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[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"Pretty much," Dare said, trying to mentally assess himself. It was hard to pick out one discomfort from another, though. "My bones ache, but that pain potion helped," he managed. His back had been the worst, but with that manageable, he felt relief through the discomfort. Dare reached his hand aside to catch one of Michael's, threading their fingers together. "Thank you," he said again, looking aside at Michael from beneath his fringe. It was more than the healing Michael had done on his back, it was his support, his concern. He still wasn't used to the idea of being taken care of.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael's eyebrows were still together, he wished he knew more spells to help, wish he had some different potions. But he didn't, and anywhere that would had been closed for hours already. "You don't know who did it?" he asked, his thumb moving lightly against Dare's. He really wanted to know who had done it, they had no right. He didn't pay attention to the fact that, no matter how good with a wand he was, if more than a couple came after him he wouldn't be able to do much.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare shook his head. "No clue," he said. "I mean, I suspect, but I'm not pointing fingers at the Slytherins or the Gryffindors, because I didn't see anything." And that was the problem. Dare tightened his hand against Michael's, then turned his head to look up at him from beneath his fringe. "Please say you won't go all vigilante about this, Michael. I don't want you getting hurt." He'd rather take it if it meant Michael not getting himself into trouble. Dare knew that if Michael got in a fight somewhere, the stakes would be a lot higher than a few aches and a sore back.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael's eyes darkened and he turned his head, looking away from Dare's eyes. He had known that Dare would say that, but how could he expect Michael to not do anything about it? So he didn't reply, already wondering how he could figure out what to do, how he could pinpoint who had done it. He wanted to show them that they couldn't just do something like that and get away with it.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"It's okay," Dare insisted, squeezing Michael's hand again. "It's just a few annoyance hexes." Dare wasn't entirely sure he believed that himself, but he had to believe it, at least for Michael. He knew the look on Michael's face, even if it was half turned away from him. Dare's mind started working, trying to find anything he could that might talk Michael out of what he was thinking of doing, but there weren't any words that would stop him, only make him feel guilty for what he'd plan on doing anyway. "Can you teach me to make a shield?" he asked. "If I can block it or fight back or something they'll stop, right?"

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

"The Gryffindors, at least," Michael muttered, clearly not happy with Dare trying to just blow it off like it was nothing. He couldn't see the Gryffindors continuing when they found out they would have to start using more serious magic, but the Slytherins... "I can teach you some stuff," he said, tightening his hand in determination. He wasn't about to give up on trying to find out who had done it, but he would help Dare, was sure he would have gotten around to offering once the first shock was over.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"Thank you," Dare said again, drawing their hands up to press a kiss to Michael's. He had no clue what kinds of things Michael would teach him, but whatever it was, Dare would take it gratefully. "I warn you, you've got your work cut out for you." He was pretty hopeless when it came to the application of most charms and any kind of defense. "I'm starting to think SWIM wasn't much of a school." He'd thought theory was just fine until he'd gotten to Hogwarts. Now he wondered what the administration had been smoking.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael couldn't help but agree, he couldn't imagine not learning to use the spells, not practicing them. Even before he had come to Hogwarts he had been practicing spells, had always been practicing spells, ever since his father deemed him old enough. "I know a couple of simple ones you can start out with," he said, though his mind was only partially on the idea of teaching Dare spells.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"Good," Dare said, watching Michael. "You can show me in the morning." He wasn't particularly sleepy, but he was tired, and he just wanted to relax with Michael right now. Maybe distract him a little. Maybe distract both of them a little. "Do you mind if we turn in early?" Dare wasn't in the mood for a major makeout session, not right now anyway, but a long kiss would do wonders to help him relax. Dare had become addicted to their nightly routine. He'd even shaved a few minutes off his nightly routine in anticipation of it.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael shook his head, "That's fine," he said in a soft voice. He knew that those simple spells wouldn't be much help in some cases, but at least it would be something, and they could build on them as they went. And he could be patient, even if Dare was as bad as he seemed to think he was. Michael just hoped the Slytherins didn't see it as a challenge.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare leaned toward Michael, firmly ignoring the tug of the last few boils on his back. Just one brief kiss and he could excuse himself. He didn't want Michael brooding in his absence, but knew there wasn't any choice. Michael would brood no matter what. "I'll go get ready and meet you in bed," he said, then released Michael's hand to stand up. As much as Dare wanted to learn those spells from Michael, he wasn't looking forward to tomorrow. He wanted to just pause time at tonight, in those minutes before they fell asleep.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael nodded, and cringed lightly when he saw the remnants on Dare's back. His eyes narrowed and then he forced himself to look away as Dare left. He couldn't bring himself to just forget it, to even think about not doing anything, even if Dare wanted him to. He would listen, would watch, somehow he would find out who had done it. After a minute Michael sighed and stood, running a hand through his hair. The one thing he had hoped wouldn't happen had happened, and he didn't know what to do from there.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare firmly ignored the discomfort still lingering on his back. When he came out of the bathroom, his hair was pushed back, small curls springing up around his face from the water, skin shining lightly from his moisturizer. He was very self-conscious about the mark on his eye, but more so about his back, and so he'd tugged a light sleeveless tee on along with his sleep pants. Dare's hand rubbed absently at the back of his neck as he crossed to the bed, then he slipped under the covers, laying on his side.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael looked over at Dare as he crossed the room to the bathroom, everything seeming so much more obvious with the shirt Dare was wearing. He had gotten so used to Dare sleeping without a shirt that it just seemed wrong for him to be wearing one. But he didn't say anything as he shut the door behind him. A few minutes later he came out, dressed in his usual sleep clothes, and climbed into the bed and slid up in front of Dare. He repressed a pained look when he saw the mark around Dare's eye, and brought his hand up to lightly run through Dare's hair.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare closed his eyes, just absorbing the feel of Michael's hand for some long moments. "Pain fades," he said softly, trying to explain now why he wasn't letting himself get worked up over this. He opened his eyes again to look into Michael's, hoping he could make himself clear, hoping that he was speaking the truth and not just trying to make himself feel better. "I want to fight back," he said, "I'm not just going to take it, but..." He inhaled deeply, then let it out in a rush of air before going on. "Until there's something I can do about it, I don't want to let it ruin what I've got going." Dare lifted a hand and traced the edge of Michael's jaw, then slipped his palm against the back of Michael's neck. "Does that make sense at all?"