[DDC] {Girard Residence} All the pretty little horses (Rosalia)

Maddie lightly kissed the soft, velvety nose of her most favourite horse in the entire world in between the careful strokes of her face brush across Soleil's wide, striped forehead. She groomed her beloved mare everyday, but the tall blonde never grew tired or bored of the seemingly menial task. She highly cherished and looked forward to the one-on-one time she got to spend with the big chestnut, and she wouldn't give that up for anything. Her Maman sometimes scolded her for pampering Soleil so much, but the caring witch couldn't help it. She just loved her mare to pieces, and wanted to give her as much attention and affection as she possibly could. Maddie was being a bit more diligent in her brushing and cleaning than normal that afternoon though, as she had invited one of her friends from Beauxbatons to come for a visit and she wanted her lovely horse to look particularly pretty for the special occasion.

Rosalia, the classmate in question, was a year older than the Girard, and Maddie had come to think of her as a bit of an older sister, especially as she'd grown closer to her over the past year. She'd initially met the Italian witch through her best friend, Sabrina, and had looked up to and enjoyed spending time with her fellow Papillonlisse ever since they'd been properly introduced. The 16-year-old was excited to have Rosa over for the first time that day, so that she could show her around her family's stables and introduce her to all the horses, including Soleil! She'd only ever had Sabbie over to her house, and the ballerina hadn't been able to come for a visit for quite a while, due to her illness seriously acting up once again the previous fall. Maddie didn't mind too much though, as it just meant she had a reason to go over to the Sasseville's that much more frequently. The tall blonde was also pleased knowing that Sabrina had never truly been upset with her at all over the course of the past school year, after the talk they'd had a few days prior. All-in-all, she was feeling much more content and care-free than she had been in several months, which was a big relief for the emotional girl.

Finishing with her brush, Maddie placed it back in Soleil's grooming bucket, and slowly pulled a carrot out of the back pocket of her riding breeches where she'd been sneakily hiding it from her observant horse. Seeing and smelling the juicy vegetable almost immediately, Soleil nickered softly in response, eager to eat the very tempting and tasty treat. "Oh, did you want this?" Maddie giggled sillily, grinning from ear to ear. Giving the big chestnut her daily carrot was one of the 16-year-old's favourite things to do. She loved seeing the joy it brought her sweet mare, and the rumbling, affectionate sound Soleil always made beforehand was music to her ears. The Papillonlisse never got tired of it, no matter how many times she heard it.

Smiling warming at the sight of her happy horse crunching away on her small yet yummy snack, Maddie turned to pick up Soleil's grooming bucket before shutting and securely latching the mare's stall door as she left to go tidy up a bit before Rosalia got there. "See you later, pretty girl." Making her way to the large tack room near the front of the stables, the tall blonde hung up the worn bucket on its labeled peg and quickly rinsed off her hands at the small sink in the corner. She was starting to get rather jittery in anticipation of her friend's arrival, and hoped the Italian witch would get there soon. The teenager knew her Maman was busy training a couple of her more prestigious client horses that day and her Papa was working on a new painting in his studio, so she didn't plan to disturb either of them, unless she really had to. Her older brother and grandfather were also nowhere to be found, so Maddie supposed she and Rosa would be left to themselves for the entire afternoon, which she was more than fine with. It would be nice to be able to just focus on her interactions with her housemate for a few hours.

Leaving the stables through the big main door, the eager Papillonlisse decided to wait outside for the older girl. She breathed in the warm, summery air and closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of the sun beating down on her face. It was a perfect day to go riding. She wondered if her Maman would mind if she took Rosa out on a little trail ride. The Italian witch would surely want to do that if she was allowed, wouldn't she? Maddie didn't know how much riding experience the brunette had. She supposed the only way she'd find out was if she asked her friend, and it was with that in mind that she continued to anxiously wait for Rosalia to arrive.

Rosalia had decided against going to summer school mainly because there were so many other great options to spend the summer before her last year at Beauxbatons. She wanted to visit family and friends, go shopping, try to figure out what to do after graduation and also prepare for the important last year at school. She wanted to find a good balance of studying and having fun. Admittedly it was August now and she had yet to start studying.

The girl was delighted to be invited to the Girard residence by Madeleine. She was looking forward to seeing her friend during the summer and she was quite eager to see the stables about which Maddie had told her so much already. Ever since the Pegasus Derby Rosalia's interest in horses was sparked. She had always loved the beautiful animals but had never been so much into riding until participating in the derby with Gundula, a gorgeous hippogriff. Now she was eager to ride a more common type of horse and hoped that Maddie would give her the opportunity to do so.

What had both excited and scared her about her journey to her friend's home was that she would do her first real apparition there. She had travelled to Chatoeil by floo powder and from there she had decided on apparating. Being 17 years old by now she was finally allowed to do so, having passed her apparition test successfully during the last term. It had taken her about ten minutes until she felt she was concentrated enough to risk her first long distant single apparition. The sensation was odd and she clung tightly to her bag as she swirled on the spot and then she felt like she was nowhere really. She felt almost panicky, wondered if she'd arrive in one piece and felt nausea come up.

She toppled over when her feet finally hit firm ground. In her perception she had been travelling for an hour at least but in fact much less time had passed. The girl felt disoriented and sick for a moment but that was almost immediately forgotten when she looked around. The scenery was picturesque, the landscape looked like an untidy duvet, there were soft green hills surrounding the spot where she had landed. The scent in the air was that of fields with the slightest hint of the presence of horses. Rosalia could see the vineyards in the distance and smiled. She loved vineyards; living in the Tuscany vineyards were not an uncommon sight for her. Nearby was a beautiful house made of white stone with a well kept lawn in front of it. Not far from the house were the stables, looking equally pretty. Everything was just picture perfect. The Italian ran her hand over the grass on which she had fallen. It felt like a carpet, soft and comfortable. There were some flower beds only a few steps away with rose trees that looked gorgeous. A slight breeze carried the scent of the roses over to Rosalia and she took a deep breath.

The only thing that did not fit into the perfect picture were the grass stains that had found their way onto the white jeans that Rosalia was wearing. However, the girl was not yet aware of them. Then she finally spotted Madeleine, the Italian got to her feet, leaving her bag on the floor.

"Maddie!" she exclaimed cheerfully, as she made her way towards her friend. "How are you? Thanks so much for inviting me here! This place looks absolutely stunning. Really, the estate is beautiful. You will show me around, won't you?" She wouldn't take no for an answer and, truth be told, she doubted that Madeleine would refuse to show her the estate. She had invited her and Rosalia was quite sure that her friend was fond, even proud of her home.