A/N: I wanted to respond to several of the reviews that I have received, as well as thank everyone who has been reading this story. First of all, Thanks to everyone who has been reading this story.
The Gimli Glomper rightfully pointed out that this story should be in the crossover section (Book Crossovers in particular) but I have always posted my stories
to HP, and was already posting my third chapter before I thought to do this. I am now thinking that, sometime around November, I will move the story to that
area, if I can figure out a way to save the reviews. But that will be for a later time.
Ozma pointed out that the Creeveys are muggle-born. It turns out that she is right (of course) but for some reason, I have either forgotten or ignored this. I
must ask everyone, for the sake of this story, to accept the Creeveys as being wizard-born. (To quote Malcolm, I HATE when I do that.)
One other note was from Harriet who asked where the name Faramir came from. Faramir is the younger brother of Boromir. Eight years after the destruction of the ring (I hope I didn't give the ending away) Peregrin Took named his son after Faramir. In this story I have the tradition continue so that, even today, the first son of Peregrine Took is always named Faramir. (It makes you wonder. I can make sure of facts like that, but I can't remember that somebody's father was a milkman.)
I have just read the notice that the site is moving as of 08/23/02. Since that is tomorrow, this will be the last chapter posted until the site comes back up.
Radagast made camp for them that night, warning them that he had to leave. "Old evil is rising up, and vies for my attention. I will be away in the morning, but I want to set your path for you. Your enemies are far behind, and will have difficulty getting to you."
The wizard drew them a small map in the dirt, showing them the trail. "By midday, you will reach this cavern, and then you should be safe from pursuit. I warn you to go quickly, once inside. When last I was that way, the path was safe, but things change from day to day. Ride through the cavern, fast and hard, just in case."
Bren looked out at the night sky for most of the night, then talked to Radagast about what he read in the stars. "I do not know why, but doom awaits us. I have read every trail the stars make in the sky, and even if you stay, it will not change our fate."
"And what will, old friend?" The wizard asked. "I know you too well. You insult the heroes of the hour, then make up an excuse to join their company. Now you tell me there is doom. You did not see this tonight. Be honest with me, please."
"It is true," Bren said, "I saw this doom years ago, the day the child Potter was lost in the forest, and Firenze broke the taboo by riding the boy out of the woods. Mars was unusually bright that night."
Bren pawed the ground in his nervousness. "I did not know what would happen. Only that the Potter, Harry, would be involved, as well as evil with two faces. I read in the sky that night, that if I were there I would be able to find the safest course. The halfling, Faramir, must go. I do not know the why of it, but if he remains with us, we will never pass through the cavern. Even if he leaves us, I see little hope of keeping the ring out of the hands of someone who will use it, but I do see hope."
"And this became clear after you found out that I was leaving?" Radagast asked, then added, "I'll think of some important message that he needs to take back to the Mark." Then he smiled, "I'll tell him elves are heading there, and they need to know where we've gone to. The boy will love having to travel with elves as a compensation. I can ask a couple of friends to show up."
"You don't have to do that," Faramir said, walking out of the shadows. "It's almost light, I'll ride back now."
"Would you like some breakfast first?" Radagast asked, but Faramir only shook his head. "Don't you want to say goodbye?" he asked the hobbit, but he received no answer.
"It is for the best," Bren told the hobbit as the boy mounted his pony, but turned away when he saw the tears run down the boy's cheek.
"It is hard," Bren told the wizard, "to be told by everyone that you will only get in the way, and then the stars tell you the same story."
"I'd best go now as well, old friend," Radagast said, with a sigh, "Tell them I took the boy with me. The stars can spare them their friend's embarrassment." Radagast mounted his horse, and rode off.
*
Faramir hated himself. His friends lives depended on his not being there. He could not even imagine how that could be a good thing to hear. Now he faced five days, alone, on his way back to the Mark.
He had ridden only a couple of hours, when bad luck began to hit. He dropped the water pouch as he loosened it to take a drink. It fell in a perfect way as to spill most of the contents. He dismounted to retrieve it, and the pony startled at something unheard, and bolted, going back down the trail, toward the camp.
"Great," shouted Faramir, kicking the empty water pouch. "No food, No water, No ride, No friends, Nothing. Why don't you make it rain so I can get hit by lightning?" He shouted at no one in particular. Not caring any more, he began to walk back toward the camp as his only hope of finding the pony.
He was back, and then some, when the sun began to set. That is when he heard the noise, someone shuffling about, ahead of him. Thinking as fast as he could, he decided to grab a good sized rock, and then hide up the nearest tree. "If I need to run, I'll get in one good shot first," he thought, as he waited for the figure to approach.
