secrets are best kept under the sheets (ondina)

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Cassius had a protective side. One that surprised her, but was rather adorable. Normally Ondina hated being coddled. Even by him. In this situation though? She enjoyed it. To feel his arms tighten defensively around her. It was almost possessive, "Hmm." Was her only response. They probably should move, but the moment she felt his fingers at her chin that plan went out the finger, the girl obediently turning back to him. The plan quickly returned though when yet another explosion went off. She tsk'ed in frustration, and felt a flash of anger. Yes the school was under attack, but that wasn't her problem! If they stayed clear of her, she'd stay clear of them! Not only that, the school being under attack was the perfect chance to be alone with him. Because there was no way anyone would put together both of them were missing. If she knew her class mates, a good number of them would be hiding as well. It'd be hours before the school tracked down all the students.

Ondina stayed close to him as he moved, squeezing his hand as she pulled out her own wand. Just in case. But then Cassius was moving faster, unlocking the door and taking off down the hall, pulling her along. He was moving swiftly, so much so that he was soon breathing a little harder. He was right to assume Ondina's own breathing had picked up much sooner, lungs burning. Asthma didn't like most physical activities, running down the halls included. Around another corner though and he finally stopped, pulling her into his arms and apologizing. She smiled as she tried to catch her breath. She took a slow deep breath, and then a second, trying to calm her racing heart. Finally she nodded and reached up to gently press a hand to his cheek. "Don't worry, I'm fine." It helped that she knew he had a rather handy potion on him. She'd discovered the last time they were together that he'd gotten in the happen of carrying it around. "I'm ready. Are you sure you can keep up?" she taunted.

The question was, where would they be safe from the intruders?

@cassius

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As she smiled, clearly out of breath, Cassius looked down at her with even more worry. Still, she was doing well as calming her breathing on her own, and that made him incredibly happy. The more she could handle without magic, the better. He couldn't always be there to help, even if he wanted to be. When her hand reached his cheek and she told him not to worry, he sighed with relief. Then she jested at his ability to keep up and he smiled, shaking his head. "I don't know, Ondina. I've never had to keep up with a girl before. Guess there's a first time for everything," he chuckled. He hadn't exactly meant that in the 'we're running through the halls' sense, and he hoped she'd pick up on that. He'd never met a girl that challenged him the way she did in more ways than one.

He finally nodded, squeezing her hands once before peaking around the corner. "I doubt the Hospital Wing won't be targeted. We have to find somewhere fairly insignificant... I thought that closet would be good enough but I guess this hallway is-" he stopped, hearing another sound. This one was more faint, like a strange hissing noise. He pulled her back toward him. "That can't be good," he muttered. They were still pretty deep in the castle, considering he had found her on the first floor. "I think we need to go up," he suggested before tugging at her hand and moving toward the stair wells. Then he cursed under his breath. "The stairs have heavy traffic. They'll be waiting there..." it seemed there was nowhere to go.

Ondina Nell Weasley

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Cassius should give her more credit. She’d lived with asthma her whole life! She hadn’t always had access to magic, so she’d had to learn how to subdue an attack when it was only beginning to start. Deep, slow breaths were the best way. It was the frantic quick breathing that made her throat close half the time.

Ondina understood what he’d meant, and she slowly, mischievously smiled. ”That’s because I’m not like those other girls.” And she definitely wasn’t referring to the current situation either…

”What was that?” That… that hissing sound. She couldn’t hear it well, but it’d didn’t seem to fit the whole ‘under attack’ thing. Following him towards the stairs, her gaze moved quickly, searching for any other options. Trying to come up with a solution. She was so wrapped up with her thoughts and searching that it took her a moment to hear what he said. Oh, shoot.

”Are there any secret passages on this floor..?” She knew they existed. But she’d never managed to find that many of them.

@cassius

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”That’s because I’m not like those other girls.” Well, that comment was entirely true. He wanted more than anything to ask her to prove it some more right now, but they were sort of in a life threatening situation and he wasn't going to let her be murdered because he couldn't his his lips off her. No, they would have to save that for later. Again.

