Dear readers, i'm sorry it took a while to update. As I have said on my profile. I have been really sick. I even spend a week in the hospital. I'm home now and slowly recovering. While in the hospitals and recovering I haven't been able to write or edit. I just couldn't focus on a computer.

I have started writing again this week. So I haven't much ready. This chapter was ready so I only needed to edit a few bits. I hope you all like it and let me know what you think of the Ginny Legolas build up...

10. Edoras.

When the sun appeared in the eastern sky Legolas softly woke her. Thanks to him Ginny had been able to sleep without facing her demons again and again. She was very thankful to him but felt a bit awkward about it all. Almost like she was ashamed of what had happened during the night. Legolas just smiled at her and said he was happy that it helped when she thanked him.

"We'll reach Edoras by midday." Gandalf told the group during breakfast. Ginny nodded and turned the blanket to its original state and handed it back to Legolas.

"Here." The elf said. "This is my spare cloak. You should wear it."

"Thanks but I'm not cold."

"It's not for the cold. You won't stand out as much if you wear it." Legolas explained as he handed her the dark brown cloak.

"Oh, thanks." She took it and held it up. It was too long for her, so she took a second to shrink it to a better size. "I'll change it back to normal when you need it." She told Legolas as he was still looking at her.

"Ginevra?" Gandalf called her. She walked over to him and waited expectantly. "King Théoden is being controlled by an other wizard, Saruman. Remember I told you abouthim?" Ginny nodded. "Though I'm sure he is not there in person, he will be able to see and I'm very sure he has a spy there. I want you to stay out of sight. Stay in the shadows. For your own safety. Right now, Saruman is your greatest enemy. If he finds out about your existence he'll inform Sauron and they will hunt you. Whatever happens at Edoras, please stay out of it until Théoden is rid of Saruman and the spy is dealt with. Don't show them anything of your magic."

Ginny nodded. She knew Gandalf only wanted to keep her safe. So she accepted his warning without questioning. She had learned the hard way that sometimes you just have to listen to people and not question everything.

"One other thing…" Gandalf said with a slight hesitation.

"Yes?"

"People less educated and well traveled will fear you. It's a natural reaction to a woman with great power. You should not fear King Théoden, his family or his household. They are all well known to power and those who wield it. But the people living in the village might reacted hostile to you."

"Why do they fear a woman with power but not a man?"

"Oh they do fear the powerful man as well. But a witch is greatly feared. They are supposed to be of legend and horrible at that. They don't have stories about something good came from meeting a witch."

"Nice." She hissed.

"Think of it this way. You don't have to worry about them bothering you and if you do something good they will honor you for the rest of eternity. You can change people's view." Aragorn said with a smile. She was sure he meant to be helpful but it didn't feel like that. Edoras all the sudden seemed like a massive mountain to climb. Her Gryffindor courage was wavering.

The trip to Edoras took them the better part of the day. Ginny felt she was getting used to the horse riding thing and decided to give it a try herself someday soon. Suddenly Gandalf called them to a halt.

"Edoras and the Golden Hall of Meduseld. There dwells Théoden, King of Rohan..." Gandalf said out loud. Ginny looked at the town, it was very small, it was build on a hill and looked like how an medieval town in her world would have looked like. "whose mind is overthrown. Saruman's hold over King Théoden is now very strong." Gandalf continued. "Be careful what you say. Do not look for welcome here and Ginevra, please keep your identity hidden."

They all nodded and Ginny pulled the hood of the cloak over her head so that it rested just above her brow. Her bright red hair was hidden and her face in the shade. Though, she couldn't do much about her female figure.

They raced towards the town. Ginny glanced around Aragorn to get a better view of the city. Up where a large, elaborately decorated church like building stood she saw a woman. The woman was completely dressed in white. Even from the great distance Ginny could see that the woman was fair skinned and had long wavy blond hair.

Her attention was drawn away from the strange beautiful woman when they approached the gate. The horse got slightly spooked by a banner that lay on the ground and she hold on tightly to Aragorn as he led the horse around it.

The village was dead. She couldn't describe it any other way. Everybody was wearing black, all faces looked sad and serious. Most people looked in a bad shape. It was clear they hadn't had good food in a long time. There were no kids out playing. No talking and all eyes followed them.

"You'd find more cheer in a graveyard." Gimli muttered and Ginny couldn't help but agree.

They made their way to the stables where three men dressed in armor waited for them to take the horses. Shadowfax bristled. Ginny slid from her horse and made her way to Shadowfax.

"Shhhh, they mean you no harm." She muttered. "And if they hurt you, you come to me, I'll hurt them until they can't think straight anymore." The horse nuzzled her face and made a sound that came close to laughing.

