one thing for the childhood

Neil absentmindedly played with the rock in his hand as he strolled across the lake. His parents never let him out of the house too much, unless it was to attend another one of those pureblood parties. Not that he minded going, just that he'd lose interest after a while.

He let himself enjoy the pleasant weather, giving him plenty of time to think and not worry about his parents. He had already decided to sneak out later at night and try to find something crazy to do.

After walking for a few more minutes, he sat down at the edge of the lake and started throwing stones into the water.

As he walked around the lake, Alec thought if perhaps it was just a coincidence that, just one year ago, he was standing in the exact same place. And the circumstrances really hadn't changed much. His mother had moved out, so the fights had decreased, but that was just about it. He was still fighting with his father, he still had some problems at home, and he still felt like a vulnerable little boy. And he just hated that.

The Prideux shook his head and continued walking, something would have to change this year. No more of all this depressing stuff. Looking ahead, he spotted a familiar face throwing stones in the water and raised an eyebrow, making his way towards it.

"Corbett," Alec greeted the boy.

Neil turned around to the sound of the voice. "Blanchard," he nodded to the boy before resuming to throw the stones.

He had never interacted much with the fellow Priduex though they were in the same year as well. But then again, he wasn't much of a socialiser due to the fact his parents raised him like that.

But things were changing and he was getting to experience the better side of life.

"So what brings you here?" He questioned.

Alec found Aveneil Corbett to be an odd guy, not that they had ever talked much. It was exactly because of that, though. Most boys his age would go partying, drink, joke around, play Quidditch, but he had never seen his yearmate do much of that. He had seen him a couple of times outside, but, from what Alec had seen of him, he was mostly just in classes and back in their dorm.

The Prideux shrugged at the question, not knowing exactly how to answer. What had brought him here? "I don't know," he replied, "Just feel like taking a walk. You?"

"Just wanted to stay away from home because I'll probably have to attend some stupid pureblood party and act all pretentious and stuck up," Neil muttered a reply with a sigh. "I apologize, I don't mean to sound so disdain."

He usually spoke what's on his mind, but yet he was naturally cautious as to whom he was talking to. Blanchard seemed to be harmless, but then again, looks and attitude can be deceiving.

"How's summer coming along?"

"I know how that feels like," Alec muttered, taking a seat on the ground, "Trust me, you're not alone." Even though he wasn't a pureblood, his grandparents had always made him attend those types of parties whenever he spent break with them, and, now that he was living with his father, pureblood parties were not unusual. He shrugged it off, "Don't worry about it."

"Alright, I suppose," he told him, and thought back to everything he had done so far in the summer. "Though I'll probably be avoiding clubs for a while," he muttered, more to himself than to Corbett, with an amused grin. Yeah, he'd had a bit too much fun. "What about you? How's your summer been?"

Neil glanced at the fellow Priduex in surprise, as though he found it hard to believe that someone like Blanchard could be uptight or pretentious. "Well, glad to know I have company," he remarked and and threw some more stones before leaning against one of the trees. "It's really unfortunate, isn't it? I'm not a fan of Muggleborns, but at least they don't have these abnormal obligations."

Noticing the boy's grin, he raised an eyebrow. "That bad things, huh? Going to the clubs is definitely fucking amazing," he agreed with a smirk. "My summer was fine; partied a lot with friends, gave my parents a near heart attack and annoyed one of the families they were trying to impress." He nodded, "So yes, it was not so bad."

"I like Muggleborns and Muggles," Alec said with a small glare in Neil's direction, almost as if daring him to say anything bad about them. His mother was a Muggle, and he wouldn't take anyone saying shit about them. "But I do agree that most have it easier when it comes to that," he commented, and shrugged, "I suppose even I have it easier, I'm only half."

He raised an eyebrow at the boy, "You? Partying?" He smirked and shook his head, "Wouldn't have pegged you as that type, but good to know."

At Blanchard's glare, Neil knew he had said the wrong thing. "It's something that has been drummed into my head and not to mention, my family had a bad experience with Muggleborns," he explained with a shrug. "I don't have anything against them personally, and if given a choice, I'd befriend them."

"Hard to believe? Good, that means I'm doing my pretend work really well," he remarked and chuckled softly. "My parents have sort of threatened me to keep up a good reputation at school, so I usually tend to stay away from crowds," he admitted. "During holidays? Whole different story."

"Hm," Alec gave him a nod and let out a small sigh. Pureblood family who hates muggles and muggleborns and put that hate in their kids' brains, wonderful. It was a good thing the boy didn't think that way, or Alec supposed they would have had a long argument.

He smirked at Neil and shook his head, "And I thought you were the goody-goody type. My folks aren't too keen on me going out at night, but there's not much they can do, really."