A/N: The second half of the preview! THERE WILL BE NO MORE UPDATES UNTIL I FINISH MY OTHER STORY! Just so ya know :) Thanks to everyone who read this, please review.
"What is your name?" he asked.
"Hermione. Hermione Granger."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Hermione." Peter said, "I am Peter, the High King. This is my brother, King Edmund, and my two sisters, Queen Susan and Queen Lucy. My siblings and I will join you in a moment. We need to discuss something first, in private."
"Am I… am I prisoner here, or guest?" Hermione asked, an edge to her voice. Edmund raised an eyebrow.
"Why would you be a prisoner? Have you broken any law?" he asked.
"Ed." Susan warned, "She's only frightened. You are our guest, Hermione. King Caspian, please show to Lady Granger to her quarters." Hermione accepted Peter's hand, which was still extended towards her. She got shakily to her feet, took Caspian's arm and followed him down the hall. Peter turned to his siblings.
"She's from our world." He said, and sat heavily on a nearby bench, "What is Aslan up to?"
"How do we know we can trust her?" Edmund scoffed, "Maybe it's not Aslan who sent her here."
"She seemed confused when she woke up. I don't think she's been here before. I saw the panic in her face." Susan said thoughtfully, "I don't think she knows where she is."
"Of course she doesn't!" Lucy interrupted, "She's from London! She just woke up in a strange land with magic! Don't you think she's scared?"
"We need to find out as much about her as we can." Peter said as Caspian entered.
"She's in her room, and I have two centaurs outside her door. It was strange, the talking animal startled her, much like how your majesties recall your first time in Narnia… but she didn't mind the dwarves or centaurs." He said, looking back down the hall.
"We'll go talk to her." Susan said, "All of us." She added, looking at Caspian.
Hermione sat heavily on the armchair in the room and looked around. There was a set of glass double doors leading out to a small balcony, and large windows on either side, which would let in plenty of natural light once the sun came up. On the walls were small oil lamps, much like those in Hogwarts. All of the walls seemed to be stone, and Hermione was surprised that she felt comfortable there. The building reminded her of Hogwarts. However, the furnishings were much more lavish than anyplace she had stayed before. The furniture was made from expensive woods, and there were velvet wall hangings. Upon further inspection, she found an attached bathroom, but it didn't have any running water. There was only a cupboard with many different towels, a stone basin, and a marble tub. There was no natural light in this room, but there were several candle holders. She was about to look into the wardrobe in the corner when a knock sounded at the door. She heard her guards bowing down to greet the monarchs, and she opened the door, doing an awkward curtsy. Peter chuckled a bit into his hand and she flushed.
"I've never been in the presence of royalty, I don't really know how this works." She mumbled, and moved aside to let the kings and queens enter. A moment later, a group of girls in matching dresses brought in chairs for everyone.
"Thank you, Rosemary." Susan said kindly as her ladies-in-waiting left the room. The eldest of them curtsied and left the room, closing the door behind her.
"Can someone please tell me where I am?" Hermione asked anxiously. If there was one thing Hermione hated, it was not knowing what was going on. "Please." She said again.
"A long while ago, my siblings and I were staying with a professor in the English countryside. One day, when hiding from the housekeeper, we went into a wardrobe, and found ourselves in the middle of a wood. We soon met a few citizens of this country, which we learned was called… Narnia."
Hermione started shaking her head rapidly, "Narnia is a myth!"
The Pevensies looked at the girl in surprise, "You know of Narnia?" Susan asked.
"In a book that I read my second year of school… an old wizard said he had found proof of other magical worlds… Narnia included. But he was written off as crazy, I never even-"
Peter raised a hand to signal her to stop, "Did you say that the author was a wizard?"
"You believe in magic?" Lucy asked.
Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her seat, and looked at them, "Of course. I'm a witch." She said, and all hell broke loose. Edmund jumped up away from her, Peter drew his sword, and Susan looked horrorstruck. Lucy was only surprised. She stood and looked at Hermione critically.
"Lucy! Get away from her, she's dangerous!" Edmund called, recovering from his shock to pull out his sword as well, pointing it at Hermione.
"I don't understand, what do you have against witches?!" Hermione screamed, panicked. "I don't even have my wand! I can't do anything! I'm not going to hurt anyone!"
"Lower your sword, Peter!" Susan said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "We've only ever met one witch. Just because Jadis was bad doesn't mean all witches are." Peter looked at his sister and realized that she was right, and he immediately felt bad, sheathing his sword.
"I'm sorry, Hermione. We don't have good experiences with… witches." He said.
"I thought you said you were from London?" Edmund said; he had lowered his sword a bit, but he was still suspicious. It was understandable, considering his personal experiences with witches. "There is no magic in our world."
"Yes there is." Hermione said, "It's a sort of secret society. There are magical areas of London invisible to mug- um, people without magic. Magical families tend to live in these areas, or out in the middle of nowhere. Some choose to put up magical barriers around their homes."
