♫

He shrugged. ”I am not stupid, I don't trust anyone. I wish I could but there is a reason prisons exist to keep the baddies away from us and try to make them better again..”, he sighed with a sad frown. He did not want to talk about the sad stuff. ”But even baddies sometimes have a reason and they think they are doing good, sadly... I wish someone would tell them they are doing stuff not in the nice way”, he sighed again and shook his head.

Alan took a look at her. Not knowing how to make biscuits? Alan tsked at her. ”Just throw flour and sugar together with a few eggs... a lot of sugar, because they are gonna be so much more yummy!”, he giggled lightly. ”And I dunno.. I do what sounds fun? What about you?”, he asked lightly, curious about what a friend like Elena did in her free time. He placed the empty mug in the sink and let water rinse into it, just so that the milk and chocolate crumbs would not dry against the surface, before he stuffed it into the dishwasher. After that he washed his hands and began to use his second leg again, after all he was all healed now, so he could place the powder and milk package back into fridge and onto the counters.

"I'd say you can trust me, if you wanted to." Elena smiled, although looked a little proud, how strange it is to be proud of someone for not trusting others. Not having to worry about Alan like that. Maybe he would be safe, "That's the other trick Alan, it doesn't matter to them if other people think they're doing the wrong thing. They think it doesn't matter as long as the end is right."

Elena stared back, "Hey, that... actually sounds pretty easy and I probably should've learned that earlier."

There was a book Elena loved, and in it this little creature called Reichis, a squirrel cat, hung out in the bath eating butter biscuits. Elena wanted to hang out in a bath eating butter biscuits, it sounded like a dream. Elena glanced at the hot chocolate, was there some kind of potion in it that made her want to nap and think about the future? Did chocolate do that? Was it that it was warm? Hot chocolate, what are your secrets!

"Me?" Elena tilted her head, "I like woodcarving, I make little animals and stuff usually, but I'm planning to make a big staff when we get back to Hogwarts. Maybe a sword too, would you like a sword?"

It was the next day after the Christmas dinner and everything was fine, Alan had gotten a few present and even one from his parents and he truly adored it. Elena had gotten even a bit from his cousins and aunt. Not much but not little either. From his aunt Elena had gotten a book about Creatures, because Alan had told his aunt this was what would make her happy. He knew that she loved creatures but he rarely saw her read. Yet he hoped she would be happy about it. Unbeknownst to the second year she wasn't not reading because she did not like it, but simply because Elena had no way to afford too much except what she had the money for and it was questionable if books were one of her main priorities.

His cousins just gave her a whole lot of sweets and Alan got the same from him, as did they from him. His one cousin got a map with clean notesheets and his other one a CD that he could listen to. Both of them loved music, which made getting them something they liked easy. The present for Elena was in his room. They were still sitting at the table, even though his cousins escaped to their room and his aunt was starting to do the dishes as they did not wash themselves.

”lemme get your present!”, he said to Elena and bolted to his room. When he returned he was holding a small chest made of wood in his hand and placed them in front of Elena. ”Open it!”, he smiled brightly. If she would open it she would find a few shells and pretty stones from his last holiday at the sea. After all Elena said she never saw that kind of environment except on pictures so he thought she might like what for him was something normal, could be soemthing special for her.

§

Christmas, a real Christmas. It was amazing in every way, and now the girl was sitting happily with a pack of candy and a book stacked nearby her, looking extremely happy to be here.

Dinner had been way more food than she could possibly eat alone, and in the aftermath Alan hopped up and declared her present was in his room, and to wait there. So wait she did, occasionally eyeing the pack of candy, but knowing she legitimately could not eat any more.

The little wooden box opened easily, and inside were treasures from the seaside, shells and stones smoothed by hundreds of years worth of water. The girl’s eyes widened and she stared at them in awe before picking up a shell and turning it over and over, her eyes shimmered with tears and the girl smiled at Alan, “Thank you, they’re just, they’re amazing.”

The seaside, the beach, shells, one day Elena’d be able to see them for herself. An odd dream but no less important because of its nature. The little part of the ocean that Alan had brought her showed how much he listened, and how much he actually cared about the slightly odd girl with blue hair, who never ever thought she’d make a real friend.

Alan just grinned lightly at the girl and shrugged. ”I mean it ain't that special... didn't even cost nothin' so yeah”, he mutter and shrugged lightly. He was however glad that Elena liked the small treasure box. The wooden chest was kind of the only thing he had to buy and he thought it would be fitting for the gift he had chosen, so he bought it for a few pounds in a Muggle store his aunt took him.

He leaned forward and grabbed one of the scones that were placed on a crystal plate in the middle of the table and stuffed it into his mouth, savoring the flavor of the baked treat. ”You should try them, they are awesome! My aunt made them and I helped mixing the dough and stuff!”, he explained after he finished chewing and swallowed the pastry, He was, as awkward as it seemed, someone who would follow things like table rules. He had to learn them, after all he was forced to attend official meetings together with his parents, so it was not that uncommon for him to be in a dining hall where everyone was waiting for him to use the wrong fork for the entree.

§

"It's not the cost that's important Alan." Elena said softly and closed the little chest so she didn't lose any of the gifts, "The most important thing is what it means to you."

"Scones!" Elena picked up one and started the ritual involved with smothering each half of it in whatever jam was most red coloured and enough cream destroy a lesser person's arteries, "When I was eight I had high tea, I used to have a friend, Zeph, she was a lot richer than I was. I still miss her, a little, but the high tea was amazing."

The girl munched down on a scone, they were amazing, "Good job on baking Alan, it's so good." Of course, it was a little muffled because she said all of that with her mouth full, but that's what happens when your idea of table manners is: Use a knife and fork, and try not to spill anything on yourself.

Between bites of scone, Elena stopped to say, "Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year. Oh, sorry I just realised that that sounded like a hallmark gift card, it really is amazing though. Thank you, for bringing me here."

She smiled brightly at her friend.

Thread finished

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Alan just shook his head lightly, stifling a yawn and instead stretching his back. ”Don't worry about it... It is just some holidays and we will be back at Hogwarts.... I can't wait to get back at and meet everyone, Hogwarts is awesome like how my parents described it to me!”, he exclaimed, excitedly. ”I even found one of the secret passageways my father has told me about, it is very fun and there are so many!”, he grinned and shook his head. His thoughts filled with experiences he had gathered in Hogwarts, negative but mostly positive.

And those that were negative were fine, they led to some more positive experiences like meeting new people. He was in the Hospital Wing once because he burned himself on a cauldron when he was not carefully enough, but there he met a nice guy; a friend he really liked and wants to be friends with. Sadly he has not seen him around much, making him wonder if he is a bit busy with studying. Alan sighed.”Let's just quickly clean this table, it's getting late and I'm tired...”, he said, yawning again, this time not even stifling it; he just held his arm in front of his face so that his mouth would not be shown.

He got up from his place to do just what he said and began to collect plates and the ripped paper from presents he had unpacked earlier that he had gotten from his family. After this evening a few more calm and pleasant days followed in which his cousin taught him some more on the guitar while the other would try to explain to him how a TV works, unsuccessfully mind you. Well and then a few days later they already had to pack their stuff and apparate back to London, making Alan think that in the end the time flew bay far too fast.