Pack Up - Eliza Doolittle

I followed Kili into the house and was surprised to find that the dwarves were busy tidying up, putting all the furniture they'd moved earlier back in the right places.

Fili was talking to Thorin, the pair of them in a heated debate about something. Balin and Dwalin were standing close by and as Kili rushed over to them a buzzing excitement running through his body, Fili turned to glare at his brother and all the excitement vanished within seconds.

"Oh, I'm sorry, miss," a soft voice said, after they bumped into me and I turned my gaze onto a young looking dwarf with ginger hair, which in my opinion looked a little messy, but who am I to judge someone on the messiness of their hair?

"It's quite alright, Master…" I trailed off not knowing who this dwarf was. I had only received the names of a few dwarves from overhearing conversations.

"Ori, you can just call me Ori," he said, a small blush covering his cheeks as he dipped his head.

"It's nice to meet you, Ori, I'm Ethel," I introduced, offering him my hand which he quickly shook before letting it go.

"I umm, I…" He dashed off in his flustered state leaving me standing there feeling confused.

Was it something I did?

"Ori gets flustered in the presence of beautiful women," a voice said from my side, making me jump. I turned to look at the dwarf, taken aback by the dramatic hairdo he was sporting. It almost looked like he had shaped his hair into a five-point star. His eyebrows were also braided into his hair. It was a unique look.

"I'm sorry?" I asked, feeling taken aback by his words.

"Nori, at your service," he said, bending down in a little dip.

"Ethel at yours," I muttered in reply, giving him the same little dip which I assumed was a sign of respect.

"My brother, Ori, he doesn't communicate well with the fairer sex. Too busy locked in the library, drawing and transferring scribes."

"Really?" I asked and watched at something flickered in Nori's eyes. "Ori likes to draw?"

I hadn't met anyone that had a passion for drawing since leaving my old world. It was something I had in common with Charlie, the pair of us sending each other drawings every time we sent owls.

Charlie had been amazing at drawing and his images of dragons had been fantastic, some of them had even been added to the latest version of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them - not that anyone in the Weasley family knew that.

Charlie had been shy about his art work, only showing me after he discovered I had the same passion as him.

I hadn't drawn or painted - besides Bilbo's front door - since arriving in Middle Earth.

Most of my time here was spent completing my magical training, learning of the herbology of this world and training in weapons.

"Nori, is it offensive to give gifts to dwarves?" I asked him, an idea brewing in my mind.

"It depends what sort of gift it is, lass." At my questioning look, Nori took hold of my arm and pulled me into a corner. I was under the belief he didn't want to be overheard and with a wave of my hand casting a Muffliato.

"No one can hear us," I encouraged, gesturing to him to carry on.

"It's not offensive, but it's a rare occurrence unless you're giving it to family or friends. We give out handmade gifts to those we want to court, the dams often hand out the first gift to show they're interested, but it's not always the case." Nori seemed thoughtful for a moment. "If you were to give something to Ori, it can't be handmade and you must make your intentions clear as you hand it to him."

An idea hit me then.

"If I was to give something to everyone in the company then it wouldn't look strange would it?"

"No it wouldn't." Nori frowned slightly, his eyes flicking over to where Thorin was watching us carefully. "What are you planning?"

"You'll find out," I said, giving him a smile before dashing over to where Gandalf was gesturing to something as he spoke to Thorin.

"Ah, Ethel, would you be willing to help out with sleeping arrangements? Bilbo has taken himself to bed," he said as I joined them.

"I can enlarge some of the spare rooms to fit everyone in," I muttered thinking about the two spare rooms we had.

"My company will be fine with whatever dwellings you have to offer us," Thorin muttered, sounding about as pleased as he was earlier.

To his surprise - I like throwing him off his feet - I gave him a soft smile before nodding my head and glancing around at the dwarves in his company.

"I can have a room set up for you and your nephews and another room ready for Ori and his brothers. I will expand the sitting room for the rest of your company. I can even supply beds for the night." Thorin looked surprised at the offer but I dismissed it. "I may not like you, Thorin Oakenshield, but that does not mean I will deny your company a last night of comfort before you delve into an adventure."

I could hear a muffled chuckle from someone as I left them, heading towards the spare bedrooms, pulling out my wand.

