Fighting Friends Smiling Enemies

Gabby stood there, stunned for a moment. Did Sarah know what had happened? Or was she just guessing? Gabby's mind swam, debating and thinking about all the possible horrible answers to what Sarah's comment meant. Her immediate reaction was to just act innocent.

"What do you mean Sarah?" Gabby asked while forcing another one of those fakes smiles. 'Damn, those smiles are going to get stuck,' she thought privately. Sarah's head turned to face her again while her hand was on the doorknob.

"You'll see. Do you like surprises Gabby? Because I do," Sarah said mysteriously with her own fake smile. Gabby noted that Sarah's fake smile looked plastered on and wondered if that's how her own looked like. This was starting to freak Gabby out but she didn't show it.

"Um, ok. I think you're a little out of it," Gabby said, forcing her fake smile even wider. It was the battle of the fake smilers. While Gabby used hers to appear innocent, Sarah was feigning friendliness. The rest of Sarah's expression was frightening. Her eyes seemed to be filled with malice, but Gabby wasn't sure. She decided that Sarah definitely knew what was going on. But she wasn't going to let Sarah know that she knew. She followed Sarah as she opened the door and the two didn't say a word. Silently, they both moved to their separate beds. Gabby was stuck in her now ritual waking up at 3:00AM habit.

'Ugh, this is so confusing. Sarah knows something. I just know it. How did I let myself get into this? Boys. I hate them! They cause so much trouble. I don't think I'm even ready to date yet. Self, sometimes I feel like we're growing up too fast. We're just twelve year olds. I mean, some people are honestly willing to do this but I don't know. Sarah and Catherine are so swept up and obsessed with dating that maybe they are meant to start this early. They've certainly matured earlier than I have,' Gabby thought and blushed at her observation.

Catherine and Sarah were more mature physically in becoming 'women'. 'But then again, are they even ready? This is so messed up! Sure, I've liked guys since kindergarten but this whole dating things is loony. That's it, it is. You know what self? I think I'm going to give up on this boy thing. That's right. I'm going to break up with Daniel tomorrow and I don't really care about Kyle. He's too much trouble. Yeah, I think that's a good idea. Great. I wonder how Harry felt last year when everyone thought he was the Heir of Slytherin. He saved Ginny. You know, I wonder what happened to Ginny. We never asked her. Maybe we should have. We should have noticed. I can't believe we were so caught up in boys that we didn't notice! It's just another reason why liking boys is stupid. Poor Harry-he has so much to deal with. Sirius Black is after him. I wonder just how safe we are...he broke in. Those freaky dementors! They freak me out. Ginny left our compartments later on and all so we weren't there when the dementors came...but I wonder what she saw. I remember my parents' fights...'

~*~

Sarah didn't say a word about the night's incidents to Gabby the next day over breakfast. But then again, Sissy hadn't arrived yet. She hadn't arrived with her full head of hair. Gabby stabbed her eggs with her fork. After she had fallen asleep last night, nightmares had plagued her. Well, at least it seemed like a nightmare. It didn't make much sense to her. She hadn't even seen anything. Dreaming usually had imagery to accompany it. But she had merely seen colors and brief glimpses of people from her memory. It was hard for Gabby to even describe to her own thoughts as she struggled to remember. All her memory could call up were feelings of being extremely upset and angry and other negative emotions. When she had woken up, she was crying, but she didn't really get why. She took a bite of the eggs.

"Hey can I talk to you Gabby?" Kyle said. She glanced up startled. She hadn't noticed him walk over at all. But, then again, she had been so focused on her eggs. That seemed to happen a lot lately-not paying attention at breakfast and all. It also seemed to bring about some trouble. Gabby vowed to never be unaware of her surroundings at breakfast again. She looked at Catherine who didn't seem very bothered by Kyle's answer.

"Hey Kyle," Catherine said smiling. It was real too. Gabby fancied the fact that she did not smile when Daniel talked to her. It was a reassuring thought for the decision she had made.

"Hey, just need to talk to Gabby over here about something, so will you?" he said, turning to Gabby. She nodded numbly. He turned back to Catherine. "Be right back babe."

"Okay," Catherine said smiling. Gabby absently put down her fork and followed Kyle out into the hallway. She heard a cry as she left the hall.

"But, but, her hair, it's, it's, still there!" Gabby heard Sam sputter. She cringed inwardly.

