I do not own LOTR or HP.

They had settled into a rhythm of sorts. Erestor would awaken to Lord Elrond (!) making sure she ate breakfast, shortly followed by Melpomaen double checking on breakfast and bringing her her daily allotment of work. It was done within an hour, usually less than half, and after that she was rather embarrassed to admit that she was tired and slept.

She felt better after Lord Elrond explained that she had a few centuries of sleep to catch up on and that if he found out she wasn't sleeping, he would start drugging everything she ate to make sure that she achieved an adequate amount of rest. In the face of that threat, she acquiesced. What else was there to do, really?

After that, Glorfindel would show up and pester her, usually until after dinner. Melpomaen would check on her again, and she would spend fifteen minutes reassuring him that no, she was not dying, yes, she was warm/fed enough, no, she was not thirsty, yes, he was doing a wonderful job.

Lindir would drop by during the day, bombard her with three hours worth of conversation in about ten minutes, and then leave. Glorfindel, who was unaccustomed to Lindir's interesting style of personal speech having only met in official settings before, looked rather shell-shocked every time. This also required Erestor to translate for Glorfindel, who looked amazed at her ability to understand a single word of Lindir's diatribe.

Erestor had originally believed that the forced rest would be the greatest irritant during her convalescence. Not so. Instead she found that the constant mood swings wore on her the most. For so long she had simply swallowed down every emotion, but as she was now forced to face them, this simply wasn't possible anymore. It would have been even worse had Glorfindel not been there.

Oh, how ironic that their roles had switched! Now she was the one being guided through a difficult change, made to realize where she had lived in error for so long. It wasn't pleasant, certainly, but Glorfindel was becoming something of a mainstay in her life, and she truly wasn't sure whether or not she liked it. The too-often betrayed, hurt, cynical part of her still held the suspicion that there was more to his 'help' than just a change of heart. Usually she ignored it, but she still watched his every move carefully. There was no use being stupid about it, after all.

Despite her careful scrutiny, he appeared to be sincere. If she wasn't such a becursed* cynic, doubtless she would have been completely trusting of him the first time he smiled her way. Nowadays, he insisted on calling her ridiculous names, expounding on her 'many wondrous virtues' and tucking flowers into her hair every time she wasn't paying attention. Each of these was met with a glare, glower, scowl, or conjured pillow. The occasional random colour-changing hex was thrown in just to mix it up, as were light tripping jinxes. Not that Glorfindel ever actually fell, just looked uncoordinated for a moment before righting himself and smiling that stupid Light-Bright smile of his and laughing at her some more.

The really infuriating part was that she really didn't mind as much as she used to. It was nice having someone who didn't always back down (despite knowing just what sort of havoc she could wreck), and who made her feel important just because she existed.

Still, she was determined to keep him at arms length. People had a nasty habit of leaving, willingly or no, just as soon as she got attached. That or betraying her trust. She scowled a bit, thinking of how many times people had tried that last one over the years. She saw it coming, knew what was going to happen and yet it still hurt to think that she was being used just to get work done.

There was also the irritation of Glorfindel himself. For a very long time, she had spent most of the day alone and undisturbed. True, she had her classes with the children, and a large amount of time was dedicated to Lord Elrond, interspersed with various meetings and council sessions. But everyone else had their own work to do, and so while they made a point of talking with her she spent a great deal of time in complete solitude, attempting to dodge Glorfindel and his little wannabe cronies to flee towards the safety of her room as nowhere else was safe unless it was with Lord Elrond. She wondered which had caused which, whether her isolation had forced them to seek her out every else she was available, or if their torment had forced her into increased isolation.

Either way, it felt so freeing just with Glorfindel no longer leading the crusade. She was glad though that she wasn't ever alone outside of her rooms. Erestor doubted that anything too bad would happen, but Melpomaen had told her the worrying news that some of her more clever persecutors were seen talking together in hallways outside of her normal haunts. The idea that she could, perhaps, tell Glorfindel never crossed her mind. It had been going on for years and no-one cared before. Besides, she had managed all by herself till the present, there was no reason to start being a cry-baby now.

