A/N: Sorry it's taken so long! But here's the latest chapter.

~G~A~M~B~L~I~N~G~~W~I~T~H~~D~E~A~T~H~

Chapter 6 (26)

Lost Your Muchness

"You used to be much more… "muchier". You've lost your muchness." – Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

~G~A~M~B~L~I~N~G~~W~I~T~H~~D~E~A~T~H~

Pippin had been awake for several hours now. The Uruk-hai had been running through the night and even though the poor Hobbit had been desperately concerned about Merry, who had feigned off his heart problem, the smaller Hobbit had not been able to stay awake through the night.

Pippin had slept fitfully, after all it was quite difficult to get any proper sleep when one is being bounced around on the back of an Uruk-hai like a sack of potatoes. The short sleep he had been getting had been interrupted just after sunrise when he had viciously woken from the light slumber he was in. Merry had woken too and had tightened his arms around the neck of the Uruk-hai carrying him, almost causing the Uruk to stumble.

Whilst Pippin had been impressed by Merry's show of strength neither Hobbit had known why they had suddenly felt a deep pain in their hearts nor why they had heard a woman screaming in their minds. It had only been for a split second but the sound had plucked at the hearts of the already worried Halflings and as they got further and further from their companions the pair began to exchange concerned looks.

That morning the Uruk-hai stopped for a break, refusing to go any further until they had rested. Not once in the three days since Amon Hen had the party stopped for a rest. Food was eaten on the go and toilet breaks were non-existent. Even when Pippin and Merry had said they needed to answer the call of nature the Uruks had not stopped the party, instead the Uruks bearing the Hobbits had fallen to the back of the group, paused long enough for the Hobbits to relieve themselves before swinging their cargo back up onto their backs like bags of produce.

"Merry?" Pippin whispered as the Uruks came to a halt. "Merry, are you alright?"

Merry didn't answer but his head lolled back on his neck, copper curls flattened and limp as they reflected the ill Hobbit's state.

"Quiet back there!" one of the Uruks shouted back but Pippin would not be cowed, Merry was sick and needed water.

"My friend is sick! He needs water! He'll die!" Pippin shouted, his voice wavering slightly but he would not give up.

"Give him some grog!" The Uruk shouted once more and then another began to pour a viscous brown- almost black- liquid down Merry's throat. The poor Hobbit did not wake fully for a few seconds and so the slimy, sticky drink bubbled out of his mouth and oozed down his neck; into his cloak and some of it evening making its way into his hair mixing with the blood that already matted the curls.

"Stop!" Pippin cried and strained towards Merry but he could do nothing as his hands were tightly bound. Merry startled awake and spluttered, swallowing some of the grog but spitting the rest of it out over the shoulder of his captor.

The Uruk-hai found this hilarious and many lewd comments and general nastiness was had. Merry looked at Pippin with glazed eyes.

"Don't worry about me Pip. I'll be fine." With that the taller Hobbit nodded off again but this time his breathing seemed easier and Pippin managed to relax slightly, his body releasing some of the built up anxiety that had been plaguing him since dawn.

Something stirred up the Uruk-hai and Pippin watched as orcs crept from behind the rocks that surrounded the group. More shouting commenced and the Hobbit wondered that any of them could hear anything with the amount of noise they were all succeeding in creating.

"Move out! We don't stop again until we've lost the bastards following us!" The lead Uruk-hai yelled down the line of Uruk-hai.

"Aragorn?" Pippin muttered as he thought about who could be pursuing the Uruk-hai and why indeed anyone would want to pursue a group of Uruk-hai in the first place. Searching about his person he looked for anyway to leave a sign that could be understood by the Fellowship, if indeed it was them chasing the Uruk-hai.

His hands tethered left Pippin few options save for tearing off the brooch that fastened his cloak tightly under his neck. The Hobbit spent several precious seconds clasping at the leaf's edge with his teeth before managing to get a solid grip and pull it quickly and silently through the fabric. The pin came away soundlessly and Pippin marvelled again at the amazing properties of elf craftsmanship for undoubtedly, any other material made by Man or even Hobbit would have been much harder to tear through and would have made far too much noise to be subtle.

