"Hermione, are you all set?" Lucy asked outside her closed door.

She stood up, stared at the light blue dress Susan had graciously offered to her, and sighed. "I'll be ready in a few minutes," she called back, clipped her fringes away from her face, and grabbed the straw hat Babbity had given to her as thanks for doing all of her responsibilities while the Rabbit was sick.

"Avoid them as much as possible, right, Hermione?" she grumbled to her reflection and frowned. She sighed cone again, annoyed that her plan was growing more and more futile as days went by, and wore the straw hat on her head.

Hermione walked towards her door, opened it, and was greeted by a jolly Queen Lucy.

"You look lovely," she said, hooking her arm around Hermione's. "Su sure knows what she was doing when she lent you that blue dress."

In spite of herself, the brunette smiled. The queen did not look bad, too. Her yellow sundress had elevated the happy mood she was feeling right now. She couldn't keep annoyed when she was beside Lucy. She had learned long before that her happiness was very infectious.

"So, where are we going again?" Hermione asked as they started to descend the staircase.

"You'll see," the younger of the two chirped merrily.

Both of them were greeted by the others, all dressed casually. In fact, there clothes looked very Muggle, except Caspian, though. It just somehow surprised Hermione, who was used to the medieval clothes that they always seemed to wear.

"All set?" Peter asked, swinging a bat over his shoulder.

Hermione's eyes widened. "We're playing cricket?" she asked, the pit of her stomach bubbling with happiness. She had always been a closet fan, having watched quite a few with her father back when things were still a little normal.

To her surprise, the others were looking at her strangely.

"What?" she asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

Lucy intently looked at her, her eyebrows knitted together. "You know cricket?" she softly asked.

Hermione grew confused. "Of course I know cricket I – " The words died down and her eyes widened in horror. Of course! How could she forget? She was supposed to be this poor girl who couldn't remember anything besides her name, right?

Widening her eyes more for an added effect, she bit her bottom lip and frowned. "I don't even know where that came from," she smoothly lied.

Peter smiled. "That's good, isn't it?" he said. "You're starting to remember things. Although, 'cricket' is quite surprising, eh?"

Susan touched her arm. "She might turn out to be a Londoner after all," she said, grinning widely at the younger brunette.

Hermione shrugged and did not meet any of the eyes of the others. Although she was starting to get better in lying, it did not mean she felt comfortable doing it. "There are snippets," she said. "Sometimes they just pop out of nowhere and most of the time, they're insignificant. Like cricket."

She slowly lifted her head and had to suppress a sigh of relief when the others seemed to accept her explanation. For some strange reason, her eyes landed on Edmund. Not-so-surprisingly, the youngest king was frowning.

"One mistake and I will do everything in my power to kick you out from this castle." His words back in his personal library resounded in her mind and unable to help it, she scowled. King Edmund raised an eyebrow and she, as a response, rolled her eyes.

"Now that everybody's ready, I think it's a fine time to go," Peter announced, now marching out of Cair Paravel. The others followed and soon, they were outside the gates.

Gentle Meadows. That was how they called this beautiful place where the Pevensies, Caspian, and Hermione were in right now. Hermione thought it was a very fitting name, seeing that in this vast meadow, everything was so... gentle. Even she, who was sitting on a blanket prepared by Susan, felt extremely relaxed by this place.

Her back was pressed against a tree trunk with the book Les Miserables opened on her lap. The men plus Lucy were playing cricket already while Susan sat on the ground, counting the score. Edmund and Caspian were teamed together while Peter and Lucy were on another team. As far as Hermione could understand, Edmund's team was winning.

"Caspian, you've gotten better!" Peter accused.

The accused king smirked and winked at his equally smirking wife. "I've had practice, High King," he retorted back. "I told you I'd beat you in the future, right?" To prove his point, the hurtled ball thrown by Peter was smoothly hit by Caspian.

Hermione grinned, shook her head at the carefree attitude surprisingly displayed by the royalties and went back to her book.

While she was already getting immersed on the part where Marius had first seen Cosette in the Luxemburg Park, a shadow loomed over her figure. She lifted her head, shielded her eyes, and discovered it had been Lucy who blocked her view.

"Come on, bookworm, why don't you join us?" Lucy asked while Hermione shrugged.

"I'm sure I'm not a very sporty person, Lucy," Hermione said, burying her nose back at the book. "I'd rather finish reading than do, you know, sporty things."

