There For You Through It All (Lucy)

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They were finally here. As the train pulled into the station in Paris, Anna could hardly keep her seat. She wanted to get out of here! She wanted to go talk to the group that hired her husband and find out where he was. She wanted to slap him for not talking to her for weeks and then hold him close and never let him out of her sight again. But MOSTLY she wanted to get off this train and get started. Anna's foot tapped anxiously on the floor of the train as she waited for the conductor of the train to let them off. She glanced over at Lucy, forcing a small smile for a second. "We're here," she whispered. She could hardly believe that they were. If all went well, she should be seeing Oscar in less than an hour. 

Once the conductor finally let them off the train, Anna grabbed her bags and rushed off toward the center of town. She was looking for the statue Oscar told her about in his letters, the one that lead to the magical side of town. "Lucy, here!" she called when she finally found it. Walking down the main street, it didn't take long to find the business Oscar was working for. She walked in, heading straight for the main desk. "I need to talk to someone in charge," she said authoritatively, glancing over her shoulder to make sure Lucy was still there.

@lucyweasley

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Lucy followed her sister off the train and into town, almost in a struggle to keep up. She knew Anna was a little spitfire, but besides the tournament, she hadn’t seen that side of her sister for a while. It was a bit entertaining, and if her sister wasn’t so worried about her husband, she might point it out, but for now, if Lucy had to run to keep up with her look alike, she’d happily do it.

On the train, her sister told her about the statue that Oscar had written about in his letters which would lead them to the magical side of town. Lucy found it pretty quickly and they hurried down the lane. When they got to the building where Lucy assumed Oscar worked (since Anna ran inside upon seeing the signs above the door), Lucy walked inside behind her, but, Lucy lingered by the door, letting her sister take charge. Anna asked to speak to someone in charge. The man behind the counter raised his eyebrows at her and asked, “What would this be in reference to?” obviously, a little startled by the two Brits running in here.

@annelise

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Lucy was silent as the two sisters walked through the town, and even after they entered the building. Anna wasn't surprised, since they were here because of her. Lucy was here to help and support her and a part of Anna was really glad that Lucy wasn't trying to make her talk. She wasn't sure if she would have the patience for talking right now. She just wanted to find Oscar already. 

The man was obviously surprised by Anna's demand. She took a breath, trying to stifle the irritation at his response. "This is in regards to an employee he hired from England. My husband. I need to know where he was working from." Anna wasn't sure if she needed to explain even that much to this man, but hopefully he'd just get someone in charge quickly. "Do you have a manager here or someone I can talk to?" she asked. The man nodded, "Yeah, wait here," he muttered before going through a door to the back of the place. 

Anna turned back to Lucy, biting her lip and giving her a look. She was nervous, but at least she wasn't alone.

@lucyweasley

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Lucy watched as her sister talked to the man. For a second or two, Lucy wondered if Anna was going to actually blow up on the poor young man behind the desk. If Anna did, Lucy would step in and try to defuse the situation, which was an odd thought, that Lucy would be the level headed one, but she knew that Anna was emotional at this moment and she wouldn’t put it past her twin to have a meltdown at some point. Lucy gave Anna an encouraging nod when the young man went into a door behind the desk. Shortly after, an older man came out and walked to Anna, asking who it was that she was looking for.

@annelise

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When Anna looked back at her sister, it was to see her nodding slowly. She was doing this! She was here, looking for Oscar. Finally. Another man came out, asking who she was looking for and Anna pasted on a smile. "Oscar Gauthier," she told him confidently, watching to see his reaction. The man's expression fell ever so slightly and Anna's heart dropped. Her hands started fisting themselves in the fabric of her sweater as she waited for his response. 

"He didn't come home? We assumed that once he finished his job, he simply headed straight home instead of checking in here first," he answered, frowning. 

Anna shook her head, feeling the panic come but fighting it down. She swallowed. "He didn't come back. Could- could you tell me where he was last?" She was freaking out, but trying so hard not to at the same time. Where was Oscar? 

The man agreed almost instantly, saying that Oscar was camping in a forest, close to some ruins that he had been hired to study for them. They had all of his work, he'd completed the job in its entirety. So why didn't he come home. Anna thanked the man before turning to leave. "I feel sick," she muttered to her sister as they left the shop. 

