Disclaimer: It's not mine, if it was, they'd have been a lot nicer to each other and nowhere near as many books would've sold because it would be full of fluffy mush.

A/N: This is a story written maybe…two years ago? Maybe three. It was co-written between myself (A) and my friend (T) and until today was posted on T's account. Since it doesn't fit with the rest of her stories, and since I wrote a good portion of it myself, we decided to take it down and repost on this account. So if this looks familiar that's why – I haven't stolen it from her. There's probably a lot of OOC (is it possible to not be in this genre of fic?) but we were young(ish) and foolish when we wrote it.

As stated in the summary, there is spanking of a child by a child in this fic, and if you don't like that then don't read it. If you read it anyway, then feel free to comment even if it is criticism but be aware that flamers will be laughed at.

We are not promoting abuse or even corporal punishment, it's fiction and sometimes people write fictions where characters do or say things that the author does not necessarily agree with themselves.

There are loads of CP fics about Harry Potter etc but at the time we wrote this, there were only maybe two about TCON. I found this a little odd since in the era Lewis was writing it would have been perfectly normal and not condemned or frowned upon. So…you know, here you go.

Anyway, please let me know what you thought – either myself or my co-author (or both) will try to reply promptly. - A.

"Well?"

Edmund shifted in his seat, his eyes downcast and nibbling nervously on his thumbnail.

"Edmund!" He winced at the tone in his sister's voice but did not answer. There was an awkward silence as each sibling waited each other out, it was Peter who broke the silence.

"EDMUND! Answer me!"

"You haven't asked me anything." The younger boy replied sullenly, still not meeting their eyes. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his brother's fist clench tightly; he was fairly certain Susan wouldn't let Peter hit him but given his recent behaviour (which had been, he had to admit particularly beastly), he wasn't too sure. He decided to err on the side of caution, just in case.

"It was just a joke." He sighed for what seemed like the umpteenth time. Both Susan and Peter let out sounds of derision so he pressed on. "It was!"

"A joke!? Edmund, you made her cry! Do you really think that's funny?" Peter's face was so near his, Edmund could feel his explosive breaths on his face. He opened his mouth to answer but - "Oh, don't answer that! I don't think I want to know." Peter threw himself away from the chair with a disgusted look. Susan touched his shoulder and whispered something in his ear; Peter nodded and moved away to the window.

Edmund was forcibly reminded of the relay races at school, Peter had obviously run out of energy so now it was Susan's turn to shout. It hardly seemed fair to him.

"Edmund." Susan's voice was calmer but held its own steely note in it. "Mum made Lucy that bear. You knew that, what on earth made you steal it from her?"

"I didn't steal it!" Edmund protested indignantly.

"You entered our room. And you took it. Without permission to do either! And then, you lied about it!" She took a deep, calming breath. "Never mind the lying Edmund, taking something that isn't yours without permission is stealing! Isn't it?!"

Edmund shrugged defeatedly.

"Isn't it, Edmund?" Peter growled from his window seat.

"YES!" At the murderous look on Peter's face, Edmund regretted his snarled answer. He sighed heavily. "Yes, Su. It's stealing."

"Good. So...what did you do, Edmund?" Susan's face was set but her eyes seemed so like their mother's and so full of disappointment that Edmund couldn't bear looking at her.

He nodded.

"Ed." Susan warned.

"I stole it." He mumbled, picking at a loose thread on his shorts.

"Yes. You did." Peter's voice now sounded full of disappointment too but there was still a hard edge of anger to it.

There was another silence as Peter glared daggers at his brother and Susan sighed repeatedly. Edmund sat and chewed his nails quietly.

"Edmund, don't chew your nails!" He glanced up at his sister's sharp voice and slowly lowered his hand to his lap. They returned to the deafening silence.

The silence was broken suddenly by the Professor's housekeeper Mrs MacCready bursting through the heavy wooden door with a teary eyed Lucy in tow.

"Where did you put it, you nasty little boy? Hm? Taking your little sister's bear, good grief! What sort of an upbringing allows a boy to do that?! I shall write to your mother and ask her to have you all back! I've told the Professor, and there will be a letter in the next post!" She stormed round the boy's bedroom, lifting pillows and opening drawers angrily, shooting thunderous looks at Edmund.

"It's not in here." Edmund admitted quietly.

The woman pulled up short. "I beg your pardon?"

