Title: Fighting Another War

Author: CrimsonSnowflake

Warning: none

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings belong to J.K Rowling and J.R.R Tolkien, all the copyrights associated with HP and LOTR belongs to them. Only the ideas contained within this story are the property of the author. No profit is being earned by the writer of this story.

A/N: I'm so incredibly relieved to be done with this chapter. It took such a long time because I kept jumping back and forth and I couldn't quite decide what to write. I've also been having a rather dry period lately, it almost seemed as if the creativity was sucked right out of me, luckily I managed to suck it right back and here's the result! Enjoy my little darlings, enjoy! :D

"Forgiveness is the economy of the heart... forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits." - Hannah More, 1745 - 1833

Chapter 25:

Thoughts And Emotions

Dust filled the air, disturbed by the stack of books forcefully slammed down on the unused table. Slender fingers grabbed a hold of the book on top and moved it to lay on soft thighs. Immediately, the sound of pages being turned filled the air as brown eyes frantically moved back and forth, skimming through the contents with ease. Dark rings signified lack of sleep and the slightly hollow cheeks made it obvious that the girl wasn't eating properly.

Frustration was a feeling Hermione Jane Granger was becoming quite used to, she had endured it for many months now. It had become a part of her day, not a moment passed by without her feeling it. It was present even now, as she worked her way through every book that was in Grimmauld place's library to find something, anything, to help bring Harry back.

Honestly she was beginning to get desperate. Every day that went by without any knowledge of where her friend was, tore at her. With each day she was coming closer and closer to that edge, the edge that separated sanity from madness. It was showing on her body too. She was growing thinner, not caring so much for hygiene as she had before and not sleeping nearly as much as she should have either. Wasting away would be a nice way of putting it, she thought.

"You should go to bed." Ron's hoarse voice reached her ears, coming from behind her.

"I can't. I can't sleep." She said, not looking up from the book she was so emerged in.

"Again?" The red head walked over, settling down on the couch beside her. "Have you tried taking some potions?"

"They don't work." She replied. "They stopped working after the first two weeks."

"You should have come to me." Ron stated, his blue eyes swivelling around to look at her. "You shouldn't have to suffer through this alone Hermione."

"I didn't want to wake you." The bushy haired witch spoke placing the book on the table before grabbing onto another one.

A large hand reached out and latched onto her wrist, dragging her closer to him as he said in a fierce voice, "Look at me! Look at me! You need to react, 'Mione, show some emotions and allow yourself to grieve. You know Harry wouldn't have wanted you to become the emotionless shell you are heading for right now."

"Six months." Hermione whispered. "Six months have passed by and there still aren't any signs of Harry returning. How can you expect me to do nothing when knowing that?"

"I'm not expecting you to do nothing, I'm expecting you to do something while taking care of yourself. You're wasting away Hermione! Bit by bit you're disappearing right in front of my eyes and I can't even help you." He roared, his breath coming out in pants as his hands clenched into tight fists. "How do you think that feels? Knowing that I've lost one best friend and that I'll lose the other soon!"

"I...I didn't know." She answered, her voice slightly high pitched as she tried to keep her tears from running down her face.

"Of course you didn't! You've been living in your own world for months now! You need to wake up and see that you're not the only one affected by this 'Mione. We all are!"

He was bothered. Not by the blood covering his clothes, nor the various cuts littering across his body, but by the unmoving body lying before him. He had been sitting there for at least a day now and still Marcus hadn't shown any sign of awakening. His green eyes, which usually shone with radiance, were dull and glazed over as if covered in ice. His hands were cold and none of the attempts he had made to warm them worked.

He shifted, taking in the sound of his stomach growling. It felt as if he had a large hole in his belly that was eating away at him. He hadn't eaten since he'd gotten back from battle, not for the lack of trying mind you. Every time he tried to digest something it came straight back up again. And so therefore he had given up the thought of getting some substance within his body and instead he filled his belly with water.

He wanted to break something, destroy it. A bubbling fury travelled through his body. Harry wasn't satisfied with his accomplishments in the battle, he would very much have liked to kill some more orcs with his own, bare hands. Allowing his dragon to take them out just didn't bring the same satisfaction through him as driving a sword through them did. It wasn't a very nice mindset, he knew, but the fact was that Harry wasn't all that innocent and good as some people would have liked him to be. He was very much aware of the fact that deep inside of him there was a hint of darkness lingering and it was in moments such as these, where his loved ones were hurt and on the brink of death, that it rose to the surface and demanded blood.

As it was, that dark side would not be satisfied this time. The enemy's army had already been defeated.

