Cast Away

Chapter 16 ~ The Worst Christmas

The days crawled by uneventful as Christmas approached. Sigma stayed out of Cassandra's way, and the night of their argument blew over without a second mention. Everyone was getting into the Christmas spirit, decorating the Great Hall and various other rooms of the castle.

Draco Malfoy wondered if his Christmas Present to Maria would get to her without fail. He had bought Maria a beautiful stationary set with golden paper, lavender envelopes with sparkling gold trimmings, and three different golden quills which wrote in black ink. The quills had spells on them to write whatever Maria said. His present to Ginny was the same. Draco hoped that Maria and Ginny would each compare gifts, and find out that they received the same gift from an anonymous person, and work it out from there.

'Draco,' A voice called from the door to the boys sixth year dorms. Draco turned to see who it was, Leanne.

'Hi, Leanne,' Draco replied. Leanne walked over to him with a large smile on her face. 'What do you have planned?' He asked. Leanne wore a small lace blouse with a blue silky bra clearly visible through the chosen blouse, and a knee length white skirt with a blue sewn butterfly on the bottom to the right. She reached out her hand and held up a small plant.

'Mistletoe,' Leanne said cheerfully, shaking the Mistletoe above their heads.

'I don't think so Leanne,' Draco replied coldly. Leanne looked shocked.

'You can't break Christmas Tradition, Draco, it wouldn't be right!'

'Fine,' Draco bent down and planted a small, quick kiss on Leanne's left cheek. She frowned when he pulled back.

'That wasn't a real kiss, are you a bad kisser?' Leanne taunted. Draco scowled, then pulled her into a deep kiss. There was no feeling in the kiss, because Draco simply didn't like Leanne. However, she seemed to think it was satisfying, because when they pulled apart, she smiled sweetly and walked off.

'Are you happy now, Leanne?' Draco called after her. Leanne stopped, but didn't turn to face him. She nodded slightly, and continued to walk out.

What was that all about? Draco thought as he watched the fifth year girl leave.

'That will make a lovely picture for the Great Hall!' Kristy Elfman, Leanne's friend in fifth year Slytherin, stepped out from behind a cabinet holding a wizard camera.

'Don't you dare think about it, Elfman,' Draco scowled, but Kristy wasn't swayed.

'I don't have to think about it, I've already taken the picture, that's all I need to do, Leanne's doing the rest,' With those words, Kristy ran out of the room and down the stairs.

~***~

Cassandra stirred in her sleep, Christmas Eve. She awoke to a small creak in the room. Cassandra climbed wearily out of bed and walked around the room for a few seconds, before noticing that Sigma's bed was empty.

Without thinking to wake Ginny, Cassandra walked out of the dormitory and down the stairs. When she reached the bottom she heard voices from within the Gryffindor common room. The first voice she recognised as Sigma's, but the other scratchy voice, well, Cassandra couldn't tell who he was, but it was definitely a male's voice.

She crept closer, leaning in slightly to get a better idea of what was being said.

'Have you succeeded in your task yet?' The scratchy voice asked.

'No, master, not quite,' Sigma replied. 'I did slip the death potion in their goblets like you asked me to, but lightning struck the Gryffindor Table before they had the chance to drink it, and then know-it-all Hermione Granger smelt her goblet and knew that there was a potion of death in there,' She finished.

'I suggest you get moving, time is running out, the Ministerial Gem is moving further and further away with each leap, making it harder to track,' The voice continued. 'So the sooner you get these people killed, the easier it will be for you to get the Gem,'

'Yes, Voldemort,' Sigma said, and there was a pop. Cassandra held her breath, she couldn't believe what she had heard. Sigma had been talking to Voldemort about killing her, and her fellow Gryffindors. She had to tell Ginny, and the others, she had to warn them. Cassandra crept silently up the stairs as fast as she could without making any sound.

I can't wait until morning, Sigma may have killed us by then! I have to wake up Ginny and Hermione now! Cassandra thought to herself as she entered her dormitory. She crossed the room to Ginny's bed and shook her awake.

'Huh, what's going on?' Ginny asked groggily.

'Ginny! It's Sigma, I saw her talking to You-Know-Who in the Gryffindor common room! He was in the fireplace or something, I don't know, but he was there, and Sigma's going to kill us so she can get back to searching for something called the Ministerial Gem which is what she's been doing all this time, looking for it, oh we have to wake Hermione up, she'll know what to do! We can't go back to sleep, we may never wake up! Sigma could strike when we're asleep, or she could even invade our dreams like Freddy Cruger does,' Cassandra finally stopped to take some much needed breaths. Ginny looked confused.