@lucyweasley

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The Weasley twins left the shop, after having been given instructions to foret de troncais, which was a forest about 3 hours south of Paris, rumored for it’s fairy infestations. Lucy wrapped an arm comfortingly around her sister as they walked out of the building. The two booked a hotel in Paris to leave their stuff and make their home base, and the next day they woke up early and apperated to the forest. It was a cloudy, grey day and snow covered most of the grass and trees around them in the wilderness. They arrived somewhere in the center of it all, nearby a lake with a thin coating of ice on it. “Where should we start then?” Lucy asked, wondering if Anna was feeling any sort of call in any direction.

@annelise

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The rest of that day passed in a blur to Anna. She knew Lucy was taking care of most things, like finding a hotel and such. Anna was just ... worrying. She went to bed early and tossed and turned all night. Coming to Paris, she'd hoped Oscar's letters just got lost somewhere and that everything was fine. Obviously that was not the case. 

The next morning they apparated to the forest the man told them about. Anna looked around. It was pretty here, snowy and peaceful, but there was no obvious sign about where they should look for Oscar. "Ummm ... looking for his camp?" That would, no doubt, be the easiest way to find Oscar. "Maybe we search and leave ourselves signs of where we've already been so if we don't find it tomorrow we know where to start off?" It was a pretty simple way to do it, but Anna wasn't sure if there was another way to look for him. She was pretty sure she wasn't thinking straight right now. "Unless you have any other ideas?" She looked over at Lucy, partly hoping that her sister had thought of something that would be easier, but she was coming up with nothing. 

@lucyweasley

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Lucy didn’t blame her sister for being a bit snippy and out of her own mind. It was a stressful time. The people at Oscars building had told her that no one had seen or heard from Oscar for a while and assumed that he just went home. It was a scary situation and Oscar was officially missing. “Yeah.” Lucy nodded when Anna said they should look for his camp. Lucy had thought that too, obviously, but where to look for in the huge vast of forest land was the question. “Any particular direction you would like to search first? We’ve got kilometers to cover in every direction, Anne…” Lucy said, trying not to put too much pressure on her sister. She knew that she just wanted to find her husband. “It could take several days to search this whole place, maybe longer…” she added, not wanting to scare Anna, but to alert her to the frame they were working in.

@annelise

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Lucy answered her, asking if there was a specific direction Anna wanted to try first. She frowned. "Let's try ... south," Anna said softly, trying to be decisive. She knew that they had a lot of area to cover. "I think he said the ruins were in the southern part of the forest, so Oscar probably camped pretty close to that," she said. "Maybe if we can't find him today we can ask for a map of the ruins? Then we'll have an idea of where to search?" They were already out here right now ... maybe they should go back and get a map, but Anna just wanted to start. Lucy was right, this could take days. Oscar needed her. "Maybe we spread out a bit? Like stay in shouting distance, but maybe not sight? So we can cover more ground?" Anna suggested. She was itching to get going already, but having a plan was important.

@lucyweasley

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Anna decided on south, because the ruins were closer to the southern region of the forest. Lucy nodded and the two began to walk in that direction, after Lucy used her wand to point the direction South. Anna suggested that they split up a bit to cover more ground and Lucy agreed, “Sure, just shout if you need me, and if I don’t respond, send up sparks.” Lucy said. She ventured a little away from her sister, melting some of the snow around her on the forest floor, looking for little clues. However, after what they had told them at Oscar’s work, Lucy was beginning to think he wasn’t going to be found.

A few hours later, with nothing having been found, the twins met up with each other once again and Lucy convinced her sister that they should return to the city before the storm set in for the night here. They returned to Paris and, per Anna’s request, went back to the building in search for a map so they had something better to work off of for tomorrow.

@annelise

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As she searched through the forest, time flew and inched by at the same time. Anna didn't really pay attention to the time. Her time was entirely focused on finding any sign of Oscar. However, after hours of searching neither she nor Lucy found even a hint of Oscar, his campsite, or the ruins he studied. Anna didn't want to stop. Lucy came, telling Anna that they needed to stop and Anna fought her for a little while. She didn't want to give up on Oscar today, but when her sister calmly reminded her about the storm that was coming and the fact that they would come back tomorrow to search, Anna finally agreed. 

They went back to the shop they'd visited their first day and got a map of the forest, detailing where the ruins were. Anna started to feel a little more confident. If they could find the ruins, then surely they'd be able to find Oscar's campsite. She went to sleep a little better that night, but her sleep was full of Oscar. 

