Disclaimer: I, Reigning Hobbitess, do solemnly swear, that I don't own nor am I affiliated in any way save by being a HUGE FAN of any portion of the Lord of the Rings, the Mists of Avalon, or Harry Potter. If I win the lottery however, maybe that will change.....;-)

A/N: I am horribly sorry for not updating! I needed to make sure I kept the information from the books for this story straight, so I spent forever hunting up my copies of them to finish this. -Also- An enormous thanks to Mercury Gray for reviewing (Twice even! Gracias!). Please, if you love, hate, or are just indifferent to this story, review; I will be eternally grateful. Constructive criticism is welcomed; all flames will be sent to the Inferno section of fanfiction. (If there is one. I haven't looked.)

The group shifted warily down to the end of the hall. After the many different incidents that had happened thus far, not a single soul among them was sure what to expect.

Suddenly, Hermione had an epiphany.

"Harry, Ron!" she hissed. The duo shifted their eyes to show that they had acknowledged her. "Morgaine! Doesn't that name mean anything to you?" They both wiggled their heads gently in a "no" sign. Hermione gave a small sigh of exasperation as they approached the end of the hall.

The old crone gave a twisted smile. "Maybe we shouldn't have brought you here. You obviously won't be able to help us any if you refuse to even approach me. And I was told you were courageous and chivalrous warriors!" she scoffed. She gave a minute smirk and continued to stare at them. The crew stood dumbfounded for a few seconds at the remark.

"How dare you call us cowards, when you have spirited us away from our homes and our lives and brought us here!" All in the hall turned to look as Gimli raved at the woman. "We have not the faintest idea why we're here, or even where we are! You simply....simply..." he continued to fume as he sputtered at a loss for words. "Pluck us from whatever we were doing without so much as a 'by your leave' and then insult us!"

Professor McGonagall took the time to jump in while Gimli puffed and hissed like a boiling kettle. "I think you should explain why you've brought us here." She fixed the old woman with a stern gaze that would have made most students quail and babble.

The old woman let her countenance return to a placid look before beginning.

"Do you think I would have brought you here if the consequences were not as dire as they happen to be? You who so object, when I have done this simply for your salvation, as well as the salvation of others? I have brought you here because you were needed by many; for the greater good one might say."

She turned to Morgaine. "Go fetch the documents and bring them hither." The young woman bowed wordlessly and left. The crone continued.

"I am not going to bother with trivialities; they will just waste my time. The rest will be explained when you begin. A–"

"When we begin what?" Frodo interrupted. He had stood patiently at the back during the conversation, but the lack of answers was getting to be too much to bear.

The crone affixed him with a frosty glare before continuing. "You are to be messengers and warriors for us. We have no warriors on Avalon, but we are sending a messenger from the Holy Isle with you. You are to protect her and deliver the messages at all costs. Upon your return, I will bequeath the information necessary for the rest of your mission."

"And do we get a say in this? Or are we simply to do your bidding without any hesitation?" Frodo piped up again. The crone glared at him. Frodo was surprised by his own daring but he looked her straight in the eye. She rose to her feet and walked slowly towards him.

"You are a feisty young one, aren't you? Good. You will need to be." She let her face relax before addressing the assembly again. "Originally, we were only to have two from each realm come, but a bigger group would probably not do any harm, conspicuous though it be."

There was a rustling at the door and Morgaine reappeared carrying several scrolls. She shifted them gently so as not to drop any as she started down the hall. The crone took the scrolls from her and placed them in a large bag made of some sort of animal hide, probably deer. She then handed the bag back to Morgaine and spoke quietly to her as she did. "Keep an eye on them, child. They seem honest enough, but you well know that none can be fully trusted in this day and age. Go, and may the Goddess keep you on your journey." Morgaine nodded and said, with a lilt of obstinacy, "I will do all that I can, Lady, but know you now that my part in this journey is unwilling."

The crone stiffened. "I know it well enough. But as a sworn priestess you must do such things as you are commanded to do. Willing or not, it must be done."

Frodo stood closest and overheard most of the conversation, due in large part to his keen hobbit ears. So the one named Morgaine had no desire to go on this venture? He could sympathize. He grimaced. He was sure the rest of the company was having similar feelings, as they all wore identical looks of displeasure.

The crone motioned to Morgaine. The young woman came over to the company. "Follow me." She bowed once and said, "Good day, my Lady Viviane," to the old crone.

With that, everyone left the building.

Outside, murmurs of dissent flitted inside the company. Morgaine wasn't deaf. She heard them. She soldiered on as though the disapproving and, in some cases, hateful glances thrown her way didn't exist. Did they honestly think that she wanted to do this any more than they? She settled into a state of seething anger toward Viviane under the calm exterior. The old crone had no need to send her, but it was her right and Morgaine was to do her bidding. Morgaine sighed: she loved the old woman as the mother who had ignored her for most of her life, and she was unhappy that this had caused such a rift between them.

