Disclaimer: Nope, characters aren't mine :D Just the plot. And the idea of pairing Hermione with Edmund.
A/N: SOOOO... Chapter seventeen. I'm quite excited for this chapter, ya know :D
Enjoy!
Chapter Seventeen: The Voice
Thalia's departure was like a breath of fresh air in Cair Paravel.
Like her arrival, all of the servants were aligned in front of the castle, with the five monarchs a few feet in front of them. The difference, though, was that the relief and happiness were thick and evident.
Hermione had stared at the Talking Animals with amusement and shook her head. 'Must have been tough for them,' she thought as she caught Babbity's eyes and smiled at her. 'Well, I don't blame them at all, though.'
The funny thing was that the Narnian royalties were the most relieved of all. They seemed more relaxed now and the tension that they had been sporting these past few days had been alleviated. Edmund was the happiest among the five and he even had the audacity of keeping a wide smirk glued on his face.
It somehow made her pity Princess Thalia, who was now mournfully mounting herself into the carriage with the help of her black-cloaked servants. But then, Hermione remembered the events that had happened during the said princess' stay and her pity dissipated.
"We do wish you had a lovely time, your highness," High King Peter said, bowing low for courtesy's sake. "We hope that you will visit us in the future."
"Or try never…" Edmund murmured under his breath, prompting Peter to elbow him on his stomach. The just king glared at his brother and rubbed his painful stomach, although the smirk came back on his face once Thalia loudly closed the carriage door without answering Peter.
The hooves of the Centaur clanged against the pavement and soon, they were travelling back to Calormen.
All of them stayed stationed on their places until Thalia and her servants disappeared in the horizon. As soon as they were gone, the other Talking Animals went back to their workplaces and resumed their jobs.
Hermione was about to follow Babbity back to the kitchen when Lucy suddenly jumped into her arms and hugged her tight.
Lightly laughing, the brunette patted the queen's back.
"Oh, I've missed you so!" she proclaimed for the rest to hear. Hermione distinctively heard the chuckles that escaped from the other monarchs and she softly smiled at the queen in her arms. Truth be told, she had missed her the most. Although Lucy could be a little demanding sometimes, wanting Hermione to spend the rest of her time with her, Hermione still believed that during the past few days of pure torture with the presence of Thalia, Lucy was the person she had missed the most.
"We have a lot of things to talk about," Lucy gushed, grabbing Hermione's arm without her permission and immediately dragging her up to the said queen's bedroom.
The brunette had just looked at her back in amusement until they arrived in Lucy's bedroom. The valiant queen closed the door behind her and immediately bounded towards her bed, smiling widely at her lady-in-waiting as the latter dragged a chair and sat down across from the bed.
"So?" Hermione started, patiently waiting. "What must we talk about?"
Lucy shrugged. "Oh, I don't know," she honestly said. "It's been what? Four days? Five? It felt like I haven't seen you for ages, you know." A sour expression appeared on her face as she slowly shook her head. "I tried my best to see the good in Princess Thalia, Hermione. I swear to Aslan I really did. But I just couldn't understand why she's like… that."
Hermione softly smiled and looked at Lucy intently. "It's probably in her upbringing," she explained. "We can't really blame her if she had been taught to act like that ever since she was young." Incidentally, her thoughts crossed to the Malfoy family and she couldn't help but think that Thalia somehow resembled Draco Malfoy in her world.
The queen then grabbed Hermione's right hand and squeezed it tight. "Had you been all right?" she asked with genuine concern. "Thalia had done some ridiculous things to you and I feel a little guilty I did not do anything about that."
"It doesn't matter," Hermione said with a soft laugh. "I know that helping me would have its certain negative consequence."
"And yet, it did not stop Edmund from helping you," Lucy pointed out.
The smile on the brunette's face faltered as the king's name was said. Her eyebrows knitted and a small frown appeared on her face as she contemplated Lucy's simple statement.
Queen Lucy was right; Edmund had been the one who had greatly helped her during Thalia's stay in Cair Paravel. Babbity had told her that the just king had walked out from the Dining Hall during the princess' first night in the castle after Hermione had left due to Thalia's rudeness. And then, there was that time in the gazebo when Hermione had punched Thalia in the nose; he had held onto her, stubbornly lied that he had to teach Hermione some make-believe stuff just to show Thalia that she was better than the Calormene princess. There was also that time when she was coming back from the forest and he "walked her back" to the castle. In his own, bizarre way, he had comforted her from Thalia's childish ways. And lastly was when Edmund defended her when Thalia accused her of conjuring that strange fire that burnt the princess' dress.
