Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. In addition, this story also contains characters and situations created J.R.R. Tolkien and various publishers and companies such as the Tolkien Estate. All characters represented here and in future chapters are owned by their respective owners, save for some original characters created on my own. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Harry Potter and the Ring of Sauron

Chapter 1: Anxious Times

Again in the darkness…

Alone, except for Cedric Diggory's body lying slumped on the misty ground.

Harry Potter looked around the all too familiar graveyard, recognizing every single detail of the gloomy landscape, knowing exactly what was to come. The pain in his ankle shot through his body with every pulse of his anxious heart, which was already beating faster than normal. He took a glance at Cedric. Just like before, he was lying on the ground, a look of shock on his pale face and his pupil-less eyes. It was as if the very life of him had been ripped out from his unsuspecting body.

Harry's gaze was torn from Cedric as another figure brought him up to his feet and slammed him to a nearby headstone. Harry knew Wormtail was now tying him up even without truly seeing him. His ankle screamed out for relief, and his body begged him to fall unconscious, but Harry couldn't obey. His gaze was glued to the grotesque creature in Wormtail's arms. No matter how much he tried, Harry could not cast his glance from Wormtail as he dunked the deformed baby into the black cauldron filled with vile liquid.

The next scene was exactly as Harry remembered it. From under his legs, what seemed to be an anklebone flew towards Peter and fell with a splash on the cauldron. He then heard Peter's screams as he cut his own hand and added it to the rancid soup. Harry then felt a flash of stinging pain as Wormtail cut his arm at the crook and collected his seeping blood.

Sooner than he could perceive it, the cauldron gave off a blinding flash of light, and the bony silhouette of a man emerged from within. The pain in Harry's body seemed negligible as the scar on his forehead burned. His muscles tensed against the tight rope, his head dropped, and his teeth clenched until his lips bled. After a few agonizing moments, he felt a cold finger on his chin, slowly raising his head. Harry knew what he would see, and yet he couldn't help but loathe and fear it. Slowly, his eyes met the same pair of cold snake-like eyes.

Voldemort gave out a triumphant laughter. His dark voice broke through the equally obscure night, chilling the already cold night even more. Harry trembled, both in anger and fear. Voldemort again met his gaze. The Dark Lord's smile turned even more sinister as he reached into his pitch-black robes and pulled out his wand.

"Avada Kedavra." Harry shut his eyes, expecting death to embrace him with its cold touch. He screamed.

Then he woke up.

Harry sat on his bed, gasping for breath. The pain on his scar slowly faded away to nothingness, as did his broken ankle and cut arm. Harry cast a glance towards the window. The sun was starting to break through the morning clouds, faintly lighting the room where Harry was currently living in. Still shaken, he cleaned the sweat from his forehead with the sleeves of his pajamas. He was about to reach for his glasses when a series of deafening knocks on his door echoed throughout the room.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP?" roared Harry's Aunt Petunia. "Can't you go a single night without waking us all up with your little nightmares?" Harry heard her humph as she stormed back to her room.

"Thanks for the pep-talk," Harry grumbled, sarcasm dripping from the comment. He put on his glasses and looked towards Hedwig's cage. The white owl stood still, its eyes focused on Harry, somewhat comprehending its master's distress. "And thanks for your understanding," he said to his pet. The snowy owl gave a light hoot before burying its face into its wings.

Harry knew better than to try to go to sleep again. There hadn't been a single night that the haunting scene didn't repeat itself in his nightmares. Every night, he saw Cedric Diggory dying again, falling limp onto the barren earth. And every night, he witnessed Lord Voldemort returning to power. Harry had escaped Voldemort in real life, yet the Dark Lord kept killing him in his dreams. Each night, the nightmare became more believable and real. Harry shivered. He wondered if one day it would become all too real.

Sitting on his bed with his arms around his knees, Harry let time go by him unheeded. He rested his face in his arms and stared blankly at the opposing wall. The grisly images from that graveyard kept flashing in his mind, making all the accomplishments Harry made during his fourth year seem pointless. The memory of winning the Triwizard Tournament only served to remind him that Cedric should have been the one to win. In his heart, Harry knew it was his own fault that Cedric was dead and Voldemort had returned.

