Hobbit 1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey! This is my first venture into the world of the Hobbit fanfiction and I hope you liked what I came up with. Please forgive the rather long part before she comes into Middle Earth, but I wanted to introduce her character fully with a background in place as I find that many authors sort of skim over that part and just sort of immediately send their characters to Middle Earth without giving much though as to _how_ they got there in the first place. I will be using book and movie verse with maybe more movie verse as I have more recently seen the movie. I also umm sorta nicked a few ideas from the Chronicles of Narnia. Hehe. So please pretty please review even if it is to say how awful it is! I adore any feedback!**

**Disclaimer: Only Esmerelda belongs to me sadly...**

* * *

Esmerelda considered herself an ordinary twenty year old girl. She liked to read, was quite shy and studied Mythology at a local university near her small hometown of Sunset Valley.

Esmerelda lived in a small sort of apartment in her parents' backyard. As she didn't have enough money to actually rent a real apartment, her mother and father took pity on her and allowed her to stay in the old apartment in their backyard.

As it was quite an old house, the "apartment" was originally meant as servants quarters. When Esmerelda's parents bought the house when they were first married, it was very run down and threatening to fall apart at the slightest pressure in the wrong place.

Esmerelda's parents were people who loved to restore old things and they always had some or other antique that they just _knew_ could be restored to its former glory if just given enough attention. No matter how frail, dirty or decrepit a piece might look, they said that everything could be saved, sometimes it just needed a little love and attention.

So they had made their family home their biggest, lifelong project. Even though Esmerelda's parents bought it dirt cheap, it was mainly because of the disrepair it was in and because the real estate people thought the house could not be saved. The price of the house had nothing to do with the size, as it was a literal mansion with dozens of nooks and crannies that was a child's paradise to play pretend in.

It was because of the house, and it's often hidden passageways and rooms, that Esmerelda still firmly believed in ghosts and fairies when other children began to scoff at such childish notions. She remembered fondly the times when she had disappeared for hours into one of the old attics and played that she went on all sorts of adventures.

In the attic above the kitchen (the only attic her mother would allow her in, as there were numerous in the house but unfortunately, the one above the kitchen was the only one safe enough for her to play in as the others were all in various stages of repair, some not even started on.) she would slay dragons and rescue the damsel in distress (of course, she was always the prince, for who on earth would want to be the stupid damsel?) as well as freeing the land of villains and bestowing the right full heir to the throne.

She was never the heir as she much preferred going on adventures than sitting in a throne room all day listening to people problems.

Although Esmerelda loved her parents dearly she kind of held them responsible for her lonely childhood. Not to mention her teenage years.

It was therefore no wonder, really, that Esmsrelda grew up reading stories about daring princes and later on, all sorts of other fantasy books. At a young age she had no friends as children were warned away from her as she was considered odd.

Always with her nose in some book or other, or gallivanting around the garden in done up in her mother's best tablecloth, waving it around as a cape.

Esmerelda often wondered if she wouldn't have been as lonely had she had siblings, but after three miscarriages that almost broke her mother's spirit, she stopped asking for a sibling and set out to be the best daughter she could be.

Her high school years were quite monotonous and, as she still had no friends, she immersed herself in books.

Fiction, fantasy, action, even the occasional thriller, she devoured them, as even _she_ had by then grown old enough not to play in tablecloths anymore. Even so, she never quite stopped believing in the fantastical. After all, how could she? She had lived her whole life in a house, well, now next to, that practically screamed the incredible.

From the turrets on the mini towers, to the numerous attics that she hadn't quite fully explored yet to the garden that had many hidden walkways, that was a house in which you could believe the impossible.

Even though she now studied Mythology and knew were all the legends come from, it only served to strengthen her believe. After all, a human mind cannot make something up in his/her mind that he/she had never seen. It's physically impossible.

With all that factors weighing in, was what happened to Esmerelda really so improbable?

* * *

Esmerelda was happily munching on an apple, when her mother came bouncing excitedly into the kitchen. Her mother's pinstraight brown hair, that Esmerelda had inherited, along with brown, almost black eyes and her tall length, seemed almost to bounce with her, although that should have been physically impossible for any hair other than curly or even wavy.

Esmerelda smiled indulgently at her mother and waved at her to signal that she could proceed with whatever she obviously so desperately wanted to tell Esmerelda.

The house nearly being completely restored, being the work of more than twenty years, it was no surprise her parents were nearly out of their skin with excitement. This whole week it was all her parents could talk about.

They were finally ready to tackle the last attic and all week you could see signs of preparation in the house.

