Chapter Ten: Ithilien:
Severus looked at Gimi who glared at him, he did not remember throwing the dwarf and bowed to him. Gimi looked up at him and grunted then went to sit down. Legolas bade Severus to sit with him and tell him of the battle. Severus did getting a grunt from Gimi and when he talked about using explosives to take down the last of the orcs Gimi did not look much pleased. But then Severus did state that none were left of either and when he told of how he brought down rain with permission to start cleansing Minas Morgul Gandalf smiled and handed him a pipe with pipe weed. Severus took it and sat smoking finding this between tobacco and another plant, just enough of something in it to relax but not dull the senses.
"So, so you took Minas Morgul." Gimi said.
"Not without a lot of help, captain Quinn was most helpful." Severus replied, "I shall reward him well."
"Good, good, well the ring is destroyed and the world will become better." Gandalf said.
"Not for me, I heard the gulls and will go west, most of the elves will sail west, this will become a moral world as it always was meant to be." Legolas said.
"Oh, I am sorry to hear that." Severus replied.
"It is no matter, the west is where I will sail but not yet." Legolas said.
"Oh Severus it is good to see you!" Sirius said walking up.
He looked happy a bit battered but alive and well. His eyes glowed and truthfully Severus had never seen him ever look this happy. Not even in Hogwarts with his friends, or tormenting him. Yet here he felt freer and happier and so too did Severus for that matter. It was as if all the pain and suffering of years and years had left him and he was whole and free. He watched as two hobbits he had not seen before came out. One was slightly taller and stocker than the other, the other looked pale but aside from that and a bandaged right hand he seemed well enough. Severus smiled and bit them over and they came over.
"So you are the two I have heard about." Severus said, "Frodo and Sam, Frodo destroyed the ring."
"Well I would not have if not for Sam here, dear Sam made sure I made it." Frodo said blushing a bit, "he carried me when I needed it."
"A good friend then." Sirius said, "very good, those are needed."
"He is my master, I could not leave him, he has always been good to me." Sam said.
"Come now, you are more than that, a friend, brother too." Severus said, "I love hobbits, you are the light in a dark world, though this world is not as dark at all anymore."
"No it is not." Gandalf said "and soon she will change for the better I hope."
"I think it will, as long as we have hobbits and elves and dwarves." Severus said and at a look from Legolas, "yes I know most will leave as these are now mortal lands but those that stay, we all will need you."
"Well spoken." Gandalf said smiling.
Severus sat back and took the pipe offered him, put in pipe-weed, lit the pipe and started to smoke. In fact there soon was a circle of people sitting smoking and just being content in these beautiful woods. Birds could be heard singing, and water flowing in streams nearby. It was as beautiful a spring day as one could ask for with the trees in full foliage. Severus knew his dark mark had nearly cost him everything again, it was as good as a ring but in the end, Saruman wanted him for himself and that was how he was saved, sort of. If not for Elrond, and the timely destruction of the ring he would not be here, he had felt the pull even in battle but with the destruction of the ring he felt like he was waking up.
He looked on Frodo and saw one not long for this world. Middle Earth was not for him anymore, and it made him sad. Such a sweet kind spirit deserved the happy ending. Well he would have it but not in this world. Still he had taken on the task and still did not complain. Severus saw Sirius walking with a few of his stout warriors and on seeing Severus Sirius excused himself and walked up to Severus and gave him a manly hug.
"Come, walk with me, you have questions." Sirius said.
"I do, the main one is how Sauron could get to me how he did." Severus said, "if not for Elrond."
"Well you had the dark mark, acts as good as a ring, he had you in his power for that." Sirius said, "but that ring is destroyed and now the world can heal, the last of the evil of Morgoth is cast down, evil may come but it will not be nearly as bad as that, a fraction really."
"So I could have become a ringwraith." Severus said sadly, "well I would have deserved to suffer."
"No, you were brought here not to suffer but to live." Sirius said, "stop beating yourself up, does no good, so how is Harry, I wondered about him form time to time."
"Well enough, he took down the dark lord V the only way he could, the way Dumbledore saw it having to be, well mostly, Moody was to go with him and help him." Severus told him the plan and Sirius nodded.
"And you think it a rather stupid plan and told Dumbledore that, well! It worked and he knew it was the best way, at least and Harry is alive and well." Sirius said, "that is good, I wish we could have been friends in Hogwarts, instead I tried to feed you to one of my friends, rather evil of me don't you think?"
"Yes, it was." Severus replied, " so now what?"
