I want to thank all of the new and old readers for the amazing comments, favs, and follows.
::::::::::
::::::::::
The Hall of Healing had a hint of medicine and herbs in the air that Harry found quite comforting. Like any other medical facility, the Hall of Healing possessed this unique odour and housed and treated the wounded. But that was where the similarities ended. The silent hall was like no other hospital Harry had ever visited.
There were no signs of running healers, no nurses who called for extra assistance, no tears nor cries of pain. Not even a single cough could be heard. All Harry could hear were the quiet whispers from patients and workers alike, reminding Harry more of his time in Hogwarts library than of a hospital.
The Hall was vast and the whispers echoed in low murmurs, like monks' prayers in a church. From the ceiling hung hundreds of thin wires from which long metal pipes were suspended. The pipes had two different functions from what Harry could tell. Dark crimson drapes hung from the criss-crossed pipes and divided the vast hall into many smaller rooms. In the pipes ran fresh, hot water which could be tapped from each of the small rooms and used at all times.
The floors were smooth and shiningly clean while the ceiling was beautifully decorated by various pictures of one man. The man had long thickly curled brown hair and beard decorated in different styles and with different beads in every picture. The pictures showed a story about how the man carved a group of little people out of stone with his hammer. The artwork was exquisitely done and Harry doubted that it was merely for decoration. He would make sure to get the whole story by the time he settled in.
He didn't know what he was supposed to do now. Should he leave his spot by the entrance? He had waited by the big, beautiful gold doors with red rubies for ten minutes and none of the healers had come for him.
Before he could decide, Harry saw something that he realised he hadn't seen before in his stay at the mountain. Running towards him was the bouncing figure of a dwarf child, with smooth, chubby cheeks, big eyes, and wild brown hair. Tightly held to the child's small chest was a stuffed warrior toy. The child was followed by two grown figures. One of them was obviously a healer while Harry assumed the other dwarf to be the parent from their similar colouring to the child.
In all the time that Harry had been to Erebor, he hadn't once seen a dwarf child before. He knew from Karga that the children she taught were very bright and active but other than that he knew nothing. He didn't know how big her class was or how old the children were.
The little boy had such a beautiful mischievous grin that Harry doubted any parent had the heart to lock such a free spirit inside the confinements of home outside of school hours. Harry had heard that dwarf children were rare but he was shocked to discover just how scarce in numbers they actually were.
The child's wide black eyes found Harry by the entrance he was sprinting towards and his little mouth fell open in wonder.
The little boy forgot his first objective completely at the sight of something more interesting and he went hurtling towards Harry.
Harry was ready for the impact when the little boy ran straight to his legs and his small arms came clinging around Harry's shins in a hug.
The boy looked up from the height of Harry's knees and his little face split into a toothy grin; the boy looked like he had just found the cookie jar. Harry couldn't help but give a brilliant smile in return even though the little boy's clinging grip and heavy weight left him very unbalanced.
"Garion! What are you doing?" The boy's father abandoned his conversation with the healer when he saw his child around the legs of a stranger.
The little boy, Garion, loosened his grip around Harry's legs enough to look back over his shoulder to his father, who walked towards them at a faster pace.
"It's alright, he didn't do anything wrong," Harry said with a smile to the approaching parent in the hope that he could spare the sweet child a lecture.
"Look, daddy, look," Garion yelled in excitement as he looked back and forth between his father and Harry. "Look what I found! Can I marry him?"
Surprised by the boy's shocking statement, Harry's head jerked down so fast that he almost lost his balance and fell forward. But Garion didn't look back at Harry, instead, he was focused on his father, who had yet to answer his question.
"Garion, you little tyke, have you no manners?" the now grinning father admonished as he reached them and tugged his little son away from Harry.
"I'm sorry, father," Garion apologised. Then he looked up at Harry again from beside his father and asked, "I'm Garion, son of Trion. Will you marry me?"
Harry's hand quickly came up to his mouth to stifle a laugh; he didn't think that it would be kind to laugh at young Garion's serious proposal. Instead, he went down on his knee so he could look directly into Garion's bright black eyes.
"I'm honoured by your proposal, little one, but shouldn't we start of as friends first?"
Trion smiled approvingly down at Harry and gave his son a small nudge in the shoulder.
