Title: Failsafe (HP/LotR crossover)

Summary: Tackling the last traces of magic Voldemort left scattered around Britain, a magical disaster causes Harry and Ginny to wake up in the dungeons of a ruined fortress. It doesn't take them long to realise that something is very, very wrong…

Pairings: mild, cannon pairings only

Rating: T, for some language and fight scenes

Chapter Twelve

Harry. Hated. Libraries.

It might have come as a surprise to those who had known him at Hogwarts due to the fact that he tended to spend a lot of his time ensconced between dusty shelves, crouched over ancient tomes researching either spells to combat evil, investigating clues to solve the current mystery at Hogwarts or catching up on all the homework he didn't have time to complete earlier because he was too busy fighting evil or solving mysteries.

The truth was though that Harry did not care for libraries. They involved paper cuts; sneezing fits from all the dust caking the neglected books; straining of the eyes deciphering the tiny, faded text; and complete and utter boredom. And while, yes, Harry was forced to admit that libraries were useful, it still didn't mean he had to like them.

If he was being completely truthful to himself, part of Harry's current reluctance and loathing of libraries was exacerbated by the fact that he was stranded so far away from the two friends he usually found himself stuck in a library with; Ron and Hermione. If he closed his eyes, Harry could almost hear Hermione nagging at him to be more careful with the ancient manuscripts accompanied by the whining of Ron that he was utterly bored and would much rather be playing Quidditch.

So, Harry Potter hated libraries. Yet here he was, for the second day in a row, stuck in the Middle Earth equivalent.

Great.

"Something wrong, Harry?" Ginny asked, looking over as Harry groaned in frustration.

"No, no, everything's fine," Harry muttered, inwardly wincing at how whiny he sounded. He cleared his throat and tried again, this time without the whinge. "This one's no good though – I can only make out 1 word in three. I think it's about horse care." So saying he placed the heavy parchment on the 'useless' pile. It was rather depressing how large it was.

Ginny just nodded, choosing not to say anything for which Harry was grateful. She knew just as well as he did that the whole thing was completely utterly pointless. Gandalf had even told them that as he ushered them in there the day before – although in slightly more diplomatic terms – but in the same breath had also insisted that they should try anyway. So try they had.

Not that they had really had much of a choice.

Shortly after the King's miraculous recovery (but after he'd tried to kill the Snape look-a-like. Luckily Aragorn had stepped in to convince Théoden to banish him instead. Harry was glad about that. Whilst logically he knew that their new world was more barbaric than their own, it was still very difficult to see how casually death was dealt out) the man had disappeared, followed quickly by Gandalf. Harry and Ginny had watched them go, feeling both confused and awkward.

At first the Lords around them had been too engrossed in discussing the sudden chain of events to pay much attention to the two strangers in their midst. However, as the minutes passed, the pair of them suddenly found themselves the recipients of more and more stares. Most were curious – more than a few, however, were a cross between incredulity and arrogance.

"Um… where did the others go?" Ginny whispered, going a bit pink.

Harry had been wondering the same thing. "I have no idea," he murmured back. He frowned, uncertain. "Maybe we should have followed Gandalf?"

"No, wait, there's Aragorn!" Ginny suddenly said. Visually relieved, she wasted no time in pushing her way over to him. Harry blinked then quickly followed in her wake.

Aragorn was looking faintly amused by the time they'd made their way over. It probably had something to do with the mutters and looks of outrage as Ginny elbowed her way past them. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or apologise; Ginny just stared up at Aragorn defiantly. "So, what happens now then?"

"Now?" Aragorn repeated, amused expression turning contemplative. "Much has changed in the time that Théoden has been under Saruman's curse. Allies are now enemies, orcs march freely across the lands, his nephew has been banished and his son has been slain. It is much for any man to grasp, even one who has not been trapped by evil enchantment. It will take time to adjust, but time is something we have little of." He broke off with a worried sigh. "I am afraid, Ginny, that I cannot say for sure what Théoden's next move will be."

Harry had blinked at that plethora of information. To say things in Rohan were gloomy and depressing seemed a bit of an understatement after hearing all of that. Not for the first time Harry got the feeling that there was something a lot more serious going on in Middle Earth than what (little) information they had been told. He shivered unconsciously. Maybe it had something to do with the way that the name 'Saruman' kept popping up, but the more he heard it the less he liked it.

"Oh. Right," was all Harry actually said though, exchanging an awkward glance with Ginny. As informative as that had been, it definitely wasn't what she had been asking Aragorn about. "Erm, I think Ginny meant what, um, should we do now?"

