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**Speaking through the mind: Bold Italics.
A/N: Thank you lostfeather1 for bringing it to my attention; I know that dwarves don't treat woman or children with hostility, and there are plenty reasons to explain the dwarves' treatment of Lux-Vita. Yes, they treat children kindly, but mostly from the race of dwarves, they don't care much for men and elves. Secondly, they don't know that Lux-Vita is merely 14; she may look small and tiny, but so do hobbits and they are actually older than they look. All the dwarves do know is that she is a girl and Gandalf's charge. Thorin is obsessed with getting Erebor back and he sees her as a weakness and a distraction and so he won't treat her pleasantly for that main reason; and also because he is hoping that she would decide not to join them on their quest to Erebor and stay behind. I hope this answers your question & enjoy the new chapter! =)
Chapter 5:
Lux-Vita tried making herself as small as possible, cursing Gandalf in her head for leaving her with thirteen male dwarves on her own. Then Lux-Vita felt guilty; it wasn't Gandalf's fault.
Gandalf was a busy wizard, he had a lot of better things to do that to take care of a traumatized little girl that appeared from another world and put a kink to his plans. She couldn't grudge Gandalf for leaving her; the small man fainted and he had to take care of him and deal with certain situations.
Lux-Vita knew that she would have to try and not make herself a burden to him once they left this place; the dwarves needed Gandalf's help, and he won't be able to waste all his time babying her, ignoring the dwarves and delaying their quest.
Lux-Vita was snapped out of her reverie when the dwarf with brown hair and eyes and barely any beard asked her a question, making her jump as he had startled her.
"Oh, I'm sorry miss," he said with an apologetic look.
"N-no, i-its my f-fau-fault, I w-was thi-think-thinking, wh-what did you s-s-say?" asked Lux-Vita, trying to stop her body from trembling as all the dwarves attention were fixated solely on her.
"I asked if you were alright. You looked lost in thought," said the same dwarf – she couldn't remember his name.
"You don't mind us speaking to you?" asked the blonde next to him.
"Uh, n-no, it-its o-okay," said Lux-Vita timidly. She really needed to have Gandalf check her throat, it really did hurt to speak and she could barely voice a few words without stuttering.
The problem was Madam Pomfrey wasn't able to check all her wounds due to the Minister's interruption; after he had left, Headmaster Dumbledore made sure she drank a Dreamless Sleeping Potion. Since Lux-Vita couldn't inform him what happened in the graveyard, Dumbledore was going to check what injuries were inflicted through the memory she had given him, so that Madam Pomfrey could treat them –Dumbledore knew her too well, he knew that she would downplay her injuries.
Unfortunately, Lux-Vita ended up in this world before she could get treated, and other than her voice cord being swollen and sore from all the screaming, her leg was weak from the acromantula bite, her arm was worse for wear from the deep gash Wormtail made to get access to her blood, and she had bruises all over her body from Voldemort's defiling.
Lux-Vita also knew that she would be feeling the after-effects soon from being under multiple Cruciatus Curse's for so long.
"Hmm, so the girl isn't so easily frightened after all," the redhead she remembered called Glóin grumbled out.
Lux-Vita flinched when he called her girl, though she tried to play it off as being caught by surprise.
Unknown to her however, the dwarves noticed her flinch, and although some of the dwarves – Balin, Fíli, Kíli, Ori, Bifur and Bofur looked concerned, the other dwarves took it as a sign of weakness, and they snorted.
"Are you really from another world?" asked Ori timidly, not wanting to frighten the poor lass; he hoped that she would not be terrified of them anymore later on, he was itching to ask her all sorts of questions about her world and write them down.
Lux-Vita gave a small nod that was barely noticeable, but they all caught it and Ori beamed excitedly.
"Girl! Speak! Use your words," barked out Thorin, having had enough of her frightful attitude; if the girl was to be going with them on the journey to Erebor, then she would have to stop being scared and weak, he won't be having her slow them down and become their burden.
Lux-Vita swallowed, wincing at the amount of pain that small action brought her. She glared at the dwarf she knew to be called Thorin, she may be traumatized and be seen as weak at the moment, and she might never recover back to her old self, but she will be damned if she would allow him to intimidate her.
Most of the dwarves looked surprised at the amount of heat that was in the glare she threw at Thorin, and he himself looked taken aback as he saw himself staring at empty and hollow emerald green eyes; the deadened look was still there, and there was no life to be seen in her eyes, but Thorin did not fail to recognize the anger directed at him.
