Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the Lord of the Rings. They belong only to respectable owners/publishers/others
Author's note: So…When I went to work this evening I left without grabbing up my "story" notebook which has written down all my ideas and summaries for my current stories, so I did not want to work on anything without it by my side. So! I decided to write something new instead of you know…doing my job. This is a ONESHOT! While I enjoy writing HP/LOTR and plan to do more, right now I want to finish up some of my other works. Enjoy.
"Sindarin/Elvish" – A lot of the conversations between Legolas and Haldir take place in elvish, and a great deal is also taken from the "Fellowship of the Ring".
Rumil and Orophin waited with barely hidden glee as they watched along with their older brother the rather odd approaching group, a group that was slowly making their way into their Lady's land. The band was lead by a rather tall, rugged human male as well as a blond haired elfin male; an elf who was most likely from the northern lands around Mirkwood.
Following behind the two was another human male and four small beings they came to realize were not children, but rather hobbits. Behind these few was the source of the brother's amusement. A rather dirty, hideous dwarf that was in stark contrast to the being walking next to it with a small smile on strawberry kissed lips.
Haldir had been commenting on his distaste for the hairy appearance of dwarves when his voice trailed off mid-sentence. Rumil and Orophin had looked up in confusion at their brother's unusual behavior. The normally serious and stern elf looked as though he had been slapped. The shock and awe on the elf's face at the appearance of the young man was easy for all to see.
They both had to agree that the being was beautiful; at first glance they nearly mistook the creature as an elf before realizing the natural glow to the young man's skin was far too unlike their own. The young man (for that was the only option as to what he could be) had hair as dark as the night of the new moon without a star in the sky. His eyes shamed the greenest of leaves on the trees where the elves built their homes. There was such a depth and clarity in those eyes that no lake could dare dream of matching.
As the group came closer they could easily hear the singing of their blond kin as he sang a familiar song in dedication to the beautiful Nimrodel.
"Well then, shall we go greet them?" Orophin looked to his brothers with an easy grin, his voice seemed to wake Haldir from his trance like state.
"Yes, let us go at once." Haldir murmured, his eyes never leaving the beauty before him.
It was easy to see that the marchwarden was distracted, and Legolas was slightly nervous as he tried to think of what the cause could be. There had been many years between the time the elves of Mirkwood and Lothlorien had met together, and he dared not think that times were so dark that they would not trust another elf.
"How many are in your company?" Haldir asked the crown prince of the Mirkwood elves.
"Nine," Legolas looked down to his waiting companions. "Myself, four hobbits, and two men, one of whom, Aragorn, is an Elf-friend of the folk of Westernesse."
"The name Aragorn son of Arathorn is known in Lorien," Haldir commented as if talking to himself. "And he has the favor of the Lady. All then is well. But you have yet spoken only of seven."
"What about the short raven? Is he not of the race of man as well?" Rumil asked as he stared down at the young man, his clear appreciation of the boy's beauty earned him a glare from his elder brother that went unnoticed.
"He is known as Harrison, or Harry to those he calls friend. He is a wizard, and was the second of his kind in our company before Mithrandir fell into shadow." Legolas watched with a knowing smile at the disbelief of all three.
"One of the Istari? But he is so young." Orophin rubbed lightly at his chin. "Perhaps his magic is the means of maintaining his youth."
"He has only yet seen nineteen summers," Legolas noticed the interest that Haldir held in the young wizard. "He is young, but very powerful indeed. Even Mithrandir and Lord Elrond were amazed by his abilities."
"There is the final of your group. The dwarf that we can smell even from here." Rumil twitched his nose in distaste.
"He is from the Lonely Mountain, one of Dain's trusty people, and friendly to Lord Elrond," Legolas quickly responded, doing his best to quell any unease. "Elrond himself chose him to be one of our companions and he has been brave and faithful."
"Very well," Haldir spoke after he quietly conferred with his brothers. "You, Legolas and Aragorn will speak for him and he shall pass, but must go blindfolded."
