A/N: Thank you guys all again for all your continuous support!
Everything you recognize does not belong to me! Please read and review!
Hermione gazed around her in awe of the capacious halls of Erebor. Her footsteps echoed loudly as she followed Thorin and the other dwarves into the throne room. She glanced over at Draco who was walking behind her. He had schooled his features into a brooding and sullen look, but even he could not disguise his wonders of finally being able to see what their quest had been about.
"You better start explaining yourselves, now." Thorin crossed his arms and Hermione had the inexplicable feeling that he was her parents and was about to scold her.
"Well…" Hermione thought about how to start explaining. There was just so much. "After you guys left, we brought Draco back to Bard's house because he was in desperate need of medical attention. Night had fallen and his fever only got worse. We sent Bofur to go find us Kingsfoil to treat Draco's wound. Then, the orcs that had been hunting us found out where we were and attacked. Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood, and Tauriel, the Captain of the Guard showed up just in time and helped Oin and I defeat the orcs. They were about to leave when Bofur showed up with the Athelas, and Tauriel used her Elven healing powers to revive Draco."
She rolled her eyes when Draco scowled heavily at Thorin when Tauriel was mentioned. Thorin, whether he noticed or simply chose to ignore him, nodded at Hermione to go on.
"Then Smaug attacked. Bofur and Bain broke Bard out of prison and Bard revealed he had the last of Girion's Black Arrows. There was no time and the town was already burning. So I told Bard to get to the wind lance and said that I would be the distractor. After apparating onto a rooftop that was high enough to gain Smaug's attention, I tried my best to stall him."
"How ever did you do that?" Bilbo asked in awe.
"The same way you did, riddles."
"How did you know about Master Baggins's techniques in thieving from a dragon?" Thorin asked incredulously.
His constant distrust and suspicious attitude was really beginning to weigh heavily on Hermione's nerves. "I'm a witch, aren't I?" She snapped. That effectively shut his mouth, she thought smugly.
"Very well," Thorin sighed wearily. "What happened next?"
Hermione frowned, trying to concentrate on the hazy events that happened next. "The building I was standing on caught fire, I think. I apparated to the tower where Bard was. It had already begun to collapse and it was all we could do to cling onto something solid as we plummeted into the lake. I hit my head on a piece of debris and I think Bard broke his wrist. Anyways, I swam over to him and was finally able to apparate ashore. I don't remember anything after that until Draco woke me before dawn."
"Is this true?" Thorin asked Bofur and Oin.
"Aye," Bofur nodded. "Every word."
"And what of Bard?"
"We left shore at dawn," Draco answered curtly.
"He will come and ask for his share of your gold, Thorin," Hermione informed him carefully.
Thorin's face went under a series of transformations: shock, suspicion, and rage. "He will not touch my grandfather's treasure."
"Thorin, think of what Smaug did to Esgaroth! It is completely burned to the ground! You must help them! After all it was Bard who killed Smaug in the end!" Hermione reasoned.
"I will do no such thing, I did not ask him to kill Smaug." Thorin fumed.
"But-" Hermione protested.
"And you will learn your place, Lady Hermione." He growled before striding past her and retreating into the room filled with gold.
Hermione frowned at where he had disappeared. The Gold Sickness had completely taken over and Thorin was not acting rationally. "Do not fret, Hermione." Kili placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Uncle will come to his senses sooner or later."
"I'm afraid it won't be until it's too late," Hermione said without thinking.
"What do you mean?" Kili asked sharply. "Tell me!"
"I-I can't." Hermione stuttered. "Please, Kili. I will try and help your uncle so he does not meet the fate that was planned out for him."
Kili looked scared, but nodded gratefully.
"Well, he's finally gone off the deep end," Draco commented sourly from her other side.
"Oh, cheer up, Malfoy." Hermione nudged his side. "So tell me, when did you and Tauriel become a 'thing'?"
