Healing the Heart

AN: Hello again everyone. I am truly sorry for the long wait and lack of news update on when I would be continuing. I know that I said in my last chapter that I would be updating more regularly but obviously that did not happen. Recently I have lost three of my grandparents, one of which I have always been very close to. They died within four months of each other, my grandpa the week before my birthday and my grandma (who was always there helping to raise my sister and I) right before Christmas, and then my second grandmother in February. This is the first time I have ever dealt with death on a personal level and it has been hard living with needless to say and even harder to try and find the inspiration to continue writing. I had thought over whether or not to simply put Healing the Heart and Atrum Viridis on hiatus but when I came to check on my account after so long and found so many people have read my stories and reviewed I couldn’t help but cry. You have all been so kind and patient with me, never once demanding that I update or become angry with me for my absence and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. Things are starting to get a little better and while I am very busy I still want to try and continue my fanfics. I just wanted to let all of you know that you are the reason that I have the drive to write again and continuing at all.

Thank you

P.S. Special thanks to my beta Vittani for putting up with me through all of this ^^

Chapter Six: Language Barriers


“I do not know if we should be doing this, Elen.” A hushed whisper came from behind the thick wooden door.

A scoff and not quite muffled shift followed.

“You are being a coward Aratan; father said that we should always work on relations with other peoples and that friendship between men and elves is the first step in uniting Middle Earth. We’re helping with that!”

“But…shouldn’t we come with father or uncle? What if-”

“Be silent! Do you want us to get caught?” The voice snapped back.


Harry snorted to himself from his place in his bed. Even without his heightened hearing ability the two bickering children outside the door could be clearly heard. Obviously any training they had been given had yet to expand into the stealth department. Either that or they just sucked at it. Harry was leaning more towards the sucking thing.

Pushing back the instinctive urge to check for his wand, the raven haired elfling watched the door intently, waiting for when the two would no doubt ‘sneak’ into his room and force him to deal with yet more people that he could not understand. He had been awake and more importantly conscious for about a week now – or to what he could estimate considering he still had long bouts of exhausted sleep that messed with his internal clock – and yet he was no closer to figuring out this strange world that he had fallen into.

What he did know was that one: Fawkes was not there, two: his wand was missing, three: Godric’s Sword had been found with him and this ‘Prince Isildur’ was keeping it safe for him, and four: somehow, for some unknown reason, he was no longer human. The last one, of course, being of little consequence…

Sirius would have been proud, even his random thoughts were sarcastic now.

Harry wasn’t even sure how one went about changing their species or if it was possible at all. Well, obviously it was possible but that was beside the point. He couldn’t remember anything about the ‘jump’ here and he certainly didn’t remember anything about his body suddenly changing into a smaller, younger, magical creature. It was like some bizarre dream. Once he greatly wished he would wake up from. Unfortunately that didn’t seem to be happening and he was forced to adapt to the situation – however unbelievable – and bide his time until he could get away and search for Sirius. At least he could understand some of the people around there. The blonde angel creature he had learned was an elf, apparently the same race as his new body, and was named Glorybelle or something like that and he was a warrior who was almost always at his side, trying to get him to talk about what happened. Harry had yet to come up with any kind of cover story so he just refused to speak at all. That was the safest route in this case it seemed since the men didn’t openly show aggression towards him.

The other elf, Elrond, was a king and healer. He came to check on him regularly and applied medicines and herbs that Harry had never seen before despite his working with many exotic potions that were used to aid his fight against Voldemort – though it wasn’t that surprising considering he was obviously not in the same world. It still made him edgy; not knowing what was being used on his body. At least Harry was able to understand him as well as the human prince that accompanied him many times and seemed to constantly worry about his comfort. The man’s accent was heavy at some points and it made it difficult to understand sometimes but the fact that he could speak to him at all was a bit of a relief to the young man.

Not being able to understand what was going on around you got you killed and he had no intentions of dying after going through all the trouble of getting there and not even being able to find his godfather yet.

