Fight Between Friends

Fight Between Friends

A pair of feline, yellow eyes stared down at her worriedly. The tanned, and now Riana could see, slightly freckled, nose hovered a mere three inches away from her own. Seeing her grey eyes open, the face heaved a giant, explosive sigh of relief and sweet, warm breath caressed Riana's thin face. Riana wondered abstractedly if she knew this androgynous person. The neutral face's mouth opened and a low, growling voice questioned, "Riana?"

Riana grimaced in pain. Her vertebral column was digging mercilessly into the floor. She blinked rapidly, adjusting to the blinding pinpricks of sunlight streaming through the filthy window. Groaning, Riana tried to raise her head but fell back weakly as her muscles rebelled. Slumping back, Riana prepared herself for the inevitable thump to her already aching head, but a strong hand had already reached forward to prop her up.

Not caring at all to whom she owed this rescue, Riana's thin fingers groped her head tentatively, working their way to the back where she pushed the lank strands of sweaty, black hair out of her way and pressed gingerly. "Ouch," she hissed, the muscles of her lean face contracting as her hand contacted a large bump on the back of her head.

"Ya continue to surprise me, Riana. Here I am, comin' to wake ya up for breakfast..." Riana felt her eyes narrow at the word 'breakfast' but the voice continued, unaffected by her sharp intake of breath "...and here ya are lyin' on the floor. What are ya goin' to do without me?" The lilting voice sounded slightly amused as Riana finally opened her eyes to view the speaker.

"Mornin', Riana," Fabian murmured, his jovial tone masking the worry shining in his eyes.

Riana felt his arms tilt her up from the floor and ... Wait, from the floor? Why was she lying on the cold, hard floor? "Fabian, what," she swallowed the taste of morning breath and tilted her chin down, raising only her eyes to his curious gaze, "what happened?"

Fabian's mien lost its amusement and he hugged the small body to his barrel chest. "I don't know, Riana," he said reluctantly as he heaved her to her feet, supporting her swaying frame. "I knocked at your door...we needed to send your acceptance letter to Hogwarts today...but you didn't answer so I let myself in. That's all I know." He pressed her small body to his tightly, and Riana didn't wriggle out of the embrace as she was prone to do in all other cases. It felt good to have another human care about her so much ... another human that wasn't inferior in knowledge. She screwed her eyes shut in an effort to stem the flow of thick, salty tears. But still, a few of the sparkling, rogue tears escaped and ran down her cheeks, dripping off her chin and landing on Fabian's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I can't remember what happened either, but..." Riana's voice trailed off as the memory of a dark room, crying woman, Chinese silk book, gold silk thread, and a broken picture flooded back, assailing her brain with bits and pieces of information. Riana gave a sharp cry and wrenched away from Fabian jerkily. "Fabian, I... I think I..." she gulped as Fabian looked at her, confused. What did I do? How was that possible? It was a dream, wasn't it? But how did I end up here – on the floor, in front of the windows? I remember windows from my dream. I remember... Mother.

Riana felt numb with shock and began to tremble violently. Her head ached worse than before and she tasted blood in her mouth. Realizing suddenly that she'd bitten her tongue, Riana darted to the cracked, porcelain washbowl and grabbed the pitcher of water. She gulped a mouthful and swished the water around for a moment before spitting into the basin. Sucking her cheeks in, Riana shivered at the taste of blood in her mouth. She hated the taste of blood. Never was there a more disgusting flavor than the tangy, iron flavor of one's own blood.

"Riana?" Fabian's voice sounded through her haze of pain, and Riana turned toward him, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand as she massaged her raw gums with her tongue. Frowning, Riana stared at her friend, wondering what he had to say.

"I bit my tongue," she mumbled, "but my gums hurt, too. It's nothing." However, Fabian continued to stare at the washbasin, his expression showing that there was perhaps a bit more to his questioning tone than Riana realized. Following his gaze, Riana turned and peered in the basin. Gasping in shock, Riana started back from the basin and clutched her hands to her mouth convulsively. There, lying in the bloody water, was a single tooth.

