Chapter 3: A Wolf Among Sheep

Harry woke feeling like he’d been hit by a bludger. He reluctantly opened his eyes only for the blue sky above his head to spin before his eyes. Harry closed his eyes as he valiantly tried to keep from losing his dinner. It felt like he’d just taken a very unstable and vicious portkey. The ride had been so rough he actually had to run a hand over his body just to make sure that he still had all his body parts in tact. Fortunately he did. He’d heard about splinching and it didn’t sound like the most pleasant of experiences.

Once he felt a little less dizzy he attempted to open his eyes again. When he successfully managed that he climbed to his feet to survey his surroundings. He couldn’t find any clues as to where he had ended up. Nothing looked particularly familiar.

He was standing on a large rocky hill overlooking a breathtakingly blue mountain range. All around him the wilderness stretched for miles. There wasn’t a single hint of human life anywhere, and it put Harry a bit on edge. The air was cooler than the summer air of England. Harry was certain he would have been shivering in his thin cotton shirt and jeans if his own natural body heat hadn’t kept him warm.

He’d obviously been sent quite a distance away from home. Had some Death Eater out for revenge slipped a portkey into the house he shared with Sirius and Remus? But that didn’t seem right. They would have sent him somewhere other than the middle of nowhere. Unless something had gone wrong or they were just hoping he’d die of exposure. Either way he supposed he was grateful for having landed in the wilderness rather than in some trap.

Harry sighed and resigned himself to start walking. He hadn’t learned to apparate yet, and he didn’t have his wand on him. Not that the loss of his wand was too great. His magic had been acting out a bit since the spell caging his true form had broken. Sirius thought it would settle down a bit after a while, and Remus thought that maybe getting him a new wand altogether would help to channel his newer, wilder magic. They were going to look into it more once Hogwarts had started again, and Harry actually needed to use his wand.

For now Harry could only hope that he could just make his way to the nearest town, and phone Sirius or Remus to pick him up. But it looked like it was going to take him awhile. There wasn’t a single sign of life anywhere to be seen. Harry didn’t see any roads or even smoke to give him some idea of how to find other people. Feeling a bit self-conscious but not really knowing what else to do, Harry scented the air with a long, black forked tongue. With Sirius’s help he’d just started gaining control over his change, and could shift small parts of himself without changing completely. It kept the itch of wanting to change shape at bay if he did small shifts throughout the day. It was also useful to lower the risk of exposing himself to the general public to a minimum.

The air he scented was fresh and clean, and didn’t help him in the slightest in deciding which way to go. With a sigh he just picked a direction and started walking. His wished it was night then he could shift and fly without the fear of anyone seeing him.

Harry had only traveled a short distance when an awful stench filled his nostrils. It smelt of putrid unwashed bodies with the underlying scent of decay. It had Harry pausing, and glancing around for the source. It took his brain a couple of minutes but eventually he placed the horrible scent. Harry remembered this scent from his time with Smaug. It was the odor of the creatures that had taken him from his birth father permeating the air. That knowledge had Harry confronting the idea that he might not be on Earth anymore. It was shocking but a part of Harry seemed to have known from the start that he was back in the world he’d been born in. He just hadn’t wanted to admit it to himself.

There wasn’t a lot of time to panic for soon Harry got his first good look at the creatures that had taken him from his father. They crested one of the many hills, and started sprinting straight towards him. His fuzzy, fear filled memories didn’t quite do the disgusting creatures justice. They were hideous things. Their skin was molted and warped, made even further grotesque by the paint smeared across it. They rode large vicious wolf-like creatures that were the size of horses.

Despite himself Harry was caught up in the remembered terror these creatures had caused him when he’d been just a baby. Certainly Harry had faced monsters larger and more deadly than them but his childhood fear had been ingrained in him after their horrible treatment of him. The utter terror froze his mind and body. His fear allowed them to get closer than Harry would have liked. They were nearly on top of him by the time Harry managed to get his legs to work.

There was no way that Harry would be able to outrun them. Even with the greater strength and speed that his dragon side provided his human form. Harry knew he would have to change shape. Before he was given the chance a horrible pain slammed into his left leg. He stumbled and went spinning down a small incline. Harry lay at the bottom of the small hill, his head throbbing and his leg felt like it was burning. There was an arrow sticking out of his thigh. Harry couldn’t quite comprehend the fact that there was a metal arrow coated in some black goo sticking out of his leg.

He’d had a lot of nasty hexes and curses hit him, and the Cruciatus was without a doubt a far more painful experience. But it was shocking to actual have been shot with an arrow. This world seemed to be even more outdated than the wizarding world if they were going around shooting arrows at people.

The black goo seemed to be some sort of poison for an icy crawling sensation began to spread out from where the arrow had pierced his leg to the rest of his body. It sent a strange lethargy through his limbs, and had him fighting to keep himself alert.

The creatures were closing in on him, and Harry tried to gather himself enough to take his true form. The poison was doing its job of incapacitating him all too well. He couldn’t quite manage the change. Harry desperately tried to pull out the arrow but it was too firmly lodged in his leg, and his hands kept slipping in the oozing black liquid. In the end it didn’t matter. It was too late. The creatures had caught up to him. They surrounded him on their wolf-beasts, speaking to one another in a harsh and guttural language. The wolf-beasts seemed a bit nervous in Harry’s presence, and they whined and snapped in obvious anxiety.

One of the creatures swung off his mount, and approached Harry carefully. In his hands he carried black shackles. It raised an alarm within Harry. They had come prepared. They had planned to capture Harry. The creature grinned, showing disgusting sharp teeth as it crouched down beside him. Harry bared his own teeth at the creature letting them sharpen a bit. The creature drew back a bit, and the scent of fear washed over Harry. His fear gave Harry a much-needed push to lash out at the creature. The rage of being at the mercy of these creatures was already brewing inside him, and it was enough to summon his magic to the surface of his unnatural fatigue. A powerful blast of untamed magic burst out of him and knocked the creature back several feet.

The beasts all howled and cowered. The human-shaped creatures had to force their mounts back in a tight circle around Harry. The powerful blast of magic left Harry even more exhausted than before. Not that it did him any good. His uncontrollable magical outburst only succeeded in knocking out one of the creatures. The others were fine. The creature with red eyes who was obviously the leader of the small group quickly snapped out several harsh commands to the others. More of the creatures got down from their mounts, and warily approached Harry. They pinned all of his limps to the ground, and despite the pain it caused his leg Harry thrashed as much as he possibly could. It was a strength born of pure desperation. If they were going to take him he wasn’t going to make it easy on them. Even with the poison in his blood they struggled to keep him down. In the end they still managed to get the manacles on him.

With Harry’s struggles somewhat subdued the leader pulled out a metal canister. Even before he brought it close to Harry, he could smell the rancid scent wafting from it. It smelled suspiciously like the black goop that was already covering his leg. The red-eyed creature grinned maliciously as he brought the container up to Harry’s mouth. He tried to turn away but the other creatures held his head steady. One of them pinched Harry’s nose closed while another got his jaw in a painful hold. The thick black liquid was poured into Harry’s mouth filling his senses with its putrid taste before his mouth was forcefully closed. He’d had some awful potions in his life but this was far worse. It was like drinking rotten flesh, and he gagged and choked trying to keep from swallowing it. There wasn’t a lot of options, and as much as he tried to spit it out more of it ended up down his throat.

The black ichor settled in his stomach instantly giving him a queasy and lightheaded feeling. His head was spinning, and he do nothing as he was tightly bound on the back of the leader’s mount like a sack of potatoes. Black spots danced across Harry’s vision. The feeling of pins and needles prickling along his skin spread across his body, and he felt another unnatural wave of weakness. Then they were off.

Harry didn’t know what they wanted from him. It was far too much of a coincidence that these same creatures had been the ones to originally kidnap him from his father. Were they still working for the one who took him? Had they been the one to bring him back here?

Harry tried desperately to think of an escape plan but the black drink they’d forced into him made his brain sluggish. It had even overcome the pain in his leg, and his entire body just felt numb. It was a massive effort to keep himself awake. Eventually he lost the battle, and darkness dragged him down into a fitful unconsciousness.

When Harry woke again it was night. He had to pause for a moment to get his bearings. Harry couldn’t tell if he was awake or dreaming. Everything had a wavering, unreal feeling to it, and his mind was moving differently. His thoughts weren’t exactly moving in the same order. The effects of the black potion were thrumming through his veins. He had to take several deep breaths before he managed to get himself even somewhat organized. It was only with his sheer stubborn determination that he could get himself to focus on his surroundings again.

The creatures had stopped and were sitting around a fire as they gorged themselves on a deer carcass. It was a disgusting sight of the creatures’ messy eating habits even as Harry’s own stomach growled at the smell of meat. Since becoming a dragon Harry had to take up hunting. Just regular meals no longer seemed to fill him up the way they used to. Luckily as long as he caught something every couple of weeks he would be fine. Dragons didn’t need to eat as often if they consumed larger portions.

Right now Harry would eat anything to get the foul taste of the black liquid out of his mouth. He wanted to be sick but he couldn’t even summon the energy to do it. Harry was able to concentrate on his kidnappers as the creatures talked amongst themselves, and as they spoke their language became clearer to Harry. It was like something he had long forgotten. Understanding them certainly helped him learn a bit about them.

“We shouldn’t have stopped,” snarled one of the creatures whose nose was particularly large. Harry dubbed him Big Nose.

“We’re too close to the dwarf-scum’s mountains. They’ll see us,” whined another with a small tuft of hair on its bald head earning him the name Pinhead from Harry.

“They don’t come out of their mountains for nothing. The cowards. Besides we can kill any runty dwarves that get too close. We deserved to stop. We’ve been running for days searching for the boy, and we have a lot of traveling ahead of us still,” snapped yet another. He was brawnier than the others, and Harry named him Beefy.

He counted ten of the foul smelling creatures in all. Each had their own wolf mount along with an additional seven without riders, making seventeen in all. How Harry was going to get past them he didn’t know. Of course he needed to get control of his own limbs before he could even think about escape. In a way it was worse than being captured by Voldemort and his Death Eater. At least he knew what to expect from Voldemort. He didn’t know anything about these creatures. Not even what they were.

“The master won’t like it if we’re late, and we still have a lot of ground to cover,” worried Pinhead.

“We got him didn’t we? That’s all that matters. He should reward us, going so far into enemy territory like this without being caught, and he wasn’t easy to catch. Vorz still hasn’t woken up from whatever power he used on him,” Beefy growled.

“Don’t let the master hear you say that,” the red-eyed leader snapped. “He’d kill all of us if you go spouting off about deserving rewards.”

The others all grumbled giving Beefy sharp glares.

“Why does the master want him anyway?” Pinhead asked. “He’s no child of Man. No matter what he looks like.”

“He smells like fire, and death,” Big Nose agreed with a shudder.

“I don’t know and I don’t care, and neither should you. Asking questions only gets you dead. The master said to go here and snap him up. Gave us the things to do it, and told us to bring ‘em back alive at all costs. I follow orders so I can keep my head, and it might do all of you some good to remember that. I won’t lose my life for your stupidity,” the leader snarled.

The others subsided even as Big Nose and Pinhead still whispered a bit amongst themselves. They had given Harry a lot to think about. Could it be this master was the one to send Harry to Earth to begin with? Had he brought him back? But why? What did he want with Harry?

From the rest of their conversations before they put out the fire that night Harry learned a few key things about his captors. They were orcs, and their mounts were wargs. The orcs were going to be taking him back to their home base a place they called Dol Goldur. Harry took that it was quite a long ways to get there, and hoped he would be able to escape before they made it to their destination.

Once the fire was out Harry slowly used all his strength to shift onto his back. He wanted to look at the sky. Harry had always loved the sky, loved flying, and it was something that only increased when got his dragon form back. Looking at the stars grounded him. It made everything feel less disorienting. The stars above his head were beautiful but unfamiliar. They seemed brighter than the ones at home, and Harry was beginning to think that this world was far more different than the one he had grown up in. How else could he explain that creatures like orcs could just travel across the countryside without anyone to stop them?

Harry allowed himself a moment to feel lost and alone. He was sick and homesick. He wanted his friends, and he wanted his father. Not James, even though he was his father too. In this moment he wanted Smaug, and the comfort he represented to his younger self. Smaug had been a vicious protector. Harry recalled a memory of Smaug defending him from another dragon who had tried to come, and kill them both for their cave and hoard. Smaug hadn’t hesitated to attack the larger dragon, and send him careening from their home with one less wing attached to his back. Smaug could certainly destroy these awful creatures for touching him. With that thought in his mind he slipped into an uneasy sleep.

In his dreams he got his wish. He got to see his father. Even though the Smaug in his dream was different than Harry remembered. He was bigger and more scars littered his red-gold scales. Smaug slept in a pile of treasure that had Harry salivating. A light dusting of various gold objects covered the large red dragon. Harry desperately wanted to reach out and curl up beside the dragon who was his father. All at once Smaug’s fiery golden eyes slid open. Golden eyes that were exactly the same as Harry’s own scanned over the treasure and a black forked tongue flicked out to scent the air.

