Unfortunately for Annabelle and her promise to Lucy the night before, it seemed that Mother Nature had different plans. From the moment Annabelle opened her eyes that morning, all she could hear was the sound of rain. The Professor's house seemed even more vast and intimidating in the shadow cast by the dark clouds. Annabelle found it that much harder to stop tears from filling her eyes. She missed her parents, she missed her home, she missed the world before the war. She knew she needed to keep her head up high and stay strong for her siblings, but it felt so much more difficult when the whole world seemed to be weeping.

It was because of this weather that the five Pevensies found themselves in one of the grand sitting rooms. Peter sat in an armchair and Edmund laid under another one, fiddling with some part of the furniture. Annabelle could only pray that whatever he was doing would not result in permanent damage to the piece that was undoubtedly more expensive than most of their possessions. She herself sat curled up on the couch, her eyes on a clearly neglected potted plant on the coffee table, with Susan beside her. Lucy sat on the window seat, looking through the glass mournfully. Annabelle had no doubt that if she were in charge of the natural world, she would have stopped the rain within seconds of seeing Lucy's puppy eyes.

"Gas-tro-vas-cular," Susan read from a giant book in her lap, pulling Annabelle out of her focus on the plant in front of her. "Come on, Peter. Gastrovascular."

"Is it Latin?" sighed Peter as he rolled his head to look at his sister, while Annabelle eyed the book in Susan's lap warily. She was not sure one could call it a book at all. It looked more like a brick and Annabelle had no doubt it would do some serious harm if she accidentally dropped it on her foot.

"Yes."

"Is it Latin for 'worst game ever invented'?" Edmund asked, pulling himself out from under the armchair to give Susan his signature smirk. Peter and Annabelle both chuckled in amusement, though Annabelle extended her leg under the coffee table to gently kick Edmund's foot. The boy squawked indignantly in protest and pulled both of his feet up closer to his body, but his eyes were filled with amusement as he looked at Annabelle's teasing smile. Susan, meanwhile, huffed and shut the book in her lap loudly.

"We could play hide and seek," Lucy suggested timidly as she hopped off the window seat and approached the other four children, eventually placing her arms on the armrest of Peter's chair.

"But we're already having so much fun," said the eldest boy sarcastically, eyeing Susan teasingly. The girl simply huffed again and glared at her older brother, only settling down slightly when she felt Annabelle's hand pat her leg soothingly.

"Come on, Peter, please!" Lucy exclaimed in what Annabelle could only describe as a whine, grabbing onto Peter's arm tightly and giving him her signature puppy eyes. "Pretty please?"

Annabelle could not help the smirk that grew om her lips as she watched the interaction. Lucy was, without a doubt, the sweetest and kindest of them all, but Annabelle was always glad to see the little girl's more fiery streak. Watching her so clearly manipulate their oldest brother was quite entertaining. He did not stand a chance against Lucy's pout.

"One, two, three…" he started counting with a smile as Lucy grinned widely and immediately ran off.

"What?" Edmund scoffed from his spot on the floor and Annabelle rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come on, you lazy slug," she said, jumping off the couch as Susan followed suit. "I bet I can find a better hiding spot than you!"

And just like that, the game was on. Peter covered his eyes with his arm and continued to count, while the other four siblings ran out of the room in search of their hiding spots. Within seconds, Annabelle was separated from the others as she ran up and down flights of stairs, her competitive nature taking over.

Finally, she reached the dining room and her eyes landed on a beautifully crafted cupboard. Annabelle jogged forward and opened the cupboard, silently thanking the heavens for her petite frame. The cupboard was not empty as Annabelle hoped it would be, but enough space remained that she could just barely fit if she curled up in a very tight ball. She did just that and backed as far into the cupboard as she could, gently closing the door and settling in.

Her eyes needed a few seconds to adjust to the darkness but once they did, Annabelle relaxed just the tiniest bit. The outside noises were muffled in the cupboard, though she could still faintly make out Peter's voice. Strangely enough, it was easier for her to breathe in the small and dark space. This little bit of solace provided Annabelle with the most peace and quiet she's had since before they were evacuated; since before the war even started, probably. Although she knew it was only for the duration of the game, Annabelle closed her eyes and let out a small sigh, her lips curling into a faint smile. She really hoped Peter would find her last and not only because she still wanted to win.

But the odds never seemed to be in Annabelle's favor.

"It's alright! I'm back! I'm alright!"

Lucy?

Annabelle's brows furrowed as she strained her hearing. Yes, that was undeniably her little sister's voice coming from above, likely an upstairs hallway or room. Why on earth was she yelling when they were all supposed to be hiding?

"You know, I'm not sure you two have quite got the idea of this game." And that was definitely Peter. With her face still scrunched up in confusion, Annabelle pushed the door open and carefully rolled out of the cupboard. She could already hear another set of footsteps approaching.

"What's going on?" That was Susan, which meant that all four other Pevensies were in the hallway above, decidedly not hiding or seeking.

