Well, it certainly has been a while. My deepest apologies, dear readers, but I simply hadn't the time, will or paitence to sit and type up this chapter until now. Accept my apologies and lavish me with reviews, please? I love you! You may need to go back and read the tail of the last chapter, because this picks up right where I left off.

)Hermione's POV(

"It starts seven years ago. I received a letter telling of a wondrous school where I could go to learn magic."

"A woman? And a child? Learn magic?" Gimli looked astonished.

"Indeed. Human children who have magical blood can attend when they reach eleven years of age. There are many schools like it in my world, all over the world."

"Fascinating."

"It was, really. I had always been studious, so when I got my letter I immediately began researching everything I could about the world. I read books about famous Wizards, potions, spells… Anything I could get my hands on. My parents were thrilled that I found something that could hold my interest so long." I grinned at the memory of my parents sighing and, with a faint smile, finally agreeing to let me go to the magical school. After an hour-long researched presentation, of course.

"What kinds of Wizards are famous where you're from? What do they do to be famous, if everyone can do magic anyway?"

My face, I could tell, clouded slightly. "Well… Just as there are evil wizards here, there are evil wizards in my world, too. Grindewald, for example. The school's Headmaster defeated him… And then there is… well, was, a wizard by the name of Voldemort."

"The name alone sounds evil." Legolas commented.

"That's why he was most commonly called 'He Who Must Not Be Named'… Or, for short, 'You Know Who'." I shrugged, trying to brush off the cold shiver down my spine. "He tried to kill my best friend when he was a baby. Harry, my friend, survived and the curse rebounded on Voldemort, weakening him immensely."

"Incredible!" Gimli said. "A mere babe?"

"His mother's love protected him." I said gently. Several elves nodded in assent.

"Love is a powerful magic." One said seriously. Many of the other elves murmured in agreement.

"His mother's love protected Harry until Voldemort used Harry's blood to bring him back to life, with a body and everything."

"How did he do that? I thought you said he was weakened!" Gimli said, alarmed.

"Wormtail helped him. Peter Pettigrew was his right-hand man. He used a spell involving a couple liters of serpent venom, flesh of the servant, bone of his dead father and blood of the enemy… Harry was there to witness the rebirthing." I shivered at the mere memory of the retelling of the tale. "It was horrible. He still has nightmares.

"Anyway… Voldemort went into hiding… And there were several battles. The final one happened at our school, where Harry finally defeated him. I won't go into the gruesome details, but suffice to say that it was… well, horrible." My voice dropped. "Things were only just starting to get back to normal when I came here with Draco."

"You have an interesting story, Lady Hermione." Gimli nodded. I laughed, the mood lightening.

"Oh, that's just the basics! You don't know hardly anything about Harry. He's the interesting one. Between him and Ron, they get into more trouble than Merry and Pippin ever could! And just as dangerous, mind you." I said.

"Impossible!" Gimli joked. I shook my head.

"Nope, I assure you not. There was one time, in our first year at Hogwarts…" I kind of trailed off, smiling at the memory. "We weren't friends yet. Earlier that day, Ron had insulted me and so I ran to the girl's washroom to cry. I spent the entire day there, crying and listening to Moaning Myrtle cry. When dinner came, though, Professor Quirrel came running into the Great Hall during dinner, screaming something about a troll in the dungeons."

"A troll?" Legolas cried. "In a school's dungeons!"

"Well, it wasn't in the dungeons, actually, it was in the hallway near the bathroom where I was." I corrected, enjoying the horrified looks on my companion's faces. "Anyway, Ron and Harry remembered that I was in the bathroom and didn't know about the troll, so they came to find me and warn me."

Ilaughed. "They burst into the bathroom after I screamed and proceeded to take out the troll all on their own! Ron nearly got his head knocked off, and Harry nearly got crushed, but they still beat him."

"Astonishing!" There were murmurs of awe for these two boys. I grinned proudly.

"Well, the teachers came in just then. I didn't want them to get in trouble for saving me, so I told the teachers that I thought that I could have taken care of it… And that Harry and Ron were trying to stop me, you know? So we got off the hook. Sheer dumb luck, as Professor McGonagall said." I paused to laugh again. "There are few experiences that you can go through and it be impossible not to be friends. I guess defeating a full grown mountain troll in the girl's washroom is one of them."

"I suppose so!" Gimli exclaimed in his rolling accent. "Perhaps these two could be as mischievous as Merry and Pippin. But I doubt that."

"Do you need another story to convince?" I asked.

"I believe we do!" Elladen agreed, laughing.

"Well," I said, "I believe I can come up with one. Let's see… Oh! I know. Later that year they decided that Professor Snape was the person who was trying to steal a very important artifact. What do they decide to do about it? They decide that two first-year Wizards are more than a match for a full-grown teacher, and elect to go after him. I happened to be dragged along, though, and good thing, too." I grinned.

Hours went by as we walked, talking about this and that, sharing stories and anecdotes. I laughed at some of Merry and Pippin's letter known exploits, while I regaled them with tales of the Golden Trio's adventures until they arrived back at the palace.

"Thank you, Prince Legolas, for inviting me on this journey." I said, curtseying. Legolas bowed.

"It was my pleasure." He replied. "If you'll excuse me, however, I have many things to attend to now that our guests have arrived."

"Of course." I smiled. Legolas bowed once more and turned and left me in the hands of Alatáriël, who led me back to my room to prepare me for the feast that evening.

"What dress will you wear tonight?" Alatáriël asked, indicating the full closet of clothes. "Go ahead and pick one. Ring the bell if you need help putting it on, I must go and prepare the Malfoy boy."

"He's going to attend?" I asked curiously.

"This is a big event. If he is not strictly a prisoner, then he is required to attend." Alatáriël said. I nodded and allowed Alatáriël to leave.

With this bit of knowledge in mind, I went to the wardrobe and began looking through the clothes. 'A big event...' I thought, selecting one of the fancier dresses. It was a beautiful emerald green princess cut gown, done with a material similar to silk. It was mostly unadorned, excepting a delicate line of embroidery along the sweetheart neckline and at the hems of the long bell sleeves and skirt, done in gold. She easily slipped into it, reaching around back to button the tiny buttons. The back of the gown rose to just above the small of her back, leaving most of her back exposed.

I sat in front of the vanity, suddenly wondering what to do. Alatáriël hadn't mentioned my hair. I settled for combing it out for the time being.

Before long, Alatáriël returned. She grinned when she saw the gown of choice, but made no comment, choosing to quickly pull my hair up into a deft bun, leaving a few curls to classically frame my face. A jeweled comb held my hair neatly and securely.

"You're finished. Come, Elrohir is waiting." She shooed me out the door. Just outside, Elrohir indeed was waiting. He smiled, complemented me, and offered his arm. I grinned, taking it gallantly. We walked down to the Great Hall.