Chapter 6
"I was travelling to Rivendell with haste to solve the mystery of a large burst of power we all felt some two months ago while I was visiting with Saruman, but I do believe I have found the answer," Gandalf said, leaning on his staff while he gave Harry a curious look.
Gandalf looked like an old man with bushy eyebrows, overcome with old age, but Harry wasn't fooled by his appearance. Even though Harry had never been as good at feeling magic as some others he'd known, like Luna or Bill, even he couldn't miss the quiet drum of power that emanated from the wizard in front of him. The power seemed to be two-fold, one a deep, ancient well of vast magic, and over top of that a thick ward of energy that reminded Harry of Elrond somehow. The Lord of Rivendell also had such a ward around him. Harry wondered if that specific power had something to do with their very old ages.
One thing was certain to Harry, though. Gandalf was no human wizard, even if he pretended to be just that. Gandalf was much, much more than that.
"Mithrandir," Elrond said with a tiny little smile, looking as though he wasn't in the least bit surprised that Gandalf had shown up out of the blue like that and had apparently spent the last half hour eavesdropping in his gardens.
"Lord Elrond." Gandalf gave a small bow and said something in Sindarin. What Harry could make out was that it was a formal greeting of sorts. Then the old wizard turned towards Harry and gave him an intent stare. "I would speak with your guest at once."
"Certainly." Elrond gestured at everyone else to follow him.
Bilbo seemed reluctant to and lingered until Gandalf gave him a smile and said, "Bilbo Baggins. It is good to see you again. Your friend will come to no harm. We will all meet up later so you can catch me up on the latest gossip from the Shire."
"Oh, you'll never believe what Lobelia Sackville-Baggins tried to do in my absence," Bilbo said with a beaming smile before he hurried after the others.
For reasons Harry didn't understand, Glorfindel was also reluctant to leave Harry with Gandalf. Did the elf honestly think Harry would attack the old wizard or what? Glorfindel looked between Harry and Gandalf a few times, then gave a nod and melted into the shadows. Harry had no idea if he'd followed the others back to the hall of fire or if he was lurking in the darkness somewhere, making sure Harry wasn't Sauron in disguise or something equally ridiculous.
"Your arrival in our world drew the attention of some of us," Gandalf said as he started walking down the garden path, still leaning on his staff as if to emphasize his old age. Harry wasn't fooled but fell into step with him anyway.
Harry was curious about the wizard, having heard so much of him from Bilbo ever since meeting the hobbit. Apparently Gandalf had played a crucial role in Bilbo's recent adventure with the dwarves. "That was not my intention," Harry said slowly, glancing at the wizard to gauge his reactions. "But I suppose the ritual that sent me here left a powerful mark."
"You are truly from another world, aren't you?" Gandalf mumbled with a frown on his face. "Your mind and your magic are like nothing I have ever seen before."
Harry's eyes widened and he stared at Gandalf in surprise. Ever since Auror training Harry had mastered Occlumency and even a bit of Legilimency, and he always kept his Occlumency shields up by default.
Gandalf chuckled as though terribly amused by Harry's extreme reaction. "The walls in your head probably protect your thoughts quite well from others of your kind. But I have no problems seeing your true intentions, Harry Potter." Gandalf stopped walking and drew himself upright, suddenly striking a very different figure. One of authority who was not to be trifled with. "I must ask you not to use your magic outside of these borders unless in an emergency."
That took Harry aback and he blinked at Gandalf in confusion. "Why?"
"Because it stands out like a beacon to all who are able to sense such things," Gandalf said, eyes narrowing as he spoke. "The borders of Imladris are well protected in more ways that one, and in here your magic is hidden. But out there it might very well draw the attention of those who would use you for their own gain."
"Ah." Harry got what Gandalf was saying. If Harry used his magic out in the wild, Sauron might notice and try to make Harry his bitch. Yeah, Harry wasn't about to let that happen. "Understood. I'll stick to slicing onions and building bathhouses in Rivendell."
