Sixth-Years' Summer

Summer. The year was finally over, and yet Addie felt a sort of sadness at the idea of not seeing her friends all summer. So Adrienne had enlisted the help of her friend Zane, and they'd begun planning.

Addie and Zane had spent the last few weeks, starting after finals, trying to get their fellow sixth years to join them on a trip to Greece. After next year, she figured, they had no real way of knowing where anyone would go or if they would see each other. Addie would be darned before she let a trip like this one get away from her. 

It was finally the day that they were flying out - they would be in Greece for at least two weeks based on their plans, though she knew everything was subject to change. She, the planning Ravenclaw that she was, wasn't a fan of being unprepared or for her schedules to change. Therefore, Adrienne had easily spent the majority of her day packing. She was meeting Percy and Zane at the airport to fly into Athens, then to hop on a plane to Santorini. In order to get a nearly fully day of beach time with everyone going on the trip with her, Addie had chosen to take a late flight and arrive in Santorini early the next morning. That way, she, Percy, and Zane could crash in the morning and then the group of sixth years could have an afternoon to explore and look around. Percy's grandmother lived in Ia, a town on one end of the island, and was letting them stay with her. 

Gathering her bags, Adrienne hugged her family and got in the car to drive to the airport. She supposed she could have flooed or taken a portkey, but she had learned to drive last summer from her mum and had a feeling that she would be doing a lot of the driving during the trip if Percy wasn't. He was muggleborn and therefore had been taught to drive.

As usual, the airport was packed with insane amounts of people walking every which way, and Addie could only hope she even managed to find Zane and Percy, nonetheless get through security and onto the plane in time. The flight would be long - six hours - and she didn't very well plan on waiting until the next flight to Athens if they missed it.

Sighing, she sat down on a bench and hugged her carry-on bag to her chest and put her feet on either side of her suitcase. She had never been too fond of airports, and didn't trust the people there, though she was sure most of them were just like she was. Figuring all she could do at that point was wait, she began looking around the airport and every now and then checking outside though she knew she couldn't see anything in the darkness. It was almost nine o'clock already, so the sun was down. Their flight was scheduled for ten thirty, so by the time they landed in Athens it would be nearly six in the morning there. Addie just hoped she could sleep on the way there.

The morning had been grey and atypical of England. In Ireland it had been much brighter, the South of the country having shrugged off the infernal summer showers to finally make way for some bright sunshine that probed a bit of colour back into the cheeks of those that lived there and made their smiles a lot easier on their lips. Of course, the same couldn’t be said for Cordella’s mother, Persephone, who was insistent that the girl should not be going on holiday on her own without proper supervision. At this, Della and her brother, Elria, shared a look of thinly veiled amusement and took a step back from their bickering parents to watch the acidic exchange between them. In the end, Persephone had to let Della go; Della was certainly glad of it, too.

Inside the airport there was a hubbub of activity as people went in search of breakfast, coffee and rifled through WHSmiths in search of something half-decent to read on the flight upon realising that the array of books they’d bought no longer appealed. Della was fortunate in the point of fact that she was a witch. Ergo, she could bring as many books as she wanted; and she did. She also brought her cigarettes which were dressed up as a box of tampons for the benefit of the awkward technician behind the x-ray scanner. Magic certainly went quite far.

With her duffle on her shoulder, Della weaved through the mass of ill-tempered people complaining about the expense of the Starbucks and the delays that their choice of Aeroplane Company was apologising for. Della cast one hesitant look up at the monitors, scanning for her flight. The doors weren’t open yet, she saw, which meant there was no rush. She decided that she’d go in search of coffee herself instead and followed the shuffling Muggles towards the “extortionate” aforementioned coffee shop. Thankfully, the lines were actually moving which always made a change.

Coffee in hand, Della moved back into the terminal and scanned the room as best she could on the off chance that she spotted any of her friends. As it was, she picked out Adrienne immediately and darted through as best she could before idling a little, enjoying the space the dispersing individuals created for her.

“Evenin’ Addy!” Della crooned, flopping down beside the Ravenclaw. “You haven’t gotten rid of your bags yet, eh?” She inquired jovially, dropping her duffle down to her feet. “What seat have you got?”

