You are my armor | Lusie & Hugo

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Lusie had been enjoying her time at the festival. With a hot chocolate in her hand and a bag dangling off her arm, filled with the little, end of season sales she had been able to snag, she had a great time not being in her castle. When she was in the muggle world, Lusie wasn’t allowed to go anywhere unaccompanied. In the wizarding world, she could do whatever she wanted. Here, she was normal. Well, at least she was treated like normal. She was a still a princess and people still knew who she was, but, at least she didn’t need a bodyguard to go shopping. Lusie knelt down next to a storefront and dug into her shopping bag, trying to figure out what was making an annoying jingling sound. She was on the ground when the dragons swooped in. One of them landed on the roof above her, she looked up just in time to see flames beginning to spew from its mouth, but suddenly, a hand grabbed her and pulled her under the roof, into the entrance way of the store. A part of her came to regret that she didn’t bring a body guard along with her, but it seemed that someone had been watching out, anyway. “Thank you…” she whispered from under the roof, standing in the doorway of the closed shop, still in complete shock that there were dragons in the village.

@hugo

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Hugo loved the winter festival. The chance to have fun, run into people he didn't normally see and have great food? What wasn't there to like about the place. Today he was just kind of wandering the place, looking for familiar faces or something to grab his interest. He'd come with Sav, who was staying with him over the holidays, but somehow the two got separated already. He hadn't been there long when he saw someone kneeling in front of a store. He smiled as he placed her name, Lusie Windsor, the girl he started talking to the first day it snowed. He heard gasps and looked around to see people pointing up and followed their gestures to see ... dragons? What the heck were dragons doing here? He saw one heading toward the building Lusie was kneeling in front of and started running. He made it just as the dragon landed, turning its attention to the girl. As he reached her, he grabbed Lusie and pulled her under the awning of the shop, out of reach of the dragon. His heart was pounding as he nodded, trying to catch his breath and feeling very relieved that he was wearing gloves. "No ... problem. You okay Lusie?" Hugo asked, looking down at her in concern. "Did the fire get you at all?" He wanted to make sure she was okay before he thought about the next step. Hugo knew he wanted to help fight the dragons, but he wasn't quite sure how and he didn't want to leave her alone. 

@lusie

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Lusie was both so surprised and not surprised at all when she looked up at the face that she standing offly close to and saw that it was the head boy. She had seen Hugo Weasley more in the past few weeks than she remembered seeing him ever before. He wasn’t an unwelcome figure in her life, especially not at this moment. Right now, she was incredibly thankful to see him. “No, I’m fine.” she assured him. Fire seemed to stop falling down from the roof, but she could still hear the heavy steps on the creatures on the top of the building. “Do you know what’s happening? Why are they attacking?!” Surely, this wasn’t a chance happening. It wasn’t normal for dragons to, one, escape from their refuge, and two, all come in a big pack.

@hugo

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Lusie promised that she was okay and Hugo believed her, but he still found himself looking her over just to make sure. She was royalty and he knew for one thing that her brother would be very upset if he found her hurt in any way. Though he and Edmund Windsor weren't particularly close, he did hear a story a few weeks ago about the older Windsor pushing his way through the castle when he heard his little sister got hurt. She was asking questions and Hugo held up a finger for a second, trying to hear what the dragon was doing above them. He heard the creature moving, but couldn't tell if it was coming closer or farther away. He turned to her and shook his head. "I have no idea what's going on. Dragons are kept on reserves, they shouldn't be flying around attacking villages. Do you ... want to stay here or try to get away?" He wanted to get out and find Sav and help others fight. He was sure that there was a group of people somewhere here fighting the creatures and trying to subdue them, but he also wouldn't leave her alone. "We could try to find others ..." he added, still whispering. He didn't want to make them a target for the dragon that was already so close to them.

@lusie

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Hugo agreed with all of the things that she had been thinking about the dragons, it was unusual and too suspicious that they were here, especially during such a busy time in the village. She began to feel a sinking sensation in her gut, her mom would never let her leave the castle again. The previous attacks had been one thing, this was another entirely. “I suppose staying here isn’t the best idea…” with a fire breathing dragon above them and only a wooden awning separating them, they were sure to come to more harm. She nodded, “It would probably be smarter to find the others.” there was safety in numbers… right? Or, maybe the crowd would draw more dragons. Either way, she trusted him.

