Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings. There, I said it. Now I won't get sued.

Chapter 8: Departure from Rivendell

Early the next morning, the Fellowship was getting ready to leave. It looked like all of Rivendell was turning out to bid them farewell. In the midst of all the hustle and bustle, Hermione slipped away. She wanted to say a special good-bye to Arwen. She had been a good friend and one of the few things that kept a thoroughly anxious Hermione from going insane during the past few months.

As she wandered through the paths of Rivendell, Hermione heard someone crying. She crept in the direction of the sobbing, rounded a corner, and was startled to see it was Arwen.

"Arwen," she gasped, "What's the matter?"

Arwen looked up. "Oh Hermione," she cried, "It's Aragorn."

Hermione knew all about Arwen's relationship with Aragorn, so she figured she knew what was wrong. "Don't worry Arwen," she said, putting a comforting arm around her friend, "Aragorn will be fine. He'll survive this war, don't worry."

"I know," replied Arwen tearfully, "That's not what I'm upset about."

"What is it then?" asked Hermione curiously.

"H-he took me aside a few minutes ago. He t-told me that I should go to V-Valinor; that our relationship was just a dream."

Hermione was furious, not to mention shocked. "He didn't!" she cried.

"He did."

"I don't believe this," hissed Hermione in outrage, "I thought he loved you!"

"I think he does," said Arwen, trying to stop crying, "But he probably thinks it's better if I go and not make any sacrifices for him."

"That's utter nonsense! You just told him you'd give up your immortality the other night! You gave him your necklace!"

"And he tried to give it back, but I wouldn't let him," said Arwen, "Well, at least Ada will be happy. He's been trying to persuade me to sail away for ages now."

"That doesn't matter!" cried Hermione, "You can't give in to them Arwen! You should be able to make decisions for yourself! Like when you wanted to go find Frodo and the others. You have to stand your ground and stick with your choice!"

Arwen wiped some tears away. "Thanks Hermione," she said, "You're right, I know. I'm going to really miss you!"

"I'll miss you too," said Hermione, hugging her friend tightly, "Goodbye Arwen!"

"Goodbye Hermione!"

The two girls hugged for a final time, and then parted.


Meanwhile the rest of the Fellowship was just about ready to leave. Elrond was with them to give them his final blessing before they departed.

"Where's Hermione?" asked Harry, looking around.

"Here I am!" called Hermione as she ran up to them, "Sorry I'm late!"

"What took you so long?" asked Merry.

"Just saying a few goodbyes," she replied hastily.

Elrond looked out at them all. He gave them his final blessing, and they departed. Aragorn was the last to leave. He took one last look at Rivendell. It had always been his beloved home, and he wondered if he would ever see it again. His eyes eventually rested on Arwen. She was standing near her father, looking on the verge of tears. He felt terrible about what he'd said and done, but there was nothing else he could do about it. So he turned and followed the rest of the Fellowship. On the way out, he was startled to see Hermione giving him a death glare before running to catch up with Harry. He wondered why, but put it out of his head for the time being. He had to keep his mind focused on the dangerous quest that lay ahead.

The first few weeks were rather dull. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, and Harry was beginning to hope that the Ringwraiths were gone for good. He never wanted to run into one of them again.

Eventually the Fellowship arrived at a place called a Hollin, where they decided to make camp. Sam was in charge of the thing he knew best besides gardening: food. Legolas was keeping watch. The others were mostly relaxed, as Gandalf sat puffing his pipe and Merry and Pippin asked Boromir and Aragorn if they would teach them how to swordfight.

"Of course," said Boromir.

"Hey, what about us?" asked Fred.

"Yeah, we're not exactly the best with swords," said George.

"Haven't you ever used one before?" asked Merry.

"I don't think we've ever touched one before," replied Fred.

"I have," said Harry, "I used one to kill a giant snake once. It was the sword of Godric Gryffindor."

Pippin stared at him in awe. "A giant snake!"

