The Fire Within

'I named my son after her,' Háma said as Lily placed the book on the nightstand.

Lily had struggled her way through the story of Haleth and her people. The book had not just been insightful on Haleth's personal life, but also on how the Edain came to be and how Middle-Earth had formed to what it is today. Piece by piece, she was puzzling the mystery of this strange land together in the confines of Éowyn's walls.

'I love that,' Lily answered. Háma was helping her take her first steps around the room. 'You hope he'll be as fierce a warrior as she was?'

'I know in my heart that he will be,' Háma said proudly. 'It is remarkable to see you walk again so soon, miss. It is a beautiful day today. The sun is out, and there is a warm breeze coming in from the West. I think it's time for you to go and enjoy some fresh air.'

Lily wasn't quite there to be walking at a normal pace yet, but for Háma to say that it was time for her to open the doors of the Meduseld to the outside world was music to her ears. 'I'm more than ready to see this beautiful Edoras that I have heard so much about. Will you take me to the entrance?'

Supporting her with his arm, Háma guided Lily out of Éowyn's room, and together, they made their way down the hall until they reached an enormous arched oaken door. The door was fortified with steel and decorated with gold, and Lily could see why this door needed little guarding from any intruders, as it appeared impossible to break.

Leaving her to stand in her own strength, Háma moved forward and unlocked the door. With great effort, he pulled the door inwards, and a warm light and a cool breeze filled the entrance hall.

As she stepped outside, Lily remembered the white mountain tops in the South and West from her delirious state of mind when the Rohirrim had brought her in. Down the steps of the Meduseld, she saw the thatched roofs of many houses down the hill. Smoke rose from several open fires in the streets, and tall wooden fortified walls encircled the city. But most of all, her eyes were drawn to the vastness of the plains to the North and East. The Snowbourn meeting the Entwash, and horses running in the distance. The immense size of it all was equally liberating as it was terrifying. Captivating yet solitary. Bewitching yet also disheartening, for it made her quest to find her way back home much more difficult now that her mind could place her body beyond the walls of the Meduseld.

'Are you alright, miss?' Háma asked.

It was then that Lily noticed Háma had been standing next to her all along, a green flag with a white horse waving in the wind behind him, and felt a stray tear falling from the corner of her eye. 'It is a beautiful place,' she said softly, 'and it is overwhelming me, too. Will you take me through the city? I would like to meet some of the people around here.'

Háma smiled and held out his arm for her again. 'I will take you, but I must warn you, miss. The arrival of the girl with the red hair has not gone unnoticed by the people of Edoras, and they may ask questions you are not ready to receive.'

'Questions, such as?' said Lily whilst already taking her first step forward. 'Of where I come from? Or something else?'

'The city is weary of outsiders,' Háma said admittedly as he followed her. 'Dunlendings and Orcs have been sighted on the borders of Rohan, and the Rohirrim is working hard to keep them away.'

'I know of the Dunlendings,' Lily said, 'because they are very distantly related to the Haladin, which I read about in the story of Haleth. They were driven out of Rohan by Kings Brego and Aldor, and most settled around the Westfold and beyond. I know that there is bad blood between the Dunlendings and the people of Rohan, but Orcs? That's new to me.'

Háma turned a corner, and they passed what appeared to be a rowdy tavern. 'Their history is lost on them,' Háma explained, 'but in the first age they were bred by the Vala Melkor, who was later named Morgoth, the Dark Lord who brought on the destruction of the Two Lamps, and in the second age the destruction of the Two Trees of Valinor. After Morgoth's defeat during the War of Warth – and cast into the Timeless Void through the Door of Night – most of the Orcs were slain or retreated to the Misty Mountains, until Sauron, servant of Morgoth, rose to power.'

Lily found Háma's words were a lot to handle, especially since there was a Dark Lord on the rise in her own world as well, who also had taken on a different name, and there had been one before him, too. Gellert Grindelwald, who had divided the Wizarding world and Muggle world up to dominate and be dominated over. And now there was Voldemort. A name she could hear in her head but was taught to fear speaking it out loud. She would never call him the Dark Lord, however. Not in the way she had heard Severus speak of him. It angered her heart as she thought about it.

'Orcs are bred from the heat and slimes of the earth,' Háma continued. 'They still crawl into being in the Misty Mountains till this day, as well as in Mordor, but their numbers have been growing steadily for a while now, as though they are sprouting from another source we hold no knowledge of. Vile creatures they are. Highly deformed, sallow, and crooked, and their laughter is as the clash of metal on metal. Oi! – What are you all looking at!?'

