A/N: Happy (late) Mother's Day to everyone, whether you're a mother or not! Here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the Lord of the Rings.

Chapter 19: Battle with the Wargs!

The next day it was Ron's turn to scout ahead and make sure the road was safe. He and Hama urged their horses away from the group and they rode over a hill and out of sight. Legolas watched them go. For some reason he felt uneasy. The atmosphere was too quiet for him, and he felt like he sensed some evil nearby.

But right now, everything seemed all right. That is, until Ron and Hama approached another hill nearby. Suddenly, Telien jerked back and started pawing the ground nervously. "What's wrong boy?" asked Ron. Telien whinnied but would not go one step further. Hama's horse was doing the same thing. "Hama, what is it?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," replied Hama.

One thing Ron had always liked about his horse was Telien's unusually quick reflexes. It was a good thing he had them too: it saved both of their lives.

Suddenly out of nowhere a giant wolf, with an orc on its back, pounced on the two from the top of the hill. Telien twisted back as fast as a horse possibly could and reared onto his hind legs, squealing in terror. Hama was not so lucky. The wolf knocked him clean off his horse and promptly went in for the kill. The end came very quickly.

Ron drew his sword. He knew exactly what these creatures were; he had battled them before with Eomer and his troops. This orc was riding a Warg, and they were both fighting the young wizard ferociously.

Luckily for Ron, Legolas heard the shouts and came running. He quickly drew out his bow and shot the warg. Then he took one of his knives and slew its rider. "A scout!" he yelled to Aragorn, who had also come running to see what was the matter. The ranger nodded and went back to warn the others.

"Come on," Ron called down to Legolas, patting the seat of his horse, "Get up! There are probably more coming!"

"Oh don't worry about me; I'll be fine on the ground until Arod comes."

"You don't understand, the only reason you were able to kill those guys was because they didn't see you coming. You can't fight on the ground, it's too dangerous!"

"I'll be fine, stop worrying," said Legolas, and he charged up the hill to face whatever was coming.

"Suit yourself," said Ron, before muttering, "He's mental!"

"I heard that!"

Ron silently cursed the amazing hearing abilities of elves.


After she was all settled, Hermione decided to explore the rest of the caves. Faramir would've let them all leave on their own accord, but he wanted to make sure they were well-rested and replenished before they continued on their way. Frodo and Sam, being hobbits, eagerly accepted when Faramir provided them with as best a supper as they had out in the wild, but Hermione found she wasn't very hungry. So instead she chose to wander. She hadn't gone very far when she heard some soft snorting. Curious, Hermione peered around a bend and saw a small black horse munching on some hay.

"Well hello there," she said, approaching it slowly and reaching out to stroke its unusually long but velvety nose. The horse nuzzled her. "What's your name?"

"That's Snout," said a voice behind her. Hermione turned around to see Ginny. "He's my horse."

"You named your horse Snout?"

"Well, yeah, look at his nose, it's longer than normal. Besides, I think it's a cute name, don't you?"

"If you say so," said Hermione, but deep down she was thinking, First Pigwidgeon, now Snout! This girl's got weird ideas when it comes to naming things!

"Faramir gave him to me," said Ginny, walking over to stroke the horse, "He's only a year old, and no one really needed him, so I got to keep him. We get along great."

"He seems really sweet."

"Oh yes," said Ginny. She stared at Hermione curiously. "I didn't know you liked horses."

"I didn't either," she replied, and they both laughed. "I guess being in Middle Earth opened me to new interests!"

"Yeah, I feel the same way. C'mon, let's get something to eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"Of course you are! Come on," she said, and dragged a protesting Hermione from the room.


Harry had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and it certainly intensified when the group heard shouts coming from over the hill. Aragorn dashed off to see what was the matter, and came back a few minutes later, eyes wide with fear.

"What's the matter?" asked Harry.

"Wargs! We're under attack!" he yelled.

