Chapter Text
“He called you Ada” Thranduil murmured as Harry led Elladan and Elrohir out of the room that they had been breakfasting in.
Legolas’ eyes tracked the elflings movements, the younger looking positively tiny between the two full grown elves.
Legolas turned bright eyes on his father “he did” Legolas breathed. “He sees me as his father.” Legolas’ throat burned and he did not fight back the tears that filled his eyes.
“It is a great honour” Elrond spoke up. “I have no doubt that you will be a wonderful father to this young elfling.
Legolas swallowed thickly and nodded, feeling unashamed as the tears fell from his eyes and rushed down his cheeks.
“I guess that makes you grand ada” Legolas chuckled wetly enjoying the shock then warmth that flitted over his own father’s face.
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“And this is the garden I’m doing up for Legolas” Harry said, waving his arm in a sweeping gesture that encompassed the whole area. He suddenly began to feel a bit nervous watching Elrohir and Elladan look around.
“It’s not finished yet; I just can’t work on it much because I want it to be a surprise.”
“It’s beautiful” Elrohir said sincerely, gazing around at the lovely gardens that were starting to take shape.
“Thranduil gets me any plants or seeds that I need for it” Harry explained.
“You obviously have a talent for it” Elladan said smiling down and Harry felt a lick or pride run through him.
“It just seems to come naturally to me here” he agreed.
The twins shared a look, “I’m sure Legolas will love it.”
“Do you visit here often?” Harry asked as he plonked himself down on some soft grass and looked enquiringly at the older elves.
The twins settled on the grass around him.
“Sometimes” Elladan said, “though I’ll admit it has been a while.”
“Why’s that?” Harry wondered, turning bright green eyes on the brothers and making them pause in thought.
“I suppose we just haven’t had much of a reason to visit as of late and the path here can be treacherous. Why just on the way here we encountered trolls, goblins and a hoard of orcs.”
Harry squawked in shock, “orcs! I’ve been learning about them, they sound” he shuddered at the thought, “bloody awful.”
Elladan shot him a bemused look, “they are… bloody awful. A plague on our world. We hate them”
Harry suddenly leaned closer, getting a better look at both of them. “You weren’t hurt, were you?
“Not at all, thankfully there wasn’t too many of them.”
Harry relaxed back a little, these orcs sounded horrible, not to mention goblins and trolls, though he didn’t know much about either of those species, he’d need to do some more research.
“We spend a lot of our time training and defending our home. Though where we live is safer then here, it still has its own perils, and we regularly have raiding parties to rid ourselves of any dark creatures in the area.”
Harry hummed thoughtfully.
“And what do you do when you aren’t training or going out on raiding parties?”
“Well, we both do like to garden, we read, I like to paint while Elladan enjoys spending time in the halls of healing with our father.”
“Legolas has just begun teaching me to paint” Harry said happily, “perhaps we could do it together sometime?”
“Of course,” Elrohir acquiesced with a nod.
“And I think learning some healing skills would be interesting” Harry continued, looking to Elladan this time. “It seems there is quite a few things that can cause harm in this world, it would be good to have some basic healing knowledge.”
“I would be happy to teach you, while I’m here” Elladan said, his dark eyes sparkling. “Though to begin you must find me a plant with blue flowers, and green and yellow striped leaves. It is a very valuable ingredient to many common medicines. Once you’ve found it, bring it to me and we can start.”
Harry’s eyebrows furrowed in thought, he hadn’t come across a plant with blue flowers and yellow and green leaves in all his time in the gardens, but he would find it, he never said no to a challenge.
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The next day he spent most of his time searching through the gardens, especially the places he hadn’t spent much time, looking for the right plant that he needed to start healing lessons. He didn’t find anything, but that only made him more determined. After several days of fruitless searching though, Harry was forced to admit that the plant did not grow in their gardens, which created a conundrum. Would he have to venture into the forest to find it? He hoped not, as he’d heard so much about how unsafe it was out there. He decided it might be best to do some research before deciding on his next move.
Harry spent much of his tutoring sessions over the next week reading everything there was to know about all the different kinds of plants that grew in this world. It was fascinating and he soaked it all up like a sponge. Jaida encouraged this new interest without questioning it, finding him books of interest in the library and brining in different samples and explaining their uses to him.
Every time he crossed paths with Elladan and Elrohir, they questioned his progress, and he was forced to admit he’d found nothing yet.
He hadn’t mentioned his search to Legolas, this seemed like a rite of passage, a way to prove his worth to begin healing lessons and he was determined to rise to the occasion.
Unfortunately, after another week had gone by and his search had was still proving fruitless, he began to feel disheartened.
Harry sat at dinner that night, picking at his food, wondering if he would have to make an unsanctioned visit into the forest to search for the plant. It wasn’t like he’d never snuck out of or into somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be, but the idea of what Legolas would say if he found out left him feeling unsettled in a way that he’d never felt before.
A warm hand touched his shoulder, bringing him out of his reverie, he glanced up to find Legolas staring at him worriedly, a glance around the table told him that nearly everyone was looking at him, and he blushed in embarrassment.
“Everything alright, Harry?” Legolas asked quietly, running his hand comfortingly through Harry’s curls.
“Yeah” he swallowed thickly. “I just can’t find the plant Elladan said I needed before I could start healing lessons.”
A choked cough sounded from across the table and Legolas glanced between Harry and the brothers, his brow wrinkled in confusion.
“Plant you need for healing lessons?” Thranduil asked, from his place on Harry’s other side.
“Yeah, Elladan said I needed to bring him a plant with blue flowers and yellow and green leaves before he would begin to teach me basic healing skills.”
Harry looked over at the dark-haired elf and found the older looking slightly embarrassed as all eyes turned to face him.
