Cast Away
Chapter 15 ~ Karma
'What do you mean "No one's ever tried slipping a potion of death in these goblets before," Hermione?' Ron asked, a tinge of nervousness in his voice. Every person in the Great Hall had their eyes on the Gryffindor Table, which was in ruins.
'I mean exactly what I said, Ron,' Hermione replied. 'Someone has tried to kill us,'
The Gryffindors all went pale.
'Who would do that?' Alistair asked timidly.
'Ask her,' Cassandra said, and pointed accusingly to Sigma, who's face remained blank. Ginny looked horrified.
'How dare you accuse Sigma! She's had a rough enough time without you making things harder on her!' Ginny screamed angrily at Cassandra, loud enough so that everyone could hear her.
'Well take a look at her, Ginny,' Cassandra began, 'Her eyes are still black, she has chopped her hair, and just look at her robes…' It was true, Sigma's robes were tattered and worn, nearly grey instead of their silky black colour, and Sigma looked like she had not had a decent shower since she left Hogwarts. Cassandra was also right about her hair and eyes. Sigma looked like a wreck. Sigma stared dully.
'Leave…her…alone,' Ginny said slowly, gritting her teeth, and balled her hands into fists, getting angrier by the minute. Cassandra held her hands up in a truce, not wanting to anger Ginny more.
'If not Sigma, then who?' Ron asked. Hermione sighed.
'I don't know,'
~***~
The Gryffindor Tower was dead quiet, which was a bad thing because it was only six o'clock that night. Ginny, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Sigma and Cassandra sat in the chairs, occasionally glancing at eachother, nervous stares, however, Sigma sat there calmly, never looking away from the fire place. Alistair and Colin were out serving detention with Professor McGonagall for sneaking around the castle after bed time.
Ron cleared his throat. No one payed him any attention. He cleared his throat again, this time louder.
'What do you want, Ron?' Harry asked sharply. Ron, however, turned to Sigma.
'Sigma, where did you go, you know, when you went away? I mean, you look like you haven't had a shower, or changed robes, or taken care of yourself properly,' He added the last part quickly when Sigma turned to stare him in the eyes.
'Yes, and Sigma, I think you should lighten up, it's been a long time since any of us have seen you smile!' Hermione said brightly. Sigma didn't make any effort to answer Ron's question, or smile.
'I have no reason to smile, no happiness left inside,' Sigma told them without flinching, as if that one sentence was rehearsed over and over.
'Why not? You're back here with your friends, people who love and care about you, you should be happy!' Ginny urged. Sigma roared, and she jumped up.
'I don't want people to love and care about me!' She yelled, the Gryffindors looking taken aback. As suddenly as she had exploded, Sigma grew calm, and resumed her seated position, staring into the flames.
'Sigma,' Ginny said gently, 'At least tell us where you were all this time,'
'I've been around, trying to find out who I am and what I want to do about some things that I can't change for the better,' Sigma replied, for a moment, her old self showed through, but only for a moment, and she went back to looking into the flames, as if expecting something to come from them.
'She did it, I know she did!' Cassandra suddenly cried. 'I can tell when I look at her, and she won't tell us where she's been this whole time, I bet she's gone to You-Know-Who!'
'That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard you say, Cassandra, and you've said some bloody ridiculous things in your time,' Colin said, he and Alistair were standing at the beginning of the hallway leading to the Gryffindor portrait, each boy leaning against either side of the frame with their arms folded, eyes trained on Cassandra.
'I believe it, she's going to kill us all when we're asleep!' Cassandra insisted.
'You really are digging your grave deep, Cassandra,' Ginny warned.
'Stop protecting her!' Cassandra cried desperately.
'I wouldn't have to protect her if you would stop ripping on her, and stop saying that she's out to kill us,' Ginny said.
'You wouldn't have to protect her if she would protect herself, but look at her, she doesn't care that I'm saying these things, she doesn't lift a finger to stand against my words, it's almost as if she agrees with me,' Cassandra said.
'She doesn't say anything because she's tired, weary from her time away, all Sigma needs is some rest, a shower, and for you to stop accusing her of attempted murder!' Ginny yelled.
'All Sigma needs is for you to stop talking for her, let her talk for herself,' Cassandra said stubbornly. All eyes snapped to Sigma, who was sitting very still, not wanting attention drawn to herself. Her eyes glared into the floor boards, and her face remained expressionless.
'Well, Sigma, what do you need?' Ginny asked after a few minutes. Sigma looked up, noticing that the attention was all on her.
'I need to get away,' Sigma said, looking rather hassled.
'Huh? But you just got back, Sigma, you can't leave!' Ginny cried.
