HP/LOTR crossover

To free his world from the torment of Voldemort, Harry must leave. After a brief talk with some higher beings, he is sent to Middle-Earth.

A/N: This fic is set many-a-year before the fellowship departs when the Lady Celebrian was still living in Imladris.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT, AND WILL NEVER CLAIM OWNERSHIP OVER HARRY POTTER AND ITS CHARACTERS OR LORD OF THE RINGS AND ITS CHARACTERS

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Four: Dancing in Session.

The morning after his confrontation with the Lord and Lady of the woods of Lóthlorien, Harry woke up from one of his nightmares with a start and a hoarse cry. He shot up from where he laid into an upright position. His eyes darted around wildly, tying to discern just exactly where he was.

It was then that all the memories from the previous day flooded back into his mind as if a dam that had been holding them at bay was suddenly opened. He remembered talking to his father and Sirius, being transported to Middle-Earth, being threatened by a bow and arrow wielding elf and his three companions, the conversion that took place with said Elves, the journey to the tree house place where they had planned to stay the night… He then remembered the rushed trip to the bed chambers of the Lord and Lady of Lóthlorien. He remembered healing the Lady, he remembered having a short argument with Celeborn and finally, he remembered coming to this place.

The previous night he hadn't thought where he was going, he just needed to get away from that room for a while. He went back to the tree house that he had originally lain in before the sudden trip. He'd found it devoid of other Elves and found himself thanking whoever was up there watching over that he had this time to be alone.

His breathing gradually slowed from the quick, breathless pant to his usual breathing rate and he relaxed slightly. He picked up his blanket from its perch by his feet and folded it up. He then took hold of his bag and put the blanket inside it.

He closed the bag briefly before opening it once more and saying "Small basin of warm water with one bar of soap." He laid the bag down on its side and pulled out the basin he'd ordered. Said basin was a simple white, porcelain bowl that was full half way with warm water and had a bar of soap sitting on the bottom.

He closed the bag again and opened it once more. "Dry face cloth." He said, reached into the bag and removed a white face cloth. After setting the bag aside, he unbuttoned the cuffs on his shirt sleeves and rolled them back to his elbow. He unclipped both of his knife sheathes and set them to the side. He then proceeded to wash his hands, arms and face.

When he'd finished, he put everything back into his bag.

He grimaced when he finally registered the taste of morning breath. He took hold of his bag once again and asked for some mint flavoured chewing gum. When he had his gum in his mouth being merrily chewed, he set his bag aside and made to re-clip his knife sheathes to his wrists.

Just as he was sliding into his waist coat, he sensed someone near making their way towards his location. Not bothering to acknowledge the presence, he took out his wand and muttered an advanced cleaning charm on himself so he felt a little cleaner than he did. A good bath was what he needed. He cast a quick untangling spell on his hair before he slipped his wand away again. He then reached for his coat.

He'd just put his bag over his shoulder when the 'someone' he felt earlier stopped 5ft behind him. "Do you want to come out of hiding anytime soon?" He said as he checked himself over to make sure he hadn't missed anything.

"What is your business here in Lorien?" A voice asked him.

"My business is my own." Harry answered as he tied his hair back. "And besides, I believe it is I who should be asking what your business is here in Lorien. You do not dwell here originally."

In two seconds Harry had the knife from his left wrist unsheathed and pressed up against the intruders neck, with the intruder pressed against the trunk of the tree they were in and with Harry's left knee lodged firmly in between the intruder's legs and dangerously close to his (definitely male) pride and joy.

Harry grinned at the unknown elf before him. His grin only widened when the elf scowled. "Who are you?" He asked, eyes alight with mischief and merriment. The elf did not answer. Harry clucked his tongue. "Now now, you're too pretty for me to hurt, so I suggest you talk. I'm not letting you free until you do." He said in an almost sing-song voice that only made the elf scowl more.

"Release me and I will tell you what you want to know." Harry pouted and sighed dramatically.

"Fair enough. You keep your secrets, I will find out eventually." The pout quickly turned back into a grin as he leaned forward so there was less than an inch of air between them. "See you around sweetheart." He kissed the elf soundly on the nose and apparated out, leaving the elf breathing heavily and sagging against the trunk of the tree, wondering just who the strange dark-haired elf was.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Harry reappeared on the forest floor in a clearing he made sure no one else was. With the grin still firmly on his face, he closed his eyes and tried to locate Haldir. When he did, he saw that the Marchwarden was getting ready for his day. With the room he saw Haldir in pictured perfectly in his mind, he disappeared, only to reappear once again in Haldir's chambers, effectively startling the elf into a foot leap into the air.