To her surprise, Lucy grabbed the book from her arms and closed it. Hermione frowned, which prompted Lucy to roll her eyes. "Come on," the younger brunette said, pulling Hermione up from her seat. "I'm sure you'll love playing it."

As Lucy dragged Hermione to the field, she exclaimed, "Oi! Hermione here will be substituting for me for a while. I'm a little exhausted now." Lucy pushed Hermione towards Peter and the High King caught her before she toppled down on the floor. "Good luck!"

"Err..." Hermione said, pointedly staring at the arms wrapped around her.

Peter seemed to notice their current position and coughed, casually retrieving back his arms. Hermione suppressed a scowl upon seeing the pink cheeks of the man.

"Are we playing or not?" Edmund butted in and Hermione rolled her eyes.

The High King also glared at his younger brother. Turning to Hermione, he gave her the bat and made a move to teach her how to properly use it. "Well, you must put your left hand here and - "

"Your majesty, I think I do know how to hold a bat," she said, waving it around while holding it properly. Peter sheepishly smiled, pocketed his seemingly extra mindful hands today, and took a few steps away from Hermione.

"Right," he said, followed by another cough.

Peter looked at the pitcher and glared. "Go easy on her, Edmund," he warned.

"I can perfectly handle myself," Hermione interjected, frowning when both Peter and Edmund chuckled.

"We'll see about that," the black-haired king said and Hermione scowled.

"Oi, Ed!" Lucy cried. "Be careful now. You might break some glass or something."

Edmund glared at his younger sister, who innocently smiled back. "What? You did it before, remember?" she said, which prompted Edmund to roll his eyes.

He then wordlessly stared intently at Hermione and for some strange reason, Hermione felt a little nervous. She had been watching before and she must admit that he was an exceptional pitcher. Lucy had told her once that Edmund used to be part of the cricket team in their prep school and had led his team into quite a few of victories. With Edmund's added dislike for the brunette, Hermione swore he looked extra, for lack of a better word, maniacal.

The youngest king then bent down, his eyes never leaving Hermione's form, and started to twist the arm holding the ball.

Hermione fell into a defensive stance, her eyes never leaving the ball, and waited.

Edmund finally released the ball with such grace and Hermione got distracted for a bit. The keyword, though, was 'a bit' for her eyes found the ball once again and instantly, she swung her bat. The beautiful sound of her bat perfectly hitting the ball reached her ears and unable to help it, she smirked triumphantly at a dumbfounded Edmund.

Hermione then released her bat on the field and started to run. That had snapped Edmund off his stupor as he ran towards the ball. Both Lucy and Susan cheered for Hermione, knowing that she had hit the ball quite hard and far. Before all of them knew it, Hermione had run the opposite side and touched crease.

Lucy stood up to happily clap. Hermione, too joyous for words, pulled Peter into a tight hug and did not even care when the High King almost turned into goo. "I did it!" Hermione exclaimed, this time running towards Lucy to envelope her into a huge hug.

At the corner of her eyes, she saw Edmund's humongous scowl.

"Come on, mate, we still won," Caspian said, patting the frustrated king's back. "Although you must admit, that was a pretty nice hit a while ago, eh?"

Edmund scowled and rolled his eyes.

"Do you like it here?" Lucy asked, once again interrupting Hermione's reading.

The brunette sighed, closed her book because she knew it would be futile to finish it today, and looked up at Lucy. She and Susan were now sitting on the picnic blanket while the other three men were nowhere to be found. They had excused themselves a while ago, saying that they'd be hunting for a while, and left the young ladies alone.

Susan was happily munching on an apple as she stared at the younger ladies. Lucy was hopefully looking at Hermione, waiting for her answer. Hermione, smiling despite her interrupted reading, answered, "Well, Narnia's a wonderful place. I'm adjusting quite nicely and soon, I'll be feeling like I do not want to leave this place anymore."

To her surprise, her answer was truthful. Her growing love for Narnia was becoming alarming now, especially because she reckoned she was not giving enough effort to find a solution to this current predicament she was having. Back in her world, there was a war.

Back in her world, she was needed.

"Are you all right?" Susan asked, looking worriedly at the strange look on Hermione's face.

Blinking, she smiled distractedly. "Yes, I'm fine... I think another snippet came into my mind, though," she said, shrugging. "It's becoming frequent now. I'm guessing I'll soon be able to know important things about myself to understand why I'm here and all."

