Disclaimer: So yeah, I'm still me.

A/N: Happy Easter to all of you! :D Anyway, here's chapter twelve of "When Two Worlds Collide"! Please do review afterwards. Enjoy!

Chapter Twelve: Alone with Edmund Pevensie: Part II

Being true to their deal, Hermione and Edmund had been quite civil to each other the next few days. Hermione reckoned it was a struggle, especially on the king's part. She had to admit that it was somehow weird that there were no impolite words coming out from their own mouths every time they interacted.

Meal times had been tolerable. Hermione still sat on her own seat, the one that was farthest from the just king. The youngest male Pevensie did not seem to mind; in fact, Hermione suspected that he was relieved by it.

Hermione actually thought that King Edmund was quite pleasant if he acted civilly to her. During those days, she could finally see a glimpse of the true reason why he was crowned as the just king by Aslan.

They always exchanged a few greeting words whenever they passed each other in the corridors. Sometimes, a slight inclination of the head would suffice. One time, she was caught off-guard when he bestowed her a rare smile as his greeting.

Waiting for the others to come back did not seem such a bad thing at all. Although she terribly missed the valiant Queen Lucy, this actually gave her the free time she desperately wished for to research further about her current predicament.

Hermione spent most of her time in her room now. Since she had the book that she nicked from King Edmund's personal library, she did not deem it necessary anymore to venture off to his library and research more. Most of the time, he was there and Hermione was afraid that he'd snoop around and catch her reading such a mysterious and suspicious book.

The book by this Rose Pond started to get more and more interesting as Hermione progressed. The author's topic started to shift from Time to Space and then to parallel universes.

Although not yet entirely proven by expert muggles and wizards, I believe that parallel universes exist. One might look at her own reflection on a mirror and behind the said mirror, another person, one that exhibited the exact looks of the original person, might be staring right back at him or her. The person on the other side of the mirror may or may not possess the same characteristics of the person in the original universe. Specific events or situations in their lives might overlap or completely contradict each other.

One wizard by the name Odira Finn claimed that he was merely staring at his own reflection on the river when he suddenly toppled inside. When he resurfaced, everything looked the same, except it was not. He said that when he went back home, he was surprised to see that he was married to his enemy, owned a pet kneazle when he was positively allergic to them, and fathered three children when he was supposed to be infertile. He concluded that he was in a different world, a parallel universe. He had explored this different world and discovered a lot of similarities and differences from the original world. He was able to go back, though, when he threw himself back to the same river, almost drowned himself to death and when he resurfaced back, he was back to his own world.

Experts say that Mister Finn's claim to have gone to a parallel universe was almost highly improbable. His family and those close with him stated that nothing strange had happened during those days when Mister Finn claimed he had gone to the parallel world. Further diagnosis from St. Mungo's had completely disproved Mister Finn's story when it was revealed that the wizard was suffering from mild schizophrenia.

Hermione scowled and almost threw the book away in frustration. She actually thought that something almost akin to what she was currently experiencing was finally mentioned in the book but then this Odira Finn was suddenly revealed to have a mental disorder.

"Great," she sullenly said allowed. "Just great. What's next? A sociopath claiming he became the king of the world after he stumbled upon this so-called parallel universe?"

The brunette placed her forehead on top of the book and sighed. 'Maybe I've really just gone barmy,' she mentally told herself. 'Maybe the war and everything had finally taken its toll on me.'

"But why does everything feel so… real?" Hermione mused aloud, slowly lifting her head once again. She stared at the book for a few minutes and contemplated whether she should continue or not. In the end, her curiosity reigned and she continued perusing the book.

More parallel universe stories were told by the author and most of them always had an alibi. Some were so believable, other just plain stupid.

Until, on a page somewhere at the middle of the book, a paragraph caught her attention.

… witch named Eliza Ezeriah claimed she woke up one day in a strange magical world that was very different from our very own Wizarding World. Strange creatures and beings were said seen by Mrs. Ezeriah. She said she tried to apparate away, but her magic did not work. "It seems like my magic was being stifled in this world," she wrote in her diary. Nobody knows how she was able to come back to the Wizarding World and her relatives stated…

The words became a jumbled mess after one particular sentence in this paragraph had caught Hermione's interest.

