Standard Disclaimer: I own nothing in regards to Harry Potter or the Hobbit. All properties therein are those of their creators. I am only a writer working on my skills with worlds and characters that I love.

Note: Getting into the closing stretch for this story. Maybe one or two chapters more after this one and then it'll be time to start working on the Lord of the Rings sequel!

Note: Kili is canonically a bit of an idiot. Not saying he's dumb, but he makes dumb choices.

Note: Just gonna be throwing this out there, the movie version of Smaug was broken as hell. I mean seriously, an impenetrable body with a single hole in its armor that required a gary stu to take advantage of it with a near mythical black arrow? Sorry, but that isn't how Tolkien wrote his dragons. Their exterior scales are beyond tough, but their undersides are smooth and vulnerable. Hell, in the Hobbit book one of the reasons Smaug stole into the mountain and claimed it was to find enough precious gems to make a coat for his underside that would protect him from being stabbed. My point is, my version of Smaug is following the book definition of a dragon.

-For those that think this is weird, I will refer you to the Children of Hurin by Tolkien. In that story Glaurung, father of dragons, first of dragons, the Great Serpent, was killed by Turin, a mortal man, who wielded the same sword Harry does now. A 'mortal' killed a great wyrm with a sword. Does that sound like what the movies showed?

Sorry, went on a bit of a rant there, but I needed to make that clear before beginning this chapter. Dragons are mighty enemies, but they are vulnerable. Often by their own hubris.

-Also, I find it hard to believe Gandalf wouldn't at least have an idea on how to beat Smaug considering he was supposed to go into the mountain with the dwarves originally and this entire adventure was his plan.

Chapter Fourteen - Smaug

As Thorin stared mournfully down the halls of his former home, Tauriel took her mate aside by the elbow. ""What exactly are you saying, Harry?"

The vampire regained control of himself and said, "There are no life forms in here. Tauriel, this is the first time I've been beneath the earth and heard nothing. I won't be able to call on the creatures of darkness to aid us. What's more, they can't tell me anything about what's down there."

"Can't you just see for yourself? I thought caves were kind of your forte?"

"They are, and I can, it's just, different. It'll be only my eyes instead of hundreds."

"Then that is what we'll work with. Come on." She led him back to the group where a temporary camp was being set up. Sleeping mats were set out, food and water unloaded, and weapons set next to sharpening stones as dwarves sat down to get them in top shape.

"What's all this then?" Harry asked with a raised brow. Are we not descending deeper?"

"Not yet." Thorin answered, his voice still lost with memory. "There is too much yet not known, and Bilbo must serve his purpose as our burglar and collect the Arkentstone."

Harry palmed his face and said, "I could just get it for you now, you know?"

That stopped everyone cold. All eyes turned to him and Gandalf queried, "You can?"

The younger wizard shrugged, "Sure. Now that I'm actually inside the mountain it's no trouble at all." He raised his hand, focused, and whispered "Accio Arkenstone."

Nothing happened, and even though the vampire didn't lower his hand, Kili felt the need to ask, "Was…. that it? Some trick that was. I expected more out of-" The dwarf cut himself off as a slight whooshing sound echoed through the hall, followed by a dull glow. A few seconds later the source came into being as a small but brilliant stone that sailed through the air to land in Harry's palm.

He lightly tossed it up and down while staring young Kili directly in the eye. "This is a rather large place, Kili. I imagine something as small as this takes a while to get where it's going. Don't discount me again."

"Wouldn't dream of it." The dwarf gulped as his taller fellow smirked and moved over to his brother.

"This is for you, Thorin." He dropped the stone in the dwarf's palm and the smile that alit on his face was brighter than the glow of the object he now held. A moment later the two of them embraced, and Harry manfully ignored the wetness that was beginning to form on his chest from the contact. A little while later they parted with much manly back slapping and the prince, now a king by virtue of the stone he held, told Gandalf, "Not that I haven't appreciated the services of our Master Baggins on this endeavor, but I told you, Harry could handle this part."

"Yes, well," the bearded man gruffed cheekily, "I daresay he's earned his position here well enough. Either way, a bit of adventure is good for the soul. Harry, could you pull out the messenger pigeon?"

"I hate that you keep making me do this." Harry grumbled as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a smaller than normal pebble that he promptly transfigured back into a carrier pigeon.

"Well it is easier than traveling weighed down by a cage and food." Gandalf shot back, writing out a quick note and sliding it into a cylinder on the animal's leg. He then whispered a few words in its ear and ushered it back the way they came. "It will travel to the Iron Hills and alert your cousin Dane that the stone is in your possession. I imagine his forces along with the other dwarf lords will follow soon after arrival."

"Yes, they will." Thorin agreed. "But that leaves the question of the dragon. If Smaug lives when they arrive, he will immolate them en masse with his breath as he did the last time our forces marched against him."

