Chapter one

Hey everyone! First and foremost, I am not JRR Tolkien nor am I JK Rowling. I just like to play around with their characters. I only own the plot for this story. Second, this story disregards Half Blooded Prince and Deathly Hallows. Lastly, please leave me a review! I greatly enjoy them and they boost my self esteem (ha ha). Thanks for taking the time to read my story!

Hermione Granger sat at a table in the library reading a book on house elves. She sighed as she turned the page. The way these poor house elves are treated made her feel sick. She knew she had to do something to protect them, but so many people mocked her efforts.

"Hermione," a voice called behind her," you said we were all going to do something today."

"Oh no!" Hermione moaned. "It's today! I thought it was next week." Hermione turned to face the voice. One of her best friends, Ron Weasley, came up and threw his arm around her. His red hair was a rare occurrence in the library since he hated to read so much. Ron smiled down at her. Even though she was very tall, he was taller.

"It's okay, Hermione," Ron smiled at her. "I guess I can ask Harry and postpone it to next weekend."

"Ask Harry what?" Harry Potter asked striding over to his two friends. His appearance was also very uncommon in the library. Hermione felt guilt settle on her shoulders.

"I was saying that we might have to prolong our trip because Hermione is busy," Ron related to him.

"Guys, I can put this off for a while. It's not too important," Hermione said feeling guilt settle on her shoulders.

"Really, you would do that for us?" Harry grinned at her. "Aw, you're a great friend."

Hermione chuckled at her best friends. They could always bring her out of a bad mood. She placed the book back on the shelf, quickly memorizing its location.

"Okay guys, let's grab our things and go!" Hermione shouted. They took off at a sprint to their House, Gryffindor House. "Hey take your cloaks too. We might need them to keep warm."

They packed a back pack full of items they would need, clothes, water, food, and other necessities. Hermione got down to the Common Room before the boys where she waited impatiently for them to get down. Harry and Ron could take longer than Lavender Brown to get ready.

She heard thumping coming down the stairs of the boy's dormitories. Instinctively, she walked to the portrait door for them to come down. She turned her back about to open the door when she heard a crash.

"Bloody hell, Harry!" Ron groaned in pain. "What do you have in that thing?"

Harry mumbled a reply that Hermione couldn't hear. Slowly, they got up and trudged their way to the portrait door. With a quick glance at each other, they took off towards the entrance of Hogwarts. Laughing, they threw the door open and jogged to the Black Lake. This weekend, they were going to explore the crevices of the mysterious lake.

After jogging for a while, Hermione threw her back pack on the ground. She gasped for air, fanning herself with one hand and with the other resting on her hip.

"Camp, here, no further," she exhaled her breathing still not back to the normal. Harry and Ron exchanged a look as if saying 'that's what you get when you read instead of working out'. Hermione pointed a finger at them. "Not a word," she threatened.

As quickly as possible, they set up a small camp with two tents, one small one for Hermione and a slightly larger one for the boys. The boys looked anxious to go exploring, but Hermione made them stay behind to put things away so creatures wouldn't get into their supplies.

"Okay guys, now we can go exploring," Hermione declared clapping the dirt of her hands. Harry and Ron cheered and began to speed walking to the edge of the water. After traveling for some hours, they stumbled upon a cave. There were markings on the side of the cave in some language no one knew. They entered the cave, tip toeing in, trying as hard as possible to be silent. The cave was utterly black. They held a hand in front of their faces and still couldn't see it.

"Lumos," they whispered in unison. The water from the lake had carved a river through the walls of the cave. Hermione could hear slight crashing noises coming from the back of the cave, but continued to walk unafraid of anything.

Harry had found something he was quite interested in. It appeared to be something like a dagger, but he wasn't quite sure that was the case. Ron was looking into the water, hoping to possibly spot something of value. Hermione continued to walk around the water's edge, exploring the depths. Her foot hit a loose stone and with a cry she tumbled into the frigid water. There was a current that they hadn't seen that we sweeping her away.

"Help," she screamed in terror, trying to stay on the surface of the water.

"Hermione!" The boys jumped into the water both attempting to rescue her. They reached her at the same time.

"Why didn't one of you stay on shore?" Hermione yelled at them.

"That wasn't exactly what we were thinking about," Ron shouted back. The current was too strong to swim back to shore. Like rag dolls, they were swept farther from the shore. The crashing noise became louder. Hermione knew what was coming. It was a waterfall.

"Guys put your legs in front and cross your arms over your chest. It will prevent broken bones," she instructed. They could see the edge they were about to go over.

"Bloody hell," Ron shouted as they went over the edge. Their stomachs hit their mouth. They couldn't scream. It seemed as if they were falling forever. Suddenly, they hit the water. Hermione opened her eyes under the water. The water was deep and slightly murky.

They swam to the surface of the water, gasping for air. Hermione took in the scene around her. The shore was of white rock in a gully sort of thing. Trees framed the sides of the gully. Small, thick bushes grew around the water. They paddled for shore and crept out of the water soggy and miserable.

