One blessed second. That was it. That was all the universe gave her until she was suddenly hit with the weight of his entire body and the wind was taken from her yet again. She'd yelped in surprise but it was honestly all she had the energy for as he immediately rolled onto the floor beside her. As soon as he was off of her, Rowan rolled onto her side and used her free hand to push herself up. A groan escaped from her as she was taken back to the shipwreck.

The sounds echoing through the hallway were shockingly similar to the Santa Maria, and Rowan was overcome with dread and fear. This time she wasn't going into the crisis knowing there would be danger. She hadn't been prepared. She'd just wanted to go home. She leaned against the wall, breathing heavily as she closed her eyes for just a moment, begging her heart rate to return to normal.

It wasn't nearly enough time for her to regain her composure, but it had to be enough. Breathlessly, she looked at Malfoy, nodding in agreement with him. She put his wand back in his outstretched hand, noting the blood already on his palms. Last time there hadn't been blood, had there? She stifled the overwhelming sense of nausea taking root in her stomach and followed suit, staggering to her feet. "No, they don't." she replied.

They had to move. Now.

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He caught her eye when he took the wand out of her hand, only this time he didn't look away. For a split second he stared at her, feeling as though they understood each other without needing words. No hate, no judgment, only the realization that they might have to navigate this mess, like the last one, together.

"People are probably dying out there," he said slowly, not blind to the curtains and now curtain rods that bounced off the shield charm that still stood. "You won't be able to save them all. Don't do anything stupid." It was a warning; he would do his best to watch her back if she watched his, but the minute she did something needlessly self-sacrificing he wasn't going to run after her.

"There's a stairwell down to the first floor. We could apparate, but..." Who knew what the situation would be like wherever they landed? Who knew how far the storm even went? He wasn't about to get close to one of the windows to try and figure it out.

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set by lady <3

Despite the shield charm, Rowan still flinched slightly as the curtain rods smashed against the protective shield. But she kept her eyes locked on his. The animosity that had been thick as the densest fog between them had all but evaporated. She knew they were both feeling the same thing. The shipwreck had almost taken their lives; this time around was no different.

His words hit her and she stared at him, momentarily speechless at his sudden sincerity and sternness. But a second later and she nodded silently, breaking eye contact as she thought of the body she'd just seen being hurtled through the air. A chill came over her and she took another breath, only attempting to prepare for whatever they would encounter —

"No!" Rowan blurted out, locking eyes with him again before casting her gaze back out the window. What if - what if that was how that person got out there? They'd tried to apparate and gotten tossed to the elements? "No, we'll take the stairwell." She said gravely, momentarily flashing back to running through the stairwells of the ship. It was a risk, but it was better than risking disappearing and never returning.

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Good. She understood. He'd never believed Yaxley to be without a brain, so he was glad he could say he was right in that respect. He nodded one more time, trying to mentally trace a path through the building and to safety—assuming such a place existed at the moment. The Resort was large, but storms—even those caused by a poorly-done weather charm—could be larger.

"Alright," he said, nodding, "on three." He looked at the shield charm, which he'd need to physically break with a spell, and then down at his wand. He stared at it for a moment, considering, and then suddenly fixed his gaze on her hand. He didn't think much—tried not to look like he was thinking much about it, at least—as he stepped next to her and pulled her hand into his, grasping it tightly. He didn't make eye contact with her. They needed to hold hands given the wind, but he didn't want to seem like he was enjoying it.

(As if she needed to think he was at all interested... even if she'd made it clear she wasn't. Still.)

"One.... two..." He held his wand up. "Three."

The shield charm disappeared. The wind whipped around them.

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set by lady <3

Rowan couldn't help but take a step back from the shield. It would have done them any good, they were going to get pelted with the debris anyways. She focused her gaze on the end of the hall where she could just see the doorway. All they needed to do was get to there. Merlin knew what would be waiting for them, but they couldn't stay here any longer.

She was about to step forward to get ready to run when she felt Malfoy's hand in hers. She looked down just as he tightened his grip, and looked back up at him. The look on his face was as serious as she'd ever seen it. His taunting her with saving him a spot on her dance card might as well have not happened. Without reason, she gripped his hand in return.

On three, the shield disappeared and they were hit with gusts of wind and Rowan was glad that Malfoy had taken her hand. The wind whipped her skirts around her and she was practically pushed forward. She needed no coaxing, from the wind or from him. Every step they took it seemed as if they were being grabbed at by multiple different hands trying to pull them every which way.

It seemed like a lifetime had passed when Rowan could feel the wind die down by a fraction, signaling they'd reached the end of the hallway. Rowan let go of his hand, grasping the doorway and thrusting it open, wordlessly gesturing for him to go through.

