When Two Worlds Collide [Edmund Pevensie]

• Lost in Narnia •

The birds were bizarrely chirping outside her bedroom window. 'Odd,' Hermione thought as she groaned and stretched her arms. 'The birds had stopped chirping ever since Voldemort invaded Hogwarts.'

A loud yawn escaped from the brunette's mouth. She blearily opened her eyes and found that they were unfocused at first. She blinked them several times before her eyes were able to properly see a stone-studded ceiling. Hermione froze. She fidgeted on her bed, only to land painfully on the uneven cold floor.

Hermione gasped, lifted herself up from the floor, and wildly looked around. She was in a strange house, or a poor excuse of one. There was a warm hearth at the middle of the room, but it was too small unlike the usual Hogwarts fireplaces. Pots and pans were hanging beside the hearth, their sizes smaller than the ones she had at her Muggle home.

When her eyes landed on the bed she previously occupied, Hermione finally believed something was wrong. She slowly stood up, only to plop down on the too-small bed because of a sharp pain she felt on her right leg. Hermione bent down and examined the clean bandaged wrapped around her painful leg and frowned.

She was obviously not in Hogwarts. It was more of like a burrow, a real one as opposed to the Weasleys' home.

Hermione gasped loudly and forced herself to stand up once again, frantically searching for her wand. She was in the battlefield a few minutes ago. 'Or was it hours? Days?' she hysterically asked herself, growing frustrated that she could not find her magical stick.

She remembered the war. Ginny's death... Harry... Bellatrix Lestrange.

Hermione examined her body and concluded that she was corporeal. It had baffled her, especially because she remembered being hit by the Killing Curse by the demented Death Eater. 'Is this heaven?' she asked herself, examining the place again. There was a bunch of carrots scattered on top of a rickety table and an odd-looking clock hanging on the wall. 'If this is heaven then it's... not what I expected.'

A door creaked open and Hermione jolted up. She ignored the pain in her leg and limped towards the hearth. Without any wand, she impulsively grabbed one of the small pots and fell into her defensive stance. "Hello?" she called out, her grip with the handle of the pan tightening. "Is anybody there?"

"You're awake!" a squeaky voice exclaimed. Hermione made out a shadow on the wall and her eyes widened upon seeing a strange form for a shadow of a person. "You've been out for a week, my dear. I was starting to get worried. How is your leg?"

"Show yourself!" Hermione exclaimed, her hands now starting to shake.

And then, to her utmost surprise, a slightly overgrown rabbit came inside the room, its beady eyes staring strangely at Hermione.

A loud clang resounded in the whole place when the pan slipped off from Hermione's grip.

"Sweetheart, are you okay?" the rabbit asked. "Is something the matter?"

And then, Hermione released an ear-splitting shriek.

~•~

Edmund walked outside from his room, meaning to go to the Place of Arms to practice his swordsmanship skills. He knew how Peter fervently prohibited him from entering that room since it was only a place for all of the troops to assemble but Edmund always thought that practicing in a larger area was better.

Hence, he ventured towards the Place of Arms, his sword swung over his shoulder, when Peter suddenly appeared beside him.

"Blimey, can you be less sneaky in the future?" the younger of the two asked, a small scowl growing on his face. To the surprise of Edmund, Peter did not retort back, like what he usually does. Instead, the High King merely smiled and stared straight ahead, a troubled look now surfacing on his face.