“I’ve searched the gardens, read every book on plants that the library has, but I haven’t found a thing.” He scratched his head thoughtfully, “I was thinking I may need a trip into the forest to try searching there.”
A bang and a hiss pulled Harry out of his thoughts, and he glanced up to find Legolas with his teeth bared his knife clutched in his hand.
“Elladan told you this?” Legolas asked, looking at the other elf with murderess intent.
“Ah, yes?” Harry answered uncertainly. “He was telling me that he enjoys learning healing and I thought that would be a useful skill to have. In my own world, even though I was expected to win a war, no one took the time to teach me healing magic. I always wondered if some things could have been different if I’d known, even just the basics”
“Elladan” Arwen snapped, reaching over to smack her brother upside the head to Harry’s astonishment and the others chagrin.
Legolas took a deep breath, as though forcing calm through his body.
“There is no such plant, Harry.”
He looked around bewildered, “what?”
“Elladan tricked you, I’m sure he would call it a practical joke but if you had actually ventured out into the forest in search of this plant, I can guarantee it would have been the last thing he’d done.”
“Wait, wait, wait” Harry said, banging his small hand onto the table of his highchair. “It was a joke! I spent weeks searching and it was all a joke?”
His green eyes flashed dangerously, but Elladan didn’t look intimidated, mostly just intrigued and maybe a little apologetic.
The older elf shrugged in apology, “we can begin healing lessons tomorrow if you like?”
Harry just scoffed, his smile turning sweet.
“Why would I want to learn from the student when I have the teacher right in front of me.”
Harry turned the full weight of his gaze to Elrond, “I’m sure Elrond would be more than happy to begin my lessons, wouldn’t you?”
Elrond’s mouth pulled up in a small smile, “I would certainly be happy to teach you the basics.”
Harry swung back to Elladan, “See? Don’t worry though, my time wasn’t wasted. I now know at least 10 ways to poison you without leaving a trace.”
With that he swung his attention back to Legolas, leaning into the touch as Legolas caressed his face in comfort as he began to explain what types of things he could expect to learn with Elrond, and laughter broke out around the table.
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“I didn’t know you were interested in healing” Legolas murmured as he was carried down the hall towards his bedroom.
“I hadn’t really thought of it before Elladan mentioned it. I like the idea of helping” he finished softly, and Legolas smiled in understanding, tucking Harry’s face further into his neck as Harry couldn’t hold back a huge yawn.
“A noble pursuit” he said quietly “and Elrond is one of the best there is.”
Harry nodded sleepily.
Legolas began humming a tune as they made their way into Harry’s room, Harry barely conscious as his clothes were swapped out for pyjamas and he was settled into bed, drifting off to the comforting sound of Legolas’ voice.
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Harry woke early the next morning, a plan already forming in his mind at how to get back at the twins. It may have been Elladan that had told the tale, but Elrohir was just as complicit. He’d seen and heard it all and gone along with it. Harry wasn’t mad, if anything it made him feel more accepted that they felt comfortable enough with him to play the joke, but that didn’t mean that he wouldn’t be getting some payback. Nothing serious, but just enough to let them know he wasn’t to be messed with.
He ate his breakfast and made plans to meet Elrond in the Halls of Healing after lunch, before he hugged Legolas and slipped away under the guise of wanting to work in the gardens. He would he working in the gardens, just not in his usual way. Instead searching for the plant that he had read about during his research. He found this one quite easily, long branches with reddish coloured leaves. He carefully picked a few branches before making his way back inside, creeping along the halls the visitor’s rooms were in and ensuring the coast was clear with a wave and a wink from a passing guard, he slipped into the twin’s room. Harry’s heart was racing but he couldn’t get the grin off his face as he pulled back the blankets of the first bed he reached. Watching carefully he gave the branches a vigorous shake, humming in satisfaction as fine fairs drifted down onto the sheets and pillow. They were barely detectable to the eye and Harry hoped that twins wouldn’t be paying too close attention when they climbed into bed that night.
He crept over to the other bed, doing the same, before making sure the beds were made and resembled how’d they’d been before Harry arrived. With a satisfied nod he crept back to the door, listening carefully for any noise on the other side before slipping back out into the hall. He was wishing he had his old invisibility cloak on him to make this whole thing easier, when the guard from earlier propped open a window beside where he was standing and gave Harry a significant look as he turned back around to the hall he was supposed to be guarding.
Harry grinned and he hurried forward and threw the branches out the window into the garden below, quietly thanking the guard as he slipped away.
As he wandered off he decided that he would go out and work in the gardens today anyway, it had actually been a while since he’d spent much time in them with all the searching and researching, he’d been doing.
He chose a different part of the garden to work in today, a place closer to the walls that he’d noticed when he’d been looking for that ridiculous nonexistent plant. He settled in amongst a row of rose bushes, pruning back the overgrowth and dead leaves and branches. He felt his magic warming and flowing through him like it usually did while he was gardening, only this time he felt a greater resistance, a push back against his magic, as though something was trying to keep the plants sick. He worked harder, channeling more of his magic, though he didn’t really understand what he was doing. He kept pushing and pushing until he felt the resistance break and his magic began to flow freely, bringing health to the line of rose bushes, their leaves glistening a deep green and new buds beginning to form.
Harry wiped the sweat from his brow, heaving a deep breath as a wave of dizziness washed over him. He took a few more breaths, staggering to his feet and leaving his gardening gear haphazardly all over the ground as he stumbled off down the path, that had obviously taken more out of him then he’d realised, he needed to lay down. Unfortunately, he’d barely made it a dozen steps before darkness began to close around the edges of his vision and the path was flying up to meet him.