Pippin spat the brooch out as far away from the trampling Uruk-hai's feet as he could and then all he could do was hope that the green and silver leaf would not be buried too far in the mud that neither Aragorn nor Legolas could find it.

In the meantime all Pippin could do was to wait and hope that either their captors would become tired, lax in their watch over the Hobbits or that some miracle happened and the two Halflings were rescued. To be honest Pippin wasn't betting on the latter as the pursuers could be too far behind to have any effect on the Uruk-hai except for driving them forward.
No, Pippin would have to wait and watch for an opportunity to escape and even if Merry was too ill to move the fairer-haired Hobbit would drag his dearest friend away from danger if necessary. All it would take would be courage and Lady Galadriel had said his time would come; maybe Pippin would find his courage sooner than expected.

~G~A~M~B~L~I~N~G~~W~I~T~H~~D~E~A~T~H~

Ammy lay limply on the straw mattress. Grima had left her cell several hours ago but the young albino could not find the energy, strength or will to move. Every cell, every bone, joint and muscle of her body throbbed with pain. Even the slight movement of her hair as it shifted in the tiny invisible breeze that brought cold air into her dank chamber sent pain shooting through her already throbbing scalp.

From what she could surmise the pain was from two different places; pain from being unable to transform and pain from within her very mind. The torment that came from being constricted to a purely human form was just about bearable as it came and went as her body repeatedly tried and failed to transform into any animal. The collar of Truth that Grima had fastened around her neck would only allow her true form and as the newly-discovered Ame-no-Mihashira had yet to discover all of her forms and choose one to be her dominant animal, her human body that was so much frailer and weaker was the 'truth'.

As Grima had questioned her Ammy had evaded giving him the whole truth, tricking him had been fairly easy as he had taken a while to cotton on to the fact that he had to be incredibly specific as to how he phrased his questions.

"What are you?" had been his first question and despite her almost delirious state Ammy had nearly sniggered.

Her answer was:

"Female." Followed by a scream or two of pain meant that the repulsive man had to wait several minutes before he could rephrase his question.

"What type of female are you?"

"Depends who you ask; some might say I'm overconfident, cocky and far too self-assured whilst others would say I'm timid, shy and rather dull."

That reply had caused the man to lash out in fury and Ammy's ribs had felt his annoyance. After several different phrases, beatings and verbal insults Grima had learnt very little. The sallow-skinned man had left with the knowledge that; she was female, called Aneira, travelled a lot, had no idea where she was and that she found him beyond repulsive.

Calling him a foul, loathsome, worm with all the attractiveness of a cave troll and the intelligence of an earwig had sent the man into a flurry of fists. During the punishment Ammy had felt her bottom lip split open, the skin under her left eye tear open from a ring he wore, several of the muscles in her arms and legs bruise and her ribs had protested quite severely at the treatment. After that Wormtongue had thought her subdued and attempted to examine her body.

His hands had caressed her white hair, running the spider web thin strands through bony fingers and studying the sheer lack of colour that made up her hair. After that he had trailed the tips of his nails over her bruised cheeks and down her neck to her collarbone where he had pressed the pads of his fingers over the bone that rose to her shoulder.

Wormtongue seemed to find her paleness fascinating and the softness of her skin was obviously pleasurable to him as he stroked her collar bone and neck for several minutes. The whole time Ammy could do nothing as not only was her body too sore to make any move to stop him but her head was pulsating yet again as something drove itself against her mind over and over and over. The pain that she felt had caused her to forget all outside sensation and so when Ammy finally came back to awareness of the cell it was when Grima had dared to run his hands down the collar of her shirt and was making his way to the swell of her breast.

