3
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Hermione woke in a bed of goose feathers and elf-woven silk - comfier than the bed she had in her hollow, but somewhat less welcoming. She had grown used to sleeping in her bed of moss and vines, bumpy as it was. Upon waking up she would always feel the grass under her, and Mother Oak humming along to birdsong. Here, the trees sang as well, but it was not like home.
Hermione had spent some of the dinner talking to Elrond, who she found knew quite a bit about healing himself. She had told him how to find dittany - the grown plant she withdrew from her shoulder bag had surprised the elf and the wizard, so she had had to explain the magic behind it first before showing the elven Lord how to create a healing potion.
And when the night drew to a close she had been shown to her chambers. The fact that she hadn't been invited to the small meeting after had smarted, but she could not blame them - she was still unknown to them, not quite to be trusted. Unlike Bilbo, she did not have Gandalf to vouch for her, the Grey wizard was rather unsure what to make of her himself.
But Hermione knew what they had talked about - their voices carried in the night, and the trees had many, many ears. Most of what they said did not make sense, stuff about Durin's Day and the Misty Mountains. Godric was quick to explain though, falling into a story of dwarves and their downfall. She felt pity for Thorin, truly, to be a king of a kingdom lost to him.
She had asked the lion whether that was her role in all of this - to help the dwarf king. Her friend merely shook his head, saying rather ominously that "She would see when the time was right.".
Hermione was beginning to wonder whether anyone in Middle Earth was straight forward.
When an elleth knocked on her door hours after dinner, she had still been awake, braiding her hair in a way that she had seen on many of the elf women that night.
"Yes?" she asked politely, once her door was opened.
"Your presence had been requested, Aldariel." the elleth spoke.
"By whom?" she asked, barely keeping he reyes from narrowing in suspicion.
"The Lady Galadriel."
One look from Godric and she had snapped her fingers, changing from her dressing gown into another one of her green dresses.
That was how she had found herself in front of a gathering around a stone table. Elrond and Gandalf were accompanied by a woman so beautiful Hermione could barely believe her existence was possible - this was Lady Galadriel, she assumed, and a man whose robes were the palest white and whose hair was the sleekest of silver. Hermione had thought, upon seeing him, that one look would have brought to mind the word pure, and perhaps there was a time that that might have been true, but there was a shadow to him that she could not explain, she could feel it in her wand arm, the discomfort of his gaze on her made her shiver.
"Good evening." she said with a small smile. A prickle at the base of her skull that fell like the smallest wisp of Legilimency made her tense, and she immediately brought her walls up, suspicion filling her.
"Good evening, Lady Hermione." Gandalf greeted, "Allow me to introduce to you Lady Galadriel and Saruman the White, my friends, this young lady is Hermione the Green.
She could practically feel the White Wizard's gaze try and pick her apart as the words left Gandalf's mouth.
"Who are you, girl?" Saruman asked rather brusquely, making her bristle.
"Just as Gandalf has said, I am Hermione the Green." she replied smoothly.
"I know nothing of a Hermione the Green." Saruman said.
"And I know nothing of most things in this world." she said, "I am new."
"New? How do you mean new?" the wizard asked.
Hermione thought he would have been a good Slytherin.
"I was brought to this world, by the blessing of Orome. This is my second chance at life. I am meant to be dead, you see, but I found myself inside the hollow of a Great Oak tree in the Greenwood many days ago, and here I am."
"Hermione has been trying to cure the forest." Gandalf said helpfully.
"Yes," she nodded, "To try and reverse the effect of the necromancer as what Radagast told me. I did not know what exactly brought the sickness to the wood, but if what the Brown wizard said is true, then it is a vile magic indeed, to have caused so much darkness in my forest."
"And how do you cleanse it of its sickness?" Saruman inquired.
"I've found that it is my inherent power. I have an affinity for nature." she answered, "It is easy enough to combat the effects the necromancer-"
"Again with talk of this necromancer, why is it that so many believe the musings of a man whose brain has been addled by mushrooms…"
As Saruman went on a tangent about the eccentric Brown wizard, Hermione's attention was drawn to Galadriel, who was looking at the back of Gandalf's head rather intently. She turned her head to Godric, who was standing alert at her side.
"Is she?" she asked silently.
"Yes," the lion nodded, "Galadriel has many gifts."
When she turned back around, Gandalf was setting something wrapped in cloth on the stone table, drawing the attention of Elrond.
"What is that?" the Lord of Rivendell asked.
"A relic of Mordor." Galadriel said ominously.
