A/N: This chapter is split into two (14 pages on Microsoft Word!) So I split it into two parts to make it more manageable. Thank you all so very very much for all your lovely reviews, and for following/favouriting! It makes me so happy :)

Part I

When Bilbo woke his head was throbbing, just on this side of painful yet still very uncomfortable. He hadn't drunk that much, he didn't think, but he was unused to drinking much alcohol in one go at all. He stared up at the carved stone ceiling, but the throbbing soon became too much and with a groan he managed to pull himself up and out of bed. He was surprised to find he was still in the clothes he'd been wearing the day before, and grimaced at the now creased velvet.

He padded over softly to the door, deciding to find a servant and ask for some water and something for his head. He pulled the door open, shielding his eyes from the many torches blazing in the corridor. There was no one about – all was silent. He walked further down the corridor - still no sign of anybody. Everything was quiet from the other rooms, and the distinct lack of maids hurrying to and fro in the area indicated that everyone else was still asleep. They must have drunk a lot more than him, he supposed, for them all to be still under.

He made his way down to the kitchens, and as he passed Bombur's room he heard the sound of low chattering and he assumed that was the many little dwarflings waking. As he left the sleeping chambers behind it grew busier, and he finally reached the kitchen which was thankfully as busy as ever.

The kitchen staff smiled at him as he sat down at one of the tables. One maid approached, and when he asked for something for his head she gave a grin and hurried to fetch something, sending one of the others for a glass of hot water. When she came back she mixed some dried herbs into the hot water and dissolved them, telling Bilbo to drink it all quickly. He wrinkled his nose at the bitter taste, but did as he was told and downed it once it had cooled slightly.

'I don't suppose I could nab a bit of breakfast while I'm here, could I?' he asked hopefully as he got up, and within a few minutes he was presented with a plate of hot eggs and bacon with soft white bread. He sat and scoffed the lot, finishing in a few minutes. He would have asked for more, but while his head was still muzzy he decided not to overdo the food (he'd done that once after his coming-of-age party and it hadn't been pretty). Armed with a cup of hot, sweet tea he left the kitchen and made his way back to his room, determined to wash and change his clothes into something more comfortable and appropriate.

He sipped at the tea as he walked and felt his head begin to clear, as if previously it had been full of cotton wool that was being blown away. Tea always solved everything; that was all one needed in life, a good cup of tea... Unfortunately Bilbo was so focused on his tea he didn't notice the approaching dwarf until it was too late, and he walked straight into them, tea going everywhere in the process.

'I'm so sorry!' he gasped, but the dwarf only gave a rumble in reply. He looked up - to see a rather tired looking Thorin with a small, amused smile on his face. Bilbo let out a small huff of relief that it was only Thorin, but he still flushed to the roots of his curly hair.

'No one else was up and I needed some breakfast,' Bilbo explained hurriedly, then stopped before he began babbling. 'What are you doing up?'

'The same as you,' Thorin replied mildly. 'Getting some breakfast.'

Bilbo nodded. 'I'll come with you, then! Maybe those pastries I saw Lís preparing will be done by now.'

Thorin gave an amused chuckle and Bilbo pouted defensively. 'I'm hungry!'

Thorin raised his hands in a pacifying gesture, but the mirth still shone in his eyes. They walked baxk the way Bilbo had just come from, baxk towards the kitchens. The tea had done its job and cleared away the cobwebs from Bilbo's brain, and he really was hungry again - he must have slept through first breakfast and now had to make up for it.

'Are all the others asleep still?' Bilbo asked Thorin as they walked. At Thorin's nod of confirmation Bilbo just grinned. 'I suppose there was a lot of ale consumed last night.'

'And no small amount of it by you,' Thorin said, teasing him.

'Yes, well! It was a celebration! And at least I'm up now.'

'Indeed. Which is more than can be said for the rest of my company. In fact I wonder if Fíli and Kíli will be up at all today or be able to remember much of yesterday, they drank so much after you left last night.'

'Yes, I left early, didn't I? You forced me to!' he pointed accusingly at Thorin, who just laughed.

'You were falling asleep at the table!'

'No I wasn't. I was just resting my eyes.'

'Of course you were.' Thorin's grin as he looked at Bilbo showed how much he believed that story. Bilbo gave a huff but smiled in return as he conceded defeat.

'Fine, I was asleep. But I still remember everything. Like Bofur doing that ridiculous dance and Óin using his ear trumpet like a real trumpet!' Bilbo also remembered how good Thorin had looked in his fur-lined red velvet, but it seemed Thorin had had the presence of mind last night to change, as he was back in his usual dark cotton shirt.

