Disclaimer: I don't own anything - Tolkien gets all the credit.

A/N: Thank you all SO much for the reviews – they've been so great this time around that I really wanted to get another chapter out quickly :) One thing I did want to address was the fact that this isn't a Hobbit re-telling - I never intended to have Posey join the company. As fun as that might have been, I think that adventure was best left to Bilbo! Posey's own story will have adventures though, so not to worry! :)

Chapter Five

It had been a week – a long week. Posey hadn't realized just how much she depended on Bilbo until he was no longer there. It had been a sensation in the Shire, of course, to learn that Bilbo Baggins had run off with a group of Dwarves to go on an 'adventure.' Posey had to contend with many callers seeking the latest gossip – It was to the point that Posey would rather not answer the door or go outside. To imagine what her garden must look like after a week such little attention!

Bag End was dreadfully quiet as well. Bilbo was never the most social of hobbits, but there's something to be said for hearing someone shuffling papers across the hall or asking where the spare quill had gotten too… Posey was a social creature and living alone didn't agree with her one bit. Not at all. The quiet also gave way to thoughts about a certain deep-voiced dwarf whom Posey found herself dreaming about rather frequently. Those thoughts confused her and she'd rather not dwell on them. Goodness!

Posey had also taken to wearing a lovely bow in her hair after the last visit from Lobelia Sackville-Baggins. Her detestable cousin had remarked on the braid that Posey now wore and the metal bead at its base. "What an odd thing to wear! You'd think that you would have rather run off with those dwarves like your brother! Lenora mentioned that silly braid yesterday when she stopped by for afternoon tea – do you not bathe anymore? You hair must be filthy!" Lobelia was an awful person, Posey decided. "Mark my words, Posey Belladonna, that brother of yours has always been nothing but trouble and you'd do best to remember that! Now that he's gone you'd do right to marry a true gentle hobbit! My husband and I can help you, of course."

Sitting by the vanity in her quiet room, Posey adjusted the bow to fully cover her beautiful braid in preparation for the party at the Great Smials in Tuckborough. Saturday had come quite quickly and Posey couldn't come up with an excuse to miss the party she'd once been so excited about. She would be traveling there, unfortunately, with Lobelia and Otho (Lobelia's husband) because the distance was too great to attempt alone. Sighing loudly as the knock on the door announced her cousin's arrival, Posey gathered up her lovely blue dress and prepared for an awkward night of questions about Bilbo, dwarves, and adventures.

Bilbo was certain that his back and legs would never recover. The idea that anyone would voluntarily ride a pony over long distances was absurd! Such an uncomfortable – and smelly! – experience. The first fortnight of the journey had been boring, long, and quite unadventurous. The dwarves were slow to warm to him, which often left Bilbo alone with his thoughts.

It was hard to think too much – that's when the regrets came to mind. How must his poor sister be handling this? The poor thing was beside herself with grief when he'd left! "What's troubling ye on this fine morning, Master Baggins?" Bofur was one of the few dwarves that spoke to him with any regularity.

"Just thinking about my sister. I do hope she's doing alright." Posey had never be alone before and, after the initial excitement of leaving home, Bilbo was consumed with guilt for leaving her.

"That's not for ye to worry about, so no need to fret over it. The lass'll be just fine!" The dwarf patted Bilbo on the shoulder in what Bilbo supposed was meant to be a comforting gesture and then moved off to join another of the company further ahead in the line.

Before he could, though, Bilbo stopped him. "Why would my own sister not be mine to worry about? She's always been my responsibility and I left her all alone!"

"You hobbits are odd creatures!"Bofur called out, still heading away from Bilbo, "Ye'd do well to let her husband worry about her!"

"Pardon? My sister isn't married." The laughter that came from several in the company at that remark made Bilbo feel as though he'd missed out on a good joke. "Did I miss something?"

"Aye, that ye did, laddie."

Brianne Proudfoot and her adorable newborn sons had become a great comfort to Posey over the past few months. It'd been difficult to keep the Sackville-Bagginses at bay and Brianne seemed to be the only person that wasn't motivated by gossip or trying to figure out a 'fine husband' for Posey to marry. The little boys, Bungo (named after Posey's own father) and Porter, were a joy to be around, which also proved to be a fine distraction.

