A stunned silence followed Bilbo's words. Laelynn stared at him, eyes wide and mouth open. It wouldn't… she couldn't… no.

"We have to–" she started, "–to go– to get– Laketown– Bard–." Her mouth didn't seem to be working, nor her legs, because she wanted to be moving, running back into the mountain to find a door, not standing here, Bilbo's concerned hand on her arm. Bilbo? No: it was too big.

Laelynn turned on her heel, feeling like she was moving through treacle, to look back. Thorin's eyes met hers, remembered sadness darkening them. "There is no use," he said solemnly. "We are too far away to have any effect."

"No," Laelynn half-snarled, wrenching her arm away. "There has to be something I can do. I can't just not do anything." She saw sympathetic looks on the others, and tears fractured her vision. "I can't," she repeated, her voice breaking.

A few people patted her shoulder, and even Thorin seemed not to hold her snarling against her, but it didn't help. Laelynn stared at the distance, Laketown hidden by the gentle hills at the head of the Long Lake. She couldn't stand and do nothing; it went against her entire being. Her purpose for so long had been to fight other people's battles, and now she didn't know how to do anything else.

Her magic wasn't even of use, an overwhelming tiredness deadening her limbs and her ears and her eyes, until she could only see the quiet glow of Laketown burning, so far away, and could do nothing.

"We will take in whatever refugees find their way here." Laelynn turned, dragging her sleeve across her face, to see Thorin talking to Fíli, a hand resting on his shoulder. "I promise you," continued Thorin, and Laelynn felt something in her chest loosen. Kíli walked up to his brother, and squeezed his hand tightly, murmuring something she couldn't hear.

"There's a ledge," Dwalin said, and she turned to see him standing next to Ori. But when he spoke, he was addressing them all. "By the Front Gate. We could see what's happening from there."

There was a short silence as they digested Dwalin's words, and Laelynn felt herself moving almost before Thorin started to lead them to the Front Gate. She had to see. Had to know.

Thorin led them through what must have been the market when the mountain was thriving. Its empty stalls tugged at Laelynn's eyes, making her shiver. When they reached the Front Gate, large stone doors torn from their hinges were lying broken on either side. There was a pause, where the members of the company old enough to remember looked at them sadly; Laelynn turned away from a boot peeking out from under one of the doors. Then the spell was broken, and they spilled out of the entrance.

Like before, Laelynn didn't notice the stuffiness of the mountain until she was out. But now the air outside felt thick and heavy, the glow from Laketown more visible even as they clambered the rock Dwalin led them to, until they could see the town.

It was like Bilbo said: Laketown was burning.

It's salt-stained houses were burning: orange, red, gold, flickering towards the dark sky. Another tongue of flames rolled down, and Laelynn shuddered as she realised just how large Smaug was; his girth blocked the stars even more than the smoke could, and the only glimpses of him she could catch were a gold-crusted underbelly, a wing fanning the flames.

She glanced to her sides, seeing varying degrees of horror on their faces. Horror that must surely be present on her own. Thorin stood next to Bilbo, guilt and pain present in the maelstrom of emotions that flickered across his face. Bilbo looked even worse, guilt slathered heavily on his face. She knew why the guilt was there, knew she had as much a right to it as any of them, and cautiously put a hand hand on Thorin's shoulder. When he turned to her, she inclined her head in Bilbo's direction, pulling back her arm. He understood, and his own arm snaked around Bilbo's shoulders. He jumped, startled, but didn't remove it.

Laelynn turned to the lake once more, as Smaug took another pass over the town, flames spreading even further. If only she could have stopped him! But she hadn't, wasn't fast enough, and now Smaug was there, burning the town that had taken them in.

She found herself wondering what would happen next; when Smaug came back, back to where they stood. Waiting. Watching. It would take only moments for him to burn them to a crisp. All they could do was wait.

Laelynn set her feet firmly. No. They could– they would do more than that. When Smaug came back up the mountain, he would pay.

The ground rumbled under her feet, and she looked up sharply. The sky had lightened while she was thinking, the sky now painted in pale shades of pink and gold. Laketown still burned, but– she looked again: there was no dragon in sight.