"Come, my dear, Shadowfax will be alright." Gandalf said to Ginny. She smiled at him knowingly. She would make sure of that. Over the last two days she had come to love that horse. He at least didn't judge her, or constantly reminded her of what happened. He was just there ready to be hugged or give a horse hug to her.

When the approached the Golden Hall, guards came forward. Ginny took her wand and hid behind Gandalf and Legolas before muttering a notice-me-not spell. She wouldn't disappear but nobody would notice her if they didn't look for her. Quickly she slid her wand back into its holster.

As they reached the top of the stairs a guard approached them, Gandalf seemed to know him because he smiled friendly at the strict looking man. Ginny noticed a hint of recognition in the man's eyes but he didn't react on it.

"I cannot allow you before Théoden King so armed, Gandalf Greyhame. By order of Gríma Wormtongue." The guard said with a grimace. Ginny looked at her companions. They didn't seem happy with the idea of parting from their protection but Gandalf nodded to them and they complied.

They can ask anything but they are not getting my wand, Ginny thought to herself. Her holster was strapped to her lower arm. It had been a gift from Sirius for Christmas. It was covered by her shirt and cloak. If they would notice her, she would seem to be without arms. Besides her, Gandalf didn't part from his staff either.

"Your staff." The guard pressed.

"You would not part an old man from his walking stick." Gandalf said. Ginny smiled slightly at the wizards comment. He was anything but an old man, physically at least. He was as agile as she was. She swore she heard Aragorn chuckle and she saw some sort of merriment in the eyes of the guard. He didn't say anything but just nodded.

The guard let them through and to keep up the pretenses Legolas offered Gandalf an arm to support on. Slowly they made their way to the door. Before stepping into the hall Gandalf glanced at her. Like he was reminding her to stay out of view.

And she did, as soon as she was through the door she slipped to the right side and along the wall. Her spell prevented anyone from noticing her in the shadows. Slowly along the wall she followed Gandalf forward to the front of the hall.

At the other end of the hall sat an old man, dressed in clothes fit for a king, on a large throne. He looked almost dead. She wondered how much it was the curse he was under and how much it was old age of the man self. It was clear that he was under a curse. His eyes were glassy. He looked lethargic and unwilling to move. It looked very much like how people looked when placed under the Imperius curse.

She tried to remember was the fake Moody had taught them about getting rid of the Imperius curse. There wasn't much else than will power and the death of the wizard who placed the curse. She wondered what Gandalf was going to do about this curse. She surely hoped this was easier to cure than the Imperius curse.

She let her eyes wander over the other faces.

Next to him sat the little brother of Severus Snape. She was sure of it. A pale white, black greasy haired man. A snake. He wouldn't have stood out in Slytherin house. The look of the man caused her to wonder how similar this world was to hers. She had already met a man like Dumbledore. The two hobbits she had met looked just as mischievous as her twin brothers. Aragorn could be compared with Sirius and come to think of it, Gimli was in his way just as Mad-eye had been. Grumpy but good natured and maybe a bit insane.

She was sure that Sauron was very similar to Voldemort. What about the rest of the people she would meet? Would she meet a Harry like figure, or somebody like her mother?

"The courtesy of your hall is somewhat lessened of late, Théoden King." Gandalf spoke. The king said something in return but she was too far away to hear it. The snake got up and walked towards Gandalf.

Ginny didn't fail to notice that a group of men entered the hall. They didn't look too friendly.

"Late is the hour in which this conjurer chooses to appear. Láthspell I name him. Ill news is an ill guest." The snake spoke.

"Be silent." Gandalf snapped to the man, Gandalf didn't seemed faced by the grease that seemed to ooze from the man. "Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a witless worm."

Gandalf raised his staff as if he was to strike the man with it. The snake took a few steps back in fear. Ginny couldn't help but smirk. At least he knew the power of a wizard's staff or wand in her case.

"His staff. I told you to take the wizard's staff."

Mayhem erupted in the hall. The men she had seen coming in suddenly attacked her companions. She knew she had to stay out of sight until Gandalf dealt with the other wizard but it was hard. Her companions were outnumbered and she knew her magic would prevent anyone get hurt. After just a minute she realized her worries were unnecessary. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas were much more trained in battle and dealt with the men quickly. She was very impressed by her companions.

"Théoden, son of Thengel..." Gandalf spoke loudly, he seemed unfazed by the attacks happening around him, "...too long have you sat in the shadows."