Fury, rage, pain and panic had flooded Amaterasu and she'd summoned enough energy to fling his hand off her body and when he tried again she lunged forward and bit into his arm with her teeth. Despite no longer having the sharp canines of the tigress, the fangs of the cobra or the gleaming white teeth of the dragon Ammy managed to puncture his skin and draw blood.

The liquid had filled her mouth quickly as her teeth had sunk down further. Grima had screamed and jerked back trying to retrieve his arm. His other hand had slapped at Ammy's face until she relinquished her hold and finally Wormtongue retreated to lick his wounds, salvage his pride and concoct better worded questions to interrogate Ammy with.

Ammy knew when Grima returned his questions would allow less room for skirting around the full truth and she also knew that he would try to pleasure himself further using her body. Her actions would only have aggravated him and so next time he would probably restrain her.

The albino lay on her back, bruised and limp as yet another wave of pain ran through her head. This pain was almost unbearable as it seemed to be within her mind and outside, like a wave smashing against rocks on the outside and on the inside it was if someone was slamming a shield up against the wave each time. The shield however was beginning to weaken and each blow from external forces seemed to drive further into Ammy's mind.

The woman knew soon that her mind would not be her own as the external force would gain entry to her thoughts, feelings and very soul. That was if the pain didn't drive her mad.

"Izanami?" Ammy whispered into the air and watched fascinatedly as a small cloud of steam puffed into the cold air and then vanished.

The albino waited several seconds before trying again.

"Izanami, are you there? Please don't ignore me!"

'I'm here child.' Izanami's voice was even softer than Ammy's and her words were slurred as if she were too tired to annunciate clearly.

"What is going on? I can sense something or someone trying to enter my mind. I'm being attacked from both outside my mind and body and I really need you to tell me what's going on." Ammy whimpered and tears began to roll down her cheeks once more as the pain in her head increased.

'Someone has found you. One of our kind. They're trying to break into your mind, for what reason I know not. I have created several barriers, traps and corridors for the intruder to pass before they can access your mind freely but whoever it is, is far stronger than I or you. They broke down the first barriers in mere minutes and have since unwoven or used brute force on the majority of the traps. The maze I created halfway through has been giving them some trouble but a few minutes ago they reached through to the other side and have returned to smashing through the barriers. I estimate only three or so are left and they are the strongest I could make. So you should have several more hours but by nightfall only I will stand in defence of your mind.'

Izanami seemed to fade away slightly and Ammy allowed the other being to retreat, the younger woman absorbed in trying to think of a way to defeat the intruder and Grima.

"Is there any way I can aid you Izanami?" Ammy asked and anxiously awaited her reply. The pounding in her head had seemed to cease or disappear for a time and the younger woman was eager to take advantage of this respite.

'If you were in animal form it would be easier as I could hide your intelligence, memories, and all the things that make you, you, behind the mind of an animal. There is only one other option at the moment and I won't use it.' Izanami seemed to rally in strength and Ammy could feel resolve fill her body.

"What is the other option? Tell me."

Silence rang in Ammy's mind and in the cold cell. Whilst Izanami was attempting to outlast her Ammy watched her breath's mist and curl in the cold air. The puffs did not last long but they were infinitely more interesting than the cave and kept her mind off her sore body and head.

Ammy found her mind drifting to the Fellowship and she wondered where everyone was. Boromir she knew had passed from this world but she had no idea whether Frodo and Sam were any closer to Mordor or if Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli had discovered what had happened to Merry and Pippin. She knew that the three would not abandoned Merry or Pippin to a cruel fate. Her only regret was that they had become separated so easily. Just as she was recalling some of the more relaxed parts of their journey; when the Fellowship had told stories, swapped jokes and memories and just generally bonded as a group, Izanami began to speak.

'There is something I could do that would prevent anyone from gaining information or control. But I have never seen anyone survive this treatment.'

Amaterasu swallowed nervously before steeling her resolve.

"Tell me."