@hugo

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He could see her expression falling again and Hugo assumed that she was nervous about the dragon. She might not even know there was more than one dragon in the village. She was distracted when they flew overhead, he remembered. Hugo reached out and put a hand on her arm. "Hey, it'll be okay. We can do this together, okay?" he told her, hoping his tone was as encouraging as he wanted it to be. She started to say that staying probably wasn't a good idea and they should find the others. Hugo smiled and nodded, definitely impressed by her bravery. He knew plenty of girls that would have refused to move, insisting on staying there where it was "safe", not even realizing that they were still in danger. "I think so too," he agreed. He paused, thinking for a moment.

"Okay, here's the plan. We're going to try sneaking away. Stick close to the edge of the building and quickly move to the next one, trying to put the building between us and the dragon. If it sees us ... I'll jump out and distract him and you have to find others, okay?" he suggested. It might not be the most thoroughly thought out plan, but it was simple, which Hugo thought was a good idea. "Let me know when you're ready," he added, not wanting to push her into moving before she was ready. 

@lusie

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Hugo sat his hand on her arm and told her that it was going to be okay and she nodded, slowly. She wasn’t entirely sure that she believed his words, but she wanted to. She was fairly sure that this wasn’t the way in which she was meant to die. She had just gone on her first date! This wasn’t fair! Hugo had the same thought, again, that finding people would be the best option for them, looking out past the awning, she couldn’t see anyone except for a few people who were hiding in a shop across the way with their faces pressed against a window, trying to see what was happening outside. He explained the way that they were going to get away, to stay close to the buildings and get past the dragon. He added that if the dragon saw them, he would distract it while she ran to find others. She wasn’t sure she liked that plan very much, but she had no alternative to offer. She surely wasn’t going to be able to fight a dragon, her best bet was to find help. “Okay… I’m ready.” was she? She wasn’t convinced. But, they couldn’t just stand here, they had to get away and find better shelter at least.

@hugo

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Hugo watched the younger girl carefully as she took in his words. He couldn't read her well enough to know what she thought about his plan of escape, but he couldn't help but feel relieved when she agreed. Hugo didn't want to stay here any longer than he had to. He could still hear the dragon on the building above them, still felt like he was out in the open. "I'll go first. Follow right after me, okay?" Hugo suggested. He'd have to keep looking back for her, but at least if he went first and took a wrong turn somewhere, moving into the dragon's line of sight, he'd be the one it saw first instead of her. He took a step toward the north when the dragon roared. Hugo covered his ears, looking back at Lusie to make sure she was okay. Then he nodded to her, gesturing for her to follow as he started slowly creeping along the edge of the building.

He moved to the north side of the building, looking up to see if the dragon was in view. When it wasn't, he hurried across the small alley to the closest building. He held a finger out to Lusie, telling her to wait a second so he could see where the dragon was. Luckily, it was facing the other direction and he quickly motioned for her to join him before taking a few steps so they should be out of its view again. Hugo took a step closer to her, whispering into her ear. "How are you doing?" He wanted to make sure she wasn't going to faint or have a breakdown or something. Checking up on Lusie was important.

@lusie

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Hugo explained that he would go first and she should follow him and od what he did, she nodded, she understood. Hugo took a few steps away from the building and the dragon rawred, Lusie covered her ears and wanted to cower under the nerve shattering noise, but she tried to keep her eyes open and her mind still. If she thought about it too much, she knew that fear would overcome her. All she needed to do was follow Hugo. She could do that. Just one, simple thing. He gestured for her to follow and she did. She did what he said, she waited when he told her to wait and she moved when she was supposed to. “I’m fine.” she told him, her heart beating had grown so loud, she was worried that he could hear it too. She had never been so terrified in her life. Not during the tower explosions or any of the other attacks on the castle or nearby. This had put her over the top. “Where do you think we should go?” she asked.

@hugo

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Lusie was being so amazing! Hugo was definitely impressed by how well she was following his directions. He was sure she was nervous about the dragon- he was as well- but she was handling it wonderfully. When she made it to him, saying she was fine, Hugo pulled her into a hug, being careful not to touch her skin. He didn't need to see a vision of her dying right now, that would definitely be counterproductive. "You're doing awesome!" he muttered, giving her a squeeze before letting her go. She had asked where they should go and Hugo looked up and down the street. There weren't many people he could see, but he thought he heard people shouting. "I think there are people in the middle of the village. Can you hear that?" he was quiet so she could listen. "Are you okay trying to head in their direction? We'll just keep doing what we've been doing, but at least there isn't a dragon on top of every building." He was trying to encourage her, but Hugo didn't know how good of a job he was doing at it.