Harry nodded.

"Wow…" said Merry, "How did you do that?"

"It's a long story," said Harry, "Why don't you practice with Boromir right now, and I'll tell you afterwards."

They agreed, and Harry sat with Aragorn on a boulder to watch. Boromir didn't mind showing Fred and George as well, and they picked it up almost instantly.

Meanwhile Hermione was sitting on a rock nearby, reading a book she had brought with her about the different people and places in Middle-Earth. She was hoping that by learning more about where they were, she could help the rest of the Company decide where to go. At the moment she could hear Gimli arguing with Gandalf. The dwarf wanted to go through the Mines of Moria, but Gandalf didn't like the idea. So Hermione flipped through the book to read more. Eventually she found what she was looking for.

The Mines of Moria

The Mines of Moria, also known as Khazad-dum to the Dwarves, was the first Dwarven kingdom in Middle-Earth. It is most known for its vast supply of mithril, a rare, pure, and beautiful silver found only in Moria. The kingdom was first founded in the Elder Days, but was all but destroyed in 1981 of the Third Age when the Dwarves awoke a dark terror deep within the Mines, known to them as Durin's Bane. Among the Elves it is known as a Balrog, a corrupt Maiar spirit and a great flaming demon that…

Hermione shut the book in mid-sentence, something she didn't do very often. She didn't need to read anymore to know that she NEVER wanted to go into the Mines. Gimli may've wanted to visit his ancestral home, but Hermione was not keen on walking into a Balrog's lair, which not to mention was probably swarming with orcs…Hermione shuddered. She was glad Gandalf had said no.

Hermione wandered over to where Harry and Aragorn were watching the sword-fighting lesson with great amusement. Boromir accidentally hit Pippin, who yelped in pain. The result was the four friends leaping on Boromir with war-cries, tackling him to the ground. Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry. "Honestly," she muttered, pointing at the twins, "They're legally adults, but they still think and act like littlekids!"

Harry laughed. Aragorn headed toward the little fight that had broken out. "Gentlemen, that's enough," he said. They all turned to face him and in seconds the ranger was sprawled on the ground near Boromir.

Suddenly everything seemed to grow quiet. Harry turned to look at the others and saw Legolas staring intently in the distance. He followed the elf's gaze and finally saw a black smudge getting closer and closer. It was hard to tell what it was, because Harry's eye sight wasn't as good.

Sam saw it too. "What is that?" he asked.

"Nothing, it's just a wisp of cloud," said Gimli.

Harry seriously doubted this; he had never seen as cloud move that fast before, in their direction, no less. Legolas was the first to realize what it was. "Crebain from Dunland!" he shouted.

"Hide!" yelled Aragorn.

"The what from where?" asked Harry.

"Never mind, I'll tell you later, just do what Aragorn says!" cried Hermione.

Everyone raced behind the rocks and undergrowth. Harry had barely ducked down near Aragorn when a huge swarm of birds came flying over the camp, shrieking like demons. Harry half expected them to attack, but they didn't. They just flew over the camp, circled, and then flew off in the same direction that they had come. As soon as they were out of sight, the Fellowship poked their heads out again.

"Uh, why were we hiding from a bunch of birds?" asked Fred.

"Those weren't ordinary birds," said Hermione, "They were crebain."

"We know that Hermione," said Harry, "So what are crebain?"

"They're big black crows that live near the Gap of Rohan, which is where we're headed," she said, "But I don't think they live around here, do they Gandalf?"

"No," replied Gandalf, "They're spies of Saruman."

"Who?" asked George.

"Saruman, the White Wizard," said Gandalf, "I went to see him back in the spring, when you first started out on your journey to Rivendell. I thought he was a friend. But he turned to Sauron and betrayed us, and he had me imprisoned for a while in his tower at Isengard. That's why I wasn't able to meet you at Bree, remember?"

"Oh yeah," said Harry, "I wondered about that, but I forgot to ask you what happened."