"It's...It's not in here." He repeated nervously. "I took it from Lucy's room and...and I hid it in a cupboard somewhere but then I went to get it again and...and I couldn't find my way back to the cupboard! This house is so big, and I...I got lost."

At the door, Lucy burst into tears again. "We're never going to find hiiim!" She howled loudly.

Edmund shifted uncomfortably as Peter's face if possible got even angrier. Susan flew across the room to Lucy and hugged her.

"Of course we'll find him Lu! We'll have to look! It'll be like a game of hide and seek! It'll be fun!" Lucy sniffled and blinked hopefully at her sister.

"Will we all look? All of us? Like search parties? Even Edmund?" She shot a pout at her brother.

"Of course we will, dear. Now, you and your sister run along downstairs to the kitchen, I've put a treat out for you." The girls' faces lit up and Lucy even stopped crying.

"What is it? Oh, please! Do tell us what it is?" Lucy begged.

"I've been baking biscuits for the church sale, and I saved one for each of you." The children could almost have believed she was smiling. Just a little. "Run along now. You too dear." She added to Peter who was still sat by the window. She turned to Edmund who looked up hopefully, large brown eyes that were the picture of innocence and childish greed. "Oh no you don't!" She scowled. "Little boys who steal from their sisters do not get biscuits!"

There was a faint clang from the front door of the manor, Mrs MacCready looked towards the window where the rain was beginning to patter softly against the window pane. Turning back to Edmund, she stated harshly: "I'll deal with you later." And she hurried out of the room slamming the door (contrary to her own rules) and went to get the door.

"Don't worry, Lu. There's only so many places Edmund could have hidden him."

Lucy nibbled dejectedly on the biscuit in her small hands. Susan and Peter exchanged looks.

"We'll find it, Lucy. I promise." Peter said soothingly.

"Albert is not an 'it'! Albert's a 'he'!" She cried indignantly.

"Sorry. We'll find him." Peter amended quickly. Lucy still looked faintly annoyed but she returned to crunching her biscuit quietly.

Susan gazed out of the kitchen window. Through the steamed up glass, she could see the rain pouring down outside and thought the Professor's visitor lucky that he arrived when he did, before the downpour. She thought vaguely of Edmund upstairs, banished as he had been, sitting alone in his room. She truly believed he hadn't meant to lose Lucy's bear, and that he had only meant to scare her – though that was bad enough. She knew what their mum and dad would have done if it had happened at their home in Finchley and she wondered what 'The MacCready' had planned. Although she knew he deserved punishment, she also secretly hoped that his only punishment would be being confined to his room without dinner. For Edmund, that would be torture in itself once the scents started drifting up through the house. Her younger brother seemed to be permanently hungry these days!

Peter too, was thinking about their brother. Angry as he was, he couldn't help feeling a little pity for him. Edmund's one true pleasure was food and to know he was missing out on freshly made biscuits must have made him feel terrible. He also couldn't help thinking about their father, and what he would have done in this situation. Peter knew that he wasn't their father, he was as conscious as his siblings of their father's absence but he felt that in this situation, perhaps he should 'step up' as it were. Although Mrs MacCready had not told them what she had planned for their brother, he suspected it would be of a corporal kind and while he was not adverse to it, he felt it would be better coming from Edmund's own family. And, mature as she was, Susan did not have either the resolve or the residual anger needed to discipline their brother in such a way. He on the other hand...he was startled out of his musings by a squeak of surprise as Lucy spilt a glass of milk over the table and they all rushed to clean it up.

Edmund sat leaning against the head board of his bed, dressed in his pyjamas having long since resigned himself to not having dinner that night. He looked up, anxiously chewing his nails as the door creaked open and Peter couldn't help but notice the wary look in his brother's eyes as he saw him. He took a deep breath as he turned and closed the door very deliberately behind him. Edmund gulped slightly, seeing the way his older brother's jaw and shoulders were set.

"Peter, I -" He began.

"I don't want to hear it, Edmund." Peter murmured, still not looking round.

He took another deep breath and steeled himself. Could he really do this? He had no doubt that any kind of corporal response would be better coming from their family than the Professor or his housekeeper but why did it have to be him?! Susan had been just as hesitant, she too agreed that, had they been at home, their mother would be having a very serious 'talk' with their brother but was not so certain that it would be taken well coming from Peter. And as for Mrs MacCready herself, she had been reluctant, anxious as she was that Edmund be properly punished for his misbehaviour and (though she did not show it) anxious too about the effect it would have on the children's relationships, not to mention how they would view her if she seemed to let the behaviour go! However, in the end, it was agreed that, if the Professor was agreeable and if Peter was willing, Peter would deal with his brother and if he did change his mind, only then would Mrs MacCready step in. But how to proceed?

