baby you're the rest of my life [hugo]

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It didn't matter how Xan had gotten the book of stories. It didn't matter who had set the book on her bedside table or where they had gotten it, because it gave her hope. Buried in the pages was a single story, barely a page long, about how folding a thousand paper cranes would grant a person one wish. Xan had more than enough time on her hands, and she had a wish ready to be made. Now all she needed was an instruction book on how to make the cranes, and a lot of paper. Xan wasn't sure where she could get the former - she didn't think Hogwarts had any origami books - but she was certain that she could beg Hugo to bring her scraps of parchment that she could need. Xan felt better than she had in months, and one of the nurses commented that she looked better, too. It was amazing what hope could do.

@hugo

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Classes were over for the day and Hugo made his usual beeline for the hospital wing. It was kind of a routine now, just taking a different turn to go that way instead of to the library or the Gryffindor tower for homework. He could do homework at Xans side, so it really wasn't an issue. Plus, he liked being with her. Heck, he loved being with her. There was no one and nothing he liked being with more. But even with all that, it had been a really hard day. Winnie was having another breakdown about Xan and Zac wasn't in the best mood about it either. Hugo had spent most of the morning and then lunch trying to cheer the two of them up. It was exhausting and he felt his own energy and emotions start to be drained. So, when he arrived at the wing, he wasn't in the perkiest of spirits.

He hurried to her bed and his eyes found her face thank the gods. She had those crazy idea eyes blazing and he tilted his head to the side. "Please say I'm going to survive this one?" he joked. He chuckled, setting his bag down to kiss her cheek and sit on her bed with her. "What's up, love?"

@xanthippe

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Classes had just let out for the day, so when Hugo came through the door, Xan was already somewhat expecting him. Hugo was the best person about visiting, better sometimes than even her siblings. When he entered the hospital wing, he seemed to already know that Xan was planning something big. He asked if he was going to survive this idea, and Xan let out a bright laugh. “You've never not survived yet, have you?” She asked, arching an eyebrow. All of her schemes were carefully concocted to make sure that Hugo was left alive at the end. She liked it better when Hugo was alive and happy and safe. “I’m going to make a thousand paper cranes.” She announced to him. “And I need you to get all the paper for me.” Xan paused. “…And also maybe figure out a way for me to learn how to make paper cranes?” She felt a little bad for dumping a demand like that on him, but if Xan knew Hugo at all, she knew that he would be happy to do it for her. She would tell him why exactly she wanted to do this later, so she wouldn’t bring the mood down with her maybe-dying talk. Today wasn’t a good day for that, not when they were both so happy.

@hugo

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She was happy. It wasn't every day that he could come in the hospital wing to find her in good spirits, but he was glad that this was one of those days. Even if she had a crazy idea in store for him. As long as she was happy, things were good as far as he was concerned. "Not yet," he agreed, teasing her slightly. He was interested to see what she had planned though. What could possibly be running through her head right now?

He couldn't keep himself from grinning when she started to explain it. A thousand paper cranes? Of course, he would do whatever she wanted. It wouldn't be hard at all. He actually had an idea. "No problem Xan," he told her with a smile. "Is there a specific time you want it by?" She probably just wanted it as soon as he could get it, but he wasn't going to leave her right now. He'd just get it as soon as he left and then surprise her with it somehow. "What gave you this idea?" Hugo asked with a smile. He couldn't help himself. He wanted to know the inspiration for her next plan.

@xanthippe

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Hugo accepted her proposition with a limited amount of protest, which was…nothing new, actually. Of course, some of the other things she had asked had been just as outlandish as a thousand paper cranes, so Hugo was probably getting used to the whole thing. “I’m flexible on the timeline.” Xan said with a shrug. “Sooner is better, of course, but it’s not a problem if it takes you some time.” Especially since it wasn’t like she could do anything to expedite the process. Xan wasn’t going to become the grouchy hospital patient, making infeasible demands, if she could help it at all.

“I was reading this story,” Xan began when Hugo asked what had given her the idea. “And this girl was sick, kind of like me.” She continued. “And she folded a thousand paper cranes, because then you get a wish. It’s a Japanese tradition.” Xan added as a footnote. “I don’t know. I thought I could…wish to get better.” She hadn’t thought it would sound so pathetic, but Xan felt lame admitting something like that. Still, they lived in a world of magic and inexplicable things, so who was saying that folding a thousand cranes wouldn’t somehow lead to her getting better? No one, that’s who.

@hugo

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Hugo smiled when Xan basically told him that whenever he could bring it would be alright with her. Of course, he would try to bring it as soon as possible, but just in case things weren’t as easy to find as he’d hoped … it was nice to know that she would be patient with him. “I’ll try to find it as soon as possible,” he told her before leaning forward and pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead.