Harry giggled, actually giggled, at the yelp that was released from Haldir's mouth but his giggling ceased abruptly when the deeply scowling Marchwarden turned his scowl on Harry. The grin never slipped from the half-elf's face however.

"Now Haldir, is that anyway to greet an old friend?" He admonished playfully. Haldir raised an eyebrow.

"An old friend would have knocked before entering my Talan." Harry cocked his head to the side, confusion written on his face.

"What's a Talan?" He asked the elf before him, who, by way of answer, snorted and continued to get himself ready. "No, seriously. What's a Talan?" The Marchwarden rolled his eyes.

"We are inside a Talan at this moment in time." The elf answered and Harry looked around the room, confused still. "A Talan is what we call our homes. This," he gestured around the room. "is my own Talan. Orophin and Rũmil have their own Talan's not far from this one." Realisation dawned on Harry.

"Oh!" He cried with a wide smile. "You mean these tree houses? You live in these?" Haldir looked back at him from where he stood with two of his short blades in hand.

"You do not live in such places?" the elf asked.

"No. I don't know where I lived for the first year of my life, I lived in a two-story house for the next ten years, and then I started school at Hogwarts, the magic school… I was there constantly save a few months of summer for the next seven years. And after I graduated, I moved into the castle permanently. Never have I lived in a tree house before."

"An eventful life you must have had Harry Potter." Haldir commented. "What was the reason for your visiting me so early? If you do not mind my asking." Harry shook his head.

"No, no. I don't mind you asking. Well, my reason for being here is, well, I wanted directions to somewhere where I can play with these knives and my sword for a short while. Yesterday was the only time I'd ever used the knives and I've not had the chance to yet use the sword. I want to get a feel for them." Haldir nodded his acknowledgment and thought for a moment.

"I am needed at the Lord and Lady's chamber very soon but I can take you to the training range if you wish it?" Harry smiled at the Marchwarden.

"Thank you." The elf nodded and they exited the Talan.

As they walked, they received many-a-raised eyebrow but paid the eyebrow raisers no mind.

"Did you tell Celeborn who I was when I left last night?" Harry asked after five minutes of silence. He sensed Haldir's annoyance at him not using the Lord's correct title and grinned.

"No, I did not. I explained to him that the news of who you are should come from your mouth and your mouth alone." His companion explained. "Lord Celeborn took my response well and he agreed to wait for your meeting today." Harry nodded and the pair lapsed into a comfortable silence.

10 minutes later, they were at the training range. Haldir told Harry he would be along when his meeting with the Lord and Lady were over to see how he was. Harry thanked him once again and entered the range.

He chose the area farthest away from where he had entered and made his way over to it. Once there, he removed his bag and coat, placing them both on a nearby rock. The belt around his waist that held his wand holder and his sword on his person soon followed his coat and bag.

He decided it would be wise to warm up first, lest he want incredible muscle pain later on in the day, tomorrow and indeed the next day. He took his usual starting stance; feet shoulder-width apart and both hands in front of him, poised in relaxed fists. He took a deep breath and began moving. Slow movements and even breathing were the keys to this warm up exercise. The movements stretched his muscles though not too much, and his deep breathing helped him keep his relaxed state for longer than someone warming up would.

The movements were similar to that of a well choreographed fight filled with grace and power. Only without the weapons opponents would no doubt use in an actual fighting situation.

After a good ten minutes of these slow movements and even breathing, he wound down and re-entered his starting stance, now, duly named, his finishing stance.

He shook himself to loosen himself up a little more than he already was and walked over to his things. He picked up his the scabbard that held his sword, un-clipped it from the belt and returned to the space he'd previously occupied.

Taking relatively the same starting stance as he did before, he held the jade and silver handle in his right fist and the scabbard in his left. He took a deep breath and began. His movements were slow at first, not unlike those of his warm up, but the swings of his sword and the careful but useful use of the scabbard slowly increased in speed until he was moving so fast that had any man been there watching, they would not have been able to follow his movements. The Elves that had gathered around the area to watch him move were only just able to make out the movements of his arms.

Twenty minutes of these speedy motions flew by and Harry began to slow them down so that he was eventually moving at a leisurely pace. A few more minutes at this pace passed and he decided he had trained enough with the sword for one day.

