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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐀𝐈𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐋 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 this crowded before, let alone with shivering people. The crackling of the flames and wood sounded through the chamber and although an occasional clattering of teeth added to it, there also hung an anticipation in the air. Both parties wanted to know more about the other.

Elodie warmed her hands around the cup filled with a steaming hot dark liquid, given to her by Noelle, and the scent that swirled up from it reminded Elodie of hot chocolate but less sweet. She didn't like chocolate all too much, but the smell made her stomach rumble and she took a careful sip.

A pleasant warmth spread through her body and she sighed as the cold seemed to leave her bones. However, she knew she would need a warm bath before she could leave the ghost of the freezing ache actually behind her. She took another sip, observing her friends over the edge of the mug.

Most seemed to recover from the cold, though they had given Elodie a heart attack as soon as they had been brought inside. Their faces white as snow, their lips blue as ice, and their bodies stiff as corpses. It would haunt her forever.

Elodie moved her gaze from Ella and Oliver ─ who shared the same blanket and sat shivering in front of the hearth ─ to their rescuers by the door. They talked softly to one another, but when one of them noticed her stare, he nodded in her direction and their whispering stopped.

Elodie crossed eyes with the young man in whose arms she had collapsed and she felt a blush creeping up her cheeks. She quickly tried to hide it by shaking some of her auburn hair in front of her face as she blew over the hot drink and averted her eyes. Though she should be happy her blood circulation was up and running again, she also tried to reason with herself. She would be lying if she didn't think he was handsome with his strong jawline and well-toned body, but she didn't know anything about him. Or even where they were.

Still, Elodie's heart skipped a beat when he walked towards her and sat down in front of her with crossed legs. His blue eyes traveled over the others in a relaxed manner, not afraid to meet their gaze as they curiously observed him as well.

'Your friends seem to be recovering well,' he said, his look now solely on her, and Elodie nodded as she set down the cup in front of her on the floor.

'They are. Thank you again, for helping,' she said.

A small smile played around his lips. 'It is not in our nature to turn our backs on those who need our help.' He paused for a moment, before speaking again. 'Noelle told us your name is Elodie?'

Elodie looked at the red-haired young woman who handed Vittoria a mug of the hot liquid as well now that her hands were no longer too shaky to hold something.

'That's right,' Elodie answered.

'My name's Peter.' He turned a bit more sideways and gestured vaguely to the others near the door. 'The dark-haired girl is my twin sister June. Standing next to her are my younger siblings, Edmund and Lucy. The other two men are called Caspian and Darkan. You have already met Noelle, and the young man taking care of the horses back in the stables is called Caolán.'

Elodie quietly recited their names and since Peter had spoken loud enough for her friends to hear it as well, she wondered if she should introduce them too. Fifteen names, however, would be a whole lot harder to remember, so Elodie gave him another grateful smile instead. 'It is a pleasure to meet you all.'

'I would ask for your friends' names,' Peter began, 'but I think we need to find some name tags first.'

Elodie chuckled as they seemed to be thinking the same, and though Peter grinned as well, he cleared his throat when he saw June crossing her arms in the corner of his eye.

'We are curious as to why you were all walking through the snow strangely under-dressed, though,' Peter continued, his voice serious once again. Lucy and he thought they could be from earth like them, but Edmund and June had reasoned people from their world didn't dress like that. Caspian, Noelle and Darkan didn't think they were from Narnia or any of the other surrounding countries as well, but they had to find out for sure.

Elodie lowered her eyes to her folded hands in her lap, turning the golden ring set with amber gemstones around her finger a few times while she contemplated how much she could, or should, tell him. Peter seemed to have been honest so far and she didn't believe he was a bad person. Still, she glanced at Ella who immediately caught her eyes and she shrugged minuscule. Her fellow Hufflepuff didn't mind what she answered.

'We didn't exactly plan on coming here,' Elodie said eventually. She sounded way too cryptic to her own liking, but perhaps this tempted Peter in telling where they were.

Peter, however, exchanged a meaningful look with his twin before focusing on Elodie again. 'I really like your accent.'

Elodie felt the blood rushing to her cheeks once more, and Ella attempted to cover up her giggle with a cough.

'Thanks,' Elodie said. 'It's French,' she added before thinking it through.

'French?' Edmund repeated, pushing himself off the wall with one of his feet and uncrossing his arms. 'So you are from Earth?'

A stunned silence descended on the group; the Pevensies, Telmarine and Archenlanders surprised by the realization, whereas the Hogwarts students and alumni gaped at the odd question.

'No, we're from the bloody moon,' Phoenix said, speaking up for the first time. 'Of course we're from Earth, you wanker.'

Giulia and Mina laughed at his comment but Vittoria pulled a thoughtful face. Why would Edmund ask something like that, unless. . ?

'But you are no longer on Earth,' Peter said to Phoenix, confirming Vittoria's deduction, and Giulia and Mina's laughter quickly faded away.

'Welcome to Narnia,' Caspian added, and Ella started to feel a bit lightheaded. How were they ever going to get back? They had no magic and they were trapped in a whole other world.

'Maybe they are Americans,' Lucy said, glancing up at her older sister. 'You said their fashion is different than ours.'

'Not that much different,' June answered while Phoenix dramatically gasped for air.

'American?!' he repeated in shock. 'I am British and proud, thank you very much.'

Something else clicked in Vittoria's mind. 'Peter, you and your siblings, you're from England too.'

Peter nodded, but Elodie observed her own clothes as Lucy and June's words still rang between her ears. Something still seemed off.

She glanced at Peter and his siblings, they were already dressed for the circumstances outside ─ thick layered clothing and firm boots ─ but they probably had done so as soon as they had arrived.

Elodie and her friends weren't dressed in their Hogwarts robes, but even their muggle clothes looked weird in the siblings' eyes.

'Peter,' she started and he looked at her again, his blue eyes curious. 'What year is it? Not here, but on Earth?'

Peter frowned by the strange question, but still answered without hesitation. '1946.'

'No, that can't be right.' Phoenix laughed shortly but without humour. 'It's 1998.'

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𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆:

𝒚𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒔, 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒅𝒖𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍.
𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚.
𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆.
𝑰 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒓!

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𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓:

𝑬𝒍𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝑩𝒆𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒚 @ 𝒎𝒆
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𝑵𝒐𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆 𝑶𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅 (𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚) 𝒃𝒚 Detective_Pevensie
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