Ginny felt the magic around her gather. Gandalf was pulling a lot of strength from the earth. She relaxed and felt for the strongest flow. She could help Gandalf by letting a bit of her magic flow through that energy flow. It would never worked on Earth but she knew the theories that wizards had studied and how they thought it should work. On this Middle Earth, Ginny was sure it should work. The flows were much stronger here.

"Hearken to me!" Gandalf called the attention to him. "I release you from the spell."

Ginny crept closer to the king, channeling more of her magic towards the wizard. It was exhausting but at least there was something she could do to help them. Taking soft steps around the pillars she got closer to Gandalf. She wanted to be closer so that if needed she could aid Gandalf without being noticed. Suddenly the king started to laugh, it sounded sick.

"You have no power here, Gandalf the Grey." The king said.

Ginny felt a surge of power and Gandalf's magical aura flared brightly and he threw off his grey cloak and the room filled with the white bright light of his magic. The king was thrown back into his throne.

"I will draw you, Saruman, as poison is drawn from a wound." Gandalf spoke.

"If I go, Théoden dies." The king growled. He was definitely completely under control of Saruman.

"You did not kill me, you will not kill him."

"Rohan is mine."

"Be gone." Gandalf ordered. Ginny felt the surge of magic shift. Gandalf took a step forward and just as the king make a move to attack him he threw his staff towards the king. To her it felt like a magical explosion. It shook her deeply as it reminded her off the final explosion between Harry and Voldemort but soon after the air lightened and the whole atmosphere became more breathable. Gandalf released the build up magic and the flows calmed. It relaxed her.

Suddenly the woman she had seen when they rode to Edoras ran towards the king and caught him just before he fell of his throne. Ginny feared the ordeal had killed the king. As Gandalf stepped back from the king he smiled relieved. She took it as a sign that it was safe for her to step away from the shadows. She moved a bit closer, so that she was almost standing next to Legolas but she kept herself under the notice-me-not spell just because off the snake that was still trapped underneath Gimli's heavy booths.

She watched as the king slowly changed into a much younger man. The gray fizzled hair turned into golden with a few grey strands. The wrinkled in his face disappeared and his glassy eyes turned sharp again. Real royal features returned as the king turned from a frail almost corpse to a strong man.

The woman that held him up was kneeling at his feet was crying with happiness, a big smile formed on her face.

"I know your face." The king said with a soft smile. "Éowyn? Éowyn." The woman smiled and nodded. Slowly the king got up and looked around his hall until he saw Gandalf. Ginny wondered if the king would be angry or happy to see the wizard. "Gandalf?"

"Breathe the free air again, my friend." Gandalf said with a soft smile, he took a few steps back, joining his companions. Ginny took a step to the side so she was partially hidden by the wizard.

The king was still trembling from his ordeal. Ginny felt sorry for the elder man. He was a muggle, nothing magical and to be possessed by a powerful wizard was more than a mere muggle could easily bare. She remembered her first year at Hogwarts, once the diary had been destroyed she had felt so weak for many days. Like all her energy had been drained. She was sure that the king felt very similar.

"Dark have been my dreams of late." Théoden whispered as he checked over his body.

"Your fingers would remember their old strength better if they grasped your sword." Gandalf said to the king. Next to them one of the guards that had them remove their weapons stepped up and held out a beautiful decorated sword. It was really a king's sword.

It seemed to work for the king. Once he pulled his sword he stood straighter. An air of royalty descended up on him. Like he drew strength from the metal of his sword. A small smile formed around the king's mouth.

Suddenly the king turned to look at Gimli, anger flashed in his eyes when he saw the snake still stuck under Gimli's heavy boots.

"You!" The king growled. "Out with you."

The guards didn't need to be told twice. Gimli stepped away and the guards picked up the man. The whole party followed them out. Ginny made it out just in time to see that they threw the man down the stairs. She waited behind Legolas, just glancing over his shoulder but making sure that the people below wouldn't see her.

"I've only ever served you, my lord." The snake claimed.

"Your leechcraft would have had me crawling on all fours like a beast!" Théoden shouted as he followed the man down the steps. Everybody followed him down. Ginny stayed close to Gimli and Legolas who remained on top of the stairs. The snake was clearly a spy for Saruman. She would have to make sure he didn't notice her presence.

"Send me not from your sight." The snake pleaded.

To Ginny it seemed that being send away was the least of the snake's worries. The king looked like he was out for blood. Théoden raised his sword to strike. Ginny hid her face in Legolas's back. It made him jump a bit but she had seen enough of death for a while. She didn't need to see this.

"No, my lord! No, my lord. Let him go. Enough blood has been spilt on his account." Aragorn called as he stopped the king's sword from killing the snake.

