Make it Shine PV Elena J. Finished

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”Yes!”, Alan agreed in excitement, his voice sounding unusually loud for him, as he was so caught in his happiness that he could not worry about his anxiety problems. He continued rolling the upper ball and when he was done he carefully lifted it onto the snowman, careful not to break anything. He stabilized the snowman by patting snow against the connection of the two snow balls and looked at the result in pride. It surely already looked like the best snowman and it was not even done!

”There must be a lot of them around the lake in the backyard I am sure, we could get some from there!”, he chirped and a thought rattled through his mind. A mischievous smile lingered on his face as he dug out another ball of snow, firmly pressing it into a small snowball. He made sure that Elena was busy with the snowmen, before he threw the ball at her. He would start giggling as he pretended to be innocents. But his giggling was a huge giveaway. But he was sure that Elena would take this all in fun, after all it was listed on her to do list for Christmas and who was he to deny her of a snowball fight?

He jumped up, ready to dodge should she decide to play along.

§

Elena had just finished a third mini-snowman, making sure the eyes were exactly right. She nodded at Alan's snowball, the snowman was looking excellent. Which only served to make the day even better, "The lake! Sounds good."

Elena hummed to herself as she began a fourth one, then yelped as she got hit in the back by something cold, she see snow splattering in her peripheral vision. There was only one explanation, a snowball. Elena leapt up and spun around to see Alan getting ready to dodge. Elena cracked a wicked grin before making her own snowball and chucking it towards Alan, hoping that it hit.

Strategy was key, so Elena ducked behind the large snowman and started to assemble a few more snowballs. Alan remembering snowball fights were in her list made her oddly happy, like someone cared enough to try and make Christmas perfect. For now she just wanted to bask in the friendly competition of a snowball fight. The snowman wouldn't be a good blockade for long, she'd have to move on to a tree, or just be quick on her feet. Suffice it to say Elena was glad that she had proper gloves on.

"Your attack was clever King Vanes, but I shall be victorious!" Elena laughed.

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Alan grinned brightly. The younger girl was amusing him to no end. Did she really thought, that she could do better in a snowball fight than he could? This was his game! And he would win this. He giggled sightly at the way she spoke as he brushed away the hair from his face so that he had a clear sight. She was hidden at the moment, but she could not hide forever and it truly was a cunning move to hind the innocent snowman, because Alan would not attack the poor frozen man in order to get to Elena.

”Get away from the snowman, Lady Elena, you scaredy cat!”, he demanded childishly while he bent down to gather some more snow. He began to roll the snow between his hands with enough of pressure, until the snow manifested into a ball of snow. But that was not enough, he would need more of them. So he looked around for a shelter of some sort and ran behind one of the high bushes that framed the path to the front door. Behind that bush he dropped down on his knees and began to shovel together snow with his gloves. When he had enough of the loose snow gathered he began to quickly form a few snowballs and sneezed slightly. This promised to be fun and he would win this.

Elena beamed when Alan answered her in kind, this would truly be a battle for the ages, “There’s a difference between cowardice and strategy King. That’s why I know I’ll win!”

She dashed out from behind her snowman, cradling the snowballs she’d already made in one arm and holding another one ready to throw if Alan was in sight. He wasn’t of course, he was probably hiding somewhere and gathering ammunition. Very clever, but now was the time to be clever herself. There was a wider tree in a corner that Elena could use as shelter, she ran straight for it and slid down into her hiding place.

The snow was falling gently from above and Elena couldn’t help but think that this was perfect, the perfect Winter day with a kid that she thought of as family. She started very gently singing a familiar tune, it was a sad song in a way but it was about a house upon a hill where you can feel grace, about helping people, which is what Elena really wanted to do. Help and bring people happiness, like a little light in the darkness. Like Alan.

She finished stacking a small arsenal of snowballs and waited for the next move, it was Alan’s move now.

♫

”It is clearly a sign of cowardice to hide behind Sir Snowy, Lady Elena! You are bringing innocent lives into this battle and I will not accept that!”, the second year announced his words proudly. The young Gryffindor suddenly heard shuffling and the familiar noise of feet on snow. The soft snow giving up under the weight of the shoes and the steps were not directed in his direction.

Alan felt confident enough to peek and watched in which direction Elena was escaping and saw how she swiftly headed for one of the thicker trees with a big tree bark. Alan nodded, this he would know at least. A look into the sky made him smile slyly. Not yet though. This was a trick his mom taught him and he would better keep it a secret for now. When Elena began singing for a while, Alan smiled and listened along and as soon as the last word of the tune left her lips, he leaned forwards and threw a snowball into the direction of the tree. It was close enough for him to throw, but he missed it by a feet or so, which was okay as he was still busy trying to figure out what to do exactly.