Three days later, they'd found the ruins, but no sign of Oscar's camp. Anna was starting to grow frantic at the search. The more time passed, the more worried she was that they wouldn't be able to find anything, that she'd never know what happened to Oscar. She tried to hide her nerves from her sister, but she was sure Lucy could tell. They were close, after all, and Lucy knew how nervous she'd been before coming. 

Like other days, they were searching separately, both trying to find the camp, but Anna was starting to lose hope. She pushed past a thick bush and her eyes widened in surprise. "Lucy!" she shouted, her heart pounding. "I found something!" It was a camp. She didn't know if it was Oscar's, but for the first time in ages, she was starting to hope. 

@lucyweasley

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After 3 days of unsuccessful searching, Lucy was almost ready to give it up. Not that she didn’t want to find anything, but after they found the ruins and OScar was still nowhere to be seen, Lucy was wondering whether he had gone somewhere else or didn’t want to be found, maybe. She knew Anna was starting to grow hopeless in her search and it hurt Lucy to see the strain that it out on her sister. If they didn’t find anything today, Lucy decided, she’d have to have the hard conversation with her twin when they got back to the hotel room. Their tickets were open ended and they could stay as long as they needed. But it was Christmas day, it was snowing and freezing and it wasn’t looking likely.

Anna looked up from her search when she heard her sisters voice call to her through the grove of trees around them. She followed the voice to where Anna was standing near a camp. Lucy bit her lip at the sight of it. “It looks abandoned… Anne…” Lucy said, softly, worry flashing over her face for her sister.

@annelise

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Anna couldn't go into the camp, simply stood there and waited for her sister. Her heart dropped at Lucy's words. "M-maybe there's a hint of where he is," she whispered, unable to make her voice any stronger. Here is was. They finally found Oscar's camp, but there was a light dusting of snow on top of everything. "Help me look?" She knew Lucy would say yes, knew her sister wanted to help but was just trying to help prepare her for whatever they'd find. Anna just didn't want to give up yet. She loved Oscar. She wanted to at least know what happened to him. There had to be some sort of a sign here, didn't there?

She took a step into the camp, going first to the tent. She opened the flap but, like Lucy said, it was empty. There was a bedroll and a bag there however and Anna stepped towards those nervously. Her heart was pounding, her head starting to ache a little and her hands were shaking fiercely. This couldn't be the end, could it?

@lucyweasley

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Anna asked her sister to help her look through the camp and Lucy nodded. Of course she would help her sister, even though she didn’t really want to. Lucy felt, in this moment, to be scared of what they might find more than she was scared of what they wouldn’t find. While she was fairly sure Oscar wasn’t there, she supposed there was a chance that his body could be. She hoped it wasn’t. She hoped and prayed to whatever was in charge of the universe that he wouldn’t be there for Anna to find. Lucy watched as Anna entered the tent, she listened for any reaction from Anna but none came. Thankfully.

Lucy left Anna to look through the tent and she began to search a chest nearby. After brushing off the layer of snow, she opened the box and found it full of clothes and supplies. A photo of the couple on their wedding day sat on top of a dusty journal, which Lucy pulled out. Definitely Oscars.

@annelise

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There was nothing special about the bedroll that Anna found in the tent, but the bag made it obvious that this was, indeed, Oscar's camp. It had some of the letters she'd sent him since he'd left and Anna's heart clenched. He wasn't here. He hadn't been for a while, but she hadn't found any signs of where he might have gone or anything. She looked through the bag, searching for any hints, but there wasn't anything. Notes on his research and her letters. Sighing, Anna stood up and moved to leave the tent. 

Her sister was looking through a chest. "You find anything?" Anna asked softly as she started to look around the area. There wasn't much else to the camp. A stump next to an obvious fire pit. She brushed off the now and sat on it. "I ... don't understand, Lucy. I don't know where he could have gone." Anna's feet started pushing the snow around as she sat, trying to figure out what happened. Maybe if she came here before it snowed she could have figured something out. 

She stood up, "Maybe we should ... just go," Anna muttered, her voice breaking as she spoke. Then she saw something shine out of the corner of her eyes. She moved over to the other side of the fire and bent down to brush the snow off of ... Oscar's wedding ring. Her eyes widened and Anna started shaking again. Oscar wouldn't have left that behind. Not voluntarily. "Lucy," she whispered. She didn't want to think about what that meant. He- he wasn't coming back. As the realization struck her, Anna felt herself letting go of reality.

@lucyweasley