"It seems like my magic was being stifled in this world," Eliza Ezeriah had said.

Thoughtfully, Hermione pulled out her wand from her sleeve and stared at it. "Magic was being stifled…" she echoed, her words soft and slow. Once again, Hermione waved her wand and muttered a spell but nothing happened. "Magic was being stifled."

A loud knock from her door broke her off from her reverie. Hermione immediately hid the book under her pillow and pocketed her wand before rising up from her seat and approaching the door.

"Babbity!" she exclaimed once she opened the door and saw her Rabbit friend. "What brings you here?"

"The king asked for you, sweetheart," the Talking Animal said, smiling.

Hermione frowned. "King Edmund?" she asked, and Babbity nodded.

"I'm afraid he's quite busy right now, and so he asked me to call for you," the Rabbit said. "He's in his personal library, mind you."

The brunette sighed and walked out of her room, Babbity in tow. "Whatever does he need?" she thought aloud, but her friend merely shrugged.

The door creaked open when Hermione entered inside. She cringed, still not used to the noise that it makes, before completely entering the said library.

Her eyes roamed around the library and finally found who she was looking for. The king was as usual sitting on his study table. Documents were sprawled messily over the table top and a deeply annoyed look was present on his face. Hermione mused if it was the right decision to look for him, seeing that he was currently in a bad mood. She thought of turning her back around but it was too late when King Edmund's eyes landed on her.

"Err… you called for me, your majesty?" she asked with an uncertain smile.

He tiredly sighed and wordlessly gestured for her to sit down on the chair opposite him. Hermione, a little suspicious, followed his order.

Edmund kept on shuffling his documents and the brunette was growing annoyed, thinking that he only called her to waste her time.

'And perfect timing, too!' she claimed sarcastically.

Hermione longed to go back to her room and continue reading Time and Relative Dimension in Space since she finally found something that could probably explain why she was here in Narnia, lost and powerless.

Just when she was about to throw herself outside the window just to attract the attention of the king, Edmund looked up from the papers he was reading and stared at her. "What do you suggest about this case?" he asked, placing a paper in front of Hermione.

The brunette blinked at him in confusion, then to the paper he had handed her. "Excuse me?" she asked.

"I said, what do you suggest about this case," he repeated, gesturing at the paper.

Hermione was in disbelief. "You're asking for my opinion?"

He scowled upon seeing the growing smile on her face. "Oh, don't get too cocky now," he said, his cheeks growing pink. He averted his eyes away from her and continued, "I-I just thought that your suggestion about the delegation of tasks of the soldiers before was err… was a…"

"Was a?" she said, encouraging him with a smile.

Edmund rolled his eyes. "Was a brilliant one, okay?" he finally answered reluctantly. "So, I thought that maybe, you know, you can help me in this one."

Hermione stared at himself or a full minute before exclaiming, "Are pigs flying now? Did hell freeze? Because I honestly believe that King Edmund the Just will never, ever ask for my help."

"For the love of Aslan, I just wanted your opinion," Edmund said, now glaring. "Don't make a big deal out of it."

The brunette raised an eyebrow, still amused, but did not comment any further. Instead, she clutched the document in her hands and read the anecdotal report.

"Shania and Mikaela Melrose, Telmarine sisters, have recently lost their mother. A precious dress was inherited to the elder, Shania, but Mikaela claims that on their mother's deathbed, their mother had given the dress to her instead. Both parties claim for the ownership of the dress and are now awaiting the verdict."

"This is - "

" – ridiculous, I know," Edmund said with an exhausted sigh, now rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I swear, these cases are becoming more and more ridiculous. I tried to pass these to Peter but he told me that as the "Just", I must be stuck with these kinds of responsibilities."

Hermione giggled but briefly quietened down when he glared.

She cleared her throat and started, "So… for my opinion." The brunette fell silent, scrutinized the case for a few more minutes, before her face had lighten up with an idea. "Why don't you use the Solomon tactic?"

"The Solomon tactic?"