"Hermione?" Lucy asked. "Are you all right? You're… pink."
Hermione's eyes widened upon Lucy's declaration and she nervously cleared her throat, avoiding the searching eyes of the queen in front of her. "I'm all right," she quickly said. "It's just that I feel a little… hot." She pursed her lips and looked around. "Is it just me or did the room suddenly feel a little warm?"
"Err…" Lucy slowly stated, "maybe a little?"
The brunette nervously laughed. "It doesn't matter," she said. "So, fancy some tea? I'm sure Babbity will be glad to see you in the kitchens again."
The queen had stared at her for an excruciating minute until she decided to nod her head. "Okay," she said and together with Hermione, they both went to the kitchens.
Hermione couldn't shake off the feeling, though, that all throughout their journey and little snack, Lucy had been giving her strange looks.
"Are you all set?" Lucy asked as she poked her head inside Hermione's bedroom.
Her lady-in-waiting turned away from her small boudoir, her hair held tightly by her right hand since she was still in the process of tying her hair. "Almost ready," she said, twisting the hair tie for the last time and finally holding her impossible hair into place.
Hermione walked towards the queen and smiled down at her, gently closing the door behind her. They then walked away from her room and down the stairs.
"I still do not understand why we must go hunting today," the older of the two pointed out.
Lucy, on the other hand, softly laughed and shook her head. "The three kings had this unhealthy obsession with hunting," she said. "Actually, both of us tagging along, together with Susan, was just a spur-of-the-moment. I just thought that some nice, fresh air would do Susan and her baby some good."
Hermione smiled at Lucy's explanation and allowed her to pull her faster towards the doors of Cair Paravel.
It was a nice day and the Narnian royalties had decided to go to the forest to go hunt for ordinary animals. They had all invited Lucy's lady-in-waiting to come but Hermione was reluctant to go at first. The thought of having a day-off made her cringe, especially as she thought that a lot of things would be left unaccomplished for the day if she decided to have fun with the king and queens of Narnia. But Babbity assured her that everything would be fine if she went away.
"And besides," her Rabbit friend added, "I'm sure that this little get-together with them would make up for the days that you decided to avoid them when Princess Thalia was still here in Cair Paravel."
Babbity's reasonable statement was the final deciding factor for Hermione. With a small smile, she announced during breakfast that morning that she would love to go with the royalties today.
It was a lovely day and Hermione felt like it would be unjust to stay inside the castle and be cooped away from the outside.
Thus, she went to her room to freshen-up a bit. Lucy and Susan had assured her that they would let the other men do the hunting while they would just have a picnic in the Gentle Meadows again while waiting for the kings.
When they arrived in the Great Hall and approached the wooden doors, Hermione was only able to make up two figures waiting outside, both animatedly talking to themselves. Upon closer look, she discovered that they were only High King Peter and King Edmund; the married couple was nowhere to be found.
"Where are Caspian and Susan?" Lucy asked aloud. Hermione nodded her head and looked around, her eyebrows now slightly knitting together since she was not able to see either of them.
Peter softly laughed and waved a dismissive hand. "Susan has morning sickness," he said. "Therefore, she cannot come with us. And Caspian feels a little worried and so, he apologizes that both of them cannot come today." He placed his trusted sword over his shoulder and smiled widely at the two ladies. "Well, we're all set. Dear God above, the weather feels so nice today. I cannot wait to answer nature's sweet beckoning."
Beside him, Edmund snorted. "I do not know that such a lovely weather can make you turn poetic, Pete," he said, prompting both Lucy and Hermione to laugh. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let us go now before dusk arrives."
And together, all four of them ventured off into the forest.
After a few hours of walking aimlessly around the castle, Hermione now found herself alone with King Edmund.
At first, the four of them were together. The thought of having a picnic in the Gentle Meadows had both left Lucy and Hermione's mind. Since Susan was not with them today, both decided that it would be more fun to go hunting with the boys today.
As they ventured around, a wild boar appeared and to the surprise of all four of them, it was quite strong and stubborn; it kept on resisting, much to the High King's frustration. Peter, a show-off according to Edmund's words, had decided to tackle the boar down with his own hands without any help from Edmund. The High King did not stop until he captured and incapacitated the boar. He had taken off to Merlin-knows-where and Lucy impulsively ran after her big brother.
