sure as hell ain't normal

Candy. The most beautiful thing in the world. Sighing, Savannah grinned around the store. Flooing out of school and into the glorious city had been a great idea indeed.

Rubbing her gloved hands together, she looked around, eyes falling on a large box of candy. Breaking out into a toothy grin, she made her way over to it, and then the dilemma began.

The box was much too high for the tiny third year to reach. A frown marring her pretty face, she glanced around. And there wasn't even something for her to jump on. Sighing, she flickered her gaze around to the other occupants.

"Anyone want to help me?"

Lora smiled lightly to herself as she entered the candy shop. She had been feeling like hell all week and figured maybe some chocolate would cheer her up. After all, it never failed to do so before.

She couldn't believe that even after such a long time, Kait was still missing. A part of her was terrified that some sort of kidnapping took place again, but quickly dismissed the thought. There was no point in getting scared about something that wasn't even known.

The Slushatel just hoped that the redhead was safe and sound somewhere and would return soon.

As she was looking around for some Chocolate Frogs, she noticed a younger girl trying to reach up for something on one of the shelves. Walking over there, she stretched her hands and took the box of candy, seeing as it was the only one, and handed it to the girl.

"Here you go," she told softly. "Do you need anything else?"

Tilting her head slightly at the sound of approaching footsteps, her gaze was drawn to the dark-haired girl nearing. Her expression breaking out into a large grin, Savannah clapped her hands together.

Older people were just better, weren't they? The younger students at Hogwarts seemed to make it their business to get underneath her skin, but the older ones, they were just nice. After all, Juliet was one of them, and she was her best friend.

Her grin widening at the thought of the Hufflepuff, she hummed softly to herself. Taking the box of candy from the girl, Savannah's eyes sparkled. "Thank you so much. You're nice," she beamed. "I like you already."

Giving her head a small shake, she said, "No, thank you."

Lora grinned lightly. "You're welcome," she replied, feeling slightly better simply because she had obviously done the younger girl a favour and made her smile. It made her think of all the days in the past years, where she and the other Seven Devils were the innocent and playful ones.

Ah, those were the days, when life hadn't thrown curveballs at them.

"I'm Lora, by the way," the German girl introduced herself, smile still in place as she cleared her mind of all depressing thoughts.

Savannah hummed softly to herself, flipping the box over in her hands, absentmindedly scanning them. She'd never actually eaten these before, but Honey seemed to like them, so that was something going for them, right?

"Savannah," she grinned, ripping her gaze up from the box to the girl. "Lora's a pretty name. It works," she nodded, "because you're a pretty girl."

"Now there's a nice justification statement of my name that I wouldn't mind hearing more often," Lora remarked with a laugh. "Savannah's an awesome name too, which I'm mostly certain, fits with with your personality," she commented honestly. "Then again, I'm sure you've already heard that before."

"I'm guessing you are from Hogwarts.." she said, recognizing the English accent. "That and also because I don't recall seeing you at Durmstrang." She took a few Pumpkin Pasties from the shelf she was leaning on and looked around, in case she spotted the Chocolate Frogs.

Grinning, Savannah laughed along with Lora. "Maybe I can track down a couple people you know and get them to mention it every few days." Now grinning shyly at the compliment, she ducked her head. "I have, but it's still nice to hear. Oh, and thank you."

Nodding in agreement, she smiled fondly, thinking about her great school. "I am. Hogwarts is absolutely amazing. What's Durmstrang like? I've never been."

Lora bit her lip and shook her head with a small smile. "No, that's not something I'd want to hear every few days." She couldn't imagine any of the Devils actually giving each other compliments on anything let alone their names. "You're welcome, by the way."

"Hogwarts is certainly pretty nice," the Slushatel agreed, as she recalled the one year she had spent there. "Durmstrang is...." she paused as she tried to find the right word, "unique," she said with a small grin. "It is sort of a darker school, but it's never boring, something'll happen every day."

"Why not?" Savannah frowned, her brow furrowing as she tilted her head up at the dark-haired girl. "Doesn't everyone like compliments? I know I do." She hummed, her thoughts turning towards Chris, and she couldn't help but grin. "It was nothing," she said, snapping out of her thoughts. "I like complimenting people."

Good ol' Hogwarts, she thought. She'd never been anywhere else, so maybe she had a biased outlook on this, but it was certainly a great school. "Ooh," her blue eyes sparkled, "I think I'd like it there. I need a little excitement in my life. Keeps life interesting."

