Harry Potter and the Ring of Doom

They began to walk around the city, since there was no gate facing northward. There was a white stone road running along the bank of the fosse, or moat, that surrounded the city; they headed along it in a westerly direction, with the city climbing constantly like a green cloud to their left. As the night deepened more lights sprang forth, until the hill seemed as if all the stars of the sky had come down to alight on it.

At last they came to a white bridge, and crossing found the great gates of the city, which faced southwest, set between the overlapping ends of the encircling wall. They were tall, strong, and hung with many lamps. Haldir knocked and spoke, and the gates opened soundlessly. Harry saw no sign of any guards. They passed through the gates, which shut behind them, leaving them in a deep lane between the ends of the wall. They passed through quickly, entering the City of Trees. They couldn't see anyone, but could hear voices about them and above them.

They climbed many stairs and walked many paths as they rose up the hill, not yet climbing into any of the trees, until they had reached the highest areas of the hill, where they found a fountain shimmering on a wide lawn, lit by beautiful silver lamps swinging from the boughs of the nearby trees, the water falling into a silver basin from which a white stream spilled. On the south side of that lawn stood the mightiest of all the trees. Its smooth trunk gleamed like grey silk, and it towered above them until its first branches, far above them, opened their huge limbs under shadowy clouds of leaves. Beside it a broad white ladder stood; at its foot, three Elves sat. As the Company approached, the Elves sprang to their feet, and the group could see that they were clad in grey mail and white cloaks.

"Here dwell Celeborn and Galadriel," Haldir said. "It is their wish that you should ascend and speak with them." One of the Elf-wardens blew a clear note on a small horn, which was answered from above by three clear notes. "I will go first," Haldir added. "Harry shall come next, and with him Legolas. The others may follow as they wish. It is a long climb for those not accustomed to such stairs, but you may rest along the way."

Haldir sprang up the steps. Harry motioned to Hermione, kissed her cheek, and said, "You first. That way I can be immediately behind you, and you won't fall." She shivered. "I can't let you fall, love. Remember? I swore an oath." He smiled. "I'll be right there with you, Hermione. Don't worry." She started to climb, and Harry was immediately behind her, close enough to almost cause her trouble in climbing. He could hear Legolas on the steps below him.

As they climbed, they passed many platforms, or flets as they were called, some on one side of the ladder, some on the other side, and a few surrounding the bole of the tree, so that the ladder passed through them. Hermione tended to stop and shake for a moment on those, before steeling herself to continue. Finally, at a tremendous height above the ground, they came to what the Elves called a talan, a huge flet, like the deck of a great ship. On it was built a house, so large that it could have served for a hall if built on the ground. Harry and Hermione entered behind Haldir, followed by Legolas, into an oval chamber with the trunk of the mallorn rising through it, still a great thickness even at this height. The chamber was filled with soft light. Many Elves were seated in the chamber. Under a living canopy sat two chairs, and in them sat Celeborn and Galadriel. They stood to greet their guests, and Harry marvelled at their height, being quite tall for Elves, and of equal height. They were both clad in white, and were grave-faced, but beautiful nonetheless. Her hair was a deep gold; his was silver. Harry could make no guess to their ages. Haldir led Harry and Hermione before Celeborn and Galadriel.

"Welcome, Harry Potter! Sit beside me, and when all have come, we will speak together." Galadriel smiled at Hermione and motioned her to a chair beside her. Each of the companions were greeted by name as they entered the room.

"Cor!" gasped Ron as he walked through the door. "What I wouldn't give for my broom right now," he panted as he bowed to Galadriel, who smiled in response.

When they all were seated, Celeborn looked them over again. "I see only eight. Word was that Nine were to set out; so said the messages. Perhaps there was a change of counsel that we have not heard?"

"Nay, there was no change," said the Lady Galadriel, speaking for the first time. Her voice was clear and musical, but deeper than Harry was used to hearing from a woman. "Gandalf the Grey set out with the Company, but he did not pass the borders of this land. Now tell us where he is, for I much desired to speak with him again. But I cannot see him from afar, unless he comes within the fences of Lothlorien. A grey mist is about him, and the ways of his feet and of his mind are hidden to me."

"Alas!" said Aragorn. "Gandalf the Grey fell into shadow. He remained in Moria and did not escape."

"These are evil tidings," said Celeborn, " the most evil that have been spoken here in long years full of grievous deeds." Turning to Haldir, he spoke in Elvish.

