A/N: Aha! See! It didn't take me too long to update this time. If I have any readers here who also read the Keeper (which I haven't updated in about a month), I'm sorry but it's kind of on hold for the moment until I finish this one. Now, where were we?

"Ruby's under a spell by that old Mr. Baggins up on the hill!"

This exclamation was made by a young hobbit boy who was dazzling his little audience with tales of the odd one who inhabited Bag End. The fact that little Ruby had been visiting there quite often for the last few weeks made all the hobbit children suspicious. Why was Bilbo suddenly interested in a little orphan? And why was Ruby so thrilled to go to tea with the magnificent disappearing (for a whole year!) friend of dwarves?

"I'll bet he's gotten some magic from that wizard, Gandalf!" the boy continued.

"But Gandalf's got such lovely fireworks! How could he be bad?" asked a very small hobbit girl, who's thumb was only taken out of her mouth to speak and then it was plunged right back in.

"My mum says he's a "distributor of the peace"," he responded.

Another hobbit spoke up. "It's disturber!"

"Yeah, yeah! Anyways, Ruby's gonna be sorry for getting mixed up with such a queer old thing like Bilbo Baggins."

Well that was enough of that. Quite a few of the hobbit children enjoyed his stories, though they were a bit outlandish at times. And all hobbits liked a tale or two, as long as it was by the fire and a good drink was at hand. Listening to stories of adventures is one thing. Going on them is something else entirely, not to mention how horrible it would be to have a little orphaned hobbit girl under some sort of spell. To the children, Bilbo had been harmless. Up until these new tidings.

Of course very few of them knew what a "disturber of the peace" was but it sounded foreboding. And that was enough for them to stop their imaginings of what was stashed up on the hill. Before it had been treasures of all sorts. Now it was secret potions that could turn you into a frog if you made one misstep. Who wanted to dream about that?

However, Bilbo still had one good spokesperson. The very hobbit that was supposedly "under a spell". Ruby.

"Mr. Baggins is a perfectly respec'able hobbit!" she cried from where she had been standing just outside the circle of children. She had come up just in time to hear the hobbit boy's last few statements and she didn't like it. Despite the brightness of the afternoon and the sun shining out from a blue sky littered with a few clouds, this conversation put a chill in her.

"How are we supposed to trust what you have to say?" the leader sneered.

Ruby pushed out her lower lip and glowered at him. "Bilbo's been on all sorts of exciting trips but he's not magician. He's just an ordinary hobbit." She didn't mention that he may not have been a magician but he was a burglar.

The boy continued to look at her incredulously but the little girl who had defended Gandalf look up at Ruby in interest and took her thumb out of her mouth. "What kind of trips?" she asked, her big brown eyes intrigued.

"Well, there was this one time when all his friends were captured by elves!"

Her eyes widened. Elves? "But I thought elves were nice!"

Ruby shrugged. "Apparently these ones didn't like dwarves. They locked them up and poor Bilbo had to figure out how to help them escape!"

By now a few of the younger hobbits had gathered to hear the story of how Bilbo escaped the Elven dungeons in Mirkwood by packing his friends in barrels and hanging on for a wild ride down the river, but the hobbit boy and his friends just scoffed and walked away. The more outspoken one stopped a little distance away to yell, "Bilbo Baggins is crazy!" Ruby just stuck up her nose, ignored him, and continued with her tale, glad to have a few children who still liked the dear old hobbit, despite his oddities.

Upon arriving home, with a few more freckles sprinkled on her nose, Ruby noticed something. Ever since she had become friends with Bilbo, her world seemed better. She liked to do her chores, thinking of how easy it was compared to tramping through the Wild. She didn't even mind Screecher's voice as much, probably because she heard it less. And the whole inn seemed cozier and less constricting, especially on drizzly evenings when there were visitors around the fire, talking about the big wide world beyond the Shire. Her life was good.

It was also upon her arrival that Screecher surprised her with something. "Messenger dropped it by," she said, handing the small wrapped box to Ruby and settling herself in a rocking chair to watch the little girl open it.

"It's from Mr. Bilbo!" she exclaimed, tearing off it's covering. Hobbits loved to give presents and receive them. Normally they not only got gifts on their birthdays but also gave things away! And Bilbo was known for giving interesting presents on his birthdays, since he was so rich. But today wasn't his birthday…

"What did he get you?" screeched Screecher, leaning forward to peer at the container.

It was a fine wooden box with intricate carvings on the lid. It depicted a dragon spewing fire from its mouth with a mountain in the background. Ruby ran her little hand over it, wondering where Bilbo had gotten it. Maybe an elf made it. Or better yet, Gandalf. Or maybe it came from the people of Dale, the town near the Lonely Mountain, where the dragon once was.

"Well, aren't you going to open it?" her caretaker asked, starting to become as interested as Ruby was.

With slow, deliberate movements Ruby unhurriedly took the lid off of the box and gazed down at its contents. Her jaw dropped.

Laid carefully in a lush red velvet lining was a little necklace made of silver with a small scarlet stone surrounded by delicate crystals hanging from the chain. A ruby.

The note read: A ruby for Ruby. Thank you for listening, little friend. I'm glad there's someone in the Shire as loony as myself. -Bilbo

"Bless me, would you look at that!" exclaimed Screecher with wide eyes. She watched as Ruby fingered it and stared at it, watching the light reflect off of the crimson colored jewel, leaving a red-tinted rainbow of light dancing on her face. It was beautiful.

Screecher put a hand to her heart and raised her eyebrows. "He acts like you're his own kin. Like a grandfather or uncle."

Ruby smiled to herself. A grandfather. Kin. She had someone who cared about her as she were his own family. And that was more precious to her than all the rubies in the world.

A/N: Aw, how sweet. Now, I know exactly where I'm going with this so I should be getting along nicely and finishing it up in the next few weeks. I would appreciate reviews since I don't seem to be getting as much of a response from this story. However, I'm not going to beg for them. Thanks for reading!