I did it! I have no idea why this chapter was so hard to write; it might have something to do with school lol. I tried to branch out and write more about the other dwarves and... well... we meet a new character. *crosses fingers* Hopefully he doesn't become the Jar Jar Binks of my story! Also, I apologize for any grammar and spelling mistakes. I'm so tired but I wanted to post this tonight :).

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Thank you once again to all my reviews, views, favorites, and followers. You guys are the best!

Chapter 13: Feasts and Introductions

Smiling slightly at the feeling of a strong arm wrapped around her waist, Arianna started waking up. Her favorite way of going about this was to do so slowly- she loved nothing more than savoring the feeling of gently rising out of her dreams and becoming more aware of the world around her. She also thought that there was nothing better than a slow, half asleep stretch as her mind started going through everything she needed to do that day.

"Arianna! Oops, sorry Thorin, didn't see you there!"

Heaving a giant sigh, Arianna mentally waved goodbye to her quiet morning ritual. Cracking open an eye, she glanced at the eager face of Isabella in front of her, whose hand was outstretched in an attempt to shake her awake. Deciding to tackle the easiest challenge first, Arianna raised a single eyebrow (a trait she would never admit to acquiring from a certain potions-master-turned-traitor).

"How did you not see Thorin?"

Isabella would not be deterred though and grabbed Arianna's hand, dragging her to her feet. Glancing back, Arianna took in the immensely grumpy-looking Thorin, either at Isabella accidentally jostling him in her attempt to wake up Arianna or at the fact that Arianna was no longer tucked next to him. Either way, Arianna couldn't help but smile at him. She felt lighter somehow, more whole. She figured that talking long into the night with him was the reason for it. After she had healed his cracked ribs, she was still unable to sleep so, Thorin told her stories of growing up in Erebor and Arianna had told him stories of Hogwarts. Neither spoke of Arianna's father or the fall of Erebor, choosing instead to focus on happier topics.

"Alright so, I had an idea. I figured out how we could test your and Hermione's theory about the Arch, you know, the one where someone can focus on an area to go to and you'll go there? But that it was too risky so you guys didn't want to test it so… I realized that the answer was to use a house elf! I figured that Harry could call Dobby and get Dobby to suggest a good one and, well, he did." Isabella had said this all so quickly that she was gasping for breath at the end.

"What do you mean, 'he did'? Why are you speaking in past tense? What did you do Isabella? You can't ask a house elf to go through the Arch to test out one of our crack-brain theories! Please tell me Hermione said no. Please tell me that she was able to knock some sense into you two!" Arianna's outburst had attracted the attention of the company now and Ori, who was sitting closest to the girls, piped up.

"What's a house elf?" Ori tried to hide his little shudder of fear as he pictured one of the fair folk, but this time much, much larger.

Isabella opened her mouth, no doubt to helpfully enlighten the young dwarf, when a squeaky voice was heard.

"Take me to Miss Isabella; she's in a cave. Take me to Miss Isabella; she's in a cave."

Thorin didn't know how to handle the present situation. He had listened to Isabella's excited ramblings and had watched as Arianna's face grew less and less amused. He startled though at the mention of "elf". He didn't care what came in front of it: High, Wood, or House; an elf was an elf. They were disloyal and not to be trusted.

So when a waist-high, floppy-eared, large-eyed creature appeared in the midst of the cave, chanting to be brought to Isabella, none were more surprised than the Dwarf King.

Arianna had whipped around (as did all the other dwarves, one wizard, and a wide-eyed hobbit- Isabella was too busy trying to look innocent) and stared at the tiny creature as it repeated its mantra. It was wearing a deep blue velvet fitted smock with the Hogwarts crest on its front and its large eyes were squeezed shut. Its entire body was shaking with effort as it attempted to focus as hard as possible and a bag was clutched in its hands. It was a simple blue cloth drawstring bag and had a large scarlet R sewn on the outside of it.

"You picked Roger?!"

Well, none more surprised than Thorin and Arianna.

The little creature opened his eyes at Arianna's shout. Thorin watched it, still confused as to what it was exactly and where the thrice-damned house elf was. He saw how the creature focused in on the two arguing girls-well, one cowering raven-haired girl and one screaming red head- but Thorin supposed that was how their arguments normally went.

"Miss Isabella! Miss Arianna! Roger found you! Dobby told Roger to go through the big stone and Roger did! Roger thought really really hard and here Roger is! And Roger brought food! Dobby said that Miss Isabella wanted food and Roger brought it! Roger hopes he brought enough- Roger heard that there was a family of Weasleys to feed!"

The comical-looking creature had thrown itself between the two girls and had somehow hugged both of their knees to his tiny chest.

"Eat like a family of Weasleys Roger, not are a family of Weasleys." Isabella had somehow extricated his hands from around her and Arianna's knees and had knelt down, hugging the excited creature to her chest. Arianna followed suit, all the while checking Roger over to make sure he was okay.

The pieces were starting to fall into place for Thorin. The way the girls greeted this Roger, the things he said; it was almost as if-

"Is this the house elf? I was expecting something… taller."

