♫

Alan just grinned back at the girl, he hoped she would be able to sleep well in their guestroom. Her well-being was important for the young boy and he had overheard his aunt say that Elena was too skinny, so he would introduce her to his sweet stash later. He would share as much with her as she pleased but that was all the young boy had in mind. To make Elena happy and eat some more. ”I'm cool?”, he asked giggling and then nodded, ”I guess we are the coolest!”.

”You are right! But as a king I have to do what I have to do and that means risking my life for Sir Snowy who is our loyal friend!”, he explained as he straightened up to show his pride. At least in this game he had it and it was fun for the young kids. With her next question the second year began to look around on the ground until he found a few sticks the wind had ripped from the naked trees. He walked over them, carefully with his gaze on the lave stones. He picked up two but on his way back to Elena, he misplaced his feet and let out a shocked shout. ”I STEPPED ON LAVA!”, he exclaimed and then began to hop on one leg, clutching the stones and sticks to his chest to not drop them.

”We must head back to the castle immediately to get it treated!”

"Of course you are!" Elena beamed at him and put the clips she usually used to keep the cloak from trailing along the ground to make a pouch for the pebbles. Elena did of course have a cloak that actually fit, this one was just better, "Well, if you're cool and I'm cool then we have to be the coolest!"

"You're a good man, King Vanes. We need more kings like you in the world." Elena said seriously, watching as Alan collected sticks, Elena nodded, they were good choices. Then the unthinkable happened, Alan stepped on a lava stone!

Elena dodged lightly over the remaining lava stones to get to her friend, times like this Lady Elena was glad of her interesting backstory, "Vanes! Oh no, we'll get you back, don't worry."

"Here, I'll help you back to the castle!" Elena used one arm to help steady Alan's frantic hopping, then scanned the path in front of them, "We'll have to take the snowiest path, that way there's less of a chance of any more lava related incidents. Don't want you to get hurt again!"

Elena found a way that had the least lava stones and waited for Alan to say if it was time to go.

♫

The young Vanes would look at his friend, who called them both the coolest and a huge grin spread over his face, making his eyes seemingly sparkle with happiness. ”You must be right! We both are the coolest and everyone else is the coolest too! Except evil people, they are not cool!”, he nodded in agreement to Elena's words, adding his own mindful twist to them. This statement just screamed Alan, in its childish naivety, but the second year did not seem to notice anything off with what he just said. Everyone could be cool if they wanted to.

He nodded. ”Thank you Elena, I am sure without you I would die in this lava!”, he said dramatically, gladly accepting the steadying hand of the younger girl as they tried to find the snowiest path back to 'safety'. ”Let us end this journey, I was glad to have you at my side with this quest!”, he nodded and took a few slow hops. He was sure with Elena by his side, his currently best and longest friend, he could overcome every obstacle that the world could ever throw at him. They were after all a dynamic duo; a word he was pretty sure he got the meaning of right.

Elena nodded wisely at Alan's statemnt, "Evil people are super uncool."

One of the things Elena really liked about Alan is that he made sense. Evil people are uncool, chocolate frogs are delicious, snow is fun. All of these things were perfect statements of fact, which made talking to him extremely easy, no need to wade through metaphors or implications. Just simply stated words, it was relaxing.

"I'm glad to help, Alan." Elena smiled and started to guide them back towards where they left Sir Snowy, "As am I, together it appears we are unstoppable!"

Both in the game they made and out in the real word, Elena's words rang true. What could possibly stop them if they worked together? Nothing, that was the answer. Although, chocolate frogs might slow them down because eating them and relaxing was really fun, and Alan's "injured" leg was also making walking take a while, not that it was bad, just slow. An idea started to form in Elena's head...

"I heard of a healing potion that might help with your leg." Elena grinned, "The magicians call it 'Hot Chocolate', maybe we should go on a quest to find it, after we give Sir Snowy his arms and stuff, of course."

♫

Alan nodded in agreement. ”Like Scar! My cousins showed me! He was evil to his brother and the small lion...”, he explained and huffed. He did not like Scar, he had been evil and selfish.

At her next words Alan nearly threw his arms into the air, however that would probably have resulted in him falling into the lava and so he just stopped himself from doing so before it was too late. ”Yes, we can win against all evil and Sir Snowy will help us!”, he said, very sure in what he was saying. After all the two of them were cool and awesome and what could ever stop them?

Hot Chocolate? His eyes figuratively began to sparkle as he grinned. That sounded awesome and he could not wait. ”We should quickly fix Sir Snowy and his small army so we can go to the Brewing Station! Have you told you that I make the best Hot Chocolate elixirs?”, he announced with a proud smile, as they reached the limbless Sir Snowy with the hat and the scarf wound around its 'neck'. He already looked stunning and as soon as he was done he would look even more cool. He would be the coolest snowman.

"Scar? Lions?" Elena sounded curious, "What's that? Is it a movie?"

