As promised, the second they entered the grand halls of the Woodland Realm, Aragorn was swept away by Legolas. A rather kind elf had met them at the door and led Gwedel away with the promise that the mare would be well cared for. While Cassidy was a bit reluctant to be separated from her close friend, it didn't take any magic to tell that this elf cared about the horse.

Another elf, this one a maiden, came and guided Cassidy to her room. The elf smiled in delight when she realized that a Cassidy spoke Sindarin and the two struck up a conversation about the woods of Lothlorien while they walked. Two guards trailed not too far behind, and Cassidy pretended no to notice them. She understood that she was still untrusted in the Woodland Realm and thus, they were sent to keep her out of trouble. Really it was almost cute that they thought a pair of of swords could prevent her from doing anything.

I used to sneak out to the Forbidden Forest when Snape was doing night rounds... if they think that they can scare me then they won't know what hit them.

Eventually, she was left alone in a room and occupied herself with shuffling through her bag ignorer to stave off the impending sense of doom. She had gotten her way... she got her audience with the King and convinced him not to trust Lucius... but now the dark wizard's life was in her hands. She would have to decide what to do with him. As she wandered through her newly assigned quarters, desperately trying to ignore the dread of the utter loneliness she felt, she found a side door leading to a bathing chambers. A warm and steamy bath was already drawn and she gratefully shucked off her clothes and sank into it. While she had managed to keep clean with a variety of charms, those never succeed in making her feel truly clean as only hot water and soap could.

She idly levitated a bundle of bubbles and amused herself by waving her wand to form a series of floating shapes. When she was bored of that, she dragged herself out of the tub and used a quick drying charm before changing into a spare set of robes that she had in her bag. She was getting sick of wearing the same clothes that she had on during her mission, but at the same time she was reluctant to try her luck with the long and flowing gown that had been laid out for her. Plus, she figured that the robe was far closer to what these elves seemed to consider "normal" attire.

After a few hours had passed, a knock at the door admitted the same maid and guards from earlier. The maid informed Cassidy that she was being summoned to King Thranduil's throne room to discuss matters of justice. Cassidy could only assume that this was referring to Lucius and so she nodded and followed the trio. As they walked, she couldn't help but marvel at the beautiful halls. The massively arched ceilings and stone carved into the likeliness of trees was something beautiful to behold. Some of the long, thin pathways and precarious bridges reminded Cassidy so much of Hogwarts that part of her was waiting for one of the staircases to start to move.

Eventually, the arrived at a frankly ridiculous throne room with a long staircase leading to the King lounging on and antler-crested throne. He was wearing a different and even more elaborate set of robes and had his ridiculously pointed crown on his head. Near the foot of the throne stood both Legolas and Aragorn. The pair had obviously cleaned up and changed into new clothing and Cassidy was frankly surprised. Aragorn cleaned up rather nicely with his shaved beard, clipped hair, and clean face.

Cassidy nodded in acknowledgment to them before turning to the King. She faced him and waited patiently for she had already guessed that he was the type to enjoying getting both the first and last word.

She wasn't disappointed.

"Lady Cassidy of Oleander... welcome to the Woodland Realm. Few mortals are allowed access to these halls, you should consider yourself fortunate."

Cassidy bit back the sarcastic reply and decided that it was time for her to try to play diplomat. She had somehow managed, much to Professor Flitwick's astonishment, to befriend the centaurs of the Forbidden Forest. Their system of government was extraordinary complicated and exceedingly subjective to the capricious nature of the centaurs, so Cassidy figured that dealing with elves really couldn't be too difficult. With that in mind, she smiled politely and bowed lightly to the King.

"I thank you for your hospitality, your Majesty."

"I see that you have declined the attire that was set for you," he raised a rather unimpressed eyebrow for it seemed that he disapproved of her dark blue robes the she generally wore for non-school excursions into the wizarding world.

"While I appreciate the generosity, I am more comfortable in my own clothing," she inhaled perhaps a but too audibly in frustration. "But, your Majesty, I believe that there is much for us to discuss."

"Yes, Cassidy of Oleander, there is much for us to discuss," he leaned forward in his throne and his voice dropped to a sultry purr. "Let us discuss... who are you?"

"Your Majesty, that is a very long tale to tell and there is some that I would rather not share. To put it simply though..." Cassidy then proceeded to give a very basic overview of the fact that she and Lucius from another world, that magic was far more common in her world, that there was a war against darkness that she was fighting, and that Lucius was rather high up on the chain in the other side. She very briefly touched up on the ideals of Voldemort's followers, the destruction that they waged, the crimes that they committed, and the times that she fought them.

"And they have children fighting this war?" The King looked rather unimpressed with the idea.

"This year I am of age so by law I am no long a child... in truth I have not been a child since the day I watched my parents killed by the order that Malfoy is a part of."

He paused for a few moments in thought. Cassidy turned to look at Aragorn who had remained mostly stoic throughout her speech, but he was now frowning softly. She began to shift back and forth on her feet, an annoying habit that the senseis at Mahoutokoro always chided her for.

Finally, the King once more straighten his back and fixed Cassidy with that fierce gaze. He spoke in a slow and grave voice the echoed in the massive chamber.

"There is a plain sort of honesty in your words and I think you speak the truth. He has indeed committed great wrongs to you and your people."

