A/N: Thanks to Demonprincess81 and Rowana S for the reviews. I probably won't always update this fast, but I wrote it much quicker than I thought I would.

I don't have anyone to beta for me at the moment, but if anyone wants to volunteer…

And as for the grounded thing, it does seem quite americanised now I come to think of it. There's a lot of American influence on English culture and it's easy to forget what's what at times…oh well, it's only a tiny part of the story and it gets the point across that he would be punished I suppose. I'll try not to do it again!

Chapter Two

For both Christopher and Millie, the rest of the evening seemed to pass frustratingly slowly. After the first endless hour Millie was seriously beginning to believe that here was something wrong with the clock in the common room – it couldn't really be still that early, could it? But it was. Still.

Christopher on the other hand, was faring a little better. Millie found herself envying his serene and composed expression while at the same time wondering how he could possibly maintain it. Of course, as he told her later he was planning exactly what he would say to Gabriel after he returned successfully, and from the look on his face imagining it was proving to be almost as deliciously enjoyable as the actual experience would be.

Several weeks seemed to pass before it was eventually time for everyone to retire to their own room for the night, and Millie was surprised by how glad she felt. All the others had noticed that they were behaving strangely, although it wasn't entirely unusual for Christopher to look as though he was off in his own private dream world somewhere. To be honest she was grateful to be away from their curious looks and concerned questions for a while. Christopher was the only one who seemed to understand the way she was feeling, and his enthusiasm was so infectious she couldn't seem to stop herself from being as excited as he was himself.

By half-past eleven the Castle seemed to be entirely silent, oh it was always quiet, and everything usually sounded as though it had been muffled under a very large, very soft blanket, but this silence was somehow different. If she weren't old enough (and magical enough) to know better she would almost say that it seemed vaguely threatening somehow. Of course, as the former Living Asheth as well as a very powerful enchantress she was above being afraid of such things but still, in her darkened room in the oldest part of the castle she couldn't help but feel a little unsettled, nervous even. She was fed up of waiting anyhow, perhaps it was time to go and find Christopher, there didn't seem to be any chance of anyone catching them now after all.

She crept over to the door, knowing that any sound she did make would seem ten times louder in the almost deafening silence and winced every time she so much as stepped on a creaking floorboard. Turning the doorknob as quietly as possibly she stepped out in to the dimly lit corridor, shivering as she got further way from the warmth of the fire in her room…and immediately bumped in someone else coming down the corridor.

"Christopher!" she exclaimed, forgetting to whisper in her surprise "Where are you going? I thought we weren't meeting for half an hour. And you're going the wrong way anyway. What's going on?"

She really was starting to wonder what was going on. Christopher didn't actually look a little sheepish did he?

"I…er…"he seemed to falter for a second or so before hurriedly regaining control of himself. "Well, it looks like everyone's already in bed, including Gabriel of course, and I thought we might as well try the spell right away. It seems fairly straightforward, just simple divination, but at the same time I think it might really work, and to be perfectly honest I can't wait to find out." He smiled at her with his last comment.

"I know exactly what you mean," she said, returning his smile fondly "Are you sure Gabriel's asleep though? He specifically warned you not the get involved remember? 'The consequences will be severe' I think that's what he said, and…"

"I'm really starting to think that you worry too much," he interrupted her "Of course I checked. I have had some experience of doing things like this without Gabriel realising, remember?" he sounded almost hurt that she would think he hadn't planned things through properly. His tone then became more mischievous-sounding "And naturally I would never dare to visit the girl's floor after the hour of nine o'clock, if I thought there was any chance of him finding out. The consequences really would be severe for something like that. I shouldn't think I'd be allowed outside for another ten years or so. Remember what happened to Jason?"

Millie laughed at the reference to an event that happened some years ago, when Jason's pet ferret escaped one night and he ran downstairs after it only to end up in the wrong area of the Castle just as Gabriel happened to be walking past. If Millie remembered correctly he hadn't had any pocket money for about a year, as well being given a thousand or some other ridiculous number of lines to write. Gabriel wasn't entirely bad but he was certainly too strict at times, and no one knew that better than Christopher. There really wasn't any point to such a rule - Out of the pupils who were old enough to really do anything wrong in the sense that Gabriel was obviously worried about there were no two people who would ever like each other romantically, not her and Christopher for obvious reasons, neither Jason or Bernard seemed that interested in girls and she knew for a fact that Elizabeth and Henrietta found the boys either too immature (Jason) or annoying (Christopher and Bernard). They used to have lovely long conversations laughing about Christopher's latest antics (perfectly good-naturedly of course), but lately Millie had begun to feel guilty about making fun of him and the others had seemed to lose interest as well. The three weren't as close as they used to be and Millie had really begun to worry that they were drifting apart.

"How could I forget?" She grinned back, shivering in spite of herself. There really was a draught out here.