Thus, both Hermione and Edmund were left alone, mindlessly walking all over the forest while talking quite animatedly to each other. The thought of hunting wild animals today had left Edmund's mind as they had this brilliant conversation with each other.
"How does it feel now that Princess Thalia's gone?" Hermione asked one time, a small smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.
Edmund took a deep breath and smiled so widely it almost reached his ears. "Like a breath of fresh air," he said. "And mind you, my relief seems forever now that I know that she will be married to another man in the future."
Hermione shook her head and tutted. "Now, now, I think that sounds a little unregal, your majesty," he said. "Every so often you'll find someone who'd be deeply infatuated to you, you know. The least you can do is to feel a little flattered over the affections thrown your way."
He raised an eyebrow at her declaration. "Then, pray tell, Miss Hermione," he said. "Has anyone been deeply infatuated with you?"
A small, mysterious smile appeared on her face, picturing Cormac McLaggen's image in her mind. "I don't remember anything at all, right?" she asked, giving him a small smile.
"Right," he said, rolling his eyes. "You don't remember anything at all."
She laughed and swung her arms, oblivious how her laughter had triggered him to gently smile at her.
"It truly is a great day today," she said. "I'm a little sad I couldn't bring Babbity a – AHH."
For a heart-stopping moment, Hermione tripped and almost hit the rocky ground. Luckily, Edmund was quick enough to catch her arm and pull her up. The brunette, now upright, had released a soft whistle and grinned. "That was close," she said, pulling away from Edmund. "Thank you, your highness."
"You must be careful, Miss Hermione," he said, slightly frowning at her form.
"Stop it," she said with a sigh, surprising the king.
"Stop what?" Edmund asked, a small frown now forming on his face.
"Stop addressing me with a 'Miss'," she pointed out. "It seems very… formal and cold."
An amused smile appeared on his face. "It does?" he asked, and Hermione nodded. "And you think we are past the suspicious stage now, eh?"
A sheepish smile appeared on her face. "We talk casually now, your highness," she reasoned out. "And I'm starting to have this inkling that you're not… suspicious about me anymore."
He snorted unregally. "What makes you think I trust you already?" he asked, his amusement heightening. "Now, now, don't assume things, Hermione."
At first, she was affronted of what he had stated but then, she caught herself and remembered what he had just said. "You lie," she lightly accused, shaking her head.
He raised an eyebrow. "And why do you say so?" he asked.
"You said my name without any honorifics," she said, smiling up at him.
Edmund pursed his lips, clearly surprised of what she said, before finally sighing in defeat. A small smile appeared on his face and he stopped walking, deciding to sit down on a protruding root. "I know we started off rather unpleasant," he started. "Trusting you is a little… hard to do, just so you know. I'm reigning over a kingdom that I've come to ardently love and trusting a stranger seems a little illogical, don't you think?"
She slowly nodded her head. "But then, you're starting to trust me," she stated. She walked closer to him and squatted in front just so her eyes could level with his. "Why is that?"
"You take care of my sister," he started. "And even though you've been here for months, you haven't done anything wrong with my sister yet. You made Susan trust you even though she was the most logical of us lot. Caspian thinks you are wonderful, what with that brilliant head of yours. And Peter… he fancies you, need I say more?" Edmund sighed and shook his head. "I do not understand their trust towards you. Not at all. Something… is looming and I can't say anything more about it. All I can say is that we need to be careful."
Hermione slowly stood up and sat down beside him, thoughtful.
"And then… when Thalia came, you proved that the Talking Animals are important," he continued. "Narnia will never be Narnia if the Animals are not here. You allowed yourself to be insulted by Princess Thalia without doing or saying anything. But when she started to insult the Talking Animals… well, you punched her unbecomingly."
"But it was worth it," she interjected with a smile.
Edmund nodded vigorously. "Yes," he said. "Very worth it."
"Thank you," she then said, surprising him.
"For what?"
"For trusting me," she said, looking intently at him.
His lips pursed into a thin line. "I'm starting to," he corrected. "I haven't completely trusted you, yet. I still have this… inkling you have an ulterior motive."
Hermione laughed. "Well, that will work," she said. "I'm just a little curious, though. What will you do if you finally find out what my ulterior motive is?"
His eyes narrowed into thin slits. "You have an ulterior motive?" he accused, prompting Hermione to laugh again.
"The keywords are what if," she pointed out.
Edmund then turned silent as he contemplated her question. Finally, he said, "It all depends on what your ulterior motive is, then."
Hermione looked impressed. "Not bad," she said. "I can finally see why you are called as the just king, your highness."
