Fighting Friends Smiling Enemies

Gabby stared solemnly at the Hogwarts Express as it pulled in. It was time for another year, her third year. Slowly, she made her way to the train and found an empty compartment. She couldn't find Ginny but she guessed it didn't matter. Resigned to loneliness, she sat down and took out a copy of the Daily Prophet. She read with interest on the alleged 'attack' during the World Cup. It was probably half rubbish. Gabby had decided that Rita Skeeter was much like Sarah-they both liked to ruin other people's lies by twisting the truth. She refused to believe a grown up Sarah. She opened the window and promptly threw it out.

Sarah had royally annoyed her when they had bumped into each other a few minutes earlier.

"Tsk, tsk, just like her father," Sarah had whispered loudly on 9 ¾'s platform. Gabby had whirled around.

"What did you say?" Gabby had demanded.

"Just that well, your father cheated on your mother, and you cheated on Daniel Guess the apple didn't fall far from the tree now did it?" Sarah commented snidely.

"Shut up Sarah, just shut up," Gabby said before walking away. Sarah's laughs followed her.

"Hey, can we sit here?" Sissy asked, opening the compartment like she had on the last train ride.

"Oh, yeah, sure, go ahead," Gabby replied. Sissy nodded and again the boy followed her inside.

"This is Anthony," Sissy said waving her hand quickly at the boy. Gabby wondered if there was a surname to go with the name but didn't ask

"Hi," Gabby said to Anthony. He did not reply. 'That's a bit rude,' she thought. She turned her attention back to Sissy. Maybe they could make up.

"Have a good summer?" Sissy asked, making an awkward attempt at conversation. The two hadn't talked civilly, outside of their exchange of greeting three months earlier, in nearly five years.

"Yeah, you?" Gabby answered just as tensely. Sissy shrugged. The conversation died after that with both of them unsure of what to say. Silence seemed so much more comfortable. Anthony still didn't talk. 'Maybe he's deaf,' Gabby mused to herself.

Gabby pulled out her issue of Witch Weekly and engrossed herself in reading the Reader's Letters. After she finished reading about 'Fashionable from Scotland', she turned to the next section on "Five do's for straight hair." She tugged on her own straight brown hair. Looking at the ridiculously fashioned hair on the models in the moving pictures, she decided she'd stick to a simple ponytail if she ever felt like doing anything with it. She turned the page again and snorted at the article title, '10 Ways to Tell If He Loves You.' It was the last thing she needed to know.

"What?" Anthony asked. Ok, so maybe he wasn't deaf.

"This," Gabby said and showed Sissy and Anthony. Sissy let out a giggle and to Gabby's great surprise, Anthony broke out in abrupt laughter.

"This. Is. Rubbish," he said, snatching the magazine from her and reading it over.

"Oh, and you would know how?" Sissy asked, watching him in amusement.

"Tip #5, if he comments on how nice your mini-robe (yeah, those that you can't wear at school) is. Ha! That doesn't mean he loves you. It means he either wants you to take the robe off or he swings the other way. Rubbish," Anthony said still laughing, "Why do you silly girls read this junk? Especially you. I thought you'd be avoiding guys for a while after what happened to you."

"While it's nice to know how nasty your mind works, I would like to have my magazine back. Also, it's none of your business whether or not I see guys. I will or will not do so on my own opinion," Gabby said irritably. 'How dare he mention that?' she thought furiously.

"You don't have to be unpleasant about it," he snapped right back and tossed the magazine at her. His smile curved into a frown.

"Oh me? You're the one who first ignores me, then takes my magazine without asking, and then caps it off by insulting me twice," Gabby said.

"Well gee, I didn't know you'd get all stuck-up over it. Just giving you advice. You should consider taking it," he snarled at her. Sissy put her hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm her down but he just shrugged it off.

"Don't call me stuck-up you rude prat," Gabby said, her hand tightly clutching the magazine now.

"Ooh, resorting to name-calling are we now?" he taunted her.

"Ugh! Men! And a Slytherin no doubt. Where did you learn manners? Your death eater parents?" Gabby spat exasperated. Whatever she said, it struck a nerve. He rose to his feet, towering over her. If she had stood, he would have been half a foot taller at most, but since she was sitting the feeling was quite different.

"Anthony no!" Sissy cried, trying to stop him but her efforts were useless he shoved her off.

"What did you say?" he hissed at her.

"Don't you have ears?" she said with a fake bored tone to it. She lifted her hand and looked at her fingernails in a cliché pose.

