Gryffindors in the Rockies

[Bruin Dumbledez]

Bruin had enjoyed the couple of weeks he had spent with Kat, Cyndi and Andy at Andy's place in Ireland earlier in the summer and had returned home to the Canadian Rockies for a short visit with his parents before the three girls were set to join him in the Rockies. The Dumbledez family home was nestled into a remote part of the Rockies an hour or two's journey from Banff. Bruin knew to expect his fellow Gryffindors soon and was resting comfortably in the family room.

The home itself was a modern log home and had all the amenities that modern muggles and wizards could want. It was certainly going to serve the group well over the next week or two as a home base for whatever activities they wished to get up to. Hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking and swimming were the most probable activities on the agenda, although Bruin had taken up fly fishing recently and wasn't adverse to taking them out to one of the mountain streams if they wanted to see him in his new hip waders.

Spoiler

However, the thing that Bruin was most proud of was his family. His mom and dad were excited to meet some of his school friends and Bruin was certain that his yellow lab, Ray, would find the extra company similarly interesting. The other members of the Dumbledez household were all hanging around the family room as well, anxiously awaiting the new arrivals.

Edward and Meg Dumbledez

Ray

 

[Andromeda Fiorelli]

Andromeda had returned from France all bright eyed and bushy tailed only to be excited about having to leave again for Canada. She knew her friends would probably gasp when they saw she had dyed her hair a darker shade of red and had adopted a few French voibles in her toiletry. She wasn't all jeans and ti-shirts or sweaters anymore, she wore dresses and skirts as well. Though she had chosen to arrive at Bruins in a deep navy fitted blouse and tight fitted jeans, with knee high black boots. Her hair gleaming but hanging loosely down her back. It had grown enough over the summer like a lot of things. Andy had grown in more ways than one, she had filled out as well as grown in stature and was slowly getting used to this fuller figure of hers. Still slender but with curves where she had not known they could exist before Andy stepped through one fireplace to arrive in another. A beautiful white labrador bounded towards her, stopping suddenly and growling before lying down and whimpering.

Andy saw a few people in the room beyond but knew getting passed Ray was the biggest obstacle. People she could handle, animals were different altogether. She had hoped that all would react as Darcy had but that didn't seem to be the case. Andy sighed and looked for Bruin when suddenly the great beast bounded towards her wagging his tail. Andy smiled and patted Ray affectionately.
"Hey boy" she smiled kneeling down to pat him warmly, allowing him to lick her face and lift his paw which she caught easily in her own hand. Standing up slowly she smiled at the group, with a degree of shyness.

"Hello, I'm Andromeda. Andy" she smiled moving further with her large ruck sack into the room.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Making sure she had everything cleaned and repacked Kat flitted about her living room in a hurry. Finally she had everything she needed and so she grabbed her two bags and stepped into her fireplace and felt the black surround her. In a matter of a minute or so she popped into another fireplace, coughing and sputtering a little bit. "Ugh, I've got to remind mum to get that ruddy thing fixed before someone chokes to death!" she griped as she looked up and then went red in the face when she saw Bruin, Andy, and two people she assumed to be Bruin's parents. "Oi, sorry! Not the best entrance to make." Kat had thoroughly embarassed herself, not that it was anything new for her. She picked up her bags and stepped out of the fireplace. "Hullo! I'm Katalina Vanderhol or, well, Kat!" she said a little timidly, the 'Old Kat' persona slowly creeping back up on her.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi returned to an empty home after she left Andy's. Her parents had decided to go on a safari for the year and had sent her two younger siblings to stay with relatives. She passed the days between her stay with Andy's family and her stay with Bruin by going to the beach and making trips to Obsidian Harbor. Cyndi was growing very tan as the days went by but she was rather bored and lonely and missed her friends. Finally, however, the day arrived when she would be heading off to Bruin's.

Not knowing whether she would be able to apparate to Bruin's home or not, Cyndi realized that she unfortunately would have to travel by floo powder again. She grabbed her duffel bag of clothing and threw it over her shoulder. With one last look to be sure that she wasn't forgetting something, Cyndi threw the floo powder into her fireplace and jumped in, closing her eyes as she did so.

Quickly enough, Cyndi arrived. She opened her eyes slowly to see that Andy and Kat were already there as well as Bruin, his parents and his dog. Cyndi smiled at her friends and then turned to Bruin's parents. "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Dumbledez. Thank you for having me" she said politely. She then turned to her friends and told them "I've missed you all so much and Andy...your hair looks great!"