"You know, the one he did between two mothers who both claimed the ownership of a baby," Hermione said. She leaned her back against her chair and bit her lip. "I believe that the dress is very precious to them, seeing that it was owned by their mother when she was still alive. Hence, I believe that it has its, I guess, sentimental value. And so, you suggest to them to tear the dress into two. The person who refuses is the rightful owner. I think that their mother had inherited it to one of her rightful daughters whom she knew would properly take care of her dress."

"Hmm…" the king said, rubbing his chin. "That's actually not a bad idea at all." He looked at her thoughtfully. "But… what if they both agreed to tear the dress apart?"

Hermione shrugged. "Then, problem solved, too, I think," she said. "Both will be happy."

Edmund nodded his head and wordlessly jotted down words on the space underneath the case. "Thank you, Miss Hermione," he said. "You are n - "

He faltered when his eyes suddenly widened and he stared at Hermione with his mouth agape.

"What?" she asked, frowning.

The king's eyebrows knitted together. "Funny that you know King Solomon, seeing that he was a famous king in my world," he said, his eyes now narrowing suspicion.

Hermione's eyes widened. Mentally, she stared to panic. "Err…" she started, shifting her eyes away from him. At the corner of her eyes, she had seen that same suspicious look King Edmund seemed to always wear every time she was in the vicinity. "I actually don't know where that came from."

He stared at her, long and hard, before releasing a monumental sigh. "Another snippet of your memory, I presume," he said, his voice thick with suspicion.

Her eyes landed back on him and his mouth was drawn into a thin line. The seriousness on his face spoke volumes and the brunette actually felt guilty for lying again. "I guess so," she finally answered after a few minutes. "They come more often now. The snippets."

King Edmund wordlessly nodded his head and looked back at his documents. "You can go now," he said without lifting his head up. "I think I'll put that suggestion of yours into action and see where it would lead to."

Hermione wordlessly nodded her head. She stood up, bowed down in courtesy, before completely walking out of his personal library.

During her departure, she was sure that his eyes had followed her until she closed the door behind her.

A letter arrived from Peter and Edmund had never felt so relieved. He thought it had been quite a while now, five days to be exact, ever since Peter had updated him of what had happened in their hiding place in Archenland. He must admit that he felt apprehensive just staring at the letter, thinking that it might contain some bad news.

'Worrywart,' Edmund said, sneering to himself. He tore off the seal as he walked towards the entrance door, his eyes immediately scanning the words written down by the High King.

Dear Edmund,

How is Cair Paravel? I believe that everything's fine and nothing dangerous or suspicious has happened. Caspian is recuperating wonderfully and everything is fine here. Like what we had predicated before, Telmarine rebels had been lurking all over Archenland and the towns around it. I've met with the King of Archenland already and we already decided on what to do to them; therefore, you do not need to worry.

We will be back two days from now. I'm afraid to say that Susan wanted to throw a Welcoming Ball to celebrate what she deemed as Caspian's "second life". You know Su, and I think you know her well enough to understand that nothing can stop her.

Continue to protect Cair Paravel and our people. I have great trust in you.

Peter.

P.S. I do hope that you are also keeping Lucy's – ahem – wish into mind. If we return back and she discovered that Hermione is not being treated properly, all hell will break loose, Edmund.

The just king sighed in exhaustion, shaking his head. It was good news that they'd be back two days from now but he was not exactly looking forward to the Welcoming Ball Susan wished to throw. And this thing with the enigmatic girl – he was quite confident that he had treated her right these past few days. In fact, he thought that they had been civil to each other. He was reluctant to accept her deal at first but he was glad he finally did. Bickering with Hermione proved to be an exhausting chore to him (although very amusing).

Still, he was sure that Lucy would find some fault in how he treated Hermione. After all, his younger sister could be melodramatic at times.

Edmund soon arrived in the garden and he paused for a while. He took a deep breath and was instantly calmed down. He then smiled and approached the gazebo, only to discover that it was occupied already.

"Oh," Hermione said upon seeing him. Awkwardly, she stood up from her seat and stiffly bowed down. "I think it's better if I… err, go back inside now."

The king raised an eyebrow. "I believe I did not tell you to leave, Miss Hermione," he said, and the brunette sheepishly smiled.

"Well, I assumed," she said, once again sitting back on the chair.

Edmund occupied the chair opposite hers. A long silence stretched between them before the king broke it.