"Well, that's what happened. But now the real problem that remains is that we need to change our direction. The passage south is being watched."

Not Moria, thought Hermione, Please don't let it be Moria.

"We must take the pass at Caradhas."

Hermione inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. That relief was short-lived however. The new route involved going over the Misty Mountains, which was covered in snow. Hermione used a special little charm she'd learned to melt the snow and create a path for them, but it was still freezing cold. At one point Frodo slipped and started to roll down the path. Aragorn and Harry raced after him, but then Harry slowed as he passed a particular patch of snow. He felt there was something there that he wanted very badly, but that was absurd. What on earth could he want in the mountains?

The answer came when he ran to Frodo, who was frantically searching his neck for something that wasn't there. The Ring was gone! It was lying in the snow that Harry had just passed. He went to pick it up, but Boromir beat him to it. The man picked it up to his face, reaching out as if to stroke it.

"Give it here Boromir," said Harry quietly.

Boromir looked at him. "Why should I?" he asked.

"It's not yours; it doesn't belong to you," said Harry.

"Are you saying it's yours?" asked Boromir, backing away and looking at Harry with an almost angry expression.

"I think I deserve it more than you…"

"Boromir! Harry!" called Aragorn sharply. Both seemed to break out of their trance as their heads snapped towards Aragorn. "Give the Ring to Frodo," he said sternly.

Boromir smiled and returned it to the hobbit. Everyone was staring at them. Harry turned red. He had no idea what made him do that.

Aragorn stared at the two of them as they walked up to the rest of the group. He was very worried, but didn't show it. He liked Harry a lot, they had a lot in common, more than Harry even realized. But it was clear to Aragorn that the boy was having trouble when he came in contact with the Ring. He felt bad for his friend, and wanted to help in any way he could. But he did not express this with anyone for now, especially since Harry looked upset and slightly embarrassed by the whole situation.

As bad as things seemed at the time, they were just about to get worse.

While the Fellowship was making their way through a narrow passage in the mountains, a huge blizzard hit them. Hermione tried all she could to cast a heating spell, but it was little comfort against the howling wind and blinding snow in everyone's faces.

Gandalf lead the way, cutting through the snow with his staff. Hermione was behind him with her heating charm, helping him as best she could. Next came Legolas, who was listening intently through the wind. Fred and George were sheltering Merry and Pippin, Boromir followed them, Harry helped Sam lead his pony Bill along the edge of the mountain, and then came Aragorn helping Frodo.

Harry could see Legolas walk past Gandalf and Hermione, listening intently and peering through the snow. He wondered how anyone could see or hear anything through this storm, but had learned to trust an elf's skill above anyone else's. Sure enough, he could hear Legolas mention something about a voice to Gandalf, who yelled to the others, "It's Saruman!"

A thunderbolt struck the cliff above them, and snow cascaded around their heads. This was getting too dangerous. Aragorn suggested they turn back, which Harry thought was an excellent idea, if not a disheartening one, but Gandalf refused.

"Is he mad!" yelled Fred to George, "We're going to freeze to death out here!"

"You're telling me," said Merry. His teeth were chattering as he shivered in the cold, and both his and Pippin's faces were blue.

That's when an avalanche of snow came down. It covered the entire Fellowship, burying them completely. For a few seconds, everything was still. Then Legolas managed to break through the snow, then Harry, pulling Hermione up with him, then Fred, George, Merry, and Pippin, Boromir with Sam, Gimli, and then Aragorn, Gandalf, and Frodo.

There seemed to be only one choice left: get off the mountain.

Boromir wanted to go through the Gap of Rohan, but then they'd have to worry about Saruman catching them. Gimli wanted to go through the Mines of Moria, and couldn't understand why Hermione was adamantly refusing. "Why don't we just take a vote?" she suggested.

