Disclaimers: See Chapter 1 for more info.

Acknowledgements: To TooLazyToLogin for giving me the original idea for this series. To DoctorWhovian18, for her ideas on pranking, ideas on other things about the story, her advice and helpfulness, and the list go on. To LOTCR, for her ideas for this story. I'd also like to thank ValueMyHeart for reviewing, following, and favoriting this story. To all my readers who are favoriting, following, and reviewing this story. And I'd also like to thank Frodo and the hobbits for their help with this story as well. Yes, that sounds crazy to the normal readers, but I'm still thanking Frodo and his friends anyway.

DoctorWhovian18 and Frodo, yes Frodo, actually gave me an idea for what's to come in the coming chapters. This chapter is more like another trigger that Frodo desperately needs to get his character right at this point in the story. Frodo's horrific dream was inspired by three things: the weird dream I had on the morning of July 2nd, 2015 that apparently wouldn't stop and I thought a few times I would wake up but didn't; the episode "Path of the Jedi" from "Star Wars: Rebels"; and Ebenezer Scrooge's dream that makes up the story A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Trust me, it's a trigger dream and since I haven't done a dream in a while, this should really help bring Frodo around in this story.

Frodo had a hard time sleeping that night. He was still angry at his parents, still mad at Aria for acting sheepish and agreeing to their wishes. Wasn't there a way he could get what he wanted, just once? Then at last, he finally slept and had a long dream, with hardly an end in sight:

Frodo was at his parents' hobbit house. It was midday. Standing in the middle of the hallway were his parents. They were talking about him, as if he had done something terrible. But there was something wrong… they weren't paying attention to him. He tried yelling, but found he was only speaking in his mind, instead of speaking to his parents. Odd. Why was this happening to him?

"He should go to Hogwarts. It'll be good for him," said Primula.

"He needs to grow up. Start being a mature hobbit. It's no good complaining," said Drogo. "He should go to Hogwarts."

I'm right here, thought Frodo loudly. There was still no answer from his parents.

Then they saw him. As Primula and Drogo watched him, Frodo's gaze fell towards the hallway, where Aria was staring him down. Aria's gaze practically told him there were no qualms between them, or she spit fire his way. She was mad.

Aria told him, flat out, "Why didn't you go to Hogwarts? *They need you, Frodo. They need you right now."

Then everything went blank. He was lost in darkness. The dream shifted abruptly to Bag End. Frodo approached Bilbo, but Bilbo was caught up in his paperwork. As Frodo did his best to get his uncle's attention, Bilbo hardly noticed him until…

"Frodo, whatever are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at your parents' funeral?" asked Bilbo.

"The what?" asked Frodo, stunned and in disbelief. His parents were… gone?

"Yes. Now you go get ready. You should be there. You're late," said Bilbo, pushing him towards the door.

The dream shifted to the White Downs. Frodo ran towards his family, but they walked away from him. Some family members pushed him, including Berilac Brandybuck, who wasn't very friendly to him. Frodo glared at his cousin. Naturally, Berilac was a good lad, but awful stubborn, which Frodo guessed came from the lad's family. Wait a second… he had a cousin named Berilac? When?

As the crowd parted, Frodo saw Aria standing before two white tombstones. She turned and looked at him, a sad look across her face. Aria said between sobs, "Why did you forget them?"

"What?" asked Frodo, approaching the tombstones. To his horror, his parents' names were on the two tombstones, but they were separate. But what – why were his parents' names on grave markers? This was too shocking for words. Turning to Aria, Frodo asked her, stuttering a bit on his words, "W-Why?"

"Hogwarts needs you, Frodo," was all Aria would say.

"W-What?" asked Frodo, completely bewildered.

The dream shifted to an omniscient view of the Hogwarts Express. Frodo was flying through the air. He could see Hogwarts castle in view. The dream shifted again to the inside of the castle, on the first floor corridor. He wasn't flying anymore, but walking briskly down the corridor. Frodo passed by several students. That's when he spotted Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred and George. Where were his hobbit friends? What were their names? Sam… Merry… Pippin and… and… Fredegar? Fatty! Where was Fatty?

"We couldn't save him the pleasure," said Ron, annoyed at someone. "He was too good for us."

"Frodo should have never left Hogwarts," said Hermione, shaking her head.

"He was the best prankster we had," said George.

"Now he's gone," said Harry.

"Good riddance," said Ron. "We were better without him."

Frodo could feel tears streaming down his face. This was not how he pictured things to be. So they were talking about him. Was he really that bad? He knew he had been hard on everyone at Hogwarts. Why wasn't he waking up?

Wrong question. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred and George gave him scornful looks. Soon, every student in the hallway, including Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and even Lotho Sackville-Baggins were staring at him. Frodo's gaze fell on Lotho, but he couldn't break out of the gaze.

"Wake me up. Wake me up! Wake me up!" Frodo repeated the mantra as Lotho advanced on him. Frodo was forced against the wall. "Wake me up!"

"Let me pummel him!" spat Lotho, vengeance in his eyes.

