Disclaimer: I do not own this, obviously.

Summary: A Cross-over of Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings. Harry was 'enjoying' a holiday away from Hogwarts when, on his Birthday, he receives an anonymous package which takes his away from the world he knows into a new world and new adventures.

Authors note: First I would like to thank all those who reviewed the last chapter and ask you to ignore the chapter title, it was supposed to be 'the unexpected guest' but my mind wandered. Also I would like to apologise for the delay in the posting of this chapter but due to a combination of writers block for this story and circumstances beyond my control I have been unable to write it. Anyway on with the story.

-Chapter Two-

-The Long-expected party-

Whatever Harry's first impressions of Bilbo were he had to admit one thing, he told one heck of a story. From dwarves to elves, wizards to trolls, Dragons and goblins and talking birds, and not forgetting the creature he called Gollum. It was such a farfetched story that Harry was finding it hard to believe, even if he was a wizard.

Currently Harry was sitting up in his bed listening to Bilbo bustle about with thing in a few rooms down and thinking about his predicament. Here he was in a new world with a creature that he had never seen or heard about before in the Hobbit a few rooms down, waiting for a wizard who he wasn't even sure could help him. He wasn't even sure if he was ready to leave his whole future in the hands of someone else again, after Dumbledore had already messed up with it. But then again he really didn't have a choice.

He took this time to think about things. Did anyone miss him now he was gone? The Dursleys wouldn't, they would probably be dancing on the ceiling if they could, being so happy to be rid of him. The Weasleys? Perhaps they would miss him but they would be safer without him, the same would go for Hermione and her family. Snape would be happy to be rid of him, he honestly didn't know about Dumbledore or McGonagall or the rest of the teaching staff or Order. Malfoy would be the same as Snape. The Papers would lose another celebrity that sells papers easily but honestly he didn't care. The wizards world was really full of hypocrites and they might learn a lesson if their heroes weren't there to save them anymore. He would miss his friends and Remus but if worst comes to worst he would have to stay here and they could live their lives without him.

His musing were interrupted by Bilbo's voice from down the hall. "Where is it!" His voice sounded panicky. Harry struggled up to his bed, still felling slightly weak and unsteady. He stumbled to the archway a glanced out towards the room where Bilbo was. He got there just in time to see Bilbo rush out into the hall way. The hobbit rushed straight to his cloak and tore it from the hook it was hanging on. He checked the pockets quickly before throwing the cloak on the floor. He turned around and put his hand upon his mid-section. The hobbit froze in mid turn and suddenly dug through his left pocket. He visibly relaxed as he pulled his hand from the pocket clutching a small golden ring. He sighed and brought it up his face almost as if to comfort him. He then turned and headed back into the room he came from.

Harry stood for a moment longer before returning to his bed. What was so important about that ring that Bilbo would get so worked up about loosing it? Perhaps it had some sentimental value, like a wedding ring or a present from someone he loved or perhaps it was one of his parent's rings. Whatever it was, Harry decided, it was clearly Bilbo's business and he would not get involved.

Once again his thoughts were interupted but this time by a knock on the door. "Frodo!" Bilbo called. "Someone at the door!" there came no answer and the knocking came again. "Frodo!" There still came no answer. "Sticklebats! Where is that boy?" The knocking came again. And Bilbo huffed before standing up and walking to the door. "No thank you! We don't want any visitors, well-wishers or distant relations!" He called through the door.

"And what about very old friends?" came the muffled reply.

Bilbo froze for a moment before hurriedly opened the door and stood still for a moment. "Gandalf?" He said quietly. The silence was followed by light-hearted laughter.

Harry heard Gandalf say "You haven't aged a day."

In the next few moments there was a lot of hurried footsteps and the sound of a closing door. Harry could hear Bilbo chattering away to the other person as he bustled about the hallways. "Would you like some tea? I could put some on if you'd like. I have a bit of the old vineyard if you'd prefer. Twelve-ninety-six, a very good year, almost as old as I am, it was laid down by my father." Bilbo said.

"Just tea, thank you" Gandalf replied.

"I had expected you a little earlier but you come and go as you please, always have done, always will do. I can get you something to eat if you want. You've caught me a little unprepared I'm afraid. I've got some cheese or bread but not much more. I could make you some eggs if you'd like." Bilbo continued as if he hadn't heard Gandalf. He was followed by a long silence.

"Just tea, thank you." Gandalf finally said.

"Oh right." Bilbo replied. Suddenly a loud nock and muffle shouting came from the door. "I'm not at home!" Bilbo whispered harshly. He shuffled to look out of the window. "It's the Sack-ville-bagginses." He whispered again. "I got to get away from these confounded relatives! Hanging on the bell all day! Never giving me a moment's peace! I want to see mountains again Gandalf. Mountains! Oh right tea"

"So you mean to go through with this then?" Gandalf said. After Bilbo's stuttered affirmative Gandalf continued. "Frodo suspects something, he very fond of you, you know."

