Chapter 12

Ron walked through the forest, thinking happily about his new friend Lithônion. The old tree was a good listener and funny, if a little bit slow to respond. He was so busy thinking he almost crashed into someone.

"Steady there young one!" laughed a deep throated voice. Ron blinked and looked up to meet a pair of twinkling blue eyes.

"Gandalf!" he exclaimed in delight

"Yes my boy, it's me. Nice to see you up and about young Ronald." Ron had given up trying to get the Istar to call him Ron, he supposed it was an old fashioned habit. They began to walk side by side and Ron said

"Have you seen Earithramir? I kinda need to apologise to him for loosing my temper."

"Hm, no I haven't, however I have seen Lomli and Cilath having a severe argument about something to do with him and I believe you." Ron frowned in confusion.

"Argument? About what exactly?"

"Well it seems when Earithramir told them what happened Cilath got extremely furious and told him she hoped Balrogs would eat him." Ron's eyes widened in shock.

"She wouldn't say that!" he protested.

"Apparently she did, however I'd say she overreacted because of the stress of loosing another person to the Goa'uld." Ron cringed, he'd forgotten about her father. He suddenly felt really awful, he'd been so absorbed in his own grief that he'd forgotten about how hard it was for her. Gandalf smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Don't worry so much Ronald, otherwise you'll end up with grey hair."

"You mean like you used to have?" teased Ron

"Well, maybe not quite that bad." chuckled the Istar then he paused and seemed to be thinking. At length he spoke again, "During my latest escapade I ventured forth to Hogwarts, I wished to see its supposed majesty."

"Really and what did you find?"

"I found where the last of the giant spiders, the children of Shelob hide, and I found a castle that had its own beauty but nothing compared to Minas Tirith. And as I toured that castle I was spoken to by many portraits and hassled by a creature you call Peeves."

"Peeves, ugh, he causes nothing but trouble, he's a poltergeist."

"You mean a spirit that has need of something but cannot have it, so it lashes out on those around it?"

"Well I guess so, but Peeves just messes and pulls pranks, he doesn't seem to need anything."

"Well has anyone ever asked?" Ron didn't answer. "Well, moving on, before I left lord Dumbledore gave me something he said would cheer you up should you ever feel down."

"Really what?" Gandalf smiled mischievously and said

"Come and see." He led him away to an open area in the forest and Ron stopped dead when he saw what was in the centre of it. A familiar box and fourteen broomsticks.

"OH YES!" he shouted jumping up and punching the air. "Wahoo!" He ran over and open the box which held Hogwarts own bludgers, quaffle and snitch. Beside them were two bats for the Beaters. Ron reached out and grabbed a broom and examined it. To his shock they were all Firebolts. Had Dumbledore really bought fourteen Firebolts?

"Lord Dumbledore said that he would like it if you would break in these new school brooms, most of the old ones had to be retired." Gandalf smiled at him knowingly.

"Oh don't worry sir they'll be well broken in by the time I'm through with them!" Ron assured, grinning madly. He then said,

"I've got to show Earithramir and Cilath and Lomli… if they're still speaking to me." he added sadly.

"Elves rarely hold unnecessary grudges." smiled Gandalf. Ron nodded then returned his attention to the broomstick, running his hands over its smooth handle and perfectly tweezed end. "Bless my beard I don't think I've ever seen a young boy so captivated by a broom." Gandalf was laughing softly. Ron just beamed at him, too overcome to speak. He knew the elves would love this; they'd expressed a great desire to play when he'd explained Quidditch, and now they would be able to play, on Firebolts no less.

"Sorry Gandalf, I gotta go find the others!" he said starting to run off. "Wait!" he exclaimed pausing mid-step, "Why am I walking?" he asked himself. He hopped on the broom and pushed off. Within seconds he was soaring through the air above the trees. He saw Lord Elrond's Homily House in a whole new angle. It looked like a perfect miniature model rather then a real place. He grinned and did some loop-the-loops and Sloth rolls and other fun tricks. He laughed with delight, then suddenly a blur shot past him, nearly knocking him off the broom. He straightened up to see the blur had slowed down. It was Kuli, one of the younger elves. Three more blurs shot up from the trees, it was Frudo, and a now blue free Elladan and Elrohir.

