A/N: Whoops. Realized a bit of last chapter was meant to be expanded on and added to this chapter. I fixed it and hope it didn't cause any confusion. I often write scenes out of chronological order and sometimes I forget to move paragraphs around ^^; I also apologize for the length of time between chapters. I'm in the last year of my master's program and I've been immensely busy. T-T But I haven't given up on this, promise. Thanks so much for everyone who reads this and leaves feedback/encouragement!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Hobbit. I write this work of fanfiction solely for my own amusement and that of others.


"There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love." -Washington Irving


Holly worried her lip with her teeth as she looked over her notes again. She had skipped dinner entirely because her stomach was too busy tying itself in knots while she tried to think of how she could possibly phrase things so they would convince Thorin of the danger ahead. Perhaps Balin's presence would be helpful, but she now had the challenge of convincing, not one, but two dwarves.

She sighed and let her head rest in her hands. She felt so useless and helpless. She knew, that if her friend was in a situation like this, she would probably tell them to just tell the truth, because most problems stem from a lack of communication and transparency. But this wasn't an ordinary situation. This was a situation that could condemn the entire world, and Holly didn't feel qualified to be in the position she found herself in.

She could not, in good conscience, warn him of the goblins. Could she? Bilbo had to find the ring. It was bad enough she would have to tell him something, but explaining the War of the Ring on top of just this quest was not on her to-do list.

That was one thing she could not mess with. Too much rode on that. Therefore, although the thought of being along with them when this happened filled her with dread, she had resolved to not say a word about it.

On the other hand, she wasn't sure about whether the fiasco with the elves in Mirkwood was entirely necessary to experience, but she also wasn't sure there was really a way around it. Perhaps she could help keep them all on the path and keep Bombur from falling in the river? Once again, this was a point she decided to remain mum on.

The Battle of the Five Armies though, and the events directly after Smaug's defeat, that she could warn him about. Indirectly.

Or not. This was just too much for her...she wasn't supposed to be some kind of savior! She was supposed to be worrying about her term bill, her stupid part time job, and her exams! She yanked on her hair and groaned in frustration.

She really needed the advice of Gandalf, or barring that, she needed somebody who could help her figure this out. She'd go straight to Elrond, but he was another person who might act very differently if he had foreknowledge. Plus it wasn't exactly like she knew him. She hadn't said one word to the guy.

Holly felt tears pricking her eyes again. This was just too much for one person. However, telling the truth, would mean admitting that she had been lying to Thorin and his company for their entire journey so far. She didn't think he would take it well. She also didn't think the truth would necessarily help.

Sure. Just say,'Hey Thorin, I'm a time traveler and I know all about your family's history of insanity' and he's likely renege his promise to keep her safe and leave her with the elves…

On second thought...she sighed again. No, he was too much a man of his word type to abandon her. It was really tempting to try and stay here in safe cozy Rivendell, but she couldn't let them all go off without her now. It was just wrong. She didn't think she could stand sitting around worrying about her friends. Because that's what they'd become, friends, or at least people she knew and kind of got along with.

Grr. This was so complicated.

When in doubt, make notes, she thought wryly. Holly picked up her pen to make a few more notations and then rewrote in shorthand all her notes so that they fit on one sheet of paper. She folded it and tucked in into her pocket and then took a deep breath and headed towards the Hall.

Okay, so the plan. She was going to tell Thorin she saw him slipping into madness upon coming in contact with the treasure, and that she saw a battle in the future after they reclaimed the mountain. Keep it vague.

Her heart felt heavy, but she knew this was the best she could do for now.


Thorin was definitely annoyed with her, she thought as she approached him and Balin. In all fairness, she had kept him waiting after insisting on meeting with him. Her feet had seem to drag on her trip down the halls though. She had half hoped to snag Gandalf along with her, but the infuriating wizard was nowhere to be seen.

Okay, how bad can this get? She asked herself.

