As Hermione mounted Edmund's horse, Philip, she tried to wrap her head around her current situation. She was sitting on the Talking Horse of King Edmund The Just of Narnia. Kind Edmund of Narnia. The land that served as a children's fantasy story when she was younger. All that was before Hogwarts.
She lost herself in those thoughts , barely flinching when Philip broke out into a fast gallop. Her mum and dad's smiling faces appeared in her mind's eye. Her childhood friend, Brenna, whose house she'd go over to every day after school. Brenna's older brother, Stephan.
Stephan. She missed him terribly. The way he understood her better than others, his ability to deal with her patiently. She missed seeing his smile. She missed looking into his eyes, seeking comfort, and finding it. She missed the way he held her and the feeling of protection that came with t. The sound of his soothing voice, his hair and how tousled it was, how she'd brush it away from his eyes. She missed the small gestures, pecks on her cheek, holding his hand, the scent of his cologne. It was the little things about Stephan she picked out and adored. She'd grown to love him, too, everything about him. But looking back on that she thought, where had that gotten her?
She pushed these thoughts away from her mind just as Philip slowed down to a trot and stopped in the stables. Edmund dismounted with ease and held out a hand. She stared at it, momentarily surprised but then, looking at the indifferent expression on his face, she reminded herself of the fact that he wasn't Stephan, he was wary of her. She was a stranger and he expected her to try something.
Hermione accepted his hand anyway and carefully pushed herself off Philip, landing on her feet and stumbling. She caught herself before she fell, laying a hand on the Talking Horse to steady herself.
Before she could get a good look at the stables, Edmund had already walked off, leaving her to catch up after him.
He led her through several twists and turns in the hallways and they climbed up a flight of stairs before he finally stopped. She didn't have to peek over his shoulder to see the large set of double doors, not dissimilar to those of the Entrance Hall in Hogwarts. When she thought about it, Hermione noted that this castle, Cair Paravel, held many similar qualities to those of her school.
Edmund opened one door and slipped inside, leaving it open long enough for her to enter as well. As the door shut with a loud clang that echoed off the stone walls, the occupants of the room, or hall, stopped their chatter and looked up.
Four thrones sat at the front of the hall, overlooking the whole room. From there, Hermione supposed, you'd be able to see whoever entered the room quite clearly. Only one throne, Edmund's, she assumed, was empty, the other three were taken. A boy, Peter Pevensie, if she was correct in her assumption, sat with two girls on the other thrones.
Lucy Pevensie had been the youngest, if Hermione remembered clearly, and she had grown up quite a bit, her facial features had matured. If Edmund was her age, that meant Lucy would be about fifteen. When she was younger, Hermione had imagined Susan Pevensie to be quite beautiful. She wasn't wrong, when she looked up at the raven haired beauty, she suddenly felt underdressed. The queen was dressed in fabric of the deepest blue and with diamonds decorated her ears and fingers.
"Edmund, you're back!" Lucy exclaimed, her voice portraying her happiness. She reminded Hermione of Ginny, even with one look at her, she could tell that if the two ever were to meet, they'd be fast friends.
There it was. The pang of homesickness. She missed her life at Hogwarts (except fighting with Ron and the occasional row with Harry) and it hadn't even been a day.
"Why, Lucy, I hadn't noticed," Edmund replied, sarcasm just oozing from his words.
"Who's this you've brought with you?" Susan's soft voice spoke as she looked at Hermione. "She doesn't look like a Telmarine."
"She's not. At least I don't think so. Found her by Lantern Waste," Edmund reported. "I think her wrists's broken. She said her name was Hermione Granger, I think? Anyway, she doesn't know how she got here, either."
"You must be terribly confused," Lucy spoke, her eyes wide and full of sympathy.
Before Hermione could reply, Edmund spoke in a bored tone, "She knew my name before I told her, including my title and she seemed to know where she was once I told her."
Susan breathed in sharply and Peter stood up, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. Lucy, however, looked at her, curiosity in her eyes.
"Let her explain first, I say," Lucy suggested. "Maybe it was all just a misunderstanding?"
Hermione, who had been warily eyeing Peter, whose hand was still on his sword, turned her attention to the young queen and smiled gratefully.
Edmund walked towards his throne and sat down, slightly slouching as the four waited for her to explain.
Hermione sighed before speaking,
"Well, you see, I was at the library in my school and I'd only just gone there to clear my mind but I saw this...object, or thing, I suppose. At first, it was only glinting a sort of yellow gold colour so I thought it must be someone's ring and I didn't pay much attention to it. Only when it started humming, I-I went to check it out and then I don't know why but I moved forward and the moment I touched it, whatever it was, I must have apparated or something, I arrived here. And I doubt I apparated, it's impossible to do so inside Hogwarts and now my wand is lost and I can't get back at all..what if I can't take my exams? I'll be banished from the wizarding world!" Hermione was now rambling on, starting to worry.
She was silenced, however, when Edmund shot up from his throne, a disbelieving expression on his face, tinged with fear, and exclaimed, "A wand, apparating, wizarding world?"
She looked up and only then she remembered what had happened before the coronation of the Pevensies. However, it was too late to go back. She spoke slowly, "Yes..I'm what you would call a witch.." she said the next part in a casual tone, as though she had no idea the Pevensies weren't too fond of witches, "Of course, I don't practice dark magic or anything, our school teaches us to defend ourselves against it, what with the looming war and Voldemort..."
She trailed off, all thoughts of trying to persuade the four that she was good, flying out of her mind. Harry. What was Harry going to do? Surely there'd be another attack soon? Oh dear Merlin, he might worry after noticing her absence. Ron, too. Her face twisted, displaying the horror clearly to the Pevensies.
"Dear Merlin, I really have to go back soon," she muttered. "I have to get out of here!"
She spun on her heel and walked away briskly, forgetting about the four people she was leaving behind. Edmund was the first to react, lunging from his throne and running towards her. He caught her by the arm and turned her around.
"Where do you think you're going?" he barked, as she tried to pull away.
"Let me go! It's urgent!" she demanded, trying to pull her hands away.
"What on earth is so important that you have to-" he was cut off as Hermione all but yelled into his face.
"My best friend is in danger and I don't know about you but when you have a dark lord who's hell bent on killing you, being in danger is almost as bad as being killed!"
Silence fell over the hall. Susan's words were the only thing that calmed the young witch down enough to mentally smack herself for losing her cool, even if they didn't comfort her.
"Even if you do manage to get back, I'm assuming you're from London, there'll be no difference in time. You're best friend isn't in any more danger than he was when you left. Now please explain a bit more, you said you were a witch?"
Hermione blinked. "Yes I did."
"And you said you don't do dark magic?"
"I don't use magic to hurt people if that's what you mean," she stated bluntly. Susan didn't give away any sort of emotion, merely nodding.
"I'm sorry," Edmund burst out, having let go of her arms and standing a few feet away from her, "but explain again how you have magic and you don't use it for evil?"
His tone was frustrated, and he sounded as though he couldn't believe that someone who had magic wouldn't use it for bad.
Hermione sighed, "Do you want the whole story?"
He nodded once, curtly. "Do explain the whole 'Dark Lord' affair as well."
With a deep breath Hermione began explaining. This would take a while.
Author's Note: Hey guys, I'm really sorry that I don't update very consistently, a bad habit of mine. Anyways, I've noticed that the story has gotten quite a few follows, which is really amazing, thank you so much. I'm going to go back and edit the first chapter as well, it's not very good, I know. Anyways, thank you again for reading, please do review, it'd make my day. I'm out for now, bye!
