i was once a cowboy queen

Lena watched the clouds go by as she stared obviously at them. They were pretty, and with the orange-ish hues warmly lighting behind them looked ever so kind. Of course, clouds can't be kind, because they're just water. The Uchitel skipped around the clock tower for no reason until she tripped on someone's foot.

"Owch!" she yelled, "watch where you're walking!"

It was so quiet, peaceful and calming. But Savannah hated it; it made her feel uncomfortable. Even now, months later, it brought back memories of the graveyard where the crow had found her.

Sighing, she banged her head softly against the clock tower wall she was sitting against. Rubbing her wrists absent-mindedly, she splayed out her legs, not noticing the older girl until she tripped. Peering at the girl, she frowned, "But I'm not walking. You are - well -" she paused, shrugging, "You were."

Lena rolled her eyes as she tried to dust herself off the ground. "Well... watch where you put your legs next time!" she snapped, ready to strike at any minute, even if it wasn't exactly necessary. It was just someone trying to enjoy the clock tower as much as she was.

"Anyway, what are you doing here at this hour?" asked the blonde, knowing that it wasn't late and there was still a lot of time before dinner. She rubbed her elbow to make sure she didn't sustain any more hurtful scars. After the grave incident, she was slightly paranoid of falling, but it was only a small fear.

Raising an eyebrow, Savannah sighed softly, "Depends. Do you plan on starting to look where you're going?" Rubbing her eyes, she covered a yawn with her mouth. She was always so tired these days, though it didn't really surprise her. Sleeping with a voice in your head wasn't easy, and with that constant fear that she would wake up to find her mother dead, it'd been next to impossible during the summer.

"Me?" she blinked at her, shrugging as she continued, "Nothing, I'm just sitting here." Letting out a little laugh, she added, "Hogwarts kids have no lives." this girl...her accent reminded her of Katie, and to add with the lack of a house colour she recognized on the robes, Savannah assumed that she too was an exchange student.

Another one? Will you never stop finding lives to ruin?

Pulling her feet up to her chest, she hugged them, her blue eyes the only thing betraying the emotion behind them; they darkened slightly.

Lena snorted, sounding a little unkind already. "I will," she began, letting a pause rest over the scene for a moment as if this was her final words. Seemingly abrupt, the Uchitel added, "When hell freezes over." She then smirked and chuckled with a sinister tone. "I'm Lena Vorstenbach, I don't look where I'm going; people look in my path for me!" she acclaimed, a hollow laugh beginning to erupt from her mouth.

The Uchitel laughed, stared at the sky for a second and nodded. "Well, it's a pretty evening," she noted, "surely you're not out here for no reason?" She laughed and she said, "Frankly, I agree." She didn't say much else, because she didn't want this girl to go around and tell half of Hogwarts that she disliked them just a little bit, because it was true yet untrue in some parts.

"Good." Savannah shrugged slightly as the girl spoke. As she spoke again, Savannah couldn't help but smile. Watching the girl laugh, her smile waned slightly, a little freaked out by just how - well, she wasn't really sure. But it was kind of creepy, and her tone.....

Wasn't she supposed to stop talking to people anyway? Her classmates - well, she'd already met them, and she couldn't stop going to class - she couldn't avoid, but her? This Lena girl? She didn't want to ruin her life.

Flickering her gaze up to her, she smiled uneasily, "I'm Savannah Lerran." following her gaze back to the sky, she shrugged, "I guess I'm just sitting here thinking." about what a life-ruiner I am.

"I can't blame you. We don't really do that much."

"Savannah?" Lena asked, "like... like the habitat?" She didn't entirely mean to offend the girl, of course, but they sounded similar, so perhaps it was spelled the same way too, but who knows? "I'm sorry if you feel offended of course, but the savannah is a very cool environment. I like the animals."

She really meant what she said. She vowed to herself that if she grew up, she must go to a safari in Africa sometime and see lions and zebras in their natural habitat before humans hunt them to extinction.

"What are you thinking about?" Lena asked, her tone switching from sarcastic to almost caring. Almost. She was simply curious to see what Savannah was thinking about, nothing more. Not like she would really admit that.