The sound of rain pouring down filled the heavy silence that had settled in the room. Quiet snores rose into the air, mixing with the sound of the rain and drawing his attention. There, in the far right corner, lay his newly found companion, the dragon, still unnamed as Harry hadn't gotten around to giving it one yet. When the battle had finished he had half expected it to disappear just like that time when it had fought Saruman's familiar. It was, however, becoming painfully clear that it would do no such thing and that Harry was officially stuck with an overly large dragon to drag around. He could imagine what an odd sight it was, Harry with his small stature, dragging a dragon at least three times bigger than him around as if it was an obedient dog.

Not that he had done much dragging, considering the fact that all his time had been spent in the exact same room he was sitting in now. But the fact still remained, that the dragon hadn't left his side. Not once had the creature risen to eat, exercise or maybe even relieve itself. And Harry found himself to be mildly impressed by the amount of self-control the dragon had to have, not to mention control over its bodily functions. Despite not getting any privacy he supposed it was a good thing. With the dragon always near him he could control him better. The people of Rohan had quite clearly displayed their disapproval and fear of the dragon. Harry found that it was much easier to deal with them if he and his dragon just stayed out of the way and didn't cause any trouble. That way the people of Rohan could forget that they even had a dragon amongst them and live on as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

A low, displeased rumbling sounded from the dragon as arms grabbed a hold of his waist, pulling him back against a very familiar chest. A couple of strands of blond hair fell across his shoulder, confirming that it was, indeed, Legolas who had come to join him. It had become quite apparent, by the glares, growls and downright vicious looks sent in the elf's direction that the dragon had no love to give to Legolas. In fact, Harry was sure that if hadn't been for the fact that he was currently held within the elf's arm, the dragon would have risen into the air and clamped its jaws tightly around Legolas' body. But as it was the creature merely settled with sending a constant array of glares towards the blond. Its red eyes glowing with its dislike. Watching as his lover, he wasn't sure if that's what they were considering that they hadn't gone all the way yet, struggled with his familiar was terribly amusing.

"He doesn't like me much, that dragon of yours." The elf murmured, his hot breath hitting Harry's sensitive skin and sending shivers down his spine.

"That's a first, isn't it?" Harry replied, a small smile spreading across his face. "Usually your rugged good looks and incredible elf charm can win over all kinds of animals."

"It's a once in a lifetime, I assure you." Legolas replied, warm lips gently pressing against the small patch of skin right behind Harry's left ear.

"How are you feeling?" The blond questioned as he tightened his grip on his mate, burying his nose in dark hair and inhaling the overwhelmingly sweet scent clinging to the strands.

"I'm angry, exhausted and I want nothing more than to break something." He muttered, entwining his fingers with those of Legolas. Perfect. It was a perfect fit, the way they interlaced and wrapped around each other. Both of them ignored the rising volume of his dragon's growls.

"I could send for Gimli," Each corner of the elf's lips was tugged upwards into a teasing smile as humour filled his voice. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind you letting loose on him."

"It amazes me how you two consider yourselves to be friends, what with the way you're always hacking away at each other." Harry replied, twisting his torso in order to come face to face with the other. "Is it some sort of bizarre expression of love?"

"Who knows." The elf said, gently squeezing the young wizard in his arms before turning to look at Marcus. "He'll be awake in three days."

"How do you know?"

"Because the herbs Aragorn gave him usually takes three days to work. He'll be awake when that third day is over and done with." Shifting backwards Legolas leaned on the cold stone wall, releasing a content sigh as Harry followed his move and leaned up against his chest.

It was nice, incredibly so, that Harry was finally accepting his affections, even more that they were returned. Considering the tensions that had begun growing between them he had half expected the wizard to shy away from his touch, his caresses, yet Harry once again surprised him by leaning into it, taking comfort in his body and the warmth and security it provided him with. Pride blossomed within his chest as he realized that his mate was, in his distress, seeking Legolas to comfort him.

Harry on the other hand wasn't at all in the same blissful state as his companion was in. Their argument still lingered in the back of his head, and it was only because of the stress having weakened his mental walls that he chose to give in to the elf. And even though he was currently relaxing in the elf's embrace, reality was that he still couldn't forget the way the blond had so easily dismissed his passionate speech. He had bared himself and allowed Legolas a small glimpse of his worries, his losses. It was unnecessary to say that the reaction he had gotten wasn't the one he had wanted, nor expected. He didn't say anything though, it could all wait until later when Marcus was awake and the people had recovered from the fierce battle. His problems in the department of love wasn't nearly as important as helping the people of Rohan get back to their normal lives, or as normal as they could be considering the evil that still lingered in the air.

