Do I own this song? Do I, hell! No, this artwork of a song belongs to J.R.R Tolkien, but it's the Peter Jackson version of it. The plot is: Bilbo teaching Bofur the song we hear in the Extended Edition of AUJ.

I don't actually own anything but the plot of this fanfiction.

"Oh, there's an inn, there's an inn, there's a merry old inn,
Beneath an old grey hill,
And there they brew a beer so brown,
The Man in the Moon himself-Oh!"

Bofur truly hadn't meant to interrupt the lively song, but it had interested him so much, how could he do anything but go and investigate? Besides, he'd never heard Bilbo sing before.

"Will you teach me?" Bofur asked hopefully. "Only, it's such a lovely tune."

Bilbo considered this for a short while before nodding. "If you wish, but it's not as interesting as some of your songs."

"Oh, I doubt that, lad!" Bofur said, grinning. "Carry on."

"The Man in the Moon himself came down..."

As Bilbo continued the song, Bofur made mental notes on how the words carried, how long each word took to say and was tickled by the story it told. He cheered when it was finished.

"I like that song, truly." he praised. "I shall have to sing it to you one day!"

By 'one day', Bilbo decided Bofur had meant 'everyday'. He even sang it in Rivendell, proudly telling Lord Elrond who had taught him the song. The Elf Lord looked astounded at the news Hobbits knew such songs. Certainly Elves had no drinking songs that Bilbo knew of.

He hummed it while they trekked across the Misty Mountains, despite Nori's orders for him to change to a new song.

While they escaped into the trees from Azog, Bilbo could have sworn he heard the familiar lilt of Bofur's voice lightly singing the words.

Now, they were at Beorn's Halls where even the Skin-Changer was humming the words. Bilbo couldn't help smiling at that, though. Gruff, tall Beorn singing 'The Man in The Moon' seemed oddly amusing to him, and he went outside to avoid laughing at their host.

"The ostler has a tipsy cat
Who plays a five-stringed fiddle..."

"Can't a Hobbit find five minutes peace?" Bilbo called out, beaming at Bofur sat beside him.

Chuckling, Bofur answered, "you waved goodbye to privacy when you came after us that day."

"Bofur?"

"Mmm?" Bofur glanced up from his pipe, flashing a smile as he did.

"I am sorry. For-"

"Hey. None of that!" Bofur slung a heavy arm around Bilbo's shoulders, pulling him closer. "I know you meant no harm by it and no harm was taken from it."

There was a pleasant silence and Bofur began continuing his earlier performance.

"And up and down, he saws his bow
Now squeaking hiiiiigh, now purring low-"

"You've stopped!"

"Sing with me, an' I'll continue." Bofur answered.

Bilbo hid a smile. "Fine, then."

Bofur laughed. "Brilliant! On we go, now."

"-Now sawing in the middle

So, the cat on the fiddle played hey-diddle-diddle
A jig that would wake the dead:
He squeaked and sawed and quickened the tune,
While the landlord shook the Man in The Moon
'It's after three!' He said!"

"I should never have taught you that song!" Bilbo told Bofur between his hiccups of laughter.

"I'm very glad ye did. It's provided me with weeks of amusement, I'll have you know."

"Thorin threatened to throw you off a cliff twice. I'd hardly call that 'amusement'."

"I only regret not teaching it to the Elf Lord in Rivendell. I'm sure he'd have loved it."

Bilbo couldn't imagine solemn Lord Elrond singing the Hobbitish drinking song. He looked at Bofur, who still had a hold on his shoulders. "I think it's more of a song for Hobbits and Dwarves."

Bofur gave a cheery grin. "Aye. Perhaps it could be the Company Ballad."

Bilbo chuckled softly. The lush, bright green grass flickered in the wind and with Bofur by his side and the warm sun above, he felt truly at peace the most since he'd left home. "Yes," he said with a smile. "It could."

You can never have enough Bofur. If we all had Bofur in our lives, the world would be a merrier place. Can you imagine Bofur singing this song constantly? I bet he would, because he loves music and likes singing and playing instruments to people. Add the two together and you have Bofur singing his new favourite song to everyone he meets out of the goodness of his heart.

Not meant to be Boffins/Blibofur, but if you prefer to see it that way, go ahead! :)

Hope it was enjoyed!

Love from Shania. xx