(OOC: I've never really been on an airplane, so I really don't know much about how they work. Sorry if I mess up the information or anything.))

The sunset that had painted the landscape of Britain slowly headed off to the other part of the world. Carly wasn't really a people person, so the blonde had waited outside of it until most of the people had been inside. Thoughts began to swirl in her head while she was waiting. What would her older sister do? What if some of the people that were going with them didn't like her? The only people that she knew were Addie, Cordella, and Zane. This and more drifted in the mind of the sixteen, soon to be seventeen girl.

Walking into the clouded array of muggles that were frantic with last minute preparations, Carly quickly spotted the perky Cordella and the inquisitive Addie. She slowly paced over to them with her bag in hand. "Hey guys." She said with a slight smile at seeing her two friends.

Adrienne looked up at Della with a smile as the Slytherin girl sat next to her. "No," She replied, "I told Zane I'd help him." She chuckled. "My bag isn't that bad, though. My dad cast one of those undetectable extension charms on it so it holds way more than you would think." Addie explained as she looked down at her rather small rolling luggage. In response to Della's second question, Addie said, "I snagged a window seat behind the wing. Row twenty three. I think Percy has the seat next to mine?" She shrugged. She didn't care who she was next to, honestly, provided she got a window seat. "Zane is supposed to be across the aisle from Percy. Maybe you're next to him?"

As she finished her reply, Carly came over and sat down as well, greeting them. "Hey, Carly. Glad you made it." She smiled back. It had been a while since she had gotten to spend time with Della or Carly so she was rather glad they had agreed to join them on the trip.

It wasn't long before Percy came over, Zane trailing behind him. Percy offered to take Adrienne's bag to checking, which she assumed he knew she wouldn't go along with. "Let's take Zane's and get them checked so he doesn't have to worry any more than he already is." She said, making a face at Zane as she teased him.

Standing, she picked up her bag and led the way over to the bag check, labeling her bag by one of the handles. "I always hate checking bags," She said, mostly to herself but also partly to Percy, "They may or may not even make it to Greece.." She bit the inside of her cheek nervously, but sent the bag along anyways.

Zane would never admit to being nervous. Or show it. But anyone who knew him at all could probably figure it out. He had been quick to jump at the chance for a trip over the summer - even if it was only a couple weeks. He had figured out a way to get Brianna out of the house as well while he was gone. Zane knew she was glad to go, though, so he didn't feel bad about practically shooing her away.

Percy had picked him up a couple hours before the flight and Zane was already nervous even then. Zane followed Percy around the airport, not sure what to do with himself. Pulling his suitcase behind him, Zane was somehow relieved when he saw that Adrienne, Della and Carly were already there.

Percy sat down before him and greeted everyone, which Zane followed with, "As glad as I am to be out of the house, I don't know that I trust these planes.."

He watched as Percy and Adrienne went off to check in their bags or something and turned back to Della and Carly. "Are either of you worried about the flight?" Zane's eyebrows drew together in slight worry, but he did his best to cover it. After all, he was practically known as the held-together kind of guy.

Percy chuckled when Zane seemed to admit - even just slightly - his anxiety towards the plane. Standing to follow Adrienne he smiled at the others as they headed off.

When they reached the desk he joined Addie in labeling his and Zane's bags before pushing them off before hers. "I know, there's always a chance it won't be there. We'll just cross our fingers." He joked, watching her send her bag along as well.

Resting a hand on her shoulder blade, Percy directed her back to the benches. "So, we get the window, yeah?" He grinned. He had asked Adrienne to reserve his seat for him and let him pay her back. So they would be able to look out in the morning when the sun came up and they flew into Athens. While he knew he personally would be falling asleep along the way, he was sure that if Addie woke up and saw anything, she'd be so excited she'd wake him up as well.

Vivianna strutted through the airport, small silver suitcase in tow. Of course, her bag had been extended to carry far more than it appeared to, and for that the witch was glad. After all, she wouldn't survive a week without at least some of her potions stuff. Zane would probably make fun of her for that, but the redhead hardly cared.