~G~A~M~B~L~I~N~G~~W~I~T~H~~D~E~A~T~H~

'A long time ago, when my people were still young we did not realise that the bonds we made to people close to us; family, friends, comrades and so on left our minds vulnerable. Some of our more disreputable kinsman took advantage of this and began experimenting.
However one of our healers discovered that he could seal away the essence of our souls, our very beings in a cage that is impenetrable. The only downside to this was that it left the patient mad, or seemingly mad. If I were to do it to you, you would no longer be Amaterasu, Teru or even Aneira. You would instead be a mismatch of information, vulnerable and weak like a child. There is another reason I cannot do this to you apart from the fact that I will not turn you insane.
In order to do the sealing there has to be three participants; the sealer, the sealed and the saviour. The sealer would be me, the sealed you and we would need one more to be the saviour. The saviour would be told a series of words that when spoken into your ear would unlock the cage and return your sanity.
As I said earlier I have only seen this done once before and the sealed was left insane until he died of old age. The saviour who had his freeing words was killed in battle and thus the sealed was lost to us. I will not subject you to that.'

"If we had someone else in this cell would you do it?" Ammy rasped. Her throat and mouth had gotten steadily dryer as Izanami had continued and the albino had felt her breath catch often in her throat at the thought of going insane.

'No. I would only do it with someone you truly trusted. Someone we could rely on to be honourable, trustworthy and who would do all they could to remain alive in order to return you to your right self.'

Ammy chuckled darkly at Izanami's words. The laughter rolled up through her cracked ribs and dry throat to sound weakly in the room. It was a dry, hacking chuckle that was eerily strange and discomforted both females.

"We haven't exactly got that luxury, people I trust are far away from here or in a different world. If it came down to it, I would rather be temporarily insane than sell out Frodo, Sam and the Ring or any of my other friends. I would also rather be off my rocker than allow someone to control me. Izanami, if by some freak chance someone else is locked up in this poky, damp, cold cell with me then I command you to do the procedure. Seal my soul away so that no one can use it."

'I won't. Anyone who comes in this cell will have aggravated Grima and probably is his enemy too. We have no idea if we can trust them. I will not risk your life Amaterasu.'

"If someone came in this cell, you would do it. You have to. If insanity is the only solution so be it. Besides," Ammy chuckled hoarsely and then winced as her ribs throbbed. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Unite against a common foe and all that. If Dwarfs and Elves can work together than I think I could accept going insane and trusting the return of my rather welcome sanity to a person who is no friend of Wormtongue."

'Amaterasu…' Izanami began but was silenced when Amaterasu began to whimper and writhe as the pounding pain returned to her head. The outside force was hammering itself against her barriers repeatedly and seemed to be angered at the resistance it met.

As the pain continued Ammy lost track of time until she eventually and gratefully passed out; her battered and bruised body gratefully relinquishing itself into the embrace of blissful ignorance.

~G~A~M~B~L~I~N~G~~W~I~T~H~~D~E~A~T~H~

Amaterasu was woken as sounds of angered cries and futile struggles invaded her cell. Holding back a long groan of pain the albino woman opened her eyes and turned her head to see the newcomers. Grima stood before her, a lit torch clasped in his hand whilst two men were dragging a third who was slumped between them.

The third man had long blonde hair and it hung down obscuring his face from Ammy's view. He was coughing and retching as the Grima's men tied his legs together and then pulled his arms back behind him.

As they pulled rather harshly and aggressively on his arms the long blond-haired man's head reared back and a hiss of air escaped his clenched teeth. As his hair flew back to fall around his face Ammy could see that it was in fact Eomer. The man who had searched so desperately for Theodred.

"Look Aneira. You have a new companion. I will restrain him of course, we can't have him laying his filthy hands on you. Our newly banished Lord will be remaining here until just after sunset. Enjoy the brief companionship as I shall return to question you further Aneira. Next time I will not be so gentle so you may wish to contemplate whether you will resist me again? If you submit I could make this all much easier and far less painful for you. My little demon." Grima's fingers ran down her cheek and Ammy waited until they began an upward motion towards her eye before twisting her head enough to bite at his fingers.