"Do you just want us to, I dunno, stand here and wait for Gandalf?" Ginny added. Her tone seemed sincere, but Harry knew her well enough to catch the sarcastic undertones. Harry had reached across to squeeze her hand reassuringly.

Aragorn raised an eyebrow, smile playing around his lips. "Why, Ginny, are you not enjoying your first experience of the court of Rohan?"

Ginny scowled, glaring at some of the members of the court who were now staring quite openly at the two of them. "Not especially, no."

Aragorn turned his amused gaze on Harry who simply grimaced. "What she said."

The older man finally laughed at that. "Alright, you two, come with me and let us see what we shall do next."

'Next' had been a costume change.

"What on earth is all of this?!"

Aragorn just laughed as Harry stared in bewilderment at the pile of clothes he'd just been handed. He and Ginny had both been secretly relieved at the suggestion by Aragorn that they swap their other-world clothing for something that would help them blend in a little. Whilst their clothes were comfortable and familiar, the last thing they wanted was to stand out any more than they already did.

The chance to have a proper clean was also extremely welcome. Harry didn't like to think about how much he must have smelt. There was only so much the odd scourgify could do.

But now…

"No, seriously, there has to be at least five tops here… but you said it's one outfit?" Harry said, searching through the rough fabric in confusion. He suddenly looked up and peered intently at Aragorn's own clothing. On closer inspection he realised that the older man did appear to be wearing a lot of different layers and it didn't seem to be too complicated. For him. "But which one do I put on first?!"

In the end it took almost ten whole minutes for him to get changed. It ended up not being quite as complicated as he had feared, but he'd never before realised how much he appreciated zips and buttons. He almost went cross-eyed from tying up all the ties.

When he had finished, however, Harry felt like a completely different person. Gone were his slightly ragged jeans and t-shirt; instead he was clothed in, as best as he could describe them, brown trousers, a cream undershirt, a dark green shirt, a long dark brown jacket and a myriad of other smaller layers that he wasn't quite sure the purpose of. The underwear was more like extremely baggy shorts, something that made him feel stranger than everything else put together. The lack of mirrors meant he didn't really know what he looked like, but he certainly didn't really feel like Harry Potter anymore. The new clothes felt strange – heavier, looser, rougher.

He also wasn't used to having shoes that went up higher than his ankle. He twisted around, trying to look at his new boots. Given his druthers, Harry would much rather he had had his trainers but however conspicuous they had looked before would be nothing to how awful they would look with his new medieval get up.

There were only two things that Harry refused to compromise on. The first was his glasses (the sight of Aragorn wearing them was one that made Harry wish he had a camera. Or a pensieve). The second was his wizard's cloak. It wasn't so far off from the cloaks and coats that the people around them were wearing that it would stand out and Harry wanted to hold onto a reminder of where he really came from for as long as possible.

(Plus it had pockets. Pockets were another aspect of modern life that he didn't fully appreciate until all his trousers were back-pocket-less. He'd have to figure out how to create pockets in his new 'trousers' later on. Despite Mad-Eyes warning, Harry still preferred keeping his wand there. And he still had both his buttocks.)

After 24 hours, however, the feel good factor of his new clothes had definitely worn off. The clothes were very heavy, making them exhausting and the rough fabric was incredibly itchy. In fact, Harry thought, it was rather remarkable how extremely uncomfortable they were bearing in mind that all he had been doing was sitting still. Even more ridiculous were the blisters that his new boots had given him considering he'd barely walked in them.

Ginny had it even worse. Whilst at first she'd been enchanted by the long flowing dresses she had been given, the novelty had quickly worn off. However heavy Harry's clothes were, Ginny's were ten times worse and she kept tripping over the long train. She'd eventually found a way around the problem – naming using a severing charm to create large slits in the sides, stealing some leggings from Legolas and glowering at any who looked like they might comment.

Not that they had really seen anyone.

Shortly after emerging in their new outfits Gandalf had ushered the two of them into the records room, saying only that he had spoken to the King. Aragorn followed, interested, as Gandalf plucked out a large scroll from the myriad of shelves and unrolled it on the table.

"This," he said, smoothing out the edges, "is a map of Middle Earth."

Middle Earth didn't bear any resemblance to Earth.

Even as his eyes roved eagerly over the yellow parchment, taking in the new names and boundaries, Harry felt his stomach sink. Although he had expected it, a small part of him still didn't believe that the shape of Middle Earth could be different from the shape of the countries and continents that he knew. He was still expecting to see the boot of Italy, head-shape of Africa and the familiar sight of the British Isles.