“Ancal?” a deep, familiar voice called out. There was an eager hope in his golden eyes as he twisted his long neck over the mounds of gold and jewels.

“Ancal, my drakeling, where are you?” Smaug cried, appearing increasingly distressed when he couldn’t find Harry among the treasure.

Harry tried to call out to his sire, to reassure him that he was there. But he couldn’t speak. The dream was fading, and Harry could feel the waking world calling to him. Someone was waking him up.

Harry tried to hold on to the dream

“It was just a dream. He isn’t here. He’s gone,” Smaug snarled in despair.

A part of Harry ached to see just how distraught Smaug became when he realized that Harry wasn’t anywhere in sight. The massive red dragon roared in fury, breathing flames everywhere in the large dark cavern before diving into the treasure and burying himself completely.

With a gasp Harry woke from his dream to a nightmare. The orc leader hovered over him, his red eyes gleaming in malice as he wiggled the arrow in Harry’s leg to get him to wake up. Harry opened his mouth to roar in pain only for a fresh splash of the black filth to fill his mouth. Harry had no choice but to swallow or else choke on the vile concoction. Instantly a fresh wave of fatigue and vertigo washed over Harry. He slumped to the ground his head spinning and his body aching dully.

The leader sent Beefy to pick up Harry and strap him onto the back of his warg, and then they were off. Harry passed into a delirious state at some point. The world around him was a spinning mass of color and vague sensation. He had no idea how many days passed. It could have been hours or it could have been a hundred years for all that Harry was aware of it. His world was only a tingling numbness and delusions.

At some point the orcs finally got around to yanking the arrow out of his leg. The spike of pain from the way they roughly yanked the arrow out of his thigh was enough to briefly bring him back to himself. Removing the arrow was the extent of their nursing abilities. Harry’s mind sluggishly turned towards things like infection and gangrene. The orcs obviously weren’t going to take care of it, and the speedy healing he had received from his dragon side seemed to have deserted him. A part of him suspected it was the black potion that had caused it. He would have done anything to be back in the firm but gentle hands of Madam Pomfrey. Harry would never complain about staying in the hospital wing ever again if he ever got the chance to get back there. Eventually the pain dulled and Harry fell back into a fitful, half delirious sleep state.

The next time he came back to himself it was to the sound of a battle. He lifted his heavy eyelids to see the orcs engaged in a vicious battle with small hairy men on ponies. A part of him lethargically wondered if this was a hallucination. If it was he patted himself on the back for being so imaginative. The bearded people wielded swords, and axes as tall as they were, and they were fierce fighters despite the fact they were smaller than the orcs especially when on their wargs. Harry had never witnessed anything quite so violent. Sure wizarding battles could be deadly but all of the blood, and gaping wounds caused by axes and swords were much more brutal.

There were a lot more of the little hairy people than there were of the orcs, and it was obvious the orcs were going to lose. The orc leader realized this. Still carrying Harry and cursing dwarf-scum, he turned his warg around to try and escape. An arrow to the back of the head had the leader toppling off the warg. The warg ran a few more meters before it soon shared the same fate as its rider. It slammed into the ground sending Harry tumbling across the hard ground.

His head slammed into a rock causing it to throb, and for him to momentarily lose consciousness. When he opened his eyes again he was disoriented and forgot where he was. The sky was spinning before his eyes, and it felt like if didn’t get a good grip on the ground he would go floating into space. He was brought back to himself by a gentle touch to his brow.

Harry found himself looking into a pair of gentle brown eyes. The man had a head of gray hair, a lot of hair. His dark gray beard was braided in an intricate manner that Harry couldn’t really appreciate in his present state. He was talking to Harry as he started prodding at him. At first Harry couldn’t understand him but just like with the language the orcs had been using the more he spoke the more Harry understood. The man was a healer, and he was trying to ascertain Harry’s condition. But Harry kept fading in and out of consciousness, and wasn’t much help to him. Harry was brought back when his healer angrily growled something in yet another foreign language when he noticed Harry’s chained wrists and ankles.

“Look for a key!” the healer called out.

Harry noticed for the first time that the rest of the small hairy people had finished off the last of the orcs, and were now disposing of the bodies by burning them. Harry greatly approved and wished he could help them. He would have loved nothing more than to burn the stench of every last orc from the face of the planet. Harry also decided that it would probably be a good idea to stop calling his rescuers little hairy people in the event that it slipped out, and insulted them. They had saved his life after all. The orc leader had called them dwarf-scum. But Harry thought that they were probably called just dwarves. He vaguely remembered dwarves from primary school fairytales, and recalled that they were supposed to be miners. He couldn’t quite recall if they actually existed in the magical world.

The healer turned back to Harry. “Are you with me now, lad?”

Harry nodded slowly due to the pain in his head. He didn’t trust himself to speak at the moment. His mouth was dry aside from the black gunk still lingering on his tongue. He also didn’t know if he would actually be capable of speaking the language.

“Good, that’s good a lad. Here’s some water. I don’t know what that black ooze around your mouth is but I’m guessing it isn’t all too pleasant if it came from orcs,” the healer tipped a canteen full of fresh water into his mouth.

It tasted heavenly to Harry. Better than pumpkin juice or butterbeer. But that could have been because he couldn’t remember the last time he drank something other than the black ooze. He gulped down the water as quickly as he could. The healer didn’t let him drink all of it. The mouthfuls of fresh water worked wonders. Already he was more alert, and he could take in more of his surroundings.

“Now, I’m going to look at your wounds. It’s looks like you’ve got a right nasty one on your left leg. Those orcs wouldn’t know how to properly bandage a wound to save their own lives,” the healer grumbled loudly.

Harry vaguely wondered if he was being so loud for Harry’s sake or if it was just his normal volume.

“I found the key!” came a shout.

A younger dwarf dropped down beside the older one. This one wasn’t quite as hairy as the others. His beard just barely dusted his face, and his dark brown hair only had a couple of simple braids in his relatively short hair. Short in comparison to the others around him. It still fell far below his chin. The dark haired dwarf passed the keys the lead orc had carried to the healer before looking Harry over with curious brown eyes. Harry looked back equally curious. It appeared that the world he had been born into was a very diverse place, and a lot of different races of sentient beings lived here.

It was like joining the wizarding world all over again. His reintroduction to this world was a lot harsher. At least he’d had professors and friends to help him learn about it. Harry had a feeling he was going to spend a lot of time floundering and making a fool of himself as he attempted to learn how to navigate it, and interact properly with all of the various peoples.

The healer wasted no time in unchaining Harry. His wrists and ankles had been rubbed raw but the healer ignored them for now and turned his attention to Harry’s leg wound. He ripped the rest of his pant leg open, and washed it thoroughly before stuffing something green into the wound and wrapping it in clean cloth. Next he turned his attention towards Harry’s head wound. When his gentle fingers probed the head wound it made black spots dance across his vision. The pain made him dizzy, and the thick sickness of the black ichor seemed to surge within him anew. Exhaustion sank firm claws into him, and he quickly fell unconscious.

///

Harry woke to a gentle rocking. He was laying on a small wagon bundled in some rough blankets on top of some hay. The world spun before his eyes for a minute before he could get his bearings. The sky was too bright for it to still be the same day as the one he’d passed out in. He must have been asleep for a while. At least his head felt clearer. For the first time since he’d been captured by the orcs he was able to think clearly. He felt good. He was still a little weak but the unnatural lethargy that had plagued him was gone. Harry could actually move, and took advantage of that fact to look himself over.

His wrists and ankles had been carefully tended to, and his leg wound had been kept clean and was still tightly bandaged. His head wound had also been attended, and Harry was pleased to find that he didn’t even have a headache. He was also wearing new clothes. They were rough, and obviously handmade yet they were sturdy and comfortable. The shirt was a dark green while the trousers were a dark brown. He was sad about the loss of his own clothing but at least they had found something that fit him considering the size of the dwarves.

Harry would have given anything for a pepper up potion. He supposed he couldn’t be that ungrateful. He had been well cared for, and Harry was just happy that he wasn’t with the orcs any more.

The young, dark haired dwarf who had brought the keys suddenly drew up beside him on a pony. Another young dwarf with golden haired more braids, a braided mustache, and a thicker beard followed seconds later. The dark haired dwarf grinned when he saw Harry sitting up.

“You’re awake! Oin!” he called.

The healer from earlier soon came up beside him on his own pony.

“Good to see you up, laddie,” the healer greeted. “Would you like something to drink?”

Harry nodded, and the older dwarf passed over the canteen. As Harry drank his eyes carefully took in his surroundings. A group of about thirty or forty dwarves were stretched out in a line. Some were walking, others were riding in wagons filled with various materials while others rode ponies. Last time he had seen them he hadn’t quite been in the right state of mind. Only now did he take the time to really look over their appearances. Most of them were probably around four feet tall. One bald dwarf with tattoos who looked like he ate nails for breakfast had to be nearly five feet tall. They all wore thick clothing with furs and heavy boots. All of them had lots of hair. Some was worn long while others had elaborate braids. Some going so far as to braid beards and eyebrows into their hair. It was a bit fascinating.

Harry also took the time to decide just what he was going to tell them. They would no doubt want to hear all about how and why he had been captured by orcs. They would want to know who he was and where he was from. But Harry didn’t know anything about this world. He didn’t even know enough to make up a convincing lie, and lying wasn’t exactly something he wasn’t good at to begin with. Harry couldn’t tell them he was from here but had grown up in another world. Telling them that he was a dragon also seemed like a bad idea. He wanted to learn a bit more about the people who had saved him before he told them all his secrets. Harry’s best bet was to tell them nothing, to convince them that he didn’t remember anything beyond the attack.

“Your leg should be fine. I didn’t see any infection despite the care the orcs showed it, and all the black slime. If we can keep it up and keep you off the leg then you should heal up fine, and have full use of your leg. You’ve got a hearty body,” the healer declared. “Then there’s the head wound. It was quite nasty. You Men have weaker skulls that us dwarrows, and your healing was a bit comprised from whatever concoction the orcs were giving you. I was worried your mind wouldn’t function the same. So how’s the head lad?”

Harry saw this as a perfect excuse. The healer already thought he would have some head trauma. Harry was certain his magic had kept him from sustaining any permanent damage but the dwarves didn’t have to know that. He could pretend that he had lost his memories.

“My head doesn’t hurt,” Harry began out, stumbling over the foreign words. It was almost like speaking Parseltongue he just had to think about what he wanted to say and his mouth would comply.

“Speak up, laddie, I can’t hear you!” the healer shouted.

“Use your trumpet, Oin,” the brown haired dwarf shouted back with a grin.

The healer was carrying a horn of some kind. The healer, Oin apparently, must have been hard of hearing. The use of the ear trumpet only confirmed more of what Harry already knew. This world was far behind the technology of the one he’d grown up in. They were still using ponies and wagons to get around, which meant they probably didn’t have cars or electricity. The wizarding world didn’t use electricity either but their magic more than made up for it. He wondered just how common magic was to this world. They had talking dragons, dwarves, and orcs so Harry was hopeful his own abilities wouldn’t be scorned if he used them. But just like his decision to keep his dragon form a secret he would keep his magic hidden as well, unless it was absolutely necessary.

“My head doesn’t hurt but… I don’t remember anything,” Harry explained.

“You don’t remember anything,” Oin repeated.

“I don’t seem to have any memories. I think I remember a little bit of my time with the orcs. But it’s distorted and confusing. It’s like a nightmare full of sound and splashes of color,” at least Harry could be honest about that part. “Anything before that is just blank.”

“I was afraid of that,” Oin murmured.

“You don’t remember anything else?” the blonde haired dwarf questioned.

“I think… my name might be Harry. Everything else is… gone,” Harry replied.

“Don’t worry about it, lad. It’s possible that the memories will come back in time,” Oin soothed.

“What if they don’t? I don’t know anything. I don’t remember where I come from or even if Harry is my real name! Who are you people? Where am I?” Harry cried, hoping that he wasn’t being too dramatic.

“I am Oin, son of Groin, at your service,” the healer gently informed him. Not at all put out by his shouting.

“My name is Fili, son of Vili. This is my brother Kili,” the blonde haired dwarf, Fili, nodded to the dark haired dwarf. “We are currently headed back towards our home in Ered Luin also called the Blue Mountains. We’ve been on a trading expedition in the east.”

“One of our scouts caught sight of the orcs’ trail, and we couldn’t just let orcs just waltz freely so close to our land. Who knows what they were planning? We went after them. They tried to run like the cowards that they were. So we gave chase and killed them all!” Kili cheered.

It was a relief to finally know their names although he was a little confused by the rhyming names. It must have been a dwarf thing. He just hoped he didn’t get them mixed up.

“Thank you for all your help. I apologize for my outburst. You’ve been kind,” Harry apologized.

“Think nothing of it, laddie. I’m a healer, I’m used to it,” Oin waved him away.

“I shot the orc that was carrying you, and the warg,” Kili stated proudly, flashing the bow at his back. “Most dwarves don’t see using a bow as the mark of a true warrior. But I was the one to kill an orc and a warg all by myself.”

“And he’s quite modest about it, too,” Fili flashed his brother a grin.

Harry didn’t mind. He just smiled at the brown haired dwarf. “Thank you too, then. It looks like you all saved my life.”

