Standard Disclaimer: I own nothing in regards to Harry Potter or the Hobbit. All properties therein are those of their creators. I am only a writer working on my skills with worlds and characters that I love.

Chapter Eleven - Making An Escape

The Wilds

Azog the Defiler stared down upon his mismatched ranks of goblins and orcs and growled low with rage. One third, only one third of the number promised to him by the Master, and now even that great being had gone silent with no new orders received by any of his lieutenants. How was he supposed to storm the Lonely Mountain and end the line of Durin with this paltry number? The answer was simply that he could not. Not with so few goblins and orcs. There was only one thing left to do, he refused to give up on his oath of vengeance when its completion was so close.

"Bolg!" He yelled, earning a parting of the ranks as the orc in question answered his summons. His spawn was a masterpiece of physical and mental conditioning, and he showed it as he parted his lesser beings like the tide before him to reach his side. "I want you to go to the mountain orcs, find out who leads their army, and remove their head. Once their numbers are under your command bring them to the Lonely Mountain to reinforce us."

"It will be done."

"If you fail me, you know what will happen." Azog snarled, delighting in the twinge of terror that lit within Bold's eyes as he turned and literally ran to carry out his orders. Yes, his vengeance would come soon enough.

Mirkwood

Tauriel found the group naked down to their underclothes and lounging together in the great pool before the house on the high hill. It was purely meant for decoration but they'd turned it into a recreational spot apparently. She pointedly forced herself away from looking at Gandalf. While spry and well maintained for an old man, she had no wish to see anything further. Harry too was there, on the other end of the pool, that seemed to have been bewitched. The water was bubbling all around him. Stalking up to his side of the pool she asked, "What are you doing?"

"Relaxing in my hot tub, care to join me, Tauriel?" Harry's gaze was downright lascivious as it grazed down her form, tightly wrapped in her usual hunting leathers. At her hesitant stare at the water he added, "I only added a few heating runes in a set area to heat the water to the point of being pleasurable."

The elf had to admit to herself that after the day she'd just had a soak in heated water sounded absolutely lovely. Additionally, this would be an ideal chance to speak to her mate alone and learn more about him. The others were all on the other side of the pool so the odds of them being overheard were not overly high. However… "I have nothing to wear. Leather tends to get uncomfortable in the water."

"You could jump in nude." he said while waggling his eyebrows.

"Try again, Harry. You have not earned the right to behold my full body yet."

Harry's smirk turned devious and he waved a hand, conjuring a particular item in front of Tauriel, who paled at once and irately stated, "Those two pieces of cloth would hardly count as underclothes! How could you suggest I wear them here before you all?!"

"Not even for your mate? I could ward the area so the others wouldn't see anything." Harry turned on the puppy-dog eyes that had always worked with Luna, but Tauriel seemed to be immune.

"No. I…." Out of curiosity the she-elf had run a hand over the fabric and she'd stopped at just how smooth and pleasurable the material felt beneath her skin. In spite of her previous words, the Silvan elf found herself imagining herself in the garment, posing before the mirror in her chambers, and she wondered if she could even pull off such a thing. Rallying herself she added, "It would not be proper to wear something as this for anyone but you alone, and even then only after we have gotten to properly know each other. Create something else."

"Fine." Harry groaned, though internally he was wondering just how much more they'd need to 'properly' know each other before she'd don something skimpy for him. He waved the same hand and the barely-there two-piece shifted into a far more respectable one-piece.

"Hm." Tauriel examined it in her hands for a moment as she had the last. The material was just as fine. "I do not recognize the design of this item."

"It is of my home world. Believe it or not that is considered quite chaste."

Tauriel laughed at those words, "By your disappointed look I'd believe it. Where can I change?"

"Inside, just pick a room. We haven't gotten around to divvying them out amongst ourselves yet so they're all unoccupied." His new mate said nothing else as she strutted off into the large building, and he smiled wide at her retreating form. Yes, she was undoubtedly here to watch him just as much as get to know him, but damn if those hunting trousers didn't frame her ass just right. Perhaps fate had thrown him an actual bone for once.

{I'm right there with ya, Harry.} Luna crowed with equal delight and hunger.