None of that was there.

Instead all he saw was one massive land mass, disappearing off into the east, south and north of the page. The west of the map was a massive unnamed ocean, with just one tiny island near the top and it looked nothing like Britain. Sighing, Harry wondered how long it would be before he truly accepted the fact that he was in a completely different world. Glancing up, Harry caught Ginny staring at him, a rueful smile on her lips. Looks like he wasn't the only one.

"You see nothing that you recognise?" Aragorn asked, catching their expressions.

"No," Ginny confirmed sadly. "The shape of our world is completely different."

Although… "How much more of the world – erm, Middle Earth – is there?" Harry asked, peering at the edges of the map. There clearly had to be more than was shown.

"To the east there are the lands of Rhûn and other Eastern lands before meeting the great ocean," Gandalf said, watching the two of them carefully. "To the south lies Haradwaith and Umbar. Both are great lands in their own way, although both the Southerlings and the Corsairs now serve Sauron."

It was not the first time Gandalf had mentioned the name 'Sauron'. Harry exchanged a glance with Ginny. Was it someone else? Or a different pronunciation of Saruman? Ginny shook her head at him, however, and instead leaned across the map, tapping on the western side. "What about across the ocean?"

All four looked at her askance. "None sail West, save those of elven kind," Aragorn said. "They follow the straight road to the Undying Lands."

Harry blinked. That made no sense to him. "Er, you what?"

"The Undying Lands," Gandalf said, with a small smile, "are the lands of the Valar."

"So there is another land?" Ginny asked, uncertain. "Are these Valar another race of people?"

"Yes," Gandalf agreed, still smiling, "and no. The Valar are eternal beings of great power and wisdom who used their magicks to create and shape all life on Middle Earth and even now act to guide us. They reside in the eternal realm of Valinor, which is no longer a part of Middle Earth. Only the Elves know the way to reach their lands by sailing across the sea. If any other tried it all they would discover was the ocean."

"So… you sail across the ocean but they're not actually on the ocean?" Ginny asked, sounding as perplexed as Harry felt. "They're… I dunno, somewhere else? Or just an invisible city?"

"No, in another realm," Gandalf agreed, still smiling. "Although common belief would have them reside in the heavens."

Harry frowned trying to put that into something he could make sense of. "So, they're, um, like sort of angels, do you think?" he queried, looking across to Ginny for confirmation.

She pulled a face. "Possibly. Although you're probably more familiar with the idea of angels than me." At his querying look, she elaborated, "The magical world doesn't really go much into religion. Too much 'burning at the stake'."

Harry let out a short bark of laughter at that, although it was more related to the looks on the faces of both Gandalf and Aragorn than what Ginny had actually said. "True. In any case, it looks that these Valar won't be able to help us," he said eventually, sighing.

"I would not say that, young Wizard," Gandalf said, pushing aside his confusion with a chuckle. "There is little in the way of magic on Middle Earth that does not have some shade of their influence. Whatever magicks may have happened on your world to bring you here, it is no coincidence that it is at this time and in this place. You were meant to help us."

Harry hadn't been sure what to say to that. On the one hand it was beginning to sound like, once again, he was being manipulated into playing the part of a magical saviour; on the other it also meant that there were beings out there that could help him and Ginny get home.

Eventually.

Ginny it seemed had been distracting herself by searching the map. "Hey!" she said suddenly. "That's where we met you!"

Harry peered at where Ginny's finger was pointing. The word 'Fangorn' was carefully inked over the top of some small pictograms of trees. Thinking back to how they had journeyed there, Harry let his eyes wander upwards until he found another forest and another small inscription. "Dol Guldur," he read, the name familiar. He looked up at the others. "That's where you think we arrived, isn't it?"

"It makes sense," Ginny said, not giving the two a chance to respond. She squinted at the small mark. "It's quite close to the forest edge – there's no other dwelling marked." She frowned. "I thought you said that Legolas came from that forest?"

Gandalf chuckled. "And so he does," he agreed, "but elves are notoriously secretive over the exact locations of their dwellings. They are not overly fond of dwarfs or even Men."

Harry blinked. "Then why is Legolas travelling with you?"

Both Gandalf and Aragorn hesitated at that and Harry could tell he'd accidentally hit on something important. He glanced at Ginny and, judging by the sudden tension in her shoulders, he could tell that she'd picked up on it too.

Eventually Gandalf sighed. "Middle Earth is not at peace," he said. 'No kidding,' Harry thought, thinking about the orc attack in the forest and the possession of the King. "An ancient enemy has awoken once more and we were part of a fellowship of all races to fight against him."

