Disclaimer: I do not own the Chronicles Of Narnia. This amazing series respectfully belongs to CS Lewis. I merely own the plot and a few original characters.

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Chapter One

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There were a lot of things Peter and Lucy could agree on (which is why she'd always been his favorite sister) and one thing they could definitely agree on with no questions asked is the scratchy bed sheets in the Professor's manor were absolutely awful.

Don't get him wrong. He'll always be grateful to the Professor for allowing him to stay while he finishes up his studies. He has to admit that the room he's staying in is far much better than the one he got before. But the scratchy sheets kept him up most nights and when he told this to the Professor; all the old man did was smile and told Peter to blame the housekeeper. He isn't really surprised by that answer either.

Peter exhales sharply and squints at the little beams of yellow sunlight peaking from the curtains. Morning already? He yawns. He considers skipping classes to get a few more minutes of sleep. Five more minutes wouldn't hurt, right? He shakes his head. No, be responsible Pete, be responsible. He has to remind himself that it's not a kingly thing to do and slowly but reluctantly gets out of bed. He didn't want to get in trouble. He opens his closet and slides on his school uniform.

"Up, get up!" A shrill, feminine voice comes from the other side of his door. He jumps at the sound of loud, rapid knocking. "Boy, you'd better be up or this is the last night you're going to be staying at this household!"

He rolls his eyes, recognising the voice of the housekeeper. He sprints to the door, in the middle of tying his tie. An elderly, bespectacled woman stands in the door way with a stern expression.

"Morning, Mrs Macready, " he says half-heartedly.

"Don't morning Mrs Macready me," she mocks in her thick Irish accent. "Just because you and the professor are friendly, doesn't mean I have to be. Understood?"

He resists the urge to roll his eyes in front of her and nods his head instead. She gives him a wary look and holds out a golden letter.

"This came for you in the mail," she says, shoving it against his chest which he takes with a frown. "And don't forget to eat your breakfast, the professor wants you out of the house by 10 o' clock sharp."

His eyebrows knit together skeptically. Did that really come from the professor's mouth? He says nothing and waits for her to leave before shutting the door. Thank Aslan he didn't have to interact with her all the time. They were quite fine with keeping their distance from each other.

Peter eyes the letter in his hands and turns it over. Sure enough, it's addressed to him. His lips quirk up as he recognises his brother's messy scrawl and signature red wax seal. He carefully tears it open and his eyes dart across the parchment paper.

Dear Peter,

I know I've complained countless times about Eustace. But can you really blame me? He's a pain in the neck, always has to get the last word and argue about every little thing. I envy you and Susan. You two get to go across the country while Lucy and I are stuck with that annoying brat. Lucy's too nice to him. I'm sure she's annoyed with him too. She just hides it well.

But enough about that. Lucy and I finally got to go to Narnia again! We got in through a painting, of all things. Guess who came with us though? The two of us had to babysit him constantly. He was rather rude to Caspian. Excuse me, King Caspian. He's doing great, by the way. When Lucy and I met him again, he was sailing on a ship. It was so stunning, a gold colour in the shape of a dragon. Which is funnily enough what Eustace got turned into.

Narnia's not what it used to be Peter. It seems like every time we go there, it changes. I almost didn't recognise it. Even so, and I know you might roll your eyes at this, I think Caspian is doing a fantastic job keeping the peace between the countries. We did have a little problem with the slave traders. But I don't think they're going to be a problem anymore. Don't worry, we had it sorted.

That's the last time Lucy and I will be going to Narnia though. I suppose I envy Eustace. He's our only connection to Narnia now. Sometimes I can hear Lucy cry at night when she thinks no one can hear her. Don't tell her I mentioned this to you. It's been hard for the both of us. I don't know how you and Susan handle it. I think you're both doing a better job than we are.

I know that you have a rough time too but I'm glad the professor is helping you through it all. How is he by the way? Any news on the lovebirds? Does your university have a fencing club? I know that it's nothing like Narnia but I hope that might help with the homesickness.

Write back soon. Lucy misses you as well.

Edmund

He nearly tosses the letter into the nearest trash bin when he reads about his sibling's latest adventures in Narnia... but he stops himself. They were never going back again. He never got over that pain and his heartache when Aslan told them they could never go back. Aslan's words always echo mockingly in his head nearly every day. The homesickness is the worse of it. He's thought plenty of times of joining the fencing club. But he's worried that it might bring back painful memories.