 

[Bruin Dumbledez]

Bruin looked up when Andy popped out of the fireplace and into the living room. He wondered how Ray might react as it wasn't very often that strangers appeared out of thin air, especially ones as unique as Andy. Ray's initial reaction was strange for him, given that he was such a good-natured dog, but Andy appeared to quickly win him over as he was certain she would do for his parents as well. To be honest, Bruin's reaction to Andy was a little different than expected as well and he wondered how she could have changed so much in only a few weeks. The changes though subtle, agreed with her and Bruin smiled inwardly.

Bruin had only just finished introducing his mom and dad to Andy when their was another shuffling sound from the fireplace and a few coughs. Evidently, Kat had arrived! Bruin continued on with the polite introductions and helped the two girls with their bags, if only to clear some space for the inevitable arrival of Cyndi. The runway had just been cleared when Cyndi emerged from the fireplace as well and took care of her own introductions.

Bruin figured that they would probably want to get settled in, so he led the girls upstairs to the large guest bedroom that they would be sharing. The room had a king size bed and a twin on the opposite wall, but plenty of room for a futon to be set up if the girls had a problem with sharing. "And here is your room for the duration of your stay." Bruin said as he swung the door wide. "I can bring in a futon for you if you have a problem with sharing...uh, with each other, I meant...my room's down the hall." Bruin said feeling suddenly a little embarrassed.

Spoiler

"Oh, and there's an ensuite for this room, so you won't have to share a bathroom with me or my parents!" He added, leading them through another door. "Kind of an interesting blend of the rustic outdoors and modern amenities, but I hope you like it."

Spoiler

"Anyways, I'll let you three get settled in and then we can head out for a walk in the forest or maybe down to the lake for a swim. Just a warning though, the water is a little chilly because the water is mountain run-off. Check out the view if you want to see what I'm talking about." Bruin said pointing to a little balcony.

Spoiler

 

[Andromeda Fiorelli]

Andromeda smiled as Bruin greeted her and introduced her to his parents, she barely had time to chat though as first Kat and then Cyndi arrived. It felt like bedlam but in a good way. They were all so used to one another now after their two week stint in Ireland. Andy glanced about her as the others were introduced, the house was beautiful.
"You've a gorgeous home Mrs. Dumbledez" she smiled as Bruin offered to get them settled into their room. When they followed him upstairs it was to a huge guest bedroom, the king sized bed and the double were all that was there but she knew they wouldn't have a problem with sharing. Of course when Bruin said it, it just sounded all wrong as if he had meant sharing with him.

She laughed and walking over to where he stood all embarressed touched his arm and winked.
"Let a girl dream why don't you?" she placed her own bag down at the foot of the double bed and looked about her noting the bathroom that he indicated.

"Bruin it's beautiful, the room the house..." and as she looked to the window, she couldn't help moving closer at his suggestion to look outside. The view was breath taking and Andy was in awe. Turning she couldn't help herself but went and hugged him.
"You are unbelievably lucky to live here" she released him and went to sit on the double bed, opening her bag immediately to remove the walking boots she had brought with her.

"Well I'm sure up for a walk. A swim might have to wait though think I only brought a bikini, not exactly the type of swimsuit for chilly waters is it?" Andy had been excited about buying her first ever bikini, now that she had a figure to fit inside one she wasn't so embaressed about such small items of clothing anymore.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Holy moly this house is huge she thought to herself, thinking that she'd never been in a house quite so large. She smiled at Bruin's parents and said, "Thank you for having us stay at your home. It really is quite lovely!" Kat headed upstairs with the rest of the group. She was glad to be sharing a room with Cyndi and Andy...it would be just like being back at school again. The bathroom was just as wonderful as the rest of the house and when Bruin showed them the view from the balcony Kat went wide-eyed. She'd never seen anywhere as beautiful and serene as this place was. It literally took her breath away. "Oh sweet Merlin! It's perfect here!" she mused out loud to no one in particular. Kat had to practically tear herself away from the small balcony just outside of their room, but decided that she'd probably better put on some shoes suitable for hiking. "Hmm, swimming in chilly water. Sounds interesting!" she joked as she dug through her bag to look for her shoes.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi waved to Bruin's parents and toward his dog as he offered to show them to the guest room. With her bag in tow, Cyndi followed Bruin and the girls up the stairs to a beautiful room. It had a huge king bed and another smaller bed. She walked around as Bruin showed them the room, amazed at its size. "This is great Bruin! You are so lucky, everything is so beautiful" Cyndi said in awe as she continued to look around.