Over the years I have been able to broaden my magical abilities, using nonverbal and wandless magic but sometimes I needed to rely on my wand if I was tired or trying to do a lot of magic.

This morning and all of today had left me tired after helping Suri through her labouring.

Stepping into the first room, I cast the enlargement spell and quickly added another two beds to the room. I did the same to the other spare room before entering the living room and extending it too, adding seven beds to the room.

Nodding in completion of my work, I spun on my feet to tell Thorin that the rooms were ready only to bump into said dwarf.

"Oh, umm, your rooms are ready." I waved my hand to the room behind me, indicating the room. "If you follow me, I can show you where you'll be sleeping." Without bothering to see if he was following, I led him to the room he would be sleeping in for the night. "This is your room, feel free to fight over the beds."

Thorin muttered a thanks under his breath as he passed me into the room whereas Kili gave me a curious look and glanced back at his brother who just stood there staring at me.

"Good night, Ethel," Fili said, his hand brushing against my arm as we went into the room, closing the door behind him.

"Night." I stared at the closed door for a while before making my way down the hall and back outside where I knew Gandalf would be.

"I intend for you to join us on this quest, Etheldred," he said as I joined him on the bench. He didn't even bother looking at me as he puffed on his pipe. "I've already spoken to Thorin and he has agreed to let you come as Bilbo's protector."

Of course Gandalf would bring Bilbo into it. He knew I wouldn't let him out into the wilds without my protection.

"I guess I have to pack then," I sighed, thinking about the long journey we had ahead of us. "You know Bilbo doesn't intend to go."

"I hope you will change his mind."

I sighed again, getting up from the bench and giving Gandalf one last look before making my way to Bilbo's door.

"Bilbo?" I called softly, smiling when I heard him hissing. With a flick of my hand, the door unlocked and opened and I quickly stepped into my brother's room. "Hey."

"I won't do it, Ethel, I won't go." He was adamant about that, but I knew he could change his mind.

"They don't have a home, Bilbo. They don't have comforts like us." I gave him a sad smile and joined him on his bed, resting my head on his shoulder. "When I first arrived in Middle Earth I felt so alone. I didn't have a home and I felt like I didn't belong. It took me years to feel comfortable in Rivendell and then I was sent here and the love I felt in this home made me feel like I was starting to belong somewhere. You gave me a home again, Billy."

"Oh." He hated it when I called him Billy. Something Ma thought funny as we acted like real siblings teasing each other.

"What would Ma say if you didn't help them get their home back?"

I knew how to hit him.

"She would be disappointed." He paused for a moment as gave out a deep sigh. I knew I won. "She'd also roll in her grave if I let you go alone."

"You know she would." I pulled away from him and picked up his backpack, waving my wand to add an extension and weightless charm to it. "Don't forget to pack some hankies," I teased knowing he was prone to sneezing this time of year.

"Haha," he muttered but I smiled when he added a handful of handkerchiefs to his pack.

As the sun started lighting the rooms with its natural glow, I was already in the middle of cooking a sustainable breakfast.

I couldn't sleep and after sorting through my things, packing my bag with clothes and supplies, I had already sorted through my medical bag, adding all and any supplies I had in the house.

I knew the company had a healer, Oin I think his name was, but I knew any extra medical items wouldn't be frowned upon.

"What's all this?"

"Merlin's beard!" I exclaimed, jumping and pointing my spatula at Thorin as he peered curiously down at the thirteen new packs I had lined on the kitchen table. "Don't do that."

"What is this?" He asked again, coming over and running his fingers over the pack that had his name embedded on the brown material. He peered at me curiously as he opened the pack, his eyes raising at what he saw.

"Gandalf told me you agreed for me to join you on your quest. I thought if I was coming you might as well benefit from my powers," I told him, placing the spatula on the counter and joining him slowly. "I used an extension charm on all the packs which includes a weightless charm. They can fit a bit more in than a normal pack, not too much though, probably about chest size and they won't feel too heavy either. I also charmed them to appear in my pack if they get lost, you know, so we don't lose any of our supplies." Thorin wouldn't stop staring at me and it was really off putting. "I couldn't sleep last night and I needed something to do." I gave a little shrug as if it would explain why I'd done it.