Grima yelped and dropped the torch which clattered to the floor and into a puddle, the smoke rising and steam hissing from the small amount of water that had subdued the flames. Ammy hung on grimly and wrinkled her nose as the taste of dirt and general uncleanliness pervaded her mouth.

"Release me!" Grima screeched and went to hit at the woman but before he could Eomer stuck his bound legs between Grima's and tripped the sallow-skinned man.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you to treat women with respect?" Eomer spat at Grima, a small smirk on his face. Despite being incapacitated the Marshall of the Riddermark would not bow down to the insidious worm who sought to ruin Rohan. "You cannot have my sister and so you chain women down her and force your touch upon them. You disgust me."

Ammy had released Grima's fingers from between her teeth as the man had fallen and she now watched helplessly as Grima laid blow after blow after blow upon Eomer. The blond man could only allow the beating but fortunately Grima's pride soon overcame him and he retreated from the cell, leaving only one torch lit in a flimsy bracket near the door.

The heavy wood door swung shut and the key in the lock was resolutely turned and as the bolts slid home the resounding 'click' they made echoed loudly in the cell despite Eomer's pants and Ammy's soft breaths.

"So…" Ammy began as she lay prone under Eomer's gaze. "What exactly did you do to infuriate our, oh so generous captor?"

Eomer wriggled slightly to ease his bound arms and hands and propped himself up further against the damp wall. He turned his head to the side and spat out a small portion of blood onto the floor. His lips were coated in the deep red liquid and Ammy struggled not to be repulsed by the blood trickling down. Eomer looked ever so slightly vampiric and being locked up in a small dark cave was not exactly quieting her rather imaginative thoughts about blood-sucking creatures.

"I tried to force an admission from him. Saruman's orcs have been invading our land," Eomer began but was cut off when Ammy quickly questioned him.

"Exactly what is this country called? The way I came into your land was not exactly normal and there weren't any signposts around for me to look at. And who is Saruman?"

Eomer stared at the albino in disbelief. Not only had he never seen this pale woman before but she didn't even have any clue where she was.

"This is Rohan. And the citadel above us is Edoras, the home of the horse lords. Saruman is a white wizard who lives in the north near the Misty Mountains in a fortress called Isengard. Orcs have been terrorising our land and all of them bear the white hand of Saruman. I called Wormtongue out on his deception. He has been poisoning the King's mind with his vile words, all because Grima desires my younger sister as a reward for his efforts. I tried to stop him but did not realise all those loyal to me had been forced out of Edoras and only those few loyal to the King remained in the town. Unfortunately when I confronted Wormtongue in the Hall only Grima's henchmen were around and they took me by surprise. The rest you know. But tell me, why are you here?"

Eomer's gaze was curious as his brown eyes looked over her bruised and battered form. He took in her shallow breaths that rasped in her throat, the cut on her lip and below her eye and the many already purpling bruises that were scattered over her limbs.

"I am not human. You recall the white horse that you found Theodred and Brego with?" Eomer nodded and Ammy grinned.

"Well that's me. I am one of an ancient race; the Ame-no-Mihashira and I was journeying with nine others when we were attacked and separated. I tried to find some of my companions but having no knowledge of this world I was forced to turn and look for civilisation instead. I found Theodred and chose to accompany him. We were ambushed by the river and after a long battle Theodred was knocked down into the river. Brego and I leapt in after him and found him further back downstream. There I tried to make him as comfortable as possible and we waited for any sign of you."

Eomer had looked disbelieving at her tale but when Ammy said that Theodred had called out for him and for his father the young warrior seemed to suspend disbelief.

"So you are Aneira?"

"In a matter of speaking. Aneira is the name Theodred gave me. My true name is Amaterasu, but I would not give Grima my true name. Too many people search for me and I could put many people in danger."