There was something else he remembered too - something he'd heard and then spoken to Thorin about as he helped him back to his room. Who was it he'd heard? Not Dís... Balin! Who'd been speaking to -

'Dwalin!' he said out loud, stopping for a moment.

'No, I'm Thorin. Are you sure you didn't drink too much?'

'No, I mean that's the other thing! I told you about it, you remember?'

Thorin looked at him closely, and nodded slowly. 'You believe that Dwalin has feelings for Ori.'

'I don't believe so, I know so,' Bilbo said smugly. 'I don't know how I didn't notice it before. The way they always avoid each other's eye and the fact they hardly speak to each other...'

Thorin snorted. 'That doesn't seem like two people in love.'

'You obviously don't know much then,' Bilbo grinned. 'I've seen enough lads and lasses in the Shire start off like that, then six months later they're exchanging vows.' He smiled. 'Apparently my father could barely speak to my mother the first time they met, he was so nervous. He bungled it up asking to court her, too, when he finally plucked up the nerve. Which is why I intend to help.'

'Bilbo! You can't just barge in and - and get them together!' Thorin sounded shocked.

'No, of course not. I'll just be here giving them a nudge in the right direction. I can be subtle, you know.'

Thorin's raised eyebrow said he didn't believe that at all.

'They won't appreciate it, Bilbo. You have to give them time.' Thorin's voice held a note of warning, but Bilbo either didn't notice or ignored it.

'Well I know you dwarves live for a very long time but we hobbits don't, not compared to you, and I'll cut off my curls before I miss a wedding because they took so long to admit their feelings!'

Thorin looked shocked at that blunt reminder, and strangely hurt. His gaze never left Bilbo, and the hobbit shrugged in discomfort.

'You're right. But Bilbo?'

'Yes?'

'Don't hurt them.'

A week passed and the new arrivals settled in well. Dís seemed taken with Bilbo and always made sure he was seated next to her at dinner, plying him with questions about anything and everything. Bilbo wasn't entirely sure how to feel about all the attention, but Dís was nice and he grew friendly with her. He didn't notice the frowns Thorin sent in his sister's direction when the two of them were seated at the table, giggling away at something one or the other had said. Bilbo especially enjoyed it when Dís told him stories about her childhood and invariably tales about a stubborn young dwarf prince would arise.

Dwalin and Ori continued to skirt around each other. Bilbo honestly wondered how he had never noticed it before: the young scribe would lift his large brown eyes to the grizzled old warrior, who more often than not was staring at him with dark eyes almost set in a scowl, and Ori would immediately drop his gaze and blush furiously. If either of his brothers asked him the matter, he would blame it on his newest cardigan being too warm or the food being too hot (the time he claimed he had a headache, Dori had bundled the lad out of the door to his bedroom and Dwalin really had been scowling then!).

One afternoon before Bilbo made his way to the kitchen for afternoon tea as he wandered around a little aimlessly, he bumped into Balin, whose face was hidden behind a stack of papers.

'Hullo, Bilbo,' Balin greeted him, looking a little flustered.

'Where are you off to with those?' Bilbo asked, indicating the old and yellowing parchments in Balin's arms.

'I'm returning them to the library. I really need an apprentice of some sort to do the fetching and carrying for me, but until then...' Balin gave a little laugh.

'I can take them,' Bilbo offered. 'I need to work up an appetite for my afternoon tea - Ním promised me some cinnamon biscuits today.'

Balin's eyes twinkled as he smiled. 'Well in that case... Would you? It's very kind of you, Bilbo.'

'Of course! No problem at all,' Bilbo grinned, and proceeded to manoeuvre the stack into his arms. The white-haired dwarf gave him a pat on the shoulder and a smile before walking off.

'You deserve all the cinnamon biscuits you can get for doing this!' he called to Bilbo, who waved a wrist as he turned to make his way to the library. He hummed a little as he walked, the corridors so large and empty that he felt small. He stopped when he heard voices, and paused to see who it was. He smiled when he saw Dwalin and Bofur approach, Bofur with a pipe clenched tightly in hids teeth as he talked with Dwalin. At the sight of the tattooed dwarf, Bilbo had an idea.

'Dwalin, Bofur,' he greeted them with a smile. 'Dwalin, I don't suppose you could help me with these? I'm returning them to the library for your brother.'

Dwalin gave a gruff nod and took the top half of the stack, and Bilbo smiled gratefully; Bofur then piped up 'let me help too!' and pulled the rest of the papers from Bilbo's arms. The three of them set off again to the library and they eventually reached the large carven doors, twice the size of Dwalin and decorated with geometric shapes cut into the stone. Bilbo pushed open the door and held it open for the others to pass through.

