Scars of the Future
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, both Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. They were created by the amazing minds of J.K. Rowling and J.R.R. Tolkien.
A/N: This fic was not created by myself alone. It was done inscript format over Instant Messenger by myself and Animagus-Spirit. This fic and most of the events in it are her brilliant ideas, I have just taken the task to write it. Therefore, this fic is dedicated to her. I would also like to thank my beta, Inwe Telemnar. You guys are the greatest!
Animagus-Spirit has also been illustrating for this fic, drawing a picture per chapter. You can veiw them at Arwentheelf's website,which can be accessed through my profile.
Now, thanks to all my reviewers, as well as everyone who reads this and doesn't review, because I know you're out there! Lol.
LATMC- Is this soon enough? I'll try to keep updates regular. Glad you like it!
Arwentheelf- Delighted it's growing on you! True, there is little action now, but soon enough, soon enough.
cool marauders- It's updated, it's updated! Please, spare my mind!
Cancdidus-lupus-full Moon- Glad you like it.
LordOfTheMonkeys- When I first saw LOTR, the first thing I remember thinking was that Gandalf was almost a mirror of Albus Dumbledore. After that, I started relating everything LOTR to HP. The idea for this crossover wasn't mine, it was Animagus-Spirit's, but I had always had those "what if?" questions in my head. Pleased you're enjoying it, as it's fun to write as well.
Chapter 3: Past Meets Present
They found themselves on a dark street. Large houses loomed above them, and rain fell steadily upon them. "Concentrate on what you read earlier," Gandalf ordered.
They did as he bid, and before them appeared (in their eyes out of nowhere), another large house. Though the house wasn't the most impressive thing they had ever seen, with its dirty windows and peeling paint, the way it had materialized between two neighboring houses, pushing them aside to make room for itself, was completely foreign to all present, save Gandalf, and even Aragorn felt his jaw drop.
"Come, quickly," the wizard beckoned them to follow, and hurriedly they did so. They reached the door, damp and shivering, and Gandalf knocked quietly, and it wasn't long until the door was opened (much to everyone's relief).
Standing in the doorway was a slightly plump woman with flaming red hair. She wore a cheerful yet tired expression. She swiftly ushered them inside.
"Gandalf, glad you've finally arrived!" she said, "Albus will we most relieved."
"Good evening, Molly," he said. "Allow me to introduce you to my companions."
He did so, quickly, and she greeted them each, as they did the same to her.
"Now," she said, "I am sure you are all very tired. I've managed to make some rooms livable. This house is a bit full though; you may have to share rooms. I've gotten a spare bed or two into each one for convenience…"
The bedrooms were large, much too large and empty for comfort in the hobbits' opinions, and they gladly shared accommodations. It was rather convenient, actually, the way the rooms were set up. Merry and Pippin's quarters were directly next to Frodo and Sam's, and Pippin had immediately found a closet connecting the two rooms. There was a door at each end, and it served as a handy shortcut between rooms.
Despite the long, drugged sleep, the journey had left them all exhausted. Frodo buried under the blankets, and fell asleep listening to Sam's soft snores across the room. His last thought before the drifted off was of what the morning could possibly bring.
A tickling in his ear awoke Frodo.
Or, tried to at least. He groaned and rolled over, curling into a smaller ball for protection against this intruder.
"Wake up, Frodo! I'm hungry!"
"Go an' eat then," he mumbled from under the blankets.
"Yes…but…"
"Go 'way, Pip…sleeping…"
"Here, Pippin, try this."
There was a swish of cloth and a rush of cold air hit Frodo's body, causing him to break out in gooseflesh. He groaned and buried his head under the pillow.
"Why must you torment me so?" he said, now fully awake.
Another voice joined the conversation. "What's goin' on? Who's tormentin' who?"
Pippin and Merry smiled innocently. "Nothing," Merry said.
"No one's doing any tormenting yet…" Pippin added. The two grinned at each other, then leapt onto Frodo's bed, and began tickling him mercilessly.
"Time to wake up Frodo! Breakfast calls!" Merry said gleefully, as Frodo squirmed and giggled.
