Author's Note: I wasn't going to post anything else until I got reviews (to see whether it was worth continuing), but seeing as both this chapter and the last were extremely short I thought, why not? Hopefully it's not too sweet, and I know there's not much tension. It is going somewhere, although I'm sure it's fairly predictable. These are becoming almost like a series of oneshots ...

Anyway, please read and review. I don't think I'm very good at writing Eustace, so any suggestions would be most welcome.

Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Narnia; C.S. Lewis does.


It has been said that Eustace Clarence Scrubb deserved his name. Certainly, all four Pevensies had expressed this opinion in the past. But now, as he stepped off the train onto the platform and looked around, they all thought that he looked quite different. Kinder and much wiser, certainly, but there was something else there too.

Mr and Mrs Pevensie were also favourably impressed. "I knew that he'd benefit from having you two to stay," said Mrs Pevensie fondly, ruffling Edmund's hair.

"Look at him!" exclaimed Peter. "How different he seems!" He waved to Eustace, who began to make his way over to them.

"Of course he's different," said Edmund, so that only his siblings could hear. "He's seen Aslan."

Eustace talked nonstop to his cousins all the way from the station to the Pevensies' house, which was a short walk. Although he was careful to avoid the subject of Narnia, he was abundantly forthcoming about many other subjects - his school, his parents, how tiresome it was not to be able to go to France, but also how glad he was to be able to stay with the Pevensies instead.

"We've set you up in Peter and Edmund's room," said Mrs Pevensie, as they turned in at the gate. "Edmund can sleep on the camp bed."

"Oh, no!" said Eustace. "I'm quite happy to sleep on the camp bed myself."

"But you're a guest," protested Susan, horrified at the very thought. "It would be impolite ..."

"No, no. I insist," said Eustace. "I don't need to be treated like the honoured guest - I'm only your tiresome cousin."

"If you're sure, Eustace," said Mrs Pevensie doubtfully. She remembered the last time Eustace had come to stay, when he had been delighted to displace Edmund and had, in fact, been rather unpleasant about it. She hoped that this wasn't a ruse of some sort.

"I say, thanks," said Edmund gratefully, leading Eustace up the stairs as the others followed Mr and Mrs Pevensie into the living room. He had always hated letting anyone else sleep in his bed. Peter said that he remembered him throwing a towering tantrum the first time Eustace had come to stay. Edmund always protested that he had only been seven years old.

"That's all right," said Eustace. "I don't really like sleeping in other people's beds anyway. I only used to sleep in yours to upset you."

"You were a little pest," said Edmund.

"I was," replied Eustace, smiling. "But haven't I changed?"

"Not nearly enough," laughed Edmund, "if you still need to ask."

Eustace laughed too. Impulsively he hugged Edmund, who had grown so tall that he had to lean down. Edmund couldn't remember Eustace ever demonstrating physical affection before.

"Oh, Edmund," he said. "I've missed you."