Family

Disclaimer:

None of the characters that you recognise belong to me etc etc etc

Chapter1

Millie and the other young students of Magic could see that something was different at Chrestomanci Castle – wrong, or at least not quite right. Gabriel was even more briskly efficient than usual, and had even less patience with his pupils when he felt they weren't being quite as conscientious as they ought to be. In a similar way, Flavian was behaving even more nervously than he normally did, and it became clear that his mind was elsewhere when he tried to give the Advanced magic class the same lesson two days in a row, and clean forgot to ask for their homework essays much to the relief on some of the young enchanters, namely Christopher and Jason.

Clearly, something was going on. It was just a question of what, and unfortunately the answer was proving to be frustratingly elusive. Especially for a certain young nine-lived enchanter, and so no one was really surprised, and a few even went as far as to sigh when, one morning at breakfast he loudly proclaimed that he was going to get to the bottom of things once and for all, and that with his help, things would soon return back to normal in the Castle. It was just like Christopher to be so high-handed. None of them minded really, it was just, as Elizabeth said afterwards that his belief that he would somehow be able to automatically solve any problem could at times make him seem rather, well…arrogant for want of a better word, and of course it could also be rather annoying, as most of them well knew.

And it was Elizabeth who asked him exactly what he was planning to do, the look she got in reply, which could only be described as one of his vaguest made it clear that he hadn't got as far as thinking of an actual plan yet. She exchanged a look with Millie, one of the girls she got on best with in the group of students and they both grinned at Christopher's predictability. Some things never changed. This could turn into the Stallery fiasco all over again.

Despite the fact that he could be somewhat infuriating at times, everyone in the Castle liked Christopher a lot, and Millie was no exception. He was the first real friend she'd ever had, after the strange isolated childhood she had spent in the Asheth Temple. Even when he was at his most arrogant and overbearing it was hard not to like him at times, as he could be so charming when he wanted to be, with his dark, handsome looks and lovely smile (on the rare occasions when he looked as though he was actually paying attention to you). She could also see that his bravery and sense of duty were admirable, and that he would in all certainty make a very good Chrestomanci when Gabriel retired, whenever that might be. Christopher certainly seemed to think he would be ready for the job tomorrow if circumstances required it.

Sometimes she thought that she might even be able to fall in love with Christopher, although these were thoughts that she quickly squashed, as they were so obviously such a silly idea. They were the best of friends (most of the time, anyway), for one thing and she was quite sure that the last thing either of them would ever want to do would be something that might jeopardise that. Also he was taller, and darker and handsomer that he really had a right to be. He could have anyone he wanted and she couldn't really envision him wanting her. She wasn't ugly, exactly but that at the same time couldn't be described as a great beauty either. She was, as they had taken such pain to instil into her at her first school in Switzerland, the one she had been so miserable at, too plain to be of notice, and so she found it somewhat hard to believe that Christopher would ever be able to think of her as more than a friend. Finally, she - as well as Elizabeth and a few others seriously wondered at times if there was room for anyone in Christopher's affections beside himself. He could be so vain at times, refusing to come out of his room in the morning until his curls had been tamed and his hair was looking perfectly smooth, and of course his insistence on having exactly the right kind of clothes, (although nothing could possibly make him look any less than handsome)

The crux of the matter, as she had to remind herself more and more was that someone like Christopher would never like someone like her in that way and that was why she couldn't allow herself to even begin to feel anything of that sort for him. The Living Asheth would never had thought that way, of course, then she would never even had considered that someone's looks could ever matter at all, but she was a child then, and of course it had been the duty of the priestesses to serve and flatter her. Maybe things were different in Series 10, she really didn't know, having spent the vast majority of her time there within the four walls of the Temple. However she had lived too long in Series 12 and, understandably was beginning to think the same way as people there and to believe that you had to be beautiful to attract someone as good-looking as Christopher. She deplored this newfound insecurity and wondered if she would have been happier if she had attended different schools. The worst thing was, part of her knew that Christopher would laugh if he knew she had been thinking like this, and that he liked for who she was, the fierce, foreign Enchantress who'd stuck his feet to the floor in the Asheth Temple and worked out how to escape to his world on her own, but all the same the doubts and insecurities about their friendship, and possible (or highly impossible) relationship refused to go away.

