A/N: As WorldStrider pointed out, the last chapter was a little (okay, a lot) insane. So less of the canaries and more of the drama for this last chapter, and for much of the sequel, since I think there's been more than enough madness for one fic, and the Canary!Eomer running gag has (mostly) run its course.
As regards Celeborn's Quenya name: I swear to the Lord God Almighty that I am not joking. Look it up on Wikipedia if you don't believe me.
Ok, I'm fairly certain that a short epilogue after this is the order of the day (after this), posted concurrently with the first chapter of the sequel (full work on that probably won't start for a while). Possibly with an eventual side of oneshots filling various gaps (Snippets from the Shadows, or something like that) and maybe (eventually) a full length prequel. If you lot are all VERY good and review lots.
Anon: Most interesting, but may I point out that these women live tough lives, and are physically strong, a lot of them would have to fight off wolves, wargs, raiding orcs and Dunlendings and the like. They can fight, however your point on that (and on the grey company chapter), is noted with interest. Pity you don't have an account, this would be much easier (and more interesting).
Saruman's execution was over, the war was over, and the Rohirrim took this as a cue to celebrate. Again. Chaos was averted by Ginny's effective distraction of Harry (i.e. snogging him so much that he rarely came up for air, let alone for long enough to foment chaos) and Eirian clamping a vice like grip on Sirius' right arm and refusing to let go.
The set of her jaw rather discouraged argument, and Sirius didn't seem to mind. Much. Though what she whispered in his ear greatly restored his good mood, while causing Emrys to idly wonder if taking him aside for the traditional if-you-hurt-her-I'll-remove-all-your-internal-organs-and-make-you-eat-your-own-testicles speech would be a good idea. He eventually judged that it could wait. Besides, he had Miriel to think about. Which was something he rather enjoyed doing, not that anyone needed to know about that. For one thing, most would be amused to see Sir Emrys the Valiant, now a full knight of Rohan, the Avenger and an absolute demon with a blade, preferably two, who coolly killed trolls without breaking a sweat, agonising over a girl. That and the inevitable laughter that would follow the revelation that he had been writing love poems. Badly.
Eventually Ron sickened of the sounds of his sister and brother-in-law making out and separated them with a flick of his wand and a sound similar to that of a plunger being removed.
"Either carry on elsewhere, or stop it," he said levelly, returning to his dinner. "And if you stay here, no pranks. Just this once. For the sake of my sanity."
"Well, I can't go putting my brother-in-law and best friend in a madhouse, now can I?" Harry said cheerfully, then turned to Ginny and said huskily, "Mrs Potter, I think we could continue this more productively elsewhere, don't you?"
"Well Mr Potter, I think you might just be right. Let's take our leave," Ginny said, matching his tone.
"GO on. Before you start doing it on the table," Ron muttered, then wished he hadn't when Harry eyed the table speculatively.
"Nah. Too much chance of splinters," Harry said casually, standing and signalling to Théoden, who rolled his eyes and waved them away.
"See you later," Ginny said cheerfully, waving at everyone as they left, earning a cheer and several thankfully muffled comments from the feasters.
"Remember to silence your bedroom this time," Ron called after them, receiving a raised middle finger from Harry as the happy couple stumbled out of the hall in mid snog. He turned back to Hermione, who was looking after them thoughtfully.
"You know Ron, I think that maybe they have the right idea," Hermione said softly. Ron raised an eyebrow. Hermione raised both and kissed him.
Théoden looked down the table and sighed. He stood up and said, slightly irately, "Anyone else who wishes to leave the banquet with their loved one to attend to… other business, may do so. Now."
A drunken cheer arose, and roughly one third of those present left, including Sirius and Eirian, the former being happily dragged by the latter. Legolas looked up and sighed.
"Humans," he said to Gimli. "Only ever thinking of one thing."
"Aye laddie. Let's just hope that Harry remembered to silence his room this time," Gimli said, taking a pull of ale.
"Yes," Legolas said with a shudder of remembrance, "Let's."