Boromir, Hermione, Legolas, Merry, and Pippin voted to go through the Gap of Rohan. Gimli, Harry, Fred, George, and Frodo voted for the Mines. Sam just wanted to get off the mountain. Gandalf didn't want to go into the Mines, but he realized it was the only real choice they had. So that's where they headed.

It was a relief to be out of the snow, but Harry noticed something was bothering Hermione. She was frowning and biting her lip, a sure sign that she was agitated. "Hermione?" he asked, "What's the matter?"

Hermione hesitated. She half wanted to tell him what she'd read, but she didn't want to worry him anymore than he had to be.

"Hermione? Is it because we're going into Moria? Why don't you want to enter it? Are you afraid of something?"

"It's nothing Harry," she replied, sighing heavily.

"Are you sure?" he asked anxiously.

"Yes, I'm fine. Don't worry about me Harry, please; you have enough on your mind already!"

"All right," said Harry in resignation.

By nightfall Gandalf had led the rest of the Company to a little inlet where the Doors of Moria were supposed to be. The cavern was situated by a huge, deep, underground lake. Once, Harry slipped and fell into the slimy water. He quickly picked himself up, but stared anxiously at the bubbles that appeared ominously in the center of the lake, then everything was still.

Gandalf was busy tapping the wall with his staff, running his hand along it, and muttering different incantations in Elvish under his breath. Suddenly he stepped back, and an astonishing sight met Harry's eyes.

Silver moon light filled different cracks in the wall, until they made the shape of a huge silver door with Elvish writing written all over it.

"It says: The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak friend and enter," read Gandalf.

"What do you suppose that means?" asked Merry.

"Well, it's quite simple. If you are a friend, you speak the password, and the Doors will open," replied Gandalf.

This made perfect sense to the Hogwarts students, since they needed a password to get into places at school all the time. But Hermione felt like something was tugging in the back of her mind; something she'd forgotten. She shook it off and let Gandalf carry on with what he was doing.

"Annon edhellen, edro hi amen! Fennas nogothrim, lasto beth lammen!" announced Gandalf slowly and clearly.

There was a pause. And then…

"Nothing's happening," remarked Pippin.

"Oh thank you so much Pippin," said George very sarcastically.

"Yeah if we ever need an update like that, let us know," said Fred. Pippin blushed slightly and stared at the ground.

Harry grinned. "Relax, Pip, they're only joking around!"

Gandalf glared at the boys. Apparently he was not thrilled about the fact that this one of the rare moments when he was stumped. Everyone ended up sitting along the narrow shore, waiting as patiently as possible as Gandalf sat concentrating hard and puffing his pipe. Hermione was sitting on a rock next to him, staring up at the words and muttering under her breath. She herself knew Elvish fairly well; Arwen and Elrond had taught herboth forms: Sindarin and Quenya. Like the brilliant student she was, Hermione took to it immediately and was soon speaking as fluently as any elf in Rivendell, though she never showed it. Now she was using her new skills to try to think of the password.

Merry and Pippin finally got so bored that they started throwing rocks in the water, trying to see how far they could throw them. Fred and George were waving their wands and Summoning the rocks back so they could be reused. Under normal circumstances Aragorn would've told them off for doing something so careless when they had no idea what could be in the water, but he had his back turned to them at the moment as he tried to comfort Sam, who was forced to let his beloved Bill return to Rivendell. It would be impossible to lead a pony through the Mines, and deep down Sam understood, but it was hard to say goodbye to a creature he had become emotionally attached to.

Harry wasn't paying attention to any of this. He was thinking hard, as usual. It bothered him that he seemed so attracted to the Ring. Why was that? He was usually good at this area, resisting the lure of the power of evil and so forth. So why did he feel weak now? Was it because of his past? Could it be that when Voldemort transferred some of his powers to Harry fourteen years ago, he transferred some of his greed and power lust as well? Harry shuddered at the thought.

By now, Aragorn had turned around, and sure enough, he made a beeline for the twins and the two younger hobbits, scolding them for disturbing the water. It soon became clear why. The bubbles were remerging, and it looked like something was creating ripples that moved closer and closer to shore.