“We’re just glad you’re finally awake,” Fili said.

“Why? How long was I asleep for?” Harry questioned in surprise.

“Two days. You vomited all of that nasty black stuff the first day, and kept mumbling something about hog warts. You have very strange dreams my friend. Why would anyone dream about hog warts?” Kili looked perplexed.

Harry flushed, hoping that they hadn’t heard anything else strange. If they had, hopefully they just thought it was due to him being delirious.

“I don’t know, I don’t remember dreaming,” Harry explained.

“We thought you were a goner for sure. We even took—” Kili was cut off.

Fili elbowed him. “What my brother means to say is that you were strong to have survived capture by orcs.”

“I wonder why they captured you? I didn’t think orcs took live prisoners,” Kili frowned.

“They take slaves sometimes. But only those they would find useful,” Oin told them looking grim.

Fili and Kili looked appropriately unsettled, wondering what sorts of traits an orc would deem useful. Harry couldn’t imagine a life as an orc’s slave. The small amount of time he’d spent in their company was more than enough for him.

“What am I going to do now?” Harry asked into the silence.

It was a question that Harry was really asking himself. Should he try to find his father or should he try and find a way back to Earth? Of course there was the more immediate question of where he would go right now. He was injured, and in a world he knew nothing about. Even he knew that he couldn’t just go running off. He needed a place to stay, to heal and learn about the world he was in. Would the dwarves let him stay with them?

“Our plan was to get you back to your kin as soon as possible once we had reached the mountains, and got you healed up enough to travel properly. There are always caravans going to and from the mountains. However, since you don’t remember where you’re from our options are limited. We’ll have to come up with another plan. Perhaps if we get you back to a city of Men someone will recognize you, and get you back to your kin. We would have dropped you off with your own people from the start but we’ve long since left behind any human settlements,” Oin explained.

“You could stay with us for a bit,” Kili offered.

Fili shot him a glare, and Harry heard him hiss something about inviting strangers into their home at Kili.

“That’s all right. You really don’t have to do that. Once I’ve healed a bit. I’m sure I’ll be fine on my own,” Harry said confidently.

But really he was panicking just a bit. This world was unfamiliar to him. Harry barely knew anything about it, and he’d already been attacked once. The dwarves had been friendly and helpful but he could tell they were a bit leery of him. There were humans here at least. He knew that much by the dwarves’ reaction to him, and while they weren’t enemies they didn’t seem to be the best of friends either. However, if it came down to it Harry would make his way on his own. He’d had to face plenty of things on his own. It never hurt to have some friends on his side.

“You’ll be staying close to me until you’ve healed properly, which I expect should be about a month or more depending on how much rest you give that leg,” Oin stated firmly.

“Thank you,” Harry murmured.

“Nonsense, you’re my patient. You aren’t getting rid of me that easily, lad,” Oin sniffed.

Harry chuckled but was grateful that he would at least have a place to stay for the next month. Hopefully it would be enough to get familiar with this world.

“Now back to important matters, what do you know, laddie?” Oin asked.

“Nothing,” Harry answered honestly.

Oin frowned and started asking him questions about various places, and different types of people. Harry couldn’t give him an answer to any of his questions. Luckily his honest confusion and lack of knowledge easily showed through making his memory loss all the more plausible.

“Your memory loss is worse than I feared. Fili, Kili, I reluctantly leave you with the task of helping our guest learn a bit about the ways of the world. I need to go and check on a few other patients, and consult Thorin. You two scoundrels best not give him any incorrect information,” Oin warned. “Understood?”

“Of course not, Oin, who do you think we are?” Kili looked insulted despite the mischievous look in his brown eyes.

“We won’t, we promise,” Fili assured looking a bit more trustworthy than his brother.

Oin gave them one more harsh look before falling back in the line to check up on another dwarf who’d been injured in the fight.

“I meant no personal insult to you, Harry. But you are as much a stranger to us as you are to yourself. We’ve never been very sociable with other races, and we’ve learned the hard way to rely only on ourselves. We don’t interact very often with Men. Only when it is necessary for trade,” Fili told him gently.

“It’s all right. I understand. I’m not insulted,” Harry assured.

Fili looked relieved, and Kili quickly started to tell him all about the dwarves. Well, everything that wasn’t a secret of course. Dwarves or dwarrows were apparently a very private people. They even had their own secret language that they only spoke amongst themselves when no other race was around. Through Fili and Kili, Harry soon learned that dwarves were crafters and warriors. They worked with metal, and gemstones to create all sorts of things. Harry was fascinated to learn that they actually lived inside mountains. They built entire cities inside them where they spent their entire lives mining and working. They hardly ever left except for trade and what not since they didn’t grow their own food. This had only been the third such trade journey that the two of them had been on.

Fili and Kili were all too eager to share more about their antics especially once Harry proved to be an eager student. Through Fili and Kili’s ramblings Harry learned a bit about the other races of Middle Earth, which was apparently what this world was known as by most. The humans were wide spread having various kingdoms and towns throughout Middle Earth. They were the same as the humans he was familiar with but were often referred to as the race of Men. Their way of life seemed similar to what Harry knew about medieval times.

There were elves, who Kili and Fili and all dwarves apparently didn’t quite get along with. They were nothing like house elves. From Fili and Kili’s tales they were the same size as humans but stick thin with big pointy ears. They were immortal as opposed to the dwarves who could live for several hundreds of years. Other races thought they were beautiful but Kili and Fili both insisted that they didn’t see the attraction themselves. Elves were apparently very irritating, and thought themselves better than everyone else. They lived in forests and didn’t interact much with the other races of Middle Earth. Or at least that’s what Fili and Kili told him. It was hard to tell how much of it was true considering their obvious dislike of elves.

There were also hobbits, which were apparently creatures that were even smaller than dwarves. Kili seemed to think they were some sort of miniature elf but Fili insisted they were a separate race. They had big feet and lived in holes in the ground, and that was really the extent of the knowledge that the dwarf brothers knew about them.

Fili and Kili went on to list the darker creatures of Middle Earth such as trolls and goblins. Both seemed to be quite a bit different from the trolls and goblins of the magical world. Fili and Kili did mention dragons briefly but despite Harry’s questions they didn’t want to talk much about them. They only said that there were still one or two around but that an actual dragon hadn’t flown through the skies of Middle Earth in a couple hundred years. It was disappointing but Harry didn’t want to push them for information or seem too interested in the subject.

Wizards were briefly mentioned as well but Kili and Fili knew even less about wizards than they did about hobbits. In fact they only knew of two. It was a little disheartening. Harry knew there was magic here. He could sense it in the air, and he was obviously still able to use it. But would there be anyone who could help him get back to England?

“How is the education of our injured guest coming? You’re not giving him false information are you?” came a deep voice.

Harry turned to see yet another dwarf draw up beside the wagon. This one was majestic in his bearing. It was all Harry could think of to describe the dwarf who carried himself with such confidence. He had thick black hair shot through with small strands of silver, and a couple of braids that were simple but elegant. His eyes were a bright blue, which matched his worn but fine clothing.

He gave Harry a probing look before dismissing him.

“Of course not, uncle. Our lessons are going very well. Balin would be pleased,” Fili assured. “Of course it helps that Harry is a very good student.”

“Harry allow me introduce our uncle, Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thrain, son of Thror,” Kili waved grandly to the dark haired dwarf. The dwarf certainly had enough names to warrant his majestic appearance; although he was pretty certain that no one could beat Dumbledore’s long list of names. “Uncle this is Harry.”

“Nice to meet you, sir,” Harry said, not really sure why he added on the sir. This dwarf just seemed to be more important despite the fact that his hair and beard were relatively simple in comparison to some of the others. Harry thought that he must have been a leader of some kind.

Thorin nodded back. “I’m pleased to see you have recovered. However, it is unfortunate that you don’t remember your past.”

“It’s disorienting not knowing who I am or where I’m from,” Harry replied.

“Hopefully we can find your family,” Thorin said stiltedly, it was obvious that small talk wasn’t his forte. It made things awkward because it wasn’t Harry’s either.

“I hope so, too,” Harry agreed, thinking of Smaug and the dream he’d had of him.

Thorin seemed to accept his answer, and didn’t feel any further need to talk to him. He said his goodbyes, and steered his pony back up to the front of the caravan. Harry was pleased that everyone seemed to have believed his story so far.

“Ignore uncle, he’s a big grump,” Kili said.

“Kili,” Fili rolled his eyes. “Uncle just has a lot on his mind. He has a lot of responsibilities to see to. But he does care. He was worried when everyone realized how sick you were.”

“Why was he worried?” Harry frowned.

“You may not be a dwarf but it doesn’t mean we wanted to see you die,” Fili glared.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” Harry backtracked. Harry just wasn’t used to having strangers care about his wellbeing. He wasn’t used to worrying about his own wellbeing at all. Harry was the one worrying about protecting everyone else. Since entering Hogwarts he’d been in danger in one form or another. It had just become second nature to him.

“It’s all right,” Fili sighed. “We understand this must be difficult for you.”

“You have no idea,” Harry sighed as well.

Fili and Kili continued to talk but Harry found himself exhausted just from the brief interaction, and he found himself easily dosing off again in the middle of their conversation. It was dark when he was gently woken again by Oin.

The caravan had stopped for the night, and they were just now ladling out supper from a large pot. Oin thought it would be a good idea for Harry to have his meal with the other dwarves. It would stretch his muscles a bit, and allow him to be introduced to the other dwarves. Oin had even enlisted the help of the large bald dwarf Harry had caught sight of earlier to help him walk the short distance to the cauldron of stew.

“Dwalin, son of Fundin, at your service,” the large bald dwarf greeted gruffly with a short nod.

“Nice to meet you, sir. I’m Harry,” Harry nodded back. “Thank you for offering to help me.”

“Enough pleasantries, laddie. I’m starving. Throw an arm around my shoulders and I’ll get you to the fire,” Dwalin said dismissively.

“Are you certain?” Harry carefully looked the dwarf over.

He was definitely more muscular than Harry. But Harry was still bigger at just a few inches under six feet, and he would be putting most of his weight on the dwarf.

“None of that. We dwarves are made to endure. We’re hewn from stone, just as Mahal made us. I am more than up to the task of carrying your skinny self a short skip and a hop to the campfire,” Dwalin snapped.

“All right then,” Harry shrugged. If he said he could do it then Harry wasn’t going to argue. Not with the knuckle-dusters that the dwarf was wearing.

Dwalin and Oin helped Harry maneuver out of the back of the wagon. There were a few twinges in his leg as it was jostled but it was far better than the way he’d felt before. Harry awkwardly put his arm around Dwalin’s shoulders, and leaned against the dwarf. The dwarf was right. He didn’t even so much as budge as Harry put most of his weight on him. It was a difficult trip over to the campfire. Harry soon learned that any pressure he put on his left leg had searing pain shooting up his spine, and made him nearly crumple to the ground. So he had to move with some awkward hops with his right one.

Once there Dwalin deposited him on a rock while Oin brought him a bowl of broth to ease him back into eating. The dwarves were all staring at him. Harry had to admit he’d never felt so much like an outsider before. Harry certainly stood out as foreign among the dwarves. He was taller than everyone in attendance, his hair was a short unruly mess, and he barely had any scruff on his face. But Harry could manage it. He’d had the entire population of Hogwarts turn against him twice after all, and the dwarves weren’t anywhere near as hostile as his fellow wizarding students had been. Harry gathered his confidence. He could do this. Let them stare, he didn’t care. Harry sat up straighter, and stared right back at the dwarves.

“Hello Harry,” Fili greeted as he and Kili dropped down on either side of him.

“Hello,” Harry quirked an eyebrow at the dwarves. The mischievous twinkle in their eyes reminded him far too much of a pair of red headed twin brothers.

“I see you made it all of the way to the campfire without falling. Good for you,” Kili grinned.

“I had help from Dwalin,” Harry explained.

“Ah, Mr. Dwalin,” Kili sighed.

“He’s our cousin. Well, distant cousin,” Fili amended.

“And our weapons and fighting instructor,” Kili added.

“Although we’ve long since surpassed his skill,” Fili boasted.

“What’s that?” Dwalin loomed up from behind them.

Fili and Kili both startled.

“We were just saying what an amazing tutor you are,” Fili flashed a bright grin.

“Maybe you can teach Harry,” Kili sent Dwalin an identical grin.

Dwalin crossed his arms over his chest looking extremely intimidating. Fili and Kili looked appropriately cowed. Satisfied Dwalin turned his attention back to Harry.

“Do you know anything about swords, boy?” Dwalin asked.

“No…” Harry answered. Not unless one counted his flailing attempts with the Sword of Gryffindor in the Chamber of Secrets.

“He doesn’t remember anything, Dwalin,” Fili reminded.

“I know that, but you do have some interesting scars on you. I wouldn’t be surprised if you had been in a couple of skirmishes, and sometimes the body remembers what the mind’s forgotten. But you are awfully young,” Dwalin looked him over thoughtfully.

“He does look like a babe. Maybe it’s the lack of a beard,” Kili agreed, eyes dancing.

“Oi! I’m not a child,” Harry said indignantly.