Thankfully, Ginny remembered to silence the room before the throes of passion commenced, as did Hermione. The next day, the inevitable was faced. The Ring of the War was over, and the Fellowship that had fought in it was no longer needed, though forever bound by bonds of friendship. So they split up, or rather, Gimli and Legolas left to explore the caves and forests, and Théoden, Theodred, Eowyn, Eomer, Emrys, Eirian and Faramir remained in Rohan.
There were hugs, tears and proclamations of eternal friendship. Harry simply said, "I will see you all again. Count on it," before hugging them tightly.
Sirius' goodbye to Eirian was in the form of a passionate snog that had Emrys glaring protectively at the couple, and after Sirius detached himself from Eirian and the two made their goodbyes, Emrys whispered something that made Sirius go white and nod slowly as Emrys grinned a vaguely feline grin. It seemed that inspiring fear was a family trait among the children of Merlin, but this did not stop mass sniggering as Eirian began reading Emrys' love poetry. In a magically enhanced voice, courtesy of Sirius, who was wearing an evil grin. In public.
Emrys looked alternately as if he wished to do die of embarrassment or murder his sister for much the same reason, though he was much mollified by Miriel kissing him, not merely snogging, but kissing. Suddenly, he was feeling very well disposed to Sirius and his sister indeed. As the kissing continued, other activities resumed.
"Where are we going next Harry?" Hermione asked.
"The Grey Havens. I have some business there, and I feel that I should explain some things to you all…" Harry said, taking a deep breath and launching into the long explanation of the Feanorion family, more specifically, Maedhros and Maglor.
"… and Maglor was the second son of Feanor, who created the Silmaril's, three gems that started a war between Morgoth and just about everybody else. Indirectly it caused the Kinslayings and it got the Noldor shut out of Valinor when they left. Maglor was the kindest and eldest, deadly in battle, but he raised Lord Elrond and his brother, Elros, after sparing them in the search for the Silmaril. He was a great singer even by Elven standards, considered the greatest after Daeron and Luthien. His nephew, Celebrimbor, made the rings of Power (save the One Ring) and Maglor's punishment for his many misdeeds under his father's oath was to walk the coasts of the world forever. He was released once before, to meet and fall in love with Ron and Ginny's ancestress. Now he has been released. Forever," Harry said, looking levelly at the utterly shocked looking group with him. Only Gandalf, Celeborn and Galadriel didn't seem surprised at this revelation.
"Well. That explains a lot," Sirius finally said.
"Hmm?"
"You're an even better Quidditch player than your father Harry, and I'm willing to bet you won't need glasses any more soon enough. I've been watching you, and you're quicker than anyone I've ever seen. Besides, you seemed to have inherited Maedhros' temper," Sirius said with a grin.
Harry stuck his tongue out at him, and said, "Do you want to see him?"
Ginny and Ron shared a look then nodded. "He's family. And he's suffered more than enough," Ron supplied.
"That's what I told Gandalf," Harry muttered.
"How long have you known about this, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Since just after my return from the hereafter. Gandalf got a message from some top Maiar guy called Eonwe, and passed it on to me. He explained a bit about Maglor, which I've told you. I didn't want to say at first because, well, I was not long alive again. After that I was… distracted," He said, smiling at Ginny, who kissed him lightly on the cheek.
"Why Harry, you flatter me," she breathed flirtily.
"Nothing but the truth, darling," Harry whispered tenderly, "You are my world."
Ron made retching noises as the two stared deep into one another's eyes, garnering no response for the deeply in love couple, who leaned forward to kiss.
"You should tell Elrond about this, and Arwen and her brothers," Hermione said reprovingly.
"You do it," Harry said tersely, surfacing for air briefly.
"You should be the one to tell them," Hermione rebuked him
"Get Gandalf to do it," was the abrupt reply.
Hermione looked despairingly at Ron, who shrugged and said, "We're getting no sense out of them tonight. Come on. Gandalf'll probably explain it better anyway."
Hermione nodded reluctantly. "Certainly better than Harry would in this state."
Once Gandalf had been coerced into performing the explanation, Elrond, Arwen, Elladan, Elrohir and Aragorn sat, shocked that one of the Kinslayers was a free range elf once more.