When Bruin suggested that they take a look at the beautiful view, Cyndi followed behind the girls and looked over Andy's shoulders. It was every bit as breathtaking as Bruin had said it would be. "Wow" was all Cyndi could say as she looked on. She reluctantly turned away when Bruin suggested they take a hike, but knew that she could always take another look at night and in the days to come. She already had her sneakers on, but needed to look in her bag for the bathing suit she had used all summer. "How cold is the water during this time of year?" Cyndi asked curiously as she finally found her tankini at the bottom of the bag. She pulled out both pieces and then sat on the bed.

 

[Bruin Dumbledez]

Bruin couldn't help but feel proud of his family home, it truly was like a little piece of heaven on earth and he was glad that the three girls appreciated its natural beauty and charm as much as he did. He tried not to react to Andy's little comment, but was finding it increasingly difficult to believe that she actually had a boyfriend with the things she was saying to him this summer.

It appeared that the three of them were leaning towards going for a walk, although they each managed to comment on swimming as well and he tried to figure out how to reply without making a fool of himself talking about the practicality of bikinis.

"Hmmm, the water usually gets into the high 60's or low 70's at this time of year, so not too bad. I like to think of it as refreshing, but you probably wouldn't want to stay in it for too long. I'm going to wear my swim trunks for our walk so I can jump in if I get the urge to." Bruin replied, figuring that'd be sufficient for them to make up their own minds.

"Anyways, I'll let the three of you get settled and meet you down stairs in 20 minutes or so. I'll get my parents to help me put together some snacks and stuff for the hike, any requests?" He asked, heading back downstairs once they had an opportunity to respond.

 

[Andromeda Fiorelli]

Andromeda mentioned that a few sandwiches would be fine as well as some water before the others gave their orders and he left the room. Quickly she yanked just about everything out of her bag to see if she really had brought anything suitable with her. Finally settling on a pair of denim cut-offs with her scarlett bikini, she pulled on her Irish world cup quidditch team t-shirt that she tied in a knot just above her navel. Pulling on some thick socks and her hiking boots, Andy stood up and grabbing a band pulled her hair roughly into a ponytail on top of her head.

Spoiler

"Well you two, I'm ready" she stuck her tongue out and went to the door, "I'm going to swim in these, don't think I have quite got the nerve yet to wear the bikini on its own. I'll wait for you downstairs".

She headed out and down the stair way admiring the landing and the house in general as she did so. Half way down the stairs she was accosted by Ray, so sat on the stairs petting him. He wasn't dissimilar at all to her own dog Darcy, she gave him a big cuddle telling him how adoreable he was before scratching behind his ears. He whimpered approvingly, obviously enjoying the attention.

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi nodded her agreement as Andy suggested sandwiches. When Bruin left the room, Cyndi began to put her red tankini on. Andy was done before she was and left the room to head downstairs. Cyndi waved at her as she went back to her bag and pulled out a pair of cotton shorts and put them on. Finally, she began to put her sneakers on again.

When she was done, Cyndi looked toward Kat, "Isn't this place gorgeous? This summer has been so great...I feel like I'm going from one resort to the next." She waited for Kat to finish so they could go down together.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat agreed to sandwiches as well. She wasn't very hard to please when it came to food. She looked at Andy in her bikini and felt a little jealous. Kat was a little thicker around the middle than her friend was and about two inches shorter. She wasn't quite comfortable enough to change in front of everyone so she headed into the bathroom and put on her simple one piece red bathing suit.

Spoiler

She came back out and saw that Andy had left the room already, but Cyndi was still there getting ready. "It really is! I almost could stay here forever...I love it!" she said brightly as she pulled on an old t-shirt and a pair of brown sweatpant capris. Kat sat on the corner of her bed and slid on her socks and tennis shoes then piled her hair on top of her head and asked Cyndi as she headed for the door, "You ready to go down?"

 

[Cyndi Kingsley]

"Yup" Cyndi said as she headed toward the open doorway. From there, she could see Andy on the steps with Bruin's dog, Ray. "There you are Andy" Cyndi said as she headed down the steps, stopping once she met up with the pair on the steps. Cyndi bent down and gave Ray a quick pat on the head. "I wonder if Ray is coming with us on our hike?" Cyndi asked aloud, hoping that he was. He was one of the cutest dogs Cyndi had ever seen.

