A/N 1: Thanks to everyone who sent in reviews last chapter. (There's another note at the end.)

Chapter 10: On to Mirkwood

When Harry awoke the next morning, Luna was still asleep, Fuzz curled up against her. He raised his head slightly when Harry started to get up, but otherwise didn't seem concerned, and quickly put his head back down and closed his eyes again. Harry saw that the Dwarves were already all up and having their breakfast at Beorn's table.

"Ah, I see you're up at last Mr. Potter," said Thorin. "You had better wake Miss Lovegood as well if you want there to be anything left to eat this morning."

Harry nodded groggily, and then turned back to go and wake up Luna. When he got to her, he squatted down and put his hand on her shoulder, shaking her softly. "Luna, time to wake up. It's morning." No answer, so he tried again, this time with a slightly harder shake. "Luna, wake up." No answer, but Fuzz raised his head and looked at him questionably.

She must have been really tired last night. He thought to himself, and decided to try one last time, and if she didn't wake he's leave her to sleep and she could have some of the food they had in their packs if there was nothing left. "Luna…"

With he eyes still closed, Luna spoke softly, "Don't you know that if you want a girl to wake up you're supposed to give them a good morning kiss Harry?"

Harry blinked. She's been awake all this time. She just wanted a good morning kiss. He thought, shaking his head, and then leaning over her, careful not to crush the Snorkack, he kissed her softly on the cheek. "Time to get up Miss Lovegood, breakfast is ready and if you don't hurry, there won't be any left."

Luna opened her eyes, and in a perfectly normal voice said. "Good morning Harry. Sleep well?"

Harry chuckled. "Very well. The best in a very long time actually. You?"

"Oh very well thank you." And then looking down at the Snorkack asked "What about you Fuzz, did you sleep well?"

The little animal looked up at her and made a soft noise that sounded to Harry like a cross between a cats purr and a buzzing sound. "I guess that means yes." He said to her.

The Snorkack buzzed again, this time looking up at Harry, and then proceeded to hop off towards the open door and outside, to do his morning business Harry assumed.

Luna got up and after stretching a bit, made her way with Harry to the table and breakfast. They saw that there was plenty left for them, even though the Dwarves and Bilbo had stuffed themselves.

Harry looked around, and not seeing Gandalf, asked Thorin where he was.

"Out and about somewhere." The Dwarf replied, "Since early this morning. He told us he's likely be back by supper time."

"You don't think he up and left do you Harry?" Luna asked.

"No I doubt it. He wouldn't leave without saying goodbye." Harry answered. "He's probably just out investigating what all the all the noise was last night."

"Noise? What noise?"

"Oh there was a lot of growling coming from the grounds early this morning. Sounded like a couple of large animals prowling around. Probably Beorn in his bear form."

Bilbo, who had been listening to this, shuddered slightly at the thought of a large bear prowling the grounds while they all slept, and decided that he needed more food to calm himself. Yes, more food would do nicely.

-=ooo000ooo=-

It wasn't till nearly the end of the day when Gandalf returned. The old wizard looked exhausted, and said nothing to any of them. He simply went to the dinner table and started to eat, all the while ignoring the many questions that were directed at him. By the time he was finished, he had put away two whole loaves of bread, along with massive amounts of honey and cream, and 2 large flagons of mead.

But it was another 20 minutes or so before anyone could get anything out of him as to where he's been and what he's been doing. This seemed to bother the Dwarves more than anyone else, because Dwarves as many of you may know, are a people of very little patience. Fierce and brave when need be, and hard workers to be sure. But patience? That is not something the maker blessed them with.

But finally, between puffs on his pipe he said, "If you must know, I was out following bear tracks since this morning. There was a bears' meeting outside here late last night, and by the number of tracks I found, I could plainly see that there were far too many of them for Beorn to have made them all."

No one seemed too surprised at this news as they had all heard the bear gathering the night before. Well, everyone but Luna it seemed.

"They came from every direction, except west from the Mountains. In that direction only one set of footprints was to be found, and then only leading away. I followed these as far as the Carrock, where we first entered Beorn's lands, and there they disappeared into the river. I tried to cross it, but it was far too deep and fast flowing for me to do so safely. So I had to walk miles before I found a place where the river was both shallow and narrow enough for me to cross it. But of course then I had to walk miles back so I could pick up the track again, and by that time it was too late for me to follow them far. But from the direction the were pointing, they went straight towards the woods on the east side of the mountains where we had our less than pleasant encounter with the Wargs the night before last." And then looking at all of them asked, "Does that answer all your questions?"