Garion accepted Harry's idea immediately and Trion had a hard time convincing his son to let Harry go. When they finally separated Garion's happy farewell rang loud in the giant hall. "Bye, bye, Harry."
With Trion and Garion out of sight, Harry noticed that the brown haired healer that had accompanied the duo before was still standing there.
When the healer saw that he had Harry's attention, he came forward with a polite fake smile and dropped his chin in a small bow. "Hello, Harry, I'm healer Gendry, and I will be your mentor through the coming years. I'm sorry for the long wait but dwarrows aren't always the easiest patients."
"That is alright," Harry answered, before he gave a deeper bow in return. "I have been looking forward to working here; I'll do my best to be a good student."
"Shall we begin then?" Gendry asked as he gestured that they should venture further into the hall with his outstretched arm.
After having spent five minutes in Gendry's company, Harry could without a doubt say that Gendry was passionate about healing. Sadly, he could also say that Gendry didn't have any skill when it came to teaching. Not only did Gendry lack the ability to communicate knowledge, he also lacked desire to do so. Harry wouldn't call Gendry a bad person but he obviously thought himself too self-important to waste more time on Harry than strictly necessary.
Gendry strutted around the hall with his pastel green robes flowing behind him, billowed by an air of haughtiness while Harry trailed dutifully behind him. It was a lousy tour and Harry had to make sure to ask plenty of questions at each room to fully understand their individual functions and rules.
From their light small talk between each destination, Harry gathered that Gendry was the newest addition to the healers. Harry couldn't see the advantage of having the least experienced of the healers take responsibility for apprentices. But then again, there were a lot of things that Harry couldn't make sense of when it came to dwarves.
The Hall of Healing had five hundred available beds at its disposal, which seemed ridiculous when the whole mountain in total only had twenty healers.
Erebor had a short supply of healers because of the lack of interest in the trade. When the young, uneducated dwarves had to decide between swords, hammers, or an herb grinder, the latter was seldom their choice.
If Erebor went to war, how could they save five hundred wounded soldiers with only twenty healers? He decided to voice his question.
"I can't help but wonder what our strategy is in wartime? How do we go about treating five hundred dwarves?"
"We are prepared for such situations," Gendry answered as he continued down the red halls of velvet. "Dwarves have always lacked workers in the medical field and our stressed ancestors found a solution to make up for our small numbers."
Gendry slowed his pace and stopped right outside a closed opening.
"This next room is considered the most important room in the Hall of Healing," he continued as he drew the heavy red cloth aside. "This is where we spend most of our day when we aren't dealing with patients."
The room was three times bigger then Harry's whole apartment and smelled strongly of herbs. Along the crimson walls stood ten foot high shelves with dried and fresh herbs, flowers, and roots. A big, cream, round, stone table took up the centre of the room and around it sat twelve working dwarves with lots of room for more workers.
"We stock up on salves for burn, bruises, wounds, rashes and mixtures for fevers, poisons, and pain in a storage space of the same size as the entire hall. We also supply a pharmacy located in the shopping district. We keep thorough records of our use and supply of different herbs and salves. The more experienced of our healers also uses their time here on experiments for new treatments or better healing salves. And so with our big supply of slaves and mixtures we can effectively treat a big group of wounded patients in a short matter of time."
Harry would still argue that this hardly seemed like an effective way. What if the patients were severely wounded and needed immediate treatment?
All twelve workers wore the same pastel green robe. They were all male and several years older than Gendry and himself, if their grey hair was any indication. They all respectfully paused their work to welcome Harry. The older dwarves were obviously quite enthusiastic to have new blood in their group. Hudon and Merak each said that it had been years since they last had received a job application. Tritukhan, Hergor, Dhuram, and all the seven other dwarves whose names, Harry had sadly already forgotten, all wished him welcome in their little group of herb-lovers.
While the others silently went back to their work in what Harry now knew was called The Green Room, Gendry and himself spent the next hour touring around the room.
"As you can see, this room is stocked with everything one could possibly need to create the medicine we use for our patients. You will not be tasked with the care of our patients before you have knowledge of every herb in this room. You are expected to know and understand each of their characteristics and uses."
Gendry paused, his speech with a dry smile before he added as an afterthought.
