AN: I will continue this story but be patient with me, I cannot promise to update very regularly. Don't forget to review!

2. Lord Elrond.

Harry groaned in pain as he opened his eyes. The light was too bright, it hurt his head. He turned his head away from the light and pulled the blanket over his eyes.

Why does my head hurt so badly? And why am I in bed? He wondered.

He tried to remember what happened. He remembered being in his bedroom at Privet Drive. He remembered the all-consuming pain he felt for all he had lost. He remembered telling Hedwig that he wanted to get away from it all but after that he couldn't remember anything. He certainly couldn't remember getting to bed. Yet he was in a very comfortable bed. Much more comfortable than he was used to at the Dursleys.

Hedwig had been there with him. He remembered her sitting on his shoulder, cooing softly.

"Hedwig?" He asked softly. He recognized that his voice sounded like he hadn't talked in days. From somewhere above him a soft hoot reassured the wizard that his familiar was still with him.

"Oh! You're awake!" Somebody called happily. It was a girl's voice and she spoke in a strange dialect. With a shock Harry bolted up right and snapped his eyes open. A girl?!

In a short spike of panic his hands moved around him, under the blankets and the pillow to search for his wand. This whole situation immediately put him on an edge.

Silver grey eyes met his. They belonged to a younger girl with dark hair and a beautiful round face. He quickly concluded that she wasn't a threat, she was too young and stopped his search for his wand

"No offense, but what are you doing here?" He asked.

The girl looked slightly confused before understanding washed over her face.

"I'm watching over you until Ada returns." She explained calmly.

'Ada? What is an Ada?' He thought. Even more confused Harry took a second to look around. Ever vigilant he felt the need to assess the situation and search for his wand. It was only when he really looked around him that he noticed that he wasn't in his room. Nor was he in his own bed. He blinked a few times before looking around again. This was not Privet Drive.

He was in a fairly large room. The walls were a soft white color. One of them had a beautiful mural drawn on it. Dark blue curtains were covering parts of large windows but still let a lot of sunlight through. He closed his eyes for a second against the pain the light caused in his head. At the end of the room was a large balcony. He looked at the bed he was currently laying on. It was even more beautiful than his four-poster bed at Hogwarts. Intricate patterns covered the wood.

After a few minutes Harry concluded that he really wasn't at Privet Drive anymore. He couldn't detect any danger here and he also concluded that his head was really bothering him. Too much to really think about dangers and fighting. He closed his eyes again and noticed that the darkness took away the pain.

"Are you in pain?" the girl asked him.

"My head hurts a bit with the bright light." He whispered.

"Oh, of course."

He heard hurried steps and the shuffling of fabric.

"There, that should be better."

He opened his eyes again and saw that the girl had pulled the dark curtains close. They let through enough light to see but not the bright sun light.

"Thanks." He muttered.

"Here, drink this. It will help against the pain." The girl offered him a goblet with something liquid in it. With Mad-eye's warnings fresh in mind he sniffed it carefully. It smelled like normal tea.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Just some healing herbs my father got for you. He said you should drink that once you woke up."

"Oh, your father is a healer."

"The best in all elven lands." The young girl said proudly. "I have to get him. He wanted to know when you were awake. He wants to talk to you."

"Elven?" Harry asked but the girl was already running towards the door.

His last five years in the magical world ensured that nothing really surprised him anymore. He had met far stranger creatures. Though, he only knew about house elves, not elves like that girl.

"Where am I?" he mused. Above him Hedwig hooted again and landed on his lap. Her big eyes looked calm, her whole posture showed how relaxed she was. To Harry it was an indication that he was in a safe place. Hedwig would never be so calm in a place that could be dangerous. "What happened, Hedwig?"

The owl hooted again but he knew he would never understand the answer.

He took another sip of the tea like drink the girl had offered him. He found that it tasted sweet unlike the potions he knew. To his surprise it did work. Slowly the headache seemed to dull.

Again, he went over the events that brought him here. If only he could remember them. And where was 'here'? He knew he wasn't at Privet Drive but that was about the only thing he knew for sure. Besides that he felt utterly safe here.

After going through the last memories, it surprised him that the pain he had felt back at Privet Drive was not so overwhelming. Like a goodnight sleep had started to heal his heart a bit.

The sound of the door opening pulled him out of his thoughts and focus on the door. In walked a tall man. He had long dark hair that was braided in a strange way. He wore dark blue robes. Even from a distance Harry could see that the fabric was special. The man had a friendly look to his face but at the same time he looked much like McGonagall's with her stern looks. There was an air of royalty that clung to the man. His eyes had the same grey color as the young girl had.

"Good morning, young man."

The man's voice was soft, soothing and melodic. It sounded almost like a bird's song to Harry. This man also spoke in a dialect.