It was a man, Harry's age, with white-blond hair, bent over searching the ground. He ignored everything else, outside the width of the path. He was looking for something, something that might have been dropped. Just as Faramir realized what that might be, the man picked the something up, and chortled , "I found you, my precious." The man looked up, when Faramir gasped, and laughed. "You're too late," the man said, his madness clear in his voice. As Faramir readied to throw his rock, the man put the ring on his finger, and disappeared.
Faramir stood still, not moving or saying a thing, listening to every sound. He may not be able to see, but he could hear. Then he heard the insane little laugh, little more than a whisper, and threw the rock with all of his might. The rock hit something five feet off the ground, and it fell.
The Hobbit jumped down, quickly searching for the body. He found it, and then the hand, and then the ring. He pulled, and it came off too easily. Faramir looked down and saw why there was no resistance to his efforts. His shot had been true. The man was still alive but barely. When he fell, he had hit another rock on the ground. His skull was cracked, and he was bleeding profusely. Faramir left him, knowing there was nothing he could do.
Then voices were heard, coming quickly. 'Luck and more bad luck," he thought, and put the ring on his own finger, backing away from the body.
"I told you I heard something," the one man said, running to the body. Cursing, he added, "we had better take him back and find out what to do."
The two men picked up their unconscious companion, and disappeared. The audible popping noise convinced Faramir that they had left. The hobbit ran quickly and quietly, no longer worried about himself. If Frodo had lost the ring, and not gone to search for it, something must be wrong. He did not have to wait long to find out what it was. There was a camp ahead of him, with people appearing and reappearing inside. He could see no sign of the Lady or of Harry. Bren was standing there in plan sight, frozen in place but not as it had been done in the Mark. It was obvious he could see and here everything around him, but he could not move. Frodo was also there, talking to a hooded figure, whimpering and crying about something.
Faramir slipped into the camp as quickly as he could. He came as close as he could, to Frodo and listened. Frodo was staring into empty space, constantly repeating, "I do not know, Master." Nor was anyone paying attention. The two men were there with the body of the blond man between them. They had obviously been waiting for a while.
"What happened," asked the hooded figure.
"He fell and hit his head," one of the men said, "We could heal the wound but he'll still be asleep for hours. What should we do with him.?"
"Leave him there," Voldemort said, "It was a waste using him anyway. The little traitor."
"My Lord," said the man next to him, "Draco meant only to take it for you, and he was right to try. You heard what the Minister of Magic did."
"Lucius, don't try my patience," the Dark Lord said, "Trying to steal the ring for himself was the only decent thing the boy ever did, the only time anyone in your family ever showed some guts. That is why he is still alive. If he had succeeded in his task, I would have even restored his sanity, so he could be a proper Malfoy again."
Lucius Malfoy said nothing and turned away, looking directly at Faramir, but not seeing him. "It is not him I am concerned about, Master. He was always a disappointment."
"You need not worry, Lucius. I know you are loyal to me, and you have earned my trust. Once I have the ring, you will have all the resources you need to perpetuate your bloodline, if you choose."
"If I choose?" Lucius asked, looking back in confusion.
"Of course," Voldemort said, "Once I have the ring, I will be immortal. And I will be able to share that gift with anyone I choose."
Faramir watched in horror, as Lucius Malfoy dropped all pretense of compassion from his face, and smiled as viciously as the man he was standing next to. The hobbit slipped away into the shadows, to get away from the men, as well as to find his two missing friends. They were easy to find. They had both been beaten, from the way they looked. They had also been tied and gagged, and left to hang upside down from a tree branch. Faramir had no knife to cut the ropes with, but that didn't matter. Too many people were standing around, anyway.
He tried his third option, going for help. He was tired already, but he had no choice. He passed though the camp and began running as fast as he could in the direction of the cavern. The elves were supposed to be on the other side, and he prayed it would not be far. The one thing he made sure of was to remove the ring as soon as it was safe to do so.
Faramir came to a stream and stopped to drink, when a shadow loomed over him. He reached for his pocket, but a soft voice told him not to try. "If you are a friend, you need not worry," the voice said, "and if you mean us harm, you are already dead."
Faramir stood up when he was told to, and turned around.
The elf, it was obviously an elf thought Farmair, stepped back and gave a polite bow. "We were told to expect you, Mr. Baggins, but not in this manner. But I am confused. I was told you would be taller."