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From behind the shield there was no imagining just how difficult it would be to make it down the remainder of the hallway, but it didn't take very long to figure out. From the moment the shield disappeared it became a battle to keep his feet planted on the floor and his hand grasped around Yaxley's. Just as difficult as walking was keeping his eyes open; almost like he'd been thrust into a snowy winter day his eyes stung with dryness, only it wasn't especially cold nor was there any snow.

Without her guiding hand he doubted he would have made it. He couldn't acknowledge it aloud, nor could he ponder on it for any length of time without feeling disgusted by his own sentimentality, but luckily the storm made it easy to forget. His fingers clasped tighter around hers and he held them there, reluctantly releasing them only when she tugged her hand away.

"Fucking Merlin's magical bollock," he cursed under his breath as he stepped out of the windy corridor and into the stairwell. His body was sore and he was far more aware of the pain centered underneath his ear now that he wasn't facing the direct wrath of the weather. He reached up and rubbed the sore spot and was greeted by the warm wetness of blood.

Once again he could only thank his years of quidditch experience for keeping his senses in tact.

"The stairs seem safe, but I'm not sure for how much longer," he said in a strained voice, a grimace on his face as he looked in her direction.

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set by lady <3

Rowan lurched through the doorway after him, having no choice but to slam the door behind her as the wind pushed it shut. The stairwell fell eerily quiet, and suddenly Rowan wasn't sure about this route anymore. The strange lack of sound was welcome to her ears, but - back when they were in the boat, a moment of silence had never spelled good news for them.

Catching her breath, she took advantage of the wall behind her and leaned against it, breathing heavily as she glanced at him. She paused, watching him rub his temple before realizing that he was bleeding. Rowan prayed that was going to be the most blood that they would both see for today.

That he declared the staircase potentially dangerous was not a surprise to Rowan, and she nodded. "Let's hurry then," She said, placing a hand on the railing, picking up her skirts, and making her way down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, she could see some light, through the window at the top, but not much more than that.

She reached for the handle, wrenched it open and was immediately thrown back by a wave crashing through the door, swallowing a mouthful of water as she hit the wall. She cried out in pain as her head connected with the wall and she was thrown to the ground, water sloshing all around them.

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Raphael wasn't known for being resilient, at least not when situation allowed him to complain and point fingers and mope about his pain, but he knew that this was a situation where doing any of those things might result in his untimely death. Still, as they fled down the stairs, he couldn't help but wonder who was responsible for this, if anyone. Surely they'd be punished—brought to court by the Sanditon Resort owners, at least?

He allowed the thoughts to leave his mind as they came to the bottom of the stairs. The lower floors were unlikely to be ravaged by the wind in the same way the upper floors were, but Raphael knew from experience that merely being closer to safety didn't ensure safety. He stood to Yaxley's side, holding his breath as she pried open the door...

And good thing for it. Water hit them like an oncoming wave, sending him stumbling to the side while she was sent flying against the back wall. He couldn't pay her mind for a second as he struggled to return to his feet, but when he did finally look over his heart skipped a beat.

"Yaxley," he called from across the small space, his voice nearly drowned out by the sound of rushing water.

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set by lady <3

Water stung her nose as she struggled to stand upright, each wave throwing her backward again and again as she grasped the railing to the staircase. Gasping for air, she broke through the surface of the waves and grasped the railing with both hands before using the staircase as leverage to haul herself upright.

Whipping her head to the right, she saw the water level rising rapidly. Any sooner and they would be backed up the stairwell. Hearing her name, she turned and saw Malfoy, his expression easily as panicked as she felt.

It was the ship all over again.

"Come on!" she yelled, wading through the water and into the doorway to get a glimpse of the room beyond them. It was a vast room, but closed in nonetheless. She could see a staircase leading to god only knew where it went. Just as she'd decided to turn around and grab for him, the door between them shut closed and threw her forward into the water, trapping him inside. "No!" Rowan coughed up more water, staggering to her feet and throwing herself at the door, grasping the handle desperate to get it open again.

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Water. There was so much water. He'd never liked water, and liked it even less since the boat incident, and now they were wading through it just like they had before, in an enclosed space with no one except the other to rely on for safety. There was no point in protecting his pride when all he could focus on was protecting himself. The anxiety was evident on his face, his eyes wide and alert and his forehead wrinkled from the stress and the deep frown that was etched on his face. He followed her, every now and then reaching up to touch the sore on his neck and hissing in pain when the salt from the water his the wound. Merlin's beard, this was a nightmare. A disaster. His worst fear.

Or almost his worst fear. A high-pitched noise of shock and alarm died in his throat as the door slammed between them, effectively putting a barrier between them. All went dark on his side, and on hers he heard her muffled yells. He banged his fists against the door, wishing he'd been gifted the brute strength of a beater in order to put a hole. But even if there was no water, the door was too thick; and with the added addition of the water it made gaining momentum an impossibility.