People had taken notice of Háma and Lily walking the streets of Edoras, and the news of the strange girl being outside had spread like wildfire. Men, women, and children formed a line down the street they were walking, staring at her as though undecided whether to trust her or not. The people themselves did not appear to be happy, or well-cared for. The struggle of a hard life was etched upon their faces, and it made Lily feel uneasy, as she was so well-cared for up in the Meduseld. Háma certainly did not appreciate the staring and shushed them away to the best of his abilities. 'Times are rough,' he said gloomily, 'but the people of Rohan are more resilient than they look. But when a King is failing…'

'Éowyn told me of the King's illness,' Lily said, 'and that no-one knows what it is that is ailing him, either. For how long has this been going on with him?'

'It's been many months,' Háma answered, 'and it's been steadily growing worse. He cares very little for others these days and has become distrustful of his own people. It is unlike him, and I fear that the end is coming for him.'

'I am sorry to hear that,' Lily said.

'Don't be,' Háma answered with a smile, 'for the End is the Gift from Eru Illúvatar himself to all Men. This Gift gives meaning to all around us, and it comes for us all when it is time.'

Lily loved Háma's approach to Death as something that is a gift rather than a fearsome burden. 'I understand that I'm a stranger to these people,' she said, turning the conversation, 'but I don't quite understand why everyone is staring at me.'

'I can explain that to you.' They had arrived in front of a blacksmith's shop. An intense heat radiated from the forge, it's charcoal layer glowing orange and red. Hammers, tongues, and chisels in all shapes and sizes, as well as other instruments Lily couldn't name, were stacked against the walls. There were also two large anvils, and many old leather aprons and gloves were scattered around the shop. There stood Éowyn, holding her own sword in hand. It looked sharpened and polished. 'It's your red hair,' she said. 'No-one's ever seen something like that before.'

Lily blushed. 'Loads of people have red hair where I am from,' she said. 'It's something I inherited from my father.'

'The more you speak of this England,' Éowyn said, 'the more I wish to see it for myself. I haven't travelled far out of Edoras, but I do know that red hair has rarely been sighted throughout the history of Middle-Earth. But for now, let's not ponder on it. Thank you Háma, for bringing her here. Lily, I want you to meet someone.'

With a courteous bow to Lily and Éowyn, Háma left them and headed back up to the Meduseld. Éowyn gestured towards a tall, and broad-shouldered man behind her. His blond hair and beard, streaked with grey, were long and braided, and his bushy eyebrows characterised his face. He was busy putting whatever tools he had used for Éowyn's sword back on the shelves. 'This is Eorlund, son of Edmund,' Éowyn said. 'He's a very skilled blacksmith and has been with us for many years.'

Lily looked up at the tall man, who did not seem, nor want to take notice of her. 'You'll have to excuse him,' Éowyn whispered into Lily's ear. 'He's a man of very little words, and a bit grouchy at times, but he's a master in his craft.'

Lily wasn't quite sure what to make of this meeting – if it could even be considered a meeting, and figured Eorlund must be a tough soul to open. Fortunately for her, she already has years of experience under her belt, dealing with a particularly tough and unresponsive friend. 'Why exactly is it that you want me to meet him?' she whispered back.

'He mentioned that he was looking for a pair of helping hands for his shop,' Éowyn said. 'It's not good for you to cooped up in the Meduseld all the time, and it's better to fill your days in service of someone else as you figure out a way home.'

Éowyn was right. Staying in Éowyn's room at the Meduseld wasn't helping neither her body nor her mind to settle on and accept where she had ended up. She needed something to do, although working for a blacksmith didn't strike her as a good idea, as she had never even seen a blacksmith's workplace from up close before.

'Young lady,' Eorlund grumbled at her, and pointed at a dark corner of the other side of his shop. 'Bellows are over there. Grab them and keep the fire in the forge going.'

Not wanting to look unknowledgeable or unwilling in Eorlund's eyes, Lily walked her way up to the corner he had pointed at and grabbed the largest bellows she could find. They had one for their fireplace in Cokeworth and had used it to keep a fire going for as long as a cold evening lasted. With a few well calculated puffs of air, the black coals started to glow red again.

'Straight to the point,' said Eorlund as he dropped a crude piece of steel on the hot coals. 'I like that. What's your name girl?'

'I'm Lily,' Lily said as she put the bellows back where she had found them.

'From where?'

'From the House of Gryffindor.' It was Éowyn who responded. 'It's far from here, and we're still figuring out how she'll be able to make her way back.'

Eorlund nodded, clearly not wanting to discuss it any further. 'Alright, Lily of House Gryffindor. I'm still waiting on supplies coming in from Bree. Feel free to come back tomorrow.'