Legolas answered in Common. "We have not spoken to Haldir of our purpose or our deeds. At first we were weary and danger was too close behind; and afterwards we almost forgot our grief for a time, as we walked in gladness on the fair paths of Lorien."

"Yet our grief is great, and the loss cannot be mended," Harry said, closing his eyes to tears that were trying to fall. "He was our guide, and he led us through Moria. When escape seemed impossible, he saved us, but he fell." He crushed the heels of his hands against his eyes, as if the pressure could keep the tears away.

"Tell us the full tale!" said Celeborn.

Aragorn recounted the entire trip, starting with Caradhras, and leading them completely through the fight in the chamber that held Balin's tomb, including Harry's unusual deeds; through the fire, and finally to the coming of the Terror. "It was an evil of the Ancient World, such as I have never seen before," said Aragorn. "It was both shadow and flame, strong and terrible."

"It was a Balrog of Morgoth," said Legolas. "Of all elf-banes the most deadly, save the One who sits in the Dark Tower."

"Indeed I saw upon the bridge that which haunts our darkest dreams; I saw Durin's Bane," said Gimli in a low voice, and dread was in his eyes.

"Alas!" said Celeborn. "We long feared that under Caradhras a terror slept. But had I known that the Dwarves had stirred up this evil in Moria again, I would have forbidden you to pass the northern borders, you and all that passed with you. And if it were possible, one would say that at the last Gandalf fell from wisdom to folly, going needlessly into the net of Moria."

"He would be rash indeed that said such," Galadriel said gravely. "Naught that Gandalf did in life was folly, and those that followed him knew not his full mind and cannot say his full purpose. Be that as it may be, the followers are blameless in this. Do not repent of your welcome of the Dwarf. If our folk had been exiled long and far from Lothlorien, who of the Galadhrim, even Celeborn the Wise, would pass nigh and not wish to look upon their ancient home, even if it had become the abode of dragons?"

She turned to Gimli and spoke, and somehow Harry understood the ancient Dwarven language. "Dark is the water of Kheled-zaram, and cold are the springs of Kibil-nala, and fair were the many pillared halls of Khazad-dum in Elder Days before the fall of mighty kings beneath the stone." She smiled at Gimli, who sat glowering and sad.

He looked up to see her smile, and a change came over his face. He stood clumsily and bowed, Dwarf-fashion, and said, "Yet more fair is the living land of Lorien, and the Lady Galadriel is above all the jewels that lie beneath the earth!"

Silence reigned for a moment before Celeborn spoke again. "I did not know your plight was so evil," he said. "Let Gimli forget my harsh words: I spoke in the trouble of my heart. I will do what I can to aid you, each according to his wish and need, but especially that one who bears the burden."

"Your quest is known to us," said Galadriel, looking at Harry, "but we will not speak of it openly at this time. Not in vain, maybe, will it be that you came to this land for aid, as Gandalf plainly intended. The Lord of the Galadhrim is accounted the wisest of the Elves of Middle-earth, and a giver of gifts beyond the power of kings. He has dwelt in the West since the days of dawn, and I have dwelt with him years uncounted, for ere the fall of Nargothrond or Gondolin I passed over the mountains, and together through ages of the world we have fought the long defeat."

"I will not give counsel, for not in doing or contriving, nor in choosing between courses can I avail, but only in knowing what is and what was, and in part what shall be. I will say this, however: your Quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail to the ruin of all. Yet hope remains while the Company is true."

With that she held them each with her eyes, and in silence looked searchingly at each of them in turn. Only Aragorn, Legolas, and Harry could bear the weight of her glance for long. Ron blushed and hung his head.

At length she released them from her eyes and smiled. "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Tonight you shall sleep in peace." The Company, almost as one, sighed and felt weary as if they had been questioned long and deeply, although no words had been spoken openly.

"Go now!" Said Celeborn. "You are worn with sorrow and much toil. Even if your Quest did not concern us closely, you should have refuge in this City, until you were healed and refreshed. Now you shall rest, and we will not speak of your further road for a while."

"Um, Lord Celeborn?" asked Harry, more than a little nervously. "Would it be possible for us to sleep at ground level?" He pointed at Hermione and himself. "This platform terrifies her, and she would sleep better at ground level."

"With a certainty," he smiled. "I would see this portable domicile that you carry with you, if you have a mind to show it."