"Thank you, for believing me..." Cassidy knew she was about to tread on dangerous ground, but she had to know. "If you pardon me asking, your Majesty," she made certain to throw that title in. "Why... did you originally come to trust Lucius. He appears to have either lost or broken his wand some time ago so I understand that it would be difficult for you to sense the darkness of his magic when he has little... but what did he do to convince you of his honesty?"

Legolas glanced sharply at his father who waved his and in acknowledgment. To Legolas this must have been his cue to speak for he stepped forward and faced Cassidy directly.

"The wizard was found by our patrol, a bit dazed and hysterical. We originally though he was a rather ill man who wandered from Laketown and we intended to simply drop him off with the nearest settlement of Men along the path of our patrol." He hesitated and looked to his father for reassurance. The King waved for him to continue what must have been at least somewhat sensitive information. "A few nights before we reached the settlement however, we encountered signs of a strange new beast. The wizard was able to identify it and assist us in its capture."

"New?" Cassidy felt a tugging in her mind. "New as in new to your lands or new as in new to your world?"

"Likely a newly birthed beast. Some monstrosity of wolf and man... we believe that it is an invention of Sauron."

Wolf and man... Cassidy felt her mind scream in alarm at the news.

"The night you encountered the creature... was it a full moon?" She asked.

"Yes."

Oh Merlin... it was a werewolf. There was only one werewolf there that night... The werewolf who actually enjoyed his transformation... one who had a taste for human flesh even when in human form.

"Where is he?!" She demanded, all pretenses of diplomacy gone. "Where's Greyback?"

If whatever twisted magic that swept her to this world also pulled Lucius, who knows how many of his Death Eater friends who where there that night got pulled along as well? Greyback had been there, he had been one of the guards watching over the Fletkins and he had been one of the first to sniff her out when she approached. She didn't know if he was one of her pursuers up the tower that night, but Lucius too had remained behind in the lower levels of the Manner, perhaps that was why they were both deposited in Mirkwood.

"Do you know this creature?" Legolas looked somewhere between alarmed and suspicious.

"I just might. Did you get his name?"

"I cannot recall. We managed to apprehend the creature in the morning and the Wizard took full control of it. He has spend much time since interrogating it."

"Does he interrogate him alone?"

"Yes."

Clever clever Malfoy... There was no doubt in Cassidy's mind that Lucius would sell out one of his fellow Voldemort buddies to gain the trust of the elves. The two of them were probably hatching a plot during those "interrogation" sessions.

Oh Merlin!

"Are their cells near each other?!" She cried. "Lucius and the Greyback, can they communicate right now?"

"No, we've kept them separate," the unspoken 'I'm not an idiot' practically dripped from Legolas' tongue, but Cassidy paid it no mind.

"You've got to take me to him now!" Cassidy's heart was racing as she contemplated what this meant... how many Death Eaters were potentially roaming this world. She drew her wand, earning some rather tense looks from the elvish guards, but she paid them no mind. "If he's who I think he is... you're in for a world of trouble."

Legolas looked to the King who nodded. Legolas then took off in a direction which Cassidy was quick to follow, Aragorn trailing silently behind them. They traveled through a series of winding corridors and sharply descending staircases. Usually Cassidy would be marveling at the architecture, but she had no time now. Instead, she was solely focused on the monster she was about to face.

They moved through a set of heavy, metal doors, the guards opening them without a word. It was only when they got to the last door that the posted guards didn't have the key. Instead, Legolas reached to his belt and pulled off a keyring, selecting one of the larger and heavier keys. As he inserted it into the lock, he turned to warn both Cassidy and Aragorn.

"We have it in this cell for it is the deepest we posses. Every month it still becomes the beast and it nearly escaped the first moon after we captured it."

Cassidy didn't say a word, didn't even nod her head. Her wand arm was tense as she held it ready. If this was indeed Greyback, then there was a chance that he still possessed his wand and was merely awaiting a signal from Malfoy. If such was the case, then Aragorn and Legolas were at risk. While he wasn't the most skilled wizard there was, Greyback was notoriously fast and brutal. He wouldn't hesitate to attack the muggle or the elf in order to distract Cassidy.

She paused at the door.

"I think it best that I go in alone," she spoke with that deep, empty calm that always came before a battle. It was her mind centering itself as she focused her magic. "Greyback is a savage, but he is an ally of Lucius. They might have been playing a long game. If he still possesses his wand... he's a danger to both of you."

Before either men could protest, she strode into the room and slammed the door behind her, a wordless charm locking it to keep either from following her.

Once she entered the room, she inhaled deeply and prepared herself. It was a dimly lit stone chamber with flickering torches lining the wall. The room was the only one in the entire underground castle to smell stale and damp. Halfway across the room was a wall bade of thick metal bars. Unlike the almost ornate cell bars that she had seen previously, these ones had no delicate curves of decorations, instead they were each thicker than two of her thumbs and they were set solidly into the ceiling and floor. The full moon was just the night before and she could hear ragged breathing coming from the pile of rags in the corner. When werewolves lacked the ability to roam free during their transformations... it didn't go well.

Cassidy's wand was poised, ready to strike as she spoke.

"Fenrir Greyback..." There was a shift in the corner of the cell. "You told me that you wanted to taste my flesh... Come and try."

"Cassidy?"

Cassidy felt her heart drop.

A familiar, light brown head of hair emerged from the rag pile.

She was barely breathing.

"Remus..."