The Pevensies at Hogwarts. Just to clarify, they're all in Gryffindor (except Susan who is in Ravenclaw) and in this i've made Edmund and Susan twins sheerly for the age-gap thing. Peter is 7th year, Edmund and Susan are 6th years (as are Hermione, Harry, etc) and Lucy is in her 4th year.
'Bait'
"Honestly, she's a bit of a know-it-all. And she did date that Weasley idiot." Susan flipped her dark hair over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow imperiously.
"And who are you to talk about being a know-it-all? You're just jealous she's smarter than you."
Before Edmund can react, Peter butts in, and Edmund is glad of his older brother's inability to hold his tongue for once. It stops him having to defend Hermione, and therefore stops the others from using that as evidence against him.
Susan doesn't take Peter's comment kindly, "So are you in love with her as well now?" she asks snidely, and Edmund rolls his eyes, it had to come back to that eventually didn't it?
Peter just laughs her off and drops his elbows back down, rolling onto his side. Susan sighs and stands up, brushing her skirt down and shooting her two brothers one last glare before striding away.
Edmund says nothing as Pete looks up at him and winks.
*
His brother is so like Harry, and he is so not like Ron that it almost scares her.
She knows that his sister, Susan was it?, doesn't like her, but she really doesn't care. Ginny informs her thoughtfully that Susan doesn't like anyone, and Hermione silently thanks the redhead for her subtlety: Harry still has no idea why they're even talking about the Pevensie family.
She noticed him right away, staring so intently- god he was nothing like she had ever seen before - that when his younger sister nudged him and he caught her gaze she blushed so deeply she was sure that all the blood in her body had gone right to her head.
She snapped her eyes away then, and turned back to Harry, finding herself desperately starting a conversation about Quidditch of all things. She saw him staring out of the corner of her eye, and as Harry, surprised, began to fill her in on the details of the next game against Slytherin, his brother, the blond, dashing one, stood up and made his way over.
She heard nothing that Harry said but she stared intently at him, trying to ignore the shadow that Peter Pevensie suddenly cast over their table.
"Harry," he inclined his head politely and then turned right to Hermione, a smirk playing on the corner of his lips, "Hermione, can I borrow you for a minute?"
She had no choice really, so she got up, followed him silently and wished that Edmund- sat regally and looking irritatingly calm- would be half as embarrassed as she was.
Lucy- the youngest and the prettiest- smiled cheerfully up at her. "Hello Hermione, how are you?"
Hermione can't help but smile back at the girl, "Oh hello Lucy, I'm fine thank you." But I am ridiculously embarrassed at being paraded in front of Edmund like this. "How are you?"
Lucy grins so widely that for a horrible moment Hermione thinks that the girl can read her mind. Obviously, she can't, for she merely responds, "Very well thank you. I do have a favour to ask though, if you don't mind?"
Peter has already wandered off, and Hermione only nods stiffly, still trying unsuccessfully to not stare at Edmund. He smiles, there's a hint of a smirk there, when he catches her at it again.
"Oh thank you! Well, Professor McGonagall informed me you were the best in the school at Transfiguration and I'm having a bit of trouble with my homework for it. Would you mind helping me with it? I have my work upstairs so if it's ok I could get it now?"
Hermione's not sure if it's the flattery or Lucy's charming smile that does it, but she nods, "Of course" and the girl runs off before Hermione can realise she's being left along with Edmund.
It hits like a ton of a bricks that maybe the staring, the smiling, and Peter's 'borrowing' her is all to do with Lucy, and not Edmund. Edmund is the bait, Peter is the hook and Lucy is the fisherman. And she's been well and truly caught by a well-played family line.
She says nothing, then, feeling more than a little mortified.
Edmund continues to look up at her and then offers an amused sounding, "Sorry."
Hermione inclines her head slightly, embarrassed that he has acknowledged her realisation and blushing further when she realises that he knows why he was the bait to her over-eager fish.
"Lu and Pete are always playing games, I tend to get dragged along. Apparently you have been too now." He continues anyway and Hermione is only mortified further by his now obvious unwillingness to be involved.
"It's fine," she murmurs nonetheless, trying to sound nonchalant and instead sounding petulant. She inwardly sighs and leans back against the wall, at the same time as Edmund stands up.
He's much taller than she expected, and well, close-up he quite simply takes her breath away. He's not striking in any sense of the word, but his face is handsome, and so easy, so intelligent that she presses her back further into the wall. It's not the best time to realise he's never been this close to her before.
He continues to smile at her softly, and then he tilts his head and there's an expression on his face that she can't quite understand, and Lucy still hasn't reappeared, and Peter is watching with a satisfied smirk.
"Oh," she says, and this time the realisation hits her like a pillow. It's soft, and welcoming and makes her want to giggle stupidly.
His smile widens, "Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?"
Hermione bites her lip, "Yes." Her cheeks pink prettily and Edmund reaches up to brush a strand of her hair away from her face. The touch is light, teasing, and Hermione licks her bottom lip surreptitiously.
Edmund watches, his dark eyes gleaming, "Good." He murmurs, his eyes still intent on her mouth. His gaze catches hers a second later, and then he is moving away, just in time for Hermione to catch sight of Lucy stood in the stairway, grinning widely.
Hermione smiles back. Hook, line and sinker.
just a random one-shot because Edmund is really quite lovely (post Narnia 1 anyway.) please review, thanks.