"Compliments are nice, but I'd feel uncomfortable if it became a daily routine thing to listen to," Lora replied with a slight blush and offered a sheepish smile. "Not that I don't like getting, but you know...and yes, I like to tell other people as well, but wouldn't want to hear so many for myself."

She chuckled softly. "How ironic that I'm looking for some peace and quiet without any excitement and here you are wishing for the opposite of mine. Why don't you just come over to Durmstrang with the exchange program?" The Slushatel questioned. "Which year are you in, now?"

She watched the older girl, almost awestruck by her words. "Are you a saint?" Savannah murmured, eyes wide as she stared at the older girl. "Because - wow. You're amazing." Giving her head a incredulous shake, she returned her gaze to the dark haired girl. "I want to be just like you when I grow up."

She grinned at the idea. "I'd like that. Oh, but I don't know Russian," her face fell, but she quickly brightened up again. "But we're magical. There are probably translation spells out there. I'm a third year," she nodding, holding out three fingers in emphasis.

Lora chuckled amusedly and shook her head, her purple hair almost like waves. "No, I'm nothing like a saint really, only that I don't like frequent compliments. Can't normal people who aren't saints, feel that way?" Her eyes widened slightly and her blush deepened. "I don't think you'd want to be like me, I'm not all that great, honest."

"It's alright, Russian isn't that hard to learn. And besides, most of the students do speak English there," she assured the younger girl. "Third year; nice. A part of me wishes I was that young again, because things were a whole lot easier," she murmured, mostly to herself.

Savannah watched the girl, positively enthralled with the way her purple hair moved when she laughed. How could she possibly deny being a saint when she even looked like one? "I guess so," she sulked, "But I still think you're a saint."

She grinned, nudging her softly, "That's what they all say."

The Gryffindor nodded, taking in the information quickly. Maybe she should go to Durmstrang. It'd be fun, she'd get to meet new people...It'd be nice. "Good. That's great. Absolutely amazing." She nodded along to her words, a grin spreading across her face. "I think I will actually go."

She tilted her head slightly, alarm in her blue eyes. "What's wrong with being older? Nothing's going to happen to me when I get older, right?"

"I'm not a saint Savannah, trust me," Lora repeated, an amused expression on her face. "I'm positive that saints are less crazy and more nice or whatnot," ahe shrugged. "Yes, but unlike those people, I'm not just 'saying' that, it's the truth," she corrected the Gryffindor with a grin.

Her grin widened, "You'd really visit? That's great! Not only would you have fun, but I could really use a different kind of friend around there," she nudged the younger girl's shoulder this time. But at the last comment, she became slightly sad, knowing just how truly she did need someone else to help her take her mind away from things happening at Durmstrang.

"Nothing will happen to you," the Slushatel quickly replied, noticing the brunette's worried expression. "I was just talking about myself, not in general. Aneven if something happens, I'm sure you'll be fine Savannah," she told softly.

"Well," Savannah elongated, watching Lora with an expression bordering suspicion before it disappated, replaced with one entirely too cheerful. "If you say so," she chirped, her eyes bright.

It was nice having Alora to talk to. For much too long, Honey and Ava had been silent. Speaking with someone was comforting. Especially when they were this nice.

"Of course!" she grinned, "Why not? It'd be - oh." Savannah frowned. If she went to Durmstrang for a year, wouldn't she have to leave Juliet behind? She was her best friend after all. Not having her around would be so strange. They'd had so many good times together over the last few years that she wasn't even sure if she could go a whole year without seeing her. "I'd miss my best friend." Blinking at the nudge, she nudged the purple haired girl back, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"I hope so, I'd hate to go through anything terrible." Savannah nodded.

"As hard as it was, thank you for believing me," Lora teased and chuckled a little.

At the mention of the words 'best friend', her thoughts instantly drifted to Kait, and the smile nearly fell from her face. She bit her lip, hoping to keep up the easy going behaviour and replied, "Well, why don't you get him or her to come along with you also? You'd be together and even manage to have fun in another country and school."

She wasn't kidding; all the time she had spent with Kait while at Hogwarts was simply amazing. Merlin, she missed like her crazy. All she wanted to do run away, find her and bring her back. If it wasn't Dyl, she probably would have lost it by now.

"I cannot say that nothing terrible will never happen Savannah," she told softly with a sigh. "At some point, we'll face certain situations, but do not worry, you certainly seem like the strong type," she smiled lightly.