"I'm up! I'm up!" He shrieked. "Please! Stop this madness!"
"What's all this about?" Aragorn had walked in upon hearing the ruckus, and stood in the doorway, chuckling.
"It's about breakfast, and Frodo's laziness," Pippin explained matter-of-factly.
Frodo sat up. "I am not lazy. I am only trying to sleep." He feigned a glare at his cousins.
Aragorn grinned. "Dress and I'll show you to the kitchen."
Merry and Pippin had already done this, of course, and pressed Frodo and Sam to hurry. Of course, to spite them, they only moved more slowly. Finally they were all ready, and proceeded to follow Aragorn to the kitchen, the pleasant aromas speeding them forward.
There were a few others already seated around a long, laden, wooden table. Gandalf, Legolas, and Gimli were there, as well as Molly Weasly, and a few others. There was a girl with extremely bushy brown hair, a tall, gangly, boy with freckles and the same flaming red hair as Molly (Frodo assumed that he was her son), and another rather thin boy with unruly, jet black hair. The three looked to be about the same age and two of them were immersed in conversation; they didn't notice when Aragorn and the hobbits entered. Molly looked up. "Good morning! Help yourselves to whatever you want, there's plenty to go around."
It certainly seemed so, even for four hobbits. They seated themselves across from the trio, and it was then that they were noticed by them.
The boy with the red hair looked up and stared. "Hi," he said, "what…er…who are you?"
The girl looked up and rolled her eyes. "They're hobbits, Ron."
He looked confused and she rolled her eyes. "Don't mind him," she said. "Anyway, I'm Hermione Granger, this is Ron Weasly, and Harry Potter." She waved a hand.
"Frodo Baggins, at your service and your family's," he said. "These are my cousins, Merry Brandybuck and Pippin Took, and my dear friend, Sam Gamgee." So this is the mysterious Harry Potter I've heard so much about, he thought.
Hermione looked surprised. "Did you say Frodo Baggins? I've read all about you, and the things you did! Amazing really, what-"
"Y-you read about me?" Frodo stammered.
"Yes! Of course!" She continued, as Ron and Harry exchanged looks. "The book you and your uncle wrote was adapted by a man named Tolkien, and he had millions of copies published. The entire world knows your story! Of course, the Muggles think it's only a story, but we know it's true history. It's fascinating, really, unbelievable that you accomplished all of that. Destroying the Ring, and defeating Sauron, it's incredible! I could never have done it, I mean-"
"Stop it, Hermione."
"-astonishing how you managed-"
"Shut UP, Hermione!"
"-that far-what, Harry?"
"That's enough."
Harry, who had been watching Frodo throughout Hermione's speech, had noticed the anxiety that had first settled on the hobbit. As Hermione spoke, he had paled several shades and shut his eyes tightly, as if trying to rid his mind of a fearful image.
No one else had noticed the abrupt halt in conversation. Frodo took a shuddering breath
to calm himself. Pippin, jumped in, covering for his cousin's discomfort.
"Merry and I've had plenty of adventures ourselves, haven't we Mer?"
That set Hermione off again, asking them questions about their encounter with Treebeard and the flooding of Isengard.
Sam leaned over and whispered in Frodo's ear. "Are you all right, Mr. Frodo?"
Frodo nodded, he had recovered rather quickly this time, and began spooning eggs onto his plate, listening to Merry and Pippin's tale, and adding comments here and there. After awhile, others joined them. The hobbits (they soon realized they had slept later then the rest of the Fellowship,) were introduced to Remus Lupin, Tonks, (she did not tell them her first name), and Fred and George Weasly, with whom Merry and Pippin got along wonderfully.
After breakfast (and after Molly refused help with the dishes), the twins, Ron, and Herminie (Harry declined with a muttered, "No thanks."), gave them a tour around the house. (Not that there was much to see.) Afterwards, the hobbits watched Fred and Ron play a game of Wizard's Chess with rapt attention, extreme interest, and a ravenous curiosity. They found they had hundreds of questions about how the world had changed. They were not disappointed either, for Hermione was overjoyed to feed them all the information she was capable of; their hunger was satisfied momentarily, until another question would emerge and require answering.