She had known Christopher for years, and because she knew him so well she couldn't help but be worried when he sought her out later that morning just before his Practical Magic tutorial with Gabriel was due to start. He smiled at her in his most charming and reassuring way:

"Don't worry, Millie. Gabriel says I know almost enough magic to do this job now. If I prove myself to him he'll have to respect me finally, don't you agree? I may need your help…" He went on but she didn't really hear the rest of his speech. Something about that smile of his bothered her, she couldn't quite put her finger on it. It was the same smile he had been giving her for years, when she had complained about that school before running away, even when she had first come to he Castle and he'd been hiding her from Gabriel. But somehow it was different now. It was beginning to affect her in ways she most definitely did not want.

Breaking out of her reverie, Millie realised that Christopher was looking at her in a curious way, as if he was focussing his entire attention on her, and for once did not seem vague at all. For a moment she was somewhat taken aback, before firmly reminding herself that it couldn't mean anything. She couldn't help but be concerned about his eagerness to take action, and worried, not least for Christopher but for herself and the other young magic students, who would surely get dragged into things one way or another. Despite this, Millie bit back the countless replies she could think of, some which were not strictly of a charitable nature, and would only serve to hurt Christopher's feelings and anger him further, making him even more determined. She didn't point out that Gabriel was still angry about the whole Stallery incident, years afterwards, or that after all the lives he had lost already he really couldn't afford to lose any more. Instead, she simply began "Christopher…" intending just to warn him to be careful, and not to do anything without consulting her first, but when she looked up she realised he had already disappeared. Perhaps he knew her too well, had anticipated what she was going to say and fled her warning or, of course he could have been genuinely late, but that had never bothered him before. Honestly, he could be so infuriating at times!

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Christopher's plan (whatever it might be didn't seem to be progressing too well. His subtly phrased questions directed towards the employees of Chrestomanci Castle were having no effect at all. No one was telling him anything, and Christopher suspected that if Gabriel found out what he was doing he would be grounded for a long time, possibly until he himself became Chrestomanci as Gabriel had already threatened after his adventure in Series 7. Even the maids weren't telling him anything, and he was certain that bone of them must know something, gossips that they were. But, like everyone else they refused top speak even the ones that had recently begun to blush and giggle whenever he was nearby. This would seem to suggest that they had been specifically ordered not to tell him anything, most probably by Gabriel. This only served to make him even angrier and more resentful of the current Chrestomanci. He was eighteen years old, almost nineteen and had been tutored in the castle, trained to hold the position of Chrestomanci for practically seven years now, and he still wasn't considered trustworthy or capable enough to help despite the fact that he had already proved himself on numerous occasions. The thought of this made him even more determined to make Gabriel, Flavian and the others see that the were wrong and force them to give him the respect he deserved.

When Millie caught up with him in the large study they shared with the other young enchanters in the Castle just before they were due to go to dinner. He was somewhat relieved to see her. After all, she had always seemed to understand him better than anyone, possibly because she knew what it was like to have to do a job that you didn't necessarily want to but had to because it was your destiny, or because there was simply no-one else to do it. He had reached something of a dead end, as he could hardly do anything unless he knew what he was doing something about, and she would be bound to be able to think of something else. Even when she was still the Living Asheth and sticking him in walls or fixing his feet to the floor he had admired her cleverness and quick thinking and so he was eager to hear any ideas she might have.

He was somewhat surprised, however by the way she narrowed her eyes into one of her formidable glares, a skill she had presumably perfected during her time as the Goddess. Having had experience of her in these moods before he prudently decided tom remain quiet.

"Christopher Chant" she began "I've been looking for you all afternoon, I do believe you've been avoiding me." His patented vague, perplexed look just seemed to spur her on further." "You had better not be planning on doing anything about whatever is going on. You'll be in so much trouble with Gabriel, especially if you lose another life." Seeing that he was now actually looking quite upset, while still trying to maintain his vague, guiltless look she added, in a softer tone "Look, I'm sorry, it's just that we're all worried about you and what will happen…"

"Millie" he began to interrupt in an unusually injured tone for the normally imperturbable Christopher Chant "I was just…" It was Millie's opinion that he valued above all others if he was honest with himself, and her lack of confidence in him upset him, he couldn't help it.