Ginny peaked around Legolas, to see what was happening. Aragorn held out his hand to the snake but the idiot he was he didn't except it and spit at Aragorn. It was disgusting, Ginny's blood boiled, how could he do that to a man that just saved his life. The greasy man was lucky that she was ordered to stay hidden or he would have bat bogeys to deal with big time.

After a bit of confusion the snake ran away and the guard shouted over the crowed that had gathered around the scene, "Hail, Théoden, King!" Around her everybody knelt down, even Aragorn, to not stand out she followed the example.

"Where is Théodred? Where is my son?" Théoden suddenly asked. He looked around in search for an answer. Next to Gandalf the beautiful woman named Éowyn sniffled, her eyes were haunted. Ginny was sure the king rather not know the answer.

"He died, my lord." Èowyn whispered. "Early this morning, there was nothing the healers could do for him."

The king looked like he was about to faint and one of the guards rushed to support him. Without a word the guard led the king back inside. The whole group silently followed them back into the hall.

"You can lift whatever spell you placed on yourself, my dear." Gandalf whispered. "It will be safe now."

Ginny did as he asked and lifted the charm. She noticed people suddenly looked at her but because she walked between Legolas and Gandalf nobody said anything. Once inside she pulled of her hood and revealed her bright red hair. Many people gasped, it made her blush slightly.

"It's alright, they will get used to it." Legolas muttered as he noticed her uneasiness. Ginny nodded unsure. She would have to wait and see if that would really happen.

"What happened?" The king asked Èowyn as he sat down.

"He was ambushed, they were Saruman's. His whole company got killed. Èomer and his Rohirrim found them. Only Théodred was alive but severely injured. He didn't make it." Èowyn cried softly. Théoden could only nodded at her. "Will you please prepare his body for a funeral?" He asked Èowyn.

"Yes, my lord." Èowyn whispered softly.

"But first make sure our guests get a chance to bath and fresh up before dinner." Théoden said as he looked at the five standing in the middle of the hall. His eyes rested on Ginny and widen a bit. Ginny knew that King realized that he hadn't seen her before. She bowed her head slightly to him.

"Of course, my lord." Èowyn nodded. When Èowyn got up Gandalf went to talk with the king, offering him words of comfort. "I'll show you to your sleeping quarters." Èowyn whispered when she stopped in front of them.

They followed the blond lady through the halls of the building. It was bigger than it seemed from the outside. Ginny did her best to remember the route they were taking. She wanted to know how to get to the front door incase it was needed.

"The men can have this sleeping hall. I'll make sure the maids bring you all water to wash up and if you want your clothes cleaned place them on the beds, the maids will launder them." Èowyn explained. She sounded like she had run this household for a long time already but she didn't seem much older than thirty. Ginny was impressed by Èowyn's sense of self and the confidence she carried. "Milady, for you the room across the hall is available. It's small and doesn't offer much comfort but it has a soft bed and privacy." Èowyn said when her eyes met Ginny's.

"It's alright. I don't need much." Ginny muttered. She followed Èowyn through the door. The woman hadn't been lying. It was very minimalistic. The bed in the corner was made of a dark wood and a sack stuffed with material pretended to be a mattress. Ginny knew she couldn't expect more from these people. She was very spoiled if it came to sleeping with the four-poster bed from Hogwarts. She sighed, it would do.

"I will ask the maids to bring you a bath and warm water so you can wash up. Do you have any other clothes with you?"

"No, just this." Ginny said. She looked down at herself. She had kept her clothes relatively clean but they were worn out and in need of replacement. But not now, it would have to be done later, she couldn't ask new things of these people. They had issues enough.

"I'll bring you a clean dress and one for tomorrow for you to wear with the funeral." Èowyn said.'

"Oh, no, you don't have to do that." Ginny protested. She pulled of her cloak and noticed Èowyn looking at the clothing she was wearing with shock. "I can't ask that of you besides I rather wear something like this."

Èowyn, glanced over her one more time, her eyes wide. Ginny wasn't sure in approval or disgust.

"All right, I see what I can get for you but please the King will be really displeased if you wore inappropriate clothes for the funeral."

"Alright. If it's not too much." Ginny agreed.

"Of course not." Èowyn said with a smile. "What is your name, milady?"

"Oh, how rude of me, I'm Ginevra, but it's Ginny for short."

"I'm Èowyn, the king's niece and shield maiden of Rohan."

"It's an honor." Ginny said with a smile.

"Where do you hail?" Èowyn asked suddenly. Ginny chuckled at her curiosity. Èowyn seemed like a really nice person, one that severely missed girl time. Ginny knew that deep down she could be and wanted be her friend but she wasn't sure how to answer. She understood that Èowyn was asking her where she came from but she couldn't tell the truth, the young woman would never understand.