As it happened, Edmund prompted him into action fairly swiftly.

"Did...did you find it yet?" This was said meekly through a curtain of dark fringe. Peter felt his resolve wavering slightly. But when he answered, it was with as much authority and confidence as he could muster.

"No. We haven't. And Albert is a 'him' not an 'it', Edmund."

Edmund bit his lip then, feigning nonchalance declared "Oh well. She really is getting too old for a teddy bear. It's a little pathetic really, don't you think? Honestly, Peter, she should be thanking me."

"Pardon?" Peter's voice was cold, disbelieving. Edmund seemed to notice, his voice faltering and trailing off.

"Well, I just meant that...you know, she's too...too old for a teddy. Don't...don't you agree? I mean she...she's almost eight." He finished very quietly.

"No." Edmund looked at him, puzzlement on his face. "No, I do not agree." Peter continued, sitting down on the edge of his bed. "She's only seven. When you were seven, you had one and so did Susan and I. Anyway, what does it matter what you think?"

Edmund fidgeted, uncomfortable at the note of disgust in his brother's voice. "I'm just saying...she should be grateful." He muttered sulkily.

When there came no response, Edmund glanced up at Peter. He was glaring angrily at him, he seemed to snap out of it as their eyes met.

He sat up straight, very suddenly. "Come here." He commanded shortly.

"What?"

"Come. Here." Peter repeated slowly, dangerously.

Edmund swallowed and tilted his head to one side. "Why?" He asked cautiously.

"Edmund!" Edmund jumped to his feet and began very slowly towards his brother.

Peter grabbed him about the waist as soon as he came within arms reach, flipping him quickly over his lap with astounding ease given his inexperience and holding him with one hand. Edmund froze.

"Peter?" His voice sounded pathetic and childish even to his own ears. "What are you doing?"

"You know what I'm doing, Edmund." Peter sounded calm, confident, his voice showing nothing of his inner panic. He had thought the hardest part would be getting his brother over his lap but now, faced with the reality of what was happening, he felt panicked and completely too young for this. He had seen Edmund spanked of course, most often when he was also about to be punished but to actually be the one doing it seemed a terrifying thought. But there was no going back, Edmund by now knew what he had planned and if he stopped now, things would only get worse. At least this way, Edmund might stop behaving so terribly - they might even all be able to have fun together in this huge old house and its huge garden.

He could feel Edmund's heart racing against his thigh and felt him fidgeting awkwardly. Small as Edmund may be, Peter's lap was nowhere near as substantial as their father's and keeping Edmund there, especially once they had started was going to be difficult. Peter wriggled back on the bed so that if Edmund did roll off, he would only fall on to the bed rather than the floor. It now meant that Peter's legs did not reach the floor and he sat perched uncomfortably, he legs at an awkward angle to the bed.

Peter took more breaths and tried to calm himself, trying to remember what their father did once one of them was over his knee. Cringing, not at the nakedness (he had seen that often enough, sharing a room with him) but at the action, Peter hooked one finger into his brother's pyjama trousers. Immediately, Edmund's hand flew back and grabbed at his descending trousers.

"Peter! Noo!" He howled, knowing it was futile since he had never experienced a spanking over his trousers before but ever hopeful.

Peter set his jaw and removed Edmund's hand, quickly pulling the trousers down to his brother's thighs. Both brothers closed their eyes, groaning inwardly.

Edmund buried his face in the crook of one arm and moaned in humiliation.

"Why am I spanking you, Edmund?" Peter asked quietly. He was pleased, so far things had gone far better than expected with minimum fuss on Edmund's side.

Edmund bit back numerous cheeky and insolent remarks about favouritism and sadistic older brothers who were constantly finding new ways to beat and humiliate their younger brothers and instead opted for honesty. "Because I hid Albert."

Peter chewed his lip and awkwardly landed his first swat. Edmund jumped. "Because you did what to Albert?" He inquired lightly, landing another slightly heavier swat when there came no response.