Harry had fought a dark lord, and technically Harry was closer to being twenty-five than fifteen. If he was interpreting his memories correctly. He wasn’t exactly certain how long he had lived as a dragon but he knew it had to have been more than five years. It was odd considering mentally he only felt fifteen.

“To a dwarf you are,” Fili teased.

“And to a dwarf you’re still a child,” Dwalin said pointing to the brothers with a grin.

“We are of age!” Fili cried indignantly.

“Yes, we are definitely not children. Look at our beards,” Kili insisted, proudly displaying his.

“Well, I suppose Fili’s got a bit of one. But you? I’ve seen more fuzz on a peach,” Dwalin snorted.

Kili gave an outraged cry while Dwalin, Fili, and Harry burst into laughter at Kili’s expense. The dark haired dwarf pouted, rubbing his chin, and muttering to himself. Harry felt himself relaxing in the dwarves’ company after that. Really they weren’t all that different. It was easy to sit back and listen to them tell stories, and joke and laugh. The dwarves were a rather merry bunch of people.

Kili eventually recovered from his pout and proceeded to tell Harry a bit about the time they painted Dwalin’s beard green when they were young, and how it had stayed dyed for over a month. Dwalin caught them telling him the story and quickly told him about his revenge. He’d chased the two dwarflings across half the mountain before catching them and stringing them up by their toes. Harry laughed at the brothers’ sheepish expressions, and Dwalin’s fierce grin.

Eventually Thorin and Oin joined their little group. Thorin and Dwalin were interested in knowing more about the orc attack, and Oin just wanted to keep an eye on him.

“You know nothing of their plans?” Thorin demanded shrewdly.

“Honestly, I barely remember my time with them. It’s all a blur,” Harry shuddered in remembrance of the icy numbness.

“Aye, we saved a canteen of that black ooze. I’m going to study it a bit once we’ve reached the mountains. The foul brew could even be the cause for your lack of memories,” Oin spoke up.

“Don’t let anyone try it. It’s awful. You can’t move or think. It’s like having a fever or dreaming while you’re awake,” Harry murmured his arms coming up to wrap themselves around his body.

“You’re safe now, laddie, the orcs are dead,” Oin assured him.

“I don’t know what they were going to do with me,” Harry whispered.

“They are cruel beasts who have little reason behind the things they do,” Thorin growled.

“They mentioned a master, I think,” Harry risked telling them, wanting to know if they knew anything about it.

“Master? I haven’t heard them call someone master since…” Dwalin frowned glancing at Thorin.

“He’s dead. He died of his wounds,” Thorin growled fiercely.

Kili wanted to know who Thorin was talking about but the older dwarf refused, which was disappointing to Harry. That information could have really helped him.

The evening rounded out with a merry song from one of the other dwarves before everyone settled into their beds. Fili and Kili helped Harry back into the wagon, and settled down beside him. Fili had seemingly gotten over his suspicions of Harry during their conversations with one another. He wasn’t certain if the brothers wanted to be friends or if they were just curious about him because of the fact that he had been captured by orcs. Harry hoped it was the first. The brothers were fun, and Harry could certainly use a few friends in this familiar but unfamiliar world.

///

It took them another week and a half before their little caravan reached the entrance to the dwarfish city within the Blue Mountains. It wasn’t disappointing in the least. The carved out halls of the mountain city was like nothing Harry had ever seen before. He didn’t understand how it could all be standing without the aid of magic.

“This city is nothing compared to the splendor of Erebor,” Thorin stated gruffly when Harry expressed his amazement over the city.

“Erebor?” Harry frowned.

“Here we go,” Kili muttered under his breath.

Kili and Fili each had one of Harry’s arms across their shoulders. They had been helping him make his way through the mountain halls. Thorin had followed them. He was their uncle after all, and they lived in the same quarters as Fili, Kili, and their mother. Despite Fili and Thorin’s initial hesitation they had deemed him trustworthy or at least they had deemed him harmless. They had extended an offer to stay with them until they could get Harry back to a human city. Or it could have been that Thorin wanted to keep him close so he could keep an eye on him in the invent that he remembered anything else about the orcs.

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“Our true home. It was taken from us many years ago, and no other place can ever compare to its beauty. The halls were overflowing with gold and wealth. It was the greatest of all the dwarf kingdoms. However, this is also what attracted the dragon to it,” Thorin gave him a sardonic grin.

“Dragon?” Harry choked out, the blood rushing loudly through his ears.

“Yes, the great wyrm destroyed our home, taking it for his own. No one came to our aid, and so we wandered for many years before settling here. It has taken us many years to get the mountain in the condition it is now, and yet it is still much cruder than anything we had before,” Thorin’s gaze was distant, and Harry realized he was probably remembering the attack.

Harry felt a stab of pain. It looked like dragons weren’t exactly the kindest creatures or at least that particular dragon wasn’t. The dwarves obviously didn’t like them, and who could blame them when one of them had stolen their home? Harry knew then that he definitely couldn’t tell them what he was. His budding friendship with Fili and Kili was sure to end faster than Snape could take points from Gryffindor if they found out. Their uncle looked like he might actually try to kill him if he found out the truth. Harry comforted himself with the fact that it couldn’t have been his father to have taken their home. After all, this dragon had been in Erebor for over a century. Harry knew for certain that he and his father hadn’t lived in anything but a plain old cave together, and that had only been a little over ten years ago.

Fili and Kili pointed out various landmarks in the city. When they had said city Harry hadn’t really grasp the concept. He hadn’t actually thought there could be an actual city beneath a mountain. But there was. Stone bridges passed as streets. They crisscrossed above and below his head. Carved stone stairways carried them up and down the various levels. There was a market place with lines of shops and stalls. Then there were the residential areas. Fili, Kili, and their uncle lived in the more affluent part of the mountain. The twists and turns to get there were worse than Hogwarts, and it was only Harry’s newly developed eidetic memory that allowed him to remember the way.

Their quarters turned out to be much nicer than Harry had been expecting of living inside a mountain. They weren’t anything grand but they were very homey. It was set up just like a flat. There was a living room, bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. He’d been expecting a cave or something. The rooms had all been carved into smooth, level walls and floors. Worn woven rugs lay across the floors, and tapestries hung from the stone walls adding warmth and color. Intricate symbols had also been carved into the walls and doorways. A warm fire was roaring in the main living area.

A dwarf woman burst out from one of the adjoining rooms. Or Harry was pretty sure that she was a woman. He knew enough about dwarves now to know that the women had beards too, and he was slowly picking out the clues to be able to tell them apart. She was wearing a tunic like dress and her black beard and hair were elegantly woven with more jewels and beads than the men.

“Harry this is our amad, the loveliest dwarrowdam in all of Middle Earth, Lady Dis,” Kili announced proudly.

“Amad meet Harry. He’ll be staying with us for a bit,” Fili introduced.

“Will he now?” Dis raised one elegantly braided eyebrow.

Her sharp blue eyes that were very much like her brother’s looked him over closely. Harry sent her what he hoped was a winning smile.

“Harry was kidnapped by orcs, amad. We killed them,” Kili explained.

“Orcs? You fought orcs,” Dis’ eyes narrowed on Thorin.

Harry was awed to realize that Thorin actually looked sheepish, and a bit terrified.

“There were only ten of them,” Thorin mumbled.

“And seventeen wargs,” Kili added cheerfully, completely unaware that he was digging a deeper hole for his uncle.

“Seventeen!” she cried, glaring daggers at Thorin now.

“No one was severely hurt, and as you can see Fili and Kili didn’t even get a scratch,” Thorin insisted.

“I even killed my first orc and warg,” Kili informed her proudly.

Dis visibly had to force herself to calm down, and she took several deep breaths. “I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later. My boys are growing up,” she sighed eventually.

“We’re already grown up,” Fili muttered.

“Does no one see us as adults?” Kili agreed.

“You’ll always be my dwarflings,” Dis cooed, a mischievous glint in her eyes. Harry could see where her sons got it from.

“It doesn’t help when you’re always playing pranks like dwarflings,” Thorin muttered.

“They did save my life,” Harry offered.

Dis sent proud smiles towards both of her sons. “They get it from me.”

Thorin snorted. “Oh yes, orcs flee at the mere mention of your name.”

Dis shot him a glare. Thorin smirked back looking more relaxed than Harry had seen him since meeting him.

“I’d like to welcome you, Harry, to our home,” Dis said as she turned her attention back to Harry.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Harry dipped his head in an awkward bow. It was the best he could do when he wasn’t quite able to stand on his own two feet yet.

“Call me Dis. I’ll have none of this ma’am,” she told him sternly.

“All right,” Harry agreed easily.

“Now, Harry, why don’t we find a place for you to sit and you can tell me just what happened,” Dis commanded.

Fili and Kili helped him over to a couch, and helped to lower him onto it. Harry had to admit it was difficult being in a place where everything was too small for him. Dis sat down in a chair in front of him and proceeded to ask about the list of events. She was very sympathetic to his loss of memories, and assured him that he was welcome to stay until they could find his family. It was a relief to have the offer.

After their talk Dis cooked them a nice meal, and they all settled in to eat. Harry was more than happy to sit back and listen as the obviously close family caught up with one another. They’d been separated for several months, and they had a lot to catch up. Harry felt like he was intruding especially considering he wasn’t being as honest as he could have been with his hosts. The feelings of guilt prompted Harry to ask what he could do to repay them.

“What do you mean, Harry?” Dis asked with a frown.

“There must be something I can do to pay you back for all your help,” Harry insisted.

The Dursleys had often ingrained in his head that he was a burden and that he needed to earn his keep. When he’d stayed with the Weasleys he hadn’t felt quite the same way. They had been his friends, and like a second family to him. They didn’t expect Harry to pay them back for his room and board. Harry was a still a relative stranger to these dwarves. He hadn’t told them a thing about himself. Food seemed like it was much harder to come by in this world where everything was done by hand, and Harry felt like another mouth to feed couldn’t be an easy task to take on. The dwarves didn’t seem to have a lot of wealth lying around after losing everything to a dragon. He didn’t want them to see him as a burden.

“You don’t need to do anything, Harry. You are an injured child. I would just hope that if my own sons were injured that someone would do the same,” Dis soothed.

“I don’t want to be a burden,” Harry murmured.

“You are not,” Thorin said sharply.

Harry stared stubbornly at Thorin. “I would still like to help out if you need it.”

“Very well,” Thorin acquiesced, a look of understanding passing over his features.

“You can stay in Fili and Kili’s room. If you can help them clean out the pig pen they call a room you’ll have paid us back tenfold,” Dis said with a grin.

“It’s not that bad,” Fili muttered.

“I think there are things growing in there,” Dis stated flatly.

Fili and Kili shared a worried glance before quickly reassuring Harry that their room was just fine. After that the dwarves made sure to include him in their conversations a little bit more, which Harry was grateful. It certainly helped to make him feel a little less homesick to have found a place among friendly people.

That night after straightening out Fili and Kili’s room a bit Dis helped to make a pallet on the floor for him between the brothers’ beds. It was comfortable, and more than he had when he had lived in a cupboard under the stairs. At least the dwarves weren’t purposely refusing to provide him with a bed like his relatives. They’d given him what they could. Curled up on his new bed Harry let his mind drift back to Hogwarts. It’d been over two weeks since his arrival here. Maybe more since he didn’t exactly remember how long he’d been with the orcs. He wondered if his friends even knew what happened to him.

Living in Middle Earth was going to be a huge adjustment. It truly was a completely different world. Despite the initial hiccup with the orcs Harry was actually looking forward to learning more about this world. It was where he was born, it was where he would have grown up if whatever happened hadn’t happened. Of course he was grateful to have the chance to have gone to Hogwarts and meet all his friends. Now, he wanted to give Middle Earth a chance.

“Harry? Are you asleep?” Kili’s whisper suddenly drew him out of his thoughts.

When Harry didn’t immediately respond something hit him.

“Did you just throw your boot at me?” Harry demanded.

“Let’s tell scary stories,” Kili suggested.

“Mahal’s beard, we really aren’t children anymore, Kili,” Fili cried.

“You know you want to,” Kili sing-songed.

Fili chuckled, “You asked for it.”

Soon he was telling some ghost story that had Kili appropriately terrified. Harry could never take ghost stories seriously after having met the ghosts of Hogwarts. Kili however ended up jumping on Harry, and giving a loud shriek when Harry decided to tickle his feet during a particularly scary moment in the story. Fili was crying he was laughing so hard. Kili muttered about revenge as he climbed back into his bed.

“Go to sleep!” Thorin roared from his room.

Thorin’s command effectively got them all to settle down. As Harry laid back down he was feeling a lot better about his situation. Living with Fili and Kili looked like it was going to be a lot like living in the Gryffindor dorms. It settled Harry’s nerves. He could do this. He would do this.

///

In the days that followed Harry settled into life with the dwarves. Oin came to check on his leg once a day. It was getting better all the time, and before long Harry was able to stand up for short periods of time and move around on his own for small distances with the help of a crutch Fili had fashioned for him. He started to help Dis out in the kitchen. It was a lot less advanced than what he was used to but a lot of the basics of cooking were still the same, and dwarves were surprisingly innovative. Dis and the others were all pleasantly surprised by his cooking skills. Kili proclaimed that Harry was a much better cook than Dis, a comment that quickly earned him a smack to the back of his head from his mother.