"Good morning, sir." Harry replied kindly. He moved a bit and felt the cool wood of his wand roll against his fingers from under his pillow. It comforted him that he had at least that with him. He could defend himself if his assumptions had been wrong.

"I'm Lord Elrond of Rivendell. Or in the elven language, Imladris." The man spoke calmly.

"I'm Harry." The wizard answered. There was no need to tell the man his full name. He didn't want to point out that he was 'the' famous wizard.

"How are you feeling, Harry?" There was a slight amused look on the man's face. Harry wondered if the man already knew who he was.

"My head still hurts. The potion the girl gave me helped a bit. She is getting her father now, apparently he is a healer." Harry answered truthfully. The elf in front of him looked anything but a healer, Harry thought he just came here to check up on the boy that invaded his land. He was surprised that Lord Elrond chuckled.

"I'm her father, Harry. And your healer."

"Oh."

"I take it that in her excitement Arwen forgot to introduce herself." Lord Elrond chuckled again.

"I didn't introduce myself either." Harry admitted.

"It's alright. We will rectify that later." Lord Elrond sat down next to the bed on a comfortable looking chair. "I'm glad the pain relieve potion is working. I wasn't sure in how much pain you would be once you woke up. It took you a long time to heal from your wounds."

Harry shook his head in confusion.

"What do you mean, sir?"

Lord Elrond looked at him for a second. It was like he was searching for something.

"Do you remember what happened?" Lord Elrond asked after a minute of silence.

"No, I remember being in my bedroom. I remember that Hedwig sat on my shoulder." Harry whispered.

"What about the pain?" Lord Elrond asked. Harry's eyes flashed to the man's face. He recognized the knowing look in the older man's eyes. He had seen it with Dumbledore enough times.

"How do you know about that?" Harry asked with a bit of venom in his voice. His pain was his own. He wasn't about to share his whole life story with a stranger. He hadn't even done that with his best friends.

"That's a long story, Harry." Lord Elrond said calmly. "I'm not trying to pry. Please accept that I'll explain all of it to you later, when you feel better but for now it would suffice that I know you were in great pain. I also know that I have no explanation yet about how you came to Imladris. My twins and their teacher found you just inside the borders. They say you just appeared out of the sky and fell on your head. You were unconscious and slightly feverish. They brought you here and it took me the better part of four days to heal you."

"Four days?" Harry asked in shock.

"Yes, your fever kept you from waking up and what ever herb I used it didn't help much." Lord Elrond said with a sigh. "You have to understand Harry that my people are very sensitive to the emotions of others. So, when you were brought here I could feel the pain you were in. Not only from the bump on your head but also your heartache. It was like you just gave up and didn't want to fight the fever. It took all my skill to pull you through the darkness."

Harry looked at the man next to him. For the first time he noted the pointed ears.

"Your people?" Harry asked carefully.

"I'm an elf, Harry. I'm the Lord of one of the elven cities." Lord Elrond explained. "Where do you come from?"

"From a muggle suburb in Surrey." Harry said.

"I have never heard from such a place. To which kingdom does it belong too?"

"The United Kingdom, England as most people call it."

"I have never heard of that kingdom before." Lord Elrond shook his head. "Nor do I know what a muggle suburb is."

Harry looked at the elf for a long time. He was wondering yet again where he was and how he had ended up here. So many questions ran through his mind it only made the headache return.

And then there was the question of what to tell this elf. He was all but a stranger. A kind stranger. A stranger that had taken good care of him and let him keep his wand but still a stranger. He couldn't just go around telling somebody he was a wizard or anything about the wizarding world. He let the word 'muggle' slip because he thought the elf to be a magical creature.

Another part was that the elf seemed to be very honest about not knowing about England or the UK. Surely about every educated being in his world knew about that. And yet, the elf showed no recognition when he mentioned the two names. It made him wonder in what far region of the world he had landed.

"Where am I?" Harry asked. He decided that it was best to pull away from his slip about muggles and focus on more pressing matters.

"You are in Imladris, or Rivendell as it is better known by the race of man. It's one of the few remaining elven cities in Middle Earth."

"Middle Earth? I have never heard of this place before. Nor am I familiar with elves like you are, sir." Harry explained.

Lord Elrond nodded and sighed.

"I think I can explain things a little bit but like I said it is complicated and will take up a lot of time. I don't want to bother you with that all right now. Not while your head is still hurting you." The elf paused. Harry noticed a wrinkle on the elf's forehead that seemed to be there when in deep thought. "How about this. You take some sleeping potion and sleep off the remains of that headache during the day. Than tonight all introduce you to my family during dinner. Together with my family we will tell you stories about Middle Earth, I'll also try to explain my theories."

Harry thought about this option. Impatient as ever he wanted answers now. However the elf-lord was right, his head was bothering him more than he would like to admit. He was tired and emotionally drained from all those days he spent mourning. To be honest he would give anything for a few days of dreamless sleep potions.

"Alright." Harry nodded.