hold me like the river jordan

[Gabriella Rivera]

When she and Lyle were first pulled out of school, Gabby was convinced that that was it - she was never going back to Hogwarts again and would forever be home schooled with Lyle. Granted, she might have been a bit dramatic when she first figured she wasn't coming back, but the way that her father looked when they'd seen him in Dumbledore's office - she didn't think she had ever seen him this angry, and he didn't even have to say it to know that Gideon had carried out his threat about telling her father everything. She supposed her skipping classes for the whole day had been the straw that broke the camel's back, and she honestly wasn't upset with Gideon for doing it. It was the right thing to do, and she would have done the same for him. He'd obviously been concerned for her - completely understandable, naturally - and thought that telling her father would be best. She should have told him herself, really, when she first started making silly mistakes, and as soon as they were home they had a long talk about everything that happened to her. And then he gave her a long hug, assured her that she wasn't stupid, she'd just made a couple of mistakes, but that was okay because the best thing about making mistakes is that you learn from them. Gabby sincerely hoped she would learn from these mistakes, at least. No more doing anyone's homework. No more going into the Forbidden Forest. No more meetings in the Hog's Head with men whom Fabian had warned her about. None of that anymore. And she would be a good girl and not get into any more trouble. Except...well, except that she and Lyle really wanted to get her Papi and his mother together because they were so adorable together and, well, to do that they figured they had to get into big trouble. So they did. To be honest, Gabby had never thought she’d see the day where she’d actually be grounded. She’d never been much of a trouble child at all, and her father hardly ever yelled at her. But after what she’d done with Lyle had obviously been the straw that broke the camel’s back. Really, they had thought it be harmless; a plot to get Elisebeta and Cesar together, because Lyle and her were convinced that they were perfect for each other. She understood why they got in trouble, certainly, and knew she deserved it, but it didn’t make it any less odd. Now, she was only allowed to see Lyle during homeschooling sessions, and even then she wasn’t really allowed to talk to him. But it worked anyway, because her father was talking to Lyle’s mother and gosh weren’t Lyle and Gabby just the best match makers ever?

Admittedly, she hadn’t expected them to send them back so soon, either. She supposed that was happened when you got into big trouble. They figured they were better off in school, and thus back to school Lyle and Gabby went only after a week of so of being MIA. Honestly? Gabby didn’t mind, not one bit. She had missed Hogwarts, and everyone in it, a lot more than she had thought she would. Oh sure, it had been nice when Fabian came to visit a few times, and they’d gotten to cuddle and bicker playfully over whether she’d grown or not, and then she made him biscuits and he scarfed down half of them before she could tell him to save some for later, too. But even though she got to see Fabian a lot more, she missed classes, and she missed her friends, and she especially missed Gideon. She wasn’t used to not seeing him for days on end; oh, there had been times when he’d been with Emmeline and they hardly saw each other as often as she liked, but even then she at least caught a glimpse of him in the Great Hall, and managed to get a goodnight hug before bed. And during the summer, they saw each other often seeing as they were neighbors and all, and thus even then, hardly a day went by without her at least going over to say hello, or greeting him through the windows. It was especially difficult to deal with the nightmares now that she couldn’t crawl into his bed at night; her father wasn’t really an adequate replacement because, as comforting as he was, he snored really loudly and she found that she couldn't sleep at all. And it wasn't like she could Floo to Fabian's house at any time because he was always busy and who knows if his work kept him up late hours? It wasn’t just that, though; Gideon meant a lot more to her than just being her comfort during sleep. She just missed him; just him. Gideon, her pillar of strength, her security net, her best friend, the one person she could turn to for anything and everything, and who would listen to her regardless of whether it was silly or not. He was the one she'd sought out when she'd been attacked by the werewolf, and when she'd broken her arm, and - well, it was always him that she looked for whenever she needed anything. So, when her father told her he was sending her back to Hogwarts, all she could think about was finally seeing Gideon again, and swearing to herself she wouldn’t make anymore stupid mistakes or get in any more trouble because, honestly, she wouldn’t be able to handle the distance - especially during the days when she was grounded, where she couldn’t be around Lyle. No, it was obvious that Gabby just couldn’t live without her best friend for longer than a week.