"Who were your companions?"

Ammy fought against the compulsion on the collar around her neck and tried not to tell Eomer the truth but then suddenly she decided to trust the Rohan soldier. Maybe, just maybe, he could be the ticket to defeating Grima temporarily. It seemed to Ammy that fate had brought Eomer to her and Theodred, wounded and dying had trusted the man implicitly. Ammy would give Eomer the truth and hope that he would be honourable…

~G~A~M~B~L~I~N~G~~W~I~T~H~~D~E~A~T~H~

The pair talked for several hours; Ammy regaling the Rohirrim with the tale of her arrival into this world, her companions and she even told him about Izanami who had fallen silent inside her mind.

As sunset approached Ammy knew it was time to make a decision. She relayed all that Izanami had said to her earlier in the day and despite Izanami's feeble and weak protestations she told Eomer that if he died he would be condemning her to insanity.

The bearded man had seemed to lose all colour in his face when Ammy told him that she would be relying on him to restore her mind. The Ame-no-Mihashira couldn't blame him; after all it was a big responsibility.

'You can't do this Amaterasu…' Izanami protested weakly. 'You have no guarantee that this man will do right by you.'

'You make it sound like he's gotten me pregnant. I trust him. He has told us much about himself, his sister, his cousin, his uncle and his people. If I could or wanted to I could bring his people to their knees. I know all their weaknesses and in particular I know Eomer's. And I have trusted him similarly. Besides, he spent a night searching for his cousin in the rain when there was little chance of Theodred having survived. A man with that much determination and honour is trustworthy. Even if he isn't, I shall never know shall I?' Ammy laughed bitterly.

'You have not told Eomer all. You conveniently skirted around the reason for the Fellowship and you have omitted the Yata-no-Kagami altogether.' Izanami carped at the younger woman but despite her harsh words and mocking tone Amaterasu knew that Izanami would seal her soul away.

"I trust him." Amaterasu spoke out loud to both Eomer and Izanami. "You will do this for me, won't you Eomer? I would rather die than betray my friends or my people but this is the only option left to me. This way Grima will not gain any information from me and the force invading my mind will be left with nothing more than a useless lunatic."

Eomer swallowed and then nodded his head. Relief flooded Ammy and she felt a couple of tears slink down her cheeks.

"Come closer and I shall whisper the words that shall release me from my mental prison to you. I do not dare saying them loudly in case there is a rat lurking outside the door."

Eomer slid down the damp wall until he was on his side and then he rolled himself across the floor until he lay right beside Ammy. She managed to cover the remaining inches to his ear and soon her soft breaths puffed next to his head and her lips brushed the edge of his ear.

As soon as she was done Ammy slumped back onto the straw mattress. Her strength was almost gone and Izanami was frantically chanting words in her head. There remained but one barrier between Ammy's mind and the malevolent being was shrieking and pounding against her mind; like a dog who has caught the scent of its prey and is being driven into a frenzied state at being apart from the weaker animal.

"Thank you Eomer." Ammy whispered and the man did nothing but nod softly. This woman had more courage than most men, he could not even think of willingly going insane let alone trusting the return of his sanity to one whom despite many hours of conversation with was still basically a stranger.

The key to the cell was inserted into the lcok and Eomer hastily rolled away across the floor from Ammy, hoping that Izanami would succeed in time.

Just as the door swung open to reveal Grima standing in the threshold Ammy's eyes rolled back in her head and her body began to convulse. The darkly garbed man strode across the room and knelt next to the woman.

Ammy's body was writhing and contorting and her eyes were rolled back in her head. Foam and spit began to gather in the corners of her mouth and despite Grima trying to hold her down her body still thudded repeatedly against the stone floor.

"What devilry is this?" Grima whispered as he watched the convulsing woman. Her hair had fanned out in her fit and now lay in a white tangle around her frame. Eomer did not reply, his breath held as he waited for Ammy to regain consciousness and for the tremors to cease.