Neither girl answered as Arianna was still in the middle of scolding Isabella for her hair-brained idea while continuing to check Roger over for any injuries. Isabella was now looking at the ground and scuffing her feet while Roger was excitedly describing the various foods he had brought from Hogwarts and expressing his hopes that it would be enough.

Annoyed at being ignored, and by Arianna no less, Thorin strode across the cave with the intent of making them answer his questions. However, the dwarf stopped dead in his tracks as the now released Roger started pulling out food from the tiny bag. Out came a pork roast, quickly followed by two roasted turkeys and three large shepherd pies. Thorin couldn't remember the last time any of the dwarves in the company had food that smelled and looked that good.

It turned out that Roger also brought eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, cheeses, roast beef sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, several large flasks of pumpkin juice and a various assortment of desserts. Arianna shot Roger a confused look and commented on the strange array of food.

"Roger didn't know when he would be arriving Miss. Would it be breakfast, lunchtime or dinner? Roger couldn't decide and so brought food for all of them!"

Isabella could only laugh at the expressions on the dwarves faces, especially Kili's. With open mouths and wide eyes, the dwarves just stared at the tiny house elf, as if not quite believing what they were seeing. Deciding that perhaps she and Arianna had been a little rude (not introducing the company to Roger and all), Isabella cleared her throat.

"Everyone, this is Roger. He's… well, it's a long story, but he's one of our friends. Roger, this is Ori, Nori, Dori, Bofur, Bifur, Bombur, Oin, Gloin, Dwalin, Balin, Fili, Kili, Bilbo, Gandalf, and Thorin." She gestured to each member in turn as she announced their name, Roger giving them all a quick bow.

"Roger is happy to meet the friends of his Miss Isabella and Miss Arianna! Roger hopes you like the food."

Looking back, Thorin wasn't quite sure how he had gained control over his hungry dwarves, and the fact that he did only proved to him how much they respected him. He had somehow managed to get them to not immediatelly rush and eat all the food at once, as he didn't know when they would be able to replenish their supplies again. The strange creature had hastily assured him that any leftover food would keep, as "Roger was a good house elf and knows how to save food".

He had then watched in amazement as the tiny thing forced everyone to sit down and passed out equal portions of all the food, effectively reinforcing Thorin's orders and ensuring left over food for lunch and possibly dinner.

Thorin saw that Arianna wasn't eating just yet, too absorbed in scolding someone through their mirror (Thorin assumed it to be the boy Harry) about being reckless and irresponsible. He winced as he heard a feminine voice on the other end ask what was going on and Arianna once again launched into a description of just what Isabella and Harry did. Although, the girl (Hermin? Thorin was having a problem remembering her name) seemed more excited about the fact that it worked than the fact that it happened. He watched as Arianna sighed, knowing that she had lost this battle, and started telling how Roger had showed up and what he had told her.

Seeing Isabella's happy smile as she told of how she had met Roger during her first year at Hogwarts made Kili happier than he thought possible. He laughed when she described her mad dash from the castle's caretaker (he thought she called him Filch) and his cat, in which she got herself stuck in a dead end hallway after curfew. Somehow she had attracted the attention of a house elf cleaning in a side room and, being quite partial to troublemaking himself, the elf quickly hid her in a closet and denied seeing anyone to the "barmy and cantankerous old man". Arianna fervently denied Isabella's claims of her being too excited about the prospect of meeting a house elf to scold her friend the next day.

So the girls had somehow developed a strange friendship of sorts with the elf during their first year. He was Isabella's partner in crime for many of her pranks and was Arianna's caretaker of sorts, making sure she remembered to eat when all she wanted to do was study. It was actually Arianna's idea to start calling the house elf "Roger", partially as a code name but mainly because she was tired of Isabella forgetting his real one all the time. She often found herself wondering how her friend had been able to remember her class schedule that year since she couldn't even remember a name.

Roger didn't seem to mind one bit though and even went so far as demanding that the other house elves start calling him Roger as well. The girls made sure that none of the teachers knew about their Roger, as none of them were sure if he'd get in trouble. Even if he wouldn't, it wasn't something they were willing to risk.

Ori was too excited for words, which could have been partially due to him having a mouthful of food, but more likely than not it was because he had something new to learn.

And draw.

So the youngest dwarf sat between his two older brothers, fork in one hand, charcoal pencil in the other, drawing the small creature. He had tried many times before to draw Isabella's various escapades, but most of them just turned into her running from various authority figures. Which, if Isabella was honest with herself, was really how they all went.

Ori made sure that he quickly sketched the three of them together, Arianna's wide smile and Isabella's laugh not something he wanted any of them to forget. He knew that he could put more details into the drawing later from memory but, right now he wanted to get the essence of the moment down.

Dwalin wasn't sure what he thought of the waist-high elf. While it did bring some satisfactory food, he didn't see much use for it beyond that. He knew that it would only become a burden; one which the dwarves would be forced to bear no less.

Therefore it was with a groan that Dwalin found himself being volunteered to carry his pack with the small creature perched on top. Granted, they had lost so many supplies and the thing was so small that it didn't make the pack any heavier than he was used to but, it was the thought that bothered him.

He wasn't a pony, blast it.

