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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on May 25, 2008 3:03:04 GMT -5
Dare dropped his duffel on the floor and kicked it under the seat before turning to heft his trunk onto the shelf. He didn't bother looking to see if Silver was with him; he would be. Silver wasn't any more excited by this than he was. Or maybe he was. Silver hadn't been social in the first place, so what was a fresh start?
With his trunk up, Dare turned and sat, sliding up next to the window. He looked out at the station, but Dad had already disappeared. Dad knew all about Hogwarts and the Hogwarts Express, so none of this was a surprise to them. They'd been briefed.
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Post by Silver Blackwood on May 25, 2008 3:07:42 GMT -5
Silver poked his head through the door, spotting Dare over by the window, before he bothered dragging in his trunk. "Dad's already gone," he said, throwing a meaningful glance at the window. "He said to tell you good luck and everything, since you took off as soon as the doors opened."
Silver hefted his trunk up next to Dare's, figuring they ought to just keep them together, then sat opposite him, stretching out long legs. He threw a glance up at his trunk, thinking about whether it was worth dragging down and opening for a notebook and quill, but didn't act just yet. Dare was here, anyway.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on May 25, 2008 3:12:24 GMT -5
"I don't need luck," Dare said, mentally following his brother's gaze. "I make my own luck." He knew what Silver was thinking, and wondered why he'd even bothered stashing his crap. Sometimes it was like Silver wasn't himself without his trusty quill sword and notebook shield. Dare smiled at the thought.
"Don't worry about it, I've got you covered." Dare leaned down and pulled his duffel from under the seat, unzipped it and dug out one of two sketchbooks he'd stashed. "Here, it's blank, I'll get another one in Hogsmeade." He passed it and a quill across to Silver, a good-natured smirk on his lips. "Sometimes you crack me up, you know?"
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Post by Silver Blackwood on May 25, 2008 3:15:31 GMT -5
Silver gave his brother a somewhat confused look as he took the book and quill, grateful for the weight of them in his hands. "No, I don't know. What are you talking about? What'd I do?" Dare had that amused-big-brother look on his face that either meant Silver had done something, or Dare was plotting something. Right now, he'd wager the former. They hadn't been on the train long enough yet for mischief.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on May 25, 2008 3:18:57 GMT -5
Dare nearly laughed at the priceless confusion on his brother's face. "You and your quill," he said, gesturing at the one Silver was holding like a treasure. "You need one on a string around your neck. Or stick a couple in your hair like the girls do." Silver's hair was a long-standing joke between them. They both had the same unruly mass of it, but Silver refused to get his cut and styled.
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Post by Silver Blackwood on May 25, 2008 3:22:33 GMT -5
Silver frowned at his brother. "Shut up, jackass, It's fine the way it is. At least I don't take a friggin hour in front of the mirror." Why Dare couldn't just leave him alone about his hair was beyond him. He liked it long; it was comfortable that way, and if it happened to be a useful shield now and then, all the better. Still, Silver's annoyance didn't stretch far enough to keep him from opening his brother's offering. "What were the Houses called again?" he asked, writing Hogwarts across the top of the first page in flowing half-script.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on May 25, 2008 3:26:52 GMT -5
Dare's eyes narrowed slightly at his brother. "I don't take a friggin hour," he argued, more for the sake of arguing than because he thought he'd convince Silver. Who apparently couldn't tell twenty minutes from sixty in the morning. Dare pulled out his other sketchbook, one with several crooked pages hanging out at odd angles, out of his duffel, along with another quill, then kicked the open bag under the seat again. "Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw," he listed, dropping the hair matter for now. The train began to move just as Dare found an empty page. "What're you doing?" he asked Silver idly, shaking his self-inking quill to get it started.