Harry had no clue what a warg was, and wasn't sure if he really wanted to find out. Nevertheless, he mounted Thalion and followed the rest of the soldiers into battle.

Ron and Legolas stood on the hill, watching as the warg riders came charging towards them. The elf started firing arrows in their direction, but Ron was terrible at shooting and knew any attempt with a bow were just pointless. So instead he tried blasting a few Stunners, and then waited for Théoden's riders to catch up before charging on into battle.

Harry had never fought on a horse before, and it wasn't easy. Still, it was better than being on the ground, as he soon found out. The two armies clashed together, and if any unfortunate soldiers fell off their mounts, the wargs showed no mercy. On the other hand, Gimli fell off right in the beginning, but as far as Harry could tell, he was doing much better on the ground. That is, until he killed a warg and it toppled onto him, leaving him pinned to the ground. Harry started to ride to his aid, but he found himself caught between two orcs that required all of his concentration.


Meanwhile, Ginny had finally gotten Hermione to eat something, although her friend protested that she wasn't hungry. Now Hermione was looking for Frodo and Sam. She found them sitting by the window to which the headquarters got its name. What was so unusual about it was that it was hidden entirely by a waterfall.

"Hey guys," she said, "How are you doing?"

"Fine thank you, Miss Hermione," said Sam. Frodo didn't answer.

"Frodo?" she asked, "Are you ok?"

"Fine," he said softly, not even looking at her.

Hermione looked directly into his eyes. "Is it the Ring?" she asked, very quietly so no one would hear.

Frodo sighed. "It's just getting a bit heavy, that's all."

"If you need any help, let me know."

"You can't help me here Hermione. Or you Sam," he added as Sam opened his mouth to say something.

"Oh come on Frodo, we have to be able to help you; why else do you think we came?" asked Hermione exasperatedly.

Frodo said nothing. She had a point.

"This is exactly how Harry acts," she went on angrily, "He shuts himself up and won't talk to anyone because he believes that no one can understand what he's going through. Did it ever occur to him, or you, that the only reason why we can't understand is because you won't tell us what's wrong?"

"Hermione, I'm glad you and Sam have decided to come with me, and for this I thank you, but you have no idea, either one of you, what it's like to carry this…this…thing!" he said with utter disgust, gesturing towards the Ring. "When I have it on, it's like there's this great weight pressing on my chest, and I want to take it off, but I can't. I hate it, but at the same point, the desire to wear it is growing stronger and stronger each day. I'm so afraid of the power it has over me, but now I'm also starting to grow attached to it. It's so much a part of me!"

Here Frodo stopped and closed his eyes, his face the picture of deep distress. Sam put a comforting arm around his master. Hermione felt terrible.

"Frodo…I'm really sorry…You're absolutely right, I really did have no idea, but I still want to help you if I can!"

"You've done enough already," said Frodo, opening his eyes and struggling to smile. "If you and your friends help us win this war, we will owe you a great debt!"

"Nonsense," said Hermione, "We're more than happy to help!"

"But what about this Voldemort person you mentioned?" asked Sam, "Don't you need to get rid of him too?"

"Well, yes, but we'll deal with him later, when we get home."

"If you ever need our assistance with your war, let us know," said Frodo.

"That's very sweet of you Frodo, but Voldemort is a really powerful wizard, along with his followers, the Death Eaters. No offense, but you'd be no match for them!"

"None taken," said Sam, "Anyway, I don't care how powerful they are, they won't be a match for Samwise Gamgee!" He unsheathed his dagger and waved it around for dramatic effect, only to trip and fall flat on his face. Frodo and Hermione laughed.

