A brief visit?

[December Daniels]

Of all the places she and her father travelled New Zealand was by far her favourite. Other than her hoke town of Sacramento of course. Whenever they came to New Zealand the pair would always stay at the Leaky Cauldron. She loved the place, the last few years the pub had been taken over by a young blonde woman and she was very welcoming to December. She was one of the few people she was able to hold a coherent conversation with. The other being her dad.

As much as December loved walking around the shops of Obsidian harbour she always felt like something missing, perhaps a purpose. Most of the people her age were shopping for school but the teen didn't have that, perhaps that was one of the reasons she was so awkward around people her age, she never usually saw them. Being home schooled had its advantages, she must have travelled half the world the last couple of years but there times she wondered what it would be like to interact with people her own age on a regular basis. December sighed as she planted herself down on one of the benches with an ice cream cone she bought from the parlour. It was already melting from the New Zealand sun so her hand was becoming sticky.

 

[Eleanor Hope]

New Zealand had been Eleanor's home ever since she was born. She had grown up around Obsidian Harbour which had slowly turned into one of her favourite places in the world. It was the furthest her parents would let her go away from the house to explore and now that she was getting older she was starting to get more independent and used Obsidian Harbour as a safe house to get away from her family. She loved her family but sometimes they'd get on her nerve and what better place to get away from that than Obsidian Harbour?

Eleanor sighed as she jadedly kicked a small rock up the street. She wondered when her parents would finally let her and her sister buy their school supplies for Hogwarts. Their letter hadn't come yet but surely they could start with the simple robes and a wand first? Besides, it wouldn't be that long before the letter came and it would be better to start the shopping early than procrastinate and get lost in with the big crowd of eleven year olds a week before they needed to catch the train. Sometimes her parents just didn't understand.

Eleanor's thoughts were stopped abruptly when she noticed someone ahead of her sitting on a bench with a sad look on her face. She looked like she had a bad day and Eleanor watched as the sun shone on her ice-cream, almost melting it entirely. She frowned at her, feeling sorry for her being miserable and skipped towards her. If anyone could make her happy Eleanor could.

"Hey there!" she exclaimed, sitting next to her on the bench. Eleanor's feet barely touched the ground as she sat. She began to sway them back and forth out of habit. "Why are you looking so sad? Is there anything I can do?"

 

[December Daniels]

December was in her own world, as she often was when she was alone which was a regular thing for a home schooled kid. She barely even noticed when someone decided to sit next to her. Actually next to her. December's cheeks flushed, her personal space was being invaded and she didn't like it, but the girl was lonely and some company might be nice. She turned to the girl and forced an awkward smile. "S..S..Sad? What makes you think I'm sad? She asked struggling to get some of her words out as she addressed someone for the first time.

The girl hadn't spoken to anyone other than her dad since she met a boy in Paris and talking to him had been just as much of a challenge as talking to the girl in front of her, perhaps more so as she had found him cute. "There's nothing to be d..d..done, I just get nervous in crowds b..b..but I'm trying to force m..myself to do things I don't like and I do love this p..placw," She smiled shyly at the girl. Having people come up to her and talk to her was a whole new experience, she was used to travelling with her dad and mostly living in his shadow.

 

[Eleanor Hope]

The girl seemed to have trouble speaking and Eleanor wondered whether or not she should have walked over to her in the first place. It was indeed true by the way she was talking to Eleanor that she was not in fact sad but rather shy. She hadn't really seen the girl around before and wondered whether or not she was new or if it was the fact that Eleanor never payed any attention to her. After all, Eleanor definitely wasn't the most observational person in the world.

"I don't know... I guess it's just that your ice-cream is melting and you don't even mind." she replied to her, slightly embarrassed. She felt sorry for judging the girl so quickly and wondered whether or not the ice-cream melting would be a suitable answer. She shrugged anyway and listened as she started talking about how nervous she gets in crowds. Eleanor hadn't ever met someone like that before and wondered what it would feel like to get anxiety and not have many friends. She also mentioned how she loved Obsidian Harbour and Eleanor couldn't agree with her more. "Yeah, it is such a lovely place, isn't it? It's nice to just sit here and relax I guess." she said, glancing around at the scenery. "I'm Eleanor by the way. What's your name?"

 

[December Daniels]

While it was true that December struggled with most everyday social interactions that other people took for granted, this would be the first time someone had mistook her shyness for sadness. He smiled sincerely at the girl almost touched that she had come over to cheer her up sinply because she thought she was sad. December had never met anyone like that before. The girl had forgotten about her ice cream in truth, she had barely noticed that it had started to melt and trickle up her arm. "Oh, I f..forgot I had it actually," She smiled and licked some of it but in its current state it wasn't as satisfying to eat so she three it away.