"You will have all the time you need to finish this assignment. But keep in mind that as you are still an apprentice, you won't get paid in this time period so I suggest that you study hard. You are more than welcome to study in here and to use the tomes we have. When the time comes that you're confident in your skills, you can come to me and we will do an evaluation test."
Assessing all of the high shelves around the room, Harry could clearly see why young dwarves avoided the subject of healing. From what he could understand, the dwarves possessed a natural understanding for everything of the earth. Rocks, minerals, and metals were a part of their blood, and it was understandable why they would revel in their element.
Since his rebirth, Harry had gained an unusual sixth sense for the earth's crafty materials that had his hands aching for the hard, dirty work with a hammer. So far the task ahead lacked appeal but Harry wasn't deterred; his mind and heart longed to heal.
"The quicker I start the sooner I'll be finished."
"Indeed." Gendry didn't sound like he believed that Harry would finish the task anytime soon. Additionally, he couldn't see the point in Harry's misplaced enthusiasm.
Left alone as Gendry went to join the others at the table in their work, it became clear why they made Gendry his mentor. It was probably the norm for it to take months for new apprentices to finish this part of the test. This, Harry assumed, was why the most inexperienced of the healers had to spend his time overseeing the progress.
Harry got to work immediately and decided to take a closer look at the shelves. So far he had been fascinated and frustrated by the differences between this world and his old, but in this subject, he prayed that their worlds didn't differ.
He was lucky. As he walked around the room and looked over each shelf, he discovered that he knew the names of each of the flowers and herbs he saw. His happiness couldn't be contained and as a result, his face broke into a brilliant which the other workers in the Green Room found it very distracting.
By the end of his search he had found fourteen plants that he had never seen before but that couldn't put a dampener to his good mood.
He found himself a free spot at the working table and he had only just opened a book about the different flowers of Middle-Earth when Tritukhan enquired. "How are things going Harry? Do you need any help?"
Harry looked up from the old, worn pages to see that he had the whole company's attention. He had a moment's trouble finding Tritukhan's face amidst the many surrounding. "I'm fine, thank you. Everything is going to be much easier then I first thought. I know most of these plants already."
His answer greatly surprised the surrounding dwarves, who with sceptical looks went back to their work. All but Gendry. "That is very fortunate but I wouldn't celebrate just yet," Gendry drawled, from his own spot at the table. "It will take months for you to learn them all."
Harry's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "I thought that I could take the evaluation test whenever I was ready?"
"You can but you can hardly claim that you are ready to be tested now?" Even though several of the dwarves still had their heads down, it was obvious that they weren't absorbed in their work; they were all interested in his answer.
"No, I'm not. Not at this moment," he hurriedly replied to Gendry's smug face. "Give me and hour and I will be." His chin lifted in a show of confidence which immediately turned Gendry's face sour. "We shall see if that will be enough, Harry."
The other dwarves merely shook their heads at the young pair's antics, wholly amused by the rivalry. Harry would stake his life that the older workers already had a betting poll going about the outcome of his test.
He didn't waste a moment more of his preparation time.
Tritukhan, had clearly betted in his favour; he was more than willing to show Harry their collection of plant and herb encyclopaedias.
Harry was skimming through book twenty-one when there was a minute left of his time. He had found twelve out of the fourteen he sought and as the seconds ticked by, he knew that he wouldn't have time to find the last missing two. He sent a quick prayer to Merlin before he closed the book at the halfway mark.
Gendry was already approaching and as the last seconds ticked by, he had closed the distance between his and Harry's sitting form.
"Are you ready?"
"More than I ever will be," he lied while he subconsciously rubbed his left hand. Gendry didn't notice the nervous gesture or he didn't care as he turned around. Harry followed Gendry to the many shelves along the walls where Gendry proceeded to pick up a dried twist.
"What are the name and qualities of this piece?"
And so the questioning began. Every time Harry answered, Gendry would continue to another herb, flower or plant and hold it up between his fingers. With growing frustration, Gendry picked piece by piece but not even half way through the shelves the test ended for it was more than clear that Harry had spoken the truth.
Coins changed hands and Harry received many congratulating slaps on the back for his impressive efforts. Even Gendry seemed impressed, now that he knew that Harry wasn't just for show. The day ended in good spirits and when he went home, it was with an armful of his own pastel green robes so that he would be ready for the next day as a true employee of The Hall of Healing.