'Now, Sigma, leaving is the last thing you want to do, you need to be around your friends,' Hermione said strictly.
'There you go telling her what she needs again,' Cassandra pointed out obviously, earning herself glares from Ginny, Hermione, Harry, Colin and Alistair. Ron not wanting to get involved in an argument between the girls.
'Shut up Cassandra! Go to bed or something,' Ginny said menacingly.
'No, because I know that when I'm asleep, that thing will come and murder me!' Cassandra cried, trying to express her point, however, it just made the Gryffindors really mad. Hermione whipped her wand out quicker than you could say Quidditch.
'Engorgio,' The spell hit Cassandra on her wand hand, and it began to swell painfully.
'You will address Sigma with her name, not "thing", do you understand?' Ginny growled. Cassandra nodded, grimacing from the pain in her hand.
'Make it stop!' She groaned at Hermione, who showed no mercy.
'Take back all the things you have said about Sigma -' Hermione began, but was cut off by Harry.
'She'll say anything to make you take off that curse, even if she did take it back, it would be irrelevant because she wouldn't mean it,'
'Fair statement,' Hermione said, waving her wand to release Cassandra, who's hand shrunk back to it's normal size.
'You'd better go to bed before all of this gets worse,' Harry suggested to Cassandra.
'No, I'm in this, you're not getting rid of me that easily,' Cassandra folded her arms across her chest and refused to move.
'Cassandra, I can easily put that curse back on you, so I suggest you get to bed,' Hermione said, 'Now,' She drew her wand as a threat. Cassandra slowly accepted defeat and trudged up the girls staircase.
Ginny let out a sigh of relief.
'I thought she'd never leave,' She said heavily. Once again, attention was turned to Sigma, who was silent.
'Sigma, would you like us to get you something?' Hermione asked gently. Sigma shook her head.
'What do you want? A nice shower? Black hair dye? New robes?' Ginny suggested.
'We can get it all for you,' Hermione added.
'I'm quite fine, I just think I need sleep,' Sigma stood to go to bed, but Ginny stopped her.
'At least have a nice shower before you sleep, and change into your pyjamas?' She suggested more than ordered.
'Wash your hair?' Ron suggested. Sigma glared.
'I'll have a shower, wash my hair and change.' Sigma stated, and disappeared up the staircase.
'Ginny, I think you should go with her, not in the shower, but, you know, wait outside or something, make sure she's okay,' Hermione said.
'Sounds like a plan,' Ginny said, and she followed Sigma.
~***~
Ginny woke up, in her usual bed, between Sigma and Maria's bed. Sigma was still sound asleep, as though she hadn't had a decent rest for a long time. Maria's bed was, of course, empty as Maria was home for the Christmas holidays. The night had been un-eventful after Ginny and Sigma had left the common room. Sigma had taken a shower like she said she would, and had gone straight to bed. Ginny did the same, not letting on that she was checking up on Sigma every once in a while.
Ginny got up and walked to the window in between Maria and Cassandra's beds, and noticed that Cassandra was lying in an awkward position. Ginny frowned, Cassandra usually slept on her back with her legs propped up on a pillow, because she had a back problem, but she was lying on her stomach, her legs twisted out to the sides and her head turned to the left. Her arms were sprawled all over the top end of her bed.
'Cassandra?' Ginny leant down gently, and looked at Cassandra's face. She jumped back immediately, eyes wide, hand clapped over her mouth. Ginny gasped, then screamed. Cassandra's eyes were rolled to the back of her head and her tongue was hanging from her mouth. There were no signs of breathing. Ginny began to shake, but she had to be sure. She reached her hand to Cassandra's wrist and checked for a pulse, nothing. Ginny screamed again and stumbled back, falling onto Maria's bed.
'Hermione!' Ginny screamed running out of the door and onto the staircase, 'Hermione!' She screamed again, the urgency in Ginny's voice sent Hermione running to see what the matter was.
'Ginny! What's wrong? What's going on?' Hermione cried frantically.
'It's Cassandra, she's - she's -' Ginny stammered. Hermione's eyes widdened, and she pushed past Ginny into the room. 'Dead,' Ginny whispered, finishing her sentence. Hermione let out a yelp, and came running back to Ginny.
'I, I don't understand, how could this have happened?' Hermione said, tears streaming down her face. She didn't like Cassandra, but she didn't want to see her dead either. Hermione's face suddenly turned serious. 'You did watch Sigma last night, didn't you?'
'Yes, all night until she fell asleep, she's still asleep now, why do you think she did this, Hermione? Sigma would never murder anyone, there must be a logical explaination for all of this,' Ginny insisted.
