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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or LotR.

A light knock upon the study door roused both Harry and Elrond as Arwen and Aragorn entered right after.

"/Adar/," Arwen was worried, "have you seen Harry? He's missing."

"I'm here Lady Arwen," Harry spoke sleepily from Elrond's lap, "I didn't mean to worry you. I'm sorry."

Arwen smiled and hugged Harry to her before passing him to Aragorn so that he could do the same, "it's alright, /tithen-min/, we were just afraid you might have gotten lost. Are you hungry?"

Harry nodded eagerly at the thought of food and started to follow Aragorn to the door before he turned and ran back to Elrond, "are you coming too Lo-/daer-adar/?"

Arwen gave her father a look, which he ignored, as he bent down slight to take Harry's hand, "I will, /tithen-min/."

Harry walked along with the three adults, but Elrond could tell there was something on Harry's mind, "what is it, /tithen-min/? What do you want to ask?"

"What's going to happen to me? Are you going to send me home; back to Azkaban?"

It was the question everyone had been hoping to avoid until there was a set plan they could use to reassure Harry.

Elrond at least, had part of an answer for Harry, "you will not be going back to your old life, /tithen-min/; that was no place for a child."

Harry accepted this partial answer, glad at least he would not have to return to Azkaban no matter how fond of Alara he had become. It wasn't until they were almost at the Morning room where breakfast was served that Harry spoke again. The adults were expecting another question they couldn't yet answer, but this time that was not the case.

"What does tithen-min mean?"

Elrond smiled down at Harry, "it means little one in Sindarin, one of the languages of the elves. Would you like me to teach it to you?"

"Please," Harry's eyes were shining, "I like to learn new things, but most of the time I had to teach myself from books. It's hard to learn to speak new languages from books though. The Professor used to teach me Latin, when he still liked me, but I had to teach myself other languages from books Milpy got me. I sort of just knew Adûnaic after the dementors claimed me and was able to translate it into Westron from the similarities."

"Then we'll have fun teaching you a lot of things," Aragorn told Harry happily, "and not only book things, but how to ride and camp. When you're older we'll teach you to fight."

Arwen didn't look all that happy at the thought of Harry learning to fight, but kept her peace. It seemed Aragorn was already considering Harry being still around in a few years. She would definitely talk to him and her father after breakfast about making Harry a member of the family; Harry himself had already made headway upon winning over her obstinate father without even knowing he was doing so.

~~ ~~ ~*~

"Will you give your blessing, /Adar/," Arwen asked her father, slightly anxious.

After breakfast, she had pulled Aragorn aside while Harry went off with the twins to explore Rivendell, but she hadn't even needed to broach the subject dearest to her heart. Aragorn had brought it up first. Now they were presenting their idea in full to Elrond, hoping that he would agree to their blood adopting Harry as they would need him to perform the ceremony.

"I will," Elrond gave his blessing, "on the condition the bond is made with the rest of the family as well."

Arwen frowned, "what are you playing at /Adar/?"

Elrond raised a hand to gently still his daughter's words, "in time I will sail to Valinor, Galadriel and Celeborn with me. I do not yet know what your brothers will decide, but there are some who will not leave these shores and they shall need someone to turn to when a leader is needed. The twins have not the temperament, but I see in Harry what they lack."

"I think," Aragorn answered when Arwen could not, "that the choices should be Harry's."

"Then we should go find Harry," Elrond announced, "and free him from the dubious influence of Elladan and Elrohir."

Unfortunately, of the trio there was no sight until hours later when they came cantering back into the courtyard with a guest. Almost as soon as the horses had been heard upon approach, Aragorn and Arwen had made their way to the courtyard to meet up with Elrond. As soon as the horses stopped, Aragorn was immediately at Harry's side to pull him from the saddle while Elrond bean to berate his sons.

"It was so much fun," Harry's excited voice piped up before Aragorn could start in on how worried he had been, interrupting Elrond's speech at the same time, "Elladan and Elrohir taught me how to ride, I only fell twice, and then we ran into Legolas. He started to show me how to shoot a bow, but his is too big for me. He says we'll need to find one my size so he can teach me."

