A/N: Hello and welcome to another chapter! I'm beyond happy that you guys are enjoying this fic and I hope you continue to do so. I think I've just about figured out what to do with it, in terms of following the story and I'm excited to keep writing!

Without further ado, please enjoy Chapter 5!

Chapter Five

It was good to be back in Edinburgh. While Ellie had certainly enjoyed the Christmas holidays and being able to catch up with her family back home, she had missed the freedom of being a student. Not that she'd have much trouble at home as a child and her parents were certainly more laid back than most of her friends' parents. Truthfully, Ellie could never have guessed that the ancient city would become as much of a home to her as it had over the past year. There were things she liked and disliked as with all cities, but overall, she got the feeling that she belonged in Edinburgh.

Then again, Ellie knew, she also got the feeling that she belonged in Erebor. Although, she had no idea how that was even possible given that she only visited Erebor when she was dreaming. Despite Ellie's attempt at lucid dreaming and learning more about the science behind it all, she was no closer to figuring out how to control it or at the very least, figure out why it was happening to her. It was definitely something that frustrated her to no end, but Ellie also knew that she couldn't let it spill out over her student life.

Professor Grayham's "Personality and Cognition" lectures were usually scheduled for first thing on Monday morning, however, for some reason this week's lecture was the very last of the week on Friday afternoon. It always surprised Ellie when people willingly showed up to those lectures, because by then they were often more than ready to throw in the towel and enjoy a weekend of partying. Professor Grayham, however, was one of the best lecturers in the faculty and known for actually making the topics interesting rather than going on in the same monotone voice that some of the other teachers did.

"Don't forget that your essays are due Friday next week," said Professor Grayham, "If you have any questions about the essay topics, my officer door will be open for most of next week. Thank you and have a great weekend."

Ellie packed up her textbooks and laptop, desperate to hurry back to the flat and start the weekend with Niamh. They'd both had a really long week at school and had decided to spend this Friday night indulging in some takeaway food, a bottle of wine or two and binge watching their favorite rom-coms just like when they were back doing A-Levels. Sure, every now and again, Ellie enjoyed a good party with her other peers, but she'd never been a huge party girl and she loathed the sweaty mass of flesh and hormones of nightclubs. In fact, Ellie's idea of a good night out usually involved a visit to their favorite pub or even a pub crawl if the occasion called for it, but she was just as happy to stay at home.

"Oh, Miss Kenny," said Professor Grayham just as Ellie was about to join the last couple of students out the door. "Do you have a moment? I was hoping I could have a word with you."

Something about the tone in his voice made Ellie suddenly very nervous. No matter how old you were, having a teacher ask to speak with you alone was always a sign that something was wrong or that you were in some kind of trouble. Professor Grayham had never struck Ellie as a man who ever got angry and she'd never heard him so much as raise his voice. Whenever he walked into a room, it was as if he radiated a sort of calm authority.

"Is everything alright, Professor Grayham?" Ellie asked,

"I just wanted to ask how you're settling in," Professor Grayham replied, "I know first year can be a bit daunting for anyone, but I've noticed you've seemed quite tired lately and I wanted to make sure everything's okay."

Ellie didn't know what to say at first. The old man was right, of course, sleep had been a struggle lately. She assumed that it was just due to stress over coursework and everything else going on, but she hadn't thought anyone would notice.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Ellie replied, "I've just been struggling with sleep lately, but I bet you see that all the time."

"Indeed. Though, I suppose most people do not dream about dwarven princes and mountain kingdoms."

Ellie felt as though her blood froze to ice and for a moment she couldn't move. At first, she wished she had simply misheard what Professor Grayham had said, but she knew that wasn't true. After all these years, Ellie had never told a single soul about her dreams of Erebor, and up until this year, she had never met Professor Grayham before, so how could he possibly know something so private about her life?

Slowly, Ellie turned around to face the professor and he suddenly seemed different. She couldn't explain it, but Professor Grayham suddenly seemed to be much older than what Ellie had first assumed, yet it wasn't so much in his appearance as in his mannerisms.

No. Somehow old wasn't the right word.

Ancient, but in a way that Ellie knew she couldn't possibly comprehend. She looked into his blue eyes and felt almost overwhelmed, as if she knew that he knew things about her nobody else possibly could.

"Who are you?" Ellie asked, much more calmly than she thought, "Something tells me that you're not Professor Grayham."

"No," smiled the old man, "But I have been known as Grayham by some. Gandalf Grayham. I know about you, though, Eleanor Kenny. In fact, I have known you for your whole life. It has been my job to watch over you and set you on the right path."

"What, like my guardian angel?"

A warm chuckle escaped Gandalf's lips and even though Ellie knew that she should be afraid of this stranger who knew so much, she wasn't afraid at all.

"No," Gandalf shook his head, "I am a wizard. One of the five Istari who serve the Valar, or as you would call them, Gods of my world."

"And what is your world?" Ellie asked, "Middle-Earth? Where Thorin is from?"

"You are very sharp indeed. Yes. It is our job to watch over the peoples of Middle-Earth and help them fight the forces of evil."

"This isn't Middle-Earth, though. This is just Earth. Why are you here and not there?"

Even though Gandalf hadn't said anything yet, Ellie just knew that this had to do with Thorin and their meetings, but she couldn't understand why.