"You've got nerve don't you? Huh? Don't you? You think you're so great because you're in Gryffindor. You think that just because we're in Slytherin that we're the bad guys eh?" he started yelling at her. Gabby didn't reply. "Well guess what? We're not. Sure, some of us joined You-Know-Who but it's not fair that you judge the rest of it on us. It's insulting to judge us on what our parents might have been."

"You hypocrite! You are judging me exactly on my parents. I know you know about my father. I know you know he cheated on my mother and left us when I was five.

Because of Sarah, a lot of people in our year know," Gabby yelled. She too rose to her feet while meeting his glare.

"I didn't judge you on that!" he roared taking a step toward her. She took a step back.

"Yes you did! What were those comments?" Gabby snapped and took a step toward him, regaining her area.

"I was commenting on what you did this year, not your mother," he cried and took a step. Gabby held her position.

"Oh never mind, that's so much better! You know, you're not helping your whole I'm not that bad a guy argument.?" Gabby said sharply. She admitted silently to herself that she was overreacting. He made no mention of her mother.

" Look, houses are houses. We are still humans, we are still people, and we have our own problems. Don't think that only you have problems," he said with a tone of finality. Gabby took a step back.

"Whatever," she muttered as she sat back down. He stared at her strangely for a moment before also sitting back down.

'Talk about starting the school year on the wrong foot,' she thought irritably as the lady came in to offer them treats. She had forgotten her money and couldn't afford any of them. Perfect.

Gabby watched miserably as Anthony bought loads of sweets and made of point of it. Sissy would probably give her some but Gabby wouldn't give Anthony the satisfaction of watching Gabby beg. So when Sissy offered Gabby a chocolate frog ten minutes letter, Gabby couldn't help but smile gratefully. Even if Anthony was an insufferable git, Gabby still had hope for Sissy. She unwrapped the Chocolate Frog and took a bite.

~*~

Gabby climbed into the horseless carriage. Sissy followed her. Gabby momentarily contemplated closing the door so that Anthony couldn't get in but before she could he got in. She groaned.

"I'm not happy sitting in the same carriage with you either," Anthony snapped.

"Well good, I don't like sitting with you either," Gabby replied.

"Can you two just please not argue?" Sissy asked them quietly.

"I thought you were on my side! She's the girl that tried to play the trick on you. I'm the one that stopped her. Shouldn't you be supporting me?" Anthony asked her.

"I'm not taking sides. You both are being stupid!" Sissy said with a tired tone. He frowned.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked Gabby. She was sitting there with a rather strange look on her face.

"You! You were the one who got me into so much trouble! You're the one that Sarah has based all those rumors on!" Gabby said.

"That's right," he said nonplussed. The carriages stopped. Without saying a word, he got out and opened the door. Sissy stepped out. Gabby moved to also get out but the door was rudely slammed in her face. The nerve of this boy!

Gabby opened the door herself and climbed out. Anthony and Sissy were nowhere in sight. 'Good. I don't want to associate with him anyways,' she thought. She entered the Great Hall alone and found a seat at the end of the Gryffindor table. Looking over, she saw Sissy and Anthony take a seat together at the Slytherin table. She sighed and put her arms on the table and her head on her arms. This was not the way to start a new year.

She resisted an urge to cry.

Lifting her head, she watched as Professor McGonagall entered with a three-legged stool and placed it on the ground. Silence filled the hall. Gabby wondered what song the hat had made this time. 'Hmm, good. Not too special,' she thought when it had finished.

"When I call out your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool," Professor McGonagall called out to the first years. Gabby stopped paying attention. She looked around the Gryffindor table.

"Ackerley, Stewart!"

Catherine was sitting with Sarah and Sam. Two S's. 'Anthony should have had an S name. Then Gabby could chalk it up to people with S names just being mean,' Gabby thought. 'Well ok, that's not fair to all the nice people with S names. But, whatever.'

"RAVENCLAW!"

'Why Sissy isn't in Ravenclaw? She is the best in almost all her classes,' Gabby thought.

"Baddock, Malcolm!"

'Then again, Sissy is a bit more like a Slytherin. Just like the Sorting Hat said. 'Those of treat ambition.' Sissy is ambitious,' Gabby thought.

"SLYTHERIN!"

'I wonder what kind of personality that kid has. He's in Slytherin. Then again, maybe not all of them are mean. Maybe Anthony is right. Oh god I did not just agree with that prat. Never mind. Sure, stereotypes are wrong and all but you've got to admit it still fits a majority,' she thought. She watched Fred and George hiss Malcolm down.

"Branstone, Eleanor!"

'Malcolm probably is annoying. He's probably a mini-Anthony,' she thought.

