Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the Lord of the Rings.
A/N: I'M DONE WITH SCHOOL! OH YEAH! And you all know what that means: more chapters! (Except next week, I'll be on vacation!)
Chapter 23: Osgiliath and Isengard Besieged
Treebeard continued to walk closer and closer to Isengard, all the while chatting unconcernedly to Fred, George, Merry, and Pippin. He had no idea what he was about to run into. But he was about to find out.
The old Ent gasped in horror as the forest suddenly ended and death and destruction began. Burnt tree stumps littered the ground. There wasn't a tree left in the area. Even the Four were startled and saddened. And it was pretty clear to them who the culprit was.
It was pretty clear to Treebeard too. He was enraged to see the way Saruman had treated the forest, letting orcs come and cut down his friends, the trees, burning everything in sight…the Ent let out an anguished howl that could be heard by all the Ents nearby. They got the message at once.
"Whoa," breathed Fred, "What are we going to do?"
Treebeard was livid. "The Ents will march against Isengard," he replied.
There was a rustling noise. The Four turned around to see the shapes of more and more Ents coming out of the forest. George saw something else. "Blimey!" he yelled, "Are those all trees!"
Farther away they could see what they once thought was part of the forest moving away.
"Yes, they are," said Treebeard, "They have business with the orcs." Something about the way he said it told the others that this would be very unpleasant business. Neither Fred nor George envied the orcs too much.
Then a thought struck Fred, as they marched towards Isengard. He saw a grin spreading on Pippin's face and climbed up higher to whisper to him: "This was your plan all along wasn't it?"
Pippin gave him a smug, I'm-such-a-smart-hobbit-aren't-I look. "Yes it was."
"Alright alright, no need to get a swollen head here, I was just asking!"
"How about 'Thank you Pippin for being so smart and knowing what to do'?"
"How about 'Shut up before I fling you all the way to Isengard'?"
"There's no need to treat me like that," said Pippin in mock sadness, "Here I am, saving you all with my brilliant plan, and all you can do is say: 'Don't get a swollen head!'?"
"Oh you poor thing. How will you ever survive without us paying homage to you?" snorted Fred.
"Shut up you two. We're almost there!" said Merry.
Meanwhile, Faramir's men had just reached Osgiliath. There was the sound of falling rocks everywhere as orcs catapulted boulders from across the river to besiege the fortress. But Faramir had other things to worry about. He handed Frodo, Sam, and Gollum over to some trusted soldiers so to make sure the Ring would get to Minas Tirith safely. He let Hermione stay because he liked and trusted her, and because he knew Ginny would throw an absolute fit if he did otherwise. She was already glowering at being forced to baby-sit Gollum rather than help fight.
But Hermione wasn't at all satisfied with this arrangement. "You can't do this," she begged Faramir, "That ring is more evil than you realize! If you take it to Minas Tirith, you won't be saving Gondor, you'll be dooming it!"
Deep down, Faramir wanted very badly to listen to her, but his pride and concern for Gondor and his father kept him from doing so. It looked like nothing would ever change his mind. Then, at the last minute, Sam exploded. "Do you want to know what happened to Boromir?"
Faramir froze and slowly turned to stare at the hobbit. "Sam…" breathed Hermione warningly.
But nothing would stop Sam at this stage. Their situation was too desperate in his eyes. "He tried to take the Ring from Frodo, after swearing an oath to protect him, he tried to kill him! The Ring drove your brother mad!"
There was no doubt in Hermione's mind: that was way too harsh. But maybe that was a good thing, because she suddenly saw something different in his eyes, something between shock, horror, and, possibly, understanding?
Then Ginny gave a yelp of fear. "Frodo?" she was calling frantically, "Frodo, are you all right? Can you hear me?"
To Hermione's dismay, Frodo's eyes had rolled to the back of his head, and he was very pale. He gave no sign that he had heard Ginny, and didn't react when she shook him. He threw his head back and said, in a strange voice, "They're here. They've come." And they all heard a very familiar shriek.
Faramir yelled, "Nazgul!" and everyone went into an instant panic, not sure at all what to do. Ginny alone didn't seem particularly afraid of this new arrival; on the contrary, she pulled out her sword to fight it. Faramir caught her though. "No!" he yelled, "Get them out of sight! Hide them!" He pointed at Frodo, Sam, Hermione, and Gollum.
