Author's Note: Okay everyone, here begins the Harry Potter part of the story. It's just hinted at here so far, but there is more to come. I'll be moving the whole thing into the HP section soon, but I will give it several days just to make sure that everyone knows about the change. Thanks for all your reviews everyone – keep 'em coming!

Chapter Nine

            Legolas was already waiting for me when I came to the archway. He was equipped for the dangerous journey ahead, his bow and quiver strapped to his back, along with a pair of long, white knives. He saw me quickly, and beckoned me closer to him.

            "Don't go," I pleaded, "Please, you have no idea what's going to happen out there."

            "Esther—"

            "It's no use! I already know you're not going to make it all the way to Mount Doom, and the others—"

            "Stop! Enough of this. Falling into to despair will help no one, me least of all. I did not ask you here to sway me from the oath I've already made. I must help to rid this world of evil, just as you should do for yours."

            I put up my hand to wipe my angry tears away. He was right, of course. I don't know what came over me; I had just desperately, selfishly wanted him to stay with me, and to forget about all the bad things happening around us.

            "I know," I said, "I'm sorry. It's just that . . . I'm afraid I'll never see you again. And I'm afraid of doing this alone."

            He reached out and touched my cheek.

            "You won't be alone," he said gently, "And you need not be afraid. You have a light inside you, Esther."

            "What do you mean?"

            "Didn't you ever wonder how I found you, stranded in the depths of Mirkwood in the dead of night? The darkness fell away where you walked. I came to you to find out where the light was coming from."

            My mouth dropped open slightly; was he serious? How was that possible? But he didn't give me any further explanation. He simply leaned in close to me and kissed me soundly. I closed my eyes, wishing bitterly that the moment would never end. Tears welled up behind my eyelids. When we parted I felt something warm and soft sweep over my shoulders, and then I heard his voice again.

            "Look after your friend," he said, "I will not forget you, Eledhwen."

            When I opened my eyes again he was gone. I reached up to touch the warm, soft thing around my shoulders, and I realized he'd given me his cloak again, this time to keep. I only let myself cry for a moment, then pulled myself together to see the Fellowship off at the gates of Rivendell. Arwen was there already, and tears were beginning to bloom in her eyes too. I envied her; at least she would be in the same dimension as her Aragorn.

            There's a good reason Elves and Humans don't get together that often, I told myself sternly, It hardly ever works out.

            Justin came and stood next to me; he had the decency not to ask me anything at least, but I could tell he really wanted to talk to me. Gandalf passed by on my right, and came over to wish us well.

            "Allow me to wish you both the best of luck on your own quest," he said, laying a hand each on Justin's shoulder and mine, "There are dark times ahead for all. Farewell."

            He turned away from us, and then turned back to add, "And do give my regards to the Headmaster, should you see him," and then joined the rest of the Fellowship with a knowing twinkle in his eye. I glanced over at Justin questioningly; he just shrugged. Then Elrond joined us and everyone fell silent. The Fellowship were gathered just in front of the gate; Frodo stood at the front of the group, looking impossibly small and frightened. I noticed Aragorn standing near the back with a bright jewel that gleamed like a star clasped around his throat. I couldn't bring myself to look at Legolas again.

            "This is my last word," he said gravely, "The Ring-bearer is setting out on the Quest of Mount Doom. On him alone is any charge laid: neither to cast away the Ring, nor to deliver it to any servant of the enemy nor indeed to let any handle it, save members of the Company, and only then in gravest need. The others go with him as free companions, to help him on his way. Yet no oath, no bond is laid upon you to go further than you will. Farewell, and may the blessings of Elves and Men and all Free Folk go with you."

            "The Fellowship awaits the Ring-bearer," said Gandalf.

            They moved aside to let Frodo pass through the gates before them, and then, one by one, all the Fellowship disappeared from sight. I had begun crying again without realizing it; I shut my eyes and tried not to think of the one idea that kept dominating my consciousness: I'll never see Legolas again.

            "Hey," said Justin tentatively, "Um, Esther? I think you finally—"

            "Justin, do me a favor," I said abruptly, "Don't talk to me for a minute, okay?"

            I reached up and wiped my tears away with both hands.

            "Okay, sorry," said Justin, "But we're back."

            It took several seconds for me to register what he'd said, but when I did, my eyes popped open. He was right: we were back in the woods just outside my apartment building, and through the trees I could just make out the vinyl siding on the back wall.

            "You did it, Esther!" said Justin, beaming at me, "You brought us home!"

            "But I . . . I didn't do anything. It just sort of . . . happened. Like the way it did before."

            Stunned, I walked out of the woods and back up to the apartment. Justin walked with me, and he kept talking but I didn't really hear him. We reached the hallway outside my apartment; the floor was still soaked, as if to assure us that everything we'd just been through hadn't been a dream. I started for the door.

            "Esther, don't," said Justin fearfully, "Legolas said she'd attack us as soon as we left Rivendell."