'Thank you, sir,' Lily said politely as she stepped away from the shop. 'I will be here again tomorrow.'

'A peculiar man, but a good one,' Lily said to Éowyn as they walked away from the shop and continued their way down the road. 'Thank you for this, and for saving me from explaining where I come from. I don't know anything about working for a blacksmith, but I think I'm going to like it.'

'If the House of Gryffindor is anything like you've told me,' Éowyn responded, 'than I believe you'll feel right at home at the forge. There's someone else I want you to meet as well.'

Several moments passed in silence as the two women continued their walk through Edoras. People were still staring, but it seemed Háma had made sure that none would open their mouths to ask questions at her. The city was smaller than Lily initially had expected and made a crude estimate that about five thousand people lived in it, and perhaps a couple hundred more on the surrounding farms outside the city's gates. They were near the gates when Éowyn turned to the left and stopped in front of a small house with a large herb and vegetable garden. Lily was reminded of her home in Cokeworth.

'This is about your magic,' Éowyn said in a serious tone. 'Gísli, daughter of Godwin, lives here. She brews the medicine for the people of Edoras. She's an absolute ray of light. You've confided in me that your magic isn't working, so I figured that maybe you'd like to rediscover it elsewhere.'

At that, Lily smiled up at Éowyn. 'Thank you for being such a good friend,' she said. 'I'm happy that you don't fear it anymore.'

'There's a lot about it that I don't understand,' Éowyn admitted as she knocked on the door, 'but for the days that I've known you, you've shown only kindness to the ones you've met, and curiosity and respect to our culture. I sense no wrongdoing in your heart.'

Gísli did prove to be the ray of light Éowyn had said her to be. Her hair was long and grey, and wisdom was etched into the lines of her weathered face. Gísli and Lily spoke long of herbs and medicine, and Éowyn listened attentively, curious about the exchanging of knowledge that unfolded in front of her. Lily learnt much of all the herbs and flowers that were native to Rohan, as well as many names of flowers she had never heard nor seen before. The three of them had made a vegetable soup together in a cauldron over a fire, and Lily's mind had wandered back to the damp dungeons and musty greenhouses of Hogwarts. Her favourite places she had shared with Severus, and the memory of it made her miss him dearly.

Noon had come and gone. Lily had promised Gísli that she would return soon and continue their conversation, as there were many things that she wanted to learn from her. And perhaps share with Severus someday, she thought to herself. With an embrace and a kiss on the cheek, Lily and Éowyn left Gísli's house and made their way towards the gate. 'There's one more thing I wanted to show you,' Éowyn said as she ushered the guards to open the gate.

Lily took her first steps outside of Edoras. The green slope down was covered with mounds overgrown with beautiful white flowers she had never seen before. Beyond it, fields of grass adorned with clusters of wild wilting flowers, as though telling her that autumn had arrived in these lands. 'These are the graves of my forebearers,' Éowyn said. 'My father Éomund, and my mother Théodwyn, the King's sister, lie here together. I remember very little of them, as they passed when I was only seven. But it still brings me comfort knowing they are close to me.'

These mounds look peaceful,' Lily answered. She was drawn to the strange flowers on the mounds. Its leaves small and round, and snow white in colour. She could sense there was something magical about them. 'I didn't expect that, as the graveyards in England are often eerie and cold. What are those flowers, growing on your parents' grave?'

'Simbelmynë,' Éowyn explained. 'Also known as Evermind. 'They grow on all the graves of my forebearers, and most abundantly on the grave of Helm Hammerhand, of which Helm's Deep was named in his honour. Feel free to take some of the flowers if you wish. They always grow back year-round.'

The fact that these flowers bloomed throughout all four seasons was enough for Lily to confirm that they indeed possessed magical properties. As peaceful as the mounds seemed, they also reminded her of her family, and wondered whether they believed by now that she had died and became one with the earth like Éowyn's forebearers. She picked only two from the mound of Éowyn's parents, figuring it was enough to study and discover their magical properties, and shoved them in the pocket of her borrowed gown.

'Do you hear that?' Éowyn said. Her eyes shifted from left to right over the vast fields in the distance.

A low rumbling came from the depths of the earth. Hundreds of hoofs thundered over the fields, causing the ground to shake, and the sound of horses whinnying towards one another filled the air. There, Lily witnessed the strength and speed of the Maeras as one large herd as they travelled from one place to another. It was captivating, and it filled her heart with joy.

'That's strange,' Éowyn said as the herd passed by. 'I don't see Shadowfax anywhere. He's usually leading the group.'