"HUFFLEPUFF"

'Maybe I should have been in Hufflepuff. I'm not a Slytherin. I'm definitely not smart enough to be in Ravenclaw. How is it that I got into Gryffindor?' she pondered.

"Cauldwell, Owen!"

'To be in Gryffindor, you have to be brave. But how am I brave? I'm not! I'm pathetic! I'm bad at school, have no special talents, no friends, and no life!' Gabby thought miserably.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

'No Gryffindors yet?' Gabby thought as the hat called out the name.

"Creevey, Dennis!"

'Ugh, Colin's little brother. What ever happened to Colin anyways? I haven't talked to him in ages...not like I want to anyways,' Gabby thought.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

'Hm, finally, a Gryffindor. Hope he doesn't make us lose house points. We've won all the years I've been here,' Gabby thought. She was hungry. When the sorting was finally done and after Dumbledore had said his message ('Tuck in.') the food appeared on the plates. Gabby got herself some pumpkin juice. It always amazed her at the sheer amount of food they had all the time. It was delicious.

She ate in silence and didn't talk to anyone around her. The last time she had attempted to make more friends, they had turned out to be in league with Sarah and Sam. She didn't feel like trying again with more strangers.

"So!" said Dumbledore. Gabby looked at him. He was a rather insane Headmaster, but entertaining all the same. He said something about Filch and his rules and Hogsmeade. Gabby frowned a bit. She should be eager to go to Hogsmeade but now it was only reminding her that she had nobody to hang out with when she got there.

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

Gabby looked around at the Quidditch players. They looked shocked. She didn't really care. 'Big deal. Quidditch. Not like I'd ever get to be on the team anyways. Not that I'd try out.'

"This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up most of the teachers' time and energy---but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts," Dumbledore continued saying but was cut off. The doors to the Great Hall opened. Gabby gasped at the man standing there. She recognized him from that Daily Prophet article. Mad-eye Moody. His eye swiveled around. Gabby held back the urge to scream.

"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? Professor Moody," Dumbledore said into the silence. Gabby gawked. 'He's going to be our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? How the bloody hell am I supposed to pay attention in lessons if I'm going to be staring at that eye!'

"As I was saying, we are to have the honor of hosting an exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

"You're JOKING!" said Fred Weasley. Or was it George? Gabby couldn't tell. 'The Triwizard tournament? No way! That's awesome!' Gabby had heard about it before. Her father told her a story of it once when she was four. Dumbledore went into explanation but Gabby didn't listen. She was too excited and she knew what it was anyways.

'Maybe I can enter and win! Yeah, then I could shove it in Sarah's face. Everyone would love me being Hogwarts champion!' she started fantasizing right away but then Dumbledore stated the age restriction. Gabby felt like someone had just splashed cold water onto her face. 'Or not. I probably wouldn't get in anyways. Why would I get picked? I wouldn't.' She sat up slowly and idly followed the Gryffindor crowd to the Common Room. Someone called out the password ('Balderdash') and she followed them inside. She trudged her way up to her room. She was happy to see that Ginny, Sarah, and Catherine hadn't gotten there yet. It wasn't very fun being ignored.

~*~

Gabby woke up early the next day while the others were still sleeping. After pulling on her robes, she slipped out of the room. She wanted some time to herself. Thankful that the Dementors were now gone, she went outside. There was a cool breeze out but it was bearable. She started on a walk by the lake. No one else was outside. Most people were probably still asleep. But for the first night in a long time, Gabby hadn't woken up at 3:00 AM.

'3^rd year. I'm a teenager now. Ugh, I was so much more excited about that back when I was eleven. That was a good time. 1^st year. Well, ok, no it wasn't. Ginny getting taken into the chamber was not a good time. But Harry rescued her. I wonder if anyone would rescue me if I was taken,' she thought as she continued walking. The atmosphere was comforting. 'Probably not. Harry is a hero and all but Ginny's Ron's little sister. Of course he had to do something. Some people thought he was the Heir of Slytherin though. Ugh, why are so people so quick to believe lies? Why? I solemnly swear to never believe anything like that ever.'

She turned around and headed back to the castle. Her head was down and she was deep in thought. Therefore, it wasn't a big surprise when she crashed into somebody who was also deep in thought.

"Ow! Watch it! What's you're problem? Oh, it's you. Figures. What are you doing out here? No, what are you doing out here?" they said together. Gabby took a deep breath to calm her irritation.

"I'm out here thinking, you?' she said.

"Thinking," he replied.

"So you think?" she said.

"Yeah. I'm surprised you know the meaning of the word," he snapped back.

"Where's Sissy? I thought you were her lapdog," she said snidely.

