Scream 'til There's Silence

Why was she even down here? Pausing, Savannah frowned, glancing around the dungeons. It'd just seemed like a good idea at the time. Shrugging it off, she continued along her way.

Ah, the dungeons. Fitting. Maybe you can be locked in here for all eternity.

Well, there was one reason she hadn't had earlier. Shaking her head, she hissed, "Shut up Ava. I'm not going to listen you."

Why? Because you think Honey's right? You poor poor girl.

Huffing, Savannah crossed her arms, but there was no running away from Ava. She could only ignore him, as he went everywhere with her. Sighing, she continued her silent exploration of this part of the castle. Humming softly to herself, she tugged softly on her necklace, glancing down at the colour it changed to. Amber. Nodding, she glanced around her again, letting the necklace fall down onto her neck.

Hearing the sound of lithe footsteps behind her, she turned around, her eyes falling on the cat. Swallowing hard, she stared at it, taking a slow step backwards. It - it was grey. And it looked almost exactly like Ross had. Nearing her, the cat purred softly, rubbing against her legs. Keeping as still as possible, Savannah's lips trembled slightly as she stared down.

Suddenly, it flicked it's gaze upwards, it's amber eyes meeting hers. Stumbling back, Savannah opened her mouth, and screamed as loud as she could.

J. J. was wandering the halls, and ended up in the dungeon. She hummed to herself, as she walked out of her dormitory and prowled the halls.

She supposed there would be a time that there would be a chance to run into Dimi in these halls but...

When was the last time she'd seen him. She sighed as she looked down at her ring. Some kind of promise it turned out to be.

She was contemplating just going back to her commonroom - it wasn't like she was getting much out of moping in a different section of the castle, when she heard it.

Her blood froze, and she heard pounding in her ears, as she had flashbacks, screaming... bruning and then nothing. She swallowed, reminding herself that that was over and this was different before she proceeded to race down the hall.

And blink in confusion when she found just Savannah and a cat.

"Vanna..." she bit her lip as she looked around, unsure what to say next. "Is... is everything alright? Did you.. why did you... scream?"

A scream echoed through the halls, scaring the lights out of her. Memories flashed through her mind, all from the past six months of torture.

He waved his wand again, calling out the Torture Curse. Kait helplessly watched Iris struggle under the curse...

She shook her head, and headed off towards the direction of the chilling scream. Then she saw a small brown headed girl, and a blonde chick. "Who is hurt?" She asked carefully. Her snake, Liath, was curled around her shoulders, hissing softly in her ear.

Plopping down on the ground, Savannah covered her mouth, muffling her scream, yet not completely stopping.

Are you trying to get the entire castle down here?

"I'm not," Savannah muttered hoarsely, "I just - the cat -" Swallowing hard, she shook her head, glaring at it.

The cat had barely moved at her screams, only flicking an ear at her lazily. Eyes darting back and forth at the sound of footsteps, she let out a tiny sigh of relief as she saw JJ, "Hey, Triple J." she said softly, smiling weakly.

"I did," she shrugged, glancing back at the cat, tears filling up her eyes, "It - it reminds me of Ross." she said softly, her voice wavering slightly as she hugged her knees to her chest.

Blinking up at the red-head who appeared, Savannah touched a hand to her throat. Could she really scream that loud to attract so many people? Sniffling slightly, she shook her head, having no energy for a fight, "I'm not hurt. Not - not physically at least. Not anymore."

She kneeled down next to the frightful girl, and gathered her into a one armed hug. "Grief will lesson along with the pain," She told her, wincing mentally as she realized she sounded a bit too wise for her taste. "At least, that is what the Healers tell me. I have no idea how I am in Grief, I am in more like let me kill a idiot," She joked.

J. J. frowned slightly as the stranger went to comfort her friend, but after a moment she pushed that completely irrational thought from her head, and moved to sit beside the two.

"Vanna," she whispered softly placing a hand on her back. "I'm sorry."

She bit her lip for a moment, and then attempted a weak smile.

"Hey at least you're making noise... You could have gone the otherway I suppose; trust me, from experience, the other way isn't all that fun."

Stiffening slightly at the sudden hug, Savannah slowly hugged her back.

What are you doing? Do you want to ruin this girl's life?