"No Christopher, it's serious. Listen for once." Her own vehemence surprised her. True, Christopher was one of her best friends, but should be quite this worried for him, if that was all he was? She hurriedly pushed the thought aside and went on "Conrad heard Gabriel telling Flavian to watch you and make sure you didn't find anything out, because you'd be bound to interfere or something. I don't know what he meant by that but Christopher, he must be worried for a reason, and Con said he looked pretty serious, I think you should definitely be careful."

Christopher was slightly confused by this. It wasn't like Millie to be so worried about getting into trouble with Gabriel. Indeed, a lot of the things they and the others had got up to in the past had been her idea, or they were his and it was she who helped persuade the others that it would be funny or exciting or a good way of getting back at Gabriel for something. Her daring and willingness to do things others that would leave others too afraid were some of the things he liked most about her. He could see that something was different between them and he was naturally worried by this apparent change in her personality. "Millie" he asked, unable to keep the concern out of his voice, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, really. I just…" She tailed off abruptly, not knowing what to think any more. When she heard Christopher's worried-sounding tone she immediately regretted having sounded so harsh. She hadn't meant to, but these days she was finding it more and more difficult to keep her thoughts in order around Christopher at times. She had no idea why she had said those things and, as she suddenly realised they would have no effect at all. When he was in one of his determined moods, Christopher listened to no one but himself. Why had she thought that she could ever change his mind? She knew one thing though, and that was that she wasn't going to leave him to face whatever it was alone, and probably that none of the others would want him to either.

She had opened her mouth to tell him so, prepared for s possible argument about whether it would be too dangerous for her (funny that it had only started bothering him recently), when the sound of a pile of books falling off the desk at the front echoed through the empty study. The sound made them both jump, and out of the corner of her eye, Millie saw the fleeing unmistakably ginger hind-quarters of a cat. Throgmorten. What was he doing out anyway? Although the last thing he would ever to would be to admit it, Gabriel was quite terrified of the vicious animal, and as such there was a strict rule about him being shut up during the day. Because they were so shocked at the noise, and surprised to see its cause they may have paid more attention to the pile of upset books than they might have otherwise. Whether that was true or not, when Mille bent to see if any of them had been damaged she noticed that one, a large brown leather tome cracked with age had fallen to the floor. Worried about getting into trouble with the Castle Librarian she picked it up carefully, and almost gasped with surprise when she noticed what was on the page.

"Christopher," she began "Did you ever think about using a spell to find out what Gabriel and the others have been hiding?"

Puzzled, he answered " A spell for finding the truth secretly, do you mean? No, but then I don't think I've never come across one like that. All I can think are those ones that work like a sort of lie detector and to be honest I can't really see myself interrogating Gabriel can you? Any other ideas?"

"No wait," she said, eager in spite of herself. "Look at this. It sounds silly I know, but I think that it might work." She showed him the book, pointing to the spell she had just found, finding herself hoping that it would in spite of her earlier cautiousness. Maybe the old Millie was coming back after all.

As Christopher read, his face lit up. "You know Millie, I think you've cracked it! Or Throgmorten has, I suppose. I never thought that I'd be grateful to that awful cat again, but this almost makes up for all the scratches!" He was unable to keep the excitement out of his voice "Now we can show Gabriel! I knew you'd think of something." Taking her by surprise, he hugged her tightly. Too shocked to respond at first she pulled back quickly, missing the look of disappointment that flickered quickly across his face.

She assumed that he had only done it because he was so excited at the possibility of solving the mystery and getting one over on Gabriel. Feeling slightly uncomfortable with him for the first time ever, she forced herself to smile back at Christopher. "Hold on, we don't even know if it will even work" she said, trying to bring him back down to reality. His excitement was infectious however, and she couldn't help but be carried along with his god mood, and found herself desperately hoping that this spell would be the right one.

The dressing-gong went, signalling that it was time to get changed for dinner. "Well we can't find out now" he said, unable to stop himself grinning. "You'll to contain your excitement a little while longer, I'm afraid" She shot him a sharp look to see if he was being sarcastic but his expression didn't falter. "It'll definitely have to wait until after dinner. How about…"

"If we're going to do this we might as well do it properly" She interrupted, with a confidence she hadn't really felt since she'd left for that horrible school. Smiling somewhat mischievously she added "I'll meet you in that old workshop in the tower at midnight, when everyone has gone to bed. We can try it then"

"And Christopher? You'd better take that smile off your face or Gabriel will definitely suspect something." Christopher's smile grew even wider. Yes, the old Millie was definitely back.