"Then we must first identify if he remains a threat." Harry said before laying down flat and pressing the pads of his fingers and forehead into the stone beneath him."

"Harry, what are you doing?" Fili wanted to know.

"Making a map. Now shut up." The vampire closed his eyes, opened his mind, and clicked his tongue. At once his mind was assailed by the sudden onrushing images of hundreds of tunnels, chambers, and caverns. Every second he clicked his tongue again, and every time the images grew greater, sharper, more defined as the sound traveled by his awareness, until finally they changed no more. Echolocation was awesome sometimes.

Slowly sitting up he said, "Sorry for the wait. Without my bats to help the process along it takes a while." He moved to the nearest wall, conjured a piece of chalk and began to draw. With Luna piping up in his head to help with the recollection he soon had a decent map of the labyrinth below to display to his companions. Then he circled a particular chamber about five levels down.

"This is one of the bigger treasure chambers, and it's where Smaug is currently sleeping. From the rising and falling of his chest the damned thing is definitely still alive." He sent a playful smirk to Tauriel and commented, "Looks like I'll be earning your presence in my sleeping mat sooner than we thought, eh?"

The elf merely stuck her tongue out at her mate and asked, "I'm curious why he didn't rise when the Arkenstone was moved? Aren't dragons intensely aware of their hoards?"

"Indeed they are, Ms. Tauriel." Gandalf noted, quite impressed with the skill his vampire comrade had shown in creating the map on the wall. "But I imagine it has to do with being outside of his range of hearing and the fact that it was not removed outside these walls. Were we to spirit it away from here however, I am sure he'd know at once."

"Well then, we can't take the stone, and we can't let the dwarven army march in here with that reptile still breathing. That leaves only one option. Gandalf, how do we kill it? In my old world the undersides of dragons were soft and vulnerable."

The gray wizard ran a hand through his beard as he considered the question. "That at least is the same here, Master Potter. In fact, the only way to wound a dragon is to attack where their scales do not cover. Such scales are impervious to physical harm after all. You'd need to strike the stomach, chest, joints, or eyes." A lightbulb seemed to go off in the old man's head as he said, "It's quite fortuitous that we have added such an accomplished archer into our ranks, I think. Tauriel, could you perhaps shoot out the dragon's eyes from a distance?"

The redhead nodded, "With ease."

"Perfect. That at least will keep it grounded as dragons cannot fly without the use of their sight. However, it will still be able to perceive us with sound and scent."

"I can take care of those." Harry noted. "So I guess then it just becomes a matter of surviving its wild attacks until one of us manages to land a killing blow."

"Indeed." Thorin noted before turning to his nephews. "You two will stay here."

"What?!" they both exclaimed.

"You are my heirs, boys. Should I fall today it will be up to you to unite our people and lead them to a better future. However, if we all die here then the line of Durin is ended once and for all, and our people will be fractured anew with no one who holds enough royal blood to bind them together. It is your duty to live."

The young dwarves did not like it, but they well understood the importance of duty and family obligation. Their uncle, their patriarch, and their king had given a command and it would be followed.

"Yes, uncle."

"Understood, uncle."

Looking at the nervous hobbit, Tauriel added, "Perhaps Bilbo should stay behind too. No one doubts your courage or ability, little one, but what is needed now is martial skill. Not stealth."

Bilbo acknowledged his understanding and moved over to join his friends. At the very least he could try to keep Fili and Kili's minds off of what was about to transpire.

Clearing his throat, Gandalf added, "There is one more thing. Should you end up speaking to the beast, do not give it your name. Instead, attempt riddles. Dragons are notorious for their interest in riddles, and using some might just keep it occupied long enough for another attack."

"Are you sure that's real? It sounds like a made up thing, like how vampires in my old world were supposed to be easily distracted by the need to count things. I'll have you know that I'm still shit at math." Harry scoffed.

"It is indeed real, and has been a valued tactic in the past for dealing with such creatures." Gandalf sniffed. "Now let us make a plan. We must discover the best uses for our collective skills and then put them into practice. The greatest issue is going to be his current location. Even blinded, its freedom of movement could allow it to cause untold damage even by accident. We need to lead it to a better battle ground."

Harry raised a hand, "And I would like some time to engrave our clothing with enchantments. The material isn't great, but I can at least inscribe some flame and blunt force resistance."

Thorin nodded, "An excellent idea, brother."

"Also," Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a flask, but wait, it was different from the one everyone present had seen him use before. "Let's all have a drink first, yeah?"

Gandalf was a bit nonplussed by the suggestion. "I hardly think now is the best time for-"

"I said," the vampire's crimson eyes flashed and his words cracked like a whip, "let's all have a drink first, yeah?"

The words were spoken with such commanding venom that none present could have denied him if they'd tried. One by one they each took a sip of the flask, and to a person they all thought the dwarven mead tasted just a little bit strange. Only Thorin nodded happily at his sip, and then he turned their attention back to the task at hand.

