Disclaimer: Anything familiar is not mine

A/N: I'm Australian so there might be a few spelling differences

Chapter Three – Meeting Mr Tumnus

Lucy gasped at the cold feeling in her fingers. Lucy and Eliza turn only to be faced with a snow-covered landscape. Lucy looked back wanting to return but Eliza was entranced, she kept walking deeper into the snow. The place seemed familiar to her but was so different.

"Eliza!" cried Lucy, running after her. Eliza didn't look back. Her head was too focused on her surrounding that seemed very similar to her. Lucy looked back again but followed her. They kept walking, smiling at the white snow falling around them until they reached a large lamppost in the centre of the open space. Lucy reached to touch the lamppost but hear a snap of a twig. Eliza and Lucy turned suddenly at the direction of the sound. Then they heard footsteps in the snow. They were getting louder and louder and louder. They kept turning at the sound of the footsteps but they couldn't see anything. Suddenly a faun carrying brown packages and a snow-covered umbrella jumped out. The girls scream in fright which caused the faun to drop his belongings with a large yelp.

The girls hid behind the lamppost as the faun hid behind a tree. Lucy gripped the post too afraid to look. Eliza put her hand on Lucy's shoulder, Lucy looked at her but Eliza pointed at the frightened faun. Eliza smiled and walked out, Lucy then followed her, no longer afraid of the faun. Lucy bent to pick one of the packages.

"Ah…" cried the Faun, too nervous to form a sentence. Eliza giggled and help Lucy pick up his packages. The faun slowly moved out of his hiding place using his umbrella as protection.

"Were you hiding from us?" Lucy asked as she passed the packages to the nervous faun.

"Huh, um, n… n… no, I… I… I didn't want to scare you," said the faun picking up a bottle of ale. This caused Lucy and Eliza to smile.

"If you don't mind my asking...what are you?" Lucy bent down again to pick the last parcel.

"Why, I'm a…"

"Faun?" cried Eliza, looking at him in awe. She walked closer to the faun, reaching out to touch him.

"Yes!" exclaimed the faun as he flinched away from Eliza, "And you must be some beardless dwarves!"

"We're not dwarves, we're girls! And actually I'm tallest in my class," said Lucy proudly. The faun blinked several times while processing this information.

"You mean to say, that you two are Daughters of Eve?" asked the faun nervously. Eliza placed her hand down, confused, the faun hadn't recognised her.

"Well, my mum's name is Helen..." Lucy had no clue was this meant, she looked at Eliza for answers. Eliza looked at her and whispered, "I think he means if we're human."

"Yes, of course!" replied Lucy.

"What are you two doing here?" asked the faun.

"Well, We came in through the wardrobe in the spare room, and…" said Lucy, pointing in the direction of the wardrobe.

"Spare Oom, is that in Narnia?"

"Narnia!" thought Eliza as she realised where she was. Eliza began to look around her, the place around felt odd around her, there was strong magic around her, the magic felt familiar yet different. It had the essence of Alice's magic but was corrupted. Eliza wanted to ponder more but Lucy's question interrupted her.

"Narnia? What's that?"

"My dear girls, you're in it! Everything from the lamp post, all the way to castle Cair Paravel on the Eastern ocean, every stick and stone, every icicle, is Narnia," said the faun proudly, pointing to the direction of the castle.

"This is an awfully big wardrobe," said Eliza jokingly, looking at the icicles on the tree.

"I'm sorry, please allow me to introduce myself, my name is Tumnus."

"Glad to meet you, Mr Tumnus!" said Lucy, extending her hand. "I'm Lucy Pevensie."

Tumnus looked at her hand curiously. He smiled at the hand and then cocked his head to the side. Eliza realised for a moment that they were no longer in England but in a different one.

"Oh, you shake it!" said Eliza.

"Um…why?"

"I-I don't know! People do it when they meet each other," said Lucy

Tumnus reach out his hand and shook Lucy's hand, then Eliza's which he swayed around causing Lucy to giggle.

"I'm Eliza Kirke," said Eliza, standing next to Lucy. Tumnus's eyes widened as he heard this legendary name.

"Kirke?!" whispered Mr Tumnus looked confused, he looked at Eliza her suddenly looked very familiar. He was about to ask about the name but Eliza's eyes told him not to. He replaced his confused look with a smile and opened his umbrella.

"Lucy Pevensie and Eliza Kirke, from the shining city of War Drobe," said Tumnus in an amusing voice, "in the wondrous land of Spare Oom, how would it be if you came and had tea with me?"

