Chapter Three. A Holiday to Remember

The Christmas holiday journey back to London on the Hogwarts Express for the four of them was a happy one and they were all met by their parents at King's Cross, Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Bella's parents happily agreed to Morganna joining Bella on the France trip, as company for her of her own age. They did not, (of course), get told that the two boys might also be joining them, only Bella's sister Andromeda was later told that.

Bella had a fairly enjoyable week at home, having a traditional pureblood Christmas with the Black family and their guests, spoiled only by the presence of her oldest sister Narcissa's recently acquired husband, the unctious and reptilian Lucius Malfoy, whom Bella couldn't stand.

At the end of the first week Bella and Andromeda were helped to pack their luggage for their skiing trip to France by Kreacher, the house elf, and then accompanied by Andromeda's boyfriend Mark, plus Morganna, who had joined them at the Black House they set out in the morning to Dover, by muggle train. There they met Ian and Geoff, as had been secretly arranged over the previous few days.

However, instead of taking the muggle ferry across to France the group travelled from the top of the White Cliffs, over the grey choppy looking sea to the other side by Portkey. Once there they picked up another which took them to their ski chalet in the French Alps. The distance having been considered too far to safely do as a large group with luggage in one 'hop' from London.

Arriving at their chalet the couples split up the available accommodation between them. All the boys and girls 'theoretically' having a separate bedroom each, as it was a large property. Then they went out to the ski lifts for their first afternoon on the slopes.

Because of Hogwarts' northerly location and the nearby Scottish mountains it was very common for pupils to learn to ski during their time at the school, amidst the heavy snows of winter. Many Hogwarts pupils became very competent skiers, as indeed had all three couples.

Having spent a happy afternoon on the slopes with each other and shared an evening meal in a village restaurant, (paying with their local muggle money which they had got supplied by Gringotts), the six of them headed back to their chalet and spent a couple of hours around a blazing fire in the lounge chatting.

They all then began to feel tired, or at least said they did, and headed off to bed. Bella and Mo who had adjoining interconnected rooms sat together and waited wide awake and listened intently, until they heard the distant sounds of Mark creeping into Andromeda's room.

They then waited a further fifteen minutes, then very quietly the girls sneaked out of their rooms and went to those of Geoff and Ian.

Of course being intelligent and well brought up young ladies neither of them intended going 'all the way' with their boyfriends, but they wanted to be together with them and a lot more intimate than they had been so far back home. That was just what they did for quite some time, the girls only returning back to their own rooms several hours later.

The next day at breakfast all three young women had that 'well loved' but slightly sleep deprived glow, which almost gave the youngest two girls away to Bella's older sister. The three couples spent the following two days skiing and indulging in a similar 'nocturnal routine'. However, on the third day they took a local train from the village station into a larger nearby town which they knew to be a bit of a hub for the French magical community, to shop in the local equivalent of Diagon Alley.

This they found fascinating, both for the similarities and also for the differences between the two places. It was all a little confusing, but luckily Andromeda, Bellatrix and Morganna spotted some Beauxbatons girls who obviously knew where the best local shops were and followed in their wake. Striking up a conversation between themselves in a mix of English schoolgirl French and French schoolgirl English the combined party of young ladies then started shopping like 'professionals'. Andromeda, Bellatrix and Morganna all bought some stylish clothes, lingerie and lovely perfume.

Next they and their new French friends went off to a small local wine bar and had a drink and a light spot of lunch, the local 'under-age' laws being much relaxed compared to to Britain's and in any case dressed and made up as they were both Bellatrix and Morganna looked a fair bit more mature than their actual sixteen, 'going on seventeen', years. The Beauxbatons girls had taken off the school lapel pins that had identified them and which they'd only been wearing because they permitted them to get cheaper train tickets into town. Other than the lapel pins they were not in school uniform either, as it was a holiday. Being dressed casually, but elegantly they too had no problem getting served in the bar either.

The boys had spent their money a bit more frugally and quite slowly. After looking around the shops for a long while they simply settled on buying some Quidditch shirts and posters of the local teams as souvenirs and some local cheese, bread and wine for that evening's supper when they got back.

Both the girls and the boys had also bought presents for their loved ones to give to them when they got home. It had, however, taken the boys a long time to decide what to buy as gifts. Finally finishing their more 'amateurish' shopping session they then tracked down their girlfriends and a bit of a merry party then ensued in the bar between the Brits and the French girls. Although Andromeda, Bella and Morganna did all have to mildly rebuke their menfolk a couple of times for their tendency to stare at their new local friends. Although they weren't too angry at them, as all three British girls were fairly certain that at least some of the Beauxbatons girls were part Veela!

The three couples then parted from their new French friends after exchanging addresses and headed back by train to their chalet, their boyfriends burdened with most of the girl's copious bags of shopping, as well as their own. That evening the couples then had a lovely romantic cheese, bread and wine 'picnic' by the large roaring fire, Andromeda and Mark having become a lot more relaxed about Geoff and Ian kissing their girlfriends in their presence.

The remainder of the week flew by with more skiing by day and gentle lovemaking by night, although for Bella, Ian, Morganna and Geoff who had been 'sensible' this had not gone much beyond what the Americans call 'heavy petting'. However, Andromeda and Mark had told them that they had not been in the least fooled by their 'nocturnal scurryings' and that they knew full well what was going on at night. But, they explained, they were going to treat them as the adults they nearly were and that they were trusting them not to let things go 'too far'.

Indeed for the last couple of nights the two younger couples were quite open with the older pair and were allowed to spend both full nights together, sleeping in each other's arms. Then, all too soon it was time for the idyllic holiday to end and they reluctantly packed and took their Portkeys back home.