Chapter 10: Aragorn's worries

A/N: Well here's the new chapter! Phew! We're up to 10 chapters now. Please review to let me know that you're all still reading and to let me know what you're thinking about the story so far. And be sure to tell me your thoughts about the last part :)

Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize is mine

"For neither can live while the other survives..." Aragorn snorted and kicked a rock.

The fellowship had taken rest at the peak of a very rocky hill. From his position between two rocks he could see the Merry and Pippin practicing with their daggers against Boromir, Neville, Frodo and Sam looking on amusedly. He had to admit, it brought a small smile to his face seeing them pin the mighty captain of Gondor down to the ground.

Then there was Luna, Draco – no Dramien now, he mustn't forget that, and Legolas, having a seemingly intense conversation while leaning against a fairly large boulder. Legolas was pointing rather fiercely at a mountain that could be seen at a distance. For a fleeting moment Aragorn wondered what they were talking about, but ignored his curiosity.

Finally, there was Gandalf, Hermione, Ginny and Harry, pouring over a map and several books, which Hermione had brought along in her bag, in hushed tones. Gimli who was sitting on a rock nearby was commenting once in a while. Aragorn had to admit, the bag was one of the biggest wonders he had seen these magic-doers accomplish. Because of it, they were better fed and rested than they could have hoped for.

What would we have done without her , he thought amusedly. His expression then turned sour Probably not much, they're here to help us win the war, but in the end it is I who has to end it. I am the one who is supposed to kill him. And to do that I have to properly challenge him from the throne of Gondor. Something I would rather die than do, but the only other option is to let other people die instead, which I would hate even more... I suppose in the run for the greater good, my own hesitancies do not matter one bit.

Aragorn then gave a morbid laugh and took another puff from his pipe

Just then there was a quiet cough on top of him. Ron Weasley was standing on one of the rocks he was leaning against.

"May I join you?" the redhead asked

"Yes, of course" Aragorn said waving his right arm in invitation, putting his neutral face on. It wouldn't do to show any of his companions his true opinions. Feelings were for the weak.

"Thanks" Ron took a seat on the rock on Aragorns right side, his legs dangling over it. After a moment of silence he spoke up "Knut for your thoughts?" he asked

"You want a nut for my thoughts?" Aragorn asked confusedly

"Oh oops, I forgot, no Knuts here" Ron said quickly, smiling at the double meaning "It's just a saying back home. A Knut is a coin we use in our currency. Hermione might have some in that bloody bag of hers." He grinned "But I'm getting off topic, what I was trying to ask was if you would like to share the thoughts that have so obviously rattled you up"

Aragorn tried his best not to look as baffled as he felt. He didn't want to share "It is not important"

"On the contrary, I think it's very important" Ron answered "But if you don't want to say anything that's alright, I will." Ron took a deep breath "I've seen how much Harry brooded after he heard his very own prophecy. And he, like you, was under the impression for a while that the prophecy would control his life. Only it wouldn't, not unless he let it. Because when Harry was told to actually reflect upon his relationship with Lord Voldemort" He said this last bit with so much scorn that it startled Isildurs heir "He realized that for justice to be done, he would have to face Lord Moldywart in the end, because he killed Harry's parents and started a chain of events that could only lead to that scenario."

Ron looked into Aragorn's eyes, and blue locked with gray "I think your situation is very similar, Aragorn. Isildur, your ancestor, destroyed Sauron the first time but failed to destroy the ring. Now you're in the same situation, you have the opportunity to destroy the ring and kill Sauron forever. You, Aragorn, have the opportunity to fix what your ancestor started and complete it. And prophecy or not, for justice and balance to be restored you would have had to do it anyways. And most likely than not, you would have had to take the throne to properly challenge Sauron"

When Aragorn still looked sceptical Ron decided to take a new route. "Tell me, Aragorn, if you had not known the prophecy, wouldn't you still have followed Frodo to the depths of Mordor to defeat Sauron. Wouldn't you have done anything to defeat the Dark Lord and show that your line is worthy?"