"WAKE ME UP!" screamed Frodo. He closed his eyes before anything terrible happened. Just like that, everyone returned to their conversations… so weird…

"Frodo?"

Frodo could hear a faint familiar feminine voice. He was slipping out of the tendrils of the nightmarish dream and returning to his waking state. His body felt heavy. Had he slept in? What had he missed? Were his parents… no, they're weren't. They couldn't be. No!

"Frodo!" yelled a feminine voice. It was little high-pitched and was hurting his ears.

Frodo felt his forehead, yet he didn't want to open his eyes. It was better to just lie in his bed, sleep off the dream. His parents, Aria, his whole life was just…

"Frodo, you lazy… wake up!" cried Aria's voice. Now he really could tell the voice belonged to Aria.

Frodo opened them now. He grinned at her, doing his best not to show his nightmare. "Where have you been?" His cheekiness still showed.

"Come on. What did you dream?" asked Aria, stubbornness crossing her eyes and face.

The cheeky smile melted away from his own face. Frodo was not in the mood to discuss his dream. "My parents' died… what happened to them?" He was about to rush out of bed.

Aria stopped him. "Relax. Your parents are alive and well."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I thought they were…"

"What did you dream?" repeated Aria. She was curious about his dream. Bravely, she sat down on his bed, right next to him. Frodo felt terribly uncomfortable, yet in a way it was soothing to have her presence beside him. "Can't you talk about it, or are you too afraid?"

"I just woke up," said Frodo.

"I know. But it's better to talk about these things," admitted Aria, "especially when the dream is still fresh."

Frodo hardly knew where to begin. The dream unraveled itself as he spoke, his voice trembling as he tried to remember, "First, I was here, in this house. My parents spoke about me, like they were ignorant of my presence. They said 'Hogwarts needs me', 'Hogwarts needs me', and then you showed up. I forget what you said, but you were glaring at me. Then the dream changed to Bilbo, my uncle, and he said I was late for a funeral. I arrived at the funeral just as every hobbit in my family walked away. There you were and there were… were…"

"Spit it out!" barked Aria, doing her best to get him to admit what was on his mind.

Frodo burst, softly, "…I saw my parents' graves, but they were separate. You told me 'Hogwarts needs me'. I was asking what I had done wrong." He cracked a joyful smile. "Then I was flying above the Hogwarts Express and seeing the castle from that view. At last I came inside the castle, and there were Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred and George. They were talking about me, wondering what I had done wrong. As soon as I wanted to wake up, everyone stared at me and that's when Lotho wanted to pummel me. I closed my eyes, everyone strangely returned to their business and I retreated into sleep." He added for good measure, "Then I hear your voice telling me to wake up, and so I did."

Aria glared at him.

Frodo was sheepish. "That's the same glare you had in the dream."

Only Aria told him, calmly, "Frodo, maybe this dream's telling you to return to Hogwarts, confront your parents and apologize, and treat everyone at Hogwarts with respect in the future. What other choice have you got?"

Frodo stared at his bed covers. The dream was very clear he had been acting like a jerk, and everyone knew it. He could pick that up, at least. Maybe it was his turn to be the polite one, even though he wanted to pull pranks and still behave like a troublemaker. But he did need his friends and he made new ones at Hogwarts, after all. It was time to act like a decent hobbit boy and enjoy Hogwarts while it lasted. It was his second home. He might as well make use of it.

He peered up at Aria. She really did look beautiful. How did Hogwarts ever acquire a Muggle that was this beautiful… well, this was his opinion. He blushed, doing his best not to show his feelings. However, Aria must have noticed because she was blushing and looking uncomfortable, as if she had been unhinged and didn't know what to do. She was also a bit wound up, something that Frodo picked up the moment he met her and she was still doing it. What exactly was this girl terrified of?

"Frodo," said Aria, getting his attention back. She was concerned now.

Snapping out of his reverie – he hadn't known where he got those strange thoughts, yet they were… soothing – Frodo admitted to her, "Maybe I should go apologize to my parents. Where are they?"

"They're not up yet. I couldn't sleep after that dream I had. I saw you at your parents' tombstones, looking terrified. But when I heard…"

"You had the same dream?" asked Frodo, seriousness clearly in his voice.

"Yeah. I've had dreams with you for months now. Frodo, what does it mean?" asked Aria, concerned.

Frodo, not answering her question and leaving her hanging, got out of bed and headed to his bathroom. He was followed fast by Aria. Before she harangued him further, Frodo told her – oh, how he hated these adult moments, "Go and sit on that bench until I've come out." Calmly, he admitted, "Hey, I'll be out soon." Then he closed the door fast.

Following Frodo's only instruction, Aria found the bench he pointed at. However, she needed to go to bathroom, too, and rushed in fast to the bathroom she used. She didn't like disobeying orders. It didn't feel right. Minutes later, when Aria finally came out of the bathroom, she saw Frodo sitting on the bench, not wanting to go back to bed and sleep in for a bit. He was tired, that much was obvious from his sleepy eyes. He said nothing about it, something that made Aria worry over him. She didn't need to think on it, just that she wanted to see what was wrong with him, why he wouldn't go back to bed. Then she remembered the dream he had and knew this was the reason he was up.