Harry quickly learned that the dwarves he was living with weren’t just normal dwarves. They were royalty and were descended from a long line of dwarfish nobility. They often attended all sorts of council meetings to help with the running of the city. They had built this city from the ground up after years of wandering homeless after their previous home had been stolen from them. Thorin was technically a king even though a dragon had taken his kingdom. The majority of his people still looked to him to lead them, and Thorin had worked hard to find a safe place for his people to settle. But Harry knew that Thorin wanted to get his kingdom back, and that while the conditions in the Blue Mountains were good they were hard on the dwarves.

The more time he spent with the dwarves the closer he grew to them. Fili and Kili had become good friends. They pulled him along to watch their weapon’s training, and to their lessons with Balin. When he wasn’t with the brothers he was with Dis. For a society that was still in the medieval ages Harry had been expecting women to not have a large role in the running of things but that wasn’t the case with dwarves. Dis was just as well educated as Thorin, and used that education to help better the lives of her people. Dis wasn’t always at meetings, though, and while Harry was still fairly immobile she spent time with him in their quarters. Mostly she told him about the world of Men, and their kingdoms since he was expected to one day return to them but sometimes she would slip in a dwarfish fable here and there.

Harry was growing attached to his life with the dwarves. He knew he should be looking for a way home or finding his birth father. But he didn’t want to leave just yet. He liked living with the dwarves. For the first time in his life he was just Harry. He had no past, and there was no pressure on what he should do with his future. No one knew or revered him as the Boy Who Lived, Defeater of Voldemort. The dwarves liked him just for being himself. The only real obstacle of him extending his stay was whether or not he would be welcome to stay.

The time did eventually come when Oin declared him fully healed. Harry was fairly certain he’d been fully healed for a week or two before that but he was grateful that Oin had given him a little more time to spend in Ered Luin. When Dis and Thorin found out Harry was certain they would bring up sending him along with the next trading caravan but neither of them ever did. It was a relief. However, a part of him was just waiting for the moment that the dwarves would kick him to the curb.

It never happened.

The only thing that did come with the announcement of his healing was that Fili and Kili insisted on taking him on a complete tour of the mountain. The two of them were very familiar with every part of the mountain, and spent a lot of their time wandering around it and getting in trouble. Now that Harry was cleared to walk around on his leg they wanted Harry to join them.

“We’re here,” Fili declared as they stopped just outside a random door.

“Where is here exactly?” Harry questioned.

“Dwalin’s quarters,” Fili answered an impish smile on his face.

“And why are we here?” Harry wanted to know.

“We’re going to get my bow back,” Kili explained.

“What happened to your bow?” Harry frowned.

“That’s right, you missed it since you were helping amad that day. Kili shot in arrow in Dwalin’s backside yesterday so he took Kili’s bow, and is now holding it hostage for revenge,” Fili told him.

“You shot Dwalin?” Harry gaped.

“He was all right,” Kili flushed.

“I thought you were a good shot,” Harry teased.

“I am, I just got distracted…”

Fili snorted. “He was trying to impress some dwarrowdams.”

“Now it makes sense,” Harry smirked.

Kili looked insulted while Fili chuckled.

“You’re going to help us get it back,” Kili grinned.

“I don’t exactly want Dwalin mad at me,” Harry stated.

“He’ll never know we were here. He’s out for the day on some errand with uncle Thorin,” Fili assured.

“Where’s your sense of adventure, Harry? Or have you grown too soft in the kitchen with amad?” Kili demanded.

“Have you met your mother? The way she wields a frying pan is terrifying,” Harry stated dryly.

Kili and Fili paused looks of fear on their faces as they were momentarily caught in memories of Dis and her deadly frying pan.

“All right, so amad’s not soft. But you should still help us just for the fun of it,” Kili grinned winningly.

Harry had to admit sneaking into Dwalin’s quarters wasn’t as big of a risk as entering the Chamber of Secrets. The worst the large dwarrow would do was chase them down and box their ears.

“Fine, how are we going to do this?” Harry sighed, just a tad bit excited about what was to come.

It was quickly decided that Kili would stand as the lookout while Fili and Harry made their way into Dwalin’s quarters. The dwarf warrior certainly had enough weapons strewn everywhere. Fili and he had to sift through them to find Kili’s bow. Once they got it they quickly made their way towards the door only for Kili to burst in with a bucket of dye and a wild grin.

“Let’s dye all of his clothes,” Kili suggested.

Finally catching the brothers’ infectious playfulness Harry could only laugh and go along with the prank. Unfortunately, with all three of them working to quickly dunk Dwalin’s clothes in the ugly lime green dye they didn’t have a lookout any more.

“By my beard! What are you three scoundrels doing to my underthings!?” Dwalin roared from the doorway.

“Run for your lives!” Kili cried.

Harry had a lot of experience in running for his life and didn’t need to be told twice. Dwalin tried to halt their escape but with three of them dodging past him he couldn’t quite keep up. They made it out into the hallways giggling like first years up past curfew for the first time. Dwalin was hot on their heels snarling and muttering curses in Khuzdul. Fili led them on a crazy path of twists and turns where they eventually evaded Dwalin. The three of them holed up in a hidden alcove to wait out Dwalin’s anger. They scrunched in the small space legs and arms tangled up and their bodies squashed. But Harry hadn’t laughed this much or had this much fun since he came to Middle Earth. He forgot all about his other problems and simply did something stupid.

Sitting there with Fili and Kili he felt the bond between them grow stronger. Harry never thought he’d have any friends as close as Ron and Hermione. He’d never thought he’d have friends at all before Hogwarts. While Fili and Kili weren’t replacing Ron and Hermione it didn’t mean that they weren’t becoming just as close as he had been with them. It was a good feeling. Harry didn’t even mind that when they finally pulled themselves from their hiding place Dwalin was waiting to dump a pail of vibrant blue dye on them.

“At least it’s a nice color,” Harry said later that night after several baths.

They’d already received a scolding from Dis and Thorin but it had turned half-hearted once they saw that the dye wasn’t coming out anytime soon.

“Easy for you to say, you and Kili have dark hair. My skin, hair, and beard are blue,” Fili cried in distress.

“It’ll go away… eventually,” Dis grinned evilly.

Harry snorted as Fili and Kili groaned, and their heads thunked down on the table. That one adventure set the stage for the rest of Harry’s time with Fili and Kili. He happily joined them on all their misadventures. The two were always busy doing something whether it was pulling pranks or completing their princely duties. It kept his mind off of being homesick, and wondering when the dwarves would finally send him packing.

One month passed and then two and Harry was still living amongst the dwarves. None of them ever brought up just how long Harry was welcome. He knew that some dwarves didn’t enjoy having what they thought was a child of Men around. The dwarves that he had come to see as his friends never seemed to mind, and Harry supposed that’s what truly mattered. Harry just wanted to know how long he would be welcomed with the dwarves. That’s why he decided to approach Thorin to set the matter straight.

He caught the exiled dwarf king just in time. Thorin was preparing for a trip. There had been rumors that his father Thrain had been spotted in Dunland, and Thorin was going to see if they were true. While Thorin didn’t hate Harry it didn’t mean that the two of them had spent a lot of time together despite living in the same quarters. Thorin was always busy doing something, and rarely had a lot of time for his nephews let alone the random teenager they had picked up on the side of the road.

“Hello, Harry. What do you need?” Thorin greeted when Harry approached him.

“I wanted to ask why you haven’t made me leave yet,” Harry explained.

“Do you wish to leave?” he asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

“No,” Harry answered honestly.

“Then you may stay,” Thorin replied easily.

“Really? Why? I’ve learned a lot about dwarves these last few months. It’s not that I’m not grateful for you letting me stay its just I know it isn’t something you would normally allow,” Harry said in disbelief.

Thorin was quiet for a moment, finishing up his packing. “Many of us know what it is to be homeless. To not have anywhere to go or have anyone to turn to. Everyone turned their backs on us when we lost Erebor. We lost everything. You may not be a dwarf but you have lost everything. So until you find your way, you are welcome to remain amongst us. You have proven yourself to be respectable and kind. My nephews enjoy your company. Although I do not understand how you could enjoy theirs. I believe they have in fact been bad influences on you.”

Harry laughed. “They’re not that bad.”

“No, they’re not. They’re nowhere near as bad as their mother was. She was a true terror,” Thorin chuckled.

“Thank you, for letting me stay. I know I can’t actually stay forever. I have to face who I really am eventually but for now there’s no place I’d rather be,” Harry smiled.

Thorin smiled proudly, “We dwarves are the greatest race in all of Middle Earth.”

Harry nodded, and said his goodbyes to Thorin. He wished him luck in finding his father.

Harry decided it was time he start looking for own. He had decided that he wanted to try looking for his father before he started looking for a way to get back to Earth. He wanted the chance to meet his father before he even thought about going back.

Now that he knew he was welcome to stay he felt comfortable enough to take up Dwalin’s brother Balin’s offer to teach him how to read Westron, the common language throughout Middle Earth. Harry could speak it thanks to having learned it when he was younger but Smaug had never taught him to read. It was slightly embarrassing not knowing how to read. But Balin was a great teacher. He had taught Fili and Kili so he had an endless supply of patience. When he didn’t have the time to teach he would send Ori.

The younger dwarf was a scribe. He was exceedingly kind yet awkward. At first he was shy and nervous in Harry’s presence. He warmed up quickly enough when Harry proved he was eager to learn. Ori had a passion for books that wasn’t unlike Hermione, and was an incredible artist. He was constantly carrying several books at a time, and was very insistent about teaching Harry how to write as well as read. He also had an interest in adventures and talked a lot about traveling Middle Earth someday so that he could write his own book of his travels.

Studying had never been something that Harry was interested in. Whenever he actually needed to learn something there was always Hermione who was willing to do all the research for him. For the first time in his life Harry was on his own. He couldn’t rely on Hermione to do this for him. He had to be the one to learn how to read Westron, and he would have to be the one to start researching Middle Earth if he was going to find his father.

Harry just hadn’t been expecting to find his father in such a way. Ori and he had been reading about the Sack of Erebor together. Ori’s family was from Erebor, and that’s where his family were all from. Ori was been born after so he had never actually gotten the chance to see the Lonely Moutain but he liked reading up about it. Harry had been all too eager to learn more about the attack both because it directly affected the dwarves he was living with, and because it involved a dragon. Harry hardly knew anything about the history of Middle Earth’s dragons, which meant he hardly knew anything about himself and his own capabilities and weaknesses.

“The first they heard was a noise like a hurricane, coming down from the North. The pines on the mountain creaked and cracked in the hot dry wind. It wasn’t long before they realized it was a dragon. He was a firedrake from the North. Smaug had come,” Ori read.

“Wait, what was the dragon’s name?” Harry demanded. He couldn’t have possibly heard Ori correctly.

“Oh, its, um, its Smaug,” Ori repeated, startled out of his reading.

“Right,” Harry breathed.

Of course it was. Of course it had to be his birth father to have destroyed the home of the dwarves he’d befriended. But something didn’t add up. How could Smaug have taken Erebor hundreds of years ago? Harry had been living with him in a regular old cave just a little over ten years ago. Unless, time passed more quickly here or perhaps when Harry had been pulled back he’d been brought back into the future? Thinking about the logistics of it made his head hurt. The truly important matter at the moment was that his father had taken the home of these dwarves. He’d killed their family members for no other reason than to take their wealth. Harry wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He couldn’t reconcile the warm memories he had of Smaug with the vicious, pitiless beast Ori was describing to him.

“Such wanton death was dealt that day, for the city of Dale was nothing to Smaug. His eye was set on another prize, for dragons covet gold with a dark and fierce desire. Erebor was lost. For a dragon will guard his plunder as long as he lives,” Ori continued to read having no idea the inner turmoil that Harry was experiencing.

The location of his father had been discovered but now Harry wasn’t so sure if he wanted to meet him.

“It’s all right, Harry,” Ori suddenly assured.

“Er… sorry what?” Harry frowned.

“I know it all sounds pretty terrible but we dwarves are doing pretty well here in the Blue Mountains. Thorin did a good job in providing for us, and our wandering days are far behind us,” Ori said.

“I’m glad,” Harry nodded, grateful that Ori seemed to think he was upset because he was worried about the dwarves. In part he was. After all they had suffered a lot. Kili and Fili had told him about their great grandfather, and their grandfather’s fates.

“We can switch to another subject if you’d like?” Ori offered gently.

“Yeah, maybe that’d be for the best,” Harry agreed.

Ori pulled out another book about the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Harry listened halfheartedly. His mind still turning over and over what Smaug had done.

Over the next several days Harry spent his time avoiding everyone. He needed time alone. The discovery of what Smaug had done had him questioning himself, and just what it truly meant to be a dragon. The dragons of this world were considered dark creatures. Harry hadn’t felt quite so homesick in a long time.

Fili and Kili however didn’t like his self-imposed isolation. They jumped out at him one afternoon. They each grabbed hold of one his arms, and started dragging him along behind them. Dwarves were surprisingly strong despite their shorter stature.