"The four hobbits shall climb up here and stay with us…as well as the young wizard. We do not fear them." Rumil and Orophin shared a pleased look at their brother's apparent anxiousness. "There is another talan in the next tree. There the others must take refuge. You must answer to us for them. Call us, if anything is amiss. And for the sake of us all, keep an eye on that dwarf!"
Harry sat close to the hobbits in an attempt to comfort and be comforted. The loss of Gandalf had hit the young man harder than he possibly could have imagined. The old wizard had been the first Harry had the pleasure to come across as he wandered the lands of Middle Earth. He had easily been drawn to the man who reminded him so strongly of his dead mentor. A quick use of legilimency had shown Gandalf to be a fellow wizard (although his magic was far different from Harry's own) as well as learning he could trust the man and chose to follow him on his way to a place known as Rivendell.
It did not take Harry long at all to learn of the impending war and the darkness from Mordor that threatened to destroy all the land. Originally he began to curse fate for letting him end up in another world where death on the battle field was way too gain; slowly however he realized that he was not ready to settle down into a normal life, and in meeting the strong hearted Frodo, Harry had chosen to dedicate himself to the cause.
While being on the run with Hermione and Ron, it had taught him a better sense of surviving then he ever had before. And yet he had been spoiled by the spacious and comfortable Wizard tents, the easy to get supplies, and even toilet paper. Middle Earth was truly a very different world, and Harry was starting to feel that he was in over his head, drowning without the support of Gandalf.
"Are you alright there Harry?" Gimli asked as he came to stand at Harry's side. The dwarf had shown a kinder heart then Harry could have ever expected under all that hard armor. Apparently the beard was enough to prove that the battle scarred dwarf was truly a teddy bear.
"Yes, I am just tired. And I just wish to rest." Harry forced a small smile on his lips as he looked up at his standing friend.
"Well that is good to hear indeed," Legolas jumped down nimbly from the tall branches of the tree before him. "The elves here have agreed to give us shelter for the night. Harry, you will accompany Frodo, Merry, Pippin and Sam to the tree to my left. The rest of us shall share the tree on the right my friends before we move on with the morning light."
"Dwarves are meant to remain on the ground." Gimli grumbled before Aragorn sent him a slightly annoyed look, as he reached for the silver rope ladder that fell from the tree to the right.
"Well then, you can stay down here and keep the orcs distracted while we rest easily." Aragorn muttered before climbing up the rest of the way, followed quickly by Boromir.
"Shall we go then? I'll follow at the back, just in case." Harry smiled at the eager faces of Merry and Pippin before they quickly made the way up their own ladder.
It had taken a majority of the night for the occupants of the left most Talan to fall into slumber; while Sam had gone to sleep immediately, Frodo, Merry, and Pippin were too tense to sleep as the weight of the day seemed to finally settle on them. There was also the fact that hobbits rarely slept above ground, or elevated at any point at all, so being up fourty feet in the air on an open platform was anything but comfortable for the three.
They had all slept close together in the center of the platform, curled up almost like a pile of puppies all around Harry who they had chosen as their protector for this night. Harry bleary eyes tried to focus on the pitch black sky as he tried to realize why he was hearing the sound of metal clanging and heavy footsteps below him. The orcs were apparently still hunting desperately for their group, and if they only looked up they would have found them.
Carefully Harry wriggled his way out from under the pile of hobbits, only to be stilled by a light touch to his shoulder. Biting his lip as to not cry out in surprise he turned with the intent to glare at the person who touched him, only to realize it was one of the elves who gave them shelter this night. If Harry recalled right he had been told the elf before him was known as Haldir. He was like all the elves that Harry previously encountered in the fact that he towered over Harry's 5'8". His hair was a much lighter blond then that of say Legolas or Glorfindel, almost to the point of being silver. His eyes seemed to be a stormy shade of grey that reminded him of the seas around that little island his uncle Vernon had taken them to in an attempt to avoid Harry's Hogwarts letters.