Suddenly, some of the younger members of the company came toward her. "Excuse me," the frizzy haired girl said haltingly, "but I was wondering....." she trailed off. She took a deep breath before blurting out, "I noticed the old woman called you Morgaine, so are you Morgan le Fay?" The girl blushed.

Morgaine decided the question wasn't meant in ill will. "Morgan le Fay? I've never been called that, but my aunt Morgause used to call me Morgaine of the Fairies when I was younger. She used to say that I should paint my face and wear deerskins, for I looked just like one."

The girl dropped back and began whispering with her friends, eyes darting towards Morgaine every so often. Morgaine started walking at a faster pace. This journey couldn't be over soon enough.

"I'm sure she's Morgan le Fay!" Hermione said.

"But how're you sure? Morgan le Fay was supposed to be this great witch and all, and I haven't seen a single bloody wand or spell since we got here," Ron retorted.

"I'm just sure, all right?"

"You're always sure, Hermione."

"Just be quiet, Ron."

Harry massaged his head. "Maybe she is, but I think Ron might be on to something. We haven't seen a single thing that points to anything more than the fact that they're some sort of weird cult."

"Except for the fact that no one, not even the professors, knows how we got here," Hermione stated clearly. At this, neither Harry nor Ron could find anything to say.

"I say we should watch our backs," she continued.

"That's just common sense," Ron muttered behind her.

The Fellowship had been mostly silent since Gimli and Frodo's outbursts. They hadn't resigned themselves to just going along with these people's plans, not while they had a quest left to complete. They all huddled together at the rear as they began to ascend a large hill.

The entire company climbed the hill, each small clique eventually falling into silence as they were awed by the majesty and presence it gave off. Legolas thought with a jolt that it reminded him of the hill that the elves had made their home in Tol Eressëa when they had lived there before their coming to Middle Earth. Everyone else also sensed a magic around it, as though it was filled with energy that lingered just under the soft grass and tendrils of mist.

Finally, everyone reached the top. The entire summit of the hill had been encompassed with large rocks. It looked as though Stonehenge had been placed atop a hill.

Morgaine turned to face everyone. "You find yourselves standing atop the Holy Tor, the heart of Avalon. From here, we summoned you from your realms, which are simply parts of the world that retreated into the mists before our own did. Though we know not how they did so, we know one thing: all of the realms of this world are obviously connected. There are nine altogether. We must go to each one in turn in hopes of warning the people of the oncoming evil." She stopped and looked around at everyone. "I will be going, and I shall take no more than five from each of your realms to accompany me. The rest of you will aid us, though you won't be next to your comrades." She held up her hands to silence those who would interrupt her. "Listen to me," she said in a much more human tone, one filled with sternness and impatience. "I am offering you a chance for the salvation of your realms. If you are willing to abet me and not hinder me, you will be returned to your lives, even with no memory of having done this, if so you choose. But if you are going to spite me by deterring me, then the evil will destroy all you hold dear. Do all of you understand?" Everyone in the company looked at least mildly convinced, considering that thus far, the people of Avalon had been true to their word. "All right then. Choose the groups that will stay and those that will go. No more than ten may come with me, five from each realm. All others must stay. I believe the saying is, "Time is of the essence"? As soon as the groups are chosen, we leave."

The members of the Fellowship and those from Hogwarts turned to the others in their respective groups.

"I'm definitely going," Frodo said. Aragorn looked at him sternly, but relented at the rest of his testimony. "The Ring will be as safe in the other realms as it is here. The faster I can do this, the faster we can all get back home. Besides, I would be with others that I trusted and fewer of these people on the journey."

Aragorn nodded. "Then I shall go with you as promised, Frodo Baggins," he said with a smile.

"And me!" Sam said, folding his arms across his chest.

"We're going too, then!" Merry and Pippin spoke in unison.

"I think you two would be more help here than on a journey," Boromir said. They immediately pouted and began protesting. "I could stay here with the two of them to keep an eye on them, Aragorn."

"And Legolas and Gimli can accompany us. That seems like a good suggestion."

"But we'd be left behind! We've already done everything we could to avoid that," Merry said.

Frodo came over to his cousins. "If you two can stay here, then we can make sure to have some hobbits keeping an eye on things here."

"That is a wretched excuse, Frodo."

The older hobbit smiled wryly. "I know, but would you please? If you can do all you can to help us here, it saves me the trouble of leaving without you two, like I originally tried to."

Merry laughed. "All right, you old fogey. We'll stay here for the time being. You five shouldn't be gone that long, should you? All you have to do is deliver a bunch of dusty old scrolls."

"No, we won't," said Gimli, "This should be far easier than sneaking in to Mordor."

"That does not say much for the situation," Legolas said.

The people of Hogwarts had an easy time deciding. By leaving Fudge and Umbridge with the Avalonians, they numbered five.

"Do we have the groups then?" Morgaine asked. Everyone nodded. "Good. All those not coming, report back to Viviane. The rest of you, follow me."

A/N: I know this chapter was a lot of explaining and not much action, but bear with me, I'm doing my best to keep everyone as in character and stories straight as I can. In a shameless bit of self promotion, please review, for me (bats eyelashes).