In one swift movement, he had his sword sheathed in the scabbard and in another he swung around and threw it in the direction of the crowd he knew was there. He had been aiming for one elf to catch it for him and one elf did but by the time they did Harry already had his knives out and was once again, lost in his dance.

Seemingly unknown, but not unknown to Harry, Haldir had been the one to catch his sword when he'd thrown it and the Marchwarden had caught the exquisite weapon with a small smile on his face. To his left stood both Lord and Lady of Lóthlorien who had decided to join Haldir in his trip to the training range. Lord Celeborn was subtly trying to look at the sword Harry had thrown to Haldir but the Marchwarden was non-too-subtly keeping it out of visual range.

With that same slight smile on his face, Haldir watched Harry's movement's until the half-elf had decided to finish for the morning.

Half an hour after the sword had been thrown, Harry wound down his movements to those of his warm up exercise. Only now, he had his knives in his hands and was warming down. The warm down exercise took him ten more minutes, at the end of which, he stopped completely. He breathed in deeply and breathed out again.

Turning around, he re-sheathed the knives and walked towards the rock that held his things. He picked up his bag and mutter "Bottle of ice-cold water and small towel." before removing them from said bag. He took the towel and wiped it across his face to clean off the sweat that had accumulated there. He then hung it around his neck so the two ends were resting on his chest.

He turned back around and walked towards Haldir, a grin on his face all the way. Completely ignoring the Lord and Lady, he stopped in front of his new friend and raised an eyebrow.

"Impressive." Was all Haldir said as he handed Harry his sword back. There was a collective gasp over the crowd that had gathered and Harry turned an accusing eye to the Marchwarden.

"You don't offer compliments often, do you?" The only answer he received was a slight inclination of the head from his friend. The half-elf laughed and grasped Haldir's forearm in a warriors embrace – or half of one, seeing as Harry's other hand was occupied.

Turning his attention to the crowd, Harry graced the spectators with a small bow of his head. "I hope you enjoyed the show." He said with a grin. The crowd laughed lightly and began to depart the area. The half-elf walked back to the rock where his things were resting, taking a drink of the water as he went.

"That was an impressive display." A woman's voice reached his ears. He took another gulp of water before turning to face the Lady he saved the night previous.

"Thank you." The Lady smiled slightly.

"I would like to apologise for yesterday afternoon." She said and he raised an eyebrow.

"You mean you want to say sorry for trying to invade my mind?" She nodded, clearly not used to being talked to with such attitude. "Then apologise away My Lady." He made a sweeping gesture with his hand, motioning for her to continue.

"Could we perhaps converse in a place that is private?" She pleaded, though it did not sound so in her tone. Harry could see the plea emanating from her gaze. She looked truly apologetic. He sighed.

"I can ask Haldir to guide me to your chambers soon…" he left the statement open and she nodded gratefully.

"Thank you. May I ask you one thing now however?"

"You may."

"What is your name?" She questioned curiosity alight in her ageless face.

"My name is Harry Potter, who I am son to will be answered in due course." The Lady nodded and turned to leave. As she walked, she gave Lord Celeborn a meaningful look that told the Lord to hurry along with his affairs. Celeborn nodded and the Lady left the training range.

"I will speak with you soon, Harry Potter." The Lord said, his tone tense.

"That you will." Harry's tone of voice closed the incredibly brief conversation and the Lord vacated the area.

"I do not understand your attitude to the Lord and Lady, Harry Potter. It confuses me much." Haldir said as he stepped closer to the half-elf he had met the day previous. Harry shook his head.

"Haldir, my relationship with the Lord and Lady is a complicated one and I apologise that you are involved how you are. With hope, all affairs will be sorted through today." Haldir nodded.

Out of the corner of his eye, the Marchwarden noticed an elf walking towards him. A smile reached his lips for the third time that day as he recognised the approaching elf.

"Legolas! It is a blessing to see you once more my friend." He saw Harry had his back towards him and Legolas. The other elf reached Haldir and the pair embraced tightly.

"Haldir! A blessing indeed is our meeting." Legolas said when they drew out of their hold.

The Marchwarden noticed his friend's eyes narrow at something behind him and could not keep the smile on his face from widening. "Ah Legolas. I would like for you to meet Harry Potter." He turned to Harry, who was just that second turning back around. "Harry, this is Legolas, son of King Thranduil or Mirkwood."

Harry looked at the newcomer and grinned at the scowl he was receiving.

"We've met." Legolas said stiffly and Haldir raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I told you I would find out your name, sweetheart."

Written by Messrmarauder (aka Ithil hin)