Harry cursed himself under his breath. Why didn't he ask Professor Dumbledore for more of the sleeping potion Madam Pomfrey gave him on that fateful day? He looked at his wristwatch, only to remember it was still broken after his swim in the lake for the Second Trial. From the little light that came through his window, he guessed that it couldn't be later than seven in the morning. If his wristwatch were working, he would have known he'd guessed right. He still had about two more hours of brooding by himself before his aunt and uncle woke up and served a rather unfitting breakfast.

The wake-up call eventually arrived, as Uncle Vernon banged his fist on Harry's door.

"Hurry up, boy! You've got a lot to do today!" he roared. Harry waited until he heard his uncle reach the first floor before going out of his room. Distracted by his thoughts, he almost crashed into Dudley's figure. Aunt Petunia's forced diet hadn't had much of an effect on his cousin. In fact, he looked as if he had passed the weight category of a whale and been hit with a permanent Engorgement charm. Coming down to the kitchen, Harry was half surprised to find the room full of nicely wrapped presents varying in size.

"Hurry up with the breakfast, you!" snapped Aunt Petunia. She then turned to the rotund mass of fat known as Dudley. "We're going to have a special breakfast today to celebrate my little Duddums' birthday!" Harry groaned at the comment. True, he'd had the luck of being Dudley-free for the first few days of the summer while his cousin was in an expensive school-sponsored trip to America. However, he'd forgotten that Dudley had insisted on celebrating two birthdays: his real one and a second one with his parents and gang.

Under different circumstances, Harry would have immediately protested, bringing up his ace card to get him out of the situation. Instead, he silently obeyed, as if acknowledging a command given to a golem. His own thoughts were still up in his room. He grabbed a pan and started turning pancakes and bacon as Dudley ripped apart the forty-something presents his parents had gotten him. Harry, counting, noticed that Dudley was the owner of three new computers, a PlayStation to replace the one he destroyed the previous summer, a Nintendo 64, about twenty computer games, a Gotcha rifle, a few video movies, a new VCR, and new clothes, which Harry noted that Dudley promptly shoved away in favor of his other presents. By this time, Harry was done cooking, and observed that there was only enough for three and a half people.

"I'm missing some food," he stated. Vernon turned his head towards him.

"You can have the leftovers. And be quick about it, you have to clean the pool and cut the grass today!" Uncle Vernon then turned to his Sunday paper. Harry considered objecting to the treatment, but he thought that not causing a fuss might get him the afternoon off and, consequently, the chance to write to Hermione, Ron, and Sirius. He sat down and quickly downed his breakfast. Once done, he decided to begin the chores Uncle Vernon had given him. Going out the back door, he narrowly missed a paint pellet Dudley had fired at him.

****************

Cleaning the pool was a slow and difficult task. Dudley had insisted, rambled, and practically forced Uncle Vernon into building a pool as a present for finishing his fourth year at Smeltings. Vernon, apparently not caring that Dudley fared no better on that year than the previous ones, quickly caved in to Dudley's tantrums. Of course, Dudley had used it only once and could care less if it rotted in the backyard. That didn't seem to stop Vernon from forcing Harry to thoroughly clean it every couple of days. Also, Dudley had insisted on having a trampoline, a water slide, and a Jacuzzi, so Harry had the unenviable task of cleaning those too. Wiping sweat from his forehead, Harry went to switch from the scrub to the manual pool vacuum cleaner.

To make matters worse, Harry heard Dudley yell: "Dad! My friends are coming soon! Make Harry finish cleaning faster!"

"You heard your cousin. Hurry it up!" Vernon commanded from the inside of the air-conditioned house. Harry groaned as he made the switch. His lack of mentioning Sirius was apparently making the Dursleys less hesitant to torment him. Before going back to work, Harry said to himself that he would change that soon enough. A few hours later, Harry wiped more sweat from his drenched shirt as he finished cleaning the Jacuzzi. No sooner had he stored away all the cleaning equipment, Dudley rushed in and cannonballed into the pool. The ensuing tsunami drained one fourth of the water in it and splashed over the already wet Harry. He didn't mind the refreshing feeling. Harry almost wished he could jump in too despite Uncle Vernon's stern commands against doing so, but quickly decided against doing so. The thought vanished as Dudley's gang rushed in and joined the whale in the water. Harry, not even casting a disdainful look at his cousin's friends, made a discrete entrance into the house.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" roared Aunt Petunia, who was busy making sandwiches and preparing sodas and chips for Dudley and his friends. Harry stared blankly at his aunt before noticing that his clothes were dripping water on the kitchen floor.