Three Hours Later

The wall sconces were dark for obvious reasons, but the headbands Harry had made for his friends had been improved to add an extra layer of night vision. Now they could still see without alerting the dragon to their presence with light. What was more, their clothes had been further upgraded with runes that canceled the noise of their footfalls and scents. They made it to the fourth floor down before splitting up. Each had memorized the map for at least six levels so knew where to go to complete their required tasks.

Tauriel stayed on her floor and skirted the length of the fifth tunnel from the right until she found a hollowed out ventilation shaft and started scaling down for an overhead view of the chamber below. Gandalf went to the sixth floor, crossed as far as he could to the other side, and steadily climbed back up until he was back in the fifth floor treasure room, staring at the curled end of a tail mostly buried under a pile of gold. Thorin, Balin, Dwalin, and Harry exited on the fifth floor, with the dwarves spreading out to either side to approach the beast's flanks while the young wizard approached steadily from the front.

As he did so, Harry couldn't help thinking how troublesome this was about to be. He needed to wake the beast up, get its attention, and keep it occupied until Tauriel could get a shot. Why was it that he always seemed to be the bait? First the trolls and now this? Why did all of Gandalf's master plans seem to involve him facing off against bigger monsters so the old man didn't have to? Well, there wasn't anything else but to get to it.

Stomping over the gold at his feet and making plenty of noise, he stopped about three meters away from the beast's snout. The red surface being the only thing visible to him under the mountain of gold. Honestly the gold itself was just as impressive. This chamber was massive and the precious metal literally covered every surface imaginable in it, even climbing high enough to reach the vaulted ceiling. And according to Thorin this was only one of hundreds of treasure chambers.

Once he could see the readied postures of his friends on either end of the room with weapons drawn, he planted his feet, drew his own sword and cast a light stinging hex at protruding snout.

At once the mountain of gold shivered and began to jostle and shift as an absolutely enormous reptilian head pulled free of the wealth around it and turned to stare down at the small creature that had disturbed it with sleep hazed lids. "Who dares to interrupt my slumber?" Smaug's voice was a sibilant hiss that reverborated off the walls of the chamber.

Remembering what Gandalf had told him about addressing dragons, he answered, "One who would stand above all, but for the abilities of a few." It was only after he was done speaking that he realized his words had come out in parseltongue. Go figure, dragons were more attuned to the snake language than english.

For his part, Smaug seemed rather impressed by that development as his head slid further from the gold hill he'd made his home and slithered with his long neck ever closer to his intruder to get a closer look. "Interesting. One who knows the noblest of languages. I am intrigued, which is the only reason you still draw breath. But you did not answer my question."

"Did I not?" Harry tapped the tip of his blade on a loose pile of coins as if in thought. 'Any time now, Tauriel!' "I am the dark tide."

"Indeed?"

"I am the leather winged storm."

"That is new."

"I am the whisper in the shadows, the fangs that no one lives to tell of."

"Truly?" The dragon sounded almost amused.

"I am the king of night and blood. The wielder of shadow and powers arcane."

The beast's nostrils flared and its head tilted sideways so one of its reptilian eyes (as large as Harry's whole body) could take the intruder in in full. "Fine names for a thief."

"Oh, I'm not a thief. I'm a fan."

"What?" If Smaug had been expecting any kind of answer, it wasn't that.

"Yeah," the vampire began to pace in a line, pulling the dragon's gaze, and thus its head, with him as it tried to keep him in sight. Everything was about getting the right angle for Tauriel. "I'm a connoisseur of death and destruction, you see, and none live who do not know the tales of Smaug the Calamity. Smaug the Living Desolation. Smaug, the Terrible."

"Fine words, and accurate praise." Smaug rumbled. If there was one thing to be said about dragons, say that they were vain. "But do you think flattery will keep you alive?"

"Oh no, but I'm more than capable of keeping myself alive, so it isn't a worry for me."

"You are confident, I'll give you that." Smaug slowly pulled the rest of his bulk free, and as he did, Harry took note of the gold and gem encrusted underside of its body. It almost looked as if the dragon had fashioned itself a gemstone waistcoat to protect its vulnerable areas from harm. No wonder it had chosen the largest stockpile of riches in the world as its lair. Nevertheless, that wouldn't stop him. As if in agreement, Gurthang started to draw on his magic and pulse in his hand.

{Ah, Harry?}

'Yes, Luna?'

{Your sword is… talking to me.}

'Is it really' Stranger things had happened to them after all. Like this ability to communicate in the first place.

{Not in words, but… images and impressions. I think I can hear it because much like itself, I'm not truly alive. It's saying something along the lines of,} she deepened her voice {… 'Bring it, asshole, I already killed a dragon twice your size, so you're nothing!' Is it weird that your sword can trash talk?}

'Darling practically everything we do, see, and experience is weird.'