Pretty bad. She thought, nervously watching Thorin's eyebrows furrowing. She hadn't said a word yet and he already looked grouchy. She cleared her throat nervously.

"Why don't we take this somewhere a wee bit more private?" Balin asked, cutting her off, and Thorin only grunted in acknowledgement before spinning on his heel and impatiently waving for them to follow.

Holly knew her face must show her apprehension because Balin took an extra moment to pat her arm and steer her towards where Thorin was hustling off to.

He led them to a small room that seemed like a private study. A table lay in the center with a few chairs. Some maps lay upon it and there was a set of bookshelves in the corner. There weren't any windows, and it was only lighted by the candle Balin had lit from a torch by the door.

Thorin caught her curious glance and waved his hand peremptorily in the air as he explained, "We won't be disturbed here. Lord Elrond has set aside this room for me to use while I'm here to discuss plans."

He paused and waved for everyone to sit. Balin sat beside Thorin which put her directly across from them. Not intimidating at all, she thought sarcastically as she licked her lips.

"You had something to tell us? Your gift warned you of something?" Balin prompted gently. The old dwarrow's eyes were kind, but still firm. Holly grimaced.

"Y-yes." She said hesitantly, then accidentally met Thorin's gaze. Meeting his eyes was always so intense. He always seemed like he was judging her very soul.

A blush rose unbidden on her cheeks and she looked away uncomfortably.

"I need to warn you about some things" Holly said then took a deep breath and began again, "I know some things that will come to pass. Some things that you must take seriously."

Balin nodded solemnly but Thorin's face remained implacable.

"I have foreseen that your line will end, if you don't change the course you are on, and it will be caused by your failure to take proper precautions…"

Holly told them she had foreseen Thorin's and his nephews' deaths. She told him it stemmed from a series of choices he made under the influence of a kind of gold-fever, and that there was a battle after they reclaimed the mountain.

When she ended, Balin's face looked more drawn and tired than she'd ever seen it, but Thorin...he looked absolutely furious.

"You have seen this? With certainty? You think me mad?!" He demanded, and Holly hesitated. That hesitation was enough to make Thorin's eyes turn icy. She flinched under his gaze.

Thorin scoffed, "I am no weakling to succumb to such." He got to his feet and Balin rose with his hands held up placatingly, but Thorin cut him off before he could speak, "I'll not take the word of a useless witch." He spat, "When she is not telling the whole truth, and has so many of her own secrets," he turned to leave.

Holly blanched, tears in her eyes, but anger rose in her chest as well, the heat of it combined with all the stress she already felt, kept them from falling and instead caused her to want to make him listen.

"At least I am wise enough to listen and not reject advice just because I'm too arrogant to believe I might have a weakness. Gandalf believes in me, why can't you?!" Holly said, injecting her own voice with enough anger to stop him cold and make Balin look at her in startled surprise.

Thorin opened his mouth but she cut him off, slamming her hands on the table and getting to her feet. She felt a vindictive stab of pleasure that she had a few inches on him as she glared downwards.

"No! I don't care. Fuck you Thorin! I warned you, and that's my job. I think you're a moron for not listening and practicing some common sense, but now it's on you." She trembled with anger.

"How dare-" he began, his voice rising in fury, but she quickly cut him off again.

"I dare because I know you will die, and so will many others, if you do nothing. I dare because I care about what happens to you! B-because it matters!" Her voice was tight, and she could hold back no longer. They held eye contact, each far too angry to give in to the other.

But the sting of tears could not be held back for long. They fell even as she gave him the coldest look she could muster, "I can't tell you everything. But you can trust me. I don't want to see anyone hurt. Least of all you." She wiped her eyes furiously and straightened with all the dignity she could muster.

She could see she'd stunned them both, and Thorin especially. She couldn't bear to be in the room a moment longer though. She was so angry and upset.

Holly didn't let him reply before turning and leaving the room, a sob breaking through her control. The door slammed ominously behind her, the sound damning in the silence.