"You're welcome," Savannah grinned toothily, bowing deeply, a giggle bubbling up from her throat.

The third year hardly noticed the expression change in the other girl, more concerned with brushing hair out her eyes with her free hand. Once she'd finished, she blinked her blue eyes up at Lora, a slow grin spreading across her face.

"I could do that, couldn't I? It's a great idea! I'll ask her the next time I see her." She said convincingly, nodding her head in conjunction to her words.

She planned on doing it, just as long as she remembered.

"I know," she said with a soft sigh, frowning down at the box in her hands. "I've been kidnapped - crownapped, same thing - so I know I can go through it and bounce back, it's just that..." she shook her head, slowly raising it back to the purple-haired girl. "I'm more concerned with the people around me being alright than my well-being."

Lora couldn't help but smile at the younger girl's enthusiasm and over all happy nature. When was the last time the Slushatel felt like that? She had forgotten the meaning of the word 'happiness', seeing as everyone around her were busy hating each other. As the facts go, everything seems hopeful when as a kid. But with increase in age, one realizes how cruel reality can be.

And all those hopeful thoughts come crashing down.

"You should ask her, and if she says no, convince her to say yes," the German girl grinned. "Trust me, it'll be worth it."

"I'm sorry to hear that," she murmured and gave the Gryffindor a hug. "It's the same with me, I do not care what happens to me as long as my friends are safe. But that sometimes annoys my boyfriend I guess, because he hates when I wish for bad things to happen to me, even if it means good things for everyone." She smiled, though it lacked the humour.

"It'll be easy," Savannah grinned, moving her chocolates into the crook of her hand so she could effectively clap her hands together. "Because she'd miss me as much as I'd miss her. It'd be a circle of missing each other." She hummed softly, the tune of a movie running through her head.

Blinking at the sudden hug, she wrapped her hands around the older girl. Why was she even being hugged? Being kidnapped hadn't been all that bad, and it'd been years ago, anyway. But still, the knowledge that a stranger cared was rather nice. "You want bad things to happen to you?" Savannah asked, alarmed. Pulling away, she stared up at the older girl. "Why would you ever want that?"

For perhaps an obvious reason, Lora's swore she heard her heart break a little at the younger girl's comment. She suddenly needed Kait to be there, right at that moment, just so she could be assured that the Hrabrost was safe. All the worst thoughts came to mind, and she felt her eyes water slightly.

I wonder if Kait misses me as well.

She quickly pulled away from the girl and her hands fell to her side, lightly shaking. "I do not want bad things to happen to me, but if it means keeping my friends and boyfriend from harm's way, then I'd rather have all those things happen to me," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

Savannah tilted her head up at Lora, confusion colouring her pale face. Where those...tears? Her eyes seemed shinier than they had just moments ago, but that could easily be a trick of the light. But the lighting hadn't changed at all. So that meant....

What in the world had Savannah said to make her cry?

Blinking rapidly, she ran through her past statements, trying to find something - anything - that could prove offensive. Finding nothing, she frowned deeply. "Did -Did I say something? I'm so sorry if I did."

She nodded slowly, this time initiating the hug. "That makes sense. I -I'd do the same. In a heartbeat."

Plastering a smile on her face, Lora shook her head, "No, you did not say anything wrong. It just made me remind of something bad, that's all."

She knew she needed to control her emotions, it wasn't the first time this was happening. But sadly, she was never good at hiding her feelings, both positive and negative.

Most of the time, she was like an open book. Though she was slowly beginning to change that.

The Slushatel hugged the girl back and chuckled weakly. "I am sorry for ruining the mood. I can leave, if you want."

"Oh, okay." That was in no way better, but it certainly hurt less. She hadn't done anything wrong. Other than remind Lora of bad things. A frown crossing her face, she tilted her head up at the older girl. "I'm sorry," Savannah whispered. "For reminding you of bad things."

Even when she was trying not to hurt people, she did by simply reminding them of bad things. She'd never be able to win, would she?

"Don't leave," she blinked up at her, alarmed. "Not if you don't want to."

"It is alright Savannah, it's not your fault," Lora shook her head, a genuine smile crossing her face. "You really don't need to apologize. I should be more subtle with my feelings, I suppose."

"Okay, I'll stay for a few more minutes," she told, a little amused at the Gryffindor's expression. "Other than Dylan, no one's going to be looking for me anyway," she replied, referring to her boyfriend. "Since you told me so much about your best friend, I'd like to meet her one day."