 

[Bruin Dumbledez]

Bruin overheard the girls talking on the stairs from the kitchen where he had just finished putting the final touches on their snack sack. "Just try and keep him from coming!!!" Bruin hollered to Cyndi as he joined them. Ray, sensing that something was afoot, bounded over to him and began pacing back and forth expectantly.

"Alright then, is everybody ready?" Bruin asked casually, although by the looks of them it was quite apparent that they were. "I was thinking that we could hike up through the forest to this little stream and water hole that's about half an hour or so away...stop and grab a bite or take a dip or whatever... sound alright?"

(OOC - I'll let you RP the hike anyway you like, feel free to godmod me or Ray at will as we'll have to wrap this up pretty soon I have a feeling)

 

[Andromeda Fiorelli]

Andromeda stood up as Cyndi approached and smiled.
"I didn't get far did I?" turning at the sound of Bruin's voice, Andy was eager too to get going. Within such a short time they had bade goodbye to Bruins parents and began their hike up through the forest. The sun was glorious but at least the trees blocked the worst of it from beating down on them. Andy had brought a small backpack with her that had contained some of the sandwiches that Bruins mother had made. Everyone had decided to carry some to lighten the load. She had also packed sun cream and a baseball cap which she took out now and put on. Andy was Irish and though she had lived in New Zealand for quite a while now, heat of this magnitude she just felt she would never get used to but at least she was properly prepared for it. Grateful that they had also packed water and plenty of it.

As she strolled on, she was grateful for her hiking boots. Back home in Ireland she had walked regularly, they wouldn't have thought twice to walk five miles here and another five there and Andy found that all her running on the quidditch pitch every morning may have kept her fit but it certainly was no contest to this kind of walking. She was definitely one of those people who stopped to smell the roses or in this case different plants that were growing at the base of some trees. She hadn't seen some of these specimens and now that she had decided to be a healer, herbology and potions which had already been her favourite subjects were needed even more so. She picked a few of the more unusual ones and placed them in a side pouch of her bag, reminding herself to dry them out between the pages of one of her books so she could study it properly later.

Andy was glad the others kept walking every time she stopped, it was amazing how used to one another the four had gotten over the summer. Once upon a time she would simply have referred to them as her roomies, her team-mates, her prefects and friends. She knew for certain that this summer had solidified them all into a closer bond and she now considered all three of them as her best friends. Her long legs had her catching up with them in no time and Ray was always excited when she walked beside him and patted him heartily on his side. The further they got, he began to pant and look at her expectantly. Andy wasn't sure at all why at first until she looked up ahead and saw the most beautiful stretch of woodland path that had obviously been foraged out by hikers. The avenue of trees about it were magnificent and it was almost by instinct that Andromeda realised what Ray wanted. Taking off her rucksack she asked Bruin to mind it for her for a short while. Puzzled he agreed, taking it for her and carrying it easily.

"Ok Ray, you ready?" she grinned as she bent down to his level, "ready.... steady.... go!"
with that she stood up and ran in one fluid motion. Ray kept along side her the whole time attempting to pull ahead as often as he could but Andromeda was fast and this was exhilarating. When the reached the very top she pulled to a stop and let Ray race on before kneeling down and calling him back. Petting him affectionately. She looked back down the path to see the others walking at a comfortable pace, Andy waved and stood up turning to look in the opposite direction. Taking off her baseball cap she mopped her brow a little and gasped. There was the most gorgeous little stream and a watering hole. Andy smiled and whooped out loud. The run had been enough to heat her up so the watering hole that Bruin had been talking about was perfect.
"Come on Ray" she laughed running down and then sitting on a rock undid her boots, pulled off her socks and stuffed them into her boots. Without thinking about it now she undid the knot in the ti-shirt and pulled it off, dumping that with her baseball cap unceremoniously alongside her boots.

Within seconds herself and Ray had dove into the clear water. She surfaced gasping at the coolness of the water on her skin. It was glorious though. As she looked about she saw the others approaching and laughed as Ray began to swim towards them. Clambering out and shaking himself off quite near to all of them.
"Come on in, the water is amazing" she pushed herself off again but lay on her back floating and enjoying the sun beating down on her pale skin.