Gollum jumped at her from the darkness filling the flat the moment she walked through the door, startling her. 

And yet it was something he always did, demanding to be taken for a walk after the long hours he spent closed inside during Fiona's shifts, on the weekends when Freddie was at her mum's and the poor dog was left alone. But he had never startled her like this... Tonight, her head was so full of the three strangers that she had almost forgotten her dog. Botheration...

"Do..down...!" She stammered under the weight of Gollum's huge paws on her shoulders as she switched on the light; standing on his hind legs, the charcoal coloured Irish Wolfhound was taller than her.

He obeyed after bestowing a loving lick to her cheek, and she hugged him around his furry neck, muttering words of apology for having been gone for so long.

"Come on then," she said, releasing the dog into the corridor before he could start scratching the door, removing her cardigan and reaching to the clothes rack placed by the entrance for a rain proof jacket, Gollum's leash and a dog whistle. Not that the leash was of any use, the massive dog was too powerful for her to restrain, but she found out that it instilled a feeling of safety in the passersby who otherwise gave the tiny woman with an enormous dark dog a wide berth. And he listened to the whistle well, Gollum was tame like a puppy, a gentle giant.

She switched off the light and locked the door again, finding Gollum sitting at the top of the stairs, waiting for her permission to descend.

"Go," she allowed. "Slow and silent."

She smiled when he looked into her eyes as if he understood and agreed before creeping down the ill-lit staircase noiseless like a shadow to wait for her again by the front door.

"Mind the road, as always," she told him. "We'll go to the park. Slow and calm, or I'll have to put this on you if you start scaring people, understood?" She waved the leash in his face, and he looked instantly away in understanding; he disliked using the leash just like she did.

Gilderoy jumped in surprise when he saw the enormous dog bounding out of the door he and his companions were observing from across the road, huddled around the only tree growing in the cobbled pavement near the pub, hiding from the rain rather than from curious looks-- the streets in this part of the city were abandoned this time of the night.

The dog was almost bigger than the woman who followed it closely in the direction of the park, spreading at the end of the road. A familiar looking woman. Alaric's daughter. 

He grinned-- the woman apparently had a penchant for monsters-- as his eyes left her retreating figure to observe Peregrine. 

The dragon shifter was smiling, obviously enjoying the sight of the short woman with the beast of a dog. She was unpredictable and full of surprises, and Peregrine was taken by her; it was as clear as day. 

Leodhais looked at Peregrine too-- he would never have expected to see His Darkness falling for a woman, a woman so... humanly plain and ordinary, and yet here he was, the smile playing on his lips speaking volumes about his melting heart.

"What?" Peregrine growled suddenly, making them both jump. "Come on, we need to follow her. She may have a monster of a dog as a guardian, but I've spent enough time in this world to know that it's not safe for a woman to walk in a park at night."

They nodded simply, there was no point in disagreeing with the dragon once he set his mind on something, and as one separated themselves from the tree and followed her through the night and drizzling rain at a careful distance.

Fiona had a feeling that she was being followed even before she reached the park, with Gollum a few steps in front of her oblivious to anything but the scent of rainwashed grass and trees floating on the shredded veil of fog that coiled in the night air surrounding them. 

She resisted the urge to turn around and look until she followed Gollum under a stretch of thickly grown hazel trees where she knew she would be invisible to anyone entering the park through the rusty wrought iron gate after her. She almost laughed when she spotted them a few moments later, her three otherworldly visitors hovering by the gate like ghosts coming to haunt her. Didn't she tell them to go home, to leave her alone?! She shook her head at herself when she realised that she was happy that they had not obeyed her. They had been around for a few hours only, and they had already made her life look... more colourful. 

Fiona tore her eyes off them to look at Gollum-- the dog turned to observe the men only once, to inhale and store their scents and appearances-- then, apparently sensing no threat from them, resumed his happy bounding and sniffing across the wet lawn. She stood still under the trees, amusing herself by watching them for a while. The tall blond elf and the short Gilderoy turned around on the spot, searching the dark park for her, whispering among themselves. Only the dark Peregrine stood statue still, his arms crossed across his chest, his eyes intent on the bushy hazel trees as if he could see her hiding beyond them. 

"Botheration," she muttered, the corners of her lips tugging up in an annoying smile before she spoke to them, revealing herself. "Haven't we said goodbye?" she asked, making her way through the wet low branches, crossing the short stretch of the lawn towards them. "I thought you were supposed to return to my father."

"We are supposed to return to your father with you," Peregrine replied, a smile mirroring hers playing on his lips. "You'd better come with us; he might just send a small army in your pursuit should we fail to fetch you."

Fiona shook her head in amused disbelief. Her father hadn't cared about her for decades; he wouldn't do something this drastic now.

"I'll risk that, I guess," she announced, folding her arms across her chest as she stood in front of Peregrine, her short figure so close to his that her scent filled his mind, and her heat penetrated his body in ripples as he watched her fight against the smile blooming on her face.

Goodness she was addictive, her stubbornness, and strength and the penchant for rebellion along with her down to earth reasoning and beauty was making his head spin.

"It's late and cold for a woman to be outside alone, not to mention the rain and fog," he chided, wishing she stepped closer to him, smiling when she did. 

