A/N: Another chapter! I roughly know where I'm going with this fic now and I hope you'll enjoy it!

Chapter One

13 Years Ago

"Okay what about Sean in 8B?"

"Ew no! He always smells so weird and is kind of mean. What about Andy in year 9? He plays football and all the mums say he's so well-behaved."

"I heard he has a crush on Caitlin Lennox."

"Girls! Lights out now, please."

"Yes mum! Goodnight!"

Eleanor got up to turn off the bedroom lights and the three girls waited patiently to make sure the adults were out of earshot. Then, Eleanor closed the door and turned on the torch she'd been keeping in her drawer. Having Zara and Niamh over for the weekend had been the highlight of the week. Usually, friends only stayed over for a night or so, but because Niamh's parents had needed to go away for the weekend and Zara's extended family were in town, making her house a little crowded, their parents had all agreed that a sleepover might be just what the girls needed.

So, when they were certain that Eleanor's mum was busy, the girl crept under the blanket fort they'd spent the afternoon constructing and continued their conversation. Truthfully, Eleanor was relieved that Zara and Niamh wanted to stay the weekend, because ever since she started their school, she'd been worried about making friends. Now, she couldn't imagine her life without her two best friends.

That's why she couldn't understand why she never told them about the first time she dreamt about that mountain and the dwarf prince she met there. Thorin, she recalled, was his name. She knew dreams could be vivid sometimes, but they usually faded and this wasn't like that. Even though it was almost a whole year ago, Eleanor remembered exactly how cold she'd felt in that mountain hall and how she'd inhaled the smoke from the glowing embers of the fireplace in that enormous library. She remembered Thorin's ice-blue eyes as he'd stepped out from the shadows and how surprised she'd been that he was kind.

After she'd awakened from that dream, Eleanor spent the next few days reading about dwarves in books about fairy tales and searching the internet. None of the stories she knew was even close to the dwarf she'd seen in that mountain and she couldn't understand how her imagination managed to create him. That's all dreams were after all, figments of your imagination. At least that's what her dad always said. A part of Eleanor hoped that she'd dream about that place again, but she never did and so eventually it faded from her mind. Until, of course, when she lay in bed that night after far too much pizza and sugar and slowly drifted off into a deep, and comfortable sleep.

The mountain was different this time. Sure, it was the same mountain as before, but it felt different. Instead of being frightfully dark and empty, Eleanor heard music echoing from deep within the hallways and deep, rumbling heartfelt laughter that was like nothing she'd ever heard before. Someone was obviously having a party of some kind, because there was also the smell of the most delicious home cooked food that Eleanor thought could only have been made by someone with a passion for cooking.

Quietly, she put one foot in front of the other on the cold floor and curiously followed the sound of the party. Eleanor had no idea what she was going to do once she showed up at the party, because maybe she wasn't invited? That was silly, of course, because why wouldn't she be invited to a party in her own dream. Even so, a part of her felt that familiar sense of being misplaced or like she wasn't supposed to be there for reasons she couldn't understand.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you."

Eleanor immediately turned around and even though she knew who the voice belonged to, she still gasped at the sight of Thorin. The young dwarf looked exactly as he had last time, except he was dressed in fancier clothes, although the clothes weren't anything like Eleanor had ever seen before. Thorin wore a heavy-looking fur coat over a white shirt with some strange symbols sown into the fragment, as well as trousers and leather boots. He stood leaning against one of the stone pillars with his arms crossed.

"Why not?" Eleanor asked sharply, "It sounds like it's a party."

"It is a party," Thorin confirmed, "We're celebrating Dúrin's Day."

"What's Dúrin's Day?"

Thorin raised an eyebrow as if Eleanor had said something tremendously silly and it made her cheeks flush. How was she supposed to know about Dúrin's Day when she didn't even know much about Thorin at all.

"You really don't know?" Thorin wondered, "I thought all the people in Dale knew what Dúrin's Day was."

"I told you, I'm not from Dale." Eleanor corrected him, "I'm from Cardiff."

"Cardiff? I've never heard of such a place. Is it a village?"

Eleanor chuckled, which seemed to catch Thorin off guard.

"Cardiff is a city in Wales." she explained "Which is a part of the United Kingdom. Does this place have a name?"