"I'm not Mr. Baggins, Frodo that is," Faramir said quickly. He explained what had happened, except for the ring, as quickly and with as much detail as he could. The elf listened carefully, asking an occasional question, then told him to wait where he was. Faramir watched the elf run off, and saw the trees around him ripple as though a light breeze had sprung up.
He looked around, and saw one elf still there. "When did Radagast tell you we were coming?" Faramir asked, "He told us we would have to pass through a cavern first before we found you."
The elf looked surprised. "It was not Radagast, who told us. He has not passed the way in many years. Nor did we know you would come here. We were told you would try to find one of our places, and this one was most likely. When others began to appear near the caverns, we began to watch on this side, to help if needed."
"You made the right choice," Faramir said with a smile.
*
Harry awoke as the sun came through the trees. He noticed that Radagast had left already, and was not too surprised. Then he noticed Faramir was gone as well.
"Radagast took him," Bren said, "He was best suited for a task the wizard had. He went eagerly."
"You'll have to lie better than that if you're going to convince Hermione," Harry said.
"There was a good reason, Harry Potter," the centaur said, sadly. "I am not free to explain."
Harry nodded, waking up Hermione and Frodo. When Hermione looked around, Harry said, "Faramir went with Radagast, for some reason. They didn't say why."
Hermione took this in stride saying, "I wish that wizard would explain things sometimes. I didn't even have a chance to say goodbye."
Harry looked at Bren, who gave him a grateful smile.
The four had a hasty breakfast. The idea of being somewhere safe, and comfortable, was appealing. They broke camp and began the last leg of their journey. After only a hour, Frodo stopped his horse. "The ring, It's missing," he shouted, "my precious, I've lost it."
"We'll find it," Hermione said, "When did you last have it?"
"When we broke camp," Frodo said, "and about ten minutes later, I noticed the chain was loose, so I put the ring in my pocket, Or thought I did."
Then Frodo looked up, saying, "He's coming, but I don't know how. He seems to be in one place then he is suddenly closer. He's getting very close, very fast."
"He's apparating," Harry said, hurriedly, " he could be here at any time."
"I could be here, now," said a familiar voice, "as for you centaur, IMMOBILARUS."
Before Harry or Hermione could react, their wands were taken from them by Death Eaters who began appearing all around them. They were dragged from their horses and thrown to the ground. Voldemort looked at them in contempt, and turned to the hobbit and said, "Do you know who I am?"
"Yes, Master," Frodo replied tonelessly.
"Then give me the ring."
"I lost it, master. I do not know where."
"When did you lose it?" Voldemort asked in anger.
"Somewhere on the trail between here and our last camp," Frodo said.
Voldemort fumed, 'It is a small delay. Lucius, fetch your son."
Lucius Malfoy bowed and disappeared. Voldemort smiled down at the two Hogwarts students, saying, "I don't want to kill you yet, although I should, but I will have some fun first."
The Dark Lord removed and smashed Harry's glasses, then began kicking him. As though it was a signal, the Death Eaters joined in, sparing neither him nor Hermione. When both where beaten into unconsciousness, Voldemort had them tied up, and then hung by their feet from a strong tree. Frodo watched all of this with a blank face.
Lucius returned with a very frightened Draco, pushing the boy down on his knees.
"You think I'm disappointed in you," Voldemort told the boy, "but I am not. I admire initiative in a young pupil, but you need to know your place." Voldemort smiled., and moved his face closer to Draco's. "I am giving you a second chance, boy. Don't forget, this time, who your master is. On this path is the ring. It was dropped. Find it and bring it back to me."
"I will," Draco said quickly, "I will, I promise."
"I know you will," Voldemort said, closing the boys eyes with his hand. He pulled out his wand and said something too softly for anyone except Draco to hear. Then he backed away, telling the boy, "Go, now."
Draco opened his eyes and got up, stumbling along the path. Anyone who looked in his face saw only madness.
*
Frodo awoke from a terrible dream. The first thing he did was clutch for the chain around his neck. It was a dream, he thought, I still have the ring. He rolled over in the bed. "Bed?" he said to himself, "Where am I?"
"In a safe place," an elvin maiden said, "You are fine, as is the centaur, but the three men with you were injured greatly. We have healed them and they will recover with rest."
"Do I know this place," Frodo asked. "This room seems familiar."
"This place was built in memory of Lost Rivendell, and you know of Rivendell. We are not sure, but we think this would have been the same room."
"It is beautiful," said Frodo, looking out the window, "Does this place have a name."
