DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything except parts of the plot!
Chapter 3: Learning
"Ah, you're awake." Elrond said when Hermione woke up. Hermione blushed crimson; as she remembered the last time they had met. "Gandalf has explained everything," Elrond said with a smile, "You don't need to worry, just get ready for the Council Meeting which commences in an hour. "Thank you." Hermione said with a bright smile. She has changed a lot since the last meeting, Elrond thought as he left the room. Hermione transfigured her Hogwarts robes (which were what she had been wearing after changing the size) to jeans and a forest green turtleneck and slipped on her pair of worn out converse shoes. She quickly had breakfast and headed to the library. She took a large book on the history of Middle Earth and quickly finished it; not wanting to be clueless at the Meeting.
She still had ten minutes left so she walked out of the library and spotted a short man with a long beard. She approached him and asked politely "Excuse me, are you a dwarf?" The dwarf turned around quickly with a large axe drawn. When he saw her though, he lowered it and said "Yes. And who may I ask are you?" Hermione smiled, "My name is Hermione, what's yours?" "I am Gimli son of Gloin." He replied. "Nice to meet you, but are you by any chance attending the Council Meeting?" She asked. "Of course." Gimli answered. "Could you please show me the way?" Gimli was shocked, "You, a young girl attend the Council?" He scoffed. "I am not a young girl and Gandalf invited me." Hermione said hotly. "I meant no offence, Lady Hermione. Of course I will show you to the Council."
And with that they walked and talked until Legolas spotted them. "Hermione, are you heading to the Meeting now?" He asked. Hermione nodded and asked "Do you know each other?" And for the first time Legolas noticed Gimli next to her. His eyes narrowed and nodded stiffly. "Come Hermione." And his tone told Hermione better than to argue. She gave a small wave to Gimli and followed Legolas. Gimli caught a glance at one of her ears and muttered "I was talking to a bloody elf."
"Why don't you like each other?" Hermione asked bluntly. "Our races have always been rivals." He answered curtly. "But if you're going to fight against Sauron's forces, shouldn't you work together?" Legolas looked at her in surprise, "Where do you learn this?" "I read." Hermione said simply. Legolas didn't have time to retort as they entered the Council courtyard. Nearly everyone looked at Hermione with surprise and some scorn, but she held her head high and made her way to her seat.
She was next to Legolas and a Hobbit she didn't know. (She learnt about Hobbits while reading.) "What is your name?" Hermione asked the hobbit. "I'm Froddo Baggins, how about you." "I'm Hermione." She smiled at Froddo and tucked some hair behind her ear. Froddo's eyes widened "You're the first elfling in about a century, did you know?" Hermione sighed, feeling frustrated "Yes everyone seems to be staring at me because of that, and because I'm the only female at this Council." Then clear bells rang through the courtyard, signalling the start of the Meeting.
Elrond started introducing everyone and Hermione felt all eyes on her when it was her turn, but she held her head high. She listened in awe to the Council and by the time they decided Froddo to be the Ringbearer, he strongly reminded Hermione of Harry. They were both unlikely heroes. Then there was an argument between some elves and dwarves. "Why can't you just work together?" Hermione spoke up for the first time. Everyone stared at her. "Well it makes sense to me; if you join together then you'll have a better chance of defeating Sauron and Saruman." She said it like it was the simplest thing in the world. Elrond spoke again, "You speak wise words for someone so young." He said to me. She blushed and looked down at her shoes.
After a few minutes, Elrond said "I have made my decision; to go on this journey to destroy the Ring of Power are Froddo, Samwise, Peregrin, Meriadoc, Gimli, Legolas, Boromir, Aragorn and Gandalf." "I want to go as well." Hermione piped up. "She cannot go," an outraged Boromir said, "She is a little girl and will only slow us down. She probably has never experienced any danger apart from tripping." Now Hermione was really mad, "'Little girl' my arse! Where I come from we have had a war for the past four years! I have seen and felt torture! I have had loved ones murdered! I know people that have been forced to kill torture and rape against their will! My two best friends fought and died because of this war! They were closer than family! And you dare to say that I have never experience danger?" Hermione finished her rant and stalked away from the shocked silence of the Council. "Well, it appears that we should include her in our Company, for she may have unexpected talents that will prove useful." Elrond said after a while.
Hermione was seething, incensed, fuming. There weren't enough words to describe her at this moment. She needed to cool off somehow. She heard a crack behind her, and she spun around sending a silent tarantallegra. "Ahhh, what is this devilry?" A panicky voice sounded distantly behind her. "Gimli, is that you?" A shocked Hermione said, and she cast the counter-curse. It took a while for Gimli to reach her, and when he did, he looked distinctly ruffled. "Sorry," Hermione apologized, "I'm just a bit jumpy." Gimli looked triumphant, "Aha! So this is the reason behind Elrond's decision; you are a spell caster. You certainly are full of surprises; first you are an elf and second a spell caster." He chuckled then said coldly "Your elf friend wishes to speak with you." Hermione's eyes narrowed dangerously but Gimli did not recognise the danger signs. "Well then I had better find my 'elf friend' then. Good bye Master Gimli." She turned and quickly left, leaving a very confused dwarf behind.