"Stand back if you can!" he shouted, his heart dropping as he realized the only way to break the door down was through magic—magic he wouldn't be able to perfectly control, and magic that could potentially hurt her if she didn't understand him clearly. "I'm going to blow it up!"

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set by lady <3

Through the window she saw him, and a sob escaped her as she realized he hadn't been knocked out, left to drown. At least he had control of his own person. She struggled to see the rest of him. Please let him have his wand. Please, Merlin let him not have dropped it.

Locking eyes with him, she saw him yell something to her. Her brows furrowed as she only heard muffled noises. But she understood what he had in mind. It was the look in his eye; though she'd never seen such a look of determination on his face before. If they hadn't been in such dire straits, she would have commented on it.

But there was no such time and even she didn't possess such wit to slip that in. "Okay!" She yelled back and threw herself backward. There was little shelter available so she scrambled back as far as she could, taking her wand and drawing up a shield.

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Most magic they learned was taught in the ideal conditions—offensive spells against targets that didn’t fight back, transfiguration spells against objects that didn’t move. Raphael was fortunate not to live a life where he needed these spells regular, and he could acknowledge that, but it was times like this he wished he’d practiced his blasting charm a little more.

He held his wand up and held his breath, and with a breathless voice shouted the incantation for the spell.

Wood shot in all directions. The water came in waves, crashing over his head, effectively ruining what little neatness was left of his appearance. He coughed the water of out his lungs and ran a hand over his face, trying to get the salt out of his eyes.

He sought her, then, needing to see her standing—or at the very least, alive. “Yaxley?” he called, worry thick in his voice.

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set by lady <3

She'd only meant to dive out of the way of the door. Then perhaps he would have gotten out of the staircase and they would have been able to beat the rising water, head up the stairs and perhaps get to higher ground. But of course, it didn't have to be that simple. As soon as she'd dove out of the way, she'd collided with a sliding chair and she was back on the shipwreck again as her coat caught the corner and she felt herself being thrown to the floor and dragged backward. The only good in this was that the chair pulled her further and further away from the now exploded door. "Malfoy!" She called back, swallowing a mouthful of water again as she struggled both with keeping her head above the surface and with the many buttons on her coat.

She had little time to try and search for him, only going by feel as she was now halfway down the row of buttons to set herself free.

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He could hear her, but he couldn't see her. The water was rising and was near his chest. His movements were slow, not only because of the water but because of the heavy fabric he wore that seemed to grow more uncomfortable and less manageable with each passing second. He passed through the doorway, feeling the scraping of chunks of wood against his arms as he began to shed his jacket. It fell away into the water and he moved forward, head whipping left and right in search of her.

And there she was. She was much shorter than him, and the water was so high that she'd had to angle her head upward to avoid going under. The closer he got, he realized she wasn't only struggling because of the rising water. His hands found one of her arms and he tried to pull her upwards, but was met with a heaviness that didn't make sense, even when he took into account her soaked skirt.

"Are you stuck on something?" he asked breathily, giving her another tug.

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set by lady <3

"Yes!" She gasped, coughing as her feet struggled to gain purchase on the marble floors. Using his arm as leverage and resistance, Rowan managed to get one of her feet underneath her and haul herself up halfway out of the water. "It's a chair, I think, or something heavy." Her coat tugged at her arms and she managed to slip her wand out of its pocket as an idea hit her.

Merlin she hoped this worked.

Taking a breath, she pointed the wand at herself; just barely. She held the wand gingerly in her hand, careful to aim sideways and away from Malfoy so he wouldn't get caught. A muttered incantation later and the buttons snapped. Moving quickly, Rowan slipped one arm out of her coat and twisted as best she could to get the other arm out, trading her arms in his grip. Mercifully she was finally free, and she stumbled back into him, trying to get her footing like a newborn doe.

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It wasn't until she was clinging to him, using him to keep herself afloat while she fought to free herself from the chair or whatever was weighing her down, that Raphael realized how well and truly exhausted he was. His arms ached as her fingertips dug into his bicep, and his knees wobbled when she finally freed herself and stumbled into him.

He caught her, one arm sliding around her waist to keep her upright while the other flailed uselessly in the water around them, trying to keep them steady. "I really hate the bloody ocean," he grumbled as he began to walk in the direction of the other staircase, keeping one arm firmly around her so she wouldn't get lost or separated or pulled under. His fingertips dug into the fabric of her dress, pulling, gripping, twisting the fabric as best as he could so his grip wouldn't falter.

"If we survive this," he gasped, stopping to take a break as he finally felt his feet his one of the steps and was able to step up and out of the now chest-high water, "—never going near the ocean again."

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set by lady <3