"Thorin is about to embark on a journey that will change his life forever," Gandalf began, "A few days ago, a great and evil dragon named Smaug besieged Erebor and destroyed the City of Dale."

"What?! What happened to Thorin? Is he alive?" Ellie asked worriedly

"Thorin and the rest of his people have fled Erebor. His kin will wander Middle-Earth, taking jobs where they can. Some of them decide to seek refuge in the Blue Mountains of Ered Luin. Almost a century later, Thorin and a group of loyal dwarves will go on a quest to reclaim Erebor from the dragon Smaug. It is, however, a perilous quest and one that depends on the right decisions being made at exactly the right time."

"What does it have to do with me, though? I'm not in Middle-Earth and I only see Thorin in my dreams and I don't know how to control them. That's the whole reason why I'm studying psychology, to better understand the psychology behind dreams."

"My dear, did you ever truly believe that they were just dreams?"

Once again the old man was right. No matter how insane it sounded, Ellie had always known deep down that they couldn't possibly be dreams. She still remembered the very first time she'd met Thorin as a child and how quickly she'd just accepted that he was real and that Erebor was a place that simply just existed. There had never been a single doubt in Ellie's mind that Thorin was nothing but a real person, even if she couldn't understand exactly how it worked. If other people knew about it, they'd probably have her committed, but hearing Gandalf confirm that she'd been right all along was an incredible relief.

"I still don't understand what I have to do?" Ellie said, "Or rather, what I can do if I'm here and Thorin is in Middle-Earth?"

At this, a mischievous smile tugged at Gandalf's lips.

"Ah, good thing you have a wizard at your service," he said, "Thorin is haunted by the choices of his ancestor and the madness that runs in his family. It will ultimately consume him and lead to his death. However, you have the power to change his fate. It was not always supposed to end like this."

"H….how can I do that?" Ellie asked, her voice quivering ever so slightly. "How can I stop that?"

"By being there on his journey. Not in person, but as a spectator. You will be able to appear to him just as you have done previously, but this time you will have more control. You won't be pulled back into this world until you are ready to come home."

"So, he will be able to see, hear and speak with me, but nobody else will? Wouldn't it be easier if the others could see me too?"

Gandalf shook his head.

"I believe that with your influence, certain events along the way can be changed." he said, "But if the others are able to interact with you, it will not be as effective. However, I will be there on the journey and I will also be able to see you. The choice must be yours alone, though. If you choose to stay in this world, you will lose your connection with Thorin and it will fade as all dreams do. If you accept this quest, you'll be leaving this world behind until the quest is complete."

Ellie remained silent for a while as she tried to process the whirlwind of thoughts in her head. If anyone else were in her shoes, they would think this was all absolutely insane, but to her it made complete sense. Even though she couldn't explain it, it felt as though this was a moment she had been waiting for and now that it was here, the puzzle seemed complete.

"Will things change here?" Ellie asked, "I mean, if I'm gone will people notice? I don't want to leave if it hurts the people I love here, like my friends and family."

"No." Gandalf shook his head, "Time will not move forward."

"Okay. In that case, I've already made my choice. But, I still don't know how to get there. Are you going to beam me up or something?"

"No, no. When you're ready, all you have to do is walk through a door."

"How will I know which door to open?"

"You'll know."

With that, Ellie simply nodded and left the classroom, with more questions in her mind than what she knew the answer to.

"I have been excited about this all week!"

Niamh poured white wine into two glasses and passed one to Ellie. To say that it had been a long week was definitely an understatement and even more so given the conversation with Gandalf. Ellie realised she was thankful that she didn't have to walk through the door to Middle-Earth just after the conversation, because she did want to enjoy this Friday night with Niamh. If Gandalf was right, there was no telling when she'd have an evening like this again.

"Oh bollocks!" Niamh cursed, "We're out of oil for the pan."

"I'll run down to the shop to grab some!" Ellie offered "It's still open for another few minutes."

"Oh! See if they have Doritos as well, yeah? Maybe those hot and spicy ones!"

"Will do!"

A few moments later, Ellie was out of the flat and hurriedly walked along the uneven pavement on the way to the corner store. It wasn't the first time she was going to the store dressed in her comfiest soft trousers and a Gravity Falls hoodie that had definitely seen better days. The old woman who ran the shop was always so kind and friendly and had invited them over for tea a couple of times.

As Niamh was about to cross the road, something in the corner of her eyes caught her attention and she stopped. All around her, everything suddenly seemed very silent. There were no cars driving down the road, even though it was a Friday evening and there was hardly any wind in the air or no sound of birdsong. That same strange feeling she'd gotten during her conversation with Gandalf appeared as a knot in her gut and before Ellie realised it, she was walking down an alleyway with fences on either side that were undoubtedly the garden-side of a house. Further down the alleyway was a door painted in a dark shade of green with flakes of paint falling off. It was one of those doors that sometimes led to shortcuts into a park, but this one just seemed to be the backway into someone's garden.

"Ow!"

Ellie quickly removed her hand from the doorknob, because it was boiling hot. She waited a few moments before trying again, this time gently pushing the door open and walked over its threshold.

To be continued…..

Another chapter done! What do you guys think about Gandalf's plan for Ellie?