"Oh Sam," she gasped, "I really don't know…"


Aragorn was riding through the battle, slashing orcs with furious speed. He was used to battling on horseback, even though it wasn't his favorite way to fight. Nearby he could see Harry struggling with two particularly vicious orcs, and rode over quickly to help. After that was taken care of, he saw yet another friend was in need: Gimli was stuck underneath a dead warg and a dead orc, and a second warg had climbed on top, teeth bared. Thinking quickly, Aragorn pulled out a spear and thrust it into the creature. It dropped dead, and Gimli groaned in pain as he got pinned down by another body!

Meanwhile, Harry and Ron were riding side by side, and for once, it was Ron who was really coming out on top. Harry didn't really mind; his best friend was always in his shadows, except in chess, so it was about time Ron beat him at something.

Harry has just finished slicing off the head of another orc, when he turned just in time to see Aragorn knocked off his horse. Fortunately it looked like the ranger was unhurt. That is, until another warg and its rider tackled him, and Aragorn found his sleeve tangled in the rein, he himself getting dragged along for the ride. Harry couldn't think of anything else to do except gallop as fast as he could towards them.

What he planned to do was very brave and incredibly reckless. But he didn't care. Harry never thought about his own safety when another's was at risk. While Aragorn struggled with the orc, Harry stood up on Thalion, something that could only be achieved by his superb Quidditch training. A few seconds closer to the warg was all he needed, before he took a deep breath, steadied himself, and jumped.

The orc rider was busy trying to kill the man that had gotten caught in his warg. He never expected there to be danger from behind. Suddenly, he felt the warg buckle and shift as extra weight was suddenly placed on its back. The orc barely had time to turn around before a sword rammed into his stomach and he was tossed away. The only thing he'd been able to grab onto was something that had been fastened around the man's neck. But he could care less what it was, as he lay, breathing heavily on the ground, watching with some satisfaction as he saw where his now crazed mount was headed.

Aragorn was shocked to see the vicious orc replaced by a good friend. "Harry," he gasped, "What are you doing?"

"Getting you loose," was Harry's short reply as began to slash wildly at the tough rein.

Aragorn twisted around to look ahead and instantly paled. "Harry," he said, ""Get off. Now."

"Hold on, I'm almost done!"

"No. Get off now!"

"Just a minute!"

"HARRY GET OFF!"

It was too late. Harry looked up in time to see the edge of the cliff coming to meet them, and then the roaring river below. Neither friend had a chance to escape.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"


Faramir had never felt so distressed in his life. Boromir was dead, Gondor was weakening, and an entire army looked to him now to do things right. How could he? His father was right, he really was useless…

Ginny, meanwhile, hated to see her friend so upset. Faramir got on her nerves sometimes, with his whole idea that as a girl she didn't belong in battle, but she did feel sorry for him sometimes. One couldn't help it; he had such a rough life. Although Ginny wasn't a very tactful person, she was still determined to make him feel better.

"Are you ok?" she asked, sitting next to him.

"Fine," he said, turning away.

Ginny bit her lip. "Look, I know you're upset, but if you need any help…"

"Ginny, I know what you're going to say. And the answer is no. I'm supposed to be protecting you, and I can't do that if I place you in battle."

"But Faramir, I can help, I swear! I have magic, I know how to use a Shield Charm, I can look after myself!"

But Faramir was shaking his head. "Boromir asked me to look after you, so that's what I intend to do. Besides, it appears to be the one thing my father expects me to do right!"

"And you don't want to lose that," said another voice behind them. They both turned to see Hermione. "I understand," she said, "In my world, sometimes, no matter how hard I try; my teachers aren't impressed by my work. I hate that because I do the best I can, but no one realizes it!"

"Hermione, everyone knows you're a genius, unless you're talking about Snape and the Slytherins, and it's just not worth it to look for praise from them," said Ginny.

"I know, and I know the other Gryffindors don't care that Snape picks on us, but it bothers me that he just refuses to give me any praise for my work!"

"You two are just too serious, you know that don't you?" said Ginny exasperatedly, "Both of you are addicted to studying, although I can't see how you can possibly be interested in that sort of thing. It's boring!"