About ten minutes later the repaired front door opened once more and out came a clearly nervous Tauriel, her arms crossed in front of her and eyes straight ahead, pointedly ignoring the looks of the dwarves as she strutted back over to Harry's side. Said vampire, and she assumed his dead wife, were roving their gaze over her as well, but for some reason she didn't truly mind that as much. Must have been the bond at work.

For their part, Harry and Luna were floored. Sure the one-piece covered more than the first option they'd provided, but what was still visible was amazing. The suit was skin tight, akin to spandex, and stretched taught over her fit frame. Her bare legs were long, smooth, and muscled in the way of a distance runner. Her arms and shoulders, the latter only barely covered by the string thin straps of the suit, were toned and lean, and her torso, defined clearly through the light weave imbued by his magic, displayed a very lean build, and the clear outline of incredibly perky breasts the size of large apples. Just enough to fill the hands without overflowing them. Yes, it was safe to say that Harry and Luna very much liked what they saw.

They were not the only ones however. Now that she was so close to the water, the she-elf took the chance to gaze upon Harry's shirtless form and had to stop herself from licking her lips. He was well built, though not overly bulky. A body that was built for speed and dynamic action, much like her own. The skin was a little more pale than what she was used to seeing but it was certainly not a turn off for her. And he had the most delightful brushing of chest hair. She just wanted to run her fingers through it, and it was a concentrated effort to push that urge down. Damned mating hormones.

Tauriel stopped beside the edge of the water, tested it with her foot, and clearly deciding she liked the temperature, lowered herself the rest of the way inside… about five feet away from the vampire. Well, that just wouldn't do. He swiftly moved to sit by her side, wrapping his arm around her shoulder flirtatiously. He half expected her to pull away, or elbow him in the gut, but instead a pleasant buzzing seemed to flow through them both at the contact and she leaned subtly closer to him.

"This is… new." She noted.

"What? Relaxing in a hot pool with a half naked man?"

"Yes, and wearing such strange clothing along with being in close proximity to my mate. My mother once tried to explain what it would feel like, but in the end I guess it was beyond words. This feels… right to me."

"Hm. I agree."

For a while they just sat like that, relaxing and enjoying each other's company, before Tauriel started voicing some of the things that had been on her mind. "You told Thranduil you'd kill everyone in his city if he executed even one of the dwarves. Would you truly follow through with that threat?"

"Not the children." Harry answered. "They are innocent, unlike the others."

Tauriel looked askance at the man, "The regular citizens of Mirkwood do not make the decisions for the king. Most have never even seen him because he stays sequestered in his hall."

"Yet they allow him to do such horrendous things as use those collars. Tauriel, something a famous thinker from my world once said rings quite true here. A king has a need for his subjects, as a people have a need for their king. A king only rules by the will and allowance of his people, and the people benefit from the protection of their king. It is a symbiotic relationship. If a king does something horrible it is the responsibility of the people to stand up and say no it's wrong, and that if the behavior isn't rectified they will not stand for it."

"The prospect of disloyalty is not common to elves, Harry." Tauriel said quietly. "I am rare in that I have had such misconceptions about King Thranduil for some time, but to many the thought never crosses their minds. Please, be patient with my people. They do not know any better."

"They choose to be blind, and the consequences will come as they do. But enough of such dark thoughts. I would hear more of you, Tauriel."

"Me?"

"Yes. I saw a bit of your life when we bonded, but not near as much as you did according to Luna. So please, tell me about yourself. What do you love? What do you hate? What are your joys and hobbies? I would know it all."

"And if I have things of you I would know as well?"

"Then ask. Tauriel we are literally half naked in a pool. Things can't get much more intimate than this, so there isn't a better time to get to know each other better. Let's have at it."

And so they did. For the next hour they shared stories of their lives, what hadn't been covered in their visions at least, and by the end each had learned some interesting information about the other. Tauriel learned that Harry was an avid fan of music and books, hated those that were untrue, had dabbled in blacksmithing, his favorite drink (aside from blood) was dwarven mead, and that he missed feeling the sun on his skin without it burning of all things. Harry learned that Tauriel, while fond of woodcraft, was actually a huge fan of sport and games of chance. Pretty much any activity that offered a chance of coming out the winner tickled her fancy. It seemed she was quite competitive. She disliked ignoring problems instead of facing them head on, and fresh fruit was her favorite food.