"Great magic Ron!" shouted Elladan as he tried to push Elrohir off.

"Thank Dumbledore not me."

"I shall indeed!" The elf laughed as he flew away being chased by his twin. Two more elves flew up, Earithramir and Lomli. Ron decided to not waste any time. He flew over to them and got very close to Earithramir.

"Goheno nin, I'm sorry for snapping at you mellon nin." (Forgive me)he said quietly.

"It's fine Ron, I understand, you've had a hard few days."

"So have you, it's no excuse for lashing out at you."

"Forget about and teach us how to play this Kiddatch." Ron winced at the mispronunciation. "Hey we can't all be magical language learners you know." Earithramir laughed. Ron grinned,

"True enough my friend, true enough." They must have spent hours flying around above the trees playing with the Quidditch balls. Like, seemingly, with everything the elves did they did it well. Lomli, who played Seeker for most of the time could probably have out shone Harry without much effort, and the elves had no trouble passing the Quaffle back and forth with such speed like Ron hadn't seen since the Quidditch World Cup Final. Kuli and Frudo had a hell of a time playing beaters. They taught Ron, or they would have if he hadn't already known it, that despite their lean appearance, the elves could pack a punch. The level the game was played at was higher then one he normally played in school and that was serious stuff. He was just thinking he would have to advise the new captain that an elf would make a great addition to their team when he froze, realising he'd be too busy defending the school from the Goa'uld. In Ron's opinion, at the moment Voldemort was the least of their worries, a symbiote in someone's head was a hell of a lot worse then any Imperious curse. He'd probably never get to spend time with Harry or Hermione or Ginny or Fred and George, none of them. He sighed then yelped and rolled as a bludger was sent his way.

"Sorry Ron but Lomli told me to." called Kuli, twirling the bat between his fingers nervously.

"You were a million miles away Ron, you couldn't hear me, are you ok?" Lomli looked worried, and Ron remembered he'd collapsed yesterday so Lomli was probably concerned for him.

"I'm fine, just thinking."

"This isn't the best place to be doing such deep thinking my friend. Anyway I was calling you because it's getting dark and dinner is probably being served."

"Right then, come on, land in the courtyard, see if we can scare Glorfindel, unless he's still hiding with his blue face."

"No, it washed off in a few hours, look at us." said Elrohir gesturing to his face, grinning.

"Ok c'mon then, wait! Catch the snitch and bludgers, and get the case." Kuli and Frudo swiftly caught the bludgers without any effort, and Lomli chased after the snitch while Earithramir swooped down to get the box. When he returned they put the balls back in the box and sealed it. Ron then nosedived down, leading the way. He jumped off his broom before his feet even touched the ground.

"You know I would have thought straddling a broom would prove to be quite painful." commented Earithramir loudly. Ron blushed as several elven girls laughed as they passed. Ron knew them, they were good friends of Cilath's.

"Earithramir it's because of a cushioning charm, and could you please have some tact?" he moaned

"What? Oh!" Earithramir cottoned on, but then shrugged it off. "Hey, Erulassë where's Cilath?" The dark haired elleth shrugged,

"I haven't seen her today." she answered.

"Maybe Ron wore her out!" giggled Mirima loudly. The girls laughed gaily and hurried away leaving Ron blushing like a tomato and the boys sniggering in their hands.

Ron was worried when he saw Cilath wasn't at dinner. He wasn't able to hide it either.

"Ron she's fine." whispered Legolas smiling, "She was just upset by her words to Earithramir and Lomli. You'll see her later I'm sure."