"Peter and the others will be back two days from now," he announced. A wide smile broke on her face.

"That's good to hear," she said. "Cair Paravel is awfully dreary without the others."

He nodded in agreement, absentmindedly playing with the corners of Peter's letter. "Peter also said that Susan wanted to throw a Welcoming Ball once they come back. She said she wanted to celebrate Caspian's 'second life'."

Thinking about another ball made Edmund scowl. Since he was one of the rulers of Narnia, he was so sure that Susan would have his head if he made up a stupid excuse just to stay away from the ball.

"I hate dances," he declared and was thoroughly surprised when Hermione had said the exact same thing at the exact same time.

He looked at her, only to see that she was also looking at him. She smiled in amusement and he chuckled softly.

"Glad I'm not the only one," he said, and Hermione nodded her head.

A scowl then formed on the brunette's face. "Good lord, this is bogus," she exclaimed, shaking her head. "Does this mean that I'm obliged to dance again?" Her scowl further deepened as a new realization formed in her mind. "Oh no, I am positively sure that High King Peter will ask me to dance with him again."

"Now, don't get too cocky," Edmund reprimanded but he completely agreed with what she had said.

Hermione gave him a meaningful look and sighed. "At least I'm not obliged to attend it, seeing that I'm merely Queen Lucy's lady-in-waiting," she said.

This time, Edmund disagreed. "I'm quite sure my sister will make it a point to drag you there," he said.

A horrified expression appeared on Hermione's face and the king found himself smiling. And then, with a sudden thought in his mind, he stood up and walked beside Hermione. The brunette looked up at him with confused and curious eyes. To further surprise her more, the king extended his hand, a mysterious smile playing on his lips.

"What?" she asked, staring suspiciously at his proffered hand.

"May I ask for this dance?" he asked.

Her face morphed into extreme astonishment. "W-why?" she asked.

"Good Lord, Miss Hermione," he said, shaking his hand. "I've watched you dance in Susan and Caspian's wedding before and I am quite sure Peter still has that limp you gave him."

Her cheeks turned into a vivid shade of red and she frowned.

"And I'm sure that Lucy will force me to ask you to dance, and so, I'm readying myself," he said, now shaking his offered hand. "I can even teach you now."

Hermione reluctantly placed her hand on top of his and allowed him to pull her up. Edmund started to hum a soft song and he could hear the brunette counting under her breath.

"1, 2, 3… AH!" she exclaimed, as she stepped on his foot and the king groaned.

"Christ, you're worse than I originally thought!" Edmund cried, bending down to massage his aching foot.

He was not able to see the offended scowl that formed on her face. "Well, I'm sorry, your majesty," she spat. Hermione tried to pull her hands away from him but Edmund held onto her tighter.

"I'm teaching you, remember?" he said, smirking at her glare. "I'm sure you wouldn't want to make a fool out of yourself during Susan's Welcoming Ball, would you?"

Hermione sighed, glared at him one last time, and they resumed her little dance lesson.

As their dance progressed, with the crickets and some night birds as their spectators, Hermione started to relax against him. Edmund did not know how her head ended up leaning against his shoulder and to his utter surprise, he found himself not caring.

"Still think I have an ulterior motive?" she softly asked him, her eyes already closed.

Edmund smiled and looked down at her bushy, brown hair. "Yes," he said. "I still do."

Hermione released a sigh, and then a soft chuckle. "I thought so, too," she said.

The king's soft humming stopped, but their dance continued. And at that night, King Edmund the Just was starting to see this Miss Hermione in a new light.

A/N: Wah, end of chapter! I have so many feelings for this chapter. Ugh, I actually had so many plans but in the end, I took them away from the story because... just because. So yeah, and oh my dear Merlin, the last part gave me that weird heart clenching thingy.

Sigh, so there. I think I'll stop here already. I'm quite tired because of the Merlin/Hermione crossover. Would you believe that was able to type seven chapters in FOUR DAYS? Well, it might be an easy feat for others out there but for me, it's not. There were times when writer's block would severely attack me, despite the outlines and some quick notes, and well, I just had to stop writing.

Well, ciao for now!

With love,
WickedlyAwesomeMe