“Why are you two kidnapping me?” Harry asked in exasperation.

“We thought you were spending too much time by yourself,” Kili exclaimed.

“Something is obviously bothering you, and we can’t have our favorite child of Man upset,” Fili agreed.

“Where are we going?” Harry wanted to know.

“The forge,” Fili grinned.

Harry was surprised. Forges were something that was private to the dwarves. Some families even had their own personal forges that only family members were allowed to access. Harry thought that this was the case with Durin’s main line. The crafting and shaping of metals was a very secretive process for them. But Fili and Kili were bringing him along anyway. He was fairly certain if Thorin was here and knew what they were up to he’d put a stop to it.

Harry almost wished that he were here to stop them. Before now he had been more than happy to stay far away from the dwarves’ crafting. The dwarves weren’t just masters of forging weapons. They also worked closely with the more precious of metals, and gems. There wasn’t as much of it available here in Ered Luin as there had been in Erebor but the dwarves’ skills in mining still produced enough of it to earn a living in trade. Enough of it to leave Harry’s hands shaking at the sight of all the trinkets they wore.

When the curse keeping him bound in his human form had broken, Harry had noticed his sudden interest in golden and precious gems. Money and wealth had never mattered much to Harry before but suddenly he found himself picking up odd bits and pieces whether they belonged to him or not. He found himself tucking them away in his bed, and didn’t even mind when the sharp angles poked and prodded him at night. It was only when Remus happened to catch him in the act that Sirius and Remus confronted him about the hoarding. Harry had snapped at them at first but he quickly realized just how bizarre his behavior was. With their help he did his best to try and resist the pull that gold had on him. It was easier to resist when there was only a small amount. The more gold the more aggressive he was about it.

The behavior was unnerving to Harry, and he was embarrassed about the way he reacted towards Remus and Sirius when they tried to take his small hoard. Harry had even kept his gold obsession a secret from Ron and Hermione. He had been determined to keep it hidden until he had gotten a hold on it. Harry had been making a bit of progress with resisting larger and larger amounts of gold thanks to a technique called Occlumency. It helped to organize his mind and build walls around the part of him that was gold obsessed. He’d tried to keep up with his lessons on his own but he had plateaued. Harry didn’t know enough about Occlumency to advanced his training any further. He’d been using every last bit of his instruction to resist the temptation of the few bits of gold that the dwarves wore, and he strictly avoided putting himself in situations where there were large amounts of it.

Harry could only hope that Fili and Kili were going to be working on some new weapons rather than any new jewelry pieces. He knew that Fili was quite skilled in crafting swords and knives. He always had enough of his own handcrafted pieces on him for a small army. Out of necessity he was capable of making jewelry as well. One of the dwarves’ largest livelihoods was making jewelry to be sold among humans. But that meant that Fili and Kili were likely to be working with something that would get Harry’s attention. It made Harry extremely anxious not knowing which one he would be facing.

Harry loosed a loud sigh of relief when they got to the forge, and Fili pulled out the designs for a new sword he wanted to start working on. It was an interesting process to watch as Fili and Kili worked seamlessly together. They knew who needed to do what, and how to move around each other. They barely even needed to speak. Fili was the one who actually enjoyed the process of crafting. But since the two brothers were rarely ever separate, Kili joined him on whatever project he was currently working on, and was just as accomplished as his brother in his work.

“Why did you bring me down here?” Harry asked, looking around the forge with interest.

“Because it’s relaxing. Whenever I want to get away or think about something I come down here. No one ever bothers me here,” Fili answered with a content smile. “Except Kili.”

“Oi!” Kili cried, faking offense.

“I suppose it does have its appeal,” watching the flames and sparks of the forge was soothing to Harry although, it would never be able to compare to flying in Harry’s eyes.

He chatted with Fili and Kili about his progress with his reading lessons, and they talked about going on a hunting trip. Harry had been relaxing into their conversation when Kili suddenly brought out a crate full of gold. It was a small crate but it was more than Harry had seen in a long time.

As if from a distance Harry could hear Fili say something about making golden hairpins for the next trading expedition. His gaze was locked on the gold. It was so beautiful even unrefined it was lovely. Harry wanted it and nothing else mattered but getting it. He didn’t even realize that he had stood, and was stalking towards Kili.

“Harry?” Fili called.

But he ignored him. He didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was getting the gold. The dwarves wouldn’t be able to do a thing to stop him. Harry didn’t even realize that he had shoved Kili who went flying backwards from the unnecessary use of his strength. He only cared that he finally held the gold in his hands. There was almost a thrumming energy that seemed to be calling to him from the gold. It was only when he was hit hard from behind that he was momentarily able to shake himself free from the gold madness.

Harry dropped the gold, and turned to see Fili standing with a sword raised towards him, standing between Harry and his brother. Fili looked confused and horrified. The fear in his blue eyes had Harry recoiling, shocked and disgusted by his own behavior. Kili was pulling himself up from the ground, wincing as he did so.

“I’m so sorry,” Harry managed to choke out.

“Harry, what happened?” Fili demanded.

“I… I…” Harry couldn’t speak. He didn’t know what to say to them.

“Your eyes,” Fili whispered, his own eyes widening even further.

Harry instantly cast his gaze to the floor trying desperately to get a hold of himself.

“What’s going on, Harry?” Kili asked coming to stand beside his brother. Harry was just grateful that he didn’t seem too badly hurt.

“There’s something I should tell you both. I should have told you before but I was afraid too,” Harry murmured. Some Gryffindor he turned out to be.

Telling Fili and Kili was the least he could. The brothers deserved to know the truth about him after all they had done for him.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Fili questioned in concern.

Haltingly Harry began to tell them everything. He told them about his life growing up in another world. It took the entire afternoon, well into dinnertime. They asked a lot of questions and wanted proof of his claims. Harry did his best to prove it to them. He’d been trying to practice wandless magic over the past several months without much success. The only spells he was capable of casting were the few fire spells that he knew. But Fili and Kili were appropriately impressed nonetheless. Then there came the most difficult part. Telling them about finding out he was a dragon and just who his birth father was.

“You’re Smaug’s son?” Kili asked in disbelief.

“A dragon?” Fili muttered equally shocked.

“Do you hate me?” Harry whispered.

“Other worlds full of wizards and magic, and the boy sleeping on our bedroom floor is a fire breathing dragon. It’s a lot to take in,” Fili answered finally. “But I think you’ve proven that you’re not anything like Smaug.”

“You can’t help who your parents are,” Kili agreed.

“You aren’t upset that I didn’t tell you sooner?” Harry asked.

“I don’t blame you for keeping it a secret. It’s not something I would want to go spreading about,” Kili replied.

“And I’m just glad you finally trusted us with the truth,” Fili assured him. “It can’t have been easy.”

“You can’t tell anyone, please,” Harry begged.

“Uncle would kill you if he found out,” Kili breathed in fear.

“We can’t exactly keep something like this a secret forever,” Fili argued.

“If there’s a way to break it to your uncle gently without him killing me on sight, then I guess I’d be all for it,” Harry agreed.

“We’ll figure something out,” Fili frowned, determination stamped across his features.

He was more the strategist of the two of them, and in certain ways he reminded Harry of Hermione. Fili was the one that constantly had to find ways to get Kili out of trouble. Not to say that Fili was as much as a stickler for the rules as Hermione was. He was just normally the mastermind behind their adventures. Kili was too reckless for planning.

“We really should go on that hunting trip now. I want to see you in your dragon shape, Harry,” Kili enthused.

“Maybe I can take you both flying,” Harry grinned.

“No, dwarrows do not fly. We stay firmly on the ground,” Fili said stubbornly.

“I’d like to try,” Kili bounced in excitement.

“Not me, this is one dwarf who will be keeping their feet firmly planted on the ground where we belong,” Fili stated folding his arms across his chest in a very familiar manner.

“We’ll see,” Kili sent Harry a conspiratorial look.

It was such a relief to finally have shared the truth with Fili and Kili, and instead of driving them away it only cemented their friendship. They planned a hunting trip for the next day. Dis wanted Dwalin to go along with them but Fili and Kili managed to convince her to let them go out on their own.

“We’re only going for the day, amad,” Fili reassured her.

“There haven’t been any orcs spotted in the area since we found Harry,” Kili added.

“All right, I suppose I have to start letting you do things on your own. I just can’t help but worry. A mother always worries,” Dis looked between her two sons, and surprisingly her gaze flitted to Harry as well.

“We’ll be careful,” Harry told her.

“Oh, come here,” Dis yanked the three of them into a tight embrace.

“Amad… Can’t. Breath,” Kili gasped.

Harry rather enjoyed it. Not that he would ever admit such a thing to Fili and Kili. He wasn’t used to people embracing him, and Dis certainly gave fierce hugs.

Dis released them. “Now the three of you get going. I want you back before dark.”

“Yes, amad,” Fili and Kili both chimed as they rushed to get their weapons.

Dis smiled as they got ready.

“Make sure they’re careful. They’re like their father, always rushing into things especially Kili,” Dis sighed.

“I’ll do my best,” Harry promised even if he wasn’t exactly the best for the job. There were too many times he’d rushed into an adventure. They’d always turned out all right in the end. But he was learning, slowly, that a little bit of caution and preparation never hurt anyone.

They set out on foot. Fili and Kili had wanted to take the ponies but Harry couldn’t exactly ride them. He was too big, and of course being a dragon he wasn’t exactly the ponies’ favorite person.

The three of them traveled on foot until they reached a secluded woods. It was there that they stopped for lunch, and to see Harry change.

“The two of you should probably step back a bit,” Harry cautioned.

Kili and Fili did just that. Harry disrobed down to his pants. It was the one thing about his change that he disliked. His clothes didn’t come with him like an animagus’s would. They ripped off him, and when he changed back he would be bare much like a werewolf’s change.

Harry took a deep breath. It’d been far too long since he’d gotten the chance to take his true form, and his body had been tense with the need to take his true shape. He’d been putting off changing completely with small shifts of his body. It didn’t make up for changing completely. The stretching of muscle and shifting of bones felt wonderful. His tail took out a few trees but at least they didn’t fall anywhere near the two dwarrows. Once the change was complete he looked towards Kili and Fili to gauge their reactions.

They were standing there wearing completely gob smacked expressions. Kili’s mouth was hanging open, and Fili’s eyes were as wide as saucers. Harry gently rested his head in front of them.

“Harry?” Fili asked cautiously.

“It’s all right, I’m still me. I just look a little different. I won’t hurt you,” Harry swore.

“This is incredible!” Kili whooped.

He was the first to stride forward, and confidently place a hand on Harry’s muzzle. Fili was a bit warier than his brother but eventually he made his way over to Harry too. The two brothers were barely as tall as Harry’s muzzle so Harry made sure to stay as still as possible as they inspected him. He wanted them to get used to him in this shape.

“Your scales are just like ebony,” Fili breathed.

“Your claws and teeth are so sharp,” Kili equally amazed.

Harry couldn’t help but preen at their compliments. He had never been very vain about his human appearance but he did quite enjoy the awe he inspired when in his dragon form.

“Let’s see you fly!” Kili cried.

“Maybe another time,” Fili cautioned. “We’re too close to the mountains. Someone might see him. A black dragon would stand out far too much in the middle of the day.”

“You’re right,” Harry agreed dejectedly. There was nothing he wanted more than the chance to stretch his wings.

Kili slumped in disappointment as well. But he understood the need for secrecy too.

“You can ride on my back for a bit,” Harry offered.

He wanted to at least go for a little walk to stretch his legs.

Kili smiled brightly. Harry lowered himself as close to the ground as he possibly could. Kili attempted to scramble up his side but Harry’s back was far too high for Kili to reach. Fili had to boost him up into the junction where his neck met his shoulder.

“I would like to take a moment to commemorate this grand event. I, Kili, son of Vili am the first dwarf in all of Middle Earth to ride on a dragon’s back,” Kili declared proudly.

“All hail Kili the Dragon Tamer,” Fili bowed mockingly.

“And the second dwarf to ride on a dragon’s back is Fili, son of Vili,” Harry said as swooped down to pick Fili up by the back of his fur coat.

Fili swore in Khuzdul and squirmed a bit in Harry’s grip. Harry was certain to only gently grip his coat with his teeth before twisting his head around to drop Fili on his back.

“Welcome, brother,” Kili greeted.

“Don’t ever do that again,” Fili commanded.

“Stop being such a grump. You look just like uncle with your face scrunched up like that,” Kili teased.

“Both of you hold on. I’m going to start walking,” Harry warned.

Even though he would only be walking, his steps were still long enough to jolt the dwarf brothers free if they weren’t careful. They’d only gone a short distance when Kili insisted Harry pick up the pace.

“I’m not a pack mule,” Harry huffed, smoke drifting up from his nostrils.

“Certainly you can go faster than this even if your arms and legs are rather shaped oddly,” Kili argued.

“My limbs are not awkwardly shaped, thank you very much. I am built just the way I’m supposed to be,” Harry sniffed.

“Kili, stop encouraging him to go faster,” Fili warned.