As time had worn on, Posey had become increasingly interested in the tale of Erebor and the dwarves of the Lonely Mountain. Bilbo had such a fine library that she'd had easy access to several books on the subject – To think that Thorin, the heir to an entire kingdom, had been in her house! The story was such a sad tale, though – Posey thought back to the song that the company had sung all those weeks ago – she truly hoped that the quest succeeded.

Posey had enlisted Brianne's help to scanning the books for more specific information on the location of the Lonely Mountain. Thus far, they'd only established that it was far to the East, on the other side of the Misty Mountains. That meant, of course, that Posey would likely have many more months of waiting before she'd know whether or not her brother – and husband – had survived.

Brianne had, of course, asked after the braid that Posey still wore in her hair. The stubborn thing looked, months later, exactly as it had on that first night when Dwalin had 'married' her. Perhaps it was some sort of Dwarven magic? Posey felt that it'd be best for her own sanity to speak to someone about the circumstances of Dwalin's departure, and, much to her surprise, Brianne had been delighted – Pardon me?!

"Was he very handsome? And did he have a beard?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that he was handsome by hobbit reckoning, but he was very striking. He did have a beard – a long one – and tattoos." Brianne's gasp and girlish giggle brought a smile to Posey's face.

"Tattoos?! Oh dear, Posey! What else?!"

Certain that she was blushing, Posey continued, "He is very tall – much taller than any hobbit you'll ever meet. They all wear furs and leather, but his clothes were rougher than the rest. He is a warrior too, and had gigantic axes that he wears on his back."

"Axes!" Brianne was giggling again as she bounced little Bungo on her lap. Posey had, of course, sworn Brianne to secrecy. The last thing Posey needed was Lobelia Sackville-Baggins marching up to her door demanding to know all of the details.

Bilbo's feet, not accustomed to such slippery and treacherous terrain, could not find purchase on the rocky ledge and he pitched forward violently – towards the open air and a fall to certain death. Dwalin, the ugly, horrid, awful, detestable, brutish dwarf stood at his side and pulled him back to edge of the mountain with a firm tug.

It had been several weeks since Bilbo had learned of Posey's sudden marriage to the unpleasant dwarf, and those weeks hadn't been easy on him. Gandalf continued to tell him that this union would be a splendid match for his dearest younger sister, though Bilbo could not see how that could possibly be the case. Dwalin was, by far, the most dwarvish of the company. He was far too large, wore metal – Metal! – on hands, and was covered, head to toe, in strange tattoos! Unacceptable!

It also didn't help that Dwalin had seemed to take it upon himself to protect Bilbo. He'd started walking closer to Bilbo in the group following their first encounter with the mountain trolls before Rivendell. This close proximity gave Bilbo little time to calm down from the anger he'd felt when Gandalf had told him the truth. The rest of the company seemed to think it was perfectly natural for Dwalin to have married his sister on the same evening that they'd met – what a strange culture! Surely Bungo Baggins was turning in his grave at the thought of his only daughter running off with a dwarf! … Though, to be fair, Bilbo had run off with dwarves as well, just in a less matrimonial fashion.

"We must find shelter!" Thorin's shout brought Bilbo back to the present. The narrow mountain pass had been a horrid idea, if Bilbo was honest, and it seemed likely that one or more of them would topple to their deaths if this rain kept up!

"Look out!" Dwalin's loud voice shocked Bilbo into looking to the sky – where a massive boulder was seen hurdling toward the mountain. What in the world?! The sudden shower of jagged rocks that rained down on the company shocked them all. By some miracle, everyone was unharmed after the rocked ceased to fall. "This is no thunder storm! This is a thunder battle!" Balin's voice echoed through the mountains as massive rock formations broke apart to form massive figures, seemingly carved from the rock.

