Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the Lord of the Rings.
Chapter 33: Fighting Spiders, Corsairs, and Nazgul
Hermione and Frodo stepped cautiously into the tunnel that Gollum was leading them into. Already she noticed that Frodo appeared to be having second thoughts about this decision.
It was a very creepy tunnel. Everything was dark, there was a horrible smell, which Gollum said came from orcs, and the floor and walls appeared to be covered in something sticky. It all made Hermione very suspicious, because it was clearly not your average tunnel.
"Lumos!" she whispered. The tunnel filled with light from her wand, revealing that the stickiness from the wall came from some sort of white lining. Frodo noticed something a bit more alarming.
"Sméagol?" he called. No answer.
"Sméagol, where are you?" called Hermione, not really expecting an answer. She didn't get one. Gollum was gone.
"Where did he go?" asked Frodo anxiously.
"Gave us the slip most likely," said Hermione grimly, "We'd better get out of here."
"But how else are we going to get to Mordor?"
"For all we know, he lied and this is a dead end. For now, I just want to leave and find Sam."
Guilt washed over Frodo as he realized what he'd done. "I'm so sorry Sam," he whispered.
"You can tell him that yourself," said Hermione, "I'm going to call him now." She reached for her brooch.
"Hermione?
"What Frodo?"
"How are we going to get out?"
Hermione whirled around. Everywhere she looked, there was another passage. She couldn't tell which one was the one they'd come through. The entire place was a maze. "Oh dear," she said, "Let's try this one."
She walked forward and immediately screamed. There was some sort of skeleton hanging upside down from the ceiling, wrapped in the sticky substance.
She now realized what it was. It was a web. This was the home of a giant spider. And if they didn't get out soon, they would be next on the dinner menu.
The day wore on into night, and the orcs showed no sign of relenting. They had now brought out a huge battering ram they called "Grond" to bash open the gates. Ginny stood with the soldiers on the other side, waiting.
"You are soldiers of Gondor," said Gandalf, "no matter what comes through that door you will stand your ground."
Ginny just stared straight ahead. Whatever happened, she would not be the first to run.
Orcs came charging through, but that was not the worst of it. Gigantic trolls with swinging clubs came, easily knocking the soldiers away.
Ginny gritted her teeth and charged, nimbly dodging the blows of the clubs and weaving in and out among their legs, slashing at them with her sword. She wasn't stupid; she knew that was the best she could do.
Sam stumbled along down the stairs. It hurt him to part from Hermione, and even more so because he had to go home, but he felt that there was nothing else that could be done about the matter.
Then he heard a voice calling, "Sam! Sam! I need you right now!"
He whirled around, but no one was there. The sudden change of movement caused him to slip, and he went rolling down the stairs until he stopped at one of the landings. Lying nearby was the last of the elven bread.
Sam stared at it. Then everything fell into place. Gollum couldn't eat the bread, so he simply tossed it off the mountain. It was very clever on his part. Sam found himself curling his fists in anger.
Then the persistent voice returned. This time, Sam realized it was coming from somewhere in his head, telepathically. "Sam! Sam! We need help! We're trapped in this tunnel and there's a giant spider in here!"
Only then did Sam realize what was going on. The voice was Hermione's. She was summoning him through the brooch. Without a second's hesitation, he started climbing back up the mountain as fast as he could.
Hermione and Frodo were running down the passage, desperate to find an exit. Now they were starting to panic. Hermione kept her hand clasped to her brooch, although she was not sure how it would help. Hurry Sam, please!
Then Frodo tripped and Hermione sprawled on top of him. They tumbled around, struggling to get out of the web. In the confusion, Hermione almost lost her brooch. But that turned out to be a good thing, because when Frodo saw it, he had an idea.
"I forgot!" he cried, pulling something out from around his neck, "Galadriel gave me a gift too!" He pulled out the phial that contained the Light of Earendiel.
"Perfect!" said Hermione, "With that, plus the light from my wand, we should be able to see things much more clearly." She cast her wand around, and the light landed on a giant spider by the name of Shelob.
"On second thought," Hermione found herself saying, "I don't think I want to see what's in here at all."
It was too late for that. Shelob lunged herself at them, her stinger bared.
Ginny could feel that the battle was turning for the worst. Now the orcs were sending over flaming boulders as well. She had decided to ride Snout around, because she could kill the orcs more easily that way.
Gandalf stood a distance away, occasionally glancing in her direction to make sure she was still on her feet. He was very impressed. She had inherited her brothers' skill in battle, maybe even more so then what they possessed. Some of the men had even begun to rally around her, taking heart from her own valor. Occasionally she had to duck as one of the Nazgul got too close, but otherwise she was doing very well.
"YES!" yelled Ron, pumping his fist as the last Corsair ship's owners were disposed of by the dead army, "These guys are the best!" He seemed to have forgotten his original fear of them.
"Now what?" asked Harry.
"Now we sail to Minas Tirith," said Aragorn, "We should get there in time. But we'll have to keep out of sight as we get closer."
"Why?" asked Ron, "We've got our army, what do we need to be afraid of?"
"Nothing like the element of surprise," replied Harry.
"And that reminds me," said Gimli, "When we do get to Minas Tirith, Legolas and I have a score to settle with you Ron!"
"Literally," added Legolas.
"Oh you do?" said Ron.
"Yes we do," said Legolas.
"Tell him the first new rule," said Gimli eagerly.