"You sound like my father," mumbled Faramir.

"It's not boring, I love learning!" replied Hermione.

"I guess you and Gandalf got along well then?" asked Faramir.

"Yes, why? Did you know him well?"

"I did. He taught me a lot when I was younger. Much to my father's disgust. He wanted me to be a soldier, but even in that area he's just not satisfied."

"Ah well," said Ginny, "He's a brainless git."

"Ginny!" gasped Hermione.

"Well he is!"

Faramir seemed hasty to get off the subject. "So you came from Rivendell?" he asked Hermione, "What are the Elves like? I've read a bit about them."

"Oh they're simply wonderful," said Hermione excitedly, and she was off, telling the young soldier everything she could about Rivendell (which was quite a lot), with Faramir adding in every now and then things he had read on the subject. Feeling like the fifth wheel, Ginny got up to leave. Bookworms, she thought, rolling her eyes, They're all the same!


The battle was over, at least for now. Gimli swung his ax into a dying warg, and everything was quiet.

Ron got off his horse, along with the other Rohirrim soldiers, as they began counting the casualties. They had won, but at a great cost. Ron started calling for Harry. He had just realized that his friend was nowhere to be seen.

Legolas and Gimli had realized the same thing about Aragorn. All three of them walked through the bodies, calling for their friends. They got no response, until they reached the cliff.

Ron started to walk over to the edge, when he could of sworn he heard someone laughing. It was a very orcish laugh too. He and the others turned to the ground to see the sound came from a dying orc. Just looking at it told Ron that something terrible had happened, though his mind wouldn't allow him to start considering it. Gimli aimed his ax at the creature. "Tell me what happened and I will ease your passing," he said.

"They're…dead," the orc replied, "They took a little tumble off the cliff."

Ron instantly felt like he was going to be sick. He had forgotten how to breathe. Legolas grabbed the orc by the shoulders. "You lie!" he hissed. The orc just laughed. It seemed to Ron that this creature was just thrilled to hurt them this way before he died. A wave of fierce anger filled up in the young wizard, and before anyone else could react, he swung his sword and drove it down deep into the orc's chest. It died instantly.

Ron was now breathing heavily and leaning on his horse for support. "They're not dead…they can't be," he whispered.

Legolas noticed something in the orc's hand. It was an elven necklace. His heart sank the moment he saw it.

"What's that?" asked Ron, not really catching on, "Oh wait! I've seen that before, I think. Didn't Aragorn wear that or something?" He paused for a moment, as he began to take in what he was saying. "That still doesn't mean Harry fell off though!" he added hopefully.

Gimli looked around. "Then where is he?"

"Oh yeah…"

Together, all three of them walked to the edge of the cliff. Nothing could be seen at the bottom except the roaring stream.

At this moment Théoden approached them. He was deeply saddened about Aragorn's and Harry's supposed fates, but nothing could be done for them now. "Ron," he said, "Help me round up the men. We need to get the wounded to Helm's Deep before the Wolves of Isengard return."

"But sir, I want to find Harry! What if he's not dead? He's been through so much; he couldn't have been killed just by falling off a cliff!"

"I'm sorry Ron, but you can't help them anymore. Come, all of you," he said, with a pointed look at Legolas and Gimli, who both looked despondent. Théoden then turned and walked away.

Gimli stared down for what seemed like an age before he sighed heavily and said, "The king is right. Let's go." Legolas looked at the necklace in his hand, then back at the cliff, before following.

Ron's eyes continued to follow the progress of the stream. It really bothered him that they were leaving without even at least bothering to search for bodies. Maybe…just maybe…no it was impossible. Even the great Harry Potter couldn't have survived a fall like that. With that thought in mind, he took one last look at the cliff before turning to leave. "Goodbye Harry," he whispered. It was at this point that Ron did something he'd never done before, at least not in public. Something he only did alone, when something heart-wrenching occurred in his life. He cried.