"Why didn't Aslan ever tell us about that?" Susan wondered aloud.
"Who is Aslan?" Hermione asked curiously.
"He's a sort of God. He rules over this land. He's the one who brought us here, and helped us defeat the White Witch, Jadis." Lucy explained.
"So how do I get home?" Hermione asked, and the kings and queens exchanged a glance. Peter sat down in front of her an looked at her carefully. He took in her battered appearance, and torn bloodstained clothing. He looked at Caspian and the newest King was looking at Hermione in concern.
"Hermione, what do you remember before you came here?" Peter asked. Hermione avoided his eyes and he saw that they were filling up with tears.
"Can we talk about this another time? I'm… tired." She said quietly. Peter looked at her and sighed.
"Of course. Susan, can you send one of your ladies-in-waiting in here with some nightclothes for the Lady?" he asked, and Susan agreed.
"Perhaps I could get her to run a bath for you as well?" she asked gently.
"That would be nice, thank you." Hermione said, still not looking at any of them.
"We will assign you two ladies-in-waiting tomorrow. They will wake you, and bring you fresh clothes, and you will join us for breakfast. Is that alright?" Lucy asked.
"I don't want to be a burden." Hermione replied. Lucy assured her that this wasn't the case and left the room, bidding her brothers goodnight.
Edmund left without saying a word, and Caspian followed after, saying his own farewells. Hermione and Peter were left alone.
"Do you feel more comfortable talking about it if it's just me?" he asked.
"I will tell you, It's just… a lot happened in the past twenty-four hours and… I just need to sort through it on my own first. Is that alright?" she asked, wiping the tears from her eyes and walking across the room, away from him.
"I understand. Just know that we may be able to help you, so don't think you're on your own. Goodnight milady."
After he left, Hermione sat on the enormous bed and put her head in her hands. The last thing she remembered was Scabior pointing her own wand between her eyes, followed by a bright green light. Hermione gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth.
Did she… die? Before Hermione could think about it more, a small girl came in holding a folded nightgown, followed by another girl with a bucket of warm water. They introduced themselves as Callie and Kira, and busied themselves in Hermione's bathroom. Kira made several runs for water to fill the bath, and Callie laid out the nightgown on Hermione's bed. They tried to help her with undressing and washing, but Hermione refused. She wasn't used to people waiting on her hand and foot.
After she had a bath, she realized just how tired she actually was. With the grime, dirt, and blood gone, her day seemed to catch up with her. Callie and Kira took her measurements for clothes left. Hermione changed into her nightgown and collapsed onto the bed. She was starting to close her eyes when she remembered that her she had her beaded bag with her. Jumping up, she reached into the discarded bag and pulled out her copy of "Tales of Beedle the Bard." She read until she fell asleep, wondering what was happening in her world.
The next morning Hermione woke to the curtains being opened and her ladies-in-waiting putting several new gowns into her wardrobe. They helped her freshen up, and they helped her into her gown (Hermione didn't want them to, but she was hopeless trying to lace up the corset). She looked at herself in the mirror and was surprised by what she saw. If she didn't know better, she would say she looked like a princess. Her gown was forest green with long sleeves that hung past her wrists with a flowy translucent material. Just before she left the room, she grabbed her beaded bag out of habit. The girls led her down the hall to a large set of double doors. They were opened for her, and she opened them to find the kings and queens at the table. She took a seat next to Queen Lucy, and sat uncomfortably.
"Good morning, your majesties," she said softly. She felt a hand touch hers and she jerked back defensively, but it was only Queen Lucy.
"If you're uncomfortable with the formalities, you can just call us by our names. We know how odd this is for you." She said gently. Normally Hermione hated being coddled, but she was so tired from the last few days and confused about her new surroundings that she found herself appreciating the young queen's comfort. She gave the people around her a small smile as their meal was served.
"So, Hermione. Did you get the chance to… think things over last night?"asked Peter. Hermione nodded.
"I thought about what happened before I came here. It was a bit concerning." She answered, frowning at her plate.
"What do you mean?" Susan inquired, leaning in with curiosity.
"In the magical world, there's been a war going on for the past few years. My best friend Harry was one of the pivotal people in the war, so I was in the thick of the fighting. On my last night there, there was a battle. It was colossal, quite a few people died. I went to clear my head… and someone snuck up on me. Scabior." She said.
"Who's that?"
"A man who was on the wrong side of the war," Hermione answered, looking at Peter, "I had met him once before when he kidnapped me, turned me in when I was on the run with Harry. I was hoping never to see him again. We fought, but I was so drained from the battle, he got my wand a few minutes in. He used my own wand against me, pointing it right at my face. I just remember a flash of green light. And then I was here." She swallowed uncomfortably.
"What aren't you telling us?" Edmund pressed.
"The only spell I know of with a green flash… is the killing curse." She whispered, and when she looked up, her eyes were glistening with tears. "I think I died."
