Letting it go (Anna/Dare)

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare was in high spirits when he got to the Room of Requirement. The walls were the same brick they had been last time, and the same well-worn couch sat in front of the same rug, but the mood of the place was entirely different. It felt comfortable now, as Dare sat down in front of the couch and opened his art box at his left side.

The silver quill sat in front of his box, where it wouldn't get crushed, and Dare sat cross-legged, with his sketchbook balanced against his thighs. He looked at the drawing he'd been working on earlier that morning, and he could feel all the tension that he'd put into it. He flipped the page over, letting it go. He wanted to draw something different now, and he looked up into the room for inspiration.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna entered the room with her new book looking for somewhere quiet. Feeling under the weather, she had spent most of her time in her dormitory, and desperately needed a change in scenery. Normally she'd go outside to the lake, but with the sporadic storms and her lingering cold, she opted to stay within the castle walls. She saw a boy she didn't know sitting on the ground, and wondered if she should leave. Not wanting to waste time hunting down another cozy spot, she walked into the room. "I hope I'm not interrupting, you don't mind sharing the space do you?"

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"No, I don't..." Dare trailed off as his head rose and he saw the girl's face. "...mind," he finished absently. He recognized her, from the drawings he'd seen in Michael's sketchbook the one time he'd actually gotten to look through it. His gaze lowered again, and his heart thudded, but she wouldn't recognize him, would she? He'd been wearing makeup and a mask that night, and he'd disguised his voice. Still, he almost wished he'd told her he wanted to be alone.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Thanks." Anna said, settling into a big comfy chair piled with pillows that had appeared. She tucked her legs to the side up on the chair's cushions, leaning against the pillows with her elbow. She cracked open the book, reading the first paragraph before glancing back at the boy, feeling weird sitting by someone she didn't even know. "I'm Anna by the way." She offered with a smile.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"I..." Dare only just stopped himself from saying I know. His mind worked fast, and he decided he couldn't let her know who he was; it would cause no end of trouble. "I'm Seth," he said, pulling his middle name out of the air for use. At the least, if she said it, he might actually respond. Dare couldn't help looking at her, even if he'd seen her picture before. She was pretty, definitely, and he found himself, as silly as it might be, wondering; Michael had left her for him?

He wasn't doing himself any good just looking at her, though. Dare looked down at his sketchbook for a moment, then cleared his throat as he searched for a thread of conversation. "So, what are you reading?" he decided, keeping his voice light and interested. "Is it any good?" Dare was glad for the cover his fringe gave him, as little as it might be, as he forced a genuine-looking smile.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"It's called 'And Only to Deceive', It's a historical suspense." She held it open so he could see that she was on the first chapter and explained, "I just started it, but it sounds fascinating. I love anything having to do with the Victorian era, and this one's set at the end of it." She stopped herself from continuing on, well aware of her tendency to talk to any willing ear about books. She took his smile at face value, not catching anything that would give her reason not to. "So what are you drawing? Or painting, or whichever?" She added, not really sure what he was working on.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare echoed Anna's motion and turned his sketchbook toward her, showing the blank page. "Nothing yet," he said, his nerves easing slightly, since she'd made no comment about his name. "I was just thinking about what I wanted to draw when you came in, hadn't decided yet." Dare looked back down at the page again, thinking, but still, nothing came to him. He didn't want to draw Michael just now, that much was obvious. "I haven't been drawing much lately," Dare said, thinking aloud. "It's been pretty crazy the last few weeks."

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Annabelle nodded at Seth's statement, wondering if it was that way for everyone lately. "I can relate to that. Usually I use reading or researching as an escape from the real world, but lately I haven't been able to concentrate enough for it to be effective. There's just been way too much going through my mind. Is that the same with your art?" She had picked up several of her favorite books since the Ball and just stared through the pages, not to mention her failed attempt to start studying Wizarding Britain. She sneezed then, just barely managing to let go of her book and let it fall to the floor to cover her mouth in time. "Oh Sorry." She said as she pulled out a tissue to wipe her nose.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"Bless you," Dare said reflexively. He leaned over to pick up Anna's book, extending one long arm to hand it up to her as he thought over his words. "No," he said at last, "I just haven't had the time. I have some acquaintances who've needed help lately, so I've been helping them out, and by the time I get back from whatever I've been doing, it's curfew." Dare was careful not to mention names, to leave it general enough that Anna probably wouldn't ask; Emilian was a name she couldn't help knowing, and that would tie back in to Michael. Dare tried shifting the subject, as subtly as he could. "I don't need to be able to think to draw," he said, picking back up on Anna's original question. "It's just a matter of inspiration." He'd lied to himself--he did want to draw Michael, he just knew he couldn't.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna took her book, setting it down beside her as she continued their conversation. “So do you normally draw in a room like this?” Anna thought of Michael, and how he usually preferred to be outside. She tried to distract her mind from him, but the subject made him the focus of her thoughts. A frown crossed her face, and she looked down at her book, flipping it open and absentmindedly began turning pages. She hoped her gloomy mood would be unnoticed due to her cold, and that they might be able to move onto something that didn’t have so many memories for her. “Don’t you need something to look at for inspiration?”

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"I draw wherever the mood takes me," Dare said, looking around the brick-walled room. "It took me here today, but it could change if I could just decide on something." Dare shrugged. He leaned back against the couch behind him, then picked up his silver quill, twirling it idly between his fingers. His lips curved into just a shadow of his usual crooked smirk at the thoughts that came with it. "Sometimes inspiration can come from the simplest places," he mused.

[Druscilla Grace]

It hadn't taken long for Dru to give up on the common room, everyone had been painfully happy and she hadn't been able to find Silver, so the depressed mood from the talk with Chase had only worsened over the hours. So she had decided for the Room of Requirement, hoping it would be empty. And, just her luck, it wasn't. She walked in anyway when she had realized who it was, "Hope you guys don't mind me coming in, the common room was driving me insane." Her voice was low and slightly hoarse, thanks to talking with Chase, and she hoped they would let her join them, at least they were friendly, familiar faces.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna tensed at seeing Dru. She knew she'd wanted to talk to her, but the idea of doing it and the action were two different things. It had been so long since they'd talked, and Anna wasn't sure what Dru would think of everything that was happening in Anna's life. She desperately didn't want to upset Dru, or worse, make an enemy out of her. Trying not to be pessimistic, Anna gave Dru a weak smile. "Come on in, I don't mind." She barely got the words out before she had to raise her tissue again and sneezed.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's eyes widened, and his gaze jumped from Dru to Anna. He'd only met Dru once, but considering how well she knew his brother, it was a safe bet that she hadn't forgotten him. All manner of sh~ was going to hit the fan if he didn't figure out how to salvage this. In that brief moment that Anna was sneezing, Dare gestured to Dru, one finger over his lips lowering as he mouthed, I'm not Dare. Dru could make of that what she would. She was smart; hopefully she'd play along.

[Druscilla Grace]

Dru tilted her head at Dare, not even in a right enough state of mind to say a polite bless you to Anna, and sat down on the end of the couch Dare was leaning up against, or to really care enough to wonder why he didn't want to be called Dare. "I was hoping to find Silver," she said absently, curling her legs up underneath her, "Either of you know where he is?" She hadn't said he was Dare, but she had really wanted to search out Silver, and her mind was so one-tracked that she wasn't even thinking enough to ask them how they were or anything of the sort.