Alright, here is the next chapter; it is a little short, and I decided to do go back to the beginning, this time in Legolas's point of view. Happy reading!

I saw Hermione run towards the broken bridge and screamed for her to stop. My heart completely stopped when I saw her fling herself off the bridge after Gandalf. I tried to run after her but someone held me back pulling me away from her. I realized all too late that I loved her, now I would never be able to tell her how much I had come to care for her. How much I hated that she wanted to die during her war in her world, for giving up. I wanted to laugh at the irony, my hypocrisy knows no bounds. Instead of laughing, I went limp in whose ever arms was pulling me towards the exit of the mines, not caring if we lived. There was no point without her. I
could feel the hot liquid tears running silently down my cheeks as my mind pulled me back to the days we spent together.

Troubled have my thoughts been of late, there is much evil lurking in not only in Mirkwood, but in all of Middle Earth. War is coming. The trip to Rivendell was uneventful and quite boring, my company does not feel the need to fill the silence with small talk, and honestly I like it better that way.

I glanced around the peaceful stone courtyard that would later house the council. Here a man would sit, here an elf, and here a dwarf; these hard times have driven
us to find allies for the inevitable war in our tentative truces with other races. What small difference in species separates us, yet we find it so difficult to place trust in
one another.

It makes me want to leave for the land of the Valinor and escape this foolishness. I push that thought to the back of my head; I am not ready to leave, I am needed. My father sent me on this mission and I will do all that is in my power to accomplish the will of this council of many races. Nodding to myself, I leave the courtyard and make my way down the stone halls.

As I was walking I passed a group of four elfish guards who were posted at the borders of Rivendell this morning talking quietly amongst themselves. I waited around the corner near them to hear what it was they were absorbed in speaking about.

"He simply raised his hand and created a silvery shield in between us. I could see it shimmering in the light. He is definitely a magic user, but without a staff. We need to keep an eye on him, he could be extremely dangerous...possibly even a spy of Sauron himself."

The others nodded their heads to the 'leader' of the squad.

I turned around and walked towards the guest rooms where this "magic user" would be kept. How powerful must he be that he does not need a staff to cast? Extremely dangerous indeed.

I knocked on the door to the only guest room that had a guard stationed nearby. I smirked to myself reminded of how paranoid we have become.

There was no answer so I slowly opened the door and asked if anyone was present. Again there was no answer, so I stepped into the room. The simple and elegant room was untouched so I made my way towards the archway to the bathroom. Nothing could prepare me for what I saw next.

I was absolutely stunned in place. The most beautiful girl I had ever seen was lying in the tub surrounded by bubbles, most likely some sort of sorcery. Her simple, yet elegant face was framed by thick curly hair that cascaded down into the soapy water. Her skin was smooth and slightly tanned, although I could see a strange scar on her arm that read "Mudblood". The sight of the scar made me angry. What monster would hurt such an innocent girl as her?

Then her eyes snapped open, large brown doe eyes were fixed upon me. They raked up and down my person, analyzing and evaluating me. Her eyes held wisdom and age. The way she held herself practically screamed confidence leading me to believe that she may be royal, or at least someone of extreme importance. I wonder how old she is, most likely over one hundred, she had been through much.

Seemingly finished with her evaluation, she smirked up at me and raised her eyebrow.

Resting her chin on her hand she leaned against the edge of the tub and said, "Well, are you going to stand there all day and gawk at me or are you going to tell me what you came here for?"

My eyes widened in realization of the inappropriateness of the situation. I should not be alone with a Lady in her room, especially when she is in a state of undress. It would not do for such an obviously noble woman's reputation to be tarnished by my thoughtlessness.

Should I leave the room, should I stay and explain my indiscretion?

Finally composing myself I said, "I apologize my Lady, but the door was unlocked and you did not answer when I knocked."

Instantly I kicked myself for blaming this whole situation on her; however, when she rolled her large brown eyes and a rather maniacal grin spread across her face I had to reevaluate the situation. She was definitely not as innocent as I first thought.

She reached a hand out and a towel FLEW towards her and hovered in front of her body. She then stepped out of the tub right in front of me! How indecent! Does she have no sense of dignity or decency?

However, I was forced to rethink these thoughts because I could not look away even if I wanted to. I am a hypocrite and do not deserve to ride on the ships into the West. Her legs went on forever, and her small hourglass waist, though hidden by the small towel, looked to have no fat. This small girl was absolutely perfect. I could feel my face heating up, and hoped that somehow I would get out of this odd situation unscathed.

Finally, after what seemed to be ages she took pity on me and ordered me to leave the room. Without so much as a word I turned and left as if Sauron himself were on my heels. When I reached her room I let out a sigh of relief glad that the witch did not curse me for intruding. I leaned up against the wall and replayed the scene in my head; her soft features, brown flowing hair that begged to be touched, her thin waist. Damn, this is not good; all my fantasizing about the mysterious witch has led to an even worse problem. Think of Elrond in the baths, or worse, Gandalf. Shuddering I felt my newest problem go away. If only all my problems were that easy.

I heard her enter from under the archway with a large cloak covering her body. With a bit of disappointment I looked up at the small girl, still leaning against the wall not trusting myself to stand on my own.

"What is it that you needed to tell me?" She asked with the most peculiar accent.

I answered with the truth telling her that I had heard the rumors and wanted to see for myself. She nodded to herself but looked at me expectantly. I was about to go into more detail but someone knocked at the door. I turned to answer it, and I saw her put the hood over her head.

Gandalf entered the room looking at me in surprise. Then he turned to the young girl for an explanation. She had removed the hood and already had her mouth opened to explain the situation.

"He entered my room before I could put my hood on." I let out a sigh in relief, well that's one way to put it I guess, and it would keep us both out of trouble.

Gandalf nodded in understanding, "Legolas, you are not to tell anyone of her identity."

I inclined my head slightly and left as swiftly as possible. The entire ordeal had left me a bit shaken. Not only was the mysterious magic user a girl, but quite a beautiful one at that.

I would have to be careful in the future, magic users are not to be trusted no matter how nice a figure they had. Dammit, not again!

She would prove a difficult adversary, but I have a feeling that we will be seeing each other soon, especially with the upcoming council meeting. The next time we meet I will come out victorious in whatever game she is playing. I am a prince; surely I could handle one girl. Content in my reasoning, I slowed my long strides to a more suitable pace for a prince.

As I made my way to the courtyard I could not stop myself from wondering what the secretive witch's name was.

So there it is, Legolas's take on their meeting. I am going to do a few more chapters in his view and then switch back to Hermione's.