{Fair enough. I think it's eager for this.}

'At this point so am I. If Tauriel would ever take the fucking shot.'

Focusing back on the here and now, Harry said, "I have faced death more times than I can count, brought down mighty beasts, and slayed both the living and the dead. Should our little discussion turn violent I am confident in my abilities."

"Hm," Smaug's voice rumbled into the earth as its great neck swooped down to encircle its uninvited guest, "your voice is level and I do not hear your heart beating any faster. You speak truth, king of night."

"I try to always speak the truth. I find it amusing how many simply refuse to believe it."

By now the movement of the serpentine neck had stilled, and the dragon's head rested directly across from Harry. Its bulk fully encircled him now, leaving no noticeable escape for a regular mortal. "Well, then allow me to provide a little truth for you now. There is only one king here beneath the mountain, and it's me!" His great maw opened wide and Harry had just enough time to witness a haze of gas leaving the orifice before a hiss screeched through the air and the fumes erupted into flame hotter than napalm in the space before him.

In the blink of an eye he apparated up to the ceiling and latched his claws into the stone above, holding himself in place. Just as he'd hoped, the monster raised its scaled head up to track him and two things happened at once. A brief whisper passed his ear and a slight clinking sound echoed off a pillar of orichalcum leaned on the far wall. Harry could only smirk as the results played themselves out, he saw now why Tauriel had taken so long to act. She needed time to get the perfect angle, and that air vent had not been ideal apparently.

Smaug screeched with pain so terrible that the walls shuddered and dust cracked free to fall all around them. The arrow that had flown by Harry's ear had landed true in the left eye, and the second had angled itself perfectly to ricochet off the pillar and impact the right. The dragon flailed and smashed its bulk into walls and pillars all around before finally getting a hold of itself, laying flat on the gold floor, and turning up to immolate the last space he'd witnessed his foe, the ceiling. At once the wizard apparated to the floor and then back to Gandalf's side. He desperately hoped Tauriel wasn't still up there, but he couldn't go to make sure as her new position wasn't in the original plan. He had to trust she knew what she was doing.

"Well, old man? Are you ready to get this done?"

Deciding not to fight the derogatory (in his opinion) title this time, Gandalf answered, "Yes. No time like the present."

As one they charged toward the dragon's rear screaming all the while, and, taking that as their signal, Thorin and the others did the same. As planned, the serpent spun to the recognized voice it knew, sending its tail wide to balance itself and giving the dwarves the perfect chance to get in close and under it as it stood once more. As he came in range Thorin gave a cry of triumph and launched on top of one of his enemy's four feet as his fellows did likewise, and began stabbing down as hard as he could in the space between toes, hoping to cause some discomfort if nothing else, and keep it distracted. This wasn't the time to kill it. No, it was the time to make it angry.

Meanwhile:

Kili glared down the hall to where the sounds of the dragon's roars could be heard echoing, along with the shouts of dwarven rage and glory. That was his uncle down there. It was his kinsmen standing beside him. They were fighting for a land that was his home as well as theirs. He should be down there with them, not sitting up where it was safe and comfortable above. Even if Bilbo was an excellent storyteller and conversationalist.

But what was he to do? He couldn't charge down to help out, as that would be violating a direct order. But perhaps… yes, that could work. He would go down, not to fight, but to be ready in case he was needed. What if one of his fellows was injured and needed to be dragged out of danger? He could easily help that way. He supposed he could bring this up to Fili, but no, his elder brother was far too dutiful to look in between the lines of what was said. Better he stay behind and not feel like his honor was impugned.

So, as his brother became fully engaged with the hobbit in a debate on the history of Beren and Luthien, he silently grabbed his bow and arrows and set off down the nearest side passage.

The Treasure Chamber

"Take this, and this, and that!" Harry chanted, each word enunciated with another powered slash from his sword that mostly impacted the enraged dragon's skull harmlessly, mainly because the first blow had cut deep into the bridge of its snout and it had since learned to duck down from the sound of incoming attacks. Meanwhile its feet kept on stomping on the ground, attempting to dislodge the dwarves relentlessly attacking the space between his toes like bees with their stingers. The only thing keeping Smaug from directly putting his attention to them was Gandalf shoving entire waves of gold into his sides with the magical strength of his will, and pulling his blind attention in random directions as a result.

"Raghr!" Smaug roared anew and splayed the golden path before him in flame, causing Harry to grab his fellow and apparate to another side of the chamber where he dropped him off on a raised stone platform before a massive archway leading further down. In short order he did the same with his dwarven friends, facilitating their escape. "Where are you!" the dragon screeched. "Why can't I hear you? Why can't I smell you?"