As she asked what the sound was he didn't want to know, still, he had a guess. Then she asked about secret passages and he caught his breath, trying to remember. "There's... I mean, the House Elves may have something... it'd be too small. Though, you may be able to fit," he was just brainstorming now, "but I'm not sure. I-" he stopped. He had seen the evidence of his guess. The air shimmered in the hall behind them. Somehow, the attackers were casting some sort of knock out gas, or worse, into the hallway. "We can't breathe here," he said, not elaborating as he lifted his wand at Ondina and cast the bubble-head charm spell, as well as on himself. This would protect them from any dangerous air coming their way. The only problem was, they couldn't really effectively talk...

He tugged on her hand, pulling her further down the hallway in the opposite direction of the gas. For all he knew it wasn't just affecting what they were breathing, it could do something to their skin too. He'd seen it before.

He sped up, sure that he would stop him if it became too much until turning into another classroom and running for the window. He released her hand to open it, though it would only open a few inches. He removed the bubble charm. "Okay, there is toxic gas out there of some kind. Opening the window should help but I'm not sure what it'll do to us. Ondina, we may have to escape through this window, or just hope that the gas is concentrated to that hallway alone," he hesitated in removing her bubble charm so she could answer him, but as soon as she gave her feedback it was going back on.

Ondina Nell Weasley

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"If you can't fit, it's not an option." Ondina snapped before he could even finish speaking. She wouldn't even consider it for a second, feeling wave of... protectiveness wash over her. Was she protective of him? Or was it possessive? They both felt so similar. It didn't matter though, because either way her reaction was the same. She might have said something else then, but something had caught Cassius' attention and she turned to look. She frowned. It took a moment to recognize what it was, and his comment of not being able to breath finally put the pieces together. Fumes. Anyone that didn't see it would fall victim to whatever the fumes were enchanted to do. And those smart enough to spot it would probably be herded into a trap. They were quite literally, as the saying went, between a rock and a hard place. Ondina nodded, keeping her mouth shut. There wouldn't be much talking for a bit as he cast the bubble-head charm.

Ondina kept an eye out for any traps as they ran down the hall, trying to keep ahead of the fumes. Before reaching the end of the hall though, Cassius spotted a classroom and pulled her inside. As he went to the window, she turned to the door, raising her wand. The doors closed. IT wouldn't help much, but it would at least keep some of the fumes out. At least it would give them a little more time. She only turned back when he spoke, having removed the bubble-head charms. "I'm not waiting here to find out. Besides, escaping out a window will make a great story." She grinned a bit. Despite her slightly joking comment, she sounded completely serious. "I think we need the window open just a bit more though." She raised her wand, raising an eyebrow at him to let him know that moving would be a great idea right now. Only when he was clear did she continue. "Bombarda."

The glass shattered, and she looked at Cassius smugly.

@cassius

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Cass knew that she wouldn't let him send her ahead on her own, but he still couldn't help but feel a happy flutter as she said it. Once they reached the room, she was oddly positive about this toxic gas thing. He raised an eyebrow at her as she talked about how escaping out the window would be a good story and he shook his head, starting to chuckle. "We are far too alike for our own good," he muttered. He too thought that would be pretty dang cool.

Then she busted the window open and gave him that smug look. He reached an arm out and put it around her waist. "You're scary, you know that, right?" he joked, kissing her quickly on the lips before summoning his broom stick from his office. He heard the window shattered and sighed but eh, it was an easy fix. Once the broom arrived they climbed on, going into the night...

There were far too many people on brooms right now! It was clear that was the way the villains had arrived. Cassius quickly flew toward his office. They landed beside it and broke the window more in order to climb in and there they stayed. Cassius helped Caroline man the hospital wing. It seemed the villains had already come and left and no one they wanted was there, thank heavens for that. Still, there was some damage to fix.

Ondina Nell Weasley
(le end)