"Ok Legolas if you say so." Ron still felt worried though. Looking down the table he saw the two Tok'ra, Freya and to his annoyance Hebron. The man looked at him and raised his glass slightly to him as if toasting him but his lips were curled in a mocking smile. Ron silently seethed in fury. He was very glad when dinner was over and they could leave.

"Does anyone want to go for a swim?" asked Lomli.

"I do!" exclaimed Earithramir eagerly.

"No thanks guys, I'm feeling tired, I'm going to bed."

"Alright, good night Ron."

"Night guys." He walked to his room then paused at his door and turned back and went to the next level, where Cilath's room was. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. There was no answer. Surprised he knocked a little louder and still received no answer. Supposing that she was out in the garden he decided he'd just have to wait till morning to talk to her. He walked back to his own room again and pushed the door open. He walked in and closed it behind him. He walked to the bed, but a hand grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around, cupped his cheek and soft supple lips kiss him hungrily. Her scent filled his nose, making him light headed, her skin touching his made him shiver with excitement. He pressed his hands to her back, pulling her close, deepening the kiss. She pulled away and looked at him with wide eyes, they were full of need, full of lust, full of love. Last night had been about him, but tonight was going to be about her. Ron swooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bed, their lips and tongues dancing with each other in a passion, in a hunger for closeness. He sat on the bed then lay down moving her smoothly to lie on his chest, his hands moving to hold her face gently. She ran a hand through his hair then pulled away and slowly took out the combs that had held her hair up in an elaborate design. It tumbled like a waterfall down around her, framing her face in curls. She ran a hand through her own hair, separating the hair with her fingers. He watched her, hypnotised, as she leaned down again and kissed his lips softly, then his cheek, and his temple. He sighed in contentment as she showed him how well she knew him. He touch the back of her neck, stroking it softly, which made her gasp softly. He looked her in the eyes and kissed her softly then whispered against her lips.

"English isn't good enough for you, it isn't good enough to tell you the words, so I'm going to try other ones and see if they work better, if they give you the true meaning of them." She smiled and he began to whisper in her ear, the three words in every language he knew now. "Amin mela lle. Te quiero. Ti amo. Je t'aime. Ik houd van u."

"Ooo what was that one?"

"Dutch." He answered before kissing her hungrily, "Eu te amo. Ich liebe Dich." She giggled as he continued to whisper love into her ear in all the languages he knew.

It was very late and the moon was beginning her descent. There were wispy clouds travelling across it slowly, almost like they were giving her gentle kisses. Her silver light picked out the outlines of the trees, framing each leaf. A vixen padded silently across the ground with a vole in her mouth, she was bringing her cubs food for the night. She suddenly froze and sniffed the air. She smelled a strange scent and it was coming from around her den! It wasn't human, but it wasn't another woodland creature. She raised her haunches in caution and slowly picked her way through the bushes. Her teeth dug into the vole as her whole body tensed up. The blood coated her tongue and seemed to spark a fire within her. She was prepared to attack whatever it was that threatened her young. She carefully poked her head through the leaves and saw the creature. Dazzlingly fair hair, almost as white as the moon, and smooth skin shone in the night. Long fingers stroked the soft fur of her cubs. She found her body relaxing, this creature wouldn't harm her offspring or her. She came out abandoning all caution. The fair creature turned to her and its lips curled up. She set down the vole and her cubs began to eat it. She herself went and rested her head in the creatures lap. Her cubs squeaked and growled as they scrambled to eat the food. When they were finished they returned to the creature who leant back against the tree, the long legs stretched out, its paws fur free. The vixen looked at him as he spoke. She didn't understand him, but she enjoyed the sound of his voice. Suddenly she felt her hair go on end and she looked up again at the face and the eyes which flashed with a golden light. She leapt to her paws and tried to protect her young but she was flung against a tree. She howled as her body broke and as she lay dieing she could hear the whimper of her cubs as they too were killed… and the malicious sound of a monster in an angel's body.