#####

On the ground, Draco quickly had help setting up the tent, while Harry helped Hermione calm down. She was still so scared of the trip up, and back down, that he could feel her heart pounding as her shivering against him lessened. "I'm sorry, Harry. I don't like being so scared of heights."

"I'm here for you, Hermione. Fear simply is, Hermione - there's no rhyme nor reason to it. I'll do what I can for you, and hold you when I can." He grinned. "Works well for me, at least," he chuckled, and he felt her begin to relax against him. As he enjoyed the feeling of having his arms around her, he heard a song in his head, and laughed again. "I don't know if I should kill Aunt Petunia or thank her," he murmured.

"Why?" Hermione said, disengaging herself from his hug.

"I've got this American country song running through my head. She listens to the radio occasionally, and was listening to some American music. I was holding you and one of them came to mind. It's a love song. Kind of amusing, in my opinion."

"Oh?" Hermione asked, beginning to look amused. "Sing it to me."

"Make sure you've got a handy repair spell ready, then, 'cause I'm probably going to shatter my own glasses with my voice." He looked at her, and realized that she was serious. "You really want me to?" he asked, feeling a little sick. She nodded, and he closed his eyes, and then reopened them, focusing ... elsewhere. "Forgive the accent," he laughed before he started singing softly, beginning with a put-on 'American Western' accent.

You may think that I'm talking foolish,

You've heard that I'm wild and I'm free.

You may wonder how I can promise you now

This love that I feel for you always will be.

You're not just time that I'm killing;

I'm no longer one of those guys.

As sure as I live this love that I give

Is gonna be yours until the day that I die -- Oh baby

I'm gonna love you forever,

Forever and ever amen.

As long as old men sit and talk about the weather,

As long as old women sit and talk about old men.

If you wonder how long I'll be faithful,

I'll be happy to tell you again.

I'm gonna love you forever and ever,

Forever and ever, Amen.

They say that time takes its toll on a body;

Makes a young girl's brown hair turn grey.

But honey, I don't care, I ain't in love with your hair,

And if it all fell out - well, I'd love you anyway.

They say that time can play tricks on a memory,

Make people forget things that they knew.

Well, it's easy to see it's happening to me.

I've already forgotten every woman but you --- Oh darlin'

I'm gonna love you forever,

Forever and ever amen.

As long as old men sit and talk about the weather,

As long as old women sit and talk about old men.

If you wonder how long I'll be faithful,

Just listen to how this song ends.

I'm gonna love you forever and ever,

Forever and ever Amen.

I'm gonna love you forever and ever,

Forever and ever,

Forever and ever,

Forever and ever,

Amen.

His voice had gotten stronger as he sang, and the accent he'd put on had disappeared. By the end, he had gathered a small crowd of Elves, as well as the Company, around him. He refocused at Hermione, not yet noticing the group. "I know I'm young yet, but that's how I feel right now, when I hold you."

He was astonished to hear his friends applaud, and he spun to find that he had apparently given an impromptu concert. He blushed to a degree that closely matched Ron's hair colour.

Draco snorted. "You mind telling me if there's something you don't do well, Harry?"

"Potions?" Harry laughed, embarrassed.

"Geez, chum, why didn't you tell me you can sing?" Ron asked.

"Didn't think I could." He looked at Hermione. "Guess I wasn't ever inspired enough before." She blushed prettily.

Galadriel walked over and smiled at him. "Your love for the lady does you great credit, Harry Potter. For it to shine through when such a burden as you carry weighs on you speaks volumes for that love, and you." Seeing their embarrassment, she turned to Draco. "Now, Draco Malfoy, may Lord Celeborn and myself be granted a tour of your most interesting domicile?"

Before following the group into the Malfoy tent, Harry was grabbed by Hermione, who pulled him into a clinch and kissed him passionately, and he returned it with interest. "I think I like it when you sing to me," she murmured in a voice that would have caused certain reactions below the waist had her kiss not done that already. He blushed again, and straightened his clothes before leaving the hug reluctantly and entering the tent behind Hermione. Before going through the door, he got an evil grin on his face, and proceeded to gently pinch Hermione on the rear end.

"Well, you told me once to pinch you like I meant it," he grinned at her as she spun on him. She grinned back at him and gently slapped his arm.