Aragorn looked bewildered "Of course I would have stuck with Frodo to the very end."

"So what difference does this prophecy make?"

"What do you...? Oh..." Understanding passed fleetingly over the young heirs face. "Thank you" he said sincerely "Had you not explained this to me, I would have entered a vortex of grief"

Ron grinned lopsidedly "Anytime. It helps to get an outside perspective sometimes. But I have to say, you're much better at believing this then Harry was"

Aragorn chuckled "Had I been 15 years old and been going through the same thing, I wouldn't have listened to anyone either" his face suddenly became serious "But seriously, Ron, I really do appreciate what you have said. I hope Master Harry knows just how lucky he was to have support such as yours"

"I don't think I'll ever fully appreciate how great of a mate Ron was to me" A voice said behind them. Harry approached them with two mug of tea for each of them.

Ron's ears turned as red as his hair. "Yeah... well..." he mumbled

Harry chuckled at his friend's embarrassment but changed the topic "According to Gandalf we're taking the Pass of Caradhras. Gimli strongly disagrees with this, though. He wants to go through Moria but Gandalf is afraid of it for some reason" He said as he handed a mug of tea to Aragorn and Ron each. "You wouldn't happen to know why, would you?" he asked Aragorn

"Moria has become infested with foul creatures. I do not know their nature, but it is no longer the happy kingdom of dwarves" Aragorn answered bitterly looking over at Gimli who was arguing with Gandalf, probably about Moria.

"What happened?" Ron asked

"I do not know. All I know is that Gandalf has good reason for choosing another path, even if it is longer"

Ron was about to say something when a shout came from Legolas who was pointing at a dark cloud in the sky.

"Crebain from Dunland!" the elf prince shouted "Hide!" He, Luna and Dramien picked up their things quickly and ran to the nearest hiding spot.

"There's not enough room for all of us to hide!" Ginny said frantically

"Disillusion the Hobbits!" Hermione said to Harry and Ron who nodded and hurried to the fearful hobbits "Ginny, help me hide everything. Quickly! Accio!" she said pointing at a couple of plates which fell into her opened bag "Everyone else hide! If you can't, go to Luna or Dramien, They'll turn you invisible"

Everyone did as was told and Ron, Harry, Ginny and Hermione just made it under a rock, disillusioned, before the birds passed over them.

When they left Gandalf was the first to come out. "Spies from Saruman" He said crossly as everyone came out of their hiding spots and Harry and Ron began to take the disillusion charm off everyone, Neville doing his himself. "We must make take the Pass of Caradhras"

With that he began to make his way down the hill towards a cluster of snowy mountains. Everyone else making their way behind him.

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The hobbits were struggling terribly, Neville thought bitterly. Even with the lack of bags to carry and their enchanted-to-remain-warm clothes and shoes courtesy of Hermione, they were finding it difficult to trudge through all the snow. To make it all worse, not too long ago, Frodo had fallen in the snow and had dropped the ring.

And to make matters even more worse, Boromir was the one to pick it up and seemed to be falling under its spell. Neville had actually been a bit worried that it would turn into a fight as he saw Harry and Dramien reaching for their wands and Aragorn for his sword. But Ron and Hermione were able to calm them all down and get Boromir to give the ring to Frodo. He wondered how they did it but had other worries in mind.

Frodo was looking at everyone distrustfully after the incident, and Neville worried that this would create problems in the fellowship.

After a few minutes Luna yelled something over the wind to Dramien and Legolas "Do you two hear that?"

"There is a fell voice in the air" Legolas agreed. Dramien nodded, looking up into the sky.

"Saruman!" Gandalf shouted

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The fellowship hurried across the mountain through the storm that Saruman seemed to be creating. Gandalf was shouting some incantation to calm the mountain as Luna, Dramien, Harry and Ginny were levitating the hobbits out of the four feet of snow. Neville also needed to be levitated as he too was sinking into it.