Luckily Hermione stood up at that moment, with a broad smile on her face. "Mellon!" she cried, and the doors creaked open. Gandalf began to laugh at the sight. Hermione smiled triumphantly at the others.

"I don't get it," said Merry, "How did you know the password?"

"I didn't," said Hermione beaming, "I figured it out on my own. It was a riddle, you see, 'Speak friend and enter.' The Elvish word for friend is 'mellon'. And that's the password!"

"I couldn't have done it better myself," said Gandalf, smiling kindly at her, "You are a very clever witch. Now let us go on!"

They stepped in cautiously. Gandalf lit his staff, and the Hogwarts students lit their wands with the Lumos spell. Harry was almost at the foot of the stairs when he heard an awful crunch beneath his feet. He looked down. What he saw made him feel sick.

It was the skeleton of a dwarf. Horrified, Harry spun around. There were skeletons all over the place, pierced with arrows and swords. Hermione shrieked in fear.

"We make for the Gap of Rohan," said Boromir, as they all backed away, "We should never have come here." A few seconds later, however, that was no longer an option.

Harry started to walk towards the door when he saw something long and slimy, like a tentacle, come out of the water. "LOOK OUT!" he yelled, but it had already wrapped itself around Frodo's legs and started pulling him towards the lake. He screamed and tried to grab on to something.

"Harry, help!" yelled Sam as he, Merry, and Pippin grabbed onto Frodo and started slashing at the tentacle. It let go, but then a whole bunch of tentacles shot out and attacked the hobbits. One of them seized Frodo again and pulled him into the lake.

Without thinking twice, Harry dashed into the cold water after Frodo, shouting whatever spells came to his head. "STUPEFY! EXPELLAIRMUS! IMPEDIMENTA!" he screamed, but it wasn't helping too much; the irritated creature stuck its head out of the water, revealing a hideous looking octopus-like monster. It reached out with another one of its tentacles and grabbed Harry around the waist, lifting him in the air with Frodo.

By now Aragorn and Boromir had gotten in the lake and were hewing at the beast's tentacles with their swords. Legolas was by the entrance to the Mines firing arrows in their direction, and Hermione, Fred, and George had started trying to combine the magic from their spells to make them more powerful. It seemed to work, because the creature began to give in. When Aragorn managed to slash at the tentacles holding Frodo and Harry it dropped them harmlessly into the water. But the monster wasn't finished. It chased the Fellowship as they all fled into Moria, and then it tore at the Doors until they crashed and fell, caving in the entrance way and blocking any way for escape. They were trapped in the Mines.

"We now have one choice," said Gandalf, "We must face the long dark of Moria."

Hermione gulped. She had a feeling their experience here would not be an enjoyable one. She was right.

A/N: Sorry I took longer than usual to update, but I haven't had time to write between school, a dance, and a really bad cold. To my excellent and wonderful reviewers:

UK All the Way: bows back Glad to know you appreciate my work. I'm trying as hard as I can. Ginny and Frodo is a good idea, I forgot about them, I'll definitely consider it. But I've had it planned from the beginning where they'll all be, so if I can use it I will, if I can't, I'm sorry.

I love theLORD: Thank you for your review; I really appreciate it.

canidus-lupin full Moon: Thanks, I meant to respond to your review last chapter, but for some reason it didn't come up. Sorry!

Vanilla Faerie: Thank you so much, you're the first person to appreciate the movie and book lines! I try to put enough in so that it's still LotR, but a different story.

Kaledelia Undomiel: Ooo, Istill haveto watch that documentary; I love the song "Into the West", except that it makes me want to cry. (My personal favorite in the movies though is the song in the Houses of Healing!) I love the Exploding Pillows too, orginally I was just going to have it like in the book, but then I thought, nah, Fred and George can come up with something better than that! I'm glad you like my story; I liked yours!