By the end they were both starting to prune so they exited the water and made their way back to the house to dress back in more respectable clothing. Then they returned to the yard where a pit had been dug in the ground by the dwarves and a fire was raging. The entire company sat around it laughing, drinking, smoking, and telling stories.

"This is how you spend your evenings?" Tauriel was impressed. Elves, while people of light and song, were often quite reserved in groups; but these dwarves were just so… open with their emotions.

"Yes indeed." Harry smiled as he pulled out his endless flask and held it out to her, "Dwarven mead. Would you like some?"

"That sounds delightful." Tauriel took a healthy draft and gave it back, only to marvel at the deep chug Harry gained from the article before returning it to his coat.

At her look he said, "I have a strong tolerance." They moved to sit beside Gandalf and as the old man pulled out his pipe, Harry did the same.

Tauriel frowned as the men shared a light and puffed away. "You smoke?"

"Yes, is that a problem?" he asked quizzically, puffing away into the air."

She groaned and leaned back on her hands, "Not really. Every man must have at least one annoying habit I suppose. My father collected strange looking acorns. Just don't blow that smoke my way."

"As you wish, my lady." They sat there like that, simply enjoying the companionable silence and overall atmosphere late into the night.

The next several days fell into a similar pattern. Tauriel would wake up at varying times and somehow always just miss her mate leaving the house. She'd chase after him, be unsuccessful for quite a while, and then track down some screaming city-folk complaining about a ghost entering their homes which would invariably lead her right to him. Indeed she spent most of her days from that point on just following her spectral mate as he breezed through one home after the other. Many of Thranduil's guards responded as well, and the she-elf took more than a little bit of amusement at the way they cowered in fear when her mate glided right through them.

In the evenings she'd follow him around to whatever new area had caught his fancy, and more often than not it was the stables. "Why are you so fascinated by the king's stag?" She asked after the fourth time witnessing him petting its snout, to the accompaniment of much pleased grunting from the animal.

"Believe it or not, my father was able to turn into one in his youth, so I have a soft spot for the beasts. This one though… he is quite depressed."

"Depressed?" Tauriel tilted her head and made her way over to them both, running her own fingers along its back. "It does not seem depressed."

"It is though, it told me." At her curious look he said, "Stags are apparently creatures of the night. I can understand it in my head. This stag was meant to run, to graze, to be free and proud, but Thranduil has bound it here beneath the earth and refused to even properly run it for exercise. One more crime to add to his tally."

"What else does it tell you?"

"I know his name."

"Really?" that interested the She-elf a great deal. "What is it?"

"Valintenez Alkalinella Xifax Sicidabohertz Gombigobilia Blue Stradivari Talentrent Pierre Andri Charton-Haymoss Ivanovici Baldeus George Doitzel Kasier III." At his mate's flabbergasted expression he added, "Valentine for short." (I'm genuinely curious if anyone will get that reference).

Tauriel had nothing she could say to that, so just kept stroking the beast and offering it what comfort she could. To her shame, she'd never considered that her king's stag might be unhappy. She'd never considered its feelings at all. Some forest elf she was.

Eventually she grew tired of the building search act and just demanded to know what it was he was searching for. When he explained he wanted to find the captured Rivendell elves she understood. "I have not seen them myself as I am not high enough in rank to access those levels, but I have heard the king is holding them in the fourth level of the dungeon." A troubling frown crossed her face, "He still hasn't explained why, or what they're being charged with. Only saying that they are trespassers. It has not sat well with many in the Silvan Guard, but what were we to do?"

"Hm… Fourth level. Where would that be exactly?"

"Well for one of your particular talents it would be straight down from that tree three blocks down that way." She pointed to a twisted number just visible amongst the roofs ahead.

Harry thanked her, floated on over, and before her very eyes sank right into the earth.

For the vampire, going down was a very strange experience. If he had to describe it as anything he'd say falling through the earth was like sinking into a giant vat of syrup. He still fell, but it felt like something was pulling him and sticking him up as he did. The feeling vanished when he reached the first level and he paused to look around. There were cells lining the walls in a descending circle and a few guards saw him before they started running at him with weapons drawn, but he just fell again. This process repeated itself again, and again, and again until he reached the right place.