Lucy crawled closer to Hermione and sat down closer to the brunette. "Will you be mad if I told you I want you to become my sister?" the youngest of the three asked, looking up at Hermione hopefully.

The brunette was caught off-guard. Her widened eyes landed on Susan, who smiled in return.

"I must say that you act like an older sister that I've always wanted," Su said, smiling as she patted Hermione's arm. "Which is a little strange, mind you, seeing that I'm a hundred years older than you are."

"If something, I don't know... happened, you're always welcome in Cair Paravel, Hermione," Lucy truthfully said, placing her head on top of Hermione's shoulder.

Hermione's heart warmed at such honest words from the two queens. It had only been a few weeks, a month perhaps, ever since she properly met them and to see that their trust on her was astounding made her a little teary-eyed. She wrapped an arm over Lucy's shoulder and held Susan's extended hand.

"I think living here isn't bad at all," she said.

It had scared her how much honesty was in her words.

"The Wizarding World needs me," Hermione told herself for the umpteenth time as she walked up the stairs. She had been telling that to herself ever since they all came back from the Gentle Meadows. It was unnerving that for a few hours, she had forgotten Hogwarts, the Second War, and the Light Side. It also made her ashamed that in here, she was pampered and happy while in her world, a lot of people were suffering and miserable.

"The Wizarding World needs me," she told herself one last time as she walked towards the third door from the right.

She had decided to go to Susan's library today and continue her research. The married queen graciously offered her library and as soon as they came back from the Gentle Meadows, she ventured off to the second floor.

The other royalties were having a meeting right now with some of their Narnian soldiers and Hermione was finally left at peace.

She pushed open the door of Susan's personal library. As she walked inside, she could instantly feel the difference between this library and Edmund's. Edmund's library smelled like old books while Susan's smelled like the said queen's perfume.

She hated to admit it but she preferred the smell of Edmund's library over Susan's.

Slightly frowning, Hermione started her little task of researching for her way out of Narnia.

Two and a half hours passed but this little task of hers seemed futile. Hermione frustratingly discovered that Susan's library was full of novels and series; it was rare to see at least an encyclopedia or something equally informative. Hermione had to admit, though, that Susan also had a good taste when it came to reading books. The problem was, all of them contained fiction. Facts were scarce.

Hermione walked out of Susan with great disappointment and she was not able to suppress it while she had luncheon with the royalties.

"Is everything all right, Hermione?" Peter asked with concern and for once, his concern was unappreciated by the brunette.

She wordlessly nodded and busied herself with her peas.

"Did you find anything in my library?" It was Susan this time and unable to help it, Hermione frowned. Her eyebrows became glued together and, tired of lying for that day, shook her head.

"There's nothing about memories or something," the brunette said, tucking a stray hand behind her ear in frustration. "Erm... I tried my very hardest to look around but - " She stopped, and then took a deep breath.

"Sorry, love," Susan said, smiling apologetically at Hermione. "I thought you only wanted to entertain yourself. All I have in my library are novels and series. I'm sure in Edmund's personal library..." The older queen faltered, looking meaningfully at her younger brother. Edmund glared and wordlessly stared at his plate.

"All right, you can use Edmund's library instead," Peter said.

"OI!" his younger brother cried, but Peter was unfazed.

He looked around the table, making it a point to overlook Edmund. "Are there any objections?" he asked.

Edmund's protest grew louder but once again, Peter was unfazed. The High King looked at the wedded couple, who both shook their head simultaneously. He then looked at Lucy, who grinned and winked at Hermione. "I see there are no objections," he said, his face the epitome of calmness. "I hope you'll find what you're looking for in Ed's personal library, Hermione."

"I see protesting is futile," Edmund exclaimed, throwing his hands up in frustration. "Fine, be that way."

Hermione thoughtfully looked at the dark-haired king and, in spite of herself, smiled at his antics. "Thank you," she genuinely said, but Edmund only muttered darkly on his plate.

Hermione was once again in Edmund's personal library, moving around and around with extreme caution. With extreme caution because the said owner of the library was sitting attentively on his study table, his eyes never leaving Hermione's form.

The brunette rolled her eyes at his direction. In frustration, she returned another useless book into its proper place. She must admit, Edmund's library was more full of facts than mere fiction. Most of them, though, were about battles and planning strategies.

'I see he's obsessed over this stuff, huh?' she asked herself, tutting at yet another how-to book. "How to Incapacitate with Precision. Seriously?" Hermione asked aloud, looking at Edmund's direction once again. The said king was now busy scrawling things on a piece of parchment. 'This guy must be a war-freak.'