Ginny wouldn't go without a fight. "But I can help!" she pleaded.
"No! You can help by getting them away from here!"
"But…"
"Go!" Faramir actually began pushing her away.
"Fine," grumbled Ginny. To the others she said, "Follow me!" And she began to lead them on a terrifying run through the streets, dodging soldiers and narrowly missing getting hit by the crashing boulders.
It was dawn at Helm's Deep. The Uruk-hai had taken down the Rohan flags, or more accurately, ripped them down, and put up the banner of the White Hand of Saruman. Then they set to work trying to knock down the doors to the inner hall. It was proving to be a bit difficult however. Before running in, Harry and Ron had made sure to put yet another Imperturbable Charm as well as another Unbreakable Charm on the doors. The result was the Uruks would find their battering ram flying out of their hands if they got too close. The harder they tried, the faster they ran, the worse it grew.
But that still left Théoden, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Harry, Ron, and the other soldiers, along with the women and children, trapped in the hall and caves. And it would not be long before they needed more supplies. In Théoden's eyes, it was all over.
But the others refused to give up. "There's gotta be another way out of here, isn't there?" asked Ron.
Théoden sighed. "There is one passage that leads into the mountains," he said.
"Well, can't we all go through there?" asked Ron impatiently.
"Ron, as soon as we leave, that charm might wear off and the Uruks'll come chasing after us!" said Harry.
"Oh," said Ron, slumping again, "Right." Then he thought of something else. "Why don't you lot lead the women and children out of here, and Harry and I will stay here to hold up the spells?"
"Ron, you two can't stay here all by yourselves!" gasped Aragorn.
"We don't really have a choice do we?" asked Ron bracingly, "And Harry will do it, won't you Harry?"
"Of course," said Harry. He was ready to defend his friends to the death.
"No," said Aragorn quietly. He was looking towards the window. Sunlight was pouring in. He remembered something Gandalf had told him five days ago, which he would not tell the others just yet, so as not to get their defeated hopes up for nothing. "We won't leave you behind," he continued, "We can get the women and children out, but we won't just leave you here."
There was a light in the ranger's eyes that told Harry he had something in mind. Harry searched his own head and could only come up with one conclusion, the same one he had come to less than a year ago in a certain graveyard: Stand and fight. He pulled out his sword.
"What are you doing?" asked Ron. He then noticed the grim, yet set expressions on Harry and Aragorn. "You want to ride out there and fight them don't you?"
They nodded. Théoden turned around slowly, determination beginning to dawn in his eyes. "Yes…" he said softly.
"You can't do that! It's suicide! Look, let's just…I dunno, hold out a little longer or something, you guys can't go riding out there, you'll get killed!" begged Ron.
"It's the only way," said Harry softly. Glancing at Ron, with the shadow of a smile he said, "After all, isn't that what chess is all about? Having to make sacrifices?"
Ron smiled back, but it was a sad one. That was almost exactly what he had said to Harry and Hermione nearly five years ago when he sacrificed himself so that they could go on to protect the Sorcerer's Stone. Then, slowly, he nodded. "Let's do it!"
"Yes!" cried Gimli ecstatically. Legolas, and one of the king's officers, Gamling, went to get the horses and warn the women and children to leave.
Outside, the Uruks still tried to knock down the doors with no success. It didn't really matter anymore.
At a command from Théoden, Gimli climbed up a tower to a huge horn built into the stone.
Back in the hall, everyone mounted their horses, while the women and children, led by Eowyn evacuated the caves. "Fell beasts awake!" said Théoden, "Now for wrath! Now for ruin! And the red dawn!"
"Hold on to your reins everybody; it's gonna be a bumpy ride!" yelled Ron.
Gimli took a deep breath, and blew into the horn.
"Forth Eorlingas!" yelled Théoden. Everyone yelled and charged, smashing through the doors (Ron had removed the charms seconds beforehand) and trampling over the startled Uruk-hai, who had just been about to make another attempt to get in. The battle had begun once more.