Suddenly, Glóin saw something sparkle in her hand due to the light reflected in the dining room. Looking down at her right hand, Glóin's breath was caught at the marvelous piece of jewelry; it was exquisite and the stones used were rare, mostly found down the mines in Moria.
"Where did you get that?" growled Glóin, pointing a thick finger in the direction of the ring.
"Glóin, what are-"began Balin looking baffled, before following the direction Glóin's finger was pointing at, and he understood, his eyes widening.
There was sharp intake of breath coming from all thirteen dwarves in the room as they all caught on to what Glóin was referring to, their eyes all widened at the magnificent piece she innocently wore on her hand.
Lux-Vita noticed them all staring at her ring, and she froze. Ever since Voldemort had Cedric murdered, she had been trying her hardest to block all thoughts of the night he proposed to her; she would subconsciously trace her ring all day, but she never let her eyes stray as far as looking at it.
Lux-Vita covered her hand and went to place it under the table, before a rough hand held her wrist in a tight grip, making Lux-Vita yell out loud, although not loud enough for Gandalf to hear from the other room where he was currently having a heated discussion with the hobbit.
"He asked you a question, answer him!" ordered the baritone voice she recognized as being Thorin's, but she couldn't look up for her eyes were amplified, staring down at the hand holding her wrist, unable to process a single thought as fear trickled down her spine.
She felt helpless and weak. She didn't feel like Lux-Vita Laelynn Jamie Potter, Girl-Who-Lived and savior of the Wizarding World. She didn't feel like the girl that slayed the Basilisk. She felt like a rape victim being held against her will once again. Weak.
The dwarves stilled in their seats, their eyes shifting from an enraged Thorin to the frightened lass.
Upon hearing a whimper, Balin's attention flickered over to the girl whose whole body began trembling and whose eyes had widened in fear, unable to detach her eyes from Thorin's hand.
"Thorin, Thorin, let go of the girl's wrist," said Balin softly yet sternly.
Thorin lifted his eyes to Balin's worried brown ones, he then went to look at the girl and saw that she looked so terribly frightened, and he abruptly let go of her hand as though it had been burned.
The dwarves all watched in surprise as the second Thorin let go of her wrist, she scrambled off of her seat, and hobbled over as quick as she could to the wall, her eyes staring at all thirteen dwarves in fear, and her mouth held agape.
"Lassie," said Balin in a soft and calm voice, "Can you tell us where you got the ring you wear from?"
Lux-Vita slowly shifted her eyes to see who the kind voice belonged to, and saw it to be a shorter dwarf than the rest, with soft brown eyes, and white long hair and beard reminiscent to Dumbledore's.
"I-I, I didn't s-ste-steal it i-if th-that's wh-what y-y-you're imp-imply-implying," said Lux-Vita tearfully, she could feel the tears were threatening to come out.
"Now, now, we didn't say that," admonished Balin, fidgeting uncomfortably in his seat, but he was interrupted by a few snorts of disbelief.
"Speak for yourself Balin, I believe she did steal it!" growled Glóin.
"Where did you get it?!" seethed Thorin, his eyes burning into Lux-Vita's face.
Slowly, almost trance-like, Lux-Vita looked down at her right hand, and her breath caught as she found herself looking into the ring Cedric gave her for the first time since his death.
The thirteen dwarves watched as a look of shock, surprise and then grief flitted across the girl's face, like a rainbow. They heard the small gasp that sounded from her raw and chapped lips, before a finger from her left hand lovingly and carefully stroked each gem.
"I-It w-was, i-it w-w-was g-g-gi-given to-t-to m-me," the lass said in a broken voice that was filled with raw grief, each word was separated by a sob, and most of the dwarves began squirming in their seats uncomfortably, some even looked away, feeling like they were interrupting a private moment.
Looking up, they were all shocked to see tears streak down her face, but she gave them no mind as she stuttered out in a raspy voice, "Ex-Ex-Excuse m-me," before walking away with a slight limp.
"Well I hope you two are happy with yourselves," snapped Balin, addressing both Thorin and Glóin.
"What? I'm telling you! The girl stole that ring, probably from some poor dead dwarf's body!" growled Glóin.
"Those gems are not so easily found Balin, the silver itself is rare … mostly the mines of Moria would have them," snapped Dwalin.
