Once all the dwarves had left for the Iron Mountains, and the men had either moved to lake town or left in the hopes of greener pastures, Hadrian had a breakthrough in his research on where the ancient cities of the elves could be.
A particularly old and dusty tomb in the back of the Greenwood library referenced a map of hidden places that allowed the elven leaders of Gondolin to be able to locate Nargothrond and Menegroth. Vibrating with excitement, Hadrian poured through the library searching for any more references to this map of hidden places.
Unfortunately, after three weeks of searching, Hadrian and the librarians had gone through every single book in the library and had only found brief references to the map in only the oldest of tomes, but nothing substantial. Groaning, Hadrian slumped back into his chair, pondering whether Imladris or Lothlorien was more likely to have the book, tomes, or scrolls that mentioned the map of hidden places.
Spotting Sirius peaking around the door, Hadrian waved him over and asked, "Do you think I should go to Lothlorien or Imladris in two weeks?" Shrugging, Sirius collapsed into the chair opposite Hadrian and said, "Who do you think needs you more?" Smiling at Sirius, Hadrian shook his head, wondering how Sirius and Severus always knew what to say.
Two months later, Hadrian rode into Lothlorien, admiring the beautiful golden trees that had flourished even more since the last time he had seen them. After greeting Lady Galadriel, Hadrian said, "Don't think I've ever seen Lothlorien look this good."
Smiling with pride, Galadriel replied, "Yes Lothlorien has been growing and prospering in leaps and bounds since I gave you the ring and began looking into the old elf magics that were used before the creation of the ring."
Pausing at a marble statue of a stag, Galadriel said, "Since we have rediscovered our magic, we have been able to shield Lothlorien from the sight of Sauron and we discovered how to keep the trees alive." Laying a hand against the stag, Hadrian felt the power of the magic thrum through him.
Turning to Galadriel, Hadrian said, "Send out those that can teach the old magic to all the elven realms." Nodding, Galadriel replied, "I will see to it personally, but before I do I would like to tell you that since we began using the elven magic, not a single elf has left to sail to Valinor. All those that were called by the sea have said that the sea's call has faded into the background."
Beaming, Hadrian made his way to the library where he threw himself into research on the map of hidden places. Months passed in the blink of an eye before Hadrian found more than a vague reference to the map in an old scroll reporting that the dwarves had sacked Menegroth and taken many of the city's books. The scroll also mentioned that before the dwarves had been able to remove anything from the city that the elves had woven a spell that prevented the dwarves from using anything that they took from the city.
Researching the curse, Hadrian, Sirius and Severus found that the curse meant that an attacking foe could not use anything removed from an area nor gain any information from written texts that they took. Smiling softly, Hadrian sent Severus and Sirius to research the locations of the other maps in Imladris while he went to talk to Cirdan about the maps.
Months later, Hadrian sat beside Cirdan looking out over the western sea, the setting sun creating ripples when Cirdan said, "There has been a decrease in the number of elves heading to Valinor recently. Am I to assume your mission is going well?"
Pulling out the mithril box Hadrian replied, "I have collected all of the elven rings, two of the dwarven rings and know the location of a third, though at this moment I am unable to get it." Smiling with pride, Cirdan clapped Hadrian on the back and said, "You're doing well. How is your other project going?"
Leaning forward, Hadrian pulled out a small book containing his notes, and with enthusiastic arm gestures began saying, "I think we have found a lead with a reference to a map of hidden places that the rulers of the old cities used to locate each other. However, the only copy of the map that we currently know about was stolen during the sacking of Menegroth."
Humming, Cirdan raked his brain for any information on the map. With a sigh and a shake of his head said, "I'm sorry but I don't remember any mention of your map, but it would have been kept a secret between the kings and a trusted few." Smiling in thanks, Hadrian sighed and looked off into the horizon pondering the future of Middle Earth.
A few years passed in much the same manner as they usually did, with lots of research and travelling. Sitting next to Celeborn listening to the elves from all over middle earth discuss the breakthroughs that they were having and how they could be applied to the other elven kingdoms filled Hadrian with the hope that his people wouldn't just fade from middle earth and eventually from memory, but continue to flourish.
As the meeting drew to a close, a rather rumpled guard rushed into the council chambers and quickly bowed to Hadrian, then Celeborn and Galadriel, and in a tone of shock shouted, "King Thror has embarked on a suicide run to reclaim Moria with the reasoning that no one has heard anything from Durin's bane in over a century!"
Leaning forward with an incredulous look on his face Celeborn gasped, "They do realise that Durin's bane had been under Moria since before the Years of the Lamps?" Shaking his head sadly, Hadrian rose from the table and whispered, "It does not matter to Thror. He is so lost in his madness and greed that he would damn all the dwarves in Arda if he thought it would bring him more riches."
Jumping up from the table Sirius asked, "What should we do Hadrian?" Walking over to a window Hadrian looked out over the golden forest and pondered the problem before him. To send soldiers to aid the dwarves would help them in gaining a better relationship with the dwarven people, but most of those soldiers would die fighting the orcs that live in Moria, and those that survived would be killed by the balrog.
Another option was to send no one, leaving the relationship between dwarves and elves as it was, but turning a blind eye to all those who would suffer and die. Shaking his head, Hadrian discounted both these options. Desperately trying to think of a solution, Hadrian turned to Sirius and realised what the best course of action was.
With a sad sigh, Hadrian ordered that healers and guard's travel to Moria and heal those that needed their assistance, but to not actively engage in the battle. Jumping up, Severus who up until that moment had faded into the background of the meeting, grabbed Sirius and left to start preparing the healers and two platoons for the journey to Moria.
A couple days later, Hadrian was watching Sirius lead the company of soldiers and healers off to Moria, when a vision hit, sending him stumbling forward and almost straight down a flight of stairs. Only thanks to the quick reflexes of a passing maid dropping her washing and grabbing him stopped that.
Blinking, Hadrian found himself standing in the middle of what appeared to be a battlefield, bodies of orcs and dwarves covered the ground, while up ahead, a great white orc beheaded Thror then stabbed Thrain through the heart. The image changed to show Thorin slicing the white orc's arm off with a tree, possibly oak.
The orc was carried back into Moria where his wound was treated before they took the white orc away. The image changed again showing the orc hunting Thorin down, before going back to the battlefield showing Thorin trying to stop the bleeding of a young blonde dwarf that looked vaguely familiar.
As Hadrian left the vision, he came to find himself being held up by a guard, while Sirius leaned in to check his pupils. Groaning, Hadrian batted Sirius' hand away and said, "Just a vision." Looking up at Sirius, Hadrian whispered, "Look for the injured blond dwarf that price Thorin will be crying over and heal him." Turning, Hadrian grabbed a pen and a piece of paper from the court scribe and quickly wrote: The white orc lives.
Folding the page and sealing it quickly, Hadrian said, "Give this to Thorin and tell him to remember my warning." Nodding, Sirius turned and signalled for the company to move out. Chewing his lip, Hadrian watched them walk off into the distance with a sigh, left to immerse himself in the newly restored books that the librarians had told him about over breakfast.