Cast Away

Chapter 17 ~ The Bad Touch

School had resumed, bringing back all people who had been away over the holidays. Maria's pregnancy was beginning to show, so she always wore extremely baggy robes, even just around the castle when there were no classes.

Ginny, on the other hand, was torn up over what had happened on Christmas. She hardly remembered it clearly, all she had was occasional flashes of the kiss happening. She didn't remember what it was like, let alone how it felt. Confusion swept over her like a blanket. Ginny knew that she didn't want anyone like Malfoy. That was that, her mind made up, she would completely stay out of his, and Leanne's way.

Sigma was lying low, playing nice. She didn't want them to suspect anything, especially after the incident with Cassandra, trouble was that Ginny, Hermione and Cassandra already knew Sigma's intentions.

So Ginny walked back to the Gryffindor common room with Sigma after a hard, first day back, of classes.

'So, Sigma, didn't think much of that Potions Lesson, eh?' Ginny said, laughing nervously, trying to make idle chit-chat. Sigma frowned and trained her midnight black eyes on Ginny's.

'Mmm, not much,' She replied suspiciously. Just then Hermione stepped out from around a corner, putting on a big fake smile.

'Hi Ginny, Sigma, what a coincidence I would run into you two,' Hermione chuckled.

'Hi…Hermione,' Ginny said slowly, and in a voice that said What are you doing?

'We- I was just wondering if we - I could have a word with Ginny? Come for a walk,' Hermione giggled and kept up her fake smile. Sigma obviously saw right through it, as she frowned dangerously.

'I don't see why not,' Sigma's words were icy, making Hermione laugh nervously.

'Thanks, I'll have her back to you in one piece!'

'Wouldn't have it any other way,' Sigma muttered, and walked off. Ginny immediately glared at Hermione.

'What are you playing at? Sigma is beginning to get weird and suspecting of something! You've just gone and made it worse, practically confirming her suspicions!' Ginny hissed.

'Sorry,' Hermione said sincerely. 'I just saw you talking to her, and it looked very much like an awkward situation, so I went and got you out of it, didn't I?'

'Yeah,' Ginny nodded. 'Thanks I guess,'

'Well, Sigma hasn't said or done anything to make us think she wants to kill us, so I believe she's lying low for a while, most likely from the incident with Cassandra,' Hermione said.

'That's believable,' Ginny replied, 'And true, she's been kind of acting like her normal self, apart from her deathly appearance and all,' As she said that, Cassandra jumped out at them, wide eyed and scared.

'Don't you see? She's just biding her time! She's waiting back, planning on how she's going to kill us! She's going to kill us! There's nothing we can do to stop her! This is serious! How can you be so calm?' Cassandra cried.

'Shhh,' Ginny and Hermione both put a finger to their lips and looked around anxiously to make sure no one had heard them. Unfortunately, Cassandra had been with Julia and Maria when she had jumped out and started panicking. Maria and Julia stepped out, both looking terrified.

'Sigma's trying to kill us?' Julia's lip quivered.

'What about my baby?' Maria said, placing a hand protectively over her stomach.

'Can we talk about this somewhere else?' Hermione said in a hushed whisper.

All five girls were completely silent as they walked out of the Castle and across the grounds, getting as far away as they dared to prevent anyone following them, or overhearing something they didn't want anyone to overhear. When they finally stopped, Cassandra almost exploded.

'How can you stand there and discuss that maniac like nothing's wrong?'

'Settle down, Cassandra, Sigma isn't a maniac-'

'To hell she isn't,' Maria stopped Ginny, who frowned at the pregnant girl.

'Would you let me finish?' Ginny growled. 'Anyway, Sigma isn't a maniac, she's just confused, and lost, alone. She needs some space, and time to sort herself out, I never thought I'd say this, but it would be best for everyone if Sigma just went away again,'

'Yes, that would be best, for all of us,' Julia confirmed.

'The last words she communicated to me before she left the first time, are burned into my memory; I know what you're thinking, I can see it when I see you. I am beyond help. As for my eye, the black represents my mental and physical struggle. The more I try to be normal, the blacker it becomes, making me even more of a freak. I can see from it, but the world is seen to me in flames. My right eye sees as you do, but it too will soon become black. I sense that your worry decreases as I continue to shunt you out. I am no longer myself, and I fear that I will harm you if I keep you close. I do not want to bring you, or anyone else to harm, that is why I am avoiding everyone as much as possible. I fear I may do something that I would not have control over. My temper has reached it's end, I no longer am in control of my actions. For that I am sorry. The only thing keeping me sane is my mind, explaining why I can speak freely to you this way. Before I disappear, I would just like you to know that I meant none of this. Just know that I am sorry. Have a great life, our paths may cross sooner than you think.'

And so Ginny quoted the exact words that Sigma had told her the night she ran away.

'Wow, I never thought of it like that,' Cassandra said, her voice expressionless.

'Me neither,' Hermione admitted. 'That does make it hard to be angry at Sigma,'

'No way! I'm still mad at her, do you know why? Because she's trying to kill us!' Cassandra reminded them. Ginny gave her an icy look.