"Oh! Well, thank you very much! But we probably should be getting back..." said Lucy sadly.

"Yes, but it's only just around the corner and there'll be a glorious fire, with toast and tea and cakes. And perhaps…we'll even break into the sardines."

"Come on, Lucy, it'll be fun," begged Eliza, pulling on Lucy's arm. Tumnus tilted his umbrella towards his home with a smirk on his face.

"I don't know…" said Lucy. She thought about her family and how they would worry sick by now.

"Oh, come on! It's not every day I get to make a new friend!" cried Tumnus.

"I suppose I could come for a little while," said Lucy, "if you have sardines."

"By the bucket load," said Tumnus. Eliza giggled and held Mr Tumnus umbrella, while Lucy held a few of his packages. Together they walk towards Mr Tumnus' house. When they reached there, Lucy was amazed by the fact that Mr Tumnus's house was inside a wall of stone with a carved wooden door. Lucy was memorised by the complexed engravings on Mr Tumnus's door but her thoughts were soon interrupted by Tumnus.

"Here we are. Come along," said Tumnus nodding to the door. Lucy trudged through the thick snow and entered the marvellous house, it was enchanting to her. Eliza, however, stayed back outside with Tumnus who was looking around before looking back at Eliza. Eliza reached inside the pocket of her skirt, revealing a silver necklace that had an imprint of a lion head roaring over the horizon, the symbol of The Guardians. Tumnus eyes went wide.

"Princess Elizabeth?" he whispered so Lucy couldn't hear. Eliza nodded and placed the necklace back into her pocket. Eliza signalled for Tumnus to be quiet and walked inside the house. Tumnus soon followed in suit, placing his umbrella down and shaking the snow off his fur. Lucy picked one of the pictures off the shelf, it was a faun that looked like Mr Tumnus but older.

"Oh that…that is my father," Mr Tumnus walked to the kitchen to make the tea and fetch the cakes from the pantry.

"He has a nice face. He looks a lot like you." Lucy put the picture back down as Eliza looked around the room.

"No. … I'm not very much like him at all really."

"My father's fighting in the war," said Lucy sadly. Eliza put her arm around Lucy, but the girl found no comfort from it.

"My father went away to war too," said Tumnus walking out the pantry with a tray, "but that was a very long time ago... before this dreadful winter."

"Winter's not all bad. There's ice skating" said Lucy looking at the bookshelf.

"And snowball fights," suggested Eliza.

"Oh! And Christmas!" Lucy loved Christmas, it one of her only memories of her father and mother being together. Her siblings were nicer to her too, Susan would play with her Peter was not controlling and Edmund was not cruel to everyone around him.

"Not here. No, we haven't had Christmas for a hundred years here." Mr Tumnus walked out of the kitchen, the tray covered with cakes, sardines. He poured the tea in each of the three sups before looking at the two girls

"What?!" said Eliza, staring at the faun.

"No presents for a hundred years?" asked Lucy

"Always winter, never Christmas. It's been a long winter," Mr Tumnus took his seat near the fire. "But you would have loved Narnia in the summer. We fauns danced with the dryads all night, and we never got tired, and the music, such music. Would you like to hear some now?"

"Yes please," replied Eliza while Lucy nodded. Tumnus reached for his pipe behind him, testing a few notes before asking, "Now, are you familiar with the Narnia lullabies?"

"Sorry, no." Lucy shook her head, not noticing Eliza had not answered the question.

"That's good. Because this… probably won't sound anything like one."

Tumnus placed his mouth to the pipe and a lovely melody ran through the girls' ears. Lucy continued to sip her tea glancing at the fire. Eliza looked Lucy and then at the fire, staring at the flames, concentrating at the red embers and white-hot coals. Suddenly, a shadow galloping centaurs appeared, causing Lucy to jump slightly in shock. Lucy looked at Tumnus but Tumnus nodded back to fire. She looks at Eliza who is memorised so she turns back in the fire. She sees nymphs dancing, dwarfs feasting, and a flying horse. Lucy's eyes started to feel heavy. It was too hard to stay awake. She dropped her cup on the floor, falling fast asleep.

Tumnus looked into the fire, still playing his pipe, and for one moment it takes the shape of a roaring lion, one he greatly feared and loved. He turned to Eliza, who is wide awake, the candles unlit by the magic she used. She looked at Mr Tumnus who shivered.

"I'm sorry, Princess."

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter but I promise they will get longer. Leave a review and see you next week.

Mockthename