'Slow down, what's this about Sigma talking to You-Know-Who? And who's Freddy Cruger?'

'He's in some Muggle movies, don't worry about him, it's Sigma that we have to watch out for, she's trying to kill us! I heard her say that she slipped the poison into our goblets that day!' Cassandra cried frantically.

'You're crazy, it was probably a dream,' Ginny said, 'Now please let me get back to sleep,' She rolled over so that her back was facing the other girl, but Cassandra wouldn't give up.

'Please Ginny, I know what I saw, I know what I heard! We have to get Hermione!' Cassandra pleaded.

'You go get Hermione, I'll just wait right here,' Ginny said sardonically.

'Please, Ginny! You have to come with me!' The desperation in Cassandra's voice finally got the better of Ginny. She crawled out of bed and threw on her cloak.

'Fine, let's go get Hermione and see if she knows anything about this Ministerial Gem,' Ginny replied, and the two girls headed up the stairs to Hermione's room. She was the only sixth year girl staying there, and the room felt so big and empty. Cassandra and Ginny rushed over to Hermione's bed and shook her awake.

'Hermione!' Cassandra cried.

'Wake up,' Ginny said calmly.

'What do you two want? It's four in the morning,' Hermione said glancing at her wrist watch.

'It's Sigma, I saw her down in the common room talking to You-Know-Who through the fireplace or something, but he was definitely there, I heard him speak! He said something about a Ministerial Gem, and how it relocates and it's moving further away, and then he said that Sigma has to hurry up to kill us so that she can go and get the Gem!' Cassandra rushed her explanation. Hermione creased her brow.

'You've got to be telling the truth, how else would you know about the Ministerial Gem, you don't learn about that in classes, and you could have only known if you studied the Book of Ancient Realms, which I'm sure you haven't,' Hermione said. Ginny frowned.

'Sigma can't really be out to kill us, can she?'

'I don't know, Ginny, but the part about the Ministerial Gem makes sense,' Hermione sat up.

'Tell us about the Gem,' Cassandra urged, and the two fifth years sat on Hermione's bed.

'Well, it is a clear green gem the size of the palm of your hand, spheric in shape. It was forged by a Wizard named Hugo Minister in 23BC using a golden cauldron. No one knows what he put in the cauldron, but it is known that the Gem, before becoming the Ministerial Gem, was just an ordinary diamond, a large one at that,' Hermione paused to take a breath before continuing. 'The Gem possesses great power, the power to make the holder invincible. It can relocate itself when being hunted, and can even hide in people's dreams, which might explain what Sigma was doing in your dream a while ago, Cassandra,'

'Did Ginny tell you about that?' Cassandra asked.

'Yes, I did tell Hermione about that,' Ginny answered.

'So Sigma can invade people's dreams? We're not safe asleep of awake!' She cried.

'You haven't by any chance, seen the Freddy Cruger movies?' Hermione asked suspiciously. Cassandra nodded meekly.

'What's all this about Freddy Cruger?' Ginny asked, looking between both girls.

'He's just a character in some movies who kills people in their dreams,' Cassandra said turning white.

'That's right, a character in a few movies, not reality,' Hermione said.

'Sigma's Muggle born, she could have seen those movies, and she could have gotten some ideas from them when she realised that she could go into people's dreams!' Cassandra's voice shaking nervously as she spoke.

'You two can sleep in here, I'll put a charm on the room to keep Sigma out, okay? We need rest,' Hermione said taking out her wand.

~***~

After present opening the next morning, all the Gryffindor's headed down to the Great Hall for their Christmas breakfast. Ginny and Hermione were careful not to intentionally leave Sigma out, or treat her any different than they would normally, so that she wouldn't get suspicious.

Leanne stepped out in front of Ginny.

'Look around you, Weasley, aren't they nice photo's of Draco and myself?'

'Lovely photo's,' Ginny gave a sarcastic smile, and walked away from Leanne.

After breakfast, Ginny walked out by herself, seemingly forgetting something back in the Gryffindor common room. Actually, she just wanted to get away from Sigma.

How did it come to this? Ginny asked herself. How did my sweet, innocent, shy best friend become a pawn of You-Know-Who? Why did she run to him when she had all the help she needed right here, it's not fair! Now she's trying to kill us!