"It fell," Bilbo said, a note of hope in his voice. Hesitant, but there. Laelynn looked to Laketown again: hesitant, but there. There were still flames licking into the sky, but now there was no dragon for them to paint red. Just the dawn, and the sun rose even as they watched. Laketown was safe.

A weight in Laelynn's chest loosened. She took a deep breath, appreciating finally the air outside the mountain, as the dwarves began celebrating. Thorin had a small smile growing on his face as he seemed to realise what the dragon's death meant. Laelynn's gaze travelled past him, to the mountain, looking less… ominous, now the dragon lay at the bottom of the Long Lake. In fact, with the sun painting it's slopes a dusty pink, the mountain didn't look dangerous at all.

After a few more minutes, it seemed by mutual consent that the group turned to head back into the mountain. After all, there was still much to do to get the mountain liveable again. Laelynn heard Thorin muttering to Dwalin about the Arkenstone; oh yes, and Thorin was looking for that stone.

A thought, dancing at the edge of her mind, caught her attention as they walked back to the Treasury. But even as she focused on it, it twisted out of reach. There was something important about the Arkenstone, something she needed to remember, but after a few frustrating minutes chasing it, Laelynn let it go. She would remember it eventually, and as they walked into the Treasury there were far more important things to take up her attention.

A gem caught the torchlight, twinkling innocently as a hand reached out to grab it. Laelynn studied the large ruby, twisting it this way and that as it glittered cheerfully. It was quite large, and would look absolutely stunning in a necklace. She could almost feel the envious stares of people like Mrs Potter, and smirked.

But… Gryffindor colours. Ugh. She tossed the jewel uncaringly to her left.

It had been… oh, about two, three weeks since Smaug had died. There was all the talk about cleaning up the rooms and the rest of the mountain, of course, but really. It was much easier to just sleep in their bedrolls: after all, that gave them more time to explore the Treasury.

It was far larger than she'd first thought: there was gold yes, and jewels, but hidden between them were swords, shields, harps and other instruments, jewellery and other bodily decorations far beyond count. She'd found a chess set the day before, the board made of the finest, purest silver and gold, it's pieces beautiful black and white diamonds. She smiled even now, thinking of the expression Weasley would make when he saw it.

Because he would see it. Laelynn had remembered easily enough what she wanted the Arkenstone for, and was just waiting for Thorin to find it. After all, it would be a waste of her time to look for it as well, not when she could be collecting pieces worthy of her instead. It was just a matter of taking it from him, and that was easy enough with her magic. She would be gone before he even realised, well on her way to her world before any of them could react.

It would be child's play after that to find Voldemort, with her skills. She would make him beg for mercy, for daring to threaten her and her own. Him and those fools who followed him. It would only take a moment, and Voldemort wouldn't threaten anyone, ever again.

Then when the Potters came for her, she would fight. Laelynn would make them rue deciding she wasn't good enough for their love. Her, who fought basilisks and Wargs, who didn't run from danger but towards it, her who was far more pure than any of them, being made from magic herself? Oh yes, it would be a cold day in hell before the Potters would make her do anything again. Them and anyone who had been cruel to her, taunted her, believed her perfect, pretty 'brother'.

A hand touched her shoulder, and Laelynn turned to see Bilbo looking at her, concerned. Ah yes, Bilbo. She would be sad to leave him behind, even with his odd attitude to the Treasury's glorious collection. Him, and Bombur and Fíli and Kíli. The four of them stayed by the bedrolls, entering the Treasury only to retrieve the rest of them for supper. Which it must be be now.

"Right, right, supper and all that," she said lazily, releasing the coins in her grip and getting to her feet, a task made difficult by the weight of the jewellery decorating her. Bilbo still looked concerned, but she waved him towards Thorin, searching a few mounds over. Laelynn strode languidly out of the Treasury, a smirk still playing around her lips.

Soon, Thorin would find the Arkenstone, and soon, she would gain her rightful respect; her friends would sure be in for a shock when she returned.

Thorin strode up next to Laelynn a week or so later, decked in resplendent robes. Bilbo followed behind, alternating between wringing his hands and playing with something in his waistcoat pocket.

