Title: Middle Earth Academy
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama/Romance
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit characters, nor do I own any of the locations. They belong to Tolkien. I do, however, own several characters who are not in the books/movies/franchise, and who play major and/or minor roles in this fanfic.
Summary: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy never happened. The Hobbit happened, and Bilbo did go to live with the elves (the Ring doesn't exist - let's say Bilbo destroyed it, but don't ask me how), and he left Frodo in the care of a boarding school. Bag End is being leased out until Frodo leaves school and decides what to do with it. All the main characters are in this story, though they may not come into it until later. Mirkwood, Gondor, Mordor, and Rohan are separate countries, with the rest being part of the Rivendell Empire.
Galadriel hadn't made any move to create a ruckus, which surprised Nienna to no end. Eight weeks had passed, and even though she and Legolas were talking, and were close enough to be considered friends, both wished for something a little more. In public, they still argued about everything constantly, and it was only when they were alone that they managed to get along.
The part of Idril had been given to Nienna, as everyone had expected, but Alatariel was still looking for her leading man, and every rehearsal that rolled around, she encouraged everyone to try to talk their male friends into auditioning. Until, however, Galadriel had called an end to the entire production, giving no excuse or reason for it. Alatariel had been devastated, and cancelled her classes for the rest of the term.
Arwen, surprisingly, had moved out of the room she shared with Nienna and Eowyn. Unsurprisingly, the one she'd moved into was right next door to Faramir. Nienna couldn't bring herself to face her cousin, and Eowyn seemed just as inclined to ignore the entire situation.
Lunchtimes always seemed to end in an argument between Nienna and Legolas, about completely absurd topics. Half the time, no one knew what the argument was about, or how it had started.
"My time is a hell of a lot better spent than yours – in my free time I do a bit more than show off with a bow and arrow!" Nienna complained.
"I do not show off!" Legolas retorted, but then Aragorn cut in with, "Oh yes you do!" causing the entire group to fall overthemselves laughing.
Legolas glared at his friend, but replied, "Ok, so maybe I do a little, but even if there was no one else there, I'd be practicing – it's not my fault that they don't offer archery as a sport here!"
The banter continued back and forth, until the bell rang, scattering the group. Legolas sighed, "Saved by the bell, eh?"
Nienna laughed, "Something like that!"
They both started walking towards the library, as they had a spare session, but Legolas suddenly stopped. "Look… I know we haven't always gotten along… but you know the school dance thing next week… well… maybe…?" he trailed off, and Nienna grinned.
"Maybe I want to go with you? Is that what you're asking?" she said with a grin.
Legolas nodded, "Yeah, that's about what I wanted to know."
Nienna looked over her shoulder as she started to walk away; "If you're lucky!" she shot back.
Legolas sighed, "What is it with luck and women?" he asked nobody.
As luck would have it, no one else asked Nienna to the dance. At least, that was what she told him when she agreed to go.
All rehearsals were put on hold, all exhibits in the auditorium were disassembled, and the 'Social Committee' decked the room out with streamers, balloons, and all sorts of decorations. Eowyn and Nienna spent hours trying to decide what to wear, and in the end decided upon the first thing that they'd chosen earlier. Aragorn had asked Eowyn to go with him, to which she'd agreed if only to make Faramir jealous. Nienna had a sneaking suspicion that Aragorn's thoughts had lead down that direction as well, but no one said anything out loud.
Eowyn and Nienna left their room late, but not on purpose. Eowyn had had a sudden anxiety attack about being able to stand to see Arwen and Faramir together, and if she should admit everything to Aragorn or just go with the flow. The only way that Nienna got her to leave the room was by threatening to throw a cup of water in her face, ultimately ruining three-quarters of an hour's work with the make-up bag.
The doors to the auditorium were the only things in the hallway that wasn't plastered with candid photographs of Aragorn (dressed in a skirt, wearing badly applied make-up!). Who had put them up was anybody's clue, and by the look of it, most of them had been torn down already. Eowyn covered her eyes, and walked through the door. Nienna shook her head, laughing, and followed sedately.
