Chapter Eleven:

Internal Struggles

Around midnight, Frodo was swept into a vivid dream: he ran with all speed through a dark, deep, grey misty forest filled with tall, massive pine trees. He did not know the reason why he was running, but he instinctively knew that a creature, possibly a werewolf, was tracking him down. Towards the edge of the darkly-lit wilderness, Frodo peered up at the dusky night sky where he could see a bright, pale full moon. At the sound of a familiar voice, Frodo's head snapped downwards towards the castle, miles ahead from where he stood. A few yards away from him was a raven-haired girl with prominent facial features and wore Hogwarts' robes with a blazon of a lion on the foreground and gold-and-scarlet checkerboard on the background. He knew who this fourth-year, Gryffindor student was, from the moment he met her on the train to the castle: it was Romilda Vane…

Frodo awoke with a sore headache. Several seconds passed before he realized it was Sunday, in which the next day would mean the second week of classes would begin. Once he managed to climb out of bed, Frodo dressed in the hobbitish uniform the school had given him, along with a white shirt he had in his trunk. He then left the small dormitory and climbed down the now familiar stone steps that led to the Ravenclaw Common Room, where he saw the sun was rising over the horizon.

A moment after Frodo entered the common room, the bell rang for breakfast. At once, he was forced to move out of the way as a stampede of Ravenclaw students charged down and up the stone stairs, straight for the wooden door with the bronze eagle knocker on the front. As soon as the coast was clear, Frodo watched Luna climb down the stone steps last, wearing her black Ravenclaw robes with the insignia of a raven on the foreground and a blue-and-bronze checkerboard in the background.

Before Luna fled out of the Ravenclaw Tower, Frodo caught up to her in time to hear her ask him, "Frodo, what did Dumbledore tell you in his office?"

"Oh, uh…" Frodo, still hesitant, eventually asked in an honest response, "can – can it wait until we're back in the common room?"

"Sure. I can wait until then," said Luna, calmly, as she led the hobbit down the winding stone steps, out into the Fifth Floor Corridor.

While he ate breakfast in silence, in the Great Hall, Frodo watched some of the students enter and exit the Hall, or approach the other three tables to speak with their friends. Briefly, Frodo caught Romilda's sharp gaze turned towards him. Seconds passed before Romilda looked away in vain as she continued her conversation with her friends. Right as Frodo assumed the dream he had earlier that morning only came from his sub-conscious, he noticed Romilda as she advanced towards the Ravenclaw table.

Once Romilda stood before him, Frodo asked in confusion, "What?"

Slightly taken aback, Romilda remarked, "First, you tell me to change my ways and admit that I like you. Now, all you want to do is rudely speak to me."

Frodo chuckled softly, and told her, "I'm not the one making rude remarks, Romilda." He paused briefly. "I thought you said you didn't want to speak with me ever again."

"I guess I lied," admitted Romilda, truthfully.

Pretending he hadn't heard what she just admitted to him, Frodo asked, "You what?"

"I lied, okay? Do you want me to list off something that's easy for you to understand?" asked Romilda, tensely.

Confused, Frodo asked her, "Easy? What is easy, Miss Vane?" He briefly paused. Then he asked, smoothly, "Are you trying to admit something else that you haven't yet spoken to anyone, including myself?"

Romilda shook her head. "No."

"Good, then we might not have anything else to discuss," said Frodo, taking a sip of the pumpkin juice inside his gold goblet.

She paused, and then asked him, smartly, "Are you always this stubborn around people, or is it just whenever I am around you?" Immediately, she added, enraged, "You know what? Forget I said anything to you, Frodo Baggins. If the last place you want to be is here, then don't let me stop you from returning to your precious Shire. I'm finished trying to get information out from you. Since you won't come forward with what you found out on Friday, then we're finished…" she cut herself off as she stormed away from the Ravenclaw table.

Softly, Frodo told himself, "Thank you…" He let his voice fade away, before returning to his meal.

After the bell rang at 9 a.m. Frodo left the Great Hall and charged up the stairways inside the Grand Staircase. As he wandered down the Third Floor Corridor, Frodo noticed he was being followed yet again by Romilda. Before Romilda tracked him down any further, Frodo made it inside the Charms' classroom and hid behind the stone wall with engraved handwriting. Once Romilda was out of his sight, Frodo closed the classroom door, right as Professor Flitwick approached him.

"Mr. Baggins, ready to try again?" asked Flitwick in a cheerful tone.

"Maybe," admitted Frodo, before his gaze fell towards the only wooden door in the classroom. "Professor, how did my parents react to your fencing lessons the first few times? I'm sorry if I'm prying…"

"No, it's all right, Baggins," said Flitwick, waving a hand at the hobbit. "Your parents were always the cleverer hobbits, but they weren't as intelligent as most of the students. I would have expected them to try better in the first several weeks, but their minds were off somewhere else, usually in the Shire where they, too, believed was a safer place." Changing the subject, Flitwick told Frodo, "Mr. Baggins, you have to do well in these lessons, or else you will do very poorly when your enemies…"

"Or maybe one worse," said Frodo, a little distant. "Couldn't I sit this one out?"

"No, you cannot." Flitwick then ended the conversation, "Now, we must begin the lesson. Grab one of the wooden poles and I will set up the suit of armor, which you will continue to fight until you're ready for something more challenging." Before Frodo was ready, after he grabbed one of the short wooden poles, Flitwick announced, "Begin!"