'You're right, Cassandra could have choked on something, like the pillow, or her saliva,' Hermione racked her brain for ideas.
'We should check her, you know, to see if she was strangled or something,' Ginny suggested nervously.
'Good idea,' Hermione snapped her fingers, and walked over to where Cassandra's body lay.
'Um, Hermione, on second thoughts, maybe we should get the Professors first, let them take care of this.' Ginny stammered.
'Even better,' Hermione turned away from Cassandra, and the two girls headed out the door to get help.
'Wait, we shouldn't leave Sigma here to wake up to a dead body,' Ginny said, and ran back to Sigma's bed. 'Sigma, wake up!' Ginny called.
'Huh?' Sigma moaned.
'Wake up! Cassandra's been killed, we have to warn the Professors!' Ginny cried. Sigma snapped away as if she had been hit with a broomstick.
'What? How is that possible?' Sigma yelled, glancing at Cassandra's body.
'We have to get Professor McGonagall,' Hermione said quickly. Sigma's eyes widdened.
'What if they think we did it? Everyone knows we aren't friends with Cassandra, the Professors could think this was the perfect opportunity to take her out,' Sigma said.
'Nonsense,' Hermione snapped. 'We have to go to the teachers, if we do that, then they'll be less likely to think we did it,'
'Come on Sigma, we have to go to McGonagall,' Ginny said gently, tears pricking in her eyes. Sigma got out of her bed, and threw on a school robe which was clean and un-tattered.
'I'm not dead,' A voice called out from the other side of the room. Three heads snapped towards the direction of the voice. Cassandra was standing up slowly, rubbing her neck.
'What?' Ginny cried, half relief, half disbelief.
'You mustn't have had much experience with checking pulse, Ginny,' Cassandra said as she stretched her back.
'Why were you sleeping like that?' Hermione asked suspiciously.
'I fall asleep on my back with my feet propped up with a pillow, but I toss and turn in the night, just like everyone else,' Cassandra explained.
'It's good to see that you aren't dead, you had us all worried,' Ginny said, breathing a sigh of relief. Cassandra, however, looked rather skeptical.
'I didn't think you guys liked me,'
'We don't,' Hermione said quickly. 'We just don't want to see anyone die, that's all,'
'Hermione, that wasn't very nice,' Ginny hissed.
'Come on, let's go to breakfast, I'm starved,' Hermione said, and walked out of the room.
'She's not in a good mood after last night, that's all,' Ginny explained to Cassandra.
'Oh, okay, fair enough,' Cassandra replied.
Cassandra obviously didn't want to stick around with Sigma and Ginny, so she walked past the two friends and headed down to the common room, with Sigma and Ginny watching her every step.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
HarryzBabe ~ Yeah, the gem would be pretty good to have! Do you really think I would let the Gryffindors drink the poison! Hehehe, that would just ruin the story right then and there, and I can't have that! I have much more to write about. There are protection spells in the Great Hall, which is why the lightning struck the table. I hope you liked this chapter, thank you for reading and reviewing.
Darcy16 ~ I'm glad you liked that last chapter, and I hope that this one wasn't too late! I am writing this after a 5 hour plane flight! Thank you for reading and reviewing!
rose petel ~ Well, Hermione does have a good knowledge of basically everything, and by smelling it, the smell could have been foul, or tangy, so she would have put knowledge together with a simple guess, and was right!
kura52 ~ Yes, Sigma is back, but if she can manage to kill Ginny and the rest of her friends is another story! I assume you're talking about Leanne, she's a bit of a bitch isn't she, very arrogant and Slytherin Like. Oh, just one thing that I didn't understand in your review, what does "w/e" mean? I got the general idea of what you were saying, I just wanted to know what it means! I did have fun, I had a great time! And we came second, only losing the grand final by one run! Thank you for reading and reviewing.
Kelei ~ Lol, sorry for the cliffhanger, especially when I was leaving for 11 days! I don't normally end chapters in places like that, but I just thought I'd be extremely evil for that last chapter! Sigma is a very strange character, but she's a good one to have, because no one knows what she'll do next, she's a very unpredictable character.
Miss Raynbow ~ Sigma would have forseen the lightning, even when she didn't know about it, but she saw what she so desperately wanted to see. Her own wants and needs are beginning to cloud her premonitions, pretty soon she'll be seeing things that she wants to happen, not things that actually will happen. Confused? Me too! About Dumbledore, he's a weird person, but he does seem to know everything, he may have some suspicions about Sigma, but as lawyers say "Innocent until proven guilty". Thank you for the compliment! I hope you liked this chapter.