Chapter 4: Love is in the Air
The next morning he got out of bed at dawn again. They weren't going to leave until noon, since the train left at 1 o'clock, so he decided to go for a walk. He silently dressed himself and quietly left the room.
When he was outside he took up his surroundings. He was liking the landscape before him a lot. Although he could feel that there lived some dark creatures in the forest. First he walked to the lake. He could feel a friendly presence in there so he lay flat onto his stomach and peered into the water. After a few seconds he saw a giant squid resurfacing. He smiled at the creature and tried to talk with it. The squid seemed to look at him surprised when he heard him talk in Elfish. Apparently he was the first person besides Dumbledore with whom he had ever talked. They talked to each other for a while. The squid even invited Legolas to see his home. Legolas refused politely telling him that he couldn't breath under water, so he would probably suffocate, plus he couldn't swim too well. The squid nodded understandably and asked if just wanted to ride on his back instead.
Legolas told him yes enthusiastically. He jumped onto its back and soon he was laughing out loud. He was having so much fun. After while he tried to stand onto its back. It wasn't easy to keep his balance but he succeeded anyhow. When he looked back at the castle he saw Aragorn approaching. He waved at him happily. When he returned his attention back to the squid he saw too late that it was going to make a sharp curve. He slipped and fell into the water, hard. He resurfaced coughing and spluttering. When he tried to swim towards the shore he noticed that one of his feet had got stuck in some kind of weed. He pulled with all his might, but he only seemed to get more stuck. He called out to the squid for help. The creature swiftly turned around.
"I am stuck!" he yelled in Elvish.
"Just a moment, I'll have you free in a blink of an eye." It told him, while diving beneath the surface.
When Legolas looked at the shore he saw Aragorn running up to the lake. When the Elf realized that he was about to jump into the water as well he quickly yelled:
"Do not get into the water, Aragorn. It is filled with weed! The Squid is already trying to free me!"
"Are you sure that you do not need my help?" he asked worried.
"Positive." He yelled back as he felt his foot being freed. Seconds later he was already on the shore again with help from the giant squid.
"Many thanks to you." He said to the creature as it went under water again.
Aragorn quickly pulled him away from the water. "By Elbereth, you gave me a fright there. Are you sure you are alright?" he said holding the Elf's shoulders and looking searchingly in his eyes.
"I am quite well, Aragorn. Thank you."
"Come on let us go inside then and get you some dry clothes."
"That will not be necessary I will dry eventually, besides I would really like to explore the forest a little."
"You will get enough time to do just that, Legolas. But now you are coming with me."
He said again getting a hold of his arm and dragging him behind him.
"Alright, alright if you insist, ……mother." Legolas said a little amused, while freeing his arm.
Aragorn quickly tried to tackle him, but Legolas simply jumped away and started to run away swiftly.
"Come here, you!!" Aragorn yelled after him, going into a pursuit. "If I do not get you now, I will sure take revenge some other time!"
"I would like to see you try!" Legolas slowed his pace a little, making the distance between him and Aragorn smaller. When he had almost reached the castle, he turned around and faced his 'opponent'.
"Come and get me then, or am I just too fast for you, mother? Well, you are not the youngest anymore, are you? Your age is slowly catching up with you." He said daringly.
Aragorn jumped towards him, but he was way too slow for the elf.
"Is that all you have got? Well, it is not very good, is it?" he said teasingly, while darting away again.
Then Aragorn suddenly stopped attacking him and seemingly stared passed the elf open-mouthed . Legolas turned around to see what was happening behind him. When he saw nothing odd, he realized too late that it had simply been a trick. He could feel Aragorn pinning him onto the floor. "You are not very smart, are you?" he asked laughing.
Legolas glared at him, before looking away swiftly. If he stared in those eyes only a few seconds longer he couldn't be held responsible for his actions. He wanted to kiss the man on top of him so bad, it hurt.
Aragorn looked down at him, wondering why Legolas was acting all weird again. He slowly released him and sat next to him on the grass.
"Legolas, what's wrong?" he asked softly.
When he didn't get a response he turned to face the Elf again, who had now closed his eyes and still lay onto his back on the ground. He touched his friend's face lightly, when he did he felt him shudder, before opening his eyes.
"Legolas?"
"I think we should better get inside." he said, hastily getting up. His face was flushed and there was pain showing in his eyes.
"I do not think so, not before you tell me what is wrong." Aragorn said looking sternly up to the Elf. Legolas sighed.
"It is nothing, believe me, Aragorn."
"No, I do not believe you! It has something to do with me, has it not? Are you angry with me for something?"
"No, no I am not angry at you at all ………. Only at myself." He added silently, but loud enough for Aragorn to hear. The ranger looked confused at this.
"How so?" he asked softly.