"Careful my friend," Haldir leaned in to whisper into Harry's ear. "My brother's are leading the orcs away from us as well as our destination."
Harry gave a small nod and moved to sit a couple feet away from the still quietly sleeping hobbits, only to look up in surprise as Haldir joined him, sitting with his legs folded underneath him and bow at his side. Harry arched an eyebrow towards the elf in an unspoken question, only to realize that the tall one at his side seemed to be nervous.
"Legolas told me that you are a wizard." Haldir spoke after a long moment, the sounds of orcs progressing through the forest were disappearing as they moved farther and farther away from their location.
"Yes, not that my abilities have done us much good," Harry looked down at his hands, watching as he flicked his fingers just right so the familiar holy wand fell into his grasp. "Gandalf asked me to do no magic on our journey, in fear of drawing the attention of Saruman. Yet he still…"
"It is a hard lesson to learn, but you cannot protect everyone." Haldir never let his eyes leave the young wizard who was sitting so very close to him.
"I have said that to so many people, and yet when it is directed at me…I feel nothing but anger and frustration." Harry sighed as he slipped the wand back into its sheath. "I feel so lost."
"If you do not get lost, then there is a chance that you shall never be found." Haldir whispered in elvish, his words dancing on the breeze like tiny bells. It was easy for him to see that the young wizard before him was unlike any other he had ever encountered. Harry seemed to carry a sort of wisdom that one could only gain with age and great strife, and yet when he was with the hobbits and that dwarf earlier he showed such a love of life and childlike fascination with the forest…He was a mystery. And while Haldir normally did not care for things to be so complicated, if Harry was any different he doubted he would feel this pull in his chest.
He was never one to believe in love at first glance, but he felt overwhelmed by the growing feelings that seemed to rise up and overflow within him. It was a long moment before he realized that Harry never even acknowledged the change from Westron to Sindarin. Suddenly, it became so much easier for Haldir to accept his desires as he sat by Harry's side and whispered to the boy wizard about the beauty of Lorien and how he wished to his love everything wonderful to see in the magnificent city that was at it's center.
It was only a two hours until dawn when Harry stood with a polite smile, moving back to the pile of sleeping hobbits in an attempt to gain some rest of his own.
An hour after the dawn of the new day saw the fellowship as well as Rumil, as well as Orophin at the base of the trees where they had slept the night before. Haldir was quickly climbing down the ladder when he heard Legolas coming to greet Harry and the hobbits.
"So my friend, how did you fare last night? You have told me before of your love of being in the air. Was this to your liking?" Legolas laughed at the small grin that Harry gave him.
"I slept very little, but well. Although when I am normally so high in the air I am flying faster than any bird." Harry's grin grew as he moved past his friend to pick up his supplies they had hidden below the night before. "Staying so still was quite a different experience."
Haldir stood quite still, almost like a statue before his hand snaked out to grab a hold of Aragorn's sleeve.
"The wizard knows our language?" Haldir questioned, even though the answer was obvious.
"Yes. He mentioned he had a great skill with learning different languages, so Legolas and myself have been teaching him." Aragorn looked at the elf who stood a few inches taller than his own 6'6" "Is there a problem?"
"No, not at all." Haldir straightened his pack before turning his attention to group that he was to lead to his Lord and Lady. Only once…or maybe twice, did his eyes stray back to Harry who once again was by the dwarf's side. When their eyes met Harry quickly turned hide his face as well as the blush that seemed to blossom there.
There was still a good distance between them and Caras Galdhon, and once they arrived the fellowship would remain there for a few days while they gathered new supplies and rested. Surely that would be enough time to convince Harry to return to visit Lothlorien once again after his quest was through.
Author's Note: So…what did you think of my Haldir? I have to admit I'm pretty proud of him. I've been thinking about writing a HP/LOTR for awhile…Think I have what it takes?
Again, for right now this is a oneshot story. Perhaps I'll write more HP/LotR in the future.