::::::::::
The next morning, Harry had woken bright and early with a new sense of purpose. He had donned his working clothes, braided his hair into a single line which hung down his back and arrived with a big smile in The Green Room.
Most of the healers from yesterday had already arrived and were heads deep into their work. Like yesterday, the round table was littered with stone bowls filled with pastes and powders, and around the edges and pushes into the middle of the table, laid stacks of old books.
Gendry wasn't among them and had clearly yet to arrive. But before Harry could start to feel out of place, the others welcomed him and bid him sit down. He was quickly handled his own tools and Merak instructed him on how to make burning salves which, as Merak said, shouldn't be above his abilities from his show of knowledge yesterday.
The burning salve was easy to make but that didn't mean that it wasn't hard work. It was one of the more frequently used salves in the mountain as many dwarves were occupied as smithies; burns couldn't be avoided.
Even though his task was pure routine, with no room for experimenting, he was happy to be engaged with work. It also helped that his colleagues where fun and bantering old dwarves.
"I still can't believe that you completed the test yesterday. Never before has anyone succeeded as quickly as you did. I'm almost inclined to believe that it was foul play, made up by you old trolls to steal my money," the dwarf known as Bharkan joked.
"I surely hope that isn't the case," Harry teased back. "If so, then I feel awfully cheated as I haven't received a single coin for my hard work."
"That's tough, lad," Tritukhan said with a big smile, his hands occupied with a stone grinder. "But since we didn't pay you at the time all of your earnings were shared between the winners."
He couldn't contain his mirth as he faked a hurt expression. "Why you stupid, abusive, old, big-eared, and big-nosed crones."
"You are truly something else, Harry," Bharkan spoke as the laughter died down around the table.
"You don't say," Merak added with lifted brows as he trailed a single finger over the worn pages of a thick tome.
Suddenly feeling shy, Harry wouldn't have been surprised if his cheeks where dusted with red. "Thank you. You have all made me feel very welcome here; I couldn't ask for a better place to work."
As one, all of the dwarves present lifted their heads from their work and looked at each other with wide smiles.
"I'm sure that you would be more than welcomed to work anywhere in this mountain, Harry," Bharkan said, nodding sagely while keeping eye contact with his older, still smiling, colleagues.
"Oh, yes," Hergor added. "Now that you mention it, I'm sure that I've heard about a newcomer who has a mountain of socks before his door."
Harry's hand stilled immediately. "What does this have to do with the socks?"
"You don't know? Surely you jest?" Tritukhan asked.
"You must know how… Well, how appealing you are?" Hergor continued.
His colleagues stared expectantly back at him but Harry could only shake his head in confusion. "I really don't understand what you're trying to say. I figured that the socks were a welcoming gift for moving in or some sort of mild prank."
"You cannot seriously mean…" Tritukhan began before he burst into laughter. "Oh, I pity all of those poor lads."
"What does it mean? Please tell if I have done something wrong." Harry looked around at each face but none of them could face him without breaking into laughter.
"I'll give up," he said and threw his hands into the air for dramatic effect. "You are all evil, old crones who thrive in my misery. I'll take my earlier statement back."
It was Tritukhan who gathered himself first enough to speak. "You have done nothing wrong, Harry, nothing but broken a couple of hearts."
"A couple? Not likely," Hergor exclaimed. "I have heard that our dear Harry here has a mountain of them to an extent that almost blocks the hallway."
"Broken hearts? Will you just get to the point already? I fear that I won't ever know the truth with the pace you are going."
"The young dwarrows of this mountain are seeking your affection, sweet Harry." When Harry only raised his brows in surprise Tritukhan elaborated further. "They are all your admires. They have all left a token at your door in hope that you'll notice them and seek them out in return."
"Their socks, they are tokens? Really? And how am I supposed to know who they are in order to seek them out, when all they leave me are their dirty socks?"
"Their names will be stitched inside the lining. You could say that the socks are a preliminary stage before the courting period. You receive socks because you're admired and desired and it is still unknown whether or not you want or are ready to enter a relationship."
As Tritukhan spoke, he noticed that he had Harry's full attention and continued his explanation for it was apparent to see that Harry didn't know of the custom.