"Of course he does! He's a Baggins! Not some blockheaded Bracegirdle from hardbottle!" Bilbo sighed. "He'd go with me if I asked him, but in his heart he still in love with the Shire." He stopped again and walked to look out of the small kitchen window. "I'm old Gandalf, I may not look it but I'm beginning to feel it. I feel…stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread. I need a long holiday and I don't think I shall ever come back. In fact, I mean not to."

Harry tuned out the rest of the conversation and decided to get some more sleep. He was feeling extremely warn out and he couldn't understand why, had barely done anything since he got here. He was fully prepared to sleep the rest of the day away, however his body disagreed with him. With a loud growl his stomach chose to make its intensions made. Harry groaned and rolled over and continued to ignore his hunger. His stomach wasn't that easily beaten however and continued to growl until Harry finally gave in.

He allowed himself to roll off of the bed and fall feet first to the floor. He swiftly pulled himself up and groaned as the blood from his head rushed with the speed of a professional Quiditch player straight down to his already aching stomach. Forcing down the gagging feeling Harry glared at his stomach. 'You wanted this!' he thought angrily at it.

Forcing himself forward he ventured into the home of Bilbo Baggins to find the kitchen. He staggered forward, out of the room and into the hall before turning towards the room he believed to be the kitchen. Suddenly he felt weakened again and fell onto the arch-frame. Spots appeared before his eyes and danced wildly before him as the room span into a blur of swirling colours. He was vaguely aware of a hand pushing him into the room and forcing him into a chair. He was suddenly hit with a surge of panic and he began to loose consciousness. Then, as suddenly as it came, the dizziness and nausea left him.

He was sitting in a small chair with a large mug in his hand. Bilbo was pouring tea into his mug and looking at him worryingly. An old man in grey cloaks stared at him over his own mug as if examining him.

"Are you alright now my lad?" Bilbo asked as he turned back from returning his teapot. Harry nodded mutely and stared at the old man. Bilbo watched him for a moment more. "Well, if you're sure you all right, I'll take you word for it. Now since your up perhaps you would like something to eat." Again Harry nodded and Bilbo turned to prepare him a snack. "We were just talking about you, you know. I would have gotten you myself but I didn't want to wake you, but since your up anyway." He handed Harry a plate with some cheese and biscuits. "Harry, I'd like to introduce you to Gandalf the Grey."

Harry's eyes shot up again to the old man. He now felt something in Gandalf that he had not sensed before only now he knew what it was, it was the same feeling that would radiate off of Dumbledore when he was angry or when he was fighting, it was pure uncorrupted magical power. He had felt it from Dumbledore at the tri-wizard tournament and in the ministry when he was fighting Voldemort and from Voldemort himself when he fought Dumbledore, but he had never felt it so strongly out of anyone. The power just flowed from him as if it were an endless stream of magic.

Gandalf returned his stare and he felt uncomfortable under that gaze. It was as if the old man was staring through his soul. Harry began to feel uncomfortable and glanced away with a mumbled "Good morning Sir"

Gandalf chuckled at Harry; the noise forced Harry to return his gaze to the old man. "There's no need to be afraid Harry, I'm not going to hurt you."

"I'm not afraid." Harry muttered darkly. He did not like being laughed at. He bowed his head and began to eat his food.

After a moment Gandalf spoke again. "So tell me about yourself Harry."

Harry took swallowed a biscuit and shot a suspicious look at the old man. "Why?"

"Well how do you expect me to help you if I don't know anything about you?" Gandalf replied in a slightly less amused voice. "That is, of course, if you want my help."

"The problem is sir." Harry responded. "That I'm not sure that I want to place my entire future in the hands of someone else. You see I've already had a supposed great wizard interfere in my life too much for my liking and I'm not sure If I'm ready to give my faith in someone blindly again."

"A wise decision," Gandalf said. "However you have to trust somebody or life has no real meaning. What would Gondor be like if they didn't trust their Steward, would the Rohirrim charge if they didn't trust their Marshals, would wars be won without trust in Generals. No Harry trust is what holds this world together, trust and faith, without those the world would crumble around you without a single shot fired from you enemies. I understand that you do not wish to trust me blindly but all I ask for is a chance. Will you let me have that?"

Harry sat in silence, digesting the words that Gandalf had spoken. Eventually he nodded, he would give him one chance and that would be it.

Gandalf smiled at the young man before him. "Would you be willing to tell me about yourself now?"

Once again Harry nodded and launched into an explanation of is life. It surprised him how much he was willing to tell the old wizard. He told him of Voldemort and the prophecy, of that fateful Halloween in Godrics Hollow, his life at the Dursleys, his adventures at Hogwarts, his Godfathers death and the mystery present that brought him to this world. He didn't know why he told Gandalf all of that but he had said it now.

