Say it Ain't So (Dare/Silver)

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver knew exactly where the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room was, though he didn't know the password. Dare had pointed out the portrait to him at some point, as Silver had pointed out the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower, casually, more a sharing of information than any need to have his brother know exactly where he was.

Still, Silver was a bit restless as he stood just a few feet away from the portrait, where the Fat Lady eyed him suspiciously. But he needed to talk to Dare, and he wanted to talk to him alone, so his best option was catching him as he came out of the portrait hole, before he'd had a chance to meet up with Michael.

One of Silver's hands was jammed deep into his pocket, the other wrapped around his journal. He didn't expect to be writing anything anytime soon, not while he was talking to Dare at least, but it was a comfort having it, having all the thoughts it contained, solid in his hand.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare was, as usual lately, a little distracted when he came out of the portrait hole. He was thinking about Michael, ready to go find him, to get going on everything they'd be doing. The portrait had closed behind him, and he'd been a few steps on his way toward the dungeons before he noticed Silver and stopped, his mind clearing a bit at the tension he saw in his brother. Then it occurred to him that Silver had to have been waiting for him, and Dare abandoned his immediate goal of finding Michael to turn toward his brother.

"Silver, what's up?" he asked. He could see by Silver's posture, by the way he clutched at his journal, that there was something eating at him, and though something was usually eating at Silver, most of it wasn't enough to warrant stalking Dare outside his Common Room.

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver shrugged, trying to stay casual when he felt anything but. "You got a few minutes?" he asked Dare. Silver glanced down the corridor, then gestured for Dare to walk with him. He debated for a moment whether he ought to start off with what he'd heard, but decided against it. He'd give Dare a chance first, see if anything Dare said might shed light on his questions before he started accusing. Dare was headstrong, and often impulsive, but he wasn't stupid, by any means.

"You want to tell me how you...met Michael?" Silver gave Dare one long, meaningful look, then turned his attention down the corridor they were walking. Yes, he was asking for more than he probably wanted to know, but it was important if he wanted to give Michael the benefit of the doubt.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare watched Silver for a moment, then turned his attention toward the corridor as well. He couldn't imagine why Silver would ask him that, but he could see in his brother's eyes that there was something he wanted to know, something he was looking for that he thought the story might be able to answer. Dare turned things over in his mind, trying to decide what to tell Silver, trying to predict what it was that Silver might be looking for so he'd know what to tell him, so he wouldn't give away more than needed told.

Michael's Dark Mark came to mind, but Dare told himself, if Silver had found out about that, he'd have come right out and asked. It had to be something else. He couldn't see what it was though, so Dare just started at the beginning, watching his brother from the corner of his eye to see what got a reaction.

"I was standing outside the forest a few days after we got here, thinking about going in to draw, and he came up. We started talking, and went inside; he had a sketchbook too, and we just sat there, drawing, talking about stuff." No reaction yet from Silver, though he could feel the tension building. "What is it you want to know?" How much detail do you really want?

[Silver Blackwood]

So far everything made sense. He could see Dare standing there, trying to decide if it was worth breaking the rules to satisfy his curiosity. He could see Dare going in just as easily, without any further thought to the rules, and absorbing himself in drawing, could see him getting along with Michael simply for that moment. But what he couldn't see yet was how it had gotten past that. "I'm just trying to understand," Silver said. How had it gotten past drawing? Did Dare know Michael had had a girlfriend? If so, what had happened that Dare didn't care?

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare looked skeptically at Silver. What was it he was trying to understand? How Dare had found himself attracted to another guy? That didn't seem right, didn't seem like something Silver would ask. Dare could feel that it was something big, but that wasn't it. Dare stopped walking, glancing down the corridor to make sure no one was close, then turned to Silver. "Cut line, Silver," he said. "What are you looking for? Just tell me, and I'll tell you." He couldn't imagine his brother wanted to hear about him kissing Michael, or Michael kissing him.