The view was different this time. There were no cells. Instead he merely saw a dozen elves chained to a wall with a full cadre of elven guards watching them, presumably for escape attempts. From what he could see, the elves had not been physically harmed, but their sallow cheeks and willowy frames implied they had not been fed regularly since their arrival. What was worse, the level of grime on their clothing made it clear they'd not been given access to adequate sanitation either.

The guards didn't even see him before their heads hit the floor. The captives scrambled back at the sudden violence, but Harry soothed them with soft words in Quenya before showing them all the sigil on his scabbard. "Lord Elrond sent me for you. Come," He cast a silent unlocking charm and the chains fell away, "I have a house closer to the surface you can stay in until we can arrange for you to go home."

The elves clutched each other in fear, shaking in their boots the entire journey back to the top of the dungeon. Along the way more guards died, but Harry tried to keep the carnage out of their sight. These people had already suffered enough without fresh trauma. Tauriel was waiting for them of course, and when she saw the condition of the prisoners she rushed to their sides, offering what comfort she could and taking over the task of guiding them to the Top of the Hill. Harry didn't stop her. He knew what it was to need to feel useful.

When they got to the house Tauriel finally figured out why her mate had insisted on occupying such a large home. Because he had, every one of the new elves found themselves with their own rooms. He'd been planning for the new additions from the start. The dwarves and Gandalf quickly saw them all to individual rooms, replaced their grimy clothes, and saw them to the numerous baths so that they might clean their bodies of the filth that had built up during their captivity.

As all that was happening, Harry took note of the crestfallen expression on his mate's face. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"What?"

"It's an expression from my home. It means, 'can I know what you are thinking?'"

"Oh." taking a moment to organize her rampant musings, Tauriel answered, "I am thinking… that my king is beyond redemption." She ignored the expression on Harry's face that just screamed 'duh' and continued. "Even after his edicts, the prisoners should have been treated kindly, kept in clean environments and given the utmost respect. They are our brethren!" She seethed with barely constrained rage and finally managed to get out, "Treatment such as this…. starvation, squalid conditions, and filth… we are not orcs, Harry."

"No." He agreed, taking her hand in his own, "No you are not."

"I just, I just don't understand how he could do this. Or how any elf in his guard could go along with it."

"Fear, pride, and loyalty." the vampire guessed, looking back to the street where Thranduil himself and a group of guards marched their way. "The king fears the outside world so much that anything from it or in it 'must' be evil and thus locked away or banished. Yet at the same time he is also convinced that he could not possibly lead an inferior people and thus he is justified in all he does because he is only hurting 'inferiors'. As for the guards, you yourself said that loyalty is a huge part of your upbringing. I imagine for the royal guard it is even more heavily enforced. Men like them do not question orders, even when they very much should."

Now Tauriel had seen the approaching force too, and though she did not pull her hand away from his, her other one closed around the hilt of her hunting knife. "I am not blind as they are."

"I know you are not." Harry agreed. "If you were, then you would not be my mate. Now, would you like to see me humiliate the king?"

"Very much so."

"It looks like Legolas is with him. Should I prank him too?"

Tauriel paused as she scanned the frustrated face of the prince. "Perhaps not." She eventually said. "I do not think he agrees with his father anymore than we do. Leave him be, for me."

Harry smiled wide at the she-elf, and to her shock she found herself thinking his menacing fangs looked rather adorable. "No problem, beautiful. Hm, have I mentioned that your hair practically glows in this light? It looks fantastic." and then she was blushing and trying furiously to hide it. Elves did not bandy compliments like that so easily or openly. Normally a formal courtship took over two decades with their long life spans, and contained in that time would be endless walks, countless meetings with each other's families, and a great deal of respectful conversation on both sides to form a foundation of mutual knowledge and trust. Fresh compliments could take twice that long to be spoken of so freely, and for the most part they came in the form of poetry, not blunt statements as the vampire had just dropped. She could already tell however that her mate was not going to go about things in the traditional manner. Well, she never was the most patient of elves so that worked out just fine for her.

