This one shot's full of sibling love, not really any angst, maybe a little, but not much. xx


5. A change of plan


Peter sighed a little as he wondered down Cair's corridors in search of his brother.

He hadn't seen him all morning, and the first snow had started falling around 11am, and this had Peter worried.

They'd found out last winter that Edmund didn't exactly like snow, seeming as it brought up too many bad memories of his time with the witch. Actually he didn't like winter at all, he'd fallen pretty ill last year, and had stayed in his room for most of the season. The nightmares had been the worst though. Almost every night he'd woken up screaming, and it had always taken Peter forever to calm him down, but despite it all, Edmund had managed to get through the winter, and by the time March hit, he was once again happy.

But now that it was December again, it was clear that Edmund was reacting badly to the cold, and the nightmares were back, Peter knew that... having woken him up just last night from one.

Shivering slightly Peter wrapped his cloak tightly around him, glancing out the window at the steadily falling snow. Whilst he didn't mind the white stuff so much, he knew Edmund definitely minded it, so that was why he was so determined to find him.

Reaching the door to his brothers room, he unwrapped his arm from his cloak and wrapped his knuckle against the door, holding his breath and waiting for an answer. Luckily two seconds later his brothers voice came from the other side of the door, asking who it was. "It's just me Ed." Peter replied.

"Oh, Peter." Came Edmund's voice. "Hold on, I'll be with you in a minute."

Peter frowned worridly, having heard Edmund's shivering as he spoke. "Ed?" He asked after a few more seconds. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Peter." Edmund replied. "I'm just trying to-" He cut himself off with a groan, followed by a loud sigh.

Peter reached for the door handle and quickly stepped inside the room. The first thing that he realised was the temperature, it was absolutely freezing in the room, which only made him worry more, glancing around quickly before he found his brother.

Edmund was knelt in front of the fireplace, trying his hardest to light it. But unfortunately for him he was shivering so much that his hands were shaking and he just couldn't light the match. "Oh Ed." Peter muttered, walking hastily across the room and kneeling beside his brother, taking the box of matches with a small smile. "Here." He sighed, lighting a match and eventually managing to get the fire lit.

"Thank you." Edmund said, his teeth chattering as he rubbed his hands together, trying his hardest to get warm.

Peter bit his lip, watching as the fire grew in size. He couldn't help but notice that the curtains were closed, despite it being the middle of the day, and he guessed that Edmund had already seen the snow.

After a moment or two Edmund was still shivering, and Peter ran over to the bed to grab a couple of blankets. "How long have you been sat in here trying to get that fire lit?" He asked sadly as he returned to his brother.

Edmund stared at him for a second before sighing and opening his mouth to answer. "Too long." Was all he said.

Peter gave him a sad smile before wrapping the blankets around Edmund's shoulders and pulling him close, leaning them both against the nearby wall, not that far away from the fire.

Edmund shivered slightly and moved a little closer to Peter, relaxing a little as the room started to get warmer. He felt Peter rubbing a hand up and down his arm, and couldn't help but smile slightly. "Thank you." He breathed out, resting his head against Peter's shoulders.

"No problem." Peter replied with a sad smile. "How you feeling?" He couldn't help but ask after a moment.

"I'm alright." Edmund sighed. "Just cold and tired."

Peter sighed sadly. "You'll be alright." He reassured him.

Edmund nodded a little. "I'll have to be won't I." He murmered. "I've got a country to help run."

Peter glanced down at him, relieved to feel that his shivering was definitely slowing. "I just don't want you to fall ill again." He said quietly.

"Me too." Edmund replied. "But I feel fine, at least for the time being anyway."

Peter nodded a little. "That's good." He mumbled. "Feeling any warmer?"

Edmund smiled. "Yeah." He breathed. "It was freezing in here before you got the fire going though."

"Yeah I know." Peter replied.

"You know you asked me how I was feeling?" Edmund asked after a while, a small smirk growing on his face.

Peter frowned down at him, after a while raising his eyebrow. "What?" He asked suspiciously, realising that this was nothing he had to really worry about

"I'm not alright." Edmund said firmly but playfully. "I'm actually really hungry."

