The Unlikely Visitor

Chapter 15.
In which many stories are told.

When they finally arrived in Sauron’s room, he dropped his load unceremoniously on the bed.
“Auwch!”
“I carried you. Don’t complain.”
“How are you not drunk? I saw you drink way more than I did!
“Maiar don’t get drunk.”
Ginny pouted.
“That is just so not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair.”
“Yay. Tomorrow is going to be such a blast… There’s no way I can go to madam Pomfrey…”
“Let me see your injuries.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“Since when are you a healer?”
Sauron gave her his “really now” look.
“I have been forced to treat my own third degree burns, shattered bones, stab wounds and internal bleeding. Do you believe I’m capable of looking after scratches, bruises and a sprained ankle?”
Ginny had paled a bit at the description of the injuries.
“Wow. Shit. Really?”
“What did I tell you about asking that time after time? Yes, really. Now let me see.”
Cho Chang’s manicure had left its trace; harsh bleeding red scratches adorned Ginny’s bare back and arms… and a blue-ish bite mark on her shoulder indicated that nails hadn’t been the Asian’s only weapons… Sauron raised an eyebrow at the injuries. Scratching and biting, that was the tactic of those who had no skill, only anger…
“Your species fights like Orcs.”
“Orcs?”
“Ugly creatures of low intelligence and skill, that get into fistfights for everything and anything among each other. They live in my world.”
“Oh. Those dead creatures you drew, those were Orcs? They were ugly.”
Sauron remembered he had indeed drawn an after-battle scene with mangled Orc bodies, and nodded.
“Yes.”
There was a bit of silence while Sauron cleaned the scratches. Finally Ginny hissed under her breath.
“Nargzab-izg azat za haglob…
“Îst-izg. Brushub bidroi, dhûzud nar rad.
“Revenge? How are you going to take revenge for this?”
“I’ll have to wait and see how this ends first, before I can plan anything.”
They sat in silence again, but after Sauron had taken care of Ginny’s ankle (that charms textbook came in handy quite often) the girl said.
“Let’s play a game.”
“You’re still intoxicated.
“That’s why. If I fall asleep now, I’ll be sick in you room tomorrow. It’s in you favor to have me sobered up at least a bit first.”
She made a good point.
“I don’t wish to play any games, but I’ll keep you awake.”
“How?”
Sauron decided to be cunning and make use of her currently diminished thinking capacity.
“I ask questions, and you must answer them truthfully.”
“I want to ask questions too.”
“Don’t whine. I said I’d keep you awake, not that you’d get to interrogate me.”
“Fine. Don’t be pissy, just ask me something.”
“What do you see in Harry Potter?”
Ginny chuckled.
“That’s your question? Really?”
He shot her an annoyed glance.
“Answer the question.”
She sighed.
“He’s… well, he’s cute, and famous, and rich…” She hesitated a moment. “But that’s all minor stuff. The real reason is... that he saved my life.”
This was getting interesting…
“Oh?”
“I… it was my first year, and… well, I had gotten to know this person, and… let’s just say that he wasn’t exactly the best guy I could have ended up with.” She snorted. “That’s a euphemism. He tried to eat my soul and then feed me to a basilisk.”
“A… basilisk?”
“Fifty feet long, big, snake-like thing with a giant mouth full of poisonous teeth, and if you look it in the eyes you die? Don’t have that in Mordor?”
No, but it sure would have been an interesting addition to his armies…
“No. We don’t have those in Mordor. What has Harry Potter to do with that?”
Ginny got a slightly enamored expression on her face, made worse by the alcohol blush on her cheeks.
“He… came to save me. I was in this secret chamber underground cave thing, and no one knew where it was located, but he found out where it was and came in with his wand, and sword, and he kinda… slayed the basilisk, and killed the guy. He almost died himself too… I was unconscious while he did it, but when I woke up he was there, with this bloody sword, and the monster was dead and all…”
“Harry Potter slayed the basilisk. With a sword.”
Sauro echoed disbelievingly. Apparently Hobbits weren’t the only small, scrawny and annoying creatures that shouldn’t be underestimated…
“He did. Back then I was 11, and not really after boys or anything… but then later, I started to realize that… well, guys who kill monsters for you the old-fashioned way, they’re sort of rare these days. And that’s what started it.”
“I see.”
“My turn. What happened to your finger?”
Sauron sighed.
“I used to wear a ring. Someone else wanted it. I didn’t want to give it to him. He cut off my finger. End of story.”
