Christopher could immediately tell by the hurt in her voice that the rumor was true. And he already had enough on his shoulders, he couldn't believe this was happening. It was all too fast! He felt his knees feeling weak and his head getting dizzy. That only happened when he was really upset. And Cass's exit with 'Have a nice life,' seemed like a final good-bye. Like she'd never speak to him again. And Christopher wanted almost anything BUT that. Despite all of the things going on in his life (only God knew how much more complicated they would get), he did have some feelings for Cass, whether or not he wanted to admit it.

As she disappeared around the corner, the young Gryffindor called out her name. "Cass.... Cass, wait!"

As he finally reached the girl, who'd been hurrying down the corridors with much speed, he gently but swiftly reached out for her shoulders and spun her around toward him. Christopher Andrew James did not step down a fight so easily. Even if that fight just so happened to be lady troubles. Which hr was incredibly awful at.

Cass just wanted to keep on walking until she reached the dungeons, maybe there she can hide within its dark corners, but it seems like fate had other plans for her as she felt a hand on her shoulder as she was forced to stop walking and was suddenly turned around roughly only to find herself facing Christopher. Really? Was she that light that anyone can just stop her from walking then turn her a whole 180 degrees?

"What?" She snapped, as she shook Christopher's hand off her shoulders than crossed her arms in front of her chest. She was seriously trying very hard to keep herself together.

Then she took a deep calming breath and repeated her question once more in a softer tone. "I'm sorry. What is it?" She may have sounded calm, but she knew her eyes betrayed the hurt and the fury that she felt boiling inside her.

Christopher slightly winced as she snapped at him, but he just found himself staring at her. Now that he was here, he had no clue what he planned on saying to Cass to make things right. He hadn't really thought about it, it was more that he just had to something, really. But he at that moment, looking down at the Slytherin, that he should probably figure out something good and fast. And it had to be true. Christopher wasn't just going to lie ad manipulate someone. That wasn't right.

Christopher looked down at his hands and mumbled what sounded like, "CassI'msorryIjusthavealottodealwithandI'mjustnotr eadyforthatkindofrelationshipbutIkindofmightlikeyo ualittletoobutIstillwannabejustfriends." He sighed, hoping that answer was satisfactory....... If she could even hear it, anyway.

She watched him as he tried to think of something to say. See he didn't even know what to tell her. She should have just given up.

Cass blinked at him, her eyes wide with confusion., her resolve to stay angry at him breaking quickly. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that..." She said slowly as she frowned at him slightly

Christopher turned a bright red and he looked down at his shoes once again before facing Cass. He looked her dead in the eye, his expression pleading and exasperated. "Please don't make me repeat myself."

But then a stern look on her face told him that repeating himself was precisely what he should be doing.

With a sigh, he began to explain his feelings to the confused girl, but he never quit looking her in the eyes. He had to let her know in some way that he really did care about her. Things were just..... It was complicated.

"Cass, I am so beyond sorry. It's just that things are really complicated and I have so much to deal with right now. I'm just not ready for that kind of relationship..... Not yet anyway." He did, though continue to mumble at his next words (but only after turning bright pink, of course). "And I kind of, well, maybe might like you back a little too, but for now being friends is our best bet."

He held out his hand, hoping she'd shake it, agreeing that they could stay friends.

Cass was about to protest that she honestly didn't understand a single word that he said earlier and wasn't making him repeat it simply to make him miserable when he started talking.

As she listened to the words pouring out of his mouth, she couldn't help but blush as his eyes never strayed from hers, and as much as she wanted to break the connection, she simply couldn't bring herself to look away.

Then he said the words that she had sort of been hoping for since she realized she really liked this guy, she wanted to smile at him, to laugh and hug him, but she was supposed to be upset, so she valiantly tried to hide the smile threatening to break out any minute and kept her mouth shut as she waited for him to finish.

Her resolve broke when he held out his hand and asked to be friends. She couldn't be mad, not when he was being so charming. So she finally smiled back and shook his hand firmly, with her eyes still meeting his "I understand, don't worry. You have things to deal with right now and you're not ready, but it would be safe to say that I would still be here when you are." Then she let go of his hand and continued "And I would love to continue being friends. Thank you."

