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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Ten: Into the Fold

"This is where I must leave you Prince Legolas." Harry said as he and the blonde elf stopped at the foot of a set of winding stairs that lead up to the Lord and Lady's chambers. The elf before him fidgeted nervously, causing Harry to raise an eyebrow in silent question. He almost grinned when he noticed that the Prince had a faint blush colouring his cheeks. "May I give you something before I depart?"

Legolas looked at the half-elf sceptically, unsure whether or not to take what he said as innocent as it sounded or as well-disguised mischief. He finally nodded, albeit with a cautious air about him. He saw the instant triumphant grin spread itself across his companion's features and in the next instant, regretted his decision.

"Come here." Harry crooked his finger and made a motion for Legolas to approach him. The elf did so, but did it slowly. When the blonde was toe-to-toe with him he halted. "Just a little gift my dear Prince. Nothing to fear." With one last grin, Harry moved his head forward and pressed his lips on Legolas' before the elf could back away or mutter a protest.

Reaching up, Harry grasped the back of Legolas' head, holding it in place for a number of seconds before pulling away and moving his lips towards the elf's right ear. Once there he proceeded to whisper a few choice words. He then ran the tip of his tongue from the bottom to the tip of the ear and pulled back, sent a quick grin to the flustered elf, turned on his heel and began to climb the stairs that led to the Lord and Lady's chamber.

"You taste of the finest wine, dear heart." He'd said.

With every step he took, he couldn't for the life of him keep the smug grin that had wormed its way to the surface off his face. And he didn't bother trying either.

When he arrived at the highest level where he knew the chamber to be, he paused, thinking on what he'd just said to the Prince. The grin on his face broadened as he felt said Prince still standing at the foot of the stairs he'd just climbed.

"What lights your face, young Harry?" The voice of Lord Celeborn brought Harry out of his thoughts. He turned to face the elf.

"Ata'da!" He exclaimed with a start. "How long have you been standing there?" He asked and his mother's father graced him with a kind smile.

"Since your foot first stepped onto the landing." The elf confessed. "Would you not answer my question?" Harry had the grace to look slightly abashed.

"A fair one has caught my eye, Ata'da." He said, his tone bordered on over-dramatically wistful. The elf laughed lightly.

"And who, may I ask, has caught your keen eye?" Green eyes lit up with a mixture of mischief and mirth all rolled into one emerald package.

"The dear Prince Legolas." He grinned. "Of course, Erestor of Imladris holds a certain quality that I find appealing. But nay, the Princeling birthed in Mirkwood stirs my once closeted heart." He swayed from side to side on the spot; smile never once leaving his face. The elf-lord laughed.

"Dearest Harry." He said. "You have been here but two days and already you have created a stir within Elvendom. The wardens of this realm are intrigued by your skills as a warrior. I know that more than one has approached you with request of a spar." He grinned. "I myself would not say no to one. Galadriel has had word with Celebrian in Imladris. My daughter tells of the stir you have created in her own realm." Harry sent the elf-lord an innocent look. "Apparently the twins were quite taken with you. Erestor seemed more talkative, which in itself, is something of a rarity." The half-elf cocked his head to the side.

"Erestor did not seem as reclusive as everyone makes out he is. He was pleasant company to be in. When I first approached him he seemed… I am unsure… older than you or Nanitta." Celeborn nodded. "I know that he visited my home realm two millennia ago. But he is older still. Six, possibly seven millennia… Eight even. I am unsure. I felt it best not to ask his age in front of the breakfast hall full of Elves." He shrugged his shoulder elegantly.

"Aye, Erestor is of the Elder folk. In fact, the oldest here on Middle-earth. At least one millennia older than myself and Galadriel. Birthed in Valinor, I know that much for certain. He is a good friend to us. Quite selective of who he allows close to him." The pair stood in comfortable silence for a number of minutes before Harry spoke up.

"Where is Nanitta?" He asked and Celeborn smiled.

"She is within our chambers. She still looks over the memories you allowed us access too." He chuckled. "I must say, your father and your Godfather were quite humorous, if indeed fairly arrogant during their younger years." The green eyed elf's lips curved upwards.

"They were quite the pair, along with Remus and Peter." He paused before continuing. "I often find myself feeling guilty." He said this more to himself than Celeborn.