Arwen gave a barely audible groan at the thought of Harry already learning to use a bow, even though it was common among the elves to start teaching them young, while Aragorn turned to greet his friend. Harry had wriggled free of his hold and had turned to give the horse he had ridden a farewell pat before Elladan and Elrohir led the horses back to the pastures.

"Bye Fëa," Harry stroked the horse's velvety nose, loving the way the jet colored stallions mane seemed to shimmer with starlight as the wind blew through it, "I'll come see you later."

Elrond glared at his sons, "you let him ride Fëa! That horse has never let anyone on its back, let alone to ride him!"

The twins had the grace to look sheepish, "he took to Harry right away and after that the other horses shied away from his as if knowing Harry had been claimed. I think we were right about Fëa being one of the Mearas, or a descendant of one."

Elrond didn't need to say anything, his look was enough to start the twins to defending themselves, "we were beside him all the time and caught him both times he fell. We-"

"Don't be mad at them, daer-adar," Harry was slightly distressed "I was the one who talked them into riding."

"Not that you had to try very hard," Elrond commented dryly, "but I will let the matter rest. There are some things we need to talk to you about, /tithen-min/, I am sure Elladan and Elrohir can entertain Legolas for a bit while we do so."

"Alright," Harry allowed himself to be led to Elrond's study, the twins and Legolas heading in the other direction to take care of the horses before going to find a suitable bow for Harry.

~~ ~~ ~*~

Harry was a bundle of nerves and suddenly wondered if he had made the right decision of doing this blood-adoption thing; they were going to give him a new name as well. Sure he wanted Aragorn as a father, Arwen as mother, Elrond as his daer-adar, and the twins would be more like brothers than uncles; but what if one day they decided that they didn't want him anymore. He didn't think he could handle that. Harry got up and began to walk around in circles, picking at the fabric making up the robe they had given him to wear as he debated the wisdom of running away right then and there to save himself the heartache. He had just made up his mind to do so, he didn't think it would be too hard to climb out the window and to the ground, when the door opened and in walked Lord Elrond.

"Come /tithen-min/," Elrond held out a hand to Harry, "it's time."

Harry stilled, looking up with his wide emerald eyes, nerves clearly showing. In an uncharacteristic gesture, Elrond sank to his knees upon the floor before Harry, taking Harry's hands into his own.

"It will be alright /tithen-min/," Elrond kept his voice low and soothing, "tell me what troubles you."

Harry trembled, lowered his eyes to the floor, and said in a voice almost too soft to hear, "what if they decide they don't want me anymore? What if they try and get rid of me too?"

Elrond lifted Harry's chin so Harry looked him in the eyes, saw behind him to where Aragorn and Arwen stood, "never will we not want you. Children are very special to our people, but you are special to us in your own right, /tithen-min/. A blood-adoption is not to be entered into lightly and neither Aragorn nor Arwen would have suggested it if they did not want to keep you for the rest of their lives. You will be their child, my grandchild, and we will see to it that you never want for love."

Harry's eyes had remained locked onto the vision of Aragorn and Arwen standing side-by-side, smiling at him, as Elrond spoke. Now, they came forward and together pulled Harry into a hug, affirming what Elrond had just said. Harry couldn't help it, tears began to leak from his eyes, spilling down his cheeks. Understandingly the three adults allowed Harry to have his cry before drying his eyes and leading him to the hall where the ceremony would take place. If they had thought it would help ease his fears, they would have waited to perform the ceremony, but they rightly deduced that waiting would make Harry feel as if he truly was unwanted. The sooner the ceremony was performed, the sooner Harry would feel the unbreakable bond between them, would feel the love they couldn't help but feel for him even after such a short time.