"That's thoughtful of you," he grumbled, a strange tone to his voice.

"I hope you don't mind, but I added a gift in each pack. Something for each of you. Oh, don't worry," I added after seeing the look on his face. "I didn't make anything and my intentions are that of friendship."

"Hmm," he muttered, rifling through his bag until he came across a new waterskin, gloves and knife.

"I didn't know what to get you and I want to apologise for the way I spoke to you last night," I told him, fidgeting with my apron as I glanced up at his eyes quickly. "I got too defensive over Bilbo and I should have never challenged you like that and for that I am sorry."

"You don't need to apologise," he grunted, shoving things back into his pack and giving me a nod of gratitude. "I appreciate you doing this for my company."

"I hope I haven't offended anyone," I muttered weakly, hoping he'd cast away my worries.

As if he read my thoughts, Thorin opened each pack, smiling as he saw what I had gifted everyone.

Balin had received a book about hobbits, something he had enquired about last night as he was wandering about Bilbo's culture. I had also added a tea that would help his aching joints and bones.

Dwalin was just as hard as Thorin to give to, so I tried to do my best by giving him a bottle of honeyed mead, one of the best in the Shire. It was accompanied by a filleting knife, one that used to belong to Ma.

Gloin I had gifted with a wooden flower he had been admiring on the fireplace. He said his wife would have loved something like that and I knew he had to have it.

For Oin I had supplied medical herbs from the garden, a written description for each one written on the paper that held the plants.

I had given Bombur a copy of Ma's recipe book which held all the best hobbit recipes that had been passed down in the Took familyline - I had asked Bilbo for permission and he agreed.

I had supplied Bifur with some wood carving supplies that had been left over from when Bilbo's father passed away. No one had touched them in years and we both knew they could go to Bifur.

Bofur had received a flute which had been gifted to me by a Took cousin a couple of birthdays ago - I didn't know how to play and I heard him moaning last night about how old his instrument was getting.

Dori was now the proud owner of my camomile tea, tucked neatly in a pouch next to a jar of Shire Honey. I was even kind enough to give him my tea strainer too.

Nori was a little hard to find something for, but I had seen him eyeing Bilbo's old pocket watch, something he hadn't used in years since I brought him his new one. Bilbo was more than happy to get rid of it when I gave him my puppy-dog eyes.

Ori. Well, Ori was the whole reason I wanted to give out gifts in the first place. I had supplied him with some new sketching pencils and a new journal that I had sitting around for a while. He was also the reason I packed my art supplies to take with me.

Kili wasn't too hard to figure out. I knew he was a keen archer and gave him a pouch full of feathers and arrowheads. I knew he'd use them eventually. I also added in a pipe after seeing him sharing Fili's.

For Fili I had struggled at first. I didn't want to give him any weapons. I'd seen the pile he'd left in the hallway. I didn't know what to give him so ended up giving him a few pouches of pipeweed that Bilbo wasn't too fond of and a cleaning kit for all his blades.

"You seem to know my company well," Thorin said, sounding quite impressed.

"I'm very observant." I moved back over to the stove, happy to see that the magic I cast on the pan had removed it from the heat before anything could burn. "Am I allowed to add food to the supplies? That isn't seen as a courting gift?"

"You know about courting gifts?" That was definitely a surprised tone coming from him then.

"I asked Nori about it last night." Thorin frowned at the mention of me asking Nori and I quickly took a step towards him. "Please don't be mad at Nori, I didn't want to break any of your rules or intervene in your culture but I wanted to do something for you all. I hope I haven't offended you."

"No, I'm not offended. It was considerate of you to take into account our culture," he muttered looking up at me with a look in his eye I couldn't place. "No one outside of our race has considered our culture before."

I think he was flattered.

"I respect you and your people, Thorin, if you allow I would like to learn more of your culture. Only as much as you deem necessary, of course."

I knew Thorin wasn't keen on me and the last thing I needed was him venting his rage out on me during this quest. If he knew I respected him and his people and was willing to learn about their culture to continue to show my respect then perhaps he wouldn't be too harsh on me.

I also knew he wasn't a fan of Bilbo.

"I will talk with Balin and he can give you some lessons on our culture."

And with that Thorin left, giving me one last curious look.