"Good, good. I for one cannot wait to try out your new bathing facilities." Gandalf did look like he could use a very long soak in a very hot bathtub. His long, grey hair was tangled and his hands and face were grimy with dust and dirt collected on the road.
"It's almost done." Harry pursed his lips and then decided to just ask what was on his mind. "So you're trusting me? Just like that?"
Gandalf leaned a little closer and gave Harry a knowing look. "I happen to know that Bilbo is an excellent judge of character. Just the fact that he's taking you under his wing is proof enough for me that your intentions aren't bad."
"Yeah," Harry said with a laugh. "Bilbo has become a dear friend, and I would have been lost without him when I first came to this world."
"Life has its ways of putting the people that would help us the most in our paths when we need them, I find," Gandalf said and then took a turn that would lead back to the hall of fire.
Harry considered those words and thought back to his own life, how he'd met Ron and Hermione and how important to his survival they'd become over the years. "Wise words. I agree completely."
"I would speak with you again, Mr Potter," Gandalf said when the hall came into sight. Glorfindel was lurking in the doorway again, though he slipped inside the moment he saw them approach. What a fucking mess that elf was, seriously. "But for now I cannot wait to hear what Lobelia has done to Bilbo."
"See you later." Harry nodded at Gandalf as the old man made a beeline for Bilbo. Harry walked up to one of the serving tables and picked up a cup of red wine. Merlin knew he needed a drink after all that excitement. He sauntered towards Bilbo and stood to the side, listening as Bilbo told the tale of how one of his relatives had basically tried to steal his home and all his belongings, auctioning them off just as Bilbo returned from his adventure. Harry enjoyed seeing the easy friendship between Bilbo and Gandalf, and he was especially glad to see that whatever affection Gandalf had for the hobbit seemed to be genuine. Harry had privately wondered if Gandalf had merely used Bilbo when he'd dragged him along to slay a dragon, but that didn't seem to be the case at all.
Eventually, Harry left the hall and went to bed, exhausted from all the mental confrontations.
The next morning when Harry entered the great hall for breakfast, he spotted Glorfindel sitting with a group of elves, apparently content to leave Harry alone during their meals from now on. As Harry stood in line, a plan began forming in his head. A very annoying yet devious plan.
Harry may be close to 150 years old but he would always be a little shit at heart and Glorfindel deserved some payback for all the bullying he'd done, no matter he had good reasons to do it. Besides, Harry thought that a haughty Elf Lord like that deserved to be brought down a little.
After loading up his plate with his usual choices of breakfast foods, Harry hurried towards Glorfindel. He stopped right behind the elf and obnoxiously cleared his throat. Glorfindel glanced over his shoulder and gave him a disbelieving look.
"I've come to report my magic, my Lord," Harry said with his most angelic smile while he stood at attention, back straight and shoulders squared, full plate held firmly in his hands. "This morning, I warmed the water in my washing bowl with a magical charm. After I washed myself, I dried myself off with a magical charm. Then I tried to tame my hair with a magical charm. That wasn't a huge success, as you can see. I've yet to find any magic that can win a battle against my hair, I'm afraid."
Glorfindel slowly closed his eyes and shook his head. Elrohir, who was seated across from him, quickly hid his huge grin behind his hand while his shoulder shook.
"Then I used some magic to clean my clothes and I used a different magical charm to get the wrinkles out," Harry continued, rattling all the details off like he didn't have a care in the world. "After that I made my bed with a magical charm, and –"
"Yes, thank you," Glorfindel finally snapped, narrowing his sapphire eyes while giving Harry an annoyed glance. "You need not report every single piece of simple magic you do."
"Oh?" Harry blinked innocent eyes at Glorfindel, though it was very difficult to hold back the laughter that wanted to escape him. "But last night you seemed so adamant I inform you of all my magic, so I was simply following your orders."
Sighing, Glorfindel shook his head, looking like he was dearly regretting all of his recent life choices. "I am going to rephrase that order. I want you to report any large magical projects you plan to undertake, such as the bathhouse, to me."