Finally Elrond said, after much thought, "I will go and see him. I require none of you to go with me, but I feel that I owe him for the kindness he showed Elros and I as children, and that he has suffered enough. Besides, I feel that Harry, Ron and Ginny encapsulate the best aspects of the Feanorion line. The passion, the courage, the intelligence and the kindness… those are all Maglor and Maedhros. And they give me hope that he can be as they are, and throw off the past." Then his face darkened. "But there is still that damned oath to contend with."
"Feanor was not blessed with the Sight, though that would have saved much trouble. Or caused more. Nevertheless, he did not foresee Wizards, or part Maia when making the oath," Gandalf said, smiling slightly.
"So, redemption by blatant loophole abuse, eh? What's not to like?" Sirius said, levitating a tray of drinks over.
"Indeed, Sirius, you have, to use one of Harry's delightful idioms, 'hit the nail on the head'," Gandalf said.
"I'm guessing Harry's time here has made a few waves, linguistically speaking," Sirius said.
"You could say that," Elrond muttered as the twins started sniggering.
"So, we're all visiting Maglor at the Grey Havens, then?" Gandalf said, cutting off the imminent crude and likely rambling discussion before it could get going.
The children of Elrond and Aragorn all shared a look, then nodded.
"Harry, Ginny and Ron and Hermione are as well, but I wouldn't recommend interrupting the first two at the moment. For one thing, they would both hex you, then probably carry on regardless," Sirius said bluntly.
Elladan looked up at Sirius as Arwen smothered a grin, and said flatly, "That was a mental image I really did not need. Thank you, thank you so much."
Sirius bowed mockingly, "glad to be of service."
Elladan raised both fingers at Sirius experimentally, and was rewarded with delighted laughter from Sirius and a snapped, "Elladan!" from his father.
"Sorry," Elladan said sheepishly, then asked inquisitively, "what exactly does it mean? I know it means something derogatory, but not what."
"Mr Black, I would prefer it is you did not further the corruption of my sons, daughter and son in law. Or at least wait until I am not present," Elrond said levelly before Sirius could explain.
"We had better make preparations then," Elrond said, as Sirius subsided.
The cavalcade made its way through the Gap of Rohan, onto Rivendell, where most of the servants and soldiers stopped at, whereupon Harry smugly created a series of portkeys to the Shire, where the Hobbits were dropped off and the group spent a week, in which there was much feasting and Ron was made an honorary hobbit, Merry and Pippin loudly pronouncing that he was the only one of the 'Big Folk' who ate anywhere near the right amount of food by Hobbit standards, which Hermione responded to with an affectionate eyeroll.
Boromir (Aragorn having sent Faramir back to Rohan by portkey with instructions to help Théoden and rebuild Gondor), and Aragorn spent some time reassuring the Mayor of Buckland and Thain of the Tooks that while he was technically their Lord and High King, he thought it best to leave the affairs of Hobbits in the hands of Hobbits, while promising them a small garrison at Bree to repel any wandering Orc bands, an arrangement all concerned were happy with, while Ginny and Arwen rekindled their close friendship, and proved to get on very well with Rosie Cotton, who Sam blatantly fancied, and the three could often be seen chatting.
Gandalf, Harry and Sirius proved to be a hit with the younger Hobbits, who listened attentively to tales of war, adventure, pranks and magic, to the mild disapproval of their elders, who feared that some might go seeking out adventures. Certainly, they said, the big folk have done well by Masters Brandybuck, Took and Gamgee, but what about Master Baggins? The Sackville-Bagginses were loudest in saying that his glowing finger was a sign that he was too close to the world of the Big Folk for comfort. However they did not speak too loudly, especially not when Samwise Gamgee was around.
Eventually the group moved on as it began to sink in to the minds of the residents that some of the most powerful beings in Middle Earth were casually wandering through their homeland, and they beginning to get a little uncomfortable about this. Around two weeks later, they arrived at Mithlond, where they were greeted by Cirdan.
"Welcome, my Lords and Ladies, to Mithlond! It is so wonderful to see you all again, Mithrandir, Elrond, Arta- sorry, Galadriel and Celeborn. Though many are among you who I have not had the chance to meet," Cirdan said, as many who had not met him before were dumbstruck by his silver beard, which was pretty much unique among the Elves, and had most of the wizards thinking of Santa Claus.