'Ori? I've got some papers for you!' Bilbo called out to the large room, filled with shelves which were in turn stacked with scrolls and boxes of papers and books. It smelt damp and musty after being neglected for so long but Ori was slowly beginning to set it to rights, with the help of some of the scribes from the Iron Hills.

A loud crash and a whispered curse sounded to their right.

'Bilbo? Is that you? I just dropped a book - oh. Hello, Mr Dwalin, Mr Bofur...' Ori had appeared from behind a shelf, and was now standing there covered in dust with a book in his hand, staring at the little group in front of him.

'From Balin. He wanted to return these to you,' Bilbo smiled brightly at the youth, who was standing there silently.

'Oh. Yes. Well, er, this way...' Ori motioned for them to follow him, so they did; Dwalin walking stiffly behind Bilbo and Ori with his head down. Bofur was too busy chewing on his pipe to notice much.

They reached the shelf where the papers lived and Ori pointed out their box, then he looked around before muttering to himself. 'Hammers, I've left the stool by the desk. I'll be back in a moment -'

'Don't worry, Dwalin can reach the box. Can't you, Dwalin?' Bilbo asked the silent towering dwarf beside him, who grunted and set his stack of papers down on the nearest available surface - Bilbo's arms. Clutching the papers, Bilbo smirked as Ori resolutely tried not to look at the way Dwalin's muscles rippled as he stretched up to reach the box.

When he'd got it down and handed it to Ori, Bilbo handed his papers back to Dwalin and took Bofur's, placing them quickly in the box and then turning away, grabbing Bofur by the arm and pulling him away.

'So sorry, Ori, but I can't be late for my afternoon tea - the biscuits' ll burn if I'm not there soon! Thanks for the help carrying those, Dwalin. See you both at dinner!'

And with that he and Bofur left a pair of stunned dwarves staring after them, both with their arms full and confused expressions on their faces.

Once outside, Bilbo broke into laughter while Bofur regarded him curiously.

'What was that all about?' he asked, tucking his now-empty pipe into his jacket. Bilbo just shushed him and pulled him around the corner, peering round it so he could see the door. 'We'll give it five minutes,' he muttered.

'Give what five minutes?' Bofur asked, but Bilbo ignored him because at that moment Dwalin exited the library, storming out of the doors in a hurry.

'Oh bother,' Bilbo sighed. 'That wasn't what I'd hoped for.'

'Will you please explain to me what's going on, Bilbo?' Bofur asked, exasperated but a fond smile on his face as he tugged at one of Bilbo's curls.

Bilbo huffed as he pushed Bofur's hand away, but then he smiled impishly.

'Bofur, would you care for some afternoon tea?'

'No! Are you sure? I thought it was just that his cardigans were too warm.' Bofur's voice was full of surprise, and Bilbo had to resist the urge to smack his own face.

'Honestly, it's a wonder how you dwarves ever get married at all ! You honestly haven't noticed? '

Bofur looked defensive for a moment as he replied, 'Well, it's not like I've met that many dwarrowdams so I wouldn't know the signs. And Bombur just asked Bím outright.'

Bilbo slumped on the table, reaching for another biscuit. Ním really was an excellent cook - these biscuits rivalled his grandmother's.

'Yes, well, I'm telling you that those two have a thing for each other! But you can't tell anyone else,' Bilbo warned, and Bofur nodded. Bilbo leaned in closer. 'The reason I got Dwalin to help me carry those papers and I left early - it's to, you know, help them on their way a bit. I thought maybe if they were on their own for a bit-'

'But looks like you're wrong, then,' Bofur frowned. 'Dwalin left pretty quickly.'

'That's exactly why I'm right,' Bilbo corrected. 'He left too quickly - as if he was too embarrassed or shy to stay with Ori alone! If he didn't like him, he would have stayed to help Ori properly and he wouldn't have been so flustered when he left.'

Enlightenment was slowly beginning to gleam in Bofur's eyes, and he twiddled his moustache thoughtfully.

'Aye, I see it now...' He sent Bilbo a grin almost as cheeky as the one Bilbo had given him before. 'But this plan didn't work, so what'll you do now?'

'I'll think of something.' Bilbo wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do, but he knew inspiration would strike. He took the last biscuit and chewed thoughtfully, before asking what the time was.

'Enough time for a smoke before dinner!' he exclaimed, and he and Bofur headed up to find a balcony they could sit on and watch the sun begin to sink behind the clouds.

A/N: Part 2 will be up soon! :D I hope you enjoyed! :3