Peter let out a soft chuckle. "You're always hungry." He teased.

"Am not." Edmund muttered, burying his face against Peter's chest.

Peter laughed quietly. "Lucy's been "experimenting" with Christmas cookies today." He said with a grin. "What do you say we go down to the kitchen and see if we can nick some?"

"We don't have to "nick" some Peter," Edmund said. "You know Lucy will let us try some anyway."

"Yeah, she probably will." Peter chuckled. "Come on then."

Edmund nodded and quickly stood, keeping the blankets wrapped tightly around his shoulders, but after a second he sighed. "I suppose I should take these blankets off." He muttered.

"Why?" Peter asked, standing from the floor and brushing down his tunic.

"I can't go wondering around the castle wrapped in blankets." Edmund muttered. "It's not very kingly is it?"

Peter sighed. "If you're cold, keep them on." He said firmly. "Never mind if it's kingly or not."

Edmund stared at him for a second before sighing and nodded. "Alright." He said. "I'll keep them on."

Peter gave him a nod and a smile. "Come on then." He breathed. "Let's go get some cookies."

Edmund nodded in agreement and the two quickly made their way down to the kitchens, where once there sure enough they found three plates of cookies on one of the tables.

"Bingo." Peter muttered, grinning down at his brother.

Edmund didn't hesitate as he grabbed a cookie. "Lucy sure can bake." He muttered as he ate.

"I agree." Peter nodded as he grabbed one too.

Once Edmund had finished his cookie, he glanced up at his brother. "Do you have time for a game of chess?" He asked. "It's just, I've got nothing to do, and being alone always results in me thinking about things I dont really want to think about."

Peter hesitated as he stared down at Edmund, biting his lip gently.

Edmund sighed after a moment. "Let me guess." He said. "You've got a meeting or something?"

Peter sighed. "Yeah." He mumbled. "In ten minutes."

Edmund nodded. "It's alright." He said slowly. "I'll just go and read or something."

Peter swallowed hard. "You know what." He said. "I will play chess with you, the meeting's not that important, and can easily be moved to another day."

Edmund smiled a little. "You sure?" He asked.

Peter laughed. "Of course I'm sure." He reassured his brother.

"Thank you." Edmund breathed. "Really."

Peter gave him a smile in reply, before grabbing a few more cookies and heading for the door. "Come on then." He laughed.

Edmund grinned and followed after him, and for the rest of the afternoon the two brothers sat together on Edmund's bed playing games of chess, most of which Edmund - of course - won.

"Checkmate." Edmund said for the fourth time, a grin spread across his face.

"You always win." Peter said with a sigh, but he was smiling anyway.

"You're not very good though." Edmund said, grinning as he began packing away the chess board.

Peter raised an eyebrow. "Not very good?" He questioned. "Why you little-"

Edmund gasped in surprise when Peter all of a sudden darted forward and began tickling him, causing him to burst into laughter and quickly shuffle away, collapsing back against the pillows with a playful huff. "You know I hate it when you do that." He grumbled, still somewhat laughing.

Peter laughed and layed down beside Edmund, nodding his head. "I do know yeah." He agreed.

"I don't see why you still do it if you know I don't like it though." Edmund said, glancing at Peter.

Peted shrugged. "It makes you laugh." He sighed. "And this time of year, that's something you hardly ever do."

Edmund stared at him, before resting his head against Peter's chest, letting out a quiet sigh. "You know." He murmered. "I'm actually pretty tired."

Peter glanced quickly over at the clock, and seeing it was just over an hour until dinner, he wrapped an arm around his brothers shoulders and pulled the blanket over them both. "Get an hours sleep." He said. "I'll wake you up when it's time for dinner."

Edmund nodded. "You won't go anywhere?" He asked hesitantly.

"I'm staying right here." Peter nodded. "Promise."

"You're the best brother ever." Edmund whispered, pulling the blanket up to his chin.

Peter chuckled before placing a kiss to the top of his head. "Love you Ed." He breathed.

Edmund smiled. "Love you too."


The End


Ik it's short, but I'm planning another two shot which should hopefully be up within a week. xx thanks to everyone who's reading and thanks for the reviews xx