Harry smirked as he watched the gray wizard and the dwarves take off down the stairs ahead of him. This next part was going to be glorious. After waiting the agreed upon five minutes, during which Harry enjoyed watching the large dragon smash into random objects and delighted in viewing a shock of red hair climbing along the ceiling, he clenched both fists on the grip of Gurthand and held it high.

Whispering into the depths of his mind he said, 'I don't know if you are truly alive, or if you can even hear me, but if you can, I hope you're going to enjoy this as much as I will.'

The black blade pulsed anew and began to shimmer with silver fire, and with that thought embedded in his will, Harry brought the sword down hard, and marveled at the sheer scale of the vertical wall of energy that launched forth and slammed into Smaug's armored skull like a hammer. It was enough to send its cranium smashing into the glittering ground.

"Ah," the beast growled as it righted itself and turned towards the source of the attack. "There you are."

Deciding a vocal answer was warranted this time, the vampire commented, "Here I am. Some king under the mountain you are. I guess the tales of Smaug the Stupendous truly were fairy tales. This clambering worm cannot truly be one so great as he."

"You dare insult my greatness!" Smaug hissed, an action that was somehow more terrifying than the greatest of his roars so far. Yup, Harry had pissed him off quite well.

"You gonna do something about it? Then come get some." So saying, the Lord of Night dropped the enchantment silencing his boots and took off running down the stone stairs, letting the steady clomping of his boot heels draw the sensitive ears of his foe after him. It didn't take long for the rapid thumps of giant clawed feet to come after his tail.

Down he descended through four more flights of stairs and passing at least six branching off points for new sections of the mountain before he entered into a vast chamber that according to Balin was the main mine shaft of the entire structure. This chamber was the center of the mountain, and the dark chasm below went farther than any dwarf had ever delved. It was meant to be a place of work and activity, and as such the majority of travel throughout was done primarily with rope ladders and harnesses, while chained buckets descended from the ceiling to haul up any precious ore collected. In fact, the only completely solid structure in this entire open expanse, was a single stone bridge crossing from the entrance on one side to its twin on the other. It was wide enough for five full sized semi trucks lined up right next to each other to cross in Harry's estimation, but for a dragon?

The moment he reached that floor he silenced his boots once more and skidded to the side of the entrance. He could see Thorin on the other side smirking at him, and if all was still according to plan than Gandalf and the others were waiting on the opposite end of the bridge.

The wait was only a few seconds before a plume of fire large enough to fill the massive entrance passed their noses, followed but a moment later by the bulk of Smaug's body, charging out onto the bridge. He slowed a quarter of the way when one of his clawed feet slipped off the edge and he had to use the other three to hold himself steady. Then his progress became a slow walk as he blindly tested his new environment every following step of the way.

Perfect. Harry held up a hand and cast a lumos spell. Taking the signal at the other end of the expanse, Gandalf stepped onto his side of the bridge and slammed his staff down, hard. A brilliant flash of light erupted into the chamber before a crumbling sound announced that the dozen meters of stone extending past his position had been obliterated. Hearing the sound, the dragon spun around and tried to return the way he came, except Harry copied the destruction with another swipe of Gurthang. As the last sounds of his brand of obliteration finished clinking off the walls below, the vampire couldn't help but sneer at Smaug as his long neck twisted to and fro. It was trapped. A blind dragon cannot fly, and without the ends of the bridges to tell it how far it needed to jump, it wouldn't be able to flee its position. There were smaller pillars beneath it at angles that connected to the other walls for stability and kept the center standing, but they were far too thin for a beast as large as this to successfully use.

Smaug seemed to have realized this too, and for the first time since the attack began, he ceased growling and released a peal of ugly laughter. "All of this to bring me here and to set me in this place. I am impressed, I will admit, but what do you hope to achieve now? What can you achieve? My teeth are swords, my claws are spears, my scales are tougher than diamond and my coat is of the finest and hardest gems. My sight is gone, but it will heal, and what more harm could you possibly do to me now?"

Looking to his brother, Harry said, "You should step back up the stairs a bit. You've all done your part and I don't want stray dragonfire hitting you during this next part."

Thorin frowned at that, "I'd desired to see the worm's death with my own eyes."

"You can see its corpse when this is done. What good is all of this if you do not live to see its end?"

The dwarf visibly struggled with this answer before finally looking away and rushing up the stairs. He wouldn't go far, but he'd be safe enough from the fire. No doubt Gandalf and the others were doing the same across the distance.

It was time. Harry extinguished his lumos spell and at once the darkness crashed over everything, leaving naught but pitch blackness and sound. The vampire welcomed this, letting it soak into him and through him, pushing his night vision and senses to their limits until everything around him held its typical silver sheen. He could perceive everything down to the smallest mote of dust. Which meant he could also perceive exactly what jewels were covering Smaug's stomach and chest and what they were made of. As the dragon continued to pace around his temporary prison, Harry decided he also knew exactly what to transfigure those jewels into.