This wasn't even the first instance of his nefarious flirting. Why, the other night he'd cast a spell in the yard of his acquisitioned mansion that formed mood lighting in the night and smooth instruments that he referred to as soft jazz to begin playing. Then he'd taken her hand, pulled her close, and danced with her for two hours straight. She'd never heard of an elf doing that! None!... But she couldn't say she disliked the experience…

It only took another five minutes for the royal party to reach them, what with how swiftly their long legs were carrying them. And from the tight lines crossing Thranduil's normally bored features, Tauril could tell he was pissed at having to be the one to come to the subject of his ire instead of summoning it. The elf lord probably realized that any likely summons would be rejected on principle.

Without waiting for introductions the guards formed a solid line between them and the king declared, "You will return my prisoners to me at once."

Harry just gazed with derision back at the king and said, "I thought we'd established already that your orders are merely piss in the stream for me." He waved a hand and every guard present felt the weight of their armor increase exponentially, crushing them flat to the ground. "Also, any defense you bring to hide behind is worth even less. Leave, and return with the proper level of respect."

"I am a king, Creature!"

"You are nothing before my power!" Harry roared back, casting another spell. An instant later Thranduil's skin had turned lime green. Even with his limited vision he could see it and with a roar of anger he ripped his sword free of its scabbard.

Clearly hoping to end this conflict before his father lost his head (which even Legolas knew was likely by this point) the prince stepped between them. "Peace father." He laid a hand across his parent's chest and the older one was calmed, if only slightly. "This action will get us nowhere." When the king made no further advancement, he turned back to the vampire, only slightly flinching at the sight of Tauriel's hand held comfortingly in its own.

"Master vampire, would you please explain why you saw fit to kill over twenty elven guards and free a cell full of prisoners from our high security floor?"

"Hm, at least you have some level of respect. Much better than our first meeting." Harry nodded at the prince. He had potential. "I saw fit to do so because Lord Elrond asked that should I make my way here I try to retrieve his people that had not been allowed to return to Rivendell. And it was a good thing I did. They were half starved, forced to live in their own filth, and they were literally chained to a wall. I've seen orcs treat their prisoners better. Granted they were saving them for the fighting pits but that is beside the point. According to the few I've had the chance to question, Thranduil did not even question or charge these elves. He merely arrested them on sight for having the gall to visit their relatives."

With every word Legolas grew ever paler. Even he had not been allowed to visit those prisoners so their treatment had also been unknown to him. "Father, please tell me this is not true."

Thranduil merely scoffed. "Spies, the lot of them. They could return to Elrond and tell him the exact layout of my city as well as the number of guards and soldiers that patrol it. You think I'd let that kind of information get back to our enemies?"

"Lord Elrond is not our enemy." The prince defended.

"He might as well be. We cannot trust another soul beyond these walls, Legolas. There are no true allies in this world. There is only us, and the dangers beyond our borders."

"I-I don't know what to say here." The prince turned sorrowful upon his father and then bowed to the vampire, an act that drew shocked gasps from all present. "Thank you for rescuing the elves from my father's madness. I would have done the same had I known."

"Legolas." Thranduil growled, and in that one word he transmitted all of his rage and betrayal before turning away. "How am I the only one in this kingdom that sees sense?" He muttered before turning back into the street, though not before Harry transfigured his shoes into lead weights. Watching the formerly dignified king hop and shuffle along in skin as green as the Grinch was good for enough laughs to even raise Legolas' spirits enough for a smile.

"Go." Harry spoke to the prince and nodded back to the house, "Give your apologies as a prince of this realm to my guests. You may not have known of their treatment but as a prince you share some responsibility for it whether you like it or not."

"Thank you, master vampire."

"And see Gandalf after. I think he has an idea to run past you."

The elf nodded and made his way inside. As he did, Tauriel squeezed Harry's hand gratefully. "Thank you for treating him fairly. He has long pursued me when I told him it was fruitless, but he has never treated me wrongly or with a lack of respect. I would see him treated the same."

"It's no problem. To be fair, he showed himself to be reasonable from the first time I met him with Thorin's sword, even if he was a bit stuck up. He's someone I'd much rather work with than his father."

Tauriel was silent for a moment, and then she said, "You're going to embarrass the king even more aren't you?"

"Oh hell yes. It might take a while for Bilbo to find the key. And every day it takes I'm going to find some other way to torment Thranduil. If we're lucky he'll break before the little guy even finds them."

"I think you underestimate the stubbornness of high elves."