A little over two years had passed since Harry had come to Middle-earth, two years passing since the day he ceased to exist as Harry Potter and became Eldarion Calarrna, son of Aragorn and Arwen. In those years, Eldarion had changed greatly from the near-broken child that had once worn a mask because he was a carbon-copy of his brother. Some of the changes were physical such as his hair becoming more of a dark brunette color like Aragorn's instead of the messy black that was hereditary in the Potter line, his ears pointing slightly to show the heritage he had gained from Arwen despite the fact that she had chosen a mortal life, and his slender frame no longer made you think of a starved waif, but rather of supple grace and beauty; though much of that could actually be put down to proper food and good exercise since even as Harry, Eldarion had possessed a grace all of his own. Yet despite these minor changes, his eyes had remained the same startling green that would put emeralds to shame. The biggest changes that had occurred in Eldarion since the adoption had not really been physical, but mental and emotional as he slowly gained confidence in himself and trust in those around him, putting the trials of Harry Potter in the past where they belonged and facing the future as Aragorn had wisely taught him to.

The major change had come when Eldarion had truly accepted that he had the right to be happy, that he deserved to enjoy having fun and wouldn't be reprimanded for it-except for the occasions involving the pranks the twins had gotten him keen on. Yet today there was something utterly melancholy about Eldarion, as if he had woken up to discover that the past two years had only been a dream of his yearning imagination and he had found himself still in Azkaban imprisoned by the mask. Today was the day that his daer-adar and Gandalf were leaving for Valinor with Galadriel and Celeborn. He would miss them all greatly, for not only were there so many things he still had to learn from them, but they had always been there for him. Daer-adar had trained him in plants and healing, teaching him how to heal minor wounds and encourage the body to speed recovery; he had also been a comforting lap to sit in whenever Eldarion just wanted to be held and didn't feel like going to his parents. Lady Galadriel had shown him how to shield his mind and read the surface thoughts of others when she had discovered he had a talent for mind-speech, and Lord Celeborn had always been there to just walk silently alongside him beneath the trees of Lothlorien when Eldarion felt the need for quiet company.

Gandalf, on the other hand, played a bit odder role in Eldarion's life. The restlessly roaming wizard had stopped in for a visit and did his usual entertaining with magical tricks and fireworks for the children. Nothing was out of place or even out of the ordinary until Gandalf's tricks started to repeat themselves, but without control. The only problem was, it wasn't Gandalf who was causing this-it was Eldarion. Eldarion had expected to be punished or put down in some way for using magic, after all, Dumbledore had always done so anytime he had used magic accidentally when he had lived in Hogwarts. Instead, Gandalf had fallen into thoughtful silence and puffed away on his pipe for a good little while before announcing that despite not being an Istari sent by the Valar, Eldarion could somehow copy magic once he had seen it used. The next few months had been extremely trying for Eldarion as he struggled to learn to control the magical happenings-Gandalf was an extremely kind and easy-going wizard most of the time, but seemed to have little patience with actual teaching when he wasn't at all sure how to go about teaching what needed to be taught.

Thankfully his father, mother, Elrohir, Elladan, and Legolas would be staying in Middle-Earth. The twins were always trying to get him into trouble or teach him some new trick, Legolas loved to take him into the woods and teach him how to track and use a bow, and his father was always making sure he had fun even when they were having sword-practice or he was teaching Eldarion how to be a good leader. Aragorn had even gotten Arwen to join them in their sword lessons and she was teaching him how to swing an Elvish sword like her Hadhafang, daer-adar had found the sword his mother herself had learned with, while father taught him with a more Gondorian style sword. Eldarion's favorite times though were when Aragorn would sneak him away and they would go camping for a few days; Arwen would always frown at Aragorn when they returned, but Eldarion had seen her frown turn to a smile the moment she thought they weren't watching her any more. It saddened him to know that one day his mother would die and leave both him and father as some weakness continued to drain her life, it was hard to believe that the fierce woman who had finally given in to teaching him to fight and wielded her sword with skilled determination was the same as the one whose hand sometimes felt so cold and fragile in his own warm ones.

"What makes you frown so my Eldarion, iondamin/?" Arwen had approached him softly where he sat with his back against the White Tree. /(my son)

"Mankoi, Naneth?" He asked miserably, "why do they have to leave?" (why, mother)

"Ta naa lú/," Arwen replied sadly. /(It is time.)

"But I will miss them," Eldarion allowed his mother's arms to come about him, realizing she needed the hug just as much as he did, "especially /daer-adar/."