Just to startle them both Harry did pick up the pace a bit. Dragons, or at least Harry and Smaug’s particular shapes, weren’t really built for long distance travel on land. But it didn’t mean that they weren’t capable of being quite swift on the ground. Harry only went a short distance but it was amusing to hear Kili’s whoops of joy, and Fili’s shouts to stop. Harry stopped. Fili wasted no time in sliding down his side, and onto the ground. Kili on the other hand refused to get off. Harry had to threaten to change back before he finally slipped off.

Harry returned to his human form, and the three of them spent the rest of their hunting trip actually trying to hunt. They were marginally successful in catching a couple of rabbits. But all in all the day itself had been a great success. Fili and Kili had embraced his scalier side, and it had only brought them all closer to together.

After that Fili, Kili, and Harry went on a lot of hunting trips together. Dis trusted them to go for a couple of days on a time once they proven themselves to be careful and capable of looking after themselves.

///

Harry had been living with the dwarves for nearly four months when Thorin finally returned from searching for his father. He hadn’t actually found Thrain but he had met with a wizard. The wizard had urged Thorin to march on Erebor, and had offered Thorin his assistance in regaining his mountain. Thorin was utterly energized by the idea. He had immediately called for several council meetings and was calling for the aid of any willing to join him on his quest to regain Erebor.

Disappointingly only thirteen dwarves ended up stepping forward. Three of them of being Thorin, Kili, and Fili. Thorin was obviously angry over the lack of support but it seemed to only make him more determined to see the quest succeed. Also going were Dwalin, Balin, Oin, and surprisingly enough Ori. The others Harry didn’t know as well.

“Are you going to come with us, Harry?” Fili asked him.

The three of them were back in the forge. They spent a lot of time down there together. It was the one place they could speak freely with worrying anyone would hear them. Fili and Kili had been careful not to bring any more gold around him.

“I don’t know,” Harry replied.

The dwarves’ quest had him realizing that whether he liked it or not he was going to have to face his father sooner rather than later. He thought it would be much better to fly ahead of the dwarves’ company rather than travel along with them.

“You don’t know? You have to come. We’d stand no chance against Smaug without you!” Kili cried.

“I’m not going with you but I am going to go to the mountain,” Harry explained.

“By yourself?” Fili worried.

“I’m a dragon, I’ll be fine,” Harry assured them.

“That didn’t stop the orcs from taking you,” Kili pointed out.

“They caught me by surprise,” Harry shot back. “It won’t happen again.”

“If you say so,” Kili shrugged.

“If I reach the mountain first I’ll be able to talk to Smaug, and maybe I can get him to return your mountain to you,” Harry suggested.

“It’s been centuries since Smaug saw you last. He may have changed. What if he refuses to listen to you?” Fili pointed out.

“I have to try,” Harry said firmly.

The dwarves had done so much for him. He had to try and help them get their mountain back.

“He could kill you,” Kili glanced worriedly between Harry and his brother.

Harry hadn’t considered that option. Would Smaug actually try to kill him if Harry sided with the dwarves? Fili also brought up a good point. It had been centuries for Smaug since Harry was kidnapped. That left a lot of time to change. What if Smaug was too far-gone to reason with?

“That’s a risk I’ll have to take. I have to meet my father,” Harry said, trying to feel as confident as he sounded.

“I understand, just try not to die on us?” Fili suggested.

“I’ll do my best,” Harry reassured them.

Fili was still a bit upset with Harry’s decision. His brooding expression made him look remarkably like his uncle. Harry wouldn’t be swayed from his decision. It would be safer in the long run for the dwarves if he went on his own to confront Smaug. In the event that Smaug was hostile there wasn’t much the dwarves would be able to do against a dragon anyway.

However, he did agree to travel with the company as far as Bree. Harry joined the thirteen dwarves in their meetings, and helped with their preparations.

Before they left Kili and Fili wanted to go out on one more hunting trip. Mostly Kili just wanted to go flying again. Their longer trips meant that Harry could fly once night fell. Fili had absolutely refused to ride on Harry’s back at first but after Kili’s exclamations of how much fun it was, and Harry’s wheedling Fili eventually gave in. The golden haired dwarf didn’t hate the experience but he didn’t quite love it either. Kili on the other hand kept trying to get Harry to do more and more outrageous stunts. But Harry had to put his foot down when he started suggesting barrel rolls.

“Come on, Harry,” Kili gave him puppy dog eyes.

They had just stopped their flying for the night and were settling down to sleep.

“No, Kili, you could fall off, and I have no idea if I would be able to catch you before you splattered all over the ground,” Harry argued.

“We could tie a rope or something,” Kili offered.

“Maybe if I had my wand, and I could do a Sticking Charm or something,” Harry frowned.

“Sticking Charm?” Fili lifted one eyebrow.

He was sitting across the small campfire from him smoking his pipe. Kili was also smoking his pipe. It was something that dwarves did quite a bit of along with drinking. Ale was a common table drink, and Harry had gotten used to having it with all his meals. It was just lucky that it took a lot to make him tipsy. A normal person probably wouldn’t have been able to keep up with the dwarrows’ drinking habits.

Fili was always curious about the wizarding world, and liked hearing all about it. If only he had a wand Harry could have shown him. Instead he could only just explain a bit about the charm. Both of them ignoring Kili’s ideas about future flying expeditions. They chatted a bit more. Eventually they banked the fire and settled down to sleep.

Harry was woken in the night. At first he didn’t know what had woken him but then he caught an unfamiliar scent on the breeze. He was able to determine that it was the scent of dwarf but it wasn’t a dwarf Harry was familiar with, and he was close by. He was instantly suspicious. The scent was wafting in from behind him in the direction of the campfire, and Kili and Fili’s bedrolls. Harry carefully turned in his own blankets to see if he could find the source of the strange scent.

What he saw caused his heart to freeze in terror. An unfamiliar dwarf was creeping towards Fili’s sleeping form, a knife in his hand. Harry would have easily been able to see the knife even without his advanced eyesight as the light of the moon shone clearly down on the shiny, wicked looking blade. The intent of this dwarf was clear in his eyes. He had come with the intention to kill.

“Don’t you dare take another step,” Harry’s voice came out as a deep and raspy growl. It was inhuman and definitely more than a bit terrifying if he did say so himself.

The would-be assassin froze, his beady gaze darting towards Harry. Harry moved quickly to his feet. Fili and Kili were also woken by Harry’s snarl.

“Harry?” Kili mumbled in confusion, still half asleep.

“Why are you—?” Fili stopped when he caught sight of their unexpected guest.

Fili and Kili reacted quickly just as they had been trained to. They pulled themselves to their feet. Fili instantly had a knife in his hand. He always kept one close at hand somewhere on his person. Kili was scrambling in the dark for his bow. The assassin seeing that he was about to lose his opportunity flung his knife at Fili.

“Fili!” Kili screamed.

It was happening so quickly that Harry reacted on pure instinct. With all his might Harry willed the knife to stop. The knife wavered a little bit in the air slowing down just enough for Fili to move out of the way. The assassin, terrified that his plan had failed, moved to run.

Harry didn’t stop to think how bad of an idea it would be. He exploded at the assassin. One moment he was human the next he was a very irate firedrake. The assassin didn’t even stand a chance before Harry was on him. One large clawed hand pined the dwarf, none too gently, to the ground. His lips pulled back from his very sharp and wicked teeth to growl menacingly at the dwarf. The dwarf in question squealed, and started openly sobbing.

“Harry? It’s all right. I’m all right, step back,” Fili called.

Harry’s rational mind had all but fled, and right now he wanted nothing more than to burn this filth. His chest was glowing ominously to prepare itself for the task.

“Harry!” Kili shouted.

Harry looked up to see and Kili and Fili looking at him worriedly. Harry had never breathed fire around Fili and Kili for fear of accidentally catching them in the blaze. He wasn’t going to start now.

Forcibly calming himself he slowly withdrew from the assassin. He didn’t even seem to notice that Harry wasn’t pining him down anymore. He was mumbling to himself, and seemed utterly terrified about having come face to face with Harry’s dragon side. Harry had to admit he was a little worried that he wasn’t more worried about how close he’d come to killing the dwarf. Maybe once his rage at him almost killing Fili had passed he would.

“Kili get some rope,” Fili commanded. He seemed to be quite together for someone who had just had an attempt on his life. But Harry’s sharp eyes caught the telltale shaking of his hands.

Harry curled his body around Fili, gently nuzzling the dwarf prince while Kili tightly bound the assassin. Fili gratefully leaned back against him.

“Thank you, Harry, you saved my life,” Fili whispered.

“You would have done the same for me if you could,” Harry replied with utter certainty.

“Of course I would have,” Fili said slowly regaining his composure.

“I’ve had a lot of people try to kill me, and I doubt it will be the last time considering how popular dragons seem to be in Middle Earth,” Harry said trying to lighten the mood.

“They’ll have to go through me first,” Fili declared.

“Me too!” Kili cried. “Now what should we do with him?” Kili asked once he’d finished tying up the assassin.

Fili stalked over to the bound dwarf. He glared into the dwarf’s eyes and then punched him hard enough to knock him out cold.

“Ooo, that’s going to sting in the morning,” Kili grinned viciously.

“We should start making our way back,” Fili murmured.

“I’ll carry him. Just throw him across my back,” Harry sighed.

They did just that, and Harry carried him like this until they left the cover of the trees behind. Harry retook his human form, and was very thankful to have brought another change of clothes since he’d completely shredded his when he’d changed. They took turns dragging the assassin back to the city. If his head smacked against a few more rocks than was necessary, well what could they do?

When they did arrive back to the city it was to a flurry of activity. Dis and Thorin were absolutely livid to learn about what had happened. All of the dwarves close to the royal family were in an uproar. Thorin had the assassin dragged off to the dungeons for questioning. Harry was worried that he would say something but Fili and Kili both assured him that they would stick up for him if he did. Who would take the word of some crazed assassin over the crown princes after all?

It was soon learned that the assassin had been hired to kill the heirs of Durin but didn’t who exactly had hired him since there had been a middleman. Literally, in fact considering the dwarf had gotten his orders from a Man in Bree. He’d been following Fili and Kili for months waiting for an opportunity to kill them both. The hunting trip had been the perfect opportunity. The dwarf surprisingly said nothing about him being a dragon. Either he was too terrified to or he had thought it was all a hallucination. Harry was just glad he never brought it up.

To his embarrassment Kili and Fili loudly proclaimed that Harry had saved them both. He’d jumped in front of the assassin’s knife and tackled him to the ground. Dis was so grateful that she gave him one of the beads from her hair and quickly braided it into his short hair. Even Thorin shook his hand and thanked him profusely. He made sure that Harry knew he would always be welcomed among the dwarrows. Dwalin slapped him hard on the back and insisted he start teaching Harry some actual fighting techniques.

Harry was now openly accepted into the community. However, it did make him feel guilty that he was still keeping the truth of what he was a secret from them.

///

“The Man child is coming with us on our journey?” the red haired dwarf named Gloin asked during their first meeting. He was Oin’s brother, and a banker for the company. He had been steadily gathering funds for the quest.

“Just until Bree,” Fili answered for him.

“I’m going to try and find my family,” Harry explained.

“On your own, laddie?” Oin worried loudly.

Harry smiled at Oin. He was really very fond of the healer.

“I’ll be all right. Kili and Fili told me about the Rangers. I’m thinking about asking one of them to help guide me. Hopefully, I’ll get lucky and we’ll find someone who recognizes me,” Harry lied.

“Then there is still the matter of our fourteenth member,” Gloin said.

“Tharkun has assured me he will found our Burglar. Someone capable of slipping into the dragon’s den and retrieving the Arkenstone from under the beast’s belly,” Thorin stated.

“What about Nori?” Kili said pointing to the dwarf whose reddish brown hair was done in the unique shape of a star. It confounded Harry how he managed to maintain the shape of it.

“Nori’s just a criminal,” Dwalin snorted.

Ori’s older brother just grinned, and winked.

“I’ve changed my ways. I’m turning over a new leaf on this quest. Going to become a real stand up dwarrow,” Nori explained with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

Dori, Nori and Ori’s older brother, rolled his eyes at his younger brother. Harry had only met Dori a couple of times before. It was inevitable considering the way the prim older dwarf was constantly hovering over Ori. Dori had made sure to meet Harry before he had allowed Ori to teach him. Once he was reassured that Harry wasn’t a threat to Ori he’d even had Harry over for tea a couple of times. This was his first time meeting the middle brother. Ori had only mentioned in passing that Dori and Nori didn’t get along that well, and considering Nori’s profession it made sense that Dori wouldn’t want to bring him up. Dori was very proper, and Nori seemed liked the complete opposite.

The other dwarves rounding out the company were brothers Bofur and Bombur, and their cousin Bifur. Bofur was a merry sort with a floppy hat and braids that stuck out from his head. Bombur was nearly as large as Dudley but infinitely kinder. Bifur, to his shock, had an axe head in his forehead, which caused him to speak nothing but Khuzdul. They were miners by trade but not by choice. Their entire family had all once been toymakers, good ones according to Fili but they’d come on hard times like most of the dwarves in the Blue Mountains. They were the only ones not related in some way to the royal line. But they were still loyal to a fault, and none of the other dwarves in the company treated them any differently. Their lives had been too tumultuous for things like that.