An hour passed and still, Hermione had not found any useful books. She decided to sit down on a chair first and rest for a while, the book Les Miserables once again in her hands. She was already in the fourth book of Les Miserables and she was happy she was nearing the ending.

She allowed herself to read for another half an hour more before deciding to peruse the whole library again. Hermione had reached the back part of the library and somehow, it had disheartened her that she still had not found a useful book that could help her in her current predicament.

Her fingers brushed the spines of the books when suddenly, she tripped and fell down on the floor. An unwanted curse word escaped from her lips as she rolled over and glared at the offending object that had caused her to fall, only to see that interesting book she had seen a few days ago.

Time and Relative Dimension in Space glimmered darkly in the library and gingerly, Hermione clutched the book. Once again, she examined the cover and was instantly drawn to the book. It might be the magic that was running in her blood, but Hermione had this feeling that this book might be magical, too.

"Oi."

Hermione flinched. The book slipped off from her fingers and landed with a loud thud on the floor. She looked up and almost scowled upon seeing Edmund.

He gave her a strange look. "What are you doing on the floor?" he asked, frowning.

The brunette slowly stood up and inconspicuously kicked the book under the bookshelf. "I fell," she sheepishly declared. "Clumsy ol' me."

He raised an eyebrow and for a full minute, he inspected her whole form. "Anyway, Peter's asking for us now," he said, turning his face away from her as he started to walk towards the door. "Apparently, it's tea time already."

Hermione looked longingly at the book she hid and sighed. "All right," she answered and followed Edmund out of his personal library.

"Are you really sure about this, Peter?" Caspian asked, the worry on his face evident. Susan, mirroring the expression on his husband, clutched Caspian's arm and also stared at Peter.

"Cair Paravel needs us," the queen whispered, extending her free hand to hold Peter's hand. "I'm sure that our honeymoon can wait."

Peter looked as if Susan had said the most ridiculous thing in the whole world. "Nonsense," he exclaimed, giving the trunk he was holding to Caspian. "A prophecy should not be a reason to stifle the happiness of people. You're married. The next best thing that the two of you could do is to go have some vacation."

Susan looked fondly at her older brother and enveloped him into a big hug. "We'll be back soon," she said, kissing his cheek. "Just take care and... and be careful, for the love of Aslan. Be careful you lot."

"I should be telling you the same," Peter shot back, smiling at Susan. "There are still rebels around, you know." Peter's eyes landed on Caspian, and with a hint of warning in his voice, he added, "And do take care of my sister, Caspian. You hear me?"

"Loud and clear," Caspian grinned. Susan smiled at him and then went back to his side. She held his hand and after both of them bid their goodbyes, they both left Cair Paravel on a carriage.

Another door opened and in came Edmund with Lucy and Hermione in tow.

"They really left?" Edmund asked, the worry evident on his face. Peter nodded and the younger king sighed. "But Peter – "

"Ed," Peter said with great emphasis, his eyes landing meaningfully on Hermione. The brunette, surprised that he had looked at her, looked at Lucy in confusion. The said queen, on the other hand, smiled reassuringly at Hermione, although the brunette could detect something mysterious in the eyes of Lucy.

"I'm sure they'll be fine, Edmund," Lucy assured him, coming over to his side to wrap an arm around his torso. "Don't be such a worrywart."

Edmund was about to protest but Lucy gave him a warning look. "Right, a worrywart," he said with a sigh.

Hermione stared at the Pevensies thoughtfully and wondered what made them wear such blatant worry on their faces.

Hermione walked out of the castle and was greeted by a cold and comforting breeze. She tightened the cloak wrapped around her form and ventured into the garden of Cair Paravel.

She had been meaning to visit it for days now but things inside the castle had been quite busy; she always found herself preoccupied and unavailable.

Hermione had been to the garden a few times before but she never really had the chance to admire its beauty. The gardens in Hogwarts were full of exotic plants, especially in the greenhouses of Professor Sprout. She was sure that in this world, there would be some plants that she had never seen before.

The dry leaves crunched underneath her feet. Hermione could distinctively hear the crickets and cicadas in the trees. Lifting her head above, her eyes were mesmerized by the black velvet in the heavens, dotted with twinkling stars and the ever-beautiful moon.

The night was calm and Hermione could not wait to admire the beauty it brought as soon as she arrived at the garden.