"Well - yeah." Savannah blinked, having never made that connection from the word to her name. So she was named after a word? How uncreative can you get? At least it was better than being named Word. "I never actually noticed that." shaking her head softly, she smiled at the girl, "I'm not offended at all."

Fiddling slightly, Savannah said, "Nothing much. I'm just thinking about all the people I've met and how knowing them has affected their lives." In all effects and purposes, that was true, though she had left out the sinister side of her thoughts.

Lena flicked her hair out of her eyes and smiled kindly at the girl. "The world is full of unknown connections that have yet to be discovered. Such as people being named after words." Her smile grew wider as she added, "Don't worry. Savannah is a pretty name, if that makes you feel any better." Mentally though, Lena thought it rather plain and simple, but the things one does for flattery.

"In what sort of way have you affected them, though?" she asked, mildly - to put it lightly - curious, "I have a friend. We used to be best friends when we were young. His father tried to kill me. Then, I actually killed him." She laughed haughtily. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this."

Smiling, she nodded slightly, "T - thank you. I think your name is pretty too."

Staring up at the girl, her eyes widened, "You - you killed him?" Swallowing hard, she hugged her knees again, "I - people I meet - bad things happen to them. And I just -" shaking her head, her blue eyes shone, "I shouldn't even be talking to you, something is - will - happen to you."

Lena laughed. "It may be a pretty name," she began, swatting a fly that had gotten into her view, "but it is as common as hell. Do you have any idea how many in my year group was named Lena? Like, ten or something." She shook her head. "Everyone started calling me Marie and I kinda yelled at them." That was a huge understatement. "So they ended up calling me Vorstenbach instead."

The blonde sat down next to the Gryffindor, flipping her hair. "Well, I would usually run away from you and hide behind the bushes," she deadpanned, before her tone turned serious, "but I don't believe it. Things already happened to me even before you got in the way. Trust me."

Giggling softly, she smiled up at Lena, "I can imagine that." Though in all honesty, imagination was something she wholeheartedly lacked. Thinking up things was just something that didn't come easily to her.

Lips trembling slightly, Savannah shook her head softly at Lena as she sat down by her. "But - but what if something worse than usual happens to you now? It'd be all my fault."

Lena laughed. She began, "Oh. Of course you can. I look so intimidating in these robes. Hey look!" She pointed to her hair. "Look at this! So nicely tied up... a perfect hairdo for murder!" She laughed and lifted up her robes lightly to reveal her checkered sneakers. "See? A pair of sneakers - all the rage for murderers!"

The Uchitel looked directly at Savannah, and she chewed her lip. "Trust me, Savannah. If there is anything worse than what has happened to me so far this year, then I must be heading for hell," she sighed, rubbing her temples.

Grinning, Savannah began to laugh, momentarily forgetting everything going wrong in her life. Still giggling, she looked up at Lena, "You - you're funny."

Nodding, she rubbed her wrists, sneaking the older girl another look before letting her gaze fall to her lap, "What happened?"

Lena smirked when Savvy had said she was funny. She mock curtsied in front of her and announced, "Thank you! Thank you!" She liked making people feel better, after all, even if it wasn't in the most conventional of ways.

The Uchitel pursed her lips, trying to find a good way of explaining everything that has happened to her. "Let's say... I've lost almost everything," she sighed, "it was a matter of time before I did. But time's a slut; it screws everybody." She rubbed her temples.

Allowing herself a grin, Savannah clapped for Lena, ignoring the sense of dread she couldn't shake off. Sure, she'd told her that she wouldn't leave and nothing worse could happen to her, but that didn't help the young girl's psyche. "You're very welcome."

Almost everything....closing her eyes momentarily, Savannah reopened them, blinking at the girl as she shook her head slightly. "I'm sorry," she muttered, knowing exactly how she was feeling, "I really am." However, she didn't move an inch towards her to console the girl, she just looked skyward, "Time does that. But who knows? Maybe it'll find someone who won't be so quick to jump in bed."

Lena chuckled, and through a crack of light near a hole in one of the walls, she could see a flicker of what seemed to be a grin. "You should smile more," she remarked, kindly smiling at the younger Gryffindor, "it makes you a whole lot prettier. Not like you aren't pretty already."