"I'm sorry if you came over b..because you thought I was sad, t..thank you for coming to check on me though, no ones ever been so caring before," She blushed and December attempted to hide her face but she had no where to hide. Thankfully the girl moved the topix on and it gave December a chance to talk about something else. "I think it's one of my favourite places, I love coming here even though I don't come to shop for school I just like the buzz, when its quiet I mean, I don't do so well when its busy," She smiled, once she got talking about something she liked it was like she perked up a little. "My name's D..D..December," She stammered. December hated her name, it was just her luck to be given a name she struggled to say.

 

[Eleanor Hope]

Eleanor smiled as the girl licked the ice-cream but felt kind of disappointed when she threw it away. Eleanor's mother would never have payed that much to give Eleanor an ice-cream to just throw away like that. She supposed that the girl was probably rich or had maybe found the money on the ground or something but it also didn't look very enjoyable to eat either so maybe it was good that she threw it away.

"Don't worry about it! I just thought you needed a friend or something." she replied, smiling at her. "What do you mean you don't come here to buy things for school? It's literally the only place I can think to buy school supplies around here. Either that or Bleak Street." She shuddered. Bleak Street sounded like such a dark place and she sure hoped that her new friend didn't go down there on a regular basis.

She introduced herself as December and Eleanor smiled at the name. She found it clever how you could name your children after months and it still sounded as pretty as ever. Eleanor had always wondered what it would be liked to be named after a month. Most of the time people were named after months because their parents had something significant happen in that month or they simply just liked the sound of it. Whatever it was, December's parents did a good job with picking her name as it suited her so well.

"Were you born in December?" Eleanor asked out of curiosity. The only words Eleanor could put with the month December were 'Hot' and 'Christmas' but maybe there was something more to it than that.

 

[December Daniels]

December couldn't believe that this girl had come to sit with her just because she looked sad and like she needed a friend. She was deeply touched even though it wasn't the case. She was disappointed that she had to throw her ice cream away, it had been delicious when she started but by the time Eleanor came to sit with her it had melted half way down her arm and there no chance of enjoying it now."It's a shame but it's melted too much now," December frowned as she watched the ice cream hit the floor and began wiping at her bare arm

The teen smiled at the girl as she told her it was ok she just looked like she needed a friend. December was a little embarrassed that the girl had come over to help with a problem that wasn't there. "Well...I..I never say no to a friend," She smiled shyly at the girl, December didn't have a lot of friends. Talking to strangers made her nervous and they rarely came up and talked to her but that seemed to be changing. "Oh err, I don't go to school here, I'm home schooled by my dad while he travels around for work," December often wondered if she was missing out on something by not going to school but she loved all the tine she spent with her dad.

When Eleanor asked her about her name and if she was born in December she blushed deeply. "No, concieved in December, so I'm told," It was embarrassing to talk about but that was the reason behind her name. It was a family tradition on her mother's side so her dad had said, she didn't remember much about her mother.

 

[Eleanor Hope]

The thought of not going to any school had shocked Eleanor. Eleanor was so excited to go to Hogwarts New Zealand and she didn't know anyone that had ever gone there before so she was slightly disappointed to hear that December didn't attend that school. "Don't worry, It's nothing to worry about I guess. I'm going to school in the next few months so I'll tell you how it goes! We can write to each other by owl if you like." Eleanor replied, smiling at the girl. Having your father travel around all the time for work must get really annoying. She was glad that her father only had a job in the Ministry and so they didn't have to move around a lot, or at all, but felt extremely sorry for the girl nonetheless. Sometimes there are just small things that you shouldn't take for granted.

"So you weren't born in December?" Eleanor said, quite embarrassed that she had thought such a thing. "I'm sorry, I just thought- because your name... Oh, nevermind." She sighed, looking down at the ground beneath her feet. Her legs started swinging back and forth again out of habit and she frowned. Maybe she shouldn't have judged her so quickly. But why would someone name their child after the month they were conceived in? She shuddered at the thought. Some people just needed to keep that to themselves.

 

[December Daniels]

December's eyes lit up when Eleanor said that she would tell her all about the school when she got there. She smiled in the knowledge she had just made a friend. What she didn't say was that her father was currently trying to have her transferred into the school. December was terrified at the idea of being around so many people but so a little excited but she didn't want to get her hopes up as there was no guarantee. "I...I'd like that, you can tell me everything I'm missing, I've always wanted to know what a proper school is like,"

December blushe again as Eleanor stumbled over her comment about her name. Everyone assumed she was born in December, that would make sense than the truth of where her name comes from. It was embarrassing to set people straight. She was also a little embarrassed to be continuing the traditions of a family that abandoned her. "That's ok, it's what everone things at first, it would make more sense but, it was my mothers idea," She swallowed a lump in her throat as she mentioned her mother, she didn't like talking about her.