'Thanks for sharing that, I'd almost forgotten,' She commented sarcastically.

'Well it's true, okay, whether she's insane or not, she's trying to kill us,' Cassandra pouted.

'Don't call her insane!' Ginny roared.

'Well that's what she is, according to what you said were her last words to you that night,' Cassandra said, making an extremely valid point.

'You should really learn to keep your mouth shut,' Hermione warned.

'I'm just fearing for my life, as you should be too! We know what she's capable of, she slipped us a potion of death! Who knows what else she'll do, what lengths she'll go to, just to make sure we don't wake up the next morning,' Cassandra commented. Ginny sighed and bowed her head.

'You're right, I guess,'

'I know it's hard, but you just have to accept the fact that you might have to start sleeping with one eye open, we can't all sleep in Hermione's room forever, she's bound to start noticing,' Cassandra said softly. All the fifth year girls had taken to sleeping in Hermione's room with the sixth year girls, with Hermione's carefully placed spells.

'Maybe we could put those spells on the curtains of our beds,' Maria suggested carelessly.

'That's a great idea, Maria,' Hermione said proudly. Maria beamed.

'Well, we should probably get back to the common room and pretend that we aren't plotting against Sigma, because that's probably how it seems,' Julia piped up.

~***~

'Ginny,' Ginny didn't make a move to see who was calling to her, 'Ginny!' A hand touched her shoulder and she spun around. Ginny found herself facing Harry Potter's big green eyes.

'Hi, Harry,' She said.

'I wanted to talk to you about something,' He said, Ginny glanced at her watch.

'Can it wait? I'm kind of running late for - well I'm meeting someone,' Ginny finished lamely. Harry frowned.

'Meeting who?' Harry gave a suspicious frown.

'No one really, well, no one that you would know very well,' Ginny said quickly.

'Is that so? Well, it can't wait,' Harry said forcefully. 'I'm worried about you, ever since Sigma's been back, you've been acting strangely, is there something you would like to tell me? What's wrong with you?'

'I'm sorry Harry, but I really don't have time to answer your questions,' Ginny said, and turned to walk off.

'Ginny, Ginny wait,' Harry called after her, but she made no move to go back to him.

~***~

'Where is she, Draco?' Leanne demanded, stomping her foot, and folding her arms. 'You said she would be here at five, she's late!'

'She'll be here, I slipped her that note,' Draco replied, getting rather impatient himself.

'What note?' Leanne asked.

'While she was talking to Hermione in the hallway, and Cassandra jumped out yelling something about Sigma which I didn't really hear much of, I slipped Ginny a note telling her to meet me,' Draco explained.

'Did you say it was you?' Leanne asked. 'Did you say I would be with you?' Draco shook his head.

'No, I didn't leave my name, or yours, but when she gets here it will be too late for her to leave anyway,' Draco said.

'Why do you want to meet her anyway?' Leanne asked out of curiosity.

'Why do you want to be here when I'm meeting her?' Draco flipped the question on her skilfully. Leanne raised an eyebrow.

'Well, I want to hear what you have to say to her, and then I would like a word with her myself,' Leanne answered. 'Now why was it that you wanted to meet her again?'

'That's none of your business, and I think you should leave,'

'Why?'

'Because I don't want you here when I'm associating with Ginny,' Draco drawled. Both Slytherins heard a door click shut. Draco ran to it and threw it open, only to find Ginny sprinting down the hallway.

'Now look what you made me do, Leanne,' Draco glared at her for a second before sprinting after Ginny, leaving a stunned Leanne behind.

He caught up with her quite easily and grabbed her waist, spinning her around to face him. She evaded her eyes from looking into his.

'Hi,' He said playfully, trying to get her to look at him, unsuccessfully.

'Would you let go of me?' Ginny ordered more than asked, still refusing to look into his eyes, instead, her eyes locked onto a nearby suit of armour.

'Why did you come if you did not want to see me?' Draco asked.

'If I'd known it was you who slipped me that note, I never would have come,'

'How could you not have known? Who else would want to meet you? Face it, your friends don't appreciate you, hell, one of them is even trying to murder you,' Draco said, his voice cold. However, his choice of words made Ginny look at him in shock horror.

'How -'

'How do I know about Sigma? Quite obvious really, all you have to do is look at her to know she's up to something, but actually, you should tell Cassandra to keep her mouth shut in the hallways,' Draco sneered.

'You shouldn't eavesdrop like that,'

'It isn't my fault she practically screams it in my ear, I was just passing by and I hear this ranting about how Sigma's trying to murder you all,' Draco said innocently, which was mostly true, all he was trying to do was slip the note in Ginny's pocket. She noticed he still had his arms around her waist.

'Would you like to let me go now? Christmas is over, Draco, no more Mistletoe, no more kisses.'

'Such harsh words,'

'I saw you back there with Leanne, what were you two talking about? Me?'

'Actually, yes, I wanted her to piss off so I could talk to you alone,' Draco replied.

'What makes you think I'm going to believe you?' Ginny argued.

'Because I know your situation,'

'What do you mean, you know my situation?' Ginny asked suspiciously.