A/N: Sorry if that was at all clichéd or a bit sappy. And I am SOOOOOOOOO sorry I haven't updated sooner. I honestly feel wiped out, with the computer nearly crashing, and homework, and I feel stressed out at the moment. What I really need is my own laptop. Then I could just sit in my room and type whenever I had a spare moment. Quiet and privacy are the two elements I need in order to write.

To my wonderful (and hopefully patient) reviewers:

Eclipse: I am a Harry/Ginny shipper to tell you the truth. So I'll probably pair them up, but it won't really be big in this story, because the way the actual series is going, it looks like Harry hasn't really "discovered" Ginny yet. He still thinks she's that helpless little girl down in the Chamber of Secrets. Of course, we all know better, 'cause GINNY RULES! I don't know where I came up with the Boromir sequence; it just sorta popped into my head. But I'm glad you liked it!

Eleniel of the Stars: Hehe, if Middle Earth were mine, Frodo, Gandalf, and the elves wouldn't leave for Valinor, there'd be more Eowyn-like female characters (including myself!), Denethor would love Faramir, and Legolas would be MINE! But that's only IF Middle-Earth were mine, of course…

Infallallthingsaremadesplendid: Oh yes it will! Harry said in the fifth book he needed to have a talk with someone about girls (namely Sirius, but that's beside the point), so I thought, what the heck, he certainly needs one! This story isn't going to be very romantic, but I'm thinking of spicing up the sequel a little bit! (They're at Hogwarts…girl students everywhere, more of choice selection! My one big mistake was that I never put Luna in here. She'd be at home in another world like this! But I forgot to add her in in the first chapter. I'm really stupid like that!)

XyBulmaXy: Aww thanks! I'll try and keep it up!

SalanTrong: Of course you're not! I know, I used to be a silent reader too! (I still am, as a matter of fact!)

Darknesscomes: Good! Do you like it now? (Lol If we're not careful, we're going to start sounding like the Sprint commercial; "Can you here me now?" etc.)

Kaladelia Undomiel: I did my best to make a connection between the two of them. Hermione'll be torn of course during the Frodo and Sam thing, it should be highly emotional. Then there's the fact that I outlined my story, and I believe Frodo and Sam will part in the same chapter that Faramir nearly dies at Osgiliath. That'll be a very sad chapter!

Lisa Riddle: Ooo, I really wanted to do a Legolas pairing, I know exactly who I'd do, but then I decided not too. It's too late now to do it in this story, but if you want me to do it in another story, I will! I'm not sure about Fred and George though. Sorry if it seems clichéd, I try to avoid it at all costs, but I'm happy to hear you like my writing style!

Suuki-Aldrea: Yeah, I woke up last Saturday to hear that ours had crashed as well. Fortunately it turned out the reason it wasn't working was because my disk was stuck in there. But we still have a virus! Grr!

Tom Riddle Charlie: I think Harry underestimates Ginny in the books, but towards the end I'm going to see if I can pair them up. Those two are great together! I figure if it's exactly like the Lord of the Rings story it'll get boring. So I'm trying to take it in all sorts of different directions. It really writes itself at times. But I just love writing fanfiction!

LillyandJamesforever: She's one of my favorites too! Luna, Hermione, and Ginny! I love those three! Of course you can publish my story on your website, I feel flattered that anyone would want to!

Beautystar: Hmm, you're right. The flashback was meant to explain what happened to Ginny in more detail. The reason why I did that was besides Harry, I knew exactly what I wanted to happen to her when she fell in (the way she met Boromir and everything). I won't repost it 'cause I don't really have time, but thanks for pointing it out!

Catwraith: I honestly can't tell you when the next chapter will be. I originally planned to submit a new chapter each Friday, but fate has a way of messing up the best of plans! Ginny's not going to Mordor, don't worry, she'd rather be in battle!