"Laelynn," he said, bowing his head in the most cursory of nods. Laelynn waved him away, more interested in the silver-tipped quills in front of her — except she had never seen silver so pure and pale before.

"Mithril-tipped quills," said Thorin, looking past her. "A fine set, certainly, and worth more than all the jewels you wear combined." Her head slowly rose to look at him, and Thorin smirked as he found himself the focus of her attention.

He tilted his head. "Although they're of no use to me, I have no doubt that you would find them useful to own," Thorin said. "In fact, I'll happily gift them to you, in exchange for a favour, of course."

"Oh, of course," Laelynn replied easily. He would ask for something she'd find easy, no doubt, and it saved her the trouble of stealing them away later. "What did you have in mind?" She stood up properly and stretched, before following as Thorin led her out of the depths of the Treasury.

"I suspect it would be easy for you to strengthen our defences, would it not?" he asked, leaving the Treasury. Bilbo walked swiftly alongside him, a frown on his face. Laelynn nodded, already thinking of what she could do. "So it would be no trouble for you to strengthen the Front Gate."

"None at all," she replied, rubbing her hands together as they left the warmth of the inner mountain. "A good thought to have, Thorin."

"It's thanks to Bilbo I thought of this at all," he said as they entered the Market.

Bilbo scowled. "Don't say that Thorin Oakenshield," he said angrily. "You know as well as I that I was merely mentioning the smoke seen on the horizon."

"Yes, smoke from campfires," Thorin replied. "I have little doubt Thranduil and his ilk are coming, thinking they can steal the treasure of the dwarves!"

"I told you," Bilbo cried, exasperated, "No one plans to steal from the mountain!"

"As I told you, Master Baggins, that you don't know Thranduil. Not like I do."

They reached the Front Gate, Kíli and Fíli slouched against a wall on guard. The two straightened as Thorin approached.

"No one's been sighted, Uncle," said Fíli. Kíli nodded in agreement.

Thorin smiled fondly. "Good," he said to them, before turning to her. "Laelynn?"

Laelynn grinned in reply, the fresh air blowing her hair back from her face. It was almost like it was clearing away cobwebs, and her grin widened as better spells came to mind. Raising her arms, Laelynn pictured clearly what she wanted to happen: the torn and twisted doors shuddered, stone dust flying in great clouds as they broke apart.

Thorin had started forward angrily, when Bilbo put a hand on his arm. "Wait," he said softly.

Her arms still raised, Laelynn began to direct the newly-formed chunks of rock into the doorway. Setting them in place was effortless, and their angular forms meant they fitted together neatly. Protected from the wind, Laelynn punched look-out holes along a neatly-made stairway to the top. A gesture turned what remained of the broken doors into an almost fluid dust, which sealed up the cracks and crevasses until a final wave of her hand shifted the rock, melding together until there was no hope for an attacking enemy to breach it.

The eyes of the others were wide, but none wider than Bilbo's. he almost looked… despairing? Laelynn decided it wasn't worth bothering with, as Thorin began examining her work; there was a set of quills that were hers.

So... it's not the end of March? No but really, I just got completely stonewalled on this for about three months, not helped at all by exams (I've finished GCSEs! No more Biology!). Then July has just been really busy, as I've got a new job, so I've only been able to sit down and type for about a week. Er... sorry?

Ok, so! Laelynn! If it hasn't been made clear, she is under the same goldsickness as the rest of the Company. Does she realise? Ahaha no she does not, at all. She is unaware of any influence on her at all. Also, to anyone who's only seen the movies, in the book, the goldsickness wasn't a "weakness of the line of durin" or whatever, but a curse on the gold due to it's proximity to Smaug; so only Fíli and Kíli (who are too young, I think), Bombur (more concerned with food), and Bilbo (also more concerned with food, but also a Hobbit's natural state of "is it edible/useful? no? then I don't particularly care") aren't affected by it. Think of it kinda like Voyage of the Dawn Treader, if that helps any.

Anyway I won't give out anymore really very totally wrong estimates of when I'll next update, but we've nearly finished. Only a couple more chapters to go, then we're done.