"What new rules!" cried Ron.
"First," said Legolas, "No magic."
"WHAT!"
"Second," he continued, "Gimli and I will combine our scores against yours!"
"CHEATERS!"
"Third, you can't change the rules once they are made."
"You…you…I'll show…YOU'RE SICK PEOPLE!"
Legolas and Gimli laughed.
Harry looked at Aragorn. "Is it just me, or do they take this a bit too seriously?"
Aragorn shrugged wearily. "Whatever makes them happy."
The army of Rohan was almost at Minas Tirith. Fred, George, and Merry were getting very excited, not catching Eomer's report that the city was nearly overrun.
"I'll bet they'll write songs about us one day!" said Merry happily.
"They'd better put in a line about our pranking ventures!" said George.
"Speaking of which, I wrote a new song!" said Fred.
"Really? How's it go?" asked Merry.
"Like this," said Fred, "99 Uruk-hai breaching the wall, 99 Uruk-hai! You take one down by shooting around, 98 Uruk-hai breaching the wall!"
Merry and George cracked up. "Brilliant!" yelled George.
It was then that they realized that someone else was laughing. It was the young soldier that had watched them leave.
"Who're you?" asked George.
The soldier quickly looked away. "You can call me Dernhelm," he mumbled.
"Dernhelm? What sort of name is that?" asked Fred.
Dernhelm blushed.
"It's not that it's a bad name," he continued, winking at George, "I just kinda liked 'Eowyn' better!"
The soldier whirled around. "What did you say!"
"Oh come on Eowyn," said George, "We won't tell! Merry here is a stowaway too!"
Eowyn lowered her helmet. "How did you know?" she asked.
"You're talking to the brothers of Ginny Weasley," said Fred, "She does all sorts of stuff like that. Being a girl has never stopped her before."
"Really?" said Eowyn, "Is she in Middle Earth?"
"She was, but we're not sure where she is," replied George.
"I would like to meet her," said Eowyn. The prospect of meeting a girl like her made her excited.
As Shelob lunged, Frodo shone his phial at her. The spider quailed and stepped back. It was clear that she couldn't stand warmth or light.
A memory flashed clearly in Hermione's mind. A memory of a giant green plant guarding the Sorcerer's Stone with a tendency to strangle. "Incendio!" Flames shot out of her wand. Shelob shrieked and start rolling around on the ground, trying to get it off. This gave Frodo and Hermione the chance they needed to escape. They fled down another passage and down a small hole. It wasn't long, however, until the familiar clicking noise of the spider was back. Panicking, Hermione and Frodo saw an exit, and made a dash for it, only to get caught in a massive web. They struggled to no avail. Sam, HELP! thought Hermione desperately.
Suddenly they heard Gollum cackling with delight. They were like flies, caught and about to be dinner. Shelob got closer.
Suddenly enraged, Frodo, who had his sword in hand, starting hacking away at the web. Soon he was free, but he had to let go of his dagger because it got stuck in the web.
"FRODO!"
Frodo turned around and was horrified to see Hermione still stuck. She was trying to use magic, but it wasn't as easy with the tough web. And Shelob was almost on her.
"DIFFINDO! DIFFINDO!" she screamed. A few threads came loose. It was too late. Hermione knew it was all over for her, but Frodo could still escape. "GO! GO!" she yelled at him.
"But…"
"GO!" The rest was drowned out by her high-pitched scream as Shelob stabbed her with her stinger. Frodo stared in horror as the creature dragged Hermione's limp body away and started to wrap it up. He couldn't leave her. But then he heard a soft snigger nearby from Gollum. Furious, he lunged out to kill the creature.
Shelob looked up from her work. The hobbit had escaped. That would not do. She would leave the girl here for now, although she wasn't finished wrapping her up, and come back later to feast on them both.
Dawn was approaching in Minas Tirith. By now the women and children had fled to as far up as they could. Gandalf was ordering a retreat. Ginny was still fighting, slowly, as she worked her way up.
Suddenly she heard a familiar voice crying out, "GANDALF! GINNY!"
"Pippin?" she called out, confused.
Then she heard Pippin reach Gandalf saying, "Lord Denethor's lost his mind! He's burning Faramir alive!"
What? thought Ginny, He was supposed to be with the Healers! Those idiots! She pulled on Snout's reins, directing him to follow Gandalf and Pippin, who were riding fast on the back of Shadowfax.
She had just taken a short cut to the highest level, when she saw the back of a winged steed. It was the Witch King. She edged closer, and realized, to her horror, that he was blocking the way of Gandalf and Pippin. She heard them talking, and the beast roaring, but paid no attention. She cautiously started climbing the tail, attempting a sneak attack so she could stab the Witch King.
Then a horn blew out. It was Rohan. They had arrived. The Witch King looked toward the battle field and was off in a flash, Ginny clinging desperately to the tail, her whole body wrapped around it!
A/N: I don't believe this. I really don't believe this. I'd just like to thank Eclipse for letting me know that apparently a new rule says that you can't reply to reviewers! I'm so sorry, I really am! I just hope they don't kick me off, that would be AWFUL! And it would be a shame to kick me off now because I'm almost done with the story! So, just so you know, I'm not snubbing you guys by not replying, I just can't risk it.But please don't stop reviewing, I love getting them!
Also, a lot of you asked about the sequel, so to answer I have a little summary on my Profile! Check it out!