The blonde simply shrugged her shoulders. "It's alright," she laughed. She then suddenly remembered a quote from a book she had read over the summer to calm her nerves, and she added, "Never mind. Since I was at the bottom, I'm on a rollercoaster that goes up, my friend." She performed a Hitleresque salute and nodded. "I sincerely doubt it," she sighed, "everyone wants to jump in bed with time." She chuckled a little. "I mean, you can't live without her, now can you?"

Beaming at Lena, her cheeks turned a pale shade of pink, reminded of everything Chris had told her when they'd met. She probably should meet him again, but if she got too attached to him....withholding the need to sigh, smiled again at the blonde, "Thank you. You're very pretty."

Nodding to herself, Savannah repeated to herself, "Since I was at the bottom, I'm on a rollercoaster that goes up." Wasn't that true? Didn't people always get better in the end and have their Prince Charmings ride them off into the sunset? Why couldn't it be true? Why did there have to be so many people who never picked themselves back up from rock bottom?

"Well, no." Savannah agreed, a twinkle in her eye, "But everyone always wants time to stop, are at least slow down."

Lena grinned when Savannah had repeated her quote. The book she had gotten it from was about cancer and how the two main characters tried to make the most of their lives. The book was full of wisdom and advice that comforted her when she was reading it. She nodded, going back to reality. She ended up muttering, "Sometimes, people don't understand the promises they're making when they make them. But... love is keeping that promise anyway." She remembered reading those lines, and when she remembered she was talking to Savannah.

"Oh, what were you saying?" she asked, lost for a second. She blinked a couple of times to jog her memory, and she remembered. "Oh, right," she mumbled, and she announced, "In this one-way roller coaster, miss Savannah Lerran, you're going up with me." She smiled at her friend, her eyes twinkling for a slight second.

The Uchitel grinned when she saw the twinkle in Savannah's eye. "Sometimes you just want time to speed up," she added, "like during lessons."

Tilting her head, Savannah paused for a moment, looking at Lena as she thought. She'd promised Chris that she'd think of herself as perfect, and well - she hadn't broken the promise, per se. She just hadn't spent that much time thinking about her perfectness recently. Biting her lip, she shrugged slightly, glancing down at her feet before Lena's voice brought her gaze back to her.

"It'll be a pleasure." she grinned, though the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"And sometimes, it's like time just shows up for a second and leaves; just flies by."

Lena laughed, "I like this roller coaster." She then closed her eyes and imagined a roller coaster passing by right now, and sighed. "So... what does your roller coaster look like, Savannah?" She then tilted her head to one side. "Is it big? Is it small?" She then tilted her head to the other side. "Is it blue or pink?" She then sighed, "Is it fast? Or is it slow?" She sighed again, "Does it have any loop de loops? Fast curves? Does it go up or down a lot?" She opened her eyes and smirked, "I can see my roller coaster now." She chuckled.

"It sucks when that happens," Lena agrees, nodding in assent.

Pausing, Savannah closed her eyes, thinking about her roller coaster, "It's red," she muttered, rubbing her fingers across the hem of her Gryffindor robes, "And - it's large, because the sky's the limit; you can keep going higher and higher for a long time, but that can backfire, because it's a long way to fall. Y-yes," she hesitated for a second before continuing, "it goes up and down a lot." reopening her eyes, she smiled weakly, "What about yours?"

Nodding with her, she sighed softly, "It does."

Laughing, Lena nodded when she heard about Savannah's roller coaster. It was rather interesting, she had to admit. "Mine?" she echoed, closing her eyes, and she paused to create a dramatic effect, "well, the cars in my roller coaster? They are small and purple... enough for a couple to go through together." She tilted her head to one side. "It's not outdoors, but it's indoors, surrounded by a space scene. There are a lot of loop-de-loops; they are pretty exciting." She sighed.

Grinning, she laughed softly, "That sounds great. Much more interesting than mine." she finished her comment with a slight trace of scorn, before she realized what she'd said and wincing softly. There she went, breaking her promise to Chris. Shaking her head softly, she added, "Rollercoasters are awesome."

Lena laughed. "You're only saying that because my description happen to be more colourful than yours sounded," she added, ignoring the slight scorn in her voice. "Trust me, when we actually ride the roller coaster, yours will be way more exciting." She winked in the dark, and she could notice Savannah's wince. But she didn't care. "Indeed they are," she agreed, nodding.