Hey there everyone, chapter 3 is here! I hope you all enjoy Also if you have a preference for who you want Harry to end up with, please let me know.
I do not own LOTR or HP.
Chapter 3
Legolas made his way through the halls and back to the elflings room as quickly as he could. His mind was reeling. He settled in a comfortable chair beside the elflings bed and drank in the sight before him. He had never before seen an elfling, his eyes traced the delicate features and the shock of dark unruly hair. It was nothing short of miraculous that there was an elfling laying before him. The guards posted around the room were watching the elfling like a hawk, eyes nearly reverent. Legolas knew they would have to be careful, or the newcomer would be in danger of being suffocated from besotted elves. He chuckled slightly at the thought, startling when he looked back at the elfling to find a pair of luminous green eyes staring back him. The eyes were slightly unfocused but were rapidly clearing.
Realisation seemed to hit Harry like a truck. He woke up warm, but his body still ached. His mind struggled to piece together where he was and what he had been doing. He opened his eyes but had to blink several times before a smiling blonde man came into focus. Elf, his mind corrected. He sat up like a shot, startling so bad he nearly fell off the side of the bed.
Movement in the room caused him to swing around wildly, to take in two other elves moving toward him. His heart pounded in his chest and Harry scooted back quickly until his back hit the headboard.
"Calm yourself little one, I am Legolas, and you are safe" the tall blonde elf said softly. Harry noticed his voice was just as soothing and lyrical as the other elves he had met.
Harry took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. The elves he had met had all seemed friendly, there was no need to feel so panicked. Oh, aside from years of conditioning as well as the fact he still had no idea where he was or what was going on. He shook his head to clear it as the blonde elf, called Legolas spoke again.
"Go and fetch my father" Legolas said to one of the other elves, who quickly rushed from the room.
Legolas sat down on the bed, but gave Harry plenty of space, which he greatly appreciated.
"Can you tell me your name?" Legolas asked gently.
"Harry" he breathed. Before clearing his throat and repeating more firmly. "I'm Harry."
"Harry" Legolas said, trying the feel of the name on his tongue. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine" Harry said, remembering all the times in his life he had uttered those words.
Legolas raised an eyebrow in disbelief but refrained from contradicting the statement.
"Well would you like something to eat? Drink?"
Harry remembered that he had been starving when he had first come across the elves and time had only made it worse.
"Ah, yeah that'd be great, thanks" Harry said with a soft smile. "I don't actually remember the last time I ate."
Something flashed across Legolas' face but was gone just as fast.
"Well then, Auriel would you please go and get young Harry here something to eat and drink from the kitchens."
The other elf in the room bowed before leaving. Harry's eyebrows furrowed in confusion for a moment before the door swung open again and another elf walked in. Harry's eyebrows rose as he took in the elf before him. He was tall and imperious with a commanding aura that radiated throughout the room. His hair was blonde and even longer than Legolas' and upon his head sat a crown. The crown was different to anything Harry had seen before, in movies or in books. It was beautiful and seemed to be made of wood, leaves and berries.
Thranduil smiled as the young elf gaped at him.
"Hello, young one" Thranduil said kindly, taking in the emerald green eyes before him. "My name is Thranduil."
"Hello" Harry said hesitantly, clasping his small hands before him nervously.
"Don't be scared, you are safe here" Thranduil said, unknowingly echoing Legolas' earlier words.
Harry couldn't help a small sardonic grin from gracing his lips.
Harry pointed at Legolas, "that's what he said. Also, I'm not sure if I've ever been safe a day in my life, so sorry if I don't quite believe you just yet."
Thranduil's eye's widened in surprise at both statements.
"Well, Legolas is my son, so that's not surprising."
Harry's eyes flicked between the pair. "I can see the resemblance, a lot of blonde hair" he said waving his hands around his head.
Legolas had to fight the urge to laugh, a lot of blonde hair indeed.
"I am King of these lands" Thranduil explained, and Harry's eyes raised to linger on the crown.
"I don't know where I am."
"You are in the Mirkwood of the Woodland Realm, does that sound familiar?"
Harry shook his head, where on earth was, he? He ran his hands over the soft blankets on his bed, trying to calm himself.
"Do you remember where you're from?"
"Ah, Surrey. It's just outside of London" Harry said uncertainly, noting the look that Thranduil and Legolas shared.
"I have not heard of this place" Thranduil said carefully.
Harry let out a mournful sigh, "I'm beginning to think it's a long way from here."
The elfling gave the pair a shrewd look before continuing.
"Have you ever heard of someone dying, then coming back again in a different place?" Harry looked around, "possibly a different world? Because I think that's what's happening here."
Thranduil and Legolas looked shocked.
"Or is this heaven?" Harry asked looking around with a furrowed brow. His tired mind couldn't make sense of what was happening.
Thranduil and Legolas shared a glance.
"What is heaven?" Legolas asked curiously.
Harry's eyes became distant. "Its where you go when you die."
"Die!" Legolas yelped, jumping up from the bed and causing Harry to startle. "You are most certainly alive, and I will personally make sure that you stay that way."
Harry blinked at the determination that laced the blonde elf's words.
"Harry, I feel like we are missing something. Why don't you start at the beginning and tell us how you came to be here" Thranduil said, his own heart racing at the thought of the elfling dying.
Harry nodded sheepishly. "Sorry, you see, I was fighting in a war" he decided not to mention the magic part, who knew how that sort of thing was viewed here. "I died in battle but when I woke up, I was in a strange forest. I walked for ages and eventually came across Laston and the others who brought me here. To you."
"And this place you came from, it isn't anything like here?" Thranduil asked as he slowly started to pace the room in thought.
"Well, granted I haven't seen much of here so I couldn't rule it out completely but no, it doesn't seem to be."
Thranduil nodded seriously. "You must have been blessed by the Valar" he breathed. "Your sacrifices must have been great indeed to warrant such a reward."
Harry blushed slightly, "Oh, no, not really. There were many that gave everything they had, just as I did."
"Hmm" Thranduil hummed, looking doubtful. "Well, either way, it seems that you have been rewarded, that explains why no one had heard of your birth."
"I take it elflings aren't very common?" Harry asked cautiously, causing Legolas to snort.
"That's an understatement."
Harry jumped slightly as the door swung open again, admitting one of the elves from before with a tray ladened with a variety of meat and vegetables. The food smelt amazing, and Harry felt his stomach growl viciously in response. He thanked the elf politely and tried to remember his manners as he started eating.
The four elves in the room stood gobsmacked as the tiny elfling ate as though he hadn't eaten anything in the last year. Thranduil could tell he was trying hard not to just shovel the food into his mouth. How could one so small, eat so much?
When the food was all gone and the tray cleared away, Harry felt much more relaxed. It was amazing how much better a full belly could make you feel. He reclined back in the comfortable bed, his eyelids drooping as he tried to stay awake.
"Nap time, is it?" Legolas asked with a grin.
Harry tried to glare but he mostly just looked like an angry kitten, causing Legolas to smile wider.
"Don't need a nap time, I'm 17 years old!" Harry grumbled.
"So young" Thranduil breathed. "Rest, we can continue our talk after your nap."
Harry was going to argue, but really what was the point, he was tired, and the bed was so comfortable.
He snuggled down letting the warmth envelope him.
Legolas stood from the bed when Harry's eyes drooped closed and his breathing evened out.
"Do you believe him?" He asked his father as he pushed a dark curl off the elflings face.
"I do. He is a blessing, that we must prove ourselves worthy of."
Legolas nodded seriously.