Author's Notes

Hello Everyone! *waves excitedly* This my first posted FanFic ever and I am so wound up about it! Whoop-ee!

Disclaimers: CS Lewis owns Narnia, not I. Shakespeare owns Romeo and Juliet and the quotes from that work contained herein. The (1) and the (2) you see in quotation marks signify a direct quote from the Bard. Please correct me if I have improperly quoted or formatted these items.

Story Rated: T for a reference to the death of a Calormene soldier (I'd never kill off one of the Pevensies, don't worry!) in one of the chapters, plus some angstiness.

Please read an review, and please never be afraid to offer constructive criticism! It's the best way to grow as a writer and reader. I've been in many Creative Writing classes, so trust me, I can take it *smiles*

Here we go... Enjoy!

By Another Name

Edmund sat staring out the window, thinking to himself that schooling had been infinitely more interesting in Narnia. There, with Tumnus the Faun as a tutor in subjects like The Campaigns of King Frank and riding lessons from Philip the Talking Horse, learning had been fascinating. Here, in England, in a classroom full of twenty-five identically dressed lads all his own (English) age, King Edmund the Just found school to be, well…

Boring.

He sighed and shifted in his seat, deigning to bring his attention back to his Literature Professor. It wasn't that it was difficult to keep up with his classes. On the contrary. With the mind of a twenty-six-year-old in his fourteen-year-old body, Edmund could read, write, cipher, memorize, and recite far better than any of his mates. School was a cakewalk. His brother and sisters had reported similar results in their academics after their first return from Narnia, and the four Pevensies' grades had shot up like a red-and-golden arrow. Their mother nearly fainted when the four came back from first term with perfect marks.

Peter had pulled them aside first chance he got. "Mum's going to know something's up," he fussed. "We can't do that again, all come back with perfect marks and that rot. We've got to be smart about this and play dumb."

Edmund whooped with laughter. "By the Lion, Peter!"

"Hush!" Peter shook his head at the closed bedroom door. "You know what I meant. And don't use expressions like that around people, or Mum will really begin to wonder about us."

"But what can we do?" Lucy asked. "How can we get perfect marks one term and then come home not perfect the next?"

"Especially when school is so boring,"Susan chimed in. "Getting perfect marks is about the only fun thing about 'learning' any more."

"I know." Peter rubbed his hands across his face and sighed. "Look, just do what you can. Make little mistakes. Don't dot all your i's and cross all your t's every time. Professors take off for things like that."

Susan gave him a severe look. "Really Peter! Don't you want to go to the University some day? We can't afford to get into bad habits any more than we can afford for people to figure out we're… well, different."

"Maybe we should each just pick one subject to flub," Edmund suggested. "You know, something we were never good at before Narnia, so it'll seem natural. Maybe Mum will think this term was just a fluke. That the back-to-school good behavior just took a little longer to wear off than usual. Don't fail or anything, just don't be so perfect."

Lucy nodded. "But do it gradually, so it won't look so funny."

"Or we can just say that classes got harder as the term went along," said Susan. "Although that was really never true for me…"

Edmund snorted. "Perhaps you should stick with your perfect marks, Su. You were always close to leading your class any way."

So it had been agreed. Susan made every grade count. Peter dropped little inconsistencies into his History assignments, sometimes inserting the least un-earthly sounding Narnian names and locations and dates in place of the "real" English ones. Lucy pretended to struggle with mathematics, although writing "seven times nine is ninety-seven" made her blush with embarrassment. For over two years they had each managed to "scrape by" in at least one subject. Edmund chose to throw Literature.

Hence, his boredom on this rainy day in class.

The professor cleared his throat, dragging Edmund's attention back to the front of the room.

The man began to recite. "'What's in a name… (1)'"

Edmund groaned. By Aslan! Asking a class of twenty-five adolescent boys to study the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet is like asking a herd of Minotaurs to strap on some ice skates and take a turn around the pond!

"'That which we call a rose would by any other name smell as sweet.' (2)"

The professor clapped his book shut and surveyed the roomful of boys, most of whom reacted as Edmund had. The professor chuckled. "My my. Looks like Christmas in here Lads, what with all those red and green faces… Ha!" He set the book down carefully before smiling around at the class. "Not to worry. We won't be eavesdropping on Juliet's balcony just yet."

Thank the Lion.

"This quotation of Shakespeare's, however, has always been a favorite of mine." He bounced on his toes a little. Smiled. Then delivered his verdict. "Because I consider it to be absolute rot."

Twenty-five adolescent boys gasped.

Now Edmund thought class was interesting.

The professor held up his hands for quiet. "Not because I think Shakespeare wasn't an intelligent writer, or that Juliet's declaration to Romeo was insincere, but because in my life I have met people with beautiful names such as Mercy, Justice, and Patience and found many of them to be mean, petty, ugly, and all-around unconscionable. Look that word up, by the way." He turned and scrawled a fluid u-n-c-o-n-s-c-i-o-n-a-b-l-e on the blackboard.

Edmund scribbled it down.

"So. What is in a name? Surely, when a parent names a child, they have an idea of the name's implications. Your parents named you with the idea that it would somehow suit you, or that you would suit it. How many of you know the meaning and origins of your names?"

Not one boy raised his hand.

The professor chuckled. "Thought not. Well, it's high time you found out, my Lads. Your assignment is to look up the meaning and origin of your name, and determine whether or not it is consistent with your character. Do the same for three other people with whom you are intimately acquainted. This assignment is to be at least one page in length and due at the beginning of session tomorrow."

And without another word he exited the classroom.