That said he still couldn’t manage to figure out what everyone else was saying. He had been confined to bed since he awoke but the few times a servant had brought food or the prince’s brother visited he was left clueless and frustrated. The language sounded vaguely of Latin but with accents and vowel usage that completely threw him off. It wasn’t like he knew Latin anyway; just the bits that could be picked up from spell work. Once he managed to leave he would have to figure out a way to learn the language there or finding Sirius would be almost impossible. Even if someone DID know of him he wouldn’t be able to understand any information that he was given.

The only good thing about his situation that the young warrior could think of was that he was healing rather quickly, or at least quickly compared to his standards. He wasn’t sure if it was his new body’s natural ability or if it was the work of the healing fairie. Hopefully it would mean that soon he could leave the bed and even better, sneak away from there, find his sword, and continue his search.

Until then, however, he was stuck there having to deal with situations like this…


“You positive the blonde elf is not here?” Elendur whispered to his brother quickly, remembering what their father had told them about trying to sneak in and not wanting to get caught…again.

“Yes, Grandfather asked him if he could speak with the guards and talk about something with the soldiers.” Aratan whispered back from his place behind his older brother, crouched down near the door.

“Alright, then let’s meet our new friend!” Elendur said with a mischievous smirk before pulling on the handle and easing the heavy wood open.

The two boys were instantly pinned into place by a pair of intense emerald eyes. The small elf – who they had been expecting to still be asleep – was sitting up in the bed, leaning back against the headboard, and staring at them as if he was expecting them. It threw the oldest boy off for a moment before he quickly decided that this was better anyway and he beamed a smile as he stood straight and stepped into the room.

“Hello! My brother and I came to visit, I hope you don’t mind the intrusion.” He said eagerly, heading over to one of the chairs seated beside the bed.

The silence from the elf seemed to translate in Elendur’s mind as an acceptance of their presence and he flopped down gracelessly into the chair and letting his smile widen for the other to see. He was kind of pretty after all – all elves were – but Elendur had never met a young elf and the ‘boy’ looked an awful lot like a girl with his large round eyes and soft features that were not even found on many women of their people let alone the men. What was most important, though, was that the other was their age – or roughly about in elf terms – and that meant that they might actually get a new playmate! Anything was better than having to play with Ciryon and Valandil again. He wondered if the elf would want to play war with them…all boys their age liked to play war after all.

As excited as his brother was about the elf, Aratan had different feelings. He didn’t really like the way the elf was looking at them and his eyes…there was something wrong with them. Something dark. He couldn’t figure out what it was but there was just a feeling of…off about the other. Like there was something he was missing or like he knew some big secret that no one else knew and it wasn’t the good kind. He didn’t disagree with Elendur often – he was his big brother after all and they always stuck together – but the second prince would be more than happy to see the day when the young elf was taken away and he wouldn’t have to have him in their home.

It didn’t help matters that the strange dark haired elf just stared at them silently, not even seeming to consider the idea of talking let alone playing with them.

It was just plain eerie.

“Hey, are you listening to me?” Elendur said impatiently, crossing his arms over his chest annoyed.

He was a prince after all, he wasn’t used to being ignored… The elfling didn’t respond to the words, however, and just looked at him silently. The piercing gaze didn’t faze the older in the slightest but Aratan felt like the boy was seeing straight through them…into something neither of them could see.

“I think we should go, Elen, he doesn’t look like he really wants company.” He said softly, tugging on his brother’s arm a bit in hopes of making him give up and leave.

Prince Isildur’s eldest son didn’t understand how to admit defeat and just matched the other’s gaze straight on, his dark walnut brown eyes clashed with green and a silent battle of the wits began. Harry had faced down a demonic snake wizard before, however, so a staring contest with a child wasn’t even worth being called a skirmish let alone a battle. The silence stretched on for what seemed like eternity as Elendur stubbornly waited out for the elf to realize that they weren’t going away…and poor Aratan shifted uncomfortably while berating himself for ever believing that any plan his brother came up with could be anything but a disaster.

“Elendur…we should leave. He might not feel well and maybe he does not wish to have company yet.” The boy tried one last time in hopes of deterring his sibling from doing anything drastic that he of course would end up attempting. “We can always return again later with father or uncle. Maybe he will be feeling well by then.”

“Princes do not scutter off and hide! I am trying to become friends with the elf and he is simply being stubborn and making things difficult by not accepting!” The brunette ruffled, causing his brother to wince faintly.