…o0o…

Lily had not fully recovered yet, and her leg was stiff and sore from all the walking, but the things she'd seen and the people she's met had made it all worth it. She was also determined to give Éowyn her room back, and with the help of Háma she had claimed an unused smaller room for herself a bit further down the hall. A bed, a nightstand, a supply of candles, a closet with some clothes she was given that no longer fitted Éowyn, and furs and blankets to keep her warm were all that she required for now.

Éowyn had gone off to take care of the King, and Lily wondered if there was ever going to be a moment where she would get to meet him. As she made up her bed, she heard the faint swishing of a cloak from behind the door paired with nervous footsteps, and recognised them to be Gríma's, undoubtedly tracing Éowyn down.

Not liking Gríma's motives one bit, Lily tossed the furs aside, waited for him to turn the corner, and followed him on the tips of her toes. She pressed her back against the wall as Gríma entered the hall of the King, where he was met with Éowyn and Éomer.

'The grey wizard has taken Shadowfax,' Gríma said bitterly. 'Untameable to all of us, and yet he chose to be tamed by a wizard. How high has the Lord of the Maeras fallen to have chosen such a rider…'

'He was here?' Éowyn gasped. 'You know Lily has been wanting to speak with a wizard. How come you hadn't warned us of his arrival?'

Lily's heart started hammering in her chest. A wizard had been here, and Gríma had kept his arrival hidden on purpose. It confirmed what Lily had suspected for a while now. That Gríma knew more on magic and wizardry than he let on, and she had had enough of it. The opportunity to meet with a wizard could potentially have been her opportunity home, and that opportunity had been pulled out like a rug from underneath her feet. A fire kindled in her soul, and the tips of her fingers started to glow in anger.

'Our King bade him to take a horse and be gone,' Gríma spat in self-defence. 'Gandalf Stormcrow only comes during times of trouble, and this time he spoke of none, as though he no longer trusts us. He took Shadowfax and sped off towards the North. A mere speck of silver and grey within a moment's notice. What was I to do?'

'You're lying,' Éowyn spat back. 'I know you are, you serpent tongue! I –'

'—leave it, dear sister,' Éomer said. Lily couldn't see what Éomer did, but in her mind it looked like he stopped Éowyn from striking Gríma in the face. 'There's nothing to be done about it now. Uncle looks exhausted. We should take him to his Chambers. Gríma, please leave us to our duties.'

As Éowyn and Éomer helped carry the King another way, the swishing of a cloak and nervous footsteps sped their way up to Lily, and she was ready to confront him. The moment he turned around the corner, and with a swift movement, she grabbed the collar of his robes and pushed him up against the wall. For a moment, Gríma seemed frightened, but his initial shock was soon replaced by shrill laughter. 'Overheard our conversation, did you Lily of House Gryffindor,' he said. 'There is no need for you to meet with wizards that bring ill bodings to these lands.'

Lily didn't respond right away. The fire that had kindled in her heart was ready to burst. 'Meeting the wizard was my way out of here,' she gritted through her teeth. 'Why did you prevent me from leaving? You know something, and you're covering it up!'

Gríma smiled an ugly, crooked smile, and lowered his voice. 'We'll make use of you yet, little witch. Now, I bade you to release me from your gaze, or I'll have you shackled and bound on King's orders.' Lily took a step back, but dared not to release her eyes from the pale blue that were locked into hers. The scent of smoke filled her nostrils, and a moment later, Gríma's crooked smile turned back into one of shock and horror. His robes were on fire, and it was spreading rapidly upwards. 'What did you do?' he cried. Swiftly, he pushed himself away from the wall and ran towards the bathhouse.

Lily could hear the splashing of water as she ran past the bathhouse and towards her new room. Her leg was burning from all the tension she had put on it, but she didn't care. She had just set a man on fire with the use of wandless magic, and it made her feel elated and terrified at the same time, as it meant she had not lost her magic, but also held no control over it. She paced around the room, thinking that she would have to speak with Éowyn as soon as possible, and explain the situation to her before Gríma got to tell his own version of the story.

She tossed the remaining furs and woollen blankets on the bed and sat down on them, fuming within herself on how bad the outcome of her confrontation with Gríma had been. Having a strong desire to distract herself until Éowyn's return, she pulled out the two flowers she had taken from the mound outside the gates of Edoras. As she opened her hand, it were no longer the Simbelmynë she had plucked. One flower had turned yellow, its crown had enlarged, and its leaves had multiplied. The other flower had turned purple. It's large leaves hiding its heart in a cone. Arnica and Petunia. Her mother and sister, present in their flower forms in the palm of her hand.

A sense of loss and confusion consumed her, and she wept until the sun had set, and the stars of Varda were high up in the sky.