"When a dwarf is ready for courting the family will announce the decision in court and around their social circles. But sometimes when the individual is highly desired, the dwarf in question will get socks from hopeful admires because they are anxiously waiting for news on the dwarfs courting status. If the dwarf then is ready to enter into a relationship, he or she will normally take the socks into their home and sample the 'market' but if he or she isn't, they will simply leave the socks be."
"And since I have let the socks lay outside my door, they all think that I'm unprepared for courting." Harry could only nod his head as understanding seemed to dawn on him.
"That or that you're already engaged to be with someone else, and that wouldn't be unthinkable. Seen from an outsider's perspective, you're quite the sight, Harry."
Harry could only smile at Tritukhan's flattering words but his mind was completely occupied by the occurrence yesterday. Ralec had proposed to him even though he had left the socks outside his door untouched. Maybe he had thought that Harry had declined other offers because he was waiting for Ralec to propose. He dearly hoped that he hadn't encouraged Ralec in his ignorance. Setting the thought aside for another time, he wasn't about to let this opportunity pass now that this custom had been on his mind for so long.
"What does one do with all the socks outside their home and when they take them inside their home?"
"Well… hmm. That is private," Tritukhan managed to formulate with some difficulties, cheeks suddenly lightly dusted red.
"For Mahal's sake, Tritukhan, can't you see that the lad needs to know this, our customs? He may know what there is to know about herbs and whatnots without our help but at least we can teach him this," Merak said loudly, not only looking at Tritukhan but at everyone around the table until they all nodded back in agreement.
Now that Merak had gained approval for all of the surrendering individuals, he didn't hold back on the apparently private matter. "You see, Harry, nothing necessary has to happen when you take some of the socks with you into your home, the act alone simply clarifies that you are ready to enter a relationship. Then you can take the socks outside again but… but sometimes, when young dwarves are attracted to one another the suitor leaves a sock and the recipient keeps the token… close. As a matter of fact all of the socks are normally worn for weeks before they are delivered so that the scent or the giver is left behind on the cloth."
Harry didn't know if he wanted to understand the meaning of what Merak was saying and yet he asked. "Are you saying that people sniff at the socks they are given?"
"Well, it isn't unusual if the dwarf likes the giver and the attraction is returned. You do know how much we value our feet?"
"Yes, yes I do," Harry was quick to reassure.
"Then you must realise how vital this is?"
"Yes, I do now. But there are so many outside my home, at least a thousand, I don't know that many and they can't know me. Why would they leave a token like that?"
"It is the only polite way of expressing that they want to know you on an intimidate level without shaming themselves or you. It is a promise for the future that they want to share everything with you. It's a great honour to receive such a token. "
He had had plenty of admires as Harry Potter but this was something entirely else. Many people had wanted and desired him, pursued him because of his name and everything that it entitled. But in this world he had neither fame, titles, nor money and the dwarves who sought him out wanted much more of him then a quick lay. He was flattered, immensely, but he was also terribly confused as to why he had gathered so much attention.
"What should I do with the socks outside my door then? Leave them or remove them?"
"You can let them lay, they will be removed gradually when the dwarves realise that their pursuit is in vain but we are a stubborn people and it could take months before that happens. But as they are yours, you could have them all removed or burned if that is what you wanted," Merak answered thoughtfully as his hand ran through his greying beard.
"Good morning." Gendry wandered through the opening towards them as he got many greetings in return.
"I see that you are already occupied with work, Harry, that's good. But our responsibility today will lie with our patients so we will make the rounds."
"How exciting," he was quick to say. "Let me just clean this up and I will be with you."
Harry wasn't made to do any actual work on the rounds; he only greeted the patients together with Gendry and observed how the different patients were treated. It was only after the rounds were made and all the 32 patients had been seen to that Harry got a chance to work.
They were sitting by the entrance, in case of new emergencies, in the progress of doing paperwork, when a thick-armed and big-chested chestnut haired dwarf walked through the door. He wore a t-shirt, pants, and a brown leather apron with dark spots that likewise decorated the dwarf's underarms.
Harry spotted him first and immediately ran to his side when he spotted the dwarf's bleeding right hand.
"Let me take a look at that," he said, as he stopped before the wounded dwarf and took a light, gentle hold of the thick wrist.
"Will you take care of that Harry? I'll have to deal with this," Gendry called out.
