Next chapter! You know what? I had no motivation this week, I just couldn't focus...what was I doing again? Oh, that's right, Next Chapter!
Last Question of the Chapter was: Favorite Fanfiction genre?
Once more, the answers were all over the place, which is awesome!
I don't own Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings.
Harry laid on his bed, looking up through the dense canopy and into the night sky. Harry thought deeply of his entire stay in Lothlorien. It had the same feel as Rivendell did, he felt at ease and safe there. It was a great place to hide, for it had been several nights, and according to Strider, goblins and trolls only come out at night, and there was no sign of them in Lothlorien.
Harry thought about Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel, he felt bad about his blowup at the pair of them. He couldn't help but let loose all the frustration that he felt. They were doing their best to try and help him and there he was shouting at them. He actually really liked it here, just like he was sorry to leave Bree, and Rivendell. However, if he didn't leave, he'd never get home as soon as possible, but if he waited, he may be a bit safer.
Harry thought of what Strider said, that this was the last chance he had to stay safe and just go after the jewels after the battle was over. The other option was that he go with the rest of the Fellowship take things as they came.
He was in for a rough night of debate and he had a bad feeling that he wasn't going to get much sleep.
Strider told the rest of the Fellowship the decision Harry had to make, and to leave him be until he decided. The next morning, as Strider and Legolas gathered up the supplies they needed, Strider took special precaution to gather several canteens of the Elvish spring water that Harry had acquired in Rivendell. Legolas took great care in filling the packs with lembas bread. He knew that lembas bread was really the only food that they could keep fresh and wholesome in their packs and given them energy to spare.
He took ahold of Harry's pack and was about to fill it with supplies when he stopped. He looked at the pack and breathed in the scent that came off it. Like an elf and the hobbits, the boy preferred to bathe every opportunity he had, which took Gimli and Boromir by surprise.
Legolas reached into his tunic and pulled out the leaf that Harry had given him before they entered the mines. He'd miss the boy, but if leaving him behind in Lothlorien kept him safe, then it was for the best. He packed Harry's pack with some supplies, not the necessities, but just in case the boy came with him, which he was torn in between hoping he would and hoping he'd stay safe.
Sam stowed a special bit of rope, woven by the elves and Galadriel herself, into his pack. He had gone all the way from Rivendell to Lorthlorien without any rope in his pack, and he hardly went a day without wishing he still had it. This time, he wasn't leaving without it.
Merry and Pippin stuffed their packs full of food, and were disappointed when Borormir told them they had to carry some supplies, for they no longer had two members of their group. Boromir felt sure that the boy was going to stay behind in the relative safety of the wood. As a matter of fact, he was secretly glad of it. The boy was slowly beginning to grow on him; he no longer held hostile words towards the youth, now it was…how did Pippin put it? Teasing, like he and his younger brother Faramir used to do when they were young.
Boromir wished that the smaller ones could also stay here, but they wouldn't leave Frodo…Frodo…the ring-bearer…oh what he could do for Gondor with that ring! He'd defeat the terror that they faced everyday with the new dawn, he'd destroy the might of Sauron and Sauruman, he'd…
Suddenly, the eyes of Lady Galadriel peered through his thoughts and dreams of power. He shook his head, he didn't want to think of the Lady's eyes, they peered too deeply into him for his liking. Made him feel like a complete fool, which he thought he was not at all.
Gimli sat inside the elven forges, sharpening his axe blade. He couldn't wait to leave this place, though it did begin to cause him to become fond of it, especially the beauty of the lady, but he wanted to get out and cleave a few orc and goblin heads in two. He dug into his pack for his special sharpening stone when his hand fell on the small box that Harry had found. He brought it out and opened it slowly. The fabled treasure of Khazad-Dum.
He stirred the countless diamonds around the box with his finger, each one a different and masterful cut. Even in the faintest light the entire box sparkled and danced in his eyes. These stones were worth all the treasures in the Iron Hills, though not as priceless as the Arkenstone of Thrain being cut and shaped by the greatest jewelers to come from the race of dwarves. He was impressed though; that the lad was willing to hand over the box to him, though his hands held the faint traces of bruises and burns that came with finding the treasure if you aren't a dwarf.
The lad wasn't bad, for a boy of the race of Men. And he could cook a fine piece of venison. If these were times of peace, Gimli would have taken the lad to the Lonely Mountain and introduced him to Lord Dain. Lord Dain would greatly appreciate a man of Harry's talents. Maybe, perhaps, there was one of those jewels that Gandalf mentioned to him and the elf before they entered Moria in the Lonely Mountain. Well, if the boy was kept safe that was all that was important really.
The boy was the youngest member of the fellowship, not the shortest, but very much the youngest. The hobbits, though he wasn't for certain, had to have been in their thirties. The boy was still in his teens. If he were a dwarf, he would still be at home, crawling about the rocks and playing and training their toy making skills. But he guessed, where he comes from, boys need to grow old before their time.