Channeling his magic into Gurthang once more, but not releasing it this time, he sharpened the edge of the blade well beyond the razor edge it had already held. At its current state, it could probably cut down to the atom. Then he released his sound dampener, stepped forward, and fell off the ledge, into the void below.

Smaug heard the disturbance in the air that would have described a body falling, but then it disappeared after a few seconds and he shook his head. "I'm not surprised someone would kill themselves rather than face me, but after all of this I expected more."

He shouldn't have been surprised when from all around him came the voice of the being he'd assumed had died. "More is exactly what you shall have, Beast of Calamity."

The dragon's head tilted and its snout drew heavily on the air. He was picking up nothing. "A fine trick, but why don't you come out to my bridge and face me directly? Let us end this farce of a game."

"But I'm facing you just fine now, Smaug." The voice continued to emanate from all sides. "Here, let me show you my first move."

Smaug screeched anew as all of his precious gems suddenly contracted and shifted into a spike that tore into his stomach, sending torrents of blood flying onto the stone below. "You think this will stop me!" Fire spewed from his maw in a wide arc that covered the entirety of the area around him. "I do not need this blood! I will make more!"

Harry's voice started to bounce from one wall to another, drawing Smaug's attention with every new word, further discombobulating his sense of direction. "But how much can you lose before you're unable to make enough to recover? How many more wounds will it take?"

A searing pain from below scored the ragon's mind as a fresh cut slid along his chest. "One?" Another down his abdomen, "Two?" A third down his inner thigh, "Three?"

It had all happened too fast to react, but by the third move Smaug flattened himself to the bridge and started an endless barrage of flame toward wherever the taunting voice came from next. If there was no more visible surface to hurt, then what more could be done?

Meanwhile, Harry, who was currently floating around the mine below, was getting annoyed by that choice. It was idiotically effective and he felt dumb for not thinking of it. Of course the dragon could use the bridge itself as a shield. What now? He needed time to think, he needed to create a plan to… hold on. He shifted his attention to what had caught his eye about the latest burst of Smaug's dragonfire (he was just shooting in random directions at this point). There was a pause between when his maw opened and the flames jettisoning. Looking back, there had always been one going back to the first attack he'd made in the treasure chamber.

Of course Luna, ever the magizoologist, figured it out for him. {It's likely an evolutionary defensive measure involving ignitable gas and a sparking function.} Her ethereal voice noted. {Smaug doesn't breathe fire. He breathes a heavily combustible vapor that requires a spark to ignite. Based on what we've seen, there's a two to three second window between the introduction of the gas and the ignition.}

'That gives me an idea.'

{Harry…} She warned.

'It'll work out fine.'

{This is a terrible plan.}

'It's an awesome plan.'

{Are you actively trying to kill us? At least screw Tauriel first. I want more memories before we pass into the great unknown.}

'This isn't going to kill us. It's going to… wait, what the hell? Is that Kili?!'

Moments Ago

Kili had always been the curious sort, often to his own detriment. Countless were the times his mother had smashed him over the head with a wooden cooking spoon because he'd wandered too far from the family encampment in the Iron Hills. If there was something to see or experience then it was just in his nature to investigate.

He'd honestly planned to do what he'd set out to. Descend the stone levels, wait in the background, and offer whatever aid was necessary from a safe distance, but then he'd heard all the commotion and explosions and he just had to know what all was going on. So he'd descended further until he could actually get a look. He'd almost had a heart attack when in the dark he nearly bumped into his uncle, but Thorin was too focused on the sounds of battle to realize he was right next to him, and sounds were not as good as sights, so he'd descended further into the open entryway below. It was his thinking after all that even in the pitch blackness, the brightness of the near continuous plumes of dragonfire would give him something to witness of this pivotal moment in his people's history.

He was right on that count, but he hadn't figured on something else… he wasn't a part of the battle group, which meant his clothing hadn't been enchanted to eliminate his smell. An instant after arriving in viewing range of the broken bridge, the flames stopped, darkness returned, and a heavy inhale of breath could be heard in the stillness.

"Aw," a sibilant hiss of delight chuckled, "dwarf, I should have known. Hahahahaha!"

A hiss of ignition came next, and all at once the youngest dwarf in the company beheld a massive wall of flames soaring straight for him. Time slowed, and almost as if he were looking down at his situation from outside his own body, Kili could see how much of an idiot he'd been. The horrible choices he'd made that brought him down to this point. His life was about to end, and he had his stupid curiosity to blame for it. Now his brother would end his days without him, his mother would need to mourn his loss, and he'd never settle down with children of his own as he'd always dreamed he would. His only hope was that his uncle would not speak too terribly of him at his funeral.