"Why?" the elf asked and Harry sighed.

"I often find myself wondering what my reaction would be should both my father and Godfather return to the living world." He began. "With each scenario I play over in my mind, I come up with the same ending for every single one of them. Where anyone else would run into their father's arms and express their joy at seeing said father again. I would run straight to my Godfather and tell him I had missed him terribly." He turned away from Celeborn and walked towards the edge of the landing. He let his eyes roam over the land of Lóthlorien.

"There is nothing to feel guilt over my child." The elf-lord said softly as he came to stand beside his grandson. "From the memories you have shown us, it is my belief that you only new your father the first year and a half of your infant life. Your Godfather was with you in your teen years. You would be more likely to recall events that happened with your Godfather than you would with your Father. It is a harsh reality and those are harsh words I know, but it is the truth. You cannot feel guilt for something you have no control over." Harry sighed once again.

"It has happened though." He said. "Before I arrived at the borders of Lóthlorien I was speaking with… well, I suppose you would call them the Valar." Celeborn nodded for him to continue. "They changed their forms to that of my father and my Godfather. Then, while I was looking at my attire I wished that both dad and Sirius could be there right then in person. And they were. When I looked up again, there they were. And the first person I ran to was Sirius."

The pair stood in silence for a number of minutes as they each mulled over their own thoughts. Their reveries however, were interrupted by the female voice of Galadriel.

"Your heart is needlessly troubled, my child." She said from her position directly behind Harry. The half-elf almost jumped in start, wondering how he could have missed her approach.

"Perhaps Nanitta. But my heart cannot help but play host to their burdened loads." He smiled despite himself. "You had quite the length of time for such a short batch of memories. How did you fair against my mind?" The Lord and Lady smiled at him, choosing not to comment on the abrupt change of subject.

"Your Godfather intrigues me." The Lady said as the trio began to walk into the chambers she had just exited. "I believe Sirius was his name. Brother Star to Siryái." She said with a rare grin. "If my guess is correct, and it rarely is not, that would be the reason they got along very little. As any siblings, saver perhaps twins, simply do not get along well until they are older in their years." Harry laughed.

"Merlin! Remus always thought Sirius was jealous of James and Lily's relationship." He broke off into another bout of laughter.

Once he had calmed himself, he sat down on the seat opposite the sofa where the Lord and Lady seated themselves. "Well I guess first of all I should ask you if you have any questions you want me to answer." He said. The Lord and Lady glanced at one another before the Lord spoke up.

"We do not want to know anything you would not willingly divulge." Harry looked at them with a mixture of curiosity, confusion and the slightest glimmer of hope. "We mean to say that only when you feel it is the correct time to let us know more of your past, then we will be more than willing to listen. We do not want to push you for answer you are not ready… in an emotional sense… to give us. That is not to say that we think you are not strong enough, because the truth of the matter is exactly the opposite. You are extremely strong, but it is our wish that you only tell us when you are ready."

The former Gryffindor took a moment to think over what he had just heard. He was amazed that they were not pushing him. Though he shouldn't be, and he knew he shouldn't be, but he couldn't help feeling it. He was shocked that it had been this easy, that he had the freedom to tell them what he wanted to tell them when, he wanted to tell them.

He smiled at the pair brightly.

"Thank you." He said quietly. "I have something for you two though." They looked at him confused but he just grinned. He took hold of his bag, brought it closer to his lips and whispered low enough to be just out of their hearing range the following words. "Picture: James and Lily Potter with infant Harry. Hollow Park." He pulled back, still smiling. He reached his hand into the opening, grasped a hold of the item that had just appeared before pulling out again. When his hand and the item were free, he let the bag go and held the item out to the Lord and Lady.

Galadriel reached over and took it. She then sat back and held it out so both her and Celeborn could see it clearly. The pair inhaled sharply as one and Harry smiled a satisfied smile. The Lady of the Wood ran the fingers of her left hand tentatively over the surface of the image before her.

James and Lily Potter were stood in front of some trees in the park not far from Godric's Hollow and sat happily in Lily's arms was an infantile Harry Potter. Eyes of wisdom and knowledge filled to the brim with tears of emotion.

