When in doubt, jump in head first

12. The bog-standard exposition chapter

WARNING! There is an ambiguous mention of rape in this chapter. It is at the end of the sentence '"Voldemort and his 'Death Eaters' attacked muggles for sport...' Just a warning.

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They stayed in Beorn's house for a week, a week which they used to heal and rest. Beorn was a gracious host, letting them use any and all of his supplies that they found necessary.

Laelynn spent the majority of her time in Beorn's vast gardens, walking through the flowers and using the time to think. Sometimes Bilbo joined her, and he would compare some of Beorn's flowers to specimens of the Shire. In turn, Laelynn would compare both examples to the ones she had studied in Herbology, using her wand to create an image of the plant or sometimes even a physical copy. These she would give to Bilbo, who graciously accepted them.

After Beorn brought back the Warg pelts and orc heads, however, Bilbo spent his days inside with Thoin, as the King under the Mountain had been assigned bed rest by Óin and was not allowed to leave or there would be words. Once Bilbo started spending his days indoors, Laelynn walked alone, and while her dreams still showed her scenes from her world (Voldemort was doing nothing, and people other than Dipsy had noticed she was gone. It was only Luna and Neville, but it filled her with happiness to realise the only reason they hadn't found out earlier was due to being out of the country. Although, Luna had probably known since May and was only now making a fuss because she wanted to), she found herself barely thinking of them during the daylight hours.

She also spent time with some of the dwarves. Bombur was perfectly happy to trade recipes with her (she couldn't wait to try making some of them and surprising Dipsy with her new culinary prowess), while Bofur would sing bawdy songs, and seemed incredibly impressed when she responded with some in turn. Bifur was happy to join her walking around the garden, listening as she talked about meaningless things and helped her gather some herbs for both her's and Óin's medical kits.

Fíli and Kíli still pestered her for stories of her world, with Ori dutifully taking notes. They had managed to start getting her to tell them about her time at Hogwarts, and while there were bad times (she would always be on Madam Pince's shit-list for her first year naïvety), she always told them stories about the good (Percy's face when he saw what she got him for his birthday was priceless).

Dori and Nori had both come to her (separately) to make sure she wasn't a threat to their brother. When she had been able to assuage their fears, though, they had talked often. She would listen to Glóin's stories about his wife and son, and the burly dwarf was overjoyed when he realised she was actually listening, instead of merely nodding at the right moments.

Dwalin was willing to spar with her, giving her advice that even her best teachers didn't know simply because he was used to using a sword, and Balin was teaching her about the history of the dwarves (at least, what he could tell her). When Laelynn learned that there was a goddamn dragon in Erebor, she stormed to where Gandalf was sitting with Beorn, grabbed him by his beard, and explained in no uncertain terms that the next time he wanted her to do something he better include small details like fucking dragons. Beorn laughed at the way Gandalf kept rubbing his chin once she had left, and would chuckle whenever she shot Gandaf venomous looks after.

By the end of the week, though, Thorin was healed and ready to brave the Mirkwood.

"Master Beorn," he said the evening of the seventh day, after the dogs had taken away dinner. "We thank you for your hospitality," he said, "And would have one more favour to ask of you; give us some supplies for our journey through Mirkwood." Laelynn hid her wince at his plea (more of an order, really), and turned to Beorn to see if he would give them supplies.