Draco narrowed his eyes at her, and Hermione snorted. "I don't believe that's any of your business."
"Aww…Has the 'Slytherin Prince' finally found his twue wove?" She pouted her lips and made goo-goo eyes at him. This only caused him to scowl more deeply, and her to burst into a fit of giggles.
Suddenly, two pairs of hands grabbed her by her elbows and steered her away. "Hey!" She protested.
"We thought-" Fili began.
"You'd like a tour of Erebor." Kili finished.
"Ooh, yes," Hermione agreed excitedly. "I heard your library here is simply fantastic!"
The brothers stopped abruptly. "Seriously?" Fili asked incredulously. "You are in the mightiest dwarf kingdom of Middle Earth and you want to visit the library?"
"Unlike you, I actually enjoy books and the knowledge they provide you with, Ronald," Hermione rolled her eyes. She froze after realizing what she had just said.
"Erm, have you lost your mind, Lady Hermione?" Fili peered at her concernedly. "My name isn-"
Kili jabbed him in the side and glared. He then proceeded to wrap an arm around Hermione. "Don't be insensitive, Fili."
"Insensitive?" Fili spluttered. "Since when did you become the sensible one?"
"I've always been the sensible one," Kili sniffed.
"You're about as blunt as a knife that hasn't been sharpened in a thousand years! Who was it that had to comfort that poor lady when you told her that her beard looked scruffy?" Fili burst out.
"Guys, it's alright. I just slipped. I-you two sounded so much like Ron that it just came out." Hermione attempted to smile, but it came out more like a grimace.
"Is that a compliment?" Kili grinned.
"Of course, though I'm sure if you asked Draco he would tell you it was more of an insult." She smiled with a reminiscent look in her eyes.
Hermione stopped when she noticed the two dwarves with queasy expressions on their faces. She narrowed her eyes questioningly, "What?"
"Since when did Master Malfoy have such an…intimate relationship with that elf?" Fili finished with a disgusted shudder.
"What's wrong with Tauriel?" Hermione immediately stuck up for her friend. This feud between the dwarves and elves was really beginning bore her. They needed to just suck it up and get over their differences already.
"They all have such ivory delicate looking skin!" Fili explained.
"Hey, I have pale skin!" Hermione protested.
"It's more creamy though, it doesn't look like it'll shatter if you so much as touch it," Kili reassuringly patted her hand. Then blushed. "I-I mean, well…the elves have such high cheekbones!"
"Where I come from, high cheekbones are considered very pretty," Hermione sniffed.
"THEY'RE TOO TALL!" The two burst out at the same time.
"Since when has height stopped you?" Hermione cocked her eyebrow at Kili teasingly.
"You're only about an inch taller than me, and you have shoes on!" Kili waved a hand dismissively.
"What in Durin's name are you talking about?" Fili gaped.
"You didn't tell him?" Hermione asked, surprised.
"Tell me what?" Fili demanded.
"My dear brother, there comes a time when a dwarf falls in love," Kili threw his arm over his brother's shoulders. "Although may Mahal help the one that you fall in love with."
"Hey!" Fili elbowed his younger brother. "There's nothing wrong with me!"
"Keep telling yourself that, Fee," Kili rubbed his side. "And when they've fallen in love, nothing else matters to them. Not their race, what kind of blood they're from, not even the slight height difference." He finished while gazing intensely into Hermione's eyes.
Hermione bit back a cross between a sob and a scream. A sob because that had to be the single most romantic thing anyone had said to her, not that many people had…the most romantic thing Ron had ever said was 'We don't want any more Dobbies do we?' She wanted to scream because the very thing she feared had come to pass. What would Kili do if she died? Would he find another girl to love? Hermione felt her insides shrivel up a little at the thought. Damn, she thought. This is not good.
A/N: So...Kili has finally admitted that he loves Hermione...Let me know what you guys think by leaving a review! I promise that I read every single one of them!