It took several months before the dwarves were prepared to leave. By then the wizard had sent word to where they needed to go to meet up with their Burglar. It was the Shire, home of the hobbits. The wizard would mark the appropriate door so they knew where to go.

The dwarves were all excited to get going on their quest. The hardest part was saying goodbye. Gloin and Bombur both had wives and children, which Harry thought made leaving hardest on them. But they were determined to get a better life for their families. The days leading up to his departure Gloin’s young son Gimli followed his father everywhere, demanding to go along as well. Dis had already threatened Thorin with a very violent demise if he didn’t keep her sons safe. She gave both her sons tokens to remind each of her love and to keep themselves safe. To Harry’s surprise she also gave him one as well.

“To remember that you will always have a home with us, and I hope one day you’ll come back to us,” Dis smiled warmly at him as she handed him the smooth black stone with a Khuzdul word written across it.

“I will,” Harry promised. “Thank you for everything. I’ll never be able to repay you for taking me in.”

“Think nothing of it, you’re my boy just as much as those other rapscallions,” Dis informed him firmly.

Harry felt a flush of warmth suffuse him at her words. Mrs. Weasley was the closest he’d ever come to having a mother figure. But he had rarely got to spend time with her or ever develop a close relationship with her like he had with Dis. Harry was thrilled that she considered him a part of her family.

Harry knelt down to embrace her. She hugged him back just tightly. When she pulled back she gently touched her forehead against his. It was a gesture only close, immediate family performed, and Harry was touched by it.

Then all too soon they were heading out. Harry wondered if he would ever come back to Ered Luin. He had grown to love Middle Earth in the months he’d lived here. It didn’t mean he didn’t miss Hogwarts and all his friends any less but it certainly made things more complicated. By the time he found his father would he even want to go back to Earth? Harry pushed the thought aside. There was no use worrying over a choice that he might not even have the ability to make. Who knows if he could get back to Earth?

They all had a couple of different last minute errands to attend to before they started out on their quest. But they were all going to try and meet back up at the Burglar’s house on the same day. Thorin had already set off on a meeting with some dwarves from the Iron Hills in hopes of getting a little bit more help. Fili, Kili, and Harry broke away from the rest of the group to spend some time alone before they were going to go their separate ways.

Still they made good time in reaching their destination. The Shire was a beautiful place. Harry would have loved to see it in daylight even though his eyesight was decent in the dark. The hobbits built their homes into the rolling green hills surrounding the Shire. The only things they could see were the colorful round doors set in the hillside. All of the hobbits were already tucked away in their hobbit holes. Harry, Fili, and Kili walked along the empty dirt paths until they finally found the door with the mark. The glowing blue rune was set on a large green door.

They wasted no time in walking up the steps to ring the bell by the door. It didn’t take long before a flustered looking man opened the door. Harry got his first good look at a hobbit while Fili and Kili introduced themselves. The hobbit didn’t look any different from a human just smaller. He was even shorter than the dwarves. He had curly dark blonde hair, pointed ears, and large hairy feet. Harry hadn’t been expecting his feet to be quite that large in proportion to his body.

“Fili.”

“And Kili.”

“At your service,” they said together sweeping into a bow.

“And this is Harry,” Fili pointed to him. The hobbit stared between him and the brothers looking more than a little overwhelmed.

“You must be Mr. Boggins,” Kili smiled widely. Harry sighed, Thorin had told them that the Burglar’s name was Bilbo Baggins several times.

“Nope, you can’t come in, you’ve come to the wrong house,” the hobbit cried, attempting to shut the door in their faces.

“What? Has it been cancelled?” Kili demanded, catching the door before it could close.

“No one told us,” Fili frowned looking back at Harry to see if he knew anything.

“Cancelled? No, nothing’s been cancelled,” the hobbit shook his head.

“That’s a relief,” Kili sighed pushing his way into the house.

Fili ambled in after him while Harry had to duck through the doorway. Luckily the ceilings were high enough for him to stand up comfortably in as long as he avoided hitting his head on the chandelier. After living with dwarves for a while he’d learned to navigate living in a world that was a bit too small for him.

Fili and Kili were already making themselves at home. Fili tossed his weapons to the hobbit while Kili was wiping his feet on the furniture. Harry smacked him in the back of the head.

“What was that for?” Kili glared.

“Dis would kill you if she saw you do that,” Harry stated.

“You’re not my mother,” Kili shot back.

“No, but since she’s not here to do it herself I’ll do it for her,” Harry replied.

Kili wiped off the mud, muttering under his breath. Dwalin appeared from around the corner and instantly wrangled them into helping put the tables together so that the entire company could fit. The dwarves were focused on their task, too excited about the prospect of a good meal after weeks of travel. But Harry was watching their host, and heard his ranting as the doorbell rang again. It appeared that the poor hobbit didn’t know that they were all coming.

Harry had stepped out just in time to see Mr. Baggins open the door and a pile of dwarves tumble inside. Behind the pile of dwarves was a tall man with long gray hair and beard. He wore worn gray robes, and a gray hat. He carried a long wooden staff, and Harry knew this must be Gandalf the Gray one of the wizards of Middle Earth.

The hobbit immediately started berating the wizard as Harry went to try and help sort out the dwarves in the pile. He then made his way back to the dining room to join the impromptu feast. After living with dwarves for several months Harry was more than familiar with their eating habits. The more of them there were the more rambunctious they became as they joked, laughed, and drank.

Dwalin poured ale down Oin’s ear trumpet. Fili was walking on the table as he passed out mugs of ale. Nori was casually slipping silverware into his coat when he thought no one was looking. Dori was making sure that Ori was eating enough. Bofur was tossing food to Bombur on the other end of the table who was catching it in his mouth. Then of course there was the belching contest, which Ori won without question. Hermione would have been appalled with their table manners but Ron would have fit in perfectly with them. He may have even given Ori some competition. Harry just watched. He knew that they would eventually put things right. There wouldn’t be any permanent damage from. Dwarves often took any chance they could to have a good time considering their hard life.

Harry ate his far share of the food but he did feel a bit guilty about the way Mr. Baggins was so agitated. But the evening progressed nonetheless. The dwarves even came up with a song for Mr. Baggins as they cleaned up their mess. Harry helped Bifur out in the kitchen cleaning the dishes while the other dwarves tossed the dishes to them.

Thorin eventually arrived and was quite put out when he met Mr. Baggins. Thorin didn’t think he was up to the task, and Mr. Baggins didn’t seem like he was all that eager to join in the quest either. Harry joined them in their discussion listening as Thorin told them of his meeting. They were all disappointed to hear that the dwarves from the Iron Hills refused to come. Harry listened closely as they started to discuss Smaug, and how they could possibly kill him.

It was hard to listen to. But Harry knew he couldn’t bring up the fact that he was planning on helping them with Smaug. Kili didn’t have the same reservations.

“Perhaps, something will happen and we’ll be able to reason with him,” Kili spoke up.

Fili elbowed Kili for bringing it up because now everyone’s attention was on Kili. They were looking at him like he’d suddenly sprouted an orc head.

“Reason, with a dragon?” Thorin demanded, looking as if he was seriously reevaluating Kili’s intelligence.

“Ignore him, he’s just tired,” Harry reassured.

Thorin sent another worried look at Kili, still questioning his sanity. But he returned to his speech.

“The dragon Smaug has not been seen for sixty years. Eyes are on the mountain. Assessing it, weighing the chances. We must not sit back and wait for another to claim what is rightfully ours. We must take back our mountain!” Thorin cried.

The others all agreed, and Gandalf soon produced a key to help them get into the mountain. Apparently the entire mountain was sealed. There were no ways inside expect for the secret passage way. This gave Harry pause. How was he supposed to get to Smaug if he was locked up tightly in a mountain? Was he just supposed to knock and hope for the best?

The discussion continued on around Harry. Thorin handed Mr. Baggins the contract for the company. He carefully took the time to read it becoming paler as he did so. Bofur’s extra comments didn’t exactly help either. So it should have to no surprise that Mr. Baggins fainted dead away. The dwarves all gaped in shock. Harry stood and picked up the hobbit to make sure he was all right. Gandalf assured him that he was, and directed him to place Mr. Baggins in an armchair in front of the fire. Dori made him a cup of tea.

“Thank you for the help, Mister…” Gandalf sent him a curious look.

“Just Harry.”

“Just Harry, it is nice to meet you. I’m Gandalf. How are you familiar with the dwarves?” Gandalf asked him.

“They saved me from orcs,” Harry explained.

“Orcs?” Gandalf’s gaze sharpened a bit.

“Harry!” Kili called.

Harry sent an apologetic look towards Gandalf but was grateful for an excuse to duck out of the questioning. He quickly moved to join Kili and Fili.

“You might end up having to join us, Harry,” Fili said as they settled down in the living room.

“Our Burglar, isn’t much of a Burglar,” Kili agreed.

“I don’t think he even knew he was supposed to be one,” Harry pointed out.

“What are we going to do then?” Kili wondered.

“We’re going to complete this quest. We’ll get back our homeland just like uncle said,” Fili said determinedly.

Soon after Thorin started singing. The melody was haunting and beautiful. It only further convinced Harry that he would help them. He would make sure they got their mountain back.

The next morning they set out early without Mr. Baggins. However, they didn’t get very far before Mr. Baggins came running after them. The hobbit’s attitude had completely turned around, and he looked utterly thrilled to be coming along. Until he learned he had to ride a pony.

“He’s not riding a horse,” Mr. Baggins pointed to Harry.

“He can’t fit on the ponies and since he’s only traveling with us to Bree we didn’t get another horse,” Fili said.

“And he’s got longer legs,” Kili agreed as he and Fili came up behind the hobbit.

They each grabbed hold of him to swing him up into the saddle of the available pony. It took them about a week to reach Bree. For once Harry was glad for how long travel took in Middle Earth. He wasn’t eager to be separated from his dwarves. He’d been with them for over half a year, and it would be like losing Sirius, Remus, Hermione, and Ron all over again. They stayed the night in the Prancing Pony. Fili, Kili, and he stayed up into the early hours of the night talking and reminiscing about all of the time they spent together.

In the morning Harry said his goodbyes. He said goodbye to those he didn’t know so well first. He wished Bilbo, Gandalf, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori, and Gloin all luck on their journey. For Balin, Dwalin, Ori, Oin, and Thorin he individualized his goodbye. Then there came the hardest part, saying goodbye to Fili and Kili.

“Well, this is goodbye,” Harry said awkwardly. He didn’t know quite how say goodbye to the dwarves who had become his best friends.

“For now, we won’t be apart too long. Who knows maybe we’ll even beat you to the mountain?” Kili grinned.

“Just be safe, Harry, and if Smaug looks like he doesn’t remember you, get out of there,” Fili told him, looking a bit anxious.

“Stop being such a mother hen. You’ll turn into Dori on us,” Kili laughed, poking his brother in the ribs.

“I’m not turning into Dori! I’m just worried about Harry going off on his own. Although, I’m not as worried about him as I would be about you going off on your own,” Fili scowled.

“I’ll be fine,” Harry reassured them. “I have to do this. Just like you both have to go on this quest.”

Fili sighed and clapped him on the back. “We know. If you manage to talk sense into Smaug wait for us in Laketown. If not get away, and try to find us on the road, and we’ll figure something out.”

“There’s nothing the three of us can’t do together!” Kili cheered.

Harry grinned. Kili’s optimism never failed to lift Harry’s own spirits.

“Now, we’ve got to go. The others are waiting,” Fili pointed out.

Everyone else had already climbed up onto their ponies, and were waiting for the two young princes to join them.

Kili nodded. He gave each of them quick, manly hugs. Then the two brothers were off.

“Be safe! Good luck!” Harry called after them.

“We don’t need luck, I’m going!” Kili called back.

Fili swatted him.

Harry rolled his eyes. He watched them go until they disappeared from sight. It was the first time he had been alone since his attack with the orcs. He couldn’t help but feel a bit vulnerable. But he had a job to do. Hermione had always said he had a ‘saving people thing’ and he was twice as protective of the people he cared about. He wanted to help the dwarves get back their home, and he wanted to show his father that he was still alive.

Harry spent the rest of the afternoon in the Prancing Pony. As night began to fall he slipped back out of the town and started making his way to a secluded area. Once he was far enough away from the down and the sky was dark enough he stripped out of his clothing. He folded them and put them all away in his pack. Only then did he change forms. Harry stretched out his arms giving his wings a brief shake to test for any stiffness. Not finding any he gave a couple of powerful hops before leaping completely off the ground. It took just a few strong sweeps of his wings and he was soaring high above the trees.

Harry flew even higher. He flew high above the clouds to ensure that no one would catch sight of him. It was a relief to be back flying through the sky. There was nothing quite like flying. It was pure freedom to Harry. He only had to make sure he didn’t lose himself in the sensation, veered off course. Fili and he had mapped out his path to get him to Erebor in good time. He would fly at night and sleep during the day. Flying would allow him to travel far faster than if he had to walk. Harry just hoped that when he finally reached his destination he would be welcome.