HIRAETH - P. PEVENSIE (2)

I. Fernweh

Fernweh - a longing for far-off places.

❦

Boarding school was certainly not what she expected.

Lilith Chapman had been expecting weird hours, mean teachers, itchy uniforms, rude roommates, a breakup, and much more. That's why she was pleasantly surprised that her first year at St. Finbar's School for Girls was amazing.

She had picked up on all of her subjects with ease, even having to help her boyfriend, Peter Pevensie, with his own work occasionally. Her roommates were friendly enough, staying up well into the night when Lilith wanted to gush about Peter. The uniforms weren't her favorite, but they were comfortable. Her teachers were actually well-educated and prepared to deal with insubordinate children. The schedule she was given upon arrival made perfect sense, and she was pleased it left time for her to go off on her own. She often spent the free time with her boyfriend, his brother, Edmund, his sister, Susan, and when she came a year later, his other sister, Lucy. They were closely-knit, and all wise beyond their years. Given that Lilith and Peter were the oldest, they were the ones to help the younger kids with work and classrooms. Susan and Edmund had both been there before, so they didn't need much help, but Lilith escorted Lucy to most of her classes. Life was good, as far as she was concerned.

And yet she couldn't help but miss Narnia, the magical land she and the Pevensies had ruled over but a year before. She had finished her teenage years there, growing up to marry Peter and help rule. They had been expelled when they found their same way in, only to find that no time had passed in the normal world. The house they were sent to to avoid The Blitz was owned by an old professor, Prof. Digory Kirke. He was a friend to Narnia and was curious about their adventures. They were at his house for only a few months more before being sent back home. Lilith's foster parents had been happy to send her to the Pevensie's for the rest of the time before the school year started, then even more so when she told them she would be boarding for free. They were as glad to be rid of her as she was them.

She and Peter had the hardest time adjusting to normal life of the group. Peter had been High King, and Lilith had been married to him for ten years before they left. He couldn't accept that they were all just kids again, not foreboding rulers of a magical land in a closet. Lilith had still beat him in adjusting, and helped him along the way. His temper had gotten much worse since coming back; he got in fights nearly every day, sometimes more than once a day. She often pulled him from them, yanking him into a corner in the courtyard. She had to speak to him in a calm voice and often kiss him before he would go with her to the library, where they studied together. They stole many a kiss over their books in there, smiling and laughing together. They were just happy to be near each other.

Susan was a great help in getting Lilith used to the hallways of the school. By the time Lucy came the following year, Lilith was as much her guide as Susan was. She always had great fun with the Pevensie siblings.

"Here, sit."

She was guiding Peter to a bench by the train, holding his one hand with both of hers. She was trying to explain something she had learned earlier, something he wasn't picking up on at all. They were nearly at the bench when another boy knocked into him, nearly shoving him to the ground.

"You going to apologize?"

Lilith felt Peter stiffen beside her and groaned internally. "Peter-"

Before she could say more than his name he had already punched the boy in the face, starting another one of his brawls.

"Peter! Stop!" She tried yelling, which usually worked, but this time it did nothing. She didn't step in to the fight, as that would have only gotten her injured. Instead she ran out, pushing through the slowly forming crowd. People watched as she ran away, muttering about her as she went past them. That's her boyfriend fighting down there. I don't know what he sees in her. A girl should let her man fight; that's just how things are. She ran all the way out, only stopping when she reached where Lucy and Susan were standing at a newspaper stand.