Gabby was practically vibrating with enthusiasm starting from the morning, starting from when she was pulling on a white sweater, her navy blue skirt and her brand new multi-colored coat (a present from Lyle's wonderful mother), up to when she and Lyle took the Knight Bus back to Hogwarts, and, as soon as they were on the way to Hogwarts by foot, she took to tugging on Lyle’s hand to get him to go faster, because it seemed that they weren’t moving fast enough. She knew she couldn’t leave him behind, since that would make her a very crappy friend, but thankfully, he seemed to agree that the faster they got there, the better (and not just to see the people they missed, because it was snowing and her coat wasn’t doing much to warm her up; walking fast helped). It seemed to take ages for them to reach the castle, but finally they were let in and Gabby let go of Lyle’s hand, telling him she was going to go ahead to the common room; he was probably going to want to go and find Stefan first, she figured. Without waiting for much of a response, she hurried down the familiar corridors, and gasped the password, almost tripping over the entrance hole in her haste to get in. It wasn’t terribly difficult to spot him; he was taller than almost all of the people inside. For a moment, she simply stood, absorbing the fact that she was actually here and so was he, a smile threatening to split her face in half, and - “GIDEON!” she squealed, rushing forward as he turned around from a conversation with someone she didn’t even care to see. She had time to see his expression, a combination of surprise and glee, before she threw herself into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face into his shoulder. “I missed you,” she whispered, holding him tighter. She held the hug for a few more minutes and then pulled back to beam up at him. Unable to help herself, she found herself babbling. “Dios, I did miss you. I can’t believe I’m back! God, it’s so good to be back. You know I grew over the past year? Yes, it's true! I measured myself when I went home - I grew a whole inch! Isn’t that fantastic? That makes me 4’11! Just one more inch and I’ll hit five feet! I’m sure I can do it, even though Fabian insists I don’t look taller. Do you think I look taller, Gideon?”

[/color] She straightened up fully and looked at him expectantly. Her cheeks were starting to hurt from grinning so widely, but she didn’t care. She was finally here, with Gideon, with her best friend. Nothing else mattered at that moment.

God, it was good to be back.


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gideon prewett

[Gideon Prewett]

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Gideon hadn’t been lying when he told Gabby that he would write to her father if she got into any more trouble. The werewolf had been one thing; he wouldn’t have been so angry if she hadn’t followed it into the forest, because that had been just stupid. Writing to Danny Mulciber, even after Fabian warned her against him, was hurtful to her and to Fabian. Meeting Mulciber had been nothing short of suicidal, and Gideon had actually started to wonder if Gabby wanted to die. When he found out she’d been doing Paris Parkinson’s homework, he’d been beyond furious and told her to stop immediately. Gideon hated being bossy with people, especially Gabby, but what she was doing was wrong. Cheating was wrong, and she was letting Parkinson walk all over her, and Gideon was tired of it. He’d caught her doing an essay shortly after she promised she’d stop doing his homework, and it had been Parkinson’s essay, and Gideon couldn’t even control his anger anymore. He’d ripped the parchment away from her and tossed it into the fire, and yeah, he felt bad when she started to cry, but… but it hurt that Gabby valued the opinions of people who wanted to hurt her over the opinions of her best friends. That was when he threatened to tell her father everything if she put one more toe out of line, and for a few days, he believed things were fine. And then Gabby broke her arm and refused to tell him how, and then he found out she was skipping classes because she was more worried about Lyle than her own future, and that had been it. Gabby was Gideon’s best friend, but frankly, well, he was absolutely furious with her.