"So, does this mean I win?" asked Annabelle cheerfully, though a bit warily as she walked up the small staircase, eyeing her siblings.

"I don't think Lucy wants to play anymore," Peter replied and Annabelle immediately looked at the little girl in concern. The game was her idea, after all and it had only been two minutes since they started.

"I've been gone for hours," said Lucy. Four pairs of eyes immediately landed on her.

"What on earth are you going on about, Lu?" asked Annabelle, exchanging a swift, concerned glance with Susan. "Peter only just started looking for you."

"No, I've been gone for hours!" the youngest Pevensie insisted. "I hid in the wardrobe and I found a wood, a magical land! It's called Narnia. Oh, and I met a faun, too!"

That is how Peter, Susan and Edmund ended up closely inspecting the wardrobe, while Annabelle stood next to Lucy with a gentle arm around her shoulders.

The wardrobe was beautiful. There was no doubt about it. It stood tall and strong, its mahogany wood glistening in a way that made its carvings stand out in the light. It was a beautiful piece and Annabelle's eyes never strayed from it as the others knocked on all sides of it, double and triple-checking that it was, in fact, just a wardrobe and not a doorway to some magical land.

Annabelle rubbed Lucy's shoulder absentmindedly, continuing to gaze at the wardrobe. She could not look away. She felt the familiar thrum under her skin, the slight warmth in her veins. Her heart sped up. She felt an inexplicable pull to the wardrobe. She felt a surge in her magical core. She could not look away.

"Lucy, the only wood here is the back of the wardrobe," Susan finally spoke up, ripping Annabelle's gaze away from the wardrobe. She still felt the pull, though. She felt unease. She wanted to check every corner of the wardrobe for herself.

"One game at a time, Lu. We don't all have your imagination," Peter spoke this time, his voice gentle even as he, Susan and Edmund began to make their way out of the small room.

"But I wasn't imagining!" exclaimed Lucy, pulling herself out from under Annabelle's arm. Annabelle turned sideways to look at her family but kept the wardrobe in the corner of her eye. God, how she wanted to touch it. She felt hot and cold at the same time. The pull was slowly becoming unbearable.

"That's enough, Lucy," said Susan sternly. From what little attention Annabelle was paying to the argument, she thought Susan was trying a bit too hard to sound just like their mum.

"I wouldn't lie about this!"

"Well, I believe you." That nearly succeeded in pulling Annabelle back to reality. She momentarily pulled her gaze away from the wardrobe and gave her full attention to her little brother, narrowing her eyes. What was he playing at?

"You do?" Lucy asked in a small voice, gazing at Edmund hopefully.

"Yeah, of course. Didn't I tell you about the football field in the bathroom cupboard?" And just like that, Lucy's hope was crushed; and simultaneously, Annabelle's disappointment reached its peak. It seemed Peter's did, too.

"Oh, will you just stop?" he snapped, glaring at Edmund. "You just have to make everything worse, don't you?"

"It was just a joke," the younger boy defended himself, although his voice wavered. Annabelle looked at him in slight pity, but could not bring herself to say anything. Perhaps she did not want to. Perhaps it was finally time for someone to take him down a peg, to make him stop treating everyone around him, especially little Lucy, with so much disdain and cruelty. But Annabelle's tongue was also heavy, so heavy that she did not think she could speak. Her mind was foggy. She felt lightheaded. She felt frightened. Her body had never had this strong of a reaction to any magic before.

"When are you gonna learn to grow up?"

"Shut up!" It was Edmund once again who snapped Annabelle out of her daze, this time with the sheer volume of his voice. "You think you're Dad but you're not!" he yelled, getting so close to Peter's face that Annabelle feared it would come to physical blows. Instead, Edmund shoved past both Peter and Susan, running out of the room and slamming the door shut behind him.

"Well, that was nicely handled," Susan said sarcastically and Annabelle finally felt the fog lift.

"Stop," she spoke up, hoping that her voice did not shake too much. Her mind was no longer foggy but her body still felt weakened, stiff, as if partly turned to stone. Thankfully, it seemed that no one else could tell. Susan and Peter simply looked at her as they always did, frustrated with each other and looking for guidance, for some peacekeeping power. She could give that to them. "Just stop. I'll go after him."

Annabelle then walked past them and slowly made her way out of the room. But even though she fully intended to run after Edmund, she was not sure she would be able to catch him. She was not sure she could run at all; in fact, she stumbled a bit just walking down the steps.

That wardrobe did this to her. That wardrobe weakened her, shot ice through her veins and lit a fire in her core. That wardrobe made her magic flare up in a way it never has and forced her body to go to new extremes in order to suppress it.

That wardrobe was, without a doubt, magical.

But Annabelle could not tell anyone that. She could not tell Lucy that, could not confirm that the little girl was not crazy or too imaginative.

Because how could she ever explain that the only reason she knows that wardrobe is magical is because she, herself, is magical, too?