"So, let me get this straight," said Pippin. "You leave home for school in September, and don't come home until the end of June?" Hermione and Ron nodded. "And you spend almost ten months just learning how to do magic?"
"Well there's much more-" started Hermione, but Ron cut her off.
"That's pretty much it, mate."
"Could you show us something?" Pippin inquired with innocent curiosity.
"Well," said Hermione, "we're not supposed to use magic at all outside of school."
"Not true, Hermione. We have permission this year, remember, because of You-Know-Who coming back," said Ron.
"Still, Ron, we're only supposed to use magic if we really need to…"
"It's not like Dumbledore and the Ministry are going to care anyway Hermione! How many people from Hogwarts do you think have used magic already anyway?"
"So you do something then."
Ron's ears turned pink. "I can't…if mum found out…"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Well, she's right. We really shouldn't unless-"
CRASH
Everyone whipped around to the other side of the room, where Fred had, seemingly accidentally, shattered a large vase.
"Oops," he said, trying to look sheepish. "Think you could fix that, George? Afraid I left my wand in our room."
"So did I," George admitted, also trying to look innocent.
"Hermione?" they both said.
"You're both so clever, aren't you?" She pulled out her wand. "I suppose a little magic won't hurt…just a simple spell anyway…reparo!" The vase instantly repaired itself, much to the hobbit's delight. Gandalf's fireworks may be impressive, but they had never seen anything of this sort before.
"She wanted to do it," George whispered in Frodo's ear. "She just needed a reason to."
Frodo grinned.
The hobbits paid for their knowledge with, well, knowledge. Not only were the hobbits inquisitive about the future, but they found that the others were just as interested in the past. Even Fred and George wanted to know about Middle-Earth and its peoples.
"Elves are tall?" I mean, I've seen Legolas, but never really thought he was an elf…"
"Maybe because you don't think, Ron," Fred pointed out.
They spoke many hours, about both past and future. From the landscape of
Middle-Earth to the shape of the earth now; from the Kings of Old to the rulers and governments of this time; from the Elven languages to the names of spells; from what exactly a hobbit was and what made them so different from other races, to wizards and Muggles and how they came about. They all gained a large amount of wisdom, and in the middle of the telling of Valinor Harry joined them, though he did more listening than speaking. Frodo studied him, doing his best to unmask what he could of Harry by his mere actions and words. He didn't gain much, and by the supper time he had accomplished no more of his task than he had before he arrived. He realized, suddenly, that he had yet to thank Harry for his timely rescue at breakfast, and he awaited the chance to talk to him undisturbed.
Frodo got his chance after dinner, when everyone was headed in their separate directions. He caught Harry on the stairs, making his way to his room.
"Harry!"
Harry turned at the sound of his name, and waited while Frodo walked up to him. "Hi, Frodo." he said.
"I wanted to thank you," he said, "for earlier, at breakfast."
"Oh, right…no problem." Harry muttered.
"I greatly appreciate it. Thank you."
"Sure." He turned and began walking the rest of the way to his bedroom. He remembered the incident at breakfast, and got to wondering what had made this Frodo so sensitive to what Hermione had said. He shook his head. Not that it was any of his business, and not that he really cared. He was just thinking and wondering, something he did quite a large amount of lately.
As for Frodo, he went back to his room and took a small book from his pack. He found a comfortable position on the window seat, and was soon absorbed in the text. After a few hours, he grew tired, changed into a night shirt and lay down in bed. So far, he thought, things had gone well. He closed his eyes, and had almost drifted off to sleep when a thought hit him. A thought so strange that the abnormality of it made him shiver. In fact, he realized, it wasn't so much of a thought than a feeling. He suddenly felt as if he'd been there before, in this exact house, at this exact time and under the same circumstances. The déjà vu was followed closely by a feeling of dread he could not explain. He shook his head to rid himself of it, rolled onto his side and drifted into slumber.