For now he would keep his disappointment in check and allow Legolas to go on thinking that all was well. One step forward, two steps back was the pace in which their relationship was going, he mused to himself, perhaps it was better that way. Green eyes fell closed, his breath evened out and Harry was consumed by sleep.

Grey eyes stared up at the dark sky, taking in the slightly greenish tint that coloured the usually black canvas. It was time, he decided. Finally it was time for him to leave his sanctuary and head out in the world and do what had been his purpose in this world all along. He didn't know how many years he had been waiting for this to happen, it had been so long that the days, months, years had begun to blend together, making it impossible for him to grasp any notion of time. When he had first seen the young Potter he almost hadn't been able to believe, and for a moment he had truly believed it to be some cruel trick. But it was no mistake, the young boy's mere presence screamed destiny.

He had been unable to restrain himself and had immediately latched onto the boy. Regulus had become captivated at first sight. There was just something about Harry that seemed to draw him in. His magic, his personality or perhaps even the most cliché of them all, his wonderfully unique eyes. The Blue wizard had never seen eyes of such a colour, such a deep emerald green. It would be a shame if something was to happen to those lovely eyes, especially when Regulus had promised to protect their owner with everything he had. Everything would be lost if he didn't.

He knew that in protecting Harry he wasn't only protecting one person, but an entire community. There was so much that depended on the young wizard, so much that would fall apart and into ruins if Harry was to die the wrong way. Had it been any other situation it would have been Harry's death that had to be prevented, but as it was, the state of affairs they currently were in were so messed up that the young wizard had to die and Regulus' job was to prevent him from doing it the wrong way. He didn't like it, it felt cruel knowing that the only reason he was supposed to protect Harry, to teach him, was so that he could be robbed of his life at the most opportune time. It was as if he was raising a chicken for the sole purpose of killing it and having it for dinner.

A sigh flowed across his lips as he pushed away from the wall he had been leaning against and moved back into the cave. The the darkness did nothing to bother him as he knew every crook and corner of the place, the risk of running into something was near non existent. It was time for him to pack. If he was to make it on time it was urgent that he left as soon as possible for if not he would arrive too late. And that wouldn't do.

"Pallando, my friend," He said, turning to stare at a large shadow on his right. "How unusual of you, to sneak up on me in such a way."

"You're going after him, are you not?" The stoic man spoke.

"Of course I am." The dark haired male replied, his grey eyes turning unusually serious. "You've known all along that I would."

"You'll still go through with it? Even knowing that it'll lead to his death?" There was a steely undertone to Pallando's voice that wasn't often heard, Regulus himself had only witnessed it a few times during the time they had spent together.

"I understand that you've grown fond of him, but you know just as well as I do that this is something that was always meant to happen. We can't get in the way of this." A strong hand moved up to run through thick black hair, a habit he had adopted from his older brother. "Harry's supposed to die, it's his destiny, whatever happens after is all up to him, as you well know."

"And I'm just supposed to sit there, watch and do nothing?" Brown eyes flashed with anger.

"No, you won't have to watch because you won't be joining me. Your assistance is not needed on this trip, my friend, I will be going alone. This burden will be mine to bear, only mine."

"Do you think it will be easy?" Pallando took a step closer. "Do you trust him to go through with it?"

"No, I don't. Even if Harry has made up his mind and is ready to die, just as he knows he should, that elf of his won't allow it to happen. No matter what Harry does the elf will be there to prevent it. This won't be easy, but I won't put you through something like this, I will not watch you suffer as we separate two people in love." Regulus' grey eyes shone with sadness as he pushed past his friend and walked out of the room. A strong hand was clenched tightly into a fist, his knuckles turning white.

"Ah, so that's your real motive for going. You're not trying to protect Harry, but you are going to keep the elf from interfering." Pallando drawled, following the Blue wizard with confident footsteps. "What are you going to do? Split them up? You've become quite cruel with age, dear Alantar, or should I say Regulus."

"It's necessary." The dark haired man bit out.

"Is it?"

"Yes it is!" Regulus shouted, spinning around before grabbing a hold of Pallando's cloak and forcefully pushing him up against hard stone. "Do you think I enjoy the thought of ruining Harry's happiness? That I'm looking forward to contributing to his death? He's my brother's Godson, for heaven's sake, that practically makes him my family!"

"I think," The other man calmly stated. "that you are so focused on what has been predicted that you are blind to any other possible solutions. You won't be able to live with this for the rest of your life, Regulus, he won't come back as the same boy we know, you do realize that don't you?"

"I do."