The elf laughed softly, saying, "We have never named it. We made it too much like our memories. We will not name it after the place of old, and we do not wish to hurt our memories by giving it a new name."
"Only elves would have such a problem," Frodo said, "We would argue for days on naming something, then give it a half-dozen names, and see which one wins out."
Frodo turned away from the window, and asked, "What happened? I remember when the Dark Lord showed up, and that is about it."
"Your young friend, Faramir, had left to return home, when he lost his horse. He returned to find all of you captive, and had the wits to run to us for help."
"He knew you were there?"
"He knew we were somewhere. He did not know how close. We stopped him, and he told us everything we needed to know. We rescued you, although to our surprise, most of the enemy, including this Dark Lord, disappeared."
Frodo nodded, and then thought to what she had said earlier, "You said three men."
"Three of the race of men," the elf answered, "We know one was female, a women."
"I understood," said Frodo, "but there were only two of the race of men with me."
*
"That was a wonderful story of daring, Faramir," Frodo said, "and simply told, but you forgot one thing. I left the chain in my pocket, if your story is true, it would not have found its way to my neck on its own."
Faramir looked around, nervously, as his companions, stared at him. "The blond man found the ring, and put it on. I hit him with the rock. It was a lucky shot, but then I was forced to put the ring on, to keep from being found by his friends. I thought if I put it back on the chain, you would all think it was a mistake."
"Why would you be afraid of our finding out about that?" Hermione said, "You did a brave thing, and you saved our lives."
"But now I'll have to leave," Faramir said, "the way all the ringbearers did.."
Frodo began to laugh out loud, while Faramir turned a bright red. "You bragged about how you read the Red Book, Faramir. All of us assumed you finished it."
As Harry and Hermione joined in the laughter, Faramir looked up in relief, asking, "I don't have to go?"
"You never did," Frodo said, "If you read the entire book, you would have read that I chose to go, as did Sam, after his wife died. No one has ever had to go into the west. We were permitted."
"Then Evelyne . . ." Faramir began to say, but turned red again.
As everyone else laughed, Hermione put her arm around the young hobbit's shoulder, and said, "Evelyne will still have to decide if she likes adventurous hobbits." She then hugged Faramir, adding, "Thank you, again, for giving me my life."
*
"Malfoy, quit faking," Harry said, "We know you're awake. We need to talk."
Harry and Hermione both fumed as the Slytherin continued to lay in bed. Then an elf came up to the bed, saying, "Good morning, young sir, I bring your breakfast."
Draco opened his eyes, jumped into a sitting position and said, "Oh, goody." He began to eat greedily as the tray of food was placed before him.
The elf led the two to one side, and said softly, "Do you see why we have kept him from you? We have healed his physical injuries, and removed the spell which maddened him, but his brain has been hurt. He will never be as he once was, but he responds well to kindness."
On that note, the elf left them.
Harry and Hermione watched in fascination as Draco picked at his food, all in bite-sized pieces so he would not need utensils. "That looks good, Malfoy," Harry said, trying to be nice."
"You're Mister Bad Potter," Draco said, not looking up, "I don't have to like you."
"I'm sorry, Draco," Harry said, "you're right."
"Are you?" Draco asked suddenly, "Are you really sorry?"
"Oh, yes, and Hermione is sorry, too, "Harry said, responding to the look on Draco's face. "We were hoping we could be friends."
"Yes, Draco," Hermione added, "We just wanted to be friends."
Draco looked at the two of them, as if deciding, then stuck out his hand, and said, "If you really are sorry, then we can be friends."
Harry shook Malfoy's hand. Then Draco went back to eating his breakfast, as though nothing had ever happened. Nor would he respond to any of their questions
As the two left the blond haired boy, Hermione couldn't help but comment, "Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, friends at last. Harry, I hate it. I've always hated Malfoy, but to see him like this."
"Hermione, Draco is happy, and with the life he had, he never could have that. And he will get better," Harry added, with little hope in his voice.
"I've talked with the elves," Frodo said as he approached the two. "Our close friend back there will be taken care of. When the chance comes, he will be returned to the care of your people, if he wants."
"And live the rest of his life at Saint Mungo's," said Hermione, as a tear ran down her cheek. She hated Malfoy for many things, but on this day she hated him most because she felt sorry for him.
*
Faramir sat in his room, staring into space. He was afraid. He had dared use the ring, instead of running with it. It was arrogance and he was ashamed. He had carefully returned it to its chain while Frodo slept, thinking none would be the wiser. He vowed that he would never fail anyone again.