The second heir knew how little tact some of the members in his family had and Elendur took greatly after their grandfather; both strong willed and determined but with little insight on how to speak with the grace of diplomacy. They both did and would become great kings but their blunt tendencies didn’t always make for smooth conversations and Aratan was sure that acting like they were doing a great and kind deed by offering the elf their friendship – and in the same breath insinuating that his feelings on the subject were of no consequence – wasn’t the best way to go about building alliances.

The younger of the two glanced back to the elf, hoping that Elendur’s words hadn’t caused irreparable damage to their plight but found only that the young elf remained staring at them. His expression hadn’t changed and had Aratan not known for certainty that the boy had spoken with both his father and the other elves he might have thought that he was mute or…mentally defective. He didn’t think elves could even be born that way. It was also impossible to ignore the intelligence in the other’s eyes, the calculating and focused look that was both intimidating and a bit…intriguing for Aratan. Elves really were odd creatures…


“Can I be of some assistance, Prince Elendur, Prince Aratan.” A sudden voice said smoothly, causing both boys to jump startled and spin on their heels to face the one that had caught them.

Well Aratan spun, Elendur tumbled out of his chair gracelessly and scampered to his feet, meeting the faintly amused shimmery blue eyes of the blonde elf warrior that their father had explained was the elfling’s guard for their time there at the palace. He was tall like all elves seemed to be and even the two inexperienced boys could tell that the beautiful creature wasn’t only graceful but deadly. His body was toned and his reflexes were honed in a way that only their most war hardened soldiers resembled. He could easily deposit them out of the room and lock the door without either of them having time to react. They were merely lucky that he seemed to like children.

“O-oh, ah…we were just trying to speak with the elf boy, sir…we weren’t trying to cause problems.” Aratan said quickly, stepping on Elendur’s foot harshly before the boy had a chance to open his mouth and say something that would no doubt get them into more trouble then they already were.

The elf eyed them for a moment before a smile pulled on his lips and he chuckled.

“Yes, yes, I am sure that you are innocent of all mischief.” He teased faintly before walking around to the other side of the bed. “I will have to inform you, however, that your attempts were in vain. Laith, here, does not understand common tongue and probably didn’t have any idea as to what you were saying or why you were here.”

This sudden revelation caused the startled princes to look back to the raven haired elf. ‘Lath’ as they now knew his name to be seemed to have turned his gaze to the blonde questioningly, probably wondering what was going on and wanting him to explain. Aratan felt both embarrassed and very foolish as he flushed to the tips of his ears. It was obvious now that the other didn’t speak their language and yet neither of them had noticed, more ready to believe that the elf was being rude or that he was mentally ill. He was suddenly glad that the other couldn’t understand them…the boy didn’t dare wonder about how horrible their manners would have seemed if the elf HAD understood them.

“We are truly sorry!” he said hurriedly, bowing politely to them both. “Could you please make sure that he knows we only wished to come and welcome him to our home and inquire about his health?”

Elendur rolled his eyes faintly at his brother’s ramblings and apologies. Really, sometimes he could be so embarrassing…

“We came to see if he would want to play with us.” The crowned prince stepped in firmly, cutting off anymore of the stammering boy’s words before he stumbled over them as well.

The distinct contrast between the two brothers caused Glorfindel to smile faintly and he nodded.

“I will tell him. Do you wish to continue your conversation now that I can translate for you? Though, I am afraid that he will not be well enough to play for a couple of more days yet.” He informed them calmly before turning his gaze to the youngling elf and relayed what was happening to him.

Aratan watched the green eyed elf listen to his guard and how he almost seemed surprised at something that he was told before glancing back to the two. Once again it felt like they were being analyzed and picked apart with that gaze before the elf seemed to deem them of little importance and settled back against the head board and watched out the window blankly, saying only something short in Sindarin before falling silent once more. He was shocked to hear that the elfling’s voice wasn’t smooth and melodious as the elder’s were. It was a bit scratchy and raw sounding, as if it had been overused for some reason. That might have been why he said so little…but as much as he was trying to seem uninterested in their presence, the younger prince had the feeling that he was simply trying to appear aloof and detached.