She spotted a small gazebo at the very heart of the garden and instantly walked towards it. But as she neared it, she saw a silhouette of a person. Hermione slowed down her steps and soon made out the shape of King Edmund, seated on one of the chairs inside the gazebo.

He seemed to have heard footsteps for he looked at her direction. His eyes instantly met hers and, to Hermione's utter surprise, he smirked disbelievingly.

"Why do you always have this knack of ruining my peaceful moments?" he asked with even a hint of playfulness in his voice.

Hermione backpedalled and stared at the king in caution. "Who are you and what have you done to King Edmund?" she asked aloud.

The king sighed and tilted his head up, the back of his head resting against the backrest of his chair. "It's a peaceful night," he told her softly. "I'm not really in the mood to quarrel with you today, Miss Hermione."

The brunette blinked at him thoughtfully and finally decided to step inside the gazebo. She looked at him, waited for his protest, but none came. Cautiously, Hermione sat down on the chair opposite his. As soon as her eyes left him, they wandered all throughout the whole garden and instantly, Hermione felt at peace.

"You're quite baffling, you know," Edmund suddenly said, breaking the peaceful silence.

It took Hermione almost a full minute to tear her eyes away from the beautiful surroundings around her. Her eyes landed on Edmund and she was surprised to see that he was surveying her intently. "Baffling? How so, your majesty?" she asked.

He shrugged and played at the hem of his clothes. "I don't know... it's been a month now," he pointed out.

"And your point is?"

"I think it is a fine time to put your plan into action now," he said aloud.

Hermione, unable to help it, laughed softly in the night.

"What's so funny?" he shot back, a hint of frown now growing on his face.

"You still believe in that ulterior motive mumbo jumbo, don't you?" she asked, shaking her head. "Like what you've said, it's been a month now. I think I've proven myself well now."

Her statement was met with silence and, in Hermione's opinion, his keen eyes seemed to scrutinize her more. To her horror, her cheeks grew a little hot due to his rapt attention and it took all of her willpower not to break her gaze. She thanked Merlin for the dark night, for he was not able to clearly see her face that night.

"Still," he exclaimed, obvious conflict on his face. "I... I can't believe that my siblings took a great liking on you. Especially Peter. Oh, especially that blasted bloke."

Hermione grinned and leaned a little closer to the king opposite her. "Oh, right, want to know my ulterior motive?" she asked him so softly, looking as if she was about to share a very important secret to him.

The king opposite her raised an eyebrow at her sudden declaration.

"I plan to seduce the High King, smuggle all of your treasures, and then flee Narnia forever and ever," she said, a joking smile shown on her face.

King Edmund, on the other hand, was frowning. "That's not funny," he shot back. "Not at all."

Hermione rolled her eyes at his lack of sense of humor. "Merlin, I was joking!" she exclaimed.

His face scrunched up, questioning. "Who's Merlin?" he asked.

The brunette her bottom lip and looked away from him. "I dunno... probably a dog I used to own, which I have no recollection whatsoever?" she asked aloud, not really having the heart to think of a brilliant excuse now.

"You exclaim the name of your dog you cannot remember when you're frustrated?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. And Hermione, unable to help it, softly chuckled.

"Yes, I do," she said, grinning at the bemused king.

Edmund shook his head, disbelieving of the young woman sitting across from him. "You... you, Miss, are an enigma," he shot back.

Hermione shrugged. "Thank you," she said. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"But really, who are you?" he asked.

"I told you I - "

"No, don't give me that rubbish," he said, shaking his head. "I've told you countless times already that I know there's something more to you than a mere girl who one day just forgot everything about her."

Hermione scrutinized him intently, mentally amazed that he once again had proven to her that he was far too perceptive for her own liking. "You know," she said, refusing to answer his question, "your title as the Just seems erroneous, seeing the unfair judgment that you have over my whole identity."

The disappointment on his face was obvious when Hermione did not answer his question. But then, it dissipated away when he shrugged and shifted on his seat. "If we meet under normal circumstances, I'm sure I'll be glad to know more about you, Miss Hermione. We can be bosom friends in the whole universe, for all I care. But then again, this isn't a 'normal circumstance'."

The king then slowly stood up from his seat and bowed down in courtesy. "I'll be leaving you now," he said. "Goodnight."

He turned around and walked away from the gazebo, unaware that Hermione's eyes followed him until he disappeared inside the castle.

At that time, Hermione thought of the possible reasons for Edmund's unwanted hostility.

In the end, she came up with nothing.