Aslan knows how Susan's handling the loss. Every time he mentions it to her, she changes the subject. On her latest letter, she talked about the party she attended with their mum in America.

As Peter's eyes dart across the page, a smile spreads on his face as his thoughts drift over to the "lovebirds". He admires Noah's attempts to woo a girl from the school across from theirs. He still finds it hard to believe this is the same arsehole who bumped into him at the train station. He'd have to write Edmund later.

He stands nearby the familiar sign of"Coombe Halt" station, waiting for the train. He waits at the same spot almost every day. It reminds him of the time he and his siblings were waiting for the professor to pick them up. The train whistle blows, bringing Peter out of his thoughts. He sprints for the sliding doors, clutching his brown school bag close to his side as he squeezes through.

Immediately, he hears the excited chatter and laughter as he steps into the narrow hallway. Every single compartment is full of teenagers his age. Some groups were talking animatedly to each other and some still look like they were half asleep. Noah is nowhere to be found. He dreads the thought of Noah ditching him to flirt with his crush. He wouldn't be surprised if he did. He doesn't have the patience to look for Noah anymore and decides to find his own compartment instead which is admittedly frustrating to do since they were always so crowded.

He finds one in the very back but there's a girl with dark hair sitting by herself, reading a book. He winces. He doesn't want to chat with anyone at the moment. He snuck a glance at the compartment behind him only to find a couple sitting side by side, giving each other adoring eyes. He shudders. He definitely didn't want to get involved with that. So he sighs and taps on the window to get the girl's attention. She continues reading as if she hadn't heard him. He knocks against the glass a few times and frowns when the girl doesn't answer. He lets out a groan of exasperation and smacks his head against the glass. He regrets it as soon as he does it. But the girl does look up and his blue eyes meet her own. She stares at him curiously before closing the book and placing it on the seat as she walks over and unlocks the door.

"Can I help you?" she asks, tucking a strand of black curls behind her ear. Her voice is a bit airy.

"Y-yes, I was wondering if I could sit with you, " he says, giving her a sheepish smile. He'd been distracted by her golden sun and crescent moon earrings. "Everywhere else is full."

Her eyes widen. She bites her lip and glances behind him as if she were searching for someone and nods her head slowly, opening the door wider for him to get through.

"Thank you, " he smiles at her weakly. He takes his place in the seat across from hers. She says nothing else and resumes reading. The air between them is a bit stiff and awkward as they try not to stare at each other too much. "Good read?"

She merely nods her head and turns the page. He has the urge to sigh but doesn't in fear of offending her. He was never good with other girls besides his sisters even in Narnia. That's more Edmund's thing than his and, to be perfectly honest, both of them were terrible at communicating with girls.

"I can leave if I'm bothering you."

She says nothing. Is she being intentionally difficult? This time he does sigh and is about to grab his bag and leave.

"You're not bothering me," she says so softly that he thought he imagined it. He stops what he's doing and stares at her in shock.

"Erm, right then," he slowly shuts the door and takes his seat.

"Did you know there are at least five species of owls in Great Britain?" she asks, clutching the book tightly in her lap.

He raises his eyebrows at the odd question, "No, I didn't," he says truthfully. Is that her way of starting a conversation? "Is that what you were reading about?"

He grows irritated when she doesn't answer right away. Maybe he should've kept searching for Noah after all.

"They're not very fast fliers and it's bad luck if you hear them at night," she continues as if he didn't speak. "Shame really. I'm quite fond of barn owls."

Not only did he choose the wrong compartment, the girl across from him is a complete nutter. That's just his luck really.

"Do you like barn owls?"

"I... well, I can't say I've given them much thought," he answers slowly.

Thankfully, they continued the train ride to school in silence. He's not sure if he could handle any more odd questions. An hour later, the train's breaks squeal to a stop alerting everyone on board that they've arrived.

"We're here, " he tells her.

"Thanks for talking with me, " she says, reaching for her brown book bag. "Not many people do. "

I can't imagine why, he thinks. He merely nods his head.

He watches quietly as she disappears into the crowd of students. He never did get her name.

He finds Noah in their English class with his feet on the desk in front of him. He shakes his head and smacks his friend with the notebook in his hands.

"What the bloody hell was that for? " Noah protests, clutching the back of his brown curls.

"You know perfectly well what that was for, you git! " Peter exclaims, taking the seat beside his friend.

Whatever Noah says is drowned out by the professor explaining their new assignments. There were a few grumbles of disappointment at the mention of silent reading but other than that the entire class was quiet save for the scratching of chalk on the blackboard.

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