"You expect me to cut the grass in these?" Harry had had enough of the Dursley's ramblings for one day. Cleaning the pool had cleared his mind. Cedric's death seemed far away.

"I will NOT let you mess up my floor!" she screamed, slapping her mitten onto the counter. Harry was not fazed in the least.

"Fine, then. But I don't think my godfather will be happy when I tell him I caught pneumonia doing your son a favor," he said. The words had an immediate and noticeable impact on Aunt Petunia's face, just as Harry had expected. The mere mention of Sirius sent chills running down the woman's spine and made her face twist from rage to surprise and terror.

"Well, alright," she stammered, "but be quick about it." She then grabbed the sandwiches and rushed out, never noticing Harry's triumphant smile. He rushed off to his room and changed into some dry clothes. Feeling tired and hungry from cleaning the pool, he creaked open the loose floorboard in the corner and took out some of the chocolate frogs Ron had sent him, as well as a piece of pumpkin cake from Hermione. He took his time with the treats; he was not in a big hurry as before to mow the lawn. Only when he heard Uncle Vernon climbing up the stairs did he run out of his room and out the front door.

**************

Cutting the grass took less time than cleaning the pool, but Harry felt the job was more tedious. At least the pool water gave off some refreshing coolness to diminish the summer heat. By the time Harry finished stowing all the lawnmowers Vernon had for mowing the grass to perfection, his shirt was as drenched as the first one. The sun was already starting to disappear in the western horizon when Harry reached his room and changed clothes again. Having seen that Dudley's party had moved inside, he decided to eat the rest of the pumpkin cake, though he had to share a piece or two with Hedwig. The snow owl nipped her beak on Harry's index once he gave her the last crumbs. Harry gave a weak smile.

"I'll have to ask Hermione to make some extra for next time," he said to his pet. Hedwig gave a light hoot. Harry was about to close the floorboard when he heard a light knock coming from his bedroom window. Startled, Harry turned his gaze to where the sound came from. His surprise turned to relief when he noticed it was a small owl buzzing around and knocking on the window.

"Pig!" Harry reached over and opened the window, letting the eccentric brown owl in. Pigwidgeon buzzed around the entire room before landing on Harry's open hand. He quickly took out the piece of parchment attached to Pig's leg and unfolded it. As he guessed, it was a letter from Ron.

Hello, Harry!

I hope you've had a good summer. Feeling better? I guess you've had a lot to think over these days. I hope your Muggle relatives have been nicer to you than usual.

Good news! Mum got word from Professor Dumbledore that you can come and stay over by the end of July! I know it's a few days away, but Dumbledore says it's for the best if you stay there for a while longer… don't ask me why, though. Hermione's coming too; Dad had a chat with her parents and they agreed.

We'll come and pick you up on your birthday, whether the Muggles like it or not. Be ready to leave by early afternoon, Dad wants to be discreet after Fred and George's prank on your cousin last year (though I have to admit, that was bloody brilliant).

See you soon,

Ron

Harry's smile almost broke past his cheeks. Ron's news had been about the only good thing to come his way in a long time. Not to mention that it came as a great finish to an otherwise miserable day. He set Pig on top of Hedwig's cage and grabbed a blank roll of parchment, not noticing his snowy owl's look of disdain. Hedwig cast a threatening glance on Pig when the tiny owl got too close to the cage entrance. Harry took no notice, as he had found his quill and had begun writing his response to Ron.

Ron

That's the best news I've heard all day. I've been having a normal summer…

Harry stopped for a second, considering whether to tell Ron about his nightmares. On the one hand, Ron would probably say something encouraging and make him feel better. On the other hand, he might end up worrying Ron too much, making Harry feel guiltier than he already did. In the end, he decided to omit that particular piece of information.