Jumping slightly at the hissing and angry tone of Ava's voice, the Gryffindor smiled slightly at the redhead, "I hope so," she whispered softly. "But I just - I miss him. Everything reminds me of him. I can't even look at my clothes without finding strands of his fur all over it."

Looking over at JJ, she shook her head, "Don't be sorry. It's not your fault." Frowning, she said, "It's all mine. If I'd just flown a little faster..." trailing off, she closed her eyes, a rush of grief overtaking her.

"I guess so," Savannah shrugged, "I'd hate not being able to talk anymore."

"Do you think he will want you to be all like this? He might be killing mice wherever, thinking of how you need to remember him happily," It felt a bit weird, talking about a cat. Liath seemed to read her thoughts and hissed, 'Mice are good. They make good snacks.' She knew Liath wanted to make a comment on how evil cats were, but Liath bit her tongue.

She frowned. Flown a little faster? What did she mean by that?

J. J. eyes narrowed slight, "Damn skippy you'd hate to not talk. And listen to me right now Lerran. This. Is. Not. Your. Fault. Either."

She glared at the girl for a long moment before heaving a sigh.

"Lets hear you say it now - This is not my fault. J. J. is the best, and this is not my fault."

Smiling slightly at the idea of Ross catching mice, Savannah rubbed her wrists, looking up at the girl, "That doesn't mean I can just stop feeling the way I do. I just - can't." Shaking her head tiredly, Savannah brushed a hand through her hair. It was getting long, ridiculously so. It was halfway down her back. Making a mental note to cut her hair, she rubbed her wrists again.

"You don't get it." Savannah swiveled to face JJ, gritting her teeth. "This is my fault. More than you getting attacked. Or - or Vala dying, or Aria disappearing - this is clearly my fault." Crossing her arms, she glared, "Ross was following me everywhere! If I hadn't went to the Quidditch Pitch, he wouldn't have wandered off towards the Whomping Willow and. It. Wouldn't. Have. Killed. Him. How can you not see that?"

Letting out a little growl of frustration, she shook her head, "So no. I won't say it."

Her eyes wondered to the girls wrist, wondering if she was cutting. She kept rubbing her wrist.

She widened her eyes, listening to her explode. She has a messed up life, she thought. But Kait did too. She wasn't sure if she should talk, it seemed like the other girl knows what she is saying. So she kept silent, feeling sorry for the poor girl.

J. J. refused to back down to the girls outburst. She just glared back.

"And I could have not gone to that stupid bar and hey maybe those girls never would have noticed Cecile and she wouldn't be dead. Or I could have stopped them, or-or I could have done a lot of things. A. lot. of. things. But that doesn't make it my fault."

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"So you know what - I think I understand more than you admit. But that with those girls, it was their fault, and Ross... that was an accident."

"I know it was an accident." Savannah growled. "I obviously didn't mean to kill my own pet. But I knew that Ross was following me around. I knew that the Whomping Willow was by the Quidditch Field. And I knew Ross would wander off. He's a cat for Merlin's sake!"

Crossing her arms, Savannah glared at her best friend, "Tell me JJ. Would it have made a difference if you'd known those girls were there? That's what makes it my fault. And to top it all off, I can't fly faster than a tree branch can move. What sort of Quidditch player does that make me?"

J. J. sighed, "Well if you know its an accident try to beat yourself up about it a little less okay? I don't like anyone messing with my friends - that includes themselves."

She ran a hand nervously through her hair and tucked her knees into her chest.

"No one can out-fly that tree Vanna.... its just not possible."

Scowling, Savannah muttered, "It was a preventable accident. I should've listened...." trailing off, her eyes widened. She wasn't supposed to mention Ava or Honey. It was just - bad. "I should've known better." she corrected herself, glancing from JJ to the redhead. "I'm not messing with myself." Savannah frowned, shaking her head. "It's the truth, I can't change that."

Crossing her arms, she glanced away for a moment, "Don't people say that anything's possible? And we're magical, for Merlin's sake. Outflying a tree is nothing compared to the other things we can do."

"Should have listened to who?" She asked suddenly.

"Outflying a tree that enjoys beating up animals and humans that comes near it," She told her. "And magical tree, that is really something people pro at flying can do, like enough to be on a national quidditch team?" She added.

J. J. shook her head and leaned it against the wall.

"I think I've come to see that magic doesn't mean much against magic," she sighed, and shook her head. "I mean... the trees magic to isn't it? I mean, I didn't run into a lot of trees like that back home."