 

[Eleanor Hope]

The fact that December was feeling comfortable talking to Eleanor about what was going on in her life had made Eleanor feel comfortable too. When Eleanor first met December she seemed shy and distant and Eleanor felt proud of herself making December feel comfortable. It was like she accomplished a life goal to make someone want to be her friend on first meeting. She hadn't really had many friends either and it made her feel special. "Yeah, and we can write to each other as often as you want, if you have the time of course." she said tentatively, making sure she was not going to disrupt December from her homeschooling. She made a mental note to ask her mother for an owl so she was able to write to her whenever she wanted. She was sure that was going to be fun.

"Your mother's idea? Does your mother care that you have to move around too much? I mean, it must be really frustrating for you both." she asked, hoping it wasn't too much. How did it not disrupt her mother's work? Or did her mother work at the same place as her father? It all confused Eleanor and so her questions had to be answered.

 

[December Daniels]

December couldn't believe how comfortable she felt with Eleanor, her stutter was almost gone when she spoke to her which only really happened with her father, she had never met a stranger that she able to bond with and relax around so quickly. Maybe it was the girls youthful emergy or her kind nature but she found herself hoping that she would be going to school with her in the fall. She just didn't want to get her hopes up. "I should have time, m..my home school is quite flexible, my dad always has his own worm to do so it gives me plenty of time to do my own things," December smiled warmly at the girl.

When the conversation turned to her mother and how she felt about her homeschooling and if it was frustrating for the two of them suddenly made her feel a little uncomfortable but she needed to tell Eleanor the truth about her mother. "Well my mother doesn't get much say, she err...left when I was young, she found out what my dad was what I was and she didn't like it so she just left," December hated talking about her mother but no matter how much it upset her she wouldn't cry. She had cried enough over her mother.

 

[Eleanor Hope]

As December started to tell Eleanor about her mother she knew that she probably shouldn't have brought it up. Eleanor's parents weren't exactly divorced or separated so she didn't at all know what it felt like to not have one of your parents. She had always taken it for granted that both of her parents loved her but she knew that many children haven't even met their parents before let alone have them love them. "Do you mean, your mother isn't magical?" she asked tentatively. What did she mean 'when she found out what they were'? The only thing Eleanor could think of was that her mother was a muggle or somehing. Eleanor hadn't ever met a muggle before let alone seen one so hearing about a muggle was news to her. 'Muggles must have life hard.' she thought, her mind wandering away from the conversation a little bit. After all, how did they do things without magic? They probably made some very smart inventions to compensate. She had heard of some muggle inventions but wasn't sure exactly what they were called. Whatever they were, they probably had some fancy or intelligent name Eleanor couldn't quite pronounce.

"Let's do something fun!" she exclaimed suddenly, jumping up from her seat. Maybe if Eleanor distracted herself with something else then she wouldn't keep asking so many personal questions. She already knew enough about December so now it was time to do something interesting. "Do you know any fun games?" she asked, hoping the girl had an idea of what they could do.

 

[December Daniels]

"Oh, yes my mother isn't magical," December really hadn't thought to mention that her mother was a muggle, having not been socialised much growing up she hadn't told the story of her mother leaving before so it never occured to her that her mother's lack of magic was an important detail. "I guess she didn't like being married to a wizard, or having a witch for a daughter, sorry I dont usually talk about it its not an easy subject," December cleared her throat as she fought back the sudden urge to cry. For all the negative feelings she had about her mother she was still that, and she missed her.

December was grateful that the girl seemed to understand that the topic of conversation was difficult for her and moved the conversation along though she wasn't prepared for what the girl came up with next. "Something fun? I err, don't know really, what do you usually do to amuse yourself," Having spent most of her life travelling with her father and away from kids her own age, games were not something she was and wasn't really one for playing around with people. The thought of it made her nervous but a little excited.

 

[Eleanor Hope]

Eleanor gave December a small pat on the back. She should have been proud that she was able to say something like that to someone she had only just met and it made Eleanor feel a little guilty that she had almost made someone cry already. At least she knew now that they could trust each other and that they were friends. It must be hard to find friends or someone you could talk to properly if you were homeschooled and shut away from the people that were the same age as you with the same interests. All Eleanor wanted to do was make her feel comfortable and liked, there was nothing more she could really do.

"Usually when I need to amuse myself I annoy my sister but she isn't here so we must use our imaginations to create a whole new world!" she exclaimed, the excitement shown clearly in her eyes. "Okay so, we're sailors on a boat sailing down the water just like that lake over there!" She pointed to the water in the distance. "My boat is sparkly and can be seen from space!" She made a hand gesture, pointing up at the sky with both arms in the air, unable to contain her excitement. "What does your boat look like?"