            "She's not here," I said, closing my hand around the doorknob, "I think this is a warning."

            "Warning? What do you mean?"

            "Just to let us know she's still after us."

            "How do you know she's not in there?"

            "I'm not sure. . . But she's not there, I just know it."

            I glanced back at him, my hand still around the doorknob. He swallowed nervously, then nodded.

            "Well," he said, "Only one way to find out."

            So I turned the knob and opened the door. She wasn't there. Justin and I breathed a joint sigh of relief and went inside. The place was a mess: there was water everywhere, soaking into the carpet and hardwood floor, rotting anything that had been left too close to the ground. The TV in the den area was buzzing with static. I glared at it resentfully.

            "I don't think I can stay here," I said.

            "What are you going to do?" asked Justin.

            "I need to get moving. You know, go and find Becca like I said I would. And then. . ."

            "I hope you're not planning to do all that alone."

            "I feel like I'm supposed to."

            "No way – I'm gonna help you. I know just as well as you do how important this is. Listen, why don't you get all your stuff – y'know, clothes, money, just stuff you really need – and meet me back at the car. I have an idea."

            I was too dazed to argue, so I packed up everything I could and headed for the door. Then, almost as an afterthought, I grabbed my set of Tolkien's books and followed Justin outside to his car. He drove us back to his place and, to my surprise, packed up all his things just like I'd done and then drove us somewhere else.

            "Okay, what's going on?" I asked, "Where are we going?"

            "To the airport," he said with a grin, "Okay, so here's my idea: if you're serious about getting rid of Samara, then you're probably going to need some magical assistance. Right?"

            "I guess. . ."

            "Well, who would be better to ask than someone in Harry Potter's universe? Let's go find us a wizard!"

            I laughed; his excitement was contagious.

            "Okay," I agreed, "Why not? I guess there's no reason not to think the wizarding community exists, after everything that's happened so far."

            "Exactly!"

            "Well, what's your plan? Why are we going to the airport?"

            "The plan is to get a flight to London and from there we can try and find our way to Diagon Alley."

            "All right. Oh, I'm getting excited!"

            "Hey, where'd you get that?"

            "Get what?"

            "That cloak."

            I glanced down at myself and realized I still had Legolas's cloak. The gown I'd been wearing was gone – I was back in my regular clothes – but I still had the cloak.

            "Legolas gave it to me," I said, running my fingers over the fabric.

            "Oh," said Justin.

            There was a short, awkward silence after that.

            "Are you okay?" he asked.

            "Yeah," I muttered, "I'm fine. Like you said, I should quit brooding so much."

            "I didn't mean it like that—"

            "No, it's okay," I insisted, "I'll probably never see him again, so I should just accept it."

            Justin didn't seem to know what to say to that. How could he? I didn't really expect him to respond. What I really needed was some time to myself, but that was impossible now. Besides, I was afraid Samara would find a way to attack me if I ever ended up alone.

            "Hey," said Justin, "Why don't you call the airport and see what's available? It'll be cheaper if we reserve tickets now, instead of just buying them at the counter."

            "Okay," I said, grateful for the chance to put my mind on something else.

            I ordered the tickets, and got off the phone just before we pulled into the airport parking lot. We had decided to fly stand-by because it was cheaper, and by some miracle still managed to get seats together. The minute we sat down we started talking in hushed voices about what we were going to do once we got to London.

            "Who exactly are you planning on asking for help?" I asked.

            "Well, everyone knows Hogwarts is really well protected, so it would be pretty much impossible to try to reach anyone there. . ."

            "We could send someone a message by owl post, if we ever get to Diagon Alley."

            "Yeah we could. Oh, but here's another problem: we don't have any wizard gold. We're gonna have to get our money exchanged somehow."

            "Oh, wonderful. I didn't even think of that. . ."

            "Yeah, neither did I, until just now."

            "Do you think we could get it done at Gringott's?"

            "I hope so. If there's any place on the planet that can exchange money, that's it."

            "Of course, this is all assuming we can find Diagon Alley in the first place, and to do that we need to get to the Leaky Cauldron first, and then we'd have to figure out how to open the gate and go inside, which we probably can't do without a wand."

            "You're so optimistic. . ."

            "Well, I'm just being a realist. We're on a plane for chrissake – we have to figure this out."

            "All right, lemme think. . . Okay, maybe we shouldn't go to Diagon Alley first. Maybe we could try and reach one of the kids. Harry lives at 4 Privet Drive, right? We should be able to figure out where that is. Or you know, Hermione's parents are Muggles – we could look them up."

            "Do you know their first names? I'm betting Granger is a fairly common name."

            "Well it's a plan anyway. The first thing we should do when we get to London is get something to eat though, because I'm starving."

            "Yeah, me too."

            We agreed to discuss our flimsy plan when we got off the plane, and in the meantime tried to rest as much as we could.