"Life just sucks sometimes; I think we just need to... accept that and then deal with it," she shrugged her shoulders and sighed.

"Not much else to do really."

Flinching at the redhead's question, Savannah turned towards her slowly. She couldn't - she wouldn't tell her the truth. No way. She didn't even know the girl's name for crying out loud. "I should've listened to my gut instinct." she said with a shrug.

"But in the end, it's just a tree." she said, twirling a strand of her dark hair around her finger. "I think it is." she said, addressing JJ with a slight frown, "It has to be. Wouldn't make much sense otherwise."

Staring at JJ, she shook her head slowly, "That." she decided, "is a terrible way to live your life. So - so what are you going to do JJ? If you see someone get attacked, are you just going to shrug it off and be all 'oh well, poor them?' Because trust me, if you do, no one's going to want to be around you."

She sighed, and started messing with a silver ring on her finger. The fake emerald glistened, though she didn't pay any attention to it. She wasn't sure what to say, this was way out of her league here. These two girls knew each other, she didn't know them.

Kaitlen suddenly stood up, and looked at them. "I am going to go get us drinks," Though Kait was going to get herself a beer. Hot Chocolate for them.

The red head turned around around, and started running towards the kitchens.

J. J. shrugged, "No - I'd help them, I could Not help them... I'm just saying..."

She ran a hand through her hair, rolling it around her fingers, and becoming very focused on the action.

"I don't know what I'm saying Vanna... but I do know... things.. yeah they can always get worse but... they can always get better too, right?"

She moved away from playing with her hair, to playing with her ring, she had barely noticed the other girl leave. It wasn't fair of her to almost ignore her but... J. J. was getting lost in her own thoughts now.

"So when things happen... you try your best, and whatever happens... happens, and you deal with it, and hope for something.. better... to come along."

Glancing at the redhead as she left, Savannah watched her until she turned around the corner before turning back to JJ.

"I'd help them," she frowned, playing with her necklace, "I wouldn't even think. I'd just do it. But then again," she added, thinking for a moment, "I am a Gryffindor so maybe that has something to do with it."

Continuing to play with the necklace, the colour underneath her fingers changed from a bright orange to gray, but Savannah barely noticed. Instead, she focused on the Hufflepuff in front of her.

"I hate waiting. At this point, it's never going to get better. I'm just going to be stuck in this rut of having terrible things happening to all the people around me."

J. J. pulled her knees to her chest, resting her chin on top of them and cutting a glance at the girl in response to her words.

"I don't know... I use to think I'd be a pretty good thing that happened," she spoke softly, wounded despite the fact that she didn't understand why. "I mean, I think you're a good thing that happened to me. And I'm fine despite what you think. And, Chris that boy Chris he sounds like a good thing. And he's fine isn't he?"

She nudged the girls shoulders, "I still have to meet him you know. Quit hiding him from me. I need to make sure he's good enough for my friend."

Coming back with a beer and two hot chocolates. Passing them their hot chocolates, she drank her beer.

"I don't know both of you really well, but I can tell you, things will get better. And trust me, I speak from experience." Kait was telling the truth.

Giving them both a smile, she started walking away, then turned a corner. Finishing off her beer, she tossed it and ran towards the area where the Durmstrang Exchange students are at.

Eyes widening, Savannah shook her head, "No, no. I - I don't mean you're a bad thing that happened to me. Not - not at all. You're great. Really. I just-" she shrugged, "I don't want something to happen because you know me. You know?"

Blushing at the mention of Chris, she grinned, the necklace shifting to purple. "He's good. I spent New Years Eve with him," she muttered shyly, cheeks reddening some more. "Trust me, he's good enough for me. But if you really need confirmation, we can arrange something." she said, grinning up at JJ.

Blinking up at the redhead as she reappeared, she smiled, taking the hot chocolate gratefully. "Thank you," she said softly before nodding slightly. I sure hope so.

Giving her a wave, she watched her disappear.

J. J. blinked slightly as the other girl arrived, gave her hot chocolate and left. She frowned at her choice of beverage thining that she had seen...

"Well... I promise... nothing bads going to happen to me," she gave a small smile and held out her hand, "Pinky swear?"

Taking another sip of her drink, she smiled over at Vanna, "Good. We shall do that. No one gets to date you without having to meet me."

She nodded her head firmly.