Thorin startled as if from a trance at the sound, then made to follow but Balin gripped his arm.

"Nay, best let the lass regain herself." He said quietly.

"That impertinent-!" Thorin said angrily but choked off in his fury. Balin shook his head, "I know she could have said some of that a bit more...diplomatically," he said. "But Thorin, she really does seem to care for what happens to the company and this has obviously been weighing heavily on her mind for some time."

He paused and looked at the candle guttering on the table, "Like it or not, there is some truth to her words of warning."

Thorin clenched his fists, but did not have a reply. Balin sighed and got to his feet.

"I think it best we all take some time to think this new information over."

Thorin remained frozen but radiating anger as Balin took his leave, shaking his head slightly. Dwarrows were a stubborn lot, but he had never met one quite as hard headed as Thorin.

His heart went out to Holly, though he also knew Thorin was partly right in that the girl was keeping secrets. However he didn't think they were necessarily bad secrets. She's been wounded deeply, and wounds of the heart healed much more slowly than ones of the body.

Young people. He thought wryly, spent too much time getting worked up over things. He was so glad he wasn't young anymore!

Well mostly. He could do without his back and joints aching. He huffed a soft laugh and then sighed and went to look for his bed.


Thorin remained in the room, the candle throwing deep shadows. Broodingly he sat back down and scowled at the wax dripping down.

He was angry. How dare she! Some slip of a little girl, how dare she presume to speak of the...unspeakable. Of his grandfather's downfall. The madness that haunted his line.

How dare she tell him he would fall the same way. He was not weak.

Aye, but she didn't call you weak, did she? He thought, scowling. She is worried about me, about my sister's sons...

He got up abruptly and left. Sniffing the candle out with unnecessary vehemence.

He turned the corner of the hall in a huff and continued stomping until he reached a quiet spot where he could pull out his pipe and smoke in peace.

After a time, he realized he was being quite foolish. The woman got under his skin. He wasn't entirely sure why, but he knew she did.

Ah but that was a lie, and Thorin Oakenshield was no liar, even to himself. He liked her, but he did not want to like her. She was a distraction at best, and could spell ruin for him and his kin at worst.

Therein lay his problem. He didn't want to worry for her, but he couldn't seem to help it. She and the Halfling were similar in that respect, only Holly had proven she was not afraid of toil or stepping up to deal with whatever life sent her way.

Clumsy and accident prone, yes, but she was no whinger. She was ridiculously stubborn and independent. Their argument had only proven how headstrong she was.

She may be the first female to ever stand up to him in that way, besides his sister. There was so much strength within her; a trait he'd found lacking in other humans. If she was indeed Valar sent, they could not have picked a better candidate for dealing with a group of stubborn dwarves.

He would be a fool to disregard her warning. This was why Gandalf had pressed to have her along. He had no reason to suspect either the woman or wizard of lying, though he knew with certainty that neither of them had told the entire truth either.

You don't exactly make it easy for her to approach you.

Fili's words echoed in his mind and he sighed around the stem of his pipe. No, he thought he was rather in the right to keep her at a distance. She was already caught up enough in his affairs. No need to drag her further down and in.

It was nothing he hadn't already worried over himself, her warning. He hadn't made it this far on the assumption that everyone would make it out unscathed. Her tearful plea for him to take her seriously was playing out in his mind again.

He didn't think it was possible for one to feel so deeply and not be perfectly genuine. He knew his sister's sons were fond of her. Quite a few of the Company were, truth be told. It seemed as if that fondness ran both ways.

He was still angry, but not at her so much, he realized. Warning him of the madness did little battle she had warned of was not surprising, but little could be done for that either as no one would come until the dragon had been slain, and he would not wish for others to swarm over Erebor like so many flies drawn to a carcass.

The best defense lay in finding a solution to the first problem, but how was one supposed to avoid a trap of one's own mind?