He listened to her explanation with interest, nodding his head as things started to make sense to him. Then at the end, she started to get embarrassed, but Hugo didn’t want that. Anything that could lift her spirits and give her hope was a good thing in his book. Especially since he was confident that she would get over this and things would work out. He reached forward and put his hand on top of hers softly, thinking for a few seconds about what he was about to say. “Do you have to fold them all by yourself? Or can I help you and get a wish too?” If she did feel like she needed to do it on her own, then he would just have to get his own paper and start folding cranes because he wanted to feel a part of this, feel like he was doing something to help, even when there was really nothing to be done.

@xanthippe

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Hugo promised that he would get her the paper as soon as possible, and Xan beamed at him. What she had done to deserve someone like Hugo was still beyond Xan, but she just loved him so much. He kissed her forehead, and Xan reached for his hand, squeezing it softly. “I love you.” She whispered. Xan hoped that Hugo didn’t mistake her love for his ability to leave the hospital wing for her love for him.

When Hugo asked if she had to fold all of the cranes herself, Xan nodded. “One person has to do all thousand cranes.” She told him. “I’m sure you could do a thousand of your own, if you wanted to.” Xan felt stupid for suggesting it; Hugo didn’t have as much free time as she did, that was for sure, and the way she had mentioned it made it seem like she expected Hugo to use his wish on her, and that was not what she wanted. She wanted him to be happy. “But that would be a lot of paper.” Xan laughed. She still hadn’t figured out the logistics of where she was going to put the finished cranes, but she’d cross that bridge when she got to it.

@hugo

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He smiled when she squeezed his hand, telling him that she loved him. "I love you," he repeated, smiling back at her. She already knew his feelings, but he would remind her every day if she needed him to, or if she needed something to give her a reason to smile. He didn't want her to be sad. Not when there was something he could try to do to help.

Hugo made a face, unable to resist the temptation to tease her just a little. "I'm not surprised. You always did like to do things the hard way," he accused with a wink. Really, it wasn't her fault that that was the way it was done in the book. Still, he was going to blame it on her for the moment. Or make her think that he was blaming it on her. He laughed when she said that it would take a lot of paper if he did it too. "Xan, even just you doing it will take a lot of paper. More than a thousand, in fact." He was sure she wouldn't get the art of folding papers into cranes in her first try, so it might take a few more. He did plan on doing his own thousand, as a surprise to her. He smiled as ideas started flowing into his mind. He needed to get started, but not right now. This time was for her. "So is that all you want to talk about with me today? Paper cranes?" he teased with a soft smile.

@xanthippe

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Xan let out a little snort when Hugo said that she always liked to do things the hard way. It was true that Xan didn’t like shortcuts, but that didn’t mean she was doing stuff the hard way! Besides, Xan wasn’t going to take any chances on getting her wish. Getting the wish in the first place was still a question mark, even if she did things the right way. “Well, if it’s going to take a lot of paper anyways, it shouldn’t be that big of a deal if we use a little more.” Xan replied logically. Her logic was a little flawed – an extra thousand pieces of paper didn’t qualify as “a little more” – but it seemed like more fun if she and Hugo undertook the huge project together. “But if you don’t want to, that’s fine.” Xan said as brightly as possible. She didn’t want Hugo to feel guilted into making cranes when he was busy.

Xan rolled her eyes when Hugo asked if that was all she wanted to talk about. “No, silly.” She said with a smile. “But I thought it would be good to get all of the boring stuff out of the way.” Now they could do something fun. Xan wasn’t sure what that would be, but they would think of something.

@hugo

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Hugo shrugged when Xan suggested that he could make cranes as well if he wanted. An idea was starting to form in his mind- one that had everything to do with cranes and Xan and a surprise- but he didn't want to let her in on it so soon. It was much more fun to tease and surprise her, so that was what he intended to do. "I'll have to think about it Xan. And see if I can fit it in with everything going on at the school this year." He really wasn't trying to be insensitive and he hoped that she understood that, but it was their sixth year and he had a lot of coursework, not to mention everything that was awry because of the Triwizard Tournament. Besides that, a lot of their coursework involved practicing things that she couldn't do because they involved magic. Obviously he didn't want to practice in front of her and make her feel bad- and possibly worse- so he had to do it when he wasn't with her. The fact that he spent most of his free time with Xan meant that Hugo was often up quite late practicing and catching up with school. Not that she knew that. Still, he was confident he could find time to make the cranes. He just wanted to surprise her with it, so it was going to take him longer than it would her. "I'm sure I can at least learn how to make a crane with you. That way, I'll be able to make an educated decision about whether or not one thousand is a reachable goal for me," he teased lightly.