“That’s… gosh… Someone can just do that in your world?”
“In war lots of unpleasant things happen.”
“So, those wounds you told me about… you actually had those?”
“Yes.”
“Wow. I really thought you were kidding.”
“Am I ever?”
“No. True.”

The next morning, Ginny woke up on Sauron’s bed, still dressed and with a pounding headache. She wasn’t violently sick though, that was at least something. She turned, and caught sight of a bright yellow note in Tengwar. Moaning, she turned around again. She would decipher that handwriting later… Five minutes later she realized that she was missing classes, and got up anyway, bending over the note. Translated it said “If you throw up in my bed, or even in my room, I will murder you in your sleep. Don’t be late for class. Sauron.” Charming… A tempus charm told her that she had about ten minutes left to prepare for class… and she was currently in Sauron’s room, and the only clothes she had with her were what she had worn the night before. Moaning wholeheartedly, she made her way to the bathroom… This was such a disaster…
When she looked into the mirror and realized that she had a bruise in her face as well, along with her hair being completely in tangles, she could almost cry. Part of her just wanted to lock herself in the bathroom and not come out again, but she suspected Sauron wouldn’t appreciate that. What had they talked about last night anyway? The memories came seeping back through the headache, and Ginny slumped against the mirror. Great, she had drunkenly told him about the basilisk and Harry. Urgh. And Merlin knows what else. Double urgh.
“Htol slaium-izub…”
Eventually she showered, untangled her hair, dressed, and searched through Sauron’s closet for something she could borrow to cover herself with. Eventually she went for a black robe she was sure he wouldn’t need any time soon. She left a note in clumsy Tengwar, stating: “I borrowed your robe. Will bring it back. Did not throw up in your room, so don’t kill me (please). Ginny.” After that she snuck out of the Ravenclaw Tower, praying to all the gods that she wouldn’t run into Cho Chang…
Back in the Gryffindor Commonroom, Hermione, Harry and Ron awaited her.
“Where have you been? You weren’t in your room, what…”
“Oh my god Ginny, your face!”
“Tell me who did that and I’ll teach them a lesson!”
“It was that Sauron, wasn’t it?”
Ginny held up her hands in defeat.
“Stop it! Sauron didn’t do anything wrong!”
Ron frowned and said skeptically,
“And let me guess, you walked into a door?”
“No, into Cho Chang.”
Harry and Hermione’s mouths fell open.
“What? Cho Chang gave you a black eye?”
Ginny suddenly saw an opportunity. Scorned she said.
“That’s not all she did.”
She took off the robes and showed her ravaged back and arms. Their eyes widened. However, Ron asked,
“What were you doing in that dress?”
She frowned angrily.
“Nothing that concerns you.”
“Ginny…”
“Fine, I was at a party after curfew. Don’t look at me like that, it’s not as if you’ve never gone out after dark.”
“Then what happened?”
“She was there too, and she attacked me for no reason. I was minding my own business, I was not doing anything wrong, and she just jumped me.”
Hermione gave Ginny a knowing look.
“Doing nothing, you say?”
“I was just dancing, like everyone else.”
“Right…”
“I’m serious! That girl is really dangerous, I mean, she BIT ME!”
Harry seemed most shocked of all.
“So… what has Sauron to do with all this, and why weren’t you in your bed?”
“He was at the party too, and he sort of pulled Cho off me while she was trying to scalp me. When we came back the Ravenclaw tower was closer by, so he just took me in and cleaned the scratches, that’s all. It was too late to come back here, so I stayed over. And before you ask Ron, nothing happened.”
Harry nodded, Ron didn’t seem convinced, and Hermione was still disbelievingly shaking her head. Ginny sighed.
“I’m going to get dressed, I have some cosmetics and…”
“No worries, I know a good glamour charm for that black eye. Come, girl talk time.”
Hermione pulled her to the girl’s dorms and smirked when they were out of the boys’ earshot,
“See what happens when you keep eyeing a guy with a girlfriend?”
“I thought it was usually the other way round.”
“It goes both ways. It’s like a predator who caught a big prey; they won’t let another steal their kill. She must have been really drunk or really pissed to have attacked you like this and not just cursed you…”
“She was both, I think.”