Glorfindel obviously saw this as well because he gave a secretive smile before looking back at the two standing on the other side of the bed.

“Laith says he is well and that he would greatly enjoy the chance to engage in games with you once he has healed a bit more.” He said smoothly.

Aratan wondered if all elves could lie as easily because it was quite obvious that the small elf had said no such thing and he was even more astounded that the elf warrior would think that they would be so easily fooled by such a conspicuous falsehood.

“Wonderful! See, Ara, I told you he would want to once he met us.” Elendur said boastfully, puffing out his chest faintly as he punched his brother lightly in the shoulder, but not lightly enough for Aratan’s opinion as he rubbed it absently and fought the urge to roll his eyes at his brother.

Leave it to Elendur to be that thick skulled.

A small chuckle from the blonde elf turned Aratan’s focus back to their guests and he offered another faint bow.

“We thank you, Lord Glorfindel, we appreciate your assistance. We would be glad to meet with Laith again once he is feeling better. Perhaps he would like a chance to get fresh air away from this stuffy room.” He smiled faintly, hoping to patch over any impoliteness that they might have given off due to his brother’s unconventional manners.

The elf lord didn’t seem offended, however, which was promising and merely nodded at his words.

“I will be sure to tell him.” He assured the younger prince. “But I do believe your father is due for a visit and I thought I remember hearing something about him telling you not to come here alone.”

Both boys had the grace to look sheepish at this and quickly nodded.

“We will be leaving.” Elendur said, turning to head for the door with a hurried wave to the small elf over his shoulder before disappearing, leaving his brother to scramble after him.

“Goodbye, Lord Glorfindel, Laith. Have a good evening!” he said rushed before disappearing out the door as well, leaving the two elves alone once more in the room.


Harry was quite sure by the cheerful smile faintly veiling scheming eyes that whatever Glorfindel was telling the two kids it wasn’t his original message of “I don’t feel like it.” The blonde just looked too smug and pleased with himself to be relaying the almost rude response to the boys’ requests; it was a look that Fred and George often had when they were planning out their next big practical joke. Well, before Fred had been murdered and his twin had committed suicide by Death Eaters only hours later so that he could be with his brother – his other half – once more while taking as many of the evil bastards with him as possible. They hadn’t been able to arrive in time to prevent Molly from seeing his mangled remains. The silent, broken stare as they found her kneeling by what remained of her son was more haunting than the screams of pain and agony that had come before. After loosing four of her family members already the woman seemed to resign herself to the hopelessness of it all and withered away in her own mind. It was just as deadly as any killing curse and far more torturous.

The memory killed any pleasant thoughts with cold efficiency, leaving him feeling cold and empty. Like a part of him had been ripped from his chest leaving him hollow…only he had nothing left to loose. There was nothing left in him to be taken. A wave of exhaustion over took him and not for the first time Harry’s thoughts drifted towards what it might be like to just fall asleep and never wake up. To just let it all go. If he had done that in the beginning when he had the chance to take down Voldemort the first time none of this would have happened. Everyone would still be alive and he wouldn’t have to live with this feeling of…nothingness. How could he have ever thought that his life was worth putting everyone else in jeopardy? He was just as much a killer as Voldemort. He was just as responsible…more so even because they had believed in them. They believed he would save them and instead he exchanged the one chance to do so for the desperate will to survive…dooming the wizarding world in the process.

One life for hundreds of thousands.

He felt like he was going to throw up. Pushing back the familiar feeling of bile rising in the back of his throat, Harry turned away from the blonde elf and pulled the blankets over his head and curled up tightly to ward off the responses of his body and the memories that continued to plague him. His instincts ruffled at turning his back to someone that he didn’t trust but he couldn’t let anyone see him right then and he couldn’t bare to look at anyone either. He didn’t even notice that the boys had already left almost ten minutes before or the concerned blue eyes that watched over him. He didn’t sense the hand reaching out to lie on his shoulder before stopping at the last moment and pulling away. He didn’t notice anything, just tried to push his mind into a state of emptiness just like his heart so maybe he wouldn’t have to hear the screams anymore.

Of course it didn’t work.

It never did.