Hermione and Ron were helping Aragorn, and Boromir keep their balance on the edge of the mountain that was now shaking violently. Legolas was helping Gimli.

"Gandalf!" Harry yelled trying to get the older wizards attention "We can't continue on this way. We don't have the power to stop the hobbits from freezing to death!" He yelled pointing at the shivering hobbits, still suspended in the air.

"Then what do you suggest, Master Potter?" Gandalf yelled back , in between his spell battle with Saruman

"We have no choice but to go through Moria!" Harry yelled "Hermione, Ginny and I saw the coordinates, we can tell the others and apparate you all right now!"

The rumbling of the mountain stopped. An emotion of fear passed over Gandalf's face before he sighed and said "Let the ring bearer decide"

Harry lowered Frodo a bit and the hobbit bit his lip in concentration before he looked at Gandalf and said "We go through the mines" loudly and clearly.

"So be it." Gandalf whispered. He cleared his throat "Well Harry, Ginny and Hermione, tell your fellows the coordinates and transport us there. And do it quickly, I have held off Saruman for the moment, but who knows when he will strike again. Three of you will need to take two of us, Neville I think you should go by yourself, I do not think your hobbit body will be able to handle so much magic" the old wizard said loudly and Neville nodded.

Harry, Ginny and Hermione told the others the coordinates and they all, except Neville, paired or tripled up. The groups of three included hobbits, because Hermione assumed that since they were less body, the apparition would be easier.

"Ready?" Gandalf yelled holding on to Harry, as the mountain began to shake. Everyone nodded "Well let's go!" and with several cracks they all disappeared.

Harry concentrated on where they were going but felt himself slipping. Confused, he held on tighter to Gandalf and pushed his way through the apparition tunnel. It was taking longer than it should of, Harry thought as he used all his energy to get to his point of destination. Suddenly his body lurched and he landed in front of a large mountain wall, everyone else appearing around him.

The people of Middle Earth all appeared normal, if not a bit sick from the apparition, but the witches and wizards of Earth were all panting and bending down on the ground, completely void of energy.

"We have arrived to walls of Moria" Gandalf said, balancing himself on a boulder.

But no one was paying much attention to him as the seven witches and wizards were being sick and lying down in pain.

"What's wrong with them?" Pippin asked fearfully, looking at Neville who had turned green

"Saruman" Luna groaned "He..."

"Interfered with our magic" Draco managed to finish for his sister who had promptly fainted, before fainting himself. The five others followed suit.

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Saruman fell down on to his seat. It had taken a lot of his energy to meddle with the transportation of the new magic doers. He had almost been able to change the course of their travailing and transport them all to Orthanc, but they were so stubborn. But no matter, he would have them the next time they tried. But for now he needed to find out who they were. And for that he would require his special prisoner. He smiled wickedly and ordered an orc to his side.

"Bring the slave from the higher cell to me"

"Yes master" the orc growled, bowing and leaving through the door.

A few moments later the orc returned, dragging a very beat up dog and dumping it at Sarumans feet. The dog whimpered as it tried to pick itself up. It gave a glare of defiance towards Saruman who snapped his fingers at the orc. The orc promptly lashed a whip at the dog that fell down, crying in pain as blood trickled from its back.

Saruman laughed "You have yet to learn your place my friend" he said softly petting the whimpering dog with a sick smile planted on his face.

"Maybe I could ease your daily punishments if you granted me a favour." He said getting up and bringing his pilantir in front of the dog. "Maybe you could tell me what you know of these foolish children" Saruman waved his hand in front of the pilantir which showed an image of Harry and the rest of the students from Hogwarts.

For a second an emotion of recognition and hope passed over the dog's face, before it turned into anger. The dog began to growl at Saruman and backed up. It stood up on its hind legs and in a fraction of a second, where there was a dog, there was now a man. The man, covered in cuts and bruises, his black hair long and dirty and his clothes ripped up walked up to an evily grinning Saruman and spit on his shoes.

"Go to hell" the man growled before being kneed down by the guard orc.