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver sighed, leaning back against the stone wall, knowing Dare wouldn't let him avoid the topic. He went through his questions, and tried to pick the least accusatory of them, sorted his thoughts, then lifted his gaze to Dare's. "Did you know he had a girlfriend? Until after the masquerade?" It was somewhat uncomfortable knowing what had happened at the masquerade, that Anna had found them kissing, a little more detail than Silver wanted to know, but it covered everything. It was enough of a statement that Silver knew Dare had been with Michael in some form while he'd been seeing someone else.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare was more than a little surprised at the question. He caught Silver's drift immediately though, and his gaze dropped to the side. Dare pulled a deep breath, trying to think how he could explain even as he answered. "I knew," he said. Dare brought his gaze back up to Silver's. "He told me that day in the forest. He hadn't seen her in months and wasn't sure they were even together anymore." Dare shrugged, though the motion was more a gesture of how complicated things were than putting off the rest of Silver's question. "Things just happened, Silver. I'm not even sure how. But Michael...he was just confused by everything. He'd never done this before, and I think...I think if it'd been a girl and not me, he'd have thought it through better. He probably wouldn't have done it."

[Silver Blackwood]

There was a lot of information in what Dare had just told him. A lot that was more complicated than he probably wanted to know, and it brought up more questions. Still, Dare's phrasing stuck in Silver's mind as he looked at Dare, and one question passed the others on its way past his lips. "What do you mean he'd never done this before? You have?"

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's lips twisted into half a wry, self-deprecating smile as his gaze dropped again. One hand rose, rubbing at the back of his neck. That would be more than answer enough for Silver. Dare didn't raise his eyes again, but looked out into the corridor, clearing his throat lightly. "I never had a boyfriend," he said, clarifying so Silver's overactive imagination didn't take it even farther than it was meant.

[Silver Blackwood]

"Oh. Wow," Silver said, blinking. He really hadn't expected that. He'd figured Michael was an anomaly, an experiment or something, not to diminish it. It hadn't occurred to him that Dare might have done anything before. "At SWIM?" he asked, trying and failing to think of who, or when. Just when he'd started getting used to the idea of his brother having a boyfriend, he found out that he'd apparently done this before, albeit unofficially. "Who?"

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare hadn't thought he'd get out of that one. He was surprised Silver hadn't figured one out, though. "Aidan Kai, fourth year was the first time, at that party during summer break." Aidan had kissed him actually, but he hadn't stopped him. That had led to a lot of confusion, and it had been a long time before he'd come to terms with things. Dare paused before the other name, glancing up at Silver, then down the corridor with an almost guilty half-smile. "And Markise. After the holiday ball." And a few other times, but Dare didn't think that needed saying.

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver's jaw dropped at that. It was weird enough hearing about someone Silver hadn't known well, but Markise had been one of Dare's friends. Dare had gone to the ball with his sister, for chrissake. It was a revelation and a half, mostly because, looking back on it, it wasn't as strange a thought as it should have been. "Wow. I'm really not observant sometimes, am I? How did I not know about all this?" And Dare had said that he'd never had a boyfriend. What hadn't worked out between Dare and Markise? And why in hell was Silver even wondering?

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare shrugged. "Because it never got out," he answered. "Aidan was just the one time, and me and Markise..." Dare shrugged again. "We tried it out and it didn't fit. So we stuck with friends." It had been nothing like what had happened with Michael. And with that thought, Dare was reminded that Silver had stalked him outside the Common Room and only really gotten one question out before getting sidetracked.

Dare tucked his hands halfway into his pockets as he turned his gaze back to his brother. "So now you know. And you know that yes, I knew about Michaels girlfriend. Is that what all this was about?" It could have been, that seemed like a big enough issue, but knowing Silver, it was only the tip of the iceberg.

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver's mind had been so thoroughly sidetracked that it took him a moment to figure out what Dare was talking about. Then he remembered his question, and Dare's assurance that he'd known from the beginning, but Michael had been unsure whether he'd still had a girlfriend at that point. Anna had still considered them a couple, had mentioned love, but she'd also said that it had been a long time since she'd seen him.

Silver shrugged, all the wind taken from his metaphorical sails with the conversation they'd had in the meantime. "Just...be careful," he told Dare, keeping his gaze low, out in the corridor rather than directly on his brother. "If he says anything about love, just know he's said it before, and take it with a grain of salt."