Hermione sighed and wondered what Legolas could want her for. She found him sitting by the river, he smiled at her and said "Mára aurë. Manen nalyë?" (Hello. How are you?) Hermione didn't register that he was speaking another language, and replied "Gal peichar." (A little jumpy.) They both talked in fluent Elvish for a while more, until Legolas said in the Common Tongue "Do you speak Elvish?" Hermione was confused, "No, why?" Legolas smirked, "Because you just had a conversation in a language you 'don't speak'" Hermione's eyes widened to twice as large as usual; it was quite comical actually. "I did?" She whispered. "Don't worry; it's nothing bad, it's quite interesting actually." Legolas reassured her. "All right," Hermione smiled, stood up, gave Legolas a fleeting hug and waved goodbye.
Early next day, Legolas found Hermione in the library since she couldn't sleep. "Hello Hermione. Would you like me to teach you some archery? So you'd have another way of defending yourself. You would be helpless without your magic." He added cheekily. "I'd love to learn archery. Is it hard?" Hermione was excited beyond belief. Legolas scoffed "Knowing you, you would shoot in the opposite direction." Hermione said nothing but walked out of the library leaving Legolas behind. He followed her, but when he stepped out of the library, he felt hands on his shoulders and a loud voice behind him saying "Got you!" He jumped and tried not to show how dishevelled he felt. Hermione looked at him seriously, "You really should be more alert Legolas. What would happen if orcs snuck up on you like that?" She finished this with a wicked smirk, "Come on, I thought you were going to teach me something today."
Once they were out in a clearing, Legolas handed Hermione a slim bow and a quiver. "Let's see how good you are with a bow; why don't you aim for that." And he pointed to a tree about twenty meters away. "Would you like me to show you first?" Hermione shook her head and took a stance side on to her target, letting the arrow fly through the air and hit her target; though only just piercing the bark. "Was that alright?" Hermione asked anxiously. Legolas was surprised, "That was quite good. Why don't you try again? Aim for the knot this time." Her hair was blowing around everywhere as if magnetic forces were attracting it. Hermione aimed for the knot and hit a centimetre from the centre. She was actually quite surprised that she was able to see that; she had almost needed glasses during the hunt for Horcruxes, because of all her reading. "Legolas," she asked, "Do all elves have good eyesight?" Legolas answered "Yes indeed, and hearing as well; why?" "Oh just wondering." Hermione said nonchalantly. They practised until Hermione was just as good as Legolas.
Hermione had a hurried lunch and returned to the library. "Do you spend all your spare time in the library?" Hermione looked up distractedly, "Oh hello Aragorn." She shifted a pile of parchment and jotted down something on another piece of paper. "What are you doing?" Aragorn asked curiously. Hermione scribbled furiously before answering, "Just some research." She stopped as a wave of nausea hit her; the quill she was using fell to the floor. "Hermione?" Aragorn asked urgently. "Uh, I'll be right back." She quickly made her way outside taking deep gulps of fresh air, the world stabling once more.
Suddenly she jumped up, "I am such an idiot! The answer was so simple." She returned to the library packed up her books, put her notes away, and without a word to a worried Aragorn, went outside to sit on the grass. Aragorn silently watched her, not wanting to interrupt her train of thought. Hermione whispered "Expecto patronum." She watched with satisfaction as a silver otter burst out of her wand, giving her a sense of Gryffindor pride. Aragorn too felt his worries lessen in the light of Hermione's patronus. When it faded to a silver mist, Hermione gave a tremendous yawn. "Goodnight, Aragorn." And without further ado, Hermione went to her room, made a small vile on a chain and took some much needed sleep.
o.O.o.O.o
Froddo Baggins slipped into Hermione's bedroom, hoping she was awake. She jerked out of her elvish sleep (a sleep where she was aware of her surroundings but felt completely rested afterwards, like all elves) and looked at the hobbit in the doorway. She smiled and beckoned him in, wondering what on earth he would want. "Miss Hermione," "Just Hermione is fine." She interrupted. Froddo continued, "Strider told me that you found something that would help with the quest." Hermione nodded and said "Oh yes! I was going to give it to you today," and she rummaged in her bag pulling out the vile from last night. "Here, I've encased my patronus in this vile and added other charms and spells to stop it from breaking, I've also added a modified shield charm, but just in case you might want to ask Gandalf to add whatever he deems necessary." Froddo looked at her in awe; he could practically feel her magic coming off her in waves. He thanked Hermione profusely, but she just said "Just because you have that, use the Ring only in a life threatening situation, or not at all." Froddo thought about her words, thanked her once more and started looking for Gandalf.