@lusie

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Hugo pulled Lusie in for a hug and she couldn’t help but let the wave of comfort was over when he did so. It was weird, she didn’t know him. She knew that he enjoyed the snow as much as she did, but that was all she knew about him. They had only spoken a handful of times, and really only once of note, yet here they were. In the moment, Lusie felt like she had known him for her whole life. He said that there sounded like there were people in the middle of town and she nodded, after listening, she heard their shouts and the drawers of more dragons as well, but at least they had left their own dragon behind them. “Yeah, let’s keep going.” she said, fumbling a bit but then pulling her wand out of a pocket inside of her jacket. She wasn’t sure why. Just in case. Though, she didn’t know any offensive spells. Well, she knew some, but she had never practiced them more than the once in class that they were required to.

@hugo

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Lusie agreed with him when Hugo said that it sounded like there were a lot of people in the middle of town. Good. At least he wasn't just hearing things then. She agreed to go with him and he smiled at her, nodding. "Okay. Let's just keep to the same plan as before. Stay as close to the buildings as you can and as close to me. If you hear a dragon approaching or see one, freeze." There. That should be enough to keep them safe as they crept through the village. He glanced back to Lusie, eyes widening when he noticed her wand was out. "Good idea," he muttered, pulling his own wand out. 

They quickly made their way through most of the city without incident. The shouts got louder as they approached the center of town and suddenly Hugo heard another roar as a dragon took off, heading away from the fight. He froze, reaching back to try and hint to Lusie that she should do the same. He wasn't sure if this dragon saw them or not, but he was praying it didn't.

@lusie

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Lusie nodded and listened to Hugo when he said to follow and stay close to him and the building. She would do her best. She wanted to stay alive and she trusted him entirely to keep her so. In fact, she trusted him more than she trusted most other people, though she wasn’t sure why, she didn’t even know him really, except that he liked snow as much as she did. She followed him, staying close. She wasn’t sure that her heart was beating at all as she scurried behind him, it felt like it had stopped indefinitely, either that, or she had grown numb to the sensation after it beat through her chest. She felt his hand reach back to her and instinctively, she froze, though she wasn’t sure why. She hadn’t seen the dragon that he had seen, but she stayed still until he told her not to, wondering what he was thinking, she stared at the back of his head, cursing the fact that she couldn’t apparate yet. That would have been so easy. She began to wonder whether any of her siblings were here. Ed, probably. She thought, wondering if he was hanging out with Addi today. She hoped they were okay. She hoped she was okay. “What is it?” she whispered.

@hugo

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Hugo could basically feel Lusie staying close behind him and he was glad for that fact. He didn't want her to get hurt, he kind of felt responsible for her right then and he was glad for it. He hadn't seen anyone else around when that dragon landed so close to her and he didn't even want to think about what would have happened if he hadn't been near. He was glad for the fact that he was right there when she needed him. 

He felt her freeze behind him when he gestured that she should. "A dragon is flying toward us. Stay still," he muttered out of the corner of his mouth. He still couldn't tell if the dragon had seen them or not. "Be ready to move fast, just in case it sees us," Hugo added. The adrenaline was pumping through him, but he didn't want to do anything that might make this harder. They were so close to the main square. If this one could fly past without noticing them, they'd make it there in less than a minute. If it didn't see them. 

@lusie

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Lusie didn’t move a muscle, not even when he told her that there was a dragon flying towards them. Why was this dragon hunting them when there were hundreds of other people here in the village. She supposed most of the people had been smart and had taken shelter already inside a building, any any people who were here with great magical ability had done what they could to secure the building. Lusie craned her next ever so slightly to look around Hugo just in time to see the dragon swoop down and open it mouth wide to them, shooting fire out. Lusie grabbed Hugos arm and pulled him quickly back around the corner of the building that they had just crossed. She held tightly onto him, wit her face buried in his shoulder as the fire roared past them, scorching the building.

@hugo