A/N In the movie, Háma has a young son named Haleth, whom we only see at Helm's Deep when he speaks with Aragorn, telling him that the men don't believe that they will survive the night. Peter Jackson took some creative liberty adding him in because he doesn't exist in the books.

A/N In the movie, Aragorn is given the horse Brego in Edoras, which was Théodred's horse. Aragorn even says, 'a kingly name for a kingly horse,' in Sindarin to the horse. Brego is actually the son of Eorl the Young, and the second King of Rohan. Aldor was the second son of King Brego, who would later become King after the disappearance of his brother Baldor. Aldor ruled for seventy-five years, the longest ruler of Rohan in history, and became known as Aldor the Old.

A/N In the Silmarillion and in the movie, it is said that Orcs were Elves once (Saruman says it to his newly bred Uruk-Hai). This is because before the Vala Oromë managed to find the first Elves at Cuiviénen (this is where the Awakening of the Elves took place in the Year of the Trees 1050), Melkor kidnapped some of them and cruelly tortured them, twisting them into the first Orcs. Later Tolkien stated in one of his letters that he didn't like his initial idea as it left too many plot-holes. He was working on a different creation story for the Orcs, but unfortunately, he passed away before he was able to finish it. Christopher Tolkien published the Silmarillion with the initial idea of Orcs having once been Elves, but technically it's not entirely true and their true origins remain a mystery.

A/N I took some creative liberty in creating Eorlund because he doesn't exist in the books (but I'm quite certain there must be a weapon and armour smith in Edoras somewhere). If you've ever played Skyrim, Eorlund Grey-Mane is the Skyforge master of Whiterun. Whiterun in the game is heavily inspired by the description of Edoras, including Dragonsreach being almost a copy of the Meduseld. Gísli also doesn't exist, but the name means "Ray of Sunshine", which is how I wanted to portray her.

A/N The Gift of Men from Eru Illúvatar set the race of Men apart from the Elves (and other living things in Arda). Eru willed that the spirit of Men is not wholly content in Arda, and therefore their spirit is not bound to the confines of the World. Because of their limited time on Arda, a virtue was instilled in Men to be motivated to create destinies for themselves amidst the powers and changes of the world. Men are able to shape their lives beyond the Music of the Ainur (the Ainulindalë) which rules the fate of all other things in Arda.

A/N Being a redhead in Middle-Earth matters! And the main reason for that is because redheads barely exist all throughout its history (though of course we can't be 100% certain since many characters simply aren't described by their hair colour). Nerdanel the Wise was the daughter of the Ñoldorin elf smith Mahtan and wife of Fëanor. Mahtan passed on his, what was described as, brown with copperlike-red hair to Nerdanel, who then passed it on to her eldest son Maedros and two youngest (twin) sons Amrod and Amras. (They had seven sons in total). Mahtan also had a beard, which was a rare exception for an elf. (Elves can only grow a beard starting from their third cycle according to Tolkien, but it was never specified what he meant by that. Mahtan got a beard in his second cycle.) Fëanor had raven-dark hair, so the parallels of Fëanor and Nerdanel with Severus and Lily are a nice coincidence.
p.s. Gimli was given red hair in the movies, but in the books his hair colour was never specified (same applies to Legolas). Most dwarves lean towards darker tones and black (with even blue-ish hues), though blonde dwarves also exist.

A/N A bellows is only used in plural form.

A/N Éowyn was born in TA 2995, making her 24 or 25 at this point.

A/N Simbelmynë is the Old English word for "ever-mind." The Elves called the flower Uilos, meaning "snow white" and Alfirin, meaning "not mortal." Tolkien stated in the Nomenclature of The Lord of the Rings that Simbelmynë was inspired by the Wood Anemone.

A/N The movies don't always fit the timeline. "By day his coat glistens like silver; and by night it is like a shade, and he passes unseen. Light is his footfall! Never before had any man mounted him, but I took him and I tamed him, and so speedily he bore me that I reached the Shire when Frodo was on the Barrow-downs." – Gandalf, Book 1: The Council of Elrond.
The Great Eagle, Gwaihir the Windlord, is the eagle that rescued Gandalf from the top of Orthanc and brought him to Rohan. Gandalf, already aware of Saruman's influence on King Théoden, was told to "bade any horse and be gone." To the King's dismay, he picked Shadowfax.

A/N Arnica was the name I had given to Lily and Petunia's mother to stay in the flower theme, and also because Arnica is used in healing salves. Petunias represent anger and resentment, which is very fitting within the canon story. Purple Petunia's also have another meaning; mainly that of mystery, fantasy and enchantment.