"It warms my heart to hear you say that, /tithen-min/," Elrond immediately found his arms full of the young half-elfling, "I will miss you as well, but we shall meet again and I shall always be with you when you need me even though I now sail for Valinor."

Eldarion allowed Elrond to gently wipe the tears that had pooled in his eyes but refused to fall, "lle vesta/?" /(Do you promise?)

"Ceriamin/," Elrond placed a fatherly kiss upon Eldarion's forehead, "/Amin mela lle, tithen-min." (I do, I love you, little one.)

"Amin mela lle, daer-adar/," Eldarion responded in kind before giving a sad smile, "I should probably come to the boat to wish Galadriel, Celeborn, and Gandalf /namaarie ar' vanya sulie as well." (I love you, grandfather. Farewell and fair winds.)

Elrond smiled, "they would be upset if you did not and I imagine Galadriel would let you know her displeasure until she was too far away to do so any longer."

Eldarion actually shuddered, a major drawback of being gifted with a natural mind-talent was that he and Galadriel could communicate over long distances, and if she mentally wanted to vent her displeasure with him he had to suffer it until she calmed down or moved too far away to easily maintain the connection. He could shut out the minds of anyone else with ease, but Galadriel was another matter completely; if she didn't want to be shut out then there was nothing to be done about it. He had learned all this the hard way after he had pulled a prank on her that had left her beautiful hair a bright red color for a few days; his headache had lasted a bit longer and he had gotten revenge on the twins for giving him the idea in the first place.

"We should hurry then," Arwen allowed Eldarion to take her arm to escort her, "or the tides will turn and the ship will be ready to sail before we have properly said namaarie." (Farewell)

Together the trio made their way to where the ship waited to carry Elrond away to Valinor in time to hear Frodo break the news to his friends that he would be sailing to the Undying Lands as well. None of the Hobbits appeared very happy at this news, Sam least of all, and Eldarion knew how they felt. If there was any way he could keep his daer-adar from sailing to Valinor-but Eldarion knew he had no right to ask Elrond to give up his dreams of Valinor no matter how badly he would miss him, so he stood proud and tall as any young prince should and said his farewells without once letting the tears fall from his eyes. He would cry later when there was no one to see, would cry when he had the solitude and safety of the forest wrapped around him like a protective cloak, because the moment he had taken Arwen's arm in his own earlier he realized that with Elrond's departure that his Naneth would not live past a handful or so years more.

~~ ~~ ~*~

"Amin nowe utu lle sinome," Eldarion looked down out from the tree branch he had curled up in to see Legolas standing there. (I thought to find you here.)

Eldarion smiled slightly at the elf, "ere'lle oio soor amin sinome." (Only you ever follow me here.)

Legolas laughed, "because I am the only one to ever find you. I shall have to tease Aragorn unmercifully about being unable to track his own son."­

Eldarion dropped to the ground and pointed out, "you didn't exactly track me either, like the other times you just knew. It's why I stopped changing hiding places, it got pointless when I realized you could find me everytime."

"Are you doubting my tracking skills?" Legolas moved smoothly towards Eldarion, noting how the boy anticipated his moves and counter-acted as he had been taught to.

"Uma, Dolle naa lost!" Eldarion teased in elvish, his cheer slightly returned now that he had been given some time to make peace with the disturbing realization he had been gifted of earlier. (yes, your head is empty.)

"Antolle ulua sulrim/," Legolas countered right back as he playfully attacked Eldarion, missing the boy the first time, but catching him the second to tickle him unmercifully. /(much wind pours from your mouth.)

For a long while the two tussled and ran through the forest until they finally exhausted themselves and flopped gracefully to the ground to lay in a dancing patch of sunlight beneath the trees.

"Kelamin il, Legolas," Eldarion spoke suddenly, his voice drowsy from the warmth of the sun he lay in. (leave me not, Legolas)

"Amin nauva il kel lle, Eldarion/," Legolas replied, propping himself up on one elbow to look down into the young boys face. /(I will not leave you, Eldarion.)

"Amin khiluva lle a' gurtha ar' thar," Legolas added to himself silently, not wanting to say the words aloud and frighten Eldarion away with their intensity. (I will follow you to death and beyond.)