"Notice I said, 'if' we're lucky. Anyway I won't shy at more time to piss the guy off." He moved a step to the side and bowed grandly, "Now milady will you honor me with your presence for dinner?"

The she-elf smiled delightedly and reclaimed his hand. "Such a charmer. Of course I will." In a quieter tone she asked, "Do you still have some of that dwarven mead left?"

Harry smirked, "Liked that did you?"

"It was amazing!"

"Then yes indeed I do have more. Space expansion charms are fantastic for the carrying capacity of a flask." So saying, the two marched off back to the house still hand in hand.

The next day Thranduil woke up to all of his clothes transfigured into little fairy outfits.

The day after his ensemble morphed into risqué lingerie while he was in the middle of holding court.

After that he arrived at his throne room to the accompaniment of a rather horrible smell. His guards informed him that from the sheer size of the excrement it seemed that his stag mount had defecated on his throne. He gave an immediate order for the beast's execution, but his guards reported that it was absent from its stables, and none could find its current location.

Every day more humiliation followed. His nails grew feet out of his fingertips. His bowels refused to cease letting out horribly inopportune flatulence in public. His voice took on the nasal quality of a prepubescent boy. On and on it went until finally the worst prank of them all was performed on his person.

He went to bed as usual, though admittedly with quite a bit of paranoia. He was not sure how the vampire was getting to him to perform these magical assaults with all of his guards, but so far they'd been unavoidable. When he awoke however it was to a new weight around his neck, and with horror he felt the clear outline of a collar. How! When! So terrified was he, and still slightly drowsy from sleep, that he didn't even stop to think about how a collar could have come to exist out of nowhere (he'd used all of his stock on the dwarves) and he just moved.

With sheer horror he'd run to his throne room, hoping to retrieve his key before the monster could issue any orders to his person, and placed his hands upon the third step of the dais to open the secret compartment when the weight suddenly vanished. He halted, slowly pulled his hands away, and felt only the smooth skin of his neck where the cold iron had previously hung. A conjuration. He breathed a sigh of relief. Just one more of the vampire's cheap tricks. Though this was by far the most tame of the methods he'd employed. Could he perhaps be running out of ideas?

The king left the audience chamber, and was thus not present when a small hobbit appeared from apparently nowhere and placed his hands on the same step he had just vacated. Bilbo pressed in with his full weight and a hidden latch snapped into place before a compartment popped open, revealing a single key on a felt pillow. He quickly pocketed the coveted object before closing the compartment once more and slipping his finger back into the ring, disappearing once more from sight.

On Top of the Hill

That Night

Harry toasted Bilbo along with the dwarves and the rescued elves to much celebration and backslapping as all the collars fell to the floor and around them and food and drink flowed. Even Legolas got into it, calling the halfling a prince amongst burglars. The fact that he was in such support of robbing his father gave him much respect with the company. Furthermore he had spent his own wealth to buy the former captives all fine wools and travel clothing. The prince was in full support of any action that would see the elves home to Rivendell, no matter the will of his father. Much like Tauriel, he was an elf of principal, so he was quite happy to observe when the vampire melted the collars into slag.

The party carried on for several hours into the night before people started falling asleep. Then Harry took Thorin, Tauriel, Legolas, and Gandalf into one of the empty rooms at the top of the building and said, "Take out the coin, Gandalf. It's time to bring the Council in."

The gray wizard grinned wide and did as asked. A few seconds later there was a crack of sound and the regal visages of Galadriel and Elrond came into view. It seemed Saruman had not had his coin on his person any longer. Shame that. Harry had developed a plan to turn his eyebrows into braids.

"Oh Harry!" Galadriel delightedly stepped forward to take his hands, "and Luna! It is grand to see you again so soon. Why have you summoned us though?"

"Indeed." Elrond's ear was twitching wildly, "are those my missing people that I hear below us?"

Harry smirked and said, "Yup. We've found them all. Look into my eyes and I'll explain everything." The two elf lords did so and with a push of legilimency Harry forced his memories of his time in the undercity into their minds. By the end both powerful beings were practically fuming with anger.

"Leave it to us, Harry." Galadriel's body was glowing with repressed power. "We will punish Thranduil thoroughly for this."