At Isengard, Fred, George, Merry, and Pippin were thrilled with the results of their battle. The Ents were tearing apart huge chunks of the outer wall and flinging them everywhere, crushing orcs in their paths. The orcs themselves did everything to fight back: they tripped them with ropes, set them on fire, which Fred and George would quickly douse with a wave of their wands. Nothing appeared to be working. And the small stones and spells being shot at the orcs didn't help them either.
At one point Fred glanced over at the tower of Isengard and saw Saruman himself staring in horror at the wreck that had become Isengard. His eyes met Fred's and he shot the younger wizard a death glare. Fred just grinned and pointed this out to his friends. They turned to look and laughed.
"HI!" called George, waving enthusiastically. The other three laughed harder. Saruman's face was a mask of fury.
"Aw there's no need to act that way, you might actually like having us as neighbors!" yelled Fred cheerfully.
Now Saruman was flexing his fingers menacingly. The boys did what they always did with danger signs: ignore it completely.
"Do you like beer songs?" asked George, "'Cause we know a GREAT one! Wanna here it? It was a BIG hit with your Uruk-hai!"
Saruman roared and started trying to fling whatever he could at them.
"Temper, temper," said Fred, "You'll put Harry to shame!"
The now thoroughly enraged evil wizard went for his staff, but was interrupted suddenly by another sound: the sound of rushing water.
The Ents had broken up a dam nearby and the river came pouring out onto Isengard. "Hold on boys!" roared Treebeard. The water crashed in like a gigantic wave, drowning every living thing in its path with the exception of the Ents and the Four riding on Treebeard.
At Osgiliath, the battle raged on. The Nazgul was doing its job, uttering pierced cries that filled the Gondorian soldiers with despair and terror, all the time searching for the Ring.
Gollum was whimpering in fright and hiding behind Hermione, who was clutching Sam tightly in fear. So it was only Ginny who saw Frodo suddenly get up and leave their hiding place in a small corner and walk slowly towards the sound of the Nazgul.
"Frodo?" she called anxiously. He didn't respond. Quickly, Ginny ran after him. "Frodo! Frodo! Where are you going?" she called, "Come back! Stay here!" Frodo turned around. The blank, cold look he gave Ginny silenced her instantly and chilled her blood. It was the stare of a dead thing, like someone possessed. Frodo turned around and continued walking as if in a trance.
Ginny stood there looking stunned. What could she do? I gotta stop him. Before he hurts himself. Like I did when I was possessed by Riddle. With this thought in mind, Ginny hurried after the hobbit.
The situation at Helm's Deep looked desperate, but the defenders continued to plow on. They rode past the main gate and were about to go into the heart of the army, when Harry thought he heard a wild neighing that wasn't coming from any of their horses. He looked up and gasped.
It was Shadowfax. Or, more accurately, Gandalf riding on Shadowfax. He certainly looked impressive in the dazzling sunlight which seemed to illuminate him as his faithful horse pawed the ground.
Then Ron yelled out joyfully, "Eomer!" Eomer and the Riders of Rohan suddenly came up behind Gandalf, 2,000 in all.
With cries of, "To the king!" the new army came racing down a slope, speeding to Rohan's rescue. The Uruk-hai were not too concerned by the new arrivals, they simply held their spears ready. They would crush the invaders just as soon as they had come.
But Gandalf had other ideas. He raised his staff, and a white bright light shone in the Uruks' eyes, blinding them against the oncoming army. This gave Harry an interesting idea. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" he yelled. A brilliant white stag leapt out of his wand and charged. It raced around the Uruk-hai, antlers lowered in attack form, disrupting their ranks and trampling a few as it galloped around searching for an offending dementor, and then eventually dissolving into a mist. But it had already done its job. The Uruk-hai were running around in panic and confusion, killing everything in sight, which was pretty much themselves. They were helped along in destroying their army by the Rohirrim, the elves of Lothlorien, and the remainder of the Fellowship.
Laughing with relief and excitement, Harry and Ron slapped each other high five before continuing to fight with a new hope and earnest that they hadn't felt in a long time.
Frodo walked up some stairs, to a wall where the Nazgul could clearly see him. The wraith flew his winged steed over and waited patiently. Frodo took the Ring and stretched out his hand…
"Frodo NO!" screamed Ginny. Her cries alerted Faramir, who shot an arrow into the winged beast. It roared in pain and flapped away. Meanwhile, Ginny had tackled Frodo and was tumbling down the stairs, struggling with the hobbit as he reached for his dagger, Sting.