"My ... my t-tooth," Riana whispered, her heart pounding as she realized that the missing tooth was not a "baby" tooth. It was far too big, and as she crammed her thin fingers into her mouth to feel the hole left by the tooth, she remembered that she had lost that exact tooth last year. "Oh, no! What happened," she shrieked, grabbing Fabian's arm in a claw-like clutch, "to my tooth? What happened to me? Why did it fall out? Tell me!"

"I don't know, Riana! Let me go!" Fabian bristled visibly, his dark hair standing on end as Riana began hyperventilating, holding onto Fabian's arm. "Okay, ya want to know what's wrong with ya? Ya are unhealthy! That's what's wrong with ya! Ya don't bloody eat!" Fabian eyes shot off yellow sparks as he, too, seized Riana, his clawed fingers digging into her translucent skin.

Gasping, Riana released her grip on Fabian and felt her eyes fill with tears as she realized what Fabian had said. Immediately, Fabian's expression changed and became penitent as Riana sank to the floor in front, clutching her thin arms around her chest.

"Riana, I...I didn't mean it. Ya couldn't have known this would happen. Please, ya have to believe me. I didn't mean it." Crouching beside her, Fabian reached forward to wrap his arms around the trembling girl, but Riana shrank back. His eyes tortured, Fabian continued, "Look. I don't know why ya were on the floor; I don't know why ya lost ya tooth; I don't know why ya are sick ... but ya are. Please understand, though, that I would never have said anythin' to hurt ya if I didn't think ya needed to hear it."

Riana gazed up at Fabian through long black lashes as he spoke. "I'm," she whispered, her voice breathy but defensive, "not sick. I lost my tooth because I fell last night. It just scared me." With great effort, Riana took hold of the cabinet upon which the basin sat and pulled her body off the floor. Gazing at Fabian, Riana lifted her proud chin and stared down her nose at the tanned, tawny boy crouching animal-like on the floor. "It was a dream," she lied. "I sleepwalk. You don't need to worry." Lying came naturally to her and she wasn't afraid to use it to her advantage. The fact that Fabian had attacked her verbally, however, shook Riana more than she liked to admit, and she was afraid of losing the only person she knew in this alien world. Of course, Fabian didn't look quite convinced as she would have liked, but Riana wasn't about to risk angering him again. She knew, instinctively, that he had almost turned into a cat when she had grabbed his arm.

"All right, then," Fabian finally said, jerking his chin into a nod. "We're leavin'; get dressed." Stalking out of her room, Fabian didn't glance back, and his posture was stiffer than Riana had ever seen.

Sniffing, Riana looked down at her hand, admiring the protruding bones, which were now her only comfort. And then, as she had done so many times before, she wrapped her fingers around her wrist and watched in relief as they met, overlapping a full inch-and-a-half.

*

Fabian still hadn't spoken more than two or three words to her, and Riana missed his friendly banter so much, she had even tried to initiate the conversation once or twice with little success. Fabian simply wouldn't speak to her and kept his weird gaze fixed straight ahead as they traipsed down the sunny alley. Folding her arms over her chest, Riana bowed her head and scurried after Fabian as he strode down the alley, his expression hard.

"Fabian, stop." The words surprised Riana even as she spoke them. Obviously they shocked Fabian, too, for he spun around and glared at her angrily.

"What?" he spat, pointed teeth gleaming dangerously.

"Why aren't you talking to me? What did I do wrong? You know what? I'm sorry. There, I've apologized. Are you happy?" Riana's grey eyes hardened into steel as she glared at the werecat standing in front of her.

Fabian's own eyes narrowed in return, the vertical pupils appearing as slits in the sunlight. "Well, all right, then." He spun around and marched in the other direction, his body still taut as a spring.

Unbelievable, Riana thought as she stared after her friend. "What?" She felt herself hiss as her body propelled itself forward. "I told you I was sorry; what is wrong with you? Why won't you forgive me? What do I have to say?"

Fabian turned over his shoulder and glared at her angrily. "I am the only friend ya have in the whole world, and ya can't even tell me what's really goin' on with ya? What is wrong with ya that ya can't just tell me?"

Even as Riana felt her eyes spark, even as she felt her lips straighten into a thin line, even as her chin jerked imperiously up, Riana saw, felt, knew the hurt in Fabian's eyes was real. It was the dream; he wanted to know about the dream. The dream was important to him and..."It wasn't a dream. It was real. I didn't tell you because ... I was afraid. It scared me, Fabian; I don't know what it was. I saw my mum. She was crying, Fabian." Riana's eyes lost their anger and were replaced with a cloudy sadness that only Fabian saw.