"Fangorn forest and before that I spend time in the mountains." It wasn't a lie. Hogwarts is surrounded by mountains and after Hogwarts she had spend a few days in Fangorn.

"Fangorn?" Èowyn asked in surprise. "That forest is dangerous. My brother told me about strange creatures living there and that even the trees are dangerous."

Ginny shrugged and folded the cloak, she would give it back to Legolas later.

"It's wasn't that bad."

"Are you married to the man, the Ranger?" Èowyn asked after a minute of silence and Ginny whirled around to face her. "Oh, I'm sorry, it was rude of me to ask." Èowyn said with a blush.

"No, you just got me off guard. No I'm not involved with any of them. I'm a friend of Gandalf. I met Gandalf in the forest slightly unexpected. He was waiting for the others. Since then we are traveling together."

"Oh." Èowyn whispered. "Oh, alright. I'll leave you to it. The maids will bring you fresh clothes and a bath. Dinner will be served in two hours and I'm sure Théoden will want to meet his guests before that."

"Okay." Ginny nodded.

Èowyn left her in silence. Ginny looked around her. The room wasn't decorated. In the corner next to the window stood a chair that was draped in fabric. On the floor lay a hide of some sort of animal, probably a cow. Besides that the room was fairly bare. A real guest bedroom.

She sat down on the bed and sighed.

Being alone wasn't the best thing. Though she had felt alone, since the final battle she hadn't been alone. There had always been Gandalf or later the others who would keep her mind occupied.

Now she was alone with time to think. Nothing to distract her from her thoughts. Immediately they whirled back to the final battle. Thoughts that always seemed to get stuck on the haunted empty eyes of the death. With a stab she realized that tomorrow she had to face death in sort form again.

She would be attending a funeral. She would have to stand next to Gandalf as a friend to show her respects to the dead prince. She shivered as she thought about seeing a death face again. Maybe he would be in a coffin. Maybe… if it wasn't too much to hope for.

The thought of a funeral only brought back the memories of her dead family. She would never be able to bury them. Never would she be able to visit their graves or attend a memorial service in their name. Never ever could she say goodbye.

She couldn't go home. Merlin knows why or how she ended up in Middle Earth but she knew in heart she had wished for it and couldn't return to her own world. She wasn't even sure if she wanted too but she wished that she would have at least the chance to say goodbye to her family.

A knock on the door startled her from her thoughts.

"Come in." she called as she quickly wiped away her tears.

An older woman came in followed by two men carrying what seemed to be a bathtub and two others followed with large buckets of steaming water.

"The wizard has requested you to join him and the others after your bath to meet the king and to eat something, milady." The older woman said. Ginny nodded. "Lady Èowyn asked me to bring you fresh clothes. She requests that you wear this dress today when you meet the king, it would be more appropriate. The dark dress is for the funeral tomorrow. These are the clothes you requested, if they are too big we can alter them."

"Thank you, this is too much to ask anyway." Ginny said as she took the pile of clothing.

"The water is warm, milady, it might be a bit too warm."

"Thank you." Ginny said again. Once they left the room she went through the clothes. The two dresses were beautiful, the regular one was a light shade of brown and the one she was asked to wear for the funeral was black with a golden trim. The male clothes she was given needed some alterations to make it fit for a woman her size but nothing that magic couldn't solve. The breaches were dark blue, there was a white blouse and a dark blue with silver decorated tunic of a thick kind of fabric. Last on the stack of clothing were two sets of undergarments. To her surprise they were very feminine, she wondered if they had been Èowyn's.

She stripped down and tested the water. It was nice and warm, no magic needed. With a sigh she sank down into the warm water and let her body relax. Taking deep breaths she tried to calm down completely. The warmth felt so good on her body that she almost fell asleep.

Taking full advantage of the bath she used her magic to reheat the water again. She lay there just enjoying the small comfort that had been given to her. Once the water started to cool again she took a second to wash her hair and her body. Gandalf had healed most her her wounds but there were still a few cuts that hadn't healed completely. She took care to clean them properly and used her wand to heal them. After she was satisfied that she was clean and properly healed she got out and used a drying charm instead of the rough looking cloth they left behind for a towel.

To her surprise the dress fitted perfectly, it didn't need any alteration. She had thought they had been Èowyn's but the lady was a head taller than she so if it had been Èowyn's dress it wouldn't have fitted. Maybe from another court lady.

She dried her hair with her wand and braided it so her red hair wouldn't be as noticed. Once she was ready she left her room and returned to the Golden Hall.