He stopped a few feet away from the entrance. Far enough so that nobody could see them, but it was still pretty close by.

"So, what did you want to talk about? Catherine's birthday isn't for a while. It's over the summer. July 6," Gabby said as he turned to face her. 'Oh dear, ahh this is not happening to me. Oh please, please, please be asking me about a gift for Catherine. Please!' her mind pleaded.

"I don't really want to talk about Catherine. Honestly, she's getting to be a bore. She doesn't want to do anything! think I'll be dumping her soon," he said casually, leaning against the wall. Again, his statement caught Gabby off guard.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked cautiously. 'No you stupid prat! That's not what you're supposed to say. You're supposed to say that you're deeply in love with Catherine and that you need my help in figuring out how to let her know! No! No! No! Shut up before you make it worse!'

"Because of this," he said and leaned in before she could do anything and kissed her. Gabby didn't do anything for a total of three seconds. She was stunned. Her mind raced, her heart raced, and she couldn't move in those moments. 'Oh my word, the bastardly pervert,' she thought with disgust as she shoved him off.

"KYLE!" Gabby heard someone shout from behind her. She recognized the voice immediately and felt her stomach turn over. She felt nauseous. It was Catherine and standing right beside her was Sarah with Ginny on the other side. Gabby felt guilt wash over her at the look on Catherine's face. The girl looked devastated.

"Oh, hi Cathy. Look, I was meaning to tell you and all, but I don't think we should see each other. It was getting quite boring don't you think?" Gabby heard Kyle say without concern from behind her. Gabby felt another sudden wave of disgust at Kyle's words. How could he be so cruel? She watched as Catherine's face contorted. There were so many emotions portrayed on it that Gabby couldn't tell exactly what Catherine was feeling. She felt pained to know that she had caused it. She moved away from Kyle toward Catherine.

"Look Catherine, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. It's really not what you think it is," Gabby started to say.

"Get away from me you, you," Catherine said taking her eyes off of Kyle. Gabby could recognize the emotion this time. She had never seen it on Catherine before, but here it was. Anger. Directed right at her.

"Bitch? Slut? Whore?" Sarah offered smugly. She seemed quite pleased with it.

"Traitor? She went back and ruined our plan last night too. I overheard it. Some Slytherin boy convinced her too. Guess Daniel wasn't enough. Had to have a Slytherin and Kyle too."

"Shut up, you're lying. He kissed me," Gabby spat.

"Oh, you admit it?" Sarah said with huge smile.

"No, that's not what I mean! Not the Slytherin boy, Kyle!" Gabby sputtered.

"Whoa, don't go attacking me here. You came onto me," Kyle said.

"Shut up! You're both lying! You're trying to twist it. You kissed me! And you," Gabby started to yell before whirling on Sarah, "have had it in for me since the very beginning. Ginny, you don't believe them. Do you Ginny? They're lying!"

Sarah just shook her head coyly and walked back into the Great Hall. Kyle shrugged and followed Sarah.

"I don't know Gabrielle," Ginny said quietly, hardly above a whisper. She turned and ran after Catherine.

Gabby watched her go. What had she called her? Gabrielle? Ginny hadn't called her that since the first time they had met.

"Hi, my name's Ginny," a small toddler with flaming red hair said shyly to another toddler in front of her. This one had regular brown hair and blue eyes. She too seemed timid.

"Hi Ginny. I'm Gabrielle," the girl replied.

"Hi, Gab, Gabri, Gabbyelle," Ginny said, struggling to pronounce the name, "Can I just call you Gabby?"

"Ok. Do you want to play a game?" Gabby asked and she nodded."Ok, it's called Hide and Seek. See what you do is..."

Gabby sank to her knees as she remembered the scene. Her lips trembled and she felt her eyes watering. She was on the brink of crying, just like Catherine had been. Except unlike Catherine, she had a stab of guilt mixed in with it all.

"What have I done," she whispered to nobody in particular. No one else was in the halls. She was very much, in many ways, alone.

~*~

Their group hadn't been unknown. Sarah knew about every guy. Ginny was a Weasley and therefore well liked. Catherine was viewed as being very nice but slightly boy-obsessed. Gabby had a lot of new enemies.