Hermione saw Saruman's face turn to frown at the elf's words. Her attention was quickly drawn, however, back to the parcel. The sight of it did not sit well with her. Galadriel began talking about the blade, of witchkings and tombs, but Hermione could not focus on her words, instead her mind was sent to a frenzy by the sheer darkness that exuded from the sword - the creeping shadow and the feel of evil seeping through the air, tainting the breeze with its mere presence.
"Let us observe what we've found, a single orc pack, dead across the Bruinin, a dagger from the bygone age has been found, a human sorcerer who calls himself The Necromancer. It's not so very much after all. This dwarf company however, and this woman who claims herself an Istari - I do not feel much about this."
At that moment, just as Gandalf shared a small smile with Galadriel, an elf approached them, walking briskly.
"My Lord Elrond," the elf said worriedly, "The dwarves, they've gone."
Hermione chuckled to herself as she scratched Godric's chin. The fury on Saruman's face last night had been something to remember.
Lady Galadriel had spoken to her and Gandalf after, speaking quietly as the sun began to rise. She had urged them to follow the dwarf company, but only after a few hours' sleep. It seemed as though the lady had a bit of mothering instinct in her.
"I cannot see you, Hermione the Green." she had said, piercing eyes glinting in the light, "But I find that I trust your word. Your magic is pure - purer than most I have felt in a very long time. See that it does not tarnish."
Hermione had nodded at that, knowing what sullied magic could do to a person.
Gandalf had not wanted to heed Galadriel's order to sleep before leaving, but Hermione insisted that the journey to the dwarves would be quick with Godric's help. She had fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow - only to be awoken two hours later by an impatient knock on her door.
The Grey Wizard stood now, at the steps of Imaldris, saying his farewell to Lord Elrond. Hermione herself bowed her head in goodbye, turning to face Godric, who was trying to figure out what she was going to do.
"This quest is not a place for a lady, you know.", the wizard said flippantly.
"You will find, Mithrandir, that I am not quite the lady you think me to be.", she smirked.
"Well then, what is this plan you have that will get us to where we need to be?" Gandalf asked, brow raised.
"No need to be snarky," she said, "If I knew exactly where we were going we would be there in a snap of my fingers, but since I am unfamiliar with this land I will have to do it the other way.
She waved her hand and conjured several harnesses that tied themselves onto Godric, making the lion yowl in indignation. Then she conjured chariot without wheels, allowing the back to fall to the ground as it fastened itself to the harnesses.
"You forgot the wheels, my Lady." Gandalf chuckled.
"I think not, Mithrandir." she grinned, waving her hand again, "Wingardium Leviosa."
The chariot lifted two feet off the ground, easing the tension off Godric. With another wave of her hand she cast a Weightlessness charm on herself, Gandalf, and the chariot as to not bother the lion at all.
"Now we are ready." she said, smirking at the slightly gobsmacked expression on both Gandalf and Elrond's faces.
"Like I said, my new friends," she grinned, "My magic is unlike yours in many ways."
Hermione laughed as Gandalf stepped off of the chariot, a little wobbly on his feet. While the wizard steadied himself, she banished the chariot and harness, much to Godric's relief. The great beast may have not been in any strain during their journey, but a lion was not one to enjoy the feeling of being shackled, even if it was to his mistress.
"Thank you, Godric." Hermione smiled as she scratched behind his ear, offering him water as she did so.
"They have gone into the mountains." Gandalf sighed as she moved to stand beside him, where he was gazing up forlornly. "I told them to wait for me."
"Is that a bad thing?" she inquired, feeling antsy herself. The trek was steep, and very much terrifying from where she stood.
"It is most certainly not a good thing." Gandalf grumbled.
"I'm guessing that meeting them on the other side is out of the question?" she asked with false hope.
The wizard gave no answer to this, merely trudged on, staff in hand.
"You should've known that Thorin would go against your wishes. He's quite the stubborn dwarf. Also, he seems to still be irked that you forced him into Imaldris."
"You remind me of someone, you know." she said flippantly, when the wizard merely grunted in reply.
"Oh?" he asked, brow raised at the young woman.
She nodded, "He was a very powerful wizard, always believed in doing everything for the greater good - even though it meant sacrificing a few things in the process. Some of his ideas were skewed, but he had a good heart. He never allowed us to lose hope."
Gandalf hummed in thought, "He seems like someone I would have liked to meet."
"I see what you see in Bilbo." she confessed, at the sight of his curious look, "I may or may not have eavesdropped on your conversation with Lady Galadriel."
The wizard chuckled, "I must say, you are the only one to share my sentiments."