Once Harry had finished his story a silence descended onto the room. After a moment Gandalf broke the silence. "You say you're a Wizard?"

"Yes sir." Harry answered.

"Then perhaps I know why you are feeling so weakened." Gandalf said and took a sip of his tea. Harry blinked in surprise and Gandalf chuckled. "Do you have your wand Harry?"

Harry checked his pockets and the floor around him only to find that he didn't have the wand n him. Now that he thought about it he didn't remember having his wand when he arrived in this world. He shook his head and gazed down to the floor.

Gandalf chuckled slightly again. "You see your magic is erratic, I felt it the second you entered the room. I can only imagine how much magical energy it would take transport someone from one reality to another. Your wand allowed you to control your magic and here, where you don't have it, your magic is searching for an outlet." He stood up and walked to his staff. He picked it up and walked back to Harry. "Here, hold this." He told him.

The second Harry's fingers curled around the old wizards staff he felt all his dizziness and nausea leave him. Sure he still felt tired but he felt much better with the staff in his hands. His thoughts were interrupted when Gandalf sat down opposite him. He made to hand the staff back to the grey wizard but he refused to take it.

"Keep it." Gandalf said drawing his pipe from his robes. "I always have a spare."

Harry returned the staff to his side and he turned back to Gandalf. "I don't understand sir. Why did I suddenly get better when I took your staff?"

"It's quite simple." The old wizard replied. "It was your magic that was making you ill and causing your weariness, with something to channel your magic through the symptoms you had will vanish. Though you shouldn't expect to be cured straight away, a lot of you magic has been drained and will take as while to return properly." Harry sat in silence for a moment before he thanked the grey wizard. Gandalf stood, bid Harry good day and walked to the door. "By the way." He said turning back to the boy. "I suggest that you get so rest, if you want to attend Bilbo's party that is." And with that he left the room.

Harry sat for a moment longer before pulling himself up from his chair and returning to his room. He set the staff by the archway and lay down upon his bed without where he thought about his meeting with Gandalf till sleep took him.

He awoke hours later to the sound of merry music playing in the darkness and the bang and crackle of fireworks. Pulling himself groggily from his bed he tried to think about what the noise was. Then he remembered Gandalf saying something about a party. Shaking his head he stood up and picked up his staff. He walked out of the room and towards where he thought to main door was.

He opened it and walked outside and saw the party in a field a short walk away. He wouldn't go down, Bilbo wouldn't want him at his party, he'd just get in the way. He sat down on a small bench and watched the numerous fireworks fly into the air and explode into different shapes and colours, and he listened to the Music. He leaned back against Bilbo's home and began to drift off into thought as he watched party from a distance.

After a while Harry's musings were interrupted by a large explosion of fireworks. After sitting for a few minutes more he decided to go down to the field, he could always come back before he was spotted. Standing up, he picked up his staff and began the walk to the field.

As he walked he could hear the laughter of Hobbits and the sound of many dancing feet. The music surrounded the whole area and echoes off the small hills. Fireworks occasionally deafened the music and light the night sky like the sun at dawn. The closer he got the more he heard the happy hobbits singing, chatting and dancing.

Finally he came to an arch cut into a hedge row that was the entrance. Bilbo stood at the archway welcoming the guests. Suddenly he looked up as a hobbit-woman walked passed with several children and spotted Harry.

"Harry my lad!" He cried. "Welcome, welcome. So glad you could make it. Come in. Come in. I was hoping you would turn up. You've missed having a present I'm afraid but there's still much more to come."

"..Err..." Harry replied, still not quite used to Bilbo's hyperactive nature.

Bilbo continued as if he hadn't heard a thing. "You'll have to sit with Gandalf, most of the things here are Hobbit-sized you understand, much too small for you. Now be sure to tell Gandalf if you're not felling up to this. I don't want you collapsing again, it was a big enough shock the first time." He stopped suddenly again and his ears twitched. He grabbed a hobbit walking towards him. "Sack-ville-bagginses!" he whispered harshly to the hobbit. The other Hobbit grabbed Bilbo by the shoulders and pulled him behind a tent.

Harry chose to leave the two alone and began to wander around the party field. As he walked he saw tables longer than the Hogwarts house tables overflowing with food and drink, and there were at least thirty Hobbits surrounding the table and taking large portions of the food. He saw small children chasing after small firework butterflies and playing games or pulling pranks. Hobbits were dancing merrily in a large clearing in the field.

Suddenly there was a large explosion and a tent was ripped from the ground. A firework sped into the sky crackling and burning as it went. As it went higher it expanded and grew a head and wings and became a dragon. It spread its wings and turned roaring as it went. It began to swoop down as he party. The guests panicked and began to run hysterically away. Hobbits dived onto the ground as the firework dragon soared over them before flying to the horizon and exploding in a mountain of sparks. The hobbits gasped in awe and applauded the magnificent firework.