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“Is everything prepared for travel?” Isildur asked as he helped Anárion look over the convoy that would take him, their father, and the elves to Imladris for the assembly of kings of men and Eldar race.

The two elven lords and the Gondor King had decided that since Laith would be healed enough for travel soon that they should make the journey to the council together for both protection – large groups were less likely to be attacked – and to save time. They would all be arriving a few weeks later than planned as it was. Considering that horse travel was the fastest in their world and how large their world indeed was that wasn’t terribly unexpected, but they were all eager to begin the talks on war and alliance whether they showed the enthusiasm outwardly or not.

“For the majority, yes, we are prepared.” Anárion nodded, looking over his schedule of things that needed to be done before his brother and father left. Being the younger son it was his duty to remain there and keep their kingdom running as smoothly as possible until they returned.

Anárion did not mind difference in power. He was not king material, he knew, and he did not want to be. He was far more comfortable with his sword and shield striking down orcs and goblins than on a throne wading through politics and parchment. Isildur would be the one to be king and he did not envy him in the slightest. His elder brother knew how to speak with others and how to gently convince them to give aid while making it seem like it was the other’s idea and how keep on friendly terms with many countries despite huge differences in culture.

Isildur would be a King and Anárion would be waiting with relief when they returned so he could hand the power back.

“Well done, I’ll speak with father and make sure he knows what is going on. Lord Elrond and Lord Glorfindel will both be riding with Laith in one of the wagons to prevent suspicion and so they can protect Laith should anything happen. Hopefully we’ll have enough soldiers with us that it will deter any unsavory characters from confronting us.” He said, the last part dryly.

The last thing they needed was for more delays on their way to the council. The sooner they were able to plan and prepare for Sauron the better. He didn’t want to take chances with a creature that was so obviously dark…evil.

“Lord Elrond already sent the message ahead that we are coming so they will be prepared for us, all we have to do is hope that the journey is boring and passes quickly.” He added thoughtfully, causing Anárion to smile faintly and clasp his hand on his brother’s shoulder.

“Fear not, brother mine, everything will work out the way that it is supposed to. Lord Elrond already trusts us for helping the elfling so I am certain that he will support our position with King Gil-galad and men and elves will finally be able to join in a stand against our enemies.” He said firmly, determined.

The comforting words and his brother’s conviction helped ease Isildur’s mind a good deal about what was to come. It was the fate of the free Middle Earth after all; surely the other elves would understand this and join them. All this council was really for was to plan their first actions. He wasn’t naive enough to think that it was all going to resolve itself smoothly but as long as they were prepared and willing to help each other…he knew they could get through this troubled time.

They could do it together.

“Yes. We will ensure that the future of our world is bright and peaceful.” He agreed.

And they would. That was what he would fight for, so that no others would have to fight in his stead, so that his sons would not grow up with the threat of Sauron looming over them and the fear of war invading every part of their life. He would ensure that no matter the cost Sauron would fall and he would protect his kingdom and family. He knew that they could succeed. Would succeed.

Because evil could not be allowed to prevail.


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AN: Thank you again for reading and please tell me what you think. I love hearing from you. I’m sorry if this is a bit of a filler chapter and shorter than the others but I’m feeling like there should be a lot more in here but I’m just not sure where and I really just needed to get back into the swing of writting. I also enjoy letting the side characters that usually don't get any attention grow their own personalities. Originally Aratan was going to be a trouble maker just like Elendur just a bit more wary of getting caught but he decided that it wasn't how his personailty is and so now you see how he developes on his own XD. I had little to say in the matter.

I know that Harry is being depressing and one minute he is strong and the next he is ready to die but I am trying to be realistic about his situation. He is a young man who has lost everyone and his will alone is keeping him going. Trauma like that really screws with people’s heads and no matter how strong they are healing isn’t an over night thing. Even when you start to feel a little better and you think that maybe things will start being easier the smallest trigger can bring it all back and make you fall. Plus, Harry has yet to really get a chance to properly grieve. Bottle all that pain and guilt up inside him for years and you get a very unstable hero. He will get better – because I do think Harry is strong enough to overcome his pain – but it will not be a magical healing and he will be going through times when he falls. The difference this time though is that there will be people there to help him back up. ^^