Floating ||Edmund Pevensie FanFiction||

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"Yeah, he's from our mom's side."

Charlotte mouthed an ah expression in a moment of epiphany, and a subconscious smile tugged on her lips. Just when she thought the Pevensies could not be any more blessed with such a big family, she only realised how little she knew about them.

"That's really fascinating," she remarked, completely oblivious to their vexation, "what's he like?"

"A pompous little brat, that's what he's like," Edmund snorted, which earned laughter from Lucy, "it's abhorrent, more like."

"Why aren't you going home anyway?"

"We can't."

"Our parents are away in the United States." Lucy shared. "Su's with them."

Charlotte, with her eyebrows raised, nodded in understanding. She examined their glum expressions as they trudged onward. They huffed a sigh, instantly welcoming the silence that followed their conversation until they had left the train station.

"And they went without you?"

At her sudden question, the two siblings glanced at each other, as if insisting the other to answer her query. She shifted her glance between the two, awaiting their response. With every passing second of their silence, she began to regret her remark, wishing that she could retract it.

"We're still in school," Lucy lifted her shoulders in defeat, "so we're left behind."

"What about Peter? He's still pursuing his studies, isn't he?"

"He's staying with a professor in the countryside to study for his exams."

"Why couldn't you stay there, then?"

"Well, the professor couldn't take us all in," Lucy explained, "some things have changed for him since the war. He hasn't got enough space to spare at this moment."

"'Course, it'd be easier to admit that we're simply the forgotten children," Edmund added bluntly.

Charlotte shook her head in disagreement. "I'm sure that they care for you just as much as they do for Peter and Susan, otherwise they wouldn't have made this arrangement to ensure that there's a roof over your head."

To her surprise, her words had little effect on Edmund. Though his frown had vanished, his lips only hung in a straight line. The only conclusion that she was able to draw afterwards, from the absence of his smile, was his dissatisfaction with her justification.

"You're applauding them for doing the bare minimum?" His voice was soaked in sarcasm, stunning her immediately. "Don't be daft. They can't possibly leave us out on the streets."

She fell silent, and lifted her shoulders in defeat.

"Edmund!"

"What?!"

"Charlotte's right," Lucy crossed her arms, "we ought to be grateful. Besides, we have Charlotte here to keep us company. If we'd gone with them, who'll keep her company?"

Edmund studied Charlotte's soft expression, instantly washed over by remorse for his remark. After all, living with her aunt was the only thing the adults could come up with after her parents' passing.