He duck behind the thick bushes again, that hid him from view and hoped Elena had not spotted him yet.

“Sir Snowy knew what he signed up for when he joined this war! I would never use an innocent life to my own advantage like that.” Elena saw a snowball come sailing past the tree and all she could guess as to where it came from was somewhere nearby the bushes. She didn’t manage to see Alan but since she knew vaguely where he should be...

A few snowballs should cover the rough area, Elena picked two up and peeked around the corner of the tree again. She leaned around the side of the tree and carefully aimed in the right direction before throwing the snowballs towards the bushes and the door in quick succession.

She ducked straight back behind the tree and made more snowballs to replace the ones she used, Elena wondered if she’d managed to hit her friend. If she had then Alan was being silent about it, which was a good idea when Elena wasn’t sure where he was. Elena smiled, the soft powder of the snow was floating down onto her nose and she had to stop herself from sneezing. She pulled her coat further around her to battle against the cold, although it was only by reflex. For some reason she wasn’t feeling the cold.

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”Oh no, Lady Elena! I won't let you mess with my head. I know how you brought this poor innocent citizen into this war as he would have never joined your side in this!”, he spoke, trying to sound adult and mature, but the giggle that slipped from his lips destroyed his already questionable act of a king. But who cared about the things like skill, when he had in what he was doing, right? He might just continue with his mischief.

And doing mischief was exactly his thing. Kneeing on the ground. He shuffled together whatever loose snow he could find around him and pressed the pulvered water into firm snowballs that he placed next to him. He needed as amny as he could build so that he would not be defenseless against the younger girl. He was to win this or none of them would. He kept silent though, as he waited for the Slytherin girl to make a move. He could not help but wonder what kind of tactic the younger girl would follow, or would she follow any kind of tactic at all? He could not be too sure about this, but he knew how cunning and smart the girl could be, so he would just have to wait.

Elena felt her lips quirk up into a smile at Alan's giggle, the snowball fight was even more fun than she'd thought it would be when she'd added it. She crafted a reply and leaned out from around the tree, "What makes you so sure King? Sir Snowy may just prefer my side. Down with the monarchy!"

Her words echoed around the yard and she picked up a few more snowballs, aiming for the possible hiding places, she carefully threw them one at a time to each location. One toward the bushes by the door, one near the snowman, and one towards a bunch of trees nearby. Hopefully one of them would tip Elena off to his location, she quickly replenished her stock of snowballs, it didn't hurt to be prepared.

The fight was divided into three things: aim, speed, and strategy. Elena had the first two in droves but she was unsure of her strategy in this, improvisation was more her thing. She was used to just thinking on her feet because strategies never survived contact with other people. They were way too unpredictable, and some had hidden strengths that nobody could really account for from surveillance.

Elena always wondered if she had hidden strengths, although she didn't actually know how hidden everything on her was. After all, once you wear a mask for long enough you don't notice it anymore.

♫

”Sir Snowy would never choose a side, even thinking that makes you a fool, Lady Elena!”, Alan threw back as he hid behind the bushes. He kept as quiet as possible, as he hid behind the plant that shielded him from being seen by his 'enemy'. He wondered whether he would be able to out smart the younger girl or if he was more clumsy. But sometimes you just need a bit of idiocy to win against someone who was smarter. He was sure that Elena was not someone to be described as very cheeky, she seemed kind of mature sometimes. But this just made it more fun to battle in a snowball fight against her.

He tried to hold back but he gasped surprised when a snowball hit against the bushes not that far away from him. He jut hoped that the soft howl of the wind had been enough to not blow his cover. Even if, Elena would have to get out of hiding to be able to make a hit, as he had better chances to hit her. The leaves of the bush were like a fence while the tree only could cover that much of a place. So if she would move only a bit he could throw a snowball at her. He was still forming new ones when he grabbed some of them and threw them towards the tree.

"If he wouldn't choose a side then why did he join this war Your Highness? I certainly did not force him to, that would just be wrong." Elena added a note of clearly fake concern to her voice to add to the acting, only to fall into giggles a moment later. She was concentrating so hard on stopping laughing she almost missed Alan's gasp. It did mean she didn't know which snowball had caused it, it left the group of trees and the bushes by the house.

Only one way to find out, she loaded her arms with snowballs and tried to decide which way to go. The trees further away were less likely due to the direction of the wind, which meant that she should run for the door. Even if Alan isn't there it's a good, strategic, and defensible position to be in.

Elena ran out from the cover and turned, throwing snowballs toward the bushes, "For the republic! Down with the monarchy!"

It may have been repetitive, but it certainly was quite a lot of fun. She liked the little narrative they'd made for themselves, and Lady Elena was very good at catchy lines, and apparently at least mediocre at snowball fights.