Authors Note: I am really sorry for how long its taking me to update this story! Life kind of got in the way of my writing and then I ran to a massive road block-but the block has been run over (several times for good measure) and life isn't so chaotic anymore. Hope you guys enjoy the update and thank you to those who reviewed my story!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his universe was created by the wonderful J.K. Rowling. The Hobbit, and all characters associated with his writing are the work of the brilliant and masterful J.R.R Tolkien.
Everything else belongs to me.
"Brilliant idea Potter." Draco paused, the tense atmosphere around the campfire palpable and all but sneered. "Calling you stupid at this point would just be an insult to stupid people so I'll forgo any remarks about your intelligence or lack thereof right now." Reaching up, Draco dug his fingers into bridge of his nose, ignoring any and all thoughts that involved strangling some sense into Potter. Under normal circumstances Draco wouldn't have so readily indulged in insulting Potter, he in fact would have handled the entire situation in the same fashion Granger did: with a pursed look and logic that even Potter couldn't dispute. At least the man he had become would have done that.
In the two years that had followed his staged attempts on the headmaster's life and the fall of the Dark Lord, Draco had undergone a drastic transformation. He was no longer the angry spoiled little boy he had been when he had first met Potter, but a mature and sensible man—relatively so. There were still of course times when he resorted to insults, nobody was perfect and Potter still irritated him to no end, but he generally refrained from outright insulting him. At least under normal circumstances he did. However, their life had once again taken yet another twist and was anything but normal. Only this time, rather than fighting for their very existence in their world they were fighting for it in a place called Middle Earth.
Draco still wasn't sure what had happened in the library that day. One moment they were in the library working on a part of the restricted section that still needed repairs and the next thing any of them remember was landing on a grassy knoll near some place called Weathertop. In fact in the two months since they had landed in Middle Earth they had yet to figure out how they had come to be in this place or why. Even Granger, for all her intelligence and almost unlimited knowledge on their world, was still stumped as to how they had gone from the Hogwarts Library to Middle Earth; and that fact certainly didn't sit well with any of them. It was after all a rare occurrence when Hermione Granger, smartest witch of their age DIDN'T know the answer to a problem or question—and how they had come to be here and how they would find their way home was the least of their concerns. The more pressing concern at the moment was finding Lila, who had been missing since their arrival in middle earth, or at least it was for him and Blaise.
The pressure on the bridge of his nose increased and the sigh he let go of was deep. They had searched for almost two months for their older sister once they had realised that she had not landed with them, and it had been nothing but disaster after disaster. Not only had they managed to find trouble in every small village they had come across, but they had also had a bit of a run in with nasty creatures called Orcs. The Orcs had been easy enough to handle, their magic seemingly unaffected by the fact they were in a completely different world, however the problems they had faced in the village had been a different matter entirely.
Through no fault of their own they had unwittingly discovered that while wizards did in fact exist and were revered in this world, witches were seen in a less than favourable light. In fact they were treated much in the same way that the witches in Salem had been treated: with open hostility and outright fear. They had barely managed to escape one village alive after it was discovered that they were traveling with witches in their party. A small shudder of fear rippled up the length of Draco's spine and it was all he could do to hide it. Had Gandalf not come upon them when he had, Draco was fairly certain that they would have had to bury the Weasley girl, Granger, and possibly Blaise.
And now after everything that Gandalf had done for them and was still doing, Potter wanted to up and leave and venture out on their own again—as if the first time they had attempted that particular plan had not been an absolute disaster.
Draco, of course understood why Potter wanted to set out on their own once more. They had been traveling with the company of dwarves for little over two weeks and in that time they had been treated with such contempt and distrust, that they had all been on pins and needles since their first night; and that was putting it mildly if he was honest. The atmosphere had been so thick and strained over the last fourteen days he was actually surprised that Potter hadn't suggested they leave before now, or that hothead temperament of his hadn't landed them in trouble, as it was prone to do.
Of course not everyone had made their time with the dwarves an unpleasant affair. Gandalf and Bilbo had been nothing but polite and accommodating towards them; going out of their way to make them feel a part of the group. Though, Draco didn't wonder if the reason both men were going out of their way to be overly friendly wasn't because both had their own agendas. Both, after all had a lot to gain if they decided to stick around for the duration of their little quest, especially Gandalf who had made a habit of remarking that seven young wizards was "certainly better than one old man." However, as accommodating as Bilbo and Gandalf had been, their hospitality still did not overshadow the fact that several members of their party weren't so pleasant, namely the company's leader, Thorin. The king under the mountain had been an insufferable git ever since their arrival, going out of his way to make them feel as unwelcome as he possibly could, and Draco very much doubted that his behaviour towards them was likely to change. He seemed determined and rather adept at making their lives miserable. So much that both he and Potter had already had to stop Granger and Weaslette from cursing the king under the mountains into oblivion several times, and he unfortunately was not the only insufferable bastard in the group. Several of the other dwarves seemed determined to follow their king's lead—though not to such vicious lengths.
Letting out a huff of breath, he let go of the anger and frustration that had been building up the last few days. There was no sense in taking his frustration and anger out on Potter. It neither helped the situation nor did it ease the concern he felt for his sister.
"Honestly, I'll never understand how you managed to defeat old snake face" He said offhandedly and with less heat as he rubbed his hands over his face. The sound of flesh meeting flesh echoed around the camp fire and was quickly followed by a sharp cry and a few chuckles from the few dwarves who were still awake. "Ouch—bloody hell Granger what was that for?!" Draco shot the scowling brunette a glare that lacked any heat it once would have had as he rubbed the back of his head, a petulant look etched into his features.