Tins of paint were steadily piling up in the workroom, even more than usual, and planks of wood being carted steadily to the house along with other building and renovating materials.

Rather than feel sad that the house, their lifelong project, was nearly complete, her parents looked giddily forward to when it was done and they could begin their next big project.

Barely managing to keep from jumping up and down Esmerelda's mother told her: "I know we said we would begin sorting out the old furniture and stuff in the attic, my dear, but would you mind horribly beginning for us? See, your father have just gotten a call from his old friend, Patrick Fitzroger. You remember him, don't you dear? He used to come over for Christmas when you were little."

Before Esmerelda could reply that she, in fact, had no recollection of such a man, her mother continued. "Well, anyway, he called to say that he had found what he believed to be a genuine 12th century dresser. In awful condition, of course, but that is where I and your father come in. It would be such a shame if we didn't get our hands on it and he says he can't keep it more than a day as his wife doesn't approve of him hoarding things. We don't want to get behind schedule and we would be very thankful if you just start sorting out the things up in the attic. We'll be back by tomorrow, as he only lives about ninety miles from here and has invited us to stay the night and since we hadn't seen him in quite a while we accepted. Oh, please say you'll do it?"

Throughout this whole speech, Esmerelda's smile had turned knowing and her eyes had gotten a glint to it and, laughing lightly, she answered: "Oh, Mama. Have I ever said no to rummaging around in the attics? Of course I'll sort through the things. Just remember to give me my payment.", she teased, chuckling lightly at her mother's ruefull face.

This exact scenario had happened a few times before and after her mother bought her a mega chocolate the first time, it has become somewhat of a ritual that whoever bailed out of their job in fixing the house, had to buy the other a chocolate.

As both her mother and father were bailing out on her this time, Esmerelda looked forward to _two_ mega chocolates coming her way when her parents got back.

After reassuring her mother that it was fine and telling her to just go, as her father had shouted for her mother a few times now, her mother finally left with a backward wave and a promise to buy the two biggest chocolates she could find.

A wide smile stretching her face after contemplating the chocolates, Esmerelda finished her apple and lazily climbed the stair to the attic, finally standing before the door of the attic after three flights of stairs.

Despite her playful reluctance at cleaning the attic, it was with a sense of excitement that Esmerelda surveyed the door to the last attic. It being only lately safe enough to venture into this attic, she was excited at the prospect of what she would find there. Every room they had thus far renovated, have had several interesting if not downright fascinating piece of furniture in it or, if not, at least had odd objects that Esmerelda could hardly guess what they were.

Opening the door, the smell of must and old, moldy wood overwhelmed her. Wrinkling her nose against these unpleasant, if familiar odours, Esmerelda set to work immediately.

The attic itself was pretty sparsely furnished, in light of the things they had found in the other attics, one being so full of antique chairs they could hardly move, but still there was what looked like two small chests covered in dust cloths and a big imposing old fashioned closet. One of those it seemed you could walk into.

Pushing up the sleeves of her old sweater and being thankful she had pair of old shorts on so that she didn't have to worry about the dust, she set to work

Starting with the chests, she pulled the dust cloth of and almost choked on the amount of dust suddenly in the air, she opened the first chest, and began to sort.

The first chest held nothing much of interest except some linen that looked positively ancient. The chest itself didn't look like it had much value, but one never knows, so she sat it apart to be looked at when her parents returned.

Moving on to the second chest, which looked more valuable as it had all sorts of carvings on, Esmerelda found some papers that looked like letters that she was sorely tempted to read right there, but, she reminded herself, she had a job to do and she could read it after she had sorted everything into piles.

Moving the second chest to its pile she made her way to the old closet.

Up close, it looked even more impressing, as it had all sorts of carvings on it. There were scenes of what looked like elves dancing in the forests, while of to the left side of the closet, dwarves made their appearance, obviously underground and mining.

At the top she saw what looked like an old man with a pointy hat in the middle of the closet, while around him she saw little men and women that were as small as children but who obviously had adult faces.

Fascinated by the rich detail of the closet she spent a good ten minutes staring at the scenes represented on the wood.

Suddenly realising that she had a job to do and sternly reminding herself there would be time afterwards, she opened the closet doors and peered inside.

The inside was surprisingly dark and digging a flashlight out of her pocket, she tried to turn it on, only to realise the battery was flat. Sighing, she debated going downstairs and hunting for another pair of batteries but knew that it would probably take a good hour to find a working pair and she was too impatient to wait that long.

