A/N: I am such an airhead! I completely forgot that the Brandybucks and Bagginses have Took relations. Amazing, considering the fact that I was thinking about Pippin and his COUSIN at the time. I swear, I would forget my own name if I didn’t hear it every day.

____________________

Peregrin Took walked slowly down the path, on his way to visit his cousin at Brandy Hall. Normally, he would be running or at least walking faster, but on this day all he could think of was the conversation he had had with his father this morning.

* "Why can’t I tell them? They’ve got Took blood too!" he asked his father, who was frowning.

"I’ve explained this to you before, Pippin. The blood is bound to the promise that our ancestor made to his wife. He promised that he would protect her and her kind. He promised her not only as her husband, but as a Took. Swearing on your name meant more to the Faeries than any other kind of promise. Neither the Brandybucks nor the Bagginses made that promise."

Pippin frowned, confused. "But they’ve still got the blood. How can it be bound to our name?"

His father sighed, looking sympathetic. "Perhaps I should rephrase that. It’s not so much the blood but the MAGIC that is bound. They have the blood, but they don’t have the magic. And the promise was to prevent ANYONE who doesn’t have the magic from finding out. And THAT is why you can’t tell them." He looked down at his son, who appeared even more confused.

"But everyone already knows. I’ve heard them talk."

"They believe it is just a rumor, that there is no truth to the tale. And we would like to keep it that way."

Pippin nodded, agreeing with his father, albeit reluctantly. *

Pippin stopped as he finally caught sight of Brandy Hall. He just stood there for a moment, watching to see if he could catch sight of his cousin, Merry. He heard a crash in the distance, over near the barn, followed by someone yelling. Considering that the barn was on the other side of the house, no ordinary hobbit should have been able to hear the crash. ‘But, then,’ he thought, ‘I am no ordinary hobbit.’

He shook his head in amusement and started running, anxious to see what kind of trouble his cousin had gotten into this time.

___________________

A/N: Sorry about using * for the flashback. But the only way to get italics to work, or so I’ve been told, is to save the file as an HTML document. And I can’t figure out how to do this. Could any of you tell me how? Please?

Oh, by the way, if any of you think this chapter was lame, please tell me and I’ll make it better. And sorry if Pippin seems out of character, there is a reason for this and you’ll see why next chapter.