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Post by Silver Blackwood on May 25, 2008 3:34:20 GMT -5
Silver looked up at Dare, the slightly distracted tone of his voice instantly explained. For all that Dare teased him about needing a quill and paper ready, Dare was much the same, albeit in a different context. Where Silver expressed himself in words, Dare sketched, or drew. Sometimes painted. Hypocrite. Silver never said as much, though. That was asking for trouble. "I'm going to guess what houses we'll be in," he told Dare. He wrote down what he could recall about each house under the names. - hard-working
- friendly
- rejects from other houses
- book smart
- philosophical
- geeks
He was making an effort to include one negative trait in each list. In his opinion, outgoing counted. |
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on May 25, 2008 3:37:01 GMT -5
Dare leaned forward, looking curiously at Silver's list. He had to squint a little to make out some of his brother's scrawl, but quickly got the gist of it. "So you'll be in Ravenclaw and I'll be in Gryffindor," he said, then grinned wickedly. "Cause I'm cool and you're a geek." He laughed at his own joke, not to mention the expression on Silver's face. "God, you're so easy sometimes!"
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Post by Silver Blackwood on May 25, 2008 3:41:48 GMT -5
"God, you're such an dumbass some times," Silver mocked, glaring at Dare's laughter. He wasn't really offended, but he was expected to be, so he just gave Dare the reaction he wanted and let it go. "I'm checking off which ones apply to us, and whichever one we have the most points for is the one we'll end up in." He read off his own list twice, once for himself, and once for Dare.
Dare's...brave, cool, outgoing...friendly, reject sometimes...cunning, ruthless to me at least...philosophical when he feels like it, and a geek, no matter what he says. "You'll probably end up in Gryffidor," he said, then did the same mental calculation for himself. reject...booksmart, philosophical, I guess, geek... "And I'll end up in Ravenclaw."
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on May 25, 2008 3:46:50 GMT -5
Dare smirked. "That's what I just said, only I didn't have to make a list to do it." He looked away from Silver as the door slid open, revealing a short, plump woman pushing a cart full of temptation. He put his sketchbook on the seat next to him and went back after his duffel bag. "I'll have whatever pumpkin pasties are on there," he told the witch. Dad said they'd always been good, and he was hungry anyway, so it seemed like a good deal.
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Post by Silver Blackwood on May 25, 2008 3:48:41 GMT -5
Silver stood up while Dare was looking for his money and gave the witch a handful of coins out of his pocket. "If you'd wear real pants you'd have room for a wallet," he said, stifling a grin before he turned back to his brother, arms loaded with enough for both of them. It was a long-standing joke, at least from his point of view. Dare's pants were too tight, it was that simple.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on May 25, 2008 3:51:51 GMT -5
It was Dare's turn to glare now. "I'm in fashion; the pants are real. If you weren't so bothered with hiding yourself, you'd look half decent and maybe you could get a girlfriend." They were men's pants, for chrissake, they just fit instead of being baggy. "Now hand over my pasties, I'll give you the money later." Dare took his share and dug in. They were pretty good. Maybe he wouldn't throw out everything Dad had told them.
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Post by Silver Blackwood on May 25, 2008 3:55:54 GMT -5
"I don't need a girlfriend," Silver argued, bypassing the truth. He didn't need a girlfriend. He might like to have one some day, but it just wasn't in the cards for him. Wasn't in the runes either, or the crystal ball, not that he'd ever checked. Silver opened a chocolate frog, catching it before it leaped for the luggage rack and taking a large bite. "Got Elminster. You were looking for him, weren't you?" he asked around a mouthful of chocolate.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on May 25, 2008 4:01:39 GMT -5
Dare's lips spread into a grin. "Sweet!" He snatched the card out of Silver's hand without invitation and looked it over. "It's like everyone's got this bastard but me." The tiny portrait glared up at Dare, who's face sobered just enough to be polite. "It's a figure of speech," he said, only partially apologetic. Elminster turned and stalked out of his frame. Dare shrugged and half-lifted himself from his seat, sliding the card into his back pocket. He'd stick the card in his trunk later.
Time passed peacefully enough for a while, the brothers each absorbed in their snacks and their own thoughts. Dusk was creeping over the train before Dare lowered his quill from a detailed sketch of the compartment and his brother, hunched over the book he was scrawling in. "What're you writing now?" he asked.
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