Hermione was the first to realize who was missing. "Sam!" she cried frantically, "Where are Frodo and Ginny?"
"What?" cried Sam in alarm. He leapt up and ran out of their hiding place, calling, "Mr. Frodo! Mr. Frodo!"
"Over there!" yelled Hermione, pointing at the wall as Ginny tackled Frodo, "Come on!"
Suddenly Ginny shrieked in pain. Frodo had found Sting and had lashed out with it, catching her in the arm. She let go of him immediately, rolling away and clutching her arm, biting back tears.
"GINNY!" Ginny looked up to see Hermione running towards her. "Are you alright? What did he do!"
Sam was so shocked he grabbed Frodo and pulled him down. Frodo struggled wildly but Sam was firm. "Frodo stop! It's Sam, remember?"
Hermione had run over to Ginny and held out her arm. Ginny hissed in pain as her friend examined the wound. "It's alright," Hermione said, "It looks like it's just a scratch, it's a little deep, but you'll be fine. Here, let me wrap it up for you. I won't try healing it with magic, I'm no Madame Pomfrey."
"It's fine," said Ginny sharply, pulling away. She looked around and saw Frodo staring at Sam with new eyes. Then he looked at Ginny, who was still holding her arm, and fought back tears.
"I'm sorry Ginny!" he cried, "I didn't mean to hurt you!" He collapsed against a wall and whispered, "I can't do this!"
Ginny tried to get up, but Hermione pulled her back down and started to wrap up her arm. So she settled on sitting down. "Yes you can Frodo," she said firmly, "I know exactly how you feel right now, because I've been through it. I got tricked by a Dark Lord by writing in his diary, and he wrote back, and started to possess me, so that I started to do terrible things without realizing it. I even attacked Hermione once, and I nearly killed Harry because he tried to save me. I tried to get rid of the diary, but somehow I found myself writing in it again. I didn't want to, but I felt like I had to. It was awful. I'm so glad Harry ended up destroying it, or we both would've died!"
Frodo listened to this all silently. Yes, he had to admit, Ginny had been through a lot more than one could realize. Maybe that was why he felt strangely comforted by her words. It was the idea that he could connect with someone, someone actually understood what he was going through, that made him feel better. For the first time in months, he smiled at Ginny. She smiled back.
A/N: I bet you're all ready to kill me for not putting in Sam's "great stories" speech. Don't. I love it too. I just wanted Frodo and Ginny to connect, and this is a HP/LotR crossover, not a script of the Two Towers!
To my reviewers:
Kaladelia Undomiel: That's ok, I'm rather hyper myself! Next chapter is the end of TTT! We're almost at the end! I'm figuring I'll finish this up really fast, then work on a few chapters of "The Fellowship of the Calvin", then go back to write the RotK. I shouldn't take too long though. What I also want to do is work on some different crossovers (see my bio for full details) for a change, so I'm not always writing the same things. (sniff) Poor Haldir. That's fine that you quoted from my story, it sounds like you're really getting into it, which makes me feel happy 'cause it means people actually like my style. Ron in second place? You'll have to wait and see…
Eclipse: I know Haldir doesn't die, that was one of the random book facts my best friend told me once. We did think it was a nice change to the movie to make the elves come, and were a little upset to see that it wasn't in the books! Oh well. I shall not dare criticize Professor Tolkien, or there wouldn't be any movies! Lol, one of my favorite parts of Book 5 is when Fred and George tell Harry not to bottle up all his anger, because there might've been a few people 50 miles away who didn't hear him, so I brought it up a little bit there!
Lauren546: Just go to Google and type in "Council of Elrond". It should be the first link. Council of Elrond is the name of the website, and it's really great. I use it mostly for when I need a translation. Thanx for reviewing!
Genvessel: I'm glad you like the Fearsome Foursome, I do too, now that I think about it, who doesn't love those guys, together or not? That Tolkien class sounds so awesome, I know what I'M taking when I go to college! I'll be able to update on a regular basis, except next week when I go on vacation. (I really do need a laptop, but I'm not getting one 'til August!)