"No, we're friends. You might have been a lapdog to Sarah but I'm not," he replied.

"Prat," she called him.

"Snob," he called her.

"Ignorant git," she called him.

"Insufferable twit," he called her.

"Are you guys five years old or what?" Sissy said in an indignant tone. She was standing a few feet away with her arms crossed. "If you get up so early, you do so to study or improve yourself. Not to snipe at each other like idiots. Now, both of you, shake hands. No? Do it. Why should you listen to me? Because I said so now shake! Fine, be that way. Breakfast is about to start. If you two want to not eat, and end up with terrible marks, then fine. I'm going back inside." Sissy, who Gabby had decided she could never get used to calling Celia, turned and walked back inside.

"Is she always this bossy?" Gabby asked.

"You should see her around test time. She rearranges the furniture in her room. Annoys the roommates," Anthony replied but stopped talking. They were talking pleasantly. "But it's not your place to criticize her!"

"You just were!" Gabby said in exasperation.

"Well you provoked me! See, you're a bad influence on everyone," Anthony said defensively.

"You know what? You are acting like a five year old and you're dragging me down with you. Goodbye," Gabby said and stalked off. He called out some things but she didn't hear him.

She walked inside and halted right outside the Great Hall. Did she really feel like sitting there with everyone else without talking? No. She grabbed a napkin and loaded it with a few pieces of toast and headed for the library. She had finished her homework in the first month of summer so she would just have to get a head start on the material for this year. When she got there, she saw that Sissy was also there. She walked over to the table.

"Can I sit here Sissy?" Gabby asked quietly.

"Uh huh," Sissy said without looking up. She was reading the Transfiguration book intently. Gabby decided to do the same.

"Sissy?" Gabby asked after a few minutes.

"Yeah?" Sissy said, still reading.

"Look at me please," Gabby said. Sissy sighed and looked up.

"What is it Gabby?" Sissy asked.

"Thanks for letting me sit here," Gabby said. She kicked herself mentally. That sounded lame.

"Um, ok, sure," Sissy said before going back to reading.

"Um, Sissy?" Gabby asked again a few minutes later.

"You know, since we're back on pleasant terms maybe you should call me by my new nickname, Celia, now," Sissy said looking up.

"I know. But I can't. I'm not used to it," Gabby said.

"Well would you like it if I called you Gail?" Sissy asked.

"You've been talking to Veronica!" Gabby exclaimed. Only one person had ever called her Gail and she had only told Veronica in a letter.

"Yeah. It's a pity she moved," Sissy replied with a grin.

"Definitely. Why exactly did she move again?" Gabby asked. She scrunched up her nose trying to remember.

"You have a pretty face, don't scrunch it up like that Gabby. Her father got a job, but he had a perfectly respectable job here. My mum says its because they think you-know-who's coming back," Sissy replied.

"Do you think he is?" Gabby asked and smiled. It was good to talk to Sissy again. Sissy frowned for a moment.

"I don't know," she answered. "Do you think so?" Gabby shrugged.

"I don't know. I mean, with the Sirius Black thing last year and all, I'm not sure about much. We aren't safe, you know?" Gabby said. Sissy nodded.

"I agree," Sissy said and returned to her books.

"Sissy?" Gabby asked. Sissy sighed.

"Alright, if you insist on calling me that, what?" Sissy said.

"Can we be friends again?" Gabby asked. She held her breath. Sissy knew about the prank. Sure, she was being friendly now but maybe she was just being polite. Or maybe she just pitied Gabby. Sissy paused for a moment. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it. Gabby felt her heart sink. 'Oh no, oh no, what did I do? I should've have done that! No! This is bad! Um, say something, yes I have to say something. Anything, anything!'

"I don't know," Sissy said in a hushed voice. She turned around to look at the clock and started gathering her things.

"Ok," Gabby repeated as she put her Transfiguration book back in her bag.

"I'm not going to lie. Things have...changed in the past five years. We're not eight; we're thirteen. You can't forget the fact that, you know, you're in Gryffindor and I'm in Slytherin. I don't even know if I trust you anymore. Making all my hair fall out Gabby? That's cruel," Sissy said in a tired tone. She stood up and pushed her chair in. She wasn't smiling or frowning. Her expression was neutral.

"Ok, that's fine. Just forget I asked," Gabby said as she too got up. They walked to the library entrance together.

"I don't mean it like that, I just, I don't know. I'll see you later Gabby," Sissy said. She gave a small wave and went left.

"Bye," Gabby called out and went right. She felt miserable. 'Well, that was a disaster. What's my first class today? Oh yeah, Divination.'