"Oh, are you cold?" he asked, immediately sounding worried. Putting his arms around her to warm her up, he continued. "Look, since we're still right next to your room let's go and do the spell in there, where its warmer"

"Mmm," Millie mumbled in response, feeling surprisingly warm and safe wrapped up in Christopher's arms. For his part Christopher seemed equally reluctant to move and buried his face in her hair. Feeling that it was taking a superhuman effort Millie pulled back again, finding it increasingly hard to stop herself from thinking of Christopher as just one of her friends. "Are you coming then? Or is the suspense getting too much?" she said quickly, trying almost successfully to keep her tone light. Things were uncomfortable between her and Christopher again. They were such good friends and she would like more than anything to keep it that way but it was getting so complicated. Just barely disguising a sigh she led him back down the corridor, knowing that the easy atmosphere between them had been spoiled once more.

"Alright, like I said this is quite simple. Just divination. Almost anyone could do it, probably even Sarah." Sarah, a pleasant 12 year old was Gabriel's latest recruit, and a reasonably powerful enchantress apparently, but she got very nervous, and kept getting the spells she tried wrong. Millie thought it wasn't very nice of Christopher to bring that up, but seeing the vague expression he used to cover up when he was upset she decided against it. She felt just terrible, thinking that she might have been the cause of it, but she was still sure she had done the right thing. Almost sure. At least 90 percent certain anyway.

"I have read it you know," she answered, not wanting to sound irritable but managing to do so anyway. "So we need a bowl of water, and a chalked pentagram, oh and to say this of course" While she was speaking she summoned the items they needed from the kitchen.

"Don't forget the Marjoram root," he said briefly, sounding quite a bit brisker than usual.

"Oh how silly of me," she summoned that as well. "I'm sorry Christopher," she added quietly, "I didn't mean it, I…"

"It's alright, I understand, really, now can we just get on with it?" He managed a small smile at that, and Millie thought that things might be all right after all.

They set up the bowl of water in the five pointed star they had drawn on the floor underneath the rug. "We'll have to remember to get rid of that afterwards" Christopher said almost absent-mindedly "Gabriel will ask questions if a maid finds it. So, do you want to do the honours?"

Knowing that she would feel very silly if it didn't work, Mille tentatively added the herbs to the bowl of water, and they both said the right words. They then leaned forward and stared intently into the bowl to see if they could see anything in its depths. After a short while Christopher sat back with a sigh, a look of real disappointment on his face. Millie was about to do the same when she noticed something. "Look, Christopher!" She said eagerly, pointing to the shadow she had just seen moving in the water.

"What? There's nothing there." He responded, mystified. But Millie didn't hear him.

It was the strangest thing. The pictures she was seeing seemed as clear as they would if she was really there, except for the fact that they were in miniature of course. And they looked awfully familiar, which wasn't surprising as she realised with a jolt. They were of series 10, the world she had been born in, and lived in for the first part of her life. She only recognised the Temples and the market place vaguely from the days of the Festival when she had been allowed out and many of the things she saw she didn't recognise at all. But she could see from all the shrines to Asheth that it was definitely her own world she was looking at, but why? That was the question. The visions stopped abruptly, and she looked to see Christopher string at her closely with a very concerned look on his face

"Did you break the spell?" She asked him indignantly.

"No I didn't do anything. I was about to though; I was worried about you, Millie. I had no idea what was going on." He sounded as though he'd been genuinely frightened for her.

"I'm sorry. It just seemed to stop. Right in the middle. Maybe someone else did it," she mused. "Are you sure you didn't see anything?" she added confused about why the spell had only worked for her.

"I'm certain, the water stayed as blank as ever. Maybe it was because you actually cast the spell." His next question sounded quite impatient, quite understandably she thought. "So what did you see?"

"I saw Series 10, my own world, but I don't know why," she frowned in annoyance. "It was about to show me but it just went blank. Oh I could scream, I was that close!"

Looking slightly amused at her anger and frustration, Christopher tried to calm her down a little. "Look, Millie, it did work" he said in his most reassuring voice. "We know where to look now." Noticing the slightly sceptical look she gave him, he added, "or if we don't know exactly where to look, we've at least narrowed it down to one world. And you know the world, you can go to the Temple, and ask that priestess, Mother…er…"

"Proudfoot," she interjected sharply. She really wished he would get better at remembering names, it could be so irritating at times. Not to mention embarrassing….

"Oh of course you named the cat after her I should have remembered," seeing her frown he wisely decided to change the subject. "Anyway, I think we should definitely go there, as soon as possible."

"But when though? Gabriel's watching you like a hawk, remember?" She sighed. Nothing seemed to be going well lately, and now it looked as though this little adventure was going to be over before it even started. It looked as though it just wasn't meant to be, sort of like her and Christopher. The bitterness of that last thought surprised even her. Why was she letting him get to her that much? It was probably all just a game to him. He was a very nice person, but at times it seemed like he didn't take other people's feelings very seriously at times, and why should hers be any different? "It's so frustrating, we know exactly where to go but we can't get away without Gabriel stopping us." The look Christopher gave her suggested that he shared this sentiment exactly. "We just need to work out how to get past him."

"Come on," Christopher sat down on her bed, and patted the space next to him. "I don't know about you, but I won't sleep until we have a definite plan. Not just about Gabriel, but what we're going to do once we get to Series 10. I know we can work it out together, somehow. So, are you willing?"

Millie smiled. She knew they would be able to think of something too, they always did. She sat down on the bed next to Christopher, knowing they were probably in for a long night.

A/N: Don't forget to review!