"She is hiding something," growled Thorin. "I am the leader of this Company, I have the right to demand questions from her," he continued adamantly.
"You forget uncle, that Lux-Vita isn't coming as a part of your Company," snapped Fíli, his eyes piercing Thorin' – eyes identical to his uncle's.
Most of the dwarves gasped, increasingly uncomfortable now that their king and prince were glaring at each other. Thorin was surprised that his heir would speak to him in such a manner, and in defense of the girl.
"What did you say Fíli?" growled Thorin, his eyes held a warning, but Fíli didn't care; the way his uncle and most of the Company were treating Lux-Vita was downright cruel, and as the heir to the throne of Erebor he wasn't going to allow them to hassle the poor girl any longer.
"You heard me Thorin. She isn't a part of your Company; she's coming with Gandalf, under his protection. She doesn't answer to you, and you don't have the right to demand questions from her," said Fíli in an authoritative tone.
That reminder had some of the dwarves looking nervous. It was easy to forget that the lass was Gandalf's charge, and they weren't looking forward to when the wizard found out about what happened when he trusted to leave her alone with them.
"Also," said Kíli his voice rising as he looked up at all the dwarves, "You forget Master Glóin that Lux-Vita is not from our world. Her ring must not be rare as it is in Middle Earth."
If the situation wasn't so tense, Fíli and Kíli would have laughed so hard at the comical look on Glóin's face.
"I forgot," grunted Glóin, avoiding eye contact with everyone.
"I just hope Tharkûn will not do something unsavory to you when he finds out," said Balin as he shook his head.
"And why," a deep voice boomed from the corner of the room, and they were all startled when they noticed that Gandalf stood by the doorway, "Would I see the need to do something unsavory?"
"Uh, well, you see-"Glóin looked lost for words.
Thorin sat up straight and looked Gandalf in the eye, not about to let himself cower to him, "We were merely asking the girl some questions, she didn't deem to give us any answers."
Gandalf calmly stared at the thirteen dwarves, most of whom looked contrite, suddenly as though a dam broke, the black shadows emerged from him, hovering around the dining table, "So not only did you ignore my warning, but you deliberately terrified the poor girl!"
Regarding all the dwarves, he asked in a no nonsense voice, "What may I ask did you all say to make her leave," when none of the dwarves responded, his voice darkened and wind began picking up through the room causing the dwarves to cry out, "I will not ask again, TELL ME!" he boomed, slamming his staff on the ground loudly, causing the room to shake slightly.
The ruckus caused Bilbo to run out from his room. When Bilbo Baggins reached the kitchen however, his eyes widened and he took a step back, his eyes flickering from the angry wizard to the fearful dwarves. Bilbo had never seen Gandalf this mad in all his life; he was always the eccentric, calm and aggravating wizard, but never terrifying.
"Glóin caught sight of Lux-Vita's ring, and he demanded to know from where she got it," said Fíli quickly.
"How was I to know? I've only seen such gems in the mines of Moria," grumbled Glóin.
"They forgot that she was from another world," said Kíli pleadingly, Mahal, Gandalf was scary.
The wind went away, the room lit up again, and the suffocating feeling disappeared.
Gandalf stood staring at all the dwarves, his eyes narrowed and his mouth puckered into a frown, "You should be ashamed of yourselves. I left the girl alone with you with the intention of having you all get along, and for her to become familiar with the presence of thirteen dwarves. It seems, it seems I was mistaken when I informed her that dwarves treat women like their greatest treasure."
And with that, Gandalf stormed out of the dining room, passing Bilbo without even a second glance, his cloak billowing after him, leaving behind thirteen guilty and abashed dwarves and one frightened hobbit.
***Lux-Vita Laelynn Jamie Potter***
Lux-Vita ran away from the dwarves to the best of her ability especially with a weak leg out to the garden, collapsing on all fours on the soft grass.
Her body wracked with sobs, her hands scrunching the grass, as the tears fell down in torrents. She didn't want to be here, she wanted to go back home.
She wanted Sirius, her loving godfather, the one she saw as a father; a father she never remembered having. Sirius made her feel loved, and cared for.
She wanted Ron and Hermione, her best friends, the ones she knew would never betray her or leave her, the ones that would make her laugh and stay with her through thick and thin.
She wanted Dumbledore, her mentor, the one that she saw as a quirky but kind and gentle grandfather.
But most of all, she wanted Cedric. She wanted her fiancé, the love of her life, the one that would make everything better for her; the one that never failed in making her smile.