Everyone was silent, thinking about everything the old Wizard had told them. It was Bilbo that broke that silence though as he have a cry "What shall we do if he leads the Wargs and Goblins down here to us? I thought you told us he wasn't a friend of theirs Gandalf?"

"So I did." The Wizard replied. "There are few people Beorn truly likes, many he dislikes, but only a few he truly despises. The Goblins and Wargs are two of those. No, he hasn't gone to lead them here. He has gone to see if the story we told him last night was the truth, or a story we made up to get his help."

There was silence all around again, this time broken by Luna. "So what do you suggest we do Gandalf? Stay or leave?"

"We stay. Beorn will return, either tomorrow or the day after, and as our story is true. Something he will find out in short order, we will have nothing to fear from him when he does return."

-=ooo000ooo=-

The remainder of the day went pleasantly for the company, well all except for Bilbo. He was still worried about Beorn. What if Gandalf was wrong? He didn't want to end up as Hobbit stew for some Goblin raiding party. He told Harry his worries, who he found outside with Luna. Harry though was able to re-assure him that it was unlikely Gardalf was wrong about this and he shouldn't worry. So Bilbo went off to see if there was any way he could get a little something to eat. Worrying made a hobbit hungry.

As for Harry and Luna, they had been playing with Fuzz when Bilbo found them out in the field next to Beorn's house. The little Snorkak had if anything, grown closer to Luna it seemed, and she to it. This worried Harry slightly. What if when they returned to Britain they couldn't bring Fuzz with them? Or what if something happened to the little animal, which he was sure was going to end up joining their company when they left to continue on to the Lonely Mountain?

This of course led his thoughts towards Luna herself. What was happening between them? Sure Luna had been his friend since his fifth year, but was she something else now? And did he want her to be?

He was pretty sure he knew the answer to that question. He's been thinking about it since that morning in Rivendell after he's claimed the sword. True, Luna hadn't expected him to wake when he did, but he was pretty sure she had deliberately gone over to the window, knowing the sun would shine right through the nightgown she was wearing, and giving him more than a good look at he and what she was wearing…or not wearing in this case. Luna might be a lot of things, but stupid wasn't one of them.

"Anything wrong Harry?" Luna suddenly asked him, "You had a blank, spaced out look on your face there for a bit. You're not becoming like me are you?" she asked with a laugh.

"What? Oh sorry Luna, no. There's nothing wrong. I was just thinking about some…stuff."

"You mean like the trip we're on, or other stuff?"

"Well yeah, the trip. The mountain, and…" Here Harry trailed off into something in un-audible.

"I'm sorry Harry, I didn't hear that last part. Could you repeat it for me?"

Harry gulped. Come on Harry. Pull your head out of your arse and tell her the truth. Where's the Gryffindor courage you're supposed to have? He thought to himself. You've either fallen in love with her or you're damn close. TELL HER!

"I ah….I was also thinking about….about you Luna, and that morning in Rivendell when you went over to open the ah….the drapes." He finally got out.

He wasn't sure, but it looked to him as though the color in Luna's cheeks increased as he got this last part out. But it also could have been the light.

"I'm sorry Harry. I wasn't thinking that morning, and I didn't mean to offend you in any way. I know you don't feel that way about me and…"

Harry saw where she was going with this and almost by instinct he reached out and took her hand. "Luna, stop." He told her. "I felt a lot of things when I saw you standing in front of that window, but offence wasn't one of them. If fact, I think that memory will be what I think of next time I have to conjure a Patronus."

This time he knew he wasn't imaging it. Luna definitely started blushing.

He went on. "Luna, what's happening between us? I look at you and I start having feelings unlike anything I've ever felt. I want to hold you and to protect you, and not because I think you can't protect yourself. Anyone who can take out someone like Bellitrix Lestrange with three spells doesn't need protection. But at the same time I…" Here Harry trailed off again.

"Harry, what are you saying?" Luna asked with a slight tremble in her voice.