His protests fell on deaf ears however, as his brother just smiled and patted him on the back while everyone else acted like their packs weighed as much as a grown warg. Thorin had just looked at him in a way that clearly likened his protests to those made by an elf maiden.

While he definitely wasn't a pony, he most certainly wasn't an elf maiden.

Resigning himself to his fate, Dwalin swung his pack onto his back and looked down at the creature bobbing around the company. Reaching a hand out, he caught its collar as it flitted around him, forcing it to stop.

"Will you need help getting on or can you manage by yourself?" Dwalin growled out, quite pleased that his tone was almost as intimidating at Thorin's.

That feeling died however as the elf squeaked "Roger can do it himself Sir!" and proceeded to use Dwalin's limbs and beard as a ladder, clambering up onto the dwarf's bag. Horrified, Dwalin refused to make eye contact with any of the company, fully aware of Fili and Kili's snickering and Roger's proud "See Sir? Roger said he could do it."

Vowing to make the Durin heirs regret their mockery, Dwalin proudly strode over to Thorin, waiting for the order to move out. It could be worse he reasoned with himself. The girls could decide to walk with me as well. He assumed that they would want to walk with Kili and Thorin and leave him in peace.

Dwalin's hopes that the girls would walk with their respective dwarves, or just together, or with Bilbo, Ori, Bofur or even Gandalf lasted about 5 minutes.

Thorin was trying his hardest not the laugh at his friend. Dwalin's face was such a picture of misery that he almost felt bad for the dwarf. This was the best solution though, as Thorin wouldn't let Fili or Kili carry the elf; two troublemakers was enough, he didn't need all five of them walking together- no matter what feelings he had for the red headed one. Ori would just be swarmed, Nori and Dori really wouldn't put up with it and would probably just pass the elf off to their younger brother.

Bofur, Bifur and Bombur would have been acceptable choices he supposed, but he doubted their ability to control the youngest members of the company if they decided to prank Bilbo. Thorin owed the hobbit his life, he figured the least he could do was protect him from his nephews.

Therefore, the only acceptable choice he saw was Dwalin. The warrior wouldn't allow his nephews to get away with anything and the two girls would be too busy talking to attempt anything. Their talking around Dwalin wasn't as innocent as they wanted it to seem… they would always pick that time to gossip about various people back home and randomly burst into giggles. Thorin himself had caught them smirking evilly during breakfast and nodding over to Dwalin; he knew the dwarf was in for a huge headache tonight. While he knew that it would have annoyed him before, now he couldn't stop thinking of Arianna's eyes last night and how sad and lost they had looked. During breakfast though they were full of life and laughter, as if the girls had never left.

All he wanted was to make sure her eyes never looked that way again.

The girls were too focused on the climb down to talk, something Dwalin was extremely thankful for. He really didn't mind the girls company as much as he appeared to; it was just that they seemed to endlessly chatter around him about stuff that no self-respecting dwarf cared about.

The house elf perched on his back was thankfully silent as well.

The company reached the bottom with the Carrock by mid-morning and with the end of the dwarves descent came the end of Dwalin's precious silence. To his surprise though, it wasn't the girls doing the talking, it was Roger.

The house elf talked about Hogwarts, the changes and new "regimen" as the students had taken to calling it. He told of the Carrows and their new teaching ideals and, more importantly, methods of punishment. Roger, it seemed, was keeping up to his mischievous ways, except this time instead of helping Isabella sneak away from Filch, he was sneaking food and potions to injured students.

"When Roger heard that his friends needed him, Roger told Dilly that he was in charge. Roger had taken Dilly with him a few times while sneaking the students potions, so Dilly knows what to do."

Dwalin felt grudging respect for the tiny creature he was carrying as the girls started pelting it with questions about their friends and teachers, what the Order and Aurors were doing, if any of the Deatheaters (whatever those were) knew about Harry and his friends, and if any of them had found the Arch in Hogwarts.

"Hogwarts promised Roger that she would hide it."

The two girls looked at each other. "Hogwarts can talk?"

"Not talk as Roger or you can" the elf explained " but, she was the one that let Roger leave. Wizards think that we house elves work for the Headmaster when we really work for Hogwarts, which is why Roger could leave without greasy man knowing."

Glancing behind him, Dwalin saw the girls faces- Arianna's was lost in thought, most likely running through all the possibilities this new information created and Isabella looked sick at the thought of Hogwarts students having to torture or be tortured. He would be the first dwarf to admit that the best way to handle a problem was to cut its head off but, in this situation there was nothing the girls could do to help their friends. Realizing that he would have to do something he never thought he would be willingly to do for all the gold in Erebor, Dwalin internally sighed.

He seemed to be doing that a lot today.

Turning around, he looked at Isabella and steeled himself, all but growling out his next few words.

"As there aren't any wargs, orcs, or trolls coming to eat us today, I think I'll become bored. Tell me a story."

The smiles he got from the girls and nod of approval from his King made his sacrifice worth it. Perhaps, he thought, it wouldn't be too bad.

I really wasn't expecting Dwalin to take control of this chapter... I did expect it from Roger though lol. I hope everyone liked it!