A sigh of relief threatened to escape from behind Christopher's lips, but he didn't want to let on nervous he'd been that Cass would smack away his hand and hate him for eternity. But the boy held it in and grinned over at his friend. "No, really, thank you." Being just friends for now was perfect and he couldn't be any happier. But he smiled even harder when Cass looked away as they continued to walk down the corridor together. She wouldn't give up on him. Maybe someday.... he and Cass would be more than friends; when the time was right of course.

As they continued walking, Christopher began to wonder where they were going. He wasn't sure if he was walking Cass back to the entrance of her common room, or if they were going to the Great Hall, or if they were going to the library, or what. He figured he'd just let Cass lead the way, because he was honestly to happy and relieved to care.

Cass stuffed her gloved hands inside the pockets of her coat and walked alongside Christopher, too immersed in her own thoughts as well. Then she stopped and broke the blank stare that she had been giving the ground since they started walking.

She turned towards the boy next to her and said, panic written all over her face, "I forgot to give you your Christmas present!" It was already January, she couldn't believe she forgot!

She looked down at her satchel and started digging through a few boxes of presents that she forgot to give out before she left for Christmas break. She was starting to look like Santa Clause...delivering presents to her friends. Except she wasn't fat. No way.

Nika skipped around the castle in the cold snow. She wasn't such a big fan of the cold, but she loved the snow for some odd reason. It was just so much fun to play in. She made her way towards the front gates and looked at the other side. Why would anyone ever want to leave this place? Everyone loved it at Hogwarts. Well, maybe not people like that Orabelle girl, but she was just insane anyways so she doesn't count.

Christopher smirked as she began digging around in her bag. There must have been over twenty gifts in there. "You're quite the little Santa aren't you?" Except of course she wasn't wearing red, and she wasn't drinking milk with cookies. And she most certainly didn't have a fluffy white beard or a giant belly. Though her cheeks and the tip of her nose was rather rosy from the cold.

As she handed him a beautifully wrapped gift, Christopher's stomach sunk. He was sure his gift for her was nothing at all as good as hers. He had hardly any money, but he did his best with his friend's gifts. Which only included four people's, but it was still a lot. Christopher reached down into his own bag and pulled out a small box with a a necklace inside and handed it to her with his face bright red. He didn't want to tell her that it looked so shabby because the key on it was one to his cellar at 'home' that he'd accidentally brought to school with him attached to a second hand chain. But he hopes that was the new style with the girls these days. He just wanted Cass to have a nice Christmas.

"But I'm not fat." Cass said in response to his Santa comment. Or at least she hoped she hadn't grown fat over the hols...

Then handed him the box that had his name on the card with the book in it, while she took the small box from Christopher, and opening it slowly, trying to make the suspense last longer..which wasn't longer than a few minutes considering that all she had to do was lift the top cover...revealing a small key necklace thing that made her gift look lame. Meh.

She smiled as she lifted it off the box and twirled the pendant in front of her. Then she placed it on the palm of her hand and turned her smile towards him "Thanks Christopher. Its beautiful. Thank you. " She did have a thing for cute necklaces

Fee made her way to the Front gate,that was the plaxe she had last met Finbar. The girl still didnt understand why he had left Hogwarts.It was just insane,they had such a good timew together and now he was gone.Another friend that left.Oh well,it was beautiful outside today,even though really cold.But definitely not the time to get all depressed. Smiling as the snow under her made a sound when she stepped on the blonde looked around and noticed a girl standing there too.She realylmlooked familiar.Taking a closer look the Slytherin grinned as she recognized the girl.As the third year approached she waved at her friend."Heyyy Nika",she said,"what are you doing here all alone?"

"Nor do you have a beard." Christopher chuckled in agreement. This caused the boy to imagine Cass with a fluffy white beard and Santa hat. At this, he was forced to suppress a grin.