Thanks to Sarah, word spread fast of the incident and Gabby's reputation was well tarnished through Sarah's lies. Sarah's version of it all, including her supposed affair with the Slytherin boy, was on the lips of all the second years. The older students weren't to be bothered with such petty things and the first years were oblivious. None of them gave her as much as a glance in the hallways; they were unaware. But unfortunately, the second years made up for it. People would throw hurtful comments at her as she dashed from class to class, trying to hold back the tears. Girls she didn't know came up to tell her to say just what they thought about her with none of the words kind. Boys she didn't know existed came up to her with vulgar comments just to try and get a rise out of her. Mark tried to grab at her a couple times and enjoyed her shrieks.

Gabby tried to stay out of the room she shared with Sarah, Ginny, and Catherine as much as possible. She'd stay in the library until it closed and walked as slowly as possible back to the Common Room. Wading her way through a pool of Catherine's acquaintances looking at her with disgusted looks, she'd trudge her way up the stair

Upon opening the door to her room, talk would suddenly halt. It was the type of sudden hush that occurs when you walk in on people talking about you. Sarah, of course, didn't refrain from continuing. Obviously, Catherine and Ginny would not come to Gabby's rescue and she had to endure it by herself. Sarah even went as far as ordering Gabby to do her laundry on Thursday night. Gabby let out a snort at this ridiculous command.

"You shouldn't disobey," Sarah said. But Gabby didn't see what Sarah could to do make her feel even more miserable and to make her situation worse. She did.

Sarah produced Gabby's letter to Veronica that had been lost. Sarah read it aloud to the 2nd years in Transfiguration when McGonagall stepped out on Friday to have a word with Filch. It was pure torture for Gabby and Sarah relished it.

"Oh, Veronica darling," Sarah said, emphasizing every word. Sarah almost finished but McGonagall walked in on Sara's dramatic performance.

"Sit down Ms. Sutherland," McGonagall had said sharply. "Five points from Gryffindor!"

But what Gabby considered to be the worst confrontation of it all was when she finally talked to Daniel. She stopped him after class.

"What the bloody hell do you have to say to me?" he said glaring at her after class, his arms crossed. Gabby winced but knew he was angry and agreed that he had a right to be. She chose her words carefully.

"I know that you don't want to talk to me, or ever see me again, so I'm asking you to just listen to me one last time and I'll leave you alone forever," she began, she looked up and he didn't move to go so she took it for what it was worth and kept going, "Honestly, I did not kiss Kyle. Judging from that snort, you don't believe me but it's the truth and I'm still standing by it. I also was not with a Slytherin boy. But, I wasn't innocent either. I admit that I was going to end the whole dating thing that day. But not because of Kyle, because I don't feel like I want to date. Yeah, I know you don't believe that either. I did like Kyle. And yes, I did when I was with you. But I didn't and would never actually do something like that. Kyle did. But for what it's worth, I'm sorry. I'm really truly sorry."

He stared and glared for about thirty seconds. It was excruciating. Then, in a cold monotone, he replied.

"Don't ever approach me again," he said. Gabby nodded solemnly and watched him walk away, just as Ginny did. Except with him, she was sure, that he was not merely walking away, but also out of her life.

~*~

Indeed, in the weeks that followed everything remained quite miserable. Her grades dipped considerably. They were worse than they had been in 1st year and she lost all the improvement she had built steadily. Even more, she lost her will to study.

"Oh, Miss Martin, hold on a moment," Professor McGonagall said right before Gabby was about to leave Transfiguration. "I wanted to talk to you about the test we took a few days ago." Gabby nodded and McGonagall handed her the test. "Take a look." Gabby did just that. Almost every question was marked incorrect. She had never done this bad before, not even close. "Is there anything wrong Gabby? This is quite sudden. You had been improving a lot over the past couple months." Gabby wanted to tell her, she wanted to burst forth with her story and cry and sob. But she didn't. She just shook her head. "No? Well, then, I'm afraid I'm going to have to contact your parents." Gabby just nodded numbly imagining her mother's rage. "Ok, you can go." Gabby saw a look of pity on McGonagall's face before she left.

A few days later, Gabby's prediction of her mother's rage proved correct. Every day for the past few weeks, Gabby had lived through meal times by simply not being there. She'd arrive, collect up the food in a napkin, and ate in the library instead. She would have preferred to eat by the lake but those nasty dementors were out there. That morning, as she was just about to leave, an owl swept in with a howler and, to her horror, landed right in front of her. She grabbed it, and her napkin full of food, and dashed out of the hall amidst hoots of laughter. It burst right out in the hallway for everyone to hear. Her mother's booming and shrieking voice filled the air.