“Bad combination. Now come in, I wasn’t lying about the glamour charm, and I think I also have something for those scratches…”

The missing finger kept egging him like it hadn’t done before. It was a bit as if the finger that wasn’t there anymore tingled, and he felt inclined to look at the empty spot time after time again. Memories of the Ring were unavoidable… While thinking it over, Sauron suddenly found himself longing to be with Sinistra. He blamed it on the mess in his head, but irrational or not the feeling didn’t leave him. It was as if the Ring made him think about Sinistra and vice versa, and every time he thought about either the longing became worse. All day, it was like an itch he couldn’t scratch. It was both mental and physical, and utterly confusing. What was wrong with him? For a moment that thought made him smirk. Anyone in Middle-Earth would be able to easily answer that question with a whole tirade of issues…
But Sinistra… he tried to tell himself that the only reason he wanted to see her was because of her strange foreign magic, that it were simply the effects of her touch he required… but that wasn’t it and deep inside he knew that very well. This longing was different, different from every desire he had ever felt. It wasn’t opportunistic or purely physical. In a bout of clarity, Sauron realized that what it came closest to was his want for the Ring. Sure, he had wanted the Ring because he wanted its power back, but he had also wanted it on a different level. He had longed for it because it was basically a piece of him that had gone missing. And that was how it felt. As if he was missing a piece of himself when he wasn’t with that strange dark woman. The connection made sense now, and yet it didn’t. Why did he feel like that about the Astronomy professor? He hadn’t exactly put a part of his power in her, had he? It was impractical and distracting, and Sauron found himself at loss of what to do about it…

That night, he found the Astronomy professor on her platform, staring at the night sky.
“It’s been rather cloudy today.”
“Yes.”
She turned and sent him a smile.
“You wouldn’t know why that is by any chance?”
There was a slight jest in her voice. Sauron answered honestly.
“I have been… troubled.”
Anyone else would have found it unbelievable or at least odd that the cloudiness of the sky would somehow be related to Sauron’s moods… but not Sinistra. She just smiled and invited him next to her.
“Tell me.”
“I don’t really want to talk about it. It is in the past.”
The keen eyes of the Astronomy professor caught how he stared at his missing finger. She softly said.
“I am sorry.”
Sauron shook his head.
“You wouldn’t feel sorry if you knew all about it. Sometimes people have it coming.”
He had had it coming, and he knew it. He didn’t think he “deserved” it or anything, he simply accepted the factual truth that when one did the things he had done, grave opposition was to be expected. No less, no more. And apparently, Doom was imminent for anyone disliked by the Doomsayer of the Valar, hence probably his many defeats.
“Will you tell me a story of your world, Sauron?”
“There are not many stories to tell.”
There were, loads of them, but most featured either him or Melkor in the role of ultimate evil, and he just didn’t feel like telling her any of that. He didn’t even want to remember any of that while he was on the platform with her. Now he sat there next to her, he already felt much calmer than he had all day, he didn’t want to spoil that.
“Would you like to hear a story of my world then? Storytelling here is mostly for children, but some of the tales hold unexpected truths, I find.”
“I would be delighted.”
And so, Sauron got to hear the Tale of the Three Brothers.
“Once upon a time, when three brothers traveled together, they came upon a wide river. It was known that no Muggle could cross the water, but brothers were wizards, and they fashioned a bridge with magic. When they wanted to cross over however, a cloaked figure appeared and blocked their path. It was Death himself, and he congratulated them. All men drowned in the river for it was a trap he had set up… but the wizards had cheated him. He congratulated them for said feat, and offered them gifts most generously.”
Sinistra’s dark eyes seemed to light up a bit in the scarce moonlight as she looked at him.
“The oldest brother asked for a wand that could not be conquered… And Death took a branch from an elder tree and handed it to him… and that was the Elder Wand. The second brother asked for a way to recall the dead… and however humiliated, Death took a stone from the river and handed it to him… and that was the Resurrection Stone. The third brother asked for a way to hide himself from Death. And reluctantly, Death cut a piece of his own cloak, and handed it to him.”
She smiled, and Sauron started to feel a little… uncomfortable, as if he could feel something was coming.
“The three brothers crossed over and parted ways, each satisfied with their gift… But the gifts were treacherous. Drunk with the power of the Elder Wand, the oldest brother killed his old foes, celebrating and bragging…. But while he slept, an unknown man slipped into his room, stole the wand, and cut his throat. For that was the curse of the Elder Wand, it would pass from owner to owner through murder, because it’s power would seduce all. And so the eldest brother was taken by Death after all.”