He slowly unwrapped the square box with his name on it, trying his best not to resemble a small child getting over excited at the sight of presents. But when he opened it, his eyes grew wide and he forgot all about keeping cool. He grinned broadly, holding up the book before he quickly scanned the inside, something he always did with books he hadn't read yet to get a good idea about what the book was about. "Oh, Cass! I've seen this book before! In store shop windows! Oh, I was always so curious about it, but I never could affor-" He quickly stopped himself before he said he couldn't afford it and tried to change his wording before Cass noticed. Curse his babbling! "I mean, I never had the time to check it out. But it's wonderful Cass. Thank you." And then he gave her a quick awkward side hug, because he was awkward enough not to notice how awkward he made things for everyone else he encountered.

When she opened his small unwrapped box, and looked so happy with his shabby key necklace, Christopher again supressed a sigh of relief. That, was a close one. "It's nothing, really. I'm glad you like it." But that comment made his smile considerably brighter for the rest of the day.

"Nor do I have any desire to have one." Cass said with a giggle "But I do love cookies and milk."

Then she watched as he unwrapped her gift to him and smiled happily when he seemed to like it a lot. She watched as he scanned the book quickly before closing it once more.

"Its no problem." Cass said with another smile "I saw it behind a shop window while strolling around muggle London and I instantly thought of you." Then she looked away as she continued "It can comfort you during times that you think no one is there for you." As the title implies, 'Keep Calm and Carry On'

Cass was then caught in surprise when he suddenly hugged her quickly. Before she even had the chance to hug him back, he had already drew away. Then she looked down on the necklace on her palm and lifted it up as she fastened it around her neck, carefully sweeping her long hair to the side so that she could fasten it.

Then she remembered something...oh, but it would be too much to ask...but on the other hand, she really had no one to go with and the invite did say she was required to bring one..So she took a deep breath and asked "Christopher, could you do me a really huge favor?"

Before he could even answer, she plowed on quickly "You see I was invited to this wedding thing, insane right? Anyway, they were requiring us to bring dates and well I was wondering if you would like to come with me because I really don't have anyone else and it would suck if I show up dateless and the bride might get mad at me." She finished breathlessly, it took everything that she had to not jumble the words up into just one, long, incomprehensible sentence

"Hmm, I don't know, you would totally rock that beard style. I'm sure it'll be all the rage by next fall," Christopher teased with a laugh. "Who doesn't like milk and cookies? That has to be a crime." Heh, cookies were too delicious to dislike alone, but with milk, the things were Heaven on Earth.

When she told him of the book's description and how it made her think of him, he smiled once more, drawing the book in closer to his chest. He could tell this book would be a life saver, especially with the sticky situation he called life. Combine that with his love for reading, and you get the perfect gift. He could hardly sum up how much this would help him. "Cass, I can't even explain how much I needed this. It's perfect. Thank you again." He smiled at her and cocked his head sideways as she fastened the necklace around her neck. "It's pretty on you," was what he finally managed to say. Maybe shabby things were "in" or whatever. Either way, it looked very pretty on her.

Christopher raised an eyebrow when she timidly asked him for a favor, but he still wore a smile on his face. "Yeah, sure. Anything you need! So what's up?" He was quite curious to hear this favor. Quite curious indeed.

Had his ears deceived him? It was an odd request, but he was cool with it. "Wait, you need me to go with you to this wedding? That's a strange thing, being required to have a date. But I'd love to go with you! May I ask whose wedding it is?" He was also curious about who would enforce such strange rules about their wedding, but he didn't mind going with Cass.

"I'm sure I would" Cass said with a grin as she tried to imagine herself with a large, fluffy beard. Err...ok, maybe she didn't like that beard Then she shook her head at the possibility of anyone not liking milk and cookies "That would be criminal! Its impossible to not like something so good."

"Its no problem at all." She said with a small smile as she let her hair fan out behind her once more after she had fastened the necklace closed. Then she turned a light shade of pink when he said that the necklace looked really pretty on her "It does." She said with a nod as her fingers flew up to the pendant and started playing with it absently "Thank you. It looks wonderful. Not like those cold, pendants that are brand new but have absolutely no character in them."