But he did have to hand it to the boy, when they could pick up a stray piece of wood, big enough to carve, he could do some fine work. Harry told him once of the music box that he gave to some girl in Bree. Harry said that some dwarves had been passing through Bree and gave him some quick lessons on how to do some woodwork in exchange for a little extra food. Judging solely on Harry's description of the box, he did a fine job. Too bad he didn't see it first hand, but perhaps once all this was over, he'd be able to see something else the boy were to make.
Merry and Pippin were still trying to squirrel more food into their packs and into their pockets. They weren't as happy as they normally were, not only were they going to leave a place where they could eat anytime they wanted, Strider hinted that Harry might not be coming with them on the remainder of the journey.
They didn't want to lose Harry, who was a lot more easy going about food than Sam was. He was also pretty much their playmate, if he wasn't with Strider, then they were wrestling around or chucking a squashy bag of grain that Harry had made way back in Bree back and forth with their feet. Harry was pretty good about kicking it around in the air on the sides of his feet when they would be resting. He was teaching Merry and Pippin how to do it, but amazingly, Frodo was the best at it out of all the hobbits.
Also, they didn't want to lose Harry's amazing food while they would be out and about on their quest. It was more like a long and extended picnic when mealtimes came around. Sam was a great cook too, but they were used to Sam's cooking, Harry did weird but delicious things with what they had to eat.
Sam and Frodo were sorry to hear that Harry might be staying behind too. Sam was sorry because Harry and he were constantly trying new recipes together and were constantly exchanging recipes. While Harry taught Sam all about his world, Sam taught Harry how to garden and the names of different plants that is if Sam knew what they were. But Harry took in all the information he could, from everyone in the company.
Frodo was especially sorry to see Harry go. He felt that no one else in the company knew what it felt like to be in as much pain as he was almost every other day. The weighing down of his entire body and soul, but Harry it seemed to understand him perfectly.
Harry seemed to know what pain was like, even more than what Frodo did. Frodo liked to wake up early and talk with Harry about all of his adventures and ask questions about them. Frodo liked having someone to talk about what he was going through inside, and with Harry gone, his, healing buddy as Harry put it, would be gone.
Now Frodo felt he lost a protector against Boromir, he knew that Harry couldn't take the ring, not without suffering immense damage to himself. Strider said he wouldn't take the ring and that he'd protect Frodo, but he didn't really want to risk losing Strider to the ring. With Harry, he had a definite protector, though Harry said that his swordsmanship was severely lacking, he still had those jewels he could use.
Magic…Gandalf. He missed the old wizard very much, and Harry was helping him cope with the loss.
Strider was finishing up the preparations and was about to set out to see how the boats were coming. Every time his gaze ran across something green he could only see Harry's eyes. He didn't want to leave the boy, but if the alternative was him being safe, then it's best that he stayed here. Harry and the jewels in his care were too precious to lose to the enemy, but Harry especially was too precious to lose to anybody or anything.
Harry was like a son to the Ranger, so much so that he professed to Arwen that if Harry couldn't find a way back home, that he'd come and live with them in Gondor. That is, if they can defeat the Dark Lord as they hoped. But he supposed that Harry would want to go back to Bree, if Anya was still on his mind, unless Legolas dragged Harry off to Mirkwood to meet his sister.
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
Voldemort paced the floor of Malfoy Manor angrily. The guards he had placed in front of the painting were gone and so was the painting. If he ever got his hands on them, Nagini would be feeding well on their corpses. He needed that painting! He was planning on finding out everything about that painting by inspecting it personally.
His informants told him that the painting was a sort of fixed portkey that took wizards and witches to another realm. A realm ruled by King Meandenbor himself. In his early years he tried to attract the King's attention and become his heir, but the King never came. The King must be dead, he decided. If he had been alive, then Voldemort was sure that the King would have come to him and begged him to take the throne. But no word ever came thus giving him the notion of taking over the entire wizarding world. In his twisted mind, it belonged to him anyway.
So if this painting was a portkey of sorts, and the boy went through it, he himself would as well. He'd find the boy and then kill him on site, once one half of the boy was gone, the other would follow immediately. It was his only option now; none of his Death Eaters could find the boy anywhere. That fool Dumbledore must've used the Fidelius Charm again, using himself as the Secret Keeper. He had to find that painting!
Dumbledore sipped a cup of tea down in the kitchen of Grimmauld place. Mrs. Weasley was bustling around the kitchen baking cookies and making the children's lunch.
"Are you going to stay for lunch today, Headmaster?" asked Mrs. Weasley.
"I would be delighted, Molly." said Dumbledore with a smile. He took another sip of his tea. He couldn't help but appreciate the serenity that she could give off with her homemaking skills. There were many pressing matters on his mind, all having to do with Harry.