Standing there in the middle of the alley, crowds of people pouring past her, Fabian had never seen anyone look so alone. With her small hands clasped in front of her, the breeze whipping her dark hair across her forlorn face, Riana looked like a poster child for poverty-stricken children. Though she tried to hide the hurt in her eyes by adopting a defensive pose, Fabian could see that she was deeply shaken by her 'dream,' and he felt his anger melt away. Striding toward her, Fabian grabbed her hands and gazed earnestly into her face. "I'm sorry," he said. "I know it's not your fault and ya can't help what happened ... whatever that was. Ya are my friend, Riana. Ya scared me this mornin' and I was just reactin' to that. Forgive me?"

Riana realized that she'd been holding her breath and let out a small sob. Smiling slightly, she tilted her small head to the side, her almond-shaped eyes blinking furiously as she gazed at Fabian through the strands of raven hair. "Of course I forgive you. You're my friend." The words were shocking, yes, for Riana, but they were indeed true.

Grinning in return, Fabian stepped back and bowed, gesturing in mock grace toward a shop to their right. "That," he said, "is the Diagon Alley Owl Post. I already sent me letter; well, me parents did, actually. Me mum is a bit over-anxious about stuff like that. It's about time ya letter got there too. We're not late, but we're not early either... Comin'?" So saying, Fabian sprang toward Riana and seized her hand in his shiny palm and pulled her through the jostling crowds toward the glassy building.

*

Once inside, Riana gazed around in amazement as Fabian swaggered to a desk located in the center of the room behind which a pretty young lady sat, filing her three-inch long, bright pink, jeweled fingernails. As Fabian dealt with the receptionist, Riana inched toward the corner of the lobby...at least, she thought it was a lobby...and pressed her face to the glass walls. The shop was amazing.

The receptionist's desk was placed in the center of the room and was surrounded by bins filled with parchment, envelopes, quills, and ink bottles in varying shades of color. There were glittering ink bottles, jewel-toned ink bottles, matte bottles, black ink bottles, Ever-Changing ink bottles, and many, many more. The lady also had two trays sitting conspicuously on her desk labeled cleverly "Outgoing" and "Incoming." Fabian was gesturing animatedly to the lady who was pointing out various prices and listings on a page of parchment taped to her desk.

However, the receptionist's desk was not what had captured Riana's attention, though she could have happily spent many days staring at the myriad bottles of ink. No, the rest of the post office was what truly amazed Riana. The receptionist's office was round and the walls were glass ... pure, sparkling, shining glass. But beyond those glass walls, stacked farther and higher than she could see, were shelves divided into boxes, and in each little compartment, some eating, some sleeping, stood an owl outfitted with a small pouch on its right leg and tagged on the left with a purple, cloth band.

Though the floor was covered with droppings, Riana couldn't have cared less. The sheer magnitude of the outer room was staggering, though no more so than the number of owls that lived there. Gazing up toward the ceiling, Riana realized that the roof was also glass and that the outer room had none. A door led from the lobby to the outer room and was marked, "Employees only beyond this point. Owls subject to partiality and will attack if threatened in their homes. Not responsible for bodily harm."

Raising her eyebrows, Riana turned from the door and looked back at the owls. There were so many varieties, each uniquely different from the others. As several owls stared at her with wide, unblinking eyes, Riana wrinkled her nose in distaste and, turning back, walked toward Fabian and the woman.

"Miss," the receptionist murmured in a ladylike, quiet voice, "to whom do I address this? In what color would you like it written, and what grade parchment do you want?"

Grade parchment? What was that? Riana stared at the woman, confused. "Grade parchment?" she asked.

"Yes. We have Lacewing Fly thin; Schoolwork regular; Dumbledore's Choice, which is a medium thickness; Mattress heav..."

She was cut off as Riana, annoyed by the proceedings, blurted, "Regular thickness. Do you actually go out there and attach the letter to the owl? Kinda nasty, isn't it?"