"Anéthiel." She whispered and lifted her gaze to her daughter's son. "I… I realise that I may not have any right to ask this of you, my child but…" Harry raised his hand gently to silence her for a moment, the smile never leaving his face.

"The image is yours, Nanitta." He sighed. "I think I should apologise to both of you." He saw that they were about to interrupt him so he quickly continued. "No, I really should apologise. My reaction to your presence in this land was less than favourable Ata'da. When Haldir and his patrol first came across me I expressed my distaste of 'Lord Celeborn' of Lóthlorien greatly, even going as far as threatening to harm you.

"My actions and words were selfish. I had just realised that my mothers parents were here. The ones that had sent her away were only a few miles away, and I was angry. And when I saw you, my anger did not dissipate immediately. I should not have told you that she had died as I did. I realise that finding out your daughter has passed on would be devastating but I was thinking only of the fact that you sent her from here to a world that would ultimately lead her to her death. I did not think on reason, nor on any particular common sense.

"I am not trying to justify my actions, because I cannot. Deep within me, those thoughts still roam. But there is naught I can accomplish here by pushing only living family away from me. For that is what I would be doing should I cease connections with you. I am unsure of what Celebrian's reaction would be but I am sure that it would nay be a favourable one. All my life I have longed for a family to love me for who I am. My Aunt and Uncle didn't love me, they saw me as a slave of sorts.

"And now that I have found a family, a quite large one at that, I do not wish to lose it so soon." He focused on Galadriel, smiling sheepishly. "I really am sorry that I almost killed you with the energy I sent. Your mind is strong. Do not get me wrong. It's just when you try to connect with someone mentally, you leave it open, vulnerable to attacks. And I can imagine in a world like this, there would be no threat to you. I just grew up in a world where a mental threat can kill a person just as dead as a knife in the heart could." He shrugged.

"I learnt to be cautious. Strengthened my mental shields. It just seemed like second nature to retaliate how I did when someone tried to enter my mind." A look of understanding washed over both Lord and Lady's faces and they each smiled at their grandson.

"Your plight is understood by us Harry. Do not think we are angry with you because of your defence reaction; however you felt when you did it. Though perhaps, to prevent such occurrences happening again, we three - as my husband holds a mind link with myself - should learn to detect when the other is attempting to not enter the mind, but contact." Smiling slightly, Harry nodded.

"I'd love to. I could meet with you in the morrow after my morning training session." He offered. "I think Rúmil and Orophin expect their spar's with me during that time anyway. Perhaps you both could come down to watch?" He tried to make it out as if he didn't sound like one of those children who ask their parents to come watch their school play. And he didn't think he was succeeding. At least, not by the amused, indulgent looks the pair were sending him at the moment. He scowled at them both, causing them to out-right laugh. He sniffed dramatically but gave up his mock-hurt act.

"I'm attention starved. Humour me." He sent his best innocent-pleading look.

"We would be honoured to witness your spar with the Rúmil and Orophin, as well as your before-training session. The one this morning was quite the show." Celeborn's eyes flickered from Harry's face to the sword at his belt. Grinning, Harry rose from his seat and un-sheathed said sword.

"I suspect it would be useless in asking you if you remember this." He said off-handily as he offered the handle to the elf-lord, who in turn, took it firmly in his right hand. Harry then un-sheathed both knives from his wrist sheaths and handed them to Galadriel. "Lord Elrond and Aunt Celebrian could not distinguish whether or not they were genuine of duplicates." He commented with a grin before turning back to Celeborn. "Erestor, or 'Tall, dark and handsome', as he was known to me at the time… I felt he was the best one to judge if the sword was a duplicate or not. He was the one to convince Elrond to trust me, claiming that he himself would trust me."

The Lord and Lady shared a surprised look. A look that Harry caught. "What?" He asked, confused.

"Erestor isn't known to hand trust lightly. It is one of the reasons most that don't know him personally, see him as cold and distant. All but a few do not even know his correct age. His judgement is solid however, never once has he led those he has served under astray." Harry nodded. "To offer his trust as quickly as he did is unheard of. He must respect you a great deal." Celeborn finished with a smile.

"The respect is mutual." The half-elf said, smiling himself at the thought of the dark haired Chief Counsellor.

Written by Messrmarauder (aka Ithil hin)