'Well, I know what it's like to be on someone's "To Kill" list, and I know what it's like to be undepreciated by people who are considered friends,'

'What are you talking about?' Ginny said slowly.

'I'm talking about you, don't think I haven't seen you get picked on by Brently, Thorn, Chambers, Cassady and Hickling, even Potter, Granger and Weasley occasionally are nasty to you,' Draco said, referring to Ginny's friends by their last names; Maria Brently, Julia Thorn, Cassandra Chambers, Phillip Cassady and Drew Hickling.

'You watch me?' Ginny asked suspiciously.

'I know a lot of things that go on in this school, I have that social status to get certain information, however, much like you, I have one true friend, and that is all,' He concluded.

'Is that so,' Ginny stated. 'I think I have more than one true friend,'

'As a matter of fact, true friends don't try to murder eachother, so I'm betting you don't have any true friends,' Draco dared to say, earning himself a hard slap on the cheek. 'Okay, I deserved that,'

'You should stay out of other people's business, Malfoy, and would you be so kind as to remove your hands from around my waist?' Ginny spat sarcastically.

'I'm not stupid, if I let you go, you'll run away, and I'm in no mood to play cat and mouse,' Draco told her.

'What makes you think you would be playing cat and mouse with me? What makes you think I'm the slightest bit interested in you, Malfoy? Answer me that,' Ginny cried.

'Well, that kiss was a dead give away,'

'I'm absolutely disgusted! Why are you even interested in me anyway?' Ginny yelled angrily. 'I'm a Weasley! I'm your enemies sister, I'm in Gryffindor! What is it about me that appeals to you?'

Of course, Draco couldn't tell her the truth, about him wanting to sleep with both Ginny and Maria after that night in the Hospital Wing. Instead, he released Ginny's waist, turned and began to walk off.

'Wait just a minute,' Ginny called after Draco suspiciously, running up to him. 'You didn't answer my question,'

'I shouldn't have to,' Draco said, and walked off. Ginny didn't follow him, instead watching his retreating form silently. What she didn't see was the large smirk plastered on his face.

~***~

Leanne pottered around the empty classroom wondering what Draco was talking to Weasley about. She glanced at the open door and watched as Draco stormed past, a smirk on his face. She wondered immediately what had gone on between the two, and waited a while longer. Weasley couldn't be far away. She stepped out into the hall and looked back in the direction that Draco had come from, and sure enough, there was Ginny, standing with her hands on her hips. Leanne sauntered over to her.

'Brayshaw, what do you want?' Ginny asked.

'I was just curious what you and Draco were talking about,' Leanne purred.

'None of your business,' Ginny replied, and Leanne's look turned to stone.

'Listen, Weasley, if you touch my man and I find out about it, you're dead meat,' Leanne threatened. 'That's a promise, not a threat so don't mistake me, and don't take my words lightly,'

'I'll try to keep that in mind next time I get the urge to strip him naked and have my way with him,' Ginny said sarcastically with no expression on her face. Leanne exploded.

'This isn't a joke, Weasley! You keep your distance from Draco,' She warned.

'I have no intention of being anywhere near him,'

'Then why did you come here?' Leanne asked suspiciously.

'I wouldn't have come if I'd known who had given me that note,' Ginny replied coldly. Leanne didn't seem like she believed Ginny.

'You expect me to believe that load of bullshit? Who else would want to meet you? You have no real friends, well, except for Orionis, but she's weird,' Leanne said.

'Don't you dare call her weird,' Ginny hissed, still defending Sigma even though she was trying to kill her.

'I'll call her what I like,' Leanne said, cocking her head arrogantly.

'Don't attack my friend behind her back, I would have thought you more decent than that,' Ginny said.

'You were quite mistaken when you thought that,' Leanne replied icily.

'What do you want from me anyway?' Ginny asked. Leanne frowned.

'I thought I made that clear? Stay - away - from - Draco,'

'Is that all? Because, that's rather pathetic, even for a Slytherin Slut,' Ginny said calmly, enjoying watching Leanne's face turn from cocky to horrified.

'At least I'm attractive enough to get guys like Draco, the best you could do is Creevey, and you still haven't managed that!' Leanne lashed out.

'Is that the best you can do?' Ginny taunted, causing Leanne to anger even more.

'You just watch your back,' She growled before walking off.

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

kura52 ~ Yeah, they believe Cassandra about Sigma because firstly, how else would Cassandra know about the gem, and secondly she does make some good points about Sigma, her appearance, and she won't tell them where she's been all this time. Hehehe, yes they kissed, lol. I hope you liked this chapter as much as the last one!

Darcy16 ~ This chapter was longer! Not by much, but I'm working on it! Thank you for the compliments! I hope you liked reading this chapter.

rose petel ~ I hope this chapter showed you how each character was reacting to Sigma trying to kill them, Ginny and Hermione are trying to keep level heads, but the other three Gryffindor Girls are horrified! I hope you liked this chapter!

HarryzBabe ~ Thanks, Cassandra is a whining, annoying person, but she is good to have around, and makes a lot of valid points throughout the story. It's good that you like her, she can be a good person when she wants to. I hope you liked this chapter!