Chapter 7: Liar

Edmund and Lucy tumbled out of the wardrobe in a heap. Before Edmund could open his mouth to speak or even get off the ground, Lucy was off like a rocket. He called out for her to slow down but she was already halfway to the room she and Susan were sharing.

"Susan!" Lucy shouted as she jumped on the bed to shaker her sister. Susan groaned and rolled over.

"Go back to sleep, Lucy." Susan mumbled. "You're dreaming."

"But I'm not!" Lucy protested. "Just ask Edmund."

Lucy turned around to look at her brother, but he wasn't there. She paused for a brief moment before she launched herself at the door and raced across the hall to Peter and Edmund's room. Susan huffed and threw off the blankets before she shuffled across the hall. She found Lucy jumping on Peter's bed while Edmund slouched in his.

"Peter! Peter, wake up! It's there! It's really there!" Lucy shouted excitedly as she shook him.

"What are you on about, Lu?" Peter asked groggily, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Lucy was bouncing as she answered.

"Narnia!" Lucy exclaimed. "It's all in the wardrobe like I told you! And this time, Edmund went too!"

All heads turned towards Edmund who was looking a bit green. Lucy beamed at him, waiting for his answer. Just as Edmund opened his mouth to speak he was cut off by a stern and cross voice.

"What in the world is going on here?" Mrs. Macready asked. She stood in the doorway in a flannel nightgown, a dark expression on her face. Edmund's dark eyes stared blankly for a moment before he spoke.

"Nothing." He said as he smiled thinly at his sister. "Lucy and I were just playing a game."

Lucy hopeful expression crumbled. She jumped off of Peter's bed and pushed past the housekeeper in tears. She tore down the hall, not knowing where she was going. Susan scrambled off after her while Mrs. Macready turned to the boys with an unpleasant expression.

"I don't know what kind of home you all come from, but here in this house we sleep at night!" She snapped. She turned on her heel and shut the door with a click.

"That's the trouble with little kids." Edmund said, looking satisfied. "They don't know when to stop-"

"Will you just grow up?" Peter shouted at his brother.

"But it's all nonsense!" Edmund protested.

"Of course it's nonsense!" Peter fumed. "That's why encouraging her is just making things worse!"

"But I thought-" Edmund started.

"No! That's the problem!" Peter snapped. "You didn't think! You never use your brain!"

"Shut up!" Edmund sneered. "You're not dad! Stop acting like him!"

"Well someone has to!"

"I wish you weren't even my brother!" Edmund shouted. Peter froze and shut his mouth quickly. His eyes darkened before he stalked out of the room to find Susan.

=XxX=

The next day Susan had decided to go to the owner of the house with the problem with Lucy. She was nearly dragging Peter up the stairs.

"I really don't think we should disturb him…" Peter mumbled as he dragged his heels.

"Why?" Susan asked, trying to look self-assured. "Are you scared?"

"No!" Peter protested. "We don't even know him! Shouldn't we just keep this in the family?"

"Has that been working so far?" Susan asked thickly. "We have to do something."

They paused as they reached the door to the Professor's study. Peter lifted a hand and knocked softly on the door.

"There's no answer! Let's go!" He said, not even waiting. Susan grabbed his collar and pulled him back as she heard a voice telling them to enter. Susan turned the knob and opened the door.

The walls of the study were lined with shelves, each of them crammed full of books of all sizes and little trinkets that came from various parts of the world. A massive desk sat beneath a window, and behind it sat a white-haired man. His eyes scanned over an old book, his glasses glinting in the light shining through the window.

"Professor Kirke?" Peter asked shyly, which was very unlike him.

"Ah! Children, do come in!" He said casually without looking up from his book. "Is everything alright?"

"Actually, sir, we have a question about our sister." Susan said. The Professor looked up, interest shining in his eyes.

"She's… Well, she's been lying." Peter blurted without thinking. Susan elbowed him in the ribs for his lack of tact.

"That's a very serious accusation." Professor Kirke answered as he looked back at his book.

"She says that she's found a magical land called Narnia in the upstairs wardrobe!" Peter blurted out, earning another elbow in the ribs from Susan. The Professor's head snapped up and he stared at the two in disbelief.

"What did you say?" He asked, his voice so low it was almost a whisper.

"Um… The wardrobe upstairs…" Peter trailed off as the Professor stood up and ushered the two teenagers to sit on the couch in front of the desk.

"Lucy insists that she's found a forest inside of it." Susan continued for Peter.

"What was it like?" The Professor asked, his voice excited.

"Like talking to a lunatic!" Susan exclaimed.

"Not her!" The Professor said. "The forest! What was it like?"

"You're saying that you believe her?" Peter asked as he looked at Susan in confusion.

"Well, how are you to know that her story isn't true?" Professor Kirke challenged.

"Edmund said that they were just playing a game." Susan replied, frowning. This professor wasn't making things any better.

"And he's usually the more truthful?" He asked. Susan and Peter shared a look and both shook their heads.

"That's just it." Susan said. "Up until now I would have said Lucy was very honest."

"Do you think that she's mad? Insane?" The older man asked cryptically.

"Probably not." Peter replied, eying him suspiciously as he took a pipe from the hand of a wooden monkey.

"What do they teach in schools these days?" The Professor muttered to himself as he unscrewed a silver apple, revealing a core of tobacco. He lit his pipe and waved away a puff of smoke. "If your sister isn't lying, and she's not mad, then logically, until further evidence turns up we must assume that she's telling the truth."

"But it's impossible!" Susan exclaimed.

"There's that word. It seems to make everything smaller somehow, doesn't it?" He absentmindedly said to the two. Peter and Susan gaped at him as he pulled up a chair.

"Now… What did Lucy say, exactly?"

An hour later Susan and Peter stepped out of the study with dazed expressions mimicking a deer in the headlights of a car.

"Well, that was unexpected." Peter said, looking at the door.

"Oh yes. And really helpful too." Susan said bitterly. "Now what are we supposed to do?!"


Author's Note:

Once again, thank you guys for the lovely reviews! I'm sorry about the delay on this chapter. I've been pretty busy with the upkeep of my new blog that seems to be quite popular. In just a week, I've gained over one-hundred followers! It's a Headcanon blog for Harry Potter. :)

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It was a long time coming..