Shoving the useless flashlight back in her pocket, Esmerelda cautiously extended her arms to where she guessed the back of the closet was. Frowning when she didn't find it, she climbed into the closet with her arms outstretched for the back of the closet she was sure she would feel soon.

Frowning when she still didn't find it, she took cautious steps into the darkness, fast becoming less cautious as she failed to feel the back of the closet.

Suddenly, when she had just started to walk normally in what she know considered to be an endless closet, there was bright light.

Shutting her eyes against the sudden, intrusive light, it took a few moments for Esmerelda to see that she was standing on a hill in what appeared to be a bright green countryside under a smiling cloudless blues sky with a cheerful sun.

Shocked, she turned around, intending to go back to the attic, but, when she turned around expecting a closet, she found nothing but blue sky and green rolling hills. 'Oh, shit.' Esmerelda thought, beginning to panic a bit, 'where the hell am I?'


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you Verrokami for the review, it was very kind of you. And thank you for the favourites from KIRRAA and axara2 and the follows from Verrokami, KIRRAA, axara2 and kandy2431. I really appreciate it very much. Here is the second chapter as I just couldn't help myself and got it finished before schedule so yeah! Please review and tell me what you think. I would be ever so grateful. Also any constructive criticism would be helpful. Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: Alas, only Esmerelda belongs to me.**

* * *

Esmerelda was, truth be told, terrified. She thought she was going to have a nice, peaceful day, sorting out the stuff in the attic and waiting impatiently for her parents to come back so she could have her chocolates.

Instead, she walked _through_ a closet, and into this- this _place._

Still half disoriented and not completely convinced she hadn't fallen asleep while sorting through the attic, Esmerelda turned around and around, half hoping to see the closet door somewhere. Unfortunately, all she saw was the rolling green hills and, on closer inspection, round doors in the hills. In fact, the more she looked around her, the more Esmerelda realised that there were, in fact, houses within the hills. Complete with chimneys puffing out smoke and paths leading up to the front doors.

There were even gardens which, when she came over her shock of seeing real, actual _houses_ in the hill, she saw was being gardened in by people.

At first she was relieved, thinking that at least whatever strange fantasy place she had been brought to, it wasn't completely without humans. But, as she eagerly advanced upon one of the people walking down the road she had just noticed weaving through the houses, she saw something strange about them.

Apart from the fact that these strange people lived in the actual hills, it seemed there was something strange with their feet as well. Instead of usual, human feet, these strange people seemed to have awfully big, hairy feet. And not one wore shoes. They all walked around barefoot and seemed to look strangely at her for wearing shoes.

Actually she had been catching them staring not only at her feet, but at her clothes, which, she must admit, looked very out of style with what they were wearing.

Instead of normal, _modern_ clothes, these people seemed to be stuck a few centuries in the past, as the women were all wearing old fashioned dresses, the ones that still used the corsets, and the men were wearing farming clothes from when her great-grandfather was a little boy.

Maybe even before that.

Esmerelda stared around her in shock and was just about to approach one these strange people when she heard a woman rushing past her whispering to her companion: "I wonder what a dwarf maiden is doing here in the Shire. And in such odd clothes. Aren't dwarf men very protective over their women? I wo-"

Her wondering was cut off by her companion saying harshly when he caught Esmerelda looking at them: "Hush Martha! It's none of our business. We should….." The rest of his speech was drowned out as the man pulled on the women's arm to get her to move away from Esmerelda, glancing suspiciously over his shoulder back at her, with his mouth still moving furiously, scolding the woman Esmerelda assumed was his wife.

'Dwarf?' Esmerelda thought, perplexed, 'I am no dwarf! If I was, I would have to shrink at _least_ three feet and my clothes wouldn't fit me nearly as well….'

It was there her thoughts puttered of, as, looking down, she realised that her clothes were indeed too big for her, much too big for her.

Her long-sleeved shirt, the one she had pushed up to her elbows, had slid, even with the pushing up, past her hands and was threatening to fall of her thin frame completely. She also noticed her shorts, which had come to about mid-thigh before she walked through the closet, now came to just above her ankles.

The funny thing was that her shoes had seemed to shrink with her clothes so that she now wore tiny little sneakers that looked more like a size three than the size nine she usually wore.

She also noticed that, while still skinny, she had acquired a bit more sturdiness around her middle and her legs seemed to be a bit thicker, as well as her arms.

Her hands, which had always tapered to long slim fingers, now ended on short stubby digits which looked a bit comical to her as she was used to long hands.

As she was inspecting her changes, she failed to see a tall man coming up behind her in the road and only became aware of his presence when a shadow fell on her. Turning around, she saw before her a tall old man wearing grey robes with a grey pointy hat on and a long grey beard, with blue eyes blinking curiously down at her.