"Then you should allow him to be with the elf. Allow him to feel love, real love, during his remaining time alive. Dying lonely is the worst possible way to go, and if that happens I'm afraid he'll become hopeless and we'll lose him forever." Dark eyebrows furrowed as his brown eyes latched onto the grey of Regulus.

"We'll see." The Blue wizard said, effectively ending the conversation.

The night was dark, not an ounce of stars could be seen and only the moon was out to illuminate the world. The moonlight hit his face, shining down on his skin through the thick glass window as Harry leaned against the cold stone wall beside the window. He had finally, with a lot of help from his dragon, managed to escape the watchful eyes of Legolas. The fact that he couldn't escape the blond's attention without the help of a large, threatening dragon standing between them was a testimony of how over the top Legolas was behaving. The elf was, more often than not, too overbearing, always hovering over him, always hanging around him like some overprotective mother. It was stressing him out.

That, accompanied by the fact that he was uncertain of their relationship, made it difficult for him to get sleep. Dark circles tainted the skin beneath his eyes. He hadn't gotten much sleep lately, his mind was taunting him, replaying his conversation with Legolas over and over again, as if to point out how idiotic it had been of him to open himself in such a way.

Perhaps if he had bothered to bring it up again and not let the subject drop he wouldn't have been so distraught by it. But there was this traitorous voice inside his head that always seemed to whisper that Legolas should have known better, the elf should have known how upset Harry would become. He knew how irrational the thought was, but the fact still remained that this was Harry's first serious relationship and he didn't know how to act nor how to portray the fact that Legolas had, indeed, hurt his feelings. He was an amateur within all things that could be regarded as romantic love and it truly terrified him to open himself and tell Legolas of how he was feeling a second time. The fear of the elf having the same reaction once again, rose within him each time he even considered talking to Legolas about it.

"So there you are." Calanon's voice came from behind him, drawing his attention and urging him to turn around. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Where's your brother?" Harry questioned, smiling as the elf moved to stand beside him.

"Packing, we're leaving tomorrow and true to himself Ainion decided to put off packing until the night before." Annoyance coated the male's voice.

"Ah, but Ainion wouldn't be himself if it wasn't for the constant hurry he is in, it's a part of his charm. You know that just as well as I do, my dear friend." Their shoulders bumped against each other.

"True." The elf admitted. "He wanted me to take you back to our rooms, said he had something to talk to you about."

"Any idea what about?" Harry asked as they moved away from the window and in the direction in which Calanon had come from.

"How should I know," The elf grunted, taking smaller steps in order to accommodate Harry's pace. "I'm just the messenger."

"Of course, how silly of me to think that your usually curious nature didn't take over and forced you to ask this time either." A smile, so wide that it looked unpleasantly false, ruined Harry's seemingly innocent façade.

"No, no. I won't ruin the surprise and have you running away from this." Calanon insisted, not at all caring that he had just revealed that he did, in fact, know what the younger elf wanted to talk to Harry about.

"So it's something I need to be weary about then." Harry stated, a smug, satisfied glint appearing in his eyes.

"Had you expected anything else? This is Ainion we are talking about, after all."

"Well I guess... No! You're right, it was a silly question."

"Indeed." They had arrived at a door now, its looks identical to the rest of the doors in the fortress, large, dark and made out of wood. A slender, yet strong hand moved towards its handle, grabbed a hold of it, pushed down and opened it, not at all bothered by the slight creak it made as it swung inwards.

"There you are!" Ainion's excited voice shouted at them the moment the two stepped inside the room. "Close the door, close the door and have a seat my darling Harry, it's time we two had the talk you should have had the moment you're situation was discovered."

"What do you mean situation?" Harry questioned, apprehension clear in his voice as he seated himself on one of the two soft beds that were situated in the room.

"Well, being the mate of an elf isn't something that happens to everyone, you know. There are bound to be things you don't understand and I've already seen how you're distancing yourself from Legolas. That's not healthy, neither for him or you."

"And you are an expert, are you?" Harry harshly snapped, not at all comfortable with the direction their conversation was headed for.

"As a matter of fact, I am. I already have someone at home, waiting for me." The elf replied, seemingly not bothered by the wizards verbal attack.

"You do?"

"Yes, a rather handsome elf, but we're not turning this around on me, Harry, this is about you and your own handsome elf. The two of you need to resolve your issues, and I'll make sure that happens before we leave tomorrow." Confidence rolled off of the man in waves as a bright smile developed on his face. "It's obvious that you're distressed. Your familliar's hostility towards Legolas only proves that your pain is caused by him."

"How so?"

"Because a familiar always acts according to its master's emotions."