WHAT'S THIS I HEAR ABOUT YOU FAILING A TRANSFIGURATION TEST GABRIELLE MARTIN? I HAVE RECEIVED SEVERAL MESSAGES FROM NEARLY ALL YOUR TEACHERS THAT YOU ARE DOING POORLY! I WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS IN THIS FAMILY! YOU WILL GET OFF YOUR LAY BUM AND START STUDYING IF IT KILLS YOU!

Gabby dropped her food and ran. She didn't know where she was heading, but running was all she could do. On instinct, she opened the door to run outside but she saw the dementors and decided against it. She then opted for the girls' bathroom. But before she could get to there she collided with someone else.

"Where you going?" she heard the person say with an amused tone. Looking up she realized it was Mark. 'Damn. The last thing I need is him.'

"What are you doing here?" she snapped at him.

"Me? Oh, just on the way to class. The better question is why are you running in the hallways. You could trip and hurt yourself you know. That's not a very good thing," he said, smirking.

"What does it matter to you?" she said right back at him.

"It's called conversation if you didn't know. I was just trying to be nice. Which is a pretty big gesture considering what you did," he shot back.

"If you think you're going to finally get me by being the nice guy you're wrong," she said. He laughed.

"Hardly. Why would I want to go out with a pathetic thing like you? That was long ago, when you were worth more. I don't go for easy girls," he said.

"Shut up. He came onto me and you know it," Gabby said.

"Doesn't really matter though. Yeah, I know it all. He told me, naturally, I had to pay him the money," Mark said, still laughing.

"What do you mean?" Gabby asked warily.

"You didn't know? Then again, we kept it quiet, didn't want to let others know. Might hurt Kyle's reputation and all. We've managed to keep it clean, saying it was all you. Sarah's been a great help. She was in on it. Yeah, she didn't have much inspiration but you made her very angry when you foiled the prank dear. Anyways, he and I had a bet. First one to kiss you gets $5. He won and you know what happened after that," Mark said, moving towards her and swiftly placing his hands on her hips. She lifted her leg quickly and kicked him in the privates. He let out a gasp of pain and she wriggled away.

"Get away from me, you, filthy bastard. How dare you!" she screamed angrily as she turned to walk away.

"Don't even try to tell anyone about the bet, they won't believe you," he called after her. She hadn't intended to, she already foresaw that, but there was one thing she had to do. This was news to her. She had originally thought that Kyle was just a jerk who liked to string girls along.

"That slimy pervert! We're just twelve!" she said under her breath. 'That's it! It's his fault! No more self-pity for me! He set me up! I hate him! I hate him! A bet? That's disgusting. Just disgusting!'

She arrived just in time to see Kyle leaving the Great Hall from breakfast and marched right up to him. She was brimming with anger. Without saying a word, she slapped him right across the face, hard.

"What the bloody hell did you do that for?" he cried, with his hand to his face. But she didn't reply. Instead, she was the one to walk away this time, and she walked right to her Herbology class, ignoring any jeers that came her way. She was done feeling sorry for herself. It was a mistake. Sure, she had been wrong to like Kyle while dating Daniel. She was wrong to even date Daniel when she wasn't ready. She shouldn't have needed to write that letter to Veronica. But it wasn't a crime! She decided that she had suffered enough.

~*~

Lying awake one night, counting the cracks again (23...24...25...), she thought over her situation.