"Sir Snowy is also very cool." Elena giggled at her own pun, then continued, "I'm sure he'll be happy chilling outside protecting the castle. There'll be snowbody coming to try and bother us."

Puns were the highest forms of humour, that's why Elena made three in a row.

"I didn't know that you knew the art of magic chocolate potions! Truly King Vanes, you have many skills." Elena was smiling so much her cheek muscles were starting to hurt from exhaustion, "Sir Snowy and his army will look good when they're all finished."

Lo and behold, the dynamic duo were almost back at the main part of the yard, and the snowmen were in sight. Elena wondered if she could give them little swords, then realised that would probably require glue and time and attention. Also, there was hot chocolate to be had, a special potion to cure King Vanes' knee, and also to revive them from their journey to the lava fields.

Playing pretend was even more fun than woodcarving, she'd have to play with Alan even more back at Hogwarts. That way the fun wouldn't have to stop, maybe if she got a bit of wood big enough she could make him a special king sword, like Excalibur...

♫

Alan nodded. ”Yes! It is a cool movie with lions and animals! But one lion is evil and he killed his brother...”, he said, a frown appearing on his face for a second, before his face lit up, ”But then there was the small lion! The baby of the nice brother who defeated the evil brother!”, he explained in short what the Lion King was about.

Alan giggled at all of the word games she made. They were funny, before he tilted his head. ”Do you think snowman can catch a cold? Because they have to wear a scarf and hat too...”, he reasoned his question as he giggled happily. ”And yes! It took me hundred years to perfect the skill! With magic mini marshmallows they can only be found in far away mazes!”, a rather creative way of describing a grocery store, but fitting nonetheless.

”You are always so right, Lady Elena! We should begin with the quest so we can treat my leg before it is too late!”, he giggled and held up the two twigs for Sir Snowy. It would be fun if they finish this together, so he handed one of them to Elena and pointed to the snowman with a grin.

"That does sound cool, what's it called?" Elena asked curiously, "I always like a happy ending."

Elena thought about Alan's question, "Maybe they can catch a cold, like, magical cold, where they like, sneeze something cool. Like fireworks! Or snowflakes! Or maybe ice cream..."

"Magic mini marshmallows? I have heard the old legends about these. Those mazes are perilous indeed." Elena laughed, this game was the best, "Is it true that they're delicious and come in different colours?"

"And you're always so sweet King Vanes! It's a testament to your character, at least I think that's what you say. You're cool, I know I already said that but yes, you're cool." Elena cut her babble down a little bit, "Definitely! We must begin the quest."

Elena took the twig happily and held it out to the side of Sir Snowy, right where his arm should go, "Together on three?"

A snowflake hit Elena's nose and she almost sneezed, it was getting colder out here, she'd also need to untie the pebbles from her cloak soon. Otherwise she just be dragging pebbles around, which would weigh her down, and also mean she had a bunch of pebbles. Elena did woodcarving, not pebble carving, or balancing, or whatever you did with pebbles.

♫

”I think it was called King of Lions... or wait no! Lion King.. or? Well one of the two I think!”, he replied with a grin. One of those must be right, he knew it was something with King and Lions. Alan was not sure but he could show the movie to Elena at some point.

”That would be so cool! They probably sneeze snowflakes in rainbow colors! That taste like ice cream!”, he squealed in excitement and wondered whether they would have to be at least semi sentient like the gargoyles in Hogwarts. ”And yes, it is true! The different colors have different purposes and taste! I know because I have studied them and tried them all!”, he said proudly.

He nodded and while they counted to three they gave Sir Snowy arms at the same time, ending with Alan giving a soft sneeze. After that the both of the would wander around giving the snowmen a face and when Alan decided to form Sir Snowy's expression into a frown by placing the pebbles he began laughing. ”Look it seems like he is related to Moffy!”, he exclaimed, pointing at the snowman with a smile, that reached his eyes.

"Lion King maybe? Ithink I've heard of that one, it's the one with lots of music right? And that song that's like Be Prepared." Elena smiled then listened to Alan talk about ice cream. She gasped, "Rainbow ice cream, does that exist? That would be amazing!"

"Wow, that's really super cool King Vanes. Mini marshmallows really must be magical, different flavours sound amazing." For a moment Elena wondered if that included strawberry, strawberry was really good. Ten out of ten, excellent foodstuff, strawberries man, gotta love them.

"Bless you." It took a moment for Elena to remember what you say to people when they sneeze, or were you meant to say gesundheit? She'd just ask someone later.

Elena started giggling at the snowman, "I dub thee Sir Snowy Griffith, Knight of Grumpiness. May you be adorably frowny and threaten people with nap time forevermore."

Maybe Elena was a little grumpy about being told off for her sleep schedule. A tiny bit bitter maybe, but it was funny at the very least. If Sir Snowy came to life he better not warn her about eating her vegetables, she'd be forced to throw snowballs at him, nobody wants that. It might spark another war with King Vanes.