Gaining A Sister For The Holidays

[Leila Walden]

Leila was so excited for Christmas, not least because her new friend Geo had been invited to stay with them this year. She didn't even have to beg or persuade her mother that much before she allowed Leila to ask her friend to stay for the holidays, her mom had been almost as enthusiastic as Leila herself! The only thing that was missing was Maddie who had decided to stay at some friend's house that Christmas. Leila would miss her sister a lot but since Geo was there, Leila was going to make her feel at home as much as she could. Leila decided that she would treat Geo like a sister anyway so it wasn't like losing a sibling at Christmas at all.

Leila and her mother had agreed to meet Geo outside of the Leaky Cauldron where she was currently saying and then the three of them would apparate back the Walden farm where Geo would be spending all of the holiday. They had reached the Leaky Cauldron a little earlier than planned just to make sure they had enough time to get everything sorted. She kicked some stones around the entrance of the pub while she waited for Geo to come down.

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

Although Geo was incredibly excited to be staying with Leila, she couldn't help wonder whether she'd only been asked because her family felt sorry for her. It had been mentioned in brief conversation that Geo was staying alone at the Leaky Cauldron over Christmas, and her friend had jumped at the chance to offer a space at her house, with parental permission of course, while her own sister was away. She didn't want anyone to pity her, and although kept quiet about the subject Geo hoped the eagerness of the offer had been down to wanting company over this time.

Geo had spent all morning preparing her belongings, ready to move all her things to the Waldens for a couple of weeks. Although the girl had very little possessions, the things she did have were of great importance to her, and she placed them carefully into her suitcase so they'd remain intact during the visit. Geo had been informed that they'd be apparating to the farm, and while she'd never done so before she'd heard it to be quite unpleasant. Pulling herself together, she exited thr room she'd called home for the last month, and hoisted her large bag carefully down the main stairs, eager to be reunited with her friend.

 

[Leila Walden]

It wasn't long before Leila saw Geo appear before them with a couple of bags, she rushed forward and pulled her friend into a hug "I'm so excited!!" she said grinning "we're going to have so much fun over Christmas!". Leila was so pleased to have found another friend whom she felt so comfortable with. It was like they had known each other a lot longer than a few weeks and Leila couldn't wait to spend more time with her and to be able to get to know Geo better. She took one of Geo's bags and walked back to her mom and grabbed her hand. She signalled Geo to do the same with the other free hand and sure enough they apparated from outside the Leaky Cauldron to outside the Walden farm almost instantly. Leila still wasn't used to apparating and it wasn't her fondest form of travel but it got the job done. "This way!" she said to Geo once they had all got their breath back and she set off down the drive to the front door of the house. She hoped Geo would like it with them, Leila was confident that she would fit in perfectly and she couldn't wait to get her friend settled in.

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

As with all Geo's friends, it had taken Leila a while to wiggle her way into the girls life. However she'd managed to do so in a reasonably fast amount of time. Despite having only met once previously, Geo had agreed to spend the Christmas holidays with her new friend, after it had emerged that she was planning to remain at the Leaky Cauldron over this period of time. While Geo had been interested in the students she'd met at the bar a few days previous, she had never expected any of them to actually consider her as a friend.

Although not one to get overly emotional, it had silently taken Geo aback when Leila had hurried to discuss the Christmas plans with her parents. Up until now, she'd spent the days as every Christmas went. Up at the crack of dawn to prepare food for the homeless, and spending all her time outside and helping others. The idea of someone helping her for once over this time, left a little lump in her throat. Maybe she would fit it at Hogwarts, if not before?

It didn't take anyone long to figure out who Leila was in a crowd. The excitable young pre-teen was frantically moving people aside to get to through, and before she'd barely said "Hey" Leila had lightened her load. She followed her back towards her mother, keeping up as she dodged between the wizards spending an afternoon socialising, and copied her when given the signal. Geo had never apparated before, but by the time her head had squeezed through the atmosphere and her feet were firming planted back on the ground, she was determind to fly in the future.

Geo had taken just a few steps in her friends direction, as she ran off towards the house, but looking around her at her new home for a couple of weeks, she stopped to take it in. "You live here?" She exclaimed rhetorically. It was beautiful. Used to thread bare environments and the dirt and grime of the pollution of Brighton, it was nothing short of a breath of colourful fresh air for the eleven year old. Her dark blue eyes came back into focus, and set straight for Leila, Geo once more began to follow her. This would certainly be a Christmas to remember.

 

[Leila Walden]

Leila nodded enthusiastically at Geo's question "yep! We haven't been here that long though" she explained. "You'll be having my sisters room, she's going to her friends for Christmas this year so you'll only meet her briefly, if at all" she said, chatting away to her new friend. "She's been really quiet since she came back from Hogwarts. She normally talks to me about loads of stuff, all the time. But nothing this time" she said sadly. "She spends a lot of time with Honoria. Oh! Yeah! You'll meet Honoria too, she's our cousin and is staying with us for a while aswell!" she rambled. "Let's see.. You'll also meet my two brothers: Aaron and Benji. They're alright. I suppose" she added, rolling her eyes and giggling as she led Geo through the front door of the cottage and into the entrance hall. "Okay, so, what do you want to do first? See where you'll be staying or eat or something?" Leila asked grinning.