♫

”But he clearly never chose yours! You just hid behind him, as I never heard you ask for his permission!”, the older boy grinned as he took a peek at the snowman that stood unmoving in the powdery snow around him. But then he looked back at the thick tree Elena was hiding behind and he was sure that she still hid behind it, as he could not hear her moving away from there.

Alan grinned when she started to run into his direction and quickly jumped up, still hidden behind the bushes who hid his small frame from plain sight. He just began throwing some of the snowballs in the direction of Elena, hoping to make at least a few hits. Before she arrived at the bushes he quickly bend down to pick up some more of the snowballs so that he would not be defenseless when she would plan her main attack. He was hit by some of the snowballs she was throwing at him, but could avoid most critical hits. This was just so much fun and he loved these kinds of fights. He could see Brannon and Camden a the window and quickly began to concentrate on this fight again.

Elena was too caught up in the moment to reply to what Alan had said, instead she was laughing and throwing snowballs at him without really caring whether or not they landed. She just wanted to revel in this moment, a perfectly imperfect moment. The wind was cold, her gloves were getting soaked with icy water, and she was probably losing the snowball fight. Yet like the snowflakes spinning through the air it was unique and beautiful and one of the most amazing things Elena had ever seen.

No home, no family, no hope. It had all somehow lead her to this, to a snowball fight with the kid that she considered a brother, and to feeling more like herself than she had in her entire life. She clung on to every second of this memory, trying to preserve it forever, mold it into more armour to protect her. Like her necklace, and her hoodie, and her cloak.

"I just realised something King Vanes, I have no idea how you win a snowball fight!" Elena laughed and threw more snowballs and laughed, an air spirit flying free, a trickster with snowballs instead of magic, "Can I even win if I don't know how?"

♫

Alan got hit a few times, with the snowballs the younger girl was throwing aimlessly in his direction. But he was doing the same thing, throwing the snowy stuff into her direction trying to hit her at least a few times. This was so much for the young Gryffindor and he was enjoying every second of the playful game, even though his acting skills were barely average and went more into the direction of terrible But that was not what was mattering, right? As long as the two of them were happy they would have nothing to worry about. He did not even have to think about anyone judging him as he was pretending to be the role of the king fighting against Elena.

”Well, as far as I know there is no way to win this kind of fight... All that matters is having fun!”, he giggled and as if to compliment his statement he threw another snowball at her, this time even aiming a little more accurate aiming. Was there even a way to win this game? He never thought about this, he always guessed when people got tired they would just stop and move on to something else. ”Wanna give up or what? Finishing the snowman?”, he asked, grinning toothily.

"Finishing the snowman sounds like fun!" Elena beamed at her friend, "Thanks for doing this with me, it's another thing of my Christmas List! We should do it again, maybe, if you want to."

Elena skipped over to the snowman and pulled off her scarf before wrapping it around the snowman, "Here you go Sir Snowy, something to keep you nice and warm! Sorry about hiding behind you."

Elena thought that even if the snowman wasn't real it would be nice to apologise, she often talked to her journal after all, and her cloak, and the little tiny carving of a griffin she'd made. Also, after reading about the whole gargoyle thing the idea of the snowman coming to life didn't seem entirely out of the question, and it never hurt to be polite.

"You said something about sticks being by the lake. Do you want to go on an adventure to get some?" Elena thought for a moment then added, "King Vanes."

Even if they'd been at war a moment ago, Elena was hopeful that it would still be fun to play at being royalty. Lady Elena was certainly fun to be called, it was almost ironic that she was being called that based on her past.

♫

”Of course! It was very funny! Maybe next time my cousins want to be a team against us”, he said mischievously. They could then win against them and fight side by side instead of against each other. He giggled when Elena wrapped her scarf around the snowman and had to say it looked already more like a snowman. It was just missing the face and arms made of stick and stones. Alan pulled his hat from his head and placed it on the Sir Snowy's head. He nodded happily:”You look stunning, Sir Snowy”.

He then turned to Elena and grinned. ”Of course, Lady Elena. Let us go to an adventure to finish this noble symbol of peace!”, he grinned and lead the way to the backyard. There was a small garden door that he opened and a path of small stones that lead to a small pond surrounded by bushes that had shed their leaves during the fall. ”There it is already, Lady Elena! We ought to be careful as this path has patches frozen by lava stones!”, he nodded and pointed towards the spots on the snowy path where the snow had molten or shoveled away already. ”We cannot touch them or they might burn us!”, he explained the rules of the game, looking at the ordinary stones as if they were dangerous. The closer the path led to the pond the more molten patches were free, making it difficult to reach the small lake towards the end.

Elena beamed, "If we team up, there's no way we could lose! We're a crack team, I'd love to serve alongside you King Vanes."