"Oh so making one thousand cranes as fast as you possibly can is boring? Then why do you want to do it?" Hugo couldn't resist the temptation to tease her. Sometimes she made it so easy and this time ... well this time he was giving in to the temptation. "What fun topic of conversation do you have for me today?" he continued, wondering if she did have something planned or not. He wouldn't be surprised if she did, but then again he wouldn't be surprised if she didn't either.

@xanthippe

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Xan shrugged when Hugo said that he’d have to think about it. She wasn’t expecting him to drop his studies and do everything that she was going to do; Xan had already resigned herself to the fact that she was probably going to have to repeat her sixth year. Even though she was keeping up with her readings, none of that was really important when she couldn’t actually perform the spells. Next year would probably fly by for her since it would be her second time reviewing all the material on the conceptual level, but Xan couldn’t help but feel strange about the whole ‘repeating a year’ thing. In any case, Hugo had a lot more work to do than Xan did, and asking him to spend time folding paper cranes was just selfish. Xan had already been selfish enough this year. “Once you make one, it’ll be easy to make nine hundred and ninety nine more.” Xan responded teasingly. She had no idea if that was true, but making three cranes a day would get the entire project done in a year. Xan assumed that once you got fast at making them, it would only take five or so minutes per crane, which meant it would only take fifteen minutes total… She stopped her line of thinking there. She didn’t want to logic herself into being mad at Hugo because he wouldn’t fold cranes.

“I don’t really have a topic of conversation.” Xan replied with a nervous laugh. There wasn’t much to talk about in the hospital wing, except for the other inhabitants, and Xan didn’t want to gossip. “How’re Zac and Winnie?” Hugo probably saw them more than Xan did, all things considered.

@hugo

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Xan seemed somewhat disappointed when Hugo said he'd have to think about whether or not he wanted to make a thousand cranes. She didn't say anything- nor did he expect her to- but she was disappointed. He could just tell. He smiled at her, trying to lift her mood a little, "Well how about this? Whether or not I decide to make a thousand cranes, I will learn how to make them with you? Who knows? Maybe after you teach me, I'll decide I want to make a thousand." He smiled, hoping that would help lift her spirits, but not completely sure if it would. 

Hugo smiled when she said she didn't have something for them to talk about. "That's alright. We always come up with something," he told her, wanting to make sure that she didn't feel any pressure. "They seem to be alright. Really busy with school, and the tournament is pretty distracting, but I think they're doing alright." Other than worrying about her, but that wasn't just something those two were doing. All of Xan's friends were worried for her, and she had quite a few friends. Besides, he was sure Xan didn't want to hear about that.

@xanthippe

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Hugo offered a compromise, a way for him to possibly make a thousand cranes, and Xan smiled a little. Again, she hadn’t meant to guilt trip him, but he knew her to well not to be able to tell that she was disappointed by the idea of not being able to take the journey of a thousand cranes with them. “Works for me, Hu.” Xan said with a bright smile. Hugo had also built in a clause that allowed him to get off the hook without either of them feeling guilty, because at least he had tried.

Xan nodded when Hugo said they always managed to find something to talk about. That was definitely true – Xan could talk to Hugo forever and not run out of things to say to him. When Hugo said that both of her siblings were good, she mustered up a smile. “How about you remind them of poor old me, here in the hospital wing, hmm?” Xan wasn’t sure whether her siblings were just busy, or if they were avoiding her, and it wasn’t exactly like she could go search them out and talk to them. She hated to make Hugo her messenger, but Xan didn’t want her siblings just to avoid her because they didn’t know what to say.

@hugo

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Hugo breathed a sigh of relief. His idea was enough to make her feel better. He knew Xan and was positive that she wouldn’t hide her true feelings from him. She was happy with his idea, at least happy that he was willing to learn how to make the cranes with her. That was enough for Hugo. Especially since he knew she would be delighted when she saw his surprise.

She mentioned him possibly reminding her siblings to visit her and Hugo nodded. He could do that for her. “Is there anyone else you want to come visit you too?” he asked curiously. Hu knew that Xan had lots of friends and he also knew that people were getting caught up in school and the tournament. If there was anyone Xan wanted to visit her, he would ask them if they would. It was the least he could do for her.

@xanthippe

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Xan pursed her lips, thinking for a bit when Hugo asked her if there was anyone else she wanted to come and visit. She could think of a few people, but she only wanted Hugo to really heckle her siblings. “Anyone, really.” She said after a while. “I mean, it’s always nice to see a new face.” Realizing that could be misconstrued as saying she didn’t like the faces already there, Xan gave Hugo a half smile. “Not that I mind this face, of course, but it’s nice to get to hear about people you don’t really know.” She couldn’t fault Hugo for not knowing every single person in the castle, and while she wasn’t really one for gossip, Xan was grasping at straws now to find things to do to occupy her otherwise boring days.

@hugo