Summary: For those searching to find themselves, during this bleak age, hope began in a modest professor's home on the countryside. Peter/OC

A/N Just for future reference, Peter and Alexa are fifteen, Susan is thirteen, Edmund eleven, and Lucy eight, so they're maybe a little older than how they were in the book or movie. Or I could be wrong, but anywho, on with the story!

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Chronicles of Narnia, *sighs* but I have created my OC, Alexa Williams, and .

~Rising Above~

Chapter One – Just the Beginning

I hugged my mother tightly. I knew that this could be the last time I ever would…

"Bye Mum," I said, closing my eyes tightly in attempt to block out the tears that so desperately wanted to flow. She kissed the top of my head and gave me one last squeeze.

"Good-bye Dear, remember to write me." I nodded with a smile, wiping a stray tear from my face before grabbing my luggage. I gave my heavy suitcase to the man throwing everything into the baggage hold, but I kept the carry-on bag for myself and slung it over my shoulder. When I was about to walk toward the boarding line, I paused.

One more time. I told myself. I looked back to see my mother crying heavily, but she was trying her best to smile for me. I could feel the tears prickling behind my eyes as I rushed forward to hug her one last time. I was slightly surprised when I felt her put something into my bag.

When I pulled back to look at her questioningly, she just pointed down at the parcel to show what she had put in. It was a small tin can, and I pulled it out to open it.

It was full of lollipops with a variety of flavors, all bunched in the little container. I peered up again in confusion to see my mother with a true smile on her face; albeit a small smile, but it was genuine all the same.

"Your grandmother wanted me to give you these to have for the summer, or for however long they last. So don't eat them all on the train now," she warned, but her smile gave her away, and the stern tone she tried to procure did not reach her eyes.

"I won't, Mother," I replied quietly.

"Good girl. You'll be staying with a professor…Digory Kirke, I believe is his name. I think you'll be staying with another family of children, so you won't be alone," she paused and stared at me for a moment. "Try to make friends, dear. It would do you good."

I sighed and nodded in response, not willing to stir her up again, but in truth, I much rather preferred books to people. Books held intelligence.

However, I could see that she was steeling herself, trying to be ready to let me go for however long we would have to be without each other.

"Go ahead, dear, before the train leaves. I love you." I nodded, trying my best to offer a smile.

"Love you too," I said, and wiped my eyes, which were most likely red and puffy by now. I readjusted the bag on my shoulder and walked slowly towards the train door. I was not really paying attention to where I was going and bumped into a shoulder rather hard. With a small yelp I looked up to see a tall blonde boy, wearing a rather lost expression. I had to crane my neck a little to see his face clearly, but I could see the surprise flicker across his face.

"Sorry, didn't see you there," he said rather quickly, but turned around to give the clerk his ticket. A younger girl called out to him to get his attention, and pulled him toward the doors of the train.

"It's all right," I had said softly, but I would have been surprised if he had heard me at all over all the hustle and bustle of the busy station. I supposed my guess was correct when he didn't acknowledge me again.

Oh, well, I thought.

I tucked a lock of thick, ebony hair behind my ear; I had brushed it only about an hour and a half prior, but strands were already escaping their loose plait that ran down the back of my thin, violet sweater. I moved on to give the boarding man my ticket and showed my ID badge. I didn't know if the latter was required, but I did, just in case.

Following the line of children, I stepped inside behind a boy, seemingly younger than me in appearance, yet still taller. He was scowling and bickering with the same girl I had seen earlier. I noticed with a curious eye, but kept walking until I saw the suite with my section number on it. To my surprise, the same blonde I bumped into earlier was sitting next to a downtrodden little girl, a child, whom I also judged from appearance, had not yet surpassed primary school. He was speaking earnestly with her, trying to comfort her and dry her tears, so I tried not to make too much noise as I took a seat on the opposite side—by the window.

When I saw the still arguing girl and the boy, dark-haired and ill tempered, that I had just passed not too long ago, I realized they must be either related, or all knew each other somehow. But I brushed off these thoughts in favor of taking out the book I had wanted to start reading for the past couple of days. Things had been so busy lately, I barely had time to think with this war England had been forced to wage in.

I sighed quietly, and began reading, dully noting that the still-surly bow had sat down next to me, being that it was the last available sear. Well, technically speaking he was sitting next to me, but he pushed himself all the way to the left of me, next to the door to the suite.