"Yes, my Lord! Consider it done." Harry clapped his heels together like a soldier and then marched off to the table where Bilbo and Gandalf were sitting.
Bilbo was leaning forwards over his plate, overcome with giggles. Gandalf, who was not wearing his hat and who looked a great deal cleaner than the night before, was even smiling in amusement.
"Sorry," Harry mumbled as he sat down across from Bilbo. "I couldn't resist."
"No apologies necessary," Bilbo said after he caught his breath. "He had it coming after pushing you around every single day."
"It is good to see you can hold your own against the legendary likes of Glorfindel even without your magic," Gandalf said before turning back to his plate of nut bread, stewed vegetables and fruit salad.
This was not the first time people made allusions that Glorfindel was a figure straight out of myths and legends, and Harry vowed to look him up in the library once he knew enough Sindarin to read the average book.
When Harry arrived in the kitchens for his morning shift, Gaeven offered him an apologetic smile. "I'm so sorry, Harry," he said in hurried Westron. "But Lord Erestor was here just now and he has forbidden us to speak Westron with you from now on. Sindarin only, to help you expand your vocabulary as quickly as possible."
Harry blinked, part of him wanting to be angry that Erestor the snooty elf was taking away his only ability to communicate with his colleagues. But on the other hand, Harry knew how quickly he could master a language when he was surrounded by it and was forced to communicate in it all day long. That's what had happened with Bilbo and learning Westron, after all.
"All right, but please be patient with me. I know very little Sindarin so far." Harry was pleased to see that Gaeven gave him an affirmative nod and then talked slowly in Sindarin while he pointed out the tasks he wanted Harry to do. Harry learned the Sindarin words for onion and slicing, potatoes and peeling, and dough and kneading that morning. He even had Gaeven write down the Sindarin words in his notebook, while Harry added the English and Westron words himself, just to keep his book up to date.
The other elves in the kitchen got in on it over the next few days, holding up various things from turnips and leeks to knives and baskets, while telling Harry the Sindarin words.
Much to Harry's frustration, though, Bilbo and Gandalf had also taken to talking in Sindarin during meals after they learned what the elves in the kitchen were doing around Harry.
Bilbo patted Harry's hand and gave him a bright smile. "It's the only way to learn a language quickly, lad."
Harry paid close attention to what they were saying and while the grammar still tripped him up more often than not, he was able to make out words he knew, so occasionally he could follow along in rough lines what they were talking about. More often than not, though, Harry was clueless about what was being said, much to his frustration.
Erestor had also taken to only speaking in Sindarin when he taught Harry, and Harry simply sighed and went along with it, because what else could he do. He was making good progress with expanding his vocabulary, learning many new words every single day, but the Sindarin grammar was a nightmare and took him a lot of effort, especially when using it while actually speaking sentences.
By the time Harry's lessons were done in the afternoon and he could retreat to his bathhouse, his head was usually pounding and he needed some peace and quiet for a few hours to mentally digest all he was learning.
The bathhouse was coming along very nicely. Harry had added showers near the changing rooms of both the male and female sections. He simply directed water through the ceiling where he made many holes, so people could wash off any grime or dirt before moving to the bathing pools. It felt like walking under a warm, heavy shower of rain.
Harry decided to use the water of the many waterfalls around Rivendell instead of conjuring water with runes, like he did in his tent, since the elves were used to bathing in the river water. He transfigured many stone pipes from the waterfalls into the bathhouse, and he added runes along them to heat the water to the desired temperatures. All baths, big and small, had a continues stream of clean, warm water running into it. And all had overflows that let water pour out of it into drains that ran back to the river, so all baths had a constant supply of clean water coming in. Harry even remembered to add runes to the drains to cool the water down again before it ran back to the river. Too much warm water might upset the local ecosystem, and Harry didn't want to be responsible for the fish dying off or something.
When all the bathing tubs were installed, and all the plumbing was working, Harry added runes around the building to keep the temperature inside nice and stable while still providing a nice flow of fresh air going into the bathhouse to prevent mould.