He’d written to her father that very night, explaining everything: that she had followed a werewolf into the forest, that she had met a stranger in a shady pub even though Fabian warned against it, that she was doing some other bloke’s homework, and that now she was skipping class, and he asked Mr. Rivera for help because he didn’t know what to do anymore. He didn’t expect Mr. Rivera to have a meeting with Dumbledore and actually pull Gabby out of school. Apparently, Mrs. Malarkey had shown up as well to collect Lyle, and the two of them went home. Gideon had spent the entire week feeling guilty about Gabby being sent home, and he’d written her every day that she’d been gone. Honestly, he missed her, but he guessed that was a bit selfish of him, wasn’t it? After all, being home was probably the best thing for her. She couldn’t get in trouble there, not from Mulciber (who was in Azkaban anyway, thanks to Fabian, and Gideon would be lying if he said he wasn’t immensely proud of his brother for that feat) or from Parkinson or werewolves or anyone. And if she happened to try anything stupid, well, Fabian was there to make sure she couldn’t get too hurt. So… so once Gideon stopped worrying about Gabby being at home, then he just started to miss her, and he wished for her back. He’d take better care of her once she returned. Well, if she returned. He worried that maybe Mr. Rivera would want to keep her home for good, or at least until after Christmas, and that thought made Gideon quite sad actually, because he had never gone that long without Gabby. She was his best friend; she was always there, and yeah, the reason she wasn’t right now was partially his fault, but… but he missed her. A lot.

About twenty minutes ago, Gideon had finished another letter to Gabby, and had sent it off with one of the school owls before returning to the Hufflepuff common room. Sometimes he wished he had an owl of his own, because making the trek up to the Owlery from the Hufflepuff common room was actually quite long and exhausting. But it was worth it for Gabby, he decided, heading over to stand by the fireplace. He thrust out his hands toward the flames, letting the heat warm them as the castle was rather drafty that day. He wondered, vaguely, if it was cold back home, and there was a sick unpleasantness in his belly at the idea of Gabby pulling another stunt, like running around outside in just her skirt and no coat or leggings in order to give herself pneumonia or something. Yeah, it was morbid and sad, and okay, he didn’t think Gabby would actually do that, but he never thought Gabby would skip class either. Oh, but he… he needed to stop thinking about things like this, because it just… was wrong. A housemate joined him at the fire, and Gideon gave him a brief glance before looking back down. “All right, mate?” Milo Whittle asked, and Gideon shrugged and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied “GIDEON!” Haha, oh great, now he was imagining her voice, too. He turned around anyway, just to assure himself that she wasn’t there. … Except she was, and Gideon’s face broke into the biggest smile he’d had on his face in ages. She was flying toward him and Gideon opened his arms, scooping her up into them and holding her close. For a moment he held her tighter than he probably should have, but released a little when he realised that she probably couldn’t breathe. And then she was babbling, and all Gideon could do was grin at her and nod even though most of her words were a blur, but he caught the gist anyway. “He’s wrong,” he laughed. “You’re definitely taller.” And then he hugged her again, lifting her full up off her feet and twirling her around, probably knocking something over but not really caring because it was Gabby, he had Gabby, she was back. “Things are gonna be better now, all right? You’re not gonna get in trouble anymore, I’m gonna look out for you, I’m gonna protect you, I will, I won’t let anyone hurt you ever, I won’t get so mad anymore, I missed you, Gabby, I’m so glad you’re back—” He clung to her tighter, stroking her hair, then put her down gently and looked her in the face. “Tell me you’re okay, Gabs. I just need to hear it.”