This at least was how she attempted to justify her decision to take a walk by herself after Glorfindel had left her for the day. It was earlier than normal, but some official guest or other needed to be greeted properly. Erestor had been feeling the need to be outside without a babysitter all day, and so seized her chance. The gardens that bordered the house were safe enough, she reasoned.

"Erestor?" Darn it, caught. She turned her head to see Glorfindel walking towards her through the twilight. She sighed.

"Of course you decide to walk this route right at this time." Glorfindel smiled sheepishly.

"I was coming back to see you and this was the quickest way from where I managed to slip away from the greeting party." Ah, so he was sneaking. "Perhaps we should hide ourselves, as neither of us is currently where we are supposed to be?" A sensible enough suggestion. The soft whisper of robes and dresses moving warned them, and they ducked and dodged through the garden, at last finding refuge underneath a bush with long, drooping branches trailing the ground in a wide circle yet leaving a ring between the branches and the trunk to hide in. This had been, in a previous life, an excellent hiding place for an undersized child whose pursuers lacked greatly in cleverness, intelligence, and imagination.

Still, the fact that she was currently hiding with the great Lord of the Golden Flower was rather amusing. He was quite courteous about it, laying his cloak on the ground so they wouldn't have to sit on the dirt and dead leaves and moving aside the branches as best he could so she wouldn't get snagged. Once settled, he leaned back and beamed at her.

"So, cabin fever?"

"Yes. Not horrible, but enough that I simply could not stand to stay inside for a moment longer." Glorfindel nodded sympathetically.

"Oh, I understand completely. Remember, I spend an inordinate amount of time in the Healing Wing, confined to bed. I know all about the call of getting outside."

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, listening as people occasionally passed. Erestor started thinking about how she would never have thought about doing this same time last year. How things change-

Glorfindel had slipped another flower into her hair, looking smugly pleased with himself. Where had he even found those? This wasn't a flowering bush. Gently feeling the flowers, she thought she recognized the petals and scent from a night-blooming flower Glorfindel had developed a penchant for leaving in a vase in her room.

"Why are you doing this?" The question slipped out almost before Erestor recognized it as a coherent thought. Glorfindel raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"Doing what, precisely?" Erestor gestured wildly with a hand.

"This- the flowers, tea, visiting- being nice. Why?" Glorfindel looked fairly confused.

"I thought we had discussed this." Erestor shook her head.

"No, I do not mean that. I mean, if you did not feel responsible, would you care?"

"Ah, considering our previous relationship, you mean?" Erestor sighed.

"No. I mean, if this was not some sort of…duty…would you still care?" Glorfindel remained quiet for a moment, and Erestor wondered if she would have to clarify further. She was about to try when he answered.

"You mean, am I just paying off a debt by being nice, or do I actually want to be nice to you?"

"Yes, that is what I mean exactly," she said, relieved that she had managed to communicate the question at last.

"I think that if I had been forced to do this- forced leave from work, aid your UnFading, etc., before the letters asking to meet you in person for The Tea, then it would just be paying off a debt of honour." He sighed, and reached for her hand which she moved further from him. He looked sad, but didn't push it.

"After that, I wanted to know you- you you, just Erestor you and not Lady I Have Wronged you. See?" His sentence was about as clear as hers, but she thought that she did see.

"I think so. This is not pity, then either?"

"No. You would not accept it, and I will not insult you by offering any. This is concern. As a person who cares, as a friend." Erestor nodded in acceptance, then realized with mild annoyance that he was holding her hand. When had he managed that?

"Good evening, children." The greeting seemed to come out of nowhere until Lord Elrond parted the branches enough to peek through at them. Ha, oh dear. This was slightly embarrassing.

"Lord Elrond! We were just- I mean, you see-" Glorfindel sputtered to a stop after two unsuccessful attempts. "I don't know what to say." Lord Elrond smiled. It looked slightly indulgent.