#####

After the Elves had left the tent, marvelling at the size difference between inside and outside, the Company settled down to a meal, cooked by Harry and Hermione, and talked for a while of the previous day's events, not yet having the heart to look further back.

"Why'd you blush when she looked at you, Ron?" Draco asked. "You'd think you had a guilty conscience."

He blushed again. "Other than the fact that she's incredibly gorgeous, and I think she knew I was thinking that? It felt like I was naked in front of her, and that she was offering me a choice to go home to the Burrows and be safe."

Draco frowned. "Got to admit, Ron, that it was a lot like mine, only, well, I think I'm not going to say any more."

All of them, it seemed, had fared the same; each felt that he had been offered a choice between a shadow full of fear that lay ahead and something that he or she greatly desired, and all that needed be done was to turn from the path before them and leave the Quest and the war against Sauron to others.

"And it seemed to me," Gimli said, "that my choice would remain secret; that none would know it save me."

"To me it seemed exceedingly strange," said Boromir. "Maybe it was only a test, and she thought to read our thoughts to her own good purposes; but almost I should have said that she was tempting us, and offered what she had not the power to give. It need not be said that I refused to listen. Men of Gondor are true to their word." He did not say what he thought had been offered him.

"If it didn't need saying," Harry murmured in the ear he was nuzzling, "why did he say it?" She giggled in response.

"What of you, Ring-bearer? She held you long in her gaze," Boromir said to Harry.

"What she said is mine to ponder, Boromir. That is all you need know of it," was Harry's rather cool response.

"You returned her gaze a long time, Harry," Boromir persisted. "None but the Elf and Aragorn could do that amongst the rest of the Company. Have a care, Harry. I trust not this Elvish Lady and her purposes."

"Speak no evil of the Lady Galadriel!" said Aragorn sternly. "You know not of what you speak. There is no evil in this land unless a man bring it here himself, and then woe unto him. But tonight I shall sleep without a worry for the first time since we left Rivendell. And may I sleep deep, and forget a while my grief. I am weary in body and heart." He picked himself up and headed to the rooms upstairs. The others followed, save Harry and Hermione.

"We'll have to replenish the stores at some point," Harry murmured. "We're using up Draco's food, and that's not fair."

"I like the change in him," Hermione murmured back. "He's become someone I'd trust behind me now, and not worry about getting jinxed or the equivalent of a magical 'Kick Me' sign."

"Probably be checking out your butt in the process, though," Harry chuckled. When she protested, Harry added, "Remember Ron's reaction the night we left Hogwarts, when you wore that sweater and jeans so tight they were giving me a problem with my breathing? He was looking at a rather nicely shaped derriere, milady."

Hermione sat up and looked at him, smiling. "I think I like this change in you, Harry. I can't imagine you talking to any girl about having shapely body parts of any sort before this trip."

"I've had a reason to want to change. I almost died, Hermione, and it's the first time that it really sank in. Yeah, the year that the Chamber of Secrets was opened was when I almost died from basilisk poison, but Fawkes was right there." He smiled. "What I really remember the most from then was how worried we both were for you. I think I might have been in love with you then, even though I wouldn't even have dreamed of admitting it to myself. But as for almost dying, well, it made me think of another song that Petunia listened to." He shuddered. "Why does that woman like American country music? A further way to torture me? They're good for Messages, though. I won't sing this one, but I remember part of the chorus. 'If tomorrow never comes, would she know how much I love her?' That ran through my head just before I kissed you for the first time; it's what led to that kiss, to be honest."

"I think I want to listen to some of this music, if it makes you think this romantically," she said dreamily. "That kiss still curls my toes, Mister Potter." She shot him a smouldering look. "Care to do some more curling right here on the couch? I'm not even worried about the bruises, given how gentle you are." Her eyes twinkled, and his pulse sped up, knowing exactly the meaning behind that statement.

His eyes fell to the table, which still had the dishes, and his face fell. "I'd love to, but then the dishes would never get done, and we'd end up doing them in the morning, after that excellent gravy of yours has turned to concrete." He stood reluctantly, and she followed.

"That's all right, Harry. I don't have to be sitting to get the full force of your kisses." She helped him take the dishes into the kitchen and they began washing them. This made the work go fast enough that within half an hour, the counter served another purpose.

