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"You're lying"
"I would never"
"They actually said yes"
"Of course they did, I told you they would"
Elle and Alicia talked excitedly as they packed for the April holidays, Elle's parents had been thrilled when they'd received a letter asking if she could have a friend over for the two weeks, they weren't entirely thrilled about the way the letter arrived but Elle had warned them that they might see an owl at some point... so all was good.
Alicia had grown up in an orphanage, her parents had died in a car accident when she was only three and she'd felt alone the majority of her life, that was until she came to Hogwarts.
The two friends had become like sisters to each other which greatly pleased the both of them as neither of them had any siblings in their life.
"My parents are so excited to meet you so I apologise in advance if they overwhelm you" Elle grinned as they found an empty carriage on the Hogwarts express,
"They couldn't even if they tried Elle, I'm so grateful they said yes gosh I haven't been out of Hogwarts in god knows how long".
Although all students usually had to leave Hogwarts during the summer, Alicia was permitted to stay, Dumbledore trusted her greatly and it wasn't as though the house elves had a home to go to so they always made sure Alicia had food on the table. That being said it may sound incredibly fun having Hogwarts almost to yourself (almost being that the ghosts and Hagrid still remained) she was actually incredibly lonely.
There wasn't much to do in the big empty castle. All the ghosts knew her by name but they weren't exactly the most thrilling company.
Needless to say, Alicia had never been more excited in this moment when she sat on the train opposite Elle as it began to make its move to London.
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The train journey from Hogwarts to London always felt excruciatingly long but since Alicia had so many questions about the muggle world, her family and her home the journey actually flew by. Before the two girls knew it the train had pulled up on the station.
"My parents will probably meet us on the other side of the barrier" the brunette grabbed her suitcase and the top of Moon's cage and hopped off the train with Alicia behind her.
They ran through the barrier and Elle saw her parents smiling at her right away, Elle walked over and hugged them tightly while Alicia stood shyly behind.
"Mum, dad this is Alicia" the curly haired girl smiled and held out her hand,
"Thank you so much for having me" she smiled as she politely shook Heather and Samson's hands "I really appreciate it"
"You're welcome anytime, when Elle mentioned how you stayed at that school all by yourself... I can't even imagine how you do it" Heather shuddered as the four of them walked out the station.
The two weeks were the most fun Elle had ever spent at home, this made Elle wonder what her life would have been like if she wasn't an only child... better that's for sure.
Alicia loved Elle's house, the brunette and never thought highly of her cozy cottage like house but considering Alicia had lived between a cold orphanage and Hogwarts, she could see why it felt so homely to her.
Turns out Elle's dog (Sunny) loved Alicia more than she loved Elle, despite being offended Elle couldn't help but feel proud to see Alicia fitting in so well.
They walked Sunny everyday down the walk Elle used to go on all the time, it felt so familiar to her but almost nostalgic at the same time. It hadn't even been a year since she was doing this walk regularly but with all that had happened since then it felt like a completely different world.
Alicia was also extremely excited to go to the local Tesco's ,which Elle couldn't quite understand, she was mesmerised by the muggle products and wanted to buy everything they could afford,
"This drink looks amazing" Alicia gasped at the yellow and blue bottle,
"Ally... that's cleaning product" Elle laughed.
The two eventually decided on a bunch of sweets ranging from skittles to crunchie's (Elle's favourite) they paid the cashier and prepared for movie night,
Elle had complied some of her favourite films such as the breakfast club, Jurassic park, back to the future and Alice in wonderland.
Alicia's favourite was the Disney films as she said the animations were incredibly beautiful to her. Alice and wonderland had always been Elle's favourite Disney film because of the bright design and unique characters but after watching a few more Ally decided that Peter Pan was her preferred choice,
"I want to go to never land so we can stay together forever and never have to grow up" Alicia stated happily.
"Unfortunately we do have to grow up... we can stay together forever though" Elle smiled,
"We better... sisters don't leave each other"
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A week into the holidays it was April 15th, also known as Elle's birthday, the four of them sat around happily while Elle opened her presents which were similar to the ones she received at Christmas,
"How does it feel to be fourteen... I won't know until next month" Alicia sighed,
"I feel exactly the same Ally" she laughed "maybe slightly taller"
"No you're already too tall, don't grow anymore" heather huffed from the corner,
"Mum I'm only 5'4... I'm definitely going to keep growing"
"You two have tall parents" Samson shrugged "I was 5'10 at your age"
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I got something for you Elle... I hope you don't mind, I don't know if it's any good or not but I got it in Tesco's while you were buying drinks"
Alicia handed over a small wrapped box,
"You didn't have to Ally"
"Well technically you gave me the muggle money for it but... I'll give you the money when we get back to Hogwarts".
"You don't need to do that either, that muggle money was for you it's not mine"
Elle carefully unwrapped the paper to reveal a movie tape of beauty and the beast,
"I haven't seen this one yet" Elle beamed "thank you so much Ally this is brilliant" she pulled the girl in for a tight hug as they both laughed,
"We're watching this tonight right?"
"Definitely"
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The girls were quite disappointed when the two weeks were up and they started packing up their stuff to return to Hogwarts, both the girls loved it there but they'd enjoyed these two weeks so much that they couldn't quite believe it was all over.
"Alicia if you want to come home in the summer too remember that you are completely welcome, we've loved having you here" Samson and Heather smiled, Alicia thanked the two of them countless times as they drove over to kings cross station.
"I'll see you soon" Elle muttered as she hugged her parents tight,
The two girls waved before running through the barrier and arriving on platform 93/4.
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