Then he turned his attention to decorating the place. Normally, Harry would be happy with the white stone walls and floors and tubs, but taking one look around Rivendell made it clear that elves loved art of any kind and used it in everything they did. Every nook and cranny of Rivendell was decorated in some ways, even if it was just floral patterns in the window lattices or murals on the outside walls.
So Harry decided to put his creative hat on and try for a little magical decorating around the bathhouse. Now, Harry had no talent for art himself, but when he'd been fixing up Grimmauld Place he'd learned a lot of useful charms that dealt with decorating. One of them was the ability to copy and transfer existing photos and drawings onto walls while enlarging them to fit whatever space one wanted to cover.
Harry had brought along plenty of books with photos of magical creatures and of landscapes found around his old world, simply because he wanted to remember those in whatever new world he ended up in. And thus Harry got to work, transforming the white, sterile bathhouse into a truly stunning work of magical art.
The entrance hall was covered entirely in pictures of a jungle with many colourful birds of paradise flying around. The pictures all moved, naturally, and combined with the heat of the warm water it genuinely gave the guests the idea one had just stepped into a tropical jungle.
The changing rooms were decked out in a temperate forest at dusk full of different species of owls. The main bathing facilities were covered in pictures of a magical forest full of magical creatures. Some big, like a herd of unicorns that galloped through the trees and a bunch of hippogriffs that few across the ceiling. Others were small, like a few curious kneazles that liked to lounge of branches and observe the room, and some bowtruckles that were constantly looking for bugs to eat. There was even a phoenix that liked to glide between the trees. Harry gave both the male and female sides identical walls and even gave the animals in the pictures the ability to move between the different spaces.
Harry decided to give the individual bathing rooms on the first floor each a specific theme. One had walls covered in scenes from a beach, another had snowy mountains. There was a desert room with many types of cacti, and a room covered in flowery meadows that swayed in the wind. Yet another one was a pine forest entirely covered in snow, which gave the room a very cosy feeling. Harry then convinced Erestor to write down the Sindarin words for things like 'Sea Room' and 'Mountain Room', which Harry then carefully inscribed in circles of wood, with the Westron words below them, which he attached to each door.
Finally, Harry got an idea that would add the finishing touches to the whole thing. One afternoon he strolled along the valley to a place where he could reach the riverbed and he collected a whole pile of differently coloured rocks. Some almost black, some a granite grey and some with shades of yellow or brown. He then transfigured all those rocks into large planters that he placed around the entire bathhouse. Neville had taught him plenty of runes to use on planters, so Harry added some for self-watering and repelling pests and for quick-growth. The opaque windows let in plenty of light for plants to grow.
Now he needed plants, and this stopped Harry in his tracks because he had no clue which outside plants would do well indoors.
Thankfully, he knew a hobbit who was pretty well educated on such things.
"Please, Bilbo, speak Westron for now because I need your help," Harry said one afternoon when he tracked the hobbit down to one of the kitchen gardens where he was harvesting strawberries.
"What do you need?" Bilbo asked, giving Harry a curious look.
Harry got a sly little smile on his face. "Come along and I'll show you."
Bilbo's mouth dropped open as he walked inside the bathhouse. He'd only seen it in its early stages, when Harry had only transfigured some empty bathing tubs. Now it was just about done, with hot water running everywhere.
"This is the most magical thing I have ever seen," Bilbo said, covering his mouth with both hands. His eyes even started shimmering with unshed tears as he slowly stepped into the main bathing room with its swimming pool-sized tub and its smaller round baths along the far wall. "Oh!" Bilbo spotted the unicorns. "Oh look!" Now a curious niffler poked its head out from behind a tree. "Are these all creatures from your world?"
Harry nodded, feeling oddly shy to have someone admire his work like that.
"You've done such an outstanding job," Bilbo said, clearing his throat a few times. "What on earth do you need my help for?"
Harry pointed at an empty planter. "I want to add real plants but I have no idea which plants will do well in here and where to find them."
Bilbo drew himself up to his full three feet. "Oh lad. You have come to the right hobbit!"