#####

They remained some days in Lothlorien, so far as they could tell or remember. All the while that they dwelt there, the sun shone clear, save for a gentle rain that occasionally fell, that passed leaving everything fresh and clean. The air was cool and soft, as if it were early spring, yet about them they felt the deep thoughtful quiet of winter. It seemed to them that they did little but eat, drink, and rest, and walk amongst the trees; and that was enough.

They had not seen the Lord and Lady since the first day, and spoke little with the Elves, since few amongst the Elves spoke their tongue. Haldir had bid them farewell and returned to the Northern fences, where a great watch now was kept. Legolas was away most of the time with the Galadhrim, and after the first night, he did not sleep with the other companions, though he returned to eat and talk with them. Often he took Gimli with him when he went abroad in the land, and the others wondered at the change.

They were able to talk about Gandalf at this point, and the grief was more intense. Harry was both happier in Lothlorien, and far more sad. He still blamed himself for Gandalf's death. They could all hear the Elves singing lamentations for him, but Legolas would not translate, saying that he had not the skill, and that the grief was still too strong.

#####

One evening Harry and Ron were walking together under the moonlight, talking. "So, get caught again by the Elves?" Ron laughed.

"Oh geez, don't remind me," Harry laughed, blushing. "What made it worse was that it was Herself," he said, moving his hands in an hourglass shape.

"What did she say?" Ron asked, eyes wide and trying very hard not to laugh uproariously.

"Absolutely nothing. She just smiled and walked away, as if it was an everyday thing to see that in this city." He shrugged, still grinning and blushing. "Who knows; maybe it is around here, but they're so stealthy we don't see it. Embarrassing as all hell for me, I'll tell you."

"I'd imagine it was for Hermione, too," Ron chuckled.

Harry bit his lip before saying, "I think she enjoyed getting caught, but if you repeat that, I'll deny that I ever said it."

Ron laughed. "Remember who told us about it, chum?"

"Good point." The two of them continued to walk for a while, enjoying the scenery, when Harry turned to Ron again. "Are you as antsy about still being here as I am?"

"Yeah. We've got a job to do, and it's not done. The longer we stay here, the worse it'll be to start it up again. I can even hear Mum: 'It's the job never started that takes longest to finish.'" He paused. "I hope I get home alive to give her a hug. I miss her right about now. Can't even owl her."

"I'd like to see Dumbledore again, myself. Need to talk to him about a few things." He sighed. "Until that happens, though, I hope before we leave Lorien that we get a chance to see Galadriel again," Harry mused.

"Turn around then, Harry," Ron said in wonder. She said nothing to them, but beckoned them closer.

She led them toward the southern slopes of the hill of Caras Galdhon, and passing through a high green hedge, they came to an enclosed garden. There were no trees here; it lay open to the sky. She went down a long flight of steps into the hollow, through which the silver stream from the fountain above murmured. At the bottom stood a low pedestal, shaped like a branching tree. It held a silver basin, wide and shallow, and beside it stood a silver pitcher.

She went to the stream and filled the pitcher, filled the basin to the brim, and then breathed upon it. Once the water was once again still, she spoke. "Here is the Mirror of Galadriel. I have brought you here so that you may look in it, if you so desire."

"What shall we look for? What will we see?" Harry asked with awe.

"Many things I can command the Mirror to reveal," she answered, "and to some I can show what they desire to see. But the Mirror will also show things unbidden, and those are often stranger and more profitable than things which we wish to behold. What you will see, if you leave it to show what it will, I cannot tell, or know, for it shows things that were, and things that are, and things that may yet be. Which it is that he sees, not even the wisest can say. Do you wish to look?" Harry stayed silent. "How about you, Master Ronald? Would you see what it may show?"

He chuckled a bit nervously. "If it uses my own gifts for divination, then all it's going to be is a mirror," he said, which got a soft laugh from Harry, remembering some of the contortions they'd gone through for Sybil Trelawney's classes.

"As likely as not," Galadriel said with a gentle laugh. "Remember, do not touch the water!"

Ron leaned over the surface and saw the starlight above reflected. Watching for several seconds, he nodded to himself. As I thought - nothing. As he moved to leave, the water changed, the stars going out as if they had been printed on a curtain that had just been pulled aside. He saw Harry sleeping under a great dark cliff. Then he was passing through a dim passage, and climbing an endless stair. The vision changed again, this time showing Hogwarts. The lawn was strewn with bodies, so many of them young - first and second years from their appearance. He found his own sister lying across a frightened young girl, and Ginny was not moving. "Ginny!" he shouted. The scene changed to show the Burrows in flames, his family standing outside. Ginny was not with them.