"I don't think we're in England anymore," Harry whispered. Hermione nodded slightly water dripping from her long brown hair. Suddenly, metal footsteps could be heard against the rocks. What is this new evil? Hermione wondered in despair.

Harry pulled her to a bush. He hid in the one on her right side, and Ron hid in a bush farther down on her left side. Two brutish creatures walking into view; Hermione gasped in terror. Her limbs went cold. She was paralyzed with fear.

The creatures seemed to be a mix of goblin and troll. One was tall and very big, while the other was smaller and wiry. The both had numerous facial piercing with metal armor coating their torso and limbs. Large knives were strapped to their waists. They were creatures of terror and none of the trio wanted to cross with them.

"Come, we have to get those boulders for Lord Saruman," the large one grunted.

"Oh please, Saruman could have whatever he wanted, all he had to do is conjure it up," the wiry one complained. "Why must we always have to do his bidding?"

The brute growled at him, "Because he could kill you whenever he pleases. Now shut up and do as you're told."

The small one took a sniff of the air. "Do you smell that?" He asked the bigger one. He took a deep breath. "Human flesh. Fresh too," he concluded.

"Aye, and close," he said gleefully. Harry got lower in his bush, hoping to not be spotted. Ron crept into his bush and was virtually camouflaged. Hermione sank lower to the ground. The beasts' footsteps splashed on the water. Hermione could hear one of them mumbling which she supposed was cursing in their language. Their feet hit the side of the river the trio was on. Hermione swallowed her scream as silently as she could.

Hermione could hear them sniffing the air, tasting it almost, trying to find the location of the humans. She heard their footsteps close to her, but they quickly left. She let out an audible sigh of relief. Suddenly, she was yanked from her hiding place by her hair. She let out a scream or agony.

"What's this, a pretty, young spy from the enemy?" The small one mocked her.

"I know not who this enemy is. Please just let me go!" She begged tears beginning to run down her face. The brutes exchanged looks and began laughing at her request. They pulled a rope out and tied her hands and feet.

"Hey, let her go!" Ron shouted, jumping to his feet. The big monster threw Hermione to the ground and stalked over to Ron. Ron pulled his wand and shouted, "Protego," but only a slight wisp of mist occurred at the end of his wand. It grabbed Ron and threw him to the ground. Ron fought valiantly, but the beast was too strong.

Harry leaped from his hiding spot and attacked the smaller one from behind. The small one flipped Harry over his head. Harry landed hard on the stone ground and briefly lost consciousness. He too was tied up and was slung over the small one like a sack of potatoes. Hermione and Ron were thrown over the shoulders of the big one. They fought him every step, but he was too strong for them. They ran a great distance to a city. It had obviously once been beautiful, but it now looked like a glimpse of hell. Molten metal ran under the city, which Hermione saw in these deep canyons. More creatures were working down there. It seemed as if the heat did not bother them.

They entered a fortress or castle, which one it was Hermione couldn't tell. It had dark stone on the walls and floor. Pointy edges poked out of the walls. Gargoyles were carved on the walls and floors. It was truly a terrifying sight to behold.

The creatures tossed the companions roughly on the floor in a large room. A man dressed in white sad on a throne with a white staff in hand. He had a long white beard and long white hair. Bruises and cuts were evident on his face, as if he had just been in a fight. If he hadn't been so intimidating, Hermione would have thought of him as a very old man.

"My lord, we caught these three trespassing near the river Isen. We brought them straight to you," the large one reported. "They put up a bit of a resistance, but we had them contained."

The man smiled at the creatures and sent them off to go back to work. He strutted over to the three lying on the ground. Harry stared off into space, not wanting to focus on what was bound to happen next. Ron glared at the man in pure loathing. Hermione tried to contain her flowing tears.

"I am Saruman the Wise," he declared. "Why are you here?"

"It was an accident. It was never meant to happen," Hermione sniffled in a quiet voice. Saruman grabbed her roughly, holding her face in his calloused hand. His long nails bore into her skin. Tremors threatened to overtake her body.

"It is never an accident to go to Isengard," he replied forcefully throwing her to the ground. He quickly searched them, finding their wands and confiscating them. It felt as if a piece of Hermione's heart was being ripped out as he took her wand farther away from her.

Saruman clapped his hands. In walked a goblin. He bowed lowly to his leader. "M' lord," he meekly said.

"Take these creatures to the tower with Gandalf the Grey," he ordered.

"Yes m' lord," the goblin bowed and limped over to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. He grabbed their shirts roughly and shoved them out the door. Five other goblins walked with them, swords drawn poking into their backs drawing blood. Up they walked, up many stairs until they reached a trap door. Throwing the door open, they shoved the three of them onto the roof of a tall tower.

Hermione looked over to Harry. "We are definitely not in England anymore."

So what do you guys think of it so far? I think I misspelled some words so please correct me if I'm wrong. Please review! =]