...Family Vacation…
It'd been a week since we handed out and sent the boxes to everyone. Sofia sent us a howler after she'd gotten hers and a thank you note. Asayo and Emma sent pictures of their friends faces as they ate Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Lily, Amber, and I were reading Adalene and Jordan's response letter when James snatched it. "You actually sent those to everyone?", he gasped. He passed the letter to the others. The boys were a little less than thrilled to receive their boxes. Especially when they found out the boxes didn't open until you did some studying or work that day. "Oh, that reminds me! do you guys have plans for the holidays yet?", Lily asked.
They shook their heads. "We were planning a ski trip and wanted to invite you guys.", she explained pulling brochures out of her bag. "Sounds like fun!", Remus laughed, "Who's going?" Lily and Amber took turns naming everyone. "How were you able to plan a ski trip? You are always studying and going to classes.", Peter wondered aloud. "We didn't. At least not this year. After our backpacking trip we had a lot of money left over. So, on our flight back we planned a ski trip for this year.", Amber explained as she reached for a muffin. "I'm getting this feeling like if you didn't have classes you guys would always be whisking off on another trip. Then we'd never get to see you'd never get to see you.", Peter and Remus sighed together.
"You just happened to plan ski trip big enough for this group of people you know?", Sirius asked not really believing it. "Would you rather go to Italy or Spain like we did?", Lily asked confused. The boys' mouths fell open. "When the hell did you have time to do that?", James whisper yelled. "After Budapest.", I replied. "That was too nonchalant Fae.", Remus gasped acting like my words had wounded him.
It was the week before winter break, and we were all doing some last-minute packing. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Lily and Amber try to sneak through my luggage. "Looking for something?", I asked not turning around. They froze. I saw Lily nudge Amber forward. "We were just wondering what happened to that matching pair of pajamas Xyla got for you and Sirius last year.", she waved her hand around the room. "You don't know!", I gasped trying to bait them. They took it and leaned forward with rapt attention. I pointed them to a picture of me and Sirius on my bedside table.
Barely visible on the frame were the pajamas which I'd shrunken. "You evil children!", Amber gasped. I stuck my tongue out playfully. "Makes sense though, Sirius did say he preferred it when Fae wears his shirts.", Lily sighed mockingly. We did not finish packing because we spent the rest of the night chasing each other around the dorm.
"This is going to be so much fun!", Maddie said as we brought our suitcases down to the entrance hall. "The only thing I'm worried about is the trouble those four could get in to.", Lily shook her head already imagining something terrible. The boys were chasing each other up and down the stairs. "On the bright side they could wear themselves out and sleep through the train ride and flight!", I sang happily skipping around the others.
Just as I predicted the boys slept through the train ride and flight. "We've arrived! Wake up lazy bones!", Lily poked James, Seth, and Sirius awake after the plane landed. I'd already gotten my carry-on bag. We waited at the airport entrance for the others. Zach and Alex took an earlier flight and were already there. I held Sirius' hand as we walked through the airport.
Adalene, Jordan, Sofia, and Elijiah, Sofia's boyfriend, were the next to land. Elijiah was taller than Remus with clementine colored eyes, black cherry colored hair that was in a man bun, and a very commanding presence.
The next group to arrive was Emma, her boyfriend Liam, Asayo, and her boyfriend Fuji. Liam was positively hyper and had a feeling that we should probably limit the amount of time he hung around James and Sirius. He had turquoise eyes and wheat colored hair that kept falling in his eyes.
Fuji was watching Liam curiously. Fuji was more playful than James was. His ebony eyes took in every bit of the scene before him as he used his hand to move his mahogany colored hair to the side. Here comes trouble Romania, I thought watching the boys automatically start to plan and whisper amongst themselves.
Now that everyone was gathered, we took a bus to the ski lodge we were staying at. I went to the front desk to get our room keys. I gave the boys their room keys. They took off without a word. "I think we just opened the gates of hell and released the demons within.", Emma mumbled. Everyone nodded. "I'm going to go apologize to the staff in advance.", Sofia said looking tired.
The next morning me and the girls went to explore. The boys were still passed out from whatever they did yesterday, so, we just left them a note saying we went out. Our first stop was Bran castle. We also made food stop to load up on snacks while we hiked around. by the time we got back either the boys had fallen asleep again or they just slept through a whole day unbothered.
"See what I meant!", Peter yawned the next morning, "They just left to explore Romania!" "We left a note. All we did was go visit a castle.", Amber said yawning. "Which castle?", Fuji asked as he reached for a bagel. "Bran castle.", Amber replied. The boys shuddered collectively. "And that reaction is why we didn't wake you.", Adalene stated. The morning continued with more friendly bickering as we finished breakfast.