"It does not matter anymore. Let us talk about something else." Legolas sighed. He looked at Aragorn, hoping he would accept his offer to change the subject.
"What? No Legolas, something has been clearly on your mind for a while now and I would like to know what it is. I do hope that what you said before is not true and that you do trust me enough to confide in me." Aragorn whispered.
"Of course I do. You are my best friend, Aragorn."
"Then what is the matter Legolas?" he asked starting to get a little annoyed. He looked at his friend and saw how vulnerable he was looking. He looked so adorable now. With his short golden hair and shifting his weight from on foot to another uncomfortable. What could possible be going on? The Elf was giving him such mixed feelings these days. Perhaps… yes perhaps that was it. Perhaps Legolas just did not know what his feelings towards him were. But is that a good or a bad thing? Who knows, he could be thinking of breaking their friendship, but when he looked at the Elf now his posture told him quite opposite. Wait a minute he isn't talking about him liking me, is he. He looked at his Elven friend more closely. And realised that he was.
A smile crept onto Aragorn's face as he slowly approached the elf and took him into his arms. He could feel him shiver at his touch again.
Legolas was completely surprised when Aragorn took him into his arms. Oh my, why is he doing this to me. Can he not see I am in pain over here! ……Well, I cannot say I do not like it. He thought as Aragorn put his arms around his waist.
"Legolas, are you in love with me?" he whispered.
Legolas let his arms drop in shock and inhaled sharply. He felt like his knees could give away any moment now. "W-What?" he asked hoarsely.
"You heard me." Came the response.
"Yes." He whispered softly.
Aragorn pulled away a little so he could look Legolas into the eye.
"Then I do not see why you have been so worried all this time." He said huskily, before kissing the Elven Prince softly.
Legolas was just too stunned to kiss him back in the beginning, but when he finally got over that feeling, he started to kiss him back passionately running his fingers up and down Aragorn's back. Aragorn moaned softly pulling Legolas even closer and started to explore his mouth with his tongue. He pushed his lover gently to the castle wall behind him, putting his hands into his wet golden hair. Legolas kissed him back hard, now touching his face, slowly he tried to remove Aragorn's cloak. When he had finally succeeded, he realised that he still couldn't touch his bare skin. He groaned, trying to find a way to pull off his lovers robe. Aragorn was experiencing the same problem. After a few minutes he just gave up and pulled away slightly. "I think we'd better go inside, before someone catches us."
Legolas let go of him reluctantly, whishing it could always stay this way, before he remembered Arwen. He pulled away completely and looked searchingly into Aragorn's eyes.
"What about Arwen?" he asked softly. Not really wanting to hear the answer.
"Ah, so that was what you were worrying about. Well I can reassure you that I am not a man, who is unfaithful to his beloved. We broke our bond a long time ago. She just could not stand me being away so much, plus she fell in love with someone else. When she told me that it was over, I realized that I did not even care that much."
"So the baby is not yours?"
"Well,…" Aragorn began mysteriously, being silent for a moment. "No, the baby is not mine." He added laughing after a while, seeing the distressed look on the elf.
Legolas let out a relieved sigh. Aragorn grinned at him and quickly pulled him close again giving him a short reassuring kiss. He let go when the longing inside started to grow more intense.
"Come on, let us get you into some other clothes." He said, while opening the large wooden entrance doors. Legolas followed him dreamingly. When they reached their room, they saw that Gimli and Gandalf were also starting to wake up. They looked surprised at Legolas who was dripping all over the place and Aragorn who seemed only a little wet.
"What happened to you?" Gimli asked.
Gandalf and Gimli both listened amused when Legolas told them the events at the lake, letting out the love scenes, of course.
The dwarf laughed out loud when he had finished. "Why am I not surprised something like this happened to you, Crazy Elf?"
Legolas only laughed and started to get out of his wet robes. When he looked around in his bag he realised that it was the only plain robe he had, the others had all the names of the Houses on them and he wasn't supposed to wear those until after the Sorting Ceremony. So he just decided to put some casual clothes on, which he had also gotten from McGonagall.
"I think I should better go and find someone, who can dry these clothes fast." He said, taking his robes into his arms and slowly walking out of the door.
He strolled through the halls of the beautiful castle singing softly:
We're coming from far, over oceans of timeWe're coming from places we ones left behind
We're looking for love, in the heart of every man
We're looking for reasons we'll all understand
We're are in need, we want a place for everyone
We shine through love, we are the children of the sun
We follow our dreams and we'll never stop
We follow our hopes and we'll never give up
Until we have found the warmth of the sun
Until we are one
We are in need, we want a place for everyone
We shine through love
We are forever on the run
We are in need, we want a place for everyone
We shine through love, we are the children of the sun
We're coming from far, over……(a/n: this song is from Twarres (a Dutch band) and is called: Children)
He quickly stopped singing when he heard someone approaching him, or maybe rather something, because he did not hear any footsteps. When he rounded a corner, he stopped shocked in mid track. Before him was a ghost floating through the hallway. When the ghost spotted him, it approached him immediately.