"I expect you two to be in bed on time tonight, yes?" Erestor found that she could only nod, as did Glorfindel. Elrond looked pleased, and moved to close the bush back up.

"How did you know that we were here?" Glorfindel asked before Elrond left.

"Bushes do not squeak or talk."

"I did not squeak," declared Erestor. Glorfindel laughed.

"Yes you did, you make that sound when you think." Erestor was enraged.

"I do not! You squeak whenever you feel proud of yourself, it was your squeak that Lord Elrond heard."

"It was most certainly not!"

Elrond walked away laughing deeply.

Dear Glorfindel,

Lord Glorfindel,

Dear Glorfindel,

Thank you for answering my questions and for hiding with me. Also, thank you for answering my questions truthfully.

Thank you for caring, although I must confess- I am not sure why you bother to. But it is nice that you do.

Erestor.

Erestor finished the letter, folded it over and handed it to Glorfindel.

"Read it later," she instructed, and he accepted the letter and tucked it away. They sat in comfortable silence once more, this time drinking tea and listening to the sound of Mîr's satisfied purrs in front of the fire in Erestor's front room. Erestor perused a book of Second Age poetry while Glorfindel read another history book compiled by Erestor.

Melpomaen peeked around the corner, watching the scene in silence, reluctant to disturb them, especially since Erestor appeared to be on the verge of falling asleep where she sat on the couch. Good. He worried about her, and she had been overdue for a rest for quite a while. He was about to move forward into the room when Glorfindel moved instead, carefully settling Erestor so that she lay down on the couch, spreading a blanket over, and making sure her head was on a pillow and that Mîr was in no danger of being suffocated or squished.

Melpomaen was a quiet elf, and people tended to discount him. Which was why Erestor relied on him, because he observed things without people noticing that they were doing them around him. He was 'quietly clever', as she called him, a title the young elf took pride in. It was why he was so capable of taking over a great many of her responsibilities, a fact that shocked many elves. Not Erestor, though. She had just patted his hand and proudly said "of course" as though it were the most obvious and natural thing in the world.

He knew that Glorfindel had made life miserable for her. Indeed, he had borne the brunt of it before, though he rarely told Erestor. Not that he needed to, his face had a habit of betraying him which was why he wasn't a diplomat himself. Still, he had watched over her as best as one of his tender years could. Lindir's accusation of imprinting on Erestor was at least partially true, Melpomaen's family had for the most part sailed, only an older sister remained, and she with Cirdan in the Grey Havens. Erestor had, for her part, adopted him somewhere between a son, younger brother, and nephew. Not overbearing, seemingly aloof, she was always the first to know if something was wrong or upsetting him and fixed it. She wasn't one for physical demonstrations too often, but there were more than enough female elves willing to smother him with hugs. He knew that from daily experience. Erestor though, she actually saw him, knew him, and cared. That was enough to inspire his devotion and it never wavered.

Now he watched Glorfindel, ready to intervene if he should ever hurt his surrogate mother/sister/aunt. As he observed the Elda care for her day after day, he began to realize that the formerly hostile elf had only good intentions now. He continued his surveillance, but seeing how carefully he treated Melpomaen's sleeping mentor, any doubts about his genuine character finally left. He smiled, and turned away. He would make his visit tomorrow morning.

Leaving a moment too soon, he never saw Glorfindel ever so softly smooth the hair away from Erestor's face.

*Yes, I know it isn't a real word with a definition. It is, however, apparently good as a Scrabble word. I have decided that the word "Becursed" is another way of saying "forced to act a certain way, as if cursed." It sounds like it should be a real word. I couldn't think of another word for it, so becursed stays.

*Le Gasp!* What is this? Another chapter? So SOON? Yes indeed, my loyal readers, yes indeed. I just so happen to be on Spring Break. So there!

Thanks for reading and reviewing. This is slightly discombobulated, but it was on purpose. Yeah, of course it was. That's my story and I'm sticking to it, anyway.