To their surprise, Gandalf had booked a band, and while they weren't well-heard of, they played anything that was asked of them quite well. Legolas was near the speakers when Nienna found him, and he appeared slightly drunk. "What's going on?" she yelled over the noise. Legolas laughed, and draped an arm around Nienna's shoulder. She could smell the alcohol on his breath, and was suddenly quite worried – she'd never before seen Legolas when he wasn't in complete control.
"Come with me," she said with a grimace, starting to walk away. Before they reached the door, however, it slammed open. The band stopped playing, and everyone watched as Galadriel and Celeborn led two police officers into the room. Gandalf stood to the side, watching everything, yet making no move to stop them.
Galadriel walked to the stage, and stood before the microphone. "As all of you are aware, Legolas Greenleaf joined this school earlier this term. It became known to me that he had been expelled from two previous schools before being accepted here."
Nienna knew all this, but by the way her aunt was looking, she suddenly felt her mouth go dry. Next to her, Legolas was suddenly stone-cold sober. Galadriel continued, "We, as financial backers of this school, looked into the claims of the two previous schools, which for legal reasons will remain unnamed. The listed claims for expulsion were true enough, but it was the covered-over versions that we wished to see. Now," she indicated a thick sheaf of pages in her hand, "we have all the evidence that we need. Not only is Legolas Greenleaf no longer a student of Middle Earth Acadamy, he is to be escorted from the building as of this moment."
No one understood why Galadriel had made such an announcement, but Legolas obviously did. He didn't move as the two police pushed Nienna away, and fastened handcuffs onto his wrists. Galadriel left the stage, and walked to meet him in the doorway. "You will never get the better of me, Prince," she practically sneered into his face.
Legolas stared at her coolly, "You, Galadriel, are nothing but a coward. Your argument is with my father, and yet you spend three months looking for information on my past. I'll let you explain to the other students why you decided to publicly announce my expulsion, but I'll be damned if you think you can win your niece over to your way of thinking."
Galadriel faltered, but Legolas was already walking from the room, the police on either side. Nienna felt a sudden sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she remembered the conversation in Gandalf's office that she'd overheard.
She felt a presence behind her, and she turned to see Galadriel and Celeborn standing there. "We know this must have been traumatic for you, dear," Celeborn said softly, "to see a… friend… being escorted from these grounds by the police. We have arranged for you to complete the year in Lorien, home-schooled."
Nienna felt nothing but numb as her aunt and uncle escorted her from the room. Arwen looked away when Nienna sought out her cousin with her eyes. Eowyn made as though to run towards her, but both Aragorn and Eomer held her back. As they walked through the doors, Galadriel placed a hand on her shoulder, but Nienna shrugged it off. Whatever happened, she knew that there was no way she'd be returning to the Acadamy.
Two weeks later
Legolas stared out the window of the only aboveground part of his father's palace. How had everything come to such a halt? His entire new life, starting from scratch, forgetting about everything that had happened before.
Theodred watched as his son paced back and forth in front of the window. "You should not have become so involved with a member of Galadriel's family. It was obvious what was going to happen," he finished.
Legolas stopped, and stared at his father. "Perhaps it was obvious to you, father, but I for one believed Galadriel to be royal enough to leave others out of her arguments. She had no reason to bring me into the argument, nor to use her niece to get information for her."
Theodred watched his son's face darken with anger. "You believe Nienna had something to do with Galadriel's plan?" he asked.
Legolas nodded, "Of course she did. The first day at school – Nienna hated me. She wanted nothing to do with me. Then all of a sudden, she was my friend. We still argued, but everything was perfect. And all this information gets leaked back to Galadriel – who else could have uncovered all that shit about me?"
Theodred said nothing, just let his son rave. It would be a long time before Legolas forgot what Nienna had done to him, if indeed she had done anything.
A/N: Sorry about not updating, but hey, here's something for now. I've changed the entire look of the story, so there might be a few surprises.