Golden Boy

25. Cabin in the Andes

Zina eyed Camellia up and down with her gorgeous brown eyes, and Cam could hardly stand it.

"Our ski trip?" she repeated with a snarl. "I don't remember inviting you."

"Oh, you didn't have to! Georgie did," Zina crooned. "It would be a shame for him to be the only one there without his partner.. wouldn't it?"

Camellia hated to admit it, but the bitch was right.
It wouldn't be fair to tell George he couldn't bring Zina when everyone else was paired up, and she would rather spent a weekend putting up with Zina than upset George again.

"Fine," said Camellia shortly. "Just stay away from Fred, got it?"

"I will if you do," she said, raising an eyebrow and making Cam fume. But Camellia decided not to cause a problem, and she simply walked away. She stepped into the kitchen, were Fred was leaning against the counter talking to Hermione, and she pulled him aside for a moment.

"Zina's coming," she said, and Fred nearly choked on his breakfast.

"Zina's coming? This weekend?"

Camellia nodded, and Fred fell silent. "Just try ignore her, okay?" Cam said. "I really want this to be a good weekend for you and George."

"Right, yeah... I'm sure everything will be fine. I'm really excited to spend the weekend with you," he said, hugging her by her waist.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

About an hour later, everyone was ready to go.
Neville had just arrived and was playing Exploding Snap on the floor with Ron and Harry, and they were all laughing hysterically at the cards that had just blown up in Harry's face.

George was sitting at the bar, looking exhausted but happy, talking with Ginny, Zina at his side.
Camellia desperately wished that Zina wouldn't come, but it seemed that she wouldn't be backing down anytime soon. She was leaning her head on George's shoulder but watching Fred bring everyone's bags to the living room, and it made Camellia sick.

"Got everyone's things, Fred?" asked Neville, waving a small plume of smoke away.

"Yeah, I think we're ready," he replied happily.
Everyone gathered around the bags and picked theirs up, and Neville took out his wand.

"Right, so if everyone's ready, I'll get the Portkey, and we'll all grab it at the same time on my mark.
Does that sound okay?" Neville asked, and everyone nodded. He silently cast the levitation charm, and a small wooden bowl with the Andes mountains carved into it floated up from his bag, where he set it gently on the floor in front of them.

Neville looked around at everyone. "Got everything? Bags, clothes, all that? Alright... everyone make sure they're touching the bowl, and I'll activate the Portkey. Ready..? One... two... three!"

He cast the activation spell, and all of the sudden it felt like the entire world was being pulled into the little bowl like a magnet. The flat became a spinning blur, and all the air was sucked from Camellia's lungs until-

Slam!

They landed hard on cushy ground, the crisp mountain air filling their senses and making them shiver. It took a moment for everyone to recover, and Camellia looked around them.

Where the colorful flat had stood before, now her surroundings were a beautiful stark white, the only color being the green of the trees peeking through the glittering ice. The sun hadn't even begun to rise yet, and the sky was a stunning deep purple, dotted with a million stars.

Camellia's friends were all looking around in awe as well, and Neville was beaming at them. "Forgot about the time difference... it's only five here. Come on, follow me to the cabin!"