Hermione flopped back onto her bed and closed her eyes. It hadn't been five minutes when she heard someone knock on her door. "Come in," She called, and the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, walked into her room. She was even prettier than Fleur, and that was saying something. Her long black hair cascaded down her back, showing her pointed ears, and her stormy grey eyes held a deep wisdom. The elf introduced herself as Arwen and she struck up a conversation with Hermione. Hermione liked talking to another girl; Arwen could be as dreamy as Luna Lovegood, or as confident as Ginny Weasley, which made her extremely fun to talk to.
After Arwen left, Hermione conjured a mirror and took a good look at herself. She looked like a nine year old girl, with a pale heart shaped face, large brown eyes and finely pointed ears. Her size was terribly misleading, and often irritating, as everyone was taller than her except the hobbits. Hermione frowned at her hair. It had been frizzy before, but now it was wavy and usually swung around her head like a magnetic force field. She tied it in a haphazard knot to keep it reasonable and got dressed for the day.
After breakfast, Hermione walked aimlessly in the gardens until she reached the river. There, she sat down on a rock and fingered her wand thoughtfully. She wondered whether Harry and Ron were watching her now. Hermione sighed when she heard an intake of breath behind her. She quickly Disillusioned herself, jumped into the branches of an overhead tree and waited for the elf that was sure to come.
Legolas could not believe his eyes; Hermione couldn't just disappear. He put his ear to the ground but he couldn't feel any vibrations. He was so confused when he sat down on the rock that Hermione had just occupied; Legolas didn't have enough warning for the weight that suddenly landed on his back. Legolas yelped in surprise as he tried to pry the giggling, invisible form off him. It lightly jumped off his back and slowly came into view. "It's not fair that you used your magic." Legolas pouted. Hermione smirked at him and said "It's not fair that you keep trying to sneak up on me."
Her right ankle twinged acutely and she hissed in pain. "What's wrong?" A concerned Legolas asked. "I'm fine; I must have landed on my ankle badly." Hermione said. "Why don't you try healing it yourself the elvish way?" Legolas said, because she would never back down from a challenge. "But what do I do?" Hermione said. "Follow your instincts." Legolas said, knowing that she would be annoyed. She raised an eyebrow at him, but he ignored it. Hermione placed her hands gingerly on her ankle and murmured something unintelligible. She gasped when she felt it immediately heal. Legolas was grinning from ear to ear, "See, I knew that you could do it." "My, my, aren't you to cosy." Hermione stood up and glared at Aragorn; he just looked at her in amusement and said "Would you like to learn to wield a sword or learn archery with Legolas here?" Hermione huffed, "Well, if you must know, I have already learned archery, so I would be delighted to learn how to use a sword."
Aragorn was surprised, "You started early didn't you Legolas." Legolas smirked, "Well she should learn from the best." "Are you going to teach me or do I have to learn myself?" Hermione said with mock impatience. Aragorn handed her a long blade, and taught Hermione a few basic moves; she caught on to the technique quickly, but her strokes still remained hesitant and slightly awkward. Legolas saw this and said "Hermione try this instead." And he handed her his own sword; it was a long white knife that was lighter than those of men. Hermione took it carefully and she performed the moves with fluid grace, though she still preferred archery. "Excellent, I will get a sword forged for you." Aragorn said after the lesson. Hermione said "Thank you," And she hugged both of them and headed for a late lunch.
It was evening and Hermione was lying on her back looking at the stars.
Hermione, Harry and Ron were by the lake at the Burrow and stargazing. Hermione was trying to show Ron some constellations. "No Ron, that line of stars forms the bow and those make the body." Hermione said patiently pointing at the constellation. "Hey Hermione, is that the Big Dipper?" Harry asked indicating another set of stars. Hermione sighed "No Harry, that's Cancer; the Big Dipper is over there, see?" She said gesturing to another constellation.
She smiled at the memory when everything was peaceful and calm, without any worries. Legolas was watching her from a distance; the stars reflecting in her eyes. She closed her eyes and after a while he realised that she was asleep. Hermione woke up as Legolas walked towards her; her hair was flaring around her head and she was breathing heavily. "Nen le nora?" (Are you alright?) Legolas said soothingly. "Dúline," (Nightmare) Hermione said eventually. Her memory had changed; Death Eaters had snuck up on them and started torturing Harry and Ron, Hermione couldn't do anything to stop them. "Nûl amare," (don't worry) She reassured Legolas, walked to her room and got into bed, though it was an hour before she had a dreamless rest.
Hmmm… I might have gotten a little carried away with the typing (nearly 3000 words) but hope you like it! I know that the constellations don't match with the northern hemisphere and all that astrology whatnot. Review please! Most of the Elvish is from
Thanks
Hermione who still likes clovers