Bilbo commandeered a wheelbarrow that he made Harry push and over the next two days he and Harry could be seen scuttering around Rivendell, hauling loads of compost inside the bathhouse, much to everyone's confusion. Why would anyone need dirt to bathe? Then empty spots in the many gardens started appearing, much to the surprise of the gardeners. Plots of flowers disappeared, as did several small bushes and many types of vines. For reasons that no one understood, Harry and Bilbo were making off with them.
Harry had noticed that while elves seemed to love nature, they didn't keep plants indoors at all. Harry was about to blow their minds. He hoped.
But before Harry officially opened the bathhouse, he tracked down Narthrien, the washer he'd briefly met.
"Hi," Harry said when he saw her and some other elves toiling over big wooden washing buckets, rubbing towels over metal washing boards by hand. "I want to show you the new washing facilities and ask for your help."
"Yes," Narthrien said at once, and then quickly explained why Harry was there to the other elves. All five of them immediately dropped their work and followed Harry to the bathhouse. Along one side Harry had sectioned off part of the building and turned it into state of the art magical laundry facilities. Harry had learned during his stay in Rivendell that residents were expected to wash their own clothes. Most did so once a week or every other week or so, using the wooden washing tubs and boards with cold water. Just vigorously scrubbing your clothing got it clean that way. Hard work, but it was what people were used to. The washers took care of more general things like towels and sheets, and also clothing from the higher up elves like Elrond and his immediate kin, and their honoured guests.
Harry showed the washers through the door into the main washing room. He'd transfigured five large wooden tubs that held wooden paddles to move the laundry around. Each tub had two pipes emptying into it that could be controlled with two simple levers, one for hot water and one for cold.
"Here. This is how it works." Harry pulled the lever and hot water started flowing. A second lever started and stopped the paddles in the tub. And another lever opened up the drain in the bottom of the tub.
The washers started talking excitedly in Sindarin and practically danced around in their enthusiasm.
Harry had decorated the walls with pictures of a lake with mountains in the background and this drew many admiring comment as well, even if Harry couldn't understand most of them, he still got the gist of it.
Next was the drying room, which had a seascape on its walls. Harry had installed many drying racks that could fold and unfold as needed, all the way up to the ceiling. The room was pleasantly warm and had a continuous breeze running through it, which would ensure that the laundry would dry in no time at all.
"Good, good, good," Narthrien kept saying in her broken Westron. "So very, very good."
"Annon allen!" the other elves said over and over again, which Harry knew meant 'I give thanks to you!'.
"You're welcome," Harry replied in Westron while waving their gratitude away. After he demonstrated all there was to the laundry facilities, he turned to Narthrien. "I need your help explaining to female elves how the bathing facilities work."
Narthrien nodded and translated it in Sindarin to the other two female elves in their company. They immediately offered to learn as well so they could share their knowledge with all the other females in Rivendell. Harry was more than glad, because he hadn't known how else to teach the ladies without encroaching on their territory.
Once Harry led the three female elves inside the bathhouse, they were shocked silent by what they saw and Harry had to give them at least ten minutes to collect themselves before he could explain anything to them. The systems were all simple to understand, so even with the language barrier between them Harry managed to explain how the magical lights worked, and how to add bath foam and how to activate the jacuzzi in the round tubs.
"We use now?" Narthrien asked, blinking large, expectant eyes at Harry.
Chuckling, Harry nodded quicky. "Sure, go ahead. The grand opening is tomorrow, though." Then he left them to it and went to inspect the rest of the building to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything. The bells for the final meal rang not too much later and Harry joined Bilbo and Gandalf for the meal, listening to their Sindarin conversations. It concerned dwarves and a visit, but that was all Harry could make out.
After their meal, Harry sidled up to Gaeven and Raithon and gave them a conspiratorial smile. "Tomorrow the bathhouse opens, but tonight I can give you a private tour."
"You need say no more." Gaeven stood at once from the table, Raithon not far behind. One table over, Harry saw Elrohir sit up and give him an expectant look.