"Most of the time hope springs from unlikely places. One must only be willing to keep an eye out for it." she smiled sadly, thinking of Dobby and the tiny grave outside of shell cottage.
"I must admit, dear girl, that you seem quite young to be speaking of such things."
"War does that to some people." she said with a shrug that was too nonchalant to be real. "In both worlds I have existed, darkness is always present. I wonder if there is a world out there that is void of all darkness."
Gandalf smiled at the thought, "One would think too much light would be blinding."
Hermione chuckled, "Boring as well."
"Your old world must have been a harsh one, for a young girl to be roped into war and evil."
"It had its ups and downs." she admitted, "Prejudice was rampant, and I was born on the side of the oppressed. They hated my kind for my blood. There was no choice but to fight, else they would have enslaved me, or killed me - the gods know that they tried. I was in the middle of it, you see. My best friend was the Chosen One. There was a prophecy, he had no choice either. I've found that no one does in war. But I didn't fight for myself, or for Harry, or for my friends, I fought for magic, because for all the pain it had brought me, it was still one the best things to ever happen to me. I couldn't imagine a world where a girl like me would be forced to live a life without her magic.
She smiled sadly to herself, "This must make no sense to you."
Gandalf nodded, "I don't see why your blood would matter at all, my dear."
"I didn't either, at the start." She said, "That world was divided in many ways, you see, there were muggles, people with no magic at all, Muggleborns, witches and wizards born of muggles, halfbloods, born of one magic folk and one muggle, and Purebloods, magical folk who had no taint to their blood. Some of them thought they were superior to us, because of our blood. And that was how the war began. Hate is an ugly thing, and it can rule the lives of many."
Her wizard friend hummed in agreement.
They fell into silence as they trekked higher up the mountain, the sun sinking from the sky the higher they went. It was quite a sight to see, The orange rays casting everything in a warm light. Hermione had not seen anything quite like it. There was so much untouched land, it almost brought a tear to her eye. Would this have been how her planet looked had humans not fouled it up?
As they stopped to rest on a cliffside, Godric's ears perked up, and the lion growled, "Gandalf, do you hear that?"
The wizard whirled around, trying to make out the noise. It sounded like laughter, horrible cackling and the clanging of metal. They rounded the cliffside to find a large cave, and from it came a putrid stench that made her want to vomit.
'''What is that?", she spat, trying her best not to breathe through her nose.
"Goblins." Gandalf muttered in explanation before surging forward.
Hermione's eyes widened as she was forced to follow him. "Erm, wouldn't it be smarter if we avoid the goblins and the smell of rotting flesh?"
"If I know our company, my dear, our dwarves are probably down there as well."
As the rushed inside the mountain, Hermione wondered why she kept getting herself into these situations? It's not as if she wanted to go raging into a cave to fight off goblins (which she imagined did not at all look like the goblins she knew). She hadn't wanted to fight a werewolf either, or a hippogryph, or get attacked by a basilisk. Maybe it was just her luck that all these things kept happening to her.
Lost in her thoughts, she hadn't realized that the tunnel had come to an end, opening into an enormous cavern. She had been about to run off the edge when Godric clamped his jaws on the back of her shirt and pulled her backwards.
"Not the time to daydream, Aldariel.", her companion growled.
"Stay here." Gandalf commanded, barely even sparing her a glance.
Hermione scoffed, glaring at the retreating figure as he left her. She turned to the lion next to her, "What is it with men?"
Godric rolled his eyes at her and followed after her. She spelled her hair into a long braid and pinned it in a crown; the less to pull on the better.
"Godric, don't go out of your way to protect me. I can handle myself. If you can't fight any longer, I want you to leave. I'm not bringing you back to Mother Oak unless you're breathing you hear me? Her companion nodded his head, albeit unwillingly.
"I know that sword!", a voice rang throughout the cavern just as she was passing through a rickety wooden bridge. "It is the Goblin Cleaver! The Biter! The blade that slashed a thousand necks! Slash them! Kill them! Cut off his head!"
Oh my, well, Gandalf had been right after all. She quickly came upon the sight of the dwarves quickly being overwhelmed by.a horde of goblins - heavy-bodied creatures that did not look at all like the Gringotts tellers. She supposed they looked like short trolls, if that made sense. The one hollering at the top of his lungs was the biggest one, with a potbelly and a sagging chin and a crown of bones atop his head. She spotted Thorin, struggling against a goblin who had him pinned down, a blade over his heart.