Looking down at the engagement ring, the ring from the Diggory vault, worn by generations of women that married into the Diggory line, the ring that Cedric had the goblins modify specifically for her.
"You're a unique person Lux; you deserve a unique ring to match your personality."
He would repeat that to her ever since he proposed, making sure that Lux-Vita would never forget it, would never forget her worth.
"You deserve to be treated like a princess."
Cedric's words kept reverberating in her head, like an echo, repeating itself over and over again. Cedric was dead, yet his lovely, sweet voice was following her, was haunting her in Middle Earth.
Lux-Vita was kneeling on the grass, staring down in a trance at her ring, studying every detail, every gem, everything Cedric personally had the goblins modify for her.
"I had them place the emerald gem because your eyes are the exact shape, cut and color of emeralds. Your eyes even sparkle merrily as they do when caught in the light Lux, it's like your eyes were plucked by the gods and given to you.
The ruby gem is for your hair. Your hair is not red, or auburn or copper, it's the exact color, the exact shade of rubies, it has the same shine to it, and it is uniquely you.
Topaz, topaz; the topaz is for you to remember me always, in case anything were to happen to me Lux, all you have to do is look at your ring, and remember my bronze hair and my golden eyes. You'll never truly be without me in this world, it may sound silly, but my spirit will always be with you, just look at the topaz and you'll see, you'll remember my words."
"Oh? Tell me Cedric, what is the diamond for then?"
"The diamond my dear Lux. It represents you; its rarity and beauty, just like you. It's a symbol of purity and innocence, of love and fidelity, strength of character and faithfulness to oneself and others, defining you, and only you. But most of all, diamonds are a crystal of light, and you, are my light, my Lux."
Lux-Vita's body wracked with sobs as she remembered the exact words Cedric told her. She was finally able to tear her eyes from her ring as her body began to spasm harshly, chattering her teeth against each other, and she knew that her distress was activating the effects of the Cruciatus Curse.
Loud wails emerged from her mouth involuntarily; her hands were trembling; her body breaking out in seizures; her mind was off somewhere else, somewhere far away, somewhere dark, and somewhere she knew she should not dwell in.
"Kill the spare!"
"Avada Kedavra!"
Wide golden eyes looking up at her blank and expressionless, deadened and hollow.
"I'm sorry, I'm so, so s-s-sorryyy, C-Cedric!" rasped Lux-Vita, her trembling hand clutching her throat, ignoring the agonizing pain that seared her with every word uttered, "I-I-I'm so s-s-sorryy! F-Forgive me!"
"Lux-Vita?" a soft voice spoke from behind her; so lost in what had happened to her mere hours ago, a scream rang out of her mouth, cowering slightly, she turned around to see Gandalf and tears of relief escaped from her eyelids.
Gandalf's eyes softened at seeing the state she was in; the stubbornness of dwarves! Something told him that he would be repeating the sentiment many times during their journey.
Crouching down, Gandalf walked slow and careful steps to the little girl with red-rimmed eyes. When he was but an inch away from her, he imitated her and kneeled before her, "Why do you cry, my child?"
Lux-Vita stared back at him with empty eyes, causing a shiver to go down his spine, "I-It's all my f-f-fault, h-he's g-g-gone!" she cried out, her face overflowing with tears.
Gandalf frowned; something triggered a memory within her for her to be in such a state.
The ring!
Glóin asked her about the ring, and Thorin demanded an answer. The ring must mean something special, and it triggered a memory.
"Lux-Vita, when they asked about your ring, it triggered a memory didn't it?" asked Gandalf calmly, not wanting her to flinch and cower away.
Lux-Vita nodded, her fingers fiddling with said ring.
Gandalf frowned upon noticing her body trembling wildly … probably due to all the crying, perhaps? Deciding that he would think of that later on, he asked, "It is an engagement ring, am I right? Entering courtship?"
Again, Lux-Vita nodded, but the tears never stopped falling; she looked up at him with hollow eyes, eyes that have seen too much.
Looking sadly at the girl, Gandalf asked the dreaded question, he had been having his suspicions since he found her at Bindbole Woods, "And … where is he now?"
There was silence but the sniffles and sobs from the girl, no movement but the occasional tremors of her body.
Slowly, Lux-Vita glanced at Gandalf, her face the picture of raw pain, her chapped lips opened and she croaked out in a hopeless, broken down voice, a voice that spoke in volumes, "G-Gone. D-D-Dead!"