"I…I don't know what I'm saying Luna, because I've never had feelings like this before, for anyone."

"What about Ginny. You must have felt something like this for her." She replied.

"No. Ginny is a good friend, and on some level I know I love her…but I think of her the same way I do about Hermione. She's like a sister to me, and I know that anything beyond that wouldn't feel right."

Luna seemed to be a bit surprised at this. "But Harry. You've got to know she's been in love with you since her first year. Don't you?"

Harry shook his head. "No Luna. Ginny has gotten better in the last few years, but I think she still only sees The Boy Who Lived. It's never been me. Now if you'd said Hermione, I would at least have considered it possible because she at least does know me. But even then, I know she loves Ron."

"And what about me? Don't you think that I could be all caught up in The Boy Who Lived mythos as well, or that I could just be looking to replace…Neville with someone new?" she asked hesitantly, almost like she was afraid to ask the question.

Harry smiled. "No Luna. Do you remember the first time we met on the train? You were sitting alone in one of the cabins and we came in and Ginny asked you if you'd mind if we sat there with you? You were reading a copy of the Quibbler…upside down if I remember. I still don't know how you can do that."

Luna started to giggle at that "Actually," she replied, "I wasn't reading it upside down. I switched the cover around so that it was upside down but the inside was right side up. I just thought that it would make people keep their distance if they thought I was a bit…off."

Harry shook his head unbelievably. "Anyhow, after you said we could sit in there with you, you looked right at me before Ginny even got around to introducing us and you said "You're Harry Potter."

Luna simply nodded, not really sure what point he was trying to make.

"Well you looked at me for a few seconds, and I thought "Oh no, here we go again. Another fan girl." But instead you just went back to reading the Quibbler as if you'd just looked at something no more interesting than a cup of cold tea."

Luna didn't comment on this so Harry went on. "I think you saw me, right from the start Luna, and that's something no one has ever done, except maybe for Dumbledore."

"But what about…"

"As for you just trying to replace Neville? You couldn't do that. Not just for then sake of replacing him. You are probably the most tightly guarded person I've ever met Luna, and I've known that even before you told me your secret. But in your own way, you are also one of the most open. You don't even let people get near the walls you've built to protect yourself, let alone actually inside them, because I think you're afraid of being hurt, and because of feeling that way, you'd never do anything like that to someone else. Something that would hurt them the way you're afraid of being hurt."

Luna's had dropped her head down half way through what Harry was saying, and he saw that she was crying softly. Finally though she looked up at him. "When mummy died…when she was killed, my whole world fell apart. Putting up those walls was the only way for me to deal with what I was feeling. I even kept daddy at a distance, although not as far. I knew he loved me and that he always would, but in the back of my mind I was still afraid that something would happen to take him away from me and I'd be hurt again. Then when it came time for me to come to Hogwarts, I did the same thing. Taking what I knew would seem like odd behavior and exaggerating it so people wouldn't want to be around me. So that I'd be safe."

Luna had dropped her head again as she told this last part, and Harry had lift her chin up she that was looking at him. "Luna, do you think you'll ever be able to let someone get past those walls? I mean, do you think you'll ever be able to trust me enough to let me in?"

Luna sniffed, and another tear fell slowly down her cheek. "You got in Harry." She said softly, "I tried to keep you out, but you got in."

Harry reached out and pulled her into a tight hug. "Luna Lovegood, I think I'm falling in love with you." He whispered in her ear. At these words, Luna felt much of the emotional baggage she had been carrying around for the last 7 years lift from her soul. It was as if she thought, she had been locked up inside a house and had finally been able to get out into the sun.

-=ooo000ooo=-

It wasn't until morning, the day after next, that they found out that Beorn had finally returned, and they only found out when he himself woke them.

"So you're all still here!" he said. He picked up the hobbit and laughed. "And I see you've managed to not be eaten by Wargs or Goblins or wicked bears in my absence." As he said this, he poked Bilbo's stomach gently, albeit most disrespectfully. "Little bunny is getting nice and fat again on bread and honey I see," he chuckled. "Come and have some more, there's plenty!"