Though the Muggles haven't been too kind, I think I can get them under control for the next few days. The worst part was cleaning a pool Dudley got; that's like an artificial lake Muggles build sometimes.

I'll definitely be ready by the end of the month. If the Muggles object, I'll just invoke the Sirius rule and get permission anyway.

See you in a few weeks

Harry

PS: Hedwig loved yours and Hermione's treats. Send more when you can.

Harry rolled up the finished letter and gave it to Pig, who had just snuck out of Hedwig's cage with a small owl treat before the other owl could maul it any further. Hedwig gave the tiny owl a final warning hoot before Harry tied the letter to Pig's leg. He noted that the small owl had peck marks on its back, but nothing seemed too serious.

"Sorry about that, Hedwig," he said. The owl kept staring at Harry with its amber eyes. "But I need you to deliver a letter to Sirius later tonight, okay?" Hedwig raised her head in a dignified manner. Harry noted that, to her, delivering letters to Sirius was the ultimate challenge; after all, trying to find a person that was deep in hiding should be difficult by nature. "Thanks," he added, giving her a small treat that she took immediately. Harry then took Pig and let it out the window. The hyperactive owl instantly zoomed out the window and disappeared into the night sky.

Harry took a moment to look at the evening sky. Though he didn't care much for any Divination or Professor Trelawney's use of the stars to predict the future, he had to admit that the night sky could at times be breathtaking. This particular night was not exactly lively, though: only the commonly seen stars were out on that night. Harry recognized the star the Muggles referred to as Polaris shining brightly, with the planets Mars and Jupiter following suit in different locations in the sky. Other stars twinkled faintly in the celestial carpet. Harry turned his gaze to Jupiter for no particular reason, and that's when an interesting sight caught his eye.

Just to the left and below of the giant planet, Harry could faintly notice a small star that he hadn't seen when he first gazed out. Surprised by his sudden curiosity over the object, he focused his glasses and gazed at the new star. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary with it, save that it twinkled far too little for a normal star. Going back into his room, he took out his pair of Omnioculars from his drawers and walked back to the window. He looked through them into the sky and focused their magical lenses onto this particular star. Even with the highest zooming-in that the Omnioculars could give, Harry couldn't make out anything funny about this oddity.

He hadn't stared at the star long when he gave out a big yawn. Harry realized that the day's chores had worn him out more than he had expected. Taking one last gaze at the curious star, Harry decided to take a quick shower before writing to Sirius and turning in for the night. He closed the window, put the Omnioculars back into his drawer, grabbed his pajamas, and left his room.

If Harry had looked at the sky for a while longer, he would have noticed that the star had moved from Jupiter to Mars.

*****************

The fiery kiss of the lava danced around the ring, threatening it with the only thing that could destroy it. Aware, yet not quite sentient, the ring felt that its final hour was approaching fast. It had left the weird creature's grasp a few moments ago, as the being had melted instantly when it fell into the boiling magma. The ring perceived that, above, the Halflings were rushing out of the Cracks of Doom as fast as they could before the mountain spilled its wrath on them. But the ring didn't care. Its time was done, and not even its Master could come from his Tower in time to save it.

The ring would learn to its relief that it had erred.

The transition took only one second. In an instant, the ring felt the greater mass of lava around it disappear, only to be replaced by an empty nothingness. It sensed that it was falling down, and that there seemed to be no end to this chasm. It also perceived that there was something not quite right about this tunnel. The deadly heat turned to shocking cold, as the ring felt the lava around it dissipate into a cold void that now surrounded it. While most of the magma scattered out in this new place, some of it solidified around the ring, forming a protective coating of rock around it. Not that the ring needed protection anymore.

The One Ring knew that it had left the place of its origin. It was no longer in the one place where it could be destroyed. On this moment, the Ring didn't care if it fell forever, or if it would emerge outside the lands it knew, in a place farther away from its Master than it had ever been. All it knew was that it would survive, and thus its Master would survive. And someday, somehow, it would find a way to return to the hand of its Master.

And then the Halflings would pay, and Middle-earth would tremble under its Master's power.