"Ohmigod! An attack on Hogwarts! My home! I've got to ...no, I can't. This Quest is too important." He squeezed his eyes shut, but not before a tear could fall into the basin. "Even if it means my sister's life." He turned away. "I don't want to see any more."

"Remember, Ronald," Galadriel said, compassion deep in her voice, "that the Mirror shows what may be. It may never happen. What you saw may come to pass if you leave this Quest unfinished. After all, think what might have happened if Voldemort had successfully retrieved the One Ring of Power. Or if Sauron discovers your world. He will, if the Quest fails."

"I see my sister again, I'm kissing her, no matter what anyone says." He shivered slightly. "Gods, I miss them." He sat and hugged himself.

Galadriel turned to Harry. "What of you, Ring-bearer? Would you risk what the Mirror might show?"

He nodded, and leaned over the basin. Immediately the image cleared and he saw a twilit land. Mountains loomed dark in the distance under a pale sky. A long grey road wound back out of sight. Far away came a figure slowly on the road, faint and small at first, but growing larger and clearer as it approached. Harry realized that it reminded him of Gandalf, and almost called his name, but he noted that the figure was clad in white, rather than Gandalf's grey clothing; a white that shone lightly in the dusk, and the figure carried a white staff. The head was so bowed that Harry could not see the face, and presently the figure turned aside around a bend in the road and went out of the Mirror's view. Was that Gandalf, many years ago, or Saruman, who I've heard called Saruman the White?

There was a brief view of himself in a mirror, obviously older, with maturity showing in his face. He was scowling.

A pause followed, and then images and swift scenes followed that Harry knew in some way were connected to the great history that he had become embroiled with. The mist cleared and he saw a sight that he had never seen before, but he knew immediately what it was: the Sea; the Sea that the Elves departed over. Darkness fell. The sea rose and raged in a great storm. Then he saw the sun sinking blood red into a wrack of clouds, the black outline of a tall ship with torn sails riding up out of the West. Then a wide river flowing through a populous city. A White fortress with seven towers. Again a ship with black sails, but now it was morning again, and the water rippled with light, and a banner bearing the emblem of a white tree shone in the sun. A smoke as of fire and battle arose, and again the sun went down in a burning red that faded into a grey mist; and into the mist a small ship passed away, twinkling with lights. I vanished, and Harry sighed and prepared to draw away.

Suddenly the Mirror went altogether dark, as if a hole had opened in the world of sight, and Harry looked into emptiness. Disturbingly he thought, If you gaze for long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. He was horrified to see an Eye appear in the blackness, one that grew until it nearly filled the mirror. It was so terrible that Harry could not move, unable to cry out or withdraw even his gaze. The Eye was rimmed with fire, but was glazed, yellow as a cat's, watchful and intent, and the black slit of its pupil opened onto a pit; a window into true nothingness.

It began to rove, searching this way and that, and Harry knew with horrifying certainty that amongst that which the Eye sought was himself. He also knew that the Eye could not yet see him unless he willed it to be - and he had enough will to prevent that, thankfully, for now. The Ring that hung about his neck grew heavier, as if a great stone tied to his neck, and he was dragged forward toward the water. The Mirror seemed to be growing hot, and curls of steam were rising from the water. He could not stop himself.

"Do not touch the water!" Galadriel said so softly that it was almost a whisper, but that was all that was needed. The image disappeared, replaced by the cool and soothing reflection of the stars overhead. He panted as he stepped away from the basin, shaking.

"I know what it was that you saw last, Harry Potter," she said, "for that is in my mind also. Do not be afraid! But do not think that only by singing amid the trees, or even by the slender arrows of Elven bows, is this land of Lothlorien maintained and defended against the Enemy. I say to you that even as we speak, I perceive the Dark Lord and know his mind, or at least that which concerns the Elves. He gropes ever to see me and my thought. But the door is still closed!"

She lifted her white arms and spread her arms to the East in a gesture of rejection and denial. Earendil, the Evening Star, shone clear and bright above; so bright that Galadriel cast a pale shadow on the ground by its light, and its light played on a ring on her finger. It glittered like polished gold overlaid with silver light, and a white stone in it twinkled as if Earendil itself had come down to alight on her finger. Harry gazed in awe at her hand, for he suddenly began to understand.