Harry barely restrained the urge to swear out loud. "Ancient enemy?"

"His name is Sauron," Gandalf said. "Three thousand years ago he was on the verge of destroying all life on Middle Earth. A last alliance between elves and men met his army of orcs in battle and managed to defeat him, destroying his body."

"Three thousand years ago?" Ginny repeated uncertainly. "Then surely…"

"He was gone in body but his spirit has remained."

'Holy shit.'

It was like Harry had been hit with petrificus totalus, except that instead of just freezing his muscles his mind had been paralysed as well. It was like there was nothing there but blackness and a roaring in his ears. The only thought he could process was 'not again, not again, not again…'

"What is wrong?"

Aragorn's concerned voice broke through the blackness and Harry blinked, world spinning back into focus. Ginny looked just as horrified as he did, mouth opening and gaping. She just blinked at him, appalled. Harry still felt sick but swallowed, trying to gather his thoughts.

"That… that wizard we told you about," he said, "that we were fighting against… he did that. 17 years ago he was killed and there was peace." He pulled a face. "Sort of." His time at Hogwarts had never felt particularly peaceful. "But he wasn't dead. 3 years ago he got himself a new body and came back to life."

Aragorn and Gandalf exchanged looks. "You said he was defeated?" Aragorn questioned, frowning at them. "How can you be certain that he will not rise once more?"

This time it was Harry and Ginny's turn to exchange looks. She just made a tiny shrugging motion at him, indicating that it was his decision to make. In the end, Harry decided to be truthful. Horcruxes were vile, but Harry trusted Aragorn and Gandalf. Not to mention if they didn't know how this 'Sauron' did it… well, they needed the information.

"He – Voldemort – had created these objects that we call Horcruxes. They are a way of tying part of your soul to any object so if your body is destroyed your soul won't pass into the afterlife." It felt weird to be talking so openly about what had been a closely guarded secret but also strangely freeing. "We had to find and destroy all the Horcruxes before he could properly die. Maybe your Sauron has done the same?"

Surprisingly the pair looked comforted at that. "Perhaps," Gandalf said, "our magicks are not so different after all, Master Potter. Your description of these horcruxes are similar to what we know of Sauron's endeavours. It is also," he added with a heavy smile, "comforting to know that your destruction of these horcruxes resulted in the death of your enemy."

"Does that mean you know how he stayed alive?" Ginny asked tentatively.

Gandalf's smile turned to Ginny. "Fear not, young one, plans are underway to ensure that that option is no longer available to Sauron."

"Oh, good," Ginny said but Harry personally thought that that was a bit of an understatement. He didn't think he'd ever felt so relieved in his life. This new world was disorientating and hard enough without throwing another Horcrux hunt. Especially when the Sword of Gryffindor was in another world.

"That does not mean to say our struggles are at their end," Gandalf warned darkly. "Sauron is not defeated yet and is building a vast army or Orcs in Mordor." He motioned to the relevant place on the map. "From the west our ally, Saruman, has turned from us and is creating his own army of orcs. Rohan and Gondor are caught in the middle."

Maybe Harry had been too quick with his relief. "And that's why you're here," he stated, looking from one to the other. "To help fight the armies and save people."

"We cannot allow darkness to descend over Middle Earth," Aragorn said instead, which was basically a big, fat yes. "If Sauron succeeds, there will be no life, no hope left. All races will be exterminated; the few he allows to live will live as slaves and beasts. Once he reclaims his body he will be impossible to kill and will rule over darkness for eternity."

Harry blinked, not quite knowing how to feel about that. Aragorn's vision of a future if the dark side won was very similar to the futures he had imagined if Voldemort had succeeded. If it was his own world, Harry wouldn't have hesitated joining the others.

But it wasn't his world. He looked over at Ginny, feeling conflicted and tired. Their own war had only ended 3 months prior and, in that time, all Harry had done was tidy up all the mess. Now they were faced with another one and, by all accounts, one that was even worse. If Gandalf was right about these 'Valar' manipulating circumstances to bring them there…

"You honestly think we've been brought here to help you?" Ginny asked, echoing Harry's own thought.

"I think," Gandalf said gently, "that you two are very lost and that this is not your world. Whether you are meant to help us or not, it is no coincidence that we have met – we will help you as best we can."

Harry smiled at Gandalf, feeling touched. He heard the unsung addition – that most of their help would have to wait until the troubles with Sauron were over – but it didn't matter. Ignoring the short period when they were attacking each other, all four of their Middle Earth companions had gone out of their way to help them and had never asked for anything in return. It could take a long time before he would be able to figure out exactly how he felt about joining another war – especially considering the presence of Ginny and how she felt about it – but they would give him that time. That was important.