Remarkable…
“The second brother returned straight home, and used the stone to recall his deceased lover. For a little while, he was overjoyed… but the dead don’t belong in the land of the living, and his love was unhappy, longing for the rest that had been taken from her. Seeing how she withered away, the brother set her free again and killed himself to be with her. For that was the curse of the Resurrection Stone, no man has more time than given him, and trying to claim more of it always ends in sorrow. And so the second brother was taken by Death after all.”
Sauron observed Sinistra as she told the story, her clear voice resounding soft yet clear in the dark of night. Her words prodded at his memories… Eventually he asked,
“What happened to the third brother?”
“Death looked long and hard, but couldn’t find the humblest of the three. Years later, when the third brother was an old and weary man who felt his time had passed, he took his cloak off, and gave it to his son. He met Death with a smile on his face, and they left together as old friends.”
“So… the cloak wasn’t cursed?”
“No. It wasn’t. And yet, neither the third brother escaped Death in the end.”
Sauron thought about it. The story made him think of too many things at once… and looking at Sinistra, he felt the need to tell her about something.
“There… there is a story in my world, that made me think of this.”
“Oh?”
“It is told in many versions, under many names… I could call it the Tale of the Treacherous Ring.”
He had to urge himself to continue.
“Once upon a time…” He saw Sinistra smile, and frowned. “Don’t make fun of it, I know no other way to start it.”
“I don’t make fun of it. I simply smile because apparently both our worlds start tales in the same way.”
He softly shook his head and gathered his courage again.
“So, once upon a time in my world there was a cunning and powerful creature, skilled in many arts magical and other. He worked as a jewelry smith, and possessed the ability to imbue his crafts with great power and magic. One day, he left his forge and took a fair disguise, calling himself Annatar, the Lord of Gifts. He travelled to all the world’s great kingdoms, and freely offered the leaders his work; beautifully crafted rings that would grant the wearer great power. Flattered, the kings accepted the rings, thinking that it must be for their wisdom and good regime that they had received such generous gift.”
Sauron waited a moment to see Sinistra’s reaction. She seemed ensnared…
“Little did they know that it was for their vanity and greed… Annatar had deceived them; on his finger he wore another ring, a ring that he had filled with his power, his malice, his purest evil... a ring to rule all others. And so the free kings became his slaves, and kingdom after kingdom fell for the power of the One Ring.”
He had no choice now; he had to go on. Why was he doing this again?
“Eventually, almost all resistance was broken, except for a last alliance of survivors. In a final fight their chances seemed dire… yet one of them, a mere mortal man, managed to separate the creature once called Annatar from his Ring. And because so much of his power was in the ring, the creature couldn’t sustain himself anymore without it, disappearing and freeing the enslaved lands from his tyranny.”
He had to restrain himself, and not look at his hand. Definitely not look at his hand now.
“But the Ring, the One Ring, it wasn’t destroyed. Whoever held it would be seduced by its power… and find himself betrayed by it, poisoned into insanity or led to his doom. The Ring belonged to no one but its maker, and as it travelled from place to place and person to person, it wished for nothing more than to return to its rightful place on its master’s hand. No matter where that might be, and no matter what it would take.”
With that he finished the tale. Sinistra looked curiously at him.
“That’s an odd story.”
“How… do you mean?”
“It seems to have no ending. Instead it sounds like the beginning of a whole other tale… I’m curious now to hear about the exploits of the treacherous ring in its quest to find its master…”
Sauron shook his head.
“The Ring never found its master again.”
And that moment, he looked at his hands. And Sinistra looked at his hands as well, and in her obsidian eyes dawned understanding. Sauron braced himself for what he expected to come, even though he wasn’t sure what to expect…
“Sauron…”
Her hand entangled with his, and even though internally he was screaming –at himself mostly, but also at the Valar and even at Eru Iluvatar- he couldn’t bring himself to pull away. Her touch was pleasurable and calming as always, but somehow the strange magic wasn’t enough to bring his mind to rest. Conflicting thoughts and emotions fought for dominance, and when eventually an unexplainable sense of dread overcame him, he got up, untangling their hands with a shock.
“I… I should go.”
And with that, he practically ran away from the Astronomy tower…

TRANSLATIONS:
“Nargzab-izg azat za haglob…”(I want to kill that bitch...)
“Îst-izg. Brushub bidroi, dhûzud nar rad.” (I know. You will have revenge, just not now.)
“Htol slaium-izub…” (Fuck my life...)