"What are you doing here?" it demanded to know.
"I- I was invited by Albus Dumbledore."
"Everyone could say that. But that doesn't mean it's true." The ghost spoke again.
"I realise that, but I was just looking for him, so why do you not escort me to him so you can see for yourself that I am telling the truth."
"That's sounds fair enough to me. Let's go then."
When they had reached a small wooden door the ghost spoke again: "Wait here. I'll get him for you." He said before gliding through the door.
Soon Dumbledore opened the door and approached Legolas to enter.
"I see you have met Sir Nicholas de Mimsy - Porpington, Gryffindor's ghost."
"Sorry about before. I wasn't sure you were a good or bad guy."
"Do not worry, you have every right to be careful. These are dark times." Legolas smiled.
"I am Legolas, by the way. Legolas Greenleaf."
"I would like to extend my hand to you, but unfortunately I can't." Nick said a little sad.
"So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Dumbledore interrupted.
"Well, it is kind of embarrassing really, but I fell into the lake so my regular robes are wet."
Dumbledore chuckled softly, before answering: "That's no problem, just hand them to me and I will dry them for you. Maybe I should learn you that spell first, so you can dry your clothes yourself from then on."
Legolas just shook his head. "I guess I had that coming."
When he returned to his friends, they were all ready to go, except Gimli, who had already left to Hogsmeade. Legolas quickly changed into his now dry robes and packed his things.
They arrived in London by using Floo Powder and soon had found there way to the train station. "Right," Frodo started. "We are supposed to go through the wall between platforms nine and ten."
They all stared at the wall in front of them. "And how are we supposed to do that?" Merry questioned.
"I do not know. Maybe we should ask someone?" Frodo answered.
"I think it would be best, if we just stood a little aside and wait for someone to go through." Aragorn spoke wisely. "Remember what Dumbledore told us about Muggles (a/n: is none magic folks) . We might ask one by accident and expose the magical culture."
"Right."
After a few minutes a redheaded family approached the wall. There also was a boy with raven black hair walking beside them. They all looked around suspiciously before standing in front of the gateway.
"Come on Ron, you first." A redheaded woman spoke to her youngest son. He quickly looked around before grabbing his bags and running through the wall. The fellowship looked at the wall in surprise.
"Now you Harry." The woman spoke again only this time towards the boy with raven black hair and piercing green eyes.
"Thank you for letting me stay over the summer, Mrs Weasley."
"The pleasure was all mine, boy." She replied, hugging him tightly before he went through the hidden gateway as well.
"Excuse me," Aragorn said, walking up to the woman. "But could you tell us how to get onto platform 9 3/4?"
"Of course, I can." She said, looking a little surprised that a grownup wouldn't know the way. "Just walk straight at this wall and when you get to the other side, you're there."
"Thank you." He smiled, motioning for the others to come closer.
"Are you a new teacher, that is, if you don't mind me asking?" Mrs Weasley asked curious.
"Yes and my friend here too." He said pointing towards Gandalf. "The rest are students. We travelled together, because we all come from the same country."
"Oh I see. Well just keep an eye on my son Ronald Weasley and his friends, for they always seem to get into trouble."
"I will try to keep an eye out for him, ma'am."
"Thank you. I'm Molly Weasley, by the way."
"Right", he stammered, he still had to come up with a good name. "It was nice meeting you Mrs Weasley."
Molly looked at him puzzled, before saying: "And you are?"
"Hmmm………. Aragorn… Aragorn Strider."
"Well, it was nice to meet you, Professor Strider." she said, before turning towards her daughter, who seemed to be staring open mouthed at something. When Aragorn en Mrs Weasley followed her eyes, they saw that she was looking at a very uncomfortable Legolas.
Molly also looked at him twice, before telling her daughter that it was not polite to stare and pushing her towards the wall. With one more backward glance, the girl disappeared.
"I think we should better get going too." Aragorn stated. "I will go first."
Legolas was about to protest, but Aragorn silenced him with look and quickly went through.
Soon the others had followed him and were now all standing on Platform 9 ¾.
The train was already there and they quickly searched for an empty compartment. When they had found one, they put their things away and started to talk merrily amongst themselves.
"So Aragorn Strider, huh?" Legolas chuckled, beside him.
"Well, I had to make up something." Aragorn said. "What about you, are you just going to keep your name?"
"Yes, I guess so. Maybe they will find Legolas a little strange, but I will tell them that it is a common name in Australia."
"Fair enough. What about you Gandalf?"
"I will be Professor Gandalf White."
"How original."
They chatted about all sorts of things until they finally arrived at Hogwarts.