"Bless me! The legends are true! Giants! Stone giants!" Bofur's yells were cut off was another massive boulder screamed past the company toward the approaching figure of yet another giant. Bilbo couldn't speak – this was far too unbelievable and far too frightening. The situation was meant to get worse, however, as the very rock the company stood upon began to move. The shifting and groaning, the narrow ledge split apart, taking half of the company in one direction, the other half in another. Bilbo could feel Dwalin's arm bracing him against the rock as the wind wiped by them in a violent dance.

"Hold on!" Thinking back to his warm hearth, kind sister, and the gentle streams of the Shire, Bilbo knew that he'd be a fool. He never should have come on this journey.

What had possessed Posey to go to this gathering was beyond her. The Brandybuck's were a lively bunch, but their parties generally got out of hand. After dancing with a number of fine gentle hobbits, Posey had decided to rest next to Brianne, who'd finally managed an evening away from her young sons. It had been more than six months since Bilbo, Dwalin, and the rest of Thorin's company had left Bag End – six months of odd dreams, lonely evenings, and bows to cover the now slightly shabby looking braid. Posey had tried to fix the silly braid on more than one occasion, but she couldn't figure out how to open the metal bead – for now, it appeared that she'd need to cut it off if she wanted to fix the braid… and Posey just couldn't bring herself to do it.

"Oi! Posey! Come give me another dance!" Adal Brandybuck, a handsome young hobbit who'd already danced with Posey three times approached with a warm smile and a small tankard of ale. "You're by far the best dancer here, my lady, and I'm afraid I cannot allow any other to enjoy you but me!"

Brianne shifted a bit uncomfortably to Posey's right. Every other hobbit at the gathering seemed determined to put both Adal and Posey together as often as possible - poor Brianne seemed to be the only one on Posey's side. Though, she was also the only one to know that Posey was already married, so perhaps that made a bit of sense.

"Oh, I'm much too exhausted, Adal! Thank you for the invitation, though." Seeing the young man's face fall, Posey tried to come up with something to help him recover from the slight, "I'm actually thinking of heading back to Bag End! I'll need an escort – would you mind?"

What a horrid idea! What are you thinking?!

Adal, of course, jumped at the chance of escorting Posey back to Hobbiton. The ride on Adal's pony-led cart would take close to an hour… and hour in which they'd only have each other for company. Brianne was at the gathering with her husband, otherwise Posey would have forced her to come along as well.

"I must say," Adal began several moments later, after the sounds of the merry gathering had disappeared behind them, "I was very glad to see you this evening. Father thought you might not come."

"I always enjoy coming to Buckleberry, Adal. I am glad to have been invited." This was by far one of the most awkward buggy rides of Posey's life.

"I would hope that you'd find a reason to come more often. I'm not able to travel into Hobbiton more than once or twice a month because my work." Adal was nervous, that was quite obvious.

"I don't like travel and the walk is quite far," Posey began, "and besides, Bag End requires a great deal of work to maintain."

Adal nodded and smiled his best smile at her, "It must be hard to be in that big house all by yourself. Have you thought of… expanding the family?"

"Expanding?" Posey's voice was a mere squeak as she turned to face the road. "No. No, I haven't."

"Your brother has been gone for a long time, Posey. You need someone to look after you." Adal was slowing down the cart. Oh dear. "I'd surely love to be the one to do it."

"To do what?" Panic was setting in. This wasn't going to be good.

"To look after you. I'd do my very best and I would make you happy, I swear it!" He was touching her hand now. "You're so lovely and kind and sweet – I've fancied you for years."

"Years?"

"Yes. You're so beautiful, Posey!"

It happened quite by surprise, then. He'd grabbed her face and kissed her. Kissed her. Her first kiss in more than six months. It felt disgusting. "Stop!" Posey pulled away and jumped off of the cart as fast as she could. "You assume too much, Adal Brandybuck! You should be ashamed of yourself!" Leaving the shocked hobbit behind, Posey marched ahead toward Hobbiton and the safety of Bag End – Adal didn't follow.

That night, all Posey could think about was how much she wished it'd been Dwalin she'd been kissed by… and that thought made her feel all the more confused. She'd only met Dwalin once – yes, she'd married him during that one meeting – but it seemed odd that he'd managed to stay in thoughts as much as he had.

Posey wished their quest would hurry up.