These thoughts were suddenly interrupted, and the world set back into rapid motion, when Kili suddenly felt a sharp tugging on the neck of his jerkin and his weight leave his feet as his body was sent flying back up the way he'd come. The last thing his vision took in before his eyelids closed to protect his retinas, was the dark form of his uncle, muscles still strained with all their might from the effort of tossing his nephew to safety. And then the dragonfire consumed him.

"Uncle!" Kili screamed.

With Harry

"Thorin!" Harry screamed with rage and sorrow.

{That's it, my love,} Luna seethed, {I don't care anymore. Just for that, go and fuck up that oversized reptile's shit. I'll be cheering you on from here.}

'Hell yes.' The vampire seethed before flipping his sword into a reverse grip in one hand and grabbing the blade just past the crossguard for further leverage. Somehow he'd known it wouldn't cut him, and his still unblemished skin told him he'd been right. Then he winged himself in a leathery cloud up above his foe and waited.

Smaug seemed to have regained his spirits as his sensitive nose took in the smell of a burned out husk. He'd at least managed to take out one of his attackers. Now for the rest. He leaned his head back to draw in fumes and opened his maw to let them out for ignition.

The moment he saw this Harry apparated down into Smaug's maw, then again past a glowing protrusion at the roof of its mouth that had to be the gas and ignition sources, and down into its throat. Above him an onrush of crimson death unleashed from his enemy's mouth, but inside it throat, Harry jerked in mid flight and jammed his blade into the throat lining with all of his strength, and as the elven steel slid into it like butter, he let his weight carry him, the blade, and the devastating cut ever further into the dragon's body. Above and around him the sudden motion, noises of pain, and shifting orientation told him he was doing something right, and so when he finally fell into level ground again he knew he was on track to cause some serious damage.

"Time to die, asshole!" He called to the ceiling of what he assumed was Smaug's stomach, returned Gurthang to a two handed grip, and began chopping. Clear blades of energy, spells of fire, lightning, and concussion and piercing hexes. All of these things Harry employed to devastating effect until the areas around him began to flag and sink with blood and all manner of other substances that didn't bear thinking about.

But that wasn't what interested the wizard so much at the moment. No, as the dragon's body continued to flail with torment he oriented himself towards where he thought its center would be, sheathed his sword, readied his claws, and then he dived through one of his many cuts in the stomach lining and began to dig. Gandalf had told him one of the most surefire ways to defeat a dragon was to take out its heart, and within a few minutes of blind tunneling through muscle and sinew that he hoped was driving his foe into fits of agony, his hands finally wrapped around it. With a final blood filled laugh the vampire dug himself the rest of the way to the precious organ, wrapped all of his limbs around it, shot his head forward, and began to eat.

Meanwhile

Watching from the other side of the abyss, Gandalf could only stare on in awe as he watched his fellow wizard start to decimate the mightiest of beasts from the inside! Who did that kind of thing?! Harry's provided night vision was spectacular, and for several minutes Smaug screamed, thrashed, and even began to beg before finally it's body rigidly locked in place before a final agonized cry left its lips and its body slinked and slid down as all control over muscle and sinew left it. Unfortunately, that sent it careening straight off of the bridge it had been supported on with Harry still inside.

As it disappeared into the depths the dwarves with him cried anew, and hoping to head off any more grief after Thorin he said, "I am sure something as easy as a fall will not kill our young friend, no matter how deep it is. Come, let us retrieve master Kili," a somber note entered his voice as he added, "and Thorin, the true king under the mountain. We will bring his body with us and when Harry returns we will ask him to transfigure a tomb worthy of a king such as he."

A Short Time Later

Smaug's body lay prone on its side on a small ledge along the wall in the blackness. Most likely it had been used as a staging area for dwarfs to place their supplies, or pause for lunch. Now it had a dead dragon sprawled across it. Had anyone been watching, they'd have seen its chest cavity bulging, and pressing outward, until at last a pair of razor sharp talons burst forth liberally coated in draconic blood. It didn't take long for a body to follow, and what a body it was.

'Luna, I feel… heavier.' Harry noted, walking in a tight circle on the ledge as he tried to take a look over his shoulder, and finding something blocking his line of vision.

{I'd say you do. Smaug's blood has had the most delicious effect on you. Quick, make a light and conjure a mirror so you can see better. This requires more than your night vision to appreciate.} The blonde's excited voice ordered.

'Yes, maam' He muttered sarcastically.

{Happy wife, happy life. Now get to it.}

With a sigh, Harry waved a hand and a large lumos ball ignited over his shoulder. Then he conjured a full body mirror to view whatever changes Luna had been talking about. He soon found himself full of awe and needing to enlarge the mirror so he could flex and turn, much to his undead wife's delight.

{Oh, Harry, you've never been more sexy than in this moment.}

He raised a brow, 'First the bat swarm and now this? Luna, do I need to be worried that you seem most attracted to me when I'm downright animalistic?'