Ginny's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a tall male who stepped out of the shaddows. Ginny snapped out of her little world and looked at him, Draco Malfoy, the last person she wanted to see at a time like this.

'Hi Weasley,' He drawled.

'What do you want this time, Malfoy?' Ginny questioned.

'Nothing that you aren't capable of giving me,' Draco replied.

'Excuse me?'

'You heard me,'

'You have Leanne, she should be more than enough to satisfy your male hormones,' Ginny huffed, growing impatient with him.

'I may have Leanne, but she does not have me,' He lowered his voice to a whisper, and Ginny had to strain herself to hear what he was saying.

'What does that mean?' Ginny asked, but instead of answering her question, Draco looked up. Ginny followed his gaze, and much to her horror, saw a bunch of Mistletoe. 'No way,' Ginny said, and turned to walk away, but Draco caught her arm and spun her around, wrapping his arms around her waist to prevent her from running away.

'It's tradition, Weasley, you wouldn't want to break Christmas Tradition, would you?' He purred into her ear.

'No way, not with you,' Ginny said, but her tone didn't sound convincing, actually, she sounded like she was giving in after a long game of playing hard to get.

'Ow, go on, you know you want it as much as I do,' Draco whispered.

'You do not want to kiss me any more than I want to kiss you,' Ginny replied.

'Then why won't I let you go?' Draco asked, and Ginny felt light headed.

'You could have Leanne, yet you choose not to,' Ginny replied, trying to stay strong, and fight the ever growing urge to give in and kiss him.

'That's right, I don't want Leanne,' Draco replied. Ginny felt herself go limp in his arms, but she could do nothing about it. He must have felt the change in her stance, because at that moment he leaned in to kiss her. Ginny mustered some strength and pushed her hand against his chest, keeping him a few inches away from her.

'What if someone saw?' Ginny asked, trying desperately to make up any excuse she could think of.

'No one would see, they're all still at breakfast,'

'Leanne, what about her? She would find out! She has her ways,' Ginny's resistance grew stronger.

'Who cares about Leanne Brayshaw?' Draco growled, and leant down to kiss Ginny, her eyelids fluttering. Ginny felt her heart skip a beat as Draco pressed his lips against hers. She had never really kissed a guy before, but instinct took over, and soon the kiss turned into a fiery, passionate kiss which neither person could bring themselves to pull out of.

Draco pulled back. The kiss had only lasted seconds, but to Ginny it felt like much longer than that. Draco winked at her, and walked past her, back in the direction of the Great Hall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

sera ~ er, I just chose a name that wouldn't sound corny. That's what I try to do when I make up characters, I don't pick names that sound like Mary-Sue names. Why do you ask? Well, about the story line, some parts of it are meant to be depressing, some are meant to be scary, and some are just there to fill in the time. I hope you continue to read and review.

rose petel ~ Well, in the last chapter, Cassandra didn't actually know that Sigma was trying to kill them, she just took a guess based on Sigma's appearance, secrecy about where she'd been, and the fact that Cassandra hates Sigma may have had something to do with it. Now, after this chapter, they know for certain that Sigma is trying to kill them.

kura52 ~ I didn't make Cassandra dead because I needed her in this chapter to discover Sigma talking to Voldemort. I haven't quite decided if Sigma will manage to kill people or not, but the whole "Freddy Cruger" thing will most certainly come into my story. If you're not sure about it, just watch the movie Freddy Vs Jason, then you'll understand.

Latrikana ~ Sorry to confuse you with the whole Cassandra-not-being-dead thing, it was meant to give the readers a scare, and think that Sigma had actually killed someone. I hope you liked this chapter, thank you for your review.

HarryzBabe ~ I'm glad you thought that Sigma had actually killed Cassandra, that was how I was trying to make it out, so that people would think that Sigma had started killing people. Besides, I needed Cassandra for this chapter. I hope you liked it.

DMSBLuva ~ Thank you for the compliment! The part where Cassandra "died" was supposed to make readers scared that Sigma had killed her, so I'm glad it worked! Well, what can I say, Ginny's noticed that Sigma might kill her, and she's not too happy about it. If it weren't for Draco interfering, Ginny would have revealed more about her feelings towards Sigma, but that will come in the next chapter!

Darcy16 ~ Thank you for your compliments, I'm glad you liked that last chapter. I hope this one was as good, do you think I should make them longer? Thank you for reading and reviewing.