Harry beckoned the twins to join them. "Bring wine," he mouthed at them before going back to Bilbo.
Gandalf declined to join them, saying he meant to speak with Elrond that evening, but Bilbo was ready for another tour. Honestly, Bilbo wouldn't miss a tour of anything, even if a gaggle of orcs had gnawed off both his arms and his legs, Harry was sure.
They all gathered in front of the bathhouse, Elladan carrying three bottles of wine and Elrohir six cups.
"Prepare yourself, lads," Bilbo said solemnly while Harry opened the door. "You have never in your life seen anything like this."
The twins reacted by speaking in rapid Sindarin for minutes at a time while Gaeven seemed struck silent as he stood in one spot, slowly turning around to take the main room in.
"How?" Raithon kept saying as he walked past the walls, trying to find as many animals as he could. "How?"
Bilbo stood beside Harry with his chest puffed out, beaming. "I told Harry which plants to add! Look how well they blend in with the decorations."
"There's more upstairs," Harry said after ten minutes, which resulted in a mad dash up the stone staircase in the entrance hall. Every single room was admired. Each had a simple shower and a stone tub that would comfortably fit two to three people. Four or five if one didn't mind squeezing in a bit.
"This is the most amazing thing that has come to Rivendell in a long time," Elladan said as he admired the snowy forest on the walls of the final room.
"Let's put it to the test!" Elrohir released an excited yell and all but bounced downstairs again, already undressed by the time the rest joined him in the changing rooms. Uncaring about his nudity, Elrohir dove under the shower and stood there with his eyes closed, just letting the warm water washing over him. His brother was not far behind.
"The big pool is too deep for me," Bilbo said with a worried frown as he glanced up at Harry. "I am not a strong swimmer."
"The smaller pools have steps you can sit on and still be in the water," Harry told him while he started undressing himself.
"Well then, let's put your creation to good use." And with that, Bilbo pulled off his vest.
They all rinsed themselves off under the shower and then moved to one of the round tubs. Those were big enough that they could easily seat ten to fifteen people, so six wasn't a problem. Once everyone found a spot and Elladan had poured them all a glass of wine, Harry demonstrated the features.
"These buttons add soap to the water," Harry said, gesturing at some stones with runes inscribed. "Pine, lemon or rose?" Harry had kept the scents simple, which made them easier to transfigure, as Harry used plain water to turn into bath foam.
"Pine," Gaeven said at once and the others nodded their consent.
"This one makes the water bubble," Harry said next with a huge grin and pressed it. At once the water started swirling like a jacuzzi and everyone released excited noises as the scent of pine rose up around them.
"You, wizard, have outdone yourself," Elladan said, gesturing at Harry with his cup of wine. "I shall spend many hours in here."
"We all will," Raithon agreed at once. "I imagine the hall of fire shall be empty from now on and all shall spend their evenings in here."
They all sat in silence for a moment, sipping wine and enjoying the warm, bubbling water around them.
"Do you have anything like this in the Shire?" Raithon asked after a while, giving Bilbo a curious look.
"If only we did!" Bilbo laughed and shook his head. "It is custom in the shire to bathe in a tub once week. The wife will heat many buckets of water over the fire while the husband hauls the tub out of storage. It's quite the event."
Elladan narrowed his eyes as he frowned a little. "Are you married, Bilbo?"
"Oh no. No, no," Bilbo said at once with a vigorous shake of his head. "I am not made for the hobbit lasses, I'm afraid."
That took Harry by surprise, because that was the first real reference he'd heard in Middle-Earth about someone not being attracted to the opposite sex. He quickly took a sip of wine to mask his response, but Gaeven had noticed anyway and gave him a small, knowing smile.
"I'm a bachelor now and more than content with that." Bilbo's face scrunched up in a way that made it clear there was some real pain hidden underneath those words, so everyone decided to let him be for a moment.
"How about you, Harry?" Gaeven asked. "Were you married in your old world?"