I suppose he's a bit antisocial. Can't exactly judge him, now can I? I thought sardonically. And after about half an hour of sitting silently and trying to read (the bickering made it impossible), I merely pretended to do so while I discreetly glanced at the other four.

With my previous thought about their relations, I was leaning towards the former; the aforementioned boy and the little girl looked much the same (save for hair color, the child's was a lighter brunette), while the eldest ( assumed it was the blonde) and the other girl seemed to have similar mannerisms: straight posture, tense disposition, and a habit of scolding the younger two for small manners (slouching, to name one), among other things.

I closed my eyes and rested my head against the cushion of the seat for a moment, it was seven in the morning and I was exhausted from getting up so early. But I couldn't fall asleep. The sounds of the train's movements rang clearly in my head, and the periodical ring of a gear shifting disturbed any remnant thought of sleep that I might have had. Then I couldn't block out my thoughts. Voices of quietly crying children in the background of what I could hear, especially the child sitting in front of me, made me realize…I wanted to cry as well. By the time I tried to read again, I was too distracted to get fully into my book. The words on the page couldn't take me away from the surfacing memories invading my thoughts.

A loud blast woke me from my sleep and the vibrations from the impact sent me tumbling to the floor.

The planes, I thought.

I quickly picked myself up and looked out side my window to see war planes soaring through the sky. Large, black objects fell from their hull onto the city, creating deep impact tremors that made everything in the house wobble and shake. I heeded my mother's instruction and grabbed what belongings I could, just in case I wouldn't come back to the house, and ran to my parents' room. I opened the door to see that Mum was finishing collecting her things.

"Let's go!" she said as she moved quickly towards me. Both of us ran out of the house, only pausing to open the shed that was built into the ground. Most homes in the city had started building them in the past couple of years, preparing for the worst. Once inside, I broke down crying in my mothers arms. My logical and collected mind crumbling as the rush of adrenaline subsided, I was left with only my fear. I could here the planes and guns high above our heads—

"Are you all right?" The question brought me out of my reverie, and I looked up startled. The girl, a pretty brunette with piercing gray eyes, looked at me with concern, and I took a deep breath in attempt to calm myself.

"Erm…yes. Thank you, I'm fine," I mumbled quickly and blushed as I put a hand to the bridge of my nose, trying to stop the oncoming headache.

"Are you sure?" she asked. I nodded with a small, hesitant smile. She returned it with a slight smile of her own, and went back to reading her own book.

"How long are we going to be away from home?"

I took a couple of deep breaths and looked over at her and the boy who was clearly trying his hardest to console her.

"When the war is over, we can go back...right now, let's just try and make the best of it. Okay, Lu?" he asked. Like them, and the entirety of the passengers on this train, we were being sent away to different homes in the countryside. We were being sent away from the collection of cities in England, such as Finchley, my hometown, in which the war and bombings were affecting.

He isn't very good at comforting. Something tells me he doesn't handle tears well. I switched my gaze from the blonde, to the child.

Hmm, maybe...maybe I can cheer her up, if only a little, I thought, after seeing the tears streaks the went down her face.

I took out the tin can my mother gave me, and looked uncertainly between her and the can for a moment.

It's not so hard...just say hello. Offer her the sweets, I mentally prepped myself. It would probably be awkward, but I thought I should at least try.

"H-Hello," I started. Everyone in the suite glanced over to me as she regarded me silently.

"I'm...I'm Alexa…would you like one of these?" I opened the lid, and when she saw the many different flavors of sweets inside, a small smile blossomed on her face. But then she looked uncertainly at me, a silent question in her eyes.

"Go ahead. Trust me, these will last me for a couple of months. I don't eat candy that often."

In a second, a true smile was on her face, even when she looked over to the boy next to her with pleading eyes.

"All right, just one though, Lucy," he told her.

Lucy, I thought. That's her name. I'll have to remember that.

Lucy happily took one of the strawberry lollipops and grabbed my hand.

"Thanks, I'm Lucy," she said shaking my hand. I couldn't help but smile in return.

"You're welcome, Lucy. Nice to meet you," I said.

"Alexa. So that's your name." I turned my head to the other girl.

"Yes, I'm Alexa Williams…would you like one as well? There's plenty to go around," I said, rather awkwardly as I held out my hand to her. She shook it with an apologetic expression.