And when Harry looked up he could see that another wounded dwarf had come in, with what Harry assumed was his family. The group supported the unconscious dwarf who was bleeding porously from the chest as Gendry rushed towards them.
"I will," he called back before he turned his attention back to the person's whose wrist he still held in his hold. Dark eyes stared intently at him when he looked up to face his very first patient.
"Please follow me," he said with a small smile and the wounded dwarf followed obediently; Harry could easily feel the heavy eyes following his form.
"Please take a seat over there," Harry said as he indicated to the clean bed inside the unoccupied room. The dwarf silently took a seat while Harry found bandages and disinfectants and readied a bowl with hot water on the small moveable table. He found a stool and sat down before the wounded dwarf.
"I'm Harry. What's your name?" he asked curiously.
"Christan," was the short reply.
"Well, Christan," Harry said as he held the hand up for inspection. "I'm correct in assuming that your fingers have been crushed?"
"Yes, they are gone now."
"There's nothing to do about that then." Taking the water soaked cloth, Harry cleaned the wound and applied disinfectant on the three stubs. The pinky, ring, and the middle finger had been crushed to powder almost to the knuckles.
No tears fell from Christan's face nor did his face bear a hit of remorse for his lost limbs, he seemed far more interested in Harry.
Harry silently bore Christan's heavy stare as he bound his hand.
"You'll have to change the bandages two to three times a day as long as the wound is still open but as soon as the scab appears you can take them off. Also, you'll have to apply this to the wound whenever you change the bandages," he said, as he held out a pot of salve to Christan.
"Thank you."
"You're quite welcome," Harry answered with a smile as he moved to stand. "If the wound takes a turn for the worse don't hesitate to come back.
::::::::::
All seemed to go well the next couple of days, Harry was even entrusted with more responsibility and more patients. He was happy with his job, and his friends were happy to see him content and settled.
But something was wrong and he only noticed when he continuously saw his co-workers worried expressions more and more each day. It also didn't escape Harry's notice that there had been an increase in the numbers of wounded patients in the following days. It was nothing serious; minor cuts and burns but soon all of their workers had to deal with the wounded until The Green Room stood empty.
When Harry turned his troubles over with his friends, Bofur only laughed and said with a wide smirk. "Didn't I tell you this would happen when we first met?"
At first Harry couldn't recall the incident of which Bofur spoke and days passed before he remembered.
He was in the middle of dealing with yet another patient, who had a deep cut in his thigh, when a thought suddenly struck him. The patient stared intently at him while he worked, like all his previously patients had done, and Harry realised with a startling clarity that they all were here for him.
The minor injuries had all been self-inflicted so that they had an excuse to come here and bother him and his co-workers. All of their other duties had been put on hold for the wounded's sake. Because of their selfish desires to see him they were hindering his co-workers and himself in tending to serious work. What nerve.
However much Harry wanted to confront the dwarf before him, he didn't think that it would help the situation to take his anger out on a single dwarf. Instead, he dutifully finished his work in silence under the dwarf's stare before he excused himself.
Walking down the corridor with now occupied rooms, he searched for Gendry. He could only see one possible solution to end this problem. He was a burden to his co-workers and though he knew that they thought him one of them, they also recognize the source of this problem. He would resign now, before he would be forced to do so.
He found Gendry in one of the many rooms, treating another dwarf. Harry had peeked his head inside, completely ignoring the wounded dwarf whose attention he had captured.
Harry cleared his throat to gather Gendry attention. "Can I have a moment of your time after this?"
Gendry looked surprised by his request but didn't refuse him. "Of course; I'll be done in a moment."
Gendry was sad to see Harry go, despite their rough start, but he could do nothing to prevent Harry's reassignment. Through his goodbyes, many of the others tried to convince him to stay and some even suggested that he should just take some time off to let the storm blow over.
Harry wasn't persuaded for surely it would all start over again when he came back and he didn't want to put more strain on his new friends. Harry left his pastel green robes reluctantly and headed home with a heavy heart.
::::::::::
::::::::::
So, am I correct in guessing that many of you are thinking; where is Oin? No worries, he will come around next time so will Thorin! Annnd… The meaning of the socks has been explained! Many of you've already guess something along those lines and I hope that you weren't disappointed! What did you think they meant, what would you have like them to mean and symbolise? Please tell me, it will be fun to read your theories :D
Also, PLEASE check out my other story!