With his silhouette against the sun, he looked remarkably like the old wizard in the carving on the closet and, with a gasp, Esmerelda realised it must be the same person.

Opening her mouth to ask him if he knew of the closet or how she came to be here she was interrupted by his deep voice asking her: "Now, what is a lady dwarf doing here in the Shire? I don't remember Thorin telling me there would be a lady dwarf accompanying us on our quest."

Frowning, Esmerelda shook her head: "Quest? What, no. I don't know this Thorin you're talking about but I do recognise you from the closet and I was wondering if you could tell me how I came to be here and why I am not my original length? And why these ummm people and you seem to think I am a dwarf as I assure you I'm a normal human being."

At the end of her speech, Esmerelda's voice had risen in pitch as she grew more agitated. Esmerelda is used to being tall, and to have people call her a dwarf is highly disconcerting (and a bit insulting, if she was honest with herself), as was being loomed over by someone, to someone who is used to doing the looming.

Frowning, the old man scratched his beard and said in a thoroughly perplexed voice: "My dear, I have no idea what you are talking about. What closet do you speak of? I don't recall going anywhere near a closet."

Perhaps seeing Esmerelda's distress and sensing she was a word or two away from crying in frustration, if nothing else, he gently took her by the arm and led her of the road, where a few of the strange people had begun to gather, to a heather patch a few feet from the road.

Shooing the people away who had begun to draw nearer, he gently set her down on the heather and, making himself comfortable next to her, bade Esmerelda tell him what the matter is.

Taking a deep breath, Esmerelda told him her story, starting from when her mother asked her to clean out the attic to finding him standing in the road behind her.

A lot calmer now and seeing the old man staring at her with a strange expression on his face, Esmerelda tried to relieve the awkwardness she started feeling and asked him in a low voice, as some of the other strange people were still standing around hoping to catch a stray word, what, exactly, the people around them _were_.

That question seemed to shake him out of whatever thought he had been thinking and, with a quick shake of the head and another curious glance at her, a smile broke over his face and he said smilingly: "These are halflings. Hobbits, if you like. A very queer people, but some of the best sort of people there is. They are also very fine cooks, some of the best in all Middle-Earth I dare say. They also love having visitors, or at least I know of one specific hobbit who does."

With this last sentence, his eyes got a mischievous gleam in them, and Esmerelda wondered what the old man was up to. Suddenly realising that she didn't know his name, she clapped her hand to her face and said shamefacedly: "Here I am. Asking you for help when you don't even know my name and I don't even know yours."

Sticking her hand in front of her, she said: "My name is Esmerelda Willoughby and you are?..." Chuckling, the old man enveloped her hand in his own big hand, and with his deep gravelly voice said: "I am Gandalf the Grey. Pleased to meet you Esmerelda."

Shaking his hand and returning the sentiment, she suddenly realised that it had gotten quite dark around them. It seemed that Gandalf had seen the darkness the same time as she and, standing up, he helped her up and asked her in a pleasant voice: "I have a proposition to make to you. It seems you have literally fallen into my path and, with no possible way back that I can see, I want to ask you to accompany me and a company of thirteen dwarves and a hobbit on a quest. Since it doesn't seem like you have anywhere else to go, will you join us on this quest?"

Esmerelda figured she didn't really have a choice, as where would she even _go_ if she left the wizard, so, shrugging her shoulders, she nodded her head.

"Splendid! Thorin may need a bit of convincing but I'm sure I can make him see sense." Looking very satisfied with himself Gandalf took her hand and led her up a path and to a house in the hill that seemed to be one of the biggest in the whole hill.

Struggling to keep up with Gandalf's long legs, and cursing her own short legs, she asked him where they were going.

Cheerfully striding along, but slowing up a bit when he saw her struggling to keep up he said: "Were going to Bag End to fetch our hobbit, Mr. Baggins, and meet the rest of the dwarves. Also," he added, when he heard her stomach growling, "to get something to eat." Glancing at her clothing, he added as an afterthought: "A change of clothes also wouldn't go amiss, I think." Blushing, Esmerelda thanked her stars that her underwear had shrunk with her frame and that she didn't have to go through the awkwardness of asking for underwear.

And so, being dragged behind Gandalf to a big hole in the hill, Esmerelda prepared herself to meet the rest of the company, hoping that whoever this 'Thorin' was, he wouldn't be too hard to convince, as she had no idea what she'd do or where she'd go if he refused to let her accompany them.

She would be utterly lost.


End file.