"This mountain is called Erebor. One of the remaining dwarf kingdoms of Middle-Earth. Other people call this the Lonely Mountain."

"Why is it called the lonely mountain? That's a strange name. How can a mountain be lonely?"

"I….don't know. It's just what it's called."

Eleanor and Thorin walked in silence through the corridors and away from the noise of the party. Normally, she hated silence, but not with Thorin. Something about his company put her at ease and she wasn't scared anymore.

"Why aren't you at the party?" Eleanor asked after a while, "I mean, if you're a prince and it's a celebration, shouldn't you be there?"

"It...gets a bit loud sometimes." Thorin replied and Eleanor noticed how he buried his hands in his pocket, as if he was figuring out how to explain things to her. "It's fun, but sometimes I just need some space."

"I know what you mean, I have an older sister and two older brothers. They can be...a lot sometimes."

"Aye, I have a younger brother and a younger sister."

"What are their names?"

"Frerin and Dís. What about your siblings? What are they called?"

Strange names, Eleanor thought, but dared not say it aloud. Even though Thorin was friendly enough, she got the feeling that upsetting him was unwise. A cold chill swept past them and as Eleanor looked behind her, she noticed they'd walked much further into the mountain than she'd realised. She could no longer hear the sound of the party behind them, but she was still not frightened.

"Well, there's Angie, Dylan and Simon." Eleanor explained, "Simon's the oldest and he's starting university next year."

"What's...university?" Thorin asked

Caught off guard by his question, Eleanor stopped walking and just stared at the young dwarf prince for a moment.

"A university is a school." She replied, "There's a regular school that everyone goes to, and then you can apply to university and study something you actually enjoy. You do go to school, don't you? You know, where people teach you things like math, and reading and writing?"

"Master Róin teaches me and my siblings our history, as well as numbers and reading." Thorin said "And some of our language."

"You have your own language?"

"Yes, but I'm not supposed to talk about it, because it's kept secret from others."

"Oh…."

There were so many more questions that Eleanor wanted to ask, but as she opened her mouth, she got that same feeling in her stomach, just before she felt everything around her grow cold and just like that, the mountain around her faded away as if it had never existed at all.

A few months later

She could never sleep when they argued. No matter how much she tried to shut out the noise by listening to music, but nothing helped. What made it worse was the fact that she could hear the desperation in her parents' voices, as they tried to talk sense into Simon or at least make him understand. He never did, though and whenever he walked out of the house, slamming the door shut behind him, Eleanor heard her mum sobbing into the arms of her father.

That night, Eleanor didn't even notice when she fell asleep. She only realised she wasn't at home when she opened her eyes and noticed she was sitting on the ledge in front of an enormous treasure horde. She knew it was Erebor and while she normally would have been excited to be back, she wasn't this time. Instead, she pulled her knees up to her chest and cried into the soft fabric of her pyjama bottoms.

Eleanor wasn't sure how much time had passed or how long she'd sat on the cold, stone ledge, but she didn't even move when someone place a warm blanket over her shoulders and sat down next to her. She knew it was Thorin without having to look up, because well….who else could it be? She'd felt bad after last time she vanished and wanted to apologise, but had no idea where to even begin.

Instead, they sat there in silence as they had done before and when the tears finally stopped falling from Eleanor's cheeks, she exhaled a deep breath and turned to the young dwarf prince.

"How did you know it was me?" Eleanor asked, "You didn't seem surprised at all."

"I was the only one who could hear you crying," Thorin replied, "So, I guess I just knew it had to be you."

"How long has it been since I was last here?"

"A few months or so. Actually, I was worried that you wouldn't come back."

At this, Eleanor raised an eyebrow and searched for anything in Thorin's expression that might explain what he meant.

"Why?" Eleanor asked as she let her feet dangle over the ledge.

"Well, I suppose...it's nice to have a friend." Thorin replied

"You don't have friends?"

"I have my sister and brother, but they're not really my friends, you know? I like talking to you and I was worried you wouldn't come back. I am sorry if that upsets you."

Eleanor shook her head.

"No, it doesn't." she replied, "I'm glad that we're friends too."

Even though the words escaped her lips easily, Eleanor could never have known exactly how much Thorin's friendship would come to mean to her.

To be continued…

Woop! Another chapter done and slightly longer than the last one! Let me know what you thought!