"No, that's quite all right. I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Susan, Lucy's sister. That's Edmund sitting next to you, my younger brother, and this is Peter." Edmund just nodded in my direction, but Peter smiled slightly and shook my hand.

"Nice to meet you," he said with a small smile. It was pleasant nonetheless.

"Hello," I replied politely. I offered him a lollipop from the container as well, but I was surprised when he actually did take one with a "thanks."

"So, Alexa, who are you going to be staying with, do you know?" Susan asked quietly so Lucy wouldn't have to hear. The subject would just depress the child even more than she had been earlier.

"Well, right before I left to board the train my mother told me I would be staying with a man named…um…oh gosh, what was his name...Professor Kirke? Yes, that's what his name was." I was so bothered with staring into space trying to remember the man's name that I didn't notice the looks of surprise and recognition on Susan, Edmund, and Peter's faces.

"Who will you four be with?" I asked them, still quite oblivious.

"Well, it seems we'll get the chance to get to know each other better after all. We will also be going to Professor Kirke's house. Isn't that something?" Susan replied. Edmund was silent, but Peter smiled and I returned it, grateful that I'd at least be with people I could get along with.

Conversation slowly died, and we all sat in a comfortable silence for the rest of the train ride.

I'm so sick of this war, but hopefully I'll be able to forget it for a little while if I'm at least able to...make friends...maybe these people won't be so bad.

All five of us stood on a wooden deck right in front of where the train stopped, and looked around for our ride. Eventually, after a few minutes, we heard a loud horn and a car approaching. We ran to the other side of the deck to meet the car, only to have it pass right by us, almost splashing Edmund with mud from the wheels. We all looked at each other in confusion, thinking that was the ride we were supposed to have been on. After a moment of silence, Susan spoke.

"The professor knew we were coming," she stated slowly.

"Perhaps we were incorrectly labeled," Edmund offered, examining his tag.

"I doubt they would have done the same thing to two different families," Peter responded with a tired sigh. I agreed with him, but I said nothing. Edmund seemed to be quite the prickly person, especially when someone corrected him.

A few seconds after Peter spoke, an older woman driving a horse and carriage full of hay stopped in front of us. She looked us over, as if we were wasting her precious time. Peter and Susan gave each other a glance.

What's her problem? With one look to the rest, I could tell they were thinking along the same lines.

"Mrs. Mcready?" Peter asked hesitantly.

"I'm afraid so... Is this it then, haven't you brought anything else?" She regarded our small amounts of luggage.

How much was she expecting me to bring, my house?

"No Mam', it's just us," Peter told her. Mrs. Mcready gave us one more look.

"Small favors…get in," she said, nodding towards the back of the carriage where we could climb in. Once Peter and Edmund had helped all of us, we were off towards our new...home, of sorts. It was definitely not what I was expecting.

A large mansion awaited us as we pulled into the cobblestone driveway, and all of us gaped in awe as we filed in.

"Professor Kirke is not accustomed to having children in this house," Mrs. Mcready started.

Oh here we go. It was too good to be true, I thought wryly.

"And as such there are a few rules you need to follow," she continued as we walked up the stairs.

"No shoutin' or runnin', no use of the dumb waiter."

Oh no, I thought as I saw Susan about to touch a fancy looking statue. I tried to stop her, but I was too late.

"And no, touching of the historical artifacts!" Susan, Lucy, and I jumped, while Peter and Edmund just looked at each other knowingly.

"And above all, there should be no disturbing of the Professor," she said with an air of finality.

I wonder how much the Professor pays her. With that attitude, probably not much. I tried my best not to snicker at my thoughts. God forbid she heard a sound of joy.

We were showed to all of our rooms, which were on the second floor. I was sharing a room with the girls, while Peter and Edmund also shared a room. I didn't know why we were sharing rooms when there ought to be at least twenty in the house, but I was more or less content. Despite the circumstances of our meeting, I liked Lucy, and Susan was pleasant enough.

The first thing I did that night after I unpacked, was plop down on my bed and go to sleep. I didn't know about the rest of them, but I was exhausted and hadn't slept well the night before. I could vaguely hear the radio being turned off, along with some arguing before I drifted off to sleep.

I have a feeling this summer is going to get very interesting, indeed.

I had no bloody idea.

Chapter one of Rising Above. Let me know what you guys thought! :D

Edited 12/09/12