She folded her arms across her chest, the expression she was giving him neither warm nor loving. "For being such a prat sometimes Draco."
He made a rude noise that was more befitting for someone years younger and muttered under his breath. "Like you weren't thinking the same thing Granger."
Again she huffed at him, only this time it was in a way that warned him he was about to be on the receiving end of one of her little speeches—the type of speech she was famous for and only confirmed all the more that he should have kept his cutting remarks to himself. Hermione was nothing if not loyal to Potter and Weaslbee and was quick to defend the two whether they deserved it or not; it was one of the many traits that he had always admired about her. Loyalty after all was not something that Slytherin's were known for, unless it of course benefited them in some way. He sighed and flopped back down onto the log, resigning himself to the verbal lashing he was about to receive.
"Regardless of whether or not I was thinking it," she glanced at Potter when he started to protest and shot him a warning look. "You didn't have to say it out loud."
He snorted despite the glare that she was giving him. "In Potter's case I do," He looked around their small campsite. "or do I have to remind everyone what happened the last time we listened to Potter and his brilliant ideas." The group, including Potter fell silent, all of them no doubt going over their first wonderful night in Middle Earth.
"Look," he said when the silence became almost uncomfortable. "We all know that Potter did some amazing -albeit almost impossible- things but that was in our world, where we were at least familiar with its dangers, not in this one, where we clearly don't know anything about this place or how dangerous it is." He sighed when none of them looked convinced and once again raked his hand through his hair. "Look I would be all for leaving but after the trouble we landed in our first few nights I'd rather not. Besides, Gandalf said he would help us find our way home if it was in his power to do so."
Potter's expression darkened and Draco repressed a sigh. Potter was going to be a difficult, again.
"Why not be honest Malfoy." Draco arched his brow, fully aware how much it would annoy Potter. "Our staying has nothing to do with what happened when we got here." And he was the bloody Hufflepuff "Our staying is because you and Blaise want to find your sister." Potter's expression darkened further and his hands tightened on the stick he was poking the fire with. "Rather than trying to find a way home, you'd rather stick with this lot and be carted all over these wretched lands in the hopes that we find Lila-who we may never find because none of us are even sure that she came through with us."
Anger flashed through him, hot and white, and coloured his vision in red. He wasn't sure what angered him more, the fact that Potter was trying to negate what had happened when they had first arrived or his lack of concern for his sister.
"Of course that's the reason I want to stay here." He hissed between clenched teeth. "My sister is out there somewhere on her own."
Weasleby snorted. "You make your sister sound like a helpless bunny and we all know that she's not." The red head stuffed another large bite of food into his mouth (it wasn't any wonder why the dwarves got along with him) and attempted to talk around the rather large mouthful of food. "She'd have your guts for garters if she heard you."
"As much as it pains me to say this, Weasley's right Draco, if Lila heard you she'd disembowel you." Blaise said as he watched Weasley shovel food in his mouth, a look of disgust etched into his bronzed features. "She's faced worse and been just fine."
Both of course were right, his sister would flay him alive if she could hear him, especially given all she'd seen and done during the war against Voldemort and his dark forces. Having decided to fight for the light at an early age -despite their father being a supporter of Lord Voldemort - Lila had been in the thick of things during the war, facing far worse than any of them -with the exception of Potter- could even begin to imagine. Though, all she had seen and done and her skills as a witch did not abate his concern, nor did it change his mind about leaving.
"I of all people realise that Lila is more than capable of taking care of herself -I've seen how well she takes care of herself-and if we were in our own world I wouldn't be worried," He rubbed his hands over his face. "But we're not. We're in a world where they still burn female witches at the stake, creatures called Orcs run around killing anything that isn't as ugly as them and unlike us she has no one that she can depend on." He let what he said sink in before adding. "no one to help if she needs it."
Those around the campfire fell silent as they all absorbed the implications of his statement. It was obvious that they hadn't even thought about Lila being alone and what it could mean for her. They had simply realised they were short one member, saw that it was his sister, and excused the danger of the situation because it was Lila and because she was more than capable of dealing with any danger that came her way.
When Gandalf cleared his throat all eyes turned toward him, though none of them said anything. "I know that there are some," the aged wizard's eyes flicked briefly in Thorin's direction before returning once more to them. "who have not made traveling with us altogether pleasant, but I fear leaving would only do more harm than good."
He held up his hand when Potter opened his mouth to interject. "I know what it is you want Mr. Potter and I do not begrudge your desire to return to your home, but do you truly wish to do so at the expense of one of your companions?"
Potter blanched at Gandalf's question and under the steady gaze of the wizard.
"I didn't mean for it-"
"No, I'm sure you didn't, "Gandalf interrupted as he stood and brushed his robes off." but never the less that is exactly how it appeared to most-if not all- of your companions, especially to those who are related to the young girl." He leaned on the staff and leveled a look at Potter that had them all shifting in discomfort (Did all batty wizards know how to do that?!). "Perhaps next time you would be wise to think about what you say before you say it. Your companions do not need to suffer your stupidity on top of everything else. "Having said what he had to say Gandalf snatched up his staff and moved away from the fire to speak with Thorin.
Potter shifted uncomfortably when everyone's attention turned towards him, though whether that was the result of having everyone's attention on him or Gandalf's words Draco couldn't say.
"We will stay." Potter eventually muttered when it appeared as if they were all going to continue to stare at him until he spoke.
Draco snorted in derision. "That's the smartest thing you've said all evening Potter." He feigned a look of thoughtfulness before adding. "In fact it's the smartest thing I've heard you say since meeting you."
The sound of flesh meeting flesh once again echoed around the clearing, promptly followed by a shout of pain and a burst of laughter that couldn't have come at a better time.