"Edmund."
"Excuse me?" she asked, a little confused.
He sighed and pointedly looked at her. "You said I must drop the 'Miss' whenever I say your name," he said. "To be fair, I think it'll be good if you stop calling me 'your highness' or 'King Edmund'. Edmund will suffice. I'm sure the others had been asking you to call them by their name, and their name only."
Hermione smiled. "Seems fair… Edmund," she added the last bit a little reluctantly, but when he smiled, her cheeks burned a little.
Edmund then cleared his throat and stood up, hiding his face away from Hermione. Unbeknownst to the brunette, his cheeks were a little red, too. "Well then, I have this sudden urge to go fishing," he said, looking down at Hermione. "Would you like to accompany me?"
To his surprise, she shook her head. "I think I'll be picking spices for Babbity and Azelma today," she said. "I can wait here for you and High King Peter and Lucy."
He nodded his head. "Be careful, then," he said. "There are still wild animals lurking around."
Hermione raised an amused eyebrow. "No, you be careful," she lightly said. "There might be some deep holes on the ground so please, Edmund, do watch your step."
He glared. "Being cheeky now, I see," he said. When Hermione chuckled, his scowl turned into a small smile. "I'll keep that in mind."
Edmund then bowed down and turned around, slinging his sword over his shoulders as he ventured away from Hermione.
Once she was gone, Hermione released a huge sigh of relief. A contented smile appeared on her face as she stood up and started to walk around, her conversation with Edmund still replaying in her mind.
Her relief that he was starting to trust her was indescribable. Hermione had always been uncomfortable when people suspected her, especially over things she never did, and now that the king had confessed that he was starting to think she had no ulterior motive of harming anybody here in Narnia made her relieved beyond proper comprehension.
As King Edmund was starting to trust her, Hermione was also starting to slowly accept that she couldn't go back to Hogwarts anymore. There were times at night when she would dream of her old life; happy memories when she could do magic and she was surrounded by people who she loved and truly loved her back. She mostly dreamt of Harry and Ron.
What she thought as undying love for Ron had reverted to undying friendship for him. She still loved him, ardently if she must describe it, but Hermione knew that it would do her some good if she started to accept that they would never be together.
And Harry… Hermione took a deep breath to calm her nerves. His death was still vivid in her mind. She remembered how she felt, how the air smelled, how the noise was deafening as she watched Harry Potter's downfall. His death had always been the most painful for Hermione, knowing that when Harry died, a good future of the Wizarding World had died together with him.
Hermione still did not know why she was suddenly brought to this strange place. It was a mere fiction for her, remembering the childhood stories her mother used to tell her. During her stay in Narnia, all those things she had read had somehow changed in plot and Hermione had this feeling her arrival had triggered this.
There was no Ramandu's daughter who became Caspian's wife. Instead, Susan Pevensie took her place. And Susan was not even supposed to go back to Narnia anymore, seeing that she was starting to grow up and force her Narnian memories to be mere childhood fantasies.
And the Pevensies were not supposed to forever stay in Narnia, prohibited from going back to their world since they were also deemed as dead. They were supposed to go back after every adventure and continue on with their life on Earth until they were summoned back by Aslan.
A lot of things had changed and Hermione was still baffled by these. She knew her presence here in Narnia was vital; she just did not know what it was yet. Gone was the determination to go back to the Wizarding World. Instead, Hermione was now determined to find out why she was stuck in this wonderful, magical land.
She was pulled away from her reverie when a cold breeze brushed against her face. Frowning, Hermione touched her cheek and looked around.
A little confused, she started to walk, her hand still against her cold cheek. The weather had eerily changed and she could only associate the cold that she was now starting to feel with winter. She remembered that Babbity once said that Narnia always experienced spring all throughout the year, regardless of the month.
'Strange,' Hermione thought, quickening her pace.
She then drew into a halt upon hearing strange crunching noises made by her footsteps. She looked at her feet and released a soft scream upon seeing that the ground had turned into an icy ground, her footsteps clear and prominent.
To her horror, a wind blew against her feet and the next thing she knew, she was once again trapped. The memory of a similar evident that had happened months ago once again resurfaced in Hermione's and unadulterated fear gripped her mind.
She watched with horror as everything around her froze with snow. The cold wind grew harsher and colder and Hermione, with a heavy heart, knew that she was in deep danger. The idea of not being able to use her magic at times like this had heightened her fear and she, unable to do anything, closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
New footsteps were heard and Hermione's eyes flew open. She vigorously looked around for the source of the footsteps. "Edmund?" she cried, wishing to see his face. "Edmund, are you there?"