He sputtered as he inhaled a lungful of smoke a little too deeply.

He did not dare go to Elrond for advice as he still did not quite trust him. He could approach the wizard, who may have some trick or magic to help protect them.

However the easiest solution was also the most irritating.

The treasure would have to be avoided, once secured...but he needed the Arkenstone. He needed the symbol of his people, and he had to look for it. He had to find it. He just had to.

He sighed again, and reluctantly acknowledged to himself that he needed to seek out Balin and Gandalf in the morn.

Thorin avoided Holly over the next few days, not wishing to speak to her so soon after he'd made an ass of himself. He wasn't sure how to approach the issue with her again. He didn't want to involve her, but as Balin had very quickly pointed out, she was involved whether he wanted her to be or no.

"As much as you may dislike it, there are at least three amongst the group who may not feel the lure so strongly, yes?" Balin said working the problem over in his mind, "Neither the halfling, the woman, or the wizard value gold and treasure the way a dwarrow does, down in his bones."

Thorin reluctantly agreed, but still did not know how to approach the members of his company who he trusted the least. Gandalf had already made it clear that he might not be available to help, in his own vague way. Wizards were slippery with their talk; they always spoke in riddles.

It didn't help matters that Holly was also avoiding him to the best of her ability. She had outright turned around and fled the first time he'd seen her since their meeting. This caused him to be in a foul mood the rest of the day and snap at his nephews.

How to approach her and ask for help?


Rivendell was indeed a perfect place for pursuing any type of leisure and relaxation and Holly loved it. She could easily see herself whiling away many days here. There was something uplifting about the place, even when her spirits were generally down after the catastrophe of a conversation she'd had with Thorin.

She spent some time with the Company, but mostly she spent the time alone.

Reading had always been a pastime of her's, and here there were so many books. She found she could only read those written in the Common Tongue, and even reading those gave her a headache after awhile. Clearly using whatever magic allowed her to read and understand others in the first place took a toll. She should have known; nothing ever came without a price.

She didn't do it often, but if she concentrated, she could make out the differences between English and Westron. It made her head hurt, but she could do it.

It did make her wonder, if this gift would stick around forever. Somehow, something in her gut told her it might not, so she spent some time pulling out the alphabet and studying the sounds by writing them down in her notebook.

But despite all the leisure and relaxation that she had sorely needed, she found herself feeling somewhat restless. Her mind kept turning back to the one problem she needed to solve and couldn't bring herself to face.

Thorin had been avoiding her and she had been avoiding him, but they couldn't keep on like that indefinitely. It was childish of her, she knew, but she didn't want to face him so soon. He always made her feel like crying in a way nobody else ever had.

Stubborn asshole.

It hurt because she knew he only wanted what was best for the company and his family. She couldn't fault him that, but he seemed to greatly dislike her in particular.

She sighed and closed the book she was holding, no longer interested in the stories it told.

If he didn't make a move, she would have to.


A few notes on the chapter:

As someone pointed out recently, yes this is a ThorinXHolly pairing story, but in order to make it more realistic it's going to be incredibly slow burn. Romance is the last thing on their minds right now, even if they can't help being attracted to one another. Maybe I should warn y'all this story is more in the vein of Romeo and Juliet over Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy…though there are elements of both here ;)

Rivendell would be among the top places I would choose to visit out of all the magical worlds authors have dreamt up over the years.

Gandalf is often painted so nicely in other stories, but imho he's a bit of a jerk, even if he has his reasons. He's been a bit preoccupied with other things to bother with poor Holly.

I come back to the language issue here a bit. I have further plans down the line and it will be revisited. That's all I'll say for now.

THIS IS NOW PART OF A SERIES!

I have written a few drabbles that won't make it into the main story but may amuse you all the same. I've made a separate work for them and posted it to my ArchiveofOurOwn account (same name, you can google it). Please check it out. :) I'm not posting it here too because most of my followers for this story are on Ao3 now.