We took the lifts to the beginner's course. "How much do you want to bet that they pass out again before we get to go see the night view in the city?", Zahara whispered quietly. "50 galleons!", Lily snickered jokingly. "What are you whispering back there?", Alex asked. "We were just discussing the possibilities of a bet.", Maddie grinned at Amber mischievously.
They turned around. "Boys versus girls. Whichever team finishes the day with the least number of falls doesn't pay for dinner, but I suppose you guys wouldn't be interested in such a bet.", Amber smiled provokingly. The guys huddled up to discuss the bet. Amber smiled at us. "If they take the bait they'll most definitely be passed out before long.", she whispered.
After five minutes the boys agreed. The instructor taught us the basics and we were off. Zachary and Zahara were the only two trustworthy enough to be judges. There was a lot falling in the beginning but by lunch most had gotten the hang of it. I was enjoying a quick hot cocoa at the bottom of the intermediate slope when Lily came down.
She was laughing so hard she had tears falling down her face. "There was a snowball fight at the top of the slope!", she panted. I burst out laughing when everyone else showed up. There was so much snow stuck to them they looked like they'd been buried in it. "It was a fierce battle!", Alex spoke sorrowfully. They other boys nodded sorrowfully with him. "Come on drama queens. Lunch is ready.", I scoffed lightly herding them towards the pavilion where lunch was waiting.
After a quick lunch I went with Adalene and Sofia to the advanced slope. "First to the bottom gets free dessert?", Sofia asked with a grin. We nodded and were off. Adalene made it to the bottom first. I finished seconds after her with Sofia right on my heels. Adalene was giggling something to herself. "What?", Sofia asked taking a breath. "I said it's always the one who brings up the bet that loses!", she repeated. Sofia laughed and high fived her.
"Which slope were you guys on?", Lily asked when we joined the others for dinner. "We were on the expert slope.", Adalene said collapsing into a chair. "You guys are insane!", Elijiah gasped through a fit of laughter. "Which team won the bet?", Sofia asked Zahara. She laughed in mock sadness, "The girls fell down more. Though I think it was partially because of the snowball fight. We'll pay for dinner."
It was a lovely dinner with lots of joking and laughter. As predicted the boys were passed out before we even started the dessert course. Some staff came over and helped us drag them to their rooms. Once they were all in bed and we were all a way down the hall we all broke into fits of laughter even the staff.
We changed quickly and went to get some late nights snacks, and sweets to enjoy the city nightscape. "This is so gorgeous!", Asayo squealed excitedly taking in the view. It was breath-taking. We stood enjoying the view for a few hours before we got cold and decided to call it a night. "I want to come back here with everyone someday.", Lily sighed. We took a quick photo before going back to the lodge.
"Come on! It'll be fun!", Adalene whined. She'd been trying to convince the other to join us on at least the advanced slope today all morning. "You can't make them do something they don't want to do. Especially if they think they can't.", Sofia sighed lazily. "Nice try Sofia. You can't reverse psychology us into going to the advanced slopes.", Elijiah scoffed. She shrugged, "Well, I tried. What are you guys going to try today?"
"We were going to try some tricks and flips.", Liam replied. We nodded. "What are you going to do today?", Remus asked taking a swig of water. "We're going to go watch Adalene, Sofia, Asayo, and Fae take on the halfpipes.", Amber replied shaking her head as if already expecting tragedy. Seth choked on his orange juice laughing.
It was very difficult to learn, but we had a blast. "I think you guys are going to have more bruises than the boys at this rate!", Amber gasped as Sofia attempted and landed a quad cork. Sofia just laughed, "I made it though, didn't I?"
I sat down on a mound of snow taking a quick breather. "Look out below!", Lily yelled barreling past me. I was sprayed with snow as she passed. Remus, James, Liam, and Fuji followed right behind her. I spluttered trying to clear the snow off me. Sirius came by laughing and helped me up. "You look just like an artic fox!", he chuckled dusting snow off my head. We raced down after the others. I spent the rest of the afternoon watching the tricks that the others had perfected today.
The next day we all took a break from skiing and went into town. We ate at different shops and took some really crazy weird photos. "I'm definitely adding this one to my scrapbook!", I told Xyla after taking a photo of the boys goofing around pretending to lick icicles as passerby gave them weird looks.
We'd finally reached then end of the trip. I truly thought it'd be the guys who'd have to separate us girls from each other at the airport, but it was the other way around. Passerby were laughing and gawking as we tried to drag them to the proper gates. "We'll meet again this summer!", James called as Lily and Zahara dragged him to the gate.