The footsteps grew heavier and louder and Hermione was able to distinguish that there were at least two pairs of feet that was coming her way.
With apprehension, she watched as two creatures emerged out of one of the bushes. She was able to recognize a Minotaur and Wolf, both sporting a menacing look on their faces.
"Betrayal by the most unlikely."
A voice, a familiar one stated.
"Caused by a selfish desire. Will bring back the Ice."
Hermione jolted in remembrance. They were the same words uttered to her when she was also trapped by the ice. The only difference though, was that the familiar voice was now clear and vivid.
"Turmoil will reign. Darkness will obscure light."
She warily watched as the Minotaur and Wolf began drawing a perfect circle around her.
"Until a Daughter of Eve, Princess of the Lions, brought by the Great Fate, fight off the Great Foe. Aided by a Magical Stick, Fire against Ice."
The Minotaur slowly walked closer to Hermione while the Wolf opened his mouth, muttering strange words from his mouth. Slowly, the brunette was starting to get drowsy, but the voice's words were still loud and clear.
"But her weapon will falter until the King of the Lions bless her with his hands. The Ice will be back, a Daughter of Eve will arrive. Until then, beware."
When the voice had faltered, Hermione fought off the sleep that was slowly clouding her mind. The Wolf's strange incantation had grown louder and more furious and the Minotaur was already in front of her. He lifted his dirty paw and slowly pressed it against her neck. A soft groan escaped from her lips, feeling his sharp nail running across her neck.
She was slowly losing consciousness and with desperation, she tried to push away the Minotaur but it was futile. Hermione guessed that the incantation of the Wolf was causing her to lose consciousness and fighting off would have no effect at all.
Just then, muffled shouts resounded in the whole forest. She could make out the image of High King Peter piercing his sword through the heart of the Wolf and Lucy sobbing in bewilderment, her face as pale as the white snow all over the place.
And then, the Minotaur's attempt of killing her had stopped. If she were sober enough, she'd be horrified that the Minotaur was suddenly beheaded, his blood sprinkling everywhere. Some had managed to land on her and now that the ferocious Animal was not holding her up, Hermione swayed on the spot. Her knees buckled and she lost her balance. The ground was getting closer but then, strong arms had stopped her and turned her around. The blurred image of a worried Edmund met her eyes, his mouth constantly opening but his words died down in her ears.
The next thing Hermione knew, everything turned black.
Review Response:
Dragonfly1339: Thank you, dear! I'm so glad that you liked the previous chapter. Thanks for reviewing! :D
Fool's Tutor: Well, I'm not surprised that you're also happy that Thalia's finally gone (or is she?). Most of my reviewers said so, too :D Oh, and thank you for the suggestions. I bookmarked everything. I'm still a little wary reading Harry/Hermione fics, though. I kinda see them as siblings so yeah. But hey, I gave Hermione/Marauder a chance so I'd probably read them someday. Thanks for reviewing!
UGH amazing: Oh, of course, as long as I continue to make you say "amazing", my dear. Thanks for reviewing!
A/N: Good? Bad? Eh? Meh?
BRIEF CLARIFICATION: I know I should have said this before, but anyway. For the HP universe, disregard the whole Book 7. As for Narnia, everything up until "Prince Caspian" happened. Chronologically, disregard "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" until "The Last Battle" never happened :D So there.
A CLIFFIE! *insert evil cackling here* Ooh, I cannot wait to post the next chapter already...
So, how'd you like it? Yipee yay, Thalia left! (but is it really for good? SHOCKER). Ooh, and what was that? The Wolf and Minotaur thing. I honestly, honestly cannot wait for Monday so that you can read the next chapter already :)
By the way, I would like to once again thank all those who suggested some time-turner fics. There were a lot, by the way, and most pairings that I've never read a fanfic about. Surprisingly, I chose a seemingly impossible pair to read first - Harry Potter/Bellatrix Lestrange. Call me derange, by the fic was so BRILLIANT. Words cannot describe how I instantly fell in love with the fic. See, I'm a sucker for time-travel fics. But really, it's worth it. If anyone is interested, here's the title of the fic - "Delenda Est" by Lord Silvere. Too bad it's not yet complete, but I'm still patiently waiting because it is SO BRILLIANT. And well, yeah, I already said that but who cares.
Anyway, that's all! 'til Monday :)
With love,
WickedlyAwesomeMe