Harry Potter and the Fellowship of the Ring

Chapter 10

40 Years earlier

"Ellerosse? Ellerosse!" a certain was beginning to panic. He sprinted, over rocks, and fallen trees, and mossy ground. He collapsed, near tears. He had sent the boy out to collect firewood. It had seemed harmless enough, at the time, but now he was beginning to regret it. He had not seen Ellerosse since, and it was already past sundown. It was beginning to grow colder again, and a fierce wind was blowing down the grey mountains. They had nearly gotten lost taking a dip in the lake.

He nearly turned back, hoping against all odds that his young companion had found their campsite while he'd been out searching. Then he saw the blood, and his frantic calls started anew.

He had found Ellerosse alone, hidden beneath a bush, covered in mud, his lips turning blue and his leg sticking out at an odd angle. He had carried the boy back to the camp, taking note of the dead orcs and goblins surrounding the area, and the quivering that never seemed to stop, even as he wrapped the little elfling in his cloak. Slowly, he began to piece together what happened.

Ellerosse had been ambushed near the campsite and carried off further away than Aragorn would have allowed him. The boy had already been weakened from the cold, and the orcs had found him to be an easy target. Somehow, he had managed to kill the orcs (not without obtaining injuries), and crawl away to hide before more orcs had come.

The boy had used mud to mask his scent like he'd been taught. A sense of pride came over Aragorn, but also frustration. He'd failed to protect his charge as he'd promised.

At the camp, he settled himself before the fire and eased the boy into his lap.

"Ellerosse." his voice came out hoarse and staggered, and something wet fell onto the boy's cheek. He looked up, hoping that it wouldn't rain, but the sky overhead showed no sign of clouds. He raised a hand to his cheek and found it wet.

He could have imagined it, or it could have been the nonsensical ramblings of sleep, but the boy murmured, in a sweet breath, "...Ada."

Cradling the boy in his arms, he wept.

The Present

You'd think that his experience living in an ancient castle in Scotland would have gotten used to the cold, but he still hated the cold very much, and he could feel Aragorn hovering over his shoulder. He nudged Pippin a bit. "Just a little further, my friend." He had to shout over the howling of the wind. Behind, he glanced worriedly at Gimli as he trailed behind with Bill the pony, who had surprisingly complied with following them over this mountain pass.

He had offered to scout ahead with Legolas, but Aragorn had recommended he help the hobbits. Really, he just knew the man was worried as he always had been.

Ahead, he watched as Frodo slipped and the ranger rushed to his aid. He started forward but stopped. He would likely only inflame the situation.

Behind him, he heard Gimli shouting to Sam that this was nothing to a dwarf, that he had done things like this many times before. Then the dwarf attempted to melt the ice out of his beard, groaning that it was getting into his nostrils. Bill whinnied.

The snowfall was so thick that he could barely see their little cluster, and he could barely make out the voices of his companions, even with his advanced elfy hearing.

They had found a cave a while back and had attempted to make a fire, but even Gandalf had trouble with it. Finally, Legolas had scouted "in search of the sun" earlier. And then he'd run off on top of the snow in his fancy Mirkwood boots while the rest of them dug their way through the snowdrift. Not for the first time, Ellerosse envied the blond for his Mirkwood equipment since his own seemed to be severely lacking in the elf skills department. He also wished he had a wand. But, well, he couldn't have everything.