"Yes," she replied, divining his thought. "It is not permitted to speak of it, but it cannot be hidden from one who bears the Ring, and one who has seen the Eye. I am keeper of Nenya, the Ring of Adamant. He suspects, but does not know - not yet. That is where your coming is the footstep of Doom unto us - if you fail, we are laid bare to the Enemy, but if you succeed, then our power will be diminished, and Lothlorien will fade. The tides of Time will sweep it away. We must depart into the West, or dwindle to a rustic folk of dell and cave, slowly to forget and be forgotten."

Harry bowed his head in sorrow. Finally he asked. "What do you wish?"

"That what should be shall be. The love of the Elves for their land and their works is deeper than the deeps of the Sea, and their regret is undying and cannot ever be wholly assuaged. They will cast away all, though, rather than submit to Sauron, for they now him now. For the fate of Lothlorien you are not answerable, but only for the doing of your task. Yet I could wish, if it were of any avail, that the Ring had never been wrought, or had remained forever lost."

"All my choices of late are foul, Lady," Harry said. "People die for my choices, for no good reason. You are wise, and fearless, and fair. If you asked for it, I would give you the One Ring. It is too great for a child like myself to handle."

Galadriel laughed suddenly, a clear sound. "Wise may I be, but for courtesy I am well matched. Gently are you revenged for my testing of your heart when first we met. You begin to see with keen eye, Harry Potter. I do not deny that the thought has ever been on my mind, what I would do if the Great Ring came within my grasp. The evil that was devised long ago works in many ways, whether Sauron falls or stands. Would that not have been a noble deed to set to the credit of the Ring, if I had taken it by force or fear from my guest?"

"And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of a Dark Lord you will set up a Queen, and I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and Night! Fair as the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth! All shall love me and despair!"

She lifted her hand, and from the ring that she wore there issued a great light that illuminated her alone and left all else dark. She stood before Harry now seeming tall beyond measurement and beautiful beyond enduring; terrible and worshipful. Then she let her hand fall and the light faded, and suddenly she laughed again, and lo! she was shrunken - a slender elf-woman, clad in simple white, whose gentle voice was soft and sad.

"I pass the test," she said. "I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel."

They stood in silence for a long while when Harry said bitterly, "No choice I have is good. If I keep the Ring for myself, I'm actually giving it to Sauron, which means dooming not only this world but my own, and all that I love there. If I destroy the Ring, I save both worlds, but I destroy that which is most fair in this or any world. I know what must be done, but I mourn the loss of all that is truly beautiful at my hands."

She took his face in her hands. "Lord Harry I call you, for truly you act as a Lord should. Lord Harry, you do not know, any more than Celeborn or myself do, what the outcome shall be of the destruction of the Great Ring. We believe that all rings will be diminished. Belief does not make it so. Perhaps the release of the Power stored in the Ring will herald a rebirth of this world and all in it. We can but see. If to diminish is our lot, know that it was our choice, in favour of living under the shadow of ultimate evil. You will not have destroyed us; He will have." She kissed his forehead on his scar, and he felt an odd tingle pass through his body. "Sleep well, Harry, and know that the good will and wishes of all Elves go with you. Go back to your lady love and enjoy beauty once more." Finally smiling, Harry walked up the steps with Ron immediately behind him.

#####

A good distance away from the hollow, Ron turned to Harry. "Harry, please hit me," Ron said.

"Why?" Harry asked, quite perplexed

"You really don't want to know what ran through my mind when she made the comment about the Dark Lord groping for her, although I think it's pretty darned obvious. If she knew, I'd have been slapped so hard that you'd have to send a search party to find my head." He laughed.

"That assumes that the object of that thought finds the concept of being considered attractive in that manner to be offensive, Ronald Weasley," said a deep female voice in a throaty chuckle. Ron jumped in surprise, startled at the realization that the silently moving Elven Lady was right behind them. "I find your attraction to be a pleasant diversion in these dark days." Galadriel leaned over and kissed his forehead in the location of his third eye, and then gently brushed her lips across his. "Thank you for a light in the darkness." She glided off to whatever purpose she had, leaving behind a smiling Harry and utterly stunned Ron.

"Now I know what it's like to be kissed by the most beautiful woman in the world," Ron said.

Harry saw Hermione walking toward them, and had been close enough to hear that comment. "You and me both, chum. You and me both." He pulled Hermione into a gentle hug.