The school was running as smoothly as can be, especially with Umbridge gone. Harry's the only thing that seems to be the only trouble that plagued his thoughts. Harry in a strange world…was he really alright? Was he hurt, was he eating well, was he already on his way home? He could not help but worry.
At lunch time, all the children and some of the Order members came clambering in and sat down to enjoy lunch. They weren't as jovial as they would be if they were back in school and Harry was back on his feet, but that was to be expected. They discussed their homework, and the progress of different Quidditch teams. Hermione was tutoring her parents on the basics of the new world they found themselves in though she was doing her absolute best, they were perplexed beyond belief.
Sirius however only came down to grab two giant plates and walked right back out the door. Without saying a word. Dumbledore finished his bowl of chowder and followed Sirius up the stairs.
"Any news on how Harry's doing?" asked Sirius as he handed Hagrid his plate of sandwiches back in Harry's room.
"I could ask you two the same thing." said Dumbledore.
"He's fine, now your answer?" asked Sirius.
"I'm thinking he's alright, I'm sure the King would at least tell me if Harry were to fall in that world." said Dumbledore softly.
They sat in deep silence, not saying a thing to anyone, all they did was look at Harry. What could any of them say? Hagrid just focused on protecting Harry from anyone wishing to hurt him, in this world anyway. Sirius figured as Harry's godfather, it was his job to be there when Harry woke up, be the first thing he saw and give him all the care he could.
"However Harry got to that other world, the King now has possession of it." said Dumbledore quietly.
"And yet he didn't tell you what the hell it was?" said Sirius.
"No, he did not." said Dumbledore. "I just hope Voldemort did not find it and utilize it before he took it."
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
Back in Lothlorien, the Fellowship were placing all the supplies, and thanking their elvish benefactors. Galadriel was giving each member of the Fellowship final words of wisdom and her blessing for the remainder of their journey. Boromir chose to keep his distance from her. Lady Galadriel noticed this, but she accepted his reaction. Lord Celeborn looked around, but didn't see the person he was looking for.
He sighed with relief, he wouldn't have to say goodbye.
"It seems that Harry chose to stay here." said Lord Celeborn with warm smile, "I must say I'm very relieved."
"Please take care of him." said Aragorn quietly.
"You mean we aren't going to be able to say goodbye?" asked Pippin.
"It appears not, if he isn't here." said Boromir as he loaded the boat.
"Can we go and find him and say, goodbye?" said Merry starting to walk towards the forest.
Strider took a hold of the hobbit's shoulder.
"Let Legolas go and find him, he's faster." said Strider, "I want to say goodbye as well."
"Hang on! I'm coming!"
The elves, Lady Galadriel, Lord Celeborn, and the Fellowship turned to see Harry hurrying down the path, with a new pack, his pouch and his sword.
"What are you doing?" said Strider as he watched the youth run up to them.
"I'm coming with you." said Harry putting the pack he had in the canoe, "I spent the entire night thinking about it, and decided I was going with you."
"Are you sure, lad?" asked Lord Celeborn. "We hate to see you go." he didn't mention that he could feel his ancient heart breaking.
Harry looked up to the elf; he could almost feel the pain resonating off him.
"Yes sir. The offer you gave me was really great, but…I'd get into way too much trouble and I'd overstay my welcome really fast." said Harry with a smile.
Lord Celeborn smiled in spite of himself.
"And this way, if we…uh…it'll be faster if I find all the jewels I can on the road." said Harry.
The Fellowship smiled brightly. Merry and Pippin grabbed Harry about his middle, Sam shook his hand tightly and Frodo heaved a sigh of relief. Strider smiled sadly at Harry and shared a poignant look with Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel. Boromir had to turn and face the water in order to hide his small smile.
They were still minus one wizard, but at least they didn't have to say goodbye to another member of their "family". They piled into the canoe after saying their final goodbyes; Lord Celeborn broke his own decorum and brought Harry into a tight embrace.
"If it becomes too much, come back to us." said Lord Celeborn. "Or send word, and Haldir will come to fetch you."
When they pulled apart, Lord Celeborn brought out a large golden feather. "This feather belonged to one of great golden eagles of Lothlorien, the ancient protectors of the Golden Woods."
Harry took the feather cautiously. "I can't take this." he whispered.
"If you have this feather, you'll able to come back to us easier and faster." said Lord Celeborn.
As they finally paddled away from Lothlorien, Harry took a hold of the diamond in his pouch, and touched it to the feather. In a flash the feather was gone, well; at least Boromir wouldn't have to hunt down a turkey for him.
Thank you for reading, please review!
Question of the Chapter! St. Patricks Day is coming, if you found a pot of gold, (and it wasn't the leprechaun gold of Harry Potter) what would you do with it, would you buy something or save it, what would you buy?
P.S Thanks for all that signed the petition, if you're curiosu, it's on my profile.