"Yes." Elrond agreed. "But for such a travesty nothing less will do but his complete removal from power." He seemed to consider something for a moment before he and Galadriel shared a conspiratorial smile and he said, "It is a good thing you have taken the fortress of Dol Guldur, Harry."

Starting to get a little nervous now, the vampire asked, "Why?"

"Because we are making you Overlord of Mirkwood." Galadriel practically sang. "Prince Legolas can take over the leadership of the elves here but he will answer to you."

Harry raised a finger to stall for time, intent on finding some argument he could use against what he perceived as an incredibly rash decision… but he came up short. "Why the hell would you think putting me in charge would be a good thing? I'll remind you that I EAT PEOPLE!"

"Because we trust you." Elrond answered for them both. "Regardless of your diet. You have fought beside us, shared in the same danger, seen the face of our true adversary and stood against him. We have taken your measure and not found you wanting. Be honored, Darktide."

"But I don't want that much responsibility. Is this because I made you spar with a lion's tail in front of your daughter? Be honest now."

Manfully ignoring the way Galadriel was laughing at that statement, the elf lord replied, "No, but now that you mention it that is rather ironic isn't it?" He turned to the elf prince and Gandalf, "Do either of you hold any problems with our judgment in this regard?"

Gandalf answered, "While I am surprised at this turn of events, I am not averse. Though he lacks the moral fortitude of the wise, Harry has proven a worthy foe against the forces of darkness. Letting him be the watchful eye over the forest can only prove beneficial."

Legolas however had a question. "I am all for doing what is necessary to make up for my father's actions, even if it means removing him from power, but what will this mean for my reign? Am I to lose my inheritance? How will Master Potter's overlordship dictate my rule?"

Galadriel shrugged, "Not a great deal I imagine. Luna tells me Harry is very hands off in such regards. Just do what he says when he gives an order and I'm sure he won't micromanage you. Please understand that this position is not meant to insult you, Legolas, but we need someone we trust to watch over you for a while to make sure you are not your father. In this way you at least get to keep your throne."

When everyone looked to the vampire for confirmation he said, "Yeah that's pretty accurate. Look Legolas, you're the prince here, not me. I won't pretend to know what you'll need to do for your job and I won't try to control it. But if the need comes to muster arms you better show up. Also, fix your goddamn roads. They're a disgrace."

"Yes, Overlord." Legolas bowed and Harry groaned anew at the addition of a new title.

So instead he turned to Tauriel, "So now I'm an Overlord with a keep and soon to be a mountain of gold at his disposal. Not too shabby for a mate, eh? Though I'll admit it's not enough to equal your beauty so I guess I still come up short in the end."

As Tauriel blushed anew at those words, finally coming out of the stupor of shock she'd gone into when the Lady of Lorien herself had shown up and immediately gone to Harry as a friend, a delighted gleam entered Galadriel's eyes to the accompaniment of an evil snicker from Luna in both of their minds. "Oh, you're Harry's mate? Well that's just splendid!" She shot forward and slipped her arm through the younger elf's, "Why don't we go for a walk so you can tell me all about it?"

So awed by the angelic older elf's presence was she, that Tauriel didn't even think to ask for help before she was whisked out of the room entirely. Strangely enough, Luna's voice in Harry's head had also gone quiet with their departure. Did that mean she was with Galadriel entirely now? Eh, questions for a later time.

"Well she'll be busy for a while." Elrond noted. "Galadriel always was an incorrigible gossip. I guess we'll handle Thranduil in the morning. Harry, are there spare rooms for us?"

"Of course. Down the hall, third door on the right." The half-elf nodded and made for the door, only to stop in place. Without turning around he said, "That was a very quick response. That room wouldn't happen to be occupied or pranked would it?"

"Elrond, I'm offended." Harry called dramatically while clutching his chest, "How could you accuse me of something so heinous?"

"Hmph hmph hmph." Elrond chuckled goodnaturedly before making his way out. All still present listened carefully at the door, and they were not disappointed. "You stole Thranduil's stag!" Elrond's exclamation brought uproarious laughter from the group and as one they left to find their own beds. It was going to be quite the morning after all. Thranduil was getting swatted down, Legolas was taking over, the company would be continuing their march, and Harry found his mind filled with the singular thought that he needed to find some argument to convince Tauriel to tag along…