"Ow. Because I...stole Albert." Edmund resigned himself, unhappy and furious at his brother but he had already been resigned and fully expecting to be thrashed.

"Exactly." It was the last thing Peter said for a while, following their father's pattern of asking first then concentrating on the spanking itself. Peter was spanking uncertainly with varying strength behind his swats, trying to gauge how hard he should be doing it, trying to register his brother's responses but said brother had (inconsiderately in Peter's opinion) opted for a stubborn silence. Just because he was resigned to it, did not mean he had to give in to it!

Unable to keep his silence for long, Edmund had soon begun hurling insults at his older brother interspersed with more honest, childlike pleas for mercy.

SWAT. "Ow. Peteeeer!"

SWAT. SWAT "I hate you! You're beastly and I HATE YOU!"

Peter winced at his brother's words, they did not get on but he 'hated' him? He was drawn between anger and hurt. The next comment however, definitely provoked anger.

"I hate you! You think you're Dad, but you're not! I hate you and I wish you'd gone to war and not him! I wish you were DEAD!"

Furious tears springing into his eyes and wanting this to be over as soon as possible, Peter decided to put much more strength into his next swat. Bringing his arm up high, he brought it crashing down with all his might upon his brother's left cheek with a force that ground Edmund's small hips into Peter's thigh and jolted his whole body forwards.

Edmund released a strangled scream of shock and pain and immediately began to cry, not so much because of the swat itself but more because from the fear of more like it. Shocked and appalled at the force he had used and the dark red mark it had left, Peter stopped, tears filling his eyes.

"I'm...I'm sorry Ed, that was much too hard." He murmured over his brother's crying. Edmund nodded frantically. Both brothers were desperately wishing the spanking could end but Peter, although he realised that his last smack had been far too hard, knew that they had barely begun. Sighing and steeling himself, he resumed his spanks, lighter than his last one but still sincere and far harder than before. Edmund lifted his head and howled, despite not speaking any more, he was being surprisingly vocal.

Peter continued for a good while until his brother's bottom had become a very dark pink bordering on red, his hand ached and Edmund was now sobbing quietly and kicking every now and then.

"Edmund?" He said cautiously.

Edmund continued to sob into his folded arms.

"Edmund, listen to me. We...we're almost finished. I want you to apologise to Lucy."

Edmund nodded into his arms.

"And...I want you to apologise now, to me." He was slightly offended when his brother shook his head 'no'. "Edmund. If you don' say you're sorry, I'm not going to stop." He explained, remembering how their father had always made them apologise to him and to each other before he would let them up off his lap.

There was a very long pause while Peter continued his light swats, having long since eased off on his strength.

"S'ry" It was muttered through tears and into his folded arms. Peter ignored it, he wasn't stopping until he had a proper apology. Edmund lifted his head and sucked a huge, shaking breath then said:

"'m sorry, Peter. 'M...sorry I s-s-stole Lucy's bear. I won't...do it again."

Satisfied and more than a little relieved, Peter stopped spanking. Edmund lay for a moment, crying then began pushing himself up from the bed. Peter reached out one hand to steady him as Edmund reached down to pull his trousers back up, whimpering as he did so.

Glancing at the clock in their room, Peter stood and pulled back the sheets on Edmund's bed. Taking the hint, his little brother slid in and lay on his stomach with his head on one side, his jaw set as Peter replaced the sheets over him.

"Are you all right?" Peter asked as he replaced the sheets and turned back to his own bed. Edmund did not reply and Peter turned to see if he had fallen asleep. Edmund lay still, his face facing the wall away from Peter and his body stiff. Concerned, Peter started towards him. Then, quietly but deadly clear, Edmund spoke.

"I hate you, Peter." A few last tears trickled out over the dark lashes and onto the pillow but his face remained set. He didn't even flinch as his brother threw his discarded day clothes at him, strode angrily to the door and slammed it shut, the whole room shaking as he did so.

"WHO SLAMMED THAT DOOR?!" Mrs MacCready's screeching voice floated up the staircase.

Suppressing a sob, Edmund turned over carefully, and pulled his suitcase out from underneath his bed. Leaning over and leaning in, he rummaged around until he found what he was looking for. Shoving his case back under the bed, he turned over and hugged his prize to his chest with both arms. It was a small, tatty black bear wearing a pale blue knitted jumper with an embroidered 'E' which their mother had made for him when he was a baby. He hugged it tighter and began to cry again.