"These are my sons and daughter, Elladan, Elrohir and Arwen, the new High Queen of Gondor and Arnor, my former ward and current son in law, High King Elessar I, though I suspect he would prefer to be referred to merely as Aragorn whilst he is here," Elrond said, receiving a nod of confirmation from Aragorn. "Also present are Lord Boromir, Steward and Captain-General of Gondor and Arnor, Prince Legolas Thranduilion, Lord Gimli, son of Gloin. We also have a contingent of wizards, from another world, Lord Sirius of the House of Black, his ward, Lord Harry of the House of Potter, now the first Royal Wizard of the Reunited Kingdoms," Harry took the opportunity to light up his staff, which gained a nod of respect from Cirdan, who was clearly admiring the workmanship, "his wife, Lady Ginevra," Ron and Harry suppressed snickers as Ginny levelled a death glare at Elrond, who smoothly continued, "of the House of Weasley, who prefers to be known merely as Ginny, her kinsman, Lord Ron of the House of Weasley and his wife, Lady Hermione of the House of Granger."
It was very obvious, Harry thought, that Elrond had once been King Gil-Galad's Herald, and seemed to automatically slide back into this role in the company of an elf who would have remembered when he was a child with ease. Certainly, his smooth address caused raised eyebrows from Hermione.
"Harry is of the line of Maedhros. Ginny and Ron are of the line of Maglor," Elrond finished, which caused Cirdan to give the three some very sharp looks, evaluating them.
"Indeed they are. He," he said, pointing at Harry, "has Maedhros' eyes and much of his fire, as well as Maglor's hair. They," he said, moving on to Ginny and Ron, "Have Maedhros' hair, yet there is something in their bearing and face… that is pure Maglor. I see in them the fire of Feanor wedded with the calm and gentleness of Nerdanel. Truly, these are the last of the line of Feanor, and, I warrant, some of the greatest."
Harry raised an eyebrow and said dryly, "Thanks."
Cirdan's lips twitched and then he said in a more grave tone of voice, "I take it you are here to see Maglor? I half hope that you are here to take him away. The presence of one of the kinslayers among the Teleri in Middle Earth, even after being released from his punishment, is a difficult and divisive one. He has been fairly quiet since he arrived, and seems truly sorry for his past. One young fool of an elf decided to attack, misguidedly seeking to avenge dead friends and family. Maglor did nothing, just sat and took the beating, despite that I know for a fact that he could have killed the young one in a scant moment, tears running down his face that had nothing to do with the pain…" He shook his head. "Familiar faces may help him, but I would advise that you tell him about his new family gently. And then there is that damn oath to contend with."
Elrond smiled and said, "That last we can help with. Nowhere in the oath does it say that wizards cannot absolve one of the oath itself."
Cirdan goggled, quite a sight in such an elderly elf, then burst into laughter. "Oh very clever, Master Elrond, very clever. I always marked you as a wise one, and so you prove to be."
"Thank you, Lord Cirdan. Now if we could?"
"Of course, follow me. I would suggest only Galadriel, Celeborn and Elrond enter at first, as they are the only three whose forms he will recognise, so he can adjust," Cirdan said.
Catching the confused looks on various faces, Gandalf added, "I wore a different form during the War of Wrath. Maglor would not recognise me as I am now, not immediately at least. Cirdan's advice is wise. We had better get him acclimated to our presence before he meets you."
The arrived at Maglor's room, and without prompting, Elrond, Galadriel and Celeborn went in, closely followed by Cirdan. The rest settled down to wait to meet the probably crazy elf, watching the sun glimmer on the river before them, enjoying the undoubted beauty of the havens. But Harry could do nothing but pace. He had family, living family that might actually care about him, and truth be told, he was nervous. So, the sun set on the far west of Middle Earth as one Wizard paced, and his companions merely watched.
Elrond entered the room first, and saw Maglor sitting on the bed, looking pensive as scrolls, books and maps were scattered around him in a haphazard fashion.
"Maglor?" he said tentatively, and the Feanorion looked up sharply, then his eyes widened to comical proportions.
"Elrond?" he said disbelieving, then grinned, running to greet his former ward. "Eru, it is you!"
Elrond hugged him, tears running down both their faces.