"We should be friends, I think I might be able to keep up with your intellect now." Sirius said.
"Very well, you are still annoying. "Severus said with a smile. "But yes, friends, of course!"
Severus could not help it, he really could not and so he turned Sirius's hair pink. Now there was no threat of an evil dark lord magic could be used freely and he used it freely. Sirius blinked saw what was done and went after Severus. It was a silly "battle" if you could call it that and only ended when Aragon walked up and looked at both. They bowed and canceled the spells and saw the hobbits were looking on them in awe and a bit of fear, if they could do that in jest, what would they do in anger?
"We always hold back and never would use any magic on you if you did not wish it." Severus said.
"True, even in our old world it was illegal to use magic on those without." Sirius said, "so no fear from us."
"No, we were having a friendly duel nothing more." Severus replied.
"Oh, oh that is alright then." Sam said, "if not I would have to knock you down."
Severus considered the hobbit before him, he was barely as tall as an eight year old yet he was strongly built like a man, and had a man's face though without a beard like the elves. He was clad in cleaned and mended raiment and he believed the hobbit could take him down. Hobbits he was finding though small for size were very strong and he did not want to get one angry, ever. These were no children at all though small they were warriors and strong to boot.
He saw they wore no shoes and this alone showed him they were no children, walking in a place like Mordor unshod would cut up anyone who dared try to cross with no shoes but not a hobbit. He had seen the bottoms of their feet were flexible to be sure but nearly as hard as the horn on a hoofed animal. The fur on the top of their feet kept them warm and he was told they were in their winter clothing. To him it looked perfect for a summer day not in a deep blizzard.
"You would have a right, and I believe you could do just that." Severus said.
"Quite a compliment." Sirius replied, "he knocked me down many a time and well let me tell you I deserved it, no noble hobbit you do not need to fight us, if you tell us to stay our hands we will."
"See that you do!" Sam said then blushed, "oh I."
"No Sam you can speak for us." Frodo said, "it is you who should get the honor of the quest, if not for you the ring would not be destroyed, you are the one that kept me going all that time."
"Thank you sir." Sam said.
"You are the bravest of us all." Pippin said.
"Yes, you are indeed." Merry added.
"I will see a song is made of you." Frodo said.
"I could do so." Legolas said.
Sam blushed then burst into tears, an elf wanted to make a song about him! He was a simple gardener that was all and who was he to have songs made of him. But Legolas called him friend and he was, he was a good friend. Then there were these wizards men! Who liked him and felt well more close if that was a way to describe them. They did not have the airs of Gandalf and he was a dear but always seemed a bit more grounded. Oh Gandalf was a fine fellow but he was not mortal, and these two wizards were, refreshing really.
"So I have a question." Pippin asked Severus and Sirius, "how long do mortal wizards live?"
"From the end of the ring?" Sirius said, "we have five hundred years to live, that will be the span of life for wizards, er mages, a mortal world needs a mortal term."
"Agreed, and the elves that stay from the end of the ring their days shall be nine hundred and ninety nine years." Severus replied.
"Oh we hobbits can live one hundred years." Merry said.
"Even you shall have longer years two hundred and men an hundred and fifty." Severus said this knowledge was put in his head by Galadriel herself, "dwarves the same as always."
"What of orcs, will they live?" Pippin asked.
"Yes in reduced form and their span will be if they can handle it an hundred years, but! If they go back to their wicked ways they will be utterly destroyed."
"Agreed, I will not destroy them all." Aragon said walking up, "I am no dark king, they will be given the chance to be free and walk in peace or die."
"Good plan." Severus said, "have them run banks, they seem smart enough for that."
He was not joking, in his past world orcs or goblins had become bankers and did that task well. They did not eat other intelligent creatures but they were ruthless and honor-driven. He did hope the orcs here could become that way too, yes they had served evil and were twisted from the forms of elves at one time, but they were left to be redeemed, who was he to deny them that. Even Aragon knew it was wrong to just kill off a people because of how they had originally been created, now with the one ring gone they deserved a chance as did everyone else. For now all anyone had to worry about was feasting and fun and later marriages and awards and the like.
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A bit of explanation for Severus on how his dark mark acted like a ring and how Saruman really could not remove it fully. Oh and yes, I am going to have orcs redeemable here, sure they will still be ruthless and bloodthirsty but no more will they be evil and though twisted they can and will leave that path. I see Aragon more as one who would want to redeem rather than destroy after all.
Anyway, do review please!