Alan's hat made the snowman look very jaunty and Elena couldn't help but feel happy at her surroundings. She laughed and nodded, "The most handsome snowman in all the realm."

"An adventure sounds excellent! Perfect for uniting our armies." Elena grinned and skipped after Alan, the snow was still falling softly but it was a little harder than earlier. Maybe a blizzard was coming, Elena had read about blizzards but never been in one herself, or seen one, so she wasn't quite sure what the signs of a blizzard was. Maybe this was just snow, that would be better. That way nobody would get trapped or anything, although there was something rather tempting about the idea of curling up by the fireplace during a snowstorm. Maybe that was just Elena being overly naive but snow was just something she didn't really have before. Making the experience all the more magical for her.

"Lava stones! We'll have to be very careful King Vanes." Elena nodded in agreement and began to tiptoe along towards the riverside. Laughing when she almost fell onto one.

♫

Alan just laughed along, softly. A small sound that could be overheard through the breeze of the wind that made the snow flakes dance around. ”Did you know that every snowflake close up has a different pattern and is most likely totally unique?”, he asked with a bright smile. Alan could feel the wind getting stronger as the snowflakes swirled around faster, but he could not see anything bad with that. He bet if the wind would get too strong, his cousins would call them inside so he just continued on his way towards the small pond.

He gave Elena the lead as she begin to tiptoe through the snowy patterns on the ground, avoiding what Alan had pointed out to be lava stones. Alan did his best to also avoid it as he used his arms to balance himself. Both of his arms stretched to his sites as he made his way over. Often he nearly slipped which could have cost him his life as he would have stepped in lava, but he managed to somewhat safely make his way over to the pond that was hidden beneath a thick plate of ice. Alan took a look at Elena. ”Lady Elena, how are we supposed to pick up lava stones to make them Mister Snowy's eyes?”, he asked suddenly realising that they could not just change the lore.

Snowflakes were interesting, and Alan appeared to, as usual, know something about them that makes them special. As if somehow his subject knowledge was specially designed to make sure nothing felt ordinary or unwanted, "I heard about it before but I didn't know it was true! That's so cool, snowflakes are even cooler than I knew."

Finally, she reached the end of the narrow path, almost falling over at the last step but keeping her footing using skills of balance she hadn't had to use in quite a while. Elena smiled and watched Alan join her by the lake, wincing a bit when he almost fell over. Luckily he was good at keeping his footing so there was no need to go and find a first aid kit. Alan getting hurt was one of Elena's worst nightmares, you know, besides the one where everyone leaves her. Fun stuff.

"You make a fine point King Vanes, lava stones are notoriously difficult to collect." Elena tried to think of a way to stay within the lore and still collect them, "I once heard a rumour that if you pick them up after putting snow on them then they won't burn you. Do you think it'll work?"

♫

The young boy nodded. ”They are very cool! You are too! A really good friend!”, he grinned as he skipped over the lava rocks, making sure to only let his feet hit the snowy ground until he reached his destination; the small pond. If it would be summer they could tease the fishes and give them some food, he liked that in the summer. He would always volunteer to get up early and feed the fishes with colorful flakes and treats usually only animals would like.

His earlier words already forgotten as they were said without much thought to them, he nodded at the words Elena said. ”You must be right, Lady Elena! I have heard of that rumor and volunteer to try this theory!”, he announced courageous as he picked up a handful of snow and placed it on top of some stones. With acted caution he picked up two of the stones that were covered by the white blanket. Victoriously he held the two stones up. ”It worked! You are brilliant!” A bright grin would show teeth as his eyes sparkled with the winter sun reflecting its light in them. Their task would be easy like this, the lava stones could not hurt them with the snow so they had nothing to worry about anymore.

"You're an even better friend, I know that for certain." Elena smiled, and was very happy to see Alan didn't end up tripping over anything, "And very very cool."

"Very brave King Vanes! I'm glad the rumours are true, elsewise you could've been injured." Elena nodded sagely, "We should get some smaller ones to gift our mini snowmen. They are an army of their own after all."

Elena crouched down and dumped snow over some smaller pebbles and started to collect them. She realised quickly that something was needed to carry them, so folded the end of the way too big cloak and moved some of the pebbles into that. It also made it a little easier to walk, not having to hold up the edges as she moved.

"Do you see any good sticks for Sir Snowy, King Vanes?" Elena asked, then looked around as if searching for a lost treasure or an important relic. The day was getting more and more fun, and she was feeling lucky to have Alan as a friend. It wasn't often she got to do this kind of thing, just being a kid and playing pretend, 'Maybe I should do it more often back at home.'

It took a second for her to realise she thought of the castle home.