So they all went to Beorn's hall and sat down to breakfast with him. The giant man seemed quite jolly for a change, and soon had them all laughing with his funny stories. Nor did they have to wonder for very long where he had been or why he was in so grand a mood, for he told them himself. He had been over the river and had traveled far back up into the mountains. From the burnt trees he had soon found out that part of their story at least was true. But he had found out much more than that. He had come across a Warg and a Goblin on patrol in the woods, undoubtedly looking for any signs of the Dwarves.

From the Goblin he had gotten news. The goblin patrols were still hunting with Wargs for the Dwarves, and they were extremely angry because of the death of the Great Goblin. So angry in fact that a massive raid was being planned by the Goblins and their Warg allies into the lands that were shadowed by the mountains, to either find the Dwarves or to take vengeance on the men and creatures that lived there, and who they thought must be sheltering them.

"It was a good story that you told," said Beorn, "but I find I like it much better now that I know for sure it's true. Please, you must forgive my not taking your word. But if you lived right on the edge of Mirkwood, you wouldn't trust the word of anyone didn't know as well as your brother or even better. As it is, I can only tell you that I came back home as fast as I could to make sure that you were safe, and also to offer you any help that I can. I shall definitely think more kindly of dwarves in the future. Killed the Great Goblin, killed the Great Goblin! By the Gods!" he chuckled fiercely to himself.

"What did you do with the goblin and the Warg?" asked Bilbo suddenly.

"Come and see, they're outside!" said Beorn, and led them out and round the house. They saw that the Goblin's head was stuck outside the gate on a pike, and a warg-skin was nailed to a tree just beyond it. Beorn was a fierce enemy. But now he was their friend, and Gandalf thought it wise to tell him their whole story and the truth behind their journey.

This is what he agreed to do for them. He would provide ponies for each of

them, also horses for Gandalf, Harry and Luna for their journey to the forest. He would also lade them with food, which if they were careful, would last them for weeks. He would also give them other staples such as flour, nuts, and pots of honey. Also, twice-baked cakes that would keep good for weeks and allow them to march far.

The making of these was one of his secrets, and Gandalf suspected they were similar to the Lembas made by the High Elves of Lothlorian. All Beorn would say of them was that honey was in them, as it was in most of his foods, and they were good to eat. "Although," he added, "They do make one thirsty."

Water, he told them, they would not need to worry about on this side of the forest, for there were numerous streams and springs all along the road. "But make sure you fill all your skins before you start into Mirkwood. It is dark, dangerous and difficult," he said. "Water is not easy to find there, nor is food. Nuts are not yet in season, though it may be by the time you get to the other side, and nuts are about the only thing that grows there that is fit to eat. There are also wild animals that are dark and savage. I will provide you with extra water skins, and I have some bows and arrows you can take as well. But I doubt if anything you find in the forest will be wholesome to eat or to drink. There is one stream there that I must warn you about. It is black and has a very strong current, and it crosses the path you will be following. Do not under any circumstances drink from it or bathe in it, as it carries an enchantment of great drowsiness and forgetfulness. Finally, whatever else you may do, you MUST NOT stray from the path, because only on it will you be safe from the things that live in Mirkwood."

He sighed. "That is all the advice I can give you. Once you enter Mirkwood, I cannot help you and you must depend on your luck and courage, as well as the food I'm sending with you. At the gate of the forest though, I must ask you to send back my horses and ponies. I wish you all the protection of the Gods, and know that my house is open to you, if ever you come back this way again."

All of them thanked him, with many a bows and sweepings of their hoods

from the Dwarves, and many an "At your service!" thrown in for good measure, but their spirits sank as well at his words of caution. With Bilbo thinking that this adventure was turning out to be far more dangerous than he had thought it would be. Plus there was still the dragon waiting for them at the end. (If they survived the forest that is)

All the rest of the morning the company was busy making preparations for their departure, and it was after midday whey they sat to eat with Beorn for the final time. They had decided to leave right after lunch, and after the meal they mounted the steeds he brought to them. Bidding Beorn a final farewell, they rode off through his gate, and crossing the Carrock, on towards the dark looming forest in the distance.

-=ooo000ooo=-

A/N 2: Thanks again to all of you who haven't given up on this story. Well I HOPE you haven't given up on it in any case because I haven't. If anyone is also reading my other story, then you know the reason for the very long delay between chapters is because of my being put on the night shift, and having practically no time to write.

Also, the scene between Harry and Luna was an extremely hard one to write.

Until next time.