Before she could cast a shielding charm, a blast of blinding light erupted from behind her. How the hell had Gandalf gotten there? It sent dozens of goblins flying backwards, putting out the torches as the enchantment ended. And the Grey wizard stepped out of the shadows, the horde picking themselves off their feet to see who had caused the ruckus.
"Take up arms, fight! Fight!" Gandalf commanded, voice booming throughout the cavern, making Hermione grin waspishly.
Almost immediately everyone began picking up their blades and fighting, metal clanging and shouting filled the caverns of Goblin Town.
"You know, you don't have to be so dramatic.", she shouted as she ran past Gandalf, who sputtered in disbelief as she began casting hexes in rapid fire. One swoosh of Aguamenti sent five goblins toppling over the wood floor and down to their doom.
"I thought I told you to stay put!", the wizard yelled as he cut down a beast.
"You'll learn quickly that I don't do well with commands, Mithrandir!", she teased as the blade in Gandalf's hand came out of the goblin's body bloody.
"He wields the Foe Hammer! The Beater! Bright as daylight!" The Goblin King shouted in terror - the oaf still had not picked himself up, choosing instead to tremble in fear as his men fought for him.
Hermione huffed, "Do you ever shut up?", she sneered, sending a Silencing spell at him. His eyes widened and he began clawing at his mouth in earnest. Seemingly awakened out of his stupor, the king took what looked to be a hammer with a skull mounted on it and surged towards one of the dwarves.
"Thorin!", she cried in alarm, holding up a shield to protect the dwarf king, at the same time petrifying a goblin.
Thorin's sword met the hammer with full force, sending the goblin king stumbling backwards and off the ledge. Hermione grinned and proceeded to levitate a handful of blades in front of her, casting them forward and into the chests of several goblins.
"That's it, Miss Hermione!", shouted Fili in awe, having just taken down his opponent. Hermione bowed in thanks, just as a goblin rushed towards her. Both her and Fili's eyes widened in alarm, but just as she was about to cast a spell, Godric came leaping in, tackling the creature down and mauling out his neck.
"Follow me!" Gandalf shouted at them, leading them along several wooden bridges.
"Come, Godric!", she shouted, bringing up the back of the company. Her lion followed, maw dripping with blood and eyes shining wildly.
She gasped for breath as she ran, chanting between breaths. "Protego Maxima!", over and over again. The shield was weak, but it was enough to keep them safe as they made their way through the mountain. The goblins were gaining on them quickly, growling murderously as they came. She threw a blasting charm behind her, feeling the pull on her magic as she did so. Hermione had to remind herself to stick to elemental curses. She couldn't afford to tire herself now.
"Cut the ropes!", she heard Thorin yelling from up ahead, just as she spotted a slew of goblins swinging towards them. Godric severed several ropes with his teeth, biting off the head of a goblin that had wrapped a rope around the bridge.
Arrows began to shoot at them, one whizzing dangerously close to her ear, and she had to keep the shield up, switching to nonverbal casting as she chanted at the same time.
When they reached a dead end, Thorin shoved past her, slicing the rope holding the bridge in place, effectively sending it, and them swinging into the air.
"Are you out of your bloody mind?", she screamed, trying to remain steady.
The dwarf ignored her, choosing instead to shout jump to the ones ahead of them. Four got off the bridge in time, and as they swung back, a group of goblins jumped on. Levitating a plank, Hermione slammed it against one's head hard enough to send him falling.
She felt someone grab her arm - Thorin - and pull her to follow. Then she felt him grab her and throw her into the air and onto the other side. Godric was already there waiting.
"I'm going to hex him silly when this is over.", she vowed as they took up running again. Gandalf had sent a boulder rolling to clear the path ahead of them - quite smart, that - and all she had to do was keep the damn shield up. Merlin, couldn't she have appeared in a world where arrows didn't exist?
Their path eased up, which allowed her to heave a sigh of relief, but just as she did, the goblin king broke through the bridge, blocking their path. Briefly she wondered whether the universe was taking the Mickey out of her.
Goblins began blocking the path behind her as well, she sent a Stinging hex at one of them out of spite. They couldn't get past the barrier she had up anyway.
"What are you gonna do now, wizard?", the king challenged, her Silencing spell seemed to have worn off, and Gandalf, being Gandalf, struck his staff against the king's head and sliced his belly with the sword in his other hand.
"Oooh!", the goblin moaned, "That'll do it."
He slumped over in a dead heap, and the bridge began to crumble from his weight. Hermione bit back a scream as they were sent plummeting downwards.
Why?, she thought to no one in particularly, Why me?
a/n: Sorry for the long wait, but here's the next chapter! Here's to hoping I'll be able to post next week!