"Thanks," he said, Ginny's murmur echoing him. They simply nodded with a smile and turned their attention back to studying the map.

After searching the map for a little bit longer, Gandalf and Aragorn had left to speak with the King and talk about the now-less-mysterious Isengard. Before he had left, however, Gandalf had tasked them with reading through the various scrolls and manuscripts in the library, searching for anything that could help them with figuring out how they got there. It was boring, tedious and horribly frustrating. Half of the scrolls were in a variation of different languages – Legolas, on one occasion when he passed by, identified Sindarin, one of the elvish languages. Gimli likewise identified one in a dwarvish dialect and Aragorn revealed that the most common was Rohirric, the language of Rohan – and the other half were both difficult to read, riddled with words and references to things that they didn't understand and were completely irrelevant.

And that was what they had been stuck doing, for the second day in a row. Their earlier companions popped in from time to time, although Gandalf never reappeared. For the most part, however, both of them were left to themselves. Whilst this meant they had plenty of time to discuss Sauron and the appearance of Horcruxes in Middle Earth, they still had only limited information and they quickly wore out the subject. Despite the uneasy feeling it gave him, both he and Ginny decided that they would have to wait and see before deciding whether to involve themselves or not.

So, what had that left them with?

Utter. Boredom.

It therefore came as quite a shock when the door burst open and Gimli raced in, yelling.

"Pack up, young Istari!" he shouted. "We're leaving!"

"Leaving?" Harry repeated surprised, slowly lowering his wand back to the ground. Both he and Ginny had leapt to their feet, wands raised, as Gimli crashed in. "What do you mean?"

"The riders," Gimli rumbled, excited. "They brought news of orcs attacking villagers in the west and they are heading this way. The King is evacuating his people to the fortress of Helm's Deep."

"Wouldn't they… I dunno, try and fight the orcs first?" Harry asked, surprised. From all that he had seen of Middle Earth so far, he would've thought that battling the creatures would have been their first plan of action.

"Aye, laddie, you would think that," Gimli agreed, "and so do I – and Gandalf. But Théoden does not."

"Oh," Ginny said, uncertain what to say in response. "What does Gandalf think we should do? Go with them?"

Gimli coughed. "Truth be told, lass, the Wizard did not say when he left, but – "

"Whoa, wait!" Harry cried, alarmed. "Gandalf's gone?"

Ginny looked equally horrified. "Why didn't he come see us first?"

"Did he forget us?" Harry added, feeling a strange combination of hurt, indignation and even betrayal. As their fellow wizard, Gandalf had become a symbol that they weren't completely on their own in this strange new world. For the man to just forget them…

Gimli's eyes were full of understanding. "Don't worry, lad," he said softly. "The Wizard hasn't forgotten either of you. He was just angry and wizards are never the most sensible of creatures when in a rage."

Harry sighed. He knew as well as Ginny that Gandalf had much more on his mind than two library-bound teenagers. From the sound of it, Saruman was stepping up his attacks – whatever the King had decided, a full scale battle surely couldn't be far off. He just had to push the hurt aside for now and concentrate on more important things.

"So, to Helm's Deep then?" Harry asked Ginny, smiling resignedly.

She smiled back at him. "Well, it is supposed to be lovely, this time of year."

"And it has been at least three days since I walked myself to exhaustion," Harry pointed out lightly.

Gimli laughed at their antics. "Oh, fear not, young Istar," he said with a rumbling chuckle. "There was one thing that Gandalf did manage to secure for the two of you before he left."

They exchanged glances. "What?" Ginny asked, curious.

"A horse."

~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~ Failsafe ~

As promised, a sooner chapter than usual to make up for my lack of writing the last two weeks! This was originally a bit of a short chapter, and one I found extremely hard to write, but then realised that in no part of my story had I planned a part where Harry and Ginny learn about Sauron. It kind of made its way in here and kind of expanded so this ended up being a relatively long chapter!

For all you Tolkein-ites I know that there is the 'sun-lands' and 'dark-lands' in Middle Earth but there is relatively little information out there and in reality it is most likely no one in Middle Earth is aware of their existence (except for Gandalf and some of the elves) so for the purpose of this story I am ignoring them! I also struggled with finding/creating a proper description for the Valar so sorry if that sounds awkward as well.

I know nothing much really happens, but it is necessary for the story so bear with it and thanks for reading!

Love, Hannanora xxx