Bilbo pulled himself up off the ground and turned to his guests. "That is the signal for supper." He proclaimed.

The feast was splendid. The hobbits chatted amongst themselves and created the atmosphere of Hogwarts during the Halloween feast. Harry had never seen so much food in one place, and he had rarely eaten like he did that night. Thought he didn't try the mushrooms he found that he suddenly had more of an appetite than he had had since before starting Hogwarts. By the end of the feast he had tried almost everything and honestly thought that if he had anymore he would burst.

After all the guest had finished eating Bilbo stood up beneath a large tree for the after diner speech. "My dear Bagginses and Boffins, and my dear Tooks and Barndybucks, Grubs, Chubs, Burrowses and Hornblowers, Bolgers and Bracegirdles, Goodbodies, Brockhouses and Proudfoots." After each name a cheer rose up from those families he named except for one elderly Hobbit who shouted "Proudfeet!"

"Today is my one-hundred and eleventh birthday!" Cheers rose up again and Bilbo raised a hand to quiet them. "Indeed, Eleventy-one years is too short a time to live amongst such excellent and admirable Hobbits." Again the cheers and applause rose up only to be silenced by Bilbo once more. "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve. There was scattered applause following this comment, from Hobbits who didn't know if they were being insulted or not.

Bilbo's hand reached into his right sided jacket pocket. As Bilbo's hand was withdrawn Harry saw that he had taken out that ring. "I regret to announce that this is the end. I am leaving now. Goodbye." And with a flash Bilbo vanished, leaving shocked and panicking Hobbits.

Harry sat still in his chair and watched the chaos unfold. What was with that ring? Having spent a reasonable amount of time around Hobbits Harry was sure that this wasn't a natural ability of one of these creatures, so it had to be the ring. Looking around Harry saw that Gandalf had vanished. After a minute or two he decided to head back to Bilbo's place, as nothing much was going to happen here.

As Harry made his was up the small slope to Bilbo's house he felt something strange. It was like a shift of the wind or a moving of earth under his feet. He couldn't explain it but it felt like…something like Voldemort. He ignored it and continued his slow walk to Bilbo's green door. The suddenly the wind seemed to pick up and Harry stumbled, falling to one knee. He was kneeling in Bilbo's front garden when suddenly he heard a loud rumbling voice from inside the house.

"Bilbo Baggins!" it said. "Do not take me for some conjuror of cheap tricks! I am not trying to rob you!" the voice quietened again and was barely a whisper from where Harry was. "I'm trying to help you. I wish you would trust me as you once did."

After a few more minutes silence and a few muffled voices the door began to open. Harry did the first thing that came to mind; he dived into the nearest bush. "The road is long." He heard Bilbo say.

"Bilbo," Gandalf's voice warned. "The ring is still in you pocket."

Bilbo gave a weak admission before withdrawing the ring and holding it in his palm. After a moment's silence he turned his hand and released the ring. It fell to the ground like a rock and held fast to the floor. Bilbo rushed out of the house and Gandalf followed him. "I've thought up and ending for my book." Bilbo said. "And he lived happily till the end of his days."

The rest of this small conversation was tuned out by Harry as his gaze was fixated on the ring. It seemed to call to him, telling him to reach out and take it. Gandalf returned to the house blocking his view. As he bent down to pick up the ring Harry suddenly felt a surge of jealousy and hate for the old wizard. As Gandalf hand hovered closer to the ring visions of Harry attacking and killing Gandalf to take the ring played in his mind. Gandalf's Hand was suddenly pulled back as if shocked and the old wizards walked away leaving the ring where it was.

Ignoring all outside distractions Harry stood up and walked to the ring. He bent to pick it up, just as Gandalf had done. Just as his hand was about to close around the ring a picture flashed before his eyes. A vision of a fiery eye, unblinking, watching, searching. Harry pulled his hand back quickly and left the ring as Gandalf had. He then noticed that he was being watched.

Gandalf watched Harry move away from the ring. "Why didn't you take it?" He asked suspiciously.

After a long pause Harry answered "I saw something"

Gandalf straightened up in his chair. "What did you see?" he asked.

"A lidless eye, surrounded in flames, staring towards me." Harry answered. He watched the elder as he registered Harry's words. "What does it mean?"

Gandalf turned to stare into the fire. "I don't know." He answered after a long pause.

They remained like that in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes until Harry wandered away from the old wizard and to his room. He placed his staff against the wall and lay down upon the bed. As soon as his head hit the pillow he was fast asleep in fitful dreams of fiery eyes and mysterious golden rings.

-End Chapter Two-

I'm not sure how this turned out so I welcome you reviews and comments.