A/N: Alrighty. So. This took forever. Just like every other chapter has... yeeeeah... Okay. The next one is actually almost halfway done! So, hopefully, you'll be getting that soon. Also, I didn't want to wait for my beta... so I'm posting this beofre she's looked at it. I am terribly sorry! Just so you know, I am aware that "Dark" and "Harp" do not really rhyme. I'm thinking that I might want to stop trying to think of chapter titles that rhyme or at least sound the same.

Huge thanks to everyone who has reviewed! I'm up to forty! I didn't think I'd get past twenty! You guys are awesome, and I love you all. One more thing, then I'll shut-up, I promise. You can give the credit for this chapter to my brother, who bought me a harp for Christmas. I snooped and found it, so I got it early. :)


Chapter Ten: For a Harp

Estella rarely fell under what Pippin's "starry-eyed-mush-head-books" would call "the spell of her Prince Charming," but she seemed mystified enough now.

Pippin and Fredegar were both very amused though, as Merry had no idea what he was doing. He had never played one before, and he was really just plucking strings at random, sending musical vibrations through the air. However, the lass seemed entranced by the exotic sound.

"What's it called again?" she wondered.

"A harp," Merry answered.

She smiled and ran her hand over the small stringed instrument. "It's so beautiful! Legolas sent it to you?"

Merry nodded and handed the harp to Estella, smiling at Pippin. How his cousin knew Estella would love the thing so much he would never know. He was glad though, for it would serve as a wonderful gift of apology for his bad behavior towards her. Since his father died, he had been distant, shoving her away, and he knew it had hurt her, despite the usual efforts to hide her feelings. He hoped this would be enough to make up for it. But he wouldn't give it to her just yet. His birthday was coming up, and it would be a most lovely present for her.

"It's too bad he didn't send anyone who knows how to play it as well," Fredegar commented, not nearly as impressed by the hit-and-miss notes as Estella was.

"Well, maybe I'll be able to teach myself a little," Merry suggested. "And if not, then I'm sure Diamond would be able to figure it out, given a few weeks. She can play almost anything."

"But," Pippin added, "Poor lass can't cook to save her life."

"See, there's the difference between you and me, Pippin!" Freddy exclaimed. "I have already chosen to find a wife with excellent skills in the kitchen, although I don't know that anyone could measure up to Stelly."

Estella straightened up a bit and smiled. "That is so very, very true, and I'll thank you for finally realizing it after all these years."

"And she's humble, too!" Merry cried, getting a smirk from her.

"But Freddy, you're not really thinking about marrying Peony, are you?" Estella wondered, the smirk melting into a questioning and slightly concerned face.

Fredegar shrugged. "I don't know. Why do you care so much?"

"Because you're my big brother," she said, as though it should have been very plain to him. "I'm just not sure that she's the right one for you."

Fredegar watched subtly as Merry slipped an arm around Estella's waist. He wasn't exactly sure how he felt about his friend's increasing romantic interest in his sister. He shook his head, now was not the time to think of this. "Well," he said. "Would you rather me marry Daisy?"

"Oh! Please, no! Kill me now, would you? Take Peony! Marry her and have a dozen children, just as long as you stay away from Daisy!" Estella yelled, feigning the most horrified air she could to add to her melodramatics.

The three lads chuckled at her antics, but knew not to press the subject. It was generally known that Estella and Fredegar Bolger had become very close during the Occupation (though they still had their sibling spats every now and again), and it was also generally assumed that if any lass were to lay a hand on Fred, she would have Estella to go through first. Likewise, if any lad were to say anything or do anything indecent to Estella, they would have to answer to Fredegar, and nobody really wanted to deal with either of them.

Merry had never spoken his thoughts aloud on the subject of the sibling's overprotective nature of one another, but he figured that he had an unfair advantage when it came to Estella. Not that she had lads falling at her feet or begging for her attention; she was really quite plain, and her snappy and sometimes unpleasant nature made sure that Merry had nearly no competition for her affections, except for the occasional desperate lad who would court any lass that would give him the time of day. And most of the time, Estella would not, so he really had her all to himself.

But Merry did not see her as a plain, mean-spirited lass anymore. Everyday that he spent with her, every new thing he learned about her made her more beautiful and desirable to him, made him want more of her company. He had fallen in love with her, really fallen in love, that September day, five months ago when he had found her in the apple orchard. She hadn't been wearing a pretty dress, no, she was in her brother's clothes. Her hair had not been done, no, it was pulled into a sloppy bun on the back of her head. She had certainly gone to no effort to impress him! For goodness sake! It was a chance meeting and she had been in a tree with apple juice dripping off her chin! But that was the first time he had ever felt short of breath because she looked so beautiful to him.

That was, he thought, another advantage he had. He truly loved her, and her brother knew it. Fredegar was, of course, something to be concerned about, but Merry didn't really worry over it. After all, he had nearly always been friends with him, and he knew Fred's mannerisms. Merry had a good idea of how to deal with him, though he was always unpredictable when he was angry.

A note from the harp shook him from his musings. Estella was concentrating, trying hard to figure out which string to strum to get the right sound. He watched her with intense eyes.

Her brow was furrowed in concentration, and the tip of her tongue was peeking through her lips, as it often did when she was trying very hard to accomplish something. He wanted to watch her just a little longer, watch the satisfied glow in her eyes when she finally found the right string, but the feel of someone else's eyes on him made him look up. He was confused for a moment, for Freddy had no cause to be glaring at him like that. It hit him after a moment, why the other lad was sending him looks of death.

He had been completely wrong. The fact that he was a childhood friend did not matter in the least to Fredegar. This was his baby sister, and when it came to her, no one was good enough.

Estella sighed, drawing the attention of both lads. "Oh! It's so gorgeous! Thank you for letting me play it," she told Merry before kissing his lips. No, no no! The one moment he could not take advantage of it! The one moment he couldn't kiss her back! That's when she chooses to kiss him? Of all the chances she'd had to kiss him today, she had to take that one. In front of her brother. Of course. Leave it to Stella to make things difficult.

'And there's the look again.' He thought, as Pippin began teasing Estella for showing her affection for his cousin in front of people. 'If looks could cut flesh, I would be maimed,' Merry thought, but Estella's fingers tangling with his soon distracted him, and he watched her expression turn from joy to longing as he took the harp from her. Yes, it was the perfect present for her. She would love it.


A/N: Soooo... how was it? Stella was not being like herself. She was in a really good mood, apparently. Let me know what you think in a review!