She only started feeling cold and alone and craving his warmth and closeness when he mentioned it. "Gollum needs his walk. I'm responsible for him, I already feel bad for keeping him in the small flat, but I was obliged to take him with me when I moved here years ago." Her mother flat out refused to keep the huge dog despite having a garden, and Fiona loved him too much to simply give him away. 

Turning her back to Peregrine, she soaked up his heat and the scent of wood fire that seemed to linger around him as she observed Gollum bounding in the distance, before she cast a look at the other two men founding them observing her and their dark companion, who seemed to inch closer to her as the minutes passed, with open surprise and curiosity.

It was time to finally part from them and go home, to return to her everyday life. She brought the dog whistle she was still holding in her hand to her lips, noticing how Peregrine, who was now shielding her from the cold drizzle, startled as if he could hear its sound. Maybe he could... he was a... dragon after all... 

Fiona shook her head, feeling confused by why the thought of him being a... half beast... should attract her...

"Calm. No jumping, Gollum," she spoke to her dog who reached them at a run. He emerged from the night like a moving shadow, his dark fur glistening with rain water which he sent flying towards them as he shook, mid-jump, a couple of seconds before he sat obediently at Fiona's feet, ignoring her companions entirely. He was beautiful. Her arms closed around his neck in a loving caress unhindered by the smell of wet dog fur before she instructed him in a firm voice, "Home. And you'll shake again before I let you in the house."

Peregrine watched, amused, as the woman talked to the monster of a dog, surprised by how happily the beast bowed its head in understanding and acceptance of her orders. He couldn't blame him,  though. What would one not do in return for such a great love as he could feel emanating from the short woman towards her enormous dog? He would give anything for receiving such a strong feeling... No. This was... all wrong. He couldn't allow himself to fantasise about Princess Fiona...

The dog bounded towards the gate that stood behind their backs, and she walked under the wrought iron arch into the cobbled street without looking at any of them in his pursuit before Peregrine could shake himself from his reverie. 

"What are you waiting for?" he admonished, casting a glance at his two companions. "We'll walk her home." He rushed after her then, the other two in tow without uttering a word.

Peregrine reached Fiona's side in a few steps. "Is it always so cold and rainy here?" he asked, trying for small talk, as if he didn't know the British weather sufficiently. "You might just enjoy your father's land's climate. Even though Silmarea, lying beyond the rings of stones scattered across Bodmin Moor, geographically mirrors your country, the weather is slightly different there. 

Botheration! He knew what he was doing, Fiona realised as his words turned into intrigue and wonder in her vivid imagination. It would be wonderful to visit that world. She giggled-- it was so very unbelievable that it existed, that these three men were real and that they made her laugh and giggle so easily. It had been so long since she had even just smiled at anything and anyone but Freddie and Gollum. She will feel forever grateful to them for this evening, she mused as they approached her house, step after step, slowing down as they neared the dark entrance to her building. 

They would be gone tomorrow. Botheration, they would really be gone tomorrow, and her life would reverse to its normal dullness... But that's how it needed to be.

"So... Bye again," she said as she unlocked the front door and let Gollum in, then turned to the men and looked at each of them in turn, finishing with Peregrine, letting her eyes pour into his as she added. "You must return where you came from. Please. You are just making my life more difficult..." she trailed off, turning away from them.

Peregrine's words followed her into the stairwell before she could close the door between them. "But it doesn't have to be difficult ever again if you just come with us, Fiona."

She leaned her back against the cold wood of the door now standing between her and the possibility of a new, maybe happier life, feeling quite drained by the thought that she would never see the dragon shifter again, before she followed Gollum up the stairs and into the flat. She wouldn't think about them anymore; she couldn't if she didn't want the possibility of something more, which she had just refused, drive her to insanity.

Having removed her wet jacket and shoes, she switched on the lights and followed Gollum into the kitchen where he was waiting for his dinner. She caressed his fluffy head, muttering a few words of thanks for bringing joy into her life for so many years without ever complaining about her, filling his bowl with food before she headed into the bathroom. It had been a long and eventful day, and she needed a shower.

As she undressed, her mind strolled to the men she had left in the road, one of them in particular. "Botheration," she muttered at seeing the brown dye leaking from her hair in thin ribbons of colour travelling down the body. Despite having tried hundreds of different brands and products, she still had to find a hair dye that would last on her hair more than two washes. It felt almost like magic how her copper curls refused to be hidden by a dye. Stepping out of the shower, she wrapped a towel around her body and another around her hair before she walked to the mirror-lined cabinet above the sink, sighing when she noticed that she was out of hair dye. Oh well, she would have to go shopping in the morning before her shift.

Fiona walked across the sitting room, avoiding to glance out of the window which offered the view of the silent road on her way to her bedroom, where Gollum already slept at the foot of her bed, and pulled her night shirt on, followed by a warm, navy blue dressing gown when the coldness of the rainy night caressed her skin through the thin layer of champagne coloured satin.

She made her way towards the kitchen then, knowing full well that she wasn't going to fall asleep easily tonight, wondering whether she should make herself a cup of chamomile infusion or milk with honey as she stopped in the middle of the sitting room to take off the towel from her hair, use it to dry her long copper curls before carrying it back into the bathroom and finally heading towards the kitchen, her eyes falling to the street underneath the window quite without her volition.

They were there, huddled around the lone tree growing outside The Hobbit, right across the road from her house. 

Didn't they have a place to sleep?!