Her lips had begun to turn blue when finally the wild contortions slowed until her body was only jerking spasmodically. Colour returned to her cheeks and lips and her eyes slipped shut.

Grima who had retreated back towards the door when he could not still her frenzied movements crept forward to loom over her now almost still body.

"What did you do to her Eomer?" Grima barked out as his pale grey eyes searched her body for any sign of poison.

"I did nothing. She has been screaming in pain like a wounded animal for the last few hours. Finally she passed out and remained silent. When you arrived she had been coherent for mere minutes before she entered into this seizure." Eomer kept his words brief and concise. The closer he kept to the truth and the less embellished his story was the more likely Wormtongue would believe him and so Amaterasu's secret would be safe.

The two men waited in silence for the woman to finally regain consciousness. After several tense minutes in which Eomer began to worry that something had gone wrong and that he should use the words that Ammy had given him, the albino began to stir.

Her eyelids fluttered and then opened fully to reveal pale red orbs that seemed bright, too bright. She sat up, heedless of her injuries and looked around the cell.

"Hello." She said and then smiled politely.

"Aneira?" Eomer said softly.

"Whose that?" the albino said and then lolled her head onto her left shoulder and regarded the men.

"You are Aneira." Grima snapped and then shifted uncomfortably on his feet.

"Am I?" She looked confused and then switched her head over to her other shoulder. "I'm afraid I don't know who I am today. I'm not the same as I was when I woke up this morning and I think I might have changed several times since then. Please could one of you tell me where I am?"

Grima stepped forward and crouched down in front of the white-haired woman his face close to her hears and his confused and angered eyes staring into hers.

"You are in a cell. You are my captive. I found you doing devilry, witchcraft." Spit flew from his mouth and landed on her cheek but the woman did not flinch.

"Magic? Truly? Wow, I thought Hogwarts wasn't real? Are you Professor Snape then? You do have the hair for it, but you lack the confidence and self-assured-ness." Aneira babbled as she looked at Grima and then peered around to look at Eomer.

"And I suppose if this is truly a place where witchcraft is possible and we have already established that this man who is right in front of me, and smells truly awful, that must make the blondie over in the corner there Professor Lockhart. And who am I?"

"I thought you were Aneira?!" Grima roared and Aneira turned her attention back to him.

"I suppose I might have been at one point. But I think now I'm Luna Lovegood? Do you know where I can find the Cheshire Cat? We were going to a tea party but I'm afraid I got lost. The Mad Hatter and the March Hare are waiting for me and we shall have tea and tarts baked by the Queen of Hearts."

Her voice was light and childish and Grima reeled back as she gave the man an innocent smile.

"What has happened to you?" He whispered .

"I believe," Ammy began gravely. "I may have lost my muchness."

~G~A~M~B~L~I~N~G~~W~I~T~H~~D~E~A~T~H~

A/N: SO…. Just want to say that I own neither Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll or Harry Potter by J. . They just suited the story rather well so I borrowed. I apologise for the late update but various things have been happening in Real Life and also this chapter would not write out well… This is the product of several weeks work and I am sorry it is not a higher standard. Also to those of you who are observant you may have noticed that my pen-name has changed. This is because I have been writing other stories, that haven't been published on any site yet, under this pen-name. Thus it seems to be a better name; I shall now be known as MusesatMidnight, or MaM for short! ;)

Thanks to all those who left reviews and to those people who are now following or favourite-d this small work.

Thanks to:
TheBurntWaffle, Sakari13Lennie, Nebriniel Peredhil, GleekLover2012 8/5/13, jesskalynn4, Emzy2k11, Fellowship of Avengers, DragonOwl, DragonBlade1000, CherryBlossomTrinity, Kistelle, WingsOfAHummingbrid
Danda225- Her forms are based on the Chinese Zodiac, so her last form was a horse… If you find a list of the Zodiac animals in order then the next should be sheep/ram.