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[Gabriella Rivera]

He was holding her so tightly that she could hardly breathe, but Gabby didn't even care. She was just glad to be in his arms again, to feel his strong, stable hold around her. She breathed in deeply, allowing his familiar scent to fill her and complete her. God, she'd missed him. She hadn't even realised how much she'd missed him until she was right here with him, because she suddenly felt more fulfilled, happier than she had all week - all month, actually. Oh, it had been nice to see her father, but she'd gotten used to not seeing him for long periods of time; it was different with Gideon. She didn't love him more, of course not (she believed she loved them equally since they were both incredibly important people in her life), she just relied on his presence more, especially since he was the one who kept her company during the holidays when her father was at work. She kept her arms as tight around him as she dared without cutting off his air supply, as if trying to make up for this past few weeks' lack of hugs. And, in that moment, she knew - she just knew - that things would be different. That they'd start going back to normal, that he wouldn't get so mad at her so easily and she wouldn't keep doing stupid things that got people's attentions and upset her friends and ended up with her getting seriously hurt (which reminded her that she probably shouldn't tell him why her father sent her back here, although if he asked she would have to tell the truth because she now vowed to keep her promise of never lying to him again, no matter what; maybe he'd find it amusing! And wouldn't get as mad since it had been partly Lyle's idea, too). It was when he actually confirmed it, though, that she really felt as if things were going to be okay between them; somehow, hearing him say it out loud just made her that much more positive, and she returned his hug by clinging onto him even tighter while he swung her around, a joyous laugh leaving her lips. She made sure to keep her legs from swinging too high, not wanting to accidentally knock into someone with them. As soon as he put her down, she beamed up at him, still unconsciously holding onto his shirt with one hand. She didn't think she could let go of him just yet, so he would just have to deal with her clinginess for today. And possibly the next few days. They had a whole week to catch up with, after all, and then some!

"I'm not just okay - I'm brilliant now that I'm here with you! I missed you, too. So much," she whispered, her smile growing in size until she felt she was sure her jaw would break from it's width. "And I won't do anything stupid anymore, okay? I promise. No more getting into trouble or - or getting hurt or - or doing anyone else's homework. And I'll listen to you all the time, you and Fabian, I promise,"

[/color] she repeated, and then leaned forward to hug him again, tucking her head against his chest and sighing happily. This was exactly where she belonged, Gabby told herself. Here, safe in her best friend's arms, in Hogwarts. She would have gone absolutely bonkers back home without seeing him. Pulling back again, she peered up at him (it was a little disappointing that she still had to crane her head back so much, but an inch really didn't make much of a difference, did it?) and reached up to push some of his hair back off his forehead, giggling when that made it stick up a little. "And how are you? How're things? How's school been? Did you guys take a lot of new things this past week? Did I miss a lot?"[/color] She tried to frown worriedly, but her face didn't seem to want to co-operate - instead, the smile remained fixed on her lips and she moved her grip from his shirt to his hand and started tugging him towards one of the empty couches, sitting down and pulling him down to sit next to her so that she could curl into his side, just like old times. Not wanting to keep her gaze off his face for too long, she propped her chin against his shoulder, giving her an excellent view of his profile. Dios, it was good to be back.


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[Gideon Prewett]

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The best part about Gabby being back wasn’t that Gideon was finally able to hug her again (really, to some, it had only been a week, but to Gideon, it had been a whole week!), but that she looked happy. Not just happy to be back, but happy in general, and Gideon’s shoulders relaxed a bit and he smiled wide, knowing that the short trip home had been the best thing for her. She promised him over and over that she wouldn’t get into any more trouble, and he believed her, but he didn’t want to talk about that anymore right now. He hugged her close, his hand pressing against the back of her head to keep her tucked into his chest, and he kissed the top of her head and gently shushed her to calm her down. His Gabby was back, his Gabby was home. He smiled down at her as she asked a bunch of questions (eurgh, some about school, too) but he just shook his head and shrugged. “Don’t worry about any of that right now, Gabby,” he said. He had half a mind to throw her over his shoulder and carry her over to a couch, but she beat him to it, taking him by the hand and pulling him there herself. Her chin was propped on his shoulder, and her face was inches from his, and Gideon went slightly cross-eyed looking at her, but that was all right. She was back. That was all that mattered.

ooc: omg joojie i'm so sorry i thought i replied to this asjflkdaj