"I know. Its a really weird request." Cass said with a roll of her eyes, she honestly loved Rex and she highly doubted that his fiance was insane...so that only left his slightly insane cousin. If this was some crazy thing again, she really would hex that woman's hair off. "My friend Rex Trigwell is getting married, and the invite said that we were required to bring dates...I don't know why though.."

Jamie stood, staring with a glare. But he couldn't exactly think of what to say. "Whateverrrrrrrrrr!" He put his hand in front of her face as in a 'talk to the hand' sort of thing. "What is in that flask? POISON-EVIL-JUICE?!" If so, then maybe he should ask for some. 'Cause HIS back chats weren't quite up to scratch whenever faced with an argument-type situation. Much like this one, actually. Umm, OUCH. She was prodding and poking him now!? Something screamed at him that this girl was a Slytherin. Which was very, very bad. Because, even though he also was a Slytherin, he was no match for an opposing one. Nope, not at all. "Gerroff me." He muttered, almost shyly.

Jamie was still giggling until he saw the blatant RAGE in the girls face. Oh, Merlin's Beard. He had made a mistake with this one, hadn't he?

*GULP*
Was that her WAND she was pointing at him?!

"I-I-I-I'll tell on you." His hand quivered by his pocket which held his own wand. Even if he had the guts to pull it out, he would always fail because he sucked at magic. He couldn't even perform the levitating charm correctly, gosh darnit.

Christopher laughed as she shook her head. "Hah, deffinitely." That would be quite a sight, a school filled with girls that looked Santa..... Although he joked about it, he really didn't think that would be such a good idea. As for the cookies, he said, "I agree. Completely." Seriously, cookie haters were not cool. Or at least their taste buds weren't.

At first, he didn't notice Cass blush, but just nodded in agreement with a small smile. But when she said it wasn't like a brand new, cold, boring pendant, it was his turn to turn a light shade of pink. What?! He hoped she didn't actually think it wasn't brand new, or that it was just a piece of junk he'd thrown together carelessly. It was the best he could do and he tried to make it perfect. But thank goodness Cass didn't seem to care. She thought it was perfect with the thought put into it, and he was glad she wasn't as shallow as some people could be.

"Very strange, I will admit," Christopher agreed. And then he heard the name of who was getting married. The boy would have probably done a spit take if he'd been drinking some water. He stopped in his tracks and stares at Cass with wide eyes.

"What!?!?!?" He managed to splutter out. "No, no, no, this isn't right then! You can't be forced to bring dates!" When he saw Cass's confused and slightly offended look he waved his hands as if to stop her from jumping to conclusions. "I mean, it's not that I don't want to go, I still do of course! It's just that....." He gulped before continuing. "My little sister was really good friends with Rex. She's invited too, so that means....." He couldn't he finish the sentence. Elyon was only twelve! She was way too young to have a date! Of course he probably was only saying this because of his protective older brother instincts kicking in, but he just really felt sick at the thought. Plus she herself acted so innocent and up in the clouds, she'd never been invited to anything before, let alone date! He had to talk to her the minute he got to the Common Room that night.

A smile made it's way to Nika's face as she heard the sound of a familiar voice. She turned around and waved back at the third year. "Heyyy Fee!" She said squealing. She hadn't seen the slytherin in a while. What was she doing there all alone.. Very good question. "I guess I was just going around and exploring in the snow. What are you doing here?" She said returning the question with a chuckle.

"Not even Slytherins can resist the goodness of cookies." She answered with grin, aside from Kurumi's though. Everyone in her house still seems to think that they're poisoned or something. Poor snakeys, they don't know what they're missing.

Cass then raised an eyebrow as his expression changed to something that looked liked horror, she waited for him to say something, but as she went on, the scared - sort of - look on his face melted away. Ok, it seems like he somehow reassured himself..she didn't know what it was about, but she didn't want to push.