"No," Harry said with a bit of a melancholic expression on his face. "I had a girlfriend once. Her name was Ginny, and I might have married her but then I realized I wasn't aging and I broke it off. I didn't want to do that to her. So I remained a bachelor." Harry gave Bilbo a pointed wink, which Bilbo seemed to appreciate.
"I always forget that humans can break such things off so easily," Elrohir mused while leaning back and stretching out his legs.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, not at all clear on anything to do with elves and personal relationships.
"Ah, you don't know yet," Elladan said with a chuckle. "Elves are different than humans when it comes to relationships."
"We only ever marry once," Elrohir added. "And we will know when we meet the one meant for us."
"Oh yes," Gaeven mused, a faraway look on his face. "I remember the day I met Naniel. It has been thousands of years, but I still recall that feeling like it happened just now."
"Like the world stopped spinning for a moment," Raithon whispered with a knowing smile on his face. "Like all sound disappeared, and the whole world became hazy except for that one person in front of you."
"Wait," Harry said in complete surprise. "You're both married? I haven't seen you with any elven ladies."
"My wife Linnadis and Naniel are both with Arwen in Lothlórien," Raithon said with a shrug.
"Our sister is visiting our grandparents, who rule there," Elladan explained when he saw Harry's confused expression.
"Ah." Harry nodded in understanding, though he was still unclear about the only ever marrying once thing. "How about you two?"
"We're not married," Elrohir easily said, not looking at all upset by this.
"We haven't yet found our matches," Elladan added, looking equally as accepting of this.
"So you just… stay single for thousands of years?" Harry asked, feeling more than a little confused. "I mean, I was a bachelor and I never entered a serious relationship with anyone, but I still…you know…dallied with others." Harry wasn't sure how to talk about sex in Westron since it had never come up before.
Elladan threw his head back and laughed. "We will… dally as well if the mood strikes with other unattached elves, but it is never serious."
"Like scratching an itch," Elrohir agreed. "It means very little."
"Okay." Harry couldn't help but be curious about all the elves he now knew. Elrond had to be married since he had three kids, but Harry had never seen his wife. Perhaps she'd passed away, or perhaps she was also in Lothlórien with her daughter Arwen. Harry decided to let that mystery remain for a moment, not wanting to upset the twins in case something bad had happened to their mother.
Then he considered other elves knew. Was Erestor married? Was Glorfindel?
Gaeven was staring at Harry again as though he could read his every thought. "Ask us. We can always tell when another elf is married, but we know it is difficult for humans to tell."
Clearing his throat, Harry nodded. "So is Erestor married?"
"Yes," Elrohir said, his face taking on a much more serious expression. "His husband, Calardir, sailed West with our mother. They were very dear friends and both got injured in an orc attack. They went home to Valinor to find healing."
"I'm not sure what that means," Harry muttered, feeling oddly ignorant and not liking it one bit. He was glad to hear, though, that elves did marry other elves of the same sex, since Harry considered himself bisexual. Now he still had to figure out if elves ever hooked up with humans. Harry wasn't in a hurry, but he wouldn't mind getting intimate with an elf sometime in the future. He wasn't made of stone, after all. He had needs like any other man.
"Valinor is a land to the West where the elves live and where all of us will eventually sail to," Gaeven explained patiently.
"Keep learning Sindarin and I'll give you some books that will explain all these details," Raithon said, toasting Harry with his cup of wine.
Harry returned the gesture with a grin. "Will do. How about Glorfindel? I never see him with anyone special."
Elladan got a funny sort of look on his face which he quickly hid with his cup of wine. "No, he's not married."
"Can you imagine," Raithon sighed with a disbelieving glint in his eyes. "Being so old that you were born in the light of the two trees before the first age and yet you have not met your match even all this time later."
"Hm." Elrohir nodded thoughtfully, though his face was also doing a few strange things.
For some reason, knowing that Glorfindel wasn't married seemed to satisfy Harry on some very deep level, though he honestly had no clue why. Maybe it was because Harry thought that a big old bully like him deserved to be alone. Yeah, that must be it.