{Harry, you've always been a bit animalistic. Even when I first worked up the courage to approach you at Hogwarts, I could feel the sleeping dragon beneath your skin. Now it's just come to the surface for everyone else to see as well.}

And indeed it had. Looking in the mirror, Harry admired the new additions to his body. His skin had grown small overlapping scales from his neck down to his feet, and while his face was scale free, his nose had curved in a more avian fashion and bonelike protrusions extended over his forehead and cheeks, lending a more streamlined definition. His fingernails, once so equitable to claws, had elongated and strengthened into cruelly curved talons. Finally, the weight from before was explained by the massive wings on his back and shoulders and tail swishing easily behind his legs. They were both clearly draconic and appeared an almost direct match for Smaug's own.

The wings were taller than he was, raised up on his shoulders, and the tips on the edges contained a talon each on their own. Experimentally he flexed his shoulders and extended the new appendages out and was amazed at the wingspan presented. He could only imagine the speed he'd be capable of once he was in flight. As for the tail, it was a sinewy length of muscle with a spiked end that put him in mind of a mace. Acting on instinct he twitched a muscle in his back and the tail crashed into the nearest wall, crushing a large chunk away in the process.

"Hm. I wonder if I can breathe fire?" The moment the thought crossed his mind a sour taste filled his mouth and he was very quick to open his jaw and spit it out. A cloudy vapor escaped his lips and after a second a sudden cough burst from his lungs and the cloud ignited in green flames. "Oh yeah, this is cool."

{And sexy.}

'Well let's hope Tauriel thinks so too. I'm not sure she planned to be mated to a… whatever the hell I am right now.'

Luna sighed with the thickheadedness of her husband. {Harry, have any of your changes thus far proved permanent?}

Harry blinked stupidly. 'Ah, no. Now that you mention it.' He closed his eyes and thought as he did with his shapeshifting ability, focusing on his human form and willing it into being. A second later he opened his eyes and he was back to normal. After that he switched back and forth a few more times to make sure he had the trick down, and commented, 'You know, the one creature type I wasn't able to take on was one with actual intelligence. I guess eating some of Smaug gave me a true draconic body.'

{Sure seems that way, my love. Now that we have all that situated, why don't put a stasis charm on the body and head back up to the others. We might have a use for dragon components later on.}

Deciding she was right, he cast a few choice spells for handling fresh carcasses on the massive beast, and then shifted back to what he decided to call his drake form. This was the perfect chance to try out his new method of flight. After a few practice flaps he shot up into the air and attempted his way back up to first the bridge, and then the stairway that would lead him back up to the treasure chamber and eventually the campsite. It took a little bit to figure out how to work his new muscles and appendages, and learning that his tail served as a directional aid and counterweight was a bit of a hassle, but once he got it all down he made record time, flying with greater strength, speed, and accuracy than ever before in his life. Even his old Firebolt was never this good.

Eventually though he arrived at the right floor, shifted back to his regular vampiric state, and approached the others who were gathered around what he assumed was Thorin's body. It was hard to tell, what with it being all blackened and charred, and all. Kili was noticeably sitting by himself, curled up in a ball against the wall.

Slowly he reached forward and wrapped his arms around Tauriel from behind, delighting in the physical presence that proved she was actually there, and alright. It was probably a sign of how sad she was that she didn't even attempt to stab him for sneaking up on her. "Hey everyone, I'm back."

"Harry!" Everyone exclaimed, glad to see him back. No doubt falling into an endless abyss with a dragon was probably cause for worry in most cases.

"Yes, I'm alive. And cheer up, guys, this is a time for celebration. The dragon is dead!"

"Excuse me, Master Potter," Gandalf grumped from where he knelt beside the corpse, "but we are mourning the loss of a friend. A man you called brother. Surely this is not the time for jubilation."

"And I'm telling you there is no need to mourn. Gandalf, look me in the eye and ask me if I would have let my brother face a mother fucking dragon without providing a failsafe?"

The older man blinked in confusion at those words before his eyes grew huge. "Are you saying-"

"Yup, I provided the means of transformation in the mead we all drank. That's how it works, old man. Blood is life, and I need to 'willingly' offer my own first to be consumed, the drinker then needs to die, and soon after they'll awaken as a vampire. Not to my level of power of course, but still impressive. But Thorin's gonna need some blood, so would you care to do the honors?"

Before Gandalf could so much as twitch, Kili had already crossed the distance, slashed open his wrist and jammed it between the burned out lips. For a moment nothing happened, but then the dead jaw cracked further open, Kili gasped and grit his teeth as something sharp bit down hard on his wrist, and Thorin's eyes burst open with a blood red hue.

As more time passed the old, dead and burned, skin fell away and was replaced with a fresh and healthy variant. And when at last those red eyes focused with actual awareness, they locked onto Harry, who smiled and said, "It's good to see you awake, brother. Welcome to my existence."