Immediately, Frodo was thrown into one fight after another, against the suit of armor. Even though Frodo had a rough time the day before, that morning proved to be worse and left him with sore bruises, which nearly bled. After thirty minutes passed, Flitwick stopped the charm on the suit of armor and gave Frodo a break for ten minutes. Shortly after Frodo found an empty chair, he was followed by Professor Flitwick who sat down on a stool below one of the long, front row desks.

Turning his gaze up at Frodo, Flitwick asked him in a concerned response, "I noticed the way you reacted to the suit of armor this morning."

Frodo asked, sharply, "What about it?"

"Well, you seem thrown off, Mr. Baggins," said Flitwick, growing concerned. "Do you mind telling me what's wrong, or do you not wish to talk?"

"Neither," said Frodo, slightly tense.

"Mr. Baggins, I knew your parents…"

Frodo interrupted, sharply, "Yes and…" He cut himself off, trying to calm down, "I'm sorry. It's just… in one week, so much has happened…"

"Will you tell me what's wrong?" asked Flitwick.

"I'm not entirely sure I can trust anyone here, but I know I have to pretend…"

Flitwick interrupted him this time. "You don't need to pretend before anyone, Mr. Baggins."

"Are you sure? All I really want to do is leave this place and go home. How does anyone expect me to make any friends? Romilda Vane isn't going to speak with me again, as it should be," explained Frodo in a serious tone.

Flitwick paused, and then replied, calmly, "Mr. Baggins, I think you need to apologize to Miss Vane, before you do something rash."

"I need to go home, Professor Flitwick. I shouldn't have come here in the first place," said Frodo in a sharp tone. He paused, and then said, calmly, "I apologize. I just miss home so much."

"Yes Mr. Baggins, and if you continue to act naïve, assuming everything you do is right, then you won't find yourself in a good place. Frodo, I do not want you to do something rash or grave, but from the way you spoke of Miss Vane… I'm sure you must be underestimating her or her abilities," explained Flitwick, trying to reason with Frodo.

Stumped, Frodo asked in a calmer response, "What? What do you mean?"

"Mr. Baggins. Haven't you considered allowing Miss Vane to trust you first, before you can trust her?" asked Flitwick. "If I were you, I would try my suggestion. I've seen your parents behave the same way. Your father had to let your mother trust him first, before he learned to trust her. I heard many of their conversations in my classroom, not all of them were good…" He let his voice fade away, as he changed the subject, "Now then, shall we continue with the lesson? If you prove to me you have improved, I may allow you to practice twice in one day of the weekend."

Not feeling the need to disobey Flitwick, Frodo followed his teacher back down to the center of the classroom, where a long, wide wooden aisle stood between both wooden stands. At once, the lesson continued for another half-an-hour. After Flitwick was certain Frodo had enough, he stopped the charm on the suit of armor and told Frodo he was done for the rest of the day. Frodo hurriedly walked out of the classroom, before returning to his small dormitory in the Ravenclaw tower, where he grabbed a clean set of clothes from his trunk. He then darted out of the Ravenclaw Common Room, past the door with the bronze eagle knocker, and sped down the Fifth Floor Corridor in search of the Boys' Bathroom.

During his break, Frodo used the time he had to work on the rest of his homework assignments. By the time he finished writing an essay for his History of Magic class on Monday, the bell rang for lunch. When he climbed down the now-familiar winding stone stairs, Frodo noticed Romilda standing in the middle of the Fifth Floor Corridor with her friends.

Before Romilda tore off down the corridor, Frodo stopped her with his words, "Romilda!" He watched Romilda as she told her friends to meet her down in the Great Hall, before he advanced towards her. While Romilda stared tensely at him, Frodo asked in a calm tone, "Can I speak with you, alone?"

Taken aback slightly, Romilda asked, "Why?"

Frodo hesitantly explained, "Listen, I know I haven't treated you good since we first met, but I…"

"Frodo, save your apologies," barked Romilda. "Obviously, there isn't much for either of us to say to each other. So I suggest we don't speak at all."

Stunned, Frodo asked her, "So, that's it then? That's the excuse you have towards me?" Softly, he asked, out of curiosity, "Do you really believe you can avoid me altogether?"

"Yes, I do actually!" Romilda shouted, enraged. "Why do you insist on ignoring me?"

"Romilda Vane, you don't yet understand me and I doubt you can trouble me any further. Why then did you decide to come all the way up here, if you weren't still interested in seeking information on Harry Potter?" asked Frodo, barking back. On a calmer note, he asked intentionally, "What is it that you think you'll gain from doing this to yourself, and to me? Do you expect me to now think you've changed? It's only been a week."

"Does it matter how long it's been, since we first met?" asked Romilda, calming down some.

"Yes, I believe it does," said Frodo, at once. "You don't understand the truth because you don't expect to believe any part of it, unless it's something you feel you should hear." He then added, softly, "Honestly, you would have been the last person I would have thought about falling in love with."

Romilda paused for a long moment. She then told him, "Then I'm sorry I ever spoke to you in the first place. I'm sorry I brought you inside my compartment on the train. I'm even sorry we've had these arguable conversations for this long. I just wish you would behave better around me." She then turned and walked away from him.

Romilda was five paces away when Frodo announced, "Do you think you know what's about to happen next? Do you still believe you and Harry are meant to be, Romilda?" As Romilda faced him, Frodo admitted, "You're living in a fantasy, Miss Vane. Do not think you'll pull yourself out simply because you seek information. Harry won't come to you and I don't think he'll ever trust you. So, don't blame me if Harry chooses someone he loves, since that's the path he's decided to follow. So far, you haven't figured that part out yet." He then brushed past Romilda as he fled down the corridor, towards the door leading to the Grand Staircase.