also kind under his rough exterior, and was known to unexpectedly laugh in response to misbehaving kids. The man was a war-hero, a gruff teacher, and a gruffer friend, but he was fair and considerate in his own way, and Aragorn was all the happier for it; not all the teachers of Hogwarts were so nonchalant of having the heir of Isildur in their class….
Gimli, upon seeing his chance, had turned in his seat and was now grinning at the two, his expression showing his endless amusement at their expense. Boromir, in return, glowered at him, and Aragorn rolled his eyes before going back to taking his notes, pretending that the whole incident hadn't happened and that the class was most definitely not staring at them.
And it was strange, for if he had been in this situation only a few months ago, he would already be halfway through a panic attack. But now… now, he was embarrassed and self conscious, but not in a way that was so emotionally incapacitating that all he wanted to do was run from the room and hide for the rest of forever. Now there was no anger, or guilt. There was no shame. There was just minor embarrassment of being caught by the teacher, and the silly feud that meant nothing between his friends, and Boromir nudging him on the shoulder to get his attention before sending a miniature army of spitballs at Gimli with a wave of his wand, and Gimli retaliating by somehow conjuring a paper dragon that insistently bombarded Boromir for the rest of the class…
Now there was just friendship and showing off and messing around.
And when Boromir goaded him on, Aragorn rolled his eyes but did his part, fashioning a paper sword and sending it charging across the room, right into Gimli's nose.
And when Gimli only froze for a few seconds, his brain apparently unable to comprehend, Aragorn did not sink into apologies and stutters, he laughed.
And when he was required to bat away a dragon that had decided to refocus its intentions on him, the thought that the redhead was actually angry never even entered his mind, for he knew it was all in fun.
And it was stupid and silly and he should have really aid attention to the lesson instead of goofing off. He should have really been worrying about the troublesome theories and the possible return of the Dark Lord. He should have been proactive or creating a strong plan for their next move that had no terrible risks.
But in those few moments, he couldn't bring himself to really care, basking in the pleasure of having things he never thought he would really get to have….
Friends.
...
Notes:
*To all you people who don't celebrate Christmas, I'm sorry if this offends you in any shape, way, or form. :)
**AWWWWWW YAAAAS MAGIC TATOOOOOOOSSSS! :D :D :D
So yeah! There's you're chapter. Personally, I really enjoyed the ending, and Aragorn breaks my heart. (DON'T BE SAD ARAGORN I LOVE YOU!) What are your thoughts, my dear reader? I would love to hear them. :) (LIKE REALLY, REALLY; HEARING YOUR THOUGHTS MAKES ME SUPER HAPPY!)
Now. I have some bad news. Or good news. Depends on how you see it:
I'm joining NaNoWriMo, which means I'll be devoting all my free time to writing my novel, which means that I won't be updating this story during the month of November, unless I get really stuck with my project. So, the story will go on a short hiatus- maybe. (I may fail miserably and come crawling back to you guys, we'll see.)
SORRY!
(For those who don't know what NaNoWriMo is about, it's awesome! It's like an online writing world for authors who want help with their novels. I strongly recommend you check it out!)
HUGE AMAZING SPARKLY THANK YOU TO ANDY THE WILLOW TREE AND BOAT-HACKS, WHO ARE SO KIND AND CARING AND WONDERFUL! ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL FIREWORK IN THE SKY THANK YOU TO PHISH TACO, THE SODU, AND AVIDFFREADER99, WHO LIGHT UP MY WORLD WITH JOY AND HAPPINESS!
Man, that was a lot of caps...
Anyways, thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed, and I look forward to next time!
-Mashpotatoe Queen