The woman's face took on a glint of distaste as she gazed at the rude, demanding girl standing in front of her. Fabian deliberately treaded on Riana's foot, and as she stifled a shriek of surprise, he turned back to the receptionist.

"Could we have regular thickness, matte black ink, and a big eagle owl, please?" Fabian asked, innocently ignoring Riana as she glared at him.

The receptionist nodded and picked up a quill lying beside her on her desk. Turning around in her swiveling desk chair, she seized a bottle of black ink from the bin labeled 'Matte' and a sheet of parchment and placed both on her desk. She dipped the be-feathered instrument into the pot and began writing furiously on the sheet of parchment, while simultaneously pushing a button and speaking into a small speaker box on her desk. "Madley, I need a size five eagle owl, please. Mm-hmm, yes. Hogwarts, that's right. Thank you."

Turning back to the glass windows, Riana forgot her bad mood for the moment and watched eagerly to see what the procedure was for selecting an owl. A few minutes later, a door that Riana hadn't noticed before opened, and a witch with a grey-streaked, brown plait and a young face walked out, her arms covered by leather gauntlets. She was wearing a hat with a wide brim and her short-sleeved robes were creased, brown leather and covered in plastic. She grabbed a whistle that was hanging around her neck and placed it in her mouth. The witch blew one, shrill note and extended her arm. Quick as a flash, a huge eagle owl swooped down and landed with an arm-shaking swoosh on Madley's (for Riana assumed this was she) leather-clad arm. Her face creasing into a smile, Madley petted the head of the owl and offered it a dead mouse that she'd drawn from a leather pouch attached to her trim waist.

Riana watched, entranced at these proceedings, until a rustle caused her to whip around. Fabian was watching her, pleased at her expression, and the witch behind the counter was sweeping her rose-colored robes out of the way as she sealed the letter and sashayed gracefully to a glass door melded into the glass walls of the lobby. Madley had approached the door as well, and as the receptionist opened the door, the owl trainer grasped the parchment, rolled it expertly into a scroll-shape and, in less than ten seconds, had attached it to the leg of the eagle owl. With one last caress, Madley extended her arm above her head, and the owl took off with a sweep of its four-foot wings.

Turning toward the two children, Madley smiled at them through the glass, the wrinkles on her face contrasting sharply with the condition of her skin. She was obviously a young woman, but she looked tired, old and was severely scratched. However, she does, Riana thought, look happy.

With a pang of guilt, Riana thought suddenly of Alvean, her kitten, who was not getting the attention she deserved. Why, just that morning, because of her row with Fabian, Riana had pushed some food down the mewling Alvean's throat and stalked out of the room, deliberately leaving poor Alvean to do what she could with her full bladder. In an effort to push Alvean out of her thoughts until she could get back to the inn and care for her, Riana watched as Madley turned from them and gazed skyward, following the progress of her beloved owl.

Needless to say, the love in Madley's expression did not help Riana feel any better, and she turned to Fabian. "Fabian, I didn't take Alvean out to use the bathroom. Can we go back, now?"

His yellow eyes widening in surprise, Fabian leaped toward Riana and pulled her out the door, nodding, 'Thank you,' to the receptionist who was again filing her nails. "Why didn't ya tell me? Poor, little mite. I know what that's like. Try sittin' for hours, watchin' a stupid bird while ya need to go to the bathroom, and then ya can give me a good excuse for forgettin'."

As Riana began to protest, Fabian hushed her. "Kiddin' again, Riana. I know why ya weren't carin' for her this mornin'."

Looking down in penitence, Riana nodded, her grey eyes sad and searching, as she turned back once toward the Owl Post and gazed at the building. What a great thing it must be, she thought, to know something so well. Madley knows her owls ... I don't have anything like that.

No, the ever-present voice whispered, you have Alvean. Of course, you left her to fend for herself this morning. What good are you, anyway? Are you really worth anything? You nearly lost your only friend today. Your only friend. Do you really think you will fit in at Hogwarts if you've never fit in anywhere else?

Eyes narrowing in anger, Riana ignored the accusing voice and strode hurriedly down the alley, accompanied by a sympathetic Fabian. I am worth something, she thought, and I will fit in. Everything will be better at Hogwarts. They'll see; they'll all see! It ... It will, won't it?