The teenager would be lying if she said that she was completely comfortable with the idea of this vacation. The only person going that she knew intimately was Zane, but he had other good friends coming along as well. Technically, Vivianna and Cordella shared a friendly acquaintance, but that was hardly something that the Slytherin was planning upon relying on. It was a bit sad, but everyone else going were people that Vivianna had only spoken to a few times, or merely knew by sight. Vivianna predicted that she'd spend much time wandering off to explore on her own. Not that such a thing was unusual behavior for her.

Finally spotting a group of familiar faces, far closer to the airport's portkey-point than she had hoped, the witch began to walk confidently in their direction. "Zane!" the witch exclaimed upon reaching the group, pulling the elder male into a one-armed hug. "Cordella," Vivianna added a moment later with a nod in the direction of her fellow snake. As far as the girl know, Cordella and Vivianna were to be the only Slytherins going on the trip. The student couldn't decide if that was a good thing, or not.

Zane looked up as Vivianna came over, standing to meet her. She gave him a one-armed hug which he returned easily, greeting her with a smile. He could tell she felt uncomfortable, so he gestured for her to sit in the seat next to his.

"Did you get the portkey set up all right?" He asked. He was doing his best to keep from showing her how anxious he himself was feeling. Viv was getting off relatively easy by taking a portkey, but he wouldn't ever say so. He was sure she didn't know some of these people - he didn't really, either. So Zane wasn't going to be negative if he could help it. At least he was comfortable with most people going along.


((OOC: Sorry it's so short! Not much time. :/ ))

It was strange; Della was willing to admit, being in an airport – first of all – and then being amongst an eclectic mix of teenagers that, by rights, shouldn’t have ever considered hanging out with each other. Della wasn’t going to complain though because there was a holiday in it and beautiful Greek women at the other end. Of course, Gisele was ever on the Irish girl’s mind and as long as Gisele avoided telling people they were exclusive, Della wasn’t prepared to play the game. She could look. Whether she touched or not depended on whose version of events you listened to as well as a myriad of other factors but it’s safe to say she probably did.

The infamous battle for the best seat was a given thing. It happened regardless of the mode of transport but Della had heard all about planes. She did not want an aisle seat. She didn’t care at this stage whether she was caught between two old, fat men for the four hours. She did not want to be bruised and bumped around by the flight hostesses who specialised in getting from one end of the plane to the other in under sixty seconds. But if she had to, perhaps she’d put up with it. It did have its benefits – notably, a great place from which to people watch.

“I ditched mine,” Della informed Addie, as though it mattered. “Just me and the duffle now.” The girl took a sip of her coffee and contented herself with the silence that elapsed between them. It wasn’t as awkward as she’d feared and was actually rather glad of the Ravenclaw’s bubbly disposition. It allowed Dell to wake up a bit after an afternoon nap and though, granted, it was the middle of the night, that didn’t stop her from wanting some peace, quiet and a snooze – energised or otherwise.

It didn’t take long. Soon enough everyone whirled in and Della found herself rising to embrace Carly whose shyness was atypical of a Hufflepuff. Della offered the girl her coffee cup with an easy smile.

“Thirsty?” she asked with a lopsided grin before turning to Percy whose entrance was relieving, somewhat. Della was a lady’s woman but certainly preferred the company of blokes. She didn’t enjoy girl talk quite the way her favourite Ravenclaw did. “Perce, I can help,” She told him stubbornly before looking down at Adrienne. The Ravenclaw was, of course, too clever and wandered off to the baggage check herself, the others in tow. Della paused to snatch up her duffle before hurrying off behind them, trying at the same time to throw as much coffee down her throat as possible.

“Bloody terrified, Zane-mate.” Della told the blonde with a laugh as she bumped his shoulder with her own. “Chill, though. Take solace in the fact that, being a wizard, if the thing falls from the sky we can save it.”

Now what was weirder still was the fact that Della wasn’t the only Slytherin. Viv popped up not a moment later and Della’s eyebrows rose briefly before busying herself with her coffee once more, shoving her fingers absent-mindedly through her hair as she considered going to get a refill.

“Oh, Hi.” Della shoved a brilliant smile Viv’s way before shuffling away towards Percy and Adrienne, determined that she should stay with them simply because they seemed to be leading in the befuddle that was the whole plane journey thing. “Lucky!” She told them with a pout. “Window seats! You’ll get to see the whole thing first.”