"Oh child," Gandalf breathed out, engulfing her in a hug, "If you ever need to talk about it, know that I am here."
After a few minutes, the girl went completely silent and Gandalf looked down, noticing the girl had fallen asleep in his arms. Carefully, he carried her in his arms and made his way back into the smial.
Thirteen dwarves and Bilbo Baggins all sat around waiting for him, and upon seeing Lux-Vita sleeping in his arms, her face all blotchy and red, eyes puffed up and swollen, and face streaked with tears, they all looked away contritely.
"Bilbo, do you mind parting with a room just for the night so that Lux-Vita could sleep in a bed comfortably?" asked Gandalf.
"Oh, but of course Gandalf, yes, yes. Come along, I'll show you to one of my many guest rooms," said Bilbo hastily, leading the way down the corridor.
As Gandalf placed Lux-Vita in a bed and tucked her in, he stared at for a while, watching as her body shook every once in a while; how odd.
Yes, Lux-Vita Laelynn Jamie Potter's soul is definitely fading.
***Lux-Vita Laelynn Jamie Potter***
As Gandalf disappeared into a room to place the sleeping girl in bed, Thorin couldn't peel his eyes away.
He didn't like to see a woman cry, but he couldn't have her death on his conscience, and the journey to Erebor was perilous one; it was no place for a woman or the weak, and the girl would not last long – charge of Gandalf's or not.
He didn't know what the wizard was playing at for bringing her along. The girl could barely walk straight; she couldn't even hold eye contact with anyone or form a complete sentence without stuttering. The smallest noise would make her flinch and when anyone came near her she would scream at the top of her lungs.
Bringing her along would get them caught multiple times with orcs, wargs or even bandits.
But Gandalf had decided, and he could not argue with him anymore; they needed the wizard's help, but without the girl, he wouldn't come.
Sighing, Thorin looked around at the rest of his company; Fíli and Kíli's eyes strayed every few seconds to the door Gandalf and the girl disappeared to – he didn't know why his nephews cared so much for the strange girl, she was naught but a stranger.
Balin gave him a knowing look, but he didn't say anything. A silent agreement had been made not to speak of the girl at least for the rest of the night.
"So, did the Burglar sign the contract?" asked Dwalin, filling in the silence.
"No," sighed Balin, "It appears we have lost our burglar. Probably for the best. The odds were always against us," he further explained, a sad look in his eyes, "After all, what are we? Merchants, miners, tinkers, toy makers; hardly the stuff of legend."
"There are a few warriors amongst us," corrected Thorin.
"Old warriors," Balin smiled sadly.
"I will take each and every one of these dwarves over an army from the Iron Hills. For when I called upon them, they answered," said Thorin emotionally, looking around at each and every dwarf that sat around him, "Loyalty. Honor. A willing heart. I can ask no more than that," he said, shaking his head.
"You don't have to do this," said Balin, feeling that the words had to be said, "You have a choice. You've done honorably by our people. You have built us a new life for us in the Blue Mountains, a life of peace and plenty. A life that is worth more than all the gold in Erebor."
Looking at Balin for a few seconds, Thorin held out the key Gandalf had given him; the key that had belonged to Thrain, and before him, Thror.
"From my grandfather to my father, this has come to me. They dreamt of the day when the dwarves of Erebor would reclaim their homeland," said Thorin compassionately, "There is no choice, Balin. Not for me."
Balin nodded, "Then we are with you, laddie. We will see it done."
The dwarves gathered around in Bilbo's living room, smoking their pipes by the lit fire.
One by one, they all begin humming, and after a minute, Thorin began singing, his baritone voice filled with passion and longing.
Far over the Misty Mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must ere break of day
To seek the pale enchanted gold.
The other dwarves began singing, their voices joining Thorin's as they continue in a solemn tone.
The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,
While hammers fell like ringing bells
In places deep, where dark things sleep,
In hollow halls beneath the fells.
The thirteen dwarves continued singing into the night; words of the love of beautiful things made by hands, and a fierce and jealous love to be protected.
The desire of the hearts of dwarves.
Erebor.
A/N: Hear we have it; finally Lux-Vita tells someone about Cedric, but of course Gandalf can keep a secret.
In case anyone is confused, when Lux-Vita was crying in Bilbo's garden, the italic parts are her memories.
Next chapter we will finally see them leaving Bag End and the Shire.