Deciding to get his attention, Aria said softly to him, "Hi."

Frodo patted the bench. Aria obeyed without taking further instruction. They were awful close, yet Aria said nothing, even though it was written on her face. She quietly moved a few inches off to the side, alerting Frodo.

"What?" Frodo asked, causing alarm to show on Aria's face. He told her, calmly, knowing he needed to be calm and collected with this girl. "It's okay. You can sit closer, if you want." He paused. She still didn't know what to do. He intervened. "Come on. I won't bite."

Knowing she would regret this moment, Aria moved back a few inches until she sat right next to him. Her mind was almost completely frozen and yet she could still think. Frodo wrapped an arm around her, settling his hand on her waist. They were a little too close and Aria's heart was thumping, as if it could fly out of her chest. Was her heart supposed to react this way? She hardly knew and yet she gave a sheepish smile to Frodo.

Frodo smiled back, not sure himself what to do about this situation. He was still too young to even know why his parents acted the way they did towards each other. Still, he wanted to get to the bottom of this 'shared' dreaming. "So, what can you tell me about us sharing dreams?" It was a wrong question. This girl knew nothing about shared dreaming, at least not at this time. He tried another question. "What kinds of dreams have you had with me? What have been your most recent dreams?"

"There's too many to count," said Aria, sheepish. At least she was telling him the truth.

"Try me," said Frodo, daring her to admit the dreams she had.

Then Aria rambled rather quickly about her dreams. Frodo did his best to calm her and help her go slower in telling him about her dreams. He listened intently, feeling some connection to Aria. So they were doing shared dreaming and he hadn't known it. Well, he hadn't known until a few months ago, when he started dreaming about a brown-haired girl. Had he dreamed of Aria? He felt like he remembered her first name, but where did he recall that?

Frodo and Aria stopped talking – well, Frodo listening and Aria doing most of the talking – when Primula went into the kitchen. Figuring it was time to leave their conversation there, Frodo helped Aria find her way into the dining room. She still was behaving like she was lost, yet Frodo was willing to help her out. It was a start, at least. Frodo knew he would have to prove his worth if he was ever to get back to Hogwarts and to make sure his parents were all right.

When Drogo at last came out to the dining room, he sat down at the end chair. Aria and Frodo were already eating their breakfast, but to Drogo's surprise Frodo was sitting next to Aria. He said nothing, but gave his son a quizzical stare. Frodo caught Drogo's gaze and smiled cheekily at him. Frodo picked up his teacup shortly afterwards and drank his tea.

o-o-o

Before noon, as Aria helped Primula in the kitchen with their luncheon food, Frodo found his way into his father's study. Drogo was definitely doing something with a piece of parchment paper. Frodo was a little curious and got his father's attention:

"Dad?" asked Frodo. He picked up the word from Ron, for obvious reasons.

Drogo glanced at him, "Son."

"What are you doing?" asked Frodo.

Drogo set his parchment down on the writing desk. "I was writing a letter to Dumbledore. It's nothing special." Setting his quill in the ink bottle, Drogo moved his chair so he could see Frodo. He asked his son, "What is it, Frodo?"

Frodo paused. He said his peace then and there. "I know mum and you want me to go back to Hogwarts."

"Now before you protest, I want to tell you that you should consider…"

"You were right," announced Frodo.

Drogo was in disbelief. "What was that?"

"You were right," repeated Frodo. "You and mum… you two are right. I should return to Hogwarts."

Drogo was impressed. His son finally came around. "You know we are right, Frodo. Your mother and I want what's best for you."

"So I can go back?" asked Frodo, needing a confirmation.

"Yes," said Drogo. Frodo's face lit up with joy. Drogo nearly stammered that joy with, "As long as you don't get into too much trouble."

"Don't worry. I'll be good this time, better even," said Frodo, leaving his father's study to tell Aria the good news.

Drogo shook his head. Chuckling to himself, Drogo pulled out his quill, brushed the dripping ink on the side of the glass bottle and continued his letter. Good thing his son didn't ask what he was up to. Drogo did not want to answer questions that would require Frodo meddling into things he shouldn't be meddling in.

But Frodo had paid attention and was curious as to what his father was writing, addressed to Dumbledore. Maybe it was something to do with whatever was down in the Forbidden Corridor. Maybe… he hardly knew as he returned to the kitchen. Aria was also filled with joy when Frodo told her what his father said to him. This was going to be a good day, or so Frodo hoped would happen during the holidays. It was still the holidays and what better reason to enjoy it than with family and friends.

Footnotes:

*Hera Syndulla from "Star Wars: Rebels" says this line to Ezra Bridger also, except the original end of her dialogue was "They need you, Ezra. They need you right now." For some reason, this dialogue ended up stuck in my head as I wrote the dream. I don't know why, but it did.