Artist's Delight (OPEN)

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

The entrance hall was massive, to say the least. There was certainly something to be said for going to a school so old; the architecture was amazing, the depth of light and shadow against worn stone an artist's delight. He'd found that the whole school was much the same.

But right now, he was focusing on the people. He sat on the ground, propped up against the wall, legs folded Indian-style, with a large sketchbook flat against his thighs and an open art box beside him. At the moment, his left hand was curled around a round stick of vine charcoal, filling in the shapes of a small group of girls talking in front of the hourglasses.

[Druscilla Grace]

Dru was on her way down to Hogsmeade when she saw someone that hit her as familiar sitting down against a wall near where she was. She stopped and looked at him, deciding she definitely hadn't met him before, she would have remembered his hair. Vaguely she remembered Silver saying something about having a brother, but it was only in passing and nothing else had been said about it.

She decided Hogsmeade could wait and she took a couple steps closer to him, glancing at the book in front of him, "Any chance you're Silver's brother?" she asked, figuring it was as good a conversation starter as anything else she could think of.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare looked up, mentally asking that the girls he'd been drawing hold still for a minute, which seemed likely considering the depth of their conversation. "You've met him too, huh?" Silver was probably beside himself, multiple girls talking to him, and for long enough that they remembered him later. He'd have to hunt his brother down and see how he was handling it.

"Yeah, I'm Dare," he said, turning to his box and shuffling it over so the girl could sit. He glanced back up as he settled the box near his feet, still in reach, but less in the way. "Have a seat," he invited her. "What's your name?"

[Druscilla Grace]

When he looked up Dru saw the resemblance immediately, they had the same eyes, but Dare's were almost overshadowed by his wild hair. "Dru," she answered, sitting down beside him and looking over at the picture. "You are good," she commented, remembering that Silver had mentioned it. Then she realized she hadn't even asked to look, and looked away, "Sorry." Michael hadn't liked it when people looked at his drawings without asking, so she didn't know if Dare was the same way.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare glanced down at his work, then lifted his gaze at Dru's apology. "No, it's fine, I'm not shy about it," he said, angling the book so she could see better. "In fact, if you don't mind, I can talk and draw at the same time. Feel free to watch." He wanted to get those girls filled in before they moved. The rest he could deal with later.

Dare picked up his charcoal again, arching his left hand up so it didn't smear across the page and started short, quick motions against the page. "So where'd you run into Silver? The forest?" It wouldn't really surprise him for Silver to pick that particular haunt, but he'd have thought his brother would explore a while longer before he settled.

[Druscilla Grace]

Dru watched the motion of his hand, amazed at how the picture formed from the small strokes. "No, the greenhouses, not as many people go there, there's always someone in the forest." A soft smile came over her lips, the memory a pleasant one, even if the reason she had been out by the greenhouses wasn't. She still hadn't figured everything out, she would wait until the next time she saw Chase to even attempt to deal with it.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"I haven't been to the forest yet," Dare said. "Isn't it supposed to be forbidden?" He said the last word with an ironic twist of his lips. It sounded like the word forbidden didn't mean much, if there were people wandering around in it. He could see Silver's reasoning, but as for the rest of the students...he didn't really want to make a guess.

[Druscilla Grace]

Dru snorted, "Yeah, right. Everyone goes to the forest, especially at night, everyone's out at night." It was the most active time of the day, Dru had found out. She had never met such a large group of insomniacs in her life. "It's insane. It's like no one sleeps." The only reason she was ever out at night was because she was coming home from the club.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's lips curved into a grin, and his eyes flickered up, then back down to his paper. "Now that I'm used to," he said. "Lights out is like, obscenely early around here. And since I'm still eight hours behind, it's just crazy. I've been sitting in the Common Room half the night." He let that settle for just a moment while he dealt with a tricky area of shadow on one of the girls' robes, then went on. "So what's with the rules? Does the school blow them off too, or is everyone just super-stealthy?"

[Druscilla Grace]

Dru shrugged, "I personally never see any Professors or anything around, but of course, most of the time I'm down in Hogsmeade so I guess that's not so surprising." But then, considering that the Head Boy himself was one that was out so late it could be assumed that the higher ups just didn't care. "I didn't even think about that, the eight hours difference, I didn't have much problem with the time change when I moved over here."

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's lips quirked. "Lucky you. I'm just barely able to stay awake in class, Silver's probably freaking out, or taking a sleeping drought or something." Probably the latter, now that he thought about it. "So where'd you transfer from?" He wondered idly if Dru already knew where he and Silver had gone to school. If he'd actually talked to the girl, Dare couldn't begin to imagine what he'd say. He'd seen his brother at work at SWIM, and it was always a disaster.

[Druscilla Grace]

"Appalachian School of Magic, a little school in the mountains." It hadn't had nearly as many students as Hogwarts held. "Silver seemed fine to me," she said, smiling to herself again and zoning out just a little. Dru hoped to see Silver again, her eyes were turned towards Dare's book, even if they were slightly unfocused.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare glanced up at Dru again, and his gaze paused, completely diverted from his drawing. Was that look over Silver? The thought would have floored him if he wasn't already sitting. He looked at her a moment longer, just to fix it in his mind and convince himself it wasn't his imagination, then turned back to his drawing, albeit with slower, less determined strokes. Imagine, a girl thinking about Silver, he thought. Go figure.

"So why'd you transfer, if you don't mind my asking?" he said, picking up the conversational reins again. He'd just see if things made their way around to Silver again, and then maybe, just maybe he'd see what he could get out of her.

[Druscilla Grace]

Dru blinked a few times to refocus her gaze, "Mom wanted me to go here, it's where my great-grandmother went. And since I'm the first witch in the family since..." she trailed off and shrugged, it was pretty obvious why they'd want her to go to Hogwarts. "What about you?" It was a point that her and Silver hadn't gotten to when they had talked.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's hand moved more deliberately against the page again, and he was silent a moment, trying to think of the best way to say it. Euphemisms were a waste of energy, though. There was a simple truth, and it was better to just get it out. "Our mom died," he said simply. "Dad grew up in Britain somewhere, so he packed us up and came back. Decided we ought to go to Hogwarts, get in touch with our roots or something." He let his head droop a bit over his drawing, let his fringe obscure the tightening of his jaw and the distant look in his eyes.