'Thank god Mum hasn't howled lately. I wonder...when will I be able to talk to Ginny. Let's see, I've asked her 5 times so far. Her answer each time, ask again later. Jeez, you'd think she was a whatsmacallit.. That thing that Colin showed me when we were ten. Some type of ball. A magic something. Quite a stupid name because it's obviously not magic. Magic...Eighty Ball? No, a Nine Ball? No, that's not it either. Hmm, a Magic 8 Ball? Yeah, that's it. A Magic 8 Ball. What does that have to do with anything? Oh yes, Ginny. I wish she would just talk to me! At least Daniel was willing to stay behind that day to hear me out, even though he didn't take it very warmly but I guess I don't blame him,' she thought. She glanced over at Sarah. 'Ugh, what is her problem? Why did she do that? Guess she's always had it in for me. Catherine. Oh Catherine. I haven't been able to talk to you much either. Then again, how can I when people who hate me constantly surround you? I don't care about what they think about me, but damn them, I want to talk to you. Maybe next year. I don't know. Maybe I won't go back. No, wait. I'm doing it again. I'm feeling sorry for myself. Doh! Look, self, Gabrielle, it's not completely your fault. Remember? Mark, Kyle, stupid deal. Can't believe I played into their hands like that. Sarah too! Those stupid rumors! I was not with that Slytherin boy! He blackmailed me! Erg, I should've just taken the punishment of bg caught in the Common Room. No, stop! Stop thinking about what you should have done! I am not to blame! I am better than that! Or, what I should have done. All those stupid gossipers who don't know me don't matter! Because I'm a good person! I make mistakes but I'm an excellent person. My grades are going up! I can do it! Perfection is stupid but I am better than all of that. I am above gossip! Thoughts are so confusing. I will not be upset anymore! Ahh! Self? I think we need sleep. Oh god, I'm talking to myself. Yes, yes, sleep. Sleep is good. Ok, what should I do to send myself to sleep? I heard someone talking about counting sheep jump over the fence. Let me try that...1, 2, oh such a cute lamb, 3, 4, 5...6...7.........' Gabby drifted to sleep on Sheep 8.

~*~

"I wonder if I'll be getting anything for Valentine's Day. It's on Monday!" Gabby heard Ginny say as the comment woke her up. It was way too early to be up on a Saturday. If it had been Sarah that had woken her up, Gabby would've had the backbone to tell her to shut up. Gabby realized that she had lost that backbone when she had first joined the "group". It was definitely a plus for being kicked out. But it was Ginny that woke her up. She was probably talking to Catherine too. Those were the only two people she still hung her head to, besides Daniel anyways.

"Ugh, don't remind me. Bad memories," Catherine said with a shudder. Gabby looked to see if Catherine even so much as glanced at her for that comment but she didn't.

"Kyle made promises then?" Ginny asked. Catherine nodded with a groan. Gabby was much too tired to get up. So she'd have to just lie there listening to the conversation. "Oh, forget about him. He's just a stupid wombat. Don't chase, replace! See Valentine's Day as an opportunity to find someone...better."

'That's right. A wombat. You totally deserve better,' Gabby thought in her head and wished she could voice it aloud. But she knew the result that would happen. Ginny would nod her head and Catherine would pretend she hadn't heard. Sure, the silent treatment was a childish tactic but Gabby didn't blame her. Besides, Catherine was only twelve. Gabby wasn't quite so sure she wouldn't do the same if the situation were reversed.

"Come on you guys, let's go," Sarah said, popping her head into the room with an impatient voice.

So, they had plans. Gabby fought off her feeling of being left out. She lay there with her eyes squeezed shut, listening to make sure they were gone before opening them again. Deciding that she couldn't go to sleep now, she half-dragged herself out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. She looked in the mirror dully. Her brown hair was a mess; parts of it were sticking up at really odd angles. She started brushing it, thinking over what she had just overheard. Valentine's Day was near. It was exactly what she didn't need. A day where couples went around acting disgustingly infatuated with each other while shoving it into the faces of those who weren't. Not that she actually wanted anyone though. Boys caused unneeded drama in her opinion.

"I vow to not fall for a guy for at least a year starting now," Gabby declared. She got the last kink out of her hair and decided to put it in a ponytail.

This proved harder than said. She knew her crunchy was somewhere in the bathroom but it was ridiculously hard to find amidst her roommates' makeup. Ginny didn't use too much. She pretty much just saved it for special occasions. Catherine had used a bit while dating Kyle but recently she resorted to using smaller amounts. But she'd probably start using more once she found a new guy to obsess over. Gabby only saw Sarah's bare face when she went to sleep, and sometimes she couldn't even see that because of Sarah's masks. Gabby didn't know why they bothered. All she had herself was lip-gloss because Veronica had sent her some for Christmas.

After searching for 5 minutes, she found her hair tie underneath Sarah's mascara collection. Gabby had heard that muggles had make-up too. Except, while witches' make-up self-applied and always looked fabulous, Gabby had seen some pretty hideous muggles when she accompanied Sophie to the muggle grocery store.

"Someday, Sarah, someday, I'm going to get you back for this," Gabby whispered as she pulled her hair into a ponytail and, after a pause, added, "not just for making me search this long."

~*~