Then she was surprised to find him so panicked when she mentioned that it would be Rex' wedding, when she was about to ask why, he decided to enlighten her, saying that his sister was invited too and she didn't want her to bring a date...and she agreed, after all, the girl was only twelve.

"Well then...maybe you can go with her instead." Cass said softly, she really did want to go with Christopher, but if he needed to be there for his sister then who was she to stop him? "I could always go with...uh..my cat or something." She offered lamely. That didn't sound too appealing at all, maybe she should just go alone?

"Even Slytherins have to like them! So clearly, cookies are one of God's most precious gifts." It was true. Cookies were effing amazing. Nobody could ever deny it. Well, except for people without properly functioning taste buds.

"No! No! I do really want to go with you, but I guess I'll just have to figure something out....." He tried to keep calm, to hide his panic, but she'd already seen how freaked out Christopher was; it was too late to take it back out of her brain. But he probably couldn't have hidden the horror across his face even if he'd wanted to. Just the thought of his sister with a boy-date-thingy freaked him out. But he really wanted to go with Cass......


Anyway, Christopher knew that she probably wouldn't even think of it like that, but it still worried him. Elyon was friends with that Septimus kid, right? Maybe she could go with him? But that was still weird. Maybe he'd get lucky, and she'd choose to take her imaginary friend, or her obese cat Chunk, or a Nargle or Wrackspurt or one of her mythical creatures. Yeah..... That'd work.

"Especially the soft cookies." Cass said dreamily "better than ordinary cookies." Maybe she could go down to the kitchens later to find some?

"Are you sure?" She asked worriedly with a frown on her face, she didn't want to be all needy and such, and well it really looked like he was very worried for his sister. She could always ask Daniel to go with her. Not that she was looking forward to ask him. He's going to think she likes him or something...besides, he never liked those kind of parties anyway "But if you still want to go with me, maybe we can take her along instead, we can go as a group or something..." She suggested

Christopher turned to her slowly with a wide smile. "Oh. My. Goodness. The soft cookies are the best cookies I have ever had." Mmmmmmm. This topic was starting to make him hungry. Maybe he'd stop by the kitchens on his way back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

It took him awhile to let Cass's idea sink in. "Actually Cass, I think that would really work. Well, of course I'll try to see if we can work something else out, but if worst comes to worst, we can always use that a last resort." He felt selfish for wishing he could work something else so he could just hang out with Cass, but he would do anything for Elyon, and if it was a three person group that was needed, then that was precisely what Christopher would do.

"Do you know any other younger boys going to the wedding that she could hang out with?" When he asked this, he really meant, "Are there any kind of nerdy and ugly, but nice boys her age that I'd actually not want to punch for going on a date with my sister?"

"Ugh. This is making me hungry." Cass complained jokingly "Can we not talk about cookies anymore? At least not when Kurumi isn't around with her super yummy cookies in hand."

She smiled as Christopher considered her idea, it wasn't one of her great plans, but it was a plan none-the-less. Then she thought for a while as he spoke once more. Hmm, younger, nice, little boys, huh? Then another brilliant idea struck her!

"Don't you guys have something Serpent Sidekicks in your house? You could find a nice, younger boy for your sister there!" She asked excitedly, then she realized that he probably didn't know what a serpent sidekick was since he wasn't in Slytherin, so she started to explain "Well, in Slytherin, we have this buddy system going on, where older students would pair up with younger students to show them around Hogwarts, maybe if you had one like that, you can meet a few guys for Elyon." But most of them would be first years...

Fee smiled wehn she heard the excitement in Nika's voice.Now that girl was just pure cuteness,really.Walking over to her friend the blonde grinned."Oh well i was just talking a walk around the grounds",she nodded,"its such a beautiful day today."Not that she was much of an outdoor person but some fresh air and the feeling of the snow underneath her feet was amazing."It cant believe its already winter again",the girl chuckled,"time here flies by sooo fast."Chrstmas and New years eve had already passed,the years here felt more like a few months."How was your Christmas by the way?",the Slytherin asked smiling.Some day she would spent Christmas with her boyfriend.