"How are you? I haven't seen you for two ages at least!" Maglor asked, stepping back from the hug.
"I am well, old friend, I am well, and it is more than two ages, for we have entered the Fourth Age of this world. Sauron is destroyed, once and for all, and the world is at peace," Elrond said, smiling and suddenly looking much younger.
"That is good, that is very good. I hear that you now have children, and that the descendants of Elros still live," Maglor said, still not having noticed Celeborn and Galadriel, who bore their being ignored with remarkable good grace.
"Aye. My twin sons, Elladan and Elrohir, and my daughter Arwen. She has married the last of Elros' line, the new King of the Reunited Kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor," Elrond said, and Maglor did not miss the slight tremor in his voice.
"She has made the choice of the Peredhil, has she not? And your sons?" Maglor said sympathetically.
"She is happy. And that is all that matters. I believe they will choose to remain elves, but I do not know for certain. But it is not to talk about my children, as delightful as they are," Elrond said.
Maglor looked quizzically at the younger elf, and asked, "Then what are you here to talk about?"
"Your children, Lord Maglor," Galadriel said quietly.
Maglor's eyes widened, and bowed to Galadriel and Celeborn, "My apologies, Lord Teleporno, Lady Artanis. I was so wrapped up in greeting Elrond that I did not see you." Then he looked puzzled as raucous, incredulous and poorly muffled laughter came from outside, and Celeborn sighed long-sufferingly.
"We prefer Galadriel and Celeborn these days, for many reasons. One of them being that the descendants of you and your brother find my husband's former name hilarious. Indeed, the first time your brothers descendant came to Lothlorien, he had to excuse himself from our presence because he nearly fell over laughing. Of course, while he refused to say what it meant on the correct grounds that it was indecent, I saw it in his mind," Galadriel said, mouth twitching as she retained her famed calm and equilibrium with some difficulty, as Celeborn settled for looking grumpy.
Maglor of course had not registered anything past the word 'descendant', as it evoked memories. Memories of a happy time, memories of a world where his trials were over, where a pretty and vivacious young witch called Marion Weasley stole his heart. The memories had faded over the trials of the millennia after she had died and he had been returned to his torture, but now they came back at full strength, leaving him adrift in a sea of happy memory.
"Descendants?" he asked quietly, not daring to believe it.
"Yes, Maglor, descendants, almost all witches and wizards. Your line survived, and two stand outside, though I am informed there are many more. Your many times granddaughter has married Maedhros' descendant, the one I spoke of earlier, a powerful wizard in his own right, and they are deeply-"
"And noisily," Celeborn muttered, earning a look of rebuke from his wife. Maglor's lips twitched into a smirk, but he said nothing.
"- in love. All played a part in vanquishing Sauron," Galadriel finished.
"They know your past, and they wish to meet you. Not to condemn you for the past, but to help you find your future. Maedhros' get, Harry, has never really had family who loved him, his parents having been murdered by a powerful fell sorcerer when he was a baby," Elrond said, then paused. "However that story is his to tell. They wish to meet you, and so do some others, Olorin among them."
"Olorin's here? Oh, he's one of the Istari isn't he?" Maglor said, waving at some of the many well-read scrolls and maps on the shelves and desk.
"That he is," Elrond nodded.
"Very well. I will meet this family of mine, though I blame your bad influence if they are rowdy," Maglor said in a falsely stern voice. Elrond spluttered indignantly as the ancient elf went to open the door.
Everyone in the corridor started as a dark haired elf opened the door and beamed. "I am told I have a family and they would like to meet me." Then he frowned in puzzlement, and said, "All right, first things first. Who's who? Because I don't wish to get my many time grandson mixed up with Olorin by accident. It would be embarrassing for all concerned."
Sirius turned to Harry and said dryly, "Suddenly I have no trouble seeing how he's some sort of distant uncle of yours. Only you talk like that. So did James, funnily enough, when Lily got him flustered."
Harry pouted, but could not deny the essential truth of his words. He did babble. Just a little bit.
Well? Please, Read